Act Two
Magic Unveiled
Chapter Eight
Surprise Cuts Both Ways
Checking the second letter, she found it much the same, but addressed at
Ms. H. Granger
The first bedroom on the right
150 Ryde Park Road
Rednal
West Midlands
Turning them over, she saw that the letters were held closed by a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms she didn't recognize. A lion, a badger, an eagle and a snake, surrounding a placard with the letter H. A stylized medieval knight's helmet sat atop the shield, feathery ribbons falling down from its top to either side of the shield, framing it. Below it was a stylized scroll bearing the motto 'draco dormiens nunquam titillandus'
Turning around, Sunset saw Hermione coming down the stairs, Dan right behind her. She wordlessly handed the normal letters and package off to Dan, and followed them into the kitchen. There she gave the card to Emma and sat down next to Hermione. 《We got mail sis.》
With that she handed Hermione her letter and proceeded to open her own, breaking the seal with practiced ease. Two pieces of folded parchment fell out, followed by a smaller piece of thin cardboard. She picked up the first and began to read.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL FOR WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore
(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards.)
Dear Ms. Shimmer,
We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on 1. September. As you live with a non-magical family, I will visit you personally in a few days time to formally introduce you to the wizarding world, please do not mention this letter or its contents to anyone outside your household until then.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall
Deputy Headmistress
Barely looking up to see that Hermione's letter was essentially identical, Sunset took out the next piece of parchment. Recognizing it as the list the letter had mentioned, she began to read.
HOGWARTS SCHOOL FOR WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Uniform
First year students will require:
1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)
2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear
3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)
4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)
Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags
Set Books
All students should have a copy of each of the following:
The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk
A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot
Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling
A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch
One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllinda Spore
Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander
The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self Protection by Quentin Trimble
Other Equipment
1 wand
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)
1 set glass or crystal phials
1 telescope
1 set brass scales
Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad
PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS
A look at the small piece of cardboard revealed it to be a train ticket, Sunset skimmed it quickly.
The Hogwarts Express
King's Cross Station London
Departure: 1 September, 11:00 AM
Platform 9 3/4
Raising an eyebrow at the eccentricity the wizarding community kept displaying, Sunset looked over to where Hermione had just finished reading the contents of her own letter.
Hermione looked up, meeting Sunset's gaze. "I guess we know what Hogwarts is now."
Sunset nodded. "And who McGonagall is."
To say that Emma and Dan were surprised would be an understatement. Still, they decided to wait until Professor McGonnagall made her visit before judging the school and the wizarding community at large.
Four days later, on Monday, the time had come. Not long after they had finished dinner, the door bell rang.
The day had come. Ever since that week spent observing this household and the two young witches that lived there, Minerva had both dreaded and anticipated the day she would come here to give them the muggleborn introduction. One did not teach at a school for nearly three decades without developing a sixth sense for which students meant trouble, and despite the inconsistencies already on display, that sixth sense was rather clearly telling Minerva that she had only seen the tip of the iceberg.
When the door opened, it revealed a now familiar girl with wavy red and blonde hair and bright teal eyes. Minerva would rather they didn't know she'd been spying on them, so feigning ignorance was the only viable course of action. "Sunset Shimmer?"
Tilting her head slightly, the young witch nodded. "Yes, that's me. Now let's see here. Pointy hat, unusual robes, aura of authority. Professor McGonnagall I presume?"
"Yes. Indeed. May I?"
Allowing her in the girl called deeper into the house. "Emma, Dan, Hermione, Philomena! She's here!"
Minerva immediately turned back to her, raising an eyebrow. She knew that Emma and Dan Granger were young Hermione's parents. But none of her observations had indicated the presence of another living in the house. Turning to the girl behind her, she missed the phoenix silently gliding past her and into the living room.
Moments later the family had gathered in the comfortable room and Minerva followed Sunset to join them. The moment her eyes fell on the red and gold bird perched on the edge of the couch, she froze, staring at the bird with wide eyes. "Is that a Phoenix?!"
Sunset turned back to her. "Yes, that's Philomena. I hatched and raised her. Say hello Philomena."
The bird's pleasant trill morphed into something Minerva would later valiantly deny to be a chuckle at the professor's continued inability to form words. Finally Minerva realized that this gave her an opportunity. "Normally I would start this by telling you that magic exists, but I believe this may be redundant in this case."
"I'm inclined to agree." Sunset sported a sly smirk as a glass of lemonade floated beside her in a teal glow.
"I see." Minerva remained outwardly calm, but inside her, her Gryffindor curiosity stirred. This was a spell she had never seen before. Levitation charms were nothing new, but they didn't usually make things glow.
"Though I do believe we'd all appreciate a demonstration of the magic this world uses."
Minerva's curiosity was immediately redirected. "This world? Are you saying you came from another world?"
"Well another dimension, technically."
"Another dimension? Are you telling me that you've come here from another dimension? Is that where Equestria is?"
Sunset focused a frown on the teacher. "How do you know about Equestria?" The Grangers seemed similarly suspicious.
"Mister Brewer. After he visited he checked in with the Records Department at the Ministry. The paperwork there self updates. One of the things listed there was your place of birth. Sire's Hollow, Equestria."
The others visibly relaxed.
"It also seems to have decided that you should be granted permanent residency in Great Britain."
Mrs. Granger actually chuckled at that. "Well, that's convenient."
"Quite. Anyway, I believe you asked for a demonstration?" When she received nods, Minerva shifted into her animagus form. The response wasn't quite what she had expected.
"Oh. You can do that too?" When the little cat on the floor simply tilted her head, Sunset shrunk down, assuming her natural shape. "This is my natural form. My human shape is actually an effect of the dimensional travel."
Minerva sat on the floor, looking in complete bafflement at the amber-yellow unicorn before her. With mane and tail matching the girl's hair even a complete amateur could have recognized her animagus. What was remarkable however was that the girl retained her ability to speak in this form. As such Minerva simply stared at the impossibility before her. That her sixth sense was telling her to get used to it was not exactly encouraging.
"Nice going Sunset," Dan joked, "you broke her."
Looking at the stunned teacher, Sunset tilted her head slightly before walking over and lighting her horn, casting a basic scanning spell to check for life signs. "Nah. She's fine. She just needs a moment to catch up with all this."
Minerva shook off her shock before she could lose the rest of her dignity and returned to her human form, prompting Sunset to do the same. "You can cast magic in that form?"
"Wouldn't be much of a unicorn if I couldn't, now would I?"
"You would actually. The unicorns of this world cannot cast spells. However they also aren't sentient so that may have something to do with it."
"Huh. Weird." Sunset nodded. "Anyway, I think we've gone off topic."
"We have, haven't we?" Minerva then proceeded to demonstrate several simple spells as well as a number of normal transfigurations. She didn't receive the same awed expressions she usually got, but she did notice that both young witches cast spells to perceive magic.
After a few more minutes she handed them the booklet she had brought along, giving them a few minutes to scan through it. Finally she asked, "Do you have any immediate questions?"
Hermione nodded. "The supplies we're supposed to bring, where do we get those?"
"Ah yes. I'll be accompanying you to Diagon Alley in London. There you can buy all the supplies you need, exchange for wizarding currency, and whatever else you may need to do. Normally I would do so tomorrow, but I'm afraid I'll have to delay that a day. The things I've learned today will take a bit of managing. Anything else?"
"Uhm," Sunset floated the envelope of her Hogwarts letter over and levitated the train ticket out of it. "Platform nine-and-three-quarters?"
"Ah yes. The Hogwarts express leaves from a hidden platform accessible by walking through the barrier between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross station."
As no other questions presented themselves, Minerva shook everyone's hands and Philomena's wing, much to her confusion, and apparated back to Hogwarts.
Sunset stared at the point where McGonnagall had vanished.
《You're going to see where she went, aren't you?》
Sunset turned to smirk at Hermione. 《Sure. Wanna come along?》
Hermione contemplated for a moment. Finding no rule against doing such a thing, she nodded. 《Oh sure. Why not.》
Sunset nodded and closed her eyes. Without a sound the two young witches disappeared.
Emma and Dan looked at each other and sighed. "We're not going to be able to keep them in check, are we?"
"Nope."
Minerva breathed a sigh of relief as she reappeared before the gates in the wall surrounding the lands of castle Hogwarts. She needed to take a moment to recover from the madness she had just endured.
She had known that Miss Shimmer was a skilled witch, especially for her age. She couldn't have guessed that she was an extra-dimensional animagus. A unicorn animagus no less. Not to mention that there was no known way of traveling between dimensions. And let's not forget the Phoenix. Miss Shimmer had hatched and raised a phoenix and brought it along from a different dimension.
"Wow. That's a big castle."
Minerva spun on the spot, restraining her reflex to draw her wand as she spotted Miss Shimmer and Miss Granger behind her. "How did you get here?"
Sunset shrugged. "I traced your transit and followed you. I wanted to see where you went. Sorry if I offended you. That was rude of me."
"Excuse me? An apparition can't be traced. The only way to follow it is by holding onto the traveler while they disapparate."
"Apparition? Oh is that what you call that mess of a spell? And if it's untraceable, then how did I just do so?"
"You have a point, I suppose. We'll see. For now, I suggest you return home. I will see you Wednesday morning."
"Okay. See you then. Good night professor." In twin flashes of teal light, the two young witches vanished. This time there was the familiar crack of displaced air that usually accompanied apparition.
Minerva pushed the thought out of her mind, turning back to the gates and slipping inside. She needed to talk to Albus. Again.
"Come in."
"Ah Minerva. I take it you learned something new about our mysterious new student?"
"That's putting it mildly. She has a Phoenix, Albus."
"Pardon?" Dumbledore sat up straighter, his head already swirling with the implications of Miss Shimmer having a phoenix.
"A phoenix, Albus. Her name is Philomena. Miss Shimmer claims to have hatched and raised her."
"Most unusual. It would be advisable to ask her to keep that a secret. Miss Shimmer may be more powerful than we first estimated."
"That is a given, I suspect."
"Am I to expect that that isn't all you have learned?"
"Not even remotely. Miss Shimmer claims to be from another dimension."
"Most unusual. Especially since there is no known way, magical or otherwise to travel between dimensions."
"She is also an animagus. She is able to resume her natural form. She claims her human form to be a side effect of the dimensional travel. Oh, and her natural form is a unicorn." Drawing her wand, Minerva conjured an illusory image of Sunset's equine form.
Dumbledore carefully studied the illusion, taking in every detail. "She is rather adorable, isn't she?"
"That she is. Not to mention she can speak and cast spells in that form." With a swing of her wand, Minerva lit up the illusion's horn with a teal corona."
"Ah, we'll have to get her registered. The law is clear on that."
"It is. I'll take care of that tomorrow." Minerva sighed quietly.
Dumbledore studied her expression. "Are you telling me that still isn't all?"
"Unfortunately not. When I apparated back here, she followed me, taking Miss Granger with her. She said she simply wanted to see where it was I went."
"Impossible. Apparition can't be traced."
"That was my first reaction as well. She answered with, and I quote 'Oh is that what you call that mess of a spell?'. Whatever magic she has learned, it clearly involves a far more comprehensive understanding of magical transportation than what we have."
"Most impressive. I will have to think on this."
"You're not the only one. Good night, Albus."
"Good night, Minerva."
Another excellent chapter.
This confused me a bit. Wizards levitate things all the time what exactly was unusual about what Sunset was doing here?
9520251
Sunset is levitating the glass freely, without any restrictions on how she can move it. Wizards have a spell for levitating up, one for levitating to the side, one for an arching trajectory and about three dozen others. More efficient than a unicorn kinesis spell, but far more restrictive. Not to mention that those spells don't make the levitating object glow.
9520251
Not using/having a wand to do so.
9520253
Mostly good Dumbledore with a pinch of incompetent Dumbledore.
9520279
This isn't actually the case the Levitation Charm does all those things and then there several lesser variations of that spell that do more specific tasks
And while it would be unusual to see an 11 year old levitating an object wordlessly without a wand, a feat that is doable by skilled wizards, unless there was a distinct difference in what Sunset was doing it seems like a bit of an exaggeration for McGonagall to declare it a spell she has never seen before. The glow would be unusual but you never mention that it's glowing and it still wouldn't constitute being seen as a completely unknown spell because it's still very clear just a basic Levitation charm, something so basic and simple its taught to first years.
9520306
It's unicorn levitation. Objects moved in that way always glow.
9520311
I realize that's how it works in the show but it varies between stories whether or not the glow is actually visible. Since you never mention the glow I just assumed there wasn't one.
I know it gets everyones panties in a twist when people poo poo HP spells, but if Apperation is really that dangerous, then there may be issues. Much like a cliff side road in india with no railings and a 200 ft drop might be normal to them, but foolish to us, it feels to me that the HP teleport may be similar.
The Monk
9520317
I rather like the Authors who make the glow only visible to humans. Equestrians aren't even aware of it.
But thats just me.
The Monk
9520282
I suppose the incompitence is from not knowing how to deal whit Sunset?
9520345
The problem comes from when you make the pony teleport perfect with no real drawbacks. The reason HP teleport has these drawbacks is to explain why characters can't just apparate out of every dangerous situation as well as explain why everyone doesn't learn this skill. It simply becomes impossible to put the characters in any dangerous or time-sensitive situation when they can just teleport whenever they want.
Now MLP's way of limiting teleport is by making it a high-level skill very few ever master, not including the princesses only 3 unicorns are ever shown to be able to do it. So it gets annoying when authors turn it into an easy to use spell even an 11-year-old can learn just to show up the wizards.
9520350
Yeah, I've seen that before too and do like it. I personally prefer to see it as something that only shows for the audience's benefit and that magic doesn't actually have such a visible glow.
Although I suppose a good way to explain the glow could be as a sign of unicorns being far more inefficient with magic than the wizards. Using so much more than nescessary for an otherwise simple spell that it causes a visible glow.
9520311
My advice to any Author. Pay little attention to the peanut gallery. If you listen to what people want, you will write garbage, loose your hair and end up a cat hoarding recluse. Some of the best stories on this site are so far left field that you couldn't find them with a telescope. People want familiar, and that means cookie cutter. They want the coco by the fire that reminds them of their childhood curled up on the couch with family in better days. This is why he have thousands of cookie cutter stories on this site that are exactly the same. And quite frankly no one remembers. "Hey Bub, remember the story, where that guy buys that thing and ends up in the ever free, where he fights that thing before rainbow dash tackles him?"
Yeah.
Good Authors do what they want. They think out side of the box and write things like.
Drawn With the Night by Dan_s Comments
Feathered Heart by Demon Eyes Laharl
Hollow Shades by Dilos1
What I've Become by Knight Breeze
Integration by Raugos
None of these great stories would exist if Authors followed canon rather than their vision.
The Monk
9520389
While true that you shouldn't incorporate all idea's thrown at you it's also not a good idea to ignore feedback. If enough people mention the same thing then it's probably a good idea to consider it. A good example is one story I read where the sex scenes became so excessive that people started to get exhausted by it with the MC interactions with some female characters reaching the point of becoming uncomfortable. The author ignored the criticisms and didn't even acknowledge them which lead to a frustrating experience for everyone involved.
Don't take everything people say seriously but don't ignore them either. If you really don't want to hear feedback from readers then just disable the comments.
9520318
Wizards are known to be very archaic in many regards, when British muggles adopted the metric system, wizards didn't.
9520356
Actually it's mostly from not thinking things through and missing obvious flaws in his plans. (see rule five on the Overlord list)
9520368
Ah, your talking about the writers crutch. Ways where Authors take shortcuts to steer a story. I agree with you on that. After all I gave my first really negative review in a very long time, yesterday, because the Author used the "Short Cut" of "dumbing down" the MC to easily steer the story. (Sadly to the point where the MC couldn't think his way out of a wet paper bag.)
True, but with a little thought an Author can impose his own limitations. No where is it written he has to use world A, or World B. He could always simply choose Blue. Thats the beauty of head canon, and who knows maybe someone will come up with a solution that is even better than A or B. Don't know until you start seeing the rules as only a suggestion.
The real true measure has always been, does it kill the tale.
The Monk
9520421
Fair enough... I hate the imperial system, 12 inches to a foot, 3 feet to a yard, 1760 YARDS TO A MILE. LIKE WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS THAT?!
9520439
A complete mess. Don't worry there's a rant on that coming up at some point.
Yeah, having a genius many year student from the millennia old magical princess of a magical kingdom as a first year in Hogwarts will make her seem op indeed. But she's quite par for the course in equestria (still taking those in consideration), I'd say.
Curious to if she'll go to griffindor with Hermione or slitheryn like she's so much of a match for.
9520253
Let's hope a sane one.
9520504
Even by Equestrian standards, she'd be considered exceptional. I just hope she eventually receives a humbling experience and doesn't remain "Perfect" until the very end. Sort of like most Shonen series start with Main Character being some overpowered badass and then it slowly being revealed that there are people far more powerful than he could ever hope to be.
9520558
Eh, she likely will, yeah. But not compared to first years. Maybe not to any other Hogwarts student at that moment in time. But if the conflicts arise from situations where power is irrelevant, it won't detract from the story either, even if no humbling experience comes (such as from her not getting involved in such situations). Then again the books are chock full of idiot balls, so ymmv.
9520504
Personally her headlong-charge attitude and her coloration will make her a shoe-in for Gryffindor, as will her lack of fear in creating new magic for this world. The main reason (IMO) that she would have gone to Slytherin is her desire for recognition from Celestia, which has already been rendered moot by gaining the love of a family and a surrogate sister. From the moment she began to bond with Hermione she has shown a desire to improve the lives of those whom she loves, and hasn’t really been shown thinking “I’ll show you Celestia”-esque thoughts.
9520350
FUNdamentals of magic, a series of MLP shorts on Hasbro's Youtube channel establish that ponies know of the glow and refer to it as their unique aura.
9520695
Indeed it does, though not everyone would necessarily consider that to be a canon source.
9520797
I personally call such things dubiously canon.
I need MOOOOOAR, this story is great. Any other stories where a trained unicorn goes to the Harry Potter universe?
9520695
I know,
I guess I just never liked vanilla. Ive always preferred kinkier.
What every one else likes is just boring. Perhaps thats why I like Authors who think outside of canon.
Pull out the hand cuffs, tie me down and give me the auras that only humans can see.
Oh Yeah.
The Monk
9521448
Not sunset shimmer per say........but if you want good HP stories, two good ones Im following R
If Wishes were Ponies . by tkepner
And
Magic School Days by Dogger807
There is one where N M Moon crosses HP thats good, but an older story.
The Wizard and the Lonely Princess by Harry Lefts
The Monk
9521448
Well these stories haven't updated in a while but they are still worth a read in my opinion:
Sunset Shimmer and the Boy Who Lived
Sweetie Belle and the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Technically not a trained unicorn but I thought I would mention it anyway).
9520439
In case your interested the original Roman mile was one thousand "strides." That is approximately 5,280 feet.
That might fly for the Ministry of Magic, but the non-magical government? Yeah, I highly doubt so; mundanes are far more inquisitive and 'questioning everything' than magicals seem to be, so I doubt Queen Elizabeth II (or her Prime Minister) would let an enigma like Sunset Shimmer go uninvestigated.
Sooner or later, despite the 'do not question it' magic Sunset's using, the non-magicals will realise she shouldn't even exist.
Her reaction to Sunset's familiar will be hilarious.
I know it's been only 2 chapters since I said she wasn't a Mary Sue, but she's well on her way to completing the transformation with just these past two chapters. I don't think it would be out-of-line to call what the non-Sunset characters have been doing recently as fawning over her.
I'm not sorry that I instantly heard Sir quentin trembley the third esquire.
Reminds me of Niven’s Known Space stories.
Two characters are talking about FTL travel
“That’s theoretically impossible!”
“Yeah, it is. Guess that the people who did it had different theories”
an amazing chapter of mind F**kery of a Gryffindor house head. well done
There's three quotation marks in that paragraph.
wizard from this world cannot even comprehend how stupid muggle's technology work. so yeah....
Again? That's actually funny, he confused again and said same thing