Ch. 2 — Confrontation
Ch. 2 — Confrontation
Harry darted through the door and looked around the room. It was much smaller than the hall outside, although still much bigger than needed for the three people already in the room. Portraits and paintings lined the stone walls. Harry startled when he saw the faces in the paintings turn to look at him as he hovered. To his astonishment, he saw a wizened woman in a robe actually walk out of the frame of her portrait! She clearly looked at him while she walked into the painting beside hers! She started whispering to a women in a red dress just as another woman joined them from a third painting.
He dragged his gaze from the paintings to the teenagers who were grouped around a lit fireplace on the opposite wall. One, a boy in furs, was leaning against the mantelpiece, staring into the flames moodily. The second, in a black robe, was standing with his hands behind his back, rocking slightly on his feet, also staring into the fire. A girl in blue robes, with silvery hair, stood between the two. They turned and looked when Harry flew in.
The three stared at the black pegacorn hovering in the air before them. The boy by the mantelpiece grabbed for his pocket. Harry threw up a half-sphere shield and slid smoothly sideways into a corner, facing them. The light-blue glow was almost invisible in the light of the torches to either side of him.
He had several blasting spells at mind, should any stick start to point towards him. The Everfree had taught him to always be prepared for things to go to tartarus at the worst possible moment. And he planned to teleport to the previous room that was a handy and short distance away when it did. Then it would be back into the rafters for him. And then change to a breezie. At that size, they’d never find him. He couldn’t hold it for long, but maybe he could sneak out the front doors before then.
Or he could try phasing instead of teleporting through the roof. Maybe he would get it to work, this time. He had accomplished things in desperation in the Everfree Forest when he had been completely unable to do them at home, after all.
A man wearing long robes with thick horizontal stripes of bright yellow and black hurried in behind Harry. Dumbledore was talking to someone just outside the door, Harry saw. The newcomer had an enormous picture of a wasp splashed across his chest. His nose was squashed, but his round blue eyes, short blond hair, and rosy complexion made him look like an overgrown schoolboy. His slightly too-tight robes hinted at a powerful body gone to seed.
He stopped and stared at Harry. “Extraordinary,” he cried, and clapped his hands together. “Amazing, absolutely amazing! Gentlemen . . . lady,” he said as he moved toward the other three. “I’d like to introduce you to — unbelievable as it might appear — to the fourth Triwizard champion?” He waved an arm at Harry.
The three teens looked at him as if he were quite mad. They looked at Harry, and then back at the man, in disbelief. The silvery-haired girl shook her head, ruefully. She smiled. “Oh, Meester Bagman, that was a vairy funny joke,” she said somewhat disparagingly.
Huh. That was interesting. She spoke with an accent.
“ You think it is a Joke?” Bagman said surprised. “No, no, no, not at all! Harry Potter’s name did come out of the Goblet of Fire! And then,” he stopped and pointed dramatically at Harry, “he appeared in the hall.”
All three again looked at him as if he were mad, then at each other.
“Harry Potter? But this is a horse, a, a baby pegasus” declared the teen in the black robe. “This competition is for wizards and witches!”
“Hay!” said Harry, “I’m a pony, not a horse!” He frowned as he muttered, “And a pegacorn at the moment, not a pegasus.”
They looked at him, surprise evident in their expressions.
“Eet talks!” the girl said, astonished.
“I’m a he, not an eet!” Harry said testily, crossing his forelegs across his chest as he transitioned to a seated position in the air, and stared at them. He pulled his rear legs up as he hovered, using their greaves to add a bit more protection to his belly armour — and other things. He noticed that if he landed and stood on his hind legs, he would be only a head, maybe a head-and-a-half shorter than the three of them were.
The four just stared at him speechlessly.
Dumbledore stepped through the door Harry had used, followed by a large group of adults. First was a stiff, upright, elderly man, dressed in an impeccably crisp suit and tie. The one behind him was tall and thin like Dumbledore, but his white hair was short, and his goatee did not entirely hide his rather weak chin. Then there was an extremely big woman, easily half-again as tall as any of the men, with an olive-skinned face, large, black, liquid-looking eyes, and a rather beaky nose. Her hair was drawn back in a shining knob at the base of her neck. Last were the hook-nosed man and a rather severe-looking woman who was wearing square glasses. Harry could hear the noise of the hundreds of students before the second woman closed the door.
“Madame Maxime!” cried the girl, when she saw the tall woman. She strode over to her, outrage evident in every step. “Zey are saying zat zis . . . animal . . . is to compete also!”
The only woman among the newcomers straightened in indignation. She stood at her full, and rather surprising to Harry, height. She towered over the others by yard or more. Her head almost brushed the candle-filled chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, and her black-satin covered chest expanded impressively as she drew a breath in outrage.
“What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?” she said demanded icily, and glared at the man angrily.
“I think I’d like to know that myself, Dumbledore,” interjected the man with the goatee. He stared, with a calculating look, at the other man.
Harry rolled his eyes. He stared at the girl. “Technically,” he said, snarkily, “we’re all animals.” He turned his gaze to Dumbledore. “Yes. Explain,” he ordered in a haughty tone. His lessons with Blueblood in court etiquette and how to deal with nobles were evident in his refined, authoritative tone. Plus, as Blueblood had stressed, if ponies thought you were important, they listened and treated you better. And if you didn’t have the servants or livery to get the point across, your attitude and what you said, and how you said it, had to do the job.
The boy in the black robe stared at Harry’s wings with a puzzled frown.
Dumbledore stroked his beard, and looked back at Harry. “This year, Hogwarts,” he waved an arm expansively, “this school, is hosting the Triwizard Tournament. The other two competitors are the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, headed by Headmistress Madame Olympe Maxime, and the Durmstrang Institute, headed by High Master Professor Igor Karkaroff.” The indicated individuals nodded their heads irritably.
Harry turned an expectant look at the others in the room.
“Ah, yes,” Dumbledore said. “This is Mr. Crouch, the Ministry’s Wizard in charge of the Triwizard Tournament.” He pointed to the nicely dressed elderly man.
“This is Professor McGonagall Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts.” He nodded at the stern-looking woman. “This is Professor Snape, our Potions Master.” He nodded to the hook-nosed man.
“And these three are our competitors in the Triwizard Tournament,” he said swinging his arm to point at each. “Miss Delacour, of Beauxbatons; Mister Krum, from Durmstrang, and Hogwarts’ own, Mister Diggory.”
Harry nodded an acknowledgement of each person. “Pleased to make your acquaintances,” he said in as formal and polite a tone as he could manage. “My name is Prince Harry Potter Sparkle, of Equestria.” He hated to say his title because of the attention it invariably brought him. It was all so silly. But in this situation, he felt he needed every advantage he could seize.
After a moment’s silence, as they mulled this statement over with varied looks of surprise, suspicion, and scepticism, Dumbledore continued. “The Goblet of Fire is a very old and very powerful magical instrument,” he stated.
Harry’s stomach sank.
“We used it to select competitors from our respective schools.” The Headmaster continued, as he indicated the three teens with a gentle wave, “The candidates, of which there were at least a dozen from each school, dropped their names into the Goblet, yesterday and this morning. This evening, it selected the best candidate from each school to participate in the competition. The selection is based on a balance of magical prowess, knowledge, and skill.”
He paused to make sure Harry was following his explanation. He sighed.
“Being selected by the Goblet is an irreversible magical contract. Selected entrants must compete or lose their magic. That was why, this year, we limited participants to those of age, over seventeen.”
Harry facehoofed and sighed heavily. Of course. A magical artefact.
“How it managed to select you and draw you here? Someone must have dropped your name into the Goblet. That alone wouldn’t have been enough, though. They had to then cast a powerful confundus charm on this formidable magical object and convince it that there were four schools, not three. And with your name being the only entrant for that fourth school?” He spread his hands helplessly. “There could only be one outcome.”
“I must confess, however, I have never heard of the Goblet actually summoning a missing selected entrant.” He stroked his beard. “On the other hand, in the past, the entrants have always been present. I will have to investigate it thoroughly.” He nodded, muttering to himself, “Yes, a thorough investigation is needed.”
Harry hovered and thought. It made sense. Magical artefacts were always messing around with things in Equestria. A.K. Yearling’s stories as Daring Do Dazzle, showed that. Why should here be any different? And, naturally, any such object would be designed to cause the maximum amount of inconvenience. He shook his head resignedly.
He was here. He would have to compete. The only question was why was he here, in particular?
The fillies would be so upset at missing this.
“How do we know that this is really Harry Potter?” Professor Karkaroff said distrustfully. While he smiled, he had a slightly angry expression and his eyes were narrowed in suspicion.
Harry sighed. Loudly. “I am Harry Potter Sparkle. I was born Harry Potter, and adopted by Princess Twilight Sparkle,” he said in a bored snobbish tone. “I was brought here by your magical artefact that is convinced I am Harry Potter.” He paused and stared at the man, and raised an eyebrow. “What do you want me to do to prove that? Dig up my mother and father from their graves and ask them?”
There was a moment of gobsmacked silence.
“Well,” hesitantly hazarded the boy in the black robes still standing in front of the fire, “You certainly don’t look like Harry Potter.”
And there it was.
“How do you know what Harry Potter looks like? Because the Dursleys certainly didn’t take any pictures of me for you to see.”
“Er, well,” the boy looked at the others in the room, “According to the books, he looks like his father, but has his mother’s green eyes. He definitely doesn’t look like a small flying black pony with a horn and slit-eyes. Even if they are green.”
“Right,” Harry said softly and sarcastically. “Because every child always looks exactly like his parents, and brothers and sisters are all identical, aren’t they?” He snorted derisively. “And it’s impossible for someone to change their appearance with an illusion, or magic?”
He landed and looked up at everyone. He shook his head sadly. Stupid Wizards. Then he stood on his hind legs, and cast an illusion of himself, over his mum’s illusion, of what he remembered he looked like, five years ago.
“Merlin,” he heard someone whisper.
Whether it was in response to his illusion itself, or to his ability to cast such a good illusion, he wasn’t sure. It didn’t matter, anyway.
“Of course,” he said, somewhat smugly, “this doesn’t prove anything, does it? I could have gotten this from a picture, couldn’t I? Of course, that begs the question of where the picture came from, doesn’t it?”
He dismissed the illusion and resumed hovering. “For that matter, how do I know you’re really Albus Dumbledore?” He stared at the white-bearded man, then turned and looked at the big woman, “Or that you are Olympe Maxime? I have no proof you are, do I?”
“Or even that he,” he pointed at the scarred man who had just slipped in the door, “is Alastor? He could be an imposter. How would I know any different?”
Everyone turned and looked at the man.
Alastor stiffened, and fixed both eyes on Harry.
“I could be Nightmare Moon, or Mad King Sombra, for all you know.” He cast another illusion around himself, an illusion that stood on the floor and looked them all in the eyes. It was the mad king, with thick black mane, glowing red and green eyes, curved red horn, and long, sharp fangs. He had armour, a royal cape, crown, and a vile purple mist drifting from the corners of his eyes.
Harry let it dissipate to reveal a tall mare wearing a different crown, who had holes in her legs, horn, mane, and tail, with butterfly-like, but ragged wings. “Or I could be the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis,” he hissed at them in her two-tone voice. The image changed into a tall centaur with a grey-furred body, black torso, red arms, and twin curving horns. He stared down at them all imperiously, hands on hips. “Or, perhaps, even the magic stealing monster, Tirek,” his voice boomed disparagingly.
Everyone was staring at him in shock, and not a little horror.
He dismissed his illusion and revealed his mum’s Nightmare Moon illusion once more. Harry looked back and narrowed his eyes. “I really don’t care if you believe I am Harry Potter Sparkle,” he said in as refined and dismissive tone as he could manage. “The fact that remains, and all that matters, is that the goblet brought me here, right? I have to compete in this Triwizard Tournament foalishness, don’t I?” He looked over at the Headmaster. “And my school is Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.”
The adults looked at each other. “I have a way to prove if he is or is not Harry Potter,” the Headmaster finally said, eyes twinkling. “Scriffy?” he said.
Harry almost tried to teleport out of the room when an odd little creature suddenly appeared beside Dumbledore.
“Scriffy be here,” said the creature. After a moment, Harry realized it looked a lot like a gremlin. It almost as tall as he was when he stood as a pony, with spindly arms and legs and oversized head and eyes. It had pointed, bat-like ears and a high, squeaky voice. Rather than conventional clothing, it was wearing what was clearly a pillowcase with the Hogwarts logo stitched into it.
“Would you bring me a Gringotts heredity parchment from my desk?”
“Scriffy will do!” declared the diminutive creature.
The Headmaster looked over at Harry who was watching the hook-nosed man and the scarred man very closely. “Sometimes we have students pretending to be others for their OWL and NEWT tests,” he explained. “When Scriffy returns, Harry, all you need to do is put a drop of blood on the parchment and it will immediately display the names of your parents.”
Harry gritted his teeth at the man’s assumed familiarity.
“Scriffy is back,” proclaimed the proud house-elf as he handed a small sheet of parchment to Dumbledore.
“Here, boy,” called the scarred man, who was leaning against the door to the hall. He dropped a knife on the floor and kicked it over to Harry.
Dumbledore nodded. “Thank you, Alastor,” he said as he stepped closer to Harry and held the paper out to him.
Harry took the parchment in his magic. He floated the knife up and carefully poked himself in the frog of his right hoof. He pressed the parchment against his hoof hard enough to smear blood on it. He just as carefully replaced the knife on the floor and slid it back to the scarred man. A quick healing spell took care of the cut, and took almost no magic.
He held the parchment up enough to see what it wrote, but didn’t take his eyes off the others in the room — ah, the advantages of a pony’s 270-degree vision! Slowly the smear of blood rearranged to read “Prince Harry James Potter Sparkle, son of Head of House James Potter (father) and wife Lily J. Potter (née Evans) (mother). Adopted son of Princess Twilight Sparkle.” He floated the parchment over to the Headmaster.
Dumbledore took it, smiled, and showed it first to Professor Karkaroff and then to Madame Maxime. “I believe this puts to rest any doubts as to this pony’s identity as Harry Potter?” Both grudgingly nodded. He handed the parchment to the severe looking woman. She glanced at it then showed it to the others.
After they had all had a look, Harry summoned it back.
“You needn’t worry about that,” Dumbledore said. “The parchment renders the blood magically inert. It can’t be used to harm you.”
Harry incinerated the parchment, anyway. These people hadn’t done anything, so far, for him to trust them. And he had a feeling he shouldn’t trust them.
“Well . . . it is extraordinary,” said Bagman. He smiled at Harry and rubbed his chin. “And the goblet did select and give us his name,” He nodded, as if doing so confirmed the fact. “I mean, there’s no ducking out at this stage, I don’t believe. He frowned and shook his head. He pursed his lips momentarily. “It’s in the rules, you know, once you’re selected, you have to participate.” He sighed. “Harry will just have to do the best he can. Regardless of how he looks.” He shrugged apologetically. The fact that he seemed excited and happy about the issue, almost bouncing on his feet, showed the hollowness of his apology.
For several moments there was silence.
He rubbed his hands together and smiled. “Well,” he said, “Time to give our champions their instructions, right?” He looked over at the elderly man. “Barty?”
Mr. Crouch looked back at him for a moment. “Yes,” he said, “Yes . . . the first task . . .” He moved over to stand by the three teenagers. Harry moved out of the corner to the mantelpiece’s edge.
Up close, Harry thought the man looked ill. Dark shadows hung beneath his eyes and his wrinkled skin had a thin, papery look to it.
Mr. Crouch cleared his throat. “The first task is designed to test your daring and courage in the face of the unknown,” he told Harry, Diggory, Delacour, and Krum. “It will take place on November the twenty-fourth. It will be in front of the other students and the panel of judges.” He paused and frowned. “There might be a bit of a problem there.” He glanced at Harry. “He has no judge present for his school,” the man said to the others. He furrowed his brow, thinking. “We’ll have a solution before then.”
The rest of the rules were simple. None of the schools’ professors could help their competitors with any of the tasks in the tournament. They would be allowed to begin the first task only with their wands. Information or clues about the other tasks would be made available after the previous had been completed. Because of the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the “champions” were exempt from end-of-year tests.
And, Harry was dismayed to hear, the tournament would last for the next eight months. His mum was not going to like that! It would be a severe blow to his schooling at Celestia’s school. Not to mention how mad she would be at them snatching him, and then keeping him here, incommunicado.
“That’s all, isn’t it, Albus?” Mr. Crouch finished.
Dumbledore nodded sagely, but was looking at Mr. Crouch with mild concern. “Perhaps you should stay at Hogwarts tonight, Barty?” he suggested.
“No, No,” Mr. Crouch demurred. “It is a very busy, very difficult time at the moment. I’ve left young Weatherby in charge . . . . a bit over enthusiastic, he is.” The man looked at Harry. “Hm. Perhaps that would work,” he muttered
“Possibly a drink before you go?” Dumbledore prompted gently.
“Oh, come on, Barty,” Bagman said encouragingly. “I’m going to stay!” he continued brightly. “There are guest apartments, you know, and everything is happening at Hogwarts, now! It’s so much more exciting here than at the Ministry office!” He made a motion as if to nudge the other man, “It’ll be just like old times,” he said nostalgically.
“No, I don’t think so, Ludo,” said Crouch. “There’s so much to do at the office.” He looked at Harry speculatively.
Crouch started for the door. Professor Karkaroff and Madame Maxime quickly ushered their champions out of the room. Alastor — Harry still didn’t know his last name — left with a gruff, “Lesson plans.”
Dumbledore looked at Harry. “Well,” he said quietly, “Let’s go to my office and we’ll arrange where you’ll stay.”
Flying with the Headmaster, Professors Snape and McGonagall, and Bagman as they walked through the castle was an eye-opener. Unlike his mum’s castle, or the Canterlot castle, this one was dark and gloomy, despite the numerous torches lining the corridors, and made from grey stone instead of white marble or crystal. The paintings and portraits really did move, as Dumbledore had confirmed. “They are mere shadows of the people in them — memories of what the owners placed in them when they were created. They aren’t really alive, in any sense, they have no souls.” He had said. “But they offer excellent insights into how people thought and lived back when they were created. The ones of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses have been quite insightful when I need counsel.”
The appearance of the ghosts had almost sent him fleeing down the corridor. He had read about them, of course, but nothing like ghosts existed in Equestria — though stories persisted.
Harry shuddered.
The Headmaster kept up a running commentary as they walked. The castle was a thousand years old.
Isn’t everything? Harry thought. If it was a long time ago, it is always a thousand years ago, isn’t it?
Anyway, there were four founders — two wizards and two witches.
“Hm?” said Dumbledore. “Ah yes, we call ourselves wizards and witches because we can use wands to manipulate magic. Then there are squibs, they have a bit of magic, but not enough to use a wand. Of course, there are those who can’t use magic at all. We call them muggles.”
Harry mulled that over for a moment. “Like the Dursleys?”
“Yes! Quite like the Dursleys.” He glanced at Bagman. “Only Harry Potter would know that Lily Potter’s married sister was Petunia Dursley.” He paused a second. “There are quite a bit more muggles than wizards and witches, though,” he continued to Harry, “and they are highly suspicious of magic users, so we have to remain hidden. That’s why you never heard of or met any wizards or witches while you stayed with your relatives.”
That set off all kinds of alarms in Harry’s mind. This wizard knew him, knew him well enough to recognize even his relatives! And the other wizards and witches had recognized his name. Plus, when he had lived with the Dursleys, there had been those oddly dressed people who seemed to recognize him, he remembered. They had waved, smiled, and one had even come up and shaken his hand. Total strangers. Which his aunt had never believed him when he said so. It invariably led to a severe punishment.
Why? Why was he soo well known? He eyed the Headmaster suspiciously, and tried to stiffen his magic shield.
The Headmaster seemed to ignore his reaction, or he didn’t recognize it. Instead he continued his ramblings about the castle, the four houses, and the subjects taught. Harry also learned that while there were some children who were home-schooled, almost every English wizard and witch attended Hogwarts from age eleven until seventeen. Usually, that meant there were about a thousand students at any given time. Unfortunately, attendance had been falling for the last four years because of a terrible war ten years before, led by a Lord Voldemort, who was presumed dead by most, but not by Dumbledore.
They stopped in front of a gargoyle in a cross-corridor.
Harry only twitched a tiny bit as the gargoyle slid to one side in response to the Headmaster saying Ginger Snaps. He followed the wizard up the stairs. Having the other three behind him made his back itch, but they waved for him go first.
At the top of the stairs was a large and beautiful circular room, the lower walls covered in bookcases. Above the bookcases were portraits of old wizards and witches — all of whom appeared to be sleeping! Scattered around were spindle-legged tables with silver instruments whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. Opposite the door was a massive, claw-footed desk with two armchairs in front of it. Behind it, sitting on a shelf in a place of honour, and surrounded by paintings, was a shabby, tainted, conical hat. It was patched, frayed, and extremely dirty. Rarity would have been horrified to see that hat, much less have it in her home. If she had to keep it, it would have been cleaned and festooned with ribbons and bows!
To one side, near windows that looked outside into the night, were a couch, table, and chairs.
Harry studied the windows for a moment. He had an escape, at last, if he needed a way out. An easy teleport to the outside world. Or he could do a reverse DashCrashTM.
Dumbledore made his way behind the desk and removed the hat from its shelf.
He gestured at the armchairs. “Please, Harry, be seated.” He nodded at the wizards and witch behind Harry, and waved his stick, which he had explained was a wand. An additional chair appeared in front of his desk, the first two chairs didn’t even have to move to make room. Professor McGonagall seated herself in one chair, Bagman took the middle chair, while the hook-nosed Professor Snape merely stood to one side and watched Harry closely.
“My name is Harry Potter Sparkle,” the pony said aloofly, with a mild glare. “Only my friends may call me Harry.” He cautiously approached the other chair, fortunately the one closest to the windows, and turned it to face the other three. He landed on the seat. He sat, butt-down, with his forelegs holding him upright. He stared at the Headmaster. It was a bit uncomfortable sitting that way on the cardboard armour, but it put him at head-height for the wizards and witch.
The witch was staring at him in disapproval. Professor Snape’s expression was blank, and the other wizard coughed and tried to hide a smile behind his hand.
Harry noticed several of the portraits were now awake and taking interest in the room.
“Before we do anything,” he said in what he hoped was a regal manner, “tell me why you all know who I am. And why someone would want to place my name in that goblet.”
The story he was told left him shocked to his core.
He had always thought his parents had died in a car crash.
That an evil wizard had killed them while trying to take over the wizarding world left him speechless. That the wizard had then been destroyed trying to kill Harry was preposterous. That the people of the wizarding world somehow thought he was their saviour was unbelievable — he was barely fifteen months old at the time!
And he had thought ponies jumped to irrational conclusions!
If it weren’t for the grim expressions, and nodding agreement, on the other three adults, he would have thought this merely a very tasteless joke. He could only shake his head in disbelief.
“No doubt,” Dumbledore continued, “Voldemort’s followers, many of whom are still free, hold you responsible for the disappearance of their master. Placing your name in the Goblet of Fire might have been an attempt to kill you from a distance. They must have thought that when you failed to show up for the first task, the Goblet would consider you in violation of the magical contract and remove your magic. The abrupt removal of your magic would probably kill you, giving them their revenge.” He sadly shook his head, then smiled gently. “Fortunately, the Goblet summoned you immediately, instead. No one suspected that possibility.”
Wonderful, Harry thought bitterly. He was in an unfamiliar world, he had no way to contact his mum, he had to take part in this ridiculous tournament, and he was a hero to the stupid wizards. Oh, yeah, and a small group wanted him dead.
How could this possibly get any worse?
۸- ̰ -۸
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Facehooves Harry, you've been a member of the CMC for how many years now? You think you of all ponies would know better then to think something like that!
Bullshit. Any version of Harry that has lived in ponyville for five years would NEVER dare even think those words. Not even in contempt or irony. EVER
Dazzle? Is she half siren now or something?
Oh, and it'd be thirteen years from the war now, if Harry is fourteen. Ok that's just nipticking, but true
Sane Harry is a joy to read, please do continue soon!
I think they are all in for some big surprises as Harry will never stop calling them out. I hope when all of Harry’s family and friends arrive they can deal with the fun that is Hogwarts. Then again I think Harry will definitely be not trusting anyone that much this time around.
This Harry is a little Malfoyish and not a little Evans-Verresy.
Well, Harry could just lose in purpose for each test, do something to disqualify him would be less dangerous hor him, he is forced to compete, not to win, or make any effort, that takes care of the dangers of the tournament and hatred from the students; now safety from others, that is different.
I can just see Blueblood with a look of extreme annoyance, tutoring Harry on proper noble manners. He'd feel an obligation to do so, just so Harry, and his mother, wouldn't embarrass the court. I can see Harry being a better student. Twilight, as we've seen, tends to forget such things when she spots something shiny.
Right now his behavior isn't very pony like, and considering how long he's been in Equestria, and who his principal role models are that seems strange. Twilight would be so curious about this new environment that she wouldn't be able to focus on much more than scratching that itch. Pinkie would be jumping for joy at the chance to meet so many new 'funny looking ponies.'
Rainbow Dash would be belligerent I admit. Still, Harry seems too stilted for someone who spent five years in close proximity to the CMC.
I think Harry must be terrified and is pushing that feeling down deep and calling on any training he might have that would be of aid in this situation.
Still I hope his inner pony will incline him to make friends if given the chance. Luna Lovejoy would tick off a lot of boxes for him and incline him to lower his guard in her regard.
I just realized. In a household that included Twilight, Harry and Spike would have had to be the grownups anytime Twilight spun out of control. In other words about once a week.
Side note: as I've said before. If Harry is cross-fertile as a pony, then he 'is' a pony, and after a certain period of acclimation, he should get a cutie mark.
You know your Murphy, Harry. How dare you think such a silly line. It can always get worse. The everfree has taught you that. Chrysalis and her drones replacing people has taught you that. Tirek's magic stealing has taught you that. Heck, Starlight's time travel shenanigans, or Discord, or ...
Seriously, you should have gotten 2 lessons a year, roughly, on this topic.
Gee, I don't know:
"Mr. Headmaster, do you know of any way to send a message back to where I came from?"
EDIT: Or, "If that Goblet can summon me here, can it also summon my mother here as well?"
9826656
Good idea, but I'm betting that you can only get away with a limited amount of sandbagging. The contract might not care if you win, but I'm betting you have to make an honest effort.
Shouldn't that be "Princess Twilight's School of Friendship"?
9826695
Might not be depending on when in the timeline the story takes place.
Now I just hope TK will show what is happening in Ponyville with Harry's disappearance
9826628 This Harry is believable he's dealt with Canterlot nobles for years, been tutored by Blueblood. THis is along with spending time with the CMC and attending Princess Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns. This time the Goblet of Fire didn't make a mistake there was four schools not that anyone realized it
Alright, Harry is in the room with the sorting hat. Any chance that they'll try to sort him next chapter?
Lets start guessing as to what the hat will say:
"HufflePuff" -- This Harry knows the value of friendship.
"Ravenclaw" -- He has been raised by The Princess of Books, after all :-)
"Slytherin" -- The house of the powerful. Remember, in the books the reason he was NOT put into Slytherin was because he had met Draco and did not want to associate with him.
"Headmaster" -- Someone with some sense :-)
How old is he at this point, and how old is A pony considered an Adult? Or rather, I am surprised at his apperent skill with illusion magic, considering his apperent age.
9826695 But when did Harry start school beyond the regular school in Ponyville we had a good year or two after Twilight became an Alicorn before she started the School of Friendship
I wanna see the Hat refuse to sort Harry citing Harry is ALREADY a part of a DIFFERENT school. Can you just SEE the lovely CHAOS that would cause?
I'm kind of surprised by how Harry disregards everyone around him as stupid. While he has every reason in the world to be unsure about the world, his attitude speaks more of being above everyone else already. And while he certainly has the right to feel suspicions, I hope he does open up to making friends. He is the adopted son of the Princess of Friendshil who reaches her hoof to try and redeem others and tries to be open about things.
9826765
I think its partially defensive and part to show them "Hey you wont be taking advantage of me" After all they DID rip him from his home.
9826765
To be fair Twilight had that same, or at least similar, problem herself before she came to Ponyvile, Which also needed multiple end of the world scenarios to boot to get her out of. So hey the Triwizard tournament, is at least safer by comparison for Harry to make friends.
9826779
I dunno I mean look at the second task, going down to the bottom of the lake? How will HArry pull that off? I also hope his mom manages to show up to play as his judge in the tournament
Kinda hoping that Twilight will find some way of having Discord help find Harry; by asking Fluttershy of course first as he would do anything for her and it would be fun to imagine Discord taking a Liking to Harry and be seen as the crazy but funny uncle by Harry.
9826789
that would be awesome!
You know, in some cultures, those words are a curse.
i see no reason for harry to be sorted at all, his is representing a 4th magic school after all... they even said as much.
“How it managed to select you and draw you here? Someone must have dropped your name into the Goblet. That alone wouldn’t have been enough, though. They had to then cast a powerful confundus charm on this formidable magical object and convince it that there were four schools, not three. And with your name being the only entrant for that fourth school?” He spread his hands helplessly. “There could only be one outcome.”
to sort Harry into a house of Hogwarts would not only challenge this claim, but also be seen by the other schools as giving Hogwarts an unfair advantage in numbers (like it did in the book). now i can see them doing a (soft) sorting to see where he is going to be living while the tournament is going on... other then that, he may still need a wand to compete, even if he is a unicorn...
Harry should be listed as being from Celestia's school for Gifted Unicorns. now even if they do try to sort him, (which would negate him being from a 4th school) the hat would have to take that into account. i'd say he would probably be sorted into the House of the Sun or House of the Moon... (or house of whom ever is the Alpha of his herd).
what i would like to see/read is either Celestia or Luna show up with Twilight to watch over the tournament and put one hell of a scare in old Valdy. nothing like meeting a pissed off god just after being reborn, to put you in your place.
9826788
Well hopefully by then his mother will be there and it will be after the movie so he can get a sea pony form.
I'm waiting for the cavalry to show, because this is all sorts of wonky. Like, they've never had someone get selected and want to bow out? And they just let teenagers make a potentially deadly contract with- oh wait, Hogwarts, I forgot. Still. Why are they using this thing at all, instead of three boxes enchanted to be actually random and dispel interference?
For that matter, how is Dumbledore in charge of so much as a tollbooth at this point?
"So i hid the savior of wizardkind somewhere so he'll grow up without attention, I mean without being spoiled."
"That sounds reasonably dangerous to children, alright."
Appropriate year for him going to Hogwarts rolls around
"So where is he?"
"He, um, disappeared for some reason."
Don't get me wrong, I want to see where this goes and the takes on the characters, but wizarddom is being especially dickish and cryptic for no clear reason.
for somereason I can see sunset being at that school, knew of harry maybe meet him in ponyville, and she a few year older then him in Hogwarts like in her last or second to last year of school and see him and try to get to him...and then tell his mum where he is, only for her to show up and burst down some doors, wards, weak wizards,
9826765
With how close this story is to the authors’ other Harry Potter story and their is a disclaimer that it is not the sequel. We could extrapolate that many things are the same. I think Harry has no reason to trust humans but will be more trusting to ponies or other creatures he knows.
9826817
They use the Goblet because that's how the competition always worked. Hogwarts is hosting the competition but Dumbledore doesn't actually have any control over it or its rules. He's bound to following them as much as Harry is.
And no this has never happened before, the Goblet always chooses who its deemed to be worthy so at the very least its gonna be someone fully prepared and capable of doing the competition. Harry was only chosen because it was set up so he was the only choice the Goblet could make.
9826715
what about Gryffindor,
also I think twilight with the hat "um I don't knew what to say, she fit all of them, she super smart, friendly, and brave but dam is she a power house, I mean it, her magic level are about same of to everyone else in the room put together, and more smarts then everyone in this room put together..... bloddy, she the new headmaster"
9826757
that is how discord will show up, I guess at least
9826715
Hufflepuff. Seriously, any other house is left in the dust by a Harry Potter raised in Ponyville for a while. His mother is the Princess of Friendship, and his mother's friends include an Honest pony who enjoys the value of hard work and teaching others those values, the literal Element of Loyalty, a pony who lives to spread joy and Laughter among friends, a mare who is always Generously helping others, and the single Kindest would-befriend-Satan-if-she-could (and kinda sorta did) pony in existence.
Harry's got Hufflepuff values crammed into him from six different angles. Any other house can take a backseat.
Not sure why people are debating houses unless this is just some kind of hypothetical. Harry isn't a student of Hogwarts so there is no reason to sort him, I guess Harry could ask to enroll but I can't imagine why he would.
I’m assuming this at least shares the start with your other story in the sense of establishing his Equestrian relationships. I am, however very interested in how we got here in Harry Potter terms.
Was Quirrell captured by Albus and then left for dead by Voldy in the mirror chamber? Or did he abandon that in favor of something else when he couldn’t get the stone from the mirror? Did Quirrell go back to teaching muggle studies?
Without Harry to open the chamber, book two can’t have happened at all, or else the school would be shut down. Without Dobby blocking Harry from boarding the train, they wouldn’t take the car and Ron’s Wand wouldn’t be broken to wipe Lockhart’s memory. Which begs the question: what happened to Gilderoy?
Sirius would have still broken out to catch Peter, but would Snape have outed Remus as a werewolf without his grudge so newly awakened by an escaped Sirius? Did Sirius get a Dementor’s kiss? Did Buckbeak get the axe? Is Hermione still using the Time Turner? Was Peter outed as Scabbers?
Who is Gryffindor’s Seeker?
How did Barty Jr. break free without stealing Harry’s wand at the Quidditch World Cup? What happened to the other DADA teachers?
9826865
Purely hypothetical. Like you said, there's no reason for Harry to want to be in Hogwarts, he just wants to go home.
How could this possibly get any worse?
or RD never say that, hold on is this a Tuesday.
9826613
I'm with him... You should know better by now Harry.
Well While it's not the fic I was hoping to see you put out I am interested to see what comes next. Though I hope this fic won't be as bloated as If wishes.
9826765
I think you mean regards, not disregards.
I'm sorry, but what cardboard?
9826889
The costume armour he was wearing for Nightmare Night. And I thought I had fixed that . . . .
He's definitely channeling Blueblood here, no doubt about that. Dragons aside, that second challenge is going to be a problem, what with him being quite alone and all.
I have to ask, what is up with this chapter being business as usual? I realize we have to get the plot going but there was a lot more book stuff then I was expecting. Harry just popped out of nowhere as a small pony, I feel like that should be the primary focus, not the competition. Like, take a moment to figure out what's going on with Harry before rushing ahead with the competition.
Also, I'm noticing a problem the other story had, namely where a character (in this case Harry) is a complete ass to the wizards and they just kind of take it with no real repercussions for Harry. I get that Harry is in a tough situation but I feel like someone should remind him of the dangers of antagonizing your hosts when in a situation where you have no clue where you are, how to get home, or who you can trust. Like where was the lesson where you should try to make friends instead of enemies? He had plenty of time in Equestria to learn it.
Hopefully Harry will get some suppprt like his mum as a judge and a certain trio of fillies for emotional support. Especially since hes probably stuck here for a year as it wouldnt make much of a story if he spent his time in Equestriaonly showing up to throw the challenges. Speaking of which the mermaid one will need to be different unless someone from home shows up to be pht in danger.
9826869
How did Hermione survive the troll in first year? Without Harry a lot has to have changed.
9826945
The mermaid thing happens late enough that he has plenty of time to make friends.
9826945
I mean, Ron was the one who knocked it out. Maybe he had a guilty conscience and went looking for her without Harry, and then the two of them were able to either knock the troll out or hold out long enough for the professors to arrive?
9826656
A clever idea since failing the first quest would kick you out of the competition immediately. However, being away from the spotlight might give the Death Eaters an opportunity to snub him out since most attention would focus on the tournament. As long as he is in the tournament, they could not act boldly since every eyes are on Harry.
Also, Harry seems to be very proud of being an adopted son of Twilight. He might trying his best to show these wizards his mother teaching is better than theirs.
9826960
Mmmmm, the tournament will take place in a time frame of 8 months, so there will be plenty of time to harm him in between tests, so failing the first one would be best for him, then he could ask to be returned, and to be protected in the meantime, and the death eaters are planning to teleport him away to resurrect Voldemort, due to Moody being replaced, if Alastor reaction is anything to go by.
9826960
I don’t know about that. If there are three trials, you are expected to do them all. Besides, failing a specific trial doesn’t disqualify you, or Fleur would have been out for failing to retrieve her sister in the second task. I think the only way to fail the tournament by failing a task is in a wooden box.
9826920
I don’t know. If I have been basically kidnapped and put into a do-or-die contest, I would be rather shirty towards all the adults for not visibly doing everything they could to help me.
9826979
Mmmm, well, then it only means that he just has to stay still until the time passes, in the lake that would be it, with the dragon, that would be difficult, so he would just have to suck it up, don't remember if there is a time limit with this trial, the labyrinth, he could just get caught and that will be all, the point is for him to survive and get this over with fast, because I imaging Harry doesn't care about the tournament, so he would look for the stuff that benefits him the most.
9826981
That's not the issue, the problem is the lack of reaction to his attitude. Instead of trying to defuse the situation, or react in any way whatsoever, they just seem to take Harry's sh!#ty attitude in stride which makes no sense. You can't just have the characters completely ignore Harry's attitude and just continue on with the plot as though there was no problem.
As I said this was a problem in the other story as well where characters are just openly hostile towards someone and the other person completely fails to react to it. That's not how dialogue works, you can't have one character be openly hostile to another character and just have that other character carry on as though nothing is happening.
Also even if he is upset, being a dick doesn't help his situation especially when he doesn't have all the information. He's not even giving them a chance. Again not being a jerk to someone you haven't had a chance to get to know first is a lesson he should have already learned. Or did he completely miss the Zecora incident?