When Sunset Shimmer entered the Mirror seeking Power, she never anticipated going back to school. Well, at least this one has something actually worth teaching.
As Celestia's personal student, there was no doubt in Sunset Shimmer's mind that she was the most powerful Unicorn in Equestria. There was no spell she couldn't master, no lesson she couldn't learn...save for one.
Hoping to rectify the situation, Princess Celestia broke one of her own rules and unearthed Starswirl's Mirror, hoping that, by gazing into it, Sunset would see what she always wanted. Unfortunately, the plan worked a little TOO well, but not in the manner she hoped.
Cast out and believing herself betrayed by Celestia, a desperate Sunset decides to seek out her 'Hearts Desire' on the other side of the Mirror...to a place where she will learn the lessons Celestia so desperately wished for her to learn: that Friendship is Magic.
Author's Note: Some of you may notice a similarity between this and the intro to my other story, Sunset Overdrive. That is because I'm essentially going by a 'The Rainboom Sent Sunset To Different Worlds' theme.
That being said, not all the worlds she's sent to will be Friendship and Hugs. If you have any suggestions/requests for a world to send Sunset to, let me know and I'll see what I can do.
Chapter 1: Through the Looking Glass.
The Multiverse is, by definition, a collection of hypothetical possible universes that together comprise everything that exists and can exist: the entirety of space, time, matter and energy, as well as the physical and meta-physical laws, variants and constants that describe them. It should therefore go without saying that there are any number of possible universes out there, one for every decision made or otherwise forgone, be it something as insignificant as which gender or race you were born into, to more complex conundrums such as which shirt to wear or whether or not to drink Chocolate Milk with everything.
The answer to that last one, naturally, was a resounding YES, or at least it was in the opinion of a certain Lord of Chaos, who was currently reclining on what had come to be regarded as ‘His’ couch in the home he shared with his best friend/parole officer, when he wasn’t making a minor pest of himself in order to prevent himself from going insane.
Now don’t get him wrong, there was nothing wrong with indulging in a bit of dementia now and again. Indeed, he challenged anyone to spend a millennium as a decorative pigeon latrine, completely aware of their surroundings yet incapable of scratching that damned itch in the small of their back, and not go a bit loopy.
It was simply that he’d been there, done that, and had even Tie-Dyed several fashionable Shirts to advertise the fact on multiple occasions. By the end of it he’d simply gotten bored and defaulted back to his typical state of not-quite sanity that could still enjoy driving others to their wits end.
A pastime that, thankfully, continued to prove a welcome anathema in the otherwise humdrum his continued existence on this mortal plane had sadly become, now that he had allowed himself to be burdened by the oh-so-humbling shackles of ‘Friendship’.
“Stupid Writers with their stupid moral lessons…” he stage-muttered, summoning a glass of chocolate milk, which he promptly consumed, chucking the contents over his shoulder where it promptly began chasing Angel Bunny around the living room “Seriously, couldn’t they have pulled some other trick? Like the Reformation spell requiring that I eat it?”
Not that doing so would have worked, mind you. While he was content to allow Twilight Sparkle to think she'd gotten the better of him, for now at least, the truth of the matter remained that Fluttershy, once again, had proven the X-Factor required to save the day.
I mean honestly, you'd think a student of Celestia would know better than to even attempt to forcibly impose order on a being whose very existence was Chaos Incarnate. Put simply, the resulting devastation could only be likened to introducing matter to anti-matter...or the Cutie Mark Crusaders to Power Tools.
“Speaking of which…” he mused, snapping his talons to pause the channel before peering out the window to check on the fillies in question, having promised to keep an eye on them while the Fluttershy and the other Elements of Harmony attended the Princess Summit in the Crystal Empire.
While most might assume Discord would resent having to play Foalsitter, the truth of the matter was he actually preferred the company of children, finding them to be more appreciative of his talents than stuffy grown-ups. It certainly helped that these particular fillies were proving to be quite the cathartic Trifecta of Chaos, and the Unicorn couldn’t even use magic yet!
“Maybe I should take a leaf or two from Celestia’s book…” he mused, idly nibbling on one of the saucier pages from the Sun Princess’ diary as he watched Scootaloo lay out her latest plan to earn their cutie marks that was almost certain to land them in hospital, only to toss the idea aside, knocking out Angel Bunny in the process “Nah, too much effort…”
Sadly, as much as he would relish the reactions of the CMC's respective 'Big Sisters' once word got out he had taken their siblings under his wing, there was no doubt in his mind that the moment he started giving lessons on Chaos Magic, a certain recently ascended Alicorn would turn up with notebooks at the ready to suck all the fun out of it.
Besides, as was the nature of Chaos, it was far more fun for him to simply sit back and watch the resulting fireworks from the trio’s latest scheme. After all, he’d only promised to keep an eye on them so they didn’t hurt themselves, at no point had he promised to keep them from getting into trouble.
“The Hospital, maybe, but certainly not trouble.” He amended, snapping his talons again to resume watching his show once it was confirmed the Crusaders weren’t in any immediate danger “Ooh, I like what Cadence has done with the place.” he applauded, pulling on a pair of 3D glasses to avoid lens flare “Always did feel it could do with a bit of touching up. Hm?”
He paused as he spotted something in the corner of the screen that actually caused him to quirk a brow. To anyone else, it would’ve simply been a pretty Unicorn mare with a fiery mane that would’ve had any bacon-lover drooling in appreciation. What made her stand out was the fact she wasn’t wearing a cloak or glaring at Twilight.
If anything, she seemed almost…hurt? Yup, those were definitely tears forming in her eyes as she glanced between Celestia and Twilight, her face a mask of emotions, mostly grief and betrayal, though he though he could make out a hint of jealousy and anger buried deep within.
“Well now…” he mused, his eyes narrowing as he watched the teary-eyed mare turn on her hooves and gallop away, followed swiftly by a concerned looking, bare-flanked Unicorn stallion with a rather iconic lightning bolt scar resting under his horn “that’s interesting…”
Canterlot Castle – Several Years Ago.
They say that pride cometh before the fall, and if ever a pony embodied that term it was Sunset Shimmer, one of the elect few to be granted the prestigious honour of not only attending Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, but also being personally selected to become the Sun Princess’ Personal Student.
From the moment she’d first walked through those gilded doors at the academy, it was clear to all that Sunset Shimmer would go far, both in terms of her magical acumen and as a pony. It wasn’t simply her raw magical skill, she simply possessed a force of will that few other ponies could match, or indeed handle.
Indeed, many a time prior to being selected by the Princess she often wound up showing up her professors, many of whom had to take sabbaticals to recover from the humiliation of being shown up in their chosen field by a mare easily half their age.
However, while no-one could doubt Sunset’s magical prowess, her social skills, while far from lacking, were not the kind Celestia approved of from those closest and dearest to her heart. To put it bluntly, despite Celestia’s many lessons in humility, Sunset’s prodigal power and skill, coupled with the praises of her instructors and position as Celestia’s student, had caused her to become boastful, arrogant and condescending towards anypony who couldn’t measure up to her ridiculously high standards.
In all fairness it wasn’t entirely Sunset’s fault. After all, while her rank as Celestia’s Student opened many doors for her, what lurked behind some of those doors was enough to turn the stomach of any decent pony. From the moment she attended her first gala, the young mare had been exposed to more potential suitors and ‘business partners’ looking to cash in on her position than many a mare could expect to meet in a lifetime.
This, as you might imagine, led to her becoming jaded on the subject of ‘friendship’, despite it being a key tenant of most of her lessons with Celestia. She grew distrustful of anyone who tried to get close to her, whether they be old classmates or the Canterlot Elite.
But why should she care for the opinions of lesser folk when she had the company of a Goddess? What need had she for friends when every day was spent pushing the bounds of magic further and further under the caring tutelage of her wise mentor? The only Alicorn in existence?
Sadly, all good things must come to an end, and for Sunset, her good times ended the day Celestia pulled her aside after a particularly boring seminar on the importance of Friendship to introduce her student to the latest addition to her family, her recently adopted niece, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.
Now Sunset was no stranger to members of the Canterlot Elite claiming to be ‘relatives of the Princess’, as Celestia tended to step in to adopt the foals of old family friends that had fallen on hard times or were on the verge of dying out. Prince Blueblood was a prime example of the latter, his family having served the crown for years until his father passed away due to choking on an apple seed.
But while Cadence confessed to having been born to Canterlot Unicorns, she didn’t have the benefit of being from an ‘old blood family’, nor had her parents been a part of the Military. A good thing too, as Celestia would have had them exiled for abandoning their daughter in the woods simply for being born a Pegasus.
Indeed, had things simply ended there, Sunset might have been willing to humour Celestia and at least attempt a friendship with the mare, or at the very least help her find her hooves among the court. Sadly, any hopes Celestia had of cultivating a friendship between them died a fiery, agonizing death in the face of Sunset’s indignation that Cadance, a self-confessed Pegasus, had not only been adopted as Celestia’s kin, but had managed to ascend to the lofty rank of Alicorn.
It had been a shocking development for the normally confident Sunset Shimmer. And could you honestly blame her? Here she was, the most powerful Unicorn of her generation, the prodigal student of Princess Celestia herself, arguably the closest thing the Sun Princess had to a daughter, and yet some random Pegasus raised by Earth Ponies from the sticks had managed overnight something that, to date, had eluded even the legendary Starswirl the Bearded.
Needless to say, Sunset had made it clear from the outset that she thought very little of the so-called ‘Princess of Love’ and wanted even less to do with her, going out of her way to purposefully avoid the mare where possible, though she limited herself to being excessively formal whenever in Celestia’s presence.
To be fair, it wasn’t as if Cadence was a bad pony. Indeed, unlike many of Celestia’s adopted family she was actually rather down to earth, no doubt a result of being raised by Earth Ponies, even going so far as to insist she enrol at Canterlot Academy instead of simply waltzing into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.
Truth be told, Sunset’s actually respected her for that, as she highly doubted the naïve mare would’ve survived one minute among her former colleagues. However, at the end of the day she couldn't deny that the primary reason she chose to distance herself from Cadence was jealousy, plain and simple.
And could you honestly blame her? She’d worked her flanks off for years to get where she was, had devoted herself entirely to her studies to impress the Mare she saw as a second mother, only to be shown up by some random mare from the middle of nowhere who wasn't even a unicorn at the time.
And so, in a rather interesting turn of events, Celestia’s gambit to convince Sunset Shimmer to make friends wound up making her student even more of a recluse, pushing away any and all attempts from her peers to get to know her in favour of bridging the gap she believed had formed between her and the Princess.
Desperate to reach out to her disciple before it was too-late, Celestia found herself with no choice but to bend one of her own rules, whilst simultaneously breaking one of the many, MANY rules laid down by Starswirl prior to his disappearance, and unearthed one of her mentor’s magical mirrors.
Normally she would never dream of doing such a thing, not after the falling out that occurred between the two of them due to her abusing his trust, but Celestia remained confident that if anything could get Sunset back on the right track, it would be to see how happy she could be surrounded by the friends she was so sorely lacking.
Alas, however, it seemed Starswirl’s warnings had been well placed, for while whatever Sunset had seen within the depths of the mirror had indeed lit a fire within her, it was a fire that hungered for power, power Celestia did not believe her once erstwhile student was ready to handle in her current state of mind.
Now Celestia had made many mistakes in her lifetime, chief among them the events that culminated in Luna’s fall to the Nightmare and subsequent banishment, but unlike then she recognized the signs for what they were, and she would be damned before she failed Sunset Shimmer as she had her sister.
And so she had sealed the mirror away, hoping that, in time, she could wear down her student’s patience with knowledge. Alas, while Sunset hadn’t inherited Celestia’s desire for companionship, her hunger for knowledge was just as voracious as the Alicorn’s had been during her own tutelage under Starswirl. If nothing else, she was certainly just as stubborn.
It was at times like this that Celestia had to concede that Starswirl had been the better instructor. For while the old Stallion might not have fully comprehended the Power of Friendship, he had possessed the patience of a saint and the knowledge of how to reign in overbearing foals who thought they knew everything.
For Faust’s sake he had not only managed to keep two inexperienced Alicorn Fillies under control, all while maintaining his duties as one of the Pillars of Equestria, and here Celestia was, having lived far longer than he ever had, struggling to reign in a single, admittedly brilliant, unicorn.
In the end, after countless days, weeks and months of dodging the issue, Celestia’s millennia spanning patience finally ran thin, the Solar Princess making it clear, in no uncertain terms, that she had no intention of discussing the mirror and whatever Sunset had seen within its crystalline depths until she deemed her student ready.
While the look of betrayal and anger in Sunset’s eyes as she laid down her ultimatum had cut her to the core, she knew in her heart that it was for her own good. In time, once she was certain Sunset had matured physically and mentally, she would be more inclined to discuss what her student had seen, but until then she still had some growing up to do.
It was only after the events that followed that she would recall how that very mind-set had cost her another figure close to her heart. But unlike her sister, who was scheduled to return within the next few years, there was no guarantee that she’d ever see Sunset Shimmer again.
Canterlot Archives – Restricted Section.
“If we cannot get past this, your studies end here.” Celestia intoned as she glared imperiously down at her now former student, a glare that Sunset returned, as if daring the Princess to do her worst “You are welcome to stay in Canterlot, but you are no longer welcome in the castle.”
“This is the biggest mistake you’ll make in your entire life.” Sunset vowed, her pride and anger overpowering the crippling fear and shame that were practically begging her to throw themselves at her mentor’s hooves, turning on her hooves and marched out of the library, flanked on either side by the two Royal Guards Celestia had brought with her.
‘She never even intended to hear me out.’ She growled, glaring heatedly at the normally taciturn stallions, who simply returned her glare with equal venom, as if they were looking down on the scum of Equestria instead of a mare who had more power in her horn than they would ever possess in their entire lives.
A mare that, had she not let her pride get in the way, could have been their next Princess.
There was no doubt in Sunset Shimmer’s mind that she was the most powerful Unicorn in Canterlot, if not all of Equestria. While Cadence had the advantage of being an Alicorn, her Pegasus origins meant her control over magic was even weaker than a newborn filly’s.
This had done little to soothe Sunset’s ego however, and so when the chance arose for her to close the gap, to learn how to ascend to Alicorn-hood, she had leapt at it, confident that between her skills and Celestia’s guidance, she would finally achieve her destiny.
Instead, her Mentor had betrayed her, lied and avoided the issue before outright denying her access to the knowledge she needed to make that next step, and now seeing fit to cast her aside for the ‘crime’ of refusing to dance to her tune for a second longer.
It went without saying that she wasn’t about to take this lying down. Make no mistake, the only reason she had gone along quietly was to give the Stallions escorting her a belated sense of security, as anyone who’d lived in Canterlot for any amount of time knew that the Royal Guard were essentially there to look pretty.
And could you blame them? Celestia had ruled over Equestria for well over a thousand years and in that time no other country had ever so much as sneered in their general direction. And why would they? Only an idiot would purposefully make an enemy of the immortal demi-goddess who controlled the cycle of the sun and moon.
Now the Wonderbolts, those she might have taken seriously, as only the best of the best were accepted to even try out for the squad. But as it stood the two Pegasus Stallions assigned to escort her out of the castle were most likely from the countless failures who just couldn’t cut it and figured guarding the palace was a cushy job.
Sadly, it seemed they had forgotten a key fact about their supposed escort, one that Sunset was all too willing to remind them of as they drew close to the room she recalled the mirror being stored in. And the remedial lesson for the day is: Never send a Pegasus to guard a Unicorn, especially when that Unicorn is Sunset Shimmer.
‘You’d think Celestia would’ve known better.’ She scoffed, glaring down at the drooling, concussed forms of the Stallions in disgust ‘Or did she simply think so little of me that she thought these overblown bookends would be enough to keep me in line?’
If even one of the guards had been a unicorn he might have put up more of a fight, or at the very least tried to get a flare spell off before she took him down. The fact Celestia hadn’t deemed her enough of a threat to warrant such concern simply proved to Sunset that her former mentor was underestimating her.
‘Yet another mistake she’ll live to regret.’ Sunset vowed, the fiery haired mare turning her back on the downed guards in favour of striding towards the current source of her dilemma and supposed answer to all of her problems, namely Starswirl’s Crystal Mirror.
A part of her wanted to smash the damned thing, partially for ruining her reputation and to spite Celestia by destroying one of the few ties to her beloved mentor. However, that part was greatly overshadowed by her desire to delve deeper into her vision, to learn the secrets that would grant her the power and status that were rightfully hers.
While she hadn't learnt much beyond the bare basics before Celestia’s arrival, she’d learnt enough to know that the portal seemed to rely on the phases of the moon, an odd trait given Celestia’s preference for the sun, and would only activate once every thirty moons, which just so happened to be tonight.
Obviously she couldn’t sneak the damn thing out of the castle, and while it wouldn’t be hard to sneak back in given the ineptitude of the Guard there was no guarantee that Celestia would leave the mirror in the same place once Sunset left. In other words, this was the only chance Sunset had to use the mirror.
‘Just you wait.’ She preened, smirking confidently to herself even as she heard the familiar dainty hoof steps of her mentor drawing closer to the chamber, either having realized something was wrong or simply coming to secure the mirror ‘When I come back with the power I deserve, I’ll make you regret the day you cast me out!’
And with nary a look back, Sunset Shimmer turned to face her destiny, gathered all the strength she could into her hind legs and launched herself towards the mirror, closing her eyes instinctively as she neared the glass surface, only to gasp in surprise when instead of slamming into it her hooves passed through as if diving into a pool of ice-cold water.
At that moment, an explosion of colour caught the corner of her eye, the former student of Celestia turning as if in slow motion to gape at the rainbow-colored shockwave that was bearing down on Canterlot Castle, her eyes widening in alarm as she sensed the sheer magical power of the field just before her head was consumed by the portal.
What happened next, Sunset still isn’t sure to this day, but if pressed to recall anything about her passage through the mirror portal, the only thing she could confidently recall was the mind-numbing pain before everything went white.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – Headmaster’s Office, July 30th, 1991
Albus Dumbledore sighed, the aged headmaster reclining in his chair as he watched the rain patter against his office window.
It was always raining this time of year in Scotland, a fact that many a Muggle and Wizard alike considered a right pain in the arse, as it would universally force them to reconsider their plans unless it involved suspending a football or Quidditch match, in which case they displayed an almost admirable level of stubborn solidarity.
Another added benefit of the heavy rainfall was that it pulled double duty in keeping muggle researchers and tourists from the various magical sites that littered the highlands, most notably the Hogwarts grounds and Hogsmeade Village. True the muggle-repelling charms helped, especially on those annoying hikers that just wouldn't take a bloody hint, but nothing kept nosy parkers away better than Mother Nature having a strop.
However, as calming as he found the sound of rainfall, it was clear to anyone who knew the Headmaster that something was bothering him, as evidenced from the absence of the normally ever-present twinkle in his blue eyes as he continued to gaze out the window with an unreadable expression.
It was not the first time that Dumbledore found himself lost in thought. After all, in addition to his duties as Headmaster of Hogwarts, he was also the Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, so it wasn’t as if he was lacking in responsibilities.
Hell, the only reason he wasn’t also the Minister for Magic was because he’d turned the position down, refusing to accept the reigns of power he’d once coveted in his youth in favour of devoting himself entirely to guiding the next generation of Witches and Wizards.
Then again, considering how the current Minister apparently lacked the mental fortitude to wipe his own arse without badgering the Supreme Mugwump for advice at all hours of the day, he might as well have accepted the damned post and saved himself the trouble.
Thankfully, the Headmaster’s current melancholy had nothing to do with Cornelius Fudge’s ineptitude. No, the cause of his concern was a missive of a different sort, one that had gone out, like clockwork, along with hundreds of it’s kin on July 24th, informing this year’s crop of First Years that they would be attending Hogwarts come September.
However, unlike it’s myriad brethren, this particular Acceptance Letter had yet to reach it's intended recipient, and while Dumbledore was no stranger to parents being sceptical of their children’s magical ability, such cases typically only occurred in Muggleborns, where their magical heritage had lain dormant only to resurface due to a quirk in genealogy.
Even in cases where Wizarding parents decided not to send their children to Hogwarts, it was usually because they had opted to send their offspring to one of the other, 'Lesser' Magical Academies for whatever reason. However, such was not the case for the intended recipient of the letter currently resting on his desk.
Indeed, not only were the intended’s relatives fully aware of the existence of magic, a rarity given their status as Muggles, he had explicitly left instructions with them to ensure they cared for the boy as best they could. And yet, despite said instructions, they appeared to be actively preventing the letter from reaching the child in question.
Now normally Dumbledore would have respected the wishes of parents that wanted nothing to do with the wizarding world, though he would have stressed hiring a tutor to ensure the child didn’t abuse their abilities. However, in the case of one Harry James Potter, he could not afford to simply let the matter go.
It was imperative the boy attend Hogwarts not only for his protection, but for the Greater Good of both worlds. While Dumbledore could understand Petunia Dursley’s reluctance to allow her nephew to attend, for jealousy was a formidable foe, her actions and those of her husband, had done little to endear them to the Headmaster’s sense of pity.
"Come in, Hagrid." he called out at the sound of a creaking floorboard, sending a wandless alohomora to open the door, revealing the giant form of Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts groundskeeper dressed in his usual moleskin overcoat, one hand raised in the act of knocking on the door.
"I'll never figure out 'ow you do that professor." The half-giant marvelled, his face, what little was visible behind his mane of black hair and beard, lined with shocked awe as he stooped under the archway to lumber into the room "Didn't even 'ave ter say the password."
"My dear Hagrid," Dumbledore chuckled, smiling at the good natured, if socially inept groundskeeper with the air of an amused grandparent even as he watched the floorboard from earlier settle back into place "Have I not always said my door is always open for those I trust?"
Hagrid blushed behind his beard, nodding his head in agreement in a manner reminiscent of when he'd been a student himself. Dumbledore had been looking out for Hagrid ever since Tom Riddle had framed the Half-Giant for the death of Myrtle Warren, resulting in his unfair expulsion.
It had been Dumbledore who had convinced the previous groundskeeper to take the former student on as an apprentice, even going so far as to have the remains of his wand concealed within his ever-present umbrella despite ministry protocol demanding they be burnt.
"So, beggin’ yer pardon Professor Dumbledore, but wha’ was it ye needed of me?” Hagrid asked, looking his benefactor over curiously after taking a few moments to offer Fawkes a few treats from his pockets “It must be pretty important if yer didn’t wanna talk through the fire.”
“Indeed, Hagrid, the matter is most important.” Dumbledore confirmed, schooling his features into a grave frown “It seems that a…clerical error has resulted in Harry Potter failing to receive his Hogwarts letter.” He elaborated, Hagrid’s back straightening in alarm “Normally I would entrust the matter to one of the other professors, but they are currently occupied with their duties…”
“Say no more Professor.” Hagrid cut in, the half-giant striding toward the desk with a look of determination, reaching down to scoop up the letter with a gentleness that belied his imposing size “You jus' leave it ter me, I’ll have it delivered right an’ proper!”
“I’m certain you will.” Dumbledore acknowledged with a smile, fully confident that Hagrid would ensure the message was delivered. Of course, it went without saying that said message was not limited to Harry’s Hogwarts Acceptance Letter, but also a reminder to Petunia that he was watching them “Do wish Harry a Happy Birthday for me, won’t you?”
“Cor blimey I’d almost forgotten!” Hagrid exclaimed, his massive hand slapping his brow with enough force to down a Clydesdale, cart and all, with a clap like thunder “I’ll just nip down to the kitchen and have th' elves whip up a cake for ‘im, he’ll love that.”
“I’m certain he will.” Dumbledore mused sadly. Indeed, if Arabella’s reports were to be believed, this would be the first cake Harry received since the death of his parents “Oh, and Hagrid? While I agree time is of the essence, I would prefer you didn’t use the Motorcycle. Harry’s relatives have likely raised him as a muggle, it would be best to ease him into our world.”
“Righ’, gotcha Professor…” Hagrid began, only to pause uncertainly “Err…beggin’ yer pardon Professor Dumbledore Sir, but ‘ow am I supposed to get ter Harry then?”
“I have asked Fawkes to escort you to his current location.” Dumbledore assured the Half-Giant, nodding his head towards the corner of the office, where his iconic Phoenix Familiar Fawkes stood perched and waiting to carry out this undertaking “I am also entrusting you with the key to young Harry’s family Vault, once you have purchased his necessary school things, and retrieved the item we discussed from Gringotts, I shall send him to escort you back to Hogwarts once Harry is returned to his relatives.”
“You can count on me Professor!” Hagrid beamed, the half-giant somehow managing to stand a little taller, honoured that the venerable headmaster trusted him enough to not only introduce Harry Potter to their world, but to also permit him to travel via Phoenix Fire “I’ll just nip down to the kitchen to grab that cake then…”
“By all means.” Dumbledore acknowledged with his trademark twinkle in his eyes as the half-giant lumbered out of his office, more than confident that things would soon be back on track, allowing him to turn his attention to other concerns, namely the trap he was currently devising for Tom.
While it had taken a lot of effort for him to convince Nicholas to part with his magnum opus, given the likelihood of Harry getting involved, it was necessary to ensure the obstacles guarding the Stone were not beyond the capabilities of a typical First Year, whilst also ensuring they weren’t so redundantly easy as to arouse the suspicion of whoever the Dark Lord sent to retrieve the Stone.
‘In that regard, Severus’ logic puzzle certainly has merit, though I’ll have to insist he replace the poisons with paralytic potions.’ He mused. After all, there was no point in capturing the Dark Lord’s servants if they couldn’t be interrogated afterwards.
He was just going over Professor Trelawney’s amusing suggestion when he sensed a sudden surge in the Hogwarts wards, his eyes widening as he shot to his feet, the various magical instruments adorning his desk going haywire even as he focused on the apparent source of the surge, a tall, cloth-covered object standing in the opposite corner to Fawkes’ perch.
One of the few Magical devices whose origins eluded even the brightest of minds, the Mirror of Erised had made its way to Hogwarts centuries ago and had remained an object of curiosity for many a scholar, including Dumbledore himself before he’d turned his attention to more productive pursuits, such as which socks to wear with his new robes.
However, while he’d long since given up on determining the mirror’s origins, by no means did this mean he’d forgotten it entirely. Indeed, the Mirror was to be the lynchpin of his trap for Tom, the last line of defense that would both ensure The Stone’s protection and stymie its would-be thief long enough for Dumbledore to confront them.
It was therefore rather alarming to see the wards reacting in such a fashion to the Mirror’s presence, especially given how it had spent centuries within the walls of Hogwarts without so much as a hint of trouble. With this in mind, Dumbledore stepped from behind his desk and, drawing his wand as a precaution, removed the cloth covering the mirror with a flick of his wrist, only to be forced to shield his eyes from the ensuing prismatic display that had replaced his heart’s desire.
“Remarkable…” he marveled, fascinated by this current turn of events, his caution giving way to curiosity when it quickly became apparent that, whatever was going on with the mirror, it wasn’t particularly malignant. Indeed, if Dumbledore had to put the feeling he got from the Magic coming off the Mirror into words, he could not help but describe it as far too benign to be the work of the Dark Arts.
Sadly, his musings were soon to be cut short, the Headmaster’s eyes widening as, with a final flash of prismatic light, a shadow was flung from the mirror, crashing into his desk with a sickening crack, the Hogwarts wards finally calming as the mirror returned to its original state.
Blinking the light out of his eyes, Dumbledore turned to investigate his desk, only to stiffen, a sudden chill racing down his spine at the sight of what lay sprawled before him.
“Albus!” a familiar voice called out, the door to his office swinging open to admit the concerned features of Minerva McGonagall, the Deputy Headmistress accompanied by her fellow heads of house, who had likewise sensed the change in the wards and come to investigate “What on earth-GOOD LORD!”
“Minerva, would you kindly inform Poppy to prepare the Medical Wing?” Dumbledore instructed calmly as he knelt down to cover the naked form of a young girl with his own cloak “Fillius, Pomona, would you be so kind as to help escort her up?”
“Of course, Albus.” The Ravenclaw head acknowledged, his normally excitable nature replaced with an unusual sense of calm as he summoned up a stretcher that Professor Sprout deposited the girl onto, the normally cheerful head of Hufflepuff looking decidedly distraught as she accompanied her smaller colleague out of the office, leaving Dumbledore alone with his Potions Master.
“What happened, Albus?” Severus demanded, not out of any particular care for the girl’s well-being, but out of a desire to get a clearer picture of the events so as to run damage control. Things had been bad enough when all he had to worry about was protecting The Boy, a task that would not be made any easier due to Albus’ insistence on bringing the Philosopher’s Stone into Hogwarts, the last thing they needed was for those vultures at the Daily Prophet to catch wind of Albus Dumbledore being found standing over an injured, naked child in his office.
“I’m not certain myself, Severus…” Dumbledore admitted, reaching down to pick up a backpack that Severus suspected belonged to Madam Pomfrey’s latest patient “However, I do believe I may have found a clue.”
Figured I'd get this chapter out to make up for people having to re-read the intro to Sunset Overdrive. In this, we see how Sunset's arrival has effected the Hogwarts Staff.
First things first: NO, this is not set in the Equestria Girls Universe. While Sunset resembles her EG self, she's younger (obviously). This also means the Humane 5 won't be showing up so don't bother asking about them.
Secondly: The timeline alteration will be different. I'm going by the belief that a 'Moon' is how long it takes for it to go from Full-Moon to Full-Moon (A Lunar Cycle), so 30 Moons = 30 Lunar Cycles for us.
While I'm pretty sure the Equestrian Moon is always Full (unless months pass between episodes), the same cannot be said for ours, and 30 Full Moons is roughly 2.5 Years give or take, so Sunset won't be going back at least until 4th Year.
Thirdly: Sunset's relationship with Harry will be complicated. On the one hand she knows befriending the 'Boy Who Lived' will open doors later. On the other hand she's a pony, and deep down ponies can't sit back and ignore someone in pain.
Fourthly: I'm going to be running with the head-canon that Sunset and Sunburst are siblings (Since Sunburst & Starlight are about the same age as the Mane 6), which is another factor for her watching out for Harry: He reminds her of Sunburst.
Fifth: Expect a few other changes here and there, though I'm not gonna spoil anything else.
And finally, Big Shout-out to Show-Stopper both for helping me with a few issues and inspiring me to write this. I highly recommend reading his story: Student 32: Sunset Shimmer as it inspired me to write this.
That said, let's get this show on the road!
Chapter 2: Inter-Dimensional Correspondence.
“And you are absolutely certain that she’s unharmed, Poppy?” Dumbledore pressed, his eyes never leaving the slumbering form of the girl on the hospital bed, her form now covered by both a thick sheet and a set of warm pajamas.
“She’ll have one hell of a headache when she wakes up, but other than that she’s a perfectly healthy eleven-year old.” Madam Poppy Pomfrey assured the headmaster, earning a sigh of relief from the assembled Heads of House, sans Snape of course.
“And you detected no signs of magic being used on her whatsoever?” Fillius pressed, the diminutive Charms Professor eyeing the slumbering child with an expression that hovered between concern and intrigue.
“Nothing that didn’t show up in standard tests.” the Hogwarts Matron revealed “I was able to confirm that she possesses a magical core, so at the very least we don’t need to worry about the Statute of Secrecy.”
“Thank heavens for small mercies.” Snape sneered, though internally he allowed himself to relax somewhat. Things were bad enough without having to worry about the Ministry getting involved, which would most certainly have been the case if the child had been a Muggle.
“The poor dear…” Pomona fretted, the normally cheerful Hufflepuff Head looking most distraught as she turned to the Headmaster “Were you able to uncover anything at all from her belongings, Albus?”
“Nothing concrete, I’m afraid.” Dumbledore admitted with a sigh “The contents of her bag proved most unhelpful. Aside from a satchel of sunflower seeds and a pouch filled with unfamiliar gold coins, the only item of interest was a book I believe to be her Journal.”
“Well that’s something at least.” Fillius noted brightly “Normally I would be strongly against going through someone’s belongings but if it might direct us to her origins…”
“I was of the same thought, Fillius.” Dumbledore admitted with a small smile as he held up the book in question for them to see “Unfortunately, either the young lady has written her notes in code, or this journal belongs to someone who speaks an entirely different language.”
“Truly a mystery.” Snape sneered, though truth be told he found himself growing ever more concerned with this new development. The Potions Master hadn’t gotten to where he was today by believing in such things as ‘coincidence’, so whatever events had led to this girl arriving in Hogwarts, bypassing the wards that prevented apparition in such a manner that he’d almost blown up his own cauldron due to the shock, it could only mean trouble down the line.
Unfortunately, as much as he would have preferred to just rip the information he wanted from the girl’s mind, he refrained from doing so for several reasons. First and foremost was because Dumbledore was in the room, and while the old man was hardly one to call Severus out on using Occlumency on students, doing so in the presence of the other Heads of House would be decidedly counterproductive.
The second reason was, quite simply, that attempting to read the mind of someone suffering from a concussion was an exercise in futility, making it almost impossible to separate the target’s memories from whatever inane fantasies their addled brain cooked up to cope with its recent trauma. And so it appeared that, for the time being at least, Severus would simply have to bide his time until the girl regained consciousness, which according to Madam Pomfrey’s diagnosis should be sometime the following morning.
“Well there’s no use worrying about it now.” Minerva sighed, her trademark sternness relaxing somewhat as she glanced down at the slumbering child “We’ve all got a busy day ahead of us tomorrow, and she’s safe enough with Poppy here.”
“Indeed.” Dumbledore concurred with a nod to the Hogwarts Matron “Do let me know the moment our guest awakens, Poppy. In the meantime, I think it best we retire for the night.”
“I don’t know if I’ll even be able to sleep.” Pomona admitted as they filed out of the Hospital Wing “I can only imagine how worried the poor girl’s parents must be right now.”
Canterlot-Princess Celestia’s Personal Chambers.
As the ruler of Equestria, Princess Celestia was considered to be the pinnacle of wisdom, beauty and compassion, the living embodiment of all that was good in pony kind, and a role model that every little filly could look up to. Over the course of her long reign, she had carried herself with an air of compassion and dignity that was humbling to witness, never allowing anything to darken her brow, always acting with the utmost composure.
If anypony were to see their beloved Princess now, with her bloodshot eyes, matted fur and ruffled feathers, they’d be hard pressed to recognize her. Then again, could you truly blame her for her current condition? In the space of a single day she’d dismissed her beloved Student, gained a new one, only to find her old one had assaulted her guards and escaped into the mirror portal, ironically enough around the same time she discovered Twilight Sparkle.
Needless to say, what had quickly started off as the highlight of a rather dismal day had swiftly devolved into one of the worst moments in Celestia’s life. She’d been feeling rather down, more disappointed in herself for failing Sunset than in her former student’s actions, so when the Sonic Rainboom appeared over Cloudsdale, snapping her out of her thoughts and guiding her to Twilight, she’d taken it as a sign that things were going to get better, and that maybe, someday, she and Sunset could patch things up.
It was only after she managed to pry the enthusiastic filly off her with assurances that yes, she was indeed taking her on as a student, only after she’d seen to it that the Dragon Hatchling was being taken care off, that she was informed of Sunset’s actions. At the time, a part of her had wanted nothing more than to leap into the mirror after her errant student, but in the end that part was overruled by her self-control, her sense of duty and the fact the portal had long since closed for another thirty moons.
Ever since then, Celestia had barricaded herself in her personal chambers, poring over all of Starswirl’s notes, trying desperately to find a way to, if not re-open the portal, then at the very least contact Sunset on the other side to ensure she was unharmed.
‘Stupid old nag…’ she cursed herself, glaring pointedly at her reflection in the mirror as she tossed one priceless scroll aside to focus on another ‘I should have known better…if Starswirl were here he’d have told me the exact same thing…’
“Princess?” a concerned voice called out, the door to her chambers opening to admit Kibitz, closely followed by a hesitant Raven Inkwell, a covered tray hovering in the air before her “Milady, it’s well past the time for you to raise the sun…perhaps it would be best if you took a break…”
“I’M FINE!” Celestia snapped, only to flinch as her unintentional use of the Royal Canterlot Voice sent poor Raven cowering to the floor, though Kibitz weathered the storm far better, the elderly stallion catching the tray with the ease of long practice before it could fall to the floor “Forgive me my little ponies…I’m just-”
“Think nothing of it, ma’am.” Kibitz insisted, more than used to Royal Temper TantrumsTM, though admittedly this was the first time Prince Blueblood wasn’t involved, placing the tray of food on the table before Celestia before readjusting his spectacles “I understand this must be a trying time for you, if you would prefer, I could ask the Guard Captain to gather his strongest Unicorns to-”
"No, Kibitz, that won’t be necessary.” Celestia assured him with a kind, tired smile “No disrespect to the good Captain, but there’s a reason I took over the duty of raising the Sun and Moon." Namely that no other Pony (save one) had the sheer magical might to do so without risking permanent damage "I won’t be but a moment.”
“Very good ma’am.” Kibitz acknowledged, stepping back to allow his princess access to her balcony all the while subtly gesturing to Raven, who promptly used her magic to help tidy up the scattered scrolls, journals and notebooks Celestia had scattered about the room “I’ve cleared your schedule for the morning, so please get some rest after you eat, I shall return to rouse you for luncheon.”
“Thank you, Kibitz.” Celestia offered from the balcony, unleashing a jaw-cracking yawn as she finished lowering her sister’s moon, replacing it with her own sun “I’ll take a nap after I finish looking over these…”
“Princess?” Kibitz called out, pausing in concern at the Alicorn’s sudden silence, turning to follow her gaze only to see them locked onto Raven, who was in the middle of replacing several books on the Princess’ impressive personal library “Is something the matter-?!”
“WAIT!” Celestia cried, Raven crying out in alarm as she suddenly found herself encased in her ruler’s magical field, the poor unicorn’s eyes widening in alarm, only to yelp as she was just as suddenly released, dropping to the floor at Celestia’s hooves.
“Are you alright, Ms. Inkwell?” Kibitz inquired, kneeling down to check on the shaken mare before turning to frown at his princess, who was clutching a book between her hooves “Really ma’am! I understand that you’re distressed, but that was going too far!”
“What?” Celestia stammered, looking up from her examining of the book, her eyes widening as she realized what she’d just done “Oh goodness! I’m so sorry Raven, I didn’t mean to-!”
“It’s okay, Princess.” Raven assured her monarch, the Unicorn mare nodding gratefully to Kibitz as he helped her to her hooves “I know you’d never hurt us, willingly or otherwise, I’m just a little startled is all. That book must be pretty important.”
“Yes,” Celestia confirmed, looking down at the cover of the book, which Kibitz was intrigued to note bore a decidedly familiar symbol, the symbol, he recalled, of a certain errant student’s cutie mark “it most certainly is.”
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – Headmaster’s Office.
“Sorry I took so long, Professor.” Hagrid offered, the Half Giant tucking the box containing Harry’s birthday cake into one of the many pockets in his moleskin overcoat “Don’t yer worry none, I’ll make sure Harry gets his letter.”
“I have complete trust in your ability to do so.” Dumbledore confirmed with a smile “Do endeavor not to upset his relatives too much would you? No need to make things awkward for Harry down the line.”
“Yessir.” Hagrid acknowledged, the Half-Giant gripping the handle of his umbrella tightly as he stood to attention, Fawkes trilling softly as he perched atop the Groundskeeper’s shoulder, ready to take him straight to the last Potter’s current location “I’ll be on my best behaviour.”
“I’m sure you will.” Dumbledore noted, his eyes twinkling merrily as they vanished in a plume of Phoenix Fire, already imagining the Dursley’s reaction. After all, it was one thing to keep a Hogwarts Acceptance Letter from reaching its destination, it was quite another thing to stand in the way of the Keeper of the Keys.
“Now then, time to follow my own teachings and off to bed.” He chuckled, waving his wand briefly to restore some semblance of order to his office before making his way to the door to his personal chambers, only to pause as a low humming reached his ears.
“What’s this?” he wondered, turning his attention to the items on his desk, more accurately, the mysterious tome that had been discovered among the poor girl’s possessions, which was not only vibrating, the source of the low humming, but was also glowing dimly.
“How very curious…” he mused, his curiosity winning over his sense of caution, a regrettably common affliction many a Gryffindor suffered regardless of age, though at the very least he retained enough common sense to avoid laying his hands directly on the book, opening it with a gesture from his wand and marveling as it opened to a heretofore blank page which was slowly filling up with more of the unfamiliar symbols from earlier.
“Fascinating…” he marveled, eyes twinkling as he continued to watch. As time passed, he noticed a pattern developing wherein, after a period of time, the writing would stop, almost as if waiting for a reply, only to begin again, the handwriting growing steadily more erratic between pauses. It wasn’t until large wet blots began to appear on the paper, obscuring some of the earlier text, that Dumbledore realized the writer was in some form of distress.
“Perhaps it is not so much a Journal as a mean of communication?” he deduced before reaching for his quill, waiting until the next break in the text before scribbling onto the paper:
“Hello, my name is Albus Dumbledore, might I be of assistance?”
For a moment, he feared something had gone wrong, that in writing in the document, he had in some way damaged it, only to breath a sigh or relief when the writing resumed, this time in something closer to the English language, though admittedly one that had fallen out of favor the last millennium.
‘Greetings and well met, Albus Dumbledore. We art Princess Celestia, Solar Diarch of the Principality of Equestria. Prithee, how is it thou hast happened across our student’s journal?’
‘A Princess?’ he mused, eyes twinkling with intrigue at this latest turn of events “Forgive my trespass, your Highness,” he wrote back “having been the one to find your student in my office, I was hoping to find some means of identifying her when her journal began to glow.”
‘There is no harm done Ser Dumbledore. Indeed, t’would seem we must be the one to offer apologies on behalf of our errant student.’
“No apologies are necessary, your Highness.” Dumbledore assured her with a chuckle “I will admit her arrival proved something of a shock, but more so in the manner she arrived than her presence itself.”
‘That is certainly a relief,’ Celestia replied, and Dumbledore allowed himself to relax somewhat, as it was growing increasingly less likely the child was in any danger from her teacher ‘If it is not too much trouble, might we converse with our student?’
“Ah,” Dumbledore paused, hesitating slightly before deciding to bite the bullet, as the muggles put it, and inform the woman of her student’s current state “Your Highness, before I continue, I must ask that you remain calm.” When no reply came he pressed on “I regret to inform you that, due to the circumstances on her arrival, your student is current resting in our hospital wing. While our Matron has assured me she will suffer no permanent damage beyond an impressive headache, a night’s rest will do her the world of good.”
For a time there was no reply, Dumbledore waiting patiently for the Princess to gather her thoughts, the only noise the crackling of his fireplace and the rain against his window. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the Princess began writing again, though Dumbledore could tell from her handwriting that she was far from calm.
‘What Happened.’
“Perhaps it would be best if you tell me how your student came to be in my office in the first place?” Dumbledore proposed “After all, it is not everyday a young witch manages to bypass the strongest anti-apparition wards in the country via magical mirror.”
Again, there was a moment of silence, and for a moment Dumbledore feared he had overstepped his bounds, only to sigh in relief when she started writing again ‘You mentioned a Matron…art thou perchance a physician?’
“Alas, while I confess some admiration for the profession, I am no healer.” Dumbledore admitted with a hint of regret “While I possess many titles, though none as auspicious as your own, the most important, in my opinion, is Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
Canterlot – Princess Celestia’s Personal Chamber.
“Hogwarts?” Kibitz repeated, blinking in confusion as Celestia finished translating the most recent response from this Albus Dumbledore fellow “Why would anypony name a school after a skin affliction?”
“Assuming they are ponies.” Celestia mused solemnly, some of her earlier fears having been waylaid by the knowledge that, or all the places Sunset could have been trapped, she’s managed to find a school used to treating magic-related injuries “Starswirl and I visited many worlds using the mirror. More often than not our forms would change in order to help us blend in with the local population.”
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable with the idea of sentient swine.” Raven admitted, the unicorn looking decidedly uncomfortable with the very notion “I doubt I’d be able to look at bacon the same way again.”
“Oh hush,” Celestia chuckled, though internally she agreed with her secretary, the very idea of having to give up bacon for any period of time terrifying her on a primal level “Still, I wonder how I should proceed…is his curiosity behind Sunset’s arrival genuine or is he only interested in discerning the secrets of the mirror? It’s so hard to tell if he’s being genuine by his writing alone.”
“If I may, Princess.” Kibitz proposed, having developed something of a discerning eye for such things in his time as her Schedule Adviser. Many a time an uppity noble had tried to take advantage of the Princess’ good will, only to be faced with the iron wall that was Kibitz, who made certain to screen her appointments for any ne’er-do-wells and opportunists “Thus far he has only asked for an explanation for how Miss Shimmer arrived in his Office, in which case a brief summary of events should suffice. However, should he insist on inquiring after the mirror…”
“Then it is obvious that his concern is not entirely genuine.” Celestia finished grimly, biting her lip as she imagined her student at the mercy of some unknown sorcerer, taking a breath to steady her nerves before once again putting quill to paper.
“We fear we art partially to blame for our student’s presence at your school. We had a…difference of opinion in regards to her studies, words were exchanged of a heated nature that culminated in her dismissal, though it broke our heart to do so.” She took a moment to steady herself again, as her quill had begun to shake “We had hoped that giving her time to calm down would allow us to reconnect at a later time, but it would appear we underestimated her ambition.”
For a time there was no reply, the ponies looking on with bated breath as the seconds passed by. Finally, however, the strange words that only Celestia could read began again in that strange, elegant script. ‘Do not be too hard on yourself, your Highness.’ she read aloud, startled by the empathy she could feel in the Headmaster’s words ‘I too, know what it feels like to have failed a student, indeed, one of my greatest failures involved failing to stop one from being devoured by his ambitions, however I do not believe you need worry about your own student going down the same path.’
“Are we certain he’s talking about Sunset Shimmer?” Raven pondered, only to flinch at the disapproving glare she received from Kibitz “I mean, no disrespect Princess, but if there was ever a word to describe Sunset Shimmer, it’d be ambitious.”
“On that note I’d have to agree, my little pony.” Celestia concurred with a sigh, before turning her attention back to the journal “As comforting as that is to hear, by what certainty canst thou claim that Sunset Shimmer won’t go down the same path?”
‘So her name is Sunset Shimmer?’ Dumbledore replied, and Celestia wondered if she’d inadvertently made a mistake, for while magic involving names was rare, they were some of the darkest magics if misused ‘A most lovely name if I do say so myself. As for my certainty that your fears are unfounded, while there are many reasons for one to fall to the dark, in my personal experience it is very rare, indeed nigh impossible, for someone so deeply loved to be to be tempted down such a path.’
Celestia choked, the Princess of the Sun so moved by the Headmaster’s words that she made no effort at all to halt the tears sliding down her muzzle. Even Kibitz, long used to keeping a stiff-upper lip whenever in his lady’s presence, couldn’t help but struggle to do so as he offered her a handkerchief, a misty-eyed Raven wiping her eyes with her hooves.
“I think it is safe to say, ma’am, that Sunset Shimmer is in the best of care.” The Royal Adviser noted after taking a moment to clear his throat “Indeed, this Dumbledore seems a rather capable stallion…fellow.” He amended as an afterthought “I dare say she will be in good hooves until the portal reopens thirty moons from now.”
“So it would seem…” Celestia agreed, blowing her nose with a decidedly ungenteel *blort*, her eyes widening even as she returned the handkerchief to Kibitz, who promptly disposed of it in a nearby waste-bin with a practiced flick of his hoof “In fact…it might be just the thing I’ve been looking for.”
Picking up her quill once more, the Princess of the Sun began scribbling away at the journal, so caught up in her conversation with the Headmaster of Hogwarts that she failed to notice her Advisor and Secretary as they slipped out of the room, content to see her back to some semblance of her former self.
Hogwarts Infirmary, the following Morning.
The first thing Sunset Shimmer could feel as she slowly returned to consciousness was pain, not the stiff kind of pain one got for sleeping funny or from hitting a limb in the middle of the night, nor the dull ache from overusing one’s magic, but a deep, numbing pain in her skull that was thankfully fading the more she came awake, replaced with the kind of headache that made her wish she was dealing with the Yakyakistan ambassadors again.
‘At least then I’d have the benefit of having gotten drunk beforehand.’ She groaned, recalling the sweet, if powerful ale the Yaks were so proud of that not even the Griffin Kingdom could deny was potent stuff. As it were, her headache was most likely the result of a magical overload, probably to do with whatever the hay had caused that…Sonic Rainboom…just before she passed through the portal…wait…!
“I passed through the portal!” she exclaimed, moving to sit up only to curse as her skull violently protested the movement with the intensity of a thousand suns, sending her sprawling back on the bed whilst clasping a hoof to her head, only to freeze as she felt something soft and claw-like beat her to it, her eyes widening as she recoiled in alarm, only to blink as the limb retreated with her hoof.
“What in the world…?” she stammered, attempting to rotate her hoof, only for the strange, paw-like appendage to turn in response, the blunt, claw-like appendages twitching at her merest thought “Don’t tell me…!”
With growing trepidation, she reached down to awkwardly throw off the blanket with the paw, unwilling to even attempt using magic with her head pounding as it was, only to pale as instead of the well-toned, in her personal opinion, equine body she was so familiar with and more than a little proud of, she found herself gazing down at something that resembled a sickly primate, all long limbs and torso with nary a patch of fur visible outside the pajamas she'd been dressed in. She didn’t even have her Cutie Mark!
“What…is this…?” she stammered, pawing at her body with her new appendages, hands she believed the Minotaurs called them, her horror slowly reaching its apex when she reached up to her forehead only to find her horn missing “No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no this can’t be happening!” she shrieked, gripping her mane, the only part of her to remain unchanged, between her newfound fingers as she settled into a full-blown panic attack “This wasn’t how it was supposed to be! I was supposed to become powerful! I was supposed to become a Princess!”
Was this Celestia’s plan all along? Did her mentor purposefully let her stumble onto the mirror, knowing she’d take the chance to seize her destiny, only to cast her away in a world where she couldn’t use her magic? No, that made no sense whatsoever. If Celestia had simply wanted to banish Sunset, there were plenty of ways she could’ve done so without jeopardizing the lives of her guards. True, Sunset had never intended to hurt the stallions any more than she had, but it still was highly unlikely Celestia was behind any of this.
“Calm down…” She urged herself, taking several deep breaths in an attempt to calm down only to freeze at the sound of approaching hoofsteps, taking in her surroundings for the first time, surprised to find herself in what appeared to be a hospital bed, if the curtains around her were any indication. “H-Hello?” she called out hesitantly “I-Is someone in there?”
“Oh, are you awake dear?” a kind voice called out, the curtain parting to reveal an older mare, at least she sounded like a mare, of whatever species Sunset currently found herself a member of, dressed in what bore a passable resemblance to an outdated Nurse’s uniform “You gave us quite a start last night, I don’t believe I’ve never seen the Headmaster that serious before.”
“Sorry…?” Sunset offered out of a desire to avoid antagonizing the mare, as even Princess Celestia knew better than to needlessly antagonize her personal physician “You said Headmaster…am I in a school?”
“Indeed, you are.” Another voice confirmed, Sunset’s eyes widening as she glanced past the mare to find a second creature standing behind her, this one undoubtedly male, as evidenced by his impressive beard, which did little to hide his friendly smile nor the twinkle in his shocking blue eyes “Forgive my intrusion Madam Pomfrey, but might I speak with our guest in private for a moment?” he smiled reassuringly “I assure you, I will not keep her from your tender mercies for long.”
“Very well, though I insist she doesn’t leave the bed till I’ve examined her properly.” the nurse-mare insisted, pausing only to smile at Sunset reassuringly “Don’t worry dear, Professor Dumbledore won’t hurt you.”
‘Says you…’ Sunset mumbled as she watched the Matron walk away before turning her attention to the Headmaster, who continued to smile in a manner she couldn’t help but return “Um…good morning?”
"And just what do you mean by that?” the stallion, Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling at Sunset’s confusion "Do you wish me a good morning, or do you mean to say this is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"
‘Did he just?’ Sunset gaped, blinking in surprise, as that was an almost perfect quote from one of Celestia’s many journals detailing her tutelage under Starswirl the Bearded. Indeed, name and species aside, Sunset couldn’t help but notice many similarities between the Headmaster and the various depictions she’d seen of the Legendary Unicorn “Um…all of the above…?” she stammered, only to grimace, clutching her head “Except maybe the feeling good part. My head is killing me.”
“Unsurprising, considering how passionately you introduced it to my desk last night. Though if it’s any consolation, your skull seems to have come out of it the better.” Dumbledore noted, chuckling at the glare she sent him as he reached into his robes and pulled out a stick “Sorry, do you mind if I sit?” he asked as he waved the stick, Sunset’s eyes widening as an armchair appeared out of thin air “I’m afraid my old bones just aren’t what they used to be.”
“How did you do that?” Sunset demanded, her eyes wide with disbelief. Not at the open display of magic, she was a Unicorn after all, but rather the ease with which the Headmaster had accomplished what, up until now, she had considered an impossibility. While it was not impossible to alter the shape of an object, even the most talented of unicorns would have a hard time doing so, and even then they would have still needed an object to alter in the first place.
But Dumbledore hadn’t altered anything to create his chair, despite having plenty of options lying within sight in the room. He had simply waved his stick, no, his wand she realized, and literally created the chair from nothing, a feat that neither Starswirl or Celestia had ever been able to accomplish despite their phenomenal magical might. Indeed, to Sunset’s knowledge the only being to ever do so had been Discord, the living embodiment of Chaos itself.
“Would you like to learn how?” Dumbledore inquired, his eyes twinkling merrily as Sunset glanced up into them “Of course, as Headmaster I would not be able to teach you personally, however I can assure you that my staff are among the finest in their fields.”
“I…don’t have any money…” Sunset stammered, not entirely true, as she’d brought all of her savings with her, but it was highly unlikely that they accepted Equestrian Bits this side of the Mirror.
“The school provides a trust fund to help students lacking the means to cover their tuition.” Dumbledore assured her with a gentle smile that put her at ease despite herself “It is our pleasure to assist young minds find their true calling in life.”
‘Wow…this guy would get along great with the Princess.’ Sunset marveled, grimacing slightly at the memory of her old mentor, her wariness giving way to determination as she once again found herself on the path to achieving greatness “Where do I sign up?”
“Typically, you’d start by telling me your name.” Dumbledore noted, chuckling at her look of embarrassment as she promptly did so “Well then, Sunset Shimmer, it gives me great pleasure to be the first to welcome you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”
Rest assured I'll get her to Hogwarts, but this is the last concrete Chapter I'll be putting out, as I have other issues that require my attention, like getting a job.
On a side note, I'll be trying to address several Plot Holes that appear during the course of the series (The Troll in the Dungeon scene in particular), but feel free to let me know if I miss anything.
That said, let's see how things go eh?
Chapter 3: The Boy Who Lived.
After a decidedly more thorough check-up from an overzealous matron than she would have preferred, followed by a hearty breakfast of porridge, toast and as much bacon as she could handle in one sitting, Sunset felt like a new mare…girl…whatever the hay she was supposed to be at the moment.
Despite her earlier apprehensions, it seemed she was well on the way to achieving her destiny if the faculty of Hogwarts (seriously, who named their school after a skin affliction?) were even half as qualified in their respective fields as Dumbledore claimed. If they were even half as dedicated as Madam Pomfrey had been, she was definitely in good hooves...Hands rather.
“Miss Shimmer?” a stern female voice called out as she finished her breakfast, drawing her attention to a tall, though by no means as tall as Dumbledore, older mare dressed as a stereotypical witch, though given the name of the school, that was most likely what she was “I am Professor Minerva McGonagall,” she introduced primly, though not unkindly “Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, Head of Gryffindor House and the Transfiguration Professor.”
“Good morning, Professor McGonagall.” Sunset greeted, falling back on her foal-hood training under Celestia as she rose from her bed, spending a perilous moment to find her balance before offering an awkward bow to what was essentially Dumbledore’s Second-in-command “A pleasure to meet you.”
“Yes, quite.” McGonagall returned, looking oddly flustered for some reason “Though in future, Miss Shimmer, there will be no need to bow when greeting someone. While Students are expected to show the proper respect to both the Faculty and their peers, such practices fell out of favor along with Corporal Punishment some time ago.”
“Understood, Professor.” Sunset acknowledged, internally sighing in relief, as she had always hated kowtowing to certain lecturers that thought highly of themselves simply because of pedigree. Well, up until she showed them up that is “Did you need me for something?”
“Professor Dumbledore has tasked me with assisting you with the acquisition of your school necessities.” The older mare explained, some of her sternness giving way in the face of Sunset’s politeness “If you have been cleared by Madam Pomfrey, we can begin as soon as you are ready.”
“I’m ready as I’ll ever be.” Sunset reasoned, moving to pass McGonagall only to pause as the Professor cleared her throat “Is something wrong?”
“It might behoove you to change your attire, Miss Shimmer.” McGonagall suggested primly, though not without an undertone of good humor “While I confess to not particularly caring for the latest fashion trends, parading around Diagon Alley in your pajamas would attract far more attention than I think you’d care for at the moment.”
“Oh, right.” Sunset mused, glancing down at the clothes she’d woken up in, having completely forgotten about them, far more focused on trying to figure out how her new appendages worked. Thankfully, the buttons of her current attire had proven most useful in that regard “Do I really need to change into something else? I’m not really comfortable with the whole ‘clothes’ thing.”
“Be that as it may.” McGonagall pressed with the ease of long patience, levelling a stare at the suddenly nervous Shimmer that nailed her to the spot “As a student you will be expected to wear your uniform at all times during school hours, and proper attire at all other times. Do I make myself clear?”
“C-Crystal.” Sunset assured the suddenly intimidating Professor, breathing a sigh of relief as McGonagall finally eased up the pressure, leaving her to get changed out of her clothes and into the new set that had been provided for her “Wow, and I thought Kibitz’ glares could cut to the bone…”
After getting properly dressed to McGonagall’s specifications, including the underwear that the woman had insisted she wear, Sunset found herself making her way through the halls of Hogwarts towards the Deputy Headmistress’ office. At first she’d deemed the school’s interior decidedly drab and lacking compared to the Palace or Celestia’s School, which had both been designed to be aesthetically pleasing by the finest architects of their time, but she had to admit the moving paintings were a novel bit of charm-work.
‘It’s almost as if they’re alive.’ She mused, reaching out to touch a nearby portrait of a mare in impressive garb, only to yelp and draw her hand back as something slapped her “What the-?!”
“Such impertinence!” the painting scolded, opening the fan she’d used to ward off Sunset’s questing hand to conceal her face with a haughty glare “In my day children new better than to lay their hands on their betters!”
“You’re…alive?!” Sunset stammered, gaping at the painting in shock, noting with dawning wonderment that several of the others had paused in what they were doing to watch the show “But…how…?!”
“Come along Miss Shimmer.” Professor McGonagall called out from down the hall, snapping sunset out of her daze, the former unicorn hurrying after the tall witch, more than happy to escape from those prying eyes “And for future reference, please avoid touching any of the Paintings without permission.”
“But…they’re alive!” Sunset exclaimed, unable to wrap her mind around the impossibility before her “How did you manage to bring them to life?”
“I am afraid that is not my field of expertise.” McGonagall admitted with surprising humility “If you wish to learn more, I believe Professor Flitwick, our Charms Professor, would be more than willing to accommodate you, provided it doesn’t interfere with his duties.” She paused in front of a door “That said, do come along Miss Shimmer, we have a busy day ahead of us.”
“Yes ma’am…but I thought we were going to purchase my school things?” Sunset queried, looking around the neat, strangely cozy looking office with a hint of approval. Say what you like about the Deputy Headmistress, she new how keep her office in order “Wait, is that my bag?”
“I believe so.” McGonagall confirmed, gesturing towards a backpack on her desk which bore Sunset’s Cutie Mark on the cover “Professor Dumbledore asked me to return it to you. Please feel free to check that nothing is missing before we set out.”
‘At least I have something familiar with me…’ Sunset sighed as she picked up the backpack that was once her saddlebags to check the contents, suppressing a grimace as she espied the journal Celestia had given her in order to keep in contact, ignoring it in favor of her bag of bits, which she thrust into one of the pockets of her borrowed leggings, jeans she believed McGonagall called them.
“If you’re quite ready miss Shimmer?" Professor McGonagall called out, drawing the former unicorn’s attention to the fireplace, removing a handful of powder from a pot on the mantle, which she promptly tossed into the flames, Sunset’s eyes widening as they shifted to a bright green, the Fireplace itself expanding so that it towered over the Deputy Headmistress “Now then, if you would kindly join me in the fireplace-”
“You want me to what?!” Sunset exclaimed, eyeing the woman in alarm as she backed up against the door, wondering if she’d perhaps made a mistake in accepting Dumbledore’s offer only to blink as McGonagall gaped at her in surprise, which quickly shifted to a look of understanding.
“Ah, forgive me, Miss Shimmer.” She offered, inclining her head in apology, “Given the means by which you arrived in Hogwarts and the Headmaster’s assurances of your magical knowledge, I had assumed you would be familiar with the existence of Floo Powder.” She gestured to the pot on her mantle “While Apparition is blocked by the Hogwarts Wards, it is possible for Faculty members to communicate and travel via the Floo Network to designated locations.”
‘So it’s kind of like spell Dragons use to send messages, only customized for transportation?’ Sunset deduced, recalling her lectures on the various uses of Dragon Fire, aside from their trademark setting of Extra Crispy “So I just toss some powder in the fire and it’ll take me where I need to go?”
“Yes, but only to and from fireplaces connected to the Floo Network.” McGonagall elaborated “For future reference, I must also stress the importance of clearly pronouncing your destination before entering. Many a Witch and Wizard have made the mistake of stuttering or slurring their words, only to find themselves trapped behind a walled-up fire-place with no means of escape.”
“Understood.” Sunset acknowledged, shivering at the very idea as she slung her backpack over her shoulder, some of her old confidence returning along with her desire to learn more about this new means of travel. After all, while teleportation existed in Equestria, only the most powerful of Unicorns could accomplish such a feat and never over long distances. If Sunset could reverse engineer or even improve upon whatever magics allowed for such a convenient mode of transportation, the patents alone would be enough to have her name recorded for all of time “Okay…how do we do this?”
“Simply step into the Fire with me.” McGonagall instructed patiently, offering her hand to the former unicorn with a kind smile that Sunset accepted after a moment’s hesitation, bracing herself instinctively for the heat as she allowed McGonagall to guide her into the fireplace, only to gasp as, rather than the heat she was expecting, she felt a cool, almost ticklish sensation.
“Yes, it is rather ticklish isn’t it?” McGonagall noted, and Sunset was shocked to see a hint of amusement in her normally stern features “Now then, make sure to keep your elbows tucked in, yes, that’s good. Now, shut your eyes and don’t let go of my hand no matter what.”
“Okay.” Sunset whispered, unable to help the hint of uncertainty in her voice as she followed the older mare’s instruction, more than a little grateful for the comforting squeeze McGonagall gave her hand before clearing her throat and calling out
“The Leaky Cauldron, London.”
Almost immediately after, Sunset gasped in alarm as the bottom dropped out of her stomach, the former Unicorn gripping onto McGonagall’s hand for dear life as the floor vanished beneath her, her ears filling with a deafening roar that reminded her of that one time she’d fallen into a river as a foal, only without the feeling of being wet.
Then, just as soon as it started, the feeling of falling vanished and she was stumbling out of the fireplace, only McGonagall’s strong grip on her hand keeping her from falling flat on her face. “Easy there, Miss Shimmer.” The elder Mare assured her, patting her comfortingly on her trembling shoulders, bringing up her wand to banish the dust and soot coating her frame “You handled yourself very well, far better than most do their first time.”
“Blimey, issat you Professor McGonagall?” a loud voice boomed, cutting off whatever Sunset was about to say and drawing her attention to her surroundings. A first glance it reminded her of an old Trottingham style pub she’d visited once during her student days, the kind of place that advertised itself as ‘rustic’ and ‘charming’ in order to draw in those Canterlotians interested in the simple life of Earth Ponies.
However, not even the most ‘down to earth’ of Canterlot’s clientele could have described the pub before her as anything less than ‘shabby’, not helped at all by the low lighting making it appear out of something from the old days before the first Hearths Warming.
However, all of that paled in comparison to the small crowd of what was likely the pub’s patrons clustered around what she first assumed to be a bear in an overcoat, only for her eyes to widen as she realized she was gazing upon the most massive stallion, or whatever they called males around here, she was ever likely to see, towering over even Dumbledore, who was himself taller than McGonagall.
“Good morning, Hagrid, Quirinius.” McGonagall greeted primly, yet with a touch of fondness that hadn’t escaped Sunset, putting the former Unicorn at ease as she approached the walking mountain and a smaller figure clad in a purple turban, “I was unaware you would be here, Quirinius, did Albus send you?”
“J-j-j-just passing th-th-through M-M-Minerva.” the turbaned stallion assured the older mare with a nervous smile and a stutter so fake it raised several flags in Sunset’s mind, though nowhere near as many as the sudden brush she felt against her mental barriers as the man glanced her way “I was p-p-p-planning to pick up a n-n-n-new book on v-v-vampires. Yourself?”
“I am assisting a First-Year with their shopping.” McGonagall explained, gesturing towards Sunset, who stood up straighter at the sudden attention “Miss Shimmer, allow me to present Professor Quirinius Quirrel, our Defense against the Dark Arts Professor.”
“Nice to meet you, Professor Quirrel.” Sunset lied through her teeth, thankful for her years of court-training that allowed her to keep her true emotions hidden. As Celestia’s protégé, Sunset had lost count of the times somepony had tried to take advantage of her to either elevate their status or push forward some agenda that needed Celestia’s approval. While the number proficient enough in mental magics had been thankfully few and far between, mostly due to many not wanting to associate with what was rightfully considered a ‘dark’ magic, there had been enough, both during Sunset’s tenure and long since prior, for Celestia to make it compulsory that all of her students have at least enough fore-knowledge to be able to protect themselves.
‘I’ll have to keep my eyes on that one.’ She noted, eyeing the turban-sporting professor warily as he chatted with McGonagall, still using that fake stutter ‘It could simply be he’s the paranoid type given his profession, but something about him doesn’t feel right.’
“And this is Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts.” McGonagall introduced, gesturing to the walking mountain before regarding Sunset with a stern expression that reminded her all-too-much of Celestia “While he is not a Professor, you will afford him the same respect you would any other member of the faculty, is that clear?”
“Crystal, Professor.” Sunset assured her, and she honestly meant it. While normally she’d have rolled her eyes at the concept of showing deference to what was ostensibly a gardener, it was a different matter entirely with a ‘Keeper of the Keys’, which was one of Kibitz’ lesser discussed but by no means unimportant duties as Celestia’s Advisor, and essentially granted the old Stallion the exclusive authority to go wherever he pleased within Canterlot, even Celestia’s private chambers if need be, without having to get permission from the Princess first.
It was for this reason, among countless others, that had encouraged Sunset to avoid getting on Kibitz’ bad side, the old Stallion having more than earned the respect he was due. It was for this same reason, and the fact he looked like he could crush her with one massive hand, that she vowed to avoid crossing this Rubeus Hagrid at any cost “Nice to meet you, Mr. Hagrid.”
“’ere now, none o’ tha’” Hagrid chuckled “Mr. Hagrid was my Da. Yeh can jus’ call me Hagrid iff’n yeh like.” He then reached behind him, drawing Sunset’s attention to a small figure that had been completely hidden behind the Stallion’s massive bulk “An’ this ere’s Harry, c’mon say ‘ello Harry.”
“H-Hello.” Harry greeted nervously, his shockingly emerald eyes blinking at Sunset shyly from behind a messy black mane and cheap-looking spectacles that had clearly been broken several times. This, combined with his over-sized, baggy clothes, which made him seem smaller than he probably was, though given how he was half a head shorter than Sunset that wasn’t really saying much, quickly raised several red flags in Sunset’s eyes “I’m Harry Potter.”
“Nice to meet you Harry.” Sunset greeted, offering the boy a confident smile, her eyes narrowing slightly as she caught several of the patrons’ mutter something about her being a ‘Muggleborn’ “I’m Sunset Shimmer, this is Professor McGonagall.” She smiled cheekily, deciding to test the waters “Don’t worry, she doesn’t bite.”
“Quite.” McGonagall noted primly even as Sunset’s quip earned a barking laugh from Hagrid and a few scandalized whispers from the bar’s patrons, though Sunset was pleased to note a hint of humor in the older mare’s otherwise stern glare, a genuine smile adorning her face as she reached out to shake the colt’s hand “A pleasure to meet you again Mr. Potter.”
“Have we met before, Professor?” Harry wondered, blinking in confusion as he withdrew his hand, Sunset noting McGonagall’s sudden scowl with interest.
“I had the…pleasure…of ensuring you were delivered to your relatives after the unfortunate death of your parents.” McGonagall admitted, her expression saying all that needed to be said in regards to her opinion on the matter “I trust you still have your Hogwarts letter, Mr. Potter?” she nodded as Harry pulled it out of his pocket “Very well, Miss Shimmer and I shall accompany you as we purchase your school things. Will you be joining us, Quirinius?”
“Ah, no…” the turbaned Professor faux-stuttered apologetically, insisting that he was only here to pick up his book “I r-r-r-really must be g-g-going…”
“I understand.” Minerva assured him kindly, earning a quirked brow from Sunset as they watched the man depart through the back door of the pub “Perhaps he should have taken more time off after all…”
“Is he always that nervous?” Harry asked Hagrid, much to Sunset’s relief, as she was curious as to how to broach the subject without coming off as invasive.
“Oh, yeah.” The giant stallion confirmed with a nod “Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin’ outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience. They say he met vampires in the Black Forest and there was a nasty bit o’ trouble with a hag...” he shuddered, and he wasn’t the only one, several of the bars patrons looking decidedly uncomfortable, heck even Sunset was feeling more than a little wary at the confirmation of such creatures existing “Never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject…”
“That will be quite enough, Hagrid.” Professor McGonagall chastised primly, impressing Sunset once again with how easily she silenced the walking mountain without raising her voice “You know as well as I that Albus would not have granted Quirinius his post if he possessed any doubts as to his ability to teach.”
“Righ, sorry Professor.” The Groundskeeper rumbled apologetically, looking for all the world like a foal caught with his hoof in the cookie-jar that Sunset honestly couldn’t help smiling as they exited the Pub via the same door Quirrel had left, only to find themselves standing in an alley behind the pub, empty save for a trashcan lying against the far wall.
“Watch closely, Mr. Potter, Miss Shimmer.” McGonagall instructed, pulling out her wand as she approached the wall, raising her wand to a spot three bricks above and two bricks across from the top of the trashcan lid “You will need to do this yourselves one day.”
“Do what?” Harry wondered, only to look on in wonderment along with an equally startled Sunset as the brick the Professor tapped quivered, wriggled, and then began to shift, a small a small hole appearing, growing steadily wider until, less than a second later, they found themselves facing an archway large enough for even Hagrid to stride through unhindered.
“Mr. Potter, Miss Shimmer.” McGonagall called out, smiling fondly at the pair as she turned to face them in the archway “It gives me great pleasure to be the first to welcome you to Diagon Alley.”
Beyond the archway lay a cobbled street that twisted out of sight, revealing a bustling market street, lined on all sides by an assortment of restaurants, shops and various traders peddling their wares to the crowds milling around them.
However, while Harry was gaping at his surroundings in wonderment, Sunset couldn’t help but flinch, as the scene was so similar to her own foal-hood memories, both before and after her time as Celestia’s student, that despite the lack of ponies she couldn’t help but feel a pang of homesickness.
‘Stop thinking about it.’ She glowered, clamping down on such her emotions before they could get out of hand ‘I knew what we were getting into when we jumped into the mirror…such feelings will just hold me back.’
“Hey…are you okay?” a voice asked hesitantly, snapping Sunset out of her thoughts to find the colt, Harry, eyeing her nervously as they followed behind McGonagall with Hagrid bringing up the rear.
“I’m fine.” She snapped back, only to grimace as he flinched at her tone “Sorry…just…this place reminds me of my hometown.” she admitted, pointedly ignoring a sign offering Dragon’s Liver for sale “I haven’t been back in years…didn’t think it would hurt so much.”
“It’s okay.” Harry assured her, the colt’s understanding expression stunning Sunset for a moment until she recalled what McGonagall had mentioned earlier regarding his parents.
“It’s not that my parents are dead!” she countered hurriedly “It’s just…we don’t get along very well…and it doesn’t look like I’ll be seeing them any time soon either.”
Before Harry could ask her what she meant, they were forced to pull up short as McGonagall stopped at the foot of a set of stone stairs that led up to a snowy white building that towered over the other little shops, not unlike how Canterlot Palace towered over the rest of the city. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was a creature about a foot shorter than Harry with evil little eyes set in a swarthy, clever face tipped by a pointed beard.
“Yeah, that’s a goblin,” Hagrid whispered to Harry as they walked up the steps toward him, having apparently mentioned them to the boy at some point. Sunset, having never seen such a creature before, couldn’t help but stare at it as they drew closer, an action the goblin was more than willing to reciprocate, narrowing his evil little eyes at her even as he bowed as they walked inside the bronze doors, only to be met with two more goblins guarding a second set of silver doors engraved with words that sent a shiver down Sunset’s spine.
“Like I said, yeh’d be mad ter try an’ rob it,” Hagrid whispered to Harry as the second set of goblins bowed them through the silver doors into a vast marble hall where at least a hundred more of their race sat behind long counters, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales or examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these.
“Do you have Mr. Potter’s Vault Key with you, Hagrid?” Professor McGonagall asked, waiting patiently as the giant stallion rummaged through his coat pockets before holding up a tiny gold key “Excellent, I shall see to Mr. Potter and Miss Shimmer, while you see to more pressing matters.”
“Wha-? Oh! Righ’, righ’…” Hagrid exclaimed after a moment's confusion, the Keeper of the Keys, ironically, handing the key over to the Deputy Headmistress before nodding at Harry “I’ll catch yeh later Harry, you listen to Professor McGonagall, she won’t steer you wrong.”
“Why does Hagrid have the key to Harry’s vault?” Sunset wondered aloud as the Groundskeeper lumbered off to join one of the queues, a question that Harry himself seemed to be wondering as he finished waving at his escort “Shouldn’t it be with his caretakers?”
“Normally, yes.” McGonagall admitted with a grim frown “However, Mr. Potter’s…relatives…could not be trusted with his finances, so it has been held in trust for him until he could attend Hogwarts.” She turned to level a stern look at Harry “That does not, however, mean that you have access to all your parents’ money. A Trust fund has been set aside to cover your education, I advise you avoid any needless expenditure, as you will not be able to access the rest of your account until you come of age at seventeen.”
“Makes sense.” Sunset reasoned, as she was more than used to managing her stipend even before she became Celestia’s student, though admittedly her savings had grown considerably due to her not really wanting for anything living in the palace “By the way Professor, I know the Headmaster mentioned a trust fund, but I actually have some money on me.” she held up her bag of bits “You think I could exchange it here? Maybe get some spending money?”
“Yes, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up Miss Shimmer.” McGonagall insisted apologetically as they joined a cue of their own “The current exchange rate for Non-Wizarding currency is…less than inspiring.”
“If you have a problem with our rates, you’re free to take your business elsewhere.” A voice snarked, startling the children, who looked up to find themselves gazing up at a sneering goblin.
“Good morning.” McGonagall greeted primly, the goblin’s sneer devolving into a scowl at her unflappable nature “I am here to make a withdrawal from Mr. Harry Potter’s safe.”
“You have his key?” the Goblin demanded, scowling as the Professor deftly handed the key over for his inspection, turning it over several times in his hands, as if trying to detect a forgery “That seems to be in order.” He grudgingly admitted at last “I will have someone take you down to the vault. Griphook!” he barked, another goblin hurrying over “A withdrawal for Vault Six-Hundred and Eighty-Seven.”
“I would also like to exchange some money for my student here.” McGonagall noted primly “Miss Shimmer, if you would kindly accompany Mr. Potter to his vault, I will see about opening an account for you.”
“You really don’t need to do that.” Sunset assured her, more out of a desire to avoid leaving a paper-trail than any fear the woman was going to cheat her out of her savings. Though their time together had been short, Sunset considered herself very good at reading people and from what little she’d seen McGonagall appeared to be the strict yet fair kind of instructor who valued the rules and would no-sooner allow harm to befall her charges than Celestia would turn down cake.
In the end, however, McGonagall’s insistence won out in the end, the Deputy-Headmistress asking Griphook to ‘take it slow’ as he led Sunset and Harry away, though judging from the Goblin’s leer, it wasn’t likely he intended to honor her request.
“Exchanges are the next till over.” the Goblin manning the till instructed, tilting his head towards one of his colleagues, who was weighing several rubies the size of glowing coals, only to snarl as McGonagall politely thanked him and moved over to the till in question.
“Good Morning.” She greeted, waiting patiently for the Goblin to finish jotting down the current gem’s value “I would like to exchange some foreign currency.”
“Exchange rates are non-negotiable.” The Goblin quipped, not even bothering to look up from his ledger as he reached for another ruby “Please check the value against the official list.”
“I’m afraid that will be impossible.” McGonagall countered primly, opening up Sunset’s bag and depositing a single gold coin on the table “I’m afraid this currency is not on the list.”
The Goblin glared at her, opening his mouth as if to tell her off, only to pause, his eyes narrowing as he reached down to pick up the coin with his long fingers, the Professor’s back shivering as she suddenly noticed the entire bank had fallen silent, every single Goblin looking up from their ledgers to peer at the coin.
“Where…” the goblin demanded, and at first Minerva thought the tremble in his voice might be anger, but on closer inspection she realized the Goblin was physically restraining himself “did you say this coin came from?”
“I have a letter from Professor Dumbledore that can better explain the matter.” McGonagall replied primly, refusing to allow the smugness she felt internally from showing on her face as the Goblins, as one, began to swear in gobbledygook.
After all, it wasn’t often that a Witch or Wizard managed to pull one over the Goblins, even by proxy.
Had this Chapter ready so I figured I'd put it up.
Bit of a warning, I'll be glossing over most of Harry's scenes in this where they have little to no effect on Sunset, so this might come off as a rather short chapter all-around.
Chapter Four: Diagon Alley.
Sunset’s first encounter with the Gringotts carts was much like her last encounter with Celestia, tumultuous, nauseating, yet thankfully short-lived.
At first, she’d been intrigued when Griphook led them out of the glistening marble halls of the bank and into a narrow stone passageway filled with flaming torches, the kind of thing you’d expect to see in an Ogres and Oubliettes role-play session, or the old days of Equestria when Dungeons served a bigger purpose than a place to throw drunken ponies to sober up after a night on the town.
Her intrigue soon gave way to terrified nausea, however, the moment they’d hopped into one of the deceptively innocent looking carts Griphook had whistled up, all pretenses of innocence vanishing as they took off at speeds that would make the most overzealous Wonderbolt green with envy.
At first she’d tried to take her mind off her terror by trying to memorize their route, only to promptly give up and hold on for dear life as the car, clearly of its own volition, as Griphook was simply sitting there with his arms crossed, careened uncontrollably through a maze of twisting passages so convoluted she swore she saw them going the opposite direction out the corner of her eye before she finally shut them to avoid getting sick.
“I never know,” Harry called out over the noise of the cart, seemingly unbothered by the speed “what’s the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?”
“Stalactites are the ones on the ceiling.” Sunset managed to grit out through her teeth, though she was admittedly thankful to the colt for giving her something else to focus on “C for Ceiling, G for Ground.”
Thankfully for Sunset’s stomach, the cart soon began to slow down before coming to a gradual stop “Vault Six Hundred and Eighty-Seven.” Griphook called out as she opened her eyes, only to blink at the sneer on the Goblin’s face “Will the two of you be requiring a moment of privacy?”
Sunset blinked, wondering what the Tartarus the horrible little creature was talking about, only to flush as she realized that at some point during the ride she’d latched onto Harry’s arm and held on for dear life. Harry, likewise, seemed just as flustered as she was, clearly not used to being hugged by random strangers, never mind a pretty mare.
“Sorry!” she exclaimed, releasing his arm and backing off to put some space between them, glaring murderously at Griphook as the Goblin snickered darkly before following him out of the cart towards a small door that he unlocked using the same key Hagrid had given to McGonagall, Sunset raising a hand to shield her face as a cloud of green smoke came billowing out the door, only to blink as Harry gasped beside her.
“Is that…all mine?” Harry breathed, the black-maned colt gaping at the accumulated wealth before him with understandable disbelief. Not that Sunset could blame the colt for his surprise mind you. After all, if her trust fund had contained even half of what currently laid before her, she could’ve lived off that for the rest of her days provided she moved out of Canterlot to avoid the shame of becoming ‘Equinae Non-Grata’.
“Certainly not.” Griphook sniffed imperiously “The Main Potter Vault will not be accessible to you until you reach your majority or are legally declared an adult by your Government.” He held out what appeared to be a bit-bag to the boy “I would suggest carrying Galleons for now, that’s the Golden ones. For future reference there are Seventeen Silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Bronze Knuts to a Sickle.”
‘Wow, Celestia’s accountants would have a field-day with you people.’ Sunset snarked, recalling her history lectures on the formation of Equestria, particularly how the economy had nearly collapsed upon itself due to the three tribes refusing to give up their native currencies until Celestia, sick of all the bickering, pulled rank and forced them to decide on a unified one.
After Harry had shoveled several handfuls of gold into the bag, Griphook resealed the vault, returning the key to the shaken colt as they clambered back into the cart, Sunset stubbornly refusing to close her eyes as they raced back to the surface, refusing to give Griphook the satisfaction of seeing her squirm, even as she swore she saw them going back down into the depths out the corner of her eye.
“If I never see one of those infernal carts again it’ll be too soon.” She swore as she staggered into the main bank again, only to pull up short as she collided with someone “Hey! Watch it!”
“Eh? Oh, allo there Sunset.” Hagrid greeted, the Groundskeeper looking a bit peaky as he peered down at her like the walking mountain he was “Ere, where’s Professor McGonagall?”
“She said she was going to exchange my money for me.” Sunset explained, glancing up and down the ques only to see no sign of the woman, a hint of panic filling her that she might have been wrong in her assumptions only to be severely crushed not a second later. She was Sunset Shimmer. She NEVER made mistakes.
“Professor McGonagall is currently speaking with the Bank Manager Bogrod.” A Goblin clad in the uniform of the Door Guards proclaimed, earning a gasp from Harry and a wary glare from Sunset due to his appearing behind them without a sound “She has left instructions that you continue with your shopping under the escort of Rubeus Hagrid for the time being.”
“What about my money?” Sunset pressed, only to blink as the Goblin held out the bag used to carry her bits, only to blink at the difference in weight, being significantly heavier “Wait, how much did my Bits come to?”
“That is one of the matters currently being discussed by Professor McGonagall with Bank Manager Bogrod.” The Door Goblin explained flatly, raising a long-fingered hand to silence any further questions “I am not at liberty to discuss any further. If you have any questions, please direct them to Minerva McGonagall once she has concluded her meeting.”
“Don’ let ‘em get to yeh, Sunset.” Hagrid offered consolingly as the Goblin marched off, the Groundskeeper guiding his charges out of the bank before Sunset, who was looking particularly volatile, could do something she’d regret “Goblins might be clever little bastards, but just because they wear clothes now don’t mean they bothered ter learn any manners.”
‘Clearly.’ Sunset snarked internally, simmering angrily as they marched through the crowd to their first destination, a shop advertised as ‘Madam Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions’, apparently the go-to-place for their new school uniforms ‘Seriously, why are these people so obsessed with clothes?’
“Ere, listen you two.” Hagrid called out hesitantly, the Groundskeeper still looking decidedly green around the gills “Would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts.”
“Feeling’s mutual.” Sunset admitted with a grim smile, earning a chuckle from the giant stallion as he ruffled her mane, much to her annoyance, before striding off into the crowd in the direction of the Leaky Cauldron “Well then, shall we?”
“Um…after you?” Harry offered, though whether he was honestly being chivalrous or simply too nervous to take the lead Sunset couldn’t tell, the former Unicorn rolling her eyes as she grabbed him by the hand, missing the way his cheeks reddened in surprise as she practically dragged him into the store with her.
“Hogwarts Dearies?” a squat mare clad in mauve enquired from the back, where she was currently taking the measurements of another young colt with a mane of white hair standing on a footstool “Got the lot here, another young man being fitted up just now, in fact. Just hop up on the stool here and I’ll get you sorted.”
“You go first.” Sunset instructed, her tone brooking no argument as she pushed Harry towards the stool before taking a seat on a nearby chair to both settle her nerves and get her temper under control. Truth be told she would’ve liked nothing more than to have joined Hagrid for that drink, she wasn’t much of a drinker but something to take the edge off would’ve been nice. However, something told her that, even if she could trust the Groundskeeper not to tattle to McGonagall, she wouldn’t have been able to purchase anything stronger than Sweet Apple Cider given the difference in age between her current form and the bar’s patrons.
As her nerves slowly settled, she became dimly aware that Harry had struck up a conversation with the white-maned colt, though judging from his expression it wasn’t one he particularly enjoyed. Before she could attempt to eavesdrop on the conversation, however, a sharp rap at the window alerted her to the return of Hagrid, who was grinning cheerfully at her, holding up a trio of large ice-cream cones to show why he hadn’t entered the store. Not long after, Madam Malkin released Harry, who made no effort to hide his desire to leave, pausing only to glance in concern at Sunset, who ushered him on with a wave before taking her own spot on the footstool next to the white-haired colt, suppressing the urge to shiver at how closely he seemed to resemble a ferret.
“Hello there.” The colt greeted with a smile he probably thought was charming, but only seemed to make him look even more like a rodent than Sunset thought was physically possible “I’m Draco Malfoy, heir of the noble house of Malfoy.”
‘Oh Faust, it’s another Blueblood...’ Sunset groaned internally as the colt continued to ramble on about his father and whatnot, filtering him out thanks to her years of practice of ignoring the most infamous of Celestia’s adopted ‘Nephews’. The brat’s attitude practically screamed ‘self-entitled mama’s boy’, the kind of stuck-up prick who honestly believed ponies should do as he willed simply because he came from ‘the right stock’.
“Don’t suppose you’re interested in Quidditch?” Draco queried, his tone making it clear he honestly didn’t care and was only asking to keep the conversation going “I can understand if you don’t, it’s hardly a ladylike past-time, no matter what those Hollyhead Harlot fans say otherwise.”
‘And sexist to boot…lucky me…’ Sunset sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation as the boy continued to wax on about some frankly ridiculous sport she couldn’t care less about if she tried and ‘women’s place in it’, or lack thereof ‘Seriously, the only remotely useful thing I’ve learnt from this kid is the terms they use for Mares and Stallions.’
“That’s you Dear.” Madam Malkin finally declared after what seemed like an eternity, allowing Sunset to step off the footstool to pay for her robes “I’ll be finished with you soon young Mister Malfoy, can’t rush with material this expensive.”
“I suppose I’ll see you at Hogwarts then.” Draco sighed, tilting his head to glance at Sunset over his shoulder “By the way, you never told me your name-”
It’s a good thing passing through the Mirror hadn’t turned Sunset into an Earth Pony, otherwise she might have permanently damaged the door considering how hard she slammed it behind her.
One Triple-Chocolate Ice-Cream Cone Later...
“Are you sure you’re alright, Sunset?” Harry enquired as they trailed behind Hagrid, the emerald-eyed colt, boy Sunset mentally corrected, looking on warily as she devoured her ice-cream with a worrisome zeal.
“Fine.” Sunset assured him as she swallowed the last of the cone, releasing a sigh of contentment, as the sweet treat accomplished the Rockhoofean task of calming her down “Just glad to be as far away from that self-entitled prick as possible.”
“Malfoys, Phah!” Hagrid spat, much to the surprise of Harry, who thus far had only ever seen the Groundskeeper angry once, and that had been when Uncle Vernon made the mistake of insulting Albus Dumbledore “Load of bad eggs the lot of ‘em. You steer clear of that lot Harry, they were You-Know-Who’s biggest supporters back in the day, only got outta Azkaban ‘cause they pleaded Imperius.”
“Azkaban?” Sunset repeated, noting with interest how several passersby shivered and glared darkly at her for the mention of the name “What’s that?”
“Wizard Prison.” Hagrid explained, looking decidedly uncomfortable “Horrible place, they only send the worst of the worst there, though some of You-Know-Who’s followers managed ter buy their way out.”
“I don’t actually.” Sunset countered primly, arching an eyebrow at Hagrid as he turned to look at her “I don’t, as a matter of fact, 'know who'. Was he someone important?”
“Was he-?!” Hagrid began, gaping at her in shock, only to blink in recollection “Oh righ’, you came here with Professor McGonagall didn’t yer?” he sighed in relief at Sunset’s nod “Blimey that startled me, then again I suppose it makes sense you wouldn’t know if’n yer a Muggleborn.”
“Someone from non-wizarding parents.” Harry supplied at Sunset’s curious look “My mum was a Muggleborn and I was raised by her sister’s family…” he flinched in remembrance “They…didn’t want me learning about Magic.”
“I see.” Sunset mused, unable to help drawing parallels between Harry’s story and what little she recalled of Cadence’s, though at the very least Harry’s relatives hadn’t abandoned him in the woods “So who exactly are you talking about?”
“Don’ like ter say his name.” Hagrid admitted with a grimace, glancing around warily at the crowds “See, durin’ the war, he put a curse on his name that let him an’ his Death Eaters find whoever said it. Got so bad people still call ‘im ‘You-Know-Who’ even now.”
“Death Eaters?” Sunset pressed, mentally filling that little tidbit of information away for later, as that sounded like a useful little spell to learn if she ever made it back to Equestria.
“You-Know-Who’s followers.” Hagrid explained, sounding decidedly more confident now that he wasn’t talking about the wizard himself “Bunch of bigots and murderers tha’ bought into his ‘Pureblood Supremacy’ bollocks, as if blood purity has anythin’ ter do with magical ability.” He clapped a hand on Harry’s shoulder “I mean jus’ look at Harry here! Not even a year old an’ he defeated You-Know-Who, an ‘im only a Half-blood!”
Sunset blinked, turning to regard the blushing youth with a mixture of shock and intrigue, mentally re-evaluating her opinion of the boy. While it wasn’t uncommon for Unicorn foals to experience magical surges from time to time, very rarely did this result in them being able to inconvenience a full-grown Unicorn.
As one of those rare examples herself, even Sunset had to admit she’d never experienced a surge capable of overpowering someone so powerful people refused to speak his name even a decade after his defeat “And this Malfoy…he’s one of those Death Eaters then?”
“His father was, though he claims he was Imperius’d the entire time, lying snake.” Hagrid admitted with a scowl “He ain’t the only one neither; most of the Death Eaters not rottin’ in Azkaban managed to weasel their way out by claimin’ Imperius or sellin’ out the die-hard fanatics.” He scoffed “’Course, the fact most of ‘em were ‘Purebloods’ with more Galleons than sense probably helped.”
‘So pretty much the like the old Unicorn Supremacist Faction.’ Sunset mused as they resumed their trek towards their next destination, recalling one of the darker periods of Equestria’s history from her lessons with Celestia. While most of the Pony Tribes had unanimously accepted Celestia’s appointment as ruler, that didn’t mean there weren’t a few bumps here and there.
The Unicorns in particular, having been relieved of their ‘sacred duty’ of lowering the sun and moon, found themselves seemingly without purpose in this new society, a fact some of the more vindictive Pegasi and Earth Ponies were all too willing to point out after years of being looked down upon by the snobbish nobles.
While things had never devolved into outright war between the tribes due to Celestia putting her hoof down and the joint desire to avoid another Endless Winter, there were still many Unicorns that maintained the old mentality of being the ‘Master Race’, if for no other reason than that was the way they had been raised.
‘I guess bigots are universal, regardless of species.’ Sunset sighed in exasperation as they entered a shop called ‘Flourish and Blotts’, unable to help scoffing internally at the irony that one of the few things this new world shared with her home just so happened to be one of the darker periods in its history.
One Shopping Spree Later...
Thankfully, by the time they finally left Flourish and Blotts, weighed down with bags containing all their First Year Books, plus a few supplemental tomes Sunset had insisted on purchasing in order to educate herself, and Harry after she’d explained the idea, about the Magical World, the former Unicorn was in a decidedly better mood, walking along behind Hagrid, her nose buried in ‘The Laws and Ordinances of Magical Britain’ while Harry flicked through ‘Curses and Countercurses’.
At first Hagrid had protested against Harry picking up such a dangerous tome, until Sunset pointed out the sense in having it by reminding the Groundskeeper that, given the high probability of the children of freed Death Eaters attending Hogwarts, some of them likely older and more experienced, it only made sense for Harry to learn how to defend himself as soon as possible.
In the end, despite his attempts at protest, the Groundskeeper had relented, but only after extracting a promise from both of them not to use any of the curses within the Book unless absolutely necessary.
“Tha’ goes double for usin’ magic in front of Muggles.” He’d pressed sternly “The Ministry aren’t too harsh when it comes ter accidental magic, but it’s not uncommon for students ter get expelled on their first offense. If tha’ happens they’ll snap yer wand an…” he shivered, looking decidedly haunted for a second as he gripped his umbrella handle “look, just don’t use magic around Muggles, alrigh’?”
Speaking of wands, they were currently making their way towards a shop called ‘Ollivander’s’, supposedly the only place in Diagon Alley where wands could be purchased if Hagrid was to be believed. Aside from their prior visit to the cauldron store and Apothecary, where she'd nearly had a heart-attack at the sight of Unicorn Horns for sale, Sunset had to admit that this was the one shop she’d been looking forward to visiting the most, even more-so than Flourish and Blotts, for while she had marveled at the sheer number of magical tomes available, most of them would doubtlessly be found in Hogwarts’ Library and she always preferred a more practical approach to her studies than simply memorizing spells out of old tomes, something that would be quite impossible without a wand.
It had been a harrowing experience for her, waking up to find herself unable to call upon her magic. For Unicorns, Magic was as much a part of them as wings on Pegasi or the Earth beneath an Earth Pony's hooves. There was never a moment they couldn’t feel it's presence, even when they weren’t actively using it.
To suddenly lose the ability to call upon her magic was akin to losing one of her senses, hell she knew of several Unicorns who would willingly lose a limb or two so long as they could retain their magic. With this in mind, you can probably imagine the relief she felt upon witnessing Dumbledore’s casual shattering of her long-held notions of the limitations of Magic.
While she would readily admit that her desire to master this world’s Magic played a huge part in her desire to enroll at Hogwarts, it paled in comparison to her desire to simply have access to her Magic again. That being said, after having set her hopes so high, she really should have expected her first opinion of Ollivanders to be…decidedly less than impressive.
'This is it?' she wondered, unable to help grimacing at the sight of the narrow, shabby looking shop that somehow managed to make the rest of Diagon Alley look positively progressive by comparison. The peeling gold letters over the door proclaimed the store had been in business since 382 BC, and while she couldn’t tell how long that might be at the moment due to lack of information, she had the distinct impression the dust on the windows certainly gave the impression that it had been around almost as long as Celestia herself, if not longer.
‘Never judge a book by its cover…’ she recited mentally as she followed Harry and Hagrid into the store, having learnt that lesson the hard way in Flourish and Blotts, when she’d reached for an unassuming tome covered in fur, only to rear back as it tried to bite her fingers off.
The inside of Ollivanders was, in all honesty, only marginally better than the exterior, if only by the grace that you couldn’t compare it to all the other shops lining the street. Setting aside the rows of shelves containing boxes of what she assumed were wands, the only other item of furniture she could see was a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait.
“Maybe he’s gone out to lunch?” Harry pondered, earning a scoff of amusement from Sunset for his naivete, as even in Equestria no self-respecting proprietor would leave their store unattended with the door unlocked, no matter how confident they were of their neighbours’ moral caliber or the strength of their anti-theft spells, something she was more than certain this Ollivander had invested in, considering how the very dust and silence in the shop seemed to tingle with some secret magic, the somber air reminding her far too much of the forbidden section of the Canterlot Library where she had confronted Celestia, so much so in fact that she half expected the Princess to appear behind her at any moment.
“Good afternoon.” A soft voice greeted from behind, Sunset’s eyes widening in alarm as she and Harry whipped around to face the source and Hagrid leapt to his feet with a crunch, the three of them gaping in shock at the old man gazing down at them from atop a rolling ladder that had not been there a moment ago.
“Ah yes,” he mused softly, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop as he stared at Harry, or more accurately, the lightning bolt scar resting beneath the boy’s mane “Yes, yes. I thought I’d be seeing you soon. Harry Potter.”
‘Huh, guess he really is a big deal around here.’ Sunset mused, having glanced over an article detailing Harry’s claim to fame in Modern Magical History while at Flourish and Blotts, hoping to see just how on earth the hapless boy had managed to garner himself a level of celebrity on par with her former mentor, to the point everyone knew what he looked like simply from word of mouth ‘That’s going to get annoying real fast.’
While Sunset wasn’t the modest type, one of the few things she and Celestia agreed with was that fame was a double-edged sword. Yes, the right amount of notoriety could open doors otherwise inaccessible to lesser folk, but at the same time you were constantly watching over your shoulder for the paparazzi, would-be rivals and people looking to ride on your coat-tails.
Most ponies had to work to get to that level of fame however. Even Sunset, for all her Magical ability, had never been truly able to distance herself from the moniker of ‘Celestia’s Student’, and here Harry was with people writing children’s novels about his many ‘adventures’, despite having had no idea of his fame, or that magic existed at all, until earlier this morning.
“You have your mother’s eyes.” Ollivander noted as if commenting on the weather as he drew closer to Harry, seemingly ignoring Sunset for the moment “It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for Charm-work. Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for Transfiguration.” He smiled knowingly “Well, I say your father favored it, it’s really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course.”
‘Wait, what?’ Sunset wondered, her eyes narrowing in confusion as she glanced between the storekeeper and the rows of boxes lining the walls warily. While examples of self-aware magical items were few and far between, both Starswirl and Celestia had encountered enough to warrant leaving instructions to any fledgling unicorn to treat them with the utmost caution. After all, as powerful as they might be, there was no telling what kind of cost they could demand from their user, especially if the power they granted was dark in nature.
By this point Ollivander, if indeed this was the man and not some creepy shop-assistant or brain-addled relative, was practically nose-to-nose with Harry, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable as the man touched a long white finger to his scar “I’m sorry to say I sold the wand that did it,” he admitted softly, confirming his identity “Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands…well, if I’d known what that wand was going out into the world to do…” He shook his head with a sigh before turning to regard Sunset with his moon-like eyes “And who might you be?”
“Sunset Shimmer.” She returned with a wry smile “Sorry I’m not as famous as golden boy over there, but don’t worry, you’ll be hearing about me soon enough.”
“Ah, confidence, an admirable quality in a Witch.” Ollivander noted, smiling enigmatically at Sunset’s wince at the term “Ah, a Muggleborn it would seem, rest assured my child, the term does not hold the stigma in our world as it does with Muggles, though if it is any comfort, many a modern Witch prefer to be addressed as Sorceress.”
‘That’s not really much better…’ Sunset noted wryly, as most of the Equestrian Sorceresses she’d read of tended to wind up on the wrong end of the law, as evidenced by the extensive adventures of Starswirl and his apprentice, Clover the Clever, to say nothing of Princess Celestia’s own encounters ‘Then again, what the hay do I care what they call me, so long as I can achieve my destiny.’
“Rubeus!” Ollivander exclaimed, turning to regard the Keeper of the Keys, who to Sunset’s surprise was trying, and failing spectacularly, to make himself look small and unnoticeable “Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again. . . . Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn’t it?”
“It was, Sir, yes Sir.” Hagrid admitted, looking decidedly shamefaced as he held his pink umbrella against his side in a way that he probably hoped was subtle.
“Good wand, that one.” Ollivander mused fondly, only to turn decidedly stern “But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?”
“Er-yes, they did, yes,” Hagrid confirmed, shuffling his feet awkwardly like a foal caught doing something they shouldn’t “I’ve still got the pieces, though.” he added brightly.
“But you don’t use them?” Ollivander demanded sharply, his unnerving moon-like eyes peering into Hagrid’s black beetles piercingly for a moment before turning back to Harry “Well then Mister Potter, tell me, which is your Wand Arm?”
What followed next was an…interesting few minutes. After Hagrid had excused himself, citing he had to ‘Pick up somethin’, Ollivander, or rather his enchanted measuring tape, had proceeded to measure their ‘wand arms’ (along with the space between their nostrils and, for some bizarre reason, Sunset’s torso) while the odd little man shuffled into the back, returning bearing several boxes from his collection, explaining the basics of his craft with the air of long practice and repetition.
“Okay, I could understand the Phoenix Feather and maybe the Dragon Heartstrings…” Sunset noted, shuddering slightly at the last one “But what’s so magical about Unicorn Hair? Wouldn’t it make more sense to use the horn?”
“I suppose from a Muggle perspective it does seem rather silly.” Ollivander noted with a strange, enigmatic smile in the face of Sunset’s scowl “Unicorns, Miss Shimmer, are some of the most magical creatures in this world. Indeed, I challenge you to name one part of a Unicorn’s body that doesn’t have some sort of magical property, be it their horn, their hair, or even their blood.”
“Blood?” Sunset repeated, her own freezing in her veins, her eyes widening in terror as she backed away from the moon-eyed wand-maker warily “You people kill unicorns for their blood?!”
“Great heavens, no!” Ollivander assured her, his enigmatic mask breaking for the first time as he regarded her with a look so stern Sunset swore she was standing before Celestia “While I won’t deny certain unscrupulous Wizards may have done so in the past, it is against Wizarding Law to harm a Unicorn in any shape or form. What few ingredients that can be harvested from them, such as horns or tail hairs, are done so naturally when they shed. To draw their blood for any reason is a death sentence, only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime.”
“Glad to hear it…” Sunset stammered, internally relieved by the revelation “The blood must be pretty powerful then, if they had to pass a law against harvesting it.”
“Oh undoubtedly.” Ollivander confirmed lowly “While I am unfamiliar as to its use in potions, it is said the blood of a unicorn will keep you alive even if you are an inch from death, though you will be forced to live a cursed life the moment it touches your lips.”
‘Well that takes care of my nightmares for the next century…’ Sunset noted dryly, suppressing the urge to shiver as she forced the grizzly image from her mind even as Ollivander turned back to helping Harry find his wand, a process that seemed to involve handing him one, waiting barely long enough for him to give it a little wave before snatching it out of his hand and replacing it with another, and another, and so-on and so forth until Harry was standing beside a small mound of discarded wands, looking increasingly more annoyed even as Ollivander seemed to grow more chipper with each subsequent failure ‘This better not be a ‘you touch it you buy it’ scheme…’
“Tricky customer, eh?” Ollivander chuckled, stepping away from Harry towards the back room of the little shop “Not to worry, Mr. Potter, we’ll find the perfect match here somewhere…” he trailed off, finger brushing against a particular shelf “I wonder…yes, why not…?” he mused, pulling a box out and returning to the storefront “Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple.” He explained, presenting the wand within to Harry “An unusual combination if I do say so myself.”
The moment Harry took the wand from its box, Sunset felt the air in the store shift subtly, her eyes widening in surprise as the boy raised the wand above his head, bringing it swishing down, trailing a stream of red and gold sparks through the air, not unlike a firework. “Oh, bravo!” Ollivander applauded, looking decidedly pleased with himself “Yes, indeed, oh, very good Mr. Potter…” he congratulated, taking the wand off the boy and examining it “Well, well, well…how very curious…”
“Sorry?” Harry wondered, eyeing the man with understandable wariness as he returned the wand to its box and proceeded to wrap both in brown paper “but what’s curious?”
“I remember every wand I’ve ever sold, Mr. Potter.” Ollivander explained calmly, fixing Harry with his pale stare “Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather, just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother…” his eyes flicked to Harry’s brow “why, its brother gave you that scar.”
‘Yeah that’s not ominous…’ Sunset deadpanned, grimacing slightly as Harry eyed the box containing his wand with decidedly more trepidation than he had a moment earlier even as Ollivander turned his attention to her “So should I just pick up the discarded wands or-?”
“No need for that, Miss Shimmer.” Ollivander countered, waving his own wand, which he pulled out of nowhere, and promptly returning its discarded brethren to their respective boxes “Dumbledore has already informed me of your…unique circumstances…” his moon-like eyes sending shivers down Sunset’s spine as he smiled enigmatically “I will be making your wand personally, I merely needed your measurements in order to better fit it to your needs.”
“That’s…great…I guess?” Sunset mused, internally torn between pride that her wand would be a custom job and concern, wondering just what Dumbledore had told the wand-maker “When will it be ready?”
“Oh not long.” Ollivander assured her with an enigmatic smile “I shall have it delivered to you before the first day of term, so you’ll have plenty of time to get yourself settled in.”
“Gee, thanks…” Sunset sighed, internally screaming at the frustration of being so close to reclaiming her magic, even if she could understand his reasons for taking his time. After all, if a job was worth doing, it was worth doing right, and the less uncertain factors between Sunset and her objective, the better “So do I pay now or?”
“Dumbledore has already paid in advance.” Ollivander assured her with a smile that did little to assuage her mounting discomfort, as she knew all-too-well there was no such thing as a free meal “I must confess, I’m looking forward to seeing what you will go on to do with it, Miss Shimmer.”
“You and me both.” Sunset sighed, thanking the man along with Harry as they took their leave of his store, only to pause in the doorway “One last thing…” she called out, earning a quirked brow from the wand maker “You said you remember every wand you’ve sold, right?” she continued at his nod “The one from the same Phoenix as Harry’s…what was the owner’s name?” she held up a hand as he opened his mouth to reply “And I don’t mean whatever he was calling himself when he died…I mean the boy who bought the wand.”
“Ah,” Ollivander mused, and for a moment, Sunset swore she detected a hint of approval in those creepy moon-like eyes “Do you know, Miss Shimmer, that you are the first to ask that question in over Ten Years?” he chuckled at her look of exasperation “Indeed, say what you will about Muggleborns, they tend to have a lot more common sense than other Wizarding folk.”
‘Another thing this place has in common with Equestria…’ Sunset mused, as Earth Ponies, as their name implied, tended to be more down-to-earth than the other tribes. That isn’t to say there weren’t bad apples among them, but for the most part Earth Ponies tended to think things through a lot more, if only because they had less options for getting out of a sticky situation compared to Pegasi or Unicorns “So, his name?”
“Riddle.” Ollivander replied softly, sending an ominous shiver down Sunset’s Spine “Tom Marvolo Riddle.”
“Good morning Princess.” Kibitz greeted as he entered Celestia’s personal chambers, Raven levitating a tray of steaming tea alongside him.
“Good morning Kibitz, Raven.” Celestia returned, smiling pleasantly at the pair as she trotted in from the balcony using her hoof to suppress a yawn “Busy schedule today?”
“As always, Ma’am.” Kibitz confirmed, smiling subtly at the flash of irritation in the Alicorn’s eyes that she quickly covered up as Raven poured her a steaming pot of tea “Though if it’s any consolation, I’ve set aside an entire hour for you and Miss Sparkle after Luncheon.”
“Bless you, Kibitz.” Celestia sighed, smiling gratefully at not having to deal with the trappings of court for another hour. It was times like this she truly regretted not forming a council to help delegate such matters after being forced to banish Luna. The problem with such an action, however, was that she’d already lived through the headache such a decision would result in.
Half the problems faced during the formation of Equestria had been the result of nopony being able to agree with what was best for the nation. The Earth Ponies wanted a Democracy with elected Leaders, the Militaristic Pegasi wanted an Stratocracy that prioritized the Armed Forces and the Unicorns…well the less said about their views on how things should be run the better.
“I trust Twilight has been settling in well?” the Princess inquired, hoping to taker her mind of the past by focusing on the future, namely a certain filly's role in it.
“Almost too well.” Kibitz admitted with a chuckle “I’ve received several complaints from the Head Librarian of her sneaking in after hours and building book forts to sleep in…several times a night in fact.”
“She does love her books…” Celestia chuckled, taking a sip of her tea just as a burst of flame startled Raven, the Princess’ catching the teapot with her magic before it could shatter on the ground before smiling at the new arrival “And good morning to you Fawkes, I trust Albus is doing well?”
“I’ll never get used to that…” Kibitz sighed as he helped Raven to her hooves, the startled unicorn glaring up at the male phoenix, years of dealing with Philomena’s antics letting her know he’d done that on purpose “Another report from Professor Dumbledore I take it? I trust Sunset Shimmer is doing well?”
“Very well, thankfully.” Celestia confirmed with a relieved sigh, though Kibitz didn’t miss the troubled look in her eyes “Albus tells me she’s made herself quite at home in the castle Library, despite the best efforts of the Librarian.”
“Ah, situation normal then.” Kibitz didn’t quite snark, it wouldn’t be proper and he was above such things, but it was strangely comforting to know that Celestia’s errant student hadn’t changed that much, though he quickly changed his tune at sight of her concerned frown “I understand your concern, Princess, but it has only been just over a month since she arrived in their world.” He reminded her while checking his pocket watch “If memory serves, the other students won’t be arriving until…later today actually.”
“I understand that, Kibitz.” Celestia assured him with a weary sigh “I just can’t help but worry about her. Sunset has a brilliant mind and is an excellent student…but that talent led to her being isolated from her peers. While I blame myself for pushing her away, I wouldn’t have been forced to take such action if she’d just opened up and made friends.”
Normally this would be the point where Kibitz would offer some sage words of advice, to remind his Princess that nopony could predict the future, but such platitudes fell dismally short when it came to Celestia, whom at times had seemingly predicted the worst catastrophes to ever befall Equestria over the course of her thousand-year reign, to the point many believed her to be all-seeing and omnipotent.
Indeed, early into his career Kibitz had been of the same mind, it wasn’t until he’d served as her Advisor for several years that he realized, as all his predecessors before him had, that at the end of the day his Princess wasn’t the infallible deity that many a laypony believed her to be. She was simply a sad, lonely mare who had the reins of power thrust onto her far too early with the loss of her mentor, and with the loss of her sister had been forced to mature before she ever got the chance to enjoy life, in order to ensure her subjects could enjoy theirs.
It was a humbling thought, but one that had galvanized the then young Kibitz into becoming the Stallion he was today. While there was very little he, or anypony really, could do to relieve the burdens Celestia had born for so long, he would always be there to provide moral support, if nothing else.
Well, that and ensure idiots like Blueblood were kept as far away from the throne room as possible. Seriously, take your eyes off the idiot for too long and he’d have all the paintings replaced with portraits of himself.
“Have faith, milady.” He offered solemnly, earning a look of surprise from the Princess and Raven “While I confess to not possessing the best opinion of Miss Shimmer,” he pressed on despite Celestia’s frown “I at the very least can acknowledge she isn’t a fool. If she hopes to survive in this new world without the benefit of your patronage, then she will need to at least make connections outside the school.”
“That is true…” Celestia acknowledged, some of the worry fading from her features “And Albus did mention that she was getting along well with one of the Professors.”
“Oh? Albus is it?” Kibitz noted, smiling coyly as he caught the telltale look of alarm in Celestia’s eyes before she averted her gaze to sip her tea “Far be it from me to comment on your private life, Princess, but I feel I must advise caution if you seek to start a long-distance relationship with a…younger Stallion.”
The ensuing spit-take, and the deliciously scandalized look on Raven’s face, was one of the many happy memories that would warm Kibitz’ heart until his dying day.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy - Muggle Studies Classroom.
“And…time!” a cheery voice called out, Sunset sighing as she put down her quill and sat back, using her free hand to massage the one that had been writing for the past hour.
“Glad that’s over…” she grumbled, wincing as her joints popped before glancing up as her parchment was collected for evaluation “So how do you think I did?”
“Well if the quality of your penmanship is any indication then at the very least you’ve greatly improved from when we started Sunset.” Her examiner chuckled “Then again, if penmanship were all one needed to get ahead in this world we wouldn’t need wands.”
“I suppose that’s true.” Sunset chuckled, unable to help smiling at the older woman as she returned to her desk to mark the former Unicorn's efforts, said Unicorn releasing a sigh as she glanced out the classroom window.
It had been over a month since Sunset arrived in this strange, alien world with it’s strange variation of Magic. Needless to say, she hadn’t been idle during that time, pouring over every piece of text she could get her hands on, and a few she technically shouldn’t have had access to, from both her own collection and the Hogwarts Library.
As you might imagine, this hadn’t endeared her any to the Hogwarts Librarian, Madam Pince, who like many a Librarian before her was possessed of the belief that Books, as a whole, belonged on a shelf, preferably hers, and was thus predisposed to despise anyone, student, faculty or otherwise, who committed the sacrilege of taking them off said shelves and wearing out the words by reading them.
Fortunately for Sunset, there wasn’t a lot the old vulture could actually do to stop her from doing so provided she followed the, admittedly impressive, list of rules pertaining to the borrowing of said books, several of which she suspected to be of Madam Pince’s own design.
Unfortunately for Madam Pince, with the exception of the incident with the Mirror, Sunset was more than used to finding and abusing loopholes in Celestia’s many, many rules, and it had only taken a single conversation with Professor McGonagall before Pince was reduced to glaring impotently at the former unicorn due to her informing the Deputy Headmistress that looming over her like the vulture she resembled bordered on harassment.
‘I can’t believe I actually had to dig up a book of law to explain that being the same gender wasn’t a credible defense.’ Sunset marveled, shaking her head at how backwards this society could be, as she knew from experience that Mares were just as capable, if not more so, of harassing their fellow Mares as any Stallion ‘Good grief, it’s almost as if they’re stuck in the dark ages!’
“Well the results are in Miss Shimmer.” Her examiner chirped, drawing Sunset’s attention back to the classroom only to be faced with a kind smile “I’m pleased to say you’ve passed your Eleven-Plus exam with flying colors, congratulations.”
“Thank you, Professor Burbage.” Sunset returned, smiling gratefully at the older woman tiredly “I couldn’t have done it without your help.”
“Oh, think nothing of it my dear.” Professor Burbage assured her with a wave and a kind smile “I’m just grateful that the Headmaster gave me this opportunity.”
Charity Burbage was one of the younger Professors at Hogwarts, though by no means did this mean she was a spring chicken. If Sunset was pressed to place her age, she’d wager the woman was middle-aged at best, pushing forty at the very most. Then again, from what she’d read Wizards and Witches tended to live longer lives than their non-magical cousins, something she could easily believe considering how spry Dumbledore acted given his own impressive age.
The two had met when Dumbledore had happened across Sunset voicing her confusion on the lack of information pertaining to the non-magical world in the library, one of the few differences between this world and her own, as even in Canterlot, where the population consisted mostly of unicorn elitists, there existed texts from all three pony tribes, as well as a few other species that Celestia had acquired over the course of her thousand year reign.
Needless to say, the revelation that the Wizarding World had distanced themselves from their non-magical brethren, to the point the latter believed the existence of magic itself to be a work of fiction, had floored Sunset even more than Celestia’s dismissal had. Not even the fact they had done so for survival, and boy had the night terrors she’d had endured after learning about that particularly dark period of history been fun, did anything to help her come to terms with such a discrepancy.
In Equestria, Magic was synonymous with life itself. It didn’t matter what species of Pony you were, or even if you were a Pony at all, Magic existed in all shapes and forms, whether it was Celestia moving the Sun and Moon, to the simple magic of helping crops grow or making a child laugh. For an entire subset of a species to be forced to go to such extremes simply to ensure their survival…had Dumbledore not stepped in to correct her assumptions by introducing her to Professor Burbage, Sunset could have very easily written off the entire ‘Muggle’ World as a lost cause.
A Muggleborn herself, Professor Burbage was all too eager to enlighten Sunset of the truth of the Non-Wizarding World, providing her with books, newspaper articles and the occasional trip to non-magical London to let her expand her world view and watch several educational films that had been enough to blow Sunset’s preconceived notions completely out of the water.
It was like looking at two sides of the same coin. On the one hand you had the Wizards and Witches, with their spells that defied all the known laws of physics and a menagerie of beasts, creatures and beings that differed from their Equestrian counterparts just enough yet were also close enough that Sunset still felt pangs of homesickness every time she opened New Scamander’s Magnum Opus.
On the other hand, you had the Muggles, or Non-Wizarding folk as Sunset preferred to call them, having determined some time ago that the term was derogatory in nature, and while she would freely admit to being arrogant, in her opinion it was well-placed, she wasn’t a damned racist. Regardless of her sentiments however, there was no denying that, for all their Phenomenal Cosmic Powers, the Wizarding world simply couldn’t hold a candle to the achievements of their Non-Magical brethren.
‘I mean for Faust’s sake they’ve landed on the Moon!’ she exclaimed, shaking her head at the memory of Neil Armstrong’s iconic first step ‘And then there’s the internet thing…I can’t even imagine a spell that could do something like that!’
Make no mistake, Sunset had no desire to go native. She had every intention of mastering this world’s magic so she could achieve her destiny of Alicornhood, but while she may have disagreed with Celestia on many things, the one thing the Princess had never faulted her on had been her work ethic…save for the fact it prevented her from making friends of course.
And so, when she wasn’t taunting Madam Pince by flagrantly reading her precious magical texts in front of her, she often found herself in the company of Professor Burbage, learning about the various historical events, both the bad and the good, of what she’d come to regard as the ‘Sunlit World’.
It was during one of these conversations that Professor Burbage brought up her life prior to Hogwarts, more specifically her education. Like all first Years, Charity had received her acceptance letter at the age of Eleven, sometime after she had completed her eleven plus examinations.
At first, she’d been thrilled at the chance to go to Magic School, and indeed, she maintained those had been the best years of her life. However, upon graduating from Hogwarts, she noticed a trend among her fellow Muggleborns, namely that they had a hard time re-integrating back into non-magical society, especially whenever it came to finding a job without any indication of having completed a formal, non-magical education.
Needless to say, Charity hadn’t taken that lying down, and with a little help from her parents, who supported her beliefs to this day, she managed to not only complete her Secondary and Higher Education, actually earning a Teaching Degree from a credible University, she actively sought out the post of Muggle Studies Professor, despite it being one of Hogwarts less-popular elective courses.
“Not that it always was, mind you.” She’d informed Sunset one day while they were listening to Muggle Music, this world’s incarnation of Beaten Hooves apparently “Most people don’t know this, but back during the time of the Founders, Muggle Studies was compulsory for all Students, in order to help them blend in better with their neighbors.” She scoffed “Of course, things went downhill after Godric and Salazar fell out, so by the time the witch-hunts started most Wizards and Witches were more than content to just go into hiding. I won’t lie, it’s not like we had a choice, but I can’t help but wonder what our societies would’ve been like if we hadn’t cut ourselves off.”
‘Probably a lot more like Equestria.’ Sunset mused wryly. While the divide between the three tribes had lessened to the point of non-existence under Celestia’s reign, there were still pockets of resistance here and there that refused to give up their traditions. Earth Ponies in particular were notably hard headed when it came to any form of innovation that threatened their traditions, hence why the Canterlot Express required a full team of draw-horses despite having a perfectly good steam engine, and the less said about Pegasi Weather Management the better.
No, seriously, don’t ever bring up Weather Management Spells around Pegasi. Sunset learnt that lesson the hard way and had no desire to go an entire week without sleep due to freak thunder storms.
“Ah, here you are.” A kindly voice noted, snapping Sunset out of her thoughts as Albus Dumbledore strode into Professor Burbage’s office with a kind smile and his trademark twinkle in his eye “Still burning the candle at both ends I see, Sunset?”
“More like burning two separate candles, Professor.” Sunset quipped, not even bothered by his casual use of her name, more than used to Celestia doing the same “Have to do something to keep myself from getting cabin-fever until term begins.”
“Ah, I remember when I had such passion for learning.” Dumbledore mused, his eyes twinkling with merry approval “My brother Aberforth used to believe I was mentally damaged…still does come to think of it. To this day we still can’t agree on the matter.”
“O-kay?” Sunset mused, wondering if the old man was going anywhere with this, half expecting him to break into a lecture about making friends only for him to surprise her by pulling out a familiar looking wrapped package “Is that-?!”
“Mr. Ollivander sends his regards, along with his sincerest apologies for the delay.” Albus chuckled as she all but snatched the parcel from his hands “And not a moment too-soon it would seem, your fellow Students should be arriving tomorrow Night.” He smiled knowingly “Which reminds me, have you packed your things for the trip?”
“No point, since they’re already in the castle.” Sunset countered, ripping the paper off the package to reveal a wand case “I mean, is there even any point to me going on the train? All my stuff is already here, you could just sort me into my house and I’ll wait for everyone else.”
“As expedient and forward thinking as that may be, there are some traditions, sadly, that cannot be avoided.” Dumbledore admitted with a twinkle in his eye “And while the Hogwarts Express is, admittedly, one of our more recent ones, it is a rite of passage that all Students must go through.”
“If you say so…” Sunset sighed, rising from her chair and placing her backpack on her desk “I packed some things in here already, mostly books to read on the trip. The rest are in my trunk.”
“Then they shall be moved to your designated common room after the sorting this evening.” Dumbledore assured her “Now then, unless Professor Burbage needs you for anything else?” he smiled as the Professor shook her head “Then if you’ll come this way, Sunset, I shall escort you myself.”
“Whatever.” Sunset sighed, slinging her backpack over her shoulder as she waved farewell to Professor Burbage “See you later Professor.”
“Sooner than you’d think, Miss Shimmer.” Professor Burbage assured her, smiling cryptically at the confused redhead as Dumbledore led her out of the classroom.
Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Harry grimaced as he dragged his trunk through the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, trying his best to ignore the multitude of students crammed into the other compartments, partially out of shyness, as he wasn’t used to being around children his own age due to Dudley’s gang scaring them off, and partially to avoid them saying goodbye to their families, yet another reminder of something he didn’t have.
With that in mind, he stubbornly made his way down to the back of the train, looking for an empty compartment where he’d be able to enjoy the trip to Hogwarts in peace, only to blink as he opened the last door, only to find it occupied by a familiar face, currently nose deep in a book.
“Oh, hello there.” Sunset greeted, her frown of irritation giving way to pleasant surprise at the sight of the Boy-Who-Lived standing in the doorway “Harry right? Come on in.”
“Thanks…” Harry stammered, setting down the cage containing Hedwig, the snowy owl Hagrid had bought for him in Diagon Alley, before struggling to shove and heave his trunk into the luggage rack, only to blink as it suddenly lifted off the ground and hovered into the compartment.
“Here, let me help you with that.” Sunset offered, her wand held out as she silently guided the trunk until it was tucked away before turning back to the boy “You gonna come in?”
“R-Right, sorry.” Harry stammered, shutting the door to the compartment behind him before taking the seat across from the redhead by the window “Um…nice to see you again…Sunset Shimmer, right?”
“That’s me.” The redhead replied with a nod before turning back to her book “And you’re Harry Potter…though clearly not the same Harry Potter everyone goes on about.” She smirked at his look of confusion “I mean, you don’t look like you’ve been going around slaying evil wizards and dragons all summer.”
“What?” Harry blinked, only to groan as he recalled the infamous ‘Harry Potter’ Shelf back at Flourish and Blotts, a collection of popular wizarding children’s books that depicted him going on countless ‘Adventures’ over the years “I’d forgotten about that…who comes up with this stuff?”
“I don’t know, but if I were you I’d start looking for a good lawyer.” Sunset advised, turning her attention back to her book “I mean, if I found out someone was making money off my name and image without my permission, I’d have them for every penny they had.”
“I think I’ve got enough money as it is.” Harry sweat-dropped, recalling the mounds of golden Galleons in his vault at Gringotts, and that was just his trust fund! “I’d be happy enough if they just stopped writing those books to be honest.”
“Not gonna happen.” Sunset shot that hope down in flames “Trust me, a…friend…of my old teacher is in a similar situation.” She shook her head with a scoff “Things got so bad she can’t even go outdoors anymore without donning a disguise and changing her name these days.”
“Ouch…” Harry grimaced, unable to help relating to the poor woman despite only learning of his fame over a month ago “So where’d you learn to do that thing with the trunk?”
“What? Levitation?” Sunset wondered, blinking at him in surprise over the rim of her book “It’s one of the spells in the charms textbook. What, did you leave them at the bottom of your trunk until now?”
“My relatives…don’t like Magic.” Harry reminded her with a grimace, recalling the mocking laughter of the Dursleys as they left him at the station with no clue how to find the Platform “They tried everything to keep me from finding out about it, if Hagrid hadn’t tracked them down I’d probably never have gotten my Hogwarts letter.”
He flinched as Sunset looked up from her book to regard him with an unreadable expression “They didn’t…hurt you, did they?” she asked, her tone a mixture of anger and some foreign emotion that he realized might have been concern.
“Uh, no…” he stammered, only to backpedal in the face of her stare “Well, not anymore…ever since Hagrid…” he paused as if remembering something before changing tracks “Well they pretty much left me alone for the last month, but I figured it’d be better to avoid making them angry by reading books on Magic where they could see them.”
“I see…” Sunset noted, though Harry could tell from her expression that the redhead didn’t quite believe him, something he’d gotten more than used to thanks to the Dursleys framing him as some sort of hooligan to everyone on Privet Drive.
“S-so I-uh…I see you got your wand…” He noted desperately in an attempt to steer their conversation away from his personal life, or lack thereof “What type is it?”
“Holly and Phoenix Feather, just like yours.” Sunset revealed, holding it up with a smirk “Mine’s thirteen inches though, so no worries getting them confused.”
“O-kay?” Harry noted, wondering why on earth she was smirking at him like that, only to jolt as the Express whistle sounded, glancing out the window in time to see the parents stepping back from the platform as the train began to move “Looks like we’re moving.”
“About time…” Sunset sighed, turning as if to return to her book, only to pull up short as her eyes met Harry’s “You want to learn how to use the levitation charm?” she asked, smiling at his look of shock “I mean, you don’t want to be the only one lagging a month behind everyone else, right?”
“No-I mean sure, I mean-!” Harry stammered, taking a moment to settle himself before nodding in confirmation “I’d like that, thank you Sunset.”
The next hour or so was spent simply going over Harry’s First-Year Textbooks with the exception of A History of Magic and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, both of which Sunset assured him he could read on his own time, since they were mostly theory anyway.
Normally Harry would’ve gotten bored long before this, for while he wasn’t as bad as Dudley, he was still a ten-year-old boy, and thus predisposed to finding lectures boring, even if the subject matter was something as fascinating as Magic. But there was something about the way Sunset explained each spell, guiding him through the basic wand movements whilst making suggestions for improvement, that held him riveted to her every word, so much so, in fact, that he didn’t notice the compartment door sliding open until Sunset turned to glare at the culprit.
“Can you be helped?” she demanded, startling to Harry out of his thoughts, the Boy Who Lived turning to follow her gaze, only to blink at the sight of the youngest of the redheaded boys he'd followed onto the platform.
“Oh! Um, sorry?” the poor boy stammered, gaping at Sunset in surprise before pointing at the seat beside Harry with a shy, hopeful smile “I don’t suppose anyone’s sitting there? Only everywhere else is full.”
“Really?” Sunset demanded, quirking a brow at the ginger disbelievingly “You’re telling me you’ve been walking up and down the train for…” she glanced down at her watch “An hour and a Half since we left the station, looking for a place to sit?”
“Um…yes?” the ginger stammered, glancing furtively between Harry and Sunset, as if hoping to garner sympathy from his fellow male “I mean, there were other places, sure but most of the people in them already knew each other and I didn’t want to-!”
“Hey, Ron.” Another voice called out, heralding the arrival of the boy’s twin older brothers, Fred and George if Harry recalled, though for the life of him he couldn’t remember which twin was who “You find a seat yet? If not c’mon with us, we’re going down the middle of the train, Lee Jordan’s got a giant tarantula down there.”
“Right,” mumbled Ron, sending one last imploring glance towards the compartment, only to be met with Sunset’s piercing stare and Harry’s apologetic shrug “I’m coming.”
“Did you really need to scare him off?” Harry asked after the compartment door shut behind the departing ginger “I mean, there’s plenty of room in here.”
“He’s got nobody but himself to blame for not grabbing a seat before the train left the station.” Sunset insisted with a wave of her hand “Besides, it was obvious he was looking for you.” She scoffed at Harry’s shocked expression “Oh don’t look so surprised, whether you like it or not you’re a celebrity to these people. Trust me, the sooner you get used to spotting potential brown-nosing gold-diggers, the less stress you’ll have to deal with down the line, though for now I’d settle for just not giving them your last name.”
“Um…alright then…” Harry stammered, wondering what on earth a ‘brown-nosing gold-digger’ was, deciding to put off asking for now as Sunset returned to instructing him on the nuances of transfiguration, the rest of the trip passing in silence until the arrival of the Trolley Lady, whereupon Harry purchased enough treats off the cart to give an entire orphanage diabetes, and two instances when a hapless looking boy and a bossy looking girl entered the compartment looking for the former’s lost toad.
“We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes’ time.” A voice suddenly echoed through the train, snapping them out of their review on Potion Ingredients, a field Sunset herself found to be fascinating, having not had much experience with them in Canterlot “Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately.”
“Huh, how about that…” Sunset mused, glancing down at her watch in surprise “guess time really does fly when you’re having fun. You’d better get changed into your robes.”
“Um…right…” Harry stammered, reaching into his trunk for his robes, only to pause awkwardly as he turned to find Sunset remaining in her seat, nose buried in a book once more “Um…do you wan’t me to leave or-?”
“Huh? Whatever for?” Sunset wondered, eyeing him like he’d grown another head “Just go ahead and get changed, it’s not like you’ve got anything I haven’t seen before.”
“Uh…right…” Harry stammered, flushing furiously as he turned his back to the girl, fully aware of her presence as he quickly undressed, slipping into his uniform as quick as possible only to stumble slightly when it came to his tie.
“Here, let me help with that.” Sunset offered, startling Harry, who hadn’t heard her move, as she reached over to undo his tie, the Boy-Who-Lived flushing as she fixed it correctly “There you go, if it makes it easier, just don’t undo it all the way when you take it off, they don’t need washing as much as your shirts will.”
“T-Thanks…” Harry offered, flushing slightly at her closeness, taking a moment to settle himself as he pulled on his long black robes “Um, where’d you learn to fix a tie?”
“Taught myself.” Sunset admitted with a shrug as she returned to her seat “I personally don’t see the appeal of them, or clothes at all for that matter. We never had to bother with that kind of stuff back home except on special occasions.”
“Wait what-?” Harry began, only to trail off as the train jerked to a halt, the two of them rising from their seats to join the crowd of students old and new thronging the corridor.
Despite having spent over a month at the Castle, Sunset had to admit that she could understand the appeal in having the First Years travel to Hogwarts by boat. The sight of the castle backed by the starlit sky as they sailed across an ominous black lake in enchanted boats was like something out of a fable from old Equestria, back before the sight of Canterlot Palace had become a common thing.
‘Say what you like about Dumbledore, he’s definitely got a flair for the dramatic.’ She mused as she helped Harry out of the boat they’d shared with Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, and Hermione, the bossy looking girl who kept pointing out things she’d read in Hogwarts: A History to anyone she thought might be listening.
After the last of the students had disembarked, and Hagrid reunited a sniffling Neville with his errant pet, the Groundskeeper proceeded to lead them up a passageway carved into the rock of the mountain until they found themselves jogging to keep up with him as he strode across the smooth, damp grass of the castle courtyard.
“Everyone here?” he called out, glancing over the sea of wide-eyed children like a mother hen counting her chicks, pausing only to confirm that Neville hadn’t somehow lost his toad again before turning to the massive oak doors and knocking three times with one gigantic fist, the door swinging open, as if by magic, which in retrospect it likely was, to reveal the imposing form of Minverva McGonagall, clad as usual in her emerald-green robes and pointed black Witch’s Hat “The firs’ years, Professor McGonagall.”
“Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here.” The Deputy Headmistress instructed, gesturing for the students to follow her before leading them through the torch-lit hallways of the castle towards the Great Hall, stopping short of the doors before turning to face them.
“Welcome to Hogwarts.” She greeted them warmly yet primly, hands clasped before her as she let her stern gaze wash over the crowd, pausing briefly as they landed on Harry and Sunset before resuming her speech “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats with your classmates, you will be sorted into your respective Houses. For those of you who do not know, the four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.”
Sunset quirked a brow as a round of whispers rose up at the mention of the last one, only silenced by McGonagall’s stern glare and raised eyebrow. Apparently Slytherin had quite the reputation, and not a very good one if the glares on several of the First Years, particularly the ginger from the train, was anything to go by.
“Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards.” McGonagall continued once the whispering settled down “While you are at Hogwarts, your House will be like your family. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room. Your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule breaking will lose points.”
‘Well that’s one way to ensure they put out their best…’ Sunset noted wryly, recalling her early days prior to being accepted into Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. Unlike the Princess, who believed in allowing young minds to blossom at their own pace, it wasn’t uncommon for her earlier instructors to employ a similar system of pitting students against one another to bring out their full potential.
Of course, having experienced both forms of tutelage, Sunset could honestly say that neither was perfect. True, Celestia’s approach might be the more popular, but it depended entirely on the students putting in the effort, and while prodigies like Sunset would excel regardless, it couldn’t be denied that, for the right reward, a healthy dose of competition could light a fire under even the most unmotivated slacker.
“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school.” McGonagall informed them, her eyes lingering for a moment on Neville’s cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and the ginger boy from the train, who had a distinctive smudge on his nose “I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.”
“You look fine.” Sunset assured Harry, who was trying, and failing, to flatten his bird’s nest of a haircut into something more manageable as McGonagall took her leave “Seriously, calm down.”
“Sorry.” Harry offered, flushing at being caught out only to swallow nervously as they continued to wait for McGonagall to return “I don’t suppose you know how they sort us into Houses?”
“Some sort of test, I think.” The Ginger from the train grumbled nervously, rubbing at the smudge on his nose “Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking.”
“More than likely.” Sunset acknowledged with a nod “The test I mean, your brother was likely just trying to scare you. In any case, whatever they have us do, it isn’t likely to be particularly strenuous since they haven’t taught us anything first, so there’s no reason to panic-!”
She trailed off as of the children in the back burst out screaming, whipping around with her wand at the ready, only to relax at the sight of the Hogwarts Ghosts, arguing with one another as usual, no doubt over something peeves the poltergeist had done.
“Forgive and forget, I say.” The Fat Friar proposed, the Hufflepuff Ghost clasping his hands before him imploringly as he regarded his fellow specters “We ought to give him a second chance.”
“My dear Friar, haven’t we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?” Sir Nicholas demanded crossly, the Gryffindor Ghost looking decidedly put out “He gives us all a bad name and you know, he’s not really even a ghost…” he paused at the sight of the First Years “I say, what are you all doing here?”
“New students!” the Friar exclaimed, smiling around at the silent children with barely contained excitement “About to be Sorted, I suppose? Hope to see you in Hufflepuff! My old House, you know!”
“Move along now.” a sharp voice commanded, the students whipping round to find that McGonagall had returned while they were gawking at the ghosts “The Sorting Ceremony’s about to start.” She explained after the ghosts had floated away through the opposite wall “Now, form a line, and follow me.”
“Stick close.” Sunset whispered, taking Harry’s hand as she stepped in line behind a boy with sandy hair, completely missing the way the Potter’s cheeks flushed at her touch as they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.
While hardly a new sight, given how long she’d spent in the castle, Sunset had to admit that the Hogwarts staff had gone all-out for the Firs Years, the massive Hall lit by thousands of candles that were floating in midair over the four House tables, where the rest of the students were sitting, while the faculty sat behind another table at the top of the hall.
“It’s enchanted to look like the sky outside.” She explained after catching Harry gaping up at the ceiling in disbelief “It’ll even mimic it when it rains, though thankfully not the actual water.”
“Wow…” Harry breathed, marveling at the sight in wonderment, only to quickly look down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of them, followed by a positively ancient looking pointed wizard’s hat that would’ve sent his Aunt Petunia into fits if anyone had dared to bring it into her house.
“Maybe we’re supposed to pull a rabbit out of it?” he whispered to Sunset, only to flush as she scoffed at the idea, though his embarrassment soon gave way to shock as the hat twitched, a rip near the brim opening wide like a mouth before it promptly broke into song.
‘Eh, give it about a five.’ Sunset shrugged, applauding halfheartedly along with the rest of the hall as the Hat finished off with a bow to each of the four tables before McGonagall began to call out names ‘Though that bit of intel about the houses was interesting.’
Truth be told, with the exception of Hufflepuff, Sunset could see herself fitting into any of the other house. While she wasn’t particularly chivalrous, she liked to think of herself as rather brave and daring, she’d have to be to defy Celestia as she had, but at the same time she could see the appeal of finding likeminded individuals in Ravenclaw or Slytherin, home to the Wise and Cunning.
‘No point fretting over things now.’ She reminded herself, looking on impassively as one by one her fellow First Years were sorted, some of them quickly, others taking several minutes before the Sorting Hat shouted out their House. It was about half-way through the list that she noticed Harry growing decidedly more worried with each passing name “What’s wrong?”
“It…it’s nothing…” he tried to assure her, only to bite the bullet in the face of her quirked eyebrow “It’s just…what if I’m not chosen?” he asked “I know it sounds silly but I just can’t help but worry what’ll happen if I’m asked to leave because the hat doesn’t say anything.”
“You’re right, that does sound silly.” Sunset deadpanned, sighing in exasperation at his embarrassed flush “Look, Harry, do you really think they’d have sent Hagrid to deliver your letter and help you buy all your school things if you didn’t belong here? Trust me, you’ll be fine no matter what house you wind up in?”
“But what if the Hat puts me in Slytherin?” Harry whispered, though to be fair he looked a lot less worried about that than the prospect of being sent back to his relatives “Vol…You-Know-Who was in Slytherin and-!”
“Stop that.” Sunset chided, placing a finger to Harry’s lips to silence him “Seriously, it’s getting annoying, you know his real name so just call him Riddle if you don’t want to say the other one.”
She lowered her finger with a shrug as Neville jogged back to return the Sorting Hat to a decidedly unamused McGonagall, the poor boy having run off with it still on his head the moment he was sorted into Gryffindor.
“As for being sorted into Slytherin, does it really matter?” she asked, earning an affronted look from the Ginger boy that she pointedly ignored “So what if Riddle was a Slytherin? That doesn’t mean you should base your opinion of the house by his actions, unless you think one of your classmates is the next Dark Lord in the making.”
“I guess…” Harry mumbled, still looking troubled, though decidedly calmer than he’d been a moment ago, the two of them looking on in silence as the rest of their peers were sorted until finally, McGonagall called out his name “Well, here goes nothing…”
“You’ll be fine.” Sunset assured him with a scoff, rolling her eyes as whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall as he stepped up to the stool, sending the boy reassuring nod just before McGonagall dropped the hat over his eyes, the entire hall seeming to hold their breath as they waited for the Sorting Hat’s verdict.
“GRYFFINDOR!” it roared at last, Harry whipping the hat off his head and staggering shakily towards the Gryffindor table as the rest of the hall, with the exception of Slytherin, promptly burst into cheers, the twins from the train even going so far as to chant ‘We got Potter! We got Potter!’ like they were at a Hoof-Ball match.
“Yes, yes, quiet down.” McGonagall urged, letting off a few fireworks from her wand when it was clear her voice wasn’t loud enough, though Sunset didn’t miss the hint of pride in the normally stern woman’s eyes as she glanced towards the Gryffindor table “Now then, Shimmer, Sunset?”
‘Moment of truth…’ Sunset sighed, stepping forward confidently as the cheers died down, taking one last glance at Harry, who returned it with a shaky grin of his own before McGonagall dropped the hat on her head and all she saw was darkness.
‘Well now…’ a voice she dimly recognized as the Hat whispered in her ear ‘Aren’t you an odd one…it isn’t every day I’m asked to sort a Unicorn, especially one capable of throwing up mental barriers.’
‘Not that they did any good, right?’ Sunset grumbled, having half expected that the hat would be able to bypass her defenses somehow ‘I’m sure I don’t need to tell you what will happen if you tell anyone about me?’
'Paranoid, aren’t you?’ The Hat chuckled wryly at her threat, much to her frustration ‘Then again, I’d be a little on edge too if I made an enemy of an Immortal Goddess that controls the Sun and Moon.’
'She isn’t a Goddess.’ Sunset countered, more than a little petulantly if she was honest with herself ‘And I’m not presumptuous or suicidal enough to call my enemy…I just go sick of her holding me back from my full potential.’
‘Ah yes, there’s that healthy ambitious streak…’ the Hat noted wryly ‘I’ll confess, it takes a brave man, or pony in your case, to stick to their guns and spit in the face of authority. You’re certainly one of the brightest heads I’ve ever had the pleasure to rest on, oh if old Rowena were here she’d have snapped you up like nobody’s business.”
"Could you hurry this up?" Sunset demanded, glaring into the darkness in mounting annoyance, well aware that her sorting was taking the longest so far “Unlike you, I don't have the luxury of sitting around collecting dust."
‘Patience is a virtue, Sunset Shimmer…’ the hat chastised in a tone so eerily reminiscent of Celestia’s that for a moment Sunset swore she felt the Princess’ wing on her non-existent withers ‘In any case, you're certainly no Hufflepuff considering how many bridges you burnt on your way here, and I shudder to think what you’d get up to if given access to the Ravenclaw Library…’
“Just hurry up and put me anywhere.” Sunset snapped, grimacing as she realized she’d done so aloud, her cheeks flushing as whispers of amusement broke out in the hall “Seriously, I don’t care where you put me so long as I can achieve my destiny.”
‘Ah, but just what path will that Destiny take you down, Sunset Shimmer?’ the Sorting Hat pondered perked up at that, as she was unaware there was another Library until now ‘After all, for every door that opens, many more will close. The path you take will color people’ perception of you for years to come.’
"I could care LESS about what other people think of me.” Sunset hissed angrily, forcing down the memories of Celestia’s look of disappointment and the countless backstabbing comments her would-be peers had delivered behind her back “They can either get in line or get out of my way."
"Well spoken…" the hat chuckled, and Sunset swore she detected a hint of approval beneath its wry amusement "Indeed, very becoming of a SLYTHERIN!”.
“About damn time.” Sunset grumbled, blinking the spots out of her eyes as the hat was yanked off her head, noting with interest that her tie had shifted to the emerald and silver of Slytherin House as she strode down the stairs towards her House Table, pausing only once to meet Harry’s disappointed gaze, sending the boy a reassuring smile before taking her seat to wait for the last four people to be sorted.
Once Ronald Weasley, the ginger with the smudged nose, had scarpered off to Gryffindor, plonking himself down next to Harry without so much as a by-your-leave, Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away as Dumbledore rose to his feet, the headmaster beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.
“Welcome!” he called out warmly “Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!”
‘Well that was random…’ Sunset noted, quirking a brow at the venerable Headmaster, wondering how much of that had been an act, and how much was actual senility showing through. After all, despite her age Celestia possessed quite the mischievous streak, often playing pranks on her students simply to laugh at their reactions.
"Greetings, all." A cold voice intoned, Sunset shivering in apprehension as she turned to find the Bloody Baron, the Slytherin House Ghost, looming over the first years with his hands clasped behind his back. Like all ghosts, he existed as a simulacrum of his former self at the moment of death, and so was dressed in robes that were stained with silvery blood, though whether it was his own was anyone's guess.
"Allow me to welcome you to Slytherin House, home of the cunning and ambitious. I hope you young serpents can uphold the reputation of your peers, Slytherin house has won the House Cup six years in a row, and I would prefer to keep it that way…"
‘Yeah cause that’s not a threat…’ Sunset noted, shivering more so from the ghost’s proximity than his attempt at intimidation. Fortunately, the Baron floated off after a moment, taking a seat next to Draco Malfoy, who Sunset was pleased to see looked decidedly uncomfortable by his proximity while the rest of the table tucked into the feast that had appeared before them.
As the evening wore on, Sunset became dimly aware of Harry sending her concerned glances from the Gryffindor table, having clearly not rid himself of his preconceived notions of her new House. Since it was unlikely she’d be allowed to go and join him this early on in the year, she opted instead to simply offer him a reassuring smile every time she caught him glancing her way.
‘He really does remind me of Sunburst…’ she mused, smiling distantly at the memory of her Younger brother, whom last she’d seen had just started getting control of his magic ‘Heck they even have the same glasses and haircuts…’
She was just finishing off the last of her dessert when Dumbledore rose to his feet the hall falling silent while the last of the food vanished from their plates, regardless of whether or not people were done eating, as evidenced by Ron's grunt of protest.
"Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered." The Headmaster assured them, his eyes twinkling merrily as he held up a hand for silence "I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. As always; First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well.”
This last bit seemed to be pointedly directed towards the Gryffindor table, more accurately towards the twin redheads that were clearly Ron's older brothers, who merely bowed dramatically, earning laughs from their peers and an approving smirk from Sunset, who could appreciate those who refused to be tied down by authority.
“Settle down please." Dumbledore chuckled, waving his hand for silence "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors."
'Yeah, like that’s going to happen.’ Sunset scoffed, knowing all too well that there were thousands of different ways to conceal using magic in a crowded hallway, and that was without the benefit of robes to conceal ones focus, be it a wand or a horn.
"In other news, Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term." Dumbledore continued, pausing briefly to let the chatter die down "Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch." He instructed, gesturing to the Witch in question, who rose briefly to wave to the First Years “On a more serious note, I regret to inform you that there has been a slight alteration to the curriculum for First and Second Year Students.”
‘Huh…this is new…’ Sunset blinked, noting with interest that most of the Staff, with the exception of Quirrel and Snape the Potions Master, looked either resigned or approving of whatever Dumbledore was about to say next.
“It has been brought to my attention numerous times that those Alumni who seek to interact with the Muggle World find themselves incapable to do so, whether it be due to lack of knowledge of social ques, common law, or simply lacking basic knowledge of Muggles in general.” the Headmaster revealed, waiting patiently for the whispers, and scoffs in the case of the Slytherins, to die down “This is especially bad in the case of those Alumni with Muggle relatives who find themselves unable to reintegrate back into their old lives due to lacking the credentials to forge a career outside the Wizarding World.”
“Why would they even want to?” Draco Malfoy sneered lowly, a sentiment that was shared by most, if not all of Slytherin house, particularly the elder years “Not that I’m saying we wouldn’t be better off without mudbloods and blood-taitors mind you.”
“With that in mind.” Dumbledore continued, though Sunset didn’t miss the mischievous twinkle in his eye as he glanced briefly towards the cocky Slytherin “It gives me great pleasure to announce that, from henceforth, Muggle Studies shall once again be a required class at Hogwarts.”
“He can’t do that!” Malfoy shrieked, gaping at the headmaster in disbelief even as the hall erupted into a veritable hornet’s nest of whispers that were promptly silenced by a few fireworks from the Headmaster’s wand.
“I can understand why many of you would find this announcement worrisome.” Dumbledore assured them calmly “Rest assured Hogwarts shall provide all the necessary textbooks and materials for you.” He regarded the hall sternly “However, do not presume this to mean you can simply breeze through the class.” He warned “Given the rapid advancement of Muggles society, in particular, the threat said advancements pose to the Statute of Secrecy, the Ministry of Magic has given their complete support for this change, so as to better reduce the odds of you accidentally revealing the existence of Magic to the non-wizarding world.”
‘Game Set and Match…’ Sunset applauded, chuckling at the dumbstruck expression on Malfoy’s face, as there really was nothing the brat’s father could do if the government decided this was in the students’ best interests ‘Old man certainly knows how to play ‘em.”
“Well, I think that’s everything of importance…” Dumbledore mused, only to smile as Professor McGonagall cleared her throat pointedly “Ah yes, one last thing. All students are hereby informed that, this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."
‘Wait, what?’ Sunset blinked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as she glared at the Headmaster warily, wondering just what on earth he was up to even as he led the students in singing the School Song ‘Just what the hay have I gotten myself into?’
“Ah, music! A magic beyond all we do here!” ” Dumbledore cheered, wiping his eyes as he finished applauding the Weasley Twins delightfully morbid rendition of the School Song “And now, bedtime. Off you trot!” he commanded with a clap of his hands, smiling as the Prefects led the Students towards their respective common rooms “Severus, a word if you will?”
“Yes, Albus?” the dour-faced Potions Master drawled as he turned to regard the Headmaster with a carefully guarded expression “Can this not wait until tomorrow?”
“Oh it’s nothing too strenuous I assure you.” Dumbledore assured the Potions Master “I merely want you to keep an eye on Sunset Shimmer.” He chuckled at Snape’s not wholly unexpected glare “I’m not suggesting you give her preferential treatment…well, no more-so than any of your other Students anyway, but I urge you to remember her position. After all, it wouldn’t reflect well on Hogwarts if we allowed the personal student of a foreign Royal to come to harm on our watch.”
“Especially when said Royal is a Demigod capable of commanding the Sun.” Snape drawled, though it was clear from the lack of mockery in his tone that he understood the importance of his task.
Make no mistake, Severus Snape had no intention of giving Sunset Shimmer preferential treatment, well, no more so than he would any of his other Serpents, Draco Malfoy being the sole exception due to Snape’s need to maintain close ties with the man’s father.
However, there was a marked difference between coddling the spoiled spawn of a Death Eater who had bought his way out of Azkaban and ensuring the protégé of foreign Goddess didn’t wind up dead because she stepped on the wrong toes. For one thing he highly doubted Lucius Malfoy could drop the sun on top of Hogwarts in retaliation for giving his son detention.
‘And then there’s The Boy.’ He growled, his lip curling in distaste as he recalled glaring down at James Potter's Son, gazing gormlessly up at him like a carbon copy of his father, only the knowledge that James Potter was dead and buried (and good riddance) and that Dumbledore would have his head keeping him from cursing the brat out of reflex.
Well, that and the guilt that stabbed his heart every time he found himself locking eyes with the small, underfed child of Lilly Evans, knowing that it was his failure that had driven her to Potter's arms and an early death.
A part of him, the rational adult part, wanted to reach out to the boy, to get to know him, to ensure that some part of what made Lily Evans so wonderful remained untainted by the simpleminded bigotry Gryffindor seemed to inspire no matter what Minerva said to the contrary. To ensure, above all else, that the boy was kept safe from whatever the Headmaster had in store for him as he prepared him for his 'destiny'.
However, all this was rendered moot, as all the childish, vindictive scar on his heart that had never truly healed made it impossible to look at The Boy without seeing the mocking face of James Bloody Potter sneering back at him, reminding him of every affront, every mockery, every indignity he'd been forced to endure, often without consequence. But most of all, he could not look at the boy without being reminded of how James Potter had taken everything he had ever loved.
So yes, Snape would protect the boy, up to and possibly even beyond whatever grand destiny Albus Dumbledore had planned for him, but that didn’t mean he had to be particularly nice about it. So long as Lilly’s child survived to accomplish his destiny, Severus didn’t particularly care what the little bastard thought of him.
While he'd never been a particularly pious man, Snape could only pray that Lilly would forgive him in Heaven, as there was no doubt in his mind he'd be seeing James Potter and his cronies in Hell come judgement day.
Sunset’s first night in the Slytherin Common Room was a decidedly quiet affair, most of her fellow ‘Serpents’ either gathering into cliques, such as Malfoy and his two book-ends Crabbe and Goyle, who Sunset swore lacked a brain-cell between the pair of them, and a Pug-Faced girl named Pansy Parkinson who quickly tried to set herself up as Queen Bee among the First Years whilst simultaneously sucking up to her older peers.
Needless to say, Sunset wasn’t having any of that nonsense, but rather than putting the girl in her place like she normally would have, she opted to instead keep to herself for the time being, at least until she’d garnered enough leverage to put the little brat in her place.
She wasn’t the only one to take the proverbial high-road either. While most of her fellow first-years quickly kowtowed to Malfoy and Parkinson, forming a united ‘clique’ that apparently consisted almost entirely of the offspring of accused ‘Death Eaters’ unless she missed her guess, several of the other First Years, mostly those with older siblings or with no ties to the ‘Old Regime’, likewise opted to remain neutral, despite the best efforts of Malfoy and Parkinson to tempt them to their side.
Unfortunately, it seemed that Malfoy had either remembered her from Diagon Alley or had taken notice of her apparent familiarity with Harry, most likely that latter if his attempts at steering the conversation towards that direction were any indication, the little weasel seemingly believing Sunset to be his proverbial ‘in’ with the Boy Who Lived.
Thankfully for Sunset’s patience, and Malfoy’s continued good health, the start of Term soon provided plenty of distractions for the First Years, though interestingly enough the most common one turned out to be simply finding their way to their designated classrooms, a task made all the more arduous given the very nature of Hogwarts.
Having been Celestia’s Personal Student, Sunset considered herself something of an expert when it came to navigating through Canterlot Castle, a skill that had proven decidedly useful when it came to sneaking past the guards to access the Restricted Section. However, not even spending a month within its walls had prepared her for the proverbial maze that was Hogwarts.
According to Professor Burbage, the castle boasted over a hundred and forty-two staircases of varying styles, shapes and states of repair, but what made their layout so confusing was that they were given to change at any moment given the right time, date or circumstance.
For Faust’s sake there was one staircase that, despite ascending up towards the battlements, somehow led down to the Dungeons! And say what you liked about Canterlot’s design, at least the doors there acted like proper doors, requiring nothing more than an unlocking charm or key, instead of asking them politely if they wouldn’t mind opening.
And that was assuming they were doors at all, and not wise-ass walls that had somehow gained sentience.
‘Seriously, did Discord design this place?’ she wondered, glaring suspiciously at the door to the girl’s bathroom as she and several of her fellow First Years made their way down the hall, as she could’ve sworn they’d passed it three times already. From what she’d read on Celestia’s extensive notes on the Spirit of Chaos’ personality, he’d certainly get a kick out of a self-aware building.
And that wasn’t even factoring in the residents of the castle. Setting aside the Ghosts, who with the exception of Peeves the Poltergeist she’d gotten relatively used to seeing, the Caretaker, Argus Filch, seemed to take a perverse amount of pleasure in swooping in to try and threaten Children with outdated and frankly illegal punishments for a range of perceived infractions, such as loitering in the hall or kicking Miss Norris, his pet cat and co-conspirator. Indeed, the hatred of the pair one of the few things that truly united the Student Body, regardless of House.
Of course, while finding your way to class was an adventure in and of itself, they were often well worth it given the subject of the lessons themselves. There was a lot more to Magic, or at least this world’s version of Magic, than simply waving your wand and saying a few funny words, but no matter what other faults she may have, no-one, pony or otherwise, could ever accuse Sunset Shimmer of being a slacker whenever it came to her studies. True, she might prioritize certain subjects over others, such as Advanced Mana Manipulation over Social Studies, but when you got down to it there was nopony, body or what have you who could compete with her work ethic, a fact that quickly endeared her to many of the Hogwarts Staff.
In Charms, Professor Flitwick praised her not only for her quick grasp of the Wingardium Leviosa Charm, but her mastering it to the point she didn’t even require the incantation. Normally Sunset would have scoffed at his praising what was essentially oversimplified telekinesis, a staple part of Unicorn life, but she didn’t want to blow her cover just yet considering how violent these humans seemed to be.
After all, despite everything she had done, including openly defying her sovereign and breaking into a restricted section of the Canterlot Archives, Celestia had only seen fit to banish her from Canterlot. While Dumbledore had so far been nothing but supportive, Sunset didn’t want to imagine the kind of punishments the Supreme Mugwump could concoct if half the tales of his prowess were to be believed.
Thankfully she had plenty of other subjects with which to occupy her time, Astronomy in particular being a particularly insightful distraction, if only because she was forced to relearn everything from scratch due to the different constellations from Equestria, while Herbology proved to be an adventure in and of itself, as simply handling some of the rare plants in Professor Sprout’s greenhouse often required an even higher level of care and attention one would use to rouse a sleeping dragon.
Transfiguration was another subject she enjoyed, Professor McGonagall proving to be a stern yet fair taskmistress, offering praise where it was due, but never to the extent that any one student seemed to outshine their peers. Indeed, from what little she’d seen thus far it was clear the Deputy Headmistress would often pair more talented students with those that needed a little extra guidance, thus ensuring the whole class developed at an acceptable rate, whilst encouraging inter-house unity.
‘Certainly better than the methods they use at Celestia’s School.’ Sunset grudgingly acknowledged, recalling how the instructors would often shower praise on her in front of her peers, holding her up as an example to follow. While Sunset hadn’t refuted their claims, if anything she’d basked in their approval, looking back she could see how it might have led to her current situation.
‘No point crying over spilt milk.’ She sighed, shaking her head as she stepped out of her first official Muggle Studies class, unable to hide her amusement at the looks of stunned disbelief on her fellow Slytherins, many of whom had just had their delusions of Wizarding Superiority shattered thanks to Charity’s slideshow on the Societal Advances of their non-wizarding kin.
‘And that’s just from the past Century.” She mused, shivering as she recalled the various wars, innovations and developments Mankind had gone through since the 1800’s ‘Wait till they find out about the Moon Landing.’
Sadly, her next few classes were pretty much a joke. Setting aside History of Magic, which despite being taught by an honest to Faust GHOST, might as well have been a self-study period considering how the Professor kept droning on about the same bloody Goblin Rebellion over and over again.
That being said, Defense Against the Dark Arts, or at least Quirrell's attempts to teach the subject, proved to be an even greater waste of the Students time, as at least in Bins’ class she could have gotten something constructive done while the rest of her class caught forty winks.
‘I’m seriously glad I wasn’t around when he taught Muggle Studies.’ She grumbled as she rose from her seat in the Great Hall to head for her first class, only to blink as she bumped into a familiar face in the doorway.
“Oh, Hi Sunset.” Harry greeted, blinking in surprise as he pulled up short to avoid bumping into her, the youngest ginger, Weasel-something, glaring at her from his elbow “Is breakfast over already?”
“Nah, I’m just not a big eater in the mornings.” Sunset assured him with a shrug, pointedly ignoring the suspicious glare she was receiving from the ginger “You settling in alright?”
“Well enough.” Harry admitted, though it was clear from the look of discomfort and the whispers from passing students that he wasn’t being entirely truthful “Those notes you had me take on the train really helped.”
“Forewarned is forearmed as my teacher used to say.” Sunset quoted, a lesson she’d learnt the hard way when one of her attempts to prank Celestia had failed on account of her underestimating Kibitz, who while normally willing to indulge in a bit of revelry, wasn’t about to allow anything that might upset the Princess’ schedule “We’ve got Double Potions later on, want me to save you a seat?”
“Why would he want to sit with you?” the ginger demanded, stepping between the startled Harry and Sunset in a blatant attempt to scare her off, only to twitch as she pointedly ignored him “Oi! I’m talking to you-!”
“I’ll catch you later, Harry, gotta get to class.” Sunset cut in, suppressing the urge to smirk as the ginger turned red at being ignored “Make sure you go over your Potion Notes. From what I’ve heard Professor Snape likes to pick on the other Houses, so expect a pop-quiz at the very least.”
“Uh, right…” Harry stammered, Sunset having driven home the very likely possibility of one of Voldemort’s allies trying to poison him to avenge their master on the Express, the Boy-Who-Lived nodding farewell to the girl before all but dragging Ron, who was flushing indignantly at being effectively ignored, into the main hall to grab a bite to eat.
“Too easy.” Sunset scoffed, shaking her head with a smile before heading off to class with a spring in her step.
Potions lessons took place in one of the Hogwarts dungeons, which with the exception of the Slytherin Common Room were notably colder than the main castle, creating an ominous, foreboding atmosphere that was only enhanced by the presence of the numerous pickled animals and various other unspeakable things floating in glass jars that lined the walls.
Thankfully, Harry wasn’t forced to pick between Ron and Sunset, as the seat next to the redhead had already been claimed by Hermione Granger, who had overheard their conversation in the hallway and had plopped herself next to the startled Slytherin to compare notes while they waited for Professor Snape to show up.
“Stuck up Snake.” Ron spat, the youngest Weasley brother glaring at the back of Sunset’s head as they pulled out their books, having not forgotten her snubbing of him in the hall that morning “What’s she playing at, acting all friendly?”
“Sunset’s actually kind of nice once you get to know her.” Harry countered, rising to the defense of his first…friend? Did he and Sunset count as friends? “We met in Diagon Alley; Professor McGonagall was helping her with her shopping.”
“Wait, so she’s a Muggleborn?” Ron stammered, only to flinch as several of the Slytherins glared at him and lowered his voice “Blimey that’s weird, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Muggleborn being sorted into Slytherin. They’re really big on Blood Purity.”
“I don’t think she’s a Muggleborn.” Harry countered, keeping his voice low “I think she might be a Half-Blood like me. She mentioned her Teacher using Magic and she seemed to grasp things a lot quicker than I did despite never setting foot in Diagon Alley before.”
“Sounds like a Half-Blood alright.” Ron conceded, glancing between the two with a confused frown “And she’s the one who helped you with those notes you’ve been using?”
“Apparently she was practicing before Term Started.” Harry admitted, rolling his eyes at Ron’s look of horror at the idea of working during the Holidays “She managed to levitate my trunk onto the train despite only getting her Wand earlier that day. Apparently Ollivander had to make it custom.”
“Blimey…” Ron marveled, glancing back at the redhead warily, only to stiffen as he caught her glancing back at them over her shoulder with a quirked brow.
Hoping he hadn’t upset his…friend? Acquaintance? By talking about her behind his back, Harry promptly offered her an apologetic wave, only to sit up straight as the door to the classroom opened to admit Professor Snape, the lanky Potion’s Master striding to the front of the Class, his robes billowing behind him dramatically as he moved behind his desk.
Now it should be noted that, having been spent almost the entirety of his life confined to the cupboard under the stairs, forced to deal with his abusive relatives, Harry had gotten rather used to people hating him. Even the other children in Little Whining had quickly learnt to steer clear of him, driven off out of fear of being picked on by Dudley’s gang or warned away by their Parents buying into the Dursley’s lies that he was some sort of hooligan.
Indeed, up until Hagrid arrived to deliver his Hogwarts Letter, the only adult who ever regarded him with anything other than thinly veiled disgust was his neighbor, Mrs. Figg, who would often watch him whenever the Dursleys took Dudley out on his birthdays, forcing him to look at pictures of all the cats she’d ever owned, all while being treated as a human scratching post/pillow/climbing frame by the ones she currently possessed.
With this in mind, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Harry was rather used to adults disliking him for no apparent reason, however up until arriving at Hogwarts this had only applied to the Muggle World, as almost every Witch or Wizard he’d encountered thus far had at least been fascinated by the sight of him, such that he’d honestly found it almost refreshing for to encounter such a familiar expression on the Potion’s Professor at the start-of-term banquet.
Sadly, that relief would soon turn out to be decidedly short-lived.
"Ah, Yes," Snape noted softly, looking up at the last Potter with dark, calculating eyes, his lip twitching, as if he was suppressing the urge to sneer "Harry Potter. Our newest…celebrity."
Harry flushed but held his ground, refusing to back down from the man’s piercing stare even as Draco Malfoy and his two book-ends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands, Ron placing his own on Harry's shoulder in a welcomed attempt to calm him down.
Thankfully, after a moment’s prolonged silence, Snape silenced the laughter with a sharp look before resuming taking the register before turning to regard the class with his cold, empty black eyes that made the old closet under the stairs seem cozy by comparison.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making." He instructed, his voice barely more than a whisper "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic.” He elaborated, though Harry could detect the barely restrained condescension in his tone.
“I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses.” Snape confessed he paced behind his desk “I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death…" he sneered at the Gryffindors, though Harry was certain it was directed at him in particular "That is, if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
Well, it was official, as impossible as it sounded, and despite all odds to the contrary, Harry had finally found someone he hated as much, if not more than, the Dursleys.
‘How in the name of Starswirl’s Beard did this guy manage to become a teacher?’ Sunset marveled, rolling her eyes in exasperation as Snape, not even trying to hide his dislike, launched a series of questions at Harry that the Boy-Who-Lived managed to answer, albeit uncertainly, having apparently taken her advice to heart and gone over his Potions notes before class.
Sadly, as satisfying as it was to see her…acquaintance, put the greasy-haired Professor in his place, the effect was rather ruined by Hermione Granger jumping up and down like a Parasprite on a Sugar Rush trying to get the man’s attention like a stereotypical over-achieving teacher’s pet.
“Give it a rest.” She hissed, reaching out to grab the girl’s arm, forcing her back onto her stool as she made to stand up “It’s clear he’s obviously targeting Harry, he won’t acknowledge you even if you weren’t a Gryffindor.”
“But…isn’t that bullying?” Hermione whispered, glancing furtively back at Snape’s back only to whip around as he turned back to the class and promptly barked at them to start taking notes, clearly venting his frustrations of Harry successfully fending off his questions on the rest of them “Should I tell Professor McGonagall?”
“I don’t think it’d matter if you did.” Sunset countered as she pretended to take down notes, having already made several prior “It’s well documented that Snape doesn’t like Gryffindors, if he hasn’t been dismissed by now, one more complaint won’t do much, even if it is Harry he’s picking on.” She scoffed “Hell, given his obvious disdain, he might try to pass it off as Harry trying to use his fame to get what he wants and have the whole mess swept under the carpet.”
Hermione didn’t look altogether pleased with that answer, but in the end decided to put it on the back-burner as Snape, having been effectively foiled by Harry, and Sunset by extension, began to instruct them on how to brew a simple potion to cure boils, forcing the two to focus their attention on their cauldron.
At first the two had butted heads, as Hermione was a stickler of following the official instructions as detailed in the books, however she soon changed her tune when Sunset had pointed out that her alterations came from reading ahead and referencing alternative, well-documented sources, though admittedly her personal experience with Potion-Making was limited to what little she recalled from her days in Canterlot.
‘I wonder how Zithembe is doing?’ she wondered as she ignored Snape praising her for ‘her’ potion, completely ignoring Hermione’s contribution, in favor of recalling the old Zebra Shaman that had been her instructor in Potion Making. As annoying as his tendency to rhyme had been, Zithembe had nonetheless been a capable instructor up until he returned to his homeland to search for an apprentice ‘He’d certainly have had a thing or two to say about this guy’s methods.’
Indeed, it was probably a good thing for Snape that the Mirror Portal was closed, as Sunset knew for a fact if the old Zebra ever caught wind of how the Potions Master taught he’d have delivered a harsh lesson of his own, in the shape of his staff upside the man’s greasy head.
Setting aside his obvious favoritism towards the Slytherins, Draco Malfoy in particular, Sunset had already compiled a list of issues with the man’s methods, not least of which being his looming over the students in what was clearly an obvious attempt to unnerve them, something no sane Potion Master would do considering what could happen if they made a mistake, a risk that grew increasingly more likely every time he felt the need to draw the entire class’s attention to whatever minor achievement his Slytherins had performed.
As if to prove her point, while Snape was busy praising Malfoy’s stewed slugs, which Sunset was pointedly ignoring mostly because she didn’t want to think about the pompous little rat if she could help it, the former unicorn spotted a particularly nervous looking Neville Longbottom about to add porcupine quills to his potion, having either forgotten or being too enraptured by Snape’s posturing to realize that his cauldron was still bubbling away on the fire.
“BrachimotorMortis.” She incanted under her breath, freezing the poor boy’s arm in place just in time before lowering it, and the quills, back onto the table, releasing her spell just as Snape finished pontificating.
“Don’t just sit there, Finnegan, Longbottom!” the Potions Master sneered at Neville’s dumbstruck expression “Your potion should be ready by now, take it off the fire and add the Porcupine Quills, or are the two of you incapable of following such basic instructions?”
‘Faust what a plot-hole.’ Sunset sighed, shaking her head as the poor Gryffindors scrambled to do as they were told, only to blink as she found Hermione gaping at her with her mouth open “What?”
“How did you do that?” the bushy-haired girl whispered excitedly, looking torn between being scandalized and intrigued by what she’d clearly witnessed “I don’t remember reading anything like that in The Standard Book of Spells!”
“That’s because it’s not in the Standard Book.” Sunset countered, gesturing for her to keep her voice down as Snape began to prowl around once more “I based it off the Leg-Locker Curse in Curses and Counter Curses. Harry has a copy, ask him to borrow it sometime.”
“You made your own SPELL?!” Hermione squeaked, flushing scarlet as she clapped her hands over her mouth, though thankfully this did little more than earn a glare from Snape and curious looks from the rest of the class “But that’s…that’s-!”
“Nothing special.” Sunset countered with a shrug “As I said, I simply took the principle of an existing Spell and changed the target focus.” She waved a hand dismissively “Think of it like binding someone’s feet or hands with a rope. In this case, the spell is the rope; the only difference is which part of the body I’m tying up.”
Now normally Sunset would've been content to bask in her own superiority . However, her time with Celestia had taught her that having strong ties was important, and while being placed in Slytherin would doubtless aid in her ambitions, it was unlikely she'd make strong allies there.
From a purely potential standpoint, Harry was arguably the strongest political tie she had at Hogwarts, however, their being placed in different houses, rival houses at that, made it very likely that the two would drift apart unless Sunset made a conscious effort to keep in contact, something that would be next to impossible with her house-mates watching her every move.
However, in Hermione Granger, Sunset saw an opportunity to not only ensure her ties to The Boy Who Lived remained unbroken, but also to ensure she didn't jeopardise her standing in her own house by associating with a Gryffindor, as from what little she'd gathered of the girl, she wasn't exactly popular with her own house-mates.
With that in mind, while Hermione tried to wrap her mind around her accomplishment, the former unicorn decided to test the waters by offering an olive branch “I can lend you my notes if you like?”
“Would-?!” Hermione gasped, only to compose herself at the last second “I mean yes, yes I’d like that.” She confessed with a smile that, for some reason, Sunset couldn’t help but return “I have to admit I was hoping to get a head-start on spell-theory at some point, but I was told that wouldn’t happen until at least third year.”
“I’ve never been good at following other people’s timetables.” Sunset admitted with a self-confident scoff, the rest of the lesson passing in a blur as the two discussed Spell Theory and its applications over a simmering cauldron, from which pink smoke wafted lazily into the cold dungeon air.
