Sorry for having taken so long, for a while my muse decided to up and leave town (as well as my HP book), but now my muse (and book) has returned with a vengeance. And while this chapter is filler for the most part, the next chapter should be out sometime later this week with any luck.
Disclaimer: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Harry Potter is the property of JK Rowling.
"Hello"-Normal Speaking
"Interesting..."- Nightmare Moon speaking.
'Huh'- Normal Thoughts.
'All mine...' Nightmare Moon's thoughts
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As he slowly settled into the chair at the head of the table in the teacher's lounge, Dumbledore smiled as he laid his hands on top of each other. "Now then, with every thing pertaining to the recent incident now wrapped up, we can get started on beginning of the year reports."
Her lips turned down in a frown as she shares a look with the other teachers beside her, Sprout clears her throat. "Headmaster... could we know what happened to the troll?"
Albus nodded as he just looks at her with a smile. "I had a talk with the Ministry and they agreed that since the troll merely wondered in and had not attacked any students, that it was to be escorted back to it's tribe with a warning." He then frowned. "As to why it wondered in... according to it, it smelt a troll and really wanted to find it." Several of the teachers and Hagrid looked amongst themselves as others just gave confused expressions at the idea that the troll had smelt another in the school. After he cleared his throat to catch their attention, Dumbledore continued. "In any case, the issue has been dealt with and to that end, I wish to hear about how the First Years are doing to start off with."
As the teachers gave their reports one by one, Dumbledore listened intently to each one, sometimes closing his eyes in thought. When it's McGonagall's turn, he watched her. "... And Mr. Weasley seems to be having some trouble in class."
Having raised an eyebrow, Dumbledore looked at her for a moment. "Oh? Is he showing signs of becoming like the Weasley Twins?"
McGonagall shook her head and sighed in exasperation. "He simply shows no drive in getting his work done. Mr. Weasley seems to do barely the minimum to pass and that is all. I would be worried about him failing, except that I went to the twins and explained to them what is going on. They assured me that they would make sure that he straightened up and would do his work."
Septima Vector just gave the Deputy Headmistress an odd look, as if not quite sure that she's not unhinged. "The twins? Surely Percy would be a much better choice then those two."
Flitwick chuckled a bit before shaking his head. "Say what you want about those two and their pranks, but dumb they are not." As he leaned back, he smiled a bit. "While they do the bare minimum required of them in classes unless it is something that interests them, they will not allow a family member to fail whether said person likes it or not." He then waved a hand in the air in a gesture. "With Percy, Mr. Weasley would likely shrug it off as it would fit for Percy to do so anyways. But the twins?"
Watching as the Charms Professor chuckled, McGonagall nodded. "Quite. And at the least they get their assignments in on time." She suddenly frowned. "There is one other thing though..."
As he leaned forward some, Dumbledore folded his hands in front of him. "Yes?"
After McGonagall cleared her throat, she shook her head. "Mr. Potter came to me a few weeks back with a request for him."
Having snorted, Snape sneered. "Let me guess, the golden boy wanted a smaller workload then the rest of his classmates due to his... fame."
Ignoring the glares directed at the Potion's Master, Dumbledore looked at him over his glasses. "Severus..." He then turned to his Deputy as he gave her an interested look. "And what was it that Mr. Potter requested?"
While she turned away from where she was glaring at the younger Head of House, McGonagall frowned as she looked at the Headmaster. "As a matter of fact Headmaster, it was quite the opposite of what Severus believed." Seeing the raised eyebrows, she continued. "Mr. Potter came to me to ask if it was possible for him to continue his muggle education as a self study and if he could later sit for his muggle grades."
As everyone stared at her, Albus leaned back in his seat with a thoughtful look. "It seems that young Mister Potter has inherited more then his mother's eyes as I do remember that Lily started some self study after she graduated." Pointingly having ignoring Snape's wince, he smiled as his eyes twinkled. "I do not see any issue with allowing Mister Potter to continue along this path as long as it does not interfere with his schoolwork here." Suddenly he frowned. "Has there been any other issues with Mister Potter?"
Snape sneered a little at that. "Potter's little doll is a major one." He then gave Dumbledore a slight glare. "And as you already know my feelings on that, I shall not talk any more of it."
Dumbledore just looked over his spectacles as he leaned forwards. "And as I have told you Severus, due to the fact that Ms. Moon is apparently self-aware in the way that a portrait is in, it is forbidden in the school's charter to confiscate her or for a teacher to in any way, shape, or form to harm her."
One of the younger teachers then spoke up. "Why would the school charter have that in it?"
Flitwick chuckled a bit as he smiled. "Centuries ago, it was common practice for students coming to the school from well off magical families to be given a portrait that would act as both an overseer of the student as well as a connection to the family. They were also advisers to the students in a number of cases."
Albus nodded a bit before he smiled. "And due to some... incidents, it was written into the school charter that self-aware objects cannot be harmed or confiscated by the faculty. As such, Ms. Moon, though not a portrait, does not count as a object but more akin to a personal servant."
Flitwick then gave Snape a slight smirk. "Also, I do believe that I have told you that I am currently studying the magic animating her. And I do have tenure over you." Allowing his smirk to grow some as he saw the slight redness in Snape's face and the clinched muscles in the potion master's face, Flitwick allowed himself a moment of slightly vindictive pleasure before he frowned. The rest of the meeting passed until it was done and the other teachers left. Soon, all that's left was the House Heads, Madam Pomfrey, and the Headmaster. "Albus, I did notice something about Mr. Potter though..." Raising a bushy eyebrow as he was about to get up, Albus motioned him to go on as the others took their seats again. Flitwick took a breath before he leaned forwards. "While I am sure that he's positive that no one has noticed, Mr. Potter seems to have some issues at times with performing magic."
Albus slowly nodded. "I can see now why you wished to wait." Leaning back, he regarded one of his longest serving teachers for a moment. "In what way is Mr. Potter having issues."
Flitwick looked at the others before he shook his head, a slightly confused expression on his face. "Mr. Potter seems to have some problems with casting certain spells." Seeing Snape about to comment, he cut him off by continuing. "That's not to say that he can't do them, but the way he does is different then what the others do."
That caused more then some eyebrows to raise as Sprout cleared her throat. "In what way is he casting them then?"
Flitwick looked at her for a moment and sighed. "From what I have seen, he's somehow capable of just focusing his magic through his wand and casting the spell that way, silently and without moving it." His frown grew a second later. "And even more, he seems to realize this and tries to hide it by mimicking the wand movements and sounds. If I wasn't a dueler in my youth, I might well think that he was casting the spell the normal way."
As she blinked a little, McGonagall felt her eyebrows as they had seemingly rose to merge with her hairline as she stared at her colleague in slight shock. "However could you have possibly realized that?"
As he chuckled, Flitwick shook his head. "The spells worked when he did so, but not in the way that they should have." When he noticed their confused expressions, he elaborated. "I have been a Charms teacher for many, many years and a Charms Master for far longer then even that." He then tapped the table in front of him with a finger. "In many ways, the spells he cast were all a little too perfect for the methods he used to cast them."
Having raised an eyebrow, Albus gave a slight smile. "I'm afraid that you shall need to explain things a little bit more old friend."
The diminutive Charms teacher nodded. "Very well." He leaned forward as he began his explination. "One thing to understand is that each field of magic's spells act and react in different ways unique to that specific 'school' that are quite specific. When a spell is first invented, it is tested by special officials at the Ministry, I believe in the Department of Mysteries now, to see where exactly the spell belongs." He then gestured at both the Headmaster and his Deputy. "As you or Minerva could attest to Headmaster, Transfiguration depends heavily on visualization of what you wish to happen as much as anything."
The Head of Gryffindor nodded slightly lost as to where exactly this is going. "That is a very simplified explanation as to how it works, but nonetheless is quite correct in the basics."
The Ravenclaw Head, having proved why he was in charge of the House of Intelligence, smiled with a bit of pride. "Thank you Minerva." He then summoned a drink before he wetted his throat. After he cleared it, he continued. "Now then, Charms is quite different in the aspects of casting. Tone, Pronunciation of the incantation, and the wand movements all play very important parts in guiding how the spell is shaped." Having noticed that Snape was about to interrupt, Flitwick shook his head. "Even in silent casting one states the incantation in their head as they perform the wand movements Severus. And if you don't make the wand movements, you imagine them in your head as you verbally state the incantation. You can do one or the other within your mind to cast the spell, but not both. Therefore, you still have all three occurring."
The Potions Master just gave him an even look. "I still don't see what this could possibly have to do with Potter."
As he held up a finger, Flitwick smiled. "I was getting to that." He leaned back in his chair and intertwined his fingers before he continued. "Now, what most do not know is that differences in how one waves a wand as well as such things as tone and pronunciation will create slight variances as to how the spell acts as I said. A true Charms Master can, with decades of experience and study, manage to predict how a particular combination of those will act and effect a spell's final expression." He then frowned as he leant over. "However, when Mr. Potter used whatever method he did after failing to cause an reaction the with the normal methods, even if they should have worked. But when he used whatever method it is that he does, the spells come out perfectly." The professor then shook his head. "Especially when his movement, or lack there of, combined with the tone and pronunciation that he used should have led to a markedly different effect.
Sprout blinked a bit. "You said that you caught him actually casting both silently and without moving his wand?" After she saw the Charms Professor nod, she nervously looked around the table to the others. "Does... that mean that he might be casting them wandlessly? That he can perform wandless magic?" She flushed though as Flitwick snorted before he turned it into a snort. "What? As you said yourself, he's performing spells both soundlessly and without even moving his wand! What else could you possibly call it as you already said that one must either cast silently or without moving a wand, but not both at the same time?"
Flitwick held up his hands as he tried to calm her. "I did not mean anything about it Pomona." Having spotted the redness in her face subside a bit, he continued. "The simple fact is that him possibly casting spells wandlessly, to say nothing of no practice is simply impossible." He then sighed as he shook his head. "It takes much practice, sometimes years, in order to cast something as simple as lumos wandlessly. And that's with knowing how to cast wandlessly in the first place which takes many years of study before hand."
Still slightly flushed, the Head of Hufflepuff glared at Flitwick a little. "But what else could it be? And you still have not said anything about what I mentioned in regards to how he seems to do without wand movements or sound."
Thoughtful, Flitwick leaned back as he considered it and what he knew. "It's possible, though extremely unlikely, that young Mr. Potter may in fact have discovered the same process used by some other magical societies throughout history which allows for the casting of spells through a medium suitable to channeling magic without sounds, or at the most a whisper which is the same thing, nor wand movements. While as I said unlikely, it is possible and with the preponderance of wizards doing little more then using a staff to cast spells by pointing them and focusing within Muggle fiction and fantasy, it is possible he used them as examples to emulate when he first started displaying accidental magic..." He nodded a bit as he slipped deeper into his thoughts. "Yes, that is possible and more likely then him having somehow gained the ability to cast wandless magic and fits the signs..." Flitwick's lips turned upward in a fond smile of remembrance. "Yes, I have seen such methods before. Why, I remember one of the surviving Mayan Priestesses that I had met back in... about 1928 in Bolivia. I was quite adventurous in my youth and she was... well..."
As he watched one of his oldest Professors chuckle in fond remembrance with an odd grin on his face, which caused the rest of the professors there to shift uncomfortably, Albus allowed his eyes to twinkle in mirth. After letting him have a few moments, the Headmaster snapped him out of his thoughts. "I am sorry to interrupt old friend, but I believe you think that Mister Potter might well be using a similar method?"
Having shaken himself out of old and pleasant memories of his youth, Flitwick slowly nodded. "Hmm... yes, as I said it does fit a rather surprising number of the signs. And a child in the Muggle world and thus exposed to Muggle fantasy fiction might well rediscover such a method..." He then frowned. "And the fact that he rediscovered such a fact is of some interest as it begs the question of if others in the world have and how many might well now be doing so due to the slow increase of the numbers of such fiction." After a moment more of reflection, Flitwick shook his head. "But that still does not manage to explain away exactly why he has issues with casting spells the normal way, though it does do so for how he manages it otherwise."
A throat being cleared echoed and the professors turned to look at the until now ignored school mediwitch. She looked at each member of the group. "I may... have an explanation for it as a matter of fact."
Dumbledore steepled his fingers as he gave her a small nod, interested in what she may have to say. "Please go on Poppy."
She took a breath as everyones attention focused onto her, she soon let it out as she began. "As you likely already know, after the recent... incident at the game, I was asked to do a complete checkup of Mr. Potter to make sure that there was no curses placed on him." Poppy then grimaced in distaste as she remembered some of the results. "One of the things that I found out was that his magical signature had changed from how it was when I had performed a checkup on him when he was but a babe."
The Headmaster raised an eyebrow at this as he remembered some things. "Correct me if I am wrong, but is that not to be expected though? A magical child's signature does change noticeably as they age after all."
Poppy gave him a small glare. "Yes, but normally such a change is small as it is caused by the slow blending by what amounts the parents' signatures in the child as they age. In Mr. Potter's case, it most certainly is not a small change." She waited for the mumbles to die down before she continued. "When I performed his checkup, besides signs that he had suffered from malnutrition for a good portion of his early childhood and perhaps beyond, there were some major descripencies between his magical signature as an infant and how it is now..." Madam Pomfrey shook her head as she ran a hand along her hair. "I would swear that it belonged to someone else with what I saw and how it might not belong to someone totally human..."
Needless to say that little bit of information caught everyones' attention, especially Dumbledore's as his expression turned serious while his eyes narrowed. "By that, do you mean in a way akin to a vampire or werewolf. Poppy? Because Mister Potter seems completely human to the eye and while the Potter's have non-human blood running through their veins, it should be such a small amount as to cause a negligible difference."
Snape just barely held in a snort of contempt. "Yes, go ahead and tell us what is wrong with the golden boy's magical core."
He shifted back though in partial surprise at the fierce scowl and glare that Poppy gave him. "I wish to Merlin that, that damn myth that DeGuile created would just curl up and die as it should." She then proceeded to wag a finger at him. "Wizards and witches do not have a magical 'Core'. That is a foolish idea that was created in the 13th Century by an equally foolish wizard." She then sighed. "We do not have a 'Core' as the majority would think. Magic is both created within our bodies as well as having been absorbed from the world around us. it then enters a circulatory system of sorts much like the bloodstream. Oddly, the veins and arteries are among the major parts of this system as blood acts as a conductive fluid for magic." Poppy shook her head. "Yes, well, anyways the magic that's in the body is redistributed throughout it, but the 'Magical Core' is nothing more then where it collects for a time and is a core as much as the heart is a 'Blood Core'!" She's snapped out of it by a throat being cleared and flushes some. "My apologies, Severus. It is something of a sore point for many mediwitches and mediwizards."
Albus just smiled at her her. "Quite all right Poppy. Merlin only knows how many times that I, myself, have had to reign in the urge to correct a common misconception of some sort or another!" He then turned serious once more. "Now then though Poppy, what seems to be wrong with Mister Potter's magic? And is it harmful to him?"
The mediwitch grumbled a bit before she got up and began to pace. "Not... wrong Albus. Just... different is the only word that I can use." She then put her thoughts in order before she gestured with one hand. "Normally in a witch's or wizard's body, their magic will flow in a certain manner. This flow can be quite chaotic when younger and only calms down some as the person in question ages. It will fluctuate widely in both strength and amount throughout the human's lifetime in much the same way that a swollen stream will experience increases in the strength of it's currents and the amounts of water flowing through. To continue the analogy, a witch or wizard's magical flow will experience relatively quick, but even, rises and falls in both the amount of magic and it's strength. Much like how a stream will rise or fall depending on how much water is entering it upstream. When young, a magical child's stream magic can experience a surge in times of stress like how a stream can suddenly have more water than it's banks can deal with. In the stream, it would overflow it's banks and cause a flood and in a magical child, the magic can burst out of them in accidental magic."
Flitwick closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "I think that I heard a similar description back when I was learning magical healing during the war against Grindlewald." He then opened his eyes and frowned as he looked around. "From what I remember, our wands and spells can and do make use of this. The lower the spell though, the more affected it can be."
Poppy gave him a slight smile as she nodded. "Yes, our wands due to how they work even out this magical flow even more as it's expelled through them. And the more powerful spells have more, for lack of better words, padding to handle any large amounts of magic being channeled through them."
Snape gave a sneer at this. "As... fascinating as this discussion is, I fail to see what it has to do with Potter's many inadequacies."
He is silenced a minute later by Poppy's glare. "I am getting to his issues, which are not inadequacies at all as you will see." She then took a breath and continued. "Now then, where an ordinary wizard's magic is like an open stream, Mr. Potter's is more like an enclosed and covered stream or perhaps stream going through a tunnel of some kind. So of course, when one of these pulses occur in his magic..."
Albus finished. "It comes out as one gush rather then a constant rise and fall as would be normal."
The diminutive Charms teacher nodded as he thought it over. "And with the way most spells are constructed, such would cause their matrices to overload during the casting and at best fail." He then frowned. "Or at worst backfire some."
Poppy nodded some as she gave him a slight smile. "Quite." She then sighed and shook her head. "It may be because he's so used to forcing his magic to do something that when he casts a spell, he puts too much into it subconsciously. Thankfully, as he ages his magic should even out more and he'll have less problems though a number of spells will be tough for him to cast."
Confused, McGonagall frowned. "But what does that have to do with mentioning that he had something not human about his magic? Seems human enough to me."
The mediwitch grimaced at that. "That has to do with something in particular that I found within his magic itself then anything." She made her way back to her chair and sat down heavily. "There were odd... bits, I suppose that you could call them or perhaps blobs, that kept showing up during my scans of his magic. They'd only be there for a few minutes before becoming dissolved into his magic as a whole and creating a slight surge. And both types had a distinctly non-human signature about them."
Spout blinked, despite being somewhat lost as her field of expertise did not have much to do with understanding spell casting, she caught that bit. "What do you mean by 'both'? There were two?"
Poppy surprisingly for her just shrugged, confusion on her face. "They're subtly different from each other, though obviously related somehow." She then shook her head in slight bemusement. "Of all things they're female and resemble those of magical horses, but one is darker then the other. Sadly, I can't identify which type."
As he leaned back (and steadfastly ignored his Deputy's comments about Petunia Dursley), Albus frowned in thought. "How interesting... I wonder if..." He shook his head. "Keep an eye on that, will you Poppy?"
McGonagall suddenly straightened. "There is one possibility that I know of that might explain it." At the Headmaster's nod, she continued though she looked highly uncomfortable. "As much as I don't like speaking of the dead in such a way, Lily being possibly an unregistered animagus might explain where the odd magic is coming from."
Dumbledore nodded as he thought it over. "Yes, that certainly seems plausible. I remember a few cases where mothers, not knowing they were pregnant, spent time in their animagus forms for periods of time. In such cases the child weren't unknown to develop traits based off the mother's animagus form. If Lily had a magical horse as a form, not rare but still uncommon, and spent time early in the pregnancy in it... yes. That might explain a few oddities about Mister Potter indeed. And with her having laid protection on him when she died with her magic providing power for it for the first few years..."
There's silence from everyone until Flitwick made a comment that got more then a few chuckles. "Well, with how Lily acted when she got truly angry with James, her having a thestral form doesn't seem quite that far fetched..."
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Harry grumbled as he scratched his nose in annoyance. "Someone is talking about me... I know it."
Nightmare blinked at the random comment as she raised her head from where she had been looking over Harry's work and watched him over the rims of her glasses. "What are you talking about now, Harry?"
As he picked up the ancient Egyptian knife that he had been cleaning and resumed doing so, Harry shrugged. "My nose keeps itching like nobody's business. I remember hearing that, that's a sign that someone is talking about you behind your back somewhere."
Luna looked at him from where she had been reading a used university textbook on physics before she commented dryly on the matter. "Harry, your famous. Someone is always talking about you behind your back." She ignored his even look as she continued. "Besides, sounds like an Old Mare's tale to me." She then turned back to her book. "So it's likely nothing."
Nightmare nodded. "The Little Princess has a point Harry." Her lips twitched as she chuckled some. "Besides, everyone knows that Old Mare's tales are never true! What type of person sees an Old Mare's tale and honestly believes it?" Harry grumbled a bit but the room once more descended into companionable silence as they turned back to their separate pursuits...