Ch. 5 — Alley Set
Ch. 5 — Alley Set
«Spike,» Twilight said tiredly. There was no response. She looked over and saw he had fallen asleep at some point in the very late night. She blinked a couple of times and blearily realized the Sun was up and had been for some time. She looked around the library room in her castle. Her friends were all in various states of collapse. At some point, a maid had brought in pillows and blankets for the exhausted mares.
It had been a long day, yesterday, preparing for the celebration. And then they had started seriously searching for the missing teen at midnight, when the scheduled events had been concluded. She had tried every spell that she, Starlight, and Trixie could find trying to locate the colt. Her friends had turned the town upside down, sometimes literally in the case of Pinkie, with no success.
Now it was time to ask for help. Unfortunately, the first train to Canterlot wouldn’t be until noon.
She nudged Spike a few times until he sleepily looked up at her.
«Send this to Princess Celestia, please,» she said holding out the rolled up paper in her magic. He stared at her a moment, then nodded. He took a breath, and then a flame shot out, disintegrating the scroll. «Go back to sleep. Spike, I’ll wake you later,» she said softly.
She looked at her friends. Only Trixie and Starlight appeared still conscious. «Let’s catch some shut-eye. I’ll set an alarm so we can catch the train and get breakfast . . . or lunch . . . brunch?»
The two nodded. They settled down for naps. They would get the rest of their sleep on the train to Canterlot.
۸-ꞈ-۸
Madam Malkin walked around him, examining him carefully. “Spread your wings,” she ordered.
He did so, slowly and carefully, opening and closing them several times as she watched. Finally, she slipped a robe over his head.
Before she started pinning it up, though, he said, “I need the best quality material you have, as befits my station as a Prince of Equestria. The Royal family will accept no less.” Blueblood would be most displeased if he didn’t portray Equestria in the best light possible. His mum didn’t care, he knew, but the sister princesses would be disappointed at his not thinking of the politics, otherwise. He sighed dramatically, trying to give the impression that it was not by his choice that he made the request.
She looked at the Professor, who, after a moment, nodded her head. Pricilla nodded, returned what she had to the shelves, and went into the back room. Harry could see the difference in the cloth when she came back. She again slipped it over his head, and started to pin things in place. He sighed, softly. This would be as bad as Rarity when she started a new project.
It took the better part of an hour as she cut slits and altered the lay of the fabric until it flowed naturally from his shoulders to the floor. Finally, she said, “There you go dear. You can wear this one now, if you want, or I can have the complete set sent to Hogwarts for you.”
He admired the robes in a mirror, for a moment. Yes, he thought, yes. These will do nicely. Wearing them hid his armour quite well. He would no longer stick out quite so much in a crowd. They even had unobtrusive flaps in the back that allowed his wings easily to slip in and out. And she had altered the interior stitching so that when he went to all-fours the robe didn’t drag on the ground awkwardly, but held tight to his belly. “Yes, I will take this one with me.”
And with the addition of a mild don’t-see-me on his head, they could visit the rest of the shops in the Alley in peace.
“Wonderful,” she exclaimed. “Now, dear, all of Madam Malkins robes come with built-in enchantments to grow as you grow, repel dirt and water, and resist tearing. They still need the occasional cleaning, though. But with a bit of care, they should easily last you through your teen years at Hogwarts, unless you have a dramatic growth spurt.”
He looked at her and tilted his head questioningly. “How much extra is it to include warming, cooling, sweat vanishing, and minor tear-repair rune-spells?”
She looked at him blankly.
He frowned, then said, “If you sew this rune string . . . ,” he projected an illusion of a series of runes in the air. He left them glowing. “. . . into the lining, then it would immediately wick away and vanish your sweat, and help prevent you from overheating and your clothes sticking to you.” He projected a longer rune-set. “These will keep you warm when the air is cold, and cool when it’s hot.” He pointed at two runes. “These two set the temperature to room, about what it is now.” He projected a third set below the first two. “This set corrects minor tears and keeps the garment in pristine condition.” He gave her a smile and ducked his head slightly. “It won’t repair a major tear or sword-slash, but threads won’t catch and runs are prevented.”
Madam Malkin had grabbed a paper and made notes as fast as she could. “You don’t mind if I use these?” she asked breathlessly.
The others had gathered around Harry. “Aren’t those the runes you showed us last night?” Dean said.
Harry looked at him and nodded. To Malkin, he also nodded. “Not at all. These are common and well-known where I come from. To claim them as mine would be disingenuous and disrespectful.” Heh, his mum’s vocabulary was showing through, again. Blueblood would be pleased. One mark of a cultured pony was the expanded vocabulary, he had told Harry.
She nodded. “I’ll be sure to add these to all your robes,” she said. She gave him a brilliant smile. “The only robe charges will be for the actual Acromantula Silk material.”
Professor McGonagall had watched the interchange with great interested, and nodded approvingly.
“By the way,” he said, “I taught several people a spell to have wings like these,” he ruffled his wings, “So you might see some customers asking about alterations.” He gave her a grin.
Professor McGonagall was staring. No one had told her about the wings he had given the twins, it seemed.
Dean immediately stepped over, and started to take off his robe. “Here,” he said, “show her.” His shirt underneath took only a moment for him to remove.
Harry shrugged and concentrated. Seconds later, Dean sported a pair of feathered wings.
“Those will only last a few minutes,” he explained as the seamstress jumped into action measuring and sketching as Dean stretched and folded his new appendages. This early in the morning he hadn’t cast as many spells, so it wasn’t a strain. Making them last longer, or doing it a dozen times? That would be a drain.
Dean sighed disappointedly when the wings disappeared.
As they left the shop, Professor McGonagall said to Harry, “I shall have to introduce you to Professor Bathsheda Babbling, she will be quite interested in your runes.”
Harry felt his wings fade when they walked into the cauldron shop, which was a quick and simple stop.
“I’ll take that,” said Neville, afterwards. He hefted the pewter cauldron, which held stirrers, cups, brass scales, weights, and the other hardware he would need in brewing potions. Harry would get his vials at the Apothecary, Professor McGonagall had explained.
Slug and Jiggers Apothecary was terrifying. Just walking inside made Harry feel sick at the smells. What he saw on display didn’t help. Barrels of slimy stuff sat on the floor, strings of fangs and snarled claws hung from the ceiling, and parts taken from living creatures were everywhere. The animal parts were bad enough, but the silver unicorn horns and clearly labelled dragon-livers and dragon-gloves were especially distressing.
He was acutely aware of his horn, and the thought of Spike’s skin being used for gloves was positively nauseating. The look in the owner’s eyes at realizing that Harry was unicorn, and not just a wizard or witch, made Harry want to leave, immediately.
He recast his personal shield spell. And was pleased to note, a moment later, that the runes in the armour took over most of the magical drain at maintaining it. He hadn’t realized they would help so much. He could easily keep up the personal shield at maximum strength all day without any strain at all. And there wasn’t the obvious glow that full shields had.
He was very relieved to put the shop behind them, and definitely crowded Professor McGonagall as she led the way out with their purchases.
The telescope shop, afterwards, was another quick stop
The visit to Twilfitt and Tatting’s was not. But he did emerge with a complete wardrobe of casual wear and underwear, all altered for his . . . unique . . . requirements. And the promise that they would keep his requirements a secret, but not forget them if he needed any additional purchases. They, too, had appreciated the wicking, temperature, and minor tear-repair spells he mentioned.
The group stopped in at the Leaky Cauldron for leisurely lunch. Harry went with the fish and chips. And treated his friends for coming along and being such good sports while he shopped. He noticed that they had made a few incidental purchases of their own.
That was followed by a stop at a trunk shop. The professor was steering him towards the pile of standard trunks when Harry saw a sign about an expanded trunk. “What’s that?” He pointed.
“Hm? Oh those are our multiple-compartment trunks, with expansion charms.” The salesman said, looking towards where Harry pointed. “They’re a bit more than the normal Hogwarts trunks but are ever so much more practical. A two-compartment trunk, for example,” the salesman walked over to a display and pointed at a trunk with a rather fancy lock, “Would let you keep your clothes conveniently separated from your school supplies.” He opened the trunk to display that the entire top of the lid was eight drawers — two large ones, one above the other, that took up almost half the space, and six smaller ones in two rows beside the larger two. “There are separate drawers to prevent leaky ink bottles or colognes messing up your papers and books.” The lower section was subdivided into vertical, clear-lidded compartments. He closed it, fiddled with the lock, and reopened it to a normal looking trunk space.
Harry was sold on the trunk, immediately. He wanted plenty of time to study those expansion spells, charms, as the wizard had called them.
His mum was going to Pinkie-out at the discovery that she could take everything she needed in a single set of saddlebags. So would Rarity. Not to mention Spike. He, especially, would love only having to tote one small travel-case instead of the three or four huge trunks that Rarity insisted she had to take every time they travelled outside Ponyville.
He knew Trixie would turn green with envy at the thought of a simple lightweight travel-wagon that could hide an entire mansion.
“The two settings on the lock allow you to travel among muggles without arousing any suspicions,” the saleswizard added. “The second compartment has a featherweight spell to hide any suspicious weight.” He lifted the trunk off the table. “The main compartment has a special featherweight spell that engages when it is carried by a wizard or witch to make your travel easier, but a muggle gets the full weight.”
The purchase proved its value when they easily were able to store their all purchases, so far, in the second compartment. Both large drawers were specially spelled with additional enlargement charms. Watching the obviously too-large-for-the-drawer cauldron easily slip inside was simply astonishing to Harry.
He would need a rucksack, Seamus insisted. Which made sense as Harry didn’t have any saddlebags with him to use. Just a small pouch still tucked under his fake-but-now-somewhat-real armour. It contained his monthly allowance, in advance, and a few gems for Spike if he had wanted a nosh while they were at the Nightmare Night carnival.
The discovery that he could get a small shoulder rucksack with both expansion and featherweight charms became another must-have item.
“Just remember,” Professor McGonagall warned, “Don’t put a large-expansion-equipped item inside a small-expansion-equipped item. Bad things tend to happen. Small into large is okay, large into small is not!”
“That’s why robe pockets are all normal-sized,” the saleswizard put in helpfully, “people might forget and put a shrunken, expanded-trunk or bag in their pocket, and then — problems!” He smiled. “That’s why all my expanded trunks and rucksacks have a charm to detect expanded-space items and lock them out. And why my rucksacks have an exterior non-expanded pocket with a flap for shrunken trunks.”
Harry put most of his wizard coins into the trunk, and reserved a good portion for his rucksack. He had to marvel as he poured the coins from his friends’ pockets into the rucksack without it feeling the least bit heaver. That it cost almost as much as the trunk was just the oddity that you encountered when you designed something smaller than it normally was. Despite the size difference, the work to create the spells and ensure they worked was probably only a little bit different between the two items. Doing the smaller item, in fact, probably took more work!
Then came the quill, ink, and paper store. That took longer than it should simply because of the variety of choices in both quills and inks. Harry chose a set of quills that never ran out of ink, never dripped, and never splotched. And an ink collection for colour drawing.
Their last stop of the day was Ollivanders. Harry looked at the sign over the door and shook his head. He knew London didn’t exist that far back, so the Ollivander family must have started making wands in Rome. And he still wasn’t sure what the deal was with them insisting he needed a wand to cast magic. He had a horn.
Stupid wizards.
The shop was quite tiny, by comparison to the other shops. Outside of a single chair by the door, there was only the counter and thousands of narrow boxes stacked neatly from floor to ceiling. There was the distinct air that he had just entered a library, one where the librarian took exception to the tiniest noise. Much like the Royal Library in Canterlot Castle. Only not with the comforting smell of books.
What transpired next was more than a bit surreal. The proprietor, a Garrick Ollivander, wasn’t disturbed at all that Harry was a pony and not a person. No, he didn’t even seem to notice the difference at all.
How he immediately recognized Harry as Harry Potter left the colt more than a little bit disturbed, himself. Hearing that his mother’s wand had been suitable for charms work at ten and a quarter inches long, was “swishy”, and made of willow was a surprise. And then he said Harry’s father’s wand had been excellent for transfiguration as a pliable mahogany wand of eleven inches which was just as impressive, given that both of them had died over thirteen years ago.
The man had an absolutely phenomenal memory.
Then he revealed that he had sold the wand — a powerful yew wand of thirteen-and-a-half inches — that had killed Harry’s parents and left him with the scar on his forehead, now faded. That had been the topper. That wand had to have been sold years, or decades, before his parents had been to the shop. Yeah, a really phenomenal memory.
Then they had embarked on getting Harry a wand.
The first offered was a nine-inch beech-wood and dragon heartstring wand. “Nice and flexible,” Ollivander called it.
Harry backed away, horror-struck. There was no way he was going to touch a wand with a dragon heart-string. Spike would never speak to him again! And, probably, neither would his mum.
Mr. Ollivander noted Harry’s reaction and instead offered a new one. “Perhaps this one, maple and phoenix feather,” he said. “Seven inches. Quite whippy.”
Harry reached out and picked up the wand, surprising his friends as they had only seen him pick things up with magic. Even Professor McGonagall had a surprised expression as he went to raise the wand, which felt . . . off, somehow. Mr. Ollivander snatched it from his hoof almost immediately.
This sequence repeated itself for the next fifteen minutes. Mr. Ollivander would offer a wand to Harry describing its virtues, only to snatch if back almost immediately.
With a curious expression, the wandmaker pulled up a dusty box and placed it on the counter —“Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple,” he explained
As Harry took the wand in his hoof, he felt a warmth suffuse his leg. He swished it up into the air. Red and gold sparks streamed from the tip like fireworks. He looked at it quizzically. It felt almost like his horn did, only on his leg. What a strange sensation.
Discovering that his new wand was the brother to the wand that had killed his parents almost made Harry return the wand to the box on the counter. But he didn’t. For some reason he felt reluctant to give up the wand. It felt . . . familiar . . . when he held it. He placed it gently back into the box, and paid the requested price.
It was a quiet group that left the wand shop.
“Ice cream,” Harry said. After that experience, he needed a bit of a sit down. He looked down the Alley towards where he had seen . . . ah, there it was, Florean Fortescue’s Ice-Cream Parlour.
Dean and Seamus chimed in immediately with their approval, a moment later so did Neville.
Professor McGonagall looked down at Harry for a moment. It wouldn’t take a genius, Harry knew, to see that the wizard with wide, pale eyes shining like moons had upset him. The way Harry had looked at the final wand, as if he half-wanted to throw it away instead of purchasing it, must have convinced her that they needed to take a break.
She looked briskly around the Alley. She had already shrunken the wand box and placed it in her pocket. “Yes,” she said, “a little treat to celebrate your wand wouldn’t be out of sorts.” She set of out down the Ally, back the way they had come.
They trailed her in a clump, with Harry in the middle.
It was, Harry decided, the best-tasting ice cream he had ever encountered.
While eating, the Professor showed him the small pockets, one on either side of his robe, that could hold his wand so he didn’t have to carry it — a feature of the more expensive robes. The flaps covering the openings were almost impossible to discern on the Acromantula silk pattern. It was easier to find them by feel then by sight. He placed his new wand in the easiest to access pocket.
The creamy texture of the ice cream must have mellowed her out, because it took remarkably little begging by the boys to get her to take them to Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop. They each left with a bagful of stuff, happily funded by Harry. Harry took a catalogue, as well. Pinkie and Dash were going to love some of the things listed in it! Just the names alone would spark their creativity. Ponyville was doomed.
Then Harry insisted they should visit the bookstore. He didn’t know anything about this culture, nor the magic they used. A little time spent browsing the books available would tell him much that he needed to know.
This was when having the three Fourth-year wizards with him turned out to be a benefit. With their help he selected two books on history, A History of Magic, and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century. He also selected a third book, recommended by Neville, on just the events of the war fourteen years ago, What You-Know-Who And His Followers Did. Basic books on transfigurations, charms, arithmancy, and runes were added to the stack. Another useful book, Harry thought, was 1,001 Household Charms. It was soon followed by Powers You Never Knew You Had and What to Do with Them Now You’ve Wised Up, and The Dark Arts Outsmarted.
“The Hogwarts library has all the books you could conceivably desire to read, Mr. Sparkle,” Professor McGonagall told him.
“But I can’t keep those books when I leave, can I?” was his considered reply.
One item that derailed his train of thought was finding an entire shelf of books that purported to be about him! Sure, the professors had mentioned that there were books about him. But after their explanations of the events thirteen years ago, he had thought they had meant history books, not fiction books. His mum would be appalled. There were titles about Harry ranging from when he was five years old up to more recent editions such as Harry Potter and the Pirates’ Treasure, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Basilisk, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. They all left him shaking his head in disbelief. The fillies would be laughing in hysterics at the cheesy stories.
They made him out to be a genius of unparalleled ability, as strong as a man twice his father’s size, and friendlier than even his mum. And twice as gifted with a wand or potion as the greatest wizard or witch.
He had to wonder if the person who had written these books had been drunk at the time, because none of them bore the slightest resemblance to his life. In fact, about the only things the books got right were his parents’ names, their deaths, and the colour of his eyes.
He bought one of each, almost the entire shelf.
Seeing the saleswitch’s surprised expression, Harry explained. “I want to see what you all think I’ve been doing, because I can guarantee that everything in these books is lies.” At the very least, the fillies would get a good laugh out of them. He could just see them, lying on the floor, kicking their legs lightly, laughing as tears ran down their faces.
The saleswitch just stared at him, puzzled. Of course, Harry realized, she only saw a pony and didn’t know who he was.
He could only marvel as all the books fit easily inside his rucksack.
They returned to Hogwarts through The Leaky Cauldron-to-Three Broomsticks floo connection. McGonagall wanted Harry to at least see Hogsmeade and have an idea of where it was and what it had. Plus, she said, “The walk will do us good. And give Mr. Sparkle a bit of perspective on Hogwarts.”
Which it did. The building was imposing, but not nearly as big as the palace that governed all of Equestria. On the other hoof, it had Canterlot beat on secret passages, talking portraits, and bizarre staircases.
“The Forbidden Forest,” she gestured at the woods that dominated the side of the lake opposite Hogsmeade and almost surrounded the castle, “hosts many dangerous creatures. Students are not allowed to enter it without a professor accompanying them.” She gave the four students a steady and warning stare.
Harry studied the forest. It didn’t have the aura of wrongness that Everfree Forest seemed to exude at home. He examined the edges closely, squinting. “What’s in it?”
“Werewolves!” declared Seamus.
“Giant spiders!” Dean said eagerly.
“Trolls,” added Dean, with a shudder.
“Unicorns,” said Seamus, and got a sharp look from Harry. That he would have to check out.
“Thestrals,” whispered Neville.
Harry raised his eyebrows. Now he definitely needed to check this forest out.
Harry looked at the forest speculatively. “No . . . hydras?”
“No.”
“No . . . cockatrices?”
“No.”
“No timberwolves? Cragadiles? Manticores? Pukwudgies? Ursa Bears?”
He received a “no” for each creature he mentioned and a couple of “What’s that?” He was actually looking quite hopeful. Professor McGonagall was frowning. The forest didn’t sound all that terrible for pony that was careful.
“There are Centaurs, however,” said the professor, calmly, “who would be displeased at your trespassing.”
Harry skipped a step and almost fell. “Centaurs?” he squeaked out. He stared at her, appalled and horrified. “Half-person, half horse, right?”
They all looked at him curiously.
“Yes. The Forest is officially their hunting grounds and they have full control of it. One of the reasons students are forbidden in it is because they are somewhat hostile towards wizards and witches.”
Maybe he wouldn’t be looking for the unicorns and thestrals.
“Do they have horns?” he asked fearfully.
His expression and question prompted her to ask, “No. Why, is something wrong?”
Harry gulped and strove to regain his mental balance. “Yes,” he said softly, and stared into the forest. “Equestria has had a very bad experience with a centaur named Tirek. He . . . caused much damage, he was responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of ponies.” His mouth was suddenly dry. “He stole everypony’s magic,” Harry whispered.
She sighed softly. “I assure you, Mr. Sparkle, the centaurs of the Forbidden Forest do not steal magic. In fact, they abhor magic. Their weapon of choice is the arrow, not stealing magic.” She smiled slightly, “They are far more interested in divining the mysteries of the future through the stars than stealing anyone’s magic.
Harry looked at her. The centaurs here might not steal the humans’ magic, but what about ponies’ magic? Tirek had been especially interested in pony magic, claiming it was much more powerful than that of centaurs or other races.
And that was true. None of the other races of Equus had nearly as much magic as ponies.
He looked down at the ground and pressed the tip of a hoof into it. Would they be interested in his magic?
He looked back up. “I will avoid the Forbidden Forest,” he said solemnly and sincerely — if he never saw a centaur again, it would still be too soon. His heartfelt commitment was clearly evident.
She sighed and glanced at the castle. “If only other students were as sincere as you.”
They continued their way to the castle.
The robes were an excellent idea, Harry decided. He wasn’t getting nearly the amount of attention he had when he was wearing only his armour. People watching them come up from Hogsmeade merely saw four students being escorted by Professor McGonagall. And were glad they were not in the group that was clearly in trouble, because, why else would they be escorted by her?
Once they were inside castle, Professor McGonagall said to Harry, “The Headmaster will want to meet with you after dinner, tonight. Why don’t you get acquainted with your dorm-mates until then?” She handed him his shrunken trunk and bags. “Just tap these with your wand to restore them.”
The four eagerly headed off to their Common Room.
Ron was going to be so surprised at the bag of things they had purchased for him from Gambol and Japes.
Harry’s robes were a bigger hit than he expected, based on how everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed as they realized he had returned. Or maybe it was just that they got a better look at him and the robes just drove home he really was a student. The Common Room appeared much bigger now that it wasn’t crowded with people — most were probably outside or elsewhere in the castle. It gave him a chance to catch many details he had missed before, such as the portraits scattered around the walls, the decorative little lions carved into the woodwork, and the large rug bearing the House Shield — a rampant lion on a shield divided into quarters of red and gold, two above two, with a helmet atop and surrounded by red and gold feathers on a black background.
Still, the four managed to make it across the room and up the stairs without a too much of a fuss. Ron quickly concluded the chess game he was playing and followed them. Most students just stared at him. He heard several asking why he was upright, and a few explaining what they had been told at breakfast.
It didn’t take long for the four to pour out their new purchases on their beds, and toss a bag to Ron. Harry was surprised to see a pile of books as tall as he was beside his bed.
“Oy! What’s this?” Ron said, as he awkwardly caught the bag.
“We stopped by Gambol and Japes. Thought you might like a few additions to your stash,” Dean said.
Ron frowned. “You know I don’t take charity!” he stated.
Harry dropped his trunk on his bed. He turned and stared at Ron. “If I see something I think a friend would like, buy it, and then she refuses to take it, and calls it charity, then she can’t be much of a friend, can she?” Rarity was always gifting people.
The others looked at him. “As Rarity says, if someone gives you something because they want to, to refuse is rude and churlish. And ponies will think you aren’t much of a friend. Or that you actively dislike them.”
Ron looked back at him, startled. The others watched the interplay interestedly.
“So. Do you want to be friends, or not?” Harry stared at him levelly.
Ron blushed red, making his freckles stand out, then looked down and mumbled, “Thanks.” He headed over to his bed to examine what was in the bag.
Harry smiled. He hadn’t even had to threaten Ron . . . . Harry paused. Why would he need to threaten Ron? He shook his head. It didn’t matter.
۸-_-۸
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Awesome update, I cannot wait for more! How long till we c an maybe expect the rest of the Equestria crew to show up at hogwarts I wonder.
Or they were making wands for the Celtic Druids.
Also, using the titles of the real books as presented in the story is messing with the main canon a bit. According to J.K. Rowling after the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry tells his story to a Muggle named J.K. Rowling and allowed to publish an eight-volume biography of Harry’s life at Hogwarts.
And in my personal head-canon I view The Cursed Child as not real-life events of the Harry Potter universe, but a play written by the Muggle J.K. Rowling, with a few others, hence the discontinuity it compared to the books.
"He looked at her and tilted his head questioningly. “How much extra is it to include warming, cooling, sweat vanishing, and minor tear-repair rune-spells?”
She looked at him blankly."
And here we go with the pony "super magic" again.🙄 😉
Of how little is mentioned the situation in equestrian, I will think Twilight will find him at the end of the tournament, will there be a chapter that is solely about the situation in equestria? I hope so, is very intriguing and painful little words for that T. T
all their purchases...
He's setting himself up for some major teasing with this plan. Maybe not from the fillies, but from others, for sure.
I have to admit that I find the idea of him walking on his hind legs disappointing from a visual perspective. It's not natural for his body shape even if he can pull it off. And long term I have to think he would very quickly start to experience joint pain by forcing his body to stretch in a way it is not meant to go.
9831220
It is necessary, the story needs to show what are the differences in both worlds, Harry is not presenting OP magic, just new simple ones that the wizards hasn't developed, and is both ways, expansion charms, red flu, wands, quills, etc. Are OP and world changing for equestria, Hey, the show itself presents more powerful magic than the wizards, here is just putting both worlds together.
9831234
While true I question why a society that only sometimes wears clothes would develop such things while a society that always wears clothes wouldn't.
9831220
Gosh, you mean the wizards never used warming or cooling spells? I think that contradicts canon. It is canon that such spells are NOT part of the spells used on the robes (or the Quidditch players wouldn’t be so cold during winter practices), so how is this “super pony” in any way?
9831260
Because JKR didn’t think of it? Then again, she does say that wizards have no common sense, so maybe that’s the reason?
9831275
I figure it has more to do with the fact that runes as you use them don't exist in canon. But since they do exist in your story it makes far less sense that ponies have such runes and wizards don't.
9831275
no, i mean that is silly to assume that wizard tailors don't know how to add these things to their clothes and had to wait for a pony to explain how to do it. Maybe they don't use it on the standard robes, and it is present on the deluxe version, or maybe they don't use it because nobody is interested. Why add such a thing on clothes when one can just use a wand and put on a warming/cooling charm when necessary, or use a mending charm when they tear? It would make more sense for ponies to use such runes, because only one third of them can use magic... EXCEPT that there is not a trace in canon of ponies using or having such a thing. so you made up a thing to give to the ponies and then assumed that wizard didn't know how to do the same for ... reasons, because you wanted the ponies doing one better than the wizards, hence pony "super magic" (within quotes and with a roll-eye and a wink, so maybe not really super per se)
also what's up with
since when unicorns can do magic with their hooves?)
Look, I like how you write, I enjoy your fics, but then sometime you go and show you bias toward pony magic over wizards (you still do better than other similiar fanfic mind you)
For example,In IWWP, or even in this one, Twilight/Harry goes through the floo network, a wonder of magical engineering that have no equivalent in Equestria, if he so excited by the idea of human technology she should be drooling at the opportunity to study how the Floo network works and recreate it in Equestria, think! going from Ponyville to Canterlot, or maybe even the Crystal empire, in the blink of an eye! And yet, she don't even comment about it. A wasted occasion IMHO.
9831275
a minor correction, while you are correct in it not being part of the STANDARD set of spells on their robes..... those spells do exist.... if they didn't, then Hermione could not have cast a spell to keep Harry's glass from being blocked by the rainwater... my point is that the spells are optional.
9831195
I guess it going to be discord who get there first and has been there few times before, I can see him being friends with Dumbledore
I wonder if Twilight knows about all the lessons Harry has been getting from Blue Blood? I don’t think she would be very happy about what has been taught and how Harry has been acting, then again I expect her to come in like an archmage and is beyond infuriated. Now I wonder if this is the same universe that Equestria Girls takes place in and that city and surrounding area just sees that all as normal.
I hope you have a lot of extra chapters saved up, since it looks like the popularity of your work is going to cause those likes to skyrocket.
9831286
And yet, enchanting things with spells that last apparently forever ARE a thing. Such as the curse spells that the Bill Weasley, the curse-breaker, is involved in in the pyramids of Egypt.
Those contradict the whole idea that a wizard is limited in hos power.
Besides, why make the students learn runes for absolutely no purpose? At least with Latin classes you can read ancient books!
9831429
Runes in the Harry Potter universe are just an ancient form of writing. Spell Runes as you use them in this story have never existed in either HP or MLP canon.
Since you've decided to make them exist for the story its important that the runes that exist make sense for both societies. And as others have pointed out they can exist but not be something everyone has on their clothes for one reason or another.
I am loving the difference between Harry of the books and Harry who has spent years moving in the highest society and tutored by the Element of Magic.
9831325
Ah, drawing runes. Right. That kinda slipped by. I don’t think he would have drawn them with his horn, or he’d be really dizzy. Perhaps saying he projected the illusionary versions of the runes would be acceptable?
As for the tailors using the spells on the expensive robes, then why don’t the Quidditch robes include them? Those would almost be expected to be standard on those specialty robes. Or it could be, that in the past people were unwilling to pay extra for those features and it just sort of . . . became normal not to mention them until they were just forgotten.
9831325
But in IWWP the ponies do adopt the floo network. Rather immediately, too. So, I don’t get what you mean.
9831442
To be fair the story rarely mentioned what the ponies adopted from the wizards so I don't blame anyone for missing it. The story often made a big deal of how ponies viewed muggle tech while mostly showing the ponies looking down at the wizards as inferiors when it came to magic, rarely praising anything they had to offer.
It's still not clear what medical magic is purely pony and what, if anything, came from the wizards.
I don't think you should not use him as a role model as much as you are.
Trixie is very intrigued with this charm.
Never mind the wagon! This mean I can carry my library anywhere I go!
Can't wait to see more
9831496
Not necessarily a role model as much as a strict teacher.
Probably should be "I'll show her".
So a pony standing on 2 legs is ... kinda awkward?
We've seen it in the EqG specials where Sunset crosses from one world to another. I don't think we've seen it anywhere else.
It would definitely mess up the hip if maintained for a long time. Heck, other than Gargoyles, I can't think of an animated show that had characters able to easily switch long-term between 2 legged and 4 legged motion.
EDIT: Hey, something's really wrong here. There's no "next chapter" button.
9831437
Hmm. Good point -- HP cannon has charms as permanent spells, right? So you'd just put a charm on something.
MLP ... We never really get anything on how spells are written down for studying. We do see that most (all?) horn-based magic is time limited.
One thing that I'd really like to see is the concept of "ponies are used to a high magic environment, and so don't really have an internal battery; they just have a draw rate to take advantage of the local environment". Human wizards, on the other hand, are used to a low-magic environment.
This would mean that a pony in Hogwarts would find that their spells -- certainly a lot better/stronger, and yes I agree that Appartation is in-canon a risky spell that needs a lot of training -- are actually hard to cast, and they'd find that the human spells -- all based around either reducing the amount of magic needed to cast, or using physical foci to make the spell castable (NB: Foo travel is a massive focus-based safe alternative; Brooms are a focus-based safe alternative) -- actually out perform them, not because they are better spells, but because they are castable.
In other words, in the human world, human mages are the king, while in the pony world, unicorns are the king.
See also: The Skyla Psuedonym, where Twilight and Flurry Heart (as a teenager) are stuck in a low-magic realm and have to learn how to adapt / store magic internally / build up an internal battery.
As a side note: Human magic apparently is both weaker (low magic environment) AND long-term (you put a charm on a broomstick, or clothing, or a pig/table, or a sport ball) and it lasts.
It's time we started seeing "Humans excel at this magic, ponies excel at that magic" type of stories.
9831689
The problem with long-term spells is that no single wizard could cast a spell that lasted three thousand years, as the Egyptians did, without something that pulled in ambient magic to power the spells after the caster had died. In canon, we see that the harder you push with magic, the longer your spell lasts. Thus spells that last require a lot of magic. Spells that last centuries would take more magic than a wizard could conceivably have.
And, as I mentioned earlier, why bother having them learn runes for no purpose. All the ancient texts are written in Greek, Latin, or Egyptian, long before the northern barbarians had even thought of a written language.
9831707
Because, shockingly, wizards use them to write stuff down. Apparently they get used often enough that its necessary to know how to read and write them. In fact, according to the wiki they are still widely used by the Ministry of Magic for administrative purposes.
9831800
Personally I never saw it, they clearly have the same kind of sibling relationship we see from the crusaders and their respective siblings.
9831226
Ive been thinking about that from the start even if he pulls it off its not good for him and loses both the benefits of quadrapedal and bipedal bodyshapes. Heck even on humans standing is bad for you. Not seriously bad butit does put strain on the back. Seating, standing then lying down is the order of stress.
9831210
Speaking personally hitting those titles and given they match to books which are an "account of his life" and even the order matches events it pulled me right out of the story.
9831851
Considering Applejack and Rarity are basically presented as their little sisters mothers thats not saying much. I mean seriously Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle's parents didnt even show up at their cute cenera and it was Rarity not Sweeties parents who had to deal with her growing up and living her own life. Then theres Dash being responsible for Scootaloo on a regular basis as caregiver.
9831868
Older siblings sometimes have to take on a parental role but they are still siblings at the end of the day.
9831707
So, it sounds like the HP world requires that long-term spells need a "subspell" that recharges from ambient; given the low nature of ambient, there should be some limit on what long-term spells can do.
Except ...
Well, look at Hogwarts. As I understand canon, you can't remake Hogwarts now -- it's not just that you had 4 great wizards working together, you really do have less magic now.
HP:MoR tried to explain a "why" for that. Rowling never did.
As for Runes ... my memory of the 7 books says that runes were barely mentioned, maybe once. No real explanation. If they are written spells, and actually powerful, you'd expect them to be common. If they are low-powered long-term, then that becomes a niche area of study. And if it's just another ancient writing system, then it's like greek or atlantian.
So we have a snobbish Harry Potter in our hands, I would expect him to end up in Slidering instead of Griffindor with that attitude, he would fit right in even if it is just a front. I wonder what was the errant though that he had at the end?
9831960
I suspect that thought was a bit of Voldy's soul starting to show itself.
And ... given how he's been tutored by BlueBlood, he might actually sort into Slytherin now. But, he won't be sorted. This was just a case of "Where will he sleep?".
The whole standing on two legs thing feels like a kind annoying plot point in my opinion. It makes visualizing these scenes needlessly awkward because we have to try to imagine what a pony would look like trying to stand on two legs without looking too out of place.
9832100
I thought it was explained earlier that he made the conscious decision to channel Blueblood a little bit, for a few reasons: while he really doesn't want to offend, and is thus erring on the side of officious politeness, he also doesn't trust these people and uses his title of Prince and his slight aloofness to increase the emotional distance between him and them. In addition, he feels he needs to make an impressive showing, as he is in somewhat of a "first contact" scenario. I don't read it as Voldemort's influence at all, or even true snobbishness.
9831444
I admit i have not read all of IWWP. I am at chapter 28, after the Apparate bashing and where Harry make another obvious suggestion to a shop owner (use magic to make owl looks like something else) that obviously wizards are too dumb to think on their own (i am a Watsonian at heart, If something is done, or it is not done, in a story I rather imagine that the people in the story had a reason to do it that way (maybe are too hard to do, maybe it confuse the owls, maybe seeing a sparrow or pigeon that fly like a owl would be more conspicuous than seeing a owl where is not supposed to be?) , and of course magic telescopes sucks, much better mundane ones (even if magical ones could have charm to autofocus, keep lens always clean and scratchless, or maybe eve see throught clouds?)
So, if they adopt the floo network after that I apologize , but after they went trough it they didn't show to be impressed or even interested (unlike with the human technology they have seen.) Even just a comment like "this is cool, if we build something like this in Equestria I could visit Celestia or Shining armor every day even while living in Ponyville" would have helped.
Pony attitude seems to be (until the point i have read, at least) human technology it is awesome, wizard magic is, at best, "we must bring it to Equestria to reverse engineer it and make our own, better version.
9831871
True but we know Twilight's magic literally hatched Spike, we know their colour schemes are similar, we know she's taken care of him since he was born to the point in the comics of nearly flunking out of school and being the cause of his first word "Spike" when he was trying to say he was like smarty pants, he's gone from imagining himself as a mighty dragon warrior to a powerful wizard like her, even as a "baby" dragon he lived with her and was carried around by her. To me he's her son.
9832103
Something like this images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32200000/pinkie-pie-pinkie-pie-32283274-1280-720.png which to me looks odd.
9831892
"Well, look at Hogwarts. As I understand canon, you can't remake Hogwarts now -- it's not just that you had 4 great wizards working together, you really do have less magic now."
Of course, the more permanent spells are around, the less magic is available. It depends from where new magic come from, how quick, or if it even does.
9831689
As I've always seen it, Equestria suffers from an embarrassment of power. Depending on the world anywhere from a third to the entirety of the population can touch magic, and it saturates everything. magic can be freely cast and without worry, it's mundane. Thus there's relatively little impetus to develop methods of permanence or magical storage beyond a very niche cases. Things like Guard armor, or the foundations of Canterlot posses strong permanent enchantments, but they are very much the work of specialists.
Which brings us to the second point, ponish Talent-Specialization. Ponies devote themselves to their vocations, as everyone knows. Thus, unless a pony has/develops a Talent in spell design they won't give more than an idle thought to the idea of innovating new concepts. The fact that so many of their spells apparently date back to Starswirl shows where that mindset has gotten them. Ponies are very, very good at using the things they already know, but they are terrible at coming up with new ideas or going beyond their personal talents. Equestrian spellcraft is beautiful, but so very narrow-minded.
In contrast, Human wizards suffer from a relatively barren magical field, so barren in fact that they had to develop foci just to tap it properly. However this work in foci has made them much more aware of how magic can be drawn from the field and put to use. Since wizards find magic-use more tiring and temperamental, they find ways to off-load as many things as possible onto self-sustaining workings. Thus wizardly magic is very familiar with enchanting in all it's forms, but in a somewhat utilitarian fashion. For that matter, the mechanical nature of wizardly magic allows them to wield a much more diverse array of spells, as total comprehension is not needed, just a careful attendance to rote form.
I've lost track of where I was going with this, suffice to say, wizards are generalists, ponies are specialists.
9831745
IF you consider the movies canon, we do see they use runes on the wanted posters for Black. They were used mixed in with the "prisoner number"
9832208
That's true but those are all things that can be applied to siblings. It all comes down to attitude and their attitude towards each other is that of siblings who look out for one another.
aw new and different friends in this story. i am really really liking this.
9832206
Unfortunately, there are a TON of things that are OBVIOUS to us but are never mentioned or seen in canon. Such as self-correcting quills that have built-in spell and grammar checkers, like a word-processor. Nor quills with built-in ink-erasers. She mentions quills that never run out of ink, but none that never create splotches but just let ink flow if you accidentally leave the point touching the paper to make great big spots. All those should be totally obvious, and required for students to buy. But they don’t. And lets not even get into the spells used in older books that should have been used in previous books.
And you’re right, those tailoring spells should be everywhere, but conspicuously, they are never even mentioned. And, as someone who was forced to do laundry, Harry would definitely have noticed something like that if it were there -- he would have viewed them with envy!
But they AREN’T mentioned, so I feel free to do what I want in regards to what should be obvious.
Just like fan-fiction authors have modified minor characters in MLP, giving them skills and attributes that are never shown in the series. Such as Lyras human-obsession, or that mares are in Celestia’s guard.
9832210
Then Hogwarts should be a magic-poor area because Hogwarts scarfed up all the magic in the area! And that fails the canon test that it is a renowned magical area with a vast magical forest RIGHT THERE, that should have been depleted when the Founders sucked up all the magic in the area. And in the magic dules of great power Albus/Grendle A;bus/Voldie, everyone else on the battlefield should have had LESS magic for their use, and there should have been an area of less magic in that place.
And if magic refills fast, (why there aren’t magic deficient areas after a huge battle) then your Hogwarts example fails.
And the story finally fell off the Featured Stories list last night. Too bad. So sad. Chapter release this afternoon for hitting four hundred likes.
9832338
I can respect this, if it wasn't mentioned in canon why pretend it exists? But then why is your attitude towards the ponies "if it wasn't mentioned in canon I might as well just give it to them"? It just seems like you enjoy bending over backwards to portray the ponies as superior even though most of the stuff you have them possess doesn't exist in canon.
The clothing runes are a good example, these are things that don't exist in either canon but in that case, why does it make more sense for the clothing optional society to have all these runes while the clothing mandatory society only has a few? There doesn't seem to any rhyme or reason to it other than your ponies>wizards attitude.
And if it really does come down to you just wanting ponies to be better at every turn just own up to it. I mean I'll never agree with the Dumbledore bashing in MSD but at least the author never pretends it isn't for any other reason than him just hating the character.
9831671
Pinkie Pie can walk on two legs easily. But she may be just manipulating the flash animation, which she clearly is able to in the canon.
I’m personally of a similar mind to some comments here, I’m hoping he isn’t going to keep a bipedal stance all the time. It’s simply not natural.
Yes, Pinkie Pie and even some other ponies have hopped up into a bipedal stance, but they’ve not maintained it. It’d be uncomfortable after a bit. Heck, he has to use magic to keep from falling over.
I’m hoping he’ll hop back down to all fours and keep the bipedal stance for special occasions only.
9832552
Yeah honestly if the author really wanted bi-pedal ponies it would have been better to just go antro. Just imagining pony Harry walking around on two legs makes me feel uncomfortable.
9832338
"Then Hogwarts should be a magic-poor area because Hogwarts scarfed up all the magic in the area! "
*shrug* it wasn't mean to be a solid theory, just an idea to explain why is not possible/harder to create permanent spells anymore, because a large part of magic is locked in the existing permanent magic.
Why Hogwarts is not a magic poor zone? Maybe because it was created 1000 years ago, more than enough time for the magic hole to refill. Or maybe there is a magic source near? Again, from where the new magic come from? Maybe from places like the forbidden forest? That could explain why there are so many weird things in it. and why they made Hogwart right there. And why they don't raze the forest to the ground even if it is a big danger for all the students, because places like that are like magic green lungs, that replenish the magic used by the various charms.