Twilight rolled her eyes at Pinkie's antics and turned her around to face the table. She then pushed her down into a chair, and sat beside her. Harry sat beside Twilight, hoping to head off any misunderstanding for the vegetarian Equestrians. He couldn’t even imagine how they would react to juicy luncheon steak, or even a simple bangers and mash. One visit to a meat counter, and experimenting with bacon at breakfast, wasn’t preparation enough.
After everyone had seated themselves, Harry noticed there were two unoccupied seats. Had the barkeep miscounted them?
Tom was staring, stunned, at the pink-haired woman. He remembered the incredible chaos that this one person had inflicted upon his staid pub just this morning, and now the entire pub was in an uproar again. A happy uproar — he could see one wizard laughing so hard he had tears going down his face and he would swear that one witch was about wet her pants she was laughing so hard — but nothing like his normal, quiet pub. A pub that hadn’t had this many customers in many a year. He turned and went back to the bar. He stopped dead on seeing his reflection in the bar’s mirror. He looked at the reflection of the rest of his pub and the laughing. He shrugged and went behind the bar. He said something to the witch standing in the door to the kitchen, who was trying to stifle her own giggles.
She hurried over to them as the Equestrians settled in around the table. Professor McGonagall was staring at Pinkie Pie, who was grinning back at her, very pleased with herself.
“Would you like a cupcake?” she said holding one out to the professor. The witch slowly shook her head, “No, thanks, I don’t want to spoil my appetite.”
“Okey doki loki!” Pinkie said, downing the entire cupcake in one impossibly big bite. “Beff iea arri err ha’ . . . .” she said.
“Pinkie! How many times do I have to tell you no talking while chewing!” Twilight said sharply.
Pinkie looked chagrined, but made a show of swallowing. “I said,” she giggled, “best idea Harry ever had, making the cupcake cups edible!”
The rest rolled their eyes.
“What’ll you have?” the serving witch asked.
Harry, hoping to head off a disaster, loudly said, “What meatless salads do you have?” The Equestrians looked at him, puzzled — weren’t all salads meatless by definition? Then they looked slightly nauseated as they realized that his action of even asking meant that here they would put meat from an animal in a lovely salad. They gave an uncertain look around the pub.
“We have an English Garden salad: Onions, cucumber, goat cheese, tomatoes, potatoes, and red beans, with a mayonnaise, mustard and honey dressing. Then we have a Ploughman’s salad: Cubed ciabatta bread, cherry tomatoes, gem lettuces, sliced red onions, cored and sliced apple, six pickled onions, and grated Cheddar with an olive oil, cider vinegar, and brown sugar dressing. And we have a pea and bean salad. Peas, corn, green beans, pimentos, celery, bell pepper and onion with a marinated sugar, black pepper, salt, oil, and vinegar dressing.”
“Oh,” said Applejack, “I’ll have the Ploughman’s!”
“Me, too,” said Apple Bloom.
The other’s quickly made their selections.
Professor McGonagall watched and noted that none of the Equestrians seemed interested in the rest of the pub’s menu.
Harry gave a sidelong glance at Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. “Dash, Scoots? I’d suggest the fish and chips.” They shrugged. Harry looked up at the witch taking their orders. “Rainbow Dash, Scootaloo, and I will have the fish and chips, please.” He pointed out the other two to the waitress.
McGonagall said, “Oh, if you don’t mind, I’ll change my salad to a fish and chips.”
“And to drink?” queried the server.
“Do ya’ll got Apple Cider?” asked Applejack
“Yes, we do.
Twilight looked around at the others who nodded. “We’ll all have that,” she said.
“Even the children?”
Twilight cocked her head sideways. “Is there a reason why they shouldn’t?”
“Well, it is alcohol.”
Twilight looked at the others. They all shrugged.
“Um, Twilight?” Harry said. She looked at him. “I think we should have apple juice instead.”
“Okay, if you think so.” Twilight nodded to the witch, who noted it down and headed back to the kitchen.
Twilight looked at Harry, “Why is Apple Cider a problem?”
Harry thought a moment and glanced at the Professor listening intently. He leaned close and whispered, “Well, you know how too much salt is bad for ponies back home?”
Twilight nodded.
“For people, alcohol is like salt is to ponies. And salt to people is nothing except it makes things taste better. So, the apple cider here is like the ‘special stock’ apple-salt cider Applejack has hidden away.”
Her eyes went wide at that.
Twilight frowned deeply, clearly thinking about the differences in metabolism it would take to make alcohol affect humans the way salt affected ponies. Harry knew she would probably be lost in thought until their lunch arrived. Maybe it had something to do with the way magic flowed through the mana-pathways in their bodies.
Abruptly, there was a flare of green light from the big fireplace at the other end of the room. To the Equestrians’ amazement, a wizard stepped out of the flames. He was tall, thin, and very old, with a silvery beard that reached all the way to his waist. He wore long robes and a purple cloak that swept the ground.
He started for the bar as he looked casually around the room. He saw their table and smiled. He reached up and touched his glasses, then winced and blinked rapidly. He adjusted his glasses and, still smiling, changed direction to head their way. As he got closer, Harry could see he had bright light-blue eyes sparkling behind half-moon spectacles. His nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice. Why he hadn't fixed it properly was beyond Harry. He had an extraordinarily long beard that reached to his waist. A braided string was halfway down it, making it look like a front-facing pony-tail. Harry thought it looked silly. Pony-tails, like Applejack favoured, belonged in the back, not the front.
“Professor McGonagall,” he called, “What a pleasure to see you. I thought you might still be showing the new students around.”
“Good morning, Headmaster,” she replied, standing to greet him, “we just finished. Their wand selection took much less time than I thought it would.” She smiled uncertainly, glancing at the herd. “They were quite . . . efficient.” She cleared her throat. “This is the Headmaster at Hogwarts, Professor Albus Dumbledore.”
Harry stared at the wizard intently. This was the man responsible for those disgraceful books. Harry didn’t like any adults, except ponies, and this one now had two strikes against him. Just looking at him made Harry angry. He glanced at Applejack. She was frowning slightly at the old wizard. Good, Harry thought. It’s not just me. He took a deep breath and tried to relax.
“Are these new students?” the old wizard asked looking at Harry and the girls.
“Yes, they are, Albus.” She pointed at Harry, “This is Mr. Harry Potter.” She moved on to the girls, pointing at each in turn around the table. “Miss Scoot Aloo, Miss Sweetie Belle, Miss Apple Bloom, and Miss Hermione Granger.” Each nodded and said a soft, “Hello.”
The wizard nodded to each, murmuring their names in turn. Harry noticed that in his case the old wizard had looked at his forehead, at his faded scar, instead of actually at him. Something about the way he studied it made Harry uneasy. As if he expected it to be or mean more than simple scar.
Then she moved on to the relatives. “Mr. and Mrs. Granger.” Mr. Granger stood and reached across the table to shake the wizard’s hand while Mrs. Granger nodded. “And this is Miss Twilight Sparkle, Miss Pinkie Pie, Miss Rarity — who is Miss Belle’s sister, right?” She waited for Rarity to nod. “Miss Fluttershy . . . ,” who peered at the Headmaster through her fringe and scooted closer to Rainbow Dash, “Miss Apple Jack, who is Miss Bloom’s sister.” Applejack smiled proudly at her sister. “And Miss Rainbow Dash.”
Dumbledore greeted them, his gaze lingering on both Twilight and Pinkie Pie.
“I hope you’ve enjoyed your journey through Diagon Alley,” he said sincerely, glancing around the table and finally focusing on the children. “I imagine you five are quite thrilled at getting your wands.” They nodded enthusiastically.
“What wand did you get, Harry?” He looked at the boy, his gaze again stopping on the partially hidden scar.
“Oh, I don’t have it yet. Mr. Ollivander is putting it together for me. For all of us, actually.”
“Really?” he said, sounding genuinely surprised. “That is most unusual. Normally he has a wand right in his shop that is a perfect match. Did he not have the right cores or wood for your wands?”
“Oh, no, that wasn’t it at all. The Princesses . . . I mean Celestia and Luna gave me their . . . the hairs from alicorns that they thought I could use in my wand. Scootaloo had a feather from a Pegasus, Sweetie had a unicorn hair, and Bloom had a piece of wood from the apple tree her great-great-great-grandfather planted hundreds of years ago and a hair from an earth-pony. And Twilight gave Hermione a hair from another alicorn and a piece of wood from her library tree. Mr. Ollivander said they were great fits!” Harry almost missed the way Dumbledore’s eyebrow twitched slightly at hearing the words earth-pony and alicorns.
“Did he, now,” the wizard said in a kindly tone, contemplating what Harry had said and leaning back in his chair to think.
The fireplace flared green again and this time two people came out, a wizard and a witch, one after the other. They brushed themselves off and went towards the exit to the Alley. It was the start of a stream of wizards and witches coming through the fireplace at short, regular intervals. Many of them were escorting children either the same age as himself and the girls, or older.
Some headed for open tables in the pub, or joined friends, to have lunch before heading into the Alley, Harry presumed. All stopped to take a long look at the big banner over the bar and the strangely made-up barkeep, Tom. There were more than a few smiles and snickers in reaction to the sight. The bartender just smiled and waved at them.
Harry sighed as the others nodded. “But we won’t get them for seven days.”
“Seven days?” That specific length of time was important, if Harry read the old wizard’s expression right.
“Yeah.” The kids all looked a bit down knowing they would have to wait a week.
“Why don’t you join us, Albus?”
Dumbledore looked over at the strange sight that was Tom the bartender. “Yes, I think I shall.” He pulled out his wand and a gentle wave transformed the normal dining chair into a plush dining armchair. He settled into it with some satisfaction.
Their waitress witch showed up at that point with a floating tower of carefully stacked dishes, which she quickly glided into place in front of each of her customers. Harry was so glad he showed the Equestrians how people used knives, forks, and spoons. The alicorn and unicorns had caught on quickly, although he thought that they were cheating by using their magic to manipulate the utensils and simply pretending they were using their hands.
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy had always used their wing feathers as fingers, so that wasn’t too much of a transition to using real fingers. Of course, they had it easier because fish and chips were finger foods, and nothing that required utensils. The others were not so fortunate. Harry kept his head down and concentrated on his fish and chips and hoped it wasn’t too much of a spectacle. Scootaloo and Dash watched what he did and followed his lead.
Professor McGonagall, the Headmaster, and the Grangers were very puzzled as they watched, surreptitiously, as the Equestrians fumbled their utensils as they tried to eat their lunches. It was as if they had never used them before. Or only rarely.
Fortunately, or at least Harry thought it was fortunate, the fireplace flared green again, a wizard stepped out, looked around, spotted their table, and headed over towards them. This wizard stood out from the rest of the patrons at the pub in that he was tall and thin with bright red hair. He wore glasses and had blue eyes.
Harry realized the new wizard had spotted the Headmaster and was headed for him with a big relaxed smile.
As he drew near, Dumbledore looked over at him and smiled, “Arthur! Come sit with us.” Professor McGonagall looked up, distracted from her surreptitious study of the mysterious foreigners. The other wizard smiled in return and said, “Of course, Headmaster.”
The old wizard turned to the rest of table. “I was originally going to have lunch with Arthur. I hope you don’t mind if he sits with us. He works at the Ministry of Magic.”
Harry smirked as he saw Applejack give the Headmaster a distrustful look.
They all said they didn’t mind and the Headmaster introduced them to Arthur Weasley. After telling Arthur their names, he added, “Arthur has three boys at Hogwarts, with another starting this year. A daughter, Ginny, will be starting next year.”
“The Grangers,” he said, speaking to Arthur, “are escorting their muggle-born daughter through the Alley today.” Mr. Granger having already shaken hands with the newly arrived wizard, nodded, as did Mrs Granger. Hermione watched quietly.
Arthur sat down in the chair the old wizard had just conjured. Harry noticed that the table was now full instead of having any empty places. He wondered about that. How had the bartender known two more wizards would join them? Had it all been arranged beforehand? Being with the Cutie Mark Crusaders had taught him to distrust coincidences — they almost always resulted in the Crusaders being covered in tree-sap. He took an intent look around the pub for hidden trees or buckets of sap.
“The rest of our guests,” the Headmaster continued, “are foreign witches, I believe.” His eyes twinkling, he looked at Harry, “Except for Harry, here, of course.”
Arthur looked at the older wizard, eyebrow raised.
Twilight froze and stared at the old wizard. “Er, what?” she said cautiously.
He smiled gently, “That you can use magic is self-evident.” He nodded at the fork that was hovering over her plate.
She must have let go of the fork at some point without noticing. Not that that mattered, as she expected that Professor McGonagall had informed him of their magical abilities. It was the foreign part that threw her.
Twilight blushed and grabbed the fork. Harry buried his face in his hands. Scootaloo said, “Oops,” and exchanged smirks with the other fillies. Ha! It wasn’t their fault the truth was leaking out.
“You can do magic and if you had been born in England,” the wily old wizard continued, “you would have received a letter from Hogwarts when you were eleven. You didn’t, thus you aren’t from England."
Harry looked between his fingers, frowning. Professor McGonagall had to have told him they knew magic. So why the act? Or was that for anyone who might be listening?
“Am I correct?” He smiled at her, calmly, waiting.
She took a breath and thought a moment. “Princess Celestia is going to be so mad at me,” she murmured just loud enough for Harry to hear. She cleared her throat and said, softly, “Yes, we are new to this country, to this world, even.” She glanced around the pub, which was noisily ignoring them. “Does that change anything?” she asked carefully.
He smiled broadly, “No, of course not. The children have their Hogwarts’ letters, so they are admitted to Hogwarts. That you and your friends are strangers to England, and our world, is of no consequence.” He stroked his beard like an elderly grandfather would. “I am merely curious where you come from.”
“We had hoped we could get the fillies and Harry to Hogwarts without incident and then quietly return home.” She picked at her salad, taking a bite.
“Might I ask where your home is?”
Arthur and Professor McGonagall were listening closely, Harry noticed.
Twilight took a deep breath and looked at each of her friends. Pinkie was busily building a pyramid of muffins. Fluttershy had hidden herself behind Rainbow Dash, somehow, without moving from her chair. Dash had finished her fish and chips and was looking for their witch waitress. Rarity, like Harry, had buried her face in her hands, but was peeking between her fingers. Applejack shrugged at Twilight’s look. Twilight nodded to herself. “We’re from Ponyville.”
Harry's hands over his face masked his surprise at her answer.
That had been a long and involved discussion the previous night, she later told Harry. Princesses Celestia and Luna wanted normal relations with the humans. That is, trade and the exchange of ideas and technology. The wizards, on the other hand, wanted to keep their society a secret from the other humans. This led to a problem, a conflict of interest. The Equestrians didn't understand completely why the wizards and witches wanted to live that way, but they were not about to reveal the wizards and witches just so they could trade with the other humans.
In order to protect the wizard’s secrets, they would have to conceal certain facts.
He nodded agreeably. “Does everyone in . . . Ponyville use magic?” he asked, smiling. He knew they were concealing where they came from. It could only be because the name would draw undue attention. And there were few places with that sort of reputation. And Professor McGonagall's patronus message from Ollivander's reduced the number of possibilities even further.
Based on the Headmaster’s failing to recognize the name, Harry wondered if either Professor McGonagall or the Headmaster had ever seen the address on his Hogwarts’ letter, or were they were addressed and sent by magic? He hoped it was the latter.
Again, she glanced at her friends. She took another bite of her salad as a delaying tactic.
The witch waitress had seen Arthur arrive, and was now standing beside his chair. Dash leaned across the table and said, “I’ll have another of those fish and chips!” Arthur quickly placed his order for the same.
As soon as she left, Twilight answered Dumbledore’s question, “Yes.”
“And what of the muggles?”
Twilight looked at him blankly. “Muggles? Those are people without magic, right?” She glanced at Professor McGonagall. “There aren’t any muggles in Ponyville.”
The two wizards and the witch stared at her in surprise.
She tilted her head. “Or did I misunderstand your question?”
“Oh, no, I don’t think so. If anything, I probably worded the question incorrectly,” he said deprecatingly. He paused. “It’s just that I am unaware of any country that doesn’t also have muggles living there.”
Twilight smiled. “I think I understand your confusion. Every pony . . . person in our . . . homeland . . . uses magic.”
He frowned slightly. “Does it not happen that sometimes a child is born without that ability? Or so little that they cannot properly use it?”
Twilight leaned back in shock. “A fo . . . a child with little or no magic?” She looked uncertainly at the other mares. “I don’t think that’s possible. Everything in our homeland has magic. I know I would have read of such a thing in the Royal Library when I studied medicinal spells, if it had happened.” She frowned, thinking. “There is an extremely rare medical condition that afflicts some in the unicorn tribe,” she mused quietly, “where the mana pathways are underdeveloped or weak. But with little magic itself?” She hummed a moment. “No, I don’t think so.”
The wizards and witch exchanged looks. “Never?” said Dumbledore.
“Well, maybe not never — I suppose it could happen.” She frowned in thought. “Discord might know of such a thing happening when he ruled.” She shuddered. “But that was over fifteen hundred years ago.” She smiled. “So, none since then for sure, and probably for the thousand years before he overthrew the Princesses. Any parent with such a child would have rushed to Princess Celestia immediately. I’ll ask the Princesses and Discord when we go back, just to be sure.”
“Amazing,” Dumbledore said softly. Arthur and the professor exchanged thoughtful looks. Harry saw they had noticed how she had said Discord used to rule long ago and yet was still alive.
The witch returned with the orders for Arthur and Dash, and left.
“Professor McGonagall noticed last night that you were surprised we used wands.”
Twilight shrugged. “Magic is innate. Some are better at it than others. Some have bigger pools than others. But every . . . one has some. All you need is to memorize the spell matrix. Then it’s a simple matter of how much power you can supply. If you have enough, the spell works. If not, it doesn’t.”
She didn’t add that they had never thought of wands to facilitate using magic because unicorn horns were natural foci. And that pegasi, who worked magic through their wings, and earth-ponies, who worked magic through their hooves, wouldn’t have ever thought of using something else to focus their magic. It just hadn’t occurred to the ponies.
“Is all your magic non-verbal, then?”
“Actually, no,” Twilight said. “We do use singing for some spontaneous Harmony magic, usually triggered by strong emotions or desires. And sometimes we have used ancient runes to control magic.” The alicorn’s speech was reaching that familiar lecture mode the Equestrians knew so well. “In point of fact, Ponhenge has some very interesting runes . . . .” Harry elbowed her. “Ow!” She looked at him angrily.
“Focus, Twilight,” Applejack said dryly, “Focus!”
Twilight blushed and muttered, “Sorry.”
The old wizard looked disappointed.
“Might I ask how you and Harry met?” The old wizard’s eyes twinkled as he waited for an answer.
Twilight looked at Harry. He frowned, but then slowly nodded. She turned back to the Headmaster. “In truth, Harry found us. His . . . relatives . . . are not very nice.”
Applejack snorted. “Ought to throw the lot of them in the dungeons and throw away the key, I say.” Harry noticed that the old wizard saw Rainbow and Rarity nod solemnly. He sighed and hoped the wizards hadn’t noticed that AJ had said dungeons and not jail or prison.
Pinkie Pie had distributed and eaten the muffins in her pyramid and was now passing out muffins to the other customers in the pub, to every non-Equestrian’s amazement. She darted over to Harry and gave him a hug. “He’s my favourite colt! Well, except for Pound Cake, that is.”
Harry threw a hand over his eyes. “Oh, the horrors! Second place, again!” Pinkie giggled in response. Which wasn’t all that difficult an accomplishment, anyway.
The old wizard chuckled at the byplay, but kept his eyes on Twilight.
She glanced worriedly at Harry, then looked back at the Headmaster. “I think the rest is for him to tell. We have helped him as much as we could, and he’s made terrific progress. Suffice to say, when he received his letter we decided to give him the support his relatives had denied.” She glanced at Professor McGonagall. “He decided that he would only go to Hogwarts if his filly friends could go.” She looked back at Dumbledore, “Fortunately, you sent letters to the fillies as well, making that a moot point.”
The Headmaster exchanged looks with the professor. “I am pleased to hear that Harry has decided to join us, with his friends.” He sat a moment, his eyes twinkling madly. He looked over at his wizard friend.
Mr. Weasley spoke up, “Well, because you are new to the wizarding world, perhaps you would be interested in seeing a wizarding home? I would be delighted to show you The Burrow, and introduce you to my wife and children. It would also give the children,” he nodded at Harry and the girls, “a chance to meet up with some of their classmates. It wouldn’t hurt to start Hogwarts knowing some of the things that wizarding children know just because they grew up as wizards and witches.” He paused and looked at the Grangers. “Your daughter won’t be at a disadvantage regarding magic, as most wizarding families don’t let their children practice magic until they get their wands after they get their Hogwarts letter.”
Harry could see the Grangers relax a little bit as a tension they hadn’t acknowledged was relieved. He didn’t miss Sweetie’s smirk as she looked at him. Who needed a wand to practice magic when you had a horn?
Mrs. Granger looked at her husband. “It would be nice to see just what it is like to live in a world of magic.” Mr. Granger nodded. “Yes, what Professor McGonagall showed us on Sunday was interesting, but not very practical.” Hermione was nodding so fast Harry was worried her head would fall off.
“Then,” the Headmaster said, “If we have finished with our repast, perhaps we should adjourn to The Burrow?” Harry noticed that the Headmaster, unlike Mr. Weasley, hadn’t bothered to order or eat anything. So much for a luncheon with a friend!
The others, however, had devoured their lunches with alacrity.
A quick exchange of looks and murmurs, and some finger licking, and they were soon gathered in front of the fireplace as Twilight settled their bill with the bartender. The fireplace was tall enough for someone to stand with only a minor stoop and wide enough for two people to stand beside each other. The fire was quite low, barely any flames showing.
“This is the Floo-network,” Arthur explained. “It connects most wizarding homes and business locations. It’s operated and maintained by the Ministry and is perfectly safe.”
Twilight finished paying the bill and re-joined them. Arthur smiled at her and continued, “You take a generous pinch of Floo-powder from this pot here,” he pointed to a pot in a small alcove in the side of the fireplace brickwork, just below shoulder height for the adults. “You take a deep breath and throw the Floo-powder into the fireplace. Wait for the flames to turn green. When they do, step into the flames and announce where you want to go in a firm, clear voice.” He smiled. “It’s really simple and easy. Don’t let it fluster you.
“The one mistake people make is to throw in the powder, step into the flames, and then take a breath.” He shook his head. “You get a mouthful of ashes and start coughing before you can say the destination. At worst, you cough while speaking and end up going somewhere you didn’t intend.” He looked at them, scanning them all, to make sure they understood. “So, take a breath, throw the powder, wait for the green flames, then say where you want to go as you step in!”
He smiled again. “I’ll go first to show you how it’s done, and to tell my Molly that company is coming.” He turned and took what looked like a good spoonful of powder in his hand. He looked back at them. “We’re going to The Burrow, two words, The Burrow,” he repeated carefully.
He threw the powder into the flames. When they turned green he stepped into them while saying, “The Burrow!” He disappeared.
۸-ꞈ-۸
Another excellent chapter. I'm not sure how they found out about how Wizards live in secrecy, but they're taking an interesting stance on it. Also, Twilight was really off her game here, name-dropping and wrong-pronoun using all over the place. It'll be a miracle if no one manages to work out the pony aspect of things from this conversation alone.
Albus is doing his really chess mastering. I don't fault him for it, but we'll see where it take him in this story. Twilight is sadly a little too naive to keep a full charade going for long. Sadly Harry hasn't gotten the chance to get a sense of wonder about Dumbledore so how that changes things will be fun. A lot of canon had depended on him
Still, Twilight dropped a LOT of bombs in her comments. I'm not sure how much they wanted to hide so that drop about the length of rule may or may not have been deliberate. Still! Great chapter! I thought Pinkie's wand was to go to one of the Weasleys but I'm not sure...
So is this story ignoring countries other than Equestria? From the show and especially the movie it's been made clear that outside of Equestria magic isn't as common. There are certainly magical objects but innate magic seems to be reserved for ponies, though Griffons and Hippogryphs are similar to pegasi they just don't control the weather.
It just seems weird that no one is acknowledging that fact but I guess ponies can be a bit ignorant of the world outside their safe bubble created by the princesses.
9063944
Whenever Twilight is put on the spot, she tends to fumble. Albus is also very perceptive, but seems to respect boundaries. So he will still most likely await an invitation to their land instead of trying to find it himself. That being said, would Albus be an Earth Pony, Pegasus, Unicorn, Alicorn, or some other creature?
9063944
Yeah, Twilight's habits of thinking out loud and spacing out regularly often lead to information leak out. She need to fix her bad habits in order to prepare for her future ruling role.
Excellent chapter!
9063944
Minerva mentioned it when she visited them.
Seeing how interested Dumbledore was with Twilight's explanation of magic makes me hope we'll get a chapter where he gets to visit Equestria and sit down to talk with Celestia and Luna. Perhaps even with Professor McGonagall as well? It'd also be interesting to see their reaction to when they and the others all get turned into ponies.
that's three strikes against dumbledore. interrogating someone you just met...
9063983
Highly unlikely. Right now the Equestrians don't have any reason to trust the human wizards. Even more so if Applejack detected even the slightest dishonest in their conversations.
I really hope Dumbledore doesn't turn out to be the usual fanon asshole and try to place Harry back with the Dursleys for his own good. Once he sees the lengths Harry's new surrogate family will go to protect him he should smile, nod, and help out any way he can.
As for those books, how funny would it be if he is actually putting all the money from their sales into a trust fund for Harry instead of keeping it for himself, but it's a Muggle Bank he's putting it in because of better interest rates (and because Gringotts sucks)?
I don't think I've ever seen a story that brings up the line of Harry Potter children's books AND Dumbledore not be cheating Harry out of the royalties.
9063967
Goat.
The man is closer to Grogar than he would be a Pony.
i can see Dumbledore’s learning as much as the new students.
a grate chapter love it.
I don’t think Twilight’s any good at chess-mastering. Gotta have the mind for it.
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9063996
Applejack was giving Dumbledore the stink eye, so she knows that he was lying about the reason for joining them for lunch.
Nice it's fun to see that Dumbledor a bit confused as how Harry doesn't seem to follow most of his expectations
9063996
It’s a moot point since twi doesn’t trust albus because of the books he alowd to be published about harry.
Oh Shi-!
9064033
Don't worry, that's Celestia's gig
9064004
Fat chance when they're facing charges for endangerment and neglect, among other things
This is begging for a comparison of how Ponyville is compared to the Burrow for the Grangers later, to see how the magic world is different there.
Your incarnation of Dumbledore seems to really raise the hairs on the back of one's neck.
۸ºꞈº۸
Something, wicked, this way comes...
Dumbledore doesn't seem that unreasonable to me? I mean, he gets informed something weird is up with the guardians of one of his students, he visits and starts asking polite questions, but respects when they refuse to answer. His questions wouldn't have been unreasonable for someone just having lunch with the Equestrians, let alone someone with partial responsibility for a child in their care.
The books are the only real unpleasant thing (from today, I mean) and no one has bothered to ask him about his reasoning yet.
9063984
Strange witches from an unknown society show up doing magic never seen before while also hovering around arguably the single most important person in the wizarding world? Dumbledore would need to be a special brand of incompetent not to try and scout just who these strange new witches are. There's not even anything evil, cruel or otherwise morally wrong about it, it's rather sensible.
9063956
I wouldn't say not as common, just used differently. Buffalos are shown in the comics to have their own ways of altering the seasons for example, and hippogryphs have an entire society around transforming.
9064313
lack of trust. he didn't bother trying to gin their trust. he went straight to interrogation. ur right, it is suspicious. but the lack of trying anything else before interrogation? meh.. we'll have to wait for more chapters for this to develop though
9064321
He was just asking questions. He doesn't know these people, for all he knows they could have some malicious goals for Harry or be followers of Voldemort.
9064313
Yeah but ponies use more magic than anyone. They control the weather in their country, they control the sun & moon and they have actual spellcasters. No other nation has been shown to have as much magic as Equestria. They are basically what you would get if all the different wizard communities on earth came together and formed their own country, free of muggles.
9064321
Should he have to? Strange witches show up in England hovering around the single most important boy in the wizarding world and want their own siblings to attend his school alongside Harry. He's entitled a fair few questions, and he only put forth polite ones so far.
9064154
Possibly, but remember that Dumbledore wasn't exactly portrayed as sane in the beginning. It was just the reputation of goodness that made Harry have a good first impression.
9064239
Yep. Remember, the author has told us that what we are seeing is the perceptions of characters, not what the author thinks personally.
Also, Harry from the books was very impressionable, since one of the first positive things that happened in his life was ultimately from Dumbledore.
The Harry from this fic has been raised by ponies for a while, with an almost idyllic atmosphere. He almost refused attendance. So the first thing he heard about Dumbledore were those books. (And we don't know anything about the circumstances for said books.)
9064334
That was Harry's condition, not theirs. I think the very real threat that Harry could choose to learn magic from his otherworldly caretakers is not something to ignore. Of course, the wizards don't realize that is on the table. I think a counter demonstration would make the point quite well should the ponies decide to reveal more information.
9064332
to be honest, thinking them followers of tom is a huge leap... without any evidence to support it. =/
9064458
hehe, it's just an extreme example, like parents wanting to make sure there daughter's boyfriend isn't a serial killer.
9064149
Or the magic, being related to love and all that, could have taken Equestria's magic as a surrogate source. In other words it might have shifted requirements to Equestria instead.
9064334
kind of the point isn't it? used to getting what he wants, without ever raising his voice or ridding himself of the polite demeanor. no different than celestia and her constant smile. the moment he lied about a llunch with friend was the moment he made himself also seem suspicious. he could have gone with something else. like seeing harry. or the new students that harry wanted to come with him.
9064463
i get a kick out of those.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpyhDuAZF8c
i also liked the scene in lethal waepon. 'son, i have a gun' boy: yes sir' (walks away)
9064458
Dumbledore had spells to keep an eye on Harry and has abruptly learned those spells didn't tell him something very important happened, it actually isn't that out of the question for him to be suspicious and wonder if Harry's new guardians sabotaged his spells somehow. "Happening" to show up and join them for lunch is a pretty innocuous way of trying to check in on what's going on.
Dumbledore already got a lot of heat for not investigating and finding the Dursleys were mistreating Harry, it seems odd to turn around and be unhappy when he does start investigating upon finding Harry somehow switched guardians under mysterious circumstances.
9064332
Only if you call the magic of the other races 'not magic', in which case only actual spellcasting would qualify as actual magic and the amount of magic users in Equestria drops down to a third. If we don't, then every race has their own innate magic in some shape, way or form, and is just as magical as an earth pony or pegasi.
Yes, Equestria is more overt in their magic use, but remember: places like the Everfree Forest and the North are noted to be an exception exactly because the weather and plants do their own thing. That means other races have their own ways of managing weather and seasons, which we actually see a sliver off in the comics with the buffaloes, or the deer and their own plant magic.
9064421
Ah, yes, but Dumbledore doesn't know the reason for Harry's demand, does he? As far as he knows, Harry was safely hidden with the Dursely's. Then all of a sudden he's around strange magic users and demanding that three of them attend with him? And they only just got their letters? Alarm bells a-rinkeling as Dumbledore rushes to find out just what is going on. Again, a very logical reaction. Nothing untoward about it.
9064467
Yes, but my point is more that his actions so far have all been pretty reasonable. Strange witches show up around Harry, and he wants to know what's going on.
9064553
that parts understandable. but you and i know his spells are what caused things to go unnoticed for so long. curious how things interact with each other when used in tandom. truth be told, even minerva voiced the problem of not checking in personally.
9064559
understandable. instead of asking whats going on, he asks questions that make him look more suspicious than he is. he is, after all, keeping the spells he used to keep track of harry a secret. his concerns are valid.. but the way he is going about it seem more odd than it has to be. i'm sure im biased though.. so meh.
9064559
I'm talking about races outside of Equestria, Buffalo live within Equestria they are not a separate nation. It's been made clear that magic is only used constantly inside Equestria, outside of Equestria the world behaves more like ours.
And the Harry and the ponies meets Dumbledore - it actually went better than the expected!
Although Twilight and the Mane indeed leaked more information than the desirable (they have a lot of talents but being undercover is not one of them...), the leaks happened in reasonable circunstances (when excited, slip of tongue) and since they will warn Celestia and Luna about this development, the Royal Sisters probably will give them more advice and instruction of how to proceed - so, so far the advantage is still with the ponies.
And with the books and products that Twilight and Co. bought also would give Equestria an edge after being reversed engineered
The scene with the telescopes was intriguing - the wizards have a lot of spells that would make a refracting telescope have a far greater range than the expected of its muggle equivalent... but if a modern high quality reflecting telescope could match them... and if one adds the wizards spells on it...
It was good to see that even when she realized that the jig was up, Twilight gave only partial information (although with enough bombs to puzzle the wizards! A country without muggles?? i wonder how Dumbledore from one side, and the Blood Purists from other would consider such information...).
The Equestrians are taking on interesting take on the Statute of Secrecy: they don't understand the reason but will respect it for now, since that they want to start trade with both worlds, and they probably think that it is more an excentricity of wizarding society... it will be interesting to see what they will thinking after more information...
Interesting to see that this Harry isn't in awe of Dumbledore - this could lead to interesting developments.
Waiting for the next chapter.
9064606
The buffaloes are not a nation because they're Native American expies, they don't recognize the concepts of nations within their culture. The lands, however, were not Equestria. Appleloosa is a frontier town, with the conflict between "our land" "no our land!" being the central plotline.
The Crystal Empire -which was not part of Equestria- has two settings: Permament storms, or absolute weather control. Neither is natural.
Beyond that... we don't really see much of the lands beyond Equestria. Not enough to say weather functions like normal there. But given that Equestria has to manually adjust entire seasons which are kinda sorta a global thing, it makes more sense that the rest of the world has to as well.
9064559
9064603
Remember, though, that that's only the story from Dumbledore's side, and that we are in the unique position of being able to observe the whole to at least some extent.
From the Equestrian's side, they only know that he's Headmaster of Hogwarts, ostensibly Harry's "Magical Guardian, Whatever the Hay That means." responsible for authorizing the illicit publications about him, and through McGonagall's exposition in the Book Shop have reason to strongly suspect that he was ultimately responsible for Harry's placement with the Dursleys, whom they have made no secret of their animosity and disgust for. They don't know about the monitoring charms. They don't know that said charms failed somehow, and they also don't have any more than what McGonagall has told them about the circumstances behind Why Harry was placed there and then seemingly left alone before he stumbled into Equestria.
He also lied about "Joining them for Lunch", which from their perspective makes him look like he was only there to probe. It wasn't an entirely unexpected occurrence, but it was still an unwelcome one. They still seem to be withholding final judgement for the time being, but so far in their brief time knowing him Dumbledore has done little to engender trust or assuage their suspicions.
Weather the situation changes in Dumbledore's Favor or against is entirely up to him and his actions now, since his reputation mostly means nothing to them outside of the authority the positions he holds provides him. If he earns their trust, then all's rosy. If he doesn't, then they will likely respect his positions when in public, but it won't stop them from trying to circumvent his authority where possible.
9064553 Dumbledore is his usual manipulative self. 'I will of course, not lie.' Bollocks. He'll say whatever he thinks will get the desired response. Case in point.
Fortunately this Harry is onto his tricks. I'm looking forward to seeing how Dumbles tries and fails to separate Harry from the Crusaders and with Ron Weasley as his new best friend.
Come on, taking them to the Burrow? That's about as transparent as Molly Weasley breaking the Statute of Secrecy at Kings Cross. Yelling about platform 9 and 3/4 had exactly one purpose, to attract Harry and make sure the Weasleys were the first family he met.
9064834
There is no love requirement. When they mention love they simply mean that you would have to love someone a lot to choose to sacrifice yourself to protect them.
What the blood wards needed was Petunia because she shared Lilly's blood. The original protection should still be active but honestly its really confusing so it's ultimately up to the author.
9064848
I'm pretty sure the blood wards are gone since it required Harry to see pivot drive as his home plus he's been gone too long.
9064673
Oh I'm not saying the Equestrians don't have reason to be suspicious, I was mostly trying to put this in a Dumbledore perspective that was less "evil Dumbledore" from a reader's perspective.
9064709
This implies both Hagrid and Molly were in on this sinister plot. But both are about as good at sinister plotting as the Crusaders are about avoiding treesap. I really can't take the idea that Hagrid intentionally abandoned Harry to make way for Molly to trick Harry into becoming friends with Ron seriously.
Far more likely Hagrid just scatterbrained himself away forgetting to tell Harry and Molly oopsied on mentioning the platform because a pureblooded wizard family is so used to openly talk about magic they can forget they're in muggle places.
I mean, you're not entirely wrong. The scene was put in so that Harry could become Ron's friend, but the scheming here is Rowling's, not Dumbledore's.
Well with Hagrid leaving Harry alone, in the movie he had a faster means of travelling and was in a hurry to get the stone to Dumbledore while in the books Harry actually went back to pivot drive for another month before it was time to go. In both cases, Hagrid just forgot that Harry wouldn't know how to get to the train.
With Molly asking out loud what the platform number was, it's just a misunderstanding on some readers parts, she wasn't asking because she had forgotten or any sinister reason she was just quizzing her youngest children to see if they remembered. It's a rather common teaching technique.
9064859
Yes, but that's unicorn magic - which won't always translate to wizarding magic.
Potions will be different, ponies don't have expecto patronum, Defense Against the Dark Arts will be completely new (too bad the teacher's trying their hardest not to teach his subject), Care of Magical Creatures will also be completely new, Muggle Studies will be a joke (Hermione would be a much better teacher), and Runes/Arithmancy will likely be very different.
While Harry will likely be well-trained at apparition (usually not taught until Sixth Year, from memory), Wingardium Leviosa and Transfiguration, he will likely struggle with other applications of magic.
9064901
Come to think of it, potions class is going to be rather horrifying for the fillies. Sure, Apple Bloom may know a bit of potionmaking from Zecora and Twilight, but unlike Zecora's and Twilight's potions, wizarding potionmaking tends to involve quite a few bodyparts of a variety of creatures. Some of which even sapient (fairy wings come to mind).
9064870
I get that, but at the same time, despite some glimpses into Dumbledore's side to provide context for some of his actions this is still mostly told from the perspective of the Equestrians, so it's important to acknowledge why they, and by extension a majority of readers, fall on their side of the issue, as Dumbledore's previous actions tend to get lost in the rest of the narrative unless they're aspects of what's been ingrained in the Fanon Lexicon.
9064854
His casual slip to Twilight pretty much indicates where he thinks his home is now.
Not her home, just home in general, meaning his now too.
Makes me wonder if Dumbledore will try to suggest Harry stay with the Weasleys, or have the others make that suggestion. I don't think the CMC (including Harry) would go for it; they need to head back to Equestria's side of the portal to examine what they got, amongst other things. And probably get coaching on their upcoming trip by experts (if not just Twilight). I don't know about Hermione Granger though, the Burrow isn't exactly a good impression of Wizarding society. Honestly I have no idea what Dumbledore's plan is here except to put the visitors in new situations to see their reactions and get more information from them all. Maybe it's a round-about gryffindor advertisement? Hardly necessary, Draco already gave a good warning against Slytherin.