Chapter 26: The Third Task
Beastly Thief!
Magical creature populations vanish worldwide!
Officials at the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (DRCMC) are baffled as the population of multiple magical creatures disappears overnight. The Ministry's Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE), the DRCMC, and the International Confederation of Wizards (ICW) are now vying for jurisdiction over this crisis. As of now, no official response has been released.
Officials are greatly concerned about these disappearances, but the unicorn is the cause of great worry due to their vital role in magical society. Powdered unicorn horns possess potent healing and anti-poison properties. However, the horns can only be collected post-mortem, making a full one rare. A unicorn's horn grows continuously, making the best time for harvest after an adult's death. But even the horns are of secondary interest to their greatest asset: unicorn hair.
As famous wandmaker Mr. Garrick Ollivander says, unicorn hairs are one of his three "superior" wand cores. His opinions on them are as follows: "Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard." Unicorn hairs form the backbone of wizarding society in Europe. While other wand cores exist worldwide, none have the same reputation as unicorn hairs. Before the three "superior" wand cores, inferior materials were not uncommon. The Prophet was unable to interview Ollivander.
The disappearance of these beasts marks a significant loss for the wizarding community, and no one has come forward to demand ransom or claim responsibility. But an anonymous whistle-blower in the Ministry has released a lead. On the day of the disappearances, a woman barged into Minister Fudge's office, ranting about the legal beast status of the missing creatures. There has never been a case for them to be qualified as beings, thus they have remained in the beast category. When several aurors confronted the intruder all spells were rendered ineffective, she disintegrated their wands, then apparated out. As is well known in the security business, apparition within the Ministry is impossible outside of level eight, the Atrium. The investigation is still ongoing.
The truth of what is happening is under fierce debate at the Ministry, and until an official statement is issued, we may not know more about this heinous crime.
Harry put down his copy of The Daily Prophet, smiling. "Well, isn't that something?"
"Whatcha got there?" Ron asked. He plopped himself down next to Harry in the Great Hall. Harry handed over the paper. "Beastly thief! Blimey, when did this happen?"
"Yesterday," Harry whispered, "Celestia made a visit, sent every last Equestrian back home."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Ron demanded.
"Tell us what?" Hermione asked. She sat herself down next to Ron.
"Harry kidnapped every unicorn on Earth!" Ron whisper-shouted.
"Well don't yell it!" Hermione shushed him. "Besides, it's hardly kidnapping of it's voluntary."
"See? She gets it. Besides, I didn't want to say I aided in the crime of the century," Harry reasoned.
"You told me about saving your godfather," Ron replied.
"That's different and you know it. I just wanted them to be safe, alright? They've been through enough. I was going to tell you after things cooled off a bit," Harry apologized.
"Right, right. Just tell a guy when you do exciting things, okay? Can't let you have all the fun," Ron said.
"Sure, I'll keep that in mind."
"I can't believe you helped move several thousand magical creatures across international borders. How?" Hermione asked.
Harry shrugged. "Celestia and Discord did the heavy lifting; he made a stone with the spell. Every sapient creature from Equestria was returned, and those that weren't sapient were congealed together to create sapient individuals. The centaurs chose not to go, something about feeling unworthy. The actual number is about a hundred."
"Celestia won't be mad, will she? About her people's treatment on Earth?" Hermione asked.
Harry shrugged. "She won't take it personally, humanity didn't know any better. She wants her ponies to be happy, simple as that."
Dumbledore immediately became aware of the rumors; the disappearances were the talk of the entire school. The Beauxbatons were the most distraught, their method of getting home (the pegasus) had vanished. The rumor was someone broke them out, everyone assumed it was the mysterious thief in the papers. Dumbledore suspected Harry knew the truth, but the boy kept it close to his chest. Dumbledore also knew he was the only one who could link Celeste to Harry. He couldn't stop himself from taking suspicious glances at Harry from time to time. Harry intended to keep silent, but Dumbledore had a different idea and "invited" Harry to his office.
"Harry, come in, sit down," Dumbledore said politely. Harry obeyed. "Now, I'm sure you've heard the rumors. But I'm more interested in the truths, aren't you?"
"Yes sir," Harry responded.
"Than might you indulge me in a mystery? The International Confederation of Wizards is meeting a few days after the second task to discuss some of the past week's... surprises. Half a dozen species disappeared overnight. All I ask is for anything you know that could help smooth things over," Dumbledore spoke politely.
"I'm afraid I don't know much more than you do," Harry replied. "I only know about the five that were moved."
Dumbledore quirked an eyebrow. So, Harry knew the exact number of species? "Surely you must know something more. Harry, this is the International Confederation of Wizards getting involved. The theft will reflect poorly on Equestria."
"Headmaster, to my understanding Celeste never threatened anyone. Her anger was not directed at us for our actions, it was at how long it took to fix the problem. Neither she nor Celestia holds it against us. They have no interest in wizarding affairs. Besides, they have no means to locate Equestria, it's all hot air."
"That is relieving to hear." Dumbledore smiled lightly to reassure Harry. "However, I wish you had come to me with this information first. As the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, it would have been easier for Celeste's actions to be explained to me before such... drastic actions were taken."
Harry tilted his head. "Supreme Mugwump?" he echoed.
Dumbledore nodded. Of course, Harry didn't know much about the ICW, not many kids his age did. Harry's muggle upbringing had left him disconnected from wizard politics. "The Supreme Mugwump is the acting chairman for the ICW, an important posistion. Celeste should've come through me first."
"Sorry, professor. That was my fault. Celestia doesn't know much about the outside world, most of what she knows is from me and Twilight. Celeste's shortcoming was my mistake," Harry replied.
"It is not your fault. The actions taken by these Equestrians would never have been supported, the part you unwittingly played in this theft is unimportant," Dumbledore said. Harry shouldn't blame himself, he was manipulated into this theft. He must see their faults are not his. It is for the best.
"No, I supported Celestia's decisions. She was right about the five species. They are somewhere better, wherever that is," Harry revealed the truth.
Dumbledore hid his surprise. "I see." It didn't seem like Harry to agree to such an action. Sure, the boy was impulsive, but he wasn't gullible enough to agree with Celeste's claims of unicorn sapience, or mass theft. The ICW was more likely to be concerned about the strength of the perpetrator than the actual theft. Instant transport on this scale was unheard of. But whenever Equestria got involved conventional understanding of magic seemed to disappear. Thankfully, the theft didn't pose an immediate problem. Wandmakers like Ollivander had stocked up on hairs for a while, a viable substitute could be found, eventually. "I still must ask if you know how these magical creatures were moved and why."
"Discord did it, somehow. He made an artifact that grabbed onto the missing creatures," Harry replied. Dumbledore could sense another half-truth.
"Discord? That 'spirit of chaos' you mentioned?" Dumbledore said. Though he doubted Harry's testimony, the idea of something like Discord chilled him to the bone. Ultimate power and no morality are a terrible combination. "Do you know anything else?"
"I don't know anything useful. We can't exactly explain Discord or Equestria to the international community. They'd never believe us about a hidden country discovered by a ten-year-old boy or a creature capable of rewriting reality." Harry replied.
"Alright. You can go to class now." Dumbledore said.
Dumbledore thought hard. If he brought forth testimony from a teen saying a god displaced populations of creatures he would be kicked out. Harry was right, Dumbledore had no evidence to present. But that wasn't the full truth. Dumbledore watched as Harry left, a sinking feeling growing. Harry was withholding information. That was new. The more Harry grew closer to Equestria, the larger Dumbledore's fears loomed.
Harry was quick to notice the rumors faded from the spotlight as the Triwizard Tournament recommenced.
The second task wasn't too difficult. Harry and Twilight had decoded the egg's secret well before Christmas, and Harry had been left to find a way to work underwater. The bubblehead charm was an easy option, but Harry guessed he needed to do more than breathe. He needed to move as if he belonged in the water. Human transfiguration was a bit difficult, so Harry asked around for ideas. Twilight's studious tendencies must have rubbed off on him because one day Harry noticed a book of Neville's about magical water plants. An extended study session with Neville and Hermione unveiled a plant called Gillyweed, which could do the transformation for him. Dobby had given him the plant the next day, which simplified the process. Harry wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth- that sounded weird.
When the time came for the task, Harry took the Gillyweed and started teleporting through the water in search of whatever he required. As it turned out, four people had been "kidnapped" for this task. For a brief moment, Harry thought about trying to rescue all four but instead came up with a better idea. He grabbed Ron and teleported him to the surface, then retreated to the rest of the hostages. Harry stayed down to ensure the others arrived. When Fleur never appeared, Harry took the girl, presumably her classmate, and teleported them back. And just in time, too, because the Gillyweed ran out almost immediately afterward.
Harry passed with flying colors, aided by exceptional scores from all but Karkaroff, propelling him to first place, with Cedric in a close second. He even got a kiss from Fleur.
When the last task and end of term came around the corner, Harry decided to make the best of his last days on Earth. In hindsight, phrasing it like that made Harry sound like he was dying. Instead, he was studying up on his scar and preparing for the third and final task. Hopefully Rainbow would enjoy watching.
When the day of the last task arrived, McGonagall collected all the champions after breakfast to greet their families. Luckily for Harry, the Dursley family did not show up, Mrs. Weasley and Bill took their place.
"Surprise!" Mrs. Weasley said excitedly as Harry smiled broadly and walked over to them. "Thought we'd come and watch you, Harry!" She bent down and kissed him on the cheek.
"You all right?" said Bill, grinning at Harry and shaking his hand.
"This is really nice of you," Harry muttered to Mrs. Weasley. "I thought for a moment— the Dursleys—"
"It's great being back here," Bill said, looking about the chamber. "Haven't seen this place for five— Merlin's beard!" Bill's reminiscence was cut off by the loud popping noise.
A white orb of light manifested itself in the chamber, far larger than the one in the Forbidden Forest. As everyone backed away in shock, Harry approached with a grin on his face. He looked into the white void, elated that not one, but six forms were darkening the background. As they gained more definition and some color, Harry's smirk turned into a full smile.
"About time you showed up," Harry said into the void. The six silhouettes jumped before they broke into a run toward him.
"HARRY!" Six jubilant girls ran out of the portal, crashing into Harry in a group hug. Sadly, their overzealous embrace toppled the seven over in a pile of tangled limbs.
"You're all here! I thought you were all just coming to see the task." Harry chuckled a little.
After all seven managed to get back on their feet, Harry took a moment to observe everyone's appearance. Like Twilight, their skin tones matched their previous coats and their hair colors and styles were nearly identical to how they were in Equestria. Otherwise, they looked completely human. And, somehow, their clothes completely matched their personalities.
"Well, we were planning to do that, but Celestia insisted we arrive early. So, here we are," Twilight said.
"Well, welcome to Hogwarts," Harry said proudly.
"It's rather dreary, isn't it?" commented Rarity. "I mean, the cracks in the walls, oh, this place must be utterly ancient."
"I'd think it's well-worn," countered Applejack.
"Ooh, is it haunted by creepy-cool stuff?!" Pinky Pie bounced on her feet. "Or maybe a secret passage?!"
"Calm down Pink, we're not here to sightsee. We're here to support Harry in the last task, remmeber?" Rainbow Dash said.
"You can do both, actually. Each champion's family, or what passes for it," Harry pointed to the Weasleys, "were told to come early. And I'm exempt from exams to greet."
Twilight looked ready to faint at the words "exempt from exams". The group was cut off from further conversation by a harsh cough from Mrs. Weasley.
"Are these— friends of yours, Harry?" she asked stiffly.
"Yes," Harry replied. He pointed to everyone in the group. "Mrs. Weasley, Bill, these are my friends: Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle," he introduced his Equestrian friends.
"Hey, what about me?!" a small voice yelled.
Everyone looked down, seeing a purple and green dog standing next to them.
"Spike?!" Twilight said. "Why are you— well..."
Spike idly scratched behind his ear.
"I have no idea. You all are humans, I should at least be a dragon!" he said. Twilight reached down to scoop him up.
"You have a talking dog?" Bill asked incredulously.
"Technically he's a dragon. This is Spike, Twilight's number one assistant," Harry supplied.
"Oh, yes, wasn't she the girl who was with you at the Yule Ball?" Mrs. Weasley asked stiffly.
"What of it?" Twilight replied.
Harry looked between them, becoming annoyed. "Mrs. Weasley, you didn't believe that rubbish Rita Skeeter wrote, did you? Twilight is not my girlfriend or whatever else she was implied to be."
"I'm years older than him anyways," Twilight added quietly.
"Well, he's only a few years below your minimum dating age. You know, divide by two and add seven and all that. Give him some time." Rarity had a devilish grin on her face.
"RARITY!" Harry and Twilight glared and scowled in perfect sync.
Rarity giggled. "Sorry."
Harry turned back to Mrs. Weasley.
"I'll say it once more, Twilight Sparkle is not my girlfriend. You've been reading Skeeter's gossip, haven't you?"
"Oh!" said Mrs. Weasley. "No— of course I didn't!"
She became considerably warmer toward Twilight after that.
"Maman, why is that girl pink?" a small voice was just able to be heard saying. Fleur's younger sister was talking to her mother in a hushed voice. The eight-year-old girl was staring at Pinkie Pie, who was quick to return the look.
In the blink of an eye, the Element of Laughter was crouched down next to the young girl. "Oh my goodness! Aren't you just the cutest little thing!?" She couldn't resist giving the young girl's cheeks a small squish. "What's your name? I'm Pinkie Pie! Hey, do you like parties?"
The girl giggled. "You're funny. I'm Gabrielle Delacour." The two shook hands with a smile. "Why are you pink?"
Pinkie Pie barely paused before responding. "Well, why is your hair that silver-white? Oh, it reminds me of snow! Vanilla ice cream!"
Gabrielle tilted her head like a bird would, thinking. "I was born with it?"
"Me too! I gotta go see my friends, nice talking to you!" Pinkie said as she returned to her friends. "What? She's adorable," she defended her actions. "Are all humans like that?"
"No, she's one-fourth veela. And trust me, human children have attitude problems a mile high. You just got lucky," Harry said.
"Fancy giving us a tour, Harry?" said Bill.
"Sure. We just need to fix one thing. Twilight, disguises?" Harry pointed at the less-than-subtle group. Twilight nodded.
"How about you do it? I wrote the illusion spell in the book, you should be able to do it," she challenged. Harry groaned as he pulled out his wand.
"Velo pigmentum." The mane six's skin suddenly changed to match more human colors. Rarity looked ready to faint. "Sorry, but you need to look more... normal. It'll wear off when you return. Come on." Harry led them through the, thankfully, empty Great Hall. They also passed Amos Diggory, who was looking at them.
"There you are, are you?" he said, looking Harry up and down. "Bet you're not feeling quite as full of yourself now Cedric's catching up to you on points, are you?"
Harry looked utterly perplexed.
"What the hay are you going on about?"
"Ignore him," said Cedric. "He's been angry since Rita Skeeter started blabbing on about you being a champion."
"Never bothered to correct her, did he?" Amos said loud enough to be heard by the group.
Rainbow Dash turned on him. "Now you listen here, Harry doesn't want to be here, and people have died in these tournaments before. Don't you think for even a second that Harry cares about winning or the prize money. He doesn't need to prove how good he is to a jealous, spiteful, self-righteous jerk like you!" Without another word, she turned around to walk past the group. "Come on gang, we've got better things to do."
They walked about the castle grounds after that, and Harry showed a few places of interest such as the Whomping Willow, which was of interest to Mrs. Weasley and the Equestrians.
"The Whomping Willow still has a temper, let me tell you. Nearly killed me once or twice," Harry said as they passed the tree. Applejack perked up.
"Is that so? Well, I oughta teach it a lesson. No tree is gonna to beat up my friends and get away with it." Applejack rushed at the tree.
"Applejack, wait—" Harry tried to dissuade her, but the pony was too stubborn to take "no" for an answer.
"Harry, shouldn't we stop her?" Bill asked nervously.
"Depends."
"On what?"
"If you want to get in her way."
Applejack ran until she was within the tree's range. She ducked under one branch, jumped over another, and then caught the third one aiming for her chest. She then pulled out a long lasso, to everyone's surprise. The next five minutes devolved into a wrestling match between Applejack and a sentient tree. Despite the tree's size, Applejack seemed right at home dodging the branches and tying several together.
"Well, that should teach ya to play nice," Applejack said as she jumped down from the tree. The Whomping Willow had several of its brambles in knots and was sagging tiredly.
"Hey, Rainbow, think you can wrestle a tree?" Harry quipped. The competitive pegasus simply huffed in response. The group then decided to turn away from the tree and its... predicament.
"Harry, I'm going to make this crystal clear to ya, this place is weird," Applejack said as they walked away from the Whomping Willow. "I mean, the plants grow—"
"The animals care for themselves—" Fluttershy said.
"And the clouds move—" Rainbow Dash added.
"All by themselves," Pinkie Pie finished.
"It's as though the whole world is a giant Everfree Forest. Absolutely dreadful, that's what it is!" Rarity exclaimed. This got an odd look from the two Weasleys.
"Well of course the clouds move!" Mrs. Weasley said incredulously. "What, did you think someone does it themselves?"
"Of course I do, it's kinda my job," Rainbow Dash answered as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. At Twilight's command, a misty vapor appeared behind Rainbow. The pegasus jumped backward, transforming the mist into a solid cloud beneath her. She slowly guided it away from Bill, like a broom or magic carpet.
"Your job?" Bill echoed, watching her float on the cloud. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Where my friends are from, things work a little differently. They're in charge of the weather, plants, animals, and even the changing of the seasons. Something as simple as a rising Sun is foreign to them," Harry explained.
"You must live somewhere strange to be changing the seasons. You can't be subtle with the weather. How do you hide from muggles like that?" Bill inquired.
"What's a muggle?" Pinkie Pie said, a bit too loud.
"What do you mean 'what's a muggle'?" Bill said in shock. "The no-mag, can't spells, non-magic folk."
Harry stepped between the two.
"As weird as it may sound, they also don't have a Statute of Secrecy in Equestria. Everyone is aware magic exists, even if only some of them can cast spells." Harry pointed at the two former unicorns. "Twilight and Rarity are the only two who can cast spells, but the others have their own brands of magic. Like I said, things are different where they come from."
"So, everyone knows about magic, and you all get along? They're not scared of witches and wizards?" Mrs. Weasley trailed off in thought.
"Now why would I be scared of my best friends?" Applejack asked. "Twilight and Rarity are some of the best palls I could ask for, even if one of them is a neat freak."
Bill and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other, confused beyond understanding. A place where muggles and magic lived side by side, it must have sounded like a fantasy. Wizards had always been prosecuted for what made them different, and the muggles feared them. The idea of an entire community, possibly a whole country, having melded the two was almost beyond belief.
After a moment or two, Bill spoke up.
"Harry, could you have a normal year for once?"
Eventually, Harry was instructed to go to the Quidditch field with Mr. Bagman. The Weasleys left first, leaving the seven friends alone.
"I'll see you all later, okay?" Harry said. The others looked around nervously.
"Harry, if you ever need help, we'll be right here," Twilight said in a cautious voice. Her tone confused Harry.
"Why do you sound so scared? I'll be fine, I promise."
"It's not you that's worrying us," Fluttershy said. "Before we came here, Discord wanted to warn us about something."
"Discord warned you?" Harry said incredulously. If Discord went out of his way to help, this could be bad.
"He said 'There's a chance nothing tonight will go as planned' then asked we take these with us." Fluttershy reached into her shirt and pulled out a very familiar necklace, the others mimicking her. Harry's eyes widened.
"The Elements of Harmony? Why would Discord want you to use the Elements for anything?"
"We don't know, and that's what concerns us," Twilight confessed. "We'll keep an eye on the final task, but if anything looks out of place, we're getting you out."
"I'll do my best," Harry said. "Just don't put yourselves in danger."
"We'll be fine," interrupted Pinkie Pie. "Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Just don't touch any magic portal thingies and end up in some super spooky graveyard with an evil wizard, and you should be fine."
"Yeah, sure..." Harry wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.
Harry followed the other champions to the quidditch field, which had been reconstructed into a giant labyrinth over twenty feet high with one entrance. In five minutes the stands were filled to the brim with students and teachers. Twilight and the rest were there too, skin tones still magically adjusted to hide their inhuman nature.
Once the crowd settled and the teachers left to patrol the maze's edge, Bagman announced the points, and who would be going first. Harry was in first, followed by Cedric, Viktor, and Fleur.
"So... on my whistle, Harry!" said Bagman. "Three— two— one—"
With a quick blast of his whistle, Harry charged into the maze.
Stats
Page generated in 0.017 seconds
Total duration
885 users online
179,177 hits today, 2,139,894 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
11612927
I think "bashed" is the wrong word to use.True, Harry was being too secretive and is called out for it. I'll admit, bashing is not my forte in writing. Harry historically isn't great at keeping secrets, and Earth and Equestria are pulling him in different directions, emotionally.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Discord has left the building.
He has no idea whats going to happen, because Pinks is In Da Hause.
Given the date, I wonder if Pinkie has managed to watch any UK TV comedy greats yet? Fawlty Towers, Young Ones, Blackadder, Red Dwarf etc?
11613246
I see, my bad for remembering wrong then. Thnx for the clarifying.
Poor Dumbledore thinking he has a say in the matter what would've he done if Harry had told him. He talked to Celestia even if he doesn't realize it and she didn't tell him/ Then again she didn't know he was a government official as well though that might be a mark against him
Pinkie, you are the best.
Thank you!
Harry: I would oh-so-dearly love to, actually.
pffftttt
I am going to fault Celestia here. *She made no attempt to clarify their status. No attempt to demonstrate communication*.
Did the wizarding world ever have a reason to think of them as anything other than beast? No.
Could Harry, Twilight, Celestia, etc -- have demonstrated the communication ability, and shown them to be non-beast? Sure.
First, where did we get any indication of this in story? Show, don't tell.
Second ... how does that work?
You've got a few spelling errors here.
Played in
"H arry"
----
You've made some *major* changes in the second and third trial. I don't think you really paid attention to how those clues were sovled, or how Harry got through all this.
** He Had A Death Eater Helping Him! **
You wrote all of that out.
Imagine the polyjuiced "Mad-Eye Moody", having helped Harry all this time, being introduced to Twilight, and brought over to Equestria. Perhaps even learning a few Equestrian magics in the process.
Harry is relying too much on Teleportation. Even what sounds like rapid underwater repeat short ports -- this is really an excessive power level. We do see a few non-Twilight teleports in show, and they are not done on a large scale.
It sounds like AppleJack left the Willow all tied up. I can actually see Dumbledore, and the ground staff, being upset at this. After all, the Willow is an important magical creature, a one-of-a kind special tree, and you can't just go around tying it up like a beast ...