Ch. 26. The Known and Unknown
“If the answer is ‘yes’, however, I am allowed to pursue the questioning.” Director Bone’s expression, while mostly blank, had the hint that she expected to continue her questioning.
The Minister Fudge had turned quite pale and looked close to fainting. This would be a black mark on his administration, if true, everyone knew. All the decisions that she had made, all the new laws or changes she had supported, would have to be reviewed.
Umbridge looked furious and scared.
At Madam Bones’ signal, the auror with the vial stepped forward. The chair, reacting to his intent, tilted Umbridge’s head back. She stubbornly refused. Sighing, one of the other aurors stepped forward and used magic to make her open her mouth.
Surreptitiously, a third auror, the one behind her chair, cast a confundus on her to help prevent her resisting the potion. He was a friend of Sirius.
Anne did not want this chance to remove the vile witch’s influence slipping through her fingers. Later, that auror would receive an owl with a gift certificate, for a popular restaurant, that he had won in a “raffle.”
The frog-witch’s face relaxed and her expression became blank. To the observers, it was apparent that the potion had taken effect extremely rapidly. A quick finite silencio allowed Umbridge to once again speak and be heard.
“What is your name?”
“Dolores Umbridge,” came the immediate and monotone response typical of people dosed with veritaserum.
Bones nodded. “Miss Dolores Umbridge, you are the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, are you not?”
“Yes.”
“Are either of your parents, or any of your grandparents or great-grandparents, either a muggle, a muggle-born, a half-blood, a half-breed, or a cursed being such as a werewolf?”
Anne Bourchier, and Madam Bones, knew, as a large number of those present suspected, what the answer to that question would be. Those who were suspicious were not disappointed. To most of the pure-bloods, though, it was quite a shock.
Her struggle was obvious as she tried to resist the potion, “N-n-n-n-yes.”
Dolores Umbridge then confirmed that she was the first child of a pure-blood wizard, Orford Umbridge. She had blackmailed a clerk in the Records Office to make her file “disappear.”
“Which of your parents, grandparents, or great-grandparents were not pure-bloods.”
“N-n-n-n-my mother.”
“And was she a muggle, a muggle-born, a half-blood, a half-breed, or a cursed being?”
“A muggle.”
Further questioning revealed that Orford Umbridge, a pure-blood, was a former janitor in the Ministry. Her mother was Ellen Cracknell, a muggle.
She also admitted that her younger brother was a Squib, and that she despised both him and her mother. She considered both of them to be inferior to her and her father because of their lack of magic.
She explained that when she was fourteen, her mother and brother had returned to the muggle world, never to be heard from again. Umbridge was proud of the fact that she and her father had finally driven the two away. They hadn’t been able to withstand the constant verbal abuse the two had given.
Why Orford and Ellen had married in the first place would forever be a mystery now that both had left England, Anne thought distractedly. But whatever else happened, for falsifying her blood-status so egregiously, Umbridge would immediately lose her position as Senior Undersecretary. Once she left the mandatory, but short, Azkaban sentence, she would be lucky to get the Ministry job her father had once had.
“The legal definition of bribery is influencing, or attempting to influence, the actions of an individual holding a public office or someone subject to a legal duty, by the offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving of any item of value or favour, either monetary or informational,” Madam Bones calmly stated. She paused a moment, then continued, “Have you ever offered, given, solicited, or received any item of value, promised to withhold or release privileged information or a favour, as a means of influencing the actions of a Ministry official?”
Anne could see that she again tried to resist the potion, but failed, giving another, “Yes.”
Madam Bones looked around the courtroom. “To save the Court the tedium of listening to a potentially long list of crimes, I would like the Courts permission to continue this interrogation later, and to bring it back to the Court at the next meeting.”
“I move we allow Madam Bones to continue the interrogation at another location, and bring the case back later to the Wizengamot at our next session,” came the immediate statement from Madam Longbottom.
“Seconded,” said Madam Marchbanks.
“What does the Wizengamot say?” asked Dumbledore.
Anne barely concealed her pleasure at seeing a large majority of lit wands lifted.
“Madam Bones, see to your prisoner, and bring us back the results of your interrogation at the next meeting.”
Anne sat back and watched as the Wizengamot slowly returned to the normal and boring agenda for the day. It was with no small amount of glee that she watched the shell-shocked, former Senior Undersecretary being escorted out of the room. Minister Fudge hadn’t wasted any time in letting everyone know that he hadn’t known the witch’s perfidy. He had quickly, and loudly, immediately relieved her of the position.
With that obstacle out of the way, her plans for making-over the Ministry into something that approached fairnesss for the average witch and wizard had taken a great leap forward. It would still take decades, but a few more entrapments would go a long way toward securing that outcome.
Mundungus Fletcher would be well-compensated for his role today; his tabs at various pubs would be paid in full, with a bit extra for credit. That last, he didn’t know, yet. Not to mention that Anne could put a wizard of his background and skills to good use in the future, and intended to do so. Competent agents were difficult to find, and she had no intention of allowing this one to wander away.
She would be the power behind the Minister in a few short years. Then she safely could work on making things equal for everypony . . . everyone. Without cutie marks in the way, only a person’s true abilities, skill, and knowledge would matter. And she would keep it that way!
^-_-^
The April Easter Break could not come quick enough for most of the ponies in Hogwarts.
The firsties were dying to show off what more they had learned to their families, especially the non-unicorns. Harry was sure the trips home would be marked by smoke-screens, blind-folds, and several other spells shooting from wands all over Equestria. Not to mention that the levitation charm was still a stunner to the ponies who hadn’t been at the portal station on either day at Hearth’s Warming.
As a result, there was more than one double-take as pegasi and earth colts and fillies headed for the Equestrian train/floo station with their saddlebags floating over their heads, and excitedly demonstrating new spells.
For Harry, his herd-mates, and his friends — the Weasleys were once more vacationing in Equestria — the big news when they arrived was Cranky Doodle Donkey’s and Matilda’s upcoming wedding. It seemed that that was what most of the old-town residents were talking about.
The first day, the twins met with Filthy Rich to check on their various finances and projects. They would never want for money, that was for sure. That, in turn, meant they could concentrate on going through their studies as fast as possible. They told Harry they wanted to take their O.W.L.s a year early, this year. With Hayscarte’s Method, they might even be able to take their N.E.W.T.s two years early, next year. They wouldn’t have time to work on their candies and jokes, but graduating early would let them catch back up quickly. Especially as they would have more knowledge of the necessary subjects at their hooftips.
Harry noticed that his mum had decided on locations for the two portraits. One was in the main sitting room, the other was in the Map Room. Oddly, neither Celestia-painting-pony nor Luna-painting-pony made an appearance. When he asked his mum, she said she suspected that the live Princesses had had their second set of Portraits finished and the both sets of paintings’ versions of the two Princesses were in Canterlot, pranking everypony.
Harry and the rest started exploring how much the town had changed. To everypony’s surprise, there were now two Quidditch pitches at the edge of town. One was a major stadium, the other a practice field. Not surprisingly, they saw “The Weasleys’ Weird and Wonderful Widgets Stadium” logo emblazoned on the side of that building.
Beside that was another logo, declaring Ponyville as the “Home of the Everfree Flyers.”
Naturally, there was a complete joke store built into the ground level. Disappointingly, most of the products were actually imported from the wizarding world. Gambol and Japes and Zonko’s Joke Shop’s might be old hat to the wizarding public, but to the ponies? Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were almost beside themselves with joy at the wide selection.
Harry was sure that in a few years most of the merchandise would be from creations by the twins.
A separate counter inside catered to the Ginger Gender Gels demand. They had them in hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly options, with several different pre-packaged quantities, including a variety pack.
For the next three days, in between exploring the changes, the Cutie Mark Crusaders helped several fillies and colts get their cutie marks.
Then, in the middle of the vacation, a bugbear wandered into town and started to make a fuss. The bugbear seemed to be looking for a particular pony, based on how he scrutinized each one he saw before moving on. No ponies were deliberately hurt.
He seemed to be especially interested in ponies with a beige coat and dark mane. Harry and the others were watching concernedly as Twilight and the other Element Holders immediately started planning to subdue the beast.
“Do we know what they’re talking about?” Octavia said, having come up behind Harry.
“I’m pretty sure it’s about that monster, there,” Sweetie Belle said offering her some popcorn from her oversized bag.
“A monster attack!? Blast! I’m performing at the ceremony this afternoon, and I still haven’t sorted out what to play,” Octavia said.
“Ceremony? Today?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“Cranky Doodle and Matilda’s wedding is this afternoon, not tomorrow. The invitations all went out with the wrong day.” She sighed. “How can I practice with a monster invading Ponyville?” she said despairingly.
“Maybe it’s just a friendship problem, and it’ll all be cleared up in half an hour or so?” suggested Apple Bloom, munching on the popcorn.
“Ahh!” Octavia cried out distractedly, and then dashed off.
Naturally, Matilda showed up moments later, all in a panic. “Ohh!” she said, upset, “Cranky had Derpy Hooves make the invitations, but got the day wrong for the wedding! It’s today! I need Pinkie Pie, my wedding planner!”
Which was when she saw Pinkie try to distract the bugbear with a lemon pie to the nose.
“Oh, no! On my wedding day!? Somepony’s gotta help me! You!” She suddenly pointed at a light-purple coated mare with a darker purple mane.
“Me?” exclaimed Amethyst Star, looking surprised.
“I need to move an entire wedding from tomorrow to today!”
“But nopony’s asked me to organize anything since Twilight came to town.”
“So?”
“I used to be the best organizer in all of Ponyville,” Amethyst said proudly.
Matilda was not shy about dragging the other pony with her as they left the plaza for the salon, moments later.
Meanwhile, over by one restaurant, a pony was setting up a table and seating to watch the Mane Six deal with yet another monster in Ponyville. A waitress was bringing out orders of popcorn and drinks. Other ponies were brought chairs or pillows out of their stores and set up to watch the impromptu entertainment. Most ponies in the plaza and surrounding streets just moved out of the way and went on about their business. The Flower sisters, of course, took one look and dramatically fainted.
The Guards in sight were more concerned with preventing ponies from blocking the streets than anything else. “Nothing to see here,” Harry heard one say, waving one foreleg, to small group, “Move along! Nothing to see here!”
Harry noticed two familiar, shifty-looking ponies, both yellow-coated with red and white striped manes and wearing blue-striped shirts. They had set up a small table and were apparently taking bets on how long the bugbear would resist.
Flim and Flam had managed to sneak back into town.
The bugbear was putting up a good fight, and was giving Pinkie Pie a head noogie when things started to go crazy. The first inkling was the music they heard. Something like a wedding march but with a heavy beat.
In the distance, and rapidly approaching, was a strange conveyance, even by Ponyville standards. Charging down the street was a pair of giant speakers on a wheeled platform, with a table and smaller speaker between them. Behind the smaller table was a white-coated mare with dark sky-blue mane and wearing headphones. Atop one of the speakers was Octavia, playing her cello.
They shot by Rarity’s Carousel Boutique, where the bugbear was currently battling the Mane Six, so fast that the small black colt Harry had noticed earlier was revealed to be Featherweight! Apparently, he somehow had been coated in ink, which the fast-moving speaker-platform had blown off when it went by so fast!
Unfortunately, Harry and the rest of his friends were swept up in the process. Harry was certain they were going to crash until he saw Octavia reach out with her cello bow and hook a lamppost. The lamppost should have simply bent, her bow should have snapped, she, herself, should have been pulled right off the speaker she was sitting on! Impossibly, though, the entire conveyance swung around to the cross street. After an exciting ride that could be used in a carnival, they crashed into the town hall.
Harmony couldn’t miss a chaotic opportunity like this. The ponies flew into the building, landing where they were needed, just as the duo of Octavia and D. J. Pony concluded their impromptu composition.
The non-pony-born contingent of the wedding was staring around in astonishment. That was when Bon Bon came in and announced the Mane Six’s defeat of the bugbear, to the cheers of their friends.
Cranky arrived moments’ later, but with an orange wig instead of his normal blonde one. Steven Magnet, the sea serpent, arrived with only half of his moustache. No one noticed until later that Derpy Hooves had closed the Hall doors just before his mum and the rest of the Mane Six arrived. Harry certainly didn’t.
What stunned everyone was the appearance in the back row of a changeling! Kevin, as he called himself, said Cranky had invited him — he had the invitation — and that he was only there for the food. Harry was told later by Twilight that because Kevin wasn’t using his magic to hide, and he wasn’t trying to force a pony to give him love, he wasn’t actually doing anything wrong under the law. It was a bizarre situation in anyone’s book.
The Flower sisters still fainted, of course.
That Celestia and Luna also attended the wedding was another surprise. That they appeared to have no problems with Kevin’s attendance kept anyone who might have objected, quiet.
Nonetheless, the herd had kept a close eye on the changeling for the rest of the wedding and reception.
The beautiful flowers at the front of the hall turned into equally stunning fireworks when Cranky Doodle and Matilda kissed as jack and jenny for the first time. It made for a truly lovely end to the wedding, and the start of an equally wonderful reception.
At least Harry and his friends thought so — the cake certainly made it worthwhile to stay! From the occasional expression that he caught, he was sure the three fillies were making a few mental notes. He could only shudder and pretend he hadn’t seen a thing.
^-_-^
When Major Castor walked into his office at nine that morning, he was surprised to see Debby, waiting.
“Oh,” he said, “I would have been here earlier if I knew you wanted to speak to me.” He moved over and sat behind his desk. “Is there something I can help you with?”
Half of the lings had been integrating rather nicely into MI5 and MI6. The other half, it had been decided, were better suited for support roles. Which, oddly enough, seemed to be research and training. What one ling learned could easily be transferred to another with only a few minutes concentration while they were together. The original ling didn’t even have to completely understand what she had learned — much like a typesetter doesn’t have to understand a manuscript on Quantum Physics to prepare a book.
The destination ling could take the information and add it to what she already knew. This meant, for a complex infiltration, three lings could be watching or reading the background information while the primary agent worked at physically incorporating any needed new skills. When the three researchers finished their respective assignments, they could transfer their knowledge to the primary. By the time the agent was ready for insertion, she knew as much about the assignment as if she had spent months preparing instead of weeks!
They had also discovered that the lings, excepting the infiltrators, did not know what relaxation meant. They worked until they were sleepy or hungry. When those were taken care of, they returned to work. The concept of “free-time” was foreign — when they had nothing to do, they typically just slept. Even the infiltrators were uncomfortable when they had no assignment — the infiltrators were always at work, even when sleeping, when they were among the ponies.
Ordinary leisure activities, such as reading fiction, going to theatre or films, or watching the telly were futile pursuits to the lings. Once a ling had read a book, seen a movie, or anything similar, she shared it with the others and they didn’t need to repeat the action. Going dancing served no purpose for them except as physical exercise, although visiting clubs, pubs, and other such venues did provide them with a small flow of emotional food — which was work, in a way, not recreation.
They had discovered that lings liked physical games, though. The more violent, the better; they seemed to view them as practice combat. Several footie games turned into outright brawls — brawls that would have delighted the footie hooligans that travelled to support their teams. Even the lings otherwise occupied piled out of their training building and joined in — even those who were sleeping. Apparently a group “fight” meant the hive was in danger and it was every ling on deck. They had a mindset — several millennia deep — where the purpose of any contest was to put down the opponent as quickly and efficiently as possible — but not permanently. You can’t feed the emotions off a corpse, now could you?
It was really weird to watch two hundred women going at each other like that, at first. Then one changed into a Pegasus and took off. It quickly developed into an aerial brawl the likes of which had not ever been seen on Earth. Especially when they started transfiguring themselves into other Equus races for better advantage when facing a particular ling opponent.
Some of the lings, many not considered infiltrators or guards, seemed to enjoy the brawl rather a lot, disturbingly like footie fans.
The first such incident set the training program back several days as most of the lings were unconscious or nursing broken bones. They had to dig into their reserves quite deeply for the first time. But they didn’t seem to mind, at all.
But the lings were learning to restrain themselves.
Until they discovered rugby — the brawl that time was, for the most part, ground-bound and as men. It took a bit longer for the losing side, and most of the winning side, to recover.
Oddly, emotion “harvesting” seemed to be more efficient, now.
After that, Sunday brawls somehow worked themselves into being regular routine. The lings seemed quite unfazed by their injuries. A few seemed to think the whole point of the brawl was to see how many injuries one could accumulate before passing out.
The government had ended up setting up three sets of trainers to handle the lings. Which had compressed what should have taken a year into a third of that.
The world wasn’t going to know what hit it, intelligence agency wise, that is, when Britain unleashed its new MI Five and Six agents.
The entire group was located at a remote, abandoned airfield, Brunton. It was eleven kilometres north of Alnwick, a short distance inland from the North Sea coast. It was in Northumberland County, in northeast England. It was fairly remote. With the aid of a dozen earth ponies, a ring of trees and brush would soon surround the perimeter of the airfield, and cut it off from casual viewing from the roads that ringed it
The government, using shell companies, purchased all the bordering private homes and business properties. At the prices offered, none said, “no.”
A little over half the lings were there as research support. Those were mostly the ones who weren’t suited for duties among the public. They were uncomfortable when surrounded by humans and hesitant at doing anything outside of the group. They were mostly the lings who had never left the hive, previously. Quite a few preferred their old form over their new “default,” and so it wasn’t unusual to see a black, insect-like pony in the buildings.
They also began excavating heavily under the buildings to create what they kept calling their “hive.” As a group, they were all much more comfortable underground in their new tunnels than the wood and brick buildings leftover from World War Two. Plus, with tunnels to all the buildings, the insect-ponies were never seen above ground.
It quickly became evident that trying to talk them out of creating that hive was useless. All the humans got were blank, uncomprehending stares.
The unintended consequence of this was that the base still appeared mostly abandoned as all the real activity was below the surface. The only signs of activity were the vehicles that transported the research material and personnel to the buildings at the front gates.
And the Sunday brawls.
One quarter of the “new” infiltrators were gathering emotional food for the rest, and stockpiling the excess. Those lings were better at maintaining disguises and weren’t liable to accidentally reveal their unfamiliarity with British society. Or blow their cover by their actions or inactions in a social situation.
Most of a second quarter were assigned the roles of messengers and couriers. They were excellent with disguises, could easily switch between them, and knew when and where they would be appropriate. Their only failing was they were not as quick-witted and able to react appropriately in a given situation as the remainder. They also weren’t as ruthless or focused as the infiltrators might sometimes have to be.
The third quarter were either infiltrators from before, only thirteen, or were talented enough to make the switch to that kind of active duty.
The remainder were relegated to the camp for one reason or another.
A ling would do whatever her Queen-mother ordered. Regrettably, this hive lacked a Queen-mother, so the order of command was more than a bit muddied. Without a distinct order to do so, getting a ling to switch jobs was . . . problematical. It wasn’t unusual for a ling to swap jobs with another without her supervisor knowing what had happened until the “new” subordinate showed up after finishing a task and wanting a new one.
In any case, the more accomplished infiltrators had already rolled up two criminal gangs involved in human trafficking, and were tracking a spy ring back to their British handlers.
In a year’s time the U.K. could have fifty-one additional Double-O Seven agents, if they needed.
Debby was the “unofficial spokesling” for the rest. Abby had disappeared into the ling support group.
She launched into the subject without pause. “When we first went through the portal, after we took the loyalty oath, we were warned that a ling had snuck through the portal within seven weeks of the Equestrians discovering it. Then, this summer, on August seventh, three beings, thought to be lings, also snuck through the portal.
“We were told to keep watch for the lings, or other races from Equestria, and not to let their unexpected appearance throw off a mission if we were in the field and came across them.
“In the hive, infiltration lings were taught a special code to use in the field to leave messages and warnings for follow-on lings in the future. This code would be placed in areas that were easily accessed, and so public as to make accessing the messages undetectable. A ling could be reading such a message and everypony around them would think they were window-shopping or watching colts and fillies playing in a park.
“Part of our training, here, includes Diagon Ally and its environs,” she said, “during one of the familiarization missions, yesterday, a ling came across one such message.” She paused to give him a moment to consider what she had said. “The message indicates that she has established herself, and left contact information via Gringotts. We are asking permission to contact the ling.
“Once we meet her, we will persuade her to take the oath. If we cannot convince her to take the oath, we will warn her that should she break any conditions of the oath, we will consider her a hostile in our hive’s area of operation, and act accordingly. We will also leave her a method of contacting us if she should ever need assistance.”
Castor thought for a few moments. “Is there any indication that there is more than herself?”
Debby shook her head. “No. The message is old, well over a year, probably back to when she first came through, but there are no indications that she has met, or knows about, the others who snuck through.” She pursed her lips. “Of course, this could be a message from one of the three that went through this summer, we don’t know.” She smiled grimly. “Not giving away when she came through, or how many are involved, or even the actual age of a message is typical.”
She shrugged. “Whomever she is, she will want to meet us in a crowded location. That way she can easily escape if it is a trap. None of us would resort to violence in such a location. And a ling in public who doesn’t want to be found, cannot be found — except by a Queen-mother.”
He frowned. “And because you don’t have to actually meet when in such a location,” he mused out loud, “she could be anyone in the crowd.”
The ling nodded. “Whomever you select for the contact will know the other has arrived the moment she comes within a hundred yards. We will immediately advise her of the situation, at that moment. If she senses any subterfuge, she will break off contact and you will never see her, or ever find her.” She gave him a steady look. “If she were to select Harrod’s, for example, she wouldn’t even have to enter the building. The surveillance cameras would leave you with thousands of leads — if they even saw her. She could be disguised as a dog or a cat.”
He sighed. “And that assumes she isn’t using an illusion of some random person she saw in the city.” After a pause, he added, “I will have to take this up with my superiors.”
Debby just looked at him. “Do not take too long. We do not know if she was watching us yesterday. If she were suppressing herself, and already in place, we would never have noticed her.” She sighed. “A problem she won’t have in meeting us. If we agree on a place and she cannot sense us at the appointed time, she will suspect a trap and vanish.”
“Right,” he said, straightening. “I will contact you later today.” He picked up the telly to make a call as Debby left his office.
^·_·^
Voldemort was quite satisfied with himself. Currently, he was in Slytherin dorm, with many of his brethren. Most had, once again, remained at school instead of returning home. Their parents were still trying to find their balance, and were unready to deal with teenagers underfoot.
Fools. They should have planned for times when things went against them. They shouldn’t have depended on chance that the Black fortune would fall to one of their friends. Nor should they have counted on the goodwill of whomever inherited the Black family fortune and assets.
Goodwill. Ha!
He knew he would have taken advantage of the Black fortune to keep the others firmly under his foot. It was foolish of them to think the eventual inheritor would be as generous as the old Blacks.
They didn’t tie up the loose end of Sirius Black, and look where that had gotten them! Many of his old rich associates were nearly paupers, now. The others were struggling.
Planning for every contingency was the secret. And they clearly hadn’t. Which was their loss. It complicated things, slightly, but nothing he couldn’t surmount.
Plus, as far as anyone knew, he didn’t exist! The perfect ploy.
In that vein, he had managed to find a secure place for his diary. One that was both hidden, and yet still accessible. He didn’t want to deal with having to sneak into the Slytherin House to retrieve it, but he wanted it as safe as possible. It had to be in place where the house-elves wouldn’t disturb it, nor would anyone think to look there if they were searching for something else. But it also had to be easily accessible to him, or any of his dupes. Plus, in a place that wouldn’t attract attention if he, or anyone else, was there. He needed to be able to drop off the book and pick it up at his leisure, and no one would suspect a thing.
The Library fit the bill perfectly.
With a simple fidelius, and him as the secret keeper, it was perfectly safe among the books on arithmancy. Anyone wandering in those aisles would not garner a second look. Plus, if he was carrying the book, no one would give it a second glance, even if he had it out and was writing in it. Not that he intended to do that. Writing was saved for late nights in his bed, with the curtains closed and spelled shut. Otherwise, he only wanted the boy to carry the book to maintain a light bit of control, occasionally.
^·_·^
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I still fucking love that line.
Was wondering when Rip would be discovered by the governments changelings.
10800027
Well no, not mistreating muggles falls under the general umbrella of the Statute of Secrecy, you can't mistreat muggles since doing so risks exposing wizards.
The Muggle Protection Act was meant to prevent magical artifacts that might be harmful from falling into Muggle hands. At worst it covered a legal loophole where you could claim you're not at fault because it was an artifact that caused the harm rather than yourself. But mostly it was to make sure these items didn't wind up in muggles hands by accident, such as a wizard dies and their enchanted teapot makes its way to a muggle store.
Hagrid had already been convicted of the crime in the past, the assumption was that he was responsible for the new attacks which is why he could be sent to Azkaban, similar to a criminal violating their parole. I'm not saying it's right just explaining why it was allowed to be done.
This is more a showcase of someone taking advantage of Government Beuaracracy for their own selfish ends than a show of a tyrannical government. In a tyrannical government Fudge wouldn't have needed to bother with the trial nor could Harry have been found innocent.
Well it looks like Ellie is going to find the diary. She has proven adept at bypassing the notice me not spells. I hope Voldemort is going to be ready when this plan of his fails, sadly.
Moldy Voldy being clever! How will this backfire on him I wonder?
Nice chapter
10800339
Uh, ever hear of obliviate? You can do ANYTHING you want to a muggle that doesn't maim or kill them, then use that spell to make it never happen, as far as the muggle is concerned. Or, better, imperius them to walk in front of a 18-wheeler rig going 80kph.
Actually, no he wasn't. He was expelled by the Headmaster at the time, but he was NEVER convicted of a crime, nor sentenced for the MURDER of a witch. He was only accused, and the Headmaster at the time called it all an unfortunate accident. Following his expulsion, the Ministry of Magic] forbade Hagrid from practising magic and destroyed his wand. The then Transfiguration teacher Albus Dumbledore, who was convinced that Hagrid was innocent, nonetheless convinced then-Headmaster, Armando Dippet, to have Hagrid trained for the job of Gamekeeper and allow the orphan to remain a resident of the school. That's not what you do to someone who's convicted of murder and spends years in Azkaban as a result.
As for Harry's trial -- notice that NONE of the others in the Wizengamot are even slightly disturbed at what Fudge is doing. Sounds rather corrupt and partisan to me, even if it isn't tyranny -- Lets try a misdemeanor as felony! And it shows that the government is more than willing to twist the laws to whomever is in charge's desire -- such as sending dementors to murder a student they dislike. Notice that the Ministry never did try to solve that mystery.
Don't get me wrong, Umbridge getting the boot and being investigated for the shady shit she gets up before she can help the Death Eaters is a good thing, but that the reason she was able to be stripped of all rights when there's an accusation that she may not be a pureblood (even if by someone under a truth serum) still puts a bad taste in my mouth.
It's great to see more of what the (now) British Changelings are getting up to and how they are acclimating to their roles in British society. Imagine how vindicated the conspiracy theorists would feel if it ever came out that there are shape shifters working for the government that can spy on anyone.
Would this mean that Changelings would be in the Middle East infiltrating Jihadist groups in response to suspected/attempted terrorist attacks?
It would be very fortunate (if a little suspicious) if the British were able to capture, say, Bin Laden in Afghanistan or Pakistan shortly after a 9/11 like event.
10800426
What you're describing is someone covering their tracks that doesn't mean it's allowed.
My point was Fudge had a reason to lock Hagrid up. I'm not saying it was a very good reason but it's not the same thing as him being allowed to just pick someone at random and locking them up.
Again the assumption is that Fudge was taking advantage of the rules to get his way. No one argued against it because Fudge wasn't breaking any rules to do it. This isn't a tyrannical government it's just a normal government where somebody who knows the laws in place can use them to their advantage.
the roasting of Dolores Umbridge, roasted nut job has such a sweet sweet sound to it.
i am wondering who will get to burn Voldemort book down?
Another example of fanon there with Tom and the diary I think. I've seen it stated quite often you need at least two people one to be the secret keeper and the other to cast the spell. However so far as I know (feel free to correct me if you have a source saying otherwise) in canon you can as here be your own secret keeper.
10800537
Yes, that you can be your own secret keeper for your secret is the canon impression I get since Bill Weasley cast the spell and was the secret keeper for shell cottage. Here's a bit more about it:
Description: A charm involving secret information hidden within the soul of a Secret-Keeper. This information is irretrievable until the Secret-Keeper chooses to reveal it; those who have the secret revealed to them cannot reveal it to others. The more people that know the information before it becomes a secret, the more magic you need to make the information a secret.
Notes: When a Secret-Keeper dies everybody in whom they confided will continue to know the hidden information and become Secret-Keepers in turn, but nobody else. If the Secret-Keeper confided in no one, then the secret dies with them until the spell loses power or the caster dies. However, if you are within the premises of the protected area when the spell is cast, you do not need to be told the secret (Harry being able to go to Shell Cottage via Dobby without being told the secret). Moreover, if you know a secret place, you can bring someone who doesn’t know the secret into the hidden place using side-along apparition (Hermione bringing the DE by apparition to #12).
* When the spell caster dies, the secret is revealed to everyone. This last is based on Albus being able to tell Hagrid to get Harry. Otherwise, even if Albus had cast the spell, he could tell no one because Peter, the secret keeper, was still alive. No one else would be able to see the house because Albus, if he were the caster, was still alive, as was Peter. Thus, only Albus, Sirius, or Peter knew the secret and could get Harry if the caster of the fidelius wasn’t one of the Potters). (https://www.beyondhogwarts.com/harry-potter/articles/the-secrets-of-the-fidelius-charm.html)
* (#12 Grimmauld who cast the fidelius? Both Sirius and Albus are dead and yet the fidelius still exists!).
I should point out that there needs to be relaxation training for the MIlings. If they're going to go long periods in disguise as humans, they need to be able to accurately imitate and perform credibly at human relaxation activities. This is ESPECIALLY important for any lings that might get to the mythical(?) 00-level agents provocateur. If lings can learn particle physics and how to field-strip every man-portable firearm in Her Majesty's arsenals, then they can damn well learn how to skive, no matter how much they hate it.
I love seeing Glim Glam turn witching society on its head.
I think a certain red-headed Gryffindor girl, or possibly a certain purple pony princess, is gonna find the book.
'picked up the telly' sounds like he lifted a television, suggest changing it to 'phone'.
And how, in any reference, would those qualifications count as a mean to archive 'equal for everyone'? Those are precisely the things that keep people 'not equal' in every societies. She is too fixate to the Cutie Mark and could not see how it does not dominate ponies' life as much as she thought. Looks at Minuette, Cheerilee or Derpy for example. Any sane human would puzzle at how her Cutie Mark-hating logic come to be.
nice work
10800630
The most advanced infiltrator is the quartermaster, janitor, or Mr Grey?
Two people at least are going to be disturbed about the deviation in the library? there is an extra book they cant account for?
10800808 Meritocracy is only better than aristocracy so long as it is not allowed to create a new aristocracy.
(And, also, so long as it is not allowed to define itself backwards: "We're on top, so therefore we MUST be the best and brightest! That's why everyone should obey US!")
That said, when applied to the British wizarding society, Glim-Glam does not so much have a point as a fifty foot long bar of steel sharpened down finer than the sharp end of a sewing pin at one end.
"The name's Axe, Thor Axe. Let me change into something more comfortable."
I love this sub-plot.
10800654
Unless a VERY soundly argued way of bypassing the fidelius charm is used, I rather doubt either of them will be able to do so easily. Since Tom used the charm on himself and the only ones in the know are him and his host, and presumably the host is bound by the "can't reveal the secret" rule, Tom's pretty well locked the diary down for the moment. If the description of Harry learning about #12 is anything to go by, no one will be able to even see the diary, even if they knew exactly where it should be located. Basically until the spell is broken or removed, to anyone not included in the secret, the diary might as well not exist to them.
That said, given that the spell requires storing the secret in a soul, and while Tom used himself he's, at the very least, a damaged soul, and a mostly disembodied one at that, I wonder if that will have an effect on the effectiveness of the spell?
10801184 For some reason, those at the top always consider that their position is deserved, instead of remembering that cream is not the only thing to float to the top.
10800808 Starlight's rule was "Everypony equal... except for me, because somepony has to be in charge."
10800339
In most tyrannical governments, they prefer to keep the illusion of representative government. In the case of Harry's trial, remember that he was at one time considered to be the magical world's equivalent of Elvis, and to just hustle him off to some hidden cell is going to cause a *lot* of uncomfortable questions. As an example of how this progresses, even trials in the last two books with Umbridge as 'judge' were still trials, although the verdict was determined far in advance of the event.
10800630
But you see . . . that's WORKING as far as the lings are concerned. For themselves? They don't have a "relaxation" habit (except sleeping). So they work at playing basketball, golf, footsie, card games, etc.
Two totally different things. Blending in by pretending to play games for "relaxation" is work. Pretending to enjoy a "spa date" is work, not relaxation. As a ling, you can't relax or you'll make a mistake!
10800808
You are mistaking a person's training at doing something with a skill granted by the cutie mark. In canon we see that the cutie mark has the ability to affect how and what you do. The cutie marks switching in Magical Mystery Cure proves that. It imposes on the pony what they can and can't do! Just look at how the Mane Five react to their NEW cutie marks. Cutie Marks, if forced on someone, are a terrifying method of mind control -- they change one's entire character! If you have a new cutie mark long enough, does it permanently change you to like the new you? That is what's terrifying about cutie marks.
The wizards don't have cutie marks, so anything anyone does without outside coercion is, by definition, making them equal to everyone else. She did not cut off the wings of the Pegasi in Our Town to make them "equal" to Earth ponies, now did she? So, she is perfectly aware that some ponies can do things better than others. She just wants "fairness" in their choices.
10801308
Write it!
How long until she realize the CMs are actually the embodiment of one's skills and abilities, and start questioning herself?
Either not long, or never. I don't think there are other options here...
That is, to date, one of the most depressing (though great) lines of the show.
You have missed one big, huge chance here, you know?
You could actually have UPDATED Gummy's monologue. That thing has a hidden hilarious potential inside.
10801362 Amethyst's line only gets sadder when you recollect that that means she was responsible for at least one of the Winter Wrap-Ups prior to Twilight's first. (And if you'll remember, prior to Twilight those were usually disastrous.)
10801318
It prevents someone from sharing a secret but doesn't stop others from discovering it on their own.
Edit: To be honest the way this spell works is contradictory throughout the stories despite how it's described to work.
I have finally and sadly caught up. Can’t wait to see more!
....Now if only we could have TWaLP :(
I've been reading Harriet Potter on fanfiction.net. I just looked at the authors page to see if there was a sequel, then I realized what the authors name was.
10801353
To be fair we don't know if that was the cutie marks or an effect of Twilight playing around with the elements of Harmony and altering reality. The gem colours also got switched not just their lives/cutie marks. Rainbow Dash's talent is generally presented as speed not weather control she in fact becomes a wonderbolt and has nothing to do with weather later in the show. Yet when Rarity is put into her life she's handling Ponyvilles weather and not doing anything speedy at all. In fact a case could be made that the cutie marks did nothing in that case because the ponies didn't have the talents to begin with. Applejack cutie mark to find inner beauty and a boutique can't make a dress to save her life, Rarity with a speed cutie mark and a weather job still tries to organise the clouds into patterns, Rainbow Dash running an animal ? with Fluttershys animal cutie mark still doesn't understand the animals and winds up tied up.
Also going by the way her equals cutie mark hobbled Dashs speed one could say she would have cut off wings and horns uf she thought she could get away with it. Though again this is outside magic changing some ponies personality we repeatedly see her marks flash and force a change whenever someone acts outside her defined norms.
"And the changelings agreed."
10800441
Agreed.
Imagine how confused conspiracy theorists will be if this is what the government is willing to admit to.
I realize that between MI5 and MI6, one is explicitly for external threats, but the descriptions of their actions so far imply that they're working internally.
10800630
These 'lings need the Torpor Police.
10801558 I think cutie mark magic is connected with the fabric of reality- or, at least, the fundamental nature of ponies. So your either-or is pretty much all the same thing.
Nice chapter. Here's hoping the meeting of the two long groups goes well. The fact Elly saved Harry's bacon will immensely endear her to the ponies when her secret gets out that she is a proto-queen Ling and I hope that meeting goes well with her acknowledged as a sovereign ally. Honestly I hope they end up reformed. Also uh-oh Tom managed to hide his soul book. At least Umbridge has been taken down with no bridges left to find her way back into power.
10801409
The main rule about the secret seems to be that anyone learning it has to get it from the secret keeper, but that it doesn't have to be directly. In Order, Harry is brought into the #12 secret via a note Dumbledore had written. Tom seems very unlikely to have a need to reveal the diary's location to anyone besides his host, especially not in a potentially unsecured manner.
Fifty one 007's? There's only one of him
10801993
Read up on how the spell has worked in the novels. There are several times where it doesn't function like that at all. It isn't as apparent until later novels when you realize how many things were supposedly secrets under the effect of the spell.
Ah Kevin.... perhaps the one misse doppurtunity of FiM that annoys me the most..
you have a changeling that is accepted by Cranky... and could have gone into depths of eitehr changelings deciding to be 'good' or not..
and instead we get the Flutter ponies... which are alright but the underlying subtext of "If you are good you become pretty, if you are evil you stay bug pony" always rubbed me wrong.
*sigh* missed oppurtuntities.
I am starting to picture a shadow war between Starlight Glimmer on the one side, and Elly, backed by the Spylings, on the other. Starlight's not as subtle as she thinks she is, and I could easily she trained spylings, with a government's backing, finding that someone's doing something to the political wizarding world. I mean, the government is not probably going to rely on this all being the work of a crazed loner.
10802692
It would have been kind of nice if the flutter pony look was something that they chose after deciding to share love but it's weird that they automatically transformed. I wouldn't have minded them having some minor cosmetic changes like more colorful wings or filling in the holes on their legs though.
I thought Thorax's first episode was really heavy-handed and dumb so it would have been pretty cool to have the one at Cranky's wedding be the good changeling but even if Thorax was still the same it would have been nice to have a follow-up on him.
will this book be the end of this series or will there be more after it ?
10802796
Yeah, Sometimes that happens. Authocheck just can't seem to leave that one alone.
Yep. Got the numbers reversed. Rebellious teenagers would make Star thirteen or older when she went to the other universe. She supposedly arrived there old enough to hide out in a high school library, so that fits. Nine years later, she meets Twilight, who is now OLDER than Star is or Star would have graduated by now! Especially as she was older to start with.
10802873
Except trying to use magic on 7 billion people would probably kill the wizard/witch before it would work, either by exhausting him (if you think wizards have cores) or burning out from trying to control that much magic.
Duping in not an illusion because in canon you can duplicate food, You can't transfigure it, nor can you conjure it.
Sorry, but your conclusions don't quite match the evidence in canon.
10803525
There was one novel series I read where everyone but demons channelled magic from leylines (demons generated their own making them immensely dangerous as they couldn't be cut off from their power) with their strength being a combination of how far away they could reach a line, how strong the nearby lines were and how much power they can channel before burning to a crisp. In one of the books it was revealed the reason all vampires are insanely powerful ravening monsters is they come from a world/universe where the leylines are almost entirely drained and the sheer abundance of magical energy they can now tap drives them mad with power.
10803597
The book is Mything Persons by Robert Asprin.
10806168
Oh good someone else read it I've remembered buts and pieces but never enough to find it again
EDIT
Took a look don't think it's that one.
10809808
With the Butterfly Effect in play, she may not even be in the wreck in the first place. Also while the paparazzi was a factor the real reason for the wreck was because the driver was so drunk he could barely walk, something that may not happen in this timeline, as she may have a completely different driver or may have a completely different schedule that day.
I sense the possibility of back-door negotiations with the non-Chrysalis hives. Given that passive gathering is working out in Britain, the Princesses could be trying to convince the other hives to go 'legit'.
10800808
Well equality is good in some ways but not to the point of taking away the things that make you you. Her new way will be better in the long run for everyone. I hate to see how the head bad guy will handle that.
Wait, "Kevin"? Wasn't that supposed to be Thorax?
Just Minigun it to pieces
Starwars referance?
That comes to mind...
Kevin is awesome
I hope Bugwaifu hopefully to be Queen will create her own Hive and will not be a slave to anyone.
Cooperation should come for mutually beneficial bonds, not the threat of extinction!