//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: School of the Wizards Part 1 // Story: Fallout: Equestria – The Hogwarts Chronicles // by Fanficwriter1994 //------------------------------// A/N: So, before I start this chapter, yes I am now using “Physical” line breaks because Fanfiction dot net is a huge asshole with those *sigh* Anyway, we’re finally in the next arc of this story, the Second Year Arc, the Chamber of Secrets Arc. The “Good Luck there Buddy” Arc. I have currently no idea how I’m gonna handle this. ~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~ POV 1: Rose Evans, FPV ~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~ “You want us to allow you into the Arithmancy and Ancient Runes classes, early?” Asked Professor McGonnagal, staring at me with the sort of disbelieve which we usually left for one of the bigger stunts Fred and George were so fond of doing. “Yes professor, would that be okay?” I asked, sitting as small as I was, in the chair before her. I suspected it would be a lot less comfortable for someone who wasn’t as small as I was. “Strictly speaking there is nothing against it, but you realize that you’re still a second year student, right? These are classes meant for third year students and later.” Stated the professor with a frown on her face, naturally she was worried about that. “I know, but I’ve been taking lessons on Equestrian magic and how to use their pattern style to make talismans. If I learn to use Ancient Runes and Arithmancy I may be able to make some really amazing things, which would help the school, the town and the NCR too!” I argued back, I wanted to help and being a technician of sorts would be the best possible way to do so! “Miss Evans don’t take this as an offense but you’re still a child, you shouldn’t be thinking about this kind of thing.” She argued back with a frown and I scowled at her in return. “So? Remember last time I was “Just a Child”? Last time led to us being brought here, because you wouldn’t listen to us. Last time Rainy, Hermione and myself had to go down there, through all the obviously a test things you put there that any first year had a decent chance of overcoming. Last time I shattered the Philosopher’s Stone and got turned into an Alicorn Filly.” I shot back and she flinched at each accusation from her. “And besides, I’m not just a child anymore I- I have killed, professor. I killed Professor Quirrel, I killed those Raiders in Concord, the Feral Ghouls and Raiders in the Ministry of Wartime Technologies Factory, as well as countless Pegasi during the assault on the SPP Tower.” I argued further, closing my eyes, the flashes of those batttles still fresh in my mind, and making me shudder. “Mi- no, Rose, I know you want to help, and I know that we failed to provide you with a safe environment here, but you must understand that we have reasons for keeping these materials restricted from students until they reach their third year.” She argued back, a lot less heated than my own arguments though. “So? I probably know more about applying magic to combat than a seventh year and besides, I’ve been doing a Hermione for weeks now, learning magic way ahead of first years.” I stated, admittedly having little to no schedule for months but the ability to cast magic? Yeah I wasn’t very occupied, even though the games I had purchased did give me a lot of things to kill time with now. McGonnagal sighed, rubbing her forehead to try and fight off a headache I knew was coming because of me. “Fine, I suppose I can’t hold you back much. We will have to change your schedule a bit though, as second years aren’t meant to attend these classes so you would have to attend them alongside third year students.” Stated McGonnagal and I smiled as wide as I ever smiled. I was accutely aware that Muggle children aren’t meant to be giddy about more complicated school work, much less arrange for it a year earlier than they should get to do those. But I’ve been hanging out with Hermione for two years now, so being infected with Hermione-itis was inevitable. Yes, Hermione is such a bookworm, we made up a disease that makes you studious and named it after her. Though I did hear some of the Stable Survivors talk about Sparkle-Disorder in the same context. ~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~ Getting my school supplies was easy, for one the required supplies now excluded normal robes and instead included special shape-changing bardings instead. Since the students would all be assuming pony shapes of various types, that was a necessity. The school evidently had gotten a deal with Madam Malkins so they would pay half the price for all the enchantments necessary for these uniforms, and would in return supply the parameters and spell patterns to be woven into them to make these high-quality protective attires. A wand was also mandatory, unless you were a returning student who was a Unicorn or, in my case, an Alicorn. I didn’t know where my wand went though, it wasn’t found in the chamber so some assumed it got blasted to bits by the stone’s detonation. Anyway, school supplies other than this included the normal set of books, but for me also Arithmancy and Runoology books, the appropriate supplies for those classes, but some of the more daft selections too. “Why are there so many books from this “Lockhart” guy?” I asked, confused about this inclusion of various Gilderoy Lockhart books. I hadn’t seen them before but I could see a lot of the older fillies being extremely happy for some reason. “Aw man, just great. My mom is a huge fan of that guy, has a huge collection of his books you know? And now we must buy this crap?” Asked Rainy, not anywhere near as enthusiastic as Hermione who was chatting the ears off of Ruby who looked a lot less enthusiastic. The fact that she looked even younger in Anthro-form may have to do with that. “Hermione, I know he’s a big wig but I personally can’t see how. Remember I was working at Hogwarts when he attended and he was nowhere near as great a wizard as those books make him out to be.” Contested Ruby with a sigh, pushing again through another gap between people. “But he has the Order of Merlin Third Class!” Argued back Hermione, clinging to a copy of the man’s autobiography. Titled “Magical Me” or something. It reeked of self-agrandization I decided to tune them out as miss Weasley led us with Ginny and the rest of her family through the crowd. She and her husband, Arthur Wealsey do you remember? Well, they were chaperoning us alongside Lyra and Bon-Bon as they knew the place better than my own adopted family did. Notably, my saddlebags were already ladden with all kinds of new supplies, ink, paper, gemstones (they were surprisingly cheap, nobody knew there was a huge market for those just part that mirror) owl feed for Hedwig, grooming materials for Hedwig and own feathers… Yes I preen my feathers, got a problem with that? They get kind of messed up in my sleep and I’ve seen every Pegasus do it too, even Draco Malfoy did it. Who was strangely a lot less confrontational in the last few months and I had even heard say of her setting out with Caravans and Minutemare volunteers. I think I’m gonna tell you guys about that later. “Outta the way! Outta the way! I am with the Daily Prophet!” Shouted someone suddenly and I was pushed aside by some reporter. My hand drifted to my side, to my saddlebags, ready to draw something but I stopped myself. This was Earth, not the Wasteland. I shouldn’t shoot people for being rude or self-entitled, not even if they’re both and I don’t care about their newspaper one bit because it’s nothing like DJ-Pon3. “You alright?” Asked Rainy, helping me up as I brushed off my bardings, which included a small overcoat to help me blend in a bit better. “Yeah, I was just surprised. What’s with the commotion anyway?” I asked, having tuned out my surroundings because of all the senseless commotion going on. I had been going over my lessons with princess Luna actually, she wasn’t as experienced as her sister in that, or so she told me, but she was pretty good nonetheless in my opinion and taught me quite a lot about magic. “Gilderoy Lockhart is apparently hosting an autograph season here, and mom is going mad.” Stated Ron with a sigh which caused a nuclear frown on my own face. I didn’t know what the big deal was supposed to be with this guy, he lived on Earth, I probably had lived through more dangerous situations since last school year had started, than he had his whole life. “Oh? What do my eyes see there in the crowd! If it isn’t students of Hogwarts!” Declared a voice and I flinched as I realized we had been spotted, and the voice sounded so annoying too. A tall wizard with a large, flowing and colorful robe come toward us as the crowd parted around our group. I could already pick out exactly where to shoot to disable the man. Not kill, disable. Permanently. Yes I was talking about paralyzing him in a single shot. No armor, no protective magical fields, nothing of the sort. Just some normal human without a kernel of common fucking sense. “Oh my! I believe my eyes must betray me, if it isn’t Harry Potter in the flesh!” My trigger finger was twitching, I just wanted to get this over with, get the books that I was actually interested in, and get away from the crowd. But no, this buffoon had to come and decide- There was a loud crack as I did the hand-equivalent of full power Alicorn bucking against the wizard, when he tried grabbing me, and moments later the 10mm pistol I kept on me for this was pointed at him too. “Don’t. Touch. Me.” I ground out, this was a stranger, trying to definitely pull some sort of publicity stunt with me, and he tried grabbing me. “R- Rose! You just punched Gilderoy Lockhart!” Exclaimed Hermione in horror but I didn’t lower my gun. “He tries grabbing me and dragging me into his publicity stunt, he can count himself lucky if I don’t shoot him.” I ground out as the man extracted himself from the wall, looking bewildered. “I don’t care if he is some sort of celebrity, I’m not gonna let him use me and-” I saw a flash and glared at the photographer before using telekinesis to grab his camera and crush it. “Hey!” Exclaimed the man in shock at that but I just crushed it even more until it was a ball of dense metal and plastic shards, not a camera. “I never consented to being photographed, or being included in your newspaper. So leave me out of it or I will see if I can get a Goblin Lawyer.” I snarled at him before turned around. “Mom, can you guys get my books? I need some fresh air.” I grumbled and left with an affirmative from the two, shooting another glare at the wizard who looked confused by my gun. ~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~ I wandered a bit before finding myself at the icecream parlor and sitting down, sighing. “Can I get you something dear?” Asked the proprietor of the shop and I nodded. “Yeah Icecream please, Stracciatella maybe?” I asked, burrowing my face in my arms as I wanted to get my emotions back under control. The Wasteland was simple, wander around, explore, trade, shoot monsters, mutated or otherwise, or learn about having parents who love me. “So the great and powerful Harry Potter can’t handle the press?” I looked up on hearing this, finding a rather beautiful woman with pale-blonde hair, very light skin and very expensive looking robes. It didn’t take a genius to figure out this must be Draco’s mother. “I’m a 12 years old kid in the body of an eight years old girl. I don’t know about magical law but taking photos of a child without permission is a crime in the Muggle world.” My answer obviously surprised her, which made me smirk a bit. “I grew up in the Muggle society until the transposition incident, no idea about the magical side though.” I stated, sighing. “Also, can you call me Rose? I kind of go by Rose Evans-Heartstrings it’s… a bit complicated, miss Malfoy.” I stated and the woman looked surprised at my recognizing who she was. I found that funny. “You look like your son, er, daughter, before the whole transformation, you know? Just, you’re female, with long hair and all that.” I explained to her and the woman raised an eyebrow at that. “Well, I would hope I look like my own child, but good deduction from you. Also, I would like if you could refer to my son as such, he may be biologically female right now, but he still identifies as male. I am somewhat surprised that you would abandon the prestigious name of your father, if I am honest.” Stated the woman and… sat down. Huh. “It was on Professor Snape’s suggestion, I think he didn’t like my dad and, honestly? It’s no more my name than Evans since that’s my mom’s maiden name. Better than Dursley any day. By the way, I didn’t think you would want to talk to me, I kind of transfigured your son into a filly.” Responded, cocking my head to the side as I wasn’t entirely sure how to take the relatively friendly behavior. “While I hold to much of my husband’s… missgivings about you, Rose, I would like to let it be known that I am not blaming you. I heard what led to the incident, and I can’t say it was your fault for rushing into that, thinking such danger was afoot.” She stated and I blinked, that wasn’t what I had expected. “Wait, Rainy said Draco’s family is all about this whole Pureblood stuff, so basically pro-Voldemort. But you sound like you’re saner than a Raider on Dash.” I stated and got a weird look for my troubles. Right, I wasn’t in the Wasteland right now. “A Raider is basically one or more of the following: A Bandit, a Mad Pony who just kills for fun and/or a murderous psychopath who has lost their mind. Dash meanwhile is a hallucinogenic drug that accelerates one’s perception, meaning you can process sensory information faster and thus can react better, but it’s addictive. I’ve seen a few Dash Heads already.” I explained and got a raised eyebrow. “So, you’re comparing the followers of the Dark Lord to insane bandits on drugs?” She asked, sounding amused. “No, not at all. I’d be insulting the Raiders if I said Death Eaters are on their level of sanity.” I rebuked and that got me a giggle from the woman, someone had humor it seemed. “And… I don’t know what to think of your husband, I am thankful that he come and helped us to take down that SPP tower a few weeks back, I definitely didn’t think he would be that effective as a first-time Pegasus, but the ease with which he just killed any Pegasi who got in his way was...” I left the statement hanging, not liking to remember that particular scene. “Oh? Lucius did mention you were right in the thick of it, definitely didn’t sound like you were holding back yourself with your weapons, Rose.” Stated the woman and I sighed, knowing what she meant. “Would you believe me that I basically shut down when in combat? I just… kind of compartmantalize it all. It’s not as bad as the first time I was in battle but I still get nightmares and can’t even sleep without help.” I added, looking away, not mentioning that said help was both from Princess Luna as well as Lyra and Bon-Bon sleeping next to me. “I see, I guess that is the kind of response a child would have. To be honest, I wish Draco could stay away from such danger, but he is as much in that other world as you are, and he’s been… experimenting.” Stated miss Malfoy and I raised an eyebrow at that but she chuckled at me for that. “Sorry, I won’t tell you. He thinks I haven’t noticed it actually, so it is a bit of a game to me.” She explained and I nodded in response, made sense to me. “Well, at least he can still come to Earth and live like a human, right? With him being white with a black mane he just looks pale and… You don’t have anything against the goth style, do you?” I asked and for a moment I could swear she looked at me like I was the biggest little weirdo, then chuckled. “Ah, I see that you are a pony of culture little one. Don’t worry, I was born into a family where dark and dreary was basically the family motto. Though officially it was about purity of blood above all else. I should introduce myself properly though. I am Narcissa Malfoy nee Black, sister of Andromeda Tonks nee Black and, sadly, one Bellatrix Lestrange nee Black. I am, through your grandmother, your aunt.” She explained and that made my eyes widen because, holy shit. “Wait, let me get this straight. Not only am I basically cousins with Draco, but do you mean that I’m related to that Auror Trainee, Tonks too? And the woman who tortured Neville’s parents into madness?” I asked shocked, because that was beyond shocking to me. Especially the part where I was related to Bellatrix Lestrange of all people! “Ah, Nymphadora. Yes she is your cousin though her mother was, due to the matriarch of the family, disowned for marrying a Muggle-born in Ted Tonks. And yes, Bellatrix is… well for a lack of a better term, to the Black Family anyone who was a supporter of the Dark Lord was a golden lamb. People like my cousin Sirius and Andromeda meanwhile were considered Black Sheep.” She stated and that brought me up short a bit there. “Wait, who is Sirius? I never heard of that name?” I asked, because how large was my number of relatives anyway? Even if distantly related at best. “Sirius Black, he was your father’s best friend. I… I suppose I won’t break any vows by telling you this, but he was placed in Azkaban after his arrest under the presupposition of being the betrayer of your parents, but he had never any sort of trial to defend himself. I believe that is as far as I can tell you. Enjoy your stay here for a bit, little niece.” Stated the Malfoy Matriarch before standing up as I blinked, bewildered at the sudden bomb dropped on me. When Lyra and Bon-Bon located me later, I had one request. “Mom, can we go check if there are Goblin Lawyers? I think I have an Uncle who got stuck as an innocent into wizarding prison.” ~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~ It took the better part of the few days between then and school starting for us to get a Lawyer from the Goblins to look into the Sirius Black case. When I told them who had tipped me off, their interest was peaked at least though the fee was quite high, higher still should we be unable to bail him out. However, Narcissa had all but stated that the accusations were wrong, and given her husband’s status as a Death Eater, that made it likely to be true, given that she acted so conspiratorial. Naturally, red tape and bureaucracy got in the way. It was in fact easier to get a pass into the military base of the Ponston Steel Rangers chapter than it was to get the Ministry of Magic to go and check if they did due diligence on someone’s arrest or not. I just hoped it would pay off and we were helping someone innocent getting out of what was described to me as a living hell. But, alas, school started again, and this time? This time I was a second year and didn’t need to get to Hogwarts. I was there already. But, for the sake of tradition, the old location of Hogwarts, which now housed the ruins of Sanctuary Hills, were cleared out from mutated beasts and frightened ponies that had been only recently discovered to have been among the things transported, were led back to Hogwarts to join the community there. They had all been in the same colorful-human form that Purebloods displayed on Earth, by the way. Anyway, as for why the this was done, the mirror was placed there with it’s Hogwarts side moved to where the boatride would begin. As I said, tradition was being what was most considered here. What was different was that while we waited, a number of new faces were there. For starters, Gilderoy Lockhart was revealed to be the new DADA teacher, I found that out on the way home from my punching him into a wall. Thank Celestia we weren’t at school yet, I was getting into a bad habit there. Next on the new list was Scribe Hailing with two Applejack’s Rangers guards with her. Then there was the Guest of Honor, the NCR’s president, Velvet Remedy who was escorted by her husband, Deadshot Calamity and Fluttershy. Though the latter sat apart from them. There was also a Spritebot, a small, floating robot with wings which was a cross between radio and mobile weapons platform as it had a laser gun strapped under it. This served as the eyes and ears of Spike, who couldn’t rightly attend the feast as another NCR representative since he was, well, a huge dragon. To round this out, Cornelius Fudge with two Unspeakables as his escorts, had also joined the feast to represent the Ministry of Magic. To be honest, this looked less like a Start-of-Year feast and more like we were holding a international conference or something. Which, in hindsight, wasn’t that far off all things considered. Anyway, seeing as all the students were relatively uniform in their ages now, with six exceptions which were us Alicorns, the uniforms were a bit adjusted. Aside from our Bardings bearing our house’s coat of arms we got stripes in different colors of the rainbow. The colors were as follows: First years: Violet Second Year: Indigo Third Year: Blue Fourth Year: Green Fifth Year: Yellow Sixth Year: Orange And finally Seventh Year: Red So yeah, I now had indigo stripes on my bardings, though I wasn’t allowed to wear my Power Armor, which was a shame since it was the coolest piece of equipment I had. Well, short of the literal Cryo-Gun I had found while scavenging Stable 111 last week, but that’s more cool in the most literal sense of the word. Then the First-Years come in. All of them were were wearing their uniforms though they still lacked their house’s coat of arms. Mixed in among the ponies of all three varieties were also a handful of Griffons, which had shocked a few since Griffons traditionally couldn’t use magic in the eyes of most, and even an Artificial Alicorn which had been a young filly when she had been absorbed. There were also a much larger number of new students than the previous year since the human first years were supplemented by twice their number in Wastelander students from both Philosopher’s Town, which was the official name of the town that had been formed a few weeks back, as well as other areas of the NCR. This meant that this was the first year that actual students from non-human races joined Hogwarts. And naturally this led to all kinds of funny names being called, such as Sylvana Fangraiser (Griffon), Righty Thunderhoof (Earth Pony) and at least one Zaberst Tarot (Zebra Filly). Oh yeah, there is also a whole town of Zebra foals apparently, who kick out all who get their Glyph Mark, their equivalent of the Cutie Mark. Though they are discussing to set up a new town near Hogwarts, since that would make things easier. Then it was time. “Weasley, Ginevra.” Declared Professor McGonnagal and… “Rainy, I thought Ginny was your sister?” I asked, staring at the young Unicorn Colt stepping to the hat before it just cried “Gryffindor” before it properly touched his head. “Yeah, and I’m supposed to be her older brother, so I’m not overly broken up about it.” Responded Rainy and… yeah, fair enough. “Phew, this is gonna take some getting used to.” Spoke up Ginny as he come over, shaking himself a bit and moving a bit uncomfortably in his pants. So… probably involved his new bits. “Hey Ginny, I guess your parents are for the time being back to the original sons to daughters ratio?” I asked, trying to make some conversation and the newly made colt snorted. “Mom is going to freak out about this, I can tell that much already. At least it’s only temporary for me. How are you guys holding up?” Asked Ginny and us Gryffindor Alicorns looked at one another. “Well, Rainy and myself had a few months to get used to peeing while sitting, and I don’t know how any colts handle the new anatomy. I didn’t exactly check how accurate that one is.” I stated, not wanting to get details on that one. I was a good decade short before I could claim to be an adult, physically at least. “Oh boy, I don’t look forward to that.” Muttered Ginny, shuddering at the idea. “I wonder why everyone is turning into ponies and that not one Griffon has come through.” Added Ginny, looking at all the new students which had bulked out the number of students at the school significantly. “No idea, maybe ponies come to Earth in ancient times and had kids with humans? I mean, ponies seem to turn into technicolor humans on Earth.” I suggested, it made about as much sense as anything else in my opinion at least. “It would at least explain the way wizards and witches get transformed while coming here, you know? Based on how much Muggle blood one has? I can’t test it but it’s probable that “Pureblood” in this context means that the non-magical percentage of their genes got so small over time that it doesn’t factor in, or that by that some didn’t inherit any non-magical genes by this point.” Stated Hermione, looking quite interested in the topic herself. It did sound like it may be true but I wasn’t a geneticist. “You know what’s actually freaky?” Asked Rainy suddenly and we all looked at her. “Look to the head table, I’m pretty sure that stallion is Professor Binns. Lockhart has managed to annoy Professor-motherbucking-Binns.” Stated Rainy and well spun around and, sure enough, we got to see Binns, who was a Pegasus Stallion, lose his patience, grab a tray, and smash it into Lockhart’s face. “I didn’t know he can get agitated at all.” I commented, blinking. ~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~ Kellog 3rd Person POV ~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~~~~~ Kellog stared through a window into the giant hall. And at the hundreds of students and several heavily armed Wastelanders. “Nope, fuck this shit I’m going back.” He muttered, before flying off. No way was he going to try getting in there now to nab a Alicorn foal. It wasn’t worth the risk.