//------------------------------// // Chapter 23 // Story: The Wizard and the Lonely Princess // by Harry Leferts //------------------------------// 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 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Having just finished brushing his teeth, Harry swished some water around in his mouth before he spat it out into the sink. "I have really got to find a way to thank Hermione's parents for getting me some more toothpaste, floss, and mouthwash." Luna watched as her friend washed his toothbrush under the running water of the sink while she nodded. "Agreed." She then sighed. "Though at least now we know exactly how much we need for the year." As her wing stretched across his back, Harry channeled some magic into her subconsciously making her more solid. He then sighed as he reached for the floss with one hand while with the other he handed her the now rinsed toothbrush. She began to place some toothpaste on it as he shook his head and began to floss. "I still have trouble believing that the school has none." The alicorn just shrugged as she gestured at him with the toothbrush. "Well, they do have tooth cleaning spells, whitening potions, and breath freshening charms. If they have that, they don't need the actual items, now do they?" She began to brush her teeth with hers and Harry's shared toothbrush. "Magic can be a great time saver when needed and used properly." Harry gave her a glance. "You never seem to use magic though to clean your teeth." He continued to both talk and floss. "In fact, you mentioned that you used sticks that had an end frayed and something you called 'Breath sticks' to freshen your breath." Luna grimaced, but nodded. "Yes, well, I hated tooth cleaning spells unlike Celly. Always felt like I took a mouthful of sand and moved it around my mouth." She then sighed. "The breath sticks weren't bad though, especially the cinnamon ones. Just took a large amount and a while to work." Luna smiled as she looked at the mirror. "I am however quite glad that your people invented these toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash. Much easier and quicker then the methods that I had to deal with. " She grimaced. "Though one could do without the burning of the mouthwash." The boy just nodded. "Yeah, that can get pretty bad." He then frowned. "Though I doubt that I'm going to be using magic to clean my teeth. Especially that whitening potion." She just raised an eyebrow in question. "Oh? And why is that?" The young wizard in training shrugged. "I just don't trust something that can bleach your teeth and make them super shiny in just a few seconds." He then smiled. "As for the rest... I like just being able to take the time and relax like we're doing now." Luna smiled and chuckled. "Yes, I suppose that this has become a personal ritual of ours, hasn't it? A time for us to gather our thoughts for the coming day and chat." The two then fell silent as they continued their daily morning ritual. Suddenly, they grinned and snorted as the same thought occurred to them at the exact same time. Harry glanced at her as he continued to grin. "Time that we've had problems even finding outside of this lately." The blue alicorn nodded. "It has been a hectic past few weeks hasn't it?" From her position near the door where she was keeping a look out, Nim snorted. "Between that foal, Wood's mania over the game against Hufflepuff to the foalish ideas coming from Hermione and Neville about Snape, as well as the time used for your education... one would have to wonder when you would find time." As he threw away his now used floss, Harry rolled his eyes. "I still have no idea why they thought that Snape would want to referee a match in order to have a chance to kill me. That makes even less sense then the idea that he was when he was in the stands." As he filled a shot glass with mouthwash, he shook his head. "If he even had tried to, everyone would have seen it right off the bat what with him in the middle of the field flying." Nim's lips twitched as she chuckled. "Which would be followed by a barrage of hundreds of spells." She snorted in amusement. "He may hate you, but he's not that blinded by it." Harry frowned at that. "I wouldn't say hate, but maybe an immense dislike. Still have no idea why..." As she shook her head, Luna just shrugged as she rinsed the toothbrush. "Now that is an interesting question, but not one that we're likely to find out about anytime soon I'm afraid." She then reached for the floss. "And as for your friends and their reactions... It may be a bit silly, but it also shows that they care for you." He just chuckled a bit. "I know." After Harry started to swish the mouthwash around in his mouth, Luna flossed as she waited for him to finish. Once he had spat it out, she continued the discussion. "I have to admit though, I am quite pleased with how well your studies are going, both mundane and magical, both what I have taught you and what has come from the schoool." The boy next to her grimaced before he spat into the sink again. "I suppose." He then frowned a little and sighed. "I wish that I knew why exactly I have been having so much trouble with wizard magic. Luna frowned herself a little in thought. "Perhaps it is simply because you are learning two entirely different styles of magic at once, and thus your attention is split between the two and limits the ability of both." She nodded a bit. "Hmm... if you were to focus on one to the exclusion of the others, then your ability might grow with that particular style much faster then it has thus far." The alicorn then looked in the mirror over at him. "I, myself, remember how Celly had issues time to time as she tried to learn what had been a new school of unicorn magic while also practicing and perfecting pegasi moves that I had learned and passed onto her. In my case, I practiced one until I had it down pat and then moved to my next goal." She chuckled a little. "Celly... always had a bit of a problem with trying to tackle too many things at once." She then shook her head. "Meanwhile, my problem was more focusing too much on one thing to the exclusion of all else." Harry slowly nodded in thought as he leaned against the sink. "So then, if I focused on just one, then I might be able to improve at a better rate?" The alicorn shook her head. "In order for that to happen, you would have to drop the other two areas of study, but mundane education and the magical style. And, sadly, I don't think that, that might be the best idea as of right now." As he nodded, Harry sighed. "That makes sense." He then glanced at where Nightmare Moon was still keeping an eye out. "You've been awfully quiet today, Nim. Something on your mind?" She just frowned a little as she looked up at the ceiling in thought. "It's about what I overheard Snape and Quirrel talking about when I returned your broom to the shed while you showered up." Luna hummed to herself as she finished her flossing. Done, she tossed it into the garbage. "Come to think of it, Quirrel has been seemingly under a lot of stress." Nim nodded. "I think it has to do with that conversation. After all, why would he be reminding him of where his allegiances lie?" Seeing Harry about to answer, she waved a hoof. "Yes, yes. It could be just office politics, as I believe it is called, but there might be more to it then that." Harry shrugged as he shook his head while Luna poured out some mouthwash into the same shot glass that he had used. "Maybe he's allied with some family? If what we've guessed is correct, then that is a possibility and he's simply reminding him that he's Dumbledore's employee." The plush just shook her head in thought. "Perhaps. But whatever it was, it truly shook Quirrel and frightened him bady... very badly indeed." Nightmare then frowned. "I suppose that all we can do though is keep an eye on a developing situation..." As the alicorn next to him started to swish mouthwash around her mouth, Harry frowned. "I suppose that, that would be the best that we can possibly do as of this time." After Luna spat it out, Harry snorted as she continued to spit into the sink. "You really hate that stuff, don't you?" Luna shook her head. "Hate it alone? No. I do like how clean my mouth feels and how fresh my breath is. But hating the burning? Oh buck yes." She then sighed and grimaced. "Still, it beats almost an hour of using the flayed end of a twig and perhaps another two chewing on either herbal leaves or a breathstick made from said leaves to get close to the same result." ________________________________________________________________________ The calm of the day soon disappeared and that night found the three in the trunk as an angry Nim stomped around the room in a fury. "That... that... THAT BUCKING BASTARD!" As Harry sighed, he fell back onto the recliner while he used his fingers and rubbed the sides of his head as he tried in vain to ward off the incoming headache. "It's not that surprising, Nim. You know that he is biased in favor of the students from his house." He frowned a little as he continued. "Especially when it comes to Malfoy for some odd reason." Harry then shook his head. "And add in that he's been in a massively bad mood lately..." Nightmare just growled as she stomped toward a pile of cloth pieces that Harry used in his training to boost his control of his telekinesis spell. While she did this, Luna shook her head as she settled on one of the chair's arms. "She has a point, Harry." She grimaced as she remembered what had happened. "Snape allowed for Draco to insult your mother with that... disgusting word. And then, Snape, went on to insult your father." The alicorn poked him in the shoulder. "Being in a bad mood does not excuse what happened." The plush turned around and growled. "20 points off Gryffindor for 'Provoking him' and another 10 when he was asked if he was going to punish Malfoy for it! Not to mention four detentions with him!" She snarled. "That man...!" Luna sighed and looked to the side. "Not to mention Harry, his 'bad mood' is something that he's taking out on everyone around him. It's actually pretty unprofessional and the fact that almost none of the teachers are doing anything..." She shook her head. "No, it doesn't excuse what he said at all." The wizard in training just ran his hand through his hair as he grimaced. "And I'm not saying that it does Luna, but I can understand that he's likely going to react worse then usual because of his mood." As she grabbed one of the pieces of cloth near her, Nightmare growled as she tried to tear it apart with her hooves. "And yet, what happened when you talked with McGonagall? She has even less excuse then Snape! She is your head of house and the Deputy Headmistress!" Her fellow alicorn rubbed the side of her head as she felt a headache coming on, if only because of her own anger. "I don't understand it either, Nightmare. How the hay she can let Snape get away with such things I don't think that I will ever understand." Harry shook his head as he rested his chin on one fist. "I'm actually not that surprised." As the other two turned to him, he continued. "From the beginning, she has shown signs that she wants to avoid being confrontational with the other teachers and interfering in what they're doing and their decisions." Luna frowned a little. "I suppose that due to her also being the Deputy Headmistess she might not want to be seen as having favoritism and above inter-house squabbles. But then, she shouldn't be Head of House and Headmistress at the same time." She shook her head. "One or the other, but not both." Nim just continued to try and tear the piece of fabric in her hooves as she snarled. "And yet she goes on and on about fairness! That hypocrite!" The other alicorn was about to make a comment when Nim made a strangled sound of rage as she bit down on the fabric she held and jerked back with some of it in her mouth, easily tearing it. As Nightmare's head stayed in the back position, Luna looked at the cloth and saw the perfect bite mark in it where she had torn it, before she turned to Harry with a raised eyebrow. "Now that's different..." Nim, however, dropped it and reached into her mouth, her rage now replaced with confusion and surprise. "What the hay?" She then pulled the empty hoof out and looked at it. "Where the hay did the cloth go?" Having raised an eyebrow at her reaction, Harry got off the chair and made his way over. "The cloth? You dropped it Nim." Bending down, he grabbed the dropped piece of cloth and held it up. "See?" Harry then frowned. "Are you feeling okay, Nim?" She shook her head as she took the piece from him in confusion and then looked around her, her eyes scrutinizing each part of the floor that was within sight. Nightmare then held up the piece of cloth. "I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about the part that I just bit off. I can't find it." As he frowned, the young wizard in training looked around as did Luna. "Well, it has to be around here somewhere after all. None of us used magic to vanish it after all." After a few more moments of having searched, Harry shared a look with Luna before they both turned to Nightmare, who had stood up and looked underneath her. "Okay, this might be a bit odd." He then frowned. "Let us just examine what happened, shall we?" Harry gestured at the cloth. "So, you grabbed the cloth..." Nim rolled her eyes as she sighed, but she still nodded anyways as she picked up the cloth. "Right." She then looked at the cloth in her hand and began to twist it. "So, I had been trying to tear this thing apart. But not making any progress, I bit it." An odd look then came over her face. "Oddly, it tasted like a dry piece of bread for some reason..." Both Harry and Luna gave her an odd look as before the other alicorn commented. "Wait... You mean that the fabric actually tasted like dried bread?" Nightmare rolled her eyes and sighed. "Yes, but don't bother asking me how that is... Anyways..." She then grabbed the cloth and brought it to her mouth. "After I bit it, I pulled back like you would after taking a bite out of food like so and..." She then went through the motions. And then they looked at the cloth to see that another bite had been taken out of it as Nightmare's jaws worked. She shook it off and looked back at the two though. "And then it was just... gone..." She trailed off and blinked as she realized, alongside Harry and Luna, that once more nothing had fallen out of her mouth. "What the hay?" Harry raised an eyebrow as he remembered her jaw moving. "Nim... did you just eat that piece of cloth?" When they looked at him, he clarified. "It looked like you were chewing afterward." She blinked and then looked down at the cloth in her hooves. "I... don't know..." Nightmare worked her jaw a little before she shook her head as she frowned thoughtfully as she thought back at what happened. "I did have this swallowing sensation, but that's impossible." She looked over at Harry. "After all, you didn't give this body a esophagus to swallow things with..." Nim then sighed. "But still..." All of them then turned back to the cloth before Luna spoke up. "Well... there's really only one way to find out if you can actually eat cloth I suppose..." Nightmare looked down at the cloth and sighed before she brought it to her mouth and began to 'Eat' it. After several minutes, she was just finishing the last bit as Luna and Harry watched her with widened eyes. Luna then shook it off and leaned down. "Well?" Nim smacked her lips speculatively as she thought it over before she smiled. "That was actually... rather enjoyable." She then cocked her head to the side. "Hmm... I wonder what other fabrics I can eat..." Nightmare blinked though as she heard a snort. She then turned and gave Harry an questioning look. "What?" Harry just smirked as he tried to back a snicker. "Well... remember the old joke about dreaming about eating a marshmallow and then waking up to find that your pillow was gone? I think that in your case that might not be a joke." Nightmare growled playfully before she smacked him in the arm. "Shut it." She then frowned as she tapped her chin in thought. "Though I don't think that I could." It was then that her fellow alicorn shook her head. "Actually, I wonder if you could eat a pillow." She gestured at the fabric. "After all, here you are with the ability to eat normal fabric as if it was food of some kind. What about stuffing? Or plastics? What other things could you eat?" She received a deadpan look from the plush in return. "I am not some subject for you to experiment on." Luna blinked and smiled. "Wasn't that cloth good though...?" Nim leaned back, somewhat unnerved by the smile on her counterpart's face. "Er... yes, I suppose so..." The smile only widened as Harry tried not to laugh at their antics. "And I distinctly remember someone saying that they wished to be able to eat, many, many times. " She leaned down toward Nightmare's face. "Right...?" After she saw that she was going to get no help from Harry, Nightmare sighed as she facehoofed. "Fine..." She suddenly found a ball of red yarn in front of her before she gave the grinning Luna a level look. "... Ha. Ha." Luna only raised an eyebrow before she gestured at it again. "Well... go on." Nim looked back at it and sighed. "You're not going to leave me alone until I do... will you?" Upon having seen her shake her head, Nightmare sighed and grabbed the loose end of the yarn and put into her mouth. After a moment of chewing, she pulled it out with a thoughtful look. "Tastes like... licorice..." Then before Harry's and Luna's stunned eyes, she devoured it within a few minutes until what had been a large ball was gone. Swallowing the last bit, she looked at the now bare roller and poked herself in the stomach. "That's odd... where did it all go?" Harry tapped his chin in thought before he looked at her. "Do you feel any different?" Her ear flicked as she considered the question before she shrugged. "Not... really." She frowned. "Well, nothing more then feeling more energetic." She then looked around at the other pieces of fabric. "I wonder how many other fabrics I can eat..." By the time they went to bed, they found that Nim could "Eat" any form of fabric or cloth as well as stuffing... __________________________________________________________________________ Having reached a gargoyle with Percy the next day, Harry turned to look at him as he cleared his throat. "Well, here we are Harry, the Headmaster's office. The red haired Prefect frowned a bit before he shook his head and sighed. "As much as I might want you to be able to manage what you are aiming for, the chances of you getting anything done about your issue with Snape is rather..." He looked around for a moment before he leaned toward the younger boy and the doll on his shoulder. "Is rather slim to none I am afraid." Harry shook his head a little as he scowled. "I have to do something, Percy. Otherwise it'll bother me until I do. The Prefect just nodded. "I understand." He gestured with a hand. "I'm just giving you a friendly warning is all so that you won't be too disappointed." Before Harry could have said anything else, Percy turned toward the gargoyle and cleared his throat. "Jelly babies." Nightmare didn't bother to hide the incredulous expression on her face or the incredulity from her voice as the statue jumped to the side while beside them the unseen Luna facehoofed. "... Jelly babies... The password to his office... is jelly babies...!?" Percy just shrugged. "It always has been some kind of sweet from all the times that I've been here or told the password. Asked Dad about it and according to him it was the same during his years as well." He then sighed as he clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Well then, good luck." And with those words he turned and left down the hall. As he grumbled, Harry slowly made his way up the revolving staircase though his, Nim's, and Luna's minds wondered at it. 'I wonder how this even works...' After he reached the top, Harry raised his fist to knock, only to be stopped as he heard Dumbledore's voice drift through the door. "You may both come in Mr. Potter, Miss Moon. The three friends shared a look before they entered. Once they had, they looked around in interest. Luna, however, gasped as she spotted a red and gold bird on a perch. "That's a phoenix!" Her voice then took on a saddened tone. "It looks so much like Celly's familiar, Philomena..." While Harry leaned into her to comfort her, having made sure that he looked like he was looking at something on the wall, Nightmare frowned a bit as the phoenix gave her a curious look before she focused on the rest of the room, in particular the various knickknacks on a table. 'How interesting...' From where he sat behind his desk, Dumbledore observed Harry and Nightmare over his glasses before he saw Harry as he watched the phoenix. "I see that you have spotted Fawkes, Harry. He has been with me for many, many years now." He then gestured at a highbacked chair in front of the desk. "Come, have a seat my boy. You wished to talk with me about something?" Harry nodded as he made his way to the offered chair. "I did, thank you for seeing me, Sir." The Headmaster smiled as he reached for a bowl of wrapped candies and offered Harry some. "Lemon drop?" After Harry took one, Dumbledore smiled happily as he took one himself and, after having unwrapped it, popped it into his mouth. "I must say that so few usually take me up when I offer them some that it is quite pleasent when one does." He the steepled his fingers. "Now then my boy, what seems to be the issue?" Harry gathered up his thoughts for a moment before he began. "It has to do with a recent incident between me, Malfoy, and Professor Snape." There was a flash of pleasant surprise that briefly flickered across the Headmaster's face when Harry referred to his potions teacher by title, though Albus gestured for him to continue which he did. Eventually, Harry slowly finished. "... And it's not so much the punishment that was levied against me that is the problem, though I do think it a bit much, but rather the fact that Malfoy was not punished despite him saying this in front of a teacher. It's unfair that I was the only one punished." Dumbledore was quiet for several moments as he considered what he had been told before he sighed. "Harry, I am afraid that there is not much that I can do in this particular case." He held up a hand as he noticed Harry about to respond and to forestall the younger wizard's incoming complaint. "Please, let me explain my reasoning for a moment." Harry shared a look with Nightmare who bristled with suppressed rage, but he eventually nodded. "You must understand my boy, that from some... personal experiences, I am of the opinion that a Headmaster should not interfere with what a teacher may do unless it goes too far and crosses some lines. I have myself seen what happens when a Headmaster plays favorites in such a way that it interferes with what teachers may have done" Though curious, Harry shoved those thoughts to the back of his head before he sighed. "So you're not going to do anything then?" A slight twinkle entered Dumbledore's eyes as he shook his head. "Now I did not say that, Harry." He raised a finger. "Now while I cannot do anything about your punishment Harry, I shall take your word for it and take three points from Slytherin for such language, but no more as I cannot confirm it one way or the other at the moment. I will also ask Severus to relax a little, though he is currently under a large amount of stress right at this moment you must understand for reasons that I cannot divulge." He then looked over his glasses. "Now then, is there anything else that you wished to discuss?" Harry sighed and shook his head. "No, Sir." It wasn't until they had left the office and were out of sight of the enterance that Nightmare finally let out a growl of rage that she had held in. "I cannot believe that man!" Luna also shook her head in frustration before she let it out in a sigh. "It was less then we'd hoped for..." As she trailed off, the young wizard in training beside her finished it. "But more then we'd expected." He then grimaced. "I would say that we should take it a step farther and go to the Board of Directors, but..." Nim simply grunted in disgust. "But if Neville is correct and that foal Malfoy's father is on it and got most of them in his pocket, then there's little to no chance there." Harry sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "So in other words, we just have to keep biding our time until we get a chance and continue to record what he's been doing like you guys suggested." Beside him, Luna nodded with a smirk. "And hopefully, the weight of documentation along with your fame behind it, might be just enough to put some pressure for some changes..." ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The months passed as winter became spring, though none of the Hogwarts students got to enjoy it much as the teachers piled on the work. As exams got closer, Hermione started to drive everyone crazy until a solution was found, which found the group (which consisted of Harry, Nightmare, Luna, Hermione, Neville, Myrtle, and Tonks) in the library on a warm spring day as they studied. After Myrtle quizzed her on some of her subjects, Tonks gave a groan as she laid her head down on the table, looking at the window with a forlorn look. "I am never going to remember any of this or pass the NEWTs I need dammit..." Nim looked up from where she was checking Neville's work with her eyebrow raised as she adjusted her glasses. "I very much doubt that with the work that you're putting in." Tonks smiled and was about to thank her when she continued. "Though if it is too hard for you as perhaps many things seem to be, you should just give up before you strain something." Tonks moved her head some so that she could glare at Nim with one bloodshot eye. "Let me think about that for a moment... Hmmm. I'm going with... no." As she spotted the smirk on the plush's face, she sat up straight and ran a hand down her face (while using her powers to make it seem to stretch) before she looked at Myrtle with a thankful look. "Anyways, thanks for the help that you're giving me. It's really helping." Myrtle just smiled as she floated there. "You're quite welcome." Her smile only widened with her next words. "I'm just happy that I'm finding some use for all those years of having watched classes." The plush shook her head as she turned to where Harry and Neville were helping each other to study. Suddenly, as quick as a striking snake, Nim struck out and whapped Hermione across the knuckles with a rolled up newspaper as the witch had reached for a book. "Potions and herbology are scheduled for right now, Hermione. Transfiguration is not for another hour at the least." Hermione scowled as she rubbed her knuckles she pointingly ignored as Harry snickered. "Nightmare! I need to prepare for the exams!" When she reached for the book again though, she just narrowly missed having her knuckles whapped again as she jerked them away just in time. Nightmare for her part just watched her over the rims of her glasses with a slightly amused look though stern. "Exams are not for a few weeks yet, Hermione. Everything has been scheduled specifically to maximise effectiveness for time spent." Nightmare attempted to whap Hermione's hand as she tried to grab the book again. "So Stop being such a fretful mare. Look at Tonks, besides some helf-hearted complaints, one does not see her freaking out. And her exams are much more important." Having leaned her head against her open hand, Tonks nodded as she watched the byplay in amusement. "Quite honestly it's a nice break from the madness of the other seventh years in the Hufflepuff common room. And the company's not too bad either." She then straighted up and leaned back as she stretched her arms back, a playful smirk on her face as she saw Neville blush... right before a rolled up newspaper smacked her in the head. "Ow!" Nim waggled said newspaper at her in mock anger. "Now, now. You can tease the poor colt later. He is studying right now and doesn't need any... distractions at the moment." Tonks grimaced as she rubbed her forehead where it had hit before she spotted something that distracted her from her planned comeback. "Wotcher, Hagrid." The rest of the group turned to see Hagrid as he stood there and looked completely out of place as he placed something behind him. "Er... 'ello there Nymphadora, righ'?" She twitched while she hissed at him. "Yessss..." He looked at the group and smiled for a few moments. "You bunch studyin' on a day like today?" Harry looked at the window and watched a cloud as it passed by though the clear, blue sky. "Well, not like we have much choice with how much the teachers are piling on." He then gave Hagrid a raised eyebrow. "Looking up something Hagrid?" Hagrid started for a moment before he looked around nervously. "Er... got a new creature tha' I'm be lookin' up to care for..." He then leaned toward the group. "If'in yeh want, yeh could stop by for a cuppa tea later?" After they nodded and let him know that they would, he left. Nim waited until he was out of view before she jumped off the table and walked to where he was. A few moments later she came back with a deadpan expression. "He was looking up dragons." As she looked in the direction that he had gone in, Tonks blinked. "He did?" The plush still nodded before she commented in a dry tone. "In particular books on dragon breeding..." Neville looked at the area in question with a nervous look. "Dragon breeding has been banned since the 1600s though..." As he facepalmed, Harry groaned. "He didn't..."