A Little Bit Of Adventure
The Defence Against the Dark Arts class was particularly odd for Sunset the next Monday.
Quirrell stood in front of the class, pointing at an image of a very ugly horse-like creature hanging from the wall.
“The M-M-Mare, or M-Mara, often th-ttthhhought to be a c-c-c-ousin to the th-thestral, i-is a wwwwicked creature that ssssneaks up on p-p-people while they sleep and ssssit o… on them. They are r… rare in these p-p-p-parts, and so their motivations are nnnnnot entirely understood. S-s-s-some say that they g… gain something from this, w… while others say th-that they are simply doing it f-f-for p-pleasure.
“It isssss said however, that the mare has ssssserious c… c-c-compulsive t-tendencies and her th… thought pattern is v… very easily dist...distracted, and one n… need o… only toss a ha… h-h-handful of f-flax seed onto the f-f-floor to distract her through an entire n-n-night, as she c-c-c-counts them´. His-historically however, r… religious people, preferred to sh… shear the tail of a c-c-c-cow, and put the ha-hairs so that they st-st-st-stuck out of a psalm book, and p-p-p-place it on the w-windowsill of the b-b-b-bedroom.”
Luckily, at that point, Professor McGonagall chose to knock on the door, distracting Sunset from the bizarre tales.
“Y-yes, M-M-Minerva?” Quirrell asked.
“I would like a quick word, Quirrell,” she said.
“But of c-c-c-course,” he said, as he walked out towards the hallway, to have a whispered conversation.
Sunset shook her head, doubly wishing she could’ve sat this lecture out. She wasn’t sure if she ought to be offended on behalf of thestrals, or if the lecture was too absurd.
The rest of the class was taking a mental breather, as while no one wanted to say it, and it wasn’t like he could help it, listening to Professor Quirrell could be pretty exhausting.
“Y-you d-don’t say?” Sunset heard Quirrell say from out in the hallway.
“I do, and the headmaster agrees to keep this quiet.”
McGonagall’s voice was cut off by Parvati and Lavender gossipping, and Sunset had to discreetly lean her chair closer to the door.
“I ssssee. Hmm, g-good plan.”
“Yes, so please keep your eyes open.”
“Of c-course. Thank you for t-t-telling me.”
Sunset let her chair come back into a normal position. Maybe it was just the boredom of listening to lectures about entry-level magic, or maybe the other girls and their thirst for gossip was a bad influence on her, but Sunset regretted not casting some spells to let her listen in on the whole conversation.
—
Later in the day, Sunset placed her piece of cardboard against the wall outside of the potions classroom, and walked in without knocking.
Snape looked up, annoyed at what he no doubt considered insolent manners.
“... Sit down,” he said.
Sunset shrugged, and did so.
Snape got up and put down a small, empty bowl in front of Sunset, followed by a large bowl of something black and hairy. A bowl full of dead spiders.
“You are to collect the eyes, and place them in the empty bowl.”
“Got it,” Sunset said, in an easy manner.
Snape looked at Sunset suspiciously, but she just looked back in a slightly amused manner, as if asking if he was going to be looking at her all day. It was important not to say that out loud though, at this time.
Snape turned around and walked back to his desk, and as he did, Sunset’s hair and nails momentarily lit up, as she unleashed several prepared illusions on the spot where she sat.
Snape didn’t react though, even as Sunset magically floated in a large sheet of cardboard, and went to work on illustrating it.
When she was done, she calmly walked out the door to the corridor. Snape’s brows creased ever so slightly, but he didn’t look up. To him, there was an annoying student sitting quietly and suffering in front of him. Everything was as it should be.
Sunset walked down the corridors, leaving the classroom behind, and shaking her head. “... Idiot.”
By now, Sunset was more than halfway through the second year’s spells. She had no problem with charms and transfiguration, but potions did take longer to practice of course, so she was only a few months ahead on that, and wouldn’t say no to more repetition, to make sure it stuck properly in her head. Similarly, Sunset only felt so confident about her skills when reading about herbology, and preferred to learn practically as well.
The big gaps in her learning were the so-called defences against the dark arts. It was a strange subject, and a bit unfocused. The first year’s book had been dull, to say the least. It mostly covered the philosophy about what is and is not considered dark magics, the proper forms and justifications of defense, and then a little bit of practical knowledge about aggressive creatures and a few weak shield spells.
Sunset made a note to ask Fred and George to take a look at their book, and see if things got better.
The dark magics themselves, as the first year’s book to defend against it described them, seemed to be mostly charms with grim and morbid flavors. Sunset presumed that perhaps they’d earn their reputation when they became a little more advanced than what her fragile, eleven year old sensibilities were judged to be capable of handling.
While Sunset did enjoy all kinds of learning, magical lores especially, there was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she should be looking into anything that has to do with ascension into alicorns.
The path to becoming one would of course be highly esoteric, and so it might prove useful to study all fields of magic, as the key might be hidden in obscure, arcane lore that only makes sense if you combine them all.
Maybe.
It seemed like a logical conclusion at least.
Sunset knew that Celestia hadn’t been born an alicorn. She had managed to ascend somehow, and she was a master of every kind of magic Sunset could think of. The most logical thing would be to follow in her hoofsteps.
Even so, it might do to research this world’s menagerie of magical creatures. Sunset had gathered from Ollivander that unicorns in this world, and presumably pegasi and earth ponies as well, were very reclusive, and Sunset felt that in a society this focused on remaining unnoticed by their non-magical counterparts, there would be a greater presence of her kind. If these people knew more of unicorns, and pegasi, and earth ponies, they would be talking about them much, much more.
Sunset felt a bit of vicarious pride for her counterparts in this world. Clearly, they were even greater at keeping their societies hidden than even witches and wizards.
One more thing Sunset felt might be worth investigating would be if there were any alicorns in this world. It was no guarantee however. Alicorns were rare- Celestia and Cadence being the only known ones, with only a small number of others appearing in legends. It was possible, likely even, that there simply were no alicorns here.
And if there were, Sunset would keep her observations secret. Revealing her intentions only once had been bad enough.
So the library was the next step.
Sunset hadn’t been in there much yet, but she was familiar with Madam Pince, the librarian, by reputation. She glared at Sunset suspiciously, but like with Filch, Sunset not being intimidated by angry old people probably just made her angrier.
There were only a few students left, as most were trickling back to their dorms for the day, but a quick perception filtering charm meant Sunset would remain undisturbed, as she started looking through the shelves containing books on magical creatures.
Of course, her plan was cut short by Madam Pince putting out the lights and closing up the library, so Sunset grabbed a book on transformations, quickly dispelled the charm that would trigger an alarm if it was taken out of the library, and left for the Gryffindor common room.
The fat lady’s portrait swung open, and Sunset plopped down on a couch next to the rest of the first years.
Around her, people were studying, laughing, playing games, eating snacks, and socializing in various ways. The fifth and seventh years were frantically studying for their major exams, the ones that determined the grades that any employers would look at, while lower years were acting more casually.
Sunset had to admit that the constant low-key chaos of the common room, and the open fireplaces and fuzzy carpeting which so far succeeded to chase away the increasing chill outside the windows, provided a cozy blanket to study under.
“Weren’t you supposed to be in detention?” Hermione asked, looking up over a long astronomy essay, and sounding a little accusatory.
“Yep. I left,” Sunset said.
“What did Professor Snape say?”
“Nothing.”
—
Professor Snape, meanwhile, was sitting in the dungeon, correcting tests of his sixth year students, struggling not to smile as one of the Gryffindor students’ answers could be interpreted as incorrect, which, when Snape was the teacher, resulted in a failed test.
He glanced up to see the insufferable brat dutifully bent over her tasks, and sneered in frustration.
—
The book Sunset had borrowed was not overly helpful for Sunset’s ultimate goal, as it said nothing about ascending closer to a godlike status. The agelessness of “vampires” did enable them to greatly hone their powers, though many kinds of magics were unavailable to them for some reason.
Animagi were an interesting little note, and the concept of werewolves seemed kind of disturbing, but there was nothing about alicorns, or anything that resembled alicorns.
Sunset slowly closed the book, her mind feeling numb, but still disappointed and frustrated, as one gets from pursuing the truly mysterious. Aimless pursuits of magic and power was easier than this, just learning in itself was progress.
Sunset needed a break if she wanted to stay in control of her emotions. She slowly rose up, and walked up to the dorms, and went to bed, idly wondering if anyone had tried getting her attention during the time she had sat in the common room.
—
Snape had grown bored with tormenting Sunset, and although he would never admit it to anyone, including himself, it was because she refused to display any signs of anguish at her grueling task.
He rose up from behind his desk, and strode down towards Sunset, his robes billowing exactly right, thanks to many years of practice.
Sunset didn’t look up, and Snape wordlessly reached for the bowl of insect eyes to inspect Sunset’s work.
Not that there was much to inspect, as the bowl turned out to be a cardboard standee that fell over once his hand came near it.
Snape’s expression was absolutely stone-like, as he slowly turned to face Sunset, who kept looking down at the table.
“I assume you think this is highly amusing,” Snape said, slowly and deliberately, with a slight hiss to his voice. “I assure, I will cure you of that notion.”
What Sunset’s reaction to that might have been, Snape didn’t find out, as the figure in front of him turned out to be a cardboard standee that fell over once Snape’s breath came near it.
—
The next morning, Sunset stumbled into the great hall, trying to get her eyelids to move in synch, collapsed into a chair by the Gryffindor table, and started shoving sandwiches and coffee down her stomach, when she slowly noticed the flying pumpkins with candles in them, and the generally black and orange decorations everywhere.
<<... Nightmare Night?>> she said, confused.
“What?” asked Dean Thomas, two seats away from her.
<<What?>>
“What?”
Sunset shook her head, and switched over to English, as it was called here. “I mean, what?”
“... What, to what?” Dean asked.
He and Sunset stared at each other for one very confused moment.
“Uh… I don’t know,” Sunset eventually offered.
“... Me neither.”
“Sunset Shimmer,” Sunset heard McGonagall say, and looked up to see her head of house approaching.
McGonagall was a very strict individual even in casual situations, so the fact that she clearly had to put some effort into it now told Sunset that she was unhappy.
“Yes, Professor McGonagall?”
“I’ve just had a word with Professor Snape,” she said, coming to a halt and staring down at Sunset, which Sunset suspected would have worked better to keep other students mild and meek. “He said your behavior during detention was most unbecoming.”
“He would,” Sunset noted, dismissively, and shoved half a sandwich into her mouth.
McGonagall stiffened, and took a deep breath. “Miss Shimmer, you are to show your teachers the proper respect, or you will have to face detention with me as well. Tomorrow, after class, you will report to Professor Snape’s office for another detention.”
Sunset struggled with the food in her mouth as she considered her options.
“Hmm, ‘ow ‘m I f’po’f ‘t ge’ ou’ ‘f f’i one?”
“Miss Shimmer, table manners,” McGonagall implored, in a pained voice. “Swallow, and then stop eating until our conversation is complete.”
Despite herself, Sunset found this to be reasonable.
“Mmmng… I was just thinking to myself, and I said, how am I supposed to get out of this one?”
“You are not supposed to get out of detention!” McGonagall said, a pained look on her face.
“Oh, right, but the thing is that the detention was undeserved.”
“I’m afraid that’s not for students to decide,” Mcgonagall noted, in a terse voice.
“Why not? I’m smarter than Professor Snake, and I have a superior sense of both justice and morality.”
Sunset was certain that McGonagall would take a dim view of this jab, but she felt like she couldn’t help herself. Straight and forthcomingness ought to be a virtue worthy of an alicorn. Or something like that.
To her surprise, McGonagall hesitated, before she put on a completely neutral face, and simply said, “Miss Shimmer, you are to report to Professor Snape’s office tomorrow evening after classes,” before walking away.
Sunset shrugged, and tried refocusing on her breakfast, when she noticed Dean Thomas staring at her.
“What? Oh yeah, also, what’s with all the decorations?”
—
The day of “Hallowe’en” was apparently some sort of day associated with the dead. From what Sunset could gather, it had something to do with communicating with loved ones who had left the world for the next one, which Sunset thought sounded nice, but it was also oriented around horror, dread, and frights, from evil spirits and other dark creatures.
It didn’t perfectly mesh in Sunset’s mind.
“Miss Shimmer? How are you today?” Flitwick asked.
Sunset looked up from her charms textbook, in which she was scribbling notes in the margins, in Equestrian, just in case anyone else got a hold of it. Everyone else was practising the current charm.
“What?” she asked. “Uh, yes I’m fine, thank you for asking. How are you?”
Flitwick chuckled at the response, but nodded his head towards Sunset’s book. “I am as well, it’s just that you’re not practicing, and we’ve started with the exciting parts. There is no problem, is there?”
The “exciting” parts were levitation, which when used as a charm, was more efficient than a unicorn’s inherent arcanokinesis in terms of energy spent, but still very limited. Sunset, as well as virtually every other unicorn, had levitated things before her earliest memories.
“Uh, no, I’m just… making sure I got the theory right.”
Meaning she was jotting down some of what she remembered from magical theories back from Equestria, in case this world’s wand magic could be combined with it for amplified results. It would probably be a long way off if it was possible, but that just meant it was best to start early with it.
“May I see your wand form?” Flitwick asked, politely.
“In… in a minute,” Sunset nodded, hoping to seem placating.
“Very well,” Flitwick said, seeming a little disappointed, when he noticed that Hermione Granger had managed to cast a well-executed spell on her feather, raising it into the air, and clapped. “Oh well done! Everyone see here, Miss Granger’s done it!”
“Thank you, Hermione,” Sunset said under her breath, grateful that she stole Flitwick’s attention.
There was a feast that evening. It wasn’t very out of the ordinary for Sunset, since she was still getting used to human food in general. It was still decent though, and Sunset was grateful that these people always served either bread, or potatoes, in some form, at every meal.
Sunset was slowly chewing her food while looking up at the cloud of bats zooming back and forth across the great hall. Sunset liked bats. They were silent, and ate much more distracting little buzzing creatures. They ate a lot of them.
Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil had their heads together, gossipping. Since Sunset had never seen them apart except when, thankfully, they finally fell asleep during the night and quieted down, she had to assume that from the start of the semester until now it has been one continuous conversation, and judging from their expressions, gasping, and giggling, it had to be a riveting one.
Dean Thomas was trying to describe a non-magical sport to Seamus Finnigan, whose puzzled look was the stuff of legend.
Percy was distracted by a conversation, and Fred and George were putting fingernail clippings into the sauce on his plate, Harry and Ron were talking about… something.
Still, something was missing.
“... Hey, where’s Hermione?” Sunset asked the table in general.
“Oh, she’s been crying in the bathroom,” Parvati said. “Ever since Ron pointed out she doesn’t have any… you know.”
Sunset oh’d and nodded in fake understanding, then settled down for some quality time with her fried potatoes.
Sunset did in fact not know, and she hadn’t heard Ron say anything. What didn’t Hermione have? Brains? Talent? Drive? She had the second most of that in school.
And what about that made her so upset now, of all times? She clearly wasn’t a comfort eater, because the butter had fried the surface of the tubers in front of Sunset absolutely expertely.
Sunset looked around some more, and nodded in epiphany. It was a day of remembering the dead. Crying on a day like this meant that Hermione probably didn’t have a family, and that she might be a pretty spiritual person.
In the orchestra of a thousand forks and knives against plates, and countless conversations, Sunset was looking up at the enchanted roof as she chewed, wondering if she should be feeling anything about her own biological family.
She had never known them, but there were aspects of magic that incorporated familial bonds, like tales of curses and blessings that could travel down the generations, and divinations that could trace people through their family members.
This was one of the few times Sunset thought about what she might be missing out on, not having a biological family.
Cadence had said that biology doesn’t make families though, and that only love was required. Sunset didn’t really want to admit it, but she did appreciate Cadence’s attitude when it came to that, and grudgingly, had to admit that in this particular instance, Cadence might know more than Sunset.
Sunset figured that if she ever got the chance, perhaps she’d arrange it so that Cadence and Hermione met, just in case they were good for each other.
That’s when Professor Quirrell came running in through the doors, panting, straight up to Dumbledore’s seat, almost crashed into the table, and gasped, “Troll, in the dungeons… thought you ought to know,” before collapsing.
A collective, panicked roar went out through the great hall, before Dumbledore let out a short string of explosions from his wand, and silenced everyone.
“Prefects, lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!”
Percy shot up as if he just realized he was sitting on a thumb tack.
“Follow me! Stick together, first-years!” he shouted, and things to the effect of him protecting people if need be and following his lead.
It felt a little rich to Sunset that Percy considered her a first year, but she couldn’t really blame him. She quickly shuffled her mouth full of potato, and joined the torrent of students quickly and orderly moving out of the great hall and towards the Gryffindor tower.
“Sunset?” Neville asked. “What do we do if the troll comes?”
Sunset looked at Neville, confused, and swallowed her mouth full of food. “It’s already here, supposedly. Oh, you mean if we run into it on the way. I guess Percy will handle it.”
“Do you think he could?” Parvati asked, nervously.
“Nope,” Sunset said, simply.
Not that she knew much about trolls, but if the entire staff was spread out to chase it off, she doubted a not-yet fully educated teenager could take it on.
They got to the portrait of the fat lady, and started climbing in, which took some time since the whole Gryffindor house was climbing in there.
A group of third years came jogging up behind them.
“Ah,” Fred said, pleased. “At least the troll won’t be able to fit through here.”
“Glad you could join us,” Percy said, tersely. “Alright, everyone straight to bed! No lollygagging!”
The door to the girls’ first year dorm room closed, and Parvati and Lavender immediately started babbling to each other, probably about trolls and what was happening. As they talked, Lavender looked out the window towards the dark grounds, only vaguely realizing that that wouldn’t tell her anything, and turning back to Parvati.
Sunset was disappointed. She still had the taste of the dinner in her mouth. All this because some stupid troll. No one was even in danger.
Sunset cocked her head. Something about that notion wasn’t quite right. Something was missing.
“... Oh.”
Hermione.
Sunset opened the door again, and saw that the stairs were abandoned.
“Where are you going?” Lavender asked her.
“Don’t worry about it,” Sunset said, closed the door behind her, and vanished with a flash.
It was a bit of a risk, teleporting like that, and an even greater risk teleporting around to the various girls’ toilets all willy-nilly, but Sunset figured, that despite herself, she would probably feel pretty bad if Hermione got crushed by some monster when she could’ve done something.
Sunset appeared in a booth of the third set of restrooms she teleported to, and jumped out of it, fingernails glowing.
“Hermione!?”
Nothing. Sunset teleported to the next restroom…
… And immediately regretted doing so.
Sunset felt as if she had been punched in the face, hard, from the stench alone, and stumbled out of the booth, both hands over her face and her eyes screwed up, barely able to see anything, only barely noticing that Ron, Harry, and Hermoine was standing in the room as well.
<<Ough, Tartarus!>> Sunset whimpered, and looked up through tear-filled eyes at the absolutely foul creature in front of her.
Twelve feet tall, with a thick, leathery hide, a both monstrous and dumb-looking face, a great tree trunk as a club in it’s great hands, and an unbelievable stench shooting out from it.
<<... You are one ugly rudderbucker.>>
It raised its club and roared. Sunset was going to conjure up a shield, but the troll’s breath hit her like a train, quickly followed by the club.
The tree trunk sent Sunset flying into the door leading out into the hallway, knocking it off its hinges, and she collapsed on the floor, on a bedding of splintered door.
Honestly, it was kind of a relief to get away from the source of the smell. That she couldn’t tell if it was worth it was a little worrying.
Sunset tried sitting up, but her head swam as if she had just tried drinking a club full of minotaurs under the table, and she collapsed again as her arms gave out.
There was some screaming, and roaring, a loud thud, and the sound of half a dozen feet approaching.
A hand gently touched Sunset’s face. From the scent, though the troll’s smell was still almost overwhelming, Sunset could tell that McGonagall, Snape, and most prominently, Quirrell and his garlic, were there.
“Miss Shimmer,” McGonagall said. “I need to know how you feel.”
Sunset blinked her eyes a few times, trying, and mostly failing, to focus on Minerva McGonagall’s face.
“... Like a hundred knuts,” she said.
Sunset felt herself being magically lifted onto something softer- a stretcher that hadn’t been there before.
“What were you doing?” McGonagall said over her shoulder, aimed at Harry and Ron. Sunset could tell that she was struggling to keep her voice down.
“Hermoine, uugh, in the toilet,” Sunset said, and tried sitting up on the stretcher, but McGonagall’s hand kept her down. “Went to warn her.”
McGonagall’s face softened after a moment, and she looked over at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
“Miss Granger, Mister Potter, and Mister Weasley, you will go straight back to your dormitories, and we’ll talk more about this tomorrow. Miss Shimmer, lie still, please..”
Sunset’s eyesight stabilized enough to see that her classmates were looking at her with a deeply worried expression, which Sunset felt was unwarranted. It wasn’t like she had never taken a blow to the head before.
As she was carried past them, she weakly raised an arm and cried, or at least muttered, “Adventure!”
That’s when she decided to take a nap. Totally of her own volition.
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Massed fire from the 5th-7th years would probably do it though.
10640818
Probably. However, it's not said outright, but it is hinted a few times that for quite some years, decades even, Hogwarts teaching of combat-related magic has been woeful, as shown in book 5, when even students who are older than Harry are amazed at what he can do, even though he's just picked up things here and there.
Still, it's vague enough to be clearly open for interpretation, but would be an interesting bit of worldbuilding. Is there a plot to keep the younger generations useless in fights? Maybe there is.
10640823
Simple math I'd think, one Stupefy might not do much, but semi-coherent volleys of two-score or more flying down a narrow corridor would give anything pause.
10640827
Which is also very possible, but like happens in... also in book five, Hagrid is hit by a volley of stupefy bolts and is barely affected, and Hermione says that trolls are the same.
That was sad
10640859
Oh? What part?
10640865
How bad the troll beat her.
It might have killed her ego.
10640880
Doubtful, as there were three witnesses to her being sent through a door and not only surviving, but almost managing to get up again, and if people cross-reference some rumours, she also seem to be able to appear and disappear at will. Those sort of rumours, if she listens to them, would just blow her ego up even more
I have some minor qualms about this line, particularly professor McGonagall’s reaction to it. It comes across as more than a little arrogant. Which is totally in character for Sunset but, If you want McGonagall to hesitate, Sunset should describe Snape’s faults (which would be well known to McGonagall) rather than her own virtues (which may or may not exist solely in Sunset’s own mind).
10640891
Not sure if it's arrogant, or just blunt the way people we don't expect people with high senses of justice and morality to be. There's a lot of potential arguing back and forth about the respect that Snape deserves, the respect that Sunset deserves, who is in the right and wrong here, and the fact that McGonagall does not really have a high opinion of Snape, or at least I can't see how she could have if she knows about the events portrayed in the books. McGonagall also don't strike me as a liar, even though she'd never outright voice her objections about Snape.
Taking all of this and more into consideration, even someone like Minerva McGonagall would probably think, "I don't need to get involved in this."
That's the joke
why did i imagined Sea Hawk of all people?
Also great chapter, as always
Take the author's user icon, paint it orange, you'd have how Sunset feels at the end of this chapter.
10640901
Maybe that is what you meant but that is not what you wrote. As a teacher if a student basically said to me “i’m so incredible the rules shouldn’t apply to me” that would not make me hesitate about getting involved it would, in fact, make me angry and think that the student needed a lesson in humility.
10640919
Not very familiar with She-Ra, but he looks like the type to say that
10640920
Pretty much, yeah.
10640922
Yeah, but teachers have rules that they need to follow as well, and Snape broke them when he gave Sunset undeserved detention. Violating your authority would certainly break a lot of rules.
I know a lot of people seem to think that teachers can just be pathetic little dictators in their own classrooms, I've had teachers who think that even though they would never admit it, but I don't think McGonagall would be one. Rowling clearly put a lot of effort into characterizing McGonagall as strict but fair. Not just strict, fair as well, which she would not be if she enabled Snape, or joined him, in abusing students.
"Need a lesson in humility". That's pretty cute
10640933
Just because you (the all seeing out side observer) know something does NOT necessarily mean your character knows that thing! YES Snape broke the rules. You and I both know that but how the heck would McGonagall know that? She could guess and infer based on Snape’s past actions but that is not the same as knowing. I have no doubts that if asked about the detention Snape would lie and say it was deserved. And if McGonagall talked to the student involved and the student responded with “I’m so incredible” that wouldn’t make her think “oh, the student might be innocent” it is far more likely to make her think “I guess a broken clock really is right twice a day”.
I have never argued that McGonagall wasn’t a good person but you are having her make decisions based on information she couldn’t possibly have.
Another enjoyable chapter and more than a little satisfying to see Sunset get her ass kicked.
10640823
There actually is, it's established that Voldemort cursed the DADA position so that no instructor could hold it for more than a year. With a different instructor every year the quality of the instruction tends to vary.
I'd have to agree that there is no way McGonagall would stand for Sunset's blatant disrespect. Regardless of McGonagall's personal feeling towards Snape she would never undermine his authority (she is the very picture of professional) and allowing a Student to disrespect an instructor sets the very dangerous precedent that's it's okay to disrespect a teacher as long as you personally feel they deserve it.
Besides as it's been said there is no way for McGonagall to know if Snape actually did anything wrong.
Yup. Having extra-powerful senses can backfire spectacularily.
10641062
Certainly can. Being the best is hard sometimes
10640981
Indeed, and that's exactly my point. If she were to argue with Sunset, she would be taking Snape's side, with insufficient information to actually take a stand. If she were to accept Sunset's word and suspend the detention or something, she'd be taking Sunset's side without sufficient information to take a stand. So, she bowed out of the argument and simply delivered the message.
That would be a believable knee-jerk reaction from a lot of people, but I don't think that'd be McGonagall's attitude. Arrogance, or blunt honesty, doesn't really impact on whether someone's words are correct or incorrect.
How would you have her react, keeping everything above in mind?
10641030
Whoa... okay. Why?
Sure, but then the question becomes whether that was the intended effect. I mean, you could argue that it would diminish any resistance to his side in future conflict, but it would also diminish the abilities of any recruits.
Or that he was in the right. The books take a few moments to show that, despite it all, McGonagall has a kind and gentle side, and by now she's familiar with Sunset, and not joining Snape in providing himself rope with which to hang himself could be argued as being both kind and professional
10641064
Because her arrogance is really annoying. The fact that she constantly fights against Snape (regardless of who is right) is more irritating than it is endearing. She just comes across as a character who really needs to be knocked down a peg or two.
It's not like he planned to go into hiding for a decade. In his mind, he'd be running things long before it could become an issue. I'm sure the plan was to curse the position to cripple any immediate resistance and then remove the curse once he was running things.
10641074
Oh. Well, too bad. It's part of the premise, and other readers like it, so that's gonna continue for quite a while.
I guess I'd like a military logistician to be the authority on whether diminishing the abilities of all future combatants is a good idea or not.
10641082
I mean I can tolerate it but I'll tell you right not that in the long term there is nothing worse than a character who assumes they are always right with no chance of them learning otherwise. Other than maybe the story literally bending over backwards to make sure they are always right.
10640919
I don't know who that actually is. As for me... I flashbacked to Stanley yelling "Adventure!" at then end of the 1986 "Fluppy Dogs" movie. Ahhh... That sure brings back some good memories.^_^
10641094
It... sounds kind of intolerable for you though, the way you describe it. I guess you're not talking about this story, what with part about no chance of learning otherwise.
If by the story bending over backwards to make sure she's always right, the only one who Sunset opposes is Snape, and we've already been over whether he is in the right or not.
10641104
We're only 6 chapters in, I'm not sure how long this story is planned to be but I'd still say it's too early to declare Sunset completely intolerable.
My issue with Snape is purely how illogical Sunset's actions are. Do you know why most students don't fight against a "bad" teacher? It's because it's an uphill battle that generally isn't worth the trouble and Snape honestly hasn't done anything bad enough to justify Sunset wasting time by antagonizing him.
It's not like he singles her out specifically and she isn't noble enough to stand up for the other students so the only reason behind her actions is just to satisfy her own ego. Which as I said isn't a very endearing character trait.
10641030
Sure there is.
---
Sunset: (holds her wand up) I, Sunset Shimmer, swear on my magic and life that I am not lying about Professor Snape.
*Bright flash of light then surrounds Sunset, then it dies away.*
Sunset: (holds her wand) Lumos!
*Sunset's wand lights.*
Sunset : (holds her wand) Nox!
*Sunset's wand extinguishes.*
Sunset: (looks at everyone) Well. Since I can perform magic, and am still alive, it stands to reason that I am telling the truth. (looks at Snape) Care to make an oath yourself, Professor? Or, are you afraid of what will happen when the magic judges you to be a lying ass?
Snape: (shakes, and fumes, impotently in great anger and fury)
McGonagall: (stares rather sadly) Oh, I see.
---
Simple as that.
10641134
Well sure if you wanna rely on one of the most BS inventions of the fandom.
the breath augh
10641139
Poor pony sense of smell
10641125
Not sure either, it's always hard to say how much one can work pro bono, but I can say that in my case, my capabilities to do so are diminishing every day. It would be fun to write until the later parts of the series though, perhaps book five or six.
Going uphill isn't a problem when you're in a spaceship. Sunset is really, really powerful, which, again, is part of the premise.
He's an absolute prick towards her, and he ruined an experiment she was really fascinated by and was learning a lot from, and he tries to waste her time and do gross and disgusting menial tasks (edit: for his own twisted satisfaction no less), and it's worth remembering that he's the one who started all of this. He short first, and then he shot again, and again.
And Sunset was saving time with her little stunt during detention, at least the way she planned it. It remains to be seen whether it plays out that way in the long term.
Correct. Sunset is powerful, which is not to be confused with perfect.
But I have a question for you this time: You said you think Sunset needs to be taken down a peg, but what about Snape? Is he operating fully within reasonable ego-limits?
10641143
This question wasn't directed at me, but I just have to say that "Snape is an ass, and deserves to be taken down a few dozen pegs.".
10641064
You basically have two ways to fix it ether you can change Sunset’s line from basically “I’m so awesome the rules shouldn’t apply to me” to “but Snape is so unfair” or you can give McGonagall a disbelieving and/or suspicious attitude about Sunset’s part in the incident.
10641143
The problem is I know everything about Snape and as bad as he is he also risks everything to protect the students showing that he does care even if he'll never admit it. Sunset so far is just an arrogant brat with no redeeming qualities (this will hopefully change as the story goes on) so I have no reason to be invested in her pointless war with Snape.
Snape in canon is an asshole but I do not believe he ever goes beyond what his authority as a teacher allows and we the readers do know that despite how he acts he will always defend his students without hesitation (even if he'll never show or admit that he's anything less than the monster people believe him to be).
10641148
I'd agree with that, but I'm gonna have it happen one peg at a time, in order to not remove him and his contribution to any story
10641149
"Fix it" eh?
What you describe is what I've already written. Sunset never says anything to the effect of “I’m so awesome the rules shouldn’t apply to me”, and she does sort of say something to the effect of “but Snape is so unfair”. She says that the punishment was unjustified, and implying that if Snape wants to duke this out in an argument, preferably with Dumbledore as an audience, she's ready and eager.
10641159
Ah, now see, you're making the argument that Snape is a good guy because while he's an asshole socially, he'd leap into danger to protect others.
Fair enough, but consider the following:
Sunset is also being something of an asshole to certain people, but in this very chapter, she leaps into danger to protect others. But you're still favouring Snape over her. Why the special treatment?
10641169
She didn't leap into danger so much as she stumbled into it, I'll give her credit for wanting to warn Hermione but I'm not gonna give her credit for getting beaten up by a troll due to some unfortunate timing on her part.
10641179
Careful when you count people's failed attempts do to good things against them. I mean, Snape fails pretty spectacularly several times through the books, and those failures pale in comparison to the books' backstory.
Personally, I give Sunset high marks for rushing out to save Hermione
10641185
I'm not counting her failures against her so much as not giving her credit for something she hadn't intended to do. She intended to warn Hermione, she did not intend to fight against a troll. Now maybe she would have rushed to protect Hermione had Sunset known she was being attacked by the troll at that very moment but that's not the scenario being presented to us.
10641196
She did went to save Hermione, she just didn't tell McGonagall that she went to fight a troll, because she's not stupid.
You know, if you're set on interpreting all of her words, motivations, and actions as uncharitably as possible, then it doesn't really matter why she went into that restroom. if she aimed to put more effort into it by defeating the troll to save people, she'd just be an egotistical glory hunter.
Right?
10641136
Another Harry uses that particular oath to great effect. Just saying and while I like Potter, Dresden would be my go to wizard.
10641097
It's a character from She-ra, that loves to yell "Adventure!" ...and he likes to set his boats on fire
10641214
She went to find Hermione because a troll was on the loose, I give her credit for that, but I don't think it's accurate to say she was trying to defend the others from the troll when a) she didn't know the troll was going to be there and b) she got knocked out before she could even do anything.
Now maybe your intention was that she was trying to defend them but it doesn't come across like that when you read it.
10641217
I personally believe that any form of perfect lie detection is just lazy writing. Maybe it has clear rules and limits in Dresden Files but I wouldn't know since I haven't read those books.
10641228
Hmm. I think I'm just gonna refer to my previous comment
10641169
Whoah,,, Someone agrees with me?! ... That's... never happened before here. ... Wow. This truly is a day of miracles.^_^
I'm perfectly fine with it not happening at once. Just so long as it does happen. Snape needs his assholeish(SP?) behavior dealt with.
Is Sunset going to be introducing superior Equestrian spells, like teleport, to the Wizarding World?
Also... You have Sunset bleeding silver blood. I've never seen that before.
Can I use that in my fic? ... Let me know.
---
10641217
Can you give me the fic url?
---
10641217
This gives me an idea of Harry Dresden buying an antique mirror, setting it up in his place, and then staring as a young girl(Sunset) pops out of it.^_^
Unfortunately, I cannot write. I've never read thy Dresden novels. Only the fics.
Would Sunset be subject to the techbane? I think that's canon. Or is the techbane something only in fics? Also... This fic has Sunset bleeding silver. Would she be subject to the rules of the Majestic Council of Wizards (I think that's what they are called?), or would she be considered not subject to them since she is obviously not human now(bleeding silver blood)?
10641226
Sounds like an... interesting guy right there.^_^
10641255
Aaw, you seem nice. It must have happened before
Actually, being taken down a peg is a little hard to wrap my head around when it comes to Snape, at least if that means being humbled to the point of actually turning humble. If Snape is taken down too many pegs, I guess he'd stop being Snape. I'm not sure his character includes the capacity to be someone who is not as big of a prick as he is. Although I might be wrong, considering what we see late in book 7.
Sunset might be introducing some spells, but that's a maybe, since she wants to keep a low profile. Something to kill dementors with maybe, since she's not going to like those.
And sure, you can have the concept of silver blood in your stories. I'm a little proud of thinking of that, I hadn't seen anyone use that aspect in a HP/MLP crossover, but I think it would be a little rich of me to claim that it's my idea
That was definitely an adventure, alright.
10641270
No one has used that idea before. So yeah, it's completely yours. I will credit you with it in my fic. ... If I ever get around to actually finishing the prologue... someday.
10641298
Short, but I guess it still counts
10641299
Thank you, that's really cool
A few things:
1: it's good to have this story back; was afraid it had been dropped.
2: The way Sunset is written in this is a delight, because 1-dunking on Snape is always fun. 2-You've remembered she hasn't gone through any of her film development in this timeline so yeah no wonder she's got more of an abrasive streak and 3-She's just fun to read about, perhaps not the most nauanced or deep but she's fun to watch and sometimes thats all you want.
3: Sunset dunking on Snape continues to be great, I know I already said that but it beared repeating, dunking on Snape is always a good thing.
4: I hope we get to see more of Sunset studying the magic she doesn't know, I'm worried about power creep, granted a lot of its fun but I never like when the rules/powers of one story get shat on to make one side look cool while making the others look like incompitant spods (I read a lot of Ranma 1/2/Sailor moon stories and this happens a lot)
Anyway point was its something that happens in a lot of these crossovers and right now I'm really enjoying that your not doing it, just might be nice to see Sunset learn something new.
anyway that was all, glad to read a new chapter of this again.
10641361
No just... like I've said before, my capacity to work without compensation is steadily diminishing.
The premise kinda favor that in a way. Sunset is really powerful and knowledgeable, and so Equestria needs to be magically advanced as well, or that wouldn't make any sense. I certainly see Equestria as more culturally advanced than the human magical society, but the human magical society is, socially, clearly lagging behind a lot according to canon, so that shouldn't be a problem.
It remains to be seen how it will come across, but I will say that I've always thought I've found something potentially very entertaining in other stories where Equestria is better then magical society, so I'm gonna see what I can do with it.
Thank you, and I'm glad you liked it
Aww, you skipped the customary part where someone tells Dumbledore that it's idiotic to leave the Great Hall when there's a dangerous creature inside the building. Oh well, at least we know he gets it right in book 3.