The mountain sorts itself once again, under the influence of Professor McGonagall’s spell.
She gazes at the floating stacks for a few seconds, alongside the rest of the still weary teachers.
Professor Snape summons one of the two letters not in either of the big stacks, magicing it open to read it- and blinks. By the time he finishes reading it through the third time, all the other professors are watching him.
“Well?” Professor McGonagall prompts.
He looks up. “Agent Candy Stripes would like to know what the enrollment requirements are,” he answers flatly. “It is their opinion- and that of Agent Sweetie Drops- that the youngest Weasley is ready to begin her education, by all physical, mental, and magical metrics they can think of.”
“I give up,” the Head of Gryffindor House states.
“The usual, Hagrid?”
“Can’t, Tom. Hogwarts business.”
“Ahh- Oh, Good Lord. Is this- can this be-?”
“Yes,” a blue-and-white-haired girl states firmly, trotting over. “Good afternoon, Harry. Butterbeer?” She offers him a bottle.
A man steps out of the green flames in the fireplace. “Nope,” he states, and turns on the spot, disappearing with a little pop.
Hagrid looks in that direction. “What?” he asks.
The girl chuckles. “Ever since we backed him down a week and a half ago, Malfoy’s been stopping by every day. I think he’s trying to wait until we’re gone before he buys his son his school stuff.”
A very sudden scraping of chairs echoes through the shop, making Harry- and Hagrid- jump.
She chuckles again, glancing behind her. “Yeah, you’re a bit famous in this world- which may not be a good thing.”
“Yeah…” Hagrid mumbles. “Hold on. You backed Malfoy down? What was he doing?”
“He went after the Weasleys,” she shrugs. “Bit of an idiot, I think. I mean, for a grown man to resort to bullying. Clearly, the Weasleys have something the rich git wants- and he never grew up enough to realize he’s probably got the money to buy it. Celestia knows the Weasleys could use the money.” Then she lets out a snort of laughter. “Though, after getting to know the Weasleys, I’m not so certain it’s something that can be bought.” Finally, she glances back at the archway to Diagon Alley. “Speaking of which, our final team will be showing up in a half an hour or so. I’m looking forward to turning Twilight loose on Flourish and Blotts tomorrow.”
“Twilight?” Harry asks, pausing in the middle of Dedalus Diggle’s second handshake.
“Yeah. We’ll be schoolmates soon- you, me, her, and about twelve thousand more.”
“Twelve thousand?” Hagrid asks.
She nods. “Yeah… All the shopkeepers said it did seem a little unusual, but with a little coordination and planning ahead, we were able to get everyone processed. There were a few hiccups, including a particularly nasty one where Scribbulus ran out of quills, but we were able to get it all done. By now, all the shopkeepers are a little exhausted, but they should be pretty well stocked.” She looks Harry up and down. “Holly, eleven inches, phoenix feather, no?”
He blinks. “What?”
She nods. “And yeah, you’ve definitely got a bit of influence from Moldy on you, but it’s at odds with the rest of you- subdued, as it were. Not something I can strip off in this world, but it should be largely harmless.” Shrug. “Probably some leftover from whatever happened way back when.”
Harry blinks again, completely ignoring the patrons still vying for his attention. “Wait, what? You mean- you mean Voldem-!”
Lots of people in the pub gasp. More than one calls out “Don’t say the name!”
Another girl rises calmly out of the same booth the first had come from; this one’s got pink and dark blue hair. She fills her lungs and bellows, “Victor Oscar Lima Delta Echo Mike Oscar Romeo Tango Voldemort! Quit your whining, and quit being afraid!”
Harry blinks, looking back at the snickering blue-and-white-haired girl while all the gaspers, including Hagrid, stumble back in shock- and the blue-and-pink-haired girl returns to her seat as if it was as normal as taking out the trash. “You mean Voldemort left-?” he asks. “Won’t it- ?”
The blue haired girl turns back to him. “Eh, it might hurt a little. No more than a little sting in the scar on your forehead, probably, or maybe some pain when you get too close to him or he’s particularly strong. But your own aura practically reeks of your mother’s love- a very powerful form of magic Moldy will never get through. So no, you’re practically indestructible, to him at least. Probably why he, ah, suffered a failure of heart, way back when.”
He blinks. “Wha-? Wouldn’t everyone-?”
She chuckles. “You’d think. But no- that kind of a so-called ‘love envelope’ is vanishingly rare where I come from- but it’s even rarer here. The thing is that it can only be created by a truly loving mother, and even then only while worried about the survival of her young.” She smiles sadly. “I’m sorry to say, even in my world, over ninety-five percent of ‘love envelopes’ are on orphans. But it says a lot, to have been loved so powerfully that it was even possible to form one. And, if you know how to mess with it just right, they’re incredibly useful- and for more than just passive protection.” She winks at him.
“Uh, like what?” he asks. “How does being loved by my mom…?”
“Harry,” she states, putting her hand on his shoulder. “Look at me. But not with your eyes- use your mind’s eyes. See me, see the energy around me. Feel for it. What’s my name?”
He blinks a couple times. “Lyra,” he answers. “But what- Wait.”
“And there you have it,” Lyra smiles, her hand returning to her side. “Advantage number one: The ability to see a magic aura with no prior magical understanding. It normally takes years of study before someone can so much as detect the aura- but you saw in far enough to get my name. Correctly, I might add.” She chuckles lightly. “I’m afraid you won’t get much further than that without at least a minimal understanding of the magic involved- but you might be surprised what is exposed even at that layer.”
“... What?”
“Yep. It does take a touch deeper to see someone’s magical affinities or capacities, but incidental things like emotions are laid bare, and moods are visible. Try practicing that sometime- pick someone, anyone, and see if you can feel their name and mood. You’d be surprised what you’ll find.”
He blinks, and scowls at her for a second.
“Oh, heh heh,” she mutters, rubbing her hair with one hand. “Sorry about that. I kinda habitually scramble my own aura anymore- another thing a love envelope makes easy. But don’t worry, most people haven’t a clue that’s even possible.”
Then he sighs. “So, why are you telling me all this, when you’ve only just met me?”
She grins. “Because I can see your aura, as plain as day. Kinda hard to miss, what with the love envelope. But I can also see that you’re good enough you’ll use those abilities for good, not evil. So why not?” She shrugs. “And besides, even if the Death Eaters captured and questioned you tomorrow, what could they hope to gain? Extra confusion?” She chuckles again. “Only now, you’d be able to tell us who they were.” Her expression suddenly straightens, and she puts her hand soothingly back on his shoulder. “Besides, what a ‘love envelope’ really is, is your mother’s magical core, reassigned at death, rather than dispersed like they usually are. The main passive effect is protection from maliciousness- but once you get a good feel for it, get to know it…
“Let’s just say it’s a lot more than it seems, okay?”
He stares at her.
“I know, ‘love envelope’ is an astonishingly cold and unfeeling name for something so precious, but that’s what you get when the scientists decide that ‘mother’s blessing’ isn’t good enough. Not one of them actually had one.” Sigh. “Probably didn’t help that a blessing can be given by a living mother, while a love envelope- by its very nature- is given in death.”
“I donno,” Hagrid mutters. “She seemed good enough to me. Somewhat happen?”
Dumbledore nods from behind his desk. “Yes, Rubeus. We will be having twelve thousand, two hundred ninety-three first-years this year.”
“WHAT? Sorry, Dumbledore, but what’s this have to do with Lyra?”
“It would seem it’s only thanks to her and her friends that they all got their stuff on time,” he answers. “I’ve been too busy sorting out mail here at the castle to visit Diagon Alley ever since we started sending the acceptance letters. Now, I just got back from Diagon Alley- I really would like to meet her- but it turns out they packed up and left fifteen minutes before I got there.” He sighs.
“Couldn’t ya just stop by her home?”
Dumbledore lets out a chuckle. “Oh, that would have worked in the past, yes- but we can’t go where she’s from. Something about a portal not letting us through.” He sighs again. “Not to mention, we don’t know where that portal even is.”
“Well, she seemed nice enough. Definitely a Gryffindor, I think.”
“Oh boy,” Dumbledore mutters.
“What?”
“Let’s just say, especially for dear Minerva, this will be a very interesting year.”
I'm gonna say no on Ginny, as I hate that trope. Mostly because Ginny is never important enough to the plot to justify bringing her into the story early it's always just a way to add another girl to Harry's herd (fingers crossed that isn't a thing here).
So... they know about Quirrell and Voldemort but aren't doing anything about it? Why... I mean what's the point of that? It's already problematic they can just see who the bad guy is but if they already know about Quirrell you might as well toss the book 1 plot out the window right now.
As for Dumbledore at the end yeah it's a little OOC this is a guy who often looks for excuses to make jokes or just be a little silly it's McGonagall's job to worry.
Unless you have plans for Ginny that rely on the time of admittance, I wouldn't care one way or another if she was admitted yet.
As far as the Equestrians are concerned, there are far more dangerous things in their world than some psychotic Lich wannabe who is only dangerous because he knows an instant kill spell. Things like an angry Celestia or Luna, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek or Grogar (I don't count Cozy Glow because she is clever but not powerful on her own).
9588226
The reason they aren't afraid of Voldemort is that they never lived through his 10 years of terror, similar to how the Crystal Ponies were the only ones afraid of Sombra. If you weren't there at the height of his power you're obviously not gonna view him the same way. The only reason most kids are scared of him is that he's basically become the Bogeyman of the wizarding world, no one knows if he's even still alive but the idea that he might be still lurking in the shadows is a scary thought.
I hate the idea that Voldemort doesn't stand up against the Saturday morning cartoon threats of Equestria who lose as quickly as they show up. The guy lead an army filled with murdering psychopaths and monsters who dragged families out into the streets to kill them and they did this over the course of a decade. The ponies may have no reason to fear him but they should still take him seriously.
I meant to bring this up before but forgot. This isn't how the protection works, it can only be cast when someone willingly sacrifices themselves to defend another and even then they have to be given the choice of dying or living. It has nothing to do with being a mother or how much you love the person (though obviously you probably love them if you're sacrificing yourself), for example, Harry casts it on everyone at Hogwarts when he allows Voldemort to kill him.
9588034
You're right, that is a little overpowered... Probably want to remove that part of the aura-vision. They should have no reason to suspect Quirrel (save his deceiving them), since at this point, he doesn't have two faces (and thence two auras) yet.
9588226
On the Ginny side of things, I think I will be leaving her out. No reason to pull him in- and I'm not going to be focusing on Harry's harem. I mean, he might get one... but so might a whole lot of other people, given how many Equestrian ladies there are.
9588270
Yeah, that is a little unusual, isn't it? Sure, perception is everything- but especially for the seasoned Agents...
Though, the said seasoned Agents have probably read up on his past and observed the state of wizarding society... and may be deliberately making light of him in an effort to get everyone to stop fearing him and maybe be able to stand up to him (or the next guy that claims his name, Celestia knows when that might happen) instead.
9588284
Well yeah, that too. I'm on an AU here, so...
I don't see why they can't both exist. Dying to save another is all well and good; this "love envelope" is just another one, so specific as to be so extremely rare in the wizarding world that it's ill-understood, or even mistaken for something else. I don't remember Neville's parents' story, or even whether or not they were killed- only that his more distant relatives (gran, uncle, etc.) brought him up- but to my knowledge, he's the only other canon HP character that could have gone through that very specific situation and gotten a "love envelope".
Yeah, I know, canon HP is a little different than that- my "love envelope" is perpetual, while in canon, the protection of his mother's love required the regular annual maintenance of living in the same home as her blood relatives.
And while I do plan on throwing out some of the canon plot arcs- not sure which ones just yet, I haven't reread the series since I last read it years ago- the Sorcerer's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets both host good plot arcs I may want to reuse. So... Yeah, I think I will remove that particular ability from the aura-vision. Lyra's seeing Voldemort's curse/fragment in Harry's scar is not aura vision, but magic scan- and besides, nothing like that should ever be there, so it's independent- and the main topic of that conversation is safe. I'm thinking horcruxes shouldn't have auras of their own, you?
9588562
There, edited- no longer suspects Quirrel (and because the conversation was shortened, Harry stopped on Diggle's second handshake instead of his third), good-evil alignment is no longer visible in the aura... and Dumbledore's reaction to the news Lyra's a Gryffindor-to-be is different.
This is why I need editors...
9588562
I think the important thing is that they don't stand out. I feel like Horcruxes are kind of pointless if they are easy to identify. I mean he gave one to Lucius and another to Bellatrix (he didn't tell them what they were of course) I feel like that would be monumentally stupid if they could be easily detected.
As for Neville's parents, they actually are still alive just insane and staying at St. Mungo's. It always surprises me how despite other stories attempts to quickly fix everything no one ever tries to save Neville's parents. I guess because a huge chunk of his character goes out the window if he has two loving parents.
I get what you're saying about 'Love Envelope' and I don't disagree it's just that having some other unbeatable protection is kind of unnecessary when something just like it already exists in-universe. Plus if they both exist does Harry have both? and if so what does that do for him versus just having the one like in canon?
9588562
Well, it's not like no one stood up to him that's usually what got you or your loved ones killed. It's why Dumbledore founded the Order of the Phoenix so that those who wanted to fight could do so without fear of putting their loved ones in danger.
Of course, being a secret society probably means the ponies wouldn't know about them.
9588657
That's a very good question, pertaining to 'love envelope' vs canon sacrificial protection. I'll have to read the HP books to hash out the differences & similarities, and understand how the canon one works- but my 'love envelope' does come with extra capabilities, since it's not technically a shield, it just behaves as one. I do imagine the two as being generally exclusive- as in, only one will form from any particular death, never both at once. I don't know yet...
And the thing with Neville's parents... would leave Harry the only HP character to have one, to my knowledge. I'll have to read the series and absorb the details before I start having ponies storm St. Mungos (won't happen for a while at least, but might at some point) so I can decide what should happen.
9588665
Yes, exactly. And while the Agency might be secret, the Elements of Harmony aren't... No doubt they're hoping to eek out this world's equivalent of them. They haven't had any time to penetrate any wizardly secrets just yet...
I'm enjoying read this, though Harry must be so confused about the wizarding world so far, since he can't tell that Lyra and Bon Bon are different from any other magical user, or that her knowledge or magic is unique. He doesn't even has his wand and she taught him his first bit of magic he can use without a wand, one had can practice (among other explorations of the unique aura) without risk.
9588897
Yeah, that is a good point. Then of course, she specifically stated-
So not only did she teach him his first bit of magic (and say "try it sometime" without Hagrid complaining, regardless of whether he's still even listening or not), she's no older than he- and destined to be his schoolmate. And in the books, as I recall, he was guessing he'd be at the bottom of the class...
Unfortunately for him, though, all he really can do is to see those three things in the aura- name, mood, and emotions... Anything else, and any other functions of his "love envelope", he'll have to study up a bit to access.
So yeah, he has no clue that noone in the wizarding world has a clue how to even detect the aura, that being a rather unique (and small) field of magic pioneered in Equestria by Lyra herself...
Then later, during that timegap, when the wandmaker looks at him and runs away to grab the perfect wand that also happens to be
He's going to be utterly confused. Possibly even worse when he gets to Hogwarts, since over 99% of the first years are Equestrians... and some percentage of them (No clue exactly what it would be, but however many are unicorns) habitually take notes telekinetically. Which impresses all the teachers, but seems perfectly normal to every last one of the Equestrians (save an occasional jealous look from a transformed pegasus or earth pony struggling with a quill).
There are too many 10-year-olds. Why would you consider bringing in Ginny and not Luna? Or any of the others?
For that matter, can you imagine the confusion if you had Luna and Luna together? Especially since both have, effectively, a unique-ish accent to their speech.
Good or bad, a line is drawn somewhere in the year. Some are born "late" in the year, like Harry; some are born "early" in the year, like Hermione. Some start almost 12, and some start barely 11.
9595828
Yeah, I can, actually.
That's why my current plan is to leave the Chamber of Secrets' first-years for the following year, and not jump anyone.
It's getting kinda annoying that basically every single HP fic on this site ends up shoehorning Ginny in a year early for literally no reason...
9618787
I agree.
That's one of the reasons this one's an exception to that. It hasn't been mentioned in-story just yet, but while Lyra did send in to Dumbledore to ask if it was okay, it didn't go through... and Ginny is still at the Weasley home.
At odds. Not add odds.
Wait...so does Lyra have a love envelope in this fic? If so, thats some brilliant foreshadowing, and if not then I need to stop overanalyzing everything.
9629083
... I proofread this thing like three or four times... how did that get through...?
Nice catch, anyways. Fixed.
9629089
Nice catch, and yes, she does. That's the kind of vague hint I like putting into my stories... that most readers miss completely.
you are making ponies mary sue.
The only way it can work is if ponies lose the ability to use magic when they come through and their pony stuff is non applicable.
I know this is probably too late, but the system is already going to be overloaded as is. I'd say no on Ginny. I kind of feel like you should whittle down the numbers to a more believable amount. Will meals be in shifts as well? There aren't enough places at the tables.
@DDDDDDDDD23 Most of the ponies that are attending are already accomplished, magic users. Placing them in classes they don't really need doesn't make them a mary sue any more then it made me a mary sue when the collage I was going to decided I had to have an introduction to computer science to graduate, after two years of computer sience classes.
9645802
Yes, you are too late... but yes, that was also the end decision. There's simply no reason to make Ginny come a year early.
As for meals & whatnots... It's a castle, and they're wizards, and they had a whole month to prepare. I'm sure it was a lot of work, but they were able to accomodate them all at once. I mean, for a school that normally boards 280 students at a time to suddenly take in forty times that many... Yeah, they're working overtime.
Olivander: You took the joy of finding the right wand out of me... but I will overlook this time since we have too many applicants waiting.
The thing with love magic would've been a central point of Equestria and HP world interaction... if ponies weren't so damn superior in every single thing (including necromancy, judging by Lyra's Soul Sight), so it's got buried as yet another thing.
When's PoV gonna shift away from equestrian secret agents? Gotta be a very boring story if it gonna continue to follow omniscient unicorn.