73 — Timing
Dumbledore could only shake his head in shock and admiration at the article in the Daily Prophet. How she had discovered the story left him puzzled.
Well, it really didn’t matter who had shared the memory. He had certainly shown it to enough people Wednesday, any one of whom might have been willing to share it to gain some protection from her normally vicious poison pen.
He was quite gratified and pleased to see that while the section describing how the basilisk had been discovered and handled was short, it was factual and only strayed into the fantastical as Rita tried to imagine how the fight between Dumbledore and his three professors against the basilisk might have happened. And ended leading to another article on the history and rarity of basilisks and cockatrices.
That there was a second article, deeper inside, which exonerated Hagrid had been surprising.
Rita could not fault Dumbledore’s handling of the problem. He had discovered the problem and dealt with it immediately, while keeping the students and staff as safe as possible. She had probably found that exceedingly frustrating, given her track-record for attacking famous people with innuendo.
Below the fold was a second headline taking up half the page, Tom Riddle is He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named! A smaller headline beneath it declared, Half-Blood Orphan Fooled pure-bloods for a Decade!
The teasers under the headlines on the front-page led to stories inside that were almost completely factual recitations of what he had presented to Amelia, Cornelius, Augusta, and Lucius, and many others, on Wednesday.
Dumbledore was most impressed that Rita had actually talked with the proprietors of Borgin and Burkes, rehashed Hepzibah Smith’s death and how their valuable heirlooms had gone missing, and had even managed to hunt down some of the adults who had been children at the orphanage. The history of the Gaunts was even dredged up, with her questioning if things had happened the way everyone had thought.
The surviving orphans’ descriptions of the moody, vicious, and decidedly not pure-blood Tom Riddle were very eye-opening. Especially as they all repeated the story of how his destitute mother had died while giving birth the same day she found the orphanage, with no trace of his father except the name, Tom Marvolo Riddle.
All-in-all, Rita made Tom Riddle out to be quite a villain before he became the mass-murderer known as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.
Still, he decided, the article could have been much worse. And it actually did a good job of knocking Tom Riddle down from the pedestal on which many wizards and witches had placed him. Those pure-bloods who had been surreptitiously helping the Dark Lord ten years ago would be dismayed over how he had pulled the wool over their eyes, and regretting every knut they had given him.
A strong wizard he might have been, but to be the leader of the pure-blood movement when he clearly wasn’t a pure-blood, and then lying to them about it? That was beyond the pale to many of them. If word got around about how they had been duped by a half-blood, they would never live it down. The ones who had publicly supported him would have to deal with being laughed at by the others for being so gullible.
When Tom returned, he would find it difficult to regain the financial backing he had before. And the families that had supported him, would not do so again, simply for the insult of being grossly lied to by him. Yes, when he returned he would find few friends willing to help him.
It was the next article that had him concerned.
The other half of the page below the fold was the article He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Lives!
It laid out in clear terms that the Dark Mark worn by all the Death Eaters was a barometer of how close the Dark Lord was to returning, and followed with a history of the Dark Mark and what was known about it. That was fine. That was information he had shared via his memories.
It was that Rita specifically named Lucius Malfoy as being in the group that discussed this event. And that he had confirmed that the Dark Mark revealed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had not been killed. That the Dark Lord was lurking about as a spirit. And, she had slanted the article to make it look like Lucius had taken a more active part in confirming the facts, attributing to him facial expressions that implied he still supported the evil wizard.
How had she known Lucius had seen this memory, and what he had said?
Dumbledore had not disclosed to any of the others he had shared the memory with Lucius on Wednesday. He knew Amelia, Cornelius, and Augusta would never have mentioned what they had seen to the reporter.
Amelia wouldn’t simply because it would implicate Lucius and draw his attention to her and her department — and she didn’t need yet another reason for him to be attacking her politically in the Wizengamot! Not to mention that she detested talking to the witch reporter. Rita had written too many stories critical of the department and Amelia’s qualifications to head it!
Cornelius wouldn’t because he still adamantly refused to believe that Voldemort was a spirit and not dead. And as for Augusta, he couldn’t imagine her contacting the Daily Prophet about something that had nothing to do with her family.
Dumbledore knew Lucius would never divulge what he knew about the Dark Mark to someone who didn’t already know. The Death Eaters knew what it meant, no one else did. Those that had managed to avoid the Ministry’s net ten years ago would single him out. They would attack him for making public knowledge which they felt should have been kept secret. If everyone knew the Dark Lord was coming back, they would begin preparing.
How had she gotten that information?
Fortunately, Rita did not mention how the mark could be used to trace the Death Eaters and to even find the Dark Lord himself! Albus was sure it was because she didn’t know that bit of information. He couldn’t imagine her not working it into a story pushing the Ministry to track the Dark Lord down and deal with him once and for all.
As it was, she was already raising the baying hounds demanding Cornelius increase the budgets for the Aurors and Creatures departments to deal with this problem.
The first clear pictures of the Atlanteans, with their names, to grace the Daily Prophets’ pages were buried way in the back, Dumbledore was relieved to see. The other headlines just over-powered that story.
Dumbledore spent the rest of the morning with his floo locked closed while he thought about everything he had learned this last week. And he spent several hours in his pensieve, reviewing what he had already knew. Something didn’t add up.
۸-~-۸
The next morning, Friday, was their Thursday schedule. Harry probably should have been worried that technically it was Friday the Thirteenth, but he was too relieved that even though it was Friday, and the thirteenth, they would not have Potions class today! They had managed to dodge that bullet!
On the other hand, that meant they had their first flying lesson today on Friday the thirteenth. Not exactly an auspicious day to start anything dangerous. Or even not dangerous.
Professor Quirrell had seemed quite annoyed with today’s Daily Prophet, brought by the parliament of owls. The rest of the hall had been enthralled with the in-depth reporting on the events they had missed Tuesday while they had been in Hogsmeade. The revelation that Voldemort was a spirit and not dead had been a shock to many. Neville had almost passed out when he read the part about Death Eaters becoming more active the darker the Mark became. He had had to rest his head beside his plate for several minutes.
Even though Harry, Hermione, and the fillies had all heard Twilight say the snake was nearly fifteen celestials long, seeing the picture in the paper had driven home just how big that snake had really been.
During the parliament of owls bringing the post, a barn owl landed in front of Neville. His grandmother had sent him a small package. After opening it, he excitedly showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.
“A Remembrall!” he explained happily as he held it up. “I forget things, you know. Remembralls tell you if you’ve forgotten to do something. See, you hold it tight like this.” The white smoke had turned scarlet. “If it turns red — oh . . . .” His face fell, and he sighed. “You’ve forgotten something . . . ,” his voice trailed off.
Harry had been paying more attention to the magical device than he should have, he realized. Draco Malfoy, after opening his own package from home, had walked over to the Gryffindor table, too curious at what Neville’s grandma had sent her grandson to stay away. He deftly snatched the Remembrall out of Neville’s hand.
Professor McGonagall could spot trouble quicker than any other teacher, she was there in a flash. “What’s going on?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Malfoy’s got my Remembrall, Professor,” stammered Neville.
“Just looking,” Malfoy said scowling at having his fun cut short. He quickly dropped the magical item back on the table, and he strutted away as if he had meant to do that, anyway.
After the Slytherin had left their table, Harry looked at Ron and then Neville, who was still staring at the scarlet Remembrall with a puzzled and worried expression.
“It’s too bad,” Harry said, “That someone doesn’t report all those stories Malfoy bragged about yesterday to the Aurors. They probably wouldn’t take it seriously, but it would be hilarious if they did.” He grinned at the other two. “Can you imagine his face when he hears that an Auror wants to talk to him about letting a muggle helicopter see him?” They all snickered at that. “And the moment he says, ‘My father,’ they’ll laugh in his face.”
The rest of the day was like the previous, right down to the bragging Malfoy did at lunch about his broomstick prowess.
All the Gryffindors hurried down the front steps at three-thirty for their first flying lesson. It was a perfect day, clear and breezy. They strolled down the sloping lawn, the grass rippling under their feet, toward a smooth, flat lawn. The forbidden forest’s trees were swaying darkly in the distance.
The Slytherins had beaten them there. Twenty broomsticks lay in neat lines on the ground. Fred and George Weasley had complained to Harry and the fillies that the school brooms were unreliable, some of them vibrated if you went too high, others drifted to the left or right when flying, depending on which broom you got.
Madam Hooch, their teacher and a witch with short, grey hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk, arrived moments later. She put her hands on her hips. “Well, what are you all waiting for?” she barked. “Line-up by a broomstick. Come on, move it.”
Harry’s broom was old, he saw, and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. He wished he had his Nimbus.
“Put your right hand over your broom,” ordered Madam Hooch, “and say ‘Up!’ ”
There came a chorus of “UP!”
As Harry had expected, his, the fillies’, Hermione’s, Ron’s, and Ginny’s brooms all leapt straight into their hands. Others were not so fortunate. Calls of, “UP,” became more strident.
Neville’s hadn’t moved at all. The quaver in Neville’s voice clearly indicated his reluctance to leave the ground.
The professor worked her way down the rows of students showing them the proper way to mount and hold their brooms, and correcting their grips. Her telling Malfoy that he’d been doing it wrong for years was delightful to hear for Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor cohort.
And that was, naturally, when things started to go wrong.
Neville, nervous, jumpy, and frightened of being left behind, had somehow launched himself four, five, six, seven yards and then even higher! Everyone watched, horrified, as he came crashing down, terrifying them all.
Madam Hooch had said he had broken his wrist, to both their intense relief and dismay.
After issuing an order to leave the brooms or else be kicked from school, she had taken the boy off to the hospital wing.
Malfoy had barely waited for the two to be out of earshot before he burst into laughter. His laughing comment calling the unfortunate boy, “a great lump,” got the other Slytherins to laugh as well.
Parvati Patil, annoyed at their laughing at someone getting hurt, said “Shut up, Malfoy.”
Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl, belittled Parvati, calling Neville a fat little crybaby.
Malfoy, unable to stop himself darted over to where Neville had landed. “Look!” he said, and held up Neville’s Remembrall.
He held up Neville’s Remembrall.
Harry sighed. Some people just couldn’t help themselves, they had to hurt others to make themselves happy. And Malfoy was just like Diamond Tiara in that respect. He stopped closer to the boy. “Give that here, Malfoy,” he said.
Everyone was watching.
“You want it back, Potter?” Malfoy jeered, and smiled nastily, “Then come and take it!”
Harry moved closer and repeated his order. “Give it here!”
Instead, Malfoy jumped onto his broomstick and took off. He hadn’t been lying, Harry saw, he could fly really well. He flew up to and hovered beside the topmost branches of an oak. “Come and get it, Potter!” he taunted.
Harry grabbed his broom.
“Don’t!” shouted Hermione. “Madam Hooch told us not to move — you’ll get us all into trouble.”
Before Harrry could move, though, an orange and purple streak shot by him.
Malfoy jinked to the side suddenly, with an almost audible screech. Scootaloo, flapping her wings lazily, hung in the air right beside him, her forelegs crossed. She glared at him angrily.
“Give it back,” she said with a hint of threat in her voice, holding out one hoof for the orb.
Harry held his broom tightly, in case Scootaloo needed help. Not that he expected her to.
It took Malfoy a moment to stop staring and shake off his surprise, but he quickly regained his haughty expression. “Do you expect me to listen to a horse?”
Both Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom gasped. They looked as if they were about to go for their brooms and join Scootaloo, to the confusion of the rest of the Gryffindors and Slytherins.
“Oh, Celestia, now he’s done it,” Harry said quietly. “She’ll never forgive him for that.”
Draco swung his broom left to fly off in another direction, only to find himself face to face with the pegasus, again. Her posture was barely changed. And she had the same slow wingbeats and outstretched hoof, but now she looked furious.
Loud enough for the crowd below to hear her clearly, she declared, “I said. Give. It. Back.”
Malfoy gave an annoyed grunt and swung right instead, then left, then right again. Each time, the pony was in front of him again, her glare unchanged as she easily kept pace with him even when she flew backwards.
A frustrated growl came out of Malfoy’s throat. He swung around in a half-turn. “You want it?” he yelled. He drew his arm back behind his head. “Then catch it!” He threw his hand forward as hard as he could.
And almost threw himself off his broom. He scrambled to hold on as he realized he hadn’t thrown anything.
His confusion did not last long as he heard the dwindling sarcastic cry of “Thanks” as something flashed past him.
It was Scootaloo, flying back towards the group and holding the Remembrall securely in her hooves. She had snatched it right out of his hand.
She landed and handed it to Harry. He stowed it in his pocket and dropped his broom. Smirking, he watched a scowling Draco land by the rest of the Slytherins.
“MISTER MALFOY!”
Everyone turned to see Professor McGonagall striding towards them.
Draco looked even whiter than usual.
“Never — in all my time at Hogwarts —”
Her glasses flashed furiously as she caught up to the class, “— how dare you —” she said. “Madam Hooch specifically told you all to remain off your brooms while she conducted Neville to the Hospital Wing!”
“But, Professor, Scootaloo was also flying!” objected Theodore Nott.
She turned and looked at the pegasus.
Scootaloo looked down guiltily, but then glanced over at her broom still on the ground. She turned back to face her Transfiguration’s professor gave her an innocent smile as she ostentatiously stretched and folded her wings.
After studying the pegasus for a moment, Professor McGonagall turned back to Draco. “But, unlike you, her broom is on the ground, as opposed to the one you are currently holding in your hand!”
“But Scootaloo —”
“That’s enough, Mr. Nott. Mr. Malfoy, follow me, now.”
Professor McGonagall swept off towards the castle; Draco had to jog to keep up. Harry and the other Gryffindors watched, stifling their laughter at Malfoy finally getting blatantly caught out by a professor. Harry couldn’t resist it. He said, in as snooty a voice as he could manage, “My father will not be pleased to hear this.”
The Gryffindors finally broke out laughing and giggling while the Slytherins scowled. Although, Harry noticed, Miss Greengrass and her friend Davis seemed to be nearer to smiling than scowling as they watched Draco trailing behind their professor.
They saw Madam Hooch meet Professor McGonagall at the front doors. There was a brief exchange of words, then their flight instructor headed their way. The Gryffindors quickly brought themselves under control as Scootaloo, reluctantly, changed back to person. They were all standing beside their brooms when she reached them.
As were the Slytherins, still scowling.
The rest of the lesson was fairly straight-forward as those unfamiliar with brooms practiced turning, climbing, slowing, and descending. The more advanced students were allowed to engage in a game of tag, limited to no higher than ten feet. Staying under the limit she gave them for speed was not an issue as the brooms were clearly not going to be able to exceed it.
Then, when class was over, she allowed the students to keep practicing as long as they wanted, and provided that they stayed on the front lawn. Scootaloo promptly dropped her broom and started flying as a pegasus.
And that was when things went wrong, again. Exactly what went wrong differed, depending on who told the story. The Slytherins maintained it was all the Gryffindors’ fault. The Gryffindors said it was the Slytherins. Harry blamed the Scootaloo and Ginny.
Tag became sprints competing against Scootaloo and Ginny. Sprints became races, races became stunt-tricks, and the whomping-willow decided the flies buzzing around in front of it were a nuisance. The Slytherins discovered the joys of being sapped, as did the rest of the Gryffindor cohort.
The whomping willow seemed content that the students had been chased away. At least its nervous thrashing had stopped and it looked like any other tree from the forest.
Sap, they discovered wasn’t nearly as easy to remove from clothes and hair as it was from skin. A few dozen sourgifies later, a trip to the dorm to change clothes, and the Gryffindor cohort was once more over at the trebuchet. The Slytherins had retreated to the castle to sulk.
And both First-year Houses were restricted to broomstick flying only under Madam Hooch’s direct supervision for the remainder of the year.
The first test of the siege engine was perfect — Harry wasn’t sure how that had happened — launching Scootaloo across the lake at a more than satisfactory speed. The other Gryffindors were a bit hesitant to risk their lives. But after watching Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Harry all go screaming happily out into the lake, the rest quickly followed suit — and all seemed well-versed in the art of staying afloat once they hit the water. And hitting the water at fairly high speeds did seem to work well at removing the remaining sap from their hair.
And this time, none of the CMC had sap in their tails and ears!
When Hermione asked why they had transformed into ponies before using the trebuchet, Harry had reluctantly admitted that they didn’t know how to swim as people. She started immediately teaching them that valuable skill as they waited their turns at being flung into the lake at foolhardy speeds.
The screaming drew the attention of other students, and, thus, just as in Ponyville, the engine of mass destruction became an engine of mass entertainment. Harry even heard a few older Slytherins saying it was welcome addition to the lake.
Draco was not at dinner that evening, to Ron’s glee and Neville’s stunned surprise. However, they discovered, he had not been dismissed, as Ron had fervently hoped. Instead, he was at home, and, according the Professor McGonagall, “carefully considering his decision to directly disobey a teacher’s instruction in class.” He would, they had been told, return on Monday.
The Slytherins seemed to think it was Harry’s fault the boy had gotten into trouble. On the other hand, it did impress upon the entire First Year class that they disobeyed the teachers at their peril! Many who might have been inclined to bend the rules decided that caution was the word of the day, week, and month.
The fillies just resolved to be extra careful in their attempts at finding their cutie marks.
After dinner, and as the tired Gryffindors were tackling their potions’ assignment due tomorrow, Harry noticed a new rule listed with the others on the ‘ATTENTION ALL GRYFFINDORS!’ list:
5) Outside of Quidditch matches and practice, pegasi are restricted to a top speed of 40 mph.
a) Pegasi are not allowed to participate in official Quidditch matches (You must be a person and riding a broom).
The Gryffindor First Year cohort spent the rest of the evening working to make up for their interrupted Boils’ Cure potion from last week. Three of them watched Neville and Sweetie Belle, each, as they prepared their potions. The two managed to complete the task without melting their cauldrons, causing any explosions, or spontaneously creating unknown potions with mysterious properties.
The colours were not precisely spot-on. However, the colours were much closer to what the students were supposed to hand in than they had been in class the previous Friday.
With those complete, and stored properly in unbreakable bottles, the cohort relaxed, with the ponies being the centre of attention.
۸-_-۸
Fridays — well, it was actually Saturday, but they were having their normal Friday schedule today — would continue to be the bane of the Gryffindor/Slytherin First Years as long as Sweetie Belle was allowed to try to make a potion, Harry had decided.
That she was a delightful person was without question. That he was almost always glad to see her, and the other fillies, was equally certain. Sometimes, when he had been alone in his room in Twilight’s castle, especially when the Cutie Mark Crusaders were grounded, he had missed them. Just having them in the same room, or knowing they were in the next room, would have been a soothing. During the school year being grounded hadn’t been so bad because at least then he got to see them in class. But in the summer? Even distracting himself with magic and reading had only lessened the feeling of missing them at the end of the day.
But not today. Oh, no. He wasn’t missing them in the slightest. Uh-uh. In fact, that was why he was currently hiding in the broom-closet on the third floor in the right-side corridor. He was hoping that Fluffy being behind the door that was only a few yards away would be sufficient to keep his pursuers at bay.
He had always wondered what it would be like to be the popular kid in class, instead of at the very bottom and a target for every mean-spirited prank anyone could think up. Even in Equestria he hadn’t been the popular kid. His unusual coat colouring had worked against him, just as it did Pipsqueak.
Although Pipsqueak, according to the mares and fillies, was “cute.”
Harry had friends — the Cutie Mark Crusaders — true, and better friends couldn’t be found in either world, as far as he was concerned. But he had never been what anyone would call popular.
Until today.
And in consideration of today, he decided, being popular was not what he had expected. And definitely not what it had been described to him as being. And not something he would ever really want. Experience was a great teacher.
He shook his head as he remembered how the day had started out — the girls had traipsed into the boys’ dorm room through the trunks to see if he was awake yet.
The fillies had been asked a few days ago why they always came to get Harry. They had just stated that they always woke Harry up at home. Which had led the boys to asking if they all lived together. Harry had said, “No,” of course, and then explained that they always woke before he did whenever they slept together.
Which had led to some more embarrassing moments as he had fumbled his way through explaining why they had been all sleeping together. His clarification that they only did that during sleepovers hadn’t been well received. His amplification that they always did that as ponies hadn’t really helped things at all. His final declaration of, “It’s complicated!” had been met with doubtful nods.
The girls’ giggling in the background had not been helpful at all. Every morning since then, the other boys just ignored the girls and made sure their curtains were closed when they went to bed. They did not open them until they heard the girls and Harry leave the room.
Harry was getting very good at dressing in his bed. Liberal application of sticking charms let him set out his day’s clothes against the headboard the night before.
On the other hand, why was it that not only were the fillies and Hermione coming through to the Gryffindor First Year Boys’ room, but it had grown to include Ginny, Parvati, Faye, and Lavender?
Still, even this morning the other boys in the dorm had been giving him narrow-eyed looks, obviously questioning what they had been told.
۸-_-۸
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Small question, has Neville's new wand been made and delivered yet?
Shouldn't it be "kmph" since only Americans are weird enough to use imperial measurements?
9308635
Nope, it is canon that wizards did not switch to the metric system.
Should be a period instead of a slash
9308635
yep official is the USA the last western country which use the Imperial System.
The uk use for speed sign and so imperial system but it is different from the usa and it change to metric too slowly so i know.
Harry the heartbreaker is on the prowl, ladies! Now if only someone would go ahead and inform him of that...
Curious. As an unicorn and without the impetus to find something he excelled at there's quite the possibility that Harry never becomes the excellent Quidditch player he could be. Interesting change.
Hehe. This popped up during my Thanksgiving day shopping. Was a nice surprise and distraction while waiting in line. Excellent work, and Happy Thanksgiving!
Well at least that yellow journalist Rita managed to find a way to bury what should have been the big story, Atlantis has made contact and these are the individuals who have been here. I wonder how long until it his everyone realizes what else the paper had covered that day? Also glad to see that Dumbledore has caught on to the discrepancies and is looking closer at everything. I foresee Harry and the CMC being asked several pointed questions by the end of the day.
Jajajajaja little Harry jus got all the Ladies
9308585
I disagree with what you're claiming, but it's irrelevant since I wasn't arguing the ponies are wrong for violating the statute of secrecy, I was saying they're clearly conspiring with the Muggle government against the wizards, which you aren't saying otherwise. Second, as already pointed out the Muggle Protection Act doesn't do what you're claiming. Just because Congress debates a Wildlife Protection Act doesn't mean it's otherwise legal to massacre endangered species.
They could start by revealing themselves to the magical government. They did it to the muggle one, after all. They could also respect the Magical community's desire for secrecy by not passing on all the information they're getting to the muggle government when that's clearly a violation of the Magical Community's desires, even if they didn't explicitly say it shouldn't be done because they think it's covered by the statute of secrecy.
I am in no way, shape, or form arguing that the ponies shouldn't reveal they can do magic, so I'm not sure what you're going for there.
As pointed out, one of the Ministry departments is International Magical Cooperation. Maybe they don't have ambassadors (though they certainly might), but if not that likely has more to do with their numbers. If there's only thousands to tens of thousands of wizards then sending dozens out to other countries would be grossly inefficient. We do know they have an International Confederation of Wizards, so they do have something resembling modern diplomatic practices.
This clearly isn't the case. We know Fudge had to report certain things like importing dragons to the Prime Minister, so there is clearly a legal agreement between the muggle government and the magical one. The situation seems like it is most analogous to US Indian reservations; essentially smaller nations with agreements that give them limited self rule including the ability to set some of their own laws, which is why reservations can have legalized casinos even if the state they're in doesn't. The legal agreement is likely centuries old and possibly one sided, and almost certainly based on legal standards and rights of several centuries ago, and that should certainly be addressed. But they're in no way a rogue state.
I'm not saying the ponies shouldn't side with the muggle government. I'm saying that they clearly are doing so, to the point of deliberately deceiving the Magical government, and it's weird that you keep saying they're doing their best to respect the Wizarding World's laws when they're clearly doing nothing of the sort.
They can be neutral (well, not anymore, they made that choice about 40 chapters ago when the started blatantly siding with the muggle government) or they can pick a side, but not both.
9308660
Well, given how backwards the Wizarding world is, wouldn't they also use Imperial units?
9308615
Good question. I already forgot about it. Maybe that's why the Remembrall turned scarlet?
Good job, Scoot. Humans have now learned pegasi are the true master of the sky.
Master or not, just stop sleeping on mah trees.
We should have told Harry why we never invited Spike to our sleepovers.
Harry darling, lets me educate you the art of counter-gossip.
9308635
In addition to the other replies, the abbreviation is kph, not kmph. (Alternately, km/h.)
9308635
According to Wikipedia, England only recently had converted fully to the metric system when the Harry Potter stories had taken place. It would be reasonable that the magical world had not full complied. Link below for all revelant information.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrication_in_the_United_Kingdom
Besides the author is most likely an American and they are writing what they can easily find and understand. As unless you have some sort of technical job the metric system is not only pointless but useless to the average American.
Soooo....the gryphs will never get their seeker? So sad.
9308724
Scootaloo might still be interested, even if it does mean she'll have to ride a broom instead of flying as a pegasus.
9308666
I agree. It should be interesting to see how much this Harry changes during his time at Hogwarts versus canon Harry. Personally, I think he'll end up becoming more like Hermione or Twilight with their scholarly pursuits, though maybe with a bit more of an adventurous attitude as a result of spending so much time with the CMC.
Rita Skeeter has been a busy little beetle lately, hasn't she?
cdn2.scratch.mit.edu/get_image/gallery/360643_200x130.png
9308585
I will state I do find it silly how the Equestrians have revealed themselves to the British Government of the Muggles but not the British Government of the Wizarding Community. The fact they are sharing information with the Muggles but not the Wizards is also a big deal and does give a onesided impression.
THAT BEING SAID, given that they knew more about the muggle government, that there had to obviously be more muggles then magic users, and they knew the capabilities of the Muggles whereas the Wizards were and to an extent are an unknown entity...
It makes sense to keep some things hidden from the Wizards, who would especially take issue with a magical realm making contact with the muggles as it blows the entire Statute into dust.
So while I don't agree with the tone of some on that front, I do think they have a point in saying that right now, this is indeed a onesided relationship.
9308687
If there was an actual legal agreement with the muggle government, more than just the Prime Minister would know about it. This is, at best, an unofficial secret agreement. More likely it's just a courtesy of the Ministry, rather than an actual agreement. It's not as if the Prime Minister can actually do anything with the information.
As for the Equestrians revealing the magical world, that's more in response to the muggles getting suspicious during and after the basilisk capture, and pressing the Equestrians for answers. The Equestrians just responded how they've responded to any direct question of either the wizarding of muggle side: Blunt honesty.
9308644
neato! Yay random trivia!
9307932
Your comment is really good, so I thumbed it up, kind sir. Thanks for the reply!
Magic in both canons are very vague in terms of rules, and even then said rules can be skewered sideways with a poleaxe if enough force is applied. *coughstarlightcough*
Hell, the way Rowling handled Harry and Voldy's final battle felt like a damn cheat to me. A true asspull if you ask me.
9307590
Heh, good to know I'm not the only one wondering...
9308789
Methinks it falls more in line with 'we deign to notify you that this and that is going on, and we expect you to keep your muggle arses out of the way while we grownups deal with things' attitude.
This goes in line with the whole 'we're superior' shtick they got going there at the Wizarding World.
9308660
The reason why America has not changed to the metric system, and will never change, is due to the expense of it. It will cost several billion dollars to start with and not have any benefit at all. Very few fields need the metric system for anything so it will only ever be niche in America.
9308815
Did you even read what I said? The law was basically about allowing the ministry to search wizard homes in order to find dangerous artifacts. It was debated because purebloods did not want their homes searched.
It had little to do with the actual protection of muggles which the wizards already try to ensure.
9308815
Why?
9308687
Actually, until the Endangered Species Act was passed, it was legal to massacre the named animals -- which ranchers did happily to wolves.
9307231
Just an addition to my original comment:
The Wizard law forbids the ponies to share with the Muggles their own magic, as it assumes that they are one and the same. And the ponies see more benefit with the Muggle government anyways. They even are... le gasp fair in their dealings.
The Wizard government would've sought to put them under the boot to keep tabs on them, like Dumb-le-dore is doing with thinking about the Atlanteans marrying the purebloods to ensure stability in the long-term.
Considering how the other magical sapient races are faring in terms of rights with the Wizards - which is a matter of both record, and of simply asking the right people - I bet the Equestrians would be thrilled to be treated as second to third class citizens when compared to the wizards. The CMC wouldn't have been given wands at the very least, if not outright prevented acceptance into Hogwarts. (And Hagrid only got entry and a wand because he was a half-blood.)
9308842
Also the Equestrians are hardly keeping their origins a secret, given how they've openly displayed their true forms and talked about their country. They're just not correcting any blatant misunderstandings.
9308827
Yes, and if Congress started debating a wildlife protection act today, that wouldn't change. My whole point is that calling something a "(Noun) Protection Act" doesn't mean that that thing is unprotected unless you pass the law. You seem to be using the fact that the Wizards were debating a Muggle Protection Act to argue that they don't currently protect muggles, which is a false dichotomy.
I loved this chapter, and I cannot understand the reason why I failed to realize the update until now.
Now I wonder... how will things go pear-shaped next?
Nice
We need only 41 more upvotes to get an extra chapter. I need more, I need my fix! >_< x3
9308848
Considering the leaks between world's, Equestria being Atlantis is as good an hypothesis as any other. They might start believing it.
9308789
I didn't say it was a good agreement. What it is is probably unupdated and centuries old; the British government was much different at the time the statute of secrecy was enacted.
They haven't been bluntly honest to the wizarding world. Everything they do is couched in lies of omission and half truths.
When the aurors came by and told them not to allow the muggles to see any magic, being bluntly honest would have been saying "We're not part of the statute of secrecy and we'll do what we want." I'm not saying they should have done that - it obviously would have caused problems - just objecting to your characterizing it as blunt honesty.
9308886
I'd describe the Equestrian information flow to the Wizarding world as 'literal truth' rather than honesty. With all the potential for both accidental and deliberate misunderstandings that implies.
this is inter interesting Reta skeeter is helping in her own way.
and how did she find out so much. i am pretty sure we did not see and bugs in the office.
To quote Dr. Wolf,
Soon events begin to change more and more, I wonder if a certain beetle will be exposed due to Dumbledore reviewing his memories?
For that matter I wonder how Lucius will receive Draco being sent home in his first week for disobeying a teacher's instructions? He's also alienated all the fillies with his why should I listen to a horse comment.
Poor Harry doesn't realize that his popularity is only going to grow as time goes by. Still it could be worse he's already been staked out by 4 girls who will protect him.
I wonder if now they've met the teachers will speak to Twilight and the others about additions to their list of rules based on crusader experience?
As for the sleepover I do recall one person commenting the ponies are much more physically demonstrative than humans when it comes to affection even with friends. Ad long as Harry doesn't try to explain their only normally naked as ponies he shouldn't dig too deep a hole.
Finally in regards to the last chapter given Dr Whooves I wouldn't rule out first contact with Gallifrey also being possible.
With how early meetings with the magical world went, it doesn't truly surprise me that trust is hard to come by.
The goblins showed just how much less honest this little enclave is. Followed by Dumbledore, not the most honest man while dealing with ponies.
And then there was Twilight's school inspection. Again the wizards don't shine.
That is a quite bit more trouble then the muggle world has given them.
And even with that, the pony's are not hostile towards wizards, just more reserved. Quite logical, no disbelief broken here.
9308972
I will repeat that I'm not saying that the Equestrians aren't justified in siding with the muggle government, I just object to the author's responses in the comments that seem to be taking the position that they aren't and are respecting the Wizard world's laws and position.
The story itself is fine. It's just a story of the Equestrians conspiring with the muggle government against the magical one. There's no way they don't know that what they're doing is going to cause a confrontation between the muggle government and magical one and that they're setting the muggle government to win it. They specifically gave the government a book about Aurors and how they enforce the statute of secrecy, they're not even hiding it.
Whoop whoop, another chapter. Got to say I'm loving this.
9309024. They are playing within the lines. Taking advantage of the wizarding worlds assumptions and the fact they are a foreign power that never signed or agreed to the articles of secrecy. The wizarding world just assumes they will follow it.
9308635. Rainbow Dash will annoyed at such a low speed restriction. Then again what muggle or wizard would ever expect a pony could go supersonic
9308812
No problem! I'm glad you found it informative or at least entertaining.
Starlight is a pretty good example. I was thinking the Rainbow Powerup.
Yeah, I agree. I didn't much like the final book very much overall, honestly. It had some great scenes in it, but tying them together was a chore.
I always thought that Voldemort didn't use the Killing Curse on Harry. After all, no one who was there is capable of telling what happened; everyone just assumed that Voldie just used the Killing Curse because that's what he always did when eliminating someone. I thought for sure he did something different, and that's what the "mark as his equal" line meant.
Interestingly, I believe Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality also used that same conclusion. I felt some oblique pride for that.
9309165
No, they're not. They're probably not even obeying the letter of the law (I'm pretty sure that the prime minister saying he knows about the wizards doesn't clear them of the statute of secrecy, any more than a wizard could go up to a man shouting about magical conspiracies in a pubic square, go "you're right!", and start demonstrating magic), but they're sure as hell crossing a lot of lines and violating the spirit of the laws six ways from Sunday.
9309222 YES they are never ever assume something. Equestria is a recognized foreign power that never signed that agreement being told doesnt constitute agreement.. NEVER once has a member of the wizarding government determined where "Atlantians" came from they just guessed and assumed. Dumbledore hasn't even bothered informing them of his speculations
9309243
I'm not sure what you're claiming. If I go to a country where it's, to pick something at random, illegal to wear a hat, and I wear a hat, I'm in violation of that law. It doesn't matter that I can claim that I'm from a country where it's legal to wear hats, or that the law is stupid, or that I never signed anything agreeing not to wear hats, it's still illegal.
The Equestrians aren't signatories to the statute of secrecy, and I would say there's a decent argument to be made that they can tell anyone they want that they can do magic. But deciding to tell people all about the wizards is definitely flouting the statute of secrecy. That's their choice, but I disagree with anyone saying "oh no, they're totally following the magical worlds rules."
And it's sure as hell deceitful and manipulative that they're using lies of omission to make the wizarding world think they'll respect the statute of secrecy and then going around and turning the things they learn over to the muggle government. If they'd said up front they weren't going to follow the statute they'd never have been allowed to buy those books.
9309248. UNLIKE you or me members of foreign embassy country once recognized could wear that hat and get away with it.. Heck as the ambassador Blueblood could kill someone and the most that is likely to happen is he'd be asked to leave.
9309262
I'm not saying the Equestrians should be arrested, just that they don't have free license to break the statute of secrecy. Diplomatic immunity means you won't be punished for a crime, not that laws don't apply to you, and it's questionable whether it would apply here anyways.
9308724
Suddenly I picture a gryphon from Equestria joining the gryffindors,,,, oh that would be a slap in slytherins face after having "their" basilisk
killedtaken away.