Author's Note
Here we go, finally getting it going! I hope you all enjoy what I've got in store, and I will say here and now that I welcome feedback. Also, if you see any grammar mistakes, go ahead and point them out so I can fix them. The online grammar checker I was using doesn't want to cooperate anymore so blah.
Anyways, hope people like it!
Prologue
On a grassy hill outside the large town of Ponyville, six mares stood around a statue, eyeing it warily. Their expressions and thoughts ranged from uncertainty, confusion, irritation and pessimism about the task they had just been given. None of them were particularly thrilled about what they were about to do, but well, an order from the Princess was an order.
“I still don’t think this is a good idea.” Rainbow Dash remarked as she looked up at the state of the mismatched entity Princess Celestia had just delivered to them.
Rarity glanced to RD as she said, “Darling, that’s the fifth time you’ve said that.”
“And? It's still true.”
“And repeating it isn’t going to change anything.”
Applejack sat down with a sigh, fixing her hat as she said, “I can’t blame her any though. This is like being told to let an angry bull back into the tea shop he just stampeded through.”
Even Pinkie Pie nodded. “The only reason I’m for trying this is because the Princess has faith in Fluttershy, and because if this works Discord can give me chocolate filled cotton candy rain clouds anytime I want!”
Twilight smiled but shook her head as the rest gave Pinkie Pie a look of ‘really?’. She felt a hoof on her shoulder though and looked to her left as she saw Fluttershy, who was glancing off to the statue of Discord every so often.
“A-Are you sure t-this is a good idea?”
Sighing, Twilight shook her head. “To be honest, I have no idea. The Princess obviously has a reason for this but… I can’t say I fully understand it.” She smiled though as she said, “But I do think that if anyone can reform Discord… it would have to be you. You said it yourself after we defeated him, he had to brute force you to act like you did.”
Fluttershy nodded, though she did look at the ground as she said, “Y-Yeah, b-but we have seen I can be like that on my own.”
“True, but if the Princess has faith in you… then so do I.” Twilight said… even as her own mind was trying to think of alternatives. This was Discord they were dealing with after all.
Fluttershy could only nod, though she looked as uncertain as she had the moment Celestia had left. Twilight looked back to the statue, hoping to herself that she and her friends weren’t about to make a big mistake.
“Well girls, lets go ahead and get this over with. And lets all keep our Elements on at all times. We don’t want any surprises after all.” She called out, getting the attention of the others. Each of the girls nodded and got back into position. Twilight started focusing on her element, and felt it begin to pulse and flow with magic. She felt it reaching out to each of the Elements, connecting and forming a ring of rainbow light that washed over the statue.
Lines of light began to crack and splinter all along the stone work, and bit by bit, several sections blasted off before finally…
“Graaaaoooooooh~!” Discord cried out as the last bit of stone was sent flying away, dissolving as the magic that created it faded away. He then stretched a bit and wriggled all about, making some strange noises and otherwise ignoring the six mares glaring at him.
“Mhm, you have no idea how uncomfortable being a statue can be!” He finally said as he finished, glancing down at all of them as he smirked. “Mhm, such frosty expressions, you’d think I was some monster that had turned your town upside-down or some such…”
“You certainly tried!” Applejack exclaimed, meeting Discord’s gaze with her own as she added, “And don’t think that we’ve forgotten what you did to each of our heads.”
Discord chuckled as he placed a hand to his chest. “Why would I think that, when I haven’t forgotten either Honest Applejack? It was some of the best fun I’ve had in a millennium.”
“Well, if you don’t want to be turned back into a tacky lawn ornament, you’re going to be forced to find a new way to amuse yourself.” Rarity commented dryly, Twilight nodding her head as she stepped forward.
“Discord, you have been released because-”
Twilight had been about to explain why Discord was able to walk freely, but before she could get more than a few words out, she yelped as she felt herself lifted up off the ground and pulled up in front of Discord. The rest of her friends were also quickly gripped in a golden aura of magic and floated up in front of the smirking Draconequus.
“Oh, I already know all about Celestia’s little plan to reform me. And I know that most of you think this isn’t going to work, that I’m irredeemable, just a monster, a powerful magic user who sees everyone and everything as little more than toys to play with til I get bored.” Discord replied as he put his hands on his hips and bent down, looming over them, his face mere inches from their own as his red and gold eyes seemed to blaze with malevolent intent.
“You wouldn’t be too off the mark there, but well, getting turned to stone a second time tends to teach a powerful and almighty spirit like me a rather important and rather critical lesson! And quite a good one that I’m sure you’ll all be happy to hear!”
Twilight and the others blinked at this. Twilight could see thanks to her being slightly above the rest that all save Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were giving Discord doubtful looks. She herself didn’t believe it, but thus far, all Discord was doing was holding them in his magic.
Which was actually far more tame than she’d expected.
Tentatively, she asked, “And that lesson is?”
Discord surprised them again as he suddenly pulled them all into a fierce hug, squeezing them almost like one would squeeze a beloved plushie as he said, “That Friendship really is magic, and that I’d be a fool to resist it!”
All the ponies’ jaws dropped at this. For one thing, they were getting hugged by Discord. The Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. But for another… this was better than they could have imagined. In fact…
It was too good to be true. There was no way he was being serious. The dark, almost malevolent chuckle that began to bubble up from within him clinched it.
“That being said, just because I’ve learned that, doesn’t mean I don’t have something dirty up my sleeve~”
The six looked up to his smirking face, his tail raising up behind him a bit but within their view. They felt the magical grip on all of them tighten as his eyes flashed dangerously, while the tuft of fur began to wave at them as if it was a third hand.
“I’m afraid I have to cut this reunion a bit short, as all of you have an unplanned vacation from destiny somewhere far away from here. Toodles~!”
Before any of them could react, the tuft of fur made a snapping motion, and in a flash of light, the bearers of the Elements of Harmony vanished from sight.
Slapping his hands together as if he was cleaning them of dust, Discord chuckled to himself as he said, “Well, that’ll bring plenty of chaos in not one, but two worlds~ Think it is time I pay a visit to dear old Celly and let her know she has nothing else to worry about from the likes of me~”
With that, he was about to snap his fingers, when he stopped at the sight of a small and shaking piece of shrubbery nearby. He peered at it, then smirked as he gathered some magic into his hand, and lifted out a terrified and shaking purple and green dragon.
“Ohohoho, how could I forget about you Spikey wikey.”
“H-Hey D-Discord… I-I uh… I-I’m not scared of you…” Spike replied as he nervously opened his eyes and looked Discord up and down. He gulped as he was brought closer, Discord grinning as he studied the dragon closely.
“Mhm, you don’t need to lie. None of your friends are here… besides, they were scared of me too, for good reason.” Discord remarked, before setting Spike spinning as he floated in the air before him. “However, right now, you have nothing to fear from me. In fact… I think you’ll thank me the next time we meet.”
Spike stopped spinning, and as he wobbled in the air, he tried to open his mouth. Perhaps to ask what the Spirit of Chaos meant by that. But instead, Discord simply poked his little dragon snout, and in a flash of light, Spike was sent off to join his friends.
“That takes care of that. I do believe that’s everyone.” Discord said as he scanned the area. Seeing and sensing no one else, he nodded to himself before he grabbed at a bit of air as if it was a doorknob.
With a slight tug, reality opened up and Discord vanished from sight as he walked into a square of chaotically shifting light, leaving nothing to show where he had gone or what had happened to the six heroines of Equestria and their draconic friend.
Harry gulped as he slowly approached the mirror. His eyes focused more on Quirrell as he made his way down the steps, though once he passed the dark wizard his gaze shifted towards the Mirror of Erised. As much as he didn’t want to step in front of it, he didn’t at the moment see much choice.
And more importantly, he was still grappling with all that he had just learned. About Snape and his father, the very fact that it was Quirrell who was working with Lord Voldemort and not the former Death Eater. And the realization that he actually hadn’t had much of a plan beyond “Confront Snape”.
“Tell me… what do you see?”
Harry didn’t break his eyes away from the mirror, where he and Quirrell’s reflections stared back at them. Not surprising. He half expected to see his parents again, but they did not appear.
Instead, he saw his reflection start to smirk as he reached into his pocket… and pulled out a strange red stone. The reflection’s smirk widened, winked, and put the stone back in its pocket… whereupon Harry felt a weight in his right pocket that had not been there before. It made his eyes widen and his body stiffen once he confirmed that indeed, the Philosopher’s stone was now in his pocket.
Quirrell noticed. “What is it?”
Even though he had a feeling Quirrell wasn’t going to believe him, Harry had to think quickly. Scooting back a bit, he stammered out, “I-I see myself… holding the House cup. D-Dumbledore is besides me… I’ve won it for Gryffindor.”
“HE LIES!” A raspy voice rang out, echoing around the chamber. It made Harry flinch and take a few more steps back. Something about the voice also made his head hurt, which wasn’t helped when Quirrell nearly screamed into his ears.
Harry shook his head, and Quirrell began to reach for something… but then, he paused as the voice spoke again. “The turban… remove it. I wish… to see the boy.”
Taking several steps back, but finding himself unable to just book it, Harry watched as Quirrell began to undo his turban. Something seemed to almost be keeping Harry rooted to the spot, and all he could do was watch as the last bit of cloth was removed… And the horror that the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had been hiding all this year.
“Hello Harry… it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
It was the face of Lord Voldemort. The face of the person who had killed his parents and left the scar on his head. The very dark lord after the artifact in his pocket.
He should have been terrified. He should have been horrified. And well, he was, but not for long. Because as soon as Quirrell was letting go of the line of cloth, there was a flash of light above him… and six teenage girls with unnaturally colorful hair screamed as they crashed down upon him.
If Harry hadn’t been prepared for such, Quirrel and Voldemort were even less so. Quirrell only had time to look up and try to get out of the way. He stumbled on the very cloth he had dropped, and was then knocked forward. His head smacked the stairs hard, a grunt being the only sound he made as Voldemort’s face went silent and Quirrell laid still.
Harry stared, blinking and unmoving as the six girls who had appeared from out of nowhere groaned and struggled to get up. They all looked exceptionally tired, and five of them were wearing strange necklaces that had a decent sized gem in them. One of them was wearing a tiara with a gem that was slightly bigger. All the gemstones were blinking, and with each blink, the gems grew dimmer.
The one with the tiara said something, though to Harry’s ears it sounded like she was singing something at him. She looked towards him, confusion shining as brightly as the gems had but a moment ago and mirrored in that of the other five.
She tried to say something else, but instead, she drooped down and passed out. The other five quickly followed suit, leaving Harry alone with an all powerful magical artifact in his pocket and six strange girls passed out atop an unconscious dark wizard who seemed to have the darkest wizard Britain had seen residing in him.
“B-Bloody hell…” There was no way this day could get any stranger.
Another flash, same spot, and a small purple and green dragon appeared and flailed in the air before landing atop the pile of people with an ‘oomph’. It swayed on the spot a bit before looking down and around, before finally seeing Harry standing nearby. Whereupon, it gave Harry a shy wave and sang something to him as well before looking at the strange girls with concern shining in its eyes.
Harry could only shake his head in disbelief, before the weight of the stone in his pocket reminded him of why he and his friends had come down here. Glancing from his pocket to the talking dragon and the pile of people, Harry bit his lower lip as he tried to figure out what to do. Quirrell was unconscious, but who knew if he’d get back up. And well, it didn’t feel right to just leave these strangers here in the same room as a dark wizard...
The sound of footsteps coming from the stairway thankfully gave him an answer, and he felt a smile spread across his face. They were a bit late, but the cavalry had arrived.
-*-
To say that the last twenty-four hours had been stressful for the head of Hogwarts would be a bit of an understatement.
Even ignoring the diversion in London that had taken up some of his time, the knowledge that Quirrell was making his way through the traps guarding the Philosopher’s stone and being pursued by several Gryffindor students had left him quite worried about what he might find once he reached the final chamber.
He had worried he would find Harry mortally injured, or otherwise in serious danger. That Quirrell might try to hold Harry hostage in return for the stone. Or that by some small chance with the assistance of Lord Voldemort, Quirrell would have found a way to retrieve the stone so that the Dark Lord could once more bring terror to Britain.
What he found, instead, was Harry Potter. Alive if a bit battered, and Professor Quirrell with a nasty looking gash on his head underneath a pile of several teenage girls and a young, unfamiliar species of dragon sitting atop them.
The latter sets of whom, so he had been told by Harry, simply appeared in a flash of light.
While the event was fortuitous in that it had incapcitated Quirrell, their appearance only brought more questions. Thus why he was on his way to the infirmary to check on their guests and get some of those answers.
Arriving there, he saw that it was Rolanda who was taking a turn standing guard over where Quirrell was being kept. Madam Pomfrey had already informed him that it was only luck that Quirrell wasn’t already dead, as he had cracked his skull when he hit the steps as he had. Given who he was carrying with him, and the fate that was in store for him once the Auror’s arrived… he was not so sure the word he would use would be ‘lucky’.
Nearby was also where Ron Weasley was recovering, and Dumbledore was quite pleased to see that both Harry and Hermione were there checking up on him. All three of them seemed to be in high spirits, though Dumbledore noticed that Harry kept glancing towards the other end of the infirmary, where the strange girls were all currently resting, the small dragon watching over them. Which in of itself only earned more questions in Dumbledore’s mind.
Harry and his friend’s presence reminded Dumbledore that he longed to pause and speak with the three courageous young students. First Years, and already they were throwing themselves into the fight against Voldemort. But the patronus that Poppy had sent just after he finished speaking with Madame Bones suggested what she had found in her examinations of their guests would be of great interest to him.
Striding over to Pomfrey’s office, he pushed the door open gently and smiled as he saw the Healer shaking her head over the roll of parchment she had in her hands. She lowered it when she saw him entering, and gave a tired smile.
“Didn’t expect you so soon Albus. Figured you’d be talking to the Ministry still about our former Professor.”
“It didn’t take much to reassure Madam Bones that it was of the utmost importance she send a few Auror’s over here to take Professor Quirrel into custody. Even without the mention of Voldemort, he was trying to steal an exceptionally powerful artifact.”
Pomfrey shivered a bit at the use of the Dark Lord’s name, but quickly replied, “And you were of course curious and worried about our new guests. Well, they’re an interesting bunch, that much I can tell you.”
“Your patronus mentioned as much.” Albus said with a nod. “So, just how interesting are they?”
At that, Pomfrey sighed and passed him the scroll. “Where do you want me to start? The strange markings on four of them, two shaped like wings on the shoulder blades and two like unicorn horns on the forehead? The weird magic they seem to have around them? The fact that they aren’t human?”
Albus took the scroll from her, noting it was a detailed transcript from a diagnosis spell. He lowered it to look at her when she mentioned that last bit. She shrugged and pointed through the door where they could see two of them through the crack.
“They may look human, but they aren’t. Granted, I would have found that out anyways, seeing as that baby dragon there seemed to poke one of them a bit too hard and drew blood. Black blood I might add. Almost mistook it for ink.”
“Most intriguing.” Dumbledore murmured, glancing back down to the scroll. The spell Pomfrey had used was normally used to find maladies or injuries that weren’t obvious to the eye, the magical equivalent to some of the tests muggles used. In this case however, it had recorded the fact that all six of them seemed to have silver based blood, and strange magical anomalies for each of them.
“Were any of them hurt?” He asked as he pulled his wand out, making a copy of the parchment to look at in more detail later.
Pomfrey shrugged. “Well aside from being tired and drained, they seem otherwise fine. One of them woke up briefly but just looked around in confusion before slipping back under. The diagnosis spell suggests they might be fatigued.”
Dumbledore nodded at that. “What about the Dragon?”
“Hmmph. You’d be better off asking Hagrid or Professor Kettleburn.” Pomfrey said with a snort. She did however frown a bit as she said, “He’s certainly… talkative, though not so much since he pricked one of them. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he was actually talking, or, well…”
“Singing?” Dumbledore offered, earning a curious nod from the healer. “I heard it sing something when I first arrived. And Harry says it waved and sang something to him as well. I suspect that it was in fact talking to us… but not in a language we can understand.”
Pomfrey hummed at that, then frowned sadly. “No wonder then that I felt so sorry for him when he got upset at pricking one of them.”
“A musical sounding language is likely to do that. As an old saying goes, if one hears a song of mourning from the merpeople, even the coldest of hearts will be touched.” Dumbledore said with a soft smile, before glancing out the door. “Tell me Poppy, do you think you would be able to wake them? I’d like to try and see if I can communicate with them.”
Standing up, Pomfrey fetched her wand from her table as she said, “I don’t see why not. The spell I used to heal the claw prick worked without issue.”
“Then I’d like you to try.” Dumbledore replied, letting her go first as they moved back into the infirmary proper.
Madam Pomfrey slowly waved her wand over the face of each of the girls as Dumbledore brought his wand up to his glasses and gave them a few taps. The charm that let him see magic itself kicked into gear, allowing him to see the magic these girls possessed which was unique but similar to that of most wizards and witches.
It also allowed him to note remnants of two other magics.
One was centered inside the gems of the golden jewelry they had arrived with. It was faint, but reminded him of magic that was powered often by feelings of love or strong bonds between friends.
The other however was… something else. There wasn’t much of it around them, but it seemed… chaotic. Disconcerting to look at. Dumbledore even got the sneaking suspicion he might go mad if he tried to study that magic for too long.
His attention was drawn back to the girls themselves however as they began to stir. The first to awaken was the one wearing the crown, and her eyes shot open after she started rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. The amount of shock she displayed as she shrieked in confusion and moved her hands away from her caught everyone’s attention, including the other girls who didn’t seem to respond much better as they looked over themselves.
Dumbledore listened for a moment as each spoke, noting that just as he had thought, their language seemed to have a musical element to it. It also seemed to be quite empathic, as their panicked state was quickly starting to get to Pomfrey as well as Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, though the latter three were trying to keep from being noticed.
It was quite interesting to Dumbledore that the dragon, who seemed the most calm of the bunch, had waddled onto the bed and seemed to be trying to calm the one with the crown and the dark blue hair as she started hyperventilating. She tried to say something, but she said it so fast Dumbledore was sure even if he knew her language that he wouldn’t have understood.
With a hum and a light bob of his wand, there was a loud pop that got the strange girls attention, drawing their eyes to him and seeming to put their various states of freaking out on pause. He gave them all a kindly smile and a nod, then started to draw some simple illusions in the air before them. They were, in essence, nothing more than magical stick figures, but they would suit the purpose he had in mind.
Again, he made a point of watching the strangers as they in turn watched him. The one with the crown seemed particularly interested in every little movement of his wand, while the others seemed to be focusing more on trying to compare themselves to him. There was a great deal of intelligence in the eyes of the crown bearing girl… he had a feeling she was studying him as much as he was trying to study her and her companions.
Speaking slowly and using simple words, Dumbledore proceeded to explain where they were and why. He was actually quite glad that Harry was present, as he was able to point to him and see the barest flicker of recognition. Likely from when they had first arrived in the Mirror chamber. He strongly suspected that the words wouldn’t be understood, but the tone was what mattered more. Calming and reassuring them was key if he wished to get some answers.
Dumbledore finished by introducing himself, saying his name slowly before pointing inclining his head towards her. And much to his delight, she seemed to grasp it.
“Dum...ble...dore.” She said, pointing to him. He gave a nod and a smile, and she clapped her hands and giggled excitedly. “” the girl replied, then tried to do… something. She blinked, and looked quite confused.
Dumbledore took a moment to try and repeat what she had said, but from the way the dragon started giggling, he had a feeling he mangled it. In fact, when the one with the rather curly and poofy pink hair started giggling, followed by smiles on the others faces, he was sure of it.
The girl didn’t seem to mind though, having closed her eyes in concentration. The reason of which became quite clear a moment later as the horn mark on her forehead began to glow. Dumbledore watched her hands grip the sheets around her as she started to sweat, but after a moment, cruder, almost child-like stick figures began to form in the air in front of her.
What followed was a similar demonstration by the girl with her own magic, though it was clear she was having difficulty. Given the fact that her figures were all shaped like ponies, with two resembling unicorns and two resembling pegasi, something told Dumbledore that Pomfrey’s conclusion they were not human was likely far more on the nose then appearance would suggest.
There were also several pauses, and not alot was actually made clear as the girl tried to tell their side of things. The look of confusion on her face and that of the others at times made Pomfrey lean in as she said, “I’ve seen looks like this before… folks who’ve had memory charms cast at them, on purpose or by accident.”
“It's possible whatever brought them here interfered with their memory… though I have a feeling they’re from further afield then we imagine.” Dumbledore agreed as the girl finally seemed to give up, sweating and looking exceptionally apologetic.
Dumbledore gave her a sympathetic look, coming around the bed to give her a reassuring pat to her shoulder. She seemed to recognize the gesture for what it was, and gave an appreciative smile, though it quickly fell as she reached up and looked the crown over, eyes growing distant before she looked to her friends.
That seemed to remind them of the necklaces the others bore, which they each took off and began to examine. Just as Pomfrey had suggested, they seemed to hold them as if they knew they were important, but they looked at the pieces of jewelry as if this was the first time seeing them.
Very curious… curious indeed. Dumbledore thought to himself. Turning, he walked up to Pomfrey and said, “For the moment, don’t let them out of the infirmary. Get them something to eat and make sure they are kept comfortable.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard. I don’t think these seven are in any particular hurry to go anywhere anyways. I presume you’re going to try to find a way to make talking easier?”
“That would be much more useful in getting the answers we seek. And besides… I would like to be able to actually say our guests names, be it in our tongue or theirs.” Dumbledore remarked as he made his way for the door. He gave Harry, Ron, and Hermione a small nod, and quickly added,
“I would like a chance to speak with you all about what happened later. For now, just try to relax and recuperate.”
With that, Dumbledore headed on out of the infirmary. His first impression of their strange guests was that they were lost in a strange place and with little idea how they got there… perhaps even less idea of who they were if his and Madam Pomfrey’s instincts were on the mark.
There were still many questions… fewer answers. But, perhaps if he could find a translation charm or other spell that could help them understand one another…
He could have the answers he wished for.
Author's Note
It took longer than I'd originally intended, but here we are! Chapter 3 is up! It has made me revise some things, and sort of ditched my outline I had (which is good because my outline was suffering from a problem I sometimes have of dragging things out) so there's a certain amount of winging of things from here on out. I do plan to do a bit of revising for said outline so I retain a general idea of my plans, but I think doing it by chapters as I was doing shall be put on hold.
At any rate, hope folks enjoy it! As always if you enjoyed it, thumb it up and comment!
Chapter 3
When the Fat Lady’s portrait swung out and let Ron into the Gryffindor Common Room, Harry and Hermione were distracting themselves rather poorly with a game of wizard’s chess. Both of them brightened considerably as soon as they saw him, and they rushed over to give him a hug.
“‘Ey now, gently. Just cause I’m outta the infirmary doesn’t mean I’m not supposed to take it easy.”
“We know.” Harry said with a smile, giving Ron’s hand a soft squeeze as he led him over to where they’d been sitting. Ron let out a contented sigh as he sank into the couch, smiling as he said,
“Much better. So, you two heard anything else from the Headmaster?”
Hermione shook her head. “The Headmaster did say he would like to talk with us later, but well….” She paused and glanced around. There were a few other students, though none of them seemed to be paying them any mind.
Nevertheless, she leaned in, her voice lowered as she said, “Well, considering he’s also got to figure out how those six girls and dragon showed up as they did, and deal with Quirrell…”
Ron perked up at the mention of the strange girls, grinning a bit as he said, “That reminds me, I got to see something even stranger about those girls before I left. Wanna hear?”
“Stranger than popping out of nowhere inside a chamber Dumbledore himself set up as a trap?” Hermione asked, while Harry ruffled his head and remarked,
“Or stranger than that song language of theirs? Or those pictures, the ones the girl with the purple hair conjured?”
Ron smirked and gave a firm nod to both of them. “Stranger than all of that.” Now it was Ron’s turn to lean in all conspiratorial as he whispered to them what he had seen.
Harry and Hermione both let out exclamations of, “Really?” with Harry’s being somewhat envious, while Hermione sounded incredulous. Ron frowned at them both as he made shushing motions, the pair flushing just a bit when they saw a few of the other students that were present glancing their way now.
“Sorry.” Harry muttered. Hermione nodded and Ron just let out a sigh.
“It’s okay. Knowing how things are with this school, it won’t take long for most to hear something about them anyways.” Ron smirked a bit as he added, “Still though, it was bloody amazing seeing it. If Madame Pomfrey had let ya stay a bit longer you would have gotten to see them with your own eyes.”
“Personally, hearing that just makes me wonder even more about what they are.” Hermione said, sighing a bit as she said, “I know you two overheard the Headmaster and Madame Pomfrey just as I did.”
“You’d think they’d remember they weren’t alone.” Ron muttered at that, while Harry shrugged.
“What’s the big deal about what they are? They may have just saved my life.”
Both Ron and Hermione gave him a surprised look, but then Ron rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as it dawned on him. “Oh, right, you wouldn’t know about that kind of thing.”
“I wouldn’t either if I hadn’t read through a few wizarding history books already.” Hermione remarked, before looking to Harry and explaining.
“Non-humans don’t have as many rights amongst the Wizarding community. They might get classified as ‘beings’ like wizards and muggles are, but that doesn’t mean they’re treated like wizards, or humans.”
Harry didn’t like the sound of that, but that didn’t clear much up for him. Ron stepped in as he said, “Some of the folks in the school, or their git parents, might not be too happy if those girls stick around in the school for long. Might cause some trouble for the Headmaster.”
“Sounds like those sorts would get along with the Dursleys.” Harry commented rather dryly, earning sympathetic looks from his friends.
Hermione sighed and said, “Hopefully word doesn’t spread too quickly. Dumbledore doesn’t come across as the sort who’d let such bother him, but still.”
“Might not matter if they don’t stick around.” Ron commented idly. Harry however had a strange feeling that wasn’t going to be the case. He wasn’t sure what it was that was giving him the impression. Was it instinct? Magic? A bit of both perhaps? Whichever it was, he was about to voice the thought all the same to his friends, only to stop as he heard someone call out his name. Turning, he saw Oliver Wood hurrying over to him, a grin on his face.
“There you are, I was wanting to let ya know. We’re going to be doing some practice in an hour. The match with Ravenclaw is tomorrow, and we’ve got some time to burn, so let’s hurry and get over to the field.”
“Alright, I’ll be down shortly.” Harry said, Oliver patting him on the shoulder before heading over to grab the other members of the team. He looked to Ron and Hermione, who smiled and shrugged respectively.
“Try not to get hurt out there. I don’t think it’d be all that fun to spend the last days of your first year in the infirmary.” Hermione said, giving a small smile. “We’ll be rooting for ya tomorrow.”
“Especially since if ya win it, we might be able to win the House Cup! Would make a great comeback after those points we lost for helping Hagrid.”
Harry winced, recalling how much of the rest of the House had reacted to them afterwards. Still, he nodded as he got up and made for the boys dormitory. Better to get changed into his Quidditch uniform sooner rather than later…
And well, some flying would be nice after the harrowing events they’d all gone through. It’d be a good way to unwind, and not think about how close he may have come to death at the hands of the Dark Lord.
-*-
As the clock struck midnight, a long, drawn-out sigh left the lips of Albus Dumbledore as he dropped into a recliner and slowly rubbed his head, the book he had brought with him resting rather heavily in his lap. More so than it ever had before.
The last few hours had been draining, to say the least.
After using the charm that ensured that he could communicate with at least one of their strange guests, he had been able to get some answers from the one called Twilight Sparkle. Answers she herself provided to him, and answers that he was able to achieve peering into her mind. He had enjoyed the former a great deal, given that it wasn’t hard to see that she had quite the keen and intelligent mind.
The latter… Well, it was not something he enjoyed doing at times, but sometimes it was still necessary. And it had proved exceptionally useful in this instance.
His first attempt, when he had tried communicating with them via images, had of course failed. Even accounting for possible differences between the mind of a new non-human person and a human, with no understanding of their language, it was difficult if not impossible to piece images together into one coherent picture. It was akin to trying to use a kaleidoscope to see something far away.
After the charm though, it was much easier to peer into her mind, see her thoughts and peruse some of her memories.
It had allowed him to confirm what she had told him- of how they had been ponies before they woke up here, and that they were from a place called Equestria. That none of them had heard of humans, Britain, or Earth. And that they, or at least she, had no idea how they had arrived here at Hogwarts.
It also allowed him to more fully confirm that some kind of memory magic had been used on her. Something much more advanced than the kinds of charms the Ministry used in some of its work. General, basic knowledge it seemed was for the most part, accessible. But many specifics and even details that would possibly be trivial were blocked or seemed to be missing.
What he was able to piece together suggested that, at minimum, the six girls and their dragon were not native to Earth, and were exceptionally lost and possessing no means of returning home. Which left the question of how, precisely, they had wound up here.
As she had told him, and the impression he got from her memories gave him no reason not to believe her, “Only something or somepony with a great deal of magical power could have done this.” And she didn’t think it was something the six of them had sought to do purposely.
Which meant that either it had been an accident, or that someone had purposely sent them.
That, all on its own, might have been troubling, but not immediately so. A mystery still all the same, but one he could take his time considering and working at. The possibility, after all, of making contact with another world, and one of so much magic as some of Twilight's memories seemed to imply, was the kind of once in a lifetime opportunity that one simply couldn’t ignore.
That he was also now trying to deal with how to prepare the Ministry for the continued existence of Lord Voldemort, and the visit he received from Professor Trelawney just moments after Madame Bones left, meant that he had a great deal more on his plate than he might have preferred.
It had taken some time for Amelia to calm down from seeing Quirrell’s death and the escape of Voldemort’s spirit. Once she had though, she’d asked dozens of questions, only some of which Dumbledore could easily answer. The chief two of course being, “What to tell the public/Minister” and, “How to deal with someone who cheated death”.
As much as a part of him did wish for the public to know, he knew it would create panic. However, like Amelia, he was not sure how well Cornelius Fudge would take being told that the Dark Lord still lived. Though now that a high ranking member of the Ministry knew the truth, it would be foolish not to share such so that the Ministry could start to prepare.
As for the latter… well, that Dumbledore needed to do additional research for. He had an idea of how Voldemort may have sought to avoid his end, but he needed more proof before he could fully create a countermeasure.
He had told Amelia to go ahead and head back to the Ministry, and that they’d work out a time to speak with the Minister and to brainstorm their next move. Dumbledore had been working on some contingencies, but they had been built around relying purely on a network of friends, confidants, and old allies from the days of the Order to deal with Voldemort’s return. He had considered the likelihood of the Ministry to accept Voldemort still living to be… well, low enough that including them in any plans at the time seemed to be a waste of time.
Just seconds after Amelia had left, there had been a knock at the door. He had suspected it might be Minerva or Severus, but instead, Professor Trelawney had been the one to step in. A visit from the reclusive Divinations teacher was in itself a surprise, but something about the way she had carried herself gave Dumbledore further pause.
And he knew why as soon as she had spoken.
“And so as the first steps for the return of the Dark Lord are taken, a new player joins the game. He who Masters Chaos and Lords over Madness takes hold of two boards and gives them a spin. Pieces are changed, rules remade. The way to victory shrouded in fog and mist. Undone shall be the plans of many, the fated tapestries unraveled at the seams as a new course is made. Six shall be the key, Six in one but not in the other, how now shall the games be played? Is all lost, or saved? Only time will tell.”
It had been in the same tone as her first prophecy. The same one that had foretold the defeat of the Dark Lord.
Once she had finished, she had collapsed, spurring Dumbledore to rush over to her side to make sure she was fine. It had taken a moment to rouse her, and when she came to she was initially confused why she was in his office.
Then she smiled at him and got back up, telling him she had had a vision of something most extraordinary. She babbled a bit about how she had been trying, once again, to foresee which student was set to meet a terrible fate in the new school year, only to be surprised when her crystal ball showed her six strange, unusual new students.
Dumbledore might have been inclined to ignore her rambling, but the inclusion of the number six gave him pause. An inquiry into the description of each of the students only served to make his unease grow.
Shaking his head, he looked down to the Book of Admissions currently sitting in his lap. He opened it up again, going to the last page. There, just as it had been after Trelawney had left, were six names glowing in golden ink, something that to his knowledge had never occurred in the entirety of Hogwarts history.
He read the names aloud to himself once more, almost as if he expected doing so might change them, or cause them to vanish from the page.
“Twilight Sparkle, Applejack of the Apple Clan, Fluttershy, Pinkamena Diane Pie, Rarity Belle, Rainbow Dash.”
The names remained where they were. And just as when he had first read them, he could almost swear that he heard some ominous cackling echo about the room. He still couldn’t pick up anyone or anything intruding in his quarters or office though, so he simply sighed and shook his head.
The meeting with Minister Fudge is going to be… problematic to say the least. He thought to himself, even as the ghost of a small smile slowly formed on his face.
“I suppose I only have myself to blame,” he remarked as he closed the book and set it on the table next to him. “I did, after all, tell the staff that Harry’s arrival would make things much more interesting around here.”
“I only wish I’d known just how interesting it was going to become.”
-*-
Rainbow Dash was bored.
It was the fourth day of them being in this strange castle, in a world not their own. They’d spent the first and a fair bit of the second asleep, unconscious after they’d landed atop some bad guy, so she hadn’t had to worry about the fact they were stuck in a medical wing with little to do.
Now however, they were all awake. And thanks to whatever magic that old man with the big beard had used on Twilight made it so she could talk with the people here. Which ensured she was quite busy playing both translator and chatterbox as she asked all kinds of questions for the healer, Pomfrey if she’d heard Twilight say it right.
The others had also been a bit bored, leading Twilight to ask if there was anything they could do to help. The healer lady hadn’t been up for it at first, but when it was pointed out they had nothing to do (except for Twilight to bombard her with questions) she relented.
Course, there was a problem. Namely that she didn’t really need help from all seven of them at once.
As it had been for the last few hours, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were the ones helping her, with Twilight reading from a list and checking the names of things as they sorted out medical supplies. Rarity was occupying herself practicing levitating a pillow, a cup, and a napping Spike, while Applejack was helping make the beds.
Herself? Rainbow Dash was busy hovering near the top of one of the windows and looking out at the grounds.
“Guhhhh, do we really have to be stuck here? Can’t we like, go explore the rest of this castle? Or at least just go outside?” Rainbow grumbled aloud, her arcane wings twitching a bit as they gently swayed, keeping her aloft.
“I’m sure we’ll get a chance to do both of those things soon Rainbow Dash.” Rarity remarked as she let the objects drift down, settling on the sheets. “And a little boredom never hurt anyone.”
Rainbow crossed her arms, pouting as she turned to face Rarity. “Soon could be the next five minutes, or it could be next week. And I don’t think an opportunity is going to just pop out of nowhere in the next few minutes.”
“You could go watch the Quidditch match thing Madame Pomfrey went to!” Pinkie Pie declared as she bounced up to where Rainbow Dash was hovering, her arm pointing out the window and towards some wooden towers in the distance.
For a brief moment, Rainbow thought it was because Pinkie was bouncing on one of the beds again, but no, it was because she was using a trampoline she’d gotten from… somewhere.
Shaking her head at her friend’s antics, Rainbow asked, “Uh, Quid Ditch? What the heck is Quid Ditch? And we can’t leave, remember?”
Pinkie giggled, poking Rainbow’s chest as she said, “It’s a sport silly, one where the people here fly on magical broomsticks and try to score points! Madame Pomefrey left to go assist with any injuries, weren’t ya paying attention?”
“She probably wasn’t, seeing as she’s been staring out the window for half an hour.” Applejack called out as she finished with the last infirmary bed. “Still doesn’t fix the other problem though Pinkie. We can’t leave.”
“Applejack’s right.” Twilight said, sticking her head out from a supply closet nearby. “Dumbledore asked us to stay here til he could arrange some rooms for us.”
“Acccttuuuuuaaaaallllllyyyy~” Pinkie Pie said as she faced the others. “You told us he asked us, ‘to stay here in the infirmary for as long as we are able, while he works on arranging accommodations for however long we might be here.” She poked Rainbow Dash’s chest again, earning a slight blush from the Pegasus as she concluded,
“And seeing as Rainbow Dash here is going to go stir crazy if she has nothing to dooo…”
“Pinkie Pie, darling, that wouldn’t really be following the spirit of the Headmaster’s request, would it?” Rarity inquired, while Twilight nodded.
“That’d be breaking the spirit of our own answer. That we said-”
“That we’d do our best!” Pinkie Pie retorted, smiling as she said, “And Rainbow Dash hasn’t been able to properly fly since we woke up. She’s not hurt, her wings clearly work, and she’s a Pegasus! Being able to stretch her wings and get out there will do her much more good than being cooped up in here.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes went wide at that, and then she grinned. “Hehe, heck yeah, that’s my kind of thinking Pinkie Pie!” She gave her friend a high five as she bounced back up, smirking a bit as she said, “A game where ya fly on brooms huh. Sounds like something worth seeing. Well then Pinkie, think ya can help me open the windows?”
Twilight let out a groan, smacking her head as she said, “C’mon Rainbow Dash, if you really want something to do, you can always tag out with one of us!”
“Nah. I like Pinkie’s idea a lot more! And besides, it’s not like I’m gonna get caught,” she said, pushing the window open with some help from Pinkie. She let out a sigh as she felt the cool summer breeze washing over her. She turned just enough and gave a salute to the others, who were now all staring wide mouthed at her and Pinkie as she said,
“See ya in a bit~!”
Before anyone could think of stopping her, Rainbow Dash leapt out the window, letting out a joyous shout as she spread her wings and within a moment was soaring through the air. Exhilaration filled her entire being as she stretched out her arms and legs and let out a delight-filled cry as she spun in mid air and dipped, swerved, rose and dived.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t going to lie to herself… there’d been a part of her worried, for a fraction of a second, that she’d have trouble the instant she took flight. This wasn’t the form she was used to flying in after all.
But, while it certainly did feel different, she still remembered all the things she’d learned when it came to flying. And her wings, magical, glowy, and semi-see though they were now, still worked just as her old wings did.
“Gonna have to spend some time adjusting some moves… probably weigh differently, winds gonna move around me and mess some moves up…” she muttered aloud as she sprialled up into the air, just for the moment rushing by, around, and through the many towers of Hogwarts.
After a few minutes of getting reacquainted with flying, she circled back around. She made for the highest tower, and then cast her gaze off in the direction of those wooden towers. It didn’t take long to find them, and with a wide grin on her face, she shot off like a rocket.
She’d gotten to fly around a bit. Stretched her wings, got some fresh air…
“Never knew of anyone without wings flying… and on broomsticks of all things,” Rainbow murmured as she drew ever closer. “So this is going to be so awesome!!”
The only trick was going to be keeping from being seen, since it wasn’t like she wanted to get herself or her friends in trouble….
As she got within a couple hundred yards of the stadium, she arced up into the sky, whipping around a bit as she focused on the wind blowing around her. The best place to watch would be from a cloud, but today most of the clouds were a bit too far up. As keen as her eyes were, she wanted a good spot to watch from. And while she could probably just grab a bit of cloud from up high… right now she’d prefer not testing just how far she could take these wings of hers.
Just because they were magical, didn’t mean they didn’t have limits. So, she’d make do with her own cloud.
The process took… a bit longer than she could remember it taking. Or at least she thought it did. The sound of the people down below cheering or crying out as the game played out was certainly a bit distracting, so that might have played a part. But soon enough, she had a nice, comfy cozy cloud for one to sit upon.
Laying down upon it and peering over the edge, she rested her head atop her hands and smiled. Time to enjoy the game~!
-*-
For the last game of the school year, so far, things hadn’t been too exciting or interesting. At least, not from Harry’s perspective.
Before the match, Oliver had pulled him aside and told him that a friend of his had overheard the Ravenclaws discussing their strategy for the match at dinner the previous evening. It seemed that in an effort to try and catch up or even surpass the other houses, they were going to try and drag out the match. So odds were good they weren’t going to be trying to go after the snitch too hard.
Any other time, Oliver might have desired to use this as an opportunity to try and end the match quickly. But with Gryffindor still hurting from the loss of points they took helping Hagrid with Norbert, there was a desire to try and ratchet up the score as high as they could as well. Make sure they got ahead of Slytherin so they could finally win the house cup.
So, at least til they got to around a hundred to a hundred and fifty points, Harry’s only real goal was to keep in the air and keep the Ravenclaws from grabbing the snitch if they changed their mind.
So far, about fifteen minutes into the match, he’d been doing just that. Circling the field, ducking some bludgers and occasionally the other players. All the while keeping an eye both on the score, and for the snitch.
He’d already caught sight of it three times now, and briefly gone after it to distract the Ravenclaws a bit, but otherwise he’d been playing more of an observing role in the match.
So far, his own presence didn’t seem to be doing much. The Gryffindor’s were making goals, but it was more like for every one goal they got, Ravenclaw was getting two, three, or even four.
It seemed the Ravenclaw team had spent quite a bit of time getting ready for this last match. He wondered, idly, if he should try to hunt for the snitch soon. If they didn’t end this soon, this could become a rather lopsided defeat even if he did catch the snitch.
But Oliver hadn’t given him the signal yet so… wait it was.
As he circled around the stadium again, he cast his gaze about… and then did a double take. Was... was that a cloud, just parked about a hundred yards above the stadium? And…
No, he wasn’t seeing things, there was a rainbow draping over it. Wait, no, that was hair. Rainbow colored hair.
He’d seen that hair before. Was that one of those strange girls that saved him from Quirrell? What was she doing out here? And… was she on a cloud?
The rainbow haired girl blinked, then smiled and waved at him, before making a shush motion and giving him a thumbs up.
Harry wasn’t sure what to make of that, so simply opted for a soft wave back. Only to blink as her eyes suddenly went wide and she clung to the edge of her cloud.
What could that possibly… Harry began to think, only for his broom to swerve to the side as a glint of gold and the Ravenclaw seeker went rushing by him.
In an instant, Harry was gripping his broom and launching after the opposing seeker. Thanks to his Nimbus 2000, it didn’t take long for him to catch up, but then the Snitch started to duck, weave, and dance this way and that as it went ever higher.
Harry’s broom had speed and maneuverability, but his opponent had more experience. Each time the Snitch changed direction, he overshot a bit and had to slow down to compensate as he changed direction, catching back up or passing by a bit the Ravenclaw seeker.
However, that advantage in skill began to fade as they kept rising higher. Bit by bit, Harry noticed how the Ravenclaw’s seeker had to struggle more and more to push their broom higher. Harry was feeling some struggle from his own broom as well, but the Ravenclaw’s broom was practically quaking.
Another minute of the two dancing and weaving around each other as they ascended ever higher, Harry’s opponent had to call it quits as a section of their broom splintered. With a curse, they turned and banked, heading downwards and back towards the stadium.
That left the question of what Harry should do. The snitch wasn’t making any effort to swing on back down. In fact, at the moment, it seemed to be taunting Harry as it flitted further above him.
The game wouldn’t end til the snitch was caught. But who knew if it would come back down anytime soon. Or that, even if it did, if it wouldn’t just drift back up this high.
I’ve got a feeling I might regret this… Harry thought to himself as he pressed himself tighter to his broom. “You’ve got this Harry… it's not the craziest thing you’ve done this year.” Leaning forward, he urged the broom upwards, giving chase as the sounds of the crowd faded away and he just heard the rush of wind flying by him, and the soft buzzing of the Snitch as he drew ever closer.
The Nimbus 2000 was a magnificent broom. Faster than any other out there, for the moment at least, and able to go higher than all but a few specialty brooms.
But even it had its limits. And Harry’s chase was pushing it ever closer to them.
-*-
For much of the game, Rainbow Dash had lain upon her cloud and watched it unfold. She’d bit by bit managed to pick up the basic idea of the game. All she’d really been left to ponder had been the strange winged, tiny, golden ball flitting here and there. And how two of the players, one of whom she recognized, seemed to just be circling the field and doing nothing else.
She had gotten her answer just a few minutes ago, and joined the crowd in watching the seekers for a moment as they raced against each other, trying to get that strange little gold ball with wings. However, as they’d kept climbing, most returned their focus to the rest of the game as the team in red and gold tried to rally and break the growing stack of goals the blue and silver team were notching up.
Rainbow Dash, however, had kept watching the pair. And had seen the blue team one pull away even as the red team one kept going. She’d noticed the way their broom had started to quake, a few of the bristles even coming loose and being picked up gently by the breeze.
“I don’t know much about flying brooms… or uh, humans or wizards and all that. But I know a lot about flying.” Rainbow Dash muttered to herself. “And uh, kids got guts to still be going up after that little thing, but uh… that seems pretty risky.”
As she watched the kid rise, she winced when her eyes caught sight of his broom starting to quake. She sat up, her wings reappearing as they unfolded. She positioned herself as she watched the kid’s hand reaching out, nearly flailing about for that little orb.
“C’mon kid, grab it and turn around… or just turn around...”
The kid was within arms reach, and the strange gold ball seemed to be growing tired of the chase. It was slowing down with each attempt to grab it that the kid made and-
He got it! Rainbow Dash pumped a fist in the air and cheered as she saw his fingers close around the troublesome orb and…
She froze. She didn’t hear the broom snap, but she saw the moment it stopped quaking. And she watched, almost as if time was slowing down, the front half of it slipping out from beneath him, racing towards the ground far below.
And then, so was the boy.
Her wings flared and she kicked off, just as someone in the stadium below cried out. Someone else must have been watching the kid as well, or maybe someone just spotted her. She didn’t know, and she didn’t particularly care.
The wind rushed by her as she raced towards the kid, who was flailing about as the rest of his broom went flying off. His eyes widened as he saw her, but she just smirked as he drew closer, spreading her arms out to catch him.
It was only seconds before he landed in her arms that she had no real clue how much the kid weighed. Or if he was falling fast enough that she couldn’t catch him.
Thankfully, she didn’t have to worry or think about that. While he did knock some of the wind from her and pulled her down a bit, she was able to catch him without trouble.
“Hehe, you should be more careful in the future, kid. There’s not always going to be a friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash to catch ya.”
The kid just stared at her in surprise for a moment, before nodding. She was pretty sure he hadn’t understood her… but it probably wasn’t too hard to make a guess for what she’d meant.
They both turned when they heard a shout from below, and they saw that the other players had all landed and that some of the teachers were coming out onto the field, their heads tilted up to see them. Among them was the long bearded guy, Dumbledore, whose expression she couldn’t really read.
Rainbow Dash winced, recalling what she’d told her friends before she left. Something told her they weren’t going to let her live that down for a while. Shaking her head, she could only shrug and grip the kid tighter as she angled down and started making for Dumbledore and the small crowd of humans now filling the field.
“Hang on kid, let’s get ya back to where ya belong, on solid ground.”
