55 - Strength
Chapter Fifty-Five
Strength
Sunset still wanted to go over her modifications to the spells for the portable hearth with Twilight and the Princess, but, in the evening, it had simply been too late and she had been too tired. She would find the time tonight.
Breakfast was mostly business as usual, though the Gryffindor Firsties were all throwing ideas around, suggesting that other muggle technology could improve magic, or be improved by it. Half way through their meal, as usual, the morning mail arrived.
Sunset was quite surprised to see an owl land before her.
Seeing the note tied to one leg, with a small metal band bearing Hogwarts' coat of arms tied to the other, only confused her further. Seeing no point in guessing games, she magically untied the note from the owls leg and sent it back on its way with a gentle stroke along its back. Then, she unrolled the note and began to read.
Sunset Shimmer,
I have thought about your offer. It took me
a while to decide. But I have decided to
accept. If your offer still stands, I would
like to learn how to better use my strength
Draco and Gregory might not agree, but
I think they will come around in time.
For now though, I think it would be best
if they didn't know about this. So, if you
could find a subtle way of answering, that
would be great.
Thanks either way,
Vincent Crabbe
From the way it was written, it was clear that he had copied the message from somewhere else. He had probably spent quite a while formulating it. Looking across the hall, she saw him sneaking peeks at her every so often. She rubbed her chin, thinking about how to answer, then smiled as an idea hit her.
Subtly drawing her wand, she covertly cast a spell. Then she whispered, "sit tight, I'll be in touch," knowing that the magic would carry her voice across the hall to his ears. And to his ears alone.
When Hermione gave her a confused look, she simply stowed her wand and held out her hand. Hermione quickly took it in her own hand, lit up just the same. A few seconds later, she let go, having read the message and understanding Sunset's response.
Half an hour later, Sunset sat down in the common room and took out two pieces of parchment, identical in every way. She placed both of them on the table before her, then laid out the tip of her wand on the corner of one.
Watching her, Harry noticed that a network of lines was spreading out from where the wand touched the page. Using his new-found ability to zoom, he took a closer look at the page and recognized it as an enchantment array very similar to the ones she had used to link his journal with hers on the train to Little Whinging, though combining elements from all four of them with others he didn't recognize.
After about a minute, much faster than it had been to even create one of the arrays for the old enchantment by hand, Sunset took her wand off the page and placed it in the same spot on the second piece of parchment, creating the same array there.
Once that was done as well, she placed her hands on both arrays and energized them, feeling them link together. Once she was certain they were linked, she added a few smaller, simpler enchantments, making sure to link them into the first.
Finally, she rolled both of them up and placed them in her pocket, each tied together with a small ribbon.
A flash of flame announced Sunset's and Philomena's arrival in the Royal Palace of Canterlot. When Philomena settled on her back, Sunset made her way along the hallways towards her destination. It was easy for her to locate the familiar and powerful signature of Princess Celestia. The smaller signature beside it, also familiar, confirmed that she had arrived just in time.
"What's going on, Princess? Didn't you say we'd have a special project today?"
"We do. You'll just have to wait a moment. I'm sure she'll be here any minute now."
Sunset cast a quick spell to muffle her hooffalls as she continued to listen in.
"She? Who? Do I know her?"
"You do."
"Oh, who is it?"
"You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"
"Oh, I don't think she will."
Dropping her spell, Sunset calmly approached the two as they spun around to face her. The effect was immediate.
"Sunset!"
The filly in question jumped back a little as Twilight suddenly flashed into existence so close before her their muzzles were nearly touching. She recovered quickly though and the both of them quickly hugged, happy to see each other again after not having met for two whole months.
"It's good to see you again, My Little Sun. It's been too long since I've seen you as a pony."
Sunset let go of Twilight and moved to enclose the princess in a hug next. "It has, hasn't it?"
"Indeed. Now, I think you mentioned a special project?"
With a chuckle, Sunset let go, flowing seamlessly into her human form and reaching into her bag to pull out the spell schemata for the hearth and its control device. "I've come up with a bit of a device and some of my friends suggested some changes to the enchantments. I wanted someone else with magical experience checking them over."
Both she and the princess were distracted by Twilight looking at the plans with wide eyes. She pointed at some of the writing. "What's that say?"
Sunset reverted to pony form and scratched the back of her head with a hoof. "Oh yeah, we never did teach you English, did we?"
"That won't be a problem." Both of them turned to the princess who had lit her horn and was now touching it to Twilight's forehead. "There you go."
Sunset watched as Twilight turned back to the plans, now studying them in more detail, showing no sign of the slight headaches that were always a side effect when she cast that particular spell. It was mildly frustrating that she couldn't tell if the Princess had found some way around that, or if Twilight was simply ignoring them.
"Oh, you used their technology to control the enchantments. That's clever."
With a chuckle, Sunset and Celestia joined Twilight in going over the plans.
Stroking a finger over Philomena's feathers to disguise her once more, Sunset made her way down the stairs to her dorm. It had been a few hours since she had left for Equestria and it was, technically, past curfew. Still, strictly speaking, she wasn't outside of Gryffindor tower, so that wasn't much of an issue, as even first years had no official 'lights out' time.
As such, she calmly made her way over to her bed and sat down on it. Before she went to sleep, there was one more thing she needed to do. She absently pulled her fountain pen and a piece of parchment out of her pocket and began to telekinetically write out a small message. In the meantime, she pulled out one of the rolled up pages she had enchanted earlier.
By the time she had drawn her wand, the short missive was done. She put down the pen and touched her wand onto the paper, imbuing it with a spell. Finally, she unfurled the other page, placed the two of them together and rolled them back up, before retying the ribbon.
Upon a quick mental prompt, Philomena touched a feather to the rolled up papers and sent them away.
Not expecting a reaction until the morning, Sunset went to bed. It was the weekend and she could afford to sleep longer. It wasn't likely, but she could try.
Vincent Crabbe awoke from a troubled sleep. At some point, not too long after he had gone to bed, something had disturbed his slumber. Afterward, he simply couldn't find proper sleep anymore. As such, he woke up exceptionally early for a Sunday.
The moment he sat up in his bed, he noticed the scroll lying beside him. It must have arrived and hit him while he slept. That would at least account for what had interrupted his slumber. Curious, he unrolled the parchment, finding a second page rolled up within. Unfurling it, he began to read.
Vincent,
I would gladly teach you. To be honest,
it would be a great excuse to get back to
training myself. To help secretly keep in
touch, I've enchanted the other piece of
parchment to mimic a matching one I am
keeping. Anything either of us writes, will
be mirrored on the other's sheet and vanish
after a few minutes or when the paper is
tapped with a wand.
This way we can keep contact without your
housemates' knowledge. Once you're done
reading this, tap it with your wand three times.
Just make sure to do so on a fireproof surface.
Sunset
Sparing a curious look at the second piece of parchment, he placed the message on a tray on his bedside table, probably left there by a house elf. Drawing his wand, he tapped it three times. The message promptly burst into flames, burning up within a few seconds and not even leaving ash behind.
He couldn't quite hide his smirk. All this secrecy was actually kind of exciting. Pulling out a quill, he reached for the second piece of parchment and began to write.
Sunset?
For a few moments, nothing happened, then words began to form, written by another's hand.
Ah, good morning Vincent. I see you found my little gift. Good. Now I can explain the rest.
Rest?
Yes. Tap this piece of parchment with your wand and channel a bit of magic into it. Hold that for five seconds.
Mildly confused, he held his wand onto the page and did as told. After the specified time, the page begins to glow slightly and he could feel something at the back of his mind.
Woah. What was that?
That was the spells I put on this thing linking to you. Now you'll always see the page glow slightly. That way you can't confuse it with another one. And you'll get a mental alarm when I write you.
Cool. We should probably figure out when we can train, but I really don't want to do that while the others are in the dorm with me. I'll write again.
Sure thing. I'll clear the messages now.
He watched as the messages they had exchanged vanished, then placed the once more spotless page in his school utensils.
The early afternoon sun shone over the grounds as he approached the lake. It was a bit strange walking across the school grounds alone, he was used to following Draco around, after all. Still, he thought to himself, it's quite relaxing, isn't it?
Before long, he reached the small group of trees by the lake that was to be the meeting point. He looked around, trying to find red and blonde hair between the trees. Then he felt it.
Magic.
The world around him shifted. It warped and changed and before two seconds had passed, he stood in a circular room. A large, equally circular mat in the center of the room covered most of the floor. It didn't take long before he noticed that something was decidedly off about the place.
The proportions were all wrong. The windows were of the same style he was used to seeing all throughout Hogwarts, but, while they were of the usual height, they were far too wide. The stones in the walls also seemed far too wide, but no higher than anywhere else in Hogwarts.
"Don't worry about the room. I've expanded it. It would be too small otherwise."
He spun around to face Sunset just as she faded into existence. "How-"
"I teleported us up here when you arrived. I was waiting under an invisibility spell, this hair isn't exactly hard to spot."
"Where are we?"
"A chamber in one of the unused towers. You wouldn't believe how many of those this place has. Don't worry, I've hidden the entrance. A professor might stumble over it on accident, but no student who doesn't know what they're looking for would find it. Your housemates won't have a clue."
"How do you know so much magic?"
She shook her head. "Long story. Another time, maybe. For now, I'd say we get some training in. What I used in the train was something called Aikido. It's a martial art developed by muggles in Asia a few hundred years ago."
"I don't need anything made by muggles."
She raised a brow. "And yet you took a train to come to the castle where you'll be taught magic. You write on parchment with quills and I could name dozens of other examples. You may not really need any of them, but they're convenient to use anyway. I don't know about you, but I don't think a misguided ideology born of some long dead wizards' paranoia and superiority complexes is a good reason not to make use of something that makes life more convenient."
"But ... I ..."
She sat down on a cushion at the edge of the room. "Think about it. Why did you just say that? What makes you believe that? Do you have any actual reason? Or do you just believe that because it's all you've ever been told?"
He flopped down on a cushion next to hers, thinking back. It was what he'd always been told. That he was pure. That that made him better than half bloods or mudbloods. That they were beneath him. But had he actually seen any of that? It had to be true. Right?
He thought about it, thought harder than he had in his entire time at the school. Malfoy didn't keep him around to think. He kept him around to do as he was told. That wasn't normal either, was it? The more he thought about it, the more he found reality didn't match his image of it. "Why?" he finally whispered after a good ten minutes of silence in which she simply sat there, watching him with a sad smile. "Why do I believe these things?"
"Because they are all you were ever told."
"Why did they tell me that?"
"Because they believe it too."
"But why?"
She sighed. "Because they were indoctrinated into believing it, just as you were. But it isn't actually true. Is it?"
Once more, he fell silent. Thinking. He wanted to believe that it was true. But it wasn't, was it? If it was, there would be no such thing as squibs. If it was, his aunt would be able to use magic. And didn't the history his father taught him also mention a number of dangerous halfbloods and muggleborns? How could that happen if purebloods were superior? The more he thought about the entire ideology he had been brought up with, the less sense it made to him.
"No. It isn't. It's all lies."
She nodded softly. "Lies that have been fed to innocent children for generations." Then she smiled. "But once you recognize them for what they are, they don't work so well anymore. Do they?"
"No. They don't."
"I'd understand if you want some time to think about it. We can train another-"
"No." He looked at her, conviction burning in his eyes. "No. I came here to train. And I will. I can worry about that later."
For a moment, she looked at him carefully, with narrowed eyes. Then she broke into a wide grin.
"Alright. Let's train."
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Good on you Vincent!
Become a true Slytherin and aspire to be more than you are now!
Why does it always have to be that pretentious garbage known as Aikido? Forst of all, it isn‘t „a few hundert“ years old, but less than a century. Secondly, it has been demonstrated numerous times that it absolutely useless and would get people killed in a real fight. An last but not least, a huge part of the training consists of being taught how to be an elitist snob and that all other martial arts are uncultured barbarism.
Source: took a couple of courses before realizing that it was full of shit.
great update, and it's nice to see one of Draco's goons (now Ex-Goon I hope) beginning to think for themself
Sadly, undoing generations of indoctrination is never as quick or easy as that, as the Potter sequel play makes clear.
9657785 Also because that's how they come in the original work- and, indeed, in the vast majority of juvenile fiction. In order to have a child hero, the lazy way out is to make all responsible authority figures at least selectively stupid. The Potter books fall down heavily on that point, again and again.
9658514
People like to say that but I don't think it was ever a case of the adults being idiots but them just not having access to the same information the kids have and the kids choosing not to share what they know most of the time.
I think its good he wants to train having different skills would help protect his friends. or any actual friends that genuinely care about him.....
now that I think about it would martial arts and spellcasting go well together ? what would be the pros and cons?
9658543
I suppose combining them might be tricky, but if you can pull it off, no wizard would expect it ... probably a bit of a high-risk, high-reward kind of situation ...
9658543
It would be useful in only certain circumstances to be sure. Most of the time martial arts will be completely useless against someone with a wand unless you can get close enough to use such skills.
The excuse in this story is that being physically stronger makes your magic stronger, which is complete nonsense since in most fiction its the old wise wizards who are strongest at magic. Physical strength means very little to magic in the face of overwhelming knowledge.
9658552
Not physical strengh. Physical fitness. And Dumbledore (for example) is repeatedly shown to be remarkably fit and spry for his age.
And yes, that is only in regards to raw power and doesn't take skill into account.
The ascension (assimilation) of Vincent through application of compassion and friendship?
9658562
Well ... I wouldn't call going 'Hold on, that doesn't make any sense' an ascention, would you?
suggesting hat other muggle technology could improve magic,
This should be that.
I can't believe you got hat wrong.
9658552
It can be useful if via training your whole body becomes your focus, imagine a roundhouse discharging a counfundus .. instant AOE breather room, heck you could use magic instead of chi / chakra / ki as projectiles
9658600
Maybe if magic wasn't mostly used at range. As is physical attacks, even magically enhanced, will be useless 9 times out of 10.
Am I the only one smeling a hint of SunCrabbe in here?
9658615
Unless, of course, you have a means of closing the distance. Like a short range teleport, for example. (which as established in chapter 3 is really just moving very fast.)
9658643
True but as cool as such a move is it's also needlessly reckless. Unless you can guarantee that you can take them all out before they can counterattack all you're accomplishing is making yourself an easy target.
9658643
exactly, thank you
9658615
Didn't you read my answer? if so
...
also has has been sais, Magic has A LOT of nifty ways to close the Distance, and if not, the half second it takes anyone the act of searching for the want, taking it out, targeting the oponent and casting the spell gets reduced if you just punch forwards, which lets the expeliarmus spell go forth and hit the target...
9658673
My point was in a magic fight nobody fights in close range because that's stupid. If you do find yourself in close range your first goal should be to get some distance and if that's not possible then you're probably more focused on countering the spells being flung at you. I'm not saying melee might not ever come up but it would be more of a last ditch effort to defend yourself kind of deal.
9658508
I'm sorry, what play? Nothing exists after book 7. The world just ends, and anything that contradicts that doesn't exist ;p
9658490
'Taekwando' is more fun, also I tended to get people blodied and bruised on accident even with padding over sensitive areas, not as brutal as krav maga.
9658572
Merely being a
facetious dumb-ass with a
weakness for haiku.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Training for to fight
Must avoid an evil plight
Help the hopeful child
9658572
Sure I would. He's not reached any higher realm of being, but he's certainly moving up from his starting point.
9658562
A now-cancelled story posited The Way of the Pony: to destroy your enemy by befriending them. Poof! No more enemy!
9658572 ascension n. The act or process of ascending; ascent
I'd say yes. Vencent has taken the first step up the stairs of learning: becoming aware of your belief and wondering why you believe it. "He doesn't know that He doesn't know." or Unconscious Incompetence or in this case Unconscious Ignorance. He did not know why he believed what he believed, he just believed. Now he is aware of his belief and has been shown it isn't logical. He will have to adjust his mental model and how this new information fits into it. It is a very good first step. Knowledge is power to change the world or even yourself. By accepting Sunset as a Sensei, or teacher, in Aikido and learning successfully from her it will change his outlook and may even change who he sees as his friends. Of course it is your story and you control the players. It will be interesting to see how it plays out. I am enjoying this.
9659056
Personally, I find that that is a rather stilted way of interpreting words. I find 'disillusionment' would be a more appropriate term, but whatever floats yer boat, I guess.
9659056
9659079
you're doing a mountain in an anthill... one of Draco's pets just realized blood purity is not only a lie but a show of how unslitheryn the so called Pure Bloods' purity is...
9659079
Let's face facts, some times disillusionment can case someone to ascend.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you going to do something about the misspelling I found?
suggesting hat other muggle technology could improve magic,
Hat should be that unless you are trying to make a pun.
Are you?
9658490
I'd say because she's an eleven years old girl that learnt it because the adult couple she got to live with agreed to pay for. And a pony who doesn't like the idea of hurting people. That only used it to deal with a couple eleven years old boys.
As far as we know it's way more useful to them as a discipline and exercise routine than an actual combat martial art.
But yeah it's overused as fuck. Maybe it was popular in the UK in the early nighties/late eighties though.
9658543
9658552
Unless, and this is a big unless, someone went and decided themselves to invent an entirely new Martial Art specifically around the concept of incorporating spell-craft into its movements. Think about it, Students at Hogwarts are already taught a simplified version of the first step in memorizing wand movements to cast spells by rote and repetition. In itself, that's actually a form of Kata, albeit one where you only utilize your arm and wrist. The next step would be to broaden out the movement into a full body exercise, figure out which spells work best with what movement and so fourth, and eventually counters, blocks and dodges that can be transitioned in to without breaking the flow. Of course, such a style would work "Best" if the practitioner is capable of full form Wandless Casting and can do so reliably at will, but that would be more a "Master Level" thing, and learners and casual practitioners should still be taught methods that can easily incorporate wand movements. I imagine such a style to be one with lots of explosive movements separated by long sweeping gestures, like some bastard child approximate comparison of Mantis and Crane style Kung Fu.
Pure speculation, of course, but still an interesting thought experiment.
9659320
Maybe something with magically empowered jumps and spells to pull and push the opponent, allowing you to control range ...
Gah, stop giving me ideas!
9659445
Give you more ideas you say? Sure!
nice work.
9659452
HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!! You troll you! HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!!!!!!!
9659517
All in good fun.
In a (semi) more serious vein for those following this, Yes, I imagine such a style's defensive forms would focus on disengagement and keeping your opponent at range while giving yourself flexibility for dodging attacks where possible and shielding/summoning barriers when not, to give yourself the opportunity and distance necessary to effectively cast at range, while offensively it would focus on the caster's ability to chain the ending movement of one spell into the starting movement of the next, with possible variations of the style focusing on engaging either singular or multiple opponents, and allowances for the individual practitioner's personal library of spells they know and are able to cast more or less at will. There would be allowances for CQC in case you're engaged by someone who uses an alternate style that does focus on such or a creature that charges at you, but as others have pointed out, when you have Magic at your disposal and your primary method of utilizing it is through a Wand or something similarly small, CQC is less than optimal unless you're some sort of sword wielding "Battle Mage" or "Mystic-Guru-Monk".
In addition, for the doubters who are no doubt thinking "Well, Wizards have their dueling, and it seems to work well enough", the difference I see between what I'm suggesting here and what seems to be the basic typical HP wizard dueling style of [Cast]-[Deflect/Shield]-[Counter Cast] as seen in the books and movies as the difference between a Street Fighter and a trained Martial Artist going at eachother. Yes, if the Street Fighter is Just. That. Good. they stand a chance, but odds are still in the Martial Artist's favor, especially if the Martial Artist is of Black Belt or higher ranking in their discipline.
This is still all academic, of course, and one of the reasons I continue to bring it up is that this discussion subtlelly reminded me that when you think about it, it's only really in the Western World where Mysticism, Magic and Martial Combat aren't Tightly historically linked together. In the West, most monasteries and religious centers were either protected by the local lords in their efforts to curry favor with the Catholic Church, or if not were protected by men Hired by the Church, while in the East and Especially the Far East, a lot of Monasteries and holy sites were often left to fend for themselves, or worse, targeted by the various Warlords and would-be emperors during their more intense periods of unrest.
9658970
Ah a fellow reader of Bucking nonsense
9659667
I see you are a man of culture as well.
9658552
Actually, martial arts isn’t all about close range combat. It’s also about not getting hit, minimising damage. Consider: A wizard walking at their opponent firing spells while strafing to avoid spells, vs a wizard firing spells at said strafing wizard while using martial arts to perfectly dodge spells. Who’s going to get hit first and who’s going to lose first? Not the one using martial arts, that’s for sure.
It’s the difference between being able to recover quickly from dodging, and having to get up after falling. You’re more vulnerable in the latter.
9658663
Bearing in mind the fact no wizard in HP would expect it because even the smart ones are just spell slingers? It’ll be a lot more effective than you realise.
Also consider the fact that you can begin an attack, teleport in range, and finish the attack before they can react. Can’t stop a punch if the fist already hit you, basically.
9658681
Close range actually nullifies spells in HP, because a big part of the spell is the gesture. You can’t easily make a gesture if someone is in front of you, attacking you, so your wand becomes useless.
9659940
Wizards generally don't dodge spells, they shield against them and counter them. If you need to dodge the spells then you are in a fight where martial arts would definitely be useless.
Spell casting isn't that quick, there will always be a delay between the end of one spell and the start of another. The element of surprise can only carry you so far.
Not every spell requires some grand gesture to use. Granted such a strategy might work 1 on 1 assuming your opponent doesn't just disapparate away.
9659445
I’d look at Dragon Age. Specifically Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition. The mages in those games are so well done in their movements,
Yes, they use staves, but they’re basically just giant wands. As they cast spells they spin that staff, slam it to the ground, and make many movements that would clearly be very effective if they were using it as a melee weapon rather than a magic focus.
9659946
You’re going under the assumption of a duel. Not dodging and only blocking is stupid, as it expends energy. There’s also the fact that certain spells a la the killing curse can’t be blocked. The entire idea of dodging is to get out of the way so that your block isn’t broken. You prefer to get out of the way rather than block, because you expend less energy. You gotta be tactical as to when to dodge and when to block. That’s not even mentioning parries...
That’s an assumption right there. You assume there’s a delay. But from what I’ve seen the only delay is the fact that you have to gesture and vocalise. I’m sure if they didn’t have to gesture or vocalise they could rapid fire the spells no problem. As for how this is relevant, I have no idea.
I meant that if you swing your arm, teleport, then that arm connects because it was still swinging, then it can’t be blocked. Again, you gotta be smart about it.
I beg to differ. Every HP spell requires a gesture and vocalisation. Those times you think they’re not gesturing or vocalising? They are, they’re just doing it in a minimal way, turning the gesture into a simple twitch or flick, and the vocalisation into a grunt or other such sound. And regardless, those that can cast that way are supposedly uncommon, and the wand still has to be pointed at the target. Again, if someone’s in front of you, you have no room.
As for fighting multiple people at once? Yes, it’ll become exponentially more difficult, but for the third time, you gotta be smart about it.
9659976
You seem to be imagining someone getting close enough that they are practically kissing but even martial arts require a bit of room to use them effectively which is more than enough room to cast a quick spell.
Regardless it doesn't matter, neither universe's take on magic would actually support such a magic focused martial art since both require some kind of foci (horn or wand) to cast spells effectively.
Not to say martial arts couldn't be useful but you'd still be better off practicing how to cast spells as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Amazing! A hench
manboy that thinks for himself!Before you know it, random background characters will start taking their own initiative, and making decisions. Or Sirius Black will take up a hobby, like gardening, model making, or home decorating! The sky's the limit! (And here's a secret… The sky doesn't stop with the atmosphere.)
9661384
Yes, please do. That was terrible.
I suppose I can forgive Shimmer for immediately calling Aikido a muggle thing.
In essence, it is a pseudo-religious exercise and philosophy that was originally intended as a form of Shinto meditation. To practice it properly it must be a part of everything you do from the moment you get up to the moment you go to bead. And I imagine it can come across as being pretentious by people who don't get it. From the web site of the Tsubaki Grand Shrine of America "The powerfully flowing spiral movements of Aiki technique are an active meditation, removing the obstructions that keep practitioners apart from the life-giving forces."
The way of the Kami is often transcribed as the way of the divine, or way of the gods. In this case, 'Kami' actually refers to 'that which is awe-inspiring'. To be fair, most western practitioners have secularized the practice of Aikido, and many practitioners aren't getting the full package.
From a fantasy/mythos point of view, I could see it as a preferred exercise of Japanese wizards.