“Come in,” Professor McGonagall sighs, looking up at her office door. Someone had just knocked softly.
The door opens, admitting an Equestrian with bright pink hair and one of their ‘radio’ devices clipped to the front of her robes. “Um,” she begins. “Professor McGonagall?”
McGonagall raises an eyebrow. “Yes, Fluttershy?”
She looks uneasily at the floor. “Um… I know the Board just ordered us all expelled for no good reason, but I thought I should still ask you about something.” She looks up at Professor McGonagall. “Is it possible that an unregistered animagus could be pretending to be a student’s pet?”
Professor McGonagall blinks; not only does the rate of information transmission amongst the RESS still amaze her, but the question is unexpected. “Um… Well, if the animagus form is something that could be made a pet, I suppose it’s possible,” she states. “Not likely, though. Why ask?”
“Ronald Weasley’s rat, Scabbers,” she answers immediately. “I’m good with animals; I can talk to them and everything. Scabbers… not so much. So I asked Harry if anything looked strange about his aura; Lyra taught him how to view that.” She sighs, staring at the floor. “Most animals self-identify by either the name given them by their owners, or by something in their native language that only I would be able to understand. Scabbers self-identifies by the English name Wormtail, and Harry mentioned his aura seemed a lot stronger than most animals- much more like a student.” She looks up at her again. “I suspect he might be more than he appears.”
McGonagall nods. “And animagus fit the bill?”
She nods.
“Hmm… Well, there is a spell to reveal animagi, and it’s completely harmless against anything that’s not an animagus. Wouldn’t hurt to try that, I suppose. So, if we bring him here, we can find out.”
“Um… Wouldn’t it be better to use a random classroom closer to Gryffindor Tower? If he is an animagus, bringing him all the way to your office might tip him off that something’s wrong.”
She pauses, and nods. “That is true… and there is a hidden passage just down the corridor that lets out very close to the Gryffindor common room, as well. So…” She looks at the clock. “Ten o’clock, today?”
Fluttershy glances at it as well, and nods. “Classroom Gamma-Two?”
“Gamma two?” McGonagall muses, concentrating for a second on the map embedded in Hogwarts’ wards. “Ahh, yes. I’ll see you there.”
“He… never left the school?”
“Not on the train,” the minister answers. “It’s still parked in the depot.”
“Well, he has to have gotten out somehow! Nobody there seems to know a thing!”
“Perhaps he left by broom, or side-along apparition, or perhaps floo or even foot travel? All I know for certain, Mr. Malfoy, is that he did not ride the Hogwarts Express away from the school. She’s not even roadworthy right now- they’ve pulled the wheels for repair. The ‘tires’ got rusty, made a bit of a bumpy ride. Then of course, the wheels seem to be wearing out-but they’re working on it. Would you like to see?”
Lucius blinks, and shakes his head. “No, I’ve got better things to do than to waste my time looking at that contraption.”
The ground is chaos as the helicopter approaches the ground.
“What’s going on?” Malfoy asks.
“Oh, that’s easy,” Cherry Berry answers. “The school board has decided to mass-expel all Equestrians for ‘being dangerous’, so Princess Celestia is making a state visit to complain about their unwarranted expulsion of twelve thousand perfectly safe students. Compounded by our preparations for your arrival here-mostly to do with securing the helicopter, maintenance checks, and so on.”
“Oh.”
Bonbon leans forwards as the helicopter touches down. “So, you ready for your adventure?”
He chuckles. “I think.”
“Using your Equestrian name yet?”
He rolls his eyes. “Please. Call me Draco on this side; it’s only when I transform that I become Silversong.”
Cherry sighs. “In either case, we’re on the ground and the engine’s off, so we might as well step inside.”
“Mr. Malfoy, need I remind you that Hogwarts is not connected to the public Floo Network?”
Professor Dumbledore jogs down the passage, towards the open door. He’d promised he’d be there for the testing of Miss Shy’s theory on Scabbers the Rat, and he’s just a little late.
As he approaches, he hears the incantation of the animagus reversal spell. He feels the thaumic patterns of it doing its work- it seems Miss Shy was correct- and then he hears a voice, speaking very quickly.
“Avada-!”
That’s as far as he gets, though, before the entire passage is filled to bursting by the echoes of an incredibly loud boom from inside the room. He draws his wand, throwing a quick spell up at his ears to repair the damage he can already feel happening, and charges around the corner.
Professor McGonagall is standing opposite the door, wand raised, and looking startled, but in control of herself.
An unfamiliar man is in the middle of the room, falling over sideways in a dead faint, one hand clamped over its opposite.
Ronald Weasley is off to one side, staring in utter shock.
The small, grey thing in the steel-eyed Fluttershy’s hands is emitting a thin trail of smoke out the little hole in the tip- which she’s keeping pointed directly at the falling man’s head.
“What just happened?” he demands.
Fluttershy answers, her voice as hard as steel. “We revealed Scabbers, he tried to kill Professor McGonagall. I shot the wand out of his hand, McGonagall stunned him.”
“Peter,” McGonagall finally mutters. “Peter Pettigrew.” She looks up at Dumbledore, lowering her wand. “I thought he was dead.”
Dumbledore steps closer. There’s a wand in the man’s back pocket; why would- Oh. He sighs; the remains of a wand, the base shattered just as thoroughly as the man’s right hand, rest on the floor before him. He raises an eyebrow, tracing an imaginary line between Fluttershy and where that hand must have been when he was standing- then following it on, to the wall near the door. There, he spots that something has slammed into the wall, taking a sizable bite out of the stone.
He turns back to Fluttershy. “That’s a pretty powerful… what is it?”
“A gun,” she answers. “Far faster than a wand.” She lifts it up, pointing it at the ceiling, to blow the tip- then brushes her robes aside to insert it, pointing down, into a shaped pouch on her belt. “For use against mortal threats.”
“So…?” Hermione mutters. “Is that it?”
Lyra nods. “Yep, all done. Feeling anything you didn’t before?”
“... No. I was kinda expecting to feel it, um, doing something.”
“Yeah… With most types of magic, you would- but not this type. I’m actually quite proud of it- it’s using you to change you. Makes it an order of magnitude safer, and far less uncomfortable.
“... Oh. Yeah, that would be…”
“Anyways, we’ll plan to meet somewhere on Tuesday morning, immediately after breakfast?”
Hermione smiles. “How about at breakfast, then you can lead me somewhere hidden?”
“Works for me.”
“Awesome!” Hermione grins ear to ear. “Now I just need to check out The Advanced Magic of Runes.” She heads for the door.
Lyra catches her by the arm, stopping her. “You are aware British wizards can’t use any of the runes in that book, right?”
She looks back. “What?”
Lyra chuckles. “That’s an Equestrian book, and no copies were ever brought over here. Makes me wonder… Where would you look if I asked you for the most accurate account of Nightmare Moon’s defeat?”
“The Friendship Journals.”
“How about the design and layout of the Friendship Express?”
“The Equestrian Railroad: Past, Present, and Design.” She blinks. “Wait, how do I know that…?”
Lyra grins. “Equestrian magic,” she states. “In particular, something unique to Equestrians- but ubiquitous to all of us. And yet, unique for each one of us. Something whose name sounds utterly ridiculous on this side of the gate, so we simply call it our ‘unique talent’.”
“... What?”
She sighs. “Hermione, you think of something and you instantly know what book to look it up in. That’s a very special kind of magic- and you’re the only person on either planet capable of doing that. Malfoy’s, ah, unique talent, first manifested as an ability to instantly see and respond to threats he didn’t know were threats with actions he didn’t know how to perform.” She nods. “And perform them flawlessly. I leveraged that same ability when he was transformed during that first flying lesson- I gave him the teleportation spell matrix, and he instantly knew how to use it, even though all I did is give him the runic pattern. I didn’t tell him how to translate a runic pattern into a spell matrix, or how to channel that into a functioning spell. He did those himself, instantly- and, apparently, remembered how he did them.”
“Wait, Malfoy teleported?”
Nod. “Yep. Hogwarts’ wards are designed to bar British magic, not Equestrian magic.”
That's all well and good, but does Hermione's Cutie Mark Magic also apply to human subjects? Like if Hermione needed to look up something for History of Magic or Earthian Transfiguration, would she immediately know where to look?
Of all possible beings, why would Fluttershy be carrying? For that matter, given that Dumbledore has lived through both World Wars, I should think he knows damn well what a firearm is.
Poor Lucius, I'm honestly starting to feel sorry for him, there's nothing funny about a parent unable to find their child.
You can complain all you like, but a country has a right to control immigration if it sees fit; defying a polite directive to vacate makes you invaders, and not at all safe.
I summon the Random Comments Section Experts to figure out what an appropriate gun for an eleven year old is.
Also yeah, Fluttershy of all people packing heat, in a non comedic manner, in a school, in Britain? And doing the flourish at the end?
Hermione where would you look for how to become an Alicorn???? Danger will Discord Danger
9655957
That Pegasus is a
spy!changeling!9655958
I recall an incident of a mind-reader stealing an archmage's staff, asking him how it worked, successfully using said staff to protect herself, asking him how he would escape from the situation at hand, and then suddenly vanishing. The poor mage had no idea what was going on.
Fluttershy packing heat is both entirely unlike and completely in line with the practicality of her job that we get glimpses of in canon. She can wrestle a bear and has fished for her animal companions before. She is knowledgeable on how to use The Stare to great effect when pushed to it. She lives in the house closest to the Everfree Forest and doesn't feel any problems going inside it if she must. I'd argue this is kinda like the idea of Fluttershy carrying a crossbow, but we forget Fluttershy can fly, and fly fast, when she needs to in an emergency. If you take that away (since these Equestrians appear to not be able to willingly transform on the Earth side into ponies), she might gather other tools as appropriate to use in an emergency.
9655945
I'm ambivalent on Lucius' plight simply because he is doing it for his own personal reasons. I mean, absent any mind control or mental influences (which I think there must be for Draco to take everything in so calmly, that he was purposely a transformation target that would have such a negative reaction from his family once completed, about going to another world, becoming a filly, even changing his name to a rather decent match), he has come to the conclusion that is fair safer for himself personally than for his father to find out about his predicament. If he really under no mental compulsions, for an 11 year old to feel so strongly about that means some pretty negative things about one's home life and family.
Like if a child in a house of extreme racists suddenly had ties about the targets of that hatred revealed, and realizing how damning it is for their personal situation if discovered because they know what is said and done behind closed doors that others would not.
9656028
Or, being an eleven-year-old, he is very bad at evaluating the big picture, and has little consideration for the repercussions of his actions.
9656036
Plausible and I'd argue that Lucius should at least be told the truth of the matter out of principle even if he isn't allowed to do anything about it, simply so we could see if he has hidden depths to his nature that might surprise us like the Malfoy family's reaction in canon was to their son in peril.
That said, Lucius is a death eater and canonically Draco runs to him for advice on anything in the first couple of books (though how useful said advice is or Draco's willingness to follow said advice is another matter), so he could really be fumbling blind with his response and latching onto the reasonable authority figures he met in fellow Slytherin ponies. Who knows what goes on behind closed doors with Draco's family when one of them is a veteran Black member that wasn't disowned and the other a dormant but unrepentant terrorist and fascist?
... I do wonder what that says about Draco's reaction to the idea of Princess Luna tutoring him though. There must have been several unseen interactions between Princess Luna and others to get that response, especially if Discord was an unknown by comparison.
9655939
If that talent only works with Equestrian books, she's going to find that very frustrating unless she gets taught Equestrian magic at some point as well, and actually gets access to an Equestrian library to put that talent to use.
Then again, with the Equestrians willing to take Draco to Equestria, I think the Equestrians might have an open door policy to anyone transformed into an Equestrian.
9656036
And even ignoring Lucius questionable morality, his son got affected by some unknown and non consented magic, that changed him in unspecified ways, and the school is now crawling with mysterious aliens with unknown powers and objectives.
While the ministry approach is careless and we know it won't end well, they are actually right. The new students are dangerous.
Erreeyup? Not 'gunna' touch that.
Honestly, I kind of want the Ministry to win this conflict, the ponies really need to be taken down a peg.
9656250
Yup.
9656250
What conflict are you referring to?
Expelling all of the Equestrians? What story would there be if that was the case? The ponies are there to experience Hogwarts at its own invitation; it's not an invasion to accept the invitation to go to the school. If that is rejected, they'll just return home with everything they found. Some students might go to Equestria instead, but otherwise it would be status quo.
Discovering whom they used the adaptation spell? I have a hunch they'll explain that as soon as Draco goes through the portal where he cannot be brought back without going through the adaptation themselves (and thus can't be kidnapped back). Draco will have to resolve that one way or another eventually but Lucius' political games using his son won't be on the table and that was the threat.
9656447
Obviously I don't want them expelled but I also don't want them to just get a clear win. The ponies have kind of been assholes so far, though not intentionally, and they really need to learn that they can't just do whatever they want without consequence.
9656457
The powers that be within Hogwarts have been made aware of all things that Equestrians have done, they have chosen not to react to these actions and thus these actions have consent of the staff.
Ponies are not in fault here and do not need to really be taken down a peg, what would need to happen if anything is that the Ministry of Wizardry needs to appoint more competent staff to enforce their vision if they truly want guidelines to be enforced. And possibly make certain that the Ponies are aware of these said guidelines.
Ponies so far has not been challenged or had any guidelines set on them, thus they act as they wish. Ministry of Magic has had utter failure in proper management.
9656457
The only thing they've really done that was out of line was using the Papa Tango on Draco Malfoy without his consent. Everything else seems fair game in trying to make their outrageous situation feasible in the first place. Pranks and CMC antics aren't really something the ponies are purposely doing to annoy others, and the CMC alone may demand more extreme measures be taken to not have tragic ends (see: Hermione's adaptation like Draco, except it was needed to save her life).
I'm getting the impression that almost everything is being done at Princess Luna's whim to want to go to Hogwarts, and take ponies with her, and whatever is necessary to have that done safely for everypony involved. They are even protecting the other students and staff too.
9656515
Actually, it's not Luna's whim... it's the considered decisions of the ponies. The RESS was already going to provide security and everything, once Lyra realized what was going on; that was before they knew the Princesses even received letters.
Though yeah, the RESS is mostly there (as RESS) in a safety/security aspect, protecting those many ponies. Though, Luna's decision to come probably did mean Bonbon could pick all the best Agents, not just a few of them... Which resulted in everything going as smoothly as it has so far.
Operative key words: So far. Now that I've got the groundwork laid, I can get started on the hiccups...
9656021
9655945
A .22 pistol would not be out of line for an 11-year-old. The flourish did seem a bit out of line, though.
Deja Vu feeling... I think I read part of this chapter before...
9658388
They have to ask about Turing awards for that.
I want that talent! Why must it be unique to her only!
9658858
Yeah, me too.
9655945
Except it wasn't a directive to vacate the country, only the school, which means it is not an immigrational matter, but an educational one. And as such, they have every right to fight the Board on this decision in court. (Plus, Dumbledore is a native.) Besides, they aren't immigrants anyway. Going to school abroad does not make someone an immigrant, and that is exactly what is happening here.
Also, if Hogwarts really is considered under government control, then you could argue that the Hogwarts invites in fact count as an invite from the Government. Meaning they already had that permission.
Finally, let's not forget that Dumbledore is Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, which from what I understand is basically the U.N of wizardkind. Even kicked out of Hogwarts, he still has political power. Spun the right way, kicking them out could make Britain a lot of enemies even on this side of the portal.
Just realized we don't know where Pinkie went yet. Fingers crossed for Ravenclaw
9659319
On the other hand, Hogwarts is explicitly an English school, they don't send invites to Germany, or France or anywhere else. Therefore there is an basic assumption that it's attendees are English citizens. If I decide that I want to study abroad I'll end up talking to many more people than just the school itself, I need to go through customs, I need a visa, all that fun stuff.
If I don't get myself a visa, I will surely get a visit from the local constabulary on the subject of putting me back where I came from.
9659357
Except, it did send invites to non-English students. Over 10,000 of them. That is literally how this story started. So your point there is rather moot.
I am also quite certain that "Wizarding Visa's" are not a thing, so that is another moot point. You are forgetting that "Wizarding Britain" is not the same thing as Britain. So things like immigration and the like would not work in the same way at all.
What we have here is a government attempting to abuse it's power for a personal reason (Something that even in canon, they have a habit of doing). Whether or not they are within the law is something that can be argued all day, but it does not matter because Fudge and Malfoy have made it quite clear that the law does not matter to them. Equestria has every right to fight a corrupt government taking action against them.
9659393
I'm not sure what we're debating here. Surely the Ministry has the right to second-guess an ancient enchantment developing an error and spewing tens of thousands of invitations? Now while Fudge is certainly having himself a proper fit over this, I'm pretty sure Lucius is still looking for his son. which is a different matter entirely.
What I am considering is the fact that twelve thousand strangers have suddenly appeared on the rolls of the country's only school, operating without any apparent sense of accountability. Many of these ministry officials likely either have children in Hogwarts or know someone who does, so it rather is a personal matter.
The ponies need to do something to deescalate the situation, not stand proud on legal technicalities.
Edit: Alright, it turns out that Lucius was involved with the board discussions that led to the expulsion order, but it was some other yahoo that started the panic going. From the sound of his letter Lucius had only planned to pull Draco out and homeschool him or summat, which wasn't an entirely unreasonable reaction.
9659344
Raven Claw? She is not a book worm.
She's not a "Charge into trouble" person.
She does have some cunning because some ponies want to avoid her parties.
But mostly? She wants to be a friend. Warm, happy parties. That's Hufflepuff
9659523
Look at my previous analysis here.
9657696
I 100% believe that Pinkie's house would be Ravwnclaw, because Pinkie is a seeker of knowledge, that knowledge is just of a different sort than the typical Ravenclaw. She seeks knowledge of people; her parties are so amazing because she learns all she can about everyone in order to make them perfect. The level of research she puts into her party planning is more than a match for the house of Ravens.
(Plus, the rest of the Ravens would go starkers trying to figure her out.)
Edit: Woops wrong post of mine.
Shy knows Gun-fu.. neat!
9659705
That she does.
I still don't believe Fluttershy would use a Gun. Heck, Batman didn't until it was time to retire.
9660382
It doesn't really make sense why she would want to use a gun. A gun is a very lethal option whereas a wand provides multiple ways to incapacitate someone without causing lasting harm. A gun is hardly faster as well since she would have needed to take time to aim to avoid killing him like she did whereas a good spell would have taken him down regardless of where it hit.
Granted she might not know any good spells yet but that still doesn't excuse her using a weapon that could easily kill, unless it was firing rubber bullets I suppose.
9660909
It is worth note that she specified it's
In other words, since he was a "mortal threat", she was fully authorized to kill him (by Equestrian standards, at least)... and chose not to, because she didn't need to. I mean, destroying the wand stops the spell just as thoroughly as reducing the head to the consistency of chunky salsa...
Yes, if she were a unicorn, she would have reacted with magic instead, likely forcing the wand off-target; if she were a duelist like McGonagall, it'd be a close call for whether she'd go for the wand or select the gun because it lacks the need for either a gesture or an incantation. And, should she miss, the noise alone would undoubtedly startle the attacker long enough for her to get better aim or switch to the wand...
9661348
OK but it's still weird that it's Fluttershy doing this, just seems way too OOC for her. Unless we're going full AU and thus canon personalities may not apply.
Even if it wasn't, guns aren't native to Equestria she couldn't possibly have gotten so comfortable with one and become an expert marksman in the span of a few months.
I admit I'm nitpicking here it just kind of bugs me that you went with something that doesn't fit her character when you could of simply had her use the stare to stop him or at least slow him down long enough for McGonagall to incapacitate him.
9661372
... *imagines a long, protracted stare stopping a one-second magic invocation in its tracks*...
Yeah, no, that doesn't really work. Even to slow him the tiniest bit. The Stare isn't an instantaneous tool.
9661638
Neither is firing a gun, the difference is the stare is something that's easier to imagine the character doing. Hell having a bird grab the wand out of his hand before he finished casting would have made more sense than "Fluttershy, fastest gun in the west".
9661952
That is true.
Don't worry, I plan on explaining it all at some point. Probably when Twilight reads that article, or another related... and has to ask Flutters how she was brave enough to do it.
Suffice it to say, for now, that Flutters isn't exactly as normally portrayed.
Think you meant Gamma.
Wow, this is going to blow the whole Sirius Black thing open. Perfect timing too -- Fudge is going to be already doing butt-covering over Tia's upcoming scene, so once it's clear that he's imprisoned the wrong person, he'll need to instantly free Sirius or get ousted. And we get to skip the dementor flood.
Fluttershy is awesome in that scene. I look forward to seeing what else she can do.
And Hermione is going to be a very interesting character going forward. I suppose it figures that her talent is basically a card catalog. I wonder if she'll need to beat Twilight off with a stick when she finds out?
9663112
I rather doubt she'd even try to beat Twilight off... Remember how they met back in the Leaky Cauldron?
... Yeah.
I don't exactly count Lyra or the CMC as "perfectly safe", but whatever you say...
Fluttershy. With a gun. When she doesn't like causing pain whatsoever. Yeah, no - Rainbow's more likely to have one, or Applejack. Fluttershy having a gun is just like Batman having a gun - completely antithetical to their character and personality.
Fluttershy the gunslinger? I approve of this plot.
9827190
Thank you, I was thinking the exact same thing about Fluttershy and the gun.
I also feel Dumbledore is being a little ooc, even being a little worried about being removed as Headmaster when he usually seems to have plenty of contingencies in place to ward against things like this and far more influence for it to ever even come up.
I am really enjoying this fic, though.
"Gam(M)a - Two" ??
10980744
Wait, did I never correct that after it was pointed out the first time, over two years ago? ... Looks like it. Whelp, no time like the present!