//------------------------------//
// Chapter 27 
// Story: The Wizard and the Lonely Princess 
// by Harry Leferts 
//------------------------------//

Well, here we go people. And for a special Hearth's Warming gift, I give you, not one, but TWO updates rolled up into one. Enjoy!

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 came down the stairs and ran his hand through his shower dampened hair, Harry looked around before he spotted Luna and Nightmare at a table. He smiled though as he saw that Ron Weasley was there with his chess board between him and Nim, the alicorn using the chess pieces that Harry had gotten her as an early "Birthday" gift back at Diagon. "Another game, you two?"

Since Ron was deep in concentration as he planned his next move, Nightmare answered. "Yes, seems the colt here for all his flaws is a competent enough chess player to make the game interesting."

Harry leaned his chin against his fist as he looked over the top of the high backed chair in amusement while his dormmate made his move. "Really now?" He then raised an eyebrow. "Then what does that make me?"

The plush didn't hestitate to let him know. "That you suck at chess worse then a weasel in a hen house." She ignored his soured expression while she absent mindingly looked over the board. Nim then smirked as she realized something and gestured at her remaining bishop and then to a spot on the board. "Bishop to B5." It then marched across the board before it grabbed a pawn and smashed it brutally into the board a few times and tossed it off. "Checkmate."

Ron's eyes widened and he looked over the board for several minutes in stunned silence before he shook his head in shock. "Bloody hell... you're right..." He then smiled as he reached across the board and shook her hoof as the pieces walked off and the broken ones repaired themselves. "Blimy, you're good at this!"

With a smile on her face at her "Victory", Nightmare chuckled. "Yes, well... chess is just one of many of my talents you know." She then gave a thoughtful sound. "Hmm... you really quite good at this game, have you ever thought of participating in a large tournament?"

As his chess men filed into the cloth bag that he kept them in, Ron shrugged while his ears reddened. "Well... I have been in a village tournament or two..."

She just sadly shook her head as she put away her own pieces into a small felt bag Harry had made for her which was black with her Cutie Mark on it. "That is not what I meant." At his confused look, she sighed dramatically as she waved a hoof around. "I meant things like the large tournaments such as the district ones or the nationals. One can make a good amount of coin and get some fame if they make it far enough."

Ron perked up at that. "You can win money and fame in them?!"

Having raised an eyebrow, Nightmare nodded slowly. "Yes. And depending on which one, the level you participate in, and where you finish, the prizes can run from a few hundred to a few thousand pounds."

From behind the chair, Harry nodded. "Yeah, I have heard of some chess players who have made it into an actual career where they travel around the world to particpate in various championships."

The red headed wizard just frowned in thought before he leaned back in his chair. "A career playing chess... Huh..."

Harry just shook his head before he looked down at Nightmare. "Anyways... mind if I have a chat with you, Nim?"

She just nodded as she scrambled over the chair and hopped onto his shoulder. "Sure, I needed to head back to the dorms to put away my army."

As Luna grumbled and rolled her eyes in exaspiration, Harry smiled. "Well, that takes care of two birds with one stone then." Once they were out of earshot, Harry gave her a raised eyebrow. "So... giving someone a bit of career advice I noticed..."

Nim looked away and shrugged. "Just pointing out some facts is all. Nothing more and nothing less."

Beside them, Luna nodded. "And whether he takes the advice is his choice, Harry." She then cocked her head to the side. "I'm guessing that you're wondering what measures there are to keep an eye on the Stone?" At his nod, she tilted her head toward Nightmare. "Why not ask her?"

Her darker counterpart just snorted. "At least you recognize my brilliance, Harry!"

Luna gave her a deadpan expression as she spoke in a flat voice. "Yes... about as brilliant as a piece of coal in the depths of the night."

As he ignored the glaring contest, he sighed. "Right... so what have you two put into place?"

Once she broke off from the glaring, Nightmare shrugged. "At the moment we have Myrtle staking out the area near the door. Her being dead and not needing sleep, while able to hide inside the wall makes her perfect for the job." At Harry's expression, she held up her hooves. "Hey, she volunteered for it."

The black haired wizard gave a frown at that. "Wait... she volunteered for a boring duty like that? Why whatever for?"

While she shook her head, Luna sighed. "Apparently when she was alive she was a fan of pulp stories about spies and detectives. So to her, she's... er..." She trailed off for a moment before she coughed into her hoof. "Living the dream as it were."

Harry just blinked as they entered the dormatory. "Living the dream... right..."

After she hopped off her shoulder, Nightmare shrugged her shoulders as she walked over to the bedside desk where she placed her bag into the bottom one. "She seems to be right excited over it for some odd reason and more then that, is happy to be helping us." She then noticed that Harry was opening and closing his fists. "... Are your hands still bothering you?"

As she scowled, Luna stomped over and grabbed one of them before she looked them over. "Hmm... the burns healed up perfectly."

While she examined them, Harry sighed. "They're fine, Luna. Really." At her disbelieving look, he shrugged. "They just twinge from time to time, that's all."

The light blue alicorn just shook her head as her horn lit up and she began to scan his hand. "Harry, it's been two weeks since the forest, those hands should not still be bothering you." She then frowned. "But for some reason I can't find what is the problem... Is it some form of magical overload I wonder..."

Harry looked at her in interest at that. "Magical overload?"

She just nodded as she turned the hand in her forehooves. "Yes, it occurs when a massive amount of magic is channeled through a part of a pony. Doesn't happen that often as most ponies never have that amount of power going through them. And even then, it's usually a unicorn using some form of artifact to boost their power."

While he grimaced, Harry sighed. "And you think that has happened to me?" Luna just nodded. "Lovely..."

Luna snickered for a moment. "Yes, quite." She then sighed. "The aches and pains are a sign of it... but I don't know since you're a human... Might be different." He then asked her if there was any danger and she shook her head. "No, not really. It's just a real bother to deal with as it takes a while to go away."

After a moment, Harry just flopped back onto his bed. "Great..."

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As soon as the exams let out for the last time, the group gathered underneath a tree close to the lakeshore. While she looked over her exam notes with Nightmare, Hermione frowned slightly. "That... was actually much easier then I had expected..."

Beside her, Nightmare snorted. "As I have said, you were worried over nothing at all." She then waved around a hoof. "After all, these first few years are simply to build the foundation that your later education shall build upon. So of course they would be easy compared to those of later years." It was then that the plush noticed that Harry was rubbing his scar with a grimace. "Is your scar acting up once more, Harry?"

The messy haired wizard sighed as he continued to rub at it. "It's not 'Again'. It's hasn't stopped for the past few days for some reason."

As she looked up from her notes, Hermione bit her lip. "Maybe you should go to Madam Pompfrey and have it checked out if it's bothering you by acting up all the time now."

Harry just shook his head at that. "I'm not sick, Hermione." He then frowned deeply. "I think that it is a warning of some kind... a warning that danger is nearby."

It was the eldest of the humans in the group who spoke up next without having opened her eyes. "Or it could be simply that your curse scar is acting up because of all the stress your under from both the exams and the Stone as well as the amount of magic that you have been using." She opened one eye which was a green identicle to his and looked at him with a smirk. "Took a chance to read up on them when I was studying for my Defense Against the Dark Arts NEWT. Curse scars sometimes act up in times of stress or exhaustion. And with both the exams and the Stone... Well, kind of a double whammy there."

Luna frowned in thought from where she laid on a branch above them, invisible and unheard to all but Harry and Nightmare. "Hmm... she might have something there..." She slowly nodded. "Especially as you only managed to get over your magical overload just a few days ago."

After a few moments, Harry just grunted as he shook his head. "Maybe, I still say that it has something to do with Voldemort."

The alicorn above him shrugged. "Possibly, though I for one would not worry to much about it at this point in time. After all, with Dumbledore around, he's not likely to make a move on the Stone, and even then he would have to get past... Fluffy..." She then shook her head. "And since he seems to currently be flesh and blood, I doubt that he can sneak past him."

On Hermione's shoulder, Nightmare nodded and began talking as if she had been thinking to herself, but really participating in the conversation. "We don't really need to concern ourselves much more right now then we already have. That Cerberus is near impossible to and, say what you will about him, Hagrid is nothing if not loyal to Dumbledore."

Despite having felt as if he had somehow missed a part of the conversation, Neville nodded. "Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore."

As Harry agreed that Hagrid would never tell someone how to get past Fluffy, Luna suddenly felt a sinking feeling in her gut. 'Never tell...' Her eyes suddenly widened and she nearly fell out of the tree as she straightened. The alicorn then looked down at Harry who had looked up to the confusion of most of the others who couldn't see her. She then spoke in a shaky tone. "Harry, act as if you just thought of something and ask Tonks what the penalties for being caught with a unhatched dragon's egg would be."

He did so and Tonks blinked at the odd question before she thought it over. "Well, they're a Class-A untradable Good. So getting caught with one can lead to either a few hundred galleon fine or jail time, sometimes both depending on how often they've been caught doing it." She then frowned and narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

Harry and Luna then paled and while Nim's eyes widened as the same thought crossed her mind, the larger alicorn leapt from her perch and took to the air as Harry scrambled to his feet. "Come on, we got to get to Hagrid's now!" At their confused expressions, the messy haired wizard looked at them in the eyes. "Think about it for a moment. If just having a dragon's egg could get you into such an amount of trouble..."

The metamorph's eyes then widened as well as the pieces clicked together in her mind. "Then why in the bloody hell would you be showing such an egg and talking about it in a crowded pub just for a card game... SHIT!"

Hermione then paled as she rushed to her feet. "And it's not like Hagrid's love of dragons are exactly unknown by people around here. Combined with how he often spills the beans in a conversation as long as he's slightly distracted..."

It was then that Neville got to his feet with a groan. "I don't believe this..."

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It was an hour and a half later which found a dejected group as they wandered the hallways. After having found out that their suspicions were correct from Hagrid that he had told the mysterious man at the pub the secret to get past Fluffy, they had tried to go to Dumbledore. However, they found out that he was no longer there thanks to them running into McGonagall, who they had told. Her reaction to the news was not what they expected though. Her face reddened with equal parts of embaressment and anger, Tonks lashed out and kicked a nearby door. "That... that... ARGH!" She then clinched her fists as she breathed heavily. "She treated us like children!"

As he rubbed the back of his neck nervously, Neville raised a hand. "Well... we kind of are children for the most part..."

He flinched as she shot him a glare. "Well, I'm not a child!" Her scowl, if anything, only became even more fierce. "Not only did she completely give us a brush off, she wouldn't even give us a chance to explain fully!"

Nightmare, however, just frowned in thought. "While I can see why she may have been annoyed that we had figured out the secret... I'm having issues with why she was so angry over it..."

Her hair flying out in all directions, Hermione shook her head. "Maybe we should go up there and keep an eye out ourselves..."

From where she trotted beside the others unseen by most, Luna looked over toward Harry. "Repeat what I'm about to say..." She waited until he glanced at her and gave a slight, nearly unnoticable nod, before she continued. "Hermione, I doubt very much that McGonagall isn't about to check in on the door at some point just to try and catch us at doing exactly that." After Harry had repeated it and she saw that Hermione was about to say something, Luna continued. "We have Myrtle there watching over it anyways. And being a ghost, she can be invisble and sink into the walls or something and not be seen."

The bushy haired witch thought it over for a few seconds and then sighed before she nodded. "That... makes sense." She then groaned as she gripped her hair. "I just can't stand the idea that I don't know what is going to happen..."

Nevile then finished for her. "And not being able to do anything about it..." He then muttered as he frowned. "Not much that we can do though... the one teacher that we talked to practically bit off our heads because of it..."

It was then that Harry stopped in the hallway. "Wait... teacher..." He then sped up. "I have an idea, follow me!" The others shared a confused look, but did as he asked and followed him as he made his way to the staff room and knocked on the door. A moment later, Snape opened it. "Professor."

The potion's professor just raised an eyebrow. "Potter. Any particular reason for you to come here and bother us while we're grading?" He then narrowed his eyes. "Wouldn't want us to make a mistake on your grades after all..."

As he took a breath, Harry shook his head as he let it out as a sigh. "Sorry, Sir, but I need to discuss something about my exam with Professor Flitwick." For a few moments, Snape gave him an even look before he nodded and turned around after having told him it would take a moment. Once Flitwick reached the door, Harry looked around. "Um... Professor? Would you mind if we did this... privately?"

His eyebrow raised, Flitwick nodded. "If you want, Mr. Potter, we can continue this in my office." At Harry's nod, the group made their way to the charm professor's office and once they had all sat down, he cleared his throat. "Now then... what seems to be the issue..."

Just as he was about to answer, Hermione did. "It's the Philosopher's Stone, Sir, someone is going to steal it!"

As Flitwick gave a sound of surprise, Harry sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I was going to ease him into the conversation, Hermione..."

Having shaken off his surprise, the head of Ravenclaw became serious and spoke in a even tone. "May I please know how it was that you and your friends came across such information? The presence of the Stone is, and was supposed to remain, a secret."

Harry shared a look with the others before he cleared his throat. "Well..." As the student in front of him spoke, Flitwick listened as Harry (with the others also having imput things at different times) explained. Once he finished, he sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck. "And... well... that's about everything..."

For a moment, the Charms teacher looked over the students in front of him as well as one plush before he sighed. "On the one hand, I am finding myself rather impressed with how well you have done in finding out the secret. From just a few desparite clues, you managed piece together the truth of the matter. Rather Ravenclaw, I must say..." He then grimaced. "On the other hand, I am not exactly pleased that a group of students figured out what should have been the most well kept secret in the school."

Nightmare just shrugged her shoulders unapologetically. "To be honest, we caught a lot of lucky breaks such as knowing about the break-in and having some details there."

They were all surprised when the short teacher snorted. "More of the Devil's luck, I would say." He then turned to Harry and gave him a frown. "And while I, too, was a young man once upon a time and so can understand why you may have gone to that glade... I must say that I am disappointed that you did so. You could have been hurt much worse then you were, Harry."

As she watched Harry as he hung his head, Tonks spoke up. "Er... but what about the... you know..."

She winced a little as the teacher turned to her with a raised eyebrow, after which Flitwick sighed and rubbed the side of his head. "Do not fret, Miss Tonks. While I may understand Minerva's frustration and anger toward this matter, don't fear that I will take it out on you. The only excuse that I can give her is that she is under an enormous amount of stress due to her job of being both a teacher and a deputy headmistress. The business about the Stone has only increased that, unfortunitly." Flitwick then leaned back into his chair and laid his hands on his chest as he thought. "I'm afraid to say that while I feel that most of your suspicions might have a basis, there's not much that I can do at this point." Having seen them about to shout, the professor held up a hand. "Please, one moment." Once they had calmed down some, he continued. "I can say that we are most likely fine for a while yet. If for no other reason then a break in while most of the school is awake and active would be an exercise in folly. Any teacher could stumble upon such an attempt."

Neville slowly nodded as he thought it over. "That makes sense..."

With a chuckle, Flitwick leaned forward. "Now, what I will do is to ask Filch if he could double his patrols in the area after curfew just in case. Also, if Albus has not returned by the time curfew has come, I will go myself to retrieve him. Now then, is this good enough?" After he got some nods, he clapped his hands and smiled. "Ah! Very good then. And I must thank you for coming to me with this as I know it could not have been easy after what happened with Minerva. As I told Mr. Potter, my door is always open and I will lend a ear if needed."

Once the small talk was out of the way, the group left the office as Flitwick went back to grading. After they were out of earshot, Hermione sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "Well... even though that could have gone better, at least he listened to us."

Beside her, Neville nodded. "And he's going to do something about it."

However, Tonks just groaned. "Yeah... something..." She then let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Then again, what happened was about the best that we could have hoped for I suppose..."

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It was well after the last of the Gryffindors had gone to bed that Harry found himself having been jolted awake by a cold sensation. The very first thing that caught his eyes once he had opened them was the sight of Myrtle's head as it stuck out of his stomach and she hissed at him. "Harry!"

Said wizard nearly leapted from his bed as he struggled not to scream, though he clinched a fist to his chest having unknowingly mirrored Luna. "Myrtle? What... I... Bloody horsefeathers! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

The ghost winced before her expression shifted to confusion. "Wait... why did I nearly give you a heart attack?"

Harry just stared at her as she brought her arm up through his stomach and scratched her chin in puzzlement. "Right..."

She then shook it off as Luna frowned. "Harry, isn't she supposed to be watching the third floor corridor?

His eyes widened as he grabbed his glasses and then put them on, part of him having noted that his eyesight was still blured. "Myrtle... aren't you supposed to be watching where the Stone is...?"

She just nodded and her next words caused Harry to leap from his bed. "That's why I came here! Someone in a cloak entered the room and last I heard from the inside was playing a harp before I rushed to the headmaster's office, but..."

The young wizard just groaned as he had already guessed what she had been about to say. "And, lucky us, the Headmaster wasn't there."

As she watched him while he threw on some clothes with her cheeks stained silver from her blush, Myrtle frowned. "I can't see how that is lucky..." Her eyes then widened. "Oh, wait... um... sorry about that..." After Harry waved her off, she continued. "Well, after seeing that the Headmaster was not there, I rushed to Hufflepuff to get Tonks, who was still awake thankfully. And she told me to come here and get you bunch..."

Harry gave a slight nod. "And let me guess, she said that she was going to meet us there?" At the ghost's nod, Harry thought it over as he spotted Neville as he sprung from his own bed. "I wonder how she'll avoid Filtch..."

The ghostly girl just shrugged. "She was using a disillusionment charm." As she noticed his puzzlement, she explained. "It's a spell that makes one mostly invisible, though if one was to look closely or the user was moving fast enough.... say, a run, then you could spot them by the slight distortsion in the air."

Having heard that, a thought occurred to him which caused him to blink and smile slightly. "So it's like a Predator's cloak then?" At her confused expression, he waved a hand around. "It's this alien hunter from some movies. It hunts humans as the 'Ultimate prey' and then takes their skulls and spines as trophies. It has this ability to become invisible in the way you just described the charm does."

Myrtle just gave him an odd look at that. "Oookay... sure, something like that I suppose..." She noticed Nightmare as she left the dorm from the corner of her eye. "Anyways, she said that she'll meet us there if no teacher arrives first."

With a nod, Harry shared a look with Neville. "Lets just hope that a teacher does show up..." He then grabbed the flute that Hagrid had given him as well as his cloak from where he had stashed them between the bed and the headboard. 'I really hope that happens...'

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After having crept through the halls and having had an encounter with Peeves, the group (consisting of Harry, Neville, Luna, Nim, and Hermione as Myrtle had gone on ahead to check on whether Tonks was there) arrived outside the slightly opened door. As he pulled off the cloak, Harry looked around as he spotted Myrtle where she floated nearby. "Where's Tonks?"

He then winced as he heard and saw a suit of armor as it tumbled to the floor. A moment later, Tonks shimmered into view. "Er... surprise?" She then cleared her throat as she tried to ignore the stares that were shot her way. "Anyways, before you even ask, I found Flitch just down the hallway with Mrs. Norris. Both of them are fast asleep."

Harry frowned as he looked down the hallway and sure enough near the very end he could have just made out a pair of legs on the floor. "He's asleep? Why didn't you wake him then?"

As she grimaced, Tonks shook her head. "Already tried everything and nothing works. Then I looked around and found a broken plate on the floor with what looks like a mostly eaten sandwich on it. Found out using a detection charm that it's doused in some pretty heavy sleeping potion, so waking him or Mrs. Norris is a no go."

Unseen by anyone but Harry and Nightmare, Luna scowled. "Just bloody lovely. That means that if we go to tell a teacher, it'll take too long, especially if we need to convince them..."



Having grabbed a tuft of hair, Harry sighed with a hiss. "And by the time we got to a teacher and convinced them, the thief could have grabbed the Stone and gotten away..."

While she watched him as he turned toward the door, Tonks shook her head. "And if we try to face them, then we're facing someone with capabilities that we don't have the first clue about..."

Luna grimaced and nodded as she had to agree. "It's the perfect example of a Catch 22. Both ideas are good, but also have equally bad sides to them..."

It was then that Neville piped in. "Um... couldn't one of us go get a teacher while the rest stay here or have a look? If need be, we could... I don't know... distract Snape long enough for a teacher?"

The plush member of the group then spoke up as she nodded. "That's probably the best plan that we have at the moment." Nightmare then glanced at each of the others. "But I think it would be best if we don't go and confront the thief directly, so how about we go inside and peer down the trapdoor? After which, Myrtle can go get a teacher while we stand here and keep an eye out."

As they nodded in agreement, Harry brought his flute to his mouth and began to play a tune that Luna had taught him. Soon after the rather playful notes drifted into the room, the growls inside were replaced by the sounds of a large creature as it slumbered. While he continued to play, Harry gave a short nod and they went inside to have a look...