McGonagall grabbed Harry's shoulder and directed him to Diagon Alley's exit. Hedwig and Owlowlicious came down to land on their respective human's shoulders. He gestured for Twilight and Sunset to follow. They walked into the Leaky Cauldron and sat at a table in the corner of the room.
"Did something happen while I was gone?" Harry asked.
"No, not yet," McGonagall said quietly. "But Dumbledore is convinced that danger is coming. He has a safe place set aside. Do you have a safe location picked out for the night?" McGonagall asked. Harry shook his head. "Stay here where you can be seen, I will get someone to move you somewhere safer."
"Can't we apparate? You can side-along apparate, right?" Harry asked.
"We could, but apparating with an underage wizard triggers the trace, and the location we're going to is best kept secret," McGonagall said.
Twilight smirked beside Harry. "Well then, it's a good thing I have a counter-spell. I removed the trace from Harry when we got here, as a precaution."
McGonagall's eyebrows shot up. "A counter-spell? For the trace? One of the most potent charms in the country, and you had a counter-spell ready? If Albus hadn't told me about your tracking charm, I wouldn't believe it. Does it work?"
"So far, yes," Harry said. "Alicorn magic's nothing to scoff at."
McGonagall appeared to ponder Harry's proposition for a moment, before slowly making up her mind.
Eventually, she decided and said, "Alright, we can go, if you're ready. All of you."
McGonagall held up her arms for the three to grab, which the Equestions did only after Harry did it without hesitation. There was that familiar twisting sensation as the spell squeezed them through space to spit them out somewhere else. The place they were spat out was a row of old houses, broken windows, aging paint, heaps of rubbish, and decrepit architecture.
McGonagall searched her robes for something, before handing a slip of paper to Harry and the others. Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said:
The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
When Twilight reread the words on the paper, the row of houses in front of them shifted. The houses were numbered, but the number twelve, the number on the paper, was missing. The new left was eleven, and to the right was thirteen. As she thought about this, a new house seemed to inflate between the previous houses, this one labeled as number twelve. McGonagall walked to the front door, quickly shooing Harry, Twilight, and Sunset into the building.
The insides were dark and smelled like decay. Twilight heard a soft hissing noise and then gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting their light over a gloomy hallway. There was peeling wallpaper, a cobweb-filled chandelier, blackened portraits, and general signs of mismanagement. She was pretty sure she heard something scuttling through the walls.
There was a rush of footsteps, and Mrs. Weasley barged through the hallway. She looked thinner and paler than when she and Twilight first met at Hogwarts. She rushed past Twilight to hug Harry with a force that looked almost painful.
"Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!" she whispered before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. "You're looking healthier, but I think a nice dinner would suit you. I'll get that started in a bit, there's a meeting going on." She turned to Twilight and Sunset. "Afternoon, Twilight, and..."
"Sunset Shimmer, a mutual friend of these two," Sunset introduced herself.
"...Sunset. McGonagall, wherever did you find them?" Mrs. Weasley asked the teacher.
"In Diagon Alley," McGonagall supplied.
"Diagon Alley? How did you get there?"
Twilight shrugged. "Portals. Honestly, I was just as surprised as you. The last few weeks have been turbulent for everyp- everyone back home," Twilight said.
"Yeah, and I'm still stuck here," Sunset groaned. "No offense, I'm sure this place is great and all, but I miss my friends."
"You're stuck?" McGonagall asked.
Twilight nodded. "We can only access Equestria via portals, but right now we've been experiencing some troubles. I'm going to see if Celestia can fix it from her side, but until then, we can't send Sunset back home. She's an accidental tagalong, for now."
"Oh, that's... unfortunate?" McGonagall said.
"That's one word for it," Sunset said.
"Well, in the meantime, would you like to say hello to Ron and Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "First floor, second door to the left." Mrs. Weasley gently pushed Harry along. "You can come down for dinner in thirty minutes, no sooner. We'll talk later."
Harry, for his part, was a bit slow to respond. Something beneath his shirt vibrated, the amulet Celestia made for him. Harry pulled it out, looking absolutely absorbed in observing. Twilight took his spare hand to drag him along, breaking his focus. The three made their way up the stairs, leaving the two human adults behind.
"Why are you staring at that amulet again?" Twilight demanded once the two were out of sight.
"It's doing that thing again, look." Harry held up the amulet to show to Twilight and Sunset. Once again, the locket's center pointed in one direction, regardless of how it was shifted.
"Well, I doubt it's pointing north. Has it done that before?" Sunset asked.
"Never. Gringotts was the first time," Harry said. He continued down the hallway when the needle started wavering wildly. "And even that's new." When he tilted it sideways the needle still pointed forward.
Twilight held the amulet, and it stopped pointing in one direction like the needle had lost its "magnetism". Sunset did the same thing, only to be met with the same results. When she handed it back, the needle pointed directly at the door Mrs. Weasley told them to go through.
"I think it only works for you," Twilight speculated. "Maybe it's tracking something in the house."
"Like what? What could a bank, a house, and a compass have in common?" Sunset asked.
"No idea, but we can check—"
"Harry!" A head of bushy strawberry-blonde hair nearly pushed Harry over in a hug. Hermione only let go of the hug when Harry returned it for no more than half a second (Twilight counted). "Ron, Harry's here!" Hermione shouted back. Ron emerged from the same room again.
"Harry! When'd you get here? How've you been, mate?" Ron said.
Harry smiled at his two friends. "I'm doing great. Life in Equestria is one big adventure, I'm loving it. I've made plenty of friends and learned some magic."
"They let you do magic!?" Hermione gushed. "What about the International Statute of Secrecy and underage magic?"
Sunset scoffed. "Please, the only secret in Equestria is Celsetia's budget for cake. Whatever magic we have can be used as we please. It's our birthright."
Twilight couldn't hold in a chuckle. Yeah, not even I know how much cake Celestia eats daily. The two humans looked at Sunset strangely.
"Yeah, I've been learning Equestrian magic during the summer," Harry said with pride.
"Come on, tell us all about your summer!" Ron said, gesturing them into the room he emerged from.
The five shuffled in. The room was just as dusty as the rest of the house but in marginally better condition. The olive-green walls weren't moldy, and the couches and desk looked to be in respectable condition. Sitting on one of the couches was a short redhead girl, possibly Ron's sister, Ginny. Ron and Hemione sat down with the younger girl whilst Twilight, Harry, and Sunset sat on the opposite couch.
"Harry!" the girl said jubilantly. (A bit too excitedly for Twilight's taste.) "Who are they?" the girl asked, pointing at Twilight and Sunset.
"This is Sunset Shimmer, a former student of Princess Celestia, we met not long after I came to Equestria," Harry supplied, pointing at the red-and-yellow-haired girl. "And this..." Twilight caught a mischievous gleam in Harry's eyes. Twilight's eyes widened when she realized what Harry was about to say.
"Don't—"
"I would like to introduce Her Royal Highness, Princess Twilight Sparkle of Equestria, Princess of Friendship," Harry said grandly.
Twilight blushed and tried to hide her face behind her hair. Harry knew she was embarrassed about her new title. She knew he wasn't boasting about her title, but teasing her. It was flattering from her friends but now was so not the time!
All three of the human's jaws dropped. Sunset cackled madly. Twilight glared at the two.
"PRINCESS!?" All three of them shouted.
"Don't go yelling it, please," Twilight shushed them.
"Just make it an order," Sunset jested. Twilight merely scowled, feigning outrage.
"I thought you weren't royalty?" Ron asked, looking halfway between deciding to bow or not.
"She was coronated a princess just after the school year ended," Harry said. "I was there for it; over half the country wanted to attend. Her brother cried."
"How? Did she have to marry a prince if she had no blood claim to the throne? " Hermione asked.
Sunset laughed at the theory. "Twilight, marry some prince? That's not how true Equestrian royalty works; well, unless you're a descendent of Princess Platinum or Princess Amore, but they're not real royalty. Twilight has a claim to the throne by right of ascension. The highest of merits, it's only occurred once before in all of Equestrian history. She ascended to the throne on her own, no dashing prince involved."
Twilight sighed. Great, now both of them were teaming up to embarrass her.
"What the bloody hell is the right of ascension?" Ron asked.
Twilight covered her face with her hands. She didn't want to be a part of this.
"Twilight turned into an alicorn not two days after I arrived," Harry's hand gently rested where her wings would've been, "then was coronated as a princess. As an alicorn, she has a right to the throne, the same as Celestia, Luna, and Cadance. It's not given, it's earned."
"Okay, but what's an alicorn?" Hermione asked. "Is it related to the unicorn? I remember something about Twilight being a unicorn. Is it a meritocratic rank? Was she promoted?"
Sunset sat up a bit taller, shrugging. "Exactly what an alicorn is is a complicated question. The short version is that they are the combination of the three tribes' magical and physical abilities. They have flight, magic, and strength. This makes each one powerful, among the strongest magical beings in the world. Nobody knows Celestia's or Luna's origins, that's up to speculation. What we do know suggests they are ageless."
"I- I'm sorry, could you, uh, could you repeat that? I could've sworn I heard you say ageless," Hermione said.
Twilight dropped her hands. Of every aspect of her alicornhood, that was the one she never wanted to think about. "Please stop talking about this," Twilight pleaded. "Can we not talk about that part? I don't like to think about that."
"Sorry, Twi," Harry said, cringing and dropping his jovial tone instantly. He wrapped an arm around Twilight. "I went too far with that, didn't I?"
Twilight scooted closer to Harry, returning the hug. "No hard feelings, friend."
"You can't just reveal something like that and drop the subject!" Ron blurted.
"We can and we did. She's not discussing that, and neither will I. End of story," said Harry harshly.
"Alright, alright, fine... But is there anything else we should know?" Ron asked.
"Oh, uh, I got a new wand," Harry said. He raised his arm, and his "gift" from the tree unrolled into a wand again. "I got it back in Equestria. Ollivander has no idea what it's made of, or what the core is, but he thinks it should work."
"What happened to your old one?" Ron asked.
"Broken. A centaur snapped it in half."
"Oh, well that's a shame," Ron said, awkwardly. Twilight recalled Harry mentioning something about Ron's broken wand in a letter once. "You will have to tell us about that. Any other news?"
"A load, but those stories can be saved for later, I want to know what's happened here. First off, what is this place?" Harry asked, gesturing at the building, or whatever the dusty abode they occupied qualified as.
"We're at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization made by Dumbledore to fight Voldemort," Hermione said.
"Then he's back?" Harry said.
Twilight felt her gut drop. The chances Voldemort got a body back wasn't zero. Harry had revealed Voldemort's survival after the tournament, but it'd taken fourteen years to recover the first time. But every second he stayed around, body or not, was a second that he posed a threat to Harry.
"They're not sure. Mum seems to think so," Ginney said. "The whole country's on high alert ever since the arrests. Most of the Death Eaters claimed he was back, but a few still pleaded innocence. There are rumors of new wizards entering their ranks. Cedric's story in the paper pulled people toward Dumbledore early on."
"What's the general opinion? Do the people think he's back?" Harry demanded.
Ron waved his hand in a so-so motion. "I think they're leaning to Dumbledore's side. The Minister won't let a peep out. The Prophet retracted the story of the arrests and hasn't printed a thing about them since then. Cedric got an interview, but it was in the Sunday post, no one reads that," Ron said.
"Fudge probably knows something's happening but is scared to do anything. He's not listening to anyone," Ginny added.
"And Dumbledore?" Harry asked.
"Deadlock," Hermione said. "Dumbledore's lost his government positions in the Ministry and the ICW, no thanks to last year's disappearances. But the Ministry won't even print that. I doubt most know he was fired. He's got plenty of pull left."
"Complete blackout," Sunset said. Twilight looked at her as she leaned over the couch's armrest. "They're not letting a conversation start. It's the easiest solution to keep everyone in the dark. If they oppose Dumbledore, then people who dislike the government and Death Eaters rally behind him. Agree with him, and they're back to fearing war. Opposition creates enemies. They're too scared to let the truth out, so they're taking an aggressively neutral position."
"That's... clever," Twilight admitted. Sunset had a point. A blackout on the media slowed rumors. It kept people separated and confused.
"It's what I would've done before, well, you know..." Sunset tapped her forehead, where she had worn the Element of Magic.
"So we don't know if Voldemort's back, great. But he hasn't made any big moves, which is also great," Harry said. The amulet rattled beneath his shirt again. Harry pulled out his amulet and opened the locket. It practically bounced in his hand. "Why is this thing being such a bother all of a sudden?"
"What's that?" Hermione asked.
"Princess Celestia made Harry an amulet to help with his scar," Twilight said. "But ever since we came back, it's been acting weird. The crystal inside is acting like a compass to something, but we don't know what it's pointing at." She looked over Harry's shoulder at the locket. It was spinning erratically, not sticking in a direction for more than a moment. "I think there's something in this room."
Harry stood up. "Then who's up for a tresure hunt? I don't got anything better to do."
"Beats cleaning this mess," Ginny said.
The six of them separated and wandered about the room, looking for anything Harry's locket might be pointing to. Twilight went to the shelves first, which were full of broken panes of glass and various items, none of which looked like anything significant. A bit of snakeskin, a bottle of dark liquids, and several boxes of powders. Nothing in the place was mildly important. Twilight next looked for any secret compartments, sliding her hands along the wood surface for anything irregular. Unfortunately, no secret shelves or hiding places popped up.
"Hey, I think I found something!" Hermione announced from the fireplace. Everyone crowded around her. Hermione knocked on the wood above the hearth, which gave a hollow echo. Harry held up his locket to the fireplace. The needle, which had been spinning, now strongly pointed exactly where Hermione pointed. "There's a hidden chamber. There must be some way to open it."
"I got a better idea," Sunset said. She flicked a finger at the fireplace. A wave of fire rippled out, incinerating the wood. "The place is already a dump, what's one more mess? Let's see what we got."
Inside the fireplace's hidden compartment was a small golden locket with a matching golden chain. Inlaid to the locket were several green gemstones in the shape of a serpentine "S". It was in pristine condition, untouched by the ravages of time. Twilight watched as Harry reached in to grab the locket. As soon as his hand closed around it, her bracelet shivered. Harry withdrew the item, looking at it closely. He held his amulet up, which pointed directly at the locket.
"That's it? Another locket!? Bloody hell, if I wanted to collect these things, I'd just ask Rarity!" Harry scowled irritably.
"No need to overreact, Harry, it's just a piece of jewelry. No harm done," Sunset reasoned.
"It's still a waste of my time—"
Harry's eyes closed and he fell. Ron caught Harry before he could hit the ground. The locket Harry's been holding fell to the ground. Its impact echoed louder than it had any right to. A wave of paralyzing fear and revulsion rippled through Twilight, directed at that thing on the floor. Or rather, coming from that thing on the floor, clouding the air with its mere presence.
As suddenly as he'd fallen, Harry shook his head and looked up at everyone, as though nothing had happened. "What the— What just happened? How'd I get on the floor?"
"You passed out, Harry," Hermione said.
"Passed out?" echoed Harry. "No— I was holding the locket a second ago— I couldn't have..." Harry looked down at the locket on the floor. He reached toward it, but Twilight held his arm back. "Twilight? What is it?"
"Harry, I don't think we should touch it," Twilight said. She reached a hand out to the locket, trying to get a feel for its magic. It felt twisted and slimy, like reaching through oil or mud. "Do you remember exactly why Celestia made that amulet?"
"To remove— oh... oh no..." Harry realized.
"Can somebody please explain what just happened? You two are scared witless by a locket," Ron said. He reached down to grab the thing but was stopped when it was levitated out of his reach, courtesy of Harry.
"We'll explain when we're safe," Harry said. He floated the locket in front of Twilight. "Twilight, can you put a barrier around this? Like the one Cadance used on me at the Crystal Empire?"
"I can try," Twilight responded.
Harry has the right idea. I don't know what this locket is, but his amulet thinks it's bad news. If Celestia made it to contain an evil wizard's soul, what does that say about this? Twilight summoned a magenta barrier around the thing but struggled to keep it contained. Its influence was subtle, threatening to slip past her defenses. If I had my old crown this would be so much easier. Wait, I do have something...
Ever since Tirek's attack, and the chest unlocked that "rainbow power", Twilight and her friends had felt their Elements' magic at all times, albeit dormant. It was different from when they were gems, but they were there nonetheless. She called on her Element, focusing on the accursed artifact before her. Twilight traced a circle in the air over the locket. The barrier flashed magenta briefly, then the locket dropped, bouncing in its new confines. The invisible miasma in the air cleared instantly Twilight held up the orb for everyone else.
"Finished. It can't affect us."
Harry held up his amulet, which still pointed strongly to the locket. "We need to tell the order," Harry said. "That thing is dangerous; we need to destroy it."
He grabbed the orb and made a mad dash to the door. Twilight and the other shared a shocked look at HArry's abrupt change of pace. As quick as they could, they ran after Harry. Twilight and Sunset teleported down a flight of stairs, just to catch up with Harry's breakneck pace. The others were mere moments behind them. They were almost to the bottom of the stairs but stopped when Hermione shouted.
"Harry, wait! You can't just leave like that!" Hermione shouted.
"What did she mean, 'it can't affect us', what is it?" Ginny asked.
Twilight grabbed Harry's shoulder, grinding his pace to a halt. Thank Celestia for earth pony strength. Twilight paused long enough for everyone to catch their breath. Twilight noticed Harry's hands were balled tightly; he was tense, very tense. And a tense Harry was an impulsive one.
"If Harry's thinking what I think he's thinking, and I hope he's not, that locket is dangerous," Twilight warned. "It might be the same as his scar, the same thing his amulet was designed to protect him from: a piece of a soul. We have to tell the order, and we can explain the rest, I promise."