Ch. 10. They Should Have Expected It
Friday afternoon, after lunch and before Charms, they had a free period. Harry decided to take advantage of that and went down to visit Hagrid. Ron, Neville, his herd-mates, and Luna went along.
“Harry,” the half-giant delightedly said as he came around the edge of his wooden cottage. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” he continued genially. “Like a spot of tea?”
Once they were all settled in a row on his bed — he didn’t have nearly enough chairs for nine visitors — “Have a good summer, did ya?” he asked as he set the kettle on the fire.
After bringing him up on their adventures over the summer, and their classes so far, Harry asked, “Hagrid, can you get acromantula silk?”
The wizard shrugged his shoulders, “There’s plenty about Aragog’s abandoned nest,” he said.
Harry explained how there was a shortage of the product in Equestria, and how Hagrid could make some extra galleons.
Hagrid glanced around his cottage. “Don’ really need a lot of galleons,” he said, thinking on it. “I don’ spend most o’ what I earn, already. Got pretty much all I need, right here,” he waved his arm to indicate his cottage, “already.”
“But you need to save some for the future, when you retire,” Hermione piped up, and sipped some tea from her cup — more of a bowl considering it was a teacup for a half-giant.
Hagrid nodded, furrowing his brow. “Tha’s true, I suppose.”
“Well,” Harry said slowly, musing, “You could make a deal with Aragog on behalf of the school. You could use the funds to help fix up some of the things here at the school. Surely there’s stuff that needs to be replaced or fixed, or even just touched up a bit.”
Hermione nodded. “There seem to be a lot of unused classrooms in the school that are in dreadful need of a cleaning. Obviously, there’s too much work to be done for the house-elves to manage everything, and heaven knows that Mr. Filch is overworked with what he does. Perhaps you could use the extra income to hire additional help for the school?”
“My mum mentioned that the Headmaster told her the budget was tight at Hogwarts,” Harry said earnestly, “which is one reason why they don’t offer more electives and have a bigger staff.”
Hagrid slowly nodded. “Tha’s true. I’ve heard the perfessers ask fer more funding in staff meetin’s more than once.”
“Besides,” put in Apple Bloom, “Someday you might get married and you’ll need a lot of galleons to expand and outfit the cottage for two.”
Hagrid gave her a surprised look. “Me? Married?” He looked wistful for a moment. “Naw,” he said, “Witches ’ave never given me a second glance.” A sad expression drifted momentarily across his face.
“You cannot tell the future,” Sweetie Belle said. “It is better to be prepared for the future than be caught out.”
Scootaloo smirked, then snickered with a sidelong glance at her herd-mates. “I think you’re underselling yourself, Hagrid.”
The others looked at her.
She shrugged, “According to my aunts, regardless of what mares tell stallions, size matters.” She narrowed her eyes and looked up at Hagrid. “If you’re as big as you appear, once the witches discover you’re available, there’ll be a line out your door all the way to the Hogwarts gates!”
““““Scootaloo!”””” came the scandalized responses from the other girls. Hermione and Ginny were blushing furiously, the other two were more surprised just to hear her be so . . . outspoken . . . on this subject. Innuendo was not a specialty for the pegasus — quite the opposite, in fact.
On the other hoof, the fillies thought, maybe with her new, bigger wings, to attract attention, her aunts might have been a bit livelier when talking about stallions, and what she might want to do? Or with whom?
Harry, Ron, and Neville stared at her, gobsmacked.
Luna merely looked intrigued.
Having seen a few copies of the newsparchment her father printed, The Quibbler, Harry had a horrible feeling that a future article would cover the sizes of the various talking-species’ willies. And the mating habits of pegasi.
“You need to stop in at the Three Broomsticks and tell Madam Rosmerta that you’re looking for a little companionship. She might have a few suggestions,” Scootaloo continued earnestly. “The twins say she knows practically everyone in Hogsmeade.”
It was Hagrid’s turn to blush red. He ran a rough hand through his hair. “I don’t know about tha’.” He said quietly.
“Stop in at the bookstore in Hogsmeade and ask the bookseller if he has any books on meeting witches,” said Hermione, startling herself, and blushing a bit redder. “I’m sure a book would offer many suggestions on how to present yourself without being discouraged or embarrassed.”
The boys exchanged horrified glances. What was going on? How had they gotten from there to here?
“Anyway,” Sweetie Belle said, “Just because you don’t need galleons today doesn’t mean you won’t need them tomorrow.”
Desperate to get the topic to safe ground, Harry put it, “Yeah, just send an owl to Filthy Rich, in Ponyville, Equestria. Tell him I suggested you two get together about a deal with acromantula silk. Then, take along a couple of pounds of silk as a sample, and an estimate as to how much you can salvage.
“If he’s interested in a long-term arrangement, maybe you could work out a deal with the spiders? Trade them sheep or cows for quantities of their silk? I’m sure they’d be happy to give you their excess in exchange,” he said, “for an assured method of getting plenty of food in the future. That way they won’t come into conflict with the others who make their homes in the Forbidden Forest simply because their nest got too big,” he concluded.
The conversation sort of petered out after that. The boys and Hagrid were getting embarrassed about the topic they were on, and the girls were not doing much better.
Then Hagrid said, “I hear you’re an animagus?” to Luna.
Silently blessing the half-giant, the boys quickly dove into an explanation of what had happened on the train, and what Harry’s mum had discovered.
He had never been soo happy before to leave a conversation behind. He couldn’t help looking at Scootaloo with a new awareness. He uncomfortably wondered how he measured up — and if he could do anything about it if he didn’t. Would they have a book in the library? Where would he even look!? He could feel himself blushing and the fillies giving him occasional curious glances.
From their expressions, Harry thought Neville and Ron were similarly perplexed.
That was one topic he would never ask Hermione, or any of the others in the herd, for help in searching the library!
Fortunately, Luna was soon showing off her new and beautiful form to Hagrid’s admiring examination.
“I ain’ ever seen anything like that,” he said, studying her from every angle as she stood on his table. “I ‘spect it mus’ be yer magic that be letting people see thru ya, bu’ not revealin’ yer insides,” he mused. “ ’Em wings is a pretty piece o’ work, too. Bet there’s tiny hairs on ’em tha’ helps yer actually pick up on wind currents to ‘elp yer glide and fly — like bats do.” He studied her wings for a moment. “Yer lack o’ feathers means yeh aren’ as noisy as birds in flight.” He pondered for a few seconds. “Yer probably as quiet as an owl in flight,” he stated. “Real good a’ stealth.”
Luna wasn’t quite preening, but she was soaking up the attention he was devoting to her.
Harry didn’t notice the displeased expressions his herd-mates were giving him as he stared at the glittering pony.
Then she started asking questions, and the two of them quickly left the rest behind as they started talking about rarer and rarer creatures.
Harry and the others left the filly and the half-giant deep in a discussion about snorkacks and where they might be found. Luna was saying they lived in the north, but Hagrid suggested, based on what she had described — small, purple, four-hooved, twisted horn on the forehead, and a long tail — that they probably lived much farther south.
^·_·^
Headmaster Dumbledore genially looked over the professors in their meeting room as they settled down into their seats. The new professors were fitting in nicely, he observed. It was the first Friday of the month instead of the usual second. He wanted to nip any problems in the bud. A more thorough professorial assessment of their new students, the new Aides, and the returning students would be next week.
Sometimes, early acknowledgement of possible issues could prevent severe problems, later. An ounce of prevention, and all that. Especially with so many foreign First Years.
The Aides were scheduled for a meeting on Saturday morning, to get their views on how the first week of school had gone.
Remus, he was pleased to see, showed none of the signs that he had been a werewolf, or that a full-moon was even coming next week. The wizard had already explained to everyone that traveling to Atlantis seemed to have driven the werewolf curse out of him. He had spent the last full-moon in a Ministry holding cell to prove to the nay-sayers that he wouldn’t transform — he had played poker with the Aurors all night, as a wizard!
By every measure and test the Ministry could apply, Lupin was not a werewolf. The only sign he might have been one were the scars that decorated his body. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for them, many of the older aurors had quite a few more scars. If no one told them beforehand, the typical wizard, or witch, would assume that had been, or was, his job. Or possibly a Hit-Wizard.
The Ministry had reluctantly removed his name from the “Known Werewolves” list. Even more reluctantly, they had issued a letter stating, unequivocally, that he wasn’t a werewolf.
The Atlanteans had already conducted a second trial in which seven other werewolves had been cured. It was conceivable that within a generation, or two, the werewolf curse would become a thing of the past. Something truly to look forward to happening. At the very least, the numbers would fall to the point of being nearly a non-issue.
“Thank you all,” Albus said jovially, “for your hard work so far this year.” The murmured conversations quickly ceased. He shook his head wryly. “I know I had warned you that we would be getting a few students from Atlantis this term, but I have to say that I did not expect the number of students who did arrive. I doubt that since the founding of Hogwarts have we seen the incoming class double from one year to the next.” He smiled as they all nodded, except Severus Snape, the newly promoted NEWT-level Potions Professor, who scowled.
“On that note, have we noticed any issues with the Atlanteans?” He looked expectantly around the room.
“They seem to be most curious,” said his Depute Headmistress, Professor McGonagall. “They are very attentive in class, and not shy about asking questions. The non-unicorn assignments are very messy, however. I suggest we set up a class on weekends in the art of writing, as most of them are unfamiliar with how to use quills. I’ve seen many actually using their mouths to manipulate their quills, and doing a much better job of writing than using their hand.” She looked a bit perplexed at that issue, as most of them were. How do you manipulate a quill that way? “The unicorns use their magic to manipulate the quills,” she added.
She shook her head slightly, to get herself back on topic. “Being foreigners, their spelling and grammar leaves much to be desired, so perhaps a dictionary of the words they can be expected to see might be in order, as well.” She paused a moment. “I suggest we put together a ‘pre-Hogwarts’ class in August for the next incoming groups of First Years where we could concentrate on writing and grammar. It could be held in Atlantis for their convenience, or we could hold it here, in Hogwarts, to make it easier for them to adapt to their new forms and being in a new world.” She frowned, thinking. “I know it took me several months to truly get comfortable with my animagus form. I can’t imagine the pressure of also dealing with learning an entirely new society so different from their own.”
Professor Pomona Sprout, the Head of House for the Hufflepuffs, snorted. “That they don’t really understand our society is evident. I’m still hearing from my Prefects about finding them wandering around sans clothing, or running around in their animagus form and when told to revert to human it turns out they never dressed before leaving their dorm room.”
Professor Flitwick, Head of the Ravenclaw House, sighed. “One of my Prefects, Miss Penelope Clearwater, told me she found one of the Atlantean First Years wandering around the common room and lifting her robes to show she wasn’t wearing anything underneath because she thought it was funny the way the older students would turn red and run away. The girl simply did not understand why Miss Clearwater was upset. She was, as she put it, ‘Just showing off my cutie mark.’” He shook his head. “She claimed there wasn’t anything unusual about that at home, and she wasn’t showing off anything that was private. Besides, she wouldn’t be in-season until spring, anyway.”
Poppy Pomfrey, the matron in charge of the Hospital Wing, sighed and buried her head in her hands. “I’ll schedule a puberty class for the Atlanteans for tomorrow, and explain that humans don’t have seasons — they are always fertile unless they take a contraceptive or use a contraceptive spell,” she said dejectedly. “Please tell all the First Year Atlanteans that attendance is mandatory. Girls will be in the late morning, at ten, and boys in the early afternoon, at one.”
“Shall I inform the Atlantean Aides?” asked the Headmaster.
Poppy gave him a startled look. “Yes, they might be able to help explain the differences between here and there. And clear up any misunderstandings they might have, too.”
“I’ll add that lecture to the ‘pre-Hogwarts’ class schedule,” Minerva added dryly.
Albus nodded and looked over to Professor Horace Slughorn, the Slytherin Head of House, raising his eyebrows inquisitively.
Horace cleared his throat. “Ignoring the aforementioned issues . . .,” he shook his head. “Discovering that all the Atlanteans can trace their families’ histories back at least a thousand years, if not double or triple that, has even the most conservative upper-years reconsidering their families’ position.” He chuckled. “Most can’t go back more than four or five hundred years. My Slytherins have been forced to rethink their entire position on pure-bloods, half-bloods, and muggle-born. By the conservatives’ own logic, the Atlanteans could consider almost everyone in Slytherin House to be a ‘new’ half-blood.
“Fortunately, the Atlanteans don’t even seem to understand what the issue is, much less why it should matter.
“Also confusing the wizards and witches is how the Atlanteans are so cheerful and forthright,” he concluded. “They almost seem incapable of the cunning and plotting that have been the mainstay of the Slytherin House for generations.” He smiled. “Except they were sorted into the House by the Hat. That has the upper-years in a quandary. Are the Atlanteans really that naïve? Or are they playing a long game that the non-Equestrians can’t fathom, as yet?”
Albus nodded his understanding and leaned back in his chair.
“As you have probably noticed,” he said conversationally, “That there are only nine boys and twenty-eight girls in the group, matching the original one-to-three ratio of Harry and his . . . herd-mates.”
The group exchanged looks and their brows wrinkled, thinking over the possibilities. Severus gave him a steady look, then suddenly his eyebrows rose in surprise. A moment later, a couple of others saw to the centre of the subject.
“Precisely,” the Dumbledore confirmed, nodding. “According to the books I’ve had purchased and returned from Atlantis, the ratio of males to females in Atlantis is one to three.” He smiled softly. “I suspect that for most of the girls, their long game is tilted more in the direction of acquiring a capable husband, one that compliments their own skills or goals, than any other single aim. After all, what the Princesses want from them is a record of their experiences so they can design their own schools of magic. With the . . . correct . . . partner they could propel themselves into the top ranks of their society.”
He looked at his professors with raised eyebrows. “I suppose it would be like scheming to find the right potions partner to help you get the attention of the Flamels as sponsors to your research.”
More than one person looked startled at the thought.
He leaned forward. “Our society, where the ratio of male to female is equal, must seem like a paradise to them. A witch can marry a wizard, and not need to share.
“As a result of that inequity of the sexes, their society is a matriarchy. An inverse of our own society. The males are more likely to find themselves in charge of the children while the women are at the forefronts of those duties we, here, consider wizard’s work. From my readings, they view the males as vain, impulsive, emotional, and illogical. It is their job to watch over their men, to save them from their own follies, if you will. It is not by accident that their two rulers are women, that the mayors of their cities are women, that the heroes of the nation are all young women.” He chuckled. “The males seem to spend most of their time getting into predicaments that require a mare to rescue them.
“One of my informants in Equestria told me that he frequently ran into the men, the stallions, being at the forefront of the business, issuing orders and running things in general. However, the truth, he said, was like the husband who says, ‘I wear the trousers in this family, don’t I honey?’”
The witches in the room were all smirking.
“On the other hand, I’ve noted that their Guard, the equivalent of our Aurors, seems to be heavily invested in men. Plus, many of their . . . villains . . . are men, as well.” He paused. “It’s an odd dynamic.” He shook his head.
“The Atlanteans also seem to mature faster. Both sexes, actually, seem to be about two years ahead of where wizards and witches are in relation to puberty. Which means that even though they are eleven, the age I told the Princesses was the usual lower limit to begin a magical education, they are thirteen in mental and physical growth and outlook. They will act far more mature than their age-mates in the dorms.”
He sighed. “They also seem to prefer their pony forms in Atlantis over their human forms. Being quadrupeds, and furred, they are far more . . . blasé . . . about nudity. Hence, their . . . proclivity for failing to dress in the mornings. And disrobing in public without a thought.”
The professors exchanged evaluating looks.
Pomona looked over to Filius. “That one girl Miss Clearwater mentioned may not have been as innocent as she claimed. She could have been gauging the reactions of the wizards in the House with an eye towards who to watch in the future as a potential boyfriend.”
Albus stared at the table-top for a minute before looking back up. “We shall have to monitor things closely, hmm?” He stroked his beard.
“Additionally, Princess Twilight has informed me that these thirty-nine are . . . the most curious, the bravest, and among the smartest students they have.” He glanced around the room.
“Obviously,” Severus said snidely. “They want to make an impression.”
“Most certainly,” said the Headmaster softly. “These were chosen out of the one thousand volunteers they had that were the appropriate age.” He looked at their stunned faces. “I suspect you will find them at the top of every class in a few weeks.” He smiled genially. “After all, if we could choose thirty-nine students out of a thousand eleven-year-olds to send to a foreign school to learn a new magic, wouldn’t we choose the best?”
His eyes were twinkling as he said, “I imagine that setting up a school system to handle the many thousands of students they have will take a few decades. In the meantime, Hogwarts will be the school for their elite as we have the best magical Professors. With a bit of work, we can make Hogwarts into the school that everyone, and everypony, looks to when someone mentions the premier magical school of the world.”
There were several moments’ silence as everyone considered the issue.
“Now, that that’s sorted,” he prompted, looking back up with a twinkle in his eyes. “How are our new wizards and witches settling in?”
The discussion continued for another hour. Before they broke up, however, the Headmaster had one more announcement.
“On Wednesday, as you no doubt remember, we were graced with the presences of Princesses Luna and Twilight. Both were here in response to an action by the Equestrian they refer to as the God of Chaos. It seems he made an appearance on the Hogwarts Express just as it left the station for Hogsmeade.”
The other professors sat straighter and focused a bit more on him.
Dumbledore smiled gently. “Apparently, the God of Chaos is a bit of a prankster, and was offended that neither a Crystal Pony nor a Night Pony had been included in the allotment of ponies to attend Hogwarts. He took it upon himself to remedy that oversight.” He sighed. “One would think that the easiest way to disrupt things would be to bring in two more students.”
He had their full attention.
“Instead, he chose a witch, and bestowed upon her an animagus form that was a blend of the Crystal and Night ponies, just as he gave the Weasleys animagus forms.”
The staff exchanged incredulous looks.
“A Night Pony, I’ve been informed, is a basically a Pegasus, but with enhanced night-vision, enhanced hearing, and leathery wings.”
The incredulous looks increased in amplitude.
Eyes twinkling, Albus continued. “A crystal pony is the same as an earth pony, except their fur appears crystalline, and they are translucent.” Minerva nodded as Snape scoffed. “I saw the pony in question. Her wings are membranes, not feathers, and covered in tiny hairs you can barely see. If you look at her, you can see the background through her. Interestingly, there are darker areas on her body, but her internal organs are actually invisible to the eye. The darker areas appear to both random in shape and placement, and move about. What that means, I don’t know.”
“Who is it?” interrupted Filius, the Charms professor.
“Luna Lovegood,” Minerva answered. Everyone in the room except the Headmaster gave a longsuffering sigh. “Her father has been informed, and will be here this weekend to meet with her.” She shook her head wryly. “I imagine she will be the cover of his next Quibbler.”
They were silent, considering what that would mean for the small conspiracy-oriented publication.
“The reason I bring this up now,” Albus picked up the conversation, “is because of what Princess Twilight did when she came on Wednesday.” He looked around the room at each of the professors. “For the moment, I must ask you to keep this quiet,” he said slowly.
“As you know, Harry Potter and his friends went with Miss Lovegood and the Princesses.
“Princess Twilight cast several diagnostic spells on everyone in the room, myself and Minerva included. She did this on both our normal selves and as animagi. She later told me in a letter that having a spread of the animagi magic in Equestrians and wizards allowed her to see what the God of Chaos had done, and how.”
Everyone leaned back in surprise, before leaning forward to listen even more intently than before.
He sighed. “She then offered Miss Myrtle Warren a choice of unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony forms for her animagus. Miss Warren chose winged.”
He was silent a moment, thinking. They waited impatiently for him to continue.
“Princess Twilight then cast a spell that turned Miss Warren into a pegasus animagi. With several of us coaching her, she was able to transform back and forth in about an hour.”
The professors were staring at him, gobsmacked.
He nodded slowly. “There is now a spell that can be used to turn almost any wizard or witch into a pony animagus.” He paused. “Regrettably, it is not a spell that anyone but the most powerful wizards can cast. Princess Twilight fell asleep immediately afterwards, exhausted, and Princess Luna had to carry her home.”
He shook his head. “Based on what she told me, even I would have a difficult time casting the spell.” He paused again. “She did mention that she was exploring methods that might make it easier, even possibly making it a ritual that could use power-crystals instead of drawing from the castor. The simplest would be to activate the innate animagus form instead of imposing a pony form. That had the potential of being the easiest spell for her to create, she said.”
“My word,” half-whispered Horace. “Anyone?”
The Headmaster nodded. “Anyone capable of becoming an animagus could benefit from the spell.” He sighed again. “She said she hoped to have it complete in a week. She wanted to run the calculations by one of the professors at their magical school.”
“My word,” Horace repeated, stunned.
“Quite,” Albus said. “I’m telling you all this so you may answer any questions the students might have, and in an attempt to forestall the worst of the rumours. Should any parents ask you about this, you can tell them that yes, such a spell exists, but it is of such difficulty that I, myself, would have reservations about doing it.”
They were silent for several minutes, and then the meeting began to break up.
^-~-^
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The irony of this statement is that the villains had been suffering from a megalomaniacal female unicorn syndrome for the longest time. In example where sexes share an equality in villainy the female is to be put on the pedestal, and the male is made fun of as an massive buffoon.
Because the scheming ones are often become villains that need to be purged quickly they don't tend to leave any descendants.
Quite the staff meeting there. I'm sure they are all just thrilled at how much more interesting those are than usual the past couple years.
I almost hope Hagrid doesn't take the money making scheme to Dumbledore. Dumbles is letting his scheming side out more, and that might just push things a bit farther.
Excellent chapter!
Chaos rises!
I was thinking it was impossible for Albus to look like a bigger fool and yet agene he proves me wrong.
While yes, the ratio of mare to stallion has always been a subject of discussion, the distribution of labor is a different subject.
It is made clear in the show that there is no differentiation of sex in regards to labor in Equestria, with the exception of the Princesses, who so far have only ever been female.
Shining Armor is Captain of the Guard in a work place that has no shortage of capable Female Guards.
Fancy Pants arguably occupies the highest non- royal position in Equestria.
The Wonderbolts have had a number of male leaders throughout their history.
The original Champions where evenly distributed by gender, with Starswirl being not only the leader of the esteemed group, but also one of the most recognized and celebrated individuals in Equestria.
Understandably due to the gender imbalance it would appear that Mares are the ones doing the traditional Human Male jobs, but the reality in Equestria is very different and far more egalitarian, again with the very specific limitation that so far only Females can become Alicorns, but other than that gender stigmas or bias does not exist in Equestria regarding employment opportunities or potential.
Cutie Marks are a very different subject and while they do play an important role in individual skill, it has no direct impact on employability.
deputy
I'm thinking of how big the Equestrian mares are in human form. With Luna being around eight feet. I'm sure there are other larger earth pony mares who'd make a suitable match for Hagrid. But for me. "Go Luna." I can just imagine Hagrid's reaction if Luna decided to court him.
I wonder if Discord doing the "portal to deep space" trick would make dumbles doubt his assumption.
10624816
But you're seeing it from a non-Victorian point-of-view, with far more independent information at your finger tips. You're not trying to shoehorn something new into a prepared slot.
10624852
luna and hagrid being a loving couple is something i can get behind.
QUESTION:
Have there been any Heart Songs at Hogwarts yet?
POSSIBLE RULE:
In many fanfics, there’s a line about “Lost Trevor again? Just ask a Prefect to summon him.” However, a summoned object can do a lot of damage trying to get to the cast. Just look at “Thor Ragnarok” when Thor called Mjolnir inside Dr. Strange’s sanctum, smashing through bookcases and doors.
OTHER COMMENTS:
Will any Magizoologists like Newt Scamander or Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank take an interest in studying the Equestrians?
I’m picturing Sir David Attenborough narrating the Hogwarts students’ behavior like a nature documentary.
Did Luna just describe Twilight and Starlight as Snorcacks?
10624816
We've also seen male city leaders of bigger cities than Ponyville.
10624874
Unlikely, he'd assume--on the basis that Discord is now known to be a prankster--that he was being intentionally messed with. The problem with Dumbledore in this story (and its predecessor) is that magic is really the only tool he knows, so he considers everything that he encounters from a perspective of "well, obviously, a wizard (or witch) did it!" Even when he can't figure out how he would do it, that's still his go-to assumption for everything.
Honestly, I think that the only way that he would, truly, believe in the existence of non-terrestrial sapient life is if aliens arrived in a way that makes their alien origin impossible to ignore. And, off-hand, the only method that comes to my own mind would be arriving in one or more ships the size of Dahak. Otherwise? He'd have to live however long it takes for humans to make interstellar travel feasible and then discover life-bearing worlds beyond the bounds of the solar system.
Ouch Dumbeldor is making several assumptions here about Atlantis/Equestria. This is going to backfire in a most spectacular way. I wonder if Discord will have enough popcorn for all of us? We know they are not a fully what he thinks they are. I bet he needs to see the whole wedding fiasco to show that the males are important. That or that Twilight and her friends are just fulfilling several prophecies.
The sorting hat was just tickled pink to have this marvelous chance to sort students as he was charmed to do, and not because of the preconceptions of the houses. It's why the pure-bloods are being forced to re-evaluate themselves.
nice work
pre-Hogwarts
one that compliments their own skills or goals - complements
Probably very optimistic considering the existence of voluntary werewolves like Fenrir Greyback.
That's rather biased. By my count, less than half of the major FiM villains were male. It's like saying "Many dark wizards were witches." Technically true, but taken by itself it makes it sound like MOST wizarding villains were female.
Male 4: Discord, Sombra, Storm King, Stygian(pony of shadows)
Female 6: Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Sunset Shimmer, Cozy Glow, Starlight Glimmer, Tempest Shadow
Also find it hard to believe that, given the attitudes of some members of their nobility and upper society, ponies don't get the concept of discrimination. Heck given their society owes its founding to racism among the three tribes (and overcoming it, granted) that they don't get the concept behind the purebloods' discrimination towards muggles and muggleborns.
10625211
Technically, the events of the books takes place between Seasons 4 & 5 as an alternate continuity. Stygian is still trapped in Limbo with the other Pillars, The Storm King hasn't started his invasion of Equestria yet (and with how fast the Ponies are progressing, he would be little more than a nuisance that is quickly dealt with by a Trebuchet firing a swarming volley of Bludgers), Fizzlepop Berrytwist is currently traveling to find a way to desperately restore her horn and her Magic (Boy will she be in for a surprise the moment she hears about Equestria and Wands; she might just make her way over and become a future DADA Assistant to Alastor Moody if it happens), and Cozy Glow is... we don't know much about her own past or her family or anything outside of her time spent in the School of Friendship (though I bet that she would be sorted into Slytherin if she ends up joining the school system)
That still lowers things to a ratio of 2:4 making still less than half.
Anyways, this:
Is f*ing brilliant and I must find a way for my party to build one in our Pathfinder game...
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But it does still mean Dumbledore is incorrect on the role stallions have in Equestrian society, I wonder how long it will be until Dumbledore realizes that while Equestrian culture has a matriarchal slant, their society actually runs on egalitarianism? Does Dumbledore even know what egalitarianism is? If not it would probably be a Very long time before he figures it out.
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You forgot Tirek, also Dumbledore is going off knowledge that can be easily obtained, so the only villains he would currently be aware of would be Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, Discord, Sombra, and Tirek so that is two females to three males, and since I doubt anyone outside the mane cast and the Princesses know about Sunset's stint as a villain if Dumbledore knows about her at all it would be as a friend of Twilight's who she might have mentioned in passing at some point, as for Starlight her crimes were pretty isolated and small scale in comparison to those earlier five and so the average pony might not know who she is and thus Dumbledore might not have any knowledge about her and even if he did that would just bring the gender ratio to 50:50 and it's also possible that Dumbledore might only be counting the big super dangerous baddies and is discounting Starlight for being a small-time cult leader who in this timeline was never more then an ideological adversary to the Mane 6.
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I’m tempted to ask if you have room for another player just to see that!
Well, Dumbledore commented about males and females villains but...
Nightmare Moon was Female ----- Discord was male
Chrysalis was Female ------- Sombra was Male
Trixie was Female ---- Flim and Flam (Are they one or two?)
Starlight was Female ---- Tirek was male
Sunset was Female ---- Stygian was Male
Fizzlepop Berrytwist was Female ---- The Storm King was male
Cozy Glow was Female ---- Grogar don't count as he was Discord but if he count we could delve also in the old villains of Gen-1
That make it equal in both genders, with a Female extra unless I forgot someone. And Midnight Sparkle was not from Equestria so she don't count
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I would think that he means that the unrepentant villains tend to be male
So if Twilight achieves an easier version of that spell, could she give the Squib and Muggles a unicorn shape? Would that make them magicians? That would love that human's daughter (can't remember the name) that she made contact with the ponies. On the other hand I wonder if Hagrid would be able to pass through the portal and what form it would take. I mean, we already saw that house elves took a different form, maybe Hagrid will turn into a minotaur?
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Discord reformed and betrayed them and still do some bad pranks, Tirek while unreformed was tricked, Cozy Glow had no chance and was tricked, Who knows what could happened if Chrysalis was not summoned by Discord. Sombra I follow the theory that the one in season 9 was a creation of Discord like Grogar, Fizzlepop was mainly betrayed so is not like she decided to be good at first, Starlight was traumatized by the Apocalypsis, Nightmare Moon and Sunset were brainwashed by the EoH, Stygian reformed, the Storm King is one that did not reform
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"Was tricked" is a pretty loose excuse here. Were they tricked into believing Grogar was giving them the opportunity for revenge? Sure, but they still took that chance for revenge with every limb they had and then some, entirely by their own choice.
I am a bit confused at this point.
What I thought: Dumbledore considered the "Atlantians" to be humans, descended from ancient wizards, all of whom had pony animagus forms. And, while in "Atlantis"/equestria, they stayed in pony form.
As far as I was aware, he had never actually seen someone in human form, except for the completely non-magicals from earth.
Now, he's seeing them talking about being in season, referring to themselves as ponies, etc.
It's one thing to talk about Poseidon playing games with Atlantis. That the god of the ocean, and the horse, and earthquakes (NB: I was surprised to learn about the last 2) might have decided to "submerge" a missing continent, while tossing everyone there through a portal and given them a horse form? Perfectly consistent with ancient legends. (And who knows what really happened 3000+ years ago?).
But at this point? I'm having trouble understanding what Dumbledore thinks is going on. These really seem more like Ponies that take on human form, not humans that have a pony alternate form. And I don't understand Dumbledore's view of things.
I am also really curious what he thinks about this set of observed facts:
1. Regardless of your Animagus form on this side of the portal, on that side your form is pony/other Atlantian race.
2. In fact, it seems that being "pony" is the default, not the alternative -- if I recall, he turned into pony on crossing, and had to use his animagus magic to regain his human form (am I recalling correctly?)
3. Unless you're a muggle/non-magical. Even squibs obey these rules.
Random "Atlantean" Slytherin: *pops out from under Slughorn's seat* "Both giggle." *vanishes back under same seat*
Slughorn: *lifts chair to find NOTHING amiss* "What? Where she come from?"
Pomfrey: "Did.... did she just verbally giggle?"
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I like Steve Irwin myself. "Imma poke it with a stick." Admittedly, I can't actually remember who that line is attributed to, but still.
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Dumbledore is doing a very human thing - his assumption that Equestria must be Atlantis was made so early on, and underpins so much of the thinking he's done about the issue, that he subconsciously refuses to revisit the question. Any evidence he sees that casts doubt on this idea he's stuck on is either ignored or rationalised away because that assumption being abandoned means he, the great and smart Dumbledore, was wrong, and had gone and thought a lot of other wrong things as a result. And that would make him feel dumb. And he's not dumb! So he can't be wrong.
People of all levels of intellectual achievement and from all walks of life do this all the time.
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I think your count is off.
The villains he would know: Male: Tirek, Sombra, Discord. Male-but-myth: Stygian, Grogar, the cyclops of the Griffon histories.
Female: Chrysalis. Female-but-myth: Nightmare Moon (you don't think the ponies would be dumb enough to tell the nutter that Luna is Nightmare Moon, do you?)
Starlight Glimmer was small-time. Big fish in tiny pond. She wouldn't register, just as "Every single individual changeling" wouldn't count. Trixie wasn't evil, she was possessed. Flim and Flam are just businessmen guilty of having ambitions while male in a matriarchy. Remember, Dumbledore's flawed perspective here.
The ratio is 1:3 for the general population, and 3:1 for villainy, by the information likely fed to Dumbledore. Or in other words, Male Atlanteans are 9x more likely to be Dark than Female Atlanteans, by his very small and shortsighted sample size.
Can you please stop with the 'ponies flaunt their genitals everywhere and talk frankly about sex' jokes? You've rated this E for Everyone but you have nudity everywhere and Scootaloo talking about Hagrid having a fat hog.
It's uncomfortable and detracts from the interesting mix between human, equestrian and wizarding societies.
I'm hoping Ellie and her Hive get along OK, and I'm interested in seeing how this pre-redemption Starlight handles her longterm plans.
Scootaloo's aunts are lesbian couple though...
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i mean would that stop them, maybe they are a lesbian couple after... 'experimenting' with a few stallions in the past before finding each other, or maybe they are more going by another kind of experimenting... only the M writers will know for sure and even then its just thoughts.
Doing a re-read and I noticed:
So, Slughorn is Head of Slytherin instead of Snape? Did any of the others get replaced? I noticed Sprout and Flutwick were described as their house heads, but McGonagall was described as deputy headmistress.
I see a VERY embarrassing visit to Madam Pomfrey in Harry's future. That is NOT how you're supposed to use engorgio, Harry.
Pre-Hogwarts
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Thanks, don't know how I missed that.
It would be good for a laugh if nothing else.
YESS...LET THE PONY CONVERSION BUREAU BEGINS...
Twilight making every Magic possible as Goddess of Magic
👍
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👍
Thestral or Unicorn would be my call, perhaps a
Night-Unicorn?
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The biggest willys and widest fungeons exclusive!
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Fun ways to make magic
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Probably, Stallions are a rare commodity after all. It might change when many Squibs come to Equestria!
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Good points, but Sunburst is a weak Unicorn for example. Muggle or Squibs will be weak Unicorns than. Minatour or maybe Diamond Dog? Perhaps a Yak?
But what if i don't want to be a pony! What about:
Griffons
Diamond Dogs
Kirins
Abesinians
Sphinxes
Yetis
Changelings
Yaks
Seaponys
Breezes
Centaurs
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I can't believe you left out Dragons!