Chapter 17: Christmas
When Harry and Twilight returned from Diagon Ally, they went straight to the great hall for breakfast. They sat down at the ends of the Gryffindor table, mostly out of sight. Twilight looked at the food in front of her, curious. Harry explained humans were omnivores, unlike ponies, who were herbivores. He helped point out items without meat, telling her that some humans chose not to eat meat. Eventually Twilight selected some items and tentatively dug in, opting to grab her utensils with magic over her fingers. The two ate with a comfortable silence between them.
"So, do you have a plan for today?" she asked as she finished her last few bites.
"I had a few ideas. First, we need to teach you to dance like a human. After that, we can explore the castle, or just the library if you want," Harry said, already guessing the answer.
"How about we spend the morning practicing, then we spend the afternoon in the library. There are so many books there! I think I saw a section about dragons last night, that should be fun," Twilight gushed.
"Sure, fun," Harry groaned. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Look, I know you're not a fan of studying, but I know you love the practical application. Maybe we try to teach you some cool magic for the tournament?" she said thoughtfully.
"Oh Celestia, I almost forgot about that," Harry said, already feeling tired.
"Then we should get a head start. Let's go." Twilight set her utensils down to stand up. Harry followed suit. They walked side by side out the hall, avoiding most students' notice.
Keyword: most.
"Oh, look, it's Potter. Back from the dead, are we?" came the mocking voice of the worst Slytherin of Harry's class: Draco Malfoy. "Trying to escape the tournament? What's wrong, was it too much for you?" he taunted.
"Back off, Malfoy. I'd rather not ruin a good day," Harry scoffed. Seriously, of all days, why the one where he had time to spend with Twilight!?
"A good day? Oh... I see," Draco drawled. "Look everyone, Potter's got himself a girlfriend!" His shout drew laughs from a few Slytherins behind him and the eyes of many other passing students. Harry grit his teeth.
"Just another rich jerk, ignore him," Twilight tugged on Harry's hand, trying to pull him away. Draco snickered.
"Oh, look, she cares. Let me guess, her blood is just as filthy as Granger's?" the Slytherin jabbed. Harry's fists clenched. He'd resort to verbal attacks, for now.
"Shut up, Malfoy. One drop of her blood has more magic than your whole family tree, inbred as it is," Harry verbally slapped back.
"My family is not inbred! Besides, marrying a half-blood is preferable to marrying a mudblood like your mother." Draco snarled.
"Don't, he's egging you on," Twilight warned quietly. She wrapped her arm around Harry's, holding him back.
"Oh, would you look at that. Poor parentless Potter has to be held back by his girl- Ahh!"
Draco was suddenly flung back with the force of a cannon. He flew down the long hallway, spinning and screaming. He finally stopped when he bowled over Crabbe and Goyle at the end of the hall. Harry looked at Twilight, whose hand was outstretched and her hair was floating freely in the air. There was a flash of pink as she teleported the two to stand next to Mafloy.
"Don't mock my friends. Mess with Harry, and you deal with me," she threatened. There was a shimmer of green as Harry teleported the two away. They reappeared in a random hallway.
"Well, that went well. What happened to 'Don't, he's egging you on'?" Harry said in a very sarcastic tone.
"He was insulting your parents. Personal vendetta aside, that's a terrible line to cross," Twilight replied immediately. Harry chuckled, his upset facade fading.
"Honestly, I would've done the same, so I can't be mad. Come on, I think we can find somewhere to practice."
And that was exactly what they did. Harry and Twilight practiced dancing the whole morning till their toes were sore from being stepped on by their partner's feet. After that, they decided to spend the rest of their Saturday in the Library. They walked, as Twilight insisted Harry was relying on teleports too much.
"You know, I think Astrology, Divination, and Arithmancy are complete garbage," Twilight said, buried up to her neck in books. "I mean, Arithmancy relies on numbers, which just seems like gambling with more steps and superstition. And Divination is an even worse offender. Don't get me wrong, the future can be predicted, to a degree."
"Like Nightmare Moon's return," Harry added. "You knew about that one well in advance."
"Yes, exactly. And don't even get me started on Astrology. It can't work in Equestria, Princess Luna changes the night sky herself, but even here it seems so... weird." She closed her books and sent them all back to their shelves.
"Can we focus on more practical magic?" Harry suggested, rereading his page. "Maybe you can translate more spells while I practice?"
"Oh, then I'll be right back." Twilight vanished around a corner and returned a few minutes later with a book in her hands. She held the book for Harry.
"Wandless Magic? Twilight, I thought this was in the restricted section?"
"It was. Pince let me borrow it," she said proudly.
She opened the books and started to read while Harry tried to figure out how she garnered the favor of one of the strictest faculty members. Eventually, Pince asked them to leave, and the two separated for the night. But Harry wasn't planning to sleep.
Harry had a Christmas gift to make.
Christmas morning found Harry standing nervously in front of the room Twilight was staying in, holding the package he had wrapped in the constellation-themed paper he had used last night. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.
"Hello?" came Twilight's voice. She poked her head out from the threshold. She noticed Harry standing right in front of her and then opened the door completely. Her hair was a mess and the illusion over her skin had faded. "Harry? What are you here for, is it time for the ball?"
"I came to say Merry Christmas, Twilight. This is your first holiday in my world, so I made this. From me to you." Harry held out the present to her, smiling. "Merry Christmas, Twilight."
Twilight became noticeably more awake, stunned. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish, unable to find the words to speak. Her fingers wrapped around the present, slowly taking it from Harry.
"For me? You didn't have to buy me something, really." She said, inspecting the box. Harry could tell she was curious.
"What can I say, Rarity rubbed off on me. I spent nearly two galleons and several hours making this, just for you. Come on, get in the Christmas spirit, open it," Harry suggested.
"Well, if you insist. Come on in." Twilight motioned Harry in, closing the door behind him. The room looked similar to the Gryffindor dormitory, albeit for one person. She sat down on the bed in the room and gestured for Harry to sit down next to her. She inspected the package once again. "So, uh, anything special before I open it, or do I tear into it like foals on their cute-ceañeras?"
"Cute-ceañera?" Harry asked, obviously confused.
"Oh, right, you don't have a cutie mark yet. A cute-ceañera is a celebration of earning your cutie mark. Most have their party around the age of the Cutie Mark Crusaders." Twilight explained. Harry hummed to himself; he wouldn't mind that.
"Yes, feel free to open it however you wish."
Twilight tore the paper apart savagely. What was left was a plain-looking medium-sized book. The spine had Twilight's cutie mark at the top. The purple and green cover held yellow letters written in Equestrian.
"A Compendium on the Nature of Magic," Twilight read the cover aloud, her mouth open in shock. She looked at the small inscribed text at the bottom. "Translation to Equestrian by Harry Potter!? Harry, when did you have time to translate an entire book? Was this all last night?" she asked in surprise. Harry smiled and blushed.
"Actually, I've been working on this for a while. I bought the first edition before the second year when I was buying supplies. I thought I'd give it to you as a gift. But after a while, I wanted to make it more personal. So I started to translate the text to Equestrian so anyone back home could read it. I found this blank book while at Diagon Ally, and I knew it would be a perfect fit. I spent all last night finishing this book." Harry cut himself off with a massive yawn.
Twilight's smile threatened to split her face, full of genuine appreciation. She set the book down so she could hold Harry in the tightest hug possible.
"Thank you! I mean it, I really do," she said. After a moment, a metaphorical lightbulb lit up over her head. "Oh, I also have something for you. It's no Christmas gift, but I found them next to my bed this morning." Twilight reached under her bed and pulled out two boxes. Both had a very familiar cutie mark displayed on their lids: Rarity's three gemstones. "Rarity finished our dress robes!"
"That's—" Harry yawned again— "great! I'm sure they'll look—" another yawn— "brilliant, as always."
"Harry, you look tired," Twilight noted, poking under his eyes. "You clearly did not get enough sleep. You have a big night ahead of you! You should go back to bed, now," she commanded.
"Fine, fine. Miss bossy hooves."
Harry was shooed out of Twilight's room and forced to return to his common room. As he trudged through, he shared cursory glances with Ron and Hermione. Ron and Hermione, of course, thought Harry was spending his time away practicing or keeping his distance to not stress their repairing friendship. Either way, neither party minded as Harry went back to bed.
Harry was asleep the moment he touched the bed.
Ron woke Harry several hours later, telling him the boys were getting dressed for the ball. Ron seemed to have something on just mind, something he deemed very serious: Harry's Yule Ball date.
"Harry, did you get a date? You never told us before you vanished," Ron asked.
"As a matter of fact, yes, I do have a girl to go with," Harry said slyly. Ron's jaw practically fell off.
"Who!? When?! How?!" he asked in response to Harry's bombshell reveal.
Harry's smirk widened.
"Don't worry Ron, you'll get to meet her for the ball, you should be worrying about not embarrassing yourself. Who were you going with again?" he replied.
Harry hadn't yet introduced Twilight to anyone, he hadn't gotten time between the dance and magical practices. For now, no one knew the identity of Harry's date. Now Harry just had to make sure the robes were good. Rarity said she had the time of her life, designing for a non-pony race. Frankly, Harry was terrified of her dressing him and Twilight up in nothing but gems.
Hopefully, Rarity kept his robe simple.
It was decided, Rarity did not keep his robe simple. While she claimed she had "toned down the extra details" in her notes, it was extraordinary by anyone's standards. Well, anypony's standards except hers.
As Harry looked down at the box with Rarity's cutie mark proudly displayed on the lid. Inside was the most well-crafted set of dress robes Harry had ever seen. Harry's mental state of shock was comparable to when he got his brooms.
The robes must have cost a fortune by wizarding standards, but for Rarity this was a Tuesday. The fabric was a lightweight velvet-like material, with golden stitching that probably used Rarity's gold fabric. Small spots of light twinkled in the many small gemstones inlaid in the cloth, visible from all angles. The robes themselves were a stunning mix of deep crimson with dark green accents, to "draw out your eyes, darling" as Rarity had explained in her lengthy note about the tailoring.
"BLOODY HELL, Harry! What is this!?" Ron was infinitely more surprised than Harry, seeing as he had never witnessed Rarity's handiwork. Then again, the Weasley family was notoriously, well, poor. Seamus, Dean, and Neville were similarly awestruck. "This is probably worth more than anything that git Malfoy owns. Where did you get this?" Harry couldn't hide the grin nearly splitting his face in two.
"A good friend made this for me just for this occasion."
"Made it? Is this from your pen pal? Blimey, why didn't you say she was loaded? Is she from an old pure-blood family or something?"
Harry scoffed.
"No. This was made by one of her friends, one of the best in the business. I was scared she would overdo it," Harry said nonchalantly. Ron looked ready to drop unconscious. "Since I won't need it, you can have my original dress robe for the ball." That seemed to snap Ron into focus. "Now come on, your date's waiting."
"What about yours?"
"Just get dressed, Ron."
When the boys eventually got dressed, all looking equally self-conscious, they made their way down through the common room. The room was a collage of various colors and fabrics, each student trying to stand out and look their best. Gryffindors were pairing up with their partners, whilst those who had partners in other houses (or other schools in some cases) were awkwardly glancing at the exit. Harry couldn't seem to not attract everyone's eyes, his robes being a bit... much. The guys were shocked, and most of the girls looked either envious of Harry or disappointed by their dates. Harry decided he needed to get some air, even if Ron was rooted to the ground. Once Harry had managed to convince Ron that the horrors were all in his head and that Hermione was probably already down at the Great Hall, the two walked to the portrait hole that separated them from the rest of the school.
"Seriously, last time I'm asking, who and where is your date?" Ron demanded as they left the common room.
Just as they were halfway down the first staircase, a small pop signaled the appearance of a small piece of paper. Ron grabbed it out of the air.
"I can't read this, it's all scribbles," Ron said simply.
Harry grabbed the note. It was no surprise Ron couldn't read it, the letter was written in stylized Old Equestrian. While Harry could write in Equestrian, he was a novice at the older language, but even he could read the two-word message out loud.
"Behind you."
Harry and Ron made an about-face as Harry felt the air vibrate with unicorn magic.
In a flash of pink light, Twilight teleported a few stairsteps up from Harry. It was the same Twilight that Harry knew, but she held herself with such grace she might have been mistaken for a royal duplicate. Her skin was lightly charmed this time, allowing for small amounts of her original skin to influence her appearance. The illusion was weakest around her face, creating a natural yet exotic blush. Her purple hair was styled and done so it didn't hang over her back as much, obviously inspired by Cadance's ceremonial headdress, given the gems present. There were only the slightest hints of any makeup on her.
Her dress robes were just as immaculate and regal as Harry's, but bearing a royal blue and turquoise color. Sparkling pink-and-silver stars adorned the edges of the fabric, stylized to match the six-point stars on her cutie mark. As was Rarity's calling card, gemstones galore were littered across her robes and in her hair. She was bedazzling, bejeweled, bewitching, and beautiful in every way, at least in Harry's opinion.
Ron was slack-jawed at Twilight's appearance, too stunned to speak. Harry noted it was very similar to Ron's reactions to Fleur, prior to his public embarrassment. He chuckled as he walked up to stand beside Twilight. The two smiled at each other.
"Ron, may I introduce to you my very good friend, Twilight Sparkle." Just as they'd practiced, Harry and Twilight intertwined their arms as they made their descent down the stairs. Ron followed them, sputtering and failing to find words for several minutes as they walked at a leisurely pace.
"You look great," Harry complimented, blushing slightly. "I think Rarity's outdone herself again, those robes looked incredible."
"Oh, so the robes make me look good?" Twilight snarked.
"No- no- not at all! You look beautiful, dress robe or not," Harry stuttered. Twilight giggled.
"Harry, this is the second time you've seen me in clothes. I wasn't wearing anything the first time we met," she teased. Behind them, Ron looked ready to pass out.
"I forgot about that," Harry said, blushing furiously. When he landed in Equestria for the first time, getting used to casual nudity had been... weird. "I couldn't stop blushing. Thank Celestia for fur, brain chemistry, and social norms. I probably looked like an idiot."
"You did. It was cute," Twilight said, patting his hand. "To be fair, I'm still getting used to clothes. I mean, they're on your skin all day, every day." Her blush became a little less fake.
"Yeah, humans don't have fur," Harry said as Twilight looked a little less comfortable. "You'll adjust."
"I'm sure I will. But these robes do look good," she said, gesturing to the little gems. "Now, the mane is a different story altogether. This took forever to style on my own," she said.
"I don't get why girls style it so much."
"Do you deny it looks good on us?" she countered. "Of course, your mane is a jungle."
"My hair is fine, it's no worse than Rainbow Dash's," Harry protested.
"Her mane is a full-on rainbow. She keeps the colors and knots in line. Yours is a mess." She reached up to flick a strand away from his head.
"A handsome mess."
"It sure is." Twilight quietly. She looked back over her shoulder. "Harry, I think we broke your friend."
Ron was still slack-jawed at Harry and Twilight. Harry reached out to snap his fingers in front of Ron's face, breaking him out of his self-induced trance.
"Harry, wherever did you meet her?" Ron said once his brain recovered enough to ask. Twilight rolled her eyes.
"I thought you'd have figured it out, considering your friend stole from us," same the biting, but non-threatening, retort from Twilight. She and Harry continued as Ron stood confused for a moment.
"Wait, you're Harry's letter sender! But I thought you lived outside the country or something."
At Ron's words, the two shared a glance. They had practiced their cover a dozen times over. Twilight Sparkle was a foreign student Harry Potter met when muggle mailing services mixed up their addresses. They became penpals, and then proper friends after a while. Harry's magical disappearance sent him to her house, they came back, and the rest was history.
"I don't live in the country," Twilight answered Ron's question.
"She's just visiting for the occasion," Harry explained.
"That does explain the accent," Ron mused.
"I try my best," she said.
Ron could only shake numbly his head as he caught up. This was ridiculous. Harry and his mysterious girl friend (or was it girlfriend?) were walking in the most expensive clothing he had ever seen, and being so casual about it. In fact, they were borderline flirting with each other. The Weasleys were far from affluent, but this surpassed even his wildest dreams of wealth. Of course, that comment about the clothes still made no sense, but that could be addressed later. Ron continued to trail behind until they reached the Great Hall, where he fell behind even further when his date, Padma Patil, ambushed him.
All eyes were on Potter and Sparkle as they approached the Great Hall. Gasps and whispers followed the two as more people gained sight of them. Many of the guys were staring absent-mindedly at Twilight's beauty, while many of the girls had envy in their eyes. Harry and Twilight felt self-conscious, but a firm grip on each other stabilized their resolve.
"Is that Harry Potter?"
"Who's the girl?"
"She's beautiful."
"I'm so jealous."
"Where did they get those clothes?"
"Must be richer than Malfoy—"
Harry tried to tune the voices out by looking for familiar faces. Unfortunately, the first group he recognized were some formerly smug Slytherins, Malfoy among them, who were in shock and awe at the two. Figures, the house known for power and blood purity was in awe at a boy with a 'mudblood' parent and the transformed unicorn at his side. The irony was not lost on either of them. Draco and his date, Pansy Parkinson, walked up, recovering their shattered pride.
"So, who died and gave those to you Potter? Another set of parents?" Malfoy sneered while Twilight stood taller next to Harry, the latter subtlety holding her back from a repeat of earlier.
"They're a gift from someone with more class than a worm like you," Twilight snarked.
"Oh, look, Potter's girlfriend. You're going to regret what you did, make no mistake," He threatened although the bravado was obviously fake. "I'm Draco—" Malfoy immediately reminded Twilight of several Canterlot's royals, the bad ones. Maybe she should play along?
"Draco Malfoy, I've heard. Now, back off you classless catastrophe. I wouldn't willingly associate with someone as rude as you."
Malfoy ground his teeth. "Wait till—"
"—your father hears, blah blah blah. Heard it before. Now if you don't mind, I'm tired of seeing my reflection in your greasy hair." Without another word, the two left Malfoy to join the other champions. Malfoy and the other Slytherins were stunned and speechless. Twilight smiled at Harry. "That was fun."
"It was fun watching. I was not expecting that. Who knew the great student of Celestia, Twilight Sparkle, could act like a haughty Canterlot aristocrat," Harry said sarcastically.
"When your teacher is the most powerful aristocrat in the world, you tend to learn a thing or two."
The two shared a laugh.
"Well, he's had that coming for a while." Harry couldn't keep a grin off his face.
Then Professor McGonagall's voice called. "Champions, over here please!"
"Ready to dance, Mister Trotter?" Twilight said playfully.
"Of course, Miss Sparkle."
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Rarity managed to post dress clothes via dragon mail?
Poor Spike, Pinkie must be loading up something extra special for him to send.
Very nice while I think Harry would've had to ask for something Rarity would make as work wear to really get her to tone it down. For embroidery that would be done with thread not fabric
Either Harry’s hoping for a bit more than friendship tonight or he’s planning on making a bit of money and needs a pimp Kaine
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OH MY GOODNESS, I DIDN'T NOTICE!
I'm fixing that, right now. I wrote a lot of this chapter on a mobile device, it must have slipped past my spellchecker. Imagine if someone like Rita Skeeter or Gabby Gums read that, oh boy. Thanks for the alert.
In a horse accent "What accent?"
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Well, Twilight doesn't have a British accent. Rarity's accent is an atlantic one, pretty much British but not quite. Accents in Equestria are funny.
Man, you integrated that super well! I thought the exposure of Twilight to the other students was gonna be awkward as hell, but this was really good!
I loved this chapter
(Definitely want one long story)
I'm trying to remember the times when Twilight flung someone because of rudeness. I can't remember any. Maybe when Spike ticked her in "Lesson Zero", but that was reflexive action. When Cozy flung Twilight, it was treated as a big deal.
Imagine if during "Twilight Time" Diamond Tiara said something rude to Applebloom, and Twilight flung her across a library. See how absurd the scene looks?
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That got a chuckle out of me, got me thinking of adding neigh into various words. Like Neighby instead of maybe. I guess Neighbor wouldn’t have to change, lol