Scootaloo was a bit confused at first when Professor McGonagall called out, “Aloo, Scoot.” But her going into Gryffindor wasn’t a surprise to Harry, and was a quick decision by the hat. As she told them later, the hat had said she had no real ambitions, so not Slytherin; studying was a chore, so not Ravenclaw; and while she was fiercely loyal, she was like Rainbow in wanting to nap a lot, so Hufflepuff was out. Her boundless enthusiasm for charging into Cutie Mark Crusading, while completely ignoring any possible dangers, or at least downplaying them, pretty much marked her as Gryffindor material. Naturally, her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, followed her into the red and gold House. Harry assumed that was because of the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ attitude of charging ahead without a thought.
The hat’s reaction to seeing the monsters they had encountered had been an astounded, “Bloody hell! How are you all still alive?” He had been equally impressed with their origins, and assured her that he would never tell anyone what he learned when sorting students. Although he did say he had never sorted any students from another world like Equus.
That Hermione, with her intense focus on books went to Gryffindor as well, was surprising. But given her admiration for Dumbledore, who was watching over everything from his throne-like chair, and wanting to be in his House, maybe not so unexpected. And having so many of her friends in it already probably was a factor, too.
Harry didn’t know enough about Neville to make a prediction. Neville, however, seemed over-joyed at getting into Gryffindor. On the train, he had predicted he would probably be shuffled into Hufflepuff, which he termed as the House for those that didn’t fit in the others. And that that would greatly disappoint his Gran and Uncle Alfie. Based on the stories the boy had told them on the train, Harry was sure that ‘Uncle Alfie’ would have gotten along just fine with Uncle Vernon. And he had the feeling that he should be able to change a jinx so that it would transfer from a letter to a person without them noticing — such as one that made him confess bad deeds to the wrong people.
Harry Potter’s name brought a profound silence to the hall for a moment, then a burst of loud whispering. Even those who hadn’t paid any attention to the sorting at all were suddenly watching closely. Some even went so far as to stand on their benches to get a better look.
“Well, well, well,” said the hat, a disembodied voice in his head as he sat on the stool. “This is quite the mind you have here. It’s all in here, you know. Your hopes, your ambitions, your potentials. Loyalty to your friends in spades; that would make you a very good Hufflepuff. Wanting to learn all you can about magic; that would be a fine fit for Ravenclaw. And bravery! Oh, my, more than willing to charge ahead of your friends to protect them. That’s a Gryffindor trait, for sure. Your ambition is rather subdued right now, but it is there, so Slytherin is definitely a choice. Yes, Slytherin could help make you great. That House could help you develop to your full potential.”
Harry frowned. “I go with my friends to Gryffindor,” he thought firmly. “I wouldn’t be here without them. They saved my life in more ways than one and I’ll not abandon them.”
“Yes, yes, you do make quite the team, don’t you? I’ve seen their minds — they won’t forsake you simply because you’re in a different House. It might be difficult to adapt, at first, but you and they would flourish. Yes, Slytherin would be exceptionally useful to you.”
Harry and the girls had listened all month to Ron and the twins raging against the Slytherins and all things snake-like. And while the twins spoke of the other houses, it wasn’t always in the kindest words. The stereotypes were very deeply planted in the wizarding society, Harry had discovered while listening at the lunch table as the Quidditch team talked of the other houses. He would not allow himself to be separated from his filly friends. A herd stayed together.
“Gryffindor,” Harry stated firmly. “Gryffindor or I leave.”
“Well, if that’s what it will take, then it better be . . .
“Gryffindor!” shouted the hat out loud.
Later, at the Gryffindor table and surrounded by both his friends and the Quidditch team, for the first time Harry actually felt welcome somewhere. These people accepted him for what he was.
In Equestria, he had friends, but they were different. Or, rather, he was different. Not that most of them knew that. But he did. He knew he didn’t belong. He knew he was a transformed human and not a pony. And those that did know his secret always took a bit of time before they accepted him.
Here, though, they were all just the same as he was, people who could do magic. And having his three filly friends here just made it all that much better! Maybe, just maybe, going to school here instead of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was a good idea.
The food, when it appeared, caught the fillies by surprise. Not the quantity, or that it had so many meat products. What surprised them were the large amounts of pastries and sweets. Scootaloo dug right into the fish dishes, of course, with great gusto. She almost rivalled Ron at the rate she was putting it away.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom had already heard the arguments for becoming meat eaters, but they weren’t convinced yet. Harry hadn’t tried any meat dishes at their house in Little Whinging, not wanting to upset his vegetarian friends.
“Humans are omnivores,” Twilight had explained. “And their bodies require certain nutrients, proteins, and minerals that are contained in meat dishes. While you are in human form, you need to eat those things to stay healthy. And the animals here are not anywhere close to sapient.” She had taken a big bite of the bacon Harry had cooked that morning. “Besides, your taste buds have changed and this stuff tastes great!”
Still, it was one thing to know something was good for you intellectually and another to actually enjoy eating it.
The two fillies carefully picked and nibbled at the meat dishes while piling up the pastries and sweets. And commandeering all the vegetables and fruits at their end of the table.
۸- ̬ -۸
Even though they were all tired, and it was quite late by the time they reached the Gryffindor dormitories, Harry and Neville managed to complete the letter to Ollivander. It was after their curfew so heading to the owlery was definitely out of the question. However, Harry went to their dorm window and opened it as the others watched curiously. He leaned out and bellowed, “HEDWYG!”
Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan all looked at each other, shrugged, and looked back at Harry. Ron just grinned.
Harry ducked back into the room as a Snowy White owl glided into the room.
“ ’Cor,” said Dean admiringly, “that one’s a beauty.” The others agreed.
“Here, Hedwyg,” Harry said, tying the shrunken stick and letter to his owl’s leg. “Would you please take this to Ollivander the Wand-maker in London? It’s about a new wand for Neville.”
Hedwyg hooted affirmative, and took off out the window with a stately grace.
They spent a few more minutes talking before they all collapsed into their beds and fell asleep.
۸- ̬ -۸
For Dumbledore, Sunday had been hectic, as it always was. The students had been on their way and the castle had to be ready. The house-elves had been in a frenzy, cleaning anything that didn’t move, and quite a few things that did. One of them popped into his office almost every half-hour to tell him that this or that was now ready for the students and to ask if he had thought of anything else they should be doing. He had even seen one house-elf polishing the stones in the gravel drive up from the gates.
Meanwhile, the professors had been going over their schedules, checking their supplies for any last-minute corrections, and preparing themselves for the onslaught that was to start in the evening.
But now, the students had arrived. He had always looked forward to that moment, and today was no exception. It was his favourite part of arrival day, seeing the looks of wonder on the new students as they followed Professor McGonagall inside the Great Hall. And this year Harry Potter was finally at the school. James and Lilly Potter’s son had finally made it here. Safe and happy.
That he was accompanied by three foreign students, students apparently from Atlantis, was merely icing on Dumbledore’s cake. The girls were clearly powerful, as he had seen when they all mastered the animagus transformation. If the school made a good impression on them, then maybe he could expect more students from that recluse country in attendance.
He had been trying for ten years to rebuild the wizarding society devastated by Voldemort. Trying to instil in his students the concept that they needed to live in peace, both in the wizarding world and with the muggles. Pure-blood sentiments had no place and would severely damage the English wizarding society if they were pursued to their natural conclusion. Giving the pure-bloods special privileges in order to placate them while still being open and welcoming to the half-bloods and muggle-born was the only feasible solution.
Having pure-blood foreigners of great power marrying into English society would put paid to those desperate pure-blood aspirations — these foreigners clearly had no interest in discriminating against anyone based solely on their blood status. All they considered, it seemed, was how people treated each other! They simply didn’t understand what the pure-blood ideologues were trying to establish. Thankfully.
Watching as the girls were sorted into Gryffindor was a bit of a surprise. He had expected them to be separated, with Miss Belle going into Ravenclaw and Miss Bloom going into Hufflepuff. He hadn’t been able to get a proper read on Miss Aloo, she had spent most of her time flying — either as her animagus or on a broom. She probably wasn’t either Slytherin or Ravenclaw, based on what Arthur had told him.
As he had hoped, Harry went into Gryffindor, not that Dumbledore expected anything else after his girl friends had gone into it. Professor McGonagall was especially happy at seeing that, although she did a credible job of hiding that fact from the watching students.
After delivering his normal end-of-Welcoming-Feast speech, with the required additions, he headed back to his chambers. His night was not yet done.
He apparated to end of the Privet Drive and walked leisurely to number Four, using his Put-Outer to remain hidden in the shadows. No one was home. He shrugged, they were probably out for the evening. He didn’t notice the two women in those shadows, watching him intently.
It took only a moment to remove his fidelius charm from the house. Now that the boy was at Hogwarts, it wasn’t needed to hide him. And it would cause problems for the boy at school if he left it intact, as others would ignore the boy or forget he was there moments after he left a class. His mother’s protection on the house would suffice.
He turned, retraced his steps, and apparated back to his office in Hogwarts.
And was jolted by the noise — a piercing whistle, a ringing bell, and a hooting horn. He started in disbelief.
His Harry Potter monitors were going crazy, and what they were showing defied imagination. Harry Potter was here — and quite happy to be here, he knew — and yet the metronome was solid black instead of neutral grey, with the indicator wand as far to the left as it could get. It was actually stopped from being horizontal only because the knick-knack beside, a knight on a charger with white cotton-like smoke coming from its nose, prevented it. According to the monitor, Harry was miserable to the point of considering suicide.
The second monitor, the smoker, blew a steady column of thick black smoke that almost reached the ceiling and its boiler and chimney were a solid black. Harry was in perfect health, yet the trinket showed the boy to be in poor health, at near starvation levels, and suffering from broken bones and injured organs.
The worst, though, was the spinner, the one that monitored the protection provided to the Dursley home by Lily’s love, and fostered by her sister. That one was stopped dead and completely black. The protective charm had failed entirely.
Almost as an afterthought, he looked at the last two. The stop-light was still green, showing that no one was trying to separate Harry from the Dursleys, but there was one tiny thin band of black from several weeks ago. The globe monitoring the fidelius charm on Harry was clear, as it should be, because he had just cancelled the charm, himself.
This was a catastrophe — his mother’s protection on the Dursley home had collapsed. How could that have happened?
Well, at least the boy was safe here at Hogwarts . . . the Headmaster stiffened. “Skiffy!” he called.
“Skiffy is here, Master Dumbledore,” came the almost immediate response from his Hogwarts’ personal house-elf.
Dumbledore turned to him. “Is Harry Potter in bed?”
“Skiffy will check,” said the little creature before disappearing with a POP. Almost immediately, he returned. The old wizard paused only long enough to hear the house-elf say, “Yes, Master Dumbledore . . . ,” before disapparating away, back to the Dursleys. He missed the rest of the Skiffy’s response, “. . . Master Potter be in his bed.”
The boy was safe, so he needed to see what had happened at the Dursleys. He would decipher why the other monitoring spells were malfunctioning when he returned.
Minutes later, wand in hand, he was walking briskly up Privet Drive, his robes billowing in his wake. He would have used his Put-Outer to douse the street lights, but he was in too much of a hurry to bother. He was soo intent on getting to the Dursley house at the other end of the street that he again failed to notice that two women watched him just as intently, one on each side of the street.
Dumbledore was in such a hurry that he cut across several lawns to shorten the distance instead of following the pavement. He peered at the house closely. It gave off the air of a house unlived-in for a number of weeks. The grass was taller than the neighbours and the bushes in front looked a bit neglected. Which it should, if the Dursleys had been gone for over a month. Now that he thought about it, the Dursleys should be at home this late at night. Tomorrow was, after all, a normal school day and their child needed his rest.
He rang the doorbell and waited. He rang it again. Nothing stirred in the house. He knocked, loudly. Still nothing stirred. He looked around and didn’t see anyone watching from the surrounding houses. He pointed his wand at the door and whispered, homenum revelio. He frowned as the spell revealed that no one was in the house. Surely the Dursleys would have returned from their vacation by now, if only to ensure that their son was in school on time. He quickly unlocked the door with a spell and stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind himself.
The watchers, one now across the street from number Four and the other maintaining her post, exchanged frustrated looks. The one across the street ran up to the front windows and peeked inside.
The old wizard looked around the entry, then cast another spell. This one blacked the windows so no one could observe him. A quick lumos let him see clearly the mound of clothes thrown on the sitting-room floor and the open door of the cupboard under the stairs. Puzzled, he walked over and looked inside.
“Oh, my,” was all he could say as he took in the childish scrawl that said “Harry’s Room” on the wall, the papers tacked around it, the marks and stains on the wall clearly defining where a cot had been placed, and the dirty stained floor that hadn’t been cleaned in a decade. He straightened and leaned against the door frame. “How could you? He’s your nephew!” he said softly, looking around the spotless sitting-room with its pictures that showed a very fat child, a very overweight man, and a skinny woman with a face that reminded him of a horse. Nowhere in sight was there a picture that showed Harry. And the fat child would never have been able to fit inside that tiny cupboard.
With heavy steps, the wizard slowly made his way up the stairs. He looked in the first bedroom, a messy child’s room filled with the normal detritus of discarded clothes and toys. The sign on its door, in a fancy script on a bronze plaque, said Dudley’s Room. The second, smaller, room was filled entirely with what could only be broken toys and equipment, all looking quite expensive-looking. There was a sign on its door, like the first, that said, Dudley’s Room. The third bedroom, larger than the second one, was even more pristine than the sitting-room. It had a neat bed, bedside table, dresser, and armchair. All were tastefully arranged and colour-coordinated with the walls and framed pictures. It looked more like a furniture showroom than a room someone lived in. Obviously, this was a guest room. There was no sign on its door.
The final door led to a much larger room, the parents’ bedroom, he surmised, based on the pictures of both Dursleys when they were much younger that were displayed on the two bedside tables. He slowly walked down the stairs shaking his head, “Do you not realize what you have done?” he asked the absent family.
He stared into the sitting-room, again. A typical middle-class home. The furnishings were fairly new, the rug and curtains in decent shape. Nothing looked either worn or seriously used. A well-cared-for home, a model of what one might expect a normal muggle family to have and live in. A family of three, with a father, mother, and child. No one would ever suspect that another child lived there, as well.
Only the cupboard under the stairs was evidence otherwise. That was the only suggestion that things were not as they appeared on the surface. That maybe this perfect home wasn’t nearly as perfect as the owners wanted it to appear. And what it suggested about Harry’s relationship with his relatives was ugly, indeed.
He needed to know. He had to know what had happened here. He thought a moment, then cast the point-me spell. They were quite some distance away, he discovered. He frowned, thinking.
Arabella and Minerva had mentioned that the Dursley’s were away since the beginning of August, staying at one of a chain of places called the Queen’s Resort. That had explained why Harry was staying with the Atlanteans.
He remembered Arabella mentioning something about the Dursleys being in Woking. He had never been there. He sighed, and disapparated back to Hogwarts for a broom.
۸-ꞈ-۸
Dawn was still hours away when he landed his broom on the outskirts of the town. He cast a notice-me-not on himself, recast the point-me spell, then started walking. Half-an-hour later he was standing in front of the local constabulary building, a two-story, sturdy, brick building separated from the pavement by an iron railing and a brick-paved empty-space wider than the pavement. He shook his head ruefully, a Queen’s Resort, indeed! Muggles certainly had a dry wit at times. He slowly made his way inside to an officer at a desk inside.
“Excuse me,” he said, eyes twinkling, “can you tell me if you have a Mr. or Mrs. Dursley here?” With the help of a small spell, the officer was more than willing to direct him to the cell in which they held Mrs. Dursley. The wizard sent the man back to his desk with a quiet command and an obliviate. He would ignore all sounds and flashes of light he might see from the holding area for the next half-hour.
“Petunia,” Dumbledore said softly, after opening the door and sending a gentle rennervate. There was no reason, yet, to be stern. There still might be a reasonable explanation.
She stirred, blinked, and looked over at him blearily. She ran a hand through her hair as she sat up and stared at him crossly. “Well, it’s about time you got here! Straighten out this mess. Get us out of here!”
He shook his head regretfully as he stepped closer. She stood up to face him, her defiance on the border of turning into fear.
He stared into her eyes. For a brief moment, he was glad he hadn’t managed to put through that law making it illegal to legilimens a muggle.
He sighed disappointedly.
It was all there.
How they had treated Harry. Or, rather, mistreated the boy. It had started with resentment, the sister Petunia had resented, the one who had gotten all the attention, all the praise, once she had left for Hogwarts. The sister that had had the audacity to die and burden her child onto Petunia’s already struggling family. Dudley had been a difficult child, Harry had added to her problems.
He shook his head sadly. He hadn’t considered the strain an additional child might have on the new family. He should have arranged for a stipend to ease their burden.
So she had started to ignore him in favour of her own child. Taking her frustrations out on the boy when he did anything she didn’t like. Her husband had already disliked both Lily and her husband, and it took very little for him to transfer that dislike to Harry. Everything had started to slide downhill for the boy as his relatives took out their frustrations with Dudley, and Vernon’s office, on Harry.
Year after year, Harry’s treatment had gotten worse. Gradually, her son had picked up on his parents’ attitude, and things escalated as he discovered he could do anything he wanted to Harry without fear of retribution. The punishments increased in scale and length as the boy’s magical accidents, either real or imagined — attacks as the Dursleys characterized them — had manifested.
He noted with some surprise that the boy had disappeared from their home well over a year ago. He briefly wondered how the Atlanteans had found him — perhaps, instead of a communications mirror, there had been an emergency port-key and he had accidentally triggered it.
In any case, clearly, Harry had run away, hence none of the spells had warned him the boy was no longer at the Dursleys — he had left voluntarily and not been forced by a wizard or muggle. Harry could have returned at any time, apparently. He had simply never wanted to.
Not that Dumbledore could blame him for that. He, himself, would have fled a family that treated him so shabbily. Dumbledore understood that parents had to be strict with their children, and punishments should vary with the seriousness of the misdeeds that prompted them.
Albus’ own father had never been one to “spare the rod” when the occasion demanded he apply it. But what they had subjected Harry to was far from merely being strict, and crossed over into out-right cruelty. Yes, he, too, would have fled.
The only reason the spells hadn’t collapsed years ago was that Petunia had accepted the boy into her house. That she hadn’t tossed him out, or completely turned her back on him. And that the boy had kept trying to earn her love and acceptance.
Dumbledore had never thought the boy would simply run away. And, thus, he hadn’t bothered to put a charm on Harry to either advise him that Harry had left or to prevent Harry from doing that. Or a charm to prevent the Petunia from simply abandoning the boy, which, he now knew, she had contemplated several times.
“Really, Petunia. You only had to do one thing, just one job: take care of the boy for your sister,” he said shaking his head in resignation. “Your sister! Your own flesh-and-blood!” He sighed. Getting angry now would solve nothing. The Dursleys had planted the seeds of their own destruction, now they would reap the results.
That explained the failure of the protection charm around their house. Without Harry there to provide the impetus, what little love she had for her sister’s son had fallen away. Neglected and forgotten in her eagerness and desire to care only for her husband and son, without any distractions. It had taken this long for the residual magic to fade away. Or, perhaps, when he had removed the fidelius it had exhausted what little magic that had remained at the home. It could even be that the protective charm on the house had collapsed months, or years, ago and the fidelius, for whatever reason, had prevented him from detecting its collapse.
He shook his head wearily. Not even Mrs. Figg had been able to spot anything wrong — but she was there simply to keep a watch out for wizards and witches who might be looking for Harry. Watching over Harry at times had been merely a happy happenstance. After all, who would think an aunt and uncle would treat their nephew so terribly? It was a failing of his, to expect people to be better than they really were.
The Dursleys only allowed her to see what they wanted her to see. They always made sure Harry was in good condition when they sent him over to her while they took their out-of-town trips and vacations. Months would pass without her seeing the boy, especially in the winter when children tended to stay inside. Plus, they had certainly threatened the boy enough to keep him from saying anything that might reveal the conditions he suffered under at their house when he did meet with Arabella.
And ever since last summer they had ignored Arabella. She had called them several times, since them. Her excuse had been to wonder if everything was alright — she did, after all, really like the little boy. She had pretended to want to know if they had somehow found someone else willing to babysit the boy for the ridiculously low rate she charged. They had put her off saying they had taken the boy with them, instead, now that he was older. When she mentioned not seeing him around the neighbourhood, they had simply said he was lazy and preferred to loaf around in his room, unlike their dear Dudley, a vigorous child who enjoyed the outdoors. Or that he had misbehaved and they were keeping him in his room as punishment. There was no way she could have suspected they were lying through their teeth, and that Harry had run away.
He really should have checked up on the boy as Minerva had insisted all these years. If he had, he might have been able to ameliorate their dislike for Harry into tolerance. At the very least he could have ensured the boy got regular healthy meals, proper clothes, and that their whale of a son didn’t use him for a punching bag. He shook his head sadly. There was nothing more to say or do here.
۸-ꞈ-۸
A redeeming and eye opening moment for Dumbledore
Dumbledore: You had one job, Petunia!
McGonagall: You had one job, Albus!
One down, one to go...
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Eye opening perhaps. Redemption? That hasn't even started yet.
Hmm, important, this, his actions here will telegraph to the Equestrians that Dumbledore hadn't the slightest idea that anything had been wrong. His first instinct will likely be a full and utterly regretful apology. Hopefully accompanied by an explanation to his newfound guardians. I think when Dumbledore eventually meets the Sisters he'll realize that all he needs to do is point out the murderous lich and watch the fireworks.
A non asshole Dumbledore, one that actually went and did something. Damn, this is refreshing.
As is Harry noticing that the reason he shouldn't be in Slytherin is not a poor preconception, but societal prejudice. His time as Twilight' son certainly did him good
Well, that's the wizard's blind spot. In this AU, Dumbledore put such a good 'don't notice me' charm on the house that it blinded himself from noticing anything wrong, and most likely let Tom Riddle's Horcrux-ish curse twist his home life into a pretzel as a result.
Anybody want to take bets that the Dursleys show tinges of Dark Magic now? A few shades of Imperious by proxy, perhaps?
(And although Dumbledore is playing a bad game of "If-Only-I-Had" with Harry's recent past, his original reasons for staying away from the Dursleys remain perfectly valid. All it would have taken was one slip, one curious Dark Wizard who could hide better than Dumbledore could see, and a simple trip to ensure Harry was as healthy and happy as the monitoring charms indicated could have resulted in disaster.)
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And a member of Dumbledore's private army. A trusted soldier who fought relentlessly against the Death Eaters. Why was everyone else given a trial, but not Sirius? Including his cousin, and the son of Bartemius Crouch Sr., who had tortured the Longbottom's into insanity? That occurred only days after the Potters were killed. Shouldn't THEY have been shuffled off to prison instead of getting a trail? It was wartime, as you said, and the WERE caught in the act by Aurors. If they could stand a trial for those four DEs, why not Sirius, too?
Yup, Harry and the CMC (and the others) went to Gryffindor as the expected.
But Harry is wrong in one thing - so far, everypony is concerned, from Cutie Mark Crusaders, to Twilight and Spike, to the Bearers, to Celestia and Luna... he do belong with them.
And Dumbledore began to realize the (Everest-like) size of his mistake... it will be curious to see what he will do now.
And how the ponies and Harry will react if he decided to come clean (considerating Harry's bursts of temper, I'm really not sure of the size of the thunderstorm that will happen!)
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But it's going to. Dumbledore's first thought going forwards will be how to make this right. You can see it in his reactions here, no thought for how this may have damaged his plans, only for how this has affected Harry. This was a disaster, and Dumbledore knows it.
This may also lead to the revelation of the horcrux corruption that may or may not be present. if Dumbledore's apology sparks an uncharacteristic streak of viciousness in harry, that will alert the ponies that something may be wrong.
A Dumbledore that isn't a vile monster? This is madness!
I will say I like this moment...
It seems like a big failing of most wizards is arrogance: Dumbledore here thinking his plan would work because how could he fail to see the way it could turn out badly, Voldemort in tearing his soul apart for Horcruxes seeding his own destruction, Makepeace from the Bartimaeus Trilogy trying to master the ancient demons, Harry Dresden with Atlus' burden of protecting Chicago & his friends on his shoulders because he's the ONLY one who can do so.
Maybe we'll see some humility and less obvious meddling...
Maybe we won't, arrogance is a hard habit to break after all.
Oh I wonder then where this will lead. The secretive old man a fool unable see the trees for the forest.
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His first thought might be that. His second thought might be: if Harry ever finds out I put him there, it will turn him against me, or worse; he will go back to Atlantis, outside my reach.
His third thought might be: if the press finds out my career as headmaster and politian are both over.
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He deserves massive self recrimination and owes Harry, big time.
And thus Dumbledore has realized his mistake. I'm foreseeing a big 'I TOLD YOU SO!' moment from McGonagall once she learns of what happened. Sirius and Remus(once the former breaks out and is either proven innocent once their lawyer asks for the non-existent trial transcripts from Sirius's non-existent trial or remains 'on the run'*Read as given sanctuary in Equestria if the ponies and Harry find out he's innocent but can't prove it right away to the British Ministry/Ministry wont listen the latter being a more likely part of that last bit*) wanting to punish the two but knowing that they are already going to suffer in prison.
FINALLY!
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--Sirius Black, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
9150164 Redeeming in that he looked into the situation and found out what happened to Harry rather than ignoring it. Ignoring it would've been so easy after all Harry is at Hogwarts and it would be so easy to put off finding out what happened till later.
9150213 No arguments from me but at least looking and finding out something was wrong is a positive step forwards
No mention of Ron or Ginny getting sorted?
Too many spells in one place interfering with one another. Hymn .... wonder what dursleys upto... bet you he's someone's punching bag in juvy. I'm actually surprised Harry's magic didn't manifest into one of those obscurus like in magical beasts and lay waste to everyone he felt wronged him. The teachers, students, doctors , and especially the dursleys. Forced not to do magic or anything freakish in the dursleys minds and mistreated leads to them forming. On a side note It's gonna be funny when the american wizards ...ministry? who have a zero tolerance exposure to nomags try to deal with the equestrians. You expose wizarding kind well goto war .... the equestrian response .... Oh how adorable you think to use magic against us we know your spells we have our own our weakest caster is equal to your average caster don't you see you use magic but we are magic.
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Dumbledore's next scene will tell us as great deal. Does he try to turn this towards the greater good? Does he apologize and show remorse that his failure led to the suffering of a child? Does he brush this under the rug and try to pick up the pieces? Or is it something entirely different?
All I'm sure of at this point is that I REALLY can't wait for the next chapter!!
and with this one chapter, you've caught me more than Magic School Days.
Thank you for not bashing.
Glad dumbledore got to see how big of a mistake he made.
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If he's smart he'll man upto his mistake now and explain what went wrong with the monitoring charms and apologize to Harry and the equestrians ... I feel the equestrian will be more forgiving over an accident if he man's up and admits it .... he'll still get hell for it ...then if they discover it themselves and infuriating them.
Dumbledore is not malicious , he just have very high expectations on what families were like. I can see him trying to make reconciliations but the question will be if he is able to change his hands off approach to Harry enough for his efforts to be accepted. I noticed he deliberately made use of a loophole in the law though it was one he had tried to plug, so he is not above bending the law to gain an advantage. (in this case breaking into the prison, confounding the warden and mind reading Petunia.) He also consider what the Dursleys’ did to Harry to be cruel beyond any reason which says something given he grew up in a time when corporal punishment was the norm at home and school.
Them main question is if he will openly or covertly scan Harry now he knows his devices were wrong (or get Madame Pumfrey to do it).
One thing is for sure, McGonagall Is going to lose her lid at him.
I can see the reason why one or more of the Equestria Guards was watching the former Dursley property as they would have detected the change caused be the fidelius charms cancelling but did they notice it before it fell?
I’m not surprised Harry refused to be separated from his herdmates, given his fears of abandonment (which he has half acknowledged when he confessed to Twilight about finding the portal but reaffirmed when he spoke to the solicitor about meeting Princess Celestia).
While Dumbledore is correct about his assessment of the CMC personalities, he didn’t know what we readers do of their cutie mark hunting activity and the trouble they cause. Plus there is the herd mentality which would have them wanting to stay together.
yep Dumbledore you fucked up, with keeping a eye on Harry and Petunia!
and like wise McGonagall you messed up in not keeping a close eye on Dumbleshit.
OK Dumbledore reality has now slapped you up along that stupid head you store your hair on so how what are you going to do?
Harry does not trust only a vary few and you are not one and if you try to control him, well he is being watched and guarded good luck.
if you think a pissed off Twilight is bade you do not want to meat Daybraker.
This chapter show that in at least one way Dumbledore is similar to Twilight. Both get deeply involved in their elaborate scheme and fail to realise that something has gone wrong until it is pointed out to them.
Thank you, thank you so much for a AU where the addition of the other ingredient has irreversibly knocked the plot train into just barely riding one rail of the tracks and in good position to just jump the tracks entirely. I've seen too many good cross over ideas just piddle out into the original plot with 'NAME' standing there at the main character's side. But for this one, both worlds have been irreversibly changed, for good or bad, we'll have to see.
And for my two bits though, Harry should really send Tirek a fruit basket down in Tarturus. That magic suckage he did has made things a lot more bearable for the poor lad.
9150175
yep to bade it was only 11 years to late.
9150175
I like this Dumbledore who was not afraid to face his own failure. The next question is what is he going to do about it?
The sorting scene was less exciting than I expected. But, well, since Magic School Days already made the most out of it, then it might be pointless to do similar scene.
The fact that the CMCs did not make a fuss over school's ghosts worried me. I hope they won't do CUTIE MARK CRUSEDERS GHOST CATCHER any time soon.
I also like this plot where the Equestrian is playing a spymaster role - secretly monitoring wizards and humans whenever they were in their area of interest - and none of the wizards/witches notice a thing. Wonder if they have upgraded their spy-network after the Wedding?
still waiting for minervas reaction, with her temper dumbledor better be prepared for fire!
9150269 Rowling has actually set forth that Harry could not turn into an Obscurial because... reasons. Somehow the abuse that the Dursleys gave Harry to supress his magic was different from the abuse Mary Lou gave Credence. As far as I can tell she was simply handwaving and retconning like a champ.
Also it appears that this Dumbledore was genuinely an incompetent senile old fool rather than a sinsiter manipulator. Or more properly more a senile old fool than sinister manipulator. We'll see what the balance is based on what he does next.
9150239
This quote doesn't mean anything here. If Junior was the only DE to get a trial, you'd have a point, but he wasn't.
9150179
Just another of the many plot holes in the HP canon. The world building of the Harry Potter series is highly inconsistent. Granted it was originally a children's series, but it grew and had a fandom that loves to pick apart details.
With that charm now gone, the legal guardian issues with Harry should now be the first thing dealt with. Instead of being put off for a later time or forgotten.
This was a lovely and realistic way for Dumbledore to realise his mistake. Too many fics portray him as callous and selfish, so this was quite nice and refreshing to read. I really enjoyed how you pointed out that Dumbledore really does think the best of everyone, sometimes more than he should have. Tom Riďdle, anyone? Again, a lovely chapter. Can't wait for more!
9150251
They're Weasleys. Even the hat in the movies was dismissive when it came to sorting them, pretty much just going "Oh hey, another Weasley. Into Gryffindor you go."
Nicely played. You went with the veil of ignorance, shielding your Dumbledore from recrimnations. Furthermore, you filled in some nasty cannon plot holes rather cleverly. I applaud your efforts, it's not easy to make Dumbledore semicompetent and benevilant, and you did a wonderful job of it.
you've made Dumbledore into a good guy again. Thank you very much.
9150337
The author provided a specific example of someone who was given a trial. I gave a specific explanation for why. I think that's relevant.
The only other person specifically mentioned was Bellatrix, who was charged jointly with Crouch Jr. and two others.
9150278
AGREED.
Please, Albus, for the love of pony, and the greater good, do the right thing...
9150340
As Headmaster he can remove the anti-apparition wards as he sees fit. For example, during apparition classes, the wards are removed from the great hall.
Am I the only one who finds the Sorting Har.... mildly creepy?
9150358
I hate fics that just bash a character. What purpose does it have to the plot? It's one of the unforgivable sins right next to Mary Sues in terms of wrong-ness...
"Attention students! If i could just say a few words... i wouldn't be such a bad public speaker."
9150370
Make that extremely creepy. And why does it look soo shabby? Why didn't it have an impervious charm on it? And wasn't it ever cleaned? Head lice, anyone?
9150336
Ahhh ok ...lol.... I can see Rowling doing that. Retconning I mean. Truth be told thou he should've been more likely to produce one if anything with riddles soul piece. She'd probably say lilys protection yadah yadah. But theres still leakage even with the protection in place he got parsaltongue through it. Oh well what can you do. But it would've been pretty awesome if at the end of the philosopher stone when voldermort went black mist and charged Harry if his obscurus manifested and devoured voldermort tearing apart his magical essence. Wait just thought of something.... he passed through harry after quirels defeat he should've either been destroyed or imprisoned by Lilys protection like the other soul shard in the scar.
9150398 One of many plot holes.