//------------------------------// // Rehabilitation, Part -1: Double Bypass // Story: Harry Potter and the Prancing of Ponies // by The Guy Who Writes //------------------------------// 8:20 PM, June 15th, 94th Year of the Tenth Celestial Century. "Riddle Tome." He flinched at the sudden appearance of the pony-shaped silver silhouette. "Please come to my chambers." He was beginning to loathe that charm. Lord Voldemort had been slightly envious of the advantage in communication possessed by the Order of the Phoenix, but now Tom Riddle was beginning to wonder if he could have tolerated the drawbacks of that 'advantage'. None of the Death Eaters had been able to learn it, but if they had, he might have ended up forbidding the spell outside of strict emergencies. Or maybe his annoyance at Mr. Silver for taking so long was beginning to extend to unrelated things. He discarded his instinctual fear of being caught and began calculating why Celestia might request his presence. Had Mr. Silver lingered too long and been discovered inside the vault? Or was it about his own sudden departure? That had been over an hour ago, so probably not. The ward circumvention had ended more recently, only twenty-five minutes ago. Had that triggered an alarm? "Why?" he asked the Patronus, revealing nothing as he probed for more information. "Silver Wing and Memory Sunshine are gone," Celestia's message replied when it returned, "and my Patronus cannot reach them." He teleported to Celestia's chambers at once, adrenaline surging through his veins at the thought that Mr. Silver might have succeeded at convincing Dumbledore – he might have succeeded and left Riddle to rot. "Princess!" the doors burst open, drawing her gaze but not his. "Somepony teleported-" The day guard stopped short upon seeing the well-lit room (despite the late hour) and comprehending that their Princess was looking at the 'intruder' (a well-known face around the palace) without apparent alarm. "It is fine," she reassured her guard. "I called him here. Leave us." The guards, after a brief hesitation, nodded and closed the door. "What happened?" Riddle demanded. The gaze of the Day Princess was intense. "Just as I said: my Patronus cannot reach them. Watch." She turned to it. "Tell Silver I wish to speak with him." The Patronus did not move, only gazed at her sadly. "Tell Memory I wish to speak with her." The same result. She turned to face him again. "I was hoping you knew what happened." "Take me to the mirror," he ordered. "At once." "Will you tolerate my supervision this time?" He had to hold back a snarl. His impulses weren't ordinarily so strong, but the extreme urgency was stressing his patience and his temper. "No," he answered, not quite keeping the disdain from his voice. "Then we shall have to go to my sister first." "Fine," he agreed. "Quickly." He disappeared in a teleport, knowing she would follow not a moment later. "Sister?" asked Luna from the throne of Night Court. "I see you have retrieved my fool for his shift-" "I have not," interrupted Princess Celestia. "It's an emergency. Something happened to Silver Wing and Memory Sunshine." Luna was standing next to them in less than a second. "What happened?" "I do not know," said Celestia. Luna looked sharply at Celestia. "Sister-" "No time," Celestia interrupted again, gazing sharply back. "The Court Scholar believes it has something to do with the mirror." There was a brief staring contest, during which agonizing seconds ticked by. "Enough of this," said Riddle, and apparated away. He reappeared in the mirror room, not caring that his sudden presence would set off one of the wards and not caring that he had just revealed his trump card. A situation like this is why you keep trump cards. If Time was at hand, there was no point in keeping it secret anymore, and if Time was not at hand, it wasn't the worst loss in the world. He didn't re-establish his ward-circumvention, didn't spare the effort or waste the time. Celestia would know someone had violated the wards and she would guess that it was him, assuming he couldn't get out in the next few minutes and collapse this fabricated world first. At least, that's what he assumed would happen when he escaped. Even if he didn't, placing a ward circumvention after triggering a ward is worse than pointless, as it simply tips off the target that someone can mess with their security. He strode to stand before the mirror, taking only a moment to notice and stow his horcrux, which had been laying on the ground. He also took the pouch and wand that rested haphazardly on top of it – yet more evidence that Mr. Potter had escaped. "Welcome back, Tom," said Professor Dumbledore. "You freed Mr. Potter?" he demanded instantly. Dumbledore looked surprised. "I did not," he answered. Suddenly a different idea of what happened to Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger came to mind. "Does the Patronus charm look sombre when you attempt to contact a dead recipient?" "It does," said Dumbledore, his expression now conveying a mix between concern for his pet hero and caution for trickery. "Why?" "Have you released the trap in any way?" "I have not," Dumbledore repeated. "Tom, what happened?" "Either you are lying, or they are dead, because a Patronus charm cannot reach them." Dumbledore looked surprised at that as well. "Your Patronus charm?" "Of course not! Someone else's!" He began pacing within the small confines of the mirror's zone of influence. "Can you think of any reason for that result besides death or escape? Are there anti-Patronus wards? Can Mr. Potter refuse the charm using his unique knowledge?" Riddle's mind was going through questions and possibilities so quickly that he already had time for three more by the time the old man answered. "Not so far as I know," said Dumbledore after a pause to think. "Is the trap still active?" "You repeat yourself." "I do not," said Riddle. "I ask not if you have released it, I ask if it is still active. If you care for Mr. Potter- no. If you care for the safety of Hogwarts, you will answer." "You know I do not respond to threats, Tom." "It is not a mere threat, fool!" His patience was running thin and he no longer had a reason to temper his language. His pacing sped up. "Many students were taken hostage so Mr. Potter could be coerced into cooperation. An event has already been set in motion to kill many students and teachers. I intend to stop it, but if I do not reach them in time," he stopped pacing. "They. Will. Die. Now tell me if the trap is still active, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Check if it has been undone without your awareness, or their demise will be your folly, not mine." Dumbledore was still gazing at him skeptically. "It is active," he replied. "You are still trapped outside of Time. Even if such an event had been set in motion, you would still be able to stop it if I released you fifty subjective years from now." The tension in Riddle relaxed by the tiniest margin. That, at least, meant that matters were not as urgent as he feared. Assuming Dumbledore was telling the truth. Assuming the old man could tell that he was telling the truth. How did he even know? Riddle took a few calming seconds to think. Maybe he was looking at this from the wrong angle. "Did you speak to Mr. Potter after me?" "Yes." "Did anything unusual happen?" "If by unusual, you mean that he convinced me to release you, then yes, it did." Riddle stopped short in surprise. "He did?" "On one condition." Ah. Of course. "Let me guess, no more Voldemort?" "Not quite," Dumbledore denied. "I could hardly trust your claims, even if you had your lie-detecting friend say you speak honestly. No, Tom. The condition is that you must cast Mr. Potter's version of the Patronus charm. Do that, and I will release the trap." Riddle did not reply to this infuriating information in words. And since there was no princess overseeing him, and the headmaster would not be fooled by a pretense of ignorance, Riddle had no reason to pretend to lose this time. Since Dumbledore was on the other side of the mirror, and not 'in thiss new place' i.e. in Equestria, the old man was not protected by the promise Riddle had made to Mr. Potter a year ago. "Stupefy! Diffindo! Crucio! Argh!" Unfortunately, the old fool was protected by the mirror itself, which seemed to reflect everything that touched its surface, including the torture curse. That last one was a continuous beam, and the moment it was redirected back at himself he convulsed and stopped casting. It was his first time ever being struck by the torture curse, and he resolved then and there that it would also be his last. When he pushed past the pain and regained his awareness of the outside world, he saw that his enemy stood smiling, untouched by every attempted punishment, which gave Riddle enough fury to fuel a killing curse the old way. He had the common sense to detransfigure a false tooth and put the large living creature behind the mirror first, an action which caused headmaster's infuriating expression to acquire a raised eyebrow. In smug satisfaction, Riddle released his rage by casting the green death from a mere metre away, which wiped the smile off the old man's face and caused him to dodge as much as the area within the mirror allowed. But then the killing curse was also deflected by the device made by Atlanteans, forcing Riddle into a similar dodge that he only managed thanks to his broomstick bones. A split second later, he realised the sudden change in trajectory meant the green bolt was now barreling towards the vault's back wall. It was only by the thinnest of margins that he maneuvered the de-transfigured ursa minor around the mirror in time, barely blocking the curse before it left the confines of the room. After the excitement was over, he noticed that he was drained of hatred – a typical result of firing the Killing Curse the old way – leaving him empty and apathetic. That wouldn't stop him from firing more Killing Curses like it once did, but in this situation there wouldn't be a point. Of course the universe would choose now to present him with another thing that can block a killing curse. That makes three: life, the true Patronus charm, and apparently, the Mirror. "I would laugh at the turnabout," said Dumbledore as he stood, "if not for the fact that it almost escaped. Thank you for stopping it, Tom." Riddle glared, a reply ready on his lips, but then he felt the wards around the room deactivate. A few minutes earlier... Luna was standing next to her sister and her fool in less than a second, teleporting into place. "What happened?" "I do not know." Luna looked sharply at Celestia. "Sister-" "No time," she interrupted, gazing sharply back. "Riddle Tome believes it has something to do with the mirror." Luna stared at her sister, debating if she should call Tia out on her dishonesty, or trust that her sister had a reason for it. Then her fool of a fool ran out of patience. The thestral disappeared, but not in the style of a teleport, or portkey, or even the simple vanishment of invisibility. He left a strange popping sound in his wake. Not two seconds later, a day guard appeared before them both in a teleport. "Princess!" he said. "Er, Princesses." "Speak," they both said at once. "Someone's in the vault!" "What?!" Celestia demanded. "Were the wards broken?!" Luna froze in dread. Those were the kingdom's most powerful defenses. If a being could defeat them, that either meant Discord or... "No," reported the guard. "Wards are still active. I don't know how they got in." Luna and Celestia exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing. Fool. They both disappeared in a teleport. "Princesses!" the remaining vault guard saluted. There were always two for this reason: one to teleport away for reinforcements if something happened, the other to stay and protect. "We received your report," Celestia said a moment before the other guard reappeared at his post. Once both of them were standing at attention, she spoke. "Ordinary orders about staying outside the room are suspended. We are going to enter and arrest whoever is inside. Do not use anything other than stunners, and avoid the mirror." "Yes, ma'am." The de-warding went agonizingly slow for Luna. More agonizing was the fact that she was probably about to lose her fool. When the doors finally opened, and they all rushed inside... ...they only saw an Ursa Minor in the back of the room, causing the guards to jump back in surprise. Celestia strode fearlessly forward with her horn glowing. "It's dead," she declared. "Let the guards enter, then block the entrance," she told her sister. She cast a few detection charms at the corpse, then shrunk it in size and floated it... into her regalia? Luna realized her sister must have modified her jewelry to be space extended, or asked Twilight Sparkle to modify it. "Check the room for invisibility." Luna did, knowing more about that art than her sister, but no luck. Not that Luna had ever thought to test if her fool's invisibility could be detected. His version wasn't ordinary, she knew that much. "Put up shields," Celestia ordered. "I will snuff him out." "Sister, what of the mirror-" "I know, Luna," she said. "It will be safe." A fraction of a second after shields were raised, Celestia conjured... is that a cloud of flour? Instantly the room was covered in a film of white powder. No pony silhouettes could be seen aside from the four covered by shields. A cleaning spell set the room back in order. "Could he be intangible?" Celestia asked Luna. "...No," she answered after thinking about it. "His hooves still made contact with the floor when he was invisible." "Could those have been false sounds?" she asked. "Are you certain he cannot become intangible?" "Not completely certain," Luna answered honestly. "But I am almost certain," she said, also honestly. "He is not here." "Then he must have left the moment before we entered," Celestia concluded. "And you do not know that for certain. It could have just been the ursa, somehow. We know little about the true depths of the mirror." "I am almost certain it was him," Celestia echoed. "You are too fond of your fool, sister. He has just declared himself a threat to this nation." "No," said Luna. "If he came here, he has only declared that he cares for his pupils. So much that he is willing to break the law for their safety." "He is the worst pony I've ever known!" Celestia objected. "And he is the most deceitful pony you have ever known! He has never known Kindness or Generosity or Friendship. I suspect he has never known Loyalty or Honesty or Laughter either. He is neither Harmonious nor good. He hides more secrets than all of Equestria put together, and we do not even know where he comes from! He's-" "He is not the only one keeping secrets, sister," said Luna, her own voice becoming heated. "Or was that not deception I felt?" Her sister cringed. "It was," she admitted, "but I am sworn to secrecy about it." "Then why," Luna said, her voice rising further, "did you get my fool heated into a frenzy? To goad him into breaking the law?!" "No!" Celestia denied. "Why then?!" Celestia turned to the vault's guards, who were staring at them. "Leave us," she ordered. "Stand outside and do not eavesdrop." They saluted, and Luna barely had the patience to allow them time to leave. "Because he might be able to get them back," Celestia said after establishing a privacy ward, "or get to where they went. A phoenix took them, sister. Not Silver, for I am certain he knows of the choice. It came to Memory, and when it did, Silver asked to be taken along. They are likely in another realm – their home realm – which the mirror might be able to reach." "And you blame him for reacting this way when you told him that?!" If a phoenix took them to some dangerous battle, her fool's haste would be more than justified. "I did not tell him that!" Celestia objected defensively. "I only told him that my Patronus could not reach them!" "That's even worse!" Celestia's voice rose in volume. "I am sworn to secrecy, sister! Especially from his ears in particular. I am sworn to secrecy, and I am worried for their safety, and he may be the only one who can reach them in time, or at all! What would you do?" That question went unanswered for a long time. Luna paced back and forth, fuming. Celestia took many calm breaths. The mirror sat unwavering in the center of the room. "I would have you end your efforts to arrest him," Luna eventually decided to dictate. "Sister-" "No, Tia. This is not a negotiation. He has yet to do anything wrong. Even if he did break in here, and break the law in the process, it was entirely your fault that he felt he had to. You even wanted him to come here. You do not get to complain that he did so as quickly as equinely possible." There was another long space of silence. Eventually, Celestia let out a long sigh of defeat. "Okay, Luna. I will not have him arrested." "And you will tell him the truth." That caused her sister's face to screw up. "Luna, I can't! I am sworn to secrecy! Put yourself in my hooves. Consult Loyalty if you must, but I cannot betray the trust that was given me!" That gave Luna a bit of pause. But not much. "Fine. You will tell him as much of the truth as you can." "I can't," her sister repeated. "I swore that nopony would know. This is bad enough!" "What, exactly, are you sworn not to tell? What was the precise wording and intent of your promise? Do you remember it in detail?" "I remember it well enough-" "That is not well enough," said Luna. "You will go to the astral plane to recall it perfectly if you must. But you will tell him what you are allowed to tell him." Her voice brooked no argument. "And do not say you may tell him nothing at all. You did tell him that they are gone in the first place, so there is likely something else you can say." Celestia slumped slightly. "Very well," she conceded. "I will see if I can say more. But you must promise to say nothing yourself. I promised he would not know, sister." "Fine," Luna agreed. "I will not speak with him about this matter. But I will return to my court immediately, in case he has already appeared there." She stepped outside the vault and teleported away, leaving her sister to deal with her wards and her promises. Riddle sat alone in the crystal caves, toying with Mr. Potter's wand and cloak and pouch, all of which had been left behind on the floor of the Mirror's storage vault. Ms. Granger's possessions, including her wand, were inside the pouch, so those were also abandoned. If Mr. Potter had escaped, surely he would have taken everything with him? Why relinquish his possessions? Was it intentional? Was the overall escape even intentional, or was it accidental? Was this a part of it? If the escape was intentional, why hadn't he brought his things with him? If it was accidental, why hadn't he brought his things with him? Leaving them on the ground didn't make sense on either hypothesis. Did Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger even escape at all, or are they simply dead somehow? He wished there was such a thing as a corpse-locating charm. He might need to invent it. "Riddle Tome." He flinched again at yet another intrusion. What he really needs to invent is the anti-Patronus ward. "I must apologize," said the Patronus, "for lying to you earlier." His blood froze. He slowly turned to face the silver spell. "You lied?" he asked, fury slowly rising within him. "About what in particular did you lie?" "I do know what happened to Silver and Memory." The instant, sarcastic thought was that at least she hadn't lied that something had happened at all. He noticed the negativity of the thought, noticed it came from his annoyance with her, and found that he didn't care he was being negative. "Speak," he ordered. "I am sworn to secrecy about much of the matter," said the charm when it returned. "Much like my sister is now sworn to keep your secrets. I know you would want her to lie for you if there were no other way, so you do not have the right to complain." He continued frowning at the message but did not interrupt, since it was not done. "Still, Luna believes I have handled this ordeal unfairly, and so I have reviewed my memories of the event, to see what I may disclose. I may disclose that a phoenix has taken Memory Sunshine. I may disclose that Silver Wing was taken with her at the very last second. And I may disclose that they are, indeed, beyond the reach of my Patronus charm. I cannot send messages to them. When I said what I did to you, I was hoping you could reach them somehow. Please, is there anything that can be done to get them back, or help them in their ordeal?" The glowing white pony stopped speaking and stood still, waiting for a reply. "No," Riddle said, a smile slowly appearing on his face. So that's how Mr. Potter had done it. "Do not speak to me again," he told the Patronus. Without waiting to watch it depart, he apparated away from his workshop. He reappeared above the city of Manehattan, the closest he'd ever been to Griffonstone, capital of Griffonia, roosting ground of phoenixes. It was around 2:00 in the morning, and Celestia was looking exhausted. She had just entered Luna's court and reported her attempt at honesty and outreach. "What did he say?" Luna asked. "He said he couldn't help." "What else did he say?" asked Luna, clearly picking up on the lie by omission. "Sister... I think we should give him a few days. I think we... I think I have pushed him too much today. He said he is not in the mood to talk." Luna did not reply to this in words. She simply glared at her sister until Celestia left the room. In theory, he didn't have to go to Griffonia. Celestia's phoenix was an excellent candidate for sacrifice... but he decided not to risk it, no matter how annoyed he was with her. She did, at the end of the day, have power over the sun, and he didn't want to test what that meant in terms of battle by killing her companion and inviting her ire. Even just borrowing the phoenix for a few minutes in order to clone it might have alerted the Day Princess. Now that there was no more Time urgency, it was best to stick with his modus operandi: complete, untraceable secrecy. That means targeting wild phoenixes. Of course, one does not simply find a place they've never seen or visited before. Not without help, or a guide, or a pre-programmed portkey, or in this case, a map. By air, Griffonstone was easy enough to locate. After consulting an atlas, he maintained an exact heading from Manehattan using a compass spell, never once altering his trajectory as he flew across the ocean. Once he arrived at land, he asked a griffon if that city over there is Griffonstone. "Y-y-yes, i-i-it is," said the sickly-looking creature. It turns out Riddle hadn't gotten his directions exactly right; he had been about two miles off. Whether he or the map he'd consulted was to blame for that, he didn't know, but he was close enough. Riddle had spent the entire night air-bucking, and he had been gliding east. It was now dawn, though it was probably still night in Equestria. Plenty of griffons were flying about, so there were plenty more to question if this one didn't know where the phoenixes were. He'd chosen the most isolated one for the sake of convenience; the others seemed to be avoiding it, likely due to its sickly appearance, though they did seem curious about the stranger talking to it. This griffon was either completely oblivious to their avoidance or completely uncaring. Probably a bit of both. It seemed retarded, physically and mentally. Riddle asked the griffon if it knew where phoenixes roosted, then used a bit of Legilimency to make sure it genuinely didn't know, like it claimed. All Riddle saw in the creature's simple mind was that it was doing its morning warmup so it could get ready for the day's adventure. Riddle said a polite "Good day," then flew off to consult another one, not bothering with an Obliviation. It would be more conspicuous if the creature didn't remember a conversation that everyone had seen, though it might not remember the conversation regardless. After he spoke to a few others, eventually finding a proper answer to his question and a new heading, he noticed that the first one he'd consulted was staring at him. It had likely been staring at him the entire time. It was uncomfortable, but at the moment, there wasn't anything Riddle could do other than leave. Without the Killing Curse as an option, there's no cure to stupidity. "Again?" Twilight asked. A few strands of hair were beginning to stick out of her mane. "Not quite," said Celestia. "Memory was taken this time. When Silver asked the phoenix to take him too, she complied." A few more strands appeared. "Are they in danger this time?" "I cannot be certain," said Celestia, not wanting to alarm her student. "All I can say is... Twilight, even if they succeed, even if they are in good hooves... I think they might be gone forever." "WHAT?!" Twilight shouted. Her mane scattered wildly all at once. "WHY?" "Time magic," said Celestia. "And space magic, I think. But mostly time." Twilight's mane instantly deflated, her heart in her throat. Those are extremely powerful forces – so powerful that no pony has ever defeated them, only worked around them. "If not for that, I would have asked Philomena to take me as well." She allowed herself to feel some of the emotion at what she had seen. "Believe me, my faithful student. They are doing Harmony's work. I would be by their side if it was possible in any way." Then the passion left her voice, leaving only hollow sadness. "But they cannot be reached. Not without leaving Equestria behind. I..." Celestia lowered her head onto her pillow. It had been a very long night. "I'm sorry." She willed that final message to be sent, then willed her magic to cease the Patronus afterwards. She tried, and failed, to get some sleep. On the other end of the long-distance conversation, Twilight couldn't sleep either, though in her case, she couldn't go back to sleep. She was far, far too restless. She kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking about what she could do. But she was so, so ignorant about the possibilities of magic. For all that she was a prodigy, for all that Celestia said she knew so much already, more than anycorn else, it turns out she knows very, very little. She wished she knew more. She knew she could know more. She needed to know more. And she would know more. She would know whatever it takes. She would see Silver and Memory again, even if she had to overcome Time and Space themselves. That day was born Twilight Sparkle's ambition to become Mistress of Magic. Her Element did not disagree with this ambition. It was only slightly saddened that it probably would not manifest as the Element of Friendship this time. Even if its wielder had many friends, and true, it would remain the Element of Magic, if that was what its wielder needed to save her friends, and those she considered family. The first thing Riddle thought upon successfully sacrificing a phoenix was that he might have just made a mistake. Not regarding technical incompetence, for he had performed the ritual magic without fault, and not concerning privacy either. He had done both rituals in the secrecy of his workshop – first the cloning ritual, then the sacrificial ritual. It also wasn't a mistake by the standards of his promises, though it almost had been. It was a good thing he had cast the sapience-detection charm first. Most phoenixes are not sapient, but like dolphins and elephants, they have the potential for near-sapience, probably when they live long enough and spend enough time around smart creatures, as Celestia's intelligent companion has. Riddle promised not to kill this plane's sapient creatures under ordinary circumstances, so he decided not to risk the straightforward 'sacrifice a phoenix right away' route. But sacrificing a completely mindless clone worked as a workaround, and in order to obtain that clone, he only had to sacrifice a different, disposable magical creature that was powerful enough to match a phoenix, i.e. an ursa minor. Sacrificing one such bear while wielding the Stone of Permanence gave him the mindless phoenix that he needed to perform the fusion ritual and not break his promise. The Cloning Pool would have also worked. He had used that location to clone multiple ursa minors into existence all at once, then never returned to it. Now he has all the many magical creatures that he'll ever reasonably need, using the minors to clone other creatures at his convenience. It's a more flexible application of that particular discovery, and it doesn't risk running afoul of Celestia's guards, which were posted outside the pool after a Ponyville Incident involving it. Now he has over a hundred transfigured ursa minors stashed around his workplace, and a few others in key locations; he doesn't have to go hunting to restock a limited supply like he used to. No, all of that had gone without a hitch, as it should have. The snag he's actually suffering, the reason why fusing with a phoenix might have been a mistake, is the new feeling of fire in his chest – no doubt a desire for righteous battle that phoenixes are known for. He also hears a song of peace and healing in his mind, and he suspects he'd be able to sing it himself if he wanted to, just like a phoenix. After a bit of consideration, he tried and succeeded at crying a few teardrops. It was a surprising ability – disturbing at first, but then amusing. He watched in a conjured mirror as teardrops streamed down a completely expressionless face. To cry at will, without any true emotions behind it (not that he still could cry for emotional reasons, or perhaps at all anymore) is extremely interesting to watch. And if the tears healed, the ability might also be useful, though he would probably never need it for himself thanks to his regenerative troll powers. He continued watching his own eyes cry – his own pony eyes – as he thought. He had decided to perform the ritual as a pony for precisely this possibility. The permanent, insuppressible 'purity' aura of Ms. Granger's human form had instilled in him a caution towards the fusion ritual that had just been proven valid. But if this new change was like her aura, then that should mean... He performed an animagus transfiguration. Yes. Good. The song in his mind and the fire in his chest both disappeared, meaning they can be easily ignored. Theoretically, he can continue to ignore them if he never performs another animagus transformation for the rest of his life, which he might just do. He might even destroy his pony form. After he escapes, of course. His human form can't access the phoenix's drawbacks, so it probably can't access the benefits either. He'll have to become a pony at least one more time in order to phoenix travel away from this place once and for all, just like Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger did. Their method of escape should have been obvious from the start. He had been the one to tell Mr. Potter about the theory of phoenix origin. Some wizards hypothesised, and others agreed, that phoenixes came into the world from a realm evoked by the mirror – this realm, as it turns out. Therefore, phoenixes would naturally be able to escape the mirror. But before he attempted it himself, he would wisely discern and practice his new abilities in a controlled setting. It would also be a good time to prepare a mental itinerary of the steps he'll be taking upon the instant of his escape. It promises to be a busy night, with much happening in the span of a few short hours. Even the first few moments will require extreme efficiency, precise action, and deliberate movements. In particular, he'll need to disable the hostage spell immediately. Since the attack on Azkaban will also need his immediate attention, he'll only have a few seconds to find Ms. Tabor and give her the knut... ...unless he wants to take longer, in which case he would be leaving Mr. Potter to the mercy of the aurors for a while. He very well might do that if the child's escape was intentional... actually, no. That wouldn't be wise in either case. But he was still furious about the possibility that his student had deliberately abandoned him. Although, on the other hand, that suddenly seemed less likely. If a phoenix had come to Ms. Granger, and Mr. Potter had only tagged along at the last second, he could have simply seized an opportunity. Or he might have been taken along by surprise, without giving prior consent. Assuming Celestia wasn't lying about that as well, her wording meant both scenes were possible. In any case, he had at least a day to think about it. He had plenty of time to imagine a more appropriate potential punishment for his student's potential betrayal...