Recuperation
I woke up on something soft. As soft things went, it was a good soft thing.
—You're awake, Harry Potter.—
"Thank you, Addera, for that stunning news report. More at six." I tried to roll onto my back, but there were two problems. The first seemed to be I was still a little not-unicorn. The second was I had a great big snake wrapped around me like some kind of overly friendly oven. "Where are we?"
"The infirmary of course." Hermione's voice came from somewhere behind me. "You burned through more magic than any second year should, and I turned my legs into—" She actually sounded impressed. I mentally preened a little at the implication that I'd impressed Hermione Granger.
"What about your legs?" I asked. "Addera, can you let me go?"
"Very well, Harry Potter," Addera said in crisp English.
I stared at her long past her actually moving her coils off me. Addera had a tight smile on her face. "That was pretty good, Addera. You learn fast."
"Thank you, Harry Potter." The smile on Addera's lips grew a little more, as if she were no longer trying to restrain it. —I don't like mixing and matching. Until I learn enough for a full sentence, I'll keep using parseltongue.—
I turned over, rolling first to my back and then completely to the other side. Hermione was laying on a hospital bed and looked completely normal, even with the slightly superior glare in her eyes. No pony ears. No horn. Not even a hint of a scale, mane, or snout. "Right, legs. What happened?"
Hermione let out a sigh. "You don't remember? Well, I guess you passed out after you did those amaz—those twin-spells. While you were casting them, I had to pour magic into the shield spell so it wouldn't collapse. Whatever those helmets were doing, it was powerful stuff. Using magic like that…" She reached down to the covers and pulled them back from one of her legs, then pushed it out.
Soft yellow fur covered the limb, and it had the same shimmering quality that Tourmaline and her friends had had. Her leg terminated in a great approximation of a hoof, but unlike mine (or rather like Tourmaline's) it was a solid equine hoof.
The sight was sobering. As she pulled her leg back under the covers, I noticed that she was slid further down the bed than she was when I'd seen her yesterday. "Thanks, Hermione. I couldn't have gotten those things off without you."
"Yes, well, Addera carried you and one of them, I carried another, and Tourmaline lifted two as if it wasn't anything. They weigh a lot more than something their size should." Hermione closed her mouth as if she wanted to say more but didn't want to at the same time. "I would have gone anyway, Harry.
"Headmas—Professor Dumbledore said it was like the imperius curse, but worse. Once on, those helmets can't be removed by the wearer, and the magic in them is—It's horrible." I'd never seen Hermione so scared, but it wasn't fear for herself. "I can only imagine how terrible it must have been."
"Where are they now?" I asked.
—In the other beds, Harry Potter,— Addera said. —I can show you.—
Addera moved like all snakes move—shockingly fast and with the smoothest of motions. It should have terrified anyone, but I found myself used to her. Her forelegs scooped me out of my bed and set me onto the floor.
If I'd been human still, I'd have fallen right over. All four of my legs wobbled a little, but being four meant I had stability that a two-legged creature could only stare up at from the floor. "Th-Thanks. Where are they again?"
"Over there, Harry Potter." Without my glasses I had to wait until Addera slithered closer to see where she pointed. One moment she was a blur and the next she was right beside me.
"Thanks, Addera." I'd expected her English-speaking voice to have a hiss to it, but she spoke perfectly. Taking a few steps, I was again thankful for having four legs now. I felt weak and drained, but Addera guided me to the first bed and picked me up before I had to ask.
A little red pony lay under the covers. I could see his (he just seemed like a him, his features looked sharper) head and shoulders poking out. Walking on the covers of the bed, I barely made any impression on the mattress at all as I approached the end of the bed. "He's so tiny."
—They are young children, Harry Potter. They had no one to care for them and had vicious devices guiding them. It is a curious feeling to be a hero for once.—
The door at the end of the room opened and I heard soft whispering footsteps approach. A large and indistinct person drew nearer to me, but it was the thin stature and the black, pointed hat atop their head that tipped me off as to who it was. "H-Headmistress?"
"Out of all the students I have ever had the pleasure to teach, you, Mr. Potter, seem the most prone to getting into trouble. That you somehow get yourself out of it and save the day is another interesting quality." McGonagall had her soft voice on. Her words stung a little, but I was prepared to defend my actions on this one. "I've been talking to a young lady who seems to think you're the greatest 'not quite a unicorn' alive."
She stood beside the bed as she always does, dead straight and not showing a sign of weakness. I let out a sigh and looked back to the colt in the bed. She wanted me to explain what had happened. "You've already heard this from Tourmaline—"
McGonagall cut in, "And Miss Granger."
"Right. Probably Addera too—"
—I would not speak of your actions, Harry Potter, only my own.— Addera shifted her coils a little, moving them so I could feel one thick loop pressed to my side.
"Addera helped me calm down after I got a bit worked up. She used her eyes to keep me calm until I could work it out on my own. It wasn't safe to be in the castle while she did it, so she guided me outside." I turned to look at Addera. "Thanks for that."
—You would not appreciate burning all your friends, Harry Potter. I did only as I thought you would have were you in your right mind.— Her coil shifted just a little as if she were reminding me of her presence.
"Mr. Potter? Please continue."
"Right. Angry, see Tourmaline and cool down. Tourmaline told me about how her friends were in trouble." I shook my head at the idea. "I don't care if I'm in trouble. It was the right thing to do."
McGonagall, far from looking angry, actually smiled in a way that even a blind wizard could see—fortunate I guess. "Gryffindor will out. Please continue."
"She showed us where her friends were." My mind drifted back to the moments spent freeing the foals. New details revealed themselves to me as if I were still there. "There were more. A lot more. The masks can project beams of magic. They were trying to destroy Professor Dumbledore's wards!
"Strange thing, the ground was cold and hard, but it was broken up in places like it'd been dug into. There was dirt and grime covering the foals—stuck in the strange armor they wore." I tried to center myself back in the facts of what happened. "Hermione and I worked out how to remove the helmets. Engorgement charm to make the helmets swell up big—because Tourmaline said she got hers off because it didn't fit—and if it needed more an unlocking charm.
"I cast the engorgement charm first, then when it clung to their head, I gave it the unlocking charm as well. It worked!"
"Well that explains why there was nothing left of those helmets. If you let the engorgement charm run its course they'll be in pieces now. We found the remains of little Tourmaline's helmet—Albus is working on divining its properties now. Do go on." McGonagall seemed just as interested in filling me in as she was in being filled in.
"Yeah," I said. "That's when Hermione saved us. The three remaining foals turned to face us and the beams shot out of their helmets. Hermione cast a shield and stopped it, but she said it needed to be kept powered. Anyway, I knew I had to work fast, so I picked the unlocking charm as the easy one and—"
"And you cast two spells at the same time without fully enunciating one of them. I heard." McGonagall was back in neutral. I looked up at her blurry face but didn't get a reading.
"I had to. Hermione could only hold the shield so long, and every moment she was using magic meant she—" I remembered how much Hermione had been freaked out just from taking the polyjuice potion. I looked across at her, and the gray smudge I thought was Hermione remained just a gray smudge I thought was Hermione. Harry, you're an idiot. Don't bother looking around if you can't—I can't see! "What happened to my glasses?"
Addera twitched her coil again and I found myself leaning against it a little. —Along with your clothes, Harry Potter, they are gone. I may be your protector, but I have seen what happens to things your fire touches.—
Put like that I couldn't actually blame her. "They were my backup glasses. I don't have another pair." Even to me my tone was a whine.
The coil shifted more and I felt it coil around a second time to wrap one of my legs. I was reminded of how comfortable and warm it was to sleep in her coils. —Your friends are making me glasses, Harry Potter. Perhaps they can make you some?—
"I don't see how Fred and George could make me glasses. We'd need to find an optometrist and—" I bit back my words when I realized McGonagall was still there and still waiting for the story. "Sorry Headmistress."
"Quite alright dear. Please try to keep to the events though."
"Right. So I cast the spells while Hermione held up a shield. It was really hard to cast the first one. I've never had magic fight me so much before. It was like—like I had to hold on and shove it the way I wanted it to go. But I managed it. Then I had to do it again.
"The second time was harder. I was still worn out from the first two spells, but I had to do it and I had to do it fast. By the time I had to cast it a third time I was sure it would be impossible."
"But it wasn't," McGonagall said. "Was it?"
"It was easier." I stared at her blurry face in consternation. "Why was it easier?"
"Spells only work because they are patterns for magic to use. The more magic uses those patterns, the easier it is to use the spells. Each time you cast two spells at once in the same manner, it made it a little bit easier to do. This would be a seventh year lesson—usually." She sounded pleased at something.
"So I can cast those spells easier now?" I asked.
"Dear me no. What you did would be a trial for any wizard. Stick to one spell at a time, Harry," McGonagall said.
"But you said the pattern—"
"Would make it easier. How many times, do you suppose, that spells like levitation charm and such have been cast? Each casting reminds magic of the pattern. Your spells' pattern was localized and has likely already faded. If you cast them a few hundred times more, then you might start to notice a more general ease of casting." McGonagall sighed. "I do hope you complete your full training. I admit I am fascinated by the idea of what magic you could perform with such an education behind you."
Her words stopped me dead in my tracks. Think, Harry, and don't just blurt the first thing that comes to mind. Casting spells repeatedly made them easier to cast. I had to take this as fact because not only was McGonagall telling me that, I'd experienced it.
Not that this was the most useful bit of information, but I could see myself using it in particular situations. "So is that how new spells are invented?"
"Not quite. Most spells are a potential in magic for something that doesn't already exist. A pattern ready to be discovered. Doing it your way would take an exceptional wizard indeed." McGonagall's expression noticeably softened. "Fascinated indeed.
"As for what you have uncovered, we are not sure who exactly is using those nasty pieces of work, but there's a lot of ponies out there with them on. Not that they're making a dent on Albus' wards." She looked—even blurry—quite smug about that.
"We're going to help them, right?" I asked.
"Need I remind you that, of all the wizards at Hogwarts, you are the only one capable of casting any sort of spell without repercussions? Well, we're hoping to have a second shortly." As she spoke, McGonagall tilted her head toward Addera.
The focus shifting toward Addera reminded me of her presence. She hadn't said much since McGonagall had arrived, but I had a feeling she was paying attention to every word.
"If I can cast spells, I need a wand," Addera said in careful English.
"That you will. Come with me." McGonagall turned around and began walking away.
Before I knew what was happening, Addera scooped me up in her forelegs and rushed after McGonagall. —It takes work to learn how to pronounce everything, Harry Potter. Please translate for me.—
"Of course. Sure. Not like I could get away from you." I hadn't meant to be as acerbic as I sounded.
—You can stay if you wish, Harry Potter.—
"No." There was no way I could admit that it wasn't horrible or invasive to be carried by her. "You need someone to help."
"Thank you, Harry Potter." Addera slithered after McGonagall, giving me a blurry look of the medical wing's room. When we left, I saw a blob of color I recognized.
"Headmistress!" Ron almost jumped. I could see movement in one of his raised hands—brown blur against his robes. Scabbers of course. "Are they alright?"
"I can assure you, Mr. Weasley, your friends are all just fine." McGonagall flicked her wand to pull the door closed behind us.
"We're going to get Addera a wand, I think," I said.
Ron's excitement was visible even to me. He shifted from foot to foot and almost dropped his rat. "C-Can I get one too? Only, my last one was broken by the willow, and I tried to get by but then Lockheart stole my wand and broke it more—"
McGonagall cleared her throat. "You are safe then, Mr. Weasley, from being turned into a—"
"I don't care about none of that. When I heard about—It should be me in there, not Hermione." Ron's words surprised me with the vehemence. He always surprised me, Ron might be about as adept at social situations as a rotting cod, but he always made up for it.
"I see there was a reason you were sorted into Gryffindor. Very well. Follow me, Mr. Weasley." McGonagall started off again.
—Those were strong words from the heart, Harry Potter. Your friend may have as much fire as you do.— Her head was just above me, but Addera sounded slightly impressed.
I adjusted my throat. —When you start using English more, I think I'm going to miss your little comments like this.—
—Just because I'll be able to speak in English doesn't mean I won't still use parseltongue, Harry Potter. What it does mean is that I won't have to rely on you to deliver my promises.—
—You mean threats?— I asked.
—I meant what I said, Harry Potter.—
We traveled in silence for a few more minutes, winding among the halls and stairs of Hogwarts. It was a surprise when Ron finally spoke up. "I'm sorry, Harry."
I thought about what to say. The annoying thing about it all was that he'd actually been in the right. "You couldn't have helped anyway, Ron."
"I still feel like sh—crap. Guess that's what happens to a wizard with a conscience. The cowardice to stand aside and the remorse to wish I 'adn't."
Squinting (which was generally understood to be my constant expression right now, I hoped) at Ron, I couldn't help but smile at him. "Did you practice that?"
"Yeah."
"Sounded good. Was it a quote?"
"Nah."
"Really good then. I kinda get why you left, though. When I was in the Chamber of Secrets and I had to fight Addera, I had the most horrible thought of how it'd go if I didn't have my wand with me. We're just kids without our magic." As I spoke, my heart got away from me. Somehow I got a direct path from my brain to my mouth and nothing was getting in the way. But I was right—except one thing. "Well, not me. I'm a not-unicorn."
"That and I was about to fill my pants. You're the bravest person I know, 'Arry. From now on you betta believe I'll be at your side. No matter what."
"Unless you lose your magic?" I asked.
"Nah. I think I prefer getting beaten up without my magic to sitting here and wondering what's happening to my best friends." Ron turned his head to look at me. "Why're you squinting?"
—Wise, but not smart. Brave, but not a hero. Harry Potter, you pick strange friends.—
"I don't have my glasses, Ron. Some crazy person keeps setting them on fire." My voice dripped with sarcasm, but it made me realize something—if I was sarcastic, I wasn't angry.
It was so simple. I could save myself from perpetually burning things to the ground with the power of sarcasm! Life suddenly became easier. I could see a future that wasn't filled with fire and me stumbling around half blind. —Addera. Just now, instead of getting angry at Ron, I just blew it all off with being sarcastic.—
—You will make less friends that way, Harry Potter. There should be other ways you can hold back your anger until you need it,— Addera said.
—Until I need it?— I asked.
"What are you two talkin' about?" Ron asked.
"Sarcasm!"
Right then, before Ron could ask me to explain myself, McGonagall reached for the door to a room I'd never seen before. Then something stranger hit me—I'd been in this hall before and hadn't seen this door.
"Open up and show us what was stored." McGonagall held the handle of the door for a moment before nodding to herself and opening it. The room inside was about five times the size of the great hall. Rows and rows of shelving stretched away before us, and each shelf was filled with stuff. "Stay close, don't wander, and don't touch anything."
Addera slithered after McGonagall while Ron walked beside us. If there was some order to the room, I couldn't work it out. Some shelves held books, others items on stands, yet more held common muggle things.
Only when we reached the far end did McGonagall even bother looking at the shelves. She turned to her left, paused, and then turned right. "The trick of this particular instance of the room is, whatever you are looking for is in the last place you'd look. You must make a token effort of thinking about searching the room bit by bit, then you can head for the last spot you would have looked."
It made no sense, just like most of the physical stuff of magic. The spells were all patterns, the potions all had meticulous formula, but items? Items were just freakin' mental.
Addera slowed as McGonagall stopped at the end of the row and reached onto the highest shelf with some difficulty. "I thought it fitting we would try this first. Put Mr. Potter down, Addera, and try holding this."
—What's she holding?— Addera asked.
"Cor. That's Lockheart's wand!" Ron said.
The handle of the wand that McGonagall held toward Addera looked like it had a faux fleur-de-lis, but the central petal was just a circle instead. Dark brown handle led to a light shaft that looked dead-straight.
"Will it accept her?" I asked.
"There is just one way to find out. Lockheart defeated himself, so I would find it most fitting if his wand found someone else suitable to use it." McGonagall turned the wand in her hand to hold it out to Addera handle first.
Addera put me down and reached a hoof out blindly. Literally blindly, I realized.
—A bit lower,— I said. —You got it.—
And she did have it. Her hoof seemed to grip the wand and remove it from McGonagall's grip. The wand shook in her grip, and I could feel the magic of the wand being angry at her for daring to hold it.
Ron noticed it first. I watched him cover his face with one arm and shout, "Close your eyes!"
Thankfully I managed to avoid her gaze before being ensnared by her beautiful eyes. I looked up at McGonagall and saw her simply with her eyes closed.
—Harry Potter! The wand won't do what I want!—
"Addera, close your eyes!" I didn't risk looking at her, not when it was so easy to just gaze into her wonderful eyes and relax. Shaking my head, I tried to clear the strange thoughts.
—No! I need to make sure the wand knows I'm watching it.— A small explosion sounded above my head. Remembering what had happened when I'd been getting my wand, I dreaded to think what had just happened. —It doesn't like me!—
—Tell it who you are,— I said.
—I am Addera, slave no more to Salazar Slytherin! I am companion to the great Harry Potter, and you will do what I say!— The random explosions and trembling fury of the wand's magic stopped. —That's better. I need to learn magic, and your oaf of a previous master was not worthy of you. I claim you, wand!—
"Do I want to know what you're saying?" McGonagall asked.
"She's yelling at the wand," I said.
"Well, that's certainly one way of doing it. Personally, I've never seen it work and I can't say I have now."
Ron got the joke a few moments before me. He was giggling when I realized that none of us saw what Addera did. I groaned, but then broke into a laugh as well.
"Miss Addera, please close your eyes so I can look," McGonagall said.
"Done, Headmistress." Addera's voice was smooth, and I recognized the exact pronunciation of headmistress as being what Hermione used.
Turning and looking, I saw Addera's eyelids closed once more. Held in her hoof was the wand, though it didn't tremble with anger like I expected, it was twitching every now and again. "Nice going Addera!"
Addera's face lit up with the most amazing smile I'd ever seen her display. —This is the best thing ever! This wand is perfect for me.—
"She says the wand is perfect," I said, dutifully relaying her words to McGonagall.
"Excellent news. Now, Mr. Weasley, let's get you a wand that will have you. It shouldn't be hard, I know of several wands your siblings have used." McGonagall stepped around Addera and reached out to a wooden case sitting on the shelf.
"My brothers used these wands?" Ron dodged around Addera too and reached McGonagall's side as she removed a wand from the case. Eagerly taking the wand, Ron quickly passed it back. "This one is from Percy, innit?"
"Very perceptive. Am I to believe that—"
Ron was quick to let go of the wand. "D-Do you have one that Charlie used? My old was a hand-me-down from him."
"This one should suffice, then." The wand McGonagall passed to Ron was little more than a straight stick—there was even some bark still attached on the handle. "It might not look like much, but your brother took to it before it was finished. Your father got him a replacement for it at the end of the year, but the young man begged me to take care of it. This is willow, and fitting that it came from the very tree that broke your wand. There was no core installed in it, but it worked as a wand regardless. Your brother seemed to think it had something to do with the origin of the wood.
"Regardless, I believe you should be a good fit." With that McGonagall put the wand into Ron's hand.
As opposed to Addera's wand bonding, Ron's fingers twitched as they gripped the wand, and I watched the wood tremble a little (though if it was the wand doing it or Ron I don't know), and my friend smiled a little.
Ron looked as happy as Larry. "That's been the best yet. I guess I should test it—"
McGonagall wrapped her hand around the wand and tugged it from Ron's hand for long enough to fizzle whatever he was about to do. "You should resist that urge, Mr. Weasley, unless you have a sudden desire to be quadrupedal."
"Oh. Right. Sorry miss." Ron took his new wand back and just stared at it for a few moments. "This is really brill'."
"Now back to the infirmary with you. You too, Mr. Weasley. I'm sure you can find some way to help take care of our newest guests." McGonagall turned and started making her way along the aisle back to the center path.
I didn't have time to react. Addera plucked me off my hooves again and we were moving quickly after McGonagall. Her chest was soft and fluffy against my own fuzzy body. Warmth built quickly and it helped me relax a little more.
The ride back to the infirmary almost put me back to sleep except for one thing—I'd literally just woken up. I yawned widely and fought to keep back my desire to just lay my head down and close my eyes. "I'll get Hermione to help me teach Addera her first-year magic."
"What about me?" Ron asked.
"Hermione can sketch patterns without putting magic into them—I've seen her do it before. Can you do that?"
Sticking out his bottom lip a little in defiance, Ron glared at me while trying to keep up with Addera's slithering. "I can try."
McGonagall stopped at the door that opened into the infirmary wing we'd come from and held it open. "I have faith in you, Ronald Weasley. You're a Gryffindor, after all."
Ron's chest puffed out and his grin almost reached his ears. He stood straighter and looked entirely too proud of himself. Well, I guess he had faced a wizard's biggest test—he'd had to deal with having no magic—and he was still around to talk about it. "Thank you, miss, I'll try to live up to the name."
Turning on a dime, McGonagall started taking her first step away. "See that you do, Mr. Weasley."
Addera wasted little time in the hallway and headed inside.
Only for a bright yellow pony to practically attack her. "You're back!" Tourmaline said.
Sticking my head up from Addera's arms—completely awake now—I looked down to see the filly dancing about Addera. "Put me down so I can talk to her, please?" I put the last word on automatically, though some of my teachings tended against such pleasantries.
The moment my cleft hooves touched the floor I was engulfed in a crushing hug. Tourmaline wrapped her forelegs around my neck and squeezed. "Oh! Sorry!" Thankfully she noticed when I couldn't breathe and let go. "I'm just so excited! You did it!"
Memories of school—muggle school—rushed in and I remembered the times someone had stood up for me. "You're looking well. I take it you talked with McGonagall?"
Tourmaline took a deep breath as if she were going to breathe fire or something. "The big tall lady with the amazing hat? Yes! She told me you were okay. Then a nice stallion—well I think he was a stallion, he had a beard—wanted to talk, and we talked until he said it was okay to come back down here, but you were missing. I've been talking to Hambone—"
"I told you, there's no B in it," Hermione said. "It's pronounced Her-mi-on-e!"
"I was talking to her, and she doesn't know anything about unicorns, or ponies, or anything!" Tourmaline turned and stuck her tongue out at Hermione.
"Look, you little horse! I happen to know a lot of things, but I know nothing about your—your fairy tales!" Hermione sounded about as annoyed as Hermione could get, which was going to be less than useful for what was to come.
"Calm down both of you! Honestly. We leave for five minutes and come back to this? Tourmaline, if Hermione hadn't protected me, I wouldn't have gotten your friends free. Hermione, she's just a kid—foal." I walked toward Hermione's bed and was again thankful to four-limbedness—it was pretty great. "Hermione, Addera and Ron both have wands now."
"What? Where did Headmistress McGonagall find wands for them?" The question apparently needed Hermione to sit up in bed and look around at us to ask.
I walked slowly toward her bed and stopped beside it. When Hermione just looked down at me in confusion, I let out a groan. "If you wait until I make big puppy eyes and reach my forelegs up in supplication, you'll be waiting a long time."
"Oh. Right." Hermione's hands were warm when they reached under my forelegs and lifted me. Once I was settled on the bed, her hand somehow found the back of my neck and started rubbing.
"It was some kind of magic room. You know the hallway down on the second floor above the—I'll show you when we're all out of here. There shouldn't have been a door or a room there, so it had to be magic. She said anything in there is in the last place you would look for it, so she went there first and found the wands." The hand rubbing my neck had moved up to an ear. My legs folded neatly under me and I was curling up against Hermione's leg.
"And?" Hermione asked.
"McGonagall gave Addera Lockheart's wand to try. It didn't like her at first, but I think she has it under control now. Probably just didn't like the twit and thought she was him at first. Anyway, Ron got one of his brother's old wands."
Ron and Addera had neared the bed, and to my surprise Tourmaline was set down beside me by Ron. Where Hermione was rubbing my ear, I could see Ron's hand moving on Tourmaline's—she looked about ready to sleep.
"You alright there, Torm?" Ron asked Tourmaline.
Tourmaline nodded her head, eyes closed. "Mmhmm!"
"Oh, right. Before I forget, Harry." Ron reached his unoccupied hand into a pocket inside his robe and lifted out Ginny's diary. "I bet she has a bunch of angry words to write about me carrying her around, but not 'alf as many as you'll have for forgetting her."
"W-W-W—" The spell kept falling off my tongue before I could get the first syllable out. Finally, I just reached my mouth up and grabbed the diary and set it down beside me. "Thanks, Ron. I got caught up in everything, and—"
Hermione's hand stopped rubbing my ear and flicked the diary open.
WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?!?
"Uh. Can you hear me or do I have to write in you?" My question got no response.
Ron dropped a ballpoint pen into the middle of the book. "'Ere, use this."
"That's one of my pens? Where'd you get that?" Hermione started to reach for the pen but stopped and left it in the book.
What's going on? Are you ignoring me?
"Loh-koh-mot-tor!" I aimed my horn at the pen and gave a little flick upward as my magic rushed into the patterns I'd given it.
After McGonagall's talk on magic earlier, it really hit home how those patterns worked with each other to pull magic in the exact way I wanted it. Hundreds of thousands of wizards and witches performing the same pattern, thinking the same way, and saying the same words.
Sorry. I had to find a pen and I got turned into a not-unicorn again.
A not-unicorn?
I grinned at the reply and made an effort to keep the diversion going so that she didn't have a chance to get angry at me.
We met a new friend, Tourmaline, who seems to be a natural born pony. She said I'm definitely not a unicorn.
Tourmaline yawned and looked at what I was doing. "Who's making those words appear? Is that a communication book?"
I needed to ask her about communication books later. "No. This is Ginny. She's Ron's little sister. There was a bit of a mix up and someone stole her body."
I've been trying to work out how to do things. I think I can get the hang of this, but it's going to take some time and some… energy.
"Hi Ginny!" Tourmaline said. "Can she hear me?"
I wondered how asleep she'd been when we'd talked about that a moment earlier. "She can't. I need to write replies into the diary. Like this."
What do you mean, do things? Like what Tom did and make yourself into a ghost?
More like how he dragged you into a memory of his past. I think I can actually hear and talk to you when you're in one of those, but they take a lot of energy to cast.
As the words slowly faded I was already writing more.
Tourmaline says hi, by the way. And what do you mean? How do you know about me going into his past memories? Is Tom still in there?
Tom's kinda in here. It's like his memories right up until when he and you fought. He studied a lot of things. Hi Tourmaline!
I glanced at Ron and got a shrug in reply, then repeated the look at Hermione.
"What? If she can learn something from Tom Riddle's memories it has to help." Hermione sounded as dismissive as Ron had acted. "It's not like he's still in there."
"Did we end up in some twilight zone? What part of Tom Riddle being Voldemort don't you realize? He's a monster!" I twitched my ear and then had to fight not to let out a happy sigh when a hoof started rubbing my ear. Tourmaline was busy getting similar treatment from Ron, so that only left…
—Calm down, Harry Potter. I can't smell his magic on the diary anymore. What's left is the ghost of a ghost.— Addera's soft touch had me almost melting in place. The pen dipped down and my eyelids felt heavy.
My head felt heavy so I lay it down on the soft blanket. "No fair. How can I do anything when you do that?" Nonetheless, since writing with the pen was a mental process, I could keep conversing with Ginny while Addera rubbed my ear.
Be careful, Ginny. I've dealt with him twice now, and each time he was annoying and tricky. I'm sorry about forgetting to carry you, but I was a bit busy at the time burning all my things. When I get angry, I turn into a tiny fire-horse. I know it sounds crazy, but it's true.
Who else is there? That looks like the kind of lines Hermione's pens make. Hermione? How cute does he look?
Despite the relaxing ear-rub I managed to freak out. Cute?! I was a—The note from earlier came back to me even while the diary was yanked out from in front of me by Hermione.
I managed to turn my head around at the distinctive click of a ballpoint pen. My blurry vision made out the terrifying sight of Hermione, with a smile on her face, writing as fast as she can in the diary.
"Ron. Help," I said.
"Yer on yer own, Harry. If you think I'm gonna try to stop 'em…" Ron was just shaking his head. "Torm, you want me to rub your ear or not?"
Stopping her fussing, Tourmaline rolled to her side and offered one ear to Ron's hand. A moment later I heard soft snoring coming from her.
"She's the really brave one, Harry. Could you imagine going through what she did at her age? Wake up from some kind of imperius curse"—Ron looked around as if the name of the spell was enough to cause Aurors to appear—"and then deal with her friends being trapped in similar horribleness. Then she came to us for help." His mouth curled up at the corners. "Bloody hell but that scares the pants off me even now."
Addera paused a moment in her rubbing. —Tell him he is not wrong to fear those spells, Harry Potter.—
"R-Ron. Addera said that those spells are terrifying," I said.
—That's not exactly what I said.—
"Now she's complaining because I didn't translate perfectly. Salazar Slytherin used something like the imperius curse to bind her in the chamber. If anyone knows what these horses are going through, it's her." I slumped a little more into the blanket as a second hoof found my other ear.
"Yer not half wrong, Harry."
—Your friends are interesting, Harry Potter.— Addera's voice, even in parseltongue, felt like warm honey as it settled into my head.
It seemed like I'd just woken up, but now I was yawning and feeling tired. Anyone would think burning up tons of magic casting complex spells drained you. You're an idiot sometimes, Harry Potter.
Gasping and panting, Flagessio almost collapsed onto the landing platform of the E.U.P. Guard in Canterlot City. There was shouting and hollering around her, and somepony pressed a bottle to her mouth.
Slightly salty water wet her lips, and without hesitation she began to gulp down the stimulant drink the Guard favored. The salt and water combined restored electrolytes to her system, while the high sugar content delivered raw fuel to her body. By the time the bottle was empty her legs had stopped shaking.
"Sergeant Flagessio? Report!"
"Sp-Special report for Princess Celestia. I need to see her immediately." Flagessio ignored the time of day (late afternoon), it didn't matter. She braced one foreleg then the other under her and pushed with her back legs until she was upright again. Pulling her wings in was harder work—her flight muscles protested—but she managed it. The burn in her limbs was subsiding.
There was a moment of silence as Flagessio watched the duty sergeant check his list of protocols.
"Take this pass." Sergeant Castor drew a golden pass from the belt of tokens and used his magic to float it to Flagessio. Of course he recognized her, but this was business. "Can you fly, or will you run it in?"
For the first time in her life, Flagessio had to admit, "Sir, I don't know if I can fly again today."
"I'll find somepony to pace you."
Flagessio was glad of the company, but the two newbie Guard members cantering beside her only reminded her how tired she felt. The bottle of drink she'd had when she landed was wearing off, and while she had a second one, she'd promised herself not to drink it until she had to make her report to the princess.
The token, when she'd shown it to the Royal Guard on duty, had seen her escorted between two huge, white stallions. She didn't have the heart to really look at them, but she knew each of the big guys could take her down a dozen ways from Sunday in her condition—but Flagessio had a pass.
Stairs were almost her downfall—in a horribly literal sense. Flagessio stumbled on the top step of the entrance to Canterlot Castle only for one of the big unicorns at her side to catch her with his magic. "Th-Thanks."
"An honor, ma'am," was all the big stallion said.
Flagessio was glad she didn't have to open the doors herself. There were Royal Guard at every step to open and close things—she barely noticed when she was actually in the throne room. Spotting the red carpet, however, made her look up. "Princess Celestia."
Princess Celestia knew of several situations that would have an exhausted Guardpony rushed to see her, and not a single one would be happy news. When Flagessio collapsed, however, she rushed down the stairs from her throne to attend her personally.
The touch of another bottle to her lips stirred Flagessio from the exhaustion she felt. Her throat worked and more of the energizing fluid surged through her body. She barely had a moment to see the golden aura around the bottle before it was empty. "A note from the north."
Her blood running cold, Celestia removed the note from the satchel on Flagessio's side. Unrolling the scroll, she read the precise description of what Sergeant Keen Eyes had seen from the guard post.
"Wake Princess Luna. Summon Shining Armor and Princess Cadance, and send a letter to Twilight Sparkle that I need to see her as soon as possible."
The decisiveness and seriousness in Princess Celestia's voice comforted Flagessio. She managed to smile as she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
With her own magic Celestia lifted Flagessio up. There would be at least ten minutes before Luna was ready, or so Celestia estimated, and she doubted Shining and Cadance would be found any quicker. "Let me get you somewhere comfortable."
"Your Highness?" Shining Armor was practically tossed into the throne room just ahead of the doors slamming behind him. He'd never seen such tense times in the castle—the changeling invasion had been too swift for meetings.
"That makes all of us, sister." Sparing a grim smile and a nod for Shining, Luna looked back at the map her sister was projecting. Luna well knew the situation—it predated her banishment—but that didn't mean she liked it.
Shining's heavy hooves echoed around the huge hall that contained just five ponies. "What's going on?"
Princess Celestia found distaste in the words she had to say. Memories of what she considered a failure on her own part came easily. "The Crystal Empire is back. King Sombra is back."
Flagessio was tired, weak, and in company so far above her station she felt like all she could see were pasterns. Three princesses and a prince (now) were present. She gulped for the seventeenth time and returned to her description. "It looked like a shimmering dome with a single spike of light at the middle. Keen's—Sergeant Keen Eyes—description would be more accurate than anything I could give."
"That may be so." Princess Luna shared her sister's empathy for the Guardpony. "But you're here, and your eyes saw it, and you may have insight Sergeant Keen wasn't able to include."
"A thousand or so years ago, King Sombra began systematically enslaving the Crystal Empire." Princess Celestia gestured to the map with a glow of her magic. "We—Princess Luna and I—left as soon as we could to take care of the threat. What we found was a city-state in rebellion."
Princess Luna reached a wing out to her sister, an uncharacteristic gesture of comfort from her. "Sombra escaped, but he took the city with him. Every pony in and around the city was dragged along. We had to fight just to stay grounded in Equestria."
"With a thousand years of time to prepare we cannot take any chances that Sombra will not have an army ready to invade Equestria, but at the same time we can't rule out that something else has happened. Barrier spells like what the report describes were never Sombra's style, so we have to make a plan for every eventuality—even one that includes Sombra not being in control." Celestia took two long, slow breaths before continuing. "That is why we need an alicorn to go."
"Me." Cadance had no hesitation. "Shining and I will go."
"Absolutely," Shining Armor said. "And if this Sombra is still king, then we'll come running back."
Relief flooded Princess Celestia. "Exactly what I had planned. You two stand the best chance against him if he chooses to confront you. Sombra's magic is dark. He is a master of division and domination. Do not let him suppress the bond between you.
"While you are scouting, Princess Luna and I will be preparing Equestria for war."
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Things always seem to get more exciting with the mains getting involved. /giggles like a school girl with her first crush in anticipation
Could you spare a cup of soul?
In any case, looks like Sombra vs. Hogwarts is going to be more drawn out than I expected. I can only imagine what the Equestrian contingent will think of the situation once they finally arrive.
Also, I guess it'll take a different aspect of the Room of Requirement to get Harry some new glasses. That or I missed him getting them, but I like the idea of a perfectly mundane optician's office in Hogwarts.
Yer tense is slipping.
That was a fun chapter, it looks like Hermione drew "crystal pony" out of the hat.
To Dumbledore, have you felt anything different about the local magic? Harry had trouble keeping it under control while casting simple growth and unlocking charms.
9442132 Ouch. Fixed. Really odd that I managed to go arse-up for just one paragraph like that.
9442130 I'm sure there are plenty of glasses in that particular room, but whether they're the right kind is another matter. Also, Harry was so excited about wands and the amazingness of the room that he forgot to ask.
9442076
That makes sense, but still, it's a bit annoying to read it, why don't you just do one of the effects on the words.
Examples.
Speaking - Wingardium Leviosa
Casting - Wingardium Leviosa Wingardium Leviosa Wingardium Leviosa
9442185
I know your using some of these for the parseltongue, but you can change the colour of your letters as well.
You see what I mean? You could change the colour of the text.
9442076
9441569
So basically, they'd be doing different magic entirely without the wands.
The question is whether unicorn transformations will incorporate wands, create a new focus, or what.
We need more data points. Sombra, get off your ass and start causing more trouble.
9442188 This is why I don't use color—ever.
cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/278734313019801600/542463636266811392/unknown.png
You can never guarantee that it won't look terrible for someone.
I will point out that it makes the fact that a spell is being cast very obvious, as indeed such vocalizations are meant to be.
9442227 Your command is his wish.
So Hermione's a crystal pony, huh? Speaking of, moving around has got to be a challenge with mismatched parts like that. How does Discord manage it?
Harry,what's your opinion on Addera? Or alternatively are you going to keep your current body instead of asking McGonagall to change you again?
You know, with how I accidentally read this, I can see why SovietWomble kept pronouncing it Her-mi-one.
Ron
I like it when there is Celestia who doesn't have a habit of turning an incoming tragedy into a test.
9442413 She can't have run Equestria for 1000 or so years and been a complete idiot. Things will play out on her end much as it did in the show, mind you, but she's not taking Sombra's return lightly.
Oh, and fixed that one, thanks for the catch.
If they could find Ron a new wand like this now, why didn't they do it near the beginning of the year? Did they not notice his wand was trash?
9442459
In the show, she sent her immature student and her group of civilian friends to handle him - without their trusted Elements. I don't know whether this is intentional or just senile.
9442503 You'll note Ron spent nearly every moment hiding that his wand was broken.
9442521 She sent Cadance and Shining first, however.
House elves: breezies, or whatever the moochick was? Find out, next chapter!
Oh they better hope the house elves stayed as they are, else not only will Hogwarts stop working as well as they'll have plenty trouble with equestria and pony slavery, even if they want to be slaves.
So Addera, what are you going to do once your debt has been paid? Will you keep groming Harry to be your husbando or will you leave him behind?
How would she know? Harry never told that to anyone before he told his son in the epilogue.
The same can be said of Hermionne's sorting, in their fifth year, she get asked why she did not end up in Ravenclaw, she answer that the sorting did consider it.
Welp, let's see what a Royal Guard that has actually had time to prepare for once can do.
9442521
While I wouldn't call Twilight immature, it is odd to send just the Mane 6 and Spike without even a Royal Guard escort.
Seeing as I have bias, I like to think of meta excuses like "it's the writer's fault!"
Not the most unsentimental of approaches, but Celestia has always been weird for a monarch from our world's pragmatic point of view.
...I didn't even think about what could happen to the house elves until you had your little Q&A. I am VERY curious as to how that'll play out.
Also, did any of Hagrid's animal friends come with the castle? Cause if so, then the Equestrian threstral's are going to be a bit horrified/confused if they see the Hogwart's version. Though if Hagrid kept all those magical creatures in the Forbidden Forrest than this probably won't be a concern.
Lastly, if McGonnagal's use of magic was giving her a cat's tale. I'm guessing she was gonna turn into one of those bipedal cats from the MLP movie? If so, what could some of the other Professors and students turn into? Maybe Snape could turn into a changeling due to his dark nature and his proclivity as a spy?
9442727
Alright, that takes the cake.
her
9442768 Yeah. Someone else pointed out that the speaking-out-loud that happened in the movies didn't actually happen. I'll have to rewrite that.
9442783 Royal Guard are just that, Royal Guard. The E.U.P. Guard are who will fight a war.
9443081 All fixed, thanks!
so.... is Lockheart still alive?
I think Snape would be a zebra or bat pony I mean I know people dot him as a changeling but he loved harry mother so very much and it would be a little too cruel yes he snape but still a person people can change! eventually.
Maybe I'm just oblivious but I had a really hard time finding the references to the changes occurring in the recent chapters. I had to hunt for several minutes to find in the text what Bugsydor was talking about.
On one hand, I actually like those themes, so the fact that there's relatively little narrative (compared to other stories with the same theme) devoted to it is a bit disappointing personally but it does make the story unique. But the story is just beginning so I expect I'll get my fix soon.
9443097
Speaking of things you should probably rewrite: in Harry Potter, wand use is exclusive to humans; no other creatures are allowed to have one. Those goblins war Binn always drone about? They were fought over that right.
9443355 I am well aware of that. Which is why this is a big thing for Minerva to have done. Her initial plan was to use "a witch transformed into a monster" as Addera's cover, but now she has been nearly two whole days without any contact with the world outside Hogwarts, and the very magic of the world seems against her. By giving Addera a wand, she has doubled the amount of potential magic users she has at her disposal (magic users who aren't susceptible to being turned into a little horse).
This was written very deliberately to tweak this particular controversy. If anyone finds out Addera wasn't a witch before this, there will be quite a lot of trouble. But you know wizards and their secrets.
9443097
Aren't they one and the same?
If memory serves right, Twilight said (or implied) so in "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3".
There's also the option of going with non-canonical forces. The REF, or the Royal Expeditionary Force, has a nice ring to it.
9443415 The only thing that episode states is they were formed around 100 years after Luna was banished, and the Wonderbolts started as a part of the E.U.P.
I work, generally, with the Royal Guard being a division of the E.U.P. Guard that is specifically about protecting/serving the royals and Canterlot itself. The rest of the E.U.P. Guard has such sections as the Monster Hunters, Engineers, Wonderbolts (though they are managed by the Guard, they accept members from outside it), and militia elements.
9443423
Okay. We all have our headcanons.
Personally, I don't really have a firm structure in my head for the Guards: it's easier that way, what with all the portrayals in various fics.
9443423
In a lot of countries with royal guards, the royal guard was a special and usually elite unit tasked with guarding the ruler, plus maybe the palace/capital. So that headcanon can make sense.
I am so jealous of all the scritchies Harry is getting.
...and here's another bit that I just have to praise. It's unlike anything I've read in any other Harry Potter fanfiction and, given how much HP fanfiction I've read over the last decade, that alone would be praiseworthy, but it's also satisfying in its own right.
EDIT: I accidentally posted the above before I finished reading, so here's the rest. (I have a userstyle which makes the comment box hover as a collapsible at the bottom of the browser so I can type comments as I read. The downside is, if I'm not thinking, it's too easy to jump the gun on clicking "Post Comment".)
That said, I do think you're trying a little too hard to be phonetic in replicating people's accents. Professional authors tend to advise against that when giving workshops or writing books on writing because it can be distracting and make it harder for the reader to get/stay immersed. (Ideally, you want the reader to get so into the story that they don't really perceive the words consciously... just the mental imagery and other concepts they convey.)
Personally, I do find it needlessly distracting. (Rowling didn't spell it differently and I can hear Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley without the help from intentionally modified spellings, so it draws unnecessary attention back to the words, rather than the stream of concepts they communicate.)
Also, I suspect readers outside North America (I'm Canadian, so I can't speak authoritatively on this) would find it amusingly pretentious of you (in a "That's nice, dear. You're American, aren't you?" kind of way) to imply that the North American/Scottish preference for rhoticity is so authoritatively correct that the dominant high-class accents of the British isles and all non-North American colonies deserve an alternative spelling that implies their accent is less "correct".
(I'm actually reminded of a line from an old sitcom named Spin City. Michael J. Fox tries to correct a social rival on the pronunciation of "leisure" and the guy responds "Hate to break it to ya, but... we invented the bloody language, mate.")
*grin* ...just *grin*. :)
In case you didn't do it intentionally, "fewer" is used instead of "less" for countable nouns. ("One friend. Two friends. More friends. Fewer friends." It's a pet peeve of mine.)
First, unless I'm forgetting some examples from the later books, that does not sound like how Hermione would react in this situation. (I'd review how she interacts with Luna Lovegood.) Second, I don't see Hermione being prone to thinking in puns at this point, so it'd be "fairy tales".
9468020 Yeah, the Hermione bit was unintentional, the previous bit was very deliberate. As for putting a little emphasis on pronunciation, you picked me wrong—I'm neither US nor from the British Isles, nor even from the northern parts at all.
G'day mate!
So yes, I am very aware of dialect and pronunciation, and will continue to show the Weasley boys as having a little bit of a Scottish drawl.
We haven't actually seen (at least in the movies) Hermione's interactions with younger children (beyond the grade immediately under her). The foals are foals—tiny little horses—and being an only child and a bit of a lonely girl in primary school I have pitched her as having a bit of trouble relating to youngsters—she has a habit of treating them like her own age, and then getting confused when they don't act exactly how she pictures they should.
Harry is a little more forgiving, having been in a primary school and being the target of ridicule (and despite the books' calling him completely alone in it), I could have well seen him trying to stop the smaller kids from meeting a similar fate at his cousin's mercy.
Ron has had a little sister while growing up, and has been the little kid of the house as well. He naturally will do best with younger children, and probably won't want to admit to such, but he thinks they're pretty awesome.
All of this is a bit subtly hidden, of course, since the entire story filters through Harry's eyes, and lacking his normal distance glasses prescription is only the first problem when it comes to the mind of a 12 yr old who thinks he's saved the world twice already, and knows everything (which to be fair, everyone did at that age—know everything, not save the world).
Falser words have rarely been spoken.
Hmmm. I wonder who this "Larry" is. Maybe he's a typo.
9699909 Not a typo!
To be Happy as Larry is a British/Australian/New Zealand phrase meaning "to be very happy/content".
the sarcasm is so thick you could cut it with a knife!