When Mr. Weasley burst into the girls’ tent to wake Hailey, Hermione, Sadarina, Ginny, and Ariel, so they could hide in the woods, only Ginny and Ariel could be found in the tent.
He dashed back out, turning to Bill, who was nearest. “Where are Hailey, Hermione, and Sadarina?” he asked. It was an emergency- there were death eaters marching across the campsite after the World Cup match, with the Roberts family- muggles- floating in the air above them!
Bill shrugged. “I know Hailey sat the match out, but-!”
BOOOOM.
Mr. Weasley jumped as the deafening crack of thunder echoed from behind him, the entire campsite illuminated briefly by a brilliant white light.
He whirled around, and had mere moments to spot the figure standing in the middle of the path.
“What the-!?” someone in the advancing army began.
BOOOOM.
A bolt of lightning crashed down from the heavens, without caring about the clear skies. It wove its way between the Robertses, and smashed down in the middle of the advancing army.
Then the screaming started.
Mr. Weasley squinted his eyes- and just barely managed to identify the figure standing defiantly in their path in time.
It was Hailey.
BOOBOOBOOOM.
The front was breaking. Some were trying to flee, but even Mr. Weasley could feel the anti-apparition jinx that had somehow flown up just in time. The ones that tried to flee on foot were either struck by one of the three simultaneous lightning bolts or seized by the ground.
In the glare from the trio of bolts, Mr. Weasley spotted Sadarina standing three feet to Hailey’s left- and Hermione crouched next to a tent, an odd shimmer around her hands.
Several of the army raised their wands, while the Roberts family drifted calmly to the side to come to a smooth landing on their feet, on clear ground.
A very peculiar noise came from the army, rather than spells. It sounded much like someone was making very, very loud popcorn- with associated blazes of red-gold light and, he realized, exploding wands.
So they tried to charge her.
Dirt and stone leaped up in waves, though, clamped on their legs, and brought them all crashing down on their faces. The ones that jumped got lightning bolts to the tops of their heads.
Then there were dementors, all of the sudden, closing in from all sides. Dozens, even hundreds of dementors. It only took them a few seconds to get the entire attacking party incarcerated.
“Well that was electrifying,” someone said from next to him.
He jumped, and looked. It was Rita Skeeter. “R-Rita?” he began, then stopped himself before he gave her even more ammunition.
Mr. Weasley, and indeed the rest of the Ministry, stood cautiously back while Rita talked with the muggles, afraid of an uproar on the Daily Prophet.
Hailey, of course, was with them. Nobody had the heart to send her away, after she apparently single-handedly defeated the entire attacking army- and her somber expression, after someone had run up to tell her something, didn’t bode too well either.
Finally, notepad in hand, Rita walked over to where they were waiting. “I actually don’t think you’ll need to modify their memories,” she told them, once she’d gotten out of the Roberts’ earshot.
“Really?” Mr. Weasley began, before he could stop himself.
She nodded. “Yeah. They’ve convinced themselves that demons came up from Hell to attack them, but God saw their faith and smote the demons to rescue them.” She smiled. “The children’s memories were already modified, it seems- they don’t remember how they got from their beds to the field. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts were quite relieved to hear that.” She paused, and looked at Hailey like she’d done something strange. “... You’re not trying to dispute aspersions of godhood,” she observed bluntly, sounding dumbstruck.
Hailey sighed. “I’m told I made a real goddess drop her jaw in amazement.” She shrugged, and looked up. “After that, it doesn’t really matter if I am or not, because I might as well be either way.”
“Oh…Kay. I’ll still be keeping you anonymous, though?”
She shrugged. “For as long as it lasts,” she sighed.
Rita nodded sadly. “For as long as it lasts,” she agreed.
“H-How?” Mr. Weasley asked, staring at Hailey and voicing the question every Ministry wizard around him was thinking.
“We’re friends,” she answered simply, and sighed.
“You seem troubled,” Harmonia observed.
“I am,” Hailey answered calmly.
She stepped closer, and touched Hailey’s shoulder with her fingertips; she wasn’t sure if a hug was appropriate. The girl didn’t even have a shadow of the cheerful optimism she’d had the last time she’d visited. “What’s wrong?”
Hailey sighed. “What does it take to become a goddess?” Her voice had a saddened, far too serious tone to it- almost despairing.
“Are you… trying to become one?”
She shook her head solemnly. “No.”
“It’s not possible to become a god or goddess,” she said gently, stepping forward to wrap her in a hug. It didn’t matter that they were in Harmonia’s bedroom, and she was in her nightgown. “They’re born with the world when it is created. That’s what makes their sacrifices so powerful.”
“So how…” She paused.
“How did you make every last one of the deities of your world stare in awe?” she finished for her.
She looked up. “I made all of them stare?” she asked, almost incredulously.
Harmonia nodded. “You did that by exceeding their power levels. By performing feats that even they couldn’t.”
“I had help.”
“I know. Can you tell Hermione that I said she made the right choice when she gave you her power instead of trying to use it herself, please? She was in a bit of a panic, and wouldn’t have used it nearly as well as you did.”
Hailey blushed. “You know she wasn’t the only one.”
Harmonia smiled gently. “Yes, but all Sadarina did was disarm them. And call in the final wave, I suppose, but Rita was right. That was a very amusing fight to watch.”
Hailey sighed. “If you could even call it a fight. I just… crushed them. And it was effortless.”
She sighed as well. “Hailey… I’m sorry, but I really can’t help you with that. But what I can say…” She sighed again. “When you get as powerful as you are, your magic stops being a blind follower. It starts to make decisions of its own.”
She looked up at her. “I know! That’s what I’m afraid of!”
“And I’m telling you not to be,” Harmonia told her.
“But- But what if I-!”
“Hailey, stop! You are a harmonious element! You understand that?”
She blinked, staring in disbelief. “M- Me.”
“Yes. You. You and Hermione are currently the most powerful harmonious elements in that world. Yes, both of your magics are going to have minds of their own. You’re more powerful than even me, after all. But those minds are harmonious minds. Because of it, it’s going to be really easy to set things right without meaning to… and very, very difficult to do something disharmonious.”
Hailey took a deep breath. “What if I have a nightmare, and lash out in the middle of the night? I can warp reality with my mind!”
“You won’t,” Harmonia answered. “One of the things that comes with great power is great, intrinsic restraint. Yes, you can use magic in your sleep. No, you cannot use a lot of magic in your sleep- it’ll wake you up. And no, it can’t do anything disharmonious. Which includes killing people.”
She looked up. “What if it’s someone so disharmonious they can’t be… ah, turned?”
She smiled. “There isn’t a single person in your world that can compare to the old Discord in terms of disharmony. And it is very, very rare for one to be so far gone that they’re irredeemable, but it does happen. As a matter of fact, your world holds the largest numbers of them that I’ve ever seen- even in worlds that aren’t mine. And yes, when someone is irredeemable, Harmony will tend to simply remove them from the equation.” She sighed. “Not a single one of those men marching across the campsite were irredeemable- as a result, even though you dropped lightning bolts on their heads and smashed their faces into the ground, not a single one was hurt.
“Some of them were even redeemed by the magic directly- the ones that were already close to redemption themselves. I imagine Sadarina will have a few interesting stories for you at some point.” She chuckled softly.
Hailey smiled weakly. “So… how do I tell?”
She rubbed her chin. “Hmm, the age-old question. Well…” She sighed. “Try… Yes. Try asking Bonbon about Light magic. Not everyone is capable of it, because it’s a technique that gives deference to the mind of the magic itself and not everypony is powerful enough for their magic to have such a mind. But it will tell you, because it can tell.” She sighed. “And for many, those such as Sadarina or Morning Sun can tell directly- it’ll often be a shadow of a doubt, or perhaps they feel like they have no choice.”
She looked up. “So when Voldemort appears…”
“You know what I think about spoilers, Hailey,” she sighed.
“Huh…” She scowled. “Bonbon’s team won’t be able to teach me anything during the year.”
“They will if you apply a Pinkie Transform to Hermione’s Misty Step.”
She blinked. “That’s how I return to Earth.”
“Correction,” Harmonia smiled, “that’s how you breach the worldwall. Unlimited teleportation, and you should be able to bring a good-sized party with you at the same time. Especially if you have them show you how to enchant things, and you start making warp tokens or something for them.”
Hailey paused. “You know, that’s a good idea.”
She chuckled. “Yes, don’t be afraid to rely on them, or your other friends, alright? Now, why don’t you take a nap up here before you go back? We both know the subjective time will do you a world of good.”