• Published 19th Apr 2019
  • 4,006 Views, 1,641 Comments

The Gate - computerneek



After a portal is opened between worlds, a series of letter-bearing owls passes through it. What could possibly go wrong?

  • ...
33
 1,641
 4,006

PreviousChapters Next
Chapter 68

“So,” Lyra begins. She’d dragged Harry and Ginny away from the dueling club… after giving Lockhart’s arm a solid yank- throwing him headfirst into Professor Snape- to keep him from falling into Scootaloo’s lava puddle. Now, they’re in an empty classroom near the great hall, and she’d just used her wand to throw up a few spells. “First of all. Ginny.”

Ginny tilts her head. “Yes?”

“You can speak Parseltongue as well?”

She shakes her head. “No. Ariel’s a parselmouth, though- and Silver did something with her magic to let me use Ariel’s abilities.”

Lyra sighs, putting a hand to her forehead. “Alright then. Ariel too.” She looks between the two of them. “All three of you need to know that parseltongue is not to be treated lightly right now. Salazar Slytherin was known for being able to speak to snakes- and it’s the Slytherin monster that’s petrifying people. If you speak Parseltongue without good reason- or even with good reason, if you’re not careful- people will start thinking you are Slytherin’s heir- the one attacking everyone.”

“... Oh,” Ginny mutters.

Lyra takes a deep breath, and starts lowering her wards. “Alright then. I kinda have to say, that dueling club was a bit more of a disaster than I was expecting.” She grins. “I knew there was a reason I put myself so close to the Crusaders. Anyways,” she waves. “I’ll see you around.” She runs off towards Gryffindor tower.

Ginny lets out a breath. Ariel appears to let out one of her own. “That was close,” they mutter, as one.

Harry nods. “Yeah… I’d have hated for her to have realized what we did for Silver in the middle of the dueling club.”

Ginny looks at him. “Huh? Oh, yeah, that too, I guess.”

He looks at her. “What?”

“Oh, uh… I was worried she’d think I was… you know, doing the attacks.”

Harry blinks. “She let you into the Agency a week ago, and you’re worried she suspects you?”

She shrugs. “To be honest, I almost suspect myself. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was Voldemort last time- and given what Ariel started her life as…”

Harry scowls. “So why would you suspect yourself?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. All I know is that I can’t remember a couple of nights- particularly, the nights with attacks- and each time, I’ve found myself covered with feathers… or paint.” She scowls. “I’m… I’m not worried that I might be doing it voluntarily, but if something’s using my body to do it…”

“It wouldn’t be using your abilities,” Harry states, “Nor Ariel’s. The first attack happened before your Papa Tango, remember?”

She nods. “Yeah, then the second attack was, like, two days later. If that. You saw them in the Hospital Wing, right? Tree Hugger, and Agent Hidden Light? I missed their entire search for the monster, because I wasn’t… um, aware.” She shivers, and hugs him tightly. “What if you’re next?”

Harry pats her shoulder comfortingly. “Hey, hey. I’m invulnerable, remember? And yeah, Fluttershy told me about it. She was attacked as well, alongside Tree Hugger- but she’s an alicorn, so she wasn’t hurt. She couldn’t remember it, even after emptying her gun at it, but she wasn’t hurt.” He chuckles lightly. “That’s why she carries that massive rifle around- she’s determined to end the monster next time.”

“But- What if it attacks Hermione? Or Silver?”

He shakes his head. “They’re also alicorns, Ginny. And what’s more, we’re papa tango alicorns, not regular alicorns like Fluttershy. Lyra tells me the Papa Tangoes are universally more powerful than any regular Equestrian… Even, say, Princess Celestia. So, believe me when I say, none of us have anything to worry about. Especially if it’s using your body for the attacks- I doubt it’ll want to kill off its own avenue of attack, will it?”

She shudders, pressing herself into his side. Ariel wraps her tail comfortingly around her neck. “What… What if it attacks Ariel? Or- Or Dumbledore?”

Harry shrugs. “Well, you know Ariel is immortal too, right?”

“I- I know, but- But I don’t want to be immortal without you!”

He hugs her back. “I asked Twilight about that last night, actually. I asked her what set Alicorns apart, aside from power levels and access to every tribe’s magic.” He smiles. “Did you know, alicorns are immortal too?”

Ariel gasps. Ginny looks sharply up at him. “You’re… immortal?”

He nods. “Yep. She tells me Princesses Celestia and Luna are both over a thousand years old. And since that means we’re all immortal, I guess we just need to find a way to turn you two into alicorns as well, before we hunt that last horcrux to extinction?”

“... Oh.”

“Anyways, what do you say we go find Silver and meet Dumbledore? I’m sure you remember the password to his office, right?”

She chuckles lightly as Ariel disappears, satisfied. “Of course I do. They only gave it to me as part of agent training.” She scowls. “They haven’t given it to you?”

He shakes his head. “Not yet- pretty sure they’ll be covering that during mine and Silver’s last ‘initial training’ session on Monday.”

“Ahh.” She walks with him for about two seconds, before looking up at him. “There’s a parseltongue translation spell?”

He nods. “She used it when we found Mrs. Norris.” He chuckles. “Never taught it to me, though. Pretty sure there is no wand-magic incantation for it.”

Ginny shrugs. “You know, I wonder how hard it would be to make Silver a parselmouth as well.”

Harry puts his hand to his chin- the hand not wrapped around Ginny. “That’s a good question.” He grins. “Maybe even one for her.”

Ginny giggles. “Yeah, I guess.”


It doesn’t take them long to walk back to the Great Hall, where Hermione and Silver are waiting, leaning casually on the energy wall Silver had erected around Scootaloo’s lava puddle. “What was that all about?” Silver asks.

“Lyra wanted to warn us to be careful with the Parseltongue translation spell,” Harry answers her. “Apparently, Salazar Slytherin was famous for being able to talk to snakes without such a spell. And, since the spell has no outwardly noticeable effects…” He shrugs.

“She’s worried people will think you’re Slytherin’s heir,” Hermione nods.

“Yeah. You ready?” Ginny asks.

Silver grins. “Yeah, let’s get this over with. You know, I can’t wait to see how Dumbledore reacts when he finds out.”

It’s another short walk up to Dumbledore’s office, where they pause in front of the gargoyle.

Ginny raises her hand to one of her radios. “Hey, Dumbledore? Do you mind if we make a quick visit?”

“Sure… something happen?”

She grins. “Ahh, you could say that. And no, it’s not an Agency visit, just me and… uh, the crew.”

“Alright then, come on in. You know the password?”

She grins, and depresses the button. “Lemon drop.”

The gargoyle springs aside, wall splitting open, as Dumbledore responds. “Yep. You know where my… Ahh, I’ll take that as a yes.”

She giggles. She, Harry, Hermione, and Silver had just stepped onto the spiral staircase, triggering Dumbledore’s warning wards.


“So, you wanted to talk?” Dumbledore asks, as Harry and three girls file into his office, into a line facing him.

“Yeah, you could say that,” Silver states.

“Alright,” Dumbledore continues. “What about, miss…” He squints at her nametag. “Silversong? Interesting.”

“Interesting how?” Silver asks.

Dumbledore smiles. “Well, the first few times I heard that name related to Lyra’s case, I thought it was a codename. Even checked the enrollment lists- nowhere to be found. Yet here you are.” He blinks. “Though, I could swear I’ve seen that hair before.”

Silver grins. “Well, that’s the thing… Until earlier today, that’s all it was- a codename. Or, to be precise, a name for my Equestrian form, one that wasn’t shared by my human form. Then, we, ah, took a few liberties with Lyra’s Papa Tango.”

Dumbledore raises his eyebrows. “A few… liberties?”

She nods. “Yeah. Messed with it a little, managed to give me a second human form- one that’s divorced from the restrictions of my first.”

“Your… first.”

She shifts into form as Draco. “Yeah. Draco has to conform to his position and family…” She shifts back into her new form. “But Silversong is as free as the wind. So…”

“You want to change your enrollment?” Dumbledore asks.

She shakes her head. “Nah, I was thinking of enrolling as Silver as well, and giving her a free schedule- so I could be Silver- be me- in public, including with homework, and take Draco to class. Without connecting the two.”

Dumbledore shakes his head.

“Please?” she pleads.

“Silver… Draco… whoever, we can’t do that,” Dumbledore sighs. “You can either keep Silver a codename, or completely switch. And you’ll have to have your parents’ permission for that, too.”

“Please?” Harry and Hermione beg.

He shakes his head.

Ariel suddenly appears out of Ginny’s shoulder, fluttering over to Draco’s shoulder. “Can we do that?” she asks. “Can we get Silver in separate from Draco, as she asked?”

Dumbledore sighs. “Well…”

“Please?”

“Alright.”

All three girls, plus Harry, turn to stare at Ariel.

“Thank you,” Ariel smiles. Then she looks sideways at Hermione. “The Agency can handle the legal paperwork, right?”

Hermione lets out a snort of laughter and nods. “Lyra tells me they do it all the time,” she states. “Especially considering that most Agents have more than one secret identity.”


About two minutes later, as the four ride the staircase back down to the entrance, Silver looks at Ariel, still riding her shoulder. “How did you do that?”

Ariel shrugs her wings. “I don’t know. I’ve had some suspicion about what my talent might be since we did that thing with the Papa Tango- and now I’m pretty sure I know what it is.” She smiles cheerfully. “Getting people to do what I want them to.” She then vanishes back into Ginny, right as the wall at the bottom opens for them.

PreviousChapters Next