85 — Wand-ering
Albus smiled to himself. Everyone knew that the Equestrians’ ability to change to ponies was because they were animagi. He did have to wonder, though, if they had enough Equestrians who were pony animagi to pull off this deception. Unless they all had the same form? Such a thing was unheard of among the wizards and witches, whose forms were almost random.
Perhaps that Discord wizard was assisting them? For all they appeared to fear him, Miss Rarity had said they were friends with him. And that wizard had said he liked ponies and not other animals — was that why they decided to tell the muggles they were ponies on the other side of the portal? He frowned. Poseidon presided over horses and water. Could this Discord be Poseidon by a new name? Could he have agreed to help them in their deception? Or was he the reason they all had pony animagi forms in the first place? Albus decided he needed to think on that a bit more.
All of the ponies, except Molly, being at Hogwarts meant he could control the flow of information. It wouldn’t last that long once the out-of-Hogwarts rumour mill got going, but until then it would give him time to manage the situation to benefit everyone.
The ICW would not like that the Atlantean wizards and witches were masquerading as muggles on such a large scale. On the other hand, the Statute of Secrecy required wizards and witches to act like muggles in a muggle-controlled area. Which was exactly what the Atlanteans were doing. Acting like muggles.
Yes, they were doing magical things in plain sight, but the muggles all thought it was an advanced technology by ponies, not magic. Nor a magic trick. Which, again, still kept the fact of magic a secret.
It was genius! An incredibly bold way to interact with muggles while still maintaining their lives as wizards and witches.
Dumbledore had to shake his head in admiration of their ploy. He was sure that the Unspeakables in the Ministry could just as easily have erected a portal and then claimed to be “aliens.” The muggles would never have guessed the truth.
Of course, there had never been a need or an excuse to do that. But it was an amusing thought. It would be one way to introduce the muggle world to wizards and witches without setting off massive genocidal attacks — claim to be from another world!
But why? To what purpose did the Equestrians want to interact with the muggles? Why did they want telephones? Floo-travel was easily superior to them for convenience. Plus, it had the advantage that when you made contact with someone, stepping through to be there in person was immediate. Or you could use apparition! Just pop over, walk up to their doors, and knock. No fuss at all.
And the televisions? He just didn’t see the point of tiny screens showing plays. The simplistic and short muggle movie plays he had seen as a young man simply could not match real-life plays. Especially the wizarding plays with their wonderful magical backgrounds and characters.
No, plays were clearly superior to those motion picture things. There was just so much more audience involvement in plays. The advertising he saw in the newspapers for movies were just as obvious exaggerations.
And while he did understand wanting to see plays and read books in the muggle world, the wizarding books and plays were always so much better — Shakespeare, for example. He was unaware of any muggle writers who could match the great bard.
In any case, he needed to meet with the Minister as soon as possible. And then with the secretary of the ICW. He wanted to make sure the other nations heard his version of the situation before they discovered the truth and formed their own conclusions.
First, though, he needed to talk with Miss Bonbon and Miss Heartstring to find out what they knew. And perhaps a few words with Harry and his Equestrian friends were in order, too.
He looked at the map while saying their names. They were still in their rooms. He would send a house-elf.
۸-~-۸
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” the Headmaster said as the two Equestrians entered his office.
“It’s our pleasure,” said Miss Bonbon.
“It’s not as if we have any urgent appointments,” added Miss Heartstrings, giggling.
“That is true, I suppose,” replied Albus, his eyes twinkling in amusement. It was such a pleasure talking with the Equestrians.
They were always so fresh and open, without hidden agendas. Like children in many ways, they took such delight in the simplest things, and were always capable of expressing themselves without reservation. He envied them their naiveté.
They both grinned at him as they sat down.
First, a little small talk to get them to relax before he sprang the Embassy problem on them. “Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick are quite impressed with your progress in their subjects.” He leaned back in his chair. “You’ve managed to master the First and Second Year books in Charms and Transfigurations in just a month. At the rate you’re going, you should be ready for your OWLs in them at Christmas. Very well done, ladies, very well done, indeed!”
The two blushed at his praise.
“And then all you need to do are your History, Potions, Astronomy, Herbology, and Defence Against the Dark Arts OWLs. Those are the core units and shouldn’t cause you any trouble, based on how quickly you’re managing the other two.”
They grinned happily.
“How are things going otherwise?
Their grins faded and they traded tense glances, then Miss Heartstrings squirmed slightly in her seat as she said, “Potions is much more difficult than we expected. We’ve watched a few classes by Professor Snape, and asked him for pointers, and I must say, we are not impressed with his methods.”
“Professor Snape is a Master of Potions, and he has my every confidence,” the Headmaster said, his forehead wrinkling slightly as he stroked his beard. This was not going the way he wanted. He thought the changes he and the House Heads had implemented were working quite well.
The two exchanged another look with each other. Miss Heartstrings, turned back to him. “That has nothing to do with his skills at potioneering, however. We’re talking about his skills at teaching students how to deal with potentially dangerous materials. He is very cavalier about it. Disturbingly so. We’ve watched his classes and he has taught the students almost nothing about safety. For example, you’re aware of Sweetie Belle’s ‘accidents’ in her class?”
She barely waited for his affirmative nod.
“She is not the only one affected, the entire class is involved, yet he does not set up shields, he does not set up protections, he does nothing to protect the students beforehand. Everything he does is in reaction to what happens. And his version of teaching is simply putting instructions on a wall and telling everyone to get to work. There is no question and answer period. That is not teaching, that is nothing more than cooking from a cookbook. The students might as well be at home and not in a class.”
Miss Bonbon was nodding in agreement.
Albus leaned forward, “He has taught them the bubble-head charm and they already know the shield charm. What more should he do?”
“Teach them the difference between slicing, dicing, and mashing, for one,” Miss Bonbon immediately replied.
“And why those matter,” added Miss Heartstrings.
“Not to mention, do you really expect First Year students to master a Sixth Year charm in only a day? And make it last the entire class? And shields are not taught until Second Year.” Miss Bonbon shook her head before continuing.
“Expecting First Year students to master these before their class even starts is unconscionable. Plus, he only taught the bubble-head charm to the Gryffindor/Slytherin class, leaving the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws out completely. How do you consider that to be adequate? Are only the Gryffindors and Slytherins deserving of protection?
“What has HE done to protect his students?” asked Miss Heartstrings.
“And that brings up another problem, his attitude towards the other houses varies by class, the only consistency is that he favours his Slytherins and degrades the other houses.”
“And he seems to enjoy baiting the students. He is biased to his own House students, allowing them leeway he does not show to others. He even took points from one student for breathing loudly! Those are not the actions of a Master of Teaching,” Miss Bonbon said firmly.
“If you do not know these things, then you are failing at your job as Headmaster. You are not providing due oversight to your Professors,” added Miss Heartstrings.
Albus was temporarily nonplussed. He was not used to receiving criticisms of Hogwarts. The Equestrians’ naiveté meant they spoke their minds. However, he knew it wasn’t personal, they had no agenda he could perceive. They were telling him what they thought was wrong, just as Princess Sparkle had done.
“If he were the only example of teaching we saw, we would immediately withdraw Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Harry from Hogwarts as a substandard learning environment,” Miss Bonbon continued.
“Your other Professors, however, are clearly excellent at their jobs. We have no complaints with them,” said Miss Heartstrings.
“Our only other serious complaint,” Miss Bonbon said, “is that you are obviously understaffed. Professor Minerva, for example is not only the teacher of Transfigurations, but also the Head of Gryffindor, and the Deputy Headmistress. Each one of those three is a full-time job, yet you expect her to do all three? For a school of this size? And the other House Heads are also supposed to be full-time teachers, as well?” She shook her head.
Miss Heartstrings took up the criticism. “And you, yourself, have three full-time jobs: Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, and Headmaster of Hogwarts! That means Deputy Headmistress McGonagall has to pick up the things you do not have time for, which puts even more pressure on her time. And reduces the amount of time she can devote to the students.”
Lyra continued, “Being a teacher of Transfigurations means she cannot help any Gryffindor student who needs her assistance because the Professor is in class and not available as Head of House. If something comes up with a Gryffindor that needs her immediate attention, then she must abandon her class. That results in substandard teaching. Or she makes the decision that the problem can wait until later and continues her class.
“This means problems that need to handled now must be put off until later. If they are handled at all and not simply ignored. House Prefects do help manage the House, but they are not adults! And they, too, are under stress as they must manage their studies as well as their duties. Plus, they are automatically biased to their friends and against those they dislike.”
Both Equestrians were leaning forward earnestly.
He leaned back to consider things. Despite the sting of having them criticize him, the problems they mentioned were true. Simply saying that was the way they had been doing things at Hogwarts wasn’t sufficient. Although shuffling duties around to Seventh Year students had helped the House Head’s time constraints to some degree.
It did look bad, he had to concede.
He would need to talk to all of his professors to see what they thought. The examination of the things in the Room of Requirement was taking time from the professors’ already busy schedules, even with the assistance of the Seventh Years.
They were, however, starting to see some additional income from the repaired treasures they had uncovered. The school brooms were in the process of being replaced, and other upgrades were being planned. Additional professors, however, would have to come from an increase in the budget from the Ministry.
That would be a tough argument to make to the Cornelius.
Perhaps if he stressed to the Board of Governors that the House Heads were being over-stretched? If he convinced them, then they could take care of convincing the Wizengamot and he wouldn’t have to put as much pressure on the Minister.
“I will see what we can do to correct the problems you’ve noticed,” he said, finally. “I will have a meeting with Professor Snape this afternoon, after classes, and I will discuss a few things with him. And I will discuss the other problems you have mentioned with the professors to see if we can arrive at a better situation.”
He did not want the Atlanteans becoming disenchanted with Hogwarts. If they should take their charges away to Beauxbatons it would be an incredibly public blow to Hogwarts’ and England’s prestige. And his.
Considering the public’s reaction to news about Hogwarts brought him back to the subject of this meeting, the Equestrian muggle Embassy.
He sighed and smiled gently, stroking his beard lightly. “I wonder if you can help me with this.” He swished his wand and the newspaper lifted up so they could easily see the front page, and the article of his interest.
He gave them a few moments to read the headline before floating the paper into their hands. It took them only a short time to read the article.
Their big smiles he took to mean that the announcement was not unexpected.
After a moment, Miss Bonbon looked back at him and tilted her head in query. “And what did you want us to tell you?”
“This is a huge breech of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Why did the Princesses do it?” He said quietly.
At first the two of them were surprised, exchanging startled glances. Miss Bonbon turned back to him and shook her head firmly. “No, it’s not. Everything mentioned in the article is technology, as far as the non-magicals are concerned, not magic. Revealing the portal does not reveal magic. Even their scientists,” she opened the newspaper and pointed to an article referenced in the main story, “think it is a technological wonder. We are from a foreign planet, not from Earth, and they can plainly see that. Surely you know that as well?” She paused and studied him.
He sighed. Yes, the article did leave him with that impression. But he knew the truth. And so would any wizard or witch who had met the Equestrians and saw this story.
“The Princesses have told us to withhold information about magic,” She continued, “from the non-magicals because they worry about a negative backlash against us. Based on how the non-magicals have reacted in the past, and still do react in some places, they fear we could come to harm. So everything we reveal is going to be coached in terms of technology and knowledge,” she explained.
“Only someone who has magic and has met the Prince or Princess, or heard about the portal, would realize magic was involved. Both the non-magicals and magicals, without that clue, will not realize we can do magic. They will see the portal and accept that we are aliens from another world. They will see what they want to see, both magicals and non-magicals.” Miss Bonbon concluded.
“We believe that by showing them our pony forms in Equestria, and emphasizing we are aliens, they will not make the connection that there are wizards and witches already here.”
He just stroked his beard as he considered what to do. Clearly they had known of the Embassy operation for quite some time. And they had prepared their arguments in advance. It made him somewhat upset that something of this much import could be created without his input or knowledge.
Perhaps the Equestrians were not as naïve as he had thought.
“Do Harry and the young three witches know about this Embassy?” he asked.
Miss Bonbon shrugged. “Yes. They all know we are setting up an Embassy. Harry Potter was very helpful in getting us a solicitor and preparing us with meeting the non-magicals.”
He stared at her. “Why did none of you notify me of this?”
She tilted her head questioningly, “Why should we? Do the Americans, French, or Indians notify you of anything they plan to do with the non-magicals?”
“But you are in England, not America, France, or India.”
“You will have to ask Princess Twilight, for her reasoning, then. We were not a party to that decision.” She delicately frowned. “I would guess that it was because we had to protect the portal from accidental discovery. An Embassy means no one can access it without first asking us permission. So we bought all the land around the portal and approached the British government.”
“You could have hidden it with muggle-repelling charms, and then added shielding charms to warn you should anyone approach it.”
“My understanding of the situation is that the Princesses had already approached the non-magicals and started on the Embassy before we knew such spells existed. Or, at least, as you use them. And then it was too late to change our approach.”
He sighed disappointedly. It was his fault, he realized. Minerva had told them about the Statute of Secrecy, he knew. As a result, he had assumed they knew all about it. He had expected them to act in secret, as did every other member of the ICW. He had thought they would abide by the Statute’s rules, even though they had never heard of it, nor had to follow it before. He hadn’t considered that they had already started talking with the muggles.
He really could not blame them for acting in the way they were used to acting in Atlantis.
He needed to talk with Princess Twilight about just what the Equestrians were planning to do with the non-magicals. And his conversations with both Minister Fudge and the ICW were going to be very difficult.
In the meantime he would notify the ICW that something important was happening in muggle England. And the Unspeakable Bode that the Atlanteans were apparently contacting the muggles, while still keeping to the original intent of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy — do not reveal magic to the muggles.
۸-_-۸
“Sit quietly with your eyes closed,” said Bright Star to Green Hoof, an earth pony. “Hold your hoof over the table while I hoof-spin it once. Let me know if you feel a pull. Don’t move until I tell you that I’ve spun it once. Then you can drop your hoof when it seems to call to you the most.”
Green Hoof nodded nervously. He’d been outside the building, tending one of the trees when the two unicorns had marched up to him and asked if he would help them with a test — well, actually ordered him. Nothing harmful, they had assured him. And it should only take a few minutes. It would not prevent him from enjoying Nightmare Night festivities when they started that evening.
The round metal table in front of him had twenty slabs of wood on it, each as wide as his hooves, with a short space between them.
“Just relax and hold your hoof loosely.”
He nodded again, and closed his eyes.
Top Marks watched from one side, curious and hopeful that this would work. The human wand-maker, Ollivander, had finally given his approval on their hoof-made wands, which they had piled into a box in the corner of the room.
This was their first try at a custom wand.
It was on the third rotation that Green Hoof dropped his hoof on a piece of wood. It was rosewood, Top Marks saw.
The two ponies moved to the next table as the professor made notes and pulled out the box of prospective Rosewood wands.
“This is the same,” said Bright Star, “Just sit and relax. Hold your hoof over the table while I spin it.”
This table had twenty depressions, each filled with want looked like hairs, feathers, scales, and gem dust. One depression had one of Top Marks’ tail hairs in it.
His hoof dropped on a feather-filled section.
It took both Top Marks and Bright Star to fill the third table with different lengths of feathers and rosewood. They had discovered, through trial and error, that there was a definite correlation between the length of a wand and its core. Once that was known, it was easy to make sure each pair in the depression on the table were correctly in tune with each other. It took only a few moments to complete pairing them.
For a third time, Green Hoof sat at a table as Bright Star slowly pun it by hoof. He was surprised to note that there was a difference between this table and the other two. While the first two tables’ selections had had a faint, almost undetectable draw to them, the pull from each of the depressions on the third was much stronger and easier to discern, he told the two researchers.
This time it took four turns before he could tell that the pair under his hoof felt “stronger” than the rest.
Bright Star quickly snatched the two items and went to a fourth, smaller square table.
Green hoof sat where he was. If the two unicorns wanted him to know something, they would tell him. In a short time, she cantered back to him, the feather no longer in sight. She carefully, on her back, carried a long, thin box filled with cloth that held the piece of rosewood he had chosen.
She slid the box onto the round table. “Pick up the wand,” she ordered.
Shrugging, he did as he was told, tilting the box so the wand rolled out, then “grasping” it in his mouth by the slightly thicker end. He held it a moment and stared at her, perplexed. Later he would say he felt a warmth from the wand, as if from a friend giving him a hug.
“Give it swish,” Bright Star urged eagerly.
He did as instructed — and dropped the wand in surprise as sparks shot from it across the table.
Bright Star and Top Marks danced in place.
“Pick it up, pick it up!” chanted Bright Star breathlessly.
He looked at the wand on the ground, then her, and then carefully, as if he expected to get a shock, picked it up. Nothing happened. He held it up again, and gave a big swing. Sparks again cascaded across the room.
Again the two unicorns danced happily in place, then suddenly lunged against him and hugged him.
“It worked! It worked!” they both crowed in his ears as they danced in a circle with him in the middle, still hugging.
Bright Star let go and stepped back, as did Top Marks. Eyes wide in excitement, Bright Star said, “Hold the wand up and say lumos!”
Green Hoof almost dropped the wand a second time as the end lit up in a brief flash of light.
Smiling so far it had to have hurt, Bright Star said, “Congratulations, Green Hoof, you’re the first earth pony ever to cast magic with a wand in Equestria!”
He dropped the wand. And then his jaw. And then passed out.
They woke Green Hoof up, still stunned at the achievement. Bright Star and Top Marks immediately tested if the sticking charm would interfere when they used it to hold the wand to his hoof. It didn’t. Then they checked if there was a difference in which hoof he held the wand. There wasn’t. He could even get the lumos to work with his hind hooves! Then they started practicing different spells.
The researchers grabbed the wizards’ First Year Spell book and started working their way through it with Green Hoof. He could do all the simple spells. Trying to cast the spells following the directions in the book made him dizzy when he used his mouth to hold the wand, but they did work just as well as when he held the wand with his hoof.
They did discover that when he used a wand to channel magic, then anything related to his earth pony skills were much more powerful than they were normally.
It was considered, by everyone present, to be a grand achievement. And finding the correct wand took only a few minutes instead of a quarter-of-an-hour, or more, as Ollivander usually did.
They started celebrating at the Ponyville tavern when they went to dinner, shortly before the Nightmare Night festivities were scheduled to start. By the time they finally made it back to their rooms, very late at night and very drunk, all of Ponyville knew of their success — Green Hoof, and probably all other earth ponies and all pegasi could wield magic like unicorns. Numerous demonstrations and experiments in the tavern had proven it. One of the chairs was still stuck to the ceiling.
It was, everypony agreed, an eventful and momentous Nightmare Night. One that would go down in history. Not that Green Hoof and the two unicorns would remember it all that much.
By noon the next day the news had reached Canterlot. That evening, a horde of reporters had descended on Ponyville. And the portal was now front-page news.
۸-_-۸
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Poor Dumbledore he is being told the truth many many times but he can't imagine it.. Ponders if any of the other wizards will be able to accept or will it take a trip through the portal.
9382695
I note TKepner didn't weigh in on our debate, interesting as they'd have the final word here fairly easily.
I admit though I hadn't thought about Twilight not recognizing humans that does put a crimp in the theory, shame.
It'll be hard to convince someone to increase funding to properly staff the region's primary institution of learning required to bring magic users up to an acceptable level in their society? This is just mind bogglingly stupid. All the more reason that Cornelius needs to be replaced ASAP.
Oh, and there's a typo there. Well, unless Cornelius has gotten so full of himself that now he insists upon being called "The Cornelius".
Let's see the Storm King try invading now.
Wow they told Dumbledore to his face the truth and he still dismisses it. I bet he will be loosing more then one job by years end.
Nice
Magical Colorful Alien Ponies... The great question is... They come from the Area 51?
The first half of this chapter read like a repeat of the previous one I'm afraid to say.
Really Dumbledore, naive ponies? You've barely met their leadership and your're already confusing honesty for naievity.
Interesting little glimpse at the revelation of the portal in Equestria I wonder how these successees are going to affect Starlight's personality, or Trixie when she hears about them.
Nice to see Dumbledore to account on Snape's teaching methods.
9383385
I suspect a lot of the school age ones will be able to accept it when they hear it (Percy or Tonks for example), the adult ones would depend on their personal natures (Lucius probably would dismiss it while xenophilius would be asking if they had Crumple Horned Snorcacks and could he visit), the very elderly like Dumbledore are probably too set in their way's to accept it without heavy proof (say a year long sabatical in the ponies dimension).
I think Dumbledore needs a wakeup call. He's used to dealing with a population where maybe 1 in a 1000 is a witch or wizard. While overall Equestria not have the population of Great Britain they certainly have a magical population larger than Great Britain
9383393
What’s sad is that I can see fudge doing that
Most fanfic depictions anyway
9383393
Well, in the Ministry's defense, The Cornelius is mindbogglingly stupid...
Am I the only one loving the irony that Starlight (excuse me, "Bright Star") is more close to achieve her dream of equality by helping to develop wands for earth ponies and pegasi than with her original ideas?
(probably Twilight and the rest of Mane 6 will be awkward at first, but they will accept Starlight in their group).
If this work led to a reformed Starlight, it will be a major bonus!
I wonder how the muggle scientists are calling the Equestrian "technology" - maybe one of them in exasperation call it based on "Will-based Transmogrification Force" aka WTF!
(I got this from the HP/Portal crossover "Is your grand-aunt an AI?")
9383385
other wizards might just accept a trip through the portal, Dumbledore? with how exceptionally thick he's being, i think he'll need to meet celestia in person.
Its only a matter of time before The Wizarding world is thrown on its side. It will be highly amusing!
It might be time to take a field trip to equestria.... canterlot would blow their minds. It'd also be a way for the teachers dumbledore sends to get more info. Atleast sending flitwick or mcgonagle over to get a look at the libraries seems prudent as he's seen they have alot of spells he's never seen before. Maybe even pull a twilight and order a copy of every book their allowed to order.
9383441 Well he's already met Twilight and Luna neither one bothered him beyond being immensely powerful witches what more could Celestia do
FYI I have yet to read the newest chapter as I write this.
9383328
I know that is the reason was because of the witch hunts but now they are completely outside the system with no way to address their grievances and with their current culture the only way for them to do so is if the muggle drag them to the negotiating table.
9382695
The difference here is a.) the muggles have no choice but to do it and the whole situation is the wizard's fault for staying hidden for so long and placing themselves where this was bound to happen should the truth about them come out.
I didn't think of that but that would be a great tactic which gets it's point across with only a single flyby thus saving the government money after all placing military jets in the air can't be cheap, though just in the off chance wizards can't reconize Hogwarts from an ultra high altitude photo they should probably be labeled.
Yes there would probably be some grumbling from Dumbledore but he would given the circumstances probably agree that full integration of governments is the best option he has.
Even then that may be too long the muggle government can move slow but in situations like this it can't be seen as moving that slow so even if full integration would take decades there would need to be some more short term goals to convince the muggle voters that integrating the governments is in fact getting done.
I have no doubt that stuff like that would happen but it probably won't prevent a possible witch or wizard from winning the White House in the 2010s or beyond.
Yeah Fudge will be leaving office early though with Dumbledore I could see him losing his status as Supreme Warlock of the Wizengamot though the ICW is a little more complicated and he could potentially be successful in pleading his case by stating that Equestria was cleverly hiding their true intentions from him and as for his position only the school governors can remove him without the Ministry passing a bunch of new laws to be able to do so and it seems to me that they might be pretty loyal to Dumbledore since they let him do what he wants with little to no interference even with the smear campaign against him in year 5 and it took threats on their families to make them even temporarily turn on Dumbledore so he likely will retain that job.
9382695
The strange thing about Equestria Girls is that when I brought up those problems regarding the spin-off and this story he insisted that both Equestria Girls 1 and Rainbow Rocks happened as shown.
I'm curious about how the "purists" will react to this with the unicorns losing their "racial superiority"
9383024
There will be a certain amount of that certainly, and that will be one of the carrots dangled and offered especially to muggle borns. I think that would in some ways actually serve as a catalyst for some of the more whibbly Pureblood families to say fuck it and throw their lot into integration as they see the muggle-born witches and wizards quickly making a name for themselves in this brave new world the wizards will be entering.
That said, that sort of thing isn't going to happen immediately, and a longer term issue is that the muggles themselves will be seeking to make it so said magic based technology can be used by anyone, as I can't exactly see many muggle governments wanting to end up relying on witches and wizards alone.
And while I think Luscious would hate having less money than the Weasleys, Luscious is also the sort I could see who'd hate the entire situation immensely and want almost nothing to do with this new world.
That said, I have the odd thought now that anti-government sorts might end up being able to make a strange bedfellows situation with such wizards, especially those wanting to get off the grid and so forth.
Will be reading the new chapter in a few!
9383437
For sciencey based terminology for magic, I like 'Thaumic Energy Field Manipulation'!
One thing I've noticed is that we never actually see much of the other teachers' teaching methods in the books. Snape's abhorrent method is described in detail, but we see so little of the other teachers in their element that it's hard to make a comparison.
One wonders how Cheerilee would react to knowing of someone like Snape, who doesn't care for the students.
Also, anyone else thinking that Zecora would make an excellent replacement for Snape if need be? I know Dumbledore would go to Slughorn first, but given how reluctant he is, the resident alchemist of Ponyville would be a great second pick.
9383459
I'm not sure if, but I think Albus didn't yet meet Discord.
I wonder what'll happen to the 'see magic' enchancment on Dumbledore's glasses (or his mind).
9383437
I'm pretty sure they are doing it by replacing wording. Every time they would have said magic, they instead say its more scientific definition. Whenever they would have said spell or enchantment, they instead say that it's a particular application of said definition. Yes, it's really really long winded, but the nomages will come up with their own word instead of magic to refer to this whole process on their own, and when that happens, the ponies will simply say that they have already done that, and call it "magic". Problem solved.
Dumbles, they just told you to your face that they are not from earth! Stop looking for hidden layers, and just accept what is shown! Sweet Christ. Also, go Starlight! This is a much better alternative to starting a psychotic cult hell-bent against cutie marks or perceived inequality.
9383494 I don't think he has Twilight and Pinkie over whelmed his glasses to the point when he turned them down so he wasn't blinded he couldn't see other 'everyday' magic around him
9383459
celestia has a thousand years of magical build-up on Luna and is empowered by the sun itself, Dumbledore didn't see Luna in the dream realm or under the moon, i'm positive the effect would have been different if he had.
Dumbledore movies have come a VERY long way since you were young, true CGI was in it's infancy in the 90s but just watch things like Star Wars or Back to the Future or Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
Also they outright told you they are extraterrestrials and you still dismissed it, I guess Bonbon hit the nail on the head when she said people magical or non-magical will see only what they want to see.
So Nightmare Night accrues after Halloween hope we see the CMC celebrate it at Hogwarts.
9383437
Will-based Transmogrification Force. I love I hope the author uses it.
9383441
And see her make the sun dance.
9383489
But that would only be once the scientists know they are dealing with magic.
9383492 Cheerilee and Snape are anathema to each other, it seems.
I think Starlight Glimmer has found her new calling!
This was an interesting chapter... if one that was slightly annoying. The beginning section felt rather redundant- we'd kind of already gotten the impression from Dumbledore that he didn't view the muggle world all that highly even if he felt it important for wizards to co-exist with them. It was another section that easily felt like it could have been spliced into the previous chapter.
That said, I'm glad someone is taking him to task on Snape. I hope we get to see the conversation between them, perhaps with the very important questions to Snape of "Are you happy here/want to be here?" and "Do you actually enjoy teaching?" I personally suspect that perhaps Snape just needs some nudging in the right direction... and while I think it'd be a bit cliché, perhaps bringing in Zecora to talk shop with him would be of use.
Now, you've actually brought up something I'd never considered- eg the idea of Hogwarts being understaffed. I'd never even contemplated that! It'd never really occurred to me that they might not have enough staff... after all, it never seemed like the school had a very large student body so I figured them having the extra duties seemed rather fitting, especially given the fact the teachers basically live at the school as well. I wonder to myself if any of the teachers have ever thought of saying something and either figured it's always been like this or, perhaps akin to the House elves, enjoy the work so much they never think about whether or not it could be causing any kind of undue stress.
The thing back in Equestria is of course phenomenal, but I suspect it won't take long for word of that to spread beyond Equestria's borders as well and begin to draw in the interest of other forces in their land. The Storm King is one such force who I could see wanting to learn as much as he possibly could, perhaps even attempting to find a way to open his own portal to make contact with Earth or the Wizarding World.
That said, I think that one big thing here that's going to have an effect on a specific character, Starlight Glimmer to be exact, is the noted bit about Earth Pony magic being MORE powerful when being used/tied to a wand. While I suspect the wand doesn't really have any actual effect for Unicorns themselves with their horns being natural conduits, I suspect Pegasai weather magic and such will also be boosted by wand use.
I suspect of course that Celestia and Luna, and Twilight especially, will make an effort to make sure that as wands are integrated into Equestria, that the other pony races also keep to using their other abilities without wands as well, so that the abilities don't end up waning any.
Now, ONTO COMMENTS AND BEING ANNOYED THAT THERE IS NO MORE TO READ! TKEPNER PLEASE SWITCH TO THREE DAYS A WEEK XD
9383385
Dumbledore would probably be blinded going through, given those glasses of his being able to pick up magic. Equestria is in comparison to Earth practically drowning in it.
9383392
I mean, it's an interesting idea and I suspect Sunset Shimmer would have been interested in this world as well, but the way the mirror portal was handed early on made it rather clear to me, combined with how things went after Harry shared the knowledge of the portal, that at the very minimum Equestria Girls is non-canon to this series.
Perhaps Sunset Shimmer went off and did something else, or maybe at some point she'll pop back through and return home and thus be able to be included, but I don't think the Earth of Equestria girls is going to be involved in this, it would make things too weird and complicated. And this story is complicated enough :p
9383393
I have a feeling there's a great many things the Wizards could improve by just changing a few small things, but they haven't seen any reason to do so since they've not really had any contact and everyone just shrugs their shoulders and go that's how it is.
9383401
I suspect at minimum of 1 job, but I'm not sure if it would actually be the Hogwarts job. If nothing else, I think some of the Professors would revolt a bit at that.
9383424
Agreed on both counts. I suspect the muggle borns and half-bloods will also be more likely to accept such things more readily then the Purebloods, the muggle born especially because they after all spend the first ten years of their life with no knowledge magic exists and learning things like any other muggle would.
9383432
Oh without a doubt.
I think it was mentioned at one point that Equestria has about a population of roughly six million, which may change thanks to help from muggle medical technology and this brave new world they have available to them. So with a population of Six million magic users, they dwarf or probably equal the entirerty of the Wizarding world.
I personally think that Dumbledore should be considering more and more something he seems to have forgotten- Equestria has NO muggles. By the Wizarding understanding of things, that should simply put not be possible, even if their descendents of Atlantis. They should have some muggles, even if rare. But they don't even have squibs.
Which, if anything, should point very much to the idea of them not being human.
9383437
It's going to be interesting regarding Glimmer, because as they noted, Green Hoof's own natural Earth pony abilities were AUGMENTED by the addition of a wand, which means he's now superior to other Earth ponies when wielding a wand in conjunction with his normal magic. The same will be true of a Pegasus until wands become as common as grass. And unless we get an example otherwise, it doesn't seem that wands add anything to Unicorn magic as they already have the natural focus on the top of their head, so there's nothing to augment. Perhaps if we see instances of the wand making it easier for Unicorns to cast spells they normally couldn't...
But even still, this is leveling the playing field but not actually bringing Equality is Starlight preached it.
9383459
Clearly this means we need Discord to pop up and start literally manipulating reality.
wow a grate chapter and this is playing out so good.
9383569
If anything, it makes unicorns inferior to the other ponies. Not only do the other ponies now have access to spells, which was previously exclusive to unicorns, but the other ponies' own tribal magic is augmented when using a wand. Unless there's some benefit to unicorns using wands (though it doesn't really seem like there is) then it looks like unicorns got the shaft.
9383569
The author insists the Equestria girls is canon to this story and with the information he gave me I did the math since time in the EQG world moves three times slower if Sunset decided to spend her Saturday in Equestria or the Harry Potter Earth helping Twilight she would have a 4 day weekend every weekend and if she chose she could have a 9 month long summer vacation.
There are truths and there are your conclusions. People tend to believe the explanation that they are willing to accept - despite being seen it first-handed. Once they believe something, it is difficult to change their belief or perspective. Only time could change that.
Amusing to see Dumbledore being chase into corner in the political talk. Normally, he was the one who read it ahead of others.
9383328
While I agree with that interpretation of those lines, that is not in fact how to my knowledge most Jews and ESPECIALLY Christians have ever interpreted it.
This is certainly true, but it's going to take more than words for many in the magical community to accept that they are in fact willing to do so.
9383477
The wizards would argue that the muggles can stay out of the magical communities business and do their best to continue hiding, which is a choice the muggles could make but probably won't.
That indeed doesn't make sense, but perhaps Twilight was keeping very mum on that- alternatively, it's happened after they went to Earth.
9383480
Unless the Unicorns can find a way for Wands to give them a perk as well, as I suggest in the form of Unicorns being able to learn to cast more spells outside basic levitation and their own talent, Unicorns are not likely in some places to be too happy about this, which actually interestingly would open a new front for excitement and chaos on the Equestrian side- imagine some Unicorns trying to make an effort to push back on wands or cause a ruckus about the whole thing, suggesting stuff from Earth is poisoning Equestria in some fashion
That would give a route for Starlight to be on the same side with Twilight, as I doubt Starlight would be happy about that.
9383492
That's actually a possibility I had not considered.
I kind of assume that Snape wanted the job beyond just being easy for Dumbledore to keep an eye on or some such. I'd like to think that if given the right motivation he could in fact be an excellent teacher.
9383587
As I said, one potential opening is that Wands allow Unicorns to spread out their own spellbooks. It's mentioned early on that most Unicorns only know a few basic spells and then some stuff tied to their talent, which means their very limited spell casters unless their talent IS magic, in which case they then have far greater abilities.
So, if using a wand allows say an average Unicorn to be on par with a magic talented Unicorn without a horn, then that balances things out a bit.
9383599
Hmm, well I at least still don't really see any reason for it's events to be canon, if for no other reason than that they've had no mention otherwise, and I personally hope it stays that way. I don't mind Sunset coming back through, but adding interactions with the Equestria Girl world would just mess with things a bunch and I still hold that it messes with how things worked early on in the story when the portal was shared with the mane six by Harry.
9383619
Dumbledore should have pointed out to them that to the muggles, Unicorns and Pegasi are MAGICAL creatures, so even if their going with calling all their magic advanced technology, it's not going to be that hard for muggles to conclude magic is real when they see Unicorns and Pegasi.
@tkepner, something I just thought about- Why isn't Dumbeldore recalling the whole bit about the Mane six sharing hairs and feathers in Rainbow Dash's case with Ollivander for wand making? That shouldn't work if their actually human, should it?
9383662
According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a pegasus pony should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The pegasus pony, of course, flies anyways. Because pegasus ponies don't care what humans think is impossible.
"Wait, 'fat'?!"
9383528. At some point I'm guessing they would be completely overloaded
9383692
Exactly, that fact on it's own and in combination with them finding some things like telephones and TV's to be novel and exciting things and the like is going to make it fall apart. I suspect both the UK Muggle Government and Equestria both are vastly underestimating the general muggle population on this front.
In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if within a week some are calling the advanced tech line out as BS and calling this stuff magic.
9383662
Personally I would really like it if Sunset gets involved as she is my favorite character though given the plot holes the EQG world would bring if she does show up I hope either her history is slightly reimagined or the Equestria Girls world is glossed over.
9383758
Except they only see the ponies while on the other side of the portal. As far as the common muggle is concerned, they are people on this side.
9383807
Yeah, as much as I like Sunset, I think introducing her in this story would be problematic without rewriting a bunch of the EqG stuff. Unless there's a really good reason to bring her in then I'd rather just leave her out so the story can focus on what it's already got going on.
Let me see here, there's 5 beds in the boy's first year dorm, and 5 in the girl's, multiply that by 4 and you got 40 students per year, times 7 and you have a total student body of about 280 students. While that may seem small, you do have to remember that the wizarding community is small compared to that of the muggles, and not all born to wizarding families can use magic (Squibs).
https://lexicon-media.storage.googleapis.com/legacy/images/DormDrawing.jpg
Just thought you'd like to know this tidbit of information.
And a ground level map of the castle itself: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Idl66FyNPm4/T4TGtyHSUnI/AAAAAAAAAtY/SIVIFjix-4M/s1600/HogwartsMap.jpg
9383864
Or glossing over the EQG stuff that would work as well, her character could also be rewritten to fit in and considering that this story has a long period of time to cover assuming it continues that far as plot lines are wrapped up new ones will need to be introduced and Sunset could be involved in a few of them in one form or another.
9383875
Yeah, except the maps based on the movies are absurd. The central stairs in a tower not connected to the rest of the classrooms or dorms? As for population, the forty in Harry's year are a WAR group. Groups before the war and after would be larger.
9383875
Very intesting.
However, I've been re-watching the HP movies and noticed that the landscape has drastically changed in the third movie.
In movies 1 & 2, Hagrid's hut is on flat park-land. In movie 3, its at the bottom of a steep sided hill, with the castle up above.
Do you have alternate versions of the map for the different movies?
Oh Luna. I just had a mental image of Discord saying "Release the Caken!" and a giant mutant cake monster bursts out of the ocean.
And Celestia is sooo distracted.
See what you've done tkepner? In an infinite multiverse, anything you imagine happens somewhere! I blame you for this one!
Now the ponies just need to realize they can stick their new foci (wands) to their heads like the unicorns do.