//------------------------------// // Chapter 24 // 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 _____________________________________________________________________________________________ After a while of having to convince Hermione, the group left the library and started to walk toward Hagrid's hut. From her position up upon Harry's shoulder, Nim snorted as she smirked. "Remember how you said that he couldn't have?" At Harry's puzzled look, she simply gestured at Hagrid's hut. "Yeah..." It took Harry several moments before he realized what she had meant before he facepalmed and groaned. "He did... he really did..." At the expressions he saw on the others' faces, he turned to Tonks. "Dragons eggs need fire to hatch, correct?" She slowly nodded, not having caught on. "Well, yes..." She scrunched up her face as she struggled to remember something from her notes and studies. "Dragon mothers breath fire onto their eggs to keep them hot enough to incubate properly. Less fire used means males and the more fire that is used, the higher the chance for females I believe." She then blinked. "Why?" Harry just pointed at the air above Hagrid's hut with a deadpan expression as he commented dryly. "It's an extremely warm spring day, and yet with the amount of smoke that is coming out of his chimney could only be possible if he had a fire going that would be better for a freezing winter night." He then looked at Tonks as he continued. "Now then, what possible reason could there be for him to have a fire of such size going on a day like today?" Hermione closed her eyes and pinched her nose as if she was fighting off a massive headache. "And with the books he was looking at... possibly to incubate dragon eggs..." Beside Harry, Luna rolled her eyes as she commented in a dry tone of voice with an expressionless face. "And that's not mentioning that he has every curtain, window and door closed. Nope! None of this suspicious at all!" As Nightmare scrunched up her face and snorted, Harry whispered softly out the corner of his mouth. "That level of sarcasm and dry wit is something that I would have expected from Nim, Luna. Not you." She just grinned as she snickered. "Yes, well, normally I simply chose not be so, even if I could get away with it. After all, Nightmare had to have gotten it from somewhere you know." Her grin then widened with her next words as she spoke them in a mock worried tone with a slight British tinge. "Or perhaps I have simply hung out with you British people and your form of humor and wit has somehow infected me..." She gave him a half lidded gaze as she leaned toward him which caused one of his eyebrows to slowly inch skyward. "Much like a fungus I do believe." Harry snorted hard at that as he bit back a laugh which caused Hermione to look at him with a raised eyebrow. As he noticed her inquiring look, he waved it off with a small grin. "Just something that Nightmare just said, that's all." Still slightly suspicious, but also curious, Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Really now? And what was that?" Having thought quickly, Harry gestured at the amused plushy. "She was being her usual sarcastic self is all, Hermione. She was pretty much going on about how all the curtains, windows, and doors being closed are completely not suspicious in the slightest." After a few moments, the bushy haired witch-in-training nodded before she looked back at the way that they were going as her lips twitched in some amusement. "I suppose that in her usual tone it would be funny." Neville, however, frowned a bit. "Well... it might not be a dragon egg..." Seeing them having turned toward him, he continued. "There's some magical fungi and plants that need darkness and large amounts of heat to grow..." The youngest witch there sighed a bit. "That's a possibility... but I can't really see Hagrid going through all that trouble..." However, with her back to him, Hermione never noticed how Harry was trying to hold back from showing his amusement as beside the group Luna fell into theatrics such as throwing her foreleg over her eyes dramatically. The whole time during which she mock wailed. "Oh! Woe is me! For shall I forever be doomed to have all that I do be accredited to Nightmare Moon? Queen of Darkness? Shall I forever be entombed within that shade she calls a shadow? Oh! OH! Such a terrible fate for one such as I it is!" As he bit back a laugh, Harry glanced at her and nearly lost it as she stood on her two legs and weaved back and forth with one foreleg over her eyes before he whispered out of the side of his mouth. "Not helping matters at all, Luna." He then slowly smiled as he continued to whisper. "So what has got you in such a great mood then?" While she fell back on all four hooves she grinned before she skipped a little. "Because it's Spring of course!" She then inhaled through her nose deeply and released is as a sigh. "After such a long, cold, and dreary winter, the sight of life coming back after the snow melts does me good." She then snorted and shook her head. "And I thought that the winter back in Surrey was dreary." Harry rolled his eyes at this and was about to whisper back when he realized that they were right outside Hagrid's hut. The next moment had Hermione stride forward and knock on the door. "Hagrid, we're here." After a few seconds passed, Hagrid opened the door and his eyes widened before he blinked at the sight of the whole group on his doorstep. "Er... I didn't mean for all of yeh to come..." From her position on Harry's shoulders, Nightmare scoffed. "That was certainly how it sounded to me..." She then dove off Harry's shoulders and into his shirt as Fang bounded out and tried to jump up him, her grumbles able to be heard through the fabric. "I really hate that dog..." The large man just chuckled as he reached out and grabbed the dog's collar and pulled him back off Harry. "Naw, yeh know tha' yeh don' hate him, Nightmare." Hagrid didn't seem to have noticed the baleful gaze that she had given him which had said otherwise. He then let the others in before he stuck his head out and looked around before he closed the door. "Well then, sommat tea should do thr trick..." It was only after they turned down some stoat sandwiches that he offered (and which Luna commented was a delicacy among the griffin tribes) that they sat down. As they all, with the exception of Nightmare and Myrtle, sweated in the heat of the hut, Harry gave a glance around. "So then, you had something to show us, Hagrid?" He wringed his hands as he glanced around at the group nervously. "Well, I didn' expect all of yeh to ter be here, yeh understand..." Hagrid coughed a little. "I had only meant fer 'Arry, 'Ernione, and Nev ter come..." He noticed the glare that Nightmare shot him and nodded at her. "An' Nightmare as well." The large man then ran a hand through his beard as he glanced at the hearth. "As fer what I was goin' ter show yeh..." Myrtle was the one who noticed it first and she let out a groan as she facepalmed. "A dragon's egg, Hagrid!? Really?" She turned and placed her hands on her hips. "I know that back in school you had a love for dangerous animals which has only grown if what I've heard is correct, but this? This is ridiculous, Hagrid." Hagrid scratched the back of his head as he looked right embarrassed about it before he cleared his throat. "S'not like I took it from the nest that its mommy made fer it." He then straightened some as he nodded. "Won it off'a this nice stranger down afta a game O' cards just las' night. I was down at the village pub, see." The giant man then shook his head in slight confusion. "He seemed like he was quite glad to be rid O' it fer some reason ter be honest." Hermione took a deep breath before she let it out slowly as she commented. "Yes, how perfectly strange. I have to wonder why myself." The friendly giant just nodded, happy that someone had understood. "A righ' mystery tha' it is." He didn't notice the bushy haired witch as she pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, though Nim leaned over and whispered into her ear. "I give you a 8 out of 10. Not bad for a filly and would like to be treated to it again." The groundskeeper hadn't seemed to have noticed this as he continued on. "Been reading up on them, see." He gestured at the fireplace as the flames in it roared. "Keep it in the fire ter keep warm, their mothers breath on them yeh know. And once it hatches, feed it a bucket 'O brandy and chicken's blood every half hour." Hagrid then smiled as he nodded. "I even identified what species the egg is. Tha' there egg is from a Norwegian Ridgeback." Neville then looked around somewhat nervously. "Er... what are you going to do when it hatches Hagrid? You can't keep it here after all..." He then blinked at the confused expression on Hagrid's face. "Right?" After he blinked for a moment, Hagrid shook his head and chuckled before he patted Neville on the shoulder, nearly having knocked the poor boy over. "Wha' else am I goin' ter do with the little fellow Nev? I'm goin' ter raise 'im meself." He then gestured at the books he had signed out. "Why did yeh think I was lookin' up about dragons?" For more then a full minute, the group just stared in silence at the pleased man before Hermione commented in a low voice. "Hagrid... you live in a wooden house..." The giant man just raised an eyebrow and scratched his head in some confusion. "Tha's right. Built it meself after all. Is sommat the matter with it?" Despite having been made of plush, Nightmare closed her eyes painfully as she somehow made the motions of having taken a deep breath. "Hagrid, you are going to be keeping a firebreathing creature in a hut that is made from flammable wood..." She then grimaced as she remembered something that she had read that was a difference between the dragons of Equestria and this world's. "And that's not counting how dragons grow extremely quickly and reach their full size in about a year or two..." He blinked for a moment before the giant man rumbled in laughter and leaned back against the wall, which caused the plush to become annoyed. Before she could have said anything though, Hagrid stopped. "I know all about dragons an growin', Nightmare. Like I said, I read th' books." He flicked a tear away from his eye before he continued. "Once it grows ter big, I'll take the little fellow out to the Forbidden Forest. I know a place or two close ter the mountains wit some caves." By now, even Neville shook his head in some disbelief as he glanced at the egg. "Um... Hagrid? You're going to have an animal that is a flying, magically resistant predator which needs a dozen fully trained wizards to subdue... Close to a school full of children..." He looked around nervously. "I... don't think that, that might be a good idea..." As he shook his head a little, Hagrid chuckled. "No worries, Nev. Mos' dragons are jus' misunderstood is all. Afta' all, Gringotts is supposed ter train their own, so's I should be able ter as well." He then smiled. "'Sides, It'll have plenty to eat out in th' forest." Harry grimaced as he internally sighed. 'Yeah... like any students nearby or who might be at the edges...' Having had the same thought, Nim rubbed the sides of her head as she sighed. She then gave Hagrid a level look as she controlled herself so she wouldn't start screaming at him. She had promised Harry to tone it down after all. 'Not to mention he promised to learn that spell to gather silk from spider webs if I tried. Mmm... spider silk...' She shook her head free of the thought while a small part of her mind commented on how odd it was she had grown to like eating fabric, before she turned back to the matter at hoof. "Look, all that we're saying is that this is a slightly foalish endevor that has many problems in it's implementation." She ignored Hagrid's slight glare as she looked up at the ceiling. "This is almost as foalish as having a Cerberus guarding the third floor corridor." Hagrid's head snapped around to look at her with some surprise. "How'd yeh know about Fluffy?" The only thing that met this was completely silence, the type that you could hear crickets as they chirped in it or a pin after it was dropped. A silence that was soon broken by Harry, Luna, and Nim as they sputtered and said the same thing while the others just stared. After a few moments, Luna facehoofed. "F... FLUFFY!? He's named a Cerberus, one of the most dangerous and deadly guardian beasts... FLUFFY!?" Having taken their stunned silence for interest, and not having heard Luna's exclamation, Hagrid chuckled. "Yup. Bought 'i off a nice Greek chappie down in the pub las' year as a matter O' fact. Just got 'im trained when I gave 'im over ter Dumbledore to guard the..." As he trailed off, Harry raised an eyebrow in curiosity. "Yes...?" The friendly giant, however, pursed his lips before he shook his head. "Ain't sayin' anymore then tha'." Tonks raised an eyebrow as well, which did meet her hairline, as she crossed her arms. "Hagrid, whatever it is, it can't be that important if it's being guarded in a school." Harry then turned and looked at her a moment later as he frowned in thought. "Tonks, whatever it is, must be pretty important for a Cerberus to be guarding it." He then narrowed his eyes some. "I think that, whatever it is was in the vault at Gringotts that got robbed, I remember us visiting it earlier that day, so someone is after it..." Anything else that he was going to say was interrupted as Hagrid wagged a finger at him. "Now, don' yeh be pokin' yeh's nose inter tha'. It's between Dumbledore and Nickolas Flamel..." He trailed off as he suddenly realized what he said as Nightmare's head whipped around and looked at him. "I shouldn' have said tha'..." Nightmare watched him for a moment with widened eyes before she wiped her expression off and replaced it with feigned interest, right before she made a sound like she had cleared her throat. Once she had his attention, she looked at Hagrid and changed the subject. "Now then... about this dragon egg..." The plush ignored all the strange looks she received from the others and after a few more minutes of conversation, the group began to get up as they prepared to leave. Harry, however, turned to the others. "You guys mind going ahead for a bit? I need to ask some things of Hagrid and will catch up once I'm done. Hermione looked at him with an interested expression on her face. "Really?" As he chuckled, Harry nodded. "Yes, Hermione." He then shrugged. "I had Hagrid go out on one of his trips and pick some items up that I needed. That's pretty much it." The bushy haired witch just nodded, having gotten used to her friend's oddities and eccentricies over the past year. "Diagon, I'm guessing then?" Harry just shrugged in reply before he answered. "Among other places." Despite her still having been curious, Hermione nodded her assent and soon left. After she had done so, Harry turned to where Hagrid was pulling out a bag off a shelf. "Thanks for doing this again, Hagrid. You didn't have to." He simply chuckled as Harry took the bag from him. "Not ter worry 'Arry. Didn' bother me ter get it for yeh." Hagrid then frowned thoughtfully. "Though I don' know why yeh would need so much fabric, yarn, blankets, and sommat." The young wizard glanced at him and smiled. "Well, I got a small project going on with Nim at the moment which I need them for." Hagrid thought it over for a moment before he nodded. "I see, yeh making more items fer Nightmare then?" At Harry's nod, he clapped him on the shoulder. "Yeh will make some witch very happy, 'Arry." After he had given the giant man a confused look (while he ignored how Nim and Luna both snickered at him), Harry shrugged. "Well... something like that I suppose.." The young wizard placed the bag into his pocket and was about to say goodbye, when a thought occurred to him. "Hagrid?" The gentle giant nodded for him to continue. "I've been having some... issues... with my magic backfiring when I do a spell and it's kind of... well... embarrassing." Hagrid chuckled as he good naturedly slapped Harry on the shoulder, which caused him to stumble some. "Yeh haven't got much ter worry about 'Arry." He then remembered the meetings where Harry's issue had been brought up before he began to stroke his bead in thought. "I don' reckon' how I could help yeh though..." Harry rubbed the back of his neck as he answered. "Well, being a groundskeeper, I was wondering if you knew of some place where I could go to practice, out of sight you know?" As he frowned, the groundskeeper tilted his head back in thought. "I mighta know a few places where yeh could practice out of sight. But I'll have to check them first ter make sure they're safe..." _______________________________________________________________________________ After having said his goodbyes, Harry left the hut and met up with his friends who had been having a quiet conversation nearby, Myrtle having gone on ahead to the school. With that done, they began their journey back up to the castle. Hermione was silent for several moments before she looked at Harry and spoke up. "So, what did Hagrid get for you." A moment later she blinked before she narrowed her eyes as Harry handed Nightmare a sickle which she placed into her small backpack and caused Hermione to level a glare at the two. "Ha, ha." Nightmare just gave her an innocent look. "Whatever do you mean by that?" She then gave her a slightly annoyed look with a raised eyebrow. "But really, what have we discussed about being nosy Hermione?" The plush got her nose flicked though by Harry. As she scrunched up her face and furiously rubbed at her snout and Luna giggled at her expression, Harry turned to Hermione. "While she may be right, I don't mind telling you in this case." He handed her the bag as they walked and she looked inside. "I needed him to go and buy some things like fabric and clothing that I need for a project concerning Nightmare." Hermione gave him a nod before she frowned. "Wait, then why did you have to do so privately?" The young wizard in training sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. "There... was something private that I needed to ask him about..." After she thought it over, Nymphadora elbowed him with a sly smirk on her face as she winked. "Private, huh?" As he rubbed his ribs, Harry gave her an odd look. "Er... yeah?" The bushy haired witch ignored this as she rolled her eyes and turned to Nightmare and huffed. "And you! Why did you have change the subject! Now we'll have to add researching this Nicolas Flamel to our studies!" At Harry's raised eyebrow, she crossed her arms and pouted a little. "Well... whatever is being guarded has to be important right?" Nim gave her an even look before she began to speak. "I changed the subject because it was obvious that much more prying would not get us any more information and might instead have us asked to leave. As for Nicolas Flamel..." She brought her hoof up to her mouth and coughed. "Nicolas Flamel, famous alchemist, is the only known producer of the mature version of the elusive Philosopher's Stone. A stone which can be used to transform base metals into gold. It can also be used to produce the Elixer of Immortality, which prevents all aging in the imbibber and allows them to live for centuries. The only known users of the Elixer are Nicolas and his wife Perenelle." The lighter blue alicorn sighed as she shook her head and muttered as she had already guessed why the plush knew about him. "Oh Nightmare..." She ignored her lighter counterpart though as she continued. "Nicolas Flamel is currently six hundred and sixty-five while his wife is six hundred and fifty-eight. While known and seen in the wizarding world, they've mostly avoided the mundane world since they faked their deaths in the fifteenth century, though both were seen in a Paris opera house in 1762." She didn't notice the stares as she went on. "Nicolas also took on a student around the fifteenth century who later became known as Count St. Germain, who is sometimes mistaken as being Flamel in mundane literature though the 'Count' is also sometimes thought of as being one in the same with the Wandering Jew. This is not helped by him being an extreme eccentric and stirring up stories in the mundane world about him being such people as Francis Bacon or being a ascended being for his personal amusement. He is believed in mundane literature to be a holder of a Philosopher's Stone, though the signs point more to him having an 'Immature' version then the one that Nicolas has." Tonks held up a hand and stopped her. "Wait, wait. An Immature Philosopher's Stone? There's different types?" Nim nodded. "According to the legends, yes. A immature one is white to the mature's blood red. It is also weaker and can only transform base metals into silver instead of gold and the Elixer it produces is that of Longevity, not immortality. The Elixer only being able to slow down aging to a crawl instead of stopping it entirely." She then rolled her eyes. "Of course, the Wizarding World does not consider it to be a true Philosopher's Stone, and so they don't count them as such for that reason." As she raised a finger and opened her mouth to comment, Hermione thought it over for a moment before she gave the plush an odd look. "Well... that... was rather informative..." The dark alicorn shrugged. "The human quest for longevity and immortality is something that I find quite fascinating. Point of fact, there are many legends of 'Elixers of Immortality' going back thousands of years in many Asian countries, though the first Emperor of China thought that he had one which contained mercury. Needless to say that ended about as badly as you might think." She then waved a hoof around. "And that's not even getting into the whole bit where there are stories of people who have been born with memories of past lives fully intact. That is something that I find particularly fascinating." Both Harry and Luna gave her a look as they guessed why she might be so interested in the subject before he cleared his throat. "Well then, anything else that we might want to know about Flamel, Nightmare?" Nightmare hummed to herself as she rubbed her chin in thought before she answered. "Honestly, there's not that much on the Wizarding side of things besides it being noted that he has had a hand in many alchemical discoveries over the past 600 hundred years or so with him taking students every few decades or so. Though I do feel foalish to have forgotten that he has in fact worked with Dumbledore, who first came to his attention when he attended one of Flamel's alchemy lessons way back when he was in school." Neville's eyebrows raised as he looked at her. "Wait, we had alchemy lessons?" The plush shook her head and waved a hoof around. "Technically, Hogwarts apparently still does, but the course is only taught when enough students sign up for it as an elective. Which... hasn't happened for years, sadly." Tonks looked at her. "Anything else?" Nim thought it over and shrugged. "While glossed over in wizarding texts, Flamel is supposed to be able to create homunculi." Harry frowned as his brows knit. "That sounds familiar..." The doll nodded before she glanced at him and would have blushed if she could have before she got herself under control. "Possible, as you have read over my shoulders at times." Nim then continued after a moment. "And before you ask, homunculi are artificial humans that according to legend can be created by alchemists. While, like I said, in wizarding books the subject is glossed over, in mundane books they go into more detail." She tapped her chin. "According to legend, they're made as the perfect servants for alchemists, completely loyal to their masters. As to what they look like, they appear as short, squat and deformed humans with odd abilities which allow them to serve their masters." Unnoticed by Harry, Luna, Hermione, or Nim herself, both Tonks and Neville slowed some as surprise flittered across their faces. The same though ran through their minds. "Wait... that sounds like... but that's impossible...' They then frowned. '...Right?' As they continued to walk, Harry kept an eye out. "Though that does beg the question... who might be after the Stone and why bring it to the school? Surely Flamel is experienced enough to protect it himself..." At the same time a thought occurred to him, it also occurred to Luna. "A trap. They're using the stone as a trap for something, but what is the question. That's the only explanation for why I was unable to leave that area." Her mind rapidly grasped something else soon after. "The troll! What better way to clear out the school and make sure that the teachers were all distracted." Nim frowned as she thought it over before she commented out loud. "Hmm... with the fact that someone broke into Gringotts, that makes me suspicious of the troll." The pink haired metamorph beside her nodded. "A bit too convenient, wasn't it? Every one would be busy with it and not be paying attention if anyone snuck in." Hermione, however, had a different view. "Harry, didn't you say that you saw Snape changing bandages on his leg while grumbling about a stupid dog when you went down to ask him about your assignment that one time?" Having guessed where it was going, Harry frowned. "I know what you're thinking Hermione, but I highly doubt that it would be him. Besides, it could have been another dog." After she snorted, Hermione jerked her thumb back the way that they came. "Like who? Fang?" She scowled. "No, he wasn't with the other teachers when they returned, was he? And when he did come in, he did so with a limp, so he could have been using the distraction to try and sneak by." The plush on Harry's shoulders sighed. "Or, perhaps, he thought the troll was suspicious and decided to check in on the hallway and got attacked by... Fluffy." She shook her head. "We're working on little information at the moment besides what it is and that someone is after it." Nim snorted. "It could as easily be Flitwick or McGonagall as anyone really." At the looks, she gave them a deadpan expression. "Immortality and eternal wealth are powerful motivators for anyone." Nightmare didn't finish the thought that ran through her mind though. 'Especially in my case...' Harry scowled and shook his head. "All we can do I suppose is keep an eye out. That's about it..." Nightmare then nodded. "However, we did learn something else of interest..." At the looks, she continued in a dry tone. "Apparently there's a thriving trade in dangerous magical creatures down at the local pub..." She smirked as the others snorted, chuckled, or laughed at that. Eventually though, the group quietened down a bit before Tonks spoke up. "We should convince him to tell someone though. Perhaps Dumbledore as I can't really see him hanging out Hagrid to dry without trying at least to help him." The messy haired wizard nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." He then slowly smiled. "Not to mention Hagrid trusts him entirely, so he might listen to him..."