And Now: Sports
There was a scent of nervousness in the air all over the school that grew stronger as the weeks went on. It was slowly sinking in for a lot of students how they had performed at the midterms, and that the finals were going to be even more demanding.
Especially around Harry, Ron, and Hermione there was an almost excited tinge to the scent, as they sat with their heads closely together over books from the library.
Sunset studied too, or tried to at least. Alone in the dorm, she lay with her first year spellbooks in a pile with her in bed, flipping through one of them only long enough to read the name of the spells, making them all activate with so-called silent magic by incanting them in her head and waving her wand.
“Light, colored light, sticking light, warmth, cold, levitation, magic tack, launching small objects…” Sunset took a deep breath as a hairband from Lavender’s nightstand bounced into the wall. “... Lock locks, unlock locks, ♪fold it up and put in socks, if your socks are full of rocks, take those out and put in box… es♫.
“... Eugh.”
Sunset let her hands fall down, as she stared listlessly into the wall.
There comes a point where studying the same thing over and over becomes too much, and Sunset tossed and turned in bed as she tried expressing her frustrations.
She glanced over at the clock to see that it was almost time for the afternoon meal. It was a good thing too, because if nothing else had distracted her, Sunset suspected she would’ve walked down to the lake and started melting the sand into glass just for the hay of it.
As usual, it was potions that were tripping her up, since it took so much time to practice. It’s not like she hadn’t gone through the entire first year of potions yet, but that was far behind where she was in other subjects.
So it was a good time that Percy was so busy these days, so she could get away with practising some.
Sunset paused as she started rising from the bed, wondering why she was thinking like a student who wanted high grades.
Sunset didn’t need grades. She didn’t value grades. She valued knowledge. Knowledge would lead her to her destiny. Grades were for impressing people who valued grades.
She walked down the stairs and out into the castle corridors in that particular disorientation of someone between events in life.
There were things to do of course. There were always things to learn, but right now, at this moment, she didn’t have the energy to learn more, but there was also no real entertainment to relax with.
She found herself sauntering into the classroom that had housed the mirror she had seen Celestia in, and found it empty.
“Miss Shimmer?” the voice of professor McGonagall rapped across her cochlear. “What are you doing here?”
Sunset turned around to see her head of house looking at her with a stern and slightly suspicious look.
“Oh, uh, there was a mirror here, but I forgot that Dumbledore said it was gonna be moved.”
One of McGonagall’s eyebrows raised up like a lioness poking up over the savannah grass.
“Uh, I mean, uhm… that’s what I heard,” Sunset said, trying to rally.
Sunset had an uncomfortable feeling that the eyebrow was going to pounce any second.
“I’ve just… been studying too hard,” Sunset said, slumping a little.
McGonagall’s expression slowly softened ever so slightly, and spoke in a much more casual tone.
“Your results on the transfiguration midterms were quite good, and likewise professor Flitwick and professor Snape gave you close to the highest score as you already know, so I… see no pressing concerns regarding your education.”
“So you’re saying perhaps I should relax a little?” Sunset asked.
McGonagall searched for words for a moment. “I rarely advise students not to study, but I hold that some variation can be good for you. Clears the mind.”
Sunset nodded to herself. Turning parts of the bank of the lake into glass might not be prudent, but she was itching to do something.
“You’re probably right,” Sunset said. “Thank you, professor.”
“You’re welcome. Oh, and miss Shimmer,” McGonagall said, as she was about to move on. “It has been brought to my attention that you have had one small error, in every midterm, that has kept you from receiving a perfect score in every subject.”
“Ah, noticed that?” Sunset muttered, mostly to herself, and continued before McGonagall could interrupt. “Well, things might be perfect without flaws, but it’s not complete without them.”
Sunset turned around on her heel and marched away before McGonagall could ask her about that. Frankly, she actually had no idea what that meant, but she remembered something like that being said, long ago, when Celestia and Kibitz were talking about something.
Maybe McGonagall was right. Maybe Sunset needed to clear her mind a little.
She slipped into another unused classroom, and stared out across the landscape. The last of the snow had just thawed, although at this temperature, the soil would remain wet and muddy for a long time, especially with this drizzle that had been going on and off for two days.
During the holidays, she hadn’t needed to worry much about teleporting back and forth across the castle, or magicking things around in her dorm, but it was much riskier now when the castle was alive with activity again.
Still, just this once, Sunset felt like throwing caution to the wind… although it was best to do so somewhere else.
With a flash, she vanished, and reappeared on a hilltop far away. She turned around, and saw the now small castle in the distance.
With another flash, she appeared on another hilltop, this one bald, and completely obscured by the previous one.
She looked around, and saw a boring, inhospitable, and uninviting patch of grassy mud and soil, completely lacking in personality.
Sunset hopped in place for a moment, took a deep breath, and stretched her arms, legs, and every part of her body, before holding out her hands, throwing up a magical shield, and gathering her magic.
Tiny discharges of lightning zapped between her fingers, and her hair was buffeted by an ethereal wind, as the power gathered and grew, and grew, and grew.
…
The inhabitants of Hogsmeade, and both the faculty and student body of Hogwarts, looked up in curiosity and mild alarm, as they felt the ground softly quake, and a deep rumble rolled over them, before all became silent again.
…
Sunset stood still, and listened to the wonderful symphony of pebbles and tufts of grass raining down around her.
When almost all was quiet again, except for a slight hissing, she opened her eyes again, to observe her handiwork.
The crater in front of her was steaming as the rain and moisture in the soil slowly tried to spread to the dry, very warm, and partially melted hole in the ground.
“Aaaah… I needed that,” Sunset said, in Equestrian, as she took to slowly walking around the perimeter of her handiwork, as she absentmindedly waved a finger while deep in thought, catching the fine rain in a small orb, suspended in the air.
She had covered all the spells of the first and second year, and had been studying more of the same level besides. As stated before, potions was slower, especially since she was cross-referencing five different books on the subject, and dodging Percy, but she was still ahead of the class.
The key to immortality was with magic, Sunset was sure of it, but where in magic? Which field? At what level?
Celestia couldn’t turn Sunset into an alicorn. This all but established that there was no specific spell or such for it.
Sunset had to admit that if that was the case, there would probably have been a few by now, besides Cadence.
Somewhere, in the vast wilderness that was the study of magic, was the key to ascension. How does one find it where so many have failed?
Why, do better than everyone else, of course.
So if one was to find themselves looking for something very specific in a very vast area, how does one go about it?
Sunset twirled her fingers as she walked in a circle, staring out across the landscape, making two orbs of water orbit each other, before they stopped, and melded into one.
The water was smoothened out into a disk, and a small wave started spreading out from the center of it, in a widening spiral.
In this metaphorical wilderness of mysteries and study, a metaphorical search pattern was required.
Sunset stood still for a moment, before freezing the disk of water into ice, and dropping it on the ground, where it shattered into fragments.
She observed it for a moment, before nodding to herself, and vanished in a flash.
No one stopped her, as she made her way back to the Gryffindor common room and the girls’ dormitory.
Inside, she fished out the notebooks she had bought in the muggle store, and her spellbooks, and sat in her bed with them, and drew the curtains.
There, she started her handiwork of combining her books into one, and compressing the pages to make it thinner.
Waving her fingers, she started cutting up the muggle paper and adding the material to create wider margins.
Then, she started writing.
—
“Why is everyone so high strung?” Sunset asked Seamus during breakfast.
“‘Cause this is it! Gryffindor against Slytherin, and Harry caught the snitch the last game.”
Sunset looked over at Harry and saw that he was dressed in a different uniform, along with Fred, George, and a few others Sunset didn’t know.
Harry was slowly nibbling at a piece of toast while staring blankly ahead of him. The others in the team, Fred and George, three girls, and another boy, were faring only slightly better, actually managing to put food in their mouths while doing the same. The oldest boy was fidgeting while trying to wind himself up for an inspiring speech that never seemed to start.
“Oh that’s right,” Seamus said. “You missed the last game.”
Sunset squirmed uncomfortably in her seat. She had agreed to meet Malfoy during this game.
“I guess I did.”
The scent in the air didn’t do her composure any favors.
The team rose up and walked stiffly towards the doors.
“I guess it’s time to head out,” Seamus noted.
Sunset grabbed one piece of toast in each hand and one in her mouth, before joining the crowd that was milling out of the castle and down towards the great pitch in the grounds, with its tall stands and viewing platforms.
That quidditch took place in the air was something Sunset had figured out already, since flying broomsticks were involved.
She had actually flown during the spring’s flying lessons following the one where she ended up with a Longbottom on top of her.
It hadn’t been anything special. Sunset could already fly on her own with magic, and while the speed that some brooms could reach could’ve added some spice, the practice-brooms had been thoroughly ‘throttled’ to keep incidents like the one with Neville to a minimum. The brooms used for sport or quick transport were supposed to be quicker.
She noticed Neville walking next to her, slightly more uncomfortable than other times.
“What’s up?” she asked, finishing her second piece of bread.
“Oh, uh… nothing. Just… flying makes me nervous.”
“Ah, yeah, we’ve established that,” Sunset shrugged, making Neville blush. “But you’re not up in the air. What’s the problem?”
“Yeah but… Harry is.”
Sunset glanced at Neville as they walked into the wooden structure. “Yeah… I suppose he is,” she said, as she ascended the stairs.
Several floors worth of stairs later, Sunset found herself standing on a bench-covered platform, alternatingly decorated with the colors of the four houses.
She made her way through the milling crowd and was about to take a seat at the edge of the red and gold section, when a figure was suddenly standing next to her.
“There you are,” Draco Malfoy said, a slightly hard smile on his face. “Come on, let’s watch from over here.”
Sunset suppressed a sigh, and followed the rich boy, who smelled even more nervous than Neville, to where his two constant followers were standing behind them.
Sunset looked out over the field and saw the players on the ground, walking slowly towards each other, with Snape roughly in the middle.
“What’s Snape, or Professor Snape, doing out there?” Sunset asked.
“He’s the referee this time,” Malfoy said, grinning. “So Gryffindor doesn’t stand a…”
Malfoy cleared his throat, but Sunset wasn’t really paying attention. She was leaning against a support for the awning above.
The two team captains shook hands, and then the game started with the blow of a whistle.
The players flew into the sky and started dodging and weaving past each other, trying to get a large ball through the opposing team’s hoops, and dodging two smaller balls while two members from each team, Fred and George in the case of Gryffindor, tried to smack them at the opposing team members.
Sunset thought that was a little careless for humans, who it was clear were much more fragile than ponies, or herself in her current form.
Malfoy kept alternating between cheering for Slytherin, and glancing at Sunset nervously.
“So what’s Harry up to?” Sunset asked, noticing that Harry was just looking around the field.
“He’s trying to find the golden snitch... or so I hear,” Malfoy scoffed.
“And what’s that?”
Malfoy looked at Sunset. “The little golden ball with wings. You know, if you catch that you end the game? Don’t you know quidditch? You said you weren't a muggleborn,” he pointed out, with a little bit of worry and accusation.
“I’m not. I just haven’t paid attention to sports,” Sunset said, as Ron and Hermoine took their places in front of them on the stands, arguing about something under their breaths.
Sunset could feel the hostility radiating from Malfoy towards the two, while he glanced uncertainly at Sunset.
Spotting an opportunity to get out of this, or at least make it more pleasant, Sunset started gently waving her fingers, and started slipping from people’s perceptions.
Before long, Malfoy had stopped glancing at her, and was instead sneering at Ron and Hermoine behind their back. He pulled out his wand, and poked Ron in the back of his
head with it.
“Ouch!”
“Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn’ see you there,” Malfoy said, and looked back at his cronies for confirmation that he was doing well.
“Wonder how long Potter’s going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?”
Ron just gave Malfoy a look of contempt, and turned back to the game, where Snape was giving his brother a penalty.
Sunset sat down and simply looked at the game.
It wasn’t changing her mind on sports, but she had to admit that it was a nice change of pace to be surrounded by screaming teenagers who all exuded an uncomfortably intense smell of excitement.
It made her appreciate her alone time and researching even more.
A few minutes without a jab was obviously too much for Malfoy. “You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team? It’s people they feel sorry for. See, there’s Potter, who’s got no parents, then there’s the Weasley’s, who’ve got no money. You should be on the team, Longbottom, you’ve got no brains.”
In isolation, Sunset felt that was decent as far as insults go, for a young boy.
“I’m worth twelve of you, Malfoy,” Neville stammered, trying and failing to look cross.
Sunset had to struggle to not bury her head in her hands, as the three Slytherins around her guffawed.
“You tell him, Neville,” Ron said, not looking away from the game
“Longbottom, if brains were gold, you’d be poorer than Weasley, and that’s saying something
Ron turned around, and did a much better job than Neville at looking fierce.
“I’m warning you, Malfoy! One more word–”
Without taking her eyes off the game, Hermoine pulled at his shoulder. “Ron! Harry!”
“What? Where?”
Something exciting was apparently happening, since the crowd’s cheering reached a crescendo. Sunset spared the pitch some of her attention, and saw that Harry dove towards something, presumably the snitch.
Malfoy clenched his jaw as he saw Harry rapidly closing in on a Gryffindor victory, and squirmed in place as he glanced desperately around for a release for his frustrations.
“You’re in luck, Weasley,” he said, trying to not sound hurt and desperate. “Potter’s obviously spotted some money on the ground!”
Ron didn’t even spare Malfoy a warning look before he jumped over his seat and pounced Malfoy to the ground.
Crabbe and Goyle looked on in confusion for several seconds before they reached for Ron, only to be stopped by a desperately furious Neville tackling them back, to moderate effect, resulting in two rapidly squirming piles of fists, grunting, and screaming.
Sunset sighed, but logged this event in her brain for some future analysis, should she ever get more interested in studying social interactions.
The rest of the crowd didn’t notice, as they were too focused on the game. Hermione was jumping up and down with the rest of their classmates, when the already intense cheering erupted to maximum capacity.
Harry was cruising around the pitch from the lingering velocity of his dive, his arm raised in triumph.
Seamus and Dean were screaming into the air at the top of their lungs like a pair of sea lions, while Hermoine was jumping up and down and shrieking together with Parvati Patil.
“Ron! Ron! Where are you!? The game’s over! Harry’s won! We’ve won! Gryffindor are in the lead!” she shouted.
By now, the Gryffindors were storming down the platform towards the pitch, and Sunset looked over to see that the double scuffle had developed at an alarming rate.
Ron’s nose was lightly bleeding, while a whimpering Malfoy was trying desperately to fend him off so he could nurse his black eye.
Crabbe and Goyle looked up in confusion at the sudden shift in atmosphere, an unconscious Neville underneath them.
Without realizing, or perhaps not caring, what had just happened, Hermoine grabbed Ron and pulled him down with her towards the pitch, quickly followed by the almost as enthusiastic Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws.
Crabbe and Goyle looked up in surprise as Sunset dropped her illusions around her right in front of them, and they quickly backed away when she stepped up towards Neville.
“Well, you sure showed him,” she said, drawing attention to the enormous difference in mass between the two ape-like figures, and the one all-but-scary looking Neville.
Malfoy looked angry and humiliated from his beating, and only seemed more confused and worried when Sunset slipped back into his senses, and realized she had seen and heard everything.
This was one of the many reasons Sunset didn’t want to get involved with others- it kept putting her in situations where she didn’t know what to say or do. She decided to fall back to just doing what seemed rationally most important right now, with a dispassionate demeanor.
“Well, I’ll see you boys later,” she said, as she gently picked up Neville and draped his unconscious form over her back, before descending the stairs, roomy now that everyone had hurried down them, and exited towards the castle.
Despite the unconscious boy on her back, this was probably the best time of Sunset’s day so far. The noise about things she didn’t care about was bad enough, but staying calm with all those scents and smells of excitement was really taxing, and now she was finally away from it, the castle being practically empty except for a few ghosts looking at her curiously.
Of course, there was also Madam Pomfrey.
“Miss Shimmer! What is the meaning of this!?”
“Calm down. You shouting makes me not want to go here,” Sunset muttered.
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Ah, catharsis, sometimes you just gotta explode a few random hilltops.
Thank you for the chapter, good entertainment is always appreciated. Huh, feeling muzzy? Getting enough iron? That can really sneak up on you if you're not paying attention.
11061592
Hmm, I hadn't considered that. I can never remember what gives you what nutrients and what I have and haven't eaten enough of lately. Maybe I should go pick up some supplements.
And you're very welcome, and thank you for voicing your appreciation, which is also always appreciated
I just can't wait for someone to call out Sunset on how bad she sometimes is at humaning.
Hope you start feeling better soon. Winter time takes alot of my energy away. I feel like a plant where if i dont get enough sun I'll wither. Take extra care of yourself and don't forget that things get better.
Also loved the chapter as always. Nice to see sunset let her hair down magically speaking. Can't wait to see her really let loose.
I'll like and subscribe as long as you don't start writing in adverts for bad mobile games.
11061596
Do you imagine any specific scenario?
Yeah she can be pretty bad at that
11061594
Oh aye, I got myself into iron deficiency about two years back, was so run down I couldn't tell the difference between June and August. Nasty business, you get all confused and fuzzy so you can't figure out what's wrong.
Hope you get to feeling better, happy Thanksgiving if you're living in the states!
11061597
Sure, I can stay far away from mobile games ads, no problem. By the way... have you heard of Nord VPN?
Thanks for the concern, and I'm glad you enjoyed it. I'm gonna see what can be done about... whatever it is I'm dealing with right now. Perhaps some nutrient supplement pills or something.
11061599
Noted. I'm not a nutritionist... dietist... whatever, I don't know much about the whole subject, so maybe I should just try and eat all the stuff, grains, vegetables, meat, fruits, etc.
And I'm not American, but thank you anyway
11061604
Nord VPN, Gfuel, crypto scam websites, audible.
I hear these adverts in my sleep.
Hope whatever you take helps. I take a berocca and an omega fish oil supplement as soon as it gets Cold.
No worries. Totally get that feeling. I get it especially when I’ve had a lot of stres anxiety work with little breather. I’m just glad for something and you did good on it to so even better
11061598
Ha, there's so many funny options. Her "peers" would be pretty timid about it, since I think she intimidates most of them, so I think it's better with a teacher as she can't as easily brush it off.
Hagrid is probably a good one, since he's the least likely to actually act on any suspicions of her being non-human. Him or the history teacher so she can end up escaping the situation because they get distracted by comparing her to some historical figure and eventually forgetting what the conversation was about.
Hagrid has already seen her suspicious strength, and is the most likely to catch her being a little too in tune with nature for a human. Or maybe she just messes up holidays, or wakes up distracted and babbles about Pegasi weather and then has to talk her way out of a confused common room.
11061607
Hmm, interesting. I've been thinking of scenarios where it's revealed that she's a unicorn, and Hagrid plays a big role in the best ones. Before that though, I should have some funny scenes where she slips up, or almost slips up, but doesn't quite reveal herself fully yet. Like I've said before, I'm looking forward to year 3, as a lot of interesting stuff for her to react to happens in that. She can have Hagrid as a teacher, Hagrid can show them unicorns, etc.
11061606
Thank you, glad to hear it, and relieved to hear it
11061605
Maybe I should do that as well. I stop taking mineral supplements like Berocca when it the temperature goes down, but maybe it'll help this time of year as well.
11061612
Agreed on it being at least on year three, gives it time build up tension and shenanigans.
Not to mention that besides the incredible powers she's not really exceptionally weird for a eleven years old girl. I mean, there's Luna and no one thinks she's not human.
I so want to see her dealing closely with unicorns though. Bonus points if either a mare that wants to take care of her or a foal that gets adorably friendly with the "not big big sister"
On your health, go to a doctor if you can. A blood test can tell a lot about your health if evaluated by someone who knows both what to look like and what to expect.
If not physical do consider that sometimes it's our mind that is troubled and there's absolutely nothing wrong in searching for help.
11061664
Parts of the faculty has seen several mysterious things regarding her though, like her coming out of the mirror, keeping her background to herself, and having some serious skills and mental shields. They haven't really shared this with the student body of course, so to her classmates she's just slightly weird. And yeah, unicorns. Besides those, there's thestrals, gryphons, and others.
On health: meh, doctors have better things to do. It's probably not physical, and probably not serious, so I'll just power through it like I normally do. Thanks for your concern though, and showing appreciation for my work helps
11061672
I hope the encounters all go as adorably as I imagine them
I spent many years thinking it wasn't something worth seeing, I'm still dealing with the consequences. Please take care if that doesn't abate soon
Wow Sunset is really missing stuff going around at Haogwarts isn’t she. Hopefully after what happens at the end of the year she will keep an eye more on Harry next year.
Things in canonical HP that we have yet to see here that could crack Shimmer's stoic demeanor.
...Wait, one of these was not in book one!
11061672
Aside from loving the chapter, as I always do
Sunset's secret identity as a unicorn is definitely my favorite part of this story, followed by Sunset's quest for immortality.
With that said, if I remember right, don't Harry and the crew get sent into the Forbidden Forrest to discover what's been hunting unicorns.
There are.....so many things you could do with this. On one hand, if Voldemort finds out, he could try and possess her(he would fail *miserably*). Another idea is for Sunset to find the dead unicorn and see the similarities between it and Celestia: coat white as snow, majestic horn, long mane, statuesque body.....she'd be horrified at the sight and this could have her go crying to Celestia. A third idea is for Sunset to actually find Voldemort feasting on the unicorn and fight him off before he kills it. She could then save its life.
For third year, it occurs to me that Sunset patronus will *definitely* be an alicorn.
11061697
Oh there'll be some cuteness there for sure.
I'm not sure what I'd tell a doctor though. I suspect my fatigue has less to do with physical health concerns and more that I've barely had anything to do for weeks, going on months now. Almost every time me and my friend seem like we're gonna be able to do something, something comes up. So I've just been sitting around for ages now. Like I said though, that people like my chapters really help brighten my day
11061733
One would think so, but going from the later books, especially 5, there's a huge amount of general confusion among the student body as to what actually happened with Harry and friends at the end of their first year, and whether or not he's on the level, hence why even several of their own classmates treat him like they do in book 5. I think it would be interesting if Sunset wasn't privy to that information either, exploring the events from another perspective. It's true though, that that might make her keep a keener eye on Harry, since she'd have to find the stuff out herself.
11061740
Oh yeah, Dolores Umbridge. I'm gonna have to give it some good thought as to why Sunset doesn't just... neutralize her, in some way
11061754
Thank you, glad to hear it
And you're right. They do get sent out into the forbidden forest to hunt unicorn killers, which is a bit uncharacteristic of the faculty, and especially Dumbledore and his plans for Harry. I don't like using TVTropes nomenclature, but I believe there they call it Early Instalment Weirdness. However, they're sent out there as punishment for being out in the halls past curfew for smuggling Hagrid's dragon out of the castle, so it might be best if Sunset isn't with them on that, they probably wouldn't be caught with her helping them.
And yeah, there are a lot of things that can be done with Sunset finding the dead unicorn, but thinking ahead, it might be best if I hold that off. Here's some other idea involving Celestia though: Some death eater learns that Sunset knows some really powerful magics that no one else knows, and she also has a book that she never lets anyone else read. Could be fun if that death eater steals Sunset's book that's linked to Celestia and writes in it, "I, [Lucius Malfoy or Bellatrix Lestrange or whoever] command you to reveal your secrets!" in English. Cut to Celestia back in Equestria looking at the text appearing on the page, and raises an eyebrow. 'Oh, really?'
11061772
Lol, now that you mention it, that *would* be hilarious. Voldemort might even consider the possibility of the diary being a horecrux.
11061612
Actually, I don't think that unicorns happen until fourth year, not third. He does start teaching that year, though, and there's also hippogriffs that year... which, Sunset being Sunset, she's probably at least heard of them, even if nopony has probably actually seen one for a number of years.
11061857
Oh right, I forgot that it was hippogryphs and not gryphons.
They might see unicorns during year 3 though, if things play out differently
11061607
11061612
Distracted babbles about pegasi or ponies in general likely wouldn't be picked out because wizards keep pegasi.
wow! this isn't dead. Surprising. Nice chapter.
11061772
An epic battle between Sunset and the hooded figure hunting unicorns could be fun. I'd also think that if Voldie were to discover that Sunset is a Unicorn she'd end up being on the menu.
Still waiting on the reaction that Sunset Shimmer has unicorn blood.
***
McGongall says "This is a serious accusation miss Shimmer. You have been found to have unicorn blood. The stains of it on your clothing are proof here. Do you realize the penalty for taking a unicorn's blood? You could be sent to Azkaban forever!"
Dumbledoor says "I am very disappointed in you, that you could do such an evil thing, young Sunset."
Dumbledoor shakes his head sadly. "How could you willingly damn your soul like that?"
Sunset looks startled at the accusations, then says "But... But... But it's -my- blood."
"Hmmppphh! Ridiculous." says Snape.
Sunset looks determined, then says "Fine. I'll prove it." She then cuts her arm.
Snape looks surprised, then sneers. "What will that prove? That you can bleed? That you're an emo?"
Sunset looks confident, and says "Wait for it."
The blood leaking down her arm finally turns silver.
They all look surprised, and stare.
McGongall whips out her wand, and scans Sunset's blood. She turns pale. "Unicorn blood." she whispers.
Dumbledoor looks at her in shock now. "How?" he asks in a whispered voice.
"My mother is a unicorn." Sunset says, while silently adding "pony".
Snape whips out his wand, and performs a lie detection spell. He looks shocked. "She's telling the truth now."
***
I hope to see something like that soon sometime.
Only better than he mess that I just wrote.
11061928
Do they? I don't remember that.
11061929
Thank you. I'm gonna do my best not to feel stressed out by that.
11061934
Yep, there are many scenarios that sounds really fun, but which I sadly should refrain from writing since they'd interfere with future plans. Oh well, such is the way of forethought
11061959
... There's something very anime about that. But yes, the scene is coming, it just won't look like that
Gotta admit, that's a pretty good zinger. I laughed.
11062040
I'm not gonna take any credit for that. It's straight from the book
11062046
Must've forgotten it. Still funny tho.
11062057
It kinda is, yeah
Pomfrey's bedside manner has always bothered me as it seems like it'd encourage students to avoid her when injured.
11062150
Yep. Barking at one's "lessers" is the norm in a stratified society such as a traditional British boarding school
11061977
Pegasi are first mentioned in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and there are some large pegasi in "Goblet of Fire" that pull the enchanted carriage from Beauxbatons. It's mostly in the lore material, but it's pretty much canon that wizards like to race pegasi. So Sunset saying anything about pegasi isn't really going to be remarked on other than she's had access to the fast agile ponies.
11062205
Oh that's right, I totally forgot the Beauxbatons horses. Thanks for reminding me. As for canon and lore, I'm not very familiar, at all really, with material outside the original books. I haven't seen or read Magical Beasts, or Cursed Child, or Beedle the Bard, I saw movie 1, 2, and parts of 3 and maybe 4, but it was ages ago, so I practically haven't seen them. So I'm going almost exclusively from the original seven books, and if I come up with stuff I'm not aware are contradicted by other stories, well, so be it.
Although I did see a picture of what Cormac McLaggen looks like in the movies, which made everything make so much more sense to me. When the book described him as large, for the longest time I thought he was obese
Now, can Sunset Shimmer speak French?
... yeah, she probably can.
11061910
Fair enough; this is your world now (for all intents and purposes, anyways; still better than being in Rowling's hands, tho, certainly).
11062242
I'd feel a little vulnerable smacktalking a multimillionaire, internationally renowned writer with my fanfic account and three digit number of followers, but I'm glad you think so
But Hagrid's subplot might be different in year 3 if Malfoy is still busy trying to get Sunset's attention, and doesn't bother hurling insults at Buckbeak, or it's even worse if he tries showing off in front of her
Eeeey. Glad to see this back! I hope things get better for ya. That listless feeling sucks.
11062245
Nowadays she's done so much to sink any goodwill she might've had that whatever you did would be just a drop in the bucket.
Let's be honest here, the books have more plot holes that swiss cheese and more idiot balls than a world cup. Any sane writing is already improving that by leaps and bounds.
It's always the quiet ones.
It might have been short, but it was a good chapter. A lot going on and I enjoyed it. Thanks for the entertainment!
11062245
I certainly have no issues with Hagrid's character being portrayed exactly as written. He's a little slow, doesn't understand that people are fragile, and doesn't comprehend that his actions might have unfortunate consequences. The only way Hagrid taking first years into the Forbidden Forest at night to hunt unicorns makes sense is if Hagrid had downplayed what he was going to do along with the potential danger. I can't believe for one moment that Dumbledore would have allowed it if he'd known just how dangerous that detention was going to be.
11062278
It does, but words of support helps, so thank you for that
11062283
Sure, I just feel that the best approach when old weirdos say old and weird things is to not even dignify it with a response, and keep it classy if one does. But then again, I don't use twitter, so I don't know what she's said.
11062336
Sunset or Neville? They both kinda let loose in this chapter.
11062350
You've very welcome, and thanks for saying that
11062457
Do you mean you have no issues with how Hagrid is written in this story or the source material? But yes, that is an accurate assessment of Hagrid.
Lol, you really captured Sunset's uncertainty quite well in this chapter. And I'm far from surprised that her 'date' with Draco turned out so poorly. Although knowing how thick they can be at times, I would far from surprised if Crabbe and Goyle misinterpreted her snark about Neville to them.
Despite how comparatively boring this was, it was nice to get some time progression happening again. Now comes the while debacle with the Stone, I suppose. I wonder just how involved she'd gonna be for that?
Slight tippo. I am sure you meant Ron here:
11062716
Thank you, and I appreciate the solidarity
11062691
Thank you, though it's too bad it was boring. I don't plan on Sunset being very involved with Harry & friends for quite a while. If Sunset becomes involved too soon, she'll prevent the story from happening.
11062620
Maybe a little of both. I have no problem with how you present Hagrid here, so long as you don't deviate too far from the character. At least not without a really good setup.
As for the source material, Ya, there are issues there. Harry could have died in that forest and all Dumbledore's plans would have fallen apart. His plot armor protected him. So far as we are told in the stories there are no repercussions for Hagrid's actions. Not even a good dressing down by Dumbledore. We move from scene to scene with little tying much of it together beyond the characters themselves. Hagrid with a Christmas tree in the dungeon corridor is a prime example. In the books, there's absolutely no logical reason for that scene to happen. Sure there are plenty of possibilities, but we are never told what it is, left to decide for ourselves what it could be, and it's quickly forgotten. The whole purpose for that bit is to help paint a picture of how insufferable Draco is.
11062620
Drama. Flame wars. Social media truly brings out the worst in everyone, and the nastiest raise to the top. You're better off just staying away from it entirely. If you ever do get morbidly curious, always look at the source material. Too many people are busy hating others for second and third hand interpretations of events.
In other, far more worthy topics, everyone already assumes Sunset is a half-breed (in the first chapter they mentioned a few possibilities). I can just imagine her blood comes up and they assume she's somehow half unicorn. Hagrid just shrugs and says it makes sense. Everyone else gets confused and wonders "how does that work?"
11062771
)
That's true. The escalation is why I don't bother with the whole subject of what she said- there just had to be an internet war over it, hadn't there? (Man, I remember when the internet was exclusively for nerds. We should never had let others come here
But yeah, Sunset being a half-breed is something I can see others suspecting. Makes one wonder if Dolores Umbridge can pick up on her non-humanness just by looking at her.
11062770
I'm not sure I've deviated any from the character though.
We don't see Dumbledore punishing or chastising Hagrid, but he still might have. Even so, I think it's in-character for Dumbledore not to punish Hagrid. He's not overly concerned with rules or laws, so much as the spirit of rules and laws. In Dumbledore's mind: Forming a secret club for practising magic combat. Against the rules? Yes. Is it okay? Yes. Having supposedly effective wizard-hunters which also causes mental harm to people near them patrol the premises to catch a supposed murderous maniac. Against the rules? No. Is it acceptable? Very, very barely. The ministry representative is lightly manhandling a student. Is it against the rules? Probably not. Is it okay? Most certainly not.
11062245
I can't see Malfoy not being a little shit in this situation, tbh. Especially since I feel like Sunset has the capacity to develop empathy over such a length of time, and Hagrid is one of the least offensive, most genuine people she could probably know, even in Hogwarts. In any case, it's gonna be interesting.
(Also, the advantages of being so small is that that multimillionaire author of such renown isn't likely to ever actually see you. We are but ants to that woman... Still, can't fault you for wanting to avoid conflict. Life is a lot more fun when you're not constantly trying to start shit, or to get away from the shit you started, inadvertently or not.)
11063049
Hagrid's first lesson is one of those scenes that I've already planned. It's not written in stone, but it's one of those I feel so good about that I look forward to writing it. And yeah, Sunset already kinda likes Hagrid.
And I'm less worried about Rowling, or more likely, any of her supporters, coming here and putting me down, and more about being one of those aspiring storytelling internet gurus who talk about things I don't understand with obnoxious confidence