As much as Aerie wanted to spend time with Aurora over the summer, she wanted to be Nova again. To be herself. Not a stand-in for Harry Potter. She wanted to spend time in her world before her friends back home started to forget about her. To spend time with her friends and family from her world, was paramount on her mind. Wanting to explore the mines under her home... well, that was just a side quest she'd a mind to do. With her on that side quest was her Scootaloo who was presently dressed up like Indiana Jones for the little adventure they were undertaking. They were also accompanied by Apple Bloom dressed in some ancient Earth Pony armor she’d found, Sweetie Belle was sporting a Lara Croft-inspired outfit, Cozy (Sam Ayers) was wearing a green cloak and had brought a bow and arrows set, and a certain dark green member of the Night Guard, a mare named Idol Hooves in full Night Guard armor shaded dark green. Their group also included two of Idol’s guards who were gray and sported similar dark green armor, along with Moonie, and Sunset Shimmer. Shimmer had decided to use some utility armor for the day shift ponies and had a gray wizard’s robe on over it. And I should probably mention that Idol had reluctantly accepted the rank of Lieutenant and now had her very own special detail which was attached to the Night Wing.

“I… um, haven't been down this way,” Idol cautioned as Aerie retraced her steps into the heart of the mountain. “Have any members of the special detail come this way?” Her question was directed at the two guards. They answered that they were unaware of any.

“Is this even a good idea,” Scootaloo asked.

“I wonder if mapping old tunnels is a potential cutie mark?” Apple Bloom asked as the group looked about. They’d but the light of their horns and a couple of lanterns that they’d brought.

“Last time I came this way I was in a mirror world and fighting lings,” Aerie offered. “No offense to our escort.”

“Offense is not a Ling trait,” Idol offered. “But understood. From what you described, had we not countered Queen Chrysalis it would have been disastrous regardless of the outcome.”

“There is good air this way,” Offered one of the guards. “Despite the depth.”

“Indeed,” Aerie replied.

“The stonework unnerves me,” offered the other. Indeed the structure they were going through looked to have been hued from the very stone and done so with tools that cut solid stone smooth as ice. There were ornate arches, columned halls, and great rooms that looked as though they’d been vacated not but a short time ago. Only the dust bore witness to time.

“The carvings in the walls look like traditional earth pony designs,” Apple Bloom remarked as she held up her lantern. “I see some ponies, but they are all beasts of burden to some sort of stocky bipedal creature.”

“It would not surprise me if they are both ancestors to Earth ponies,” Aerie suggested.

“You want to try explaining that?” Bloom asked crossly.

“Discord.”

“Discord? Oh right. Mash them both together and create a whole new race of sentient beings. OK, ya, I can see that. Still though.”

“That or Grogar,” Aerie mused as she stopped. The light from her horn now illuminated two large stone draft ponies in full armor guarding a large set of double doors. Larger than life they were, or at least they seemed so.

“Well?” Sunset asked.

“When I fought my way out the doors were all open and I wasn’t exactly admiring the scenery. I just figured that all I had to do was keep going up and if I couldn't find a way out I’d make one. Trying to retrace my steps in undisturbed corridors is a little tricky.”

“Fair enough. Shall we open the doors then?”

“So what’s the writing on the door say? I don’t seem to know that script.”

“Speak friend and enter.”

“Oh, that’s not one bit ominous,” Aerie replied sarcastically.

“No lake, we should be good.”

“Lake?” Sweetie asked as Sunset stepped up to the door.

“Félagi,” Sunset said the word while prodding at the door with her magic. At first, nothing happened, and then Aerie stepped up to the door, pulled on the handle, and opened the door.

“Overthinking, we were,” Aerie teased.

Sunset couldn't help but laugh.

Within they found a grand hall. Every stone surface was covered in ornate carving, and there were lumps of fabric that looked like they may have been banners at one time.

The group slowly entered, their meager light barely illuminating the far walls and ceiling.

“Let’s try this way,” Aerie offered and turned to head down a corridor off to the left.

“Should we maybe be marking our way?” Sweetie asked as they passed into the expansive corridor.

“I’m mapping everywhere we go,” Moonie responded. “And if we get separated you have but to follow our hoof prints. That alone would be enough to get us back up to where there are ponies about.”

“I can have teams paint some of those directional lines they use in big institutions to help people find their way,” Idol offered.

“I’m sure that’ll be lots of help,” Sunset offered with a smirk.

“Are we even going in the right direction?” Scootaloo asked.

“Can't say, I'm just going by dead reckoning. Trying to trace my path from another world that could have numerous subtle differences,” Aerie offered as they passed into another large chamber.

“You know, we could have gotten you daggers from the armory,” Sunset pointed out.

“While that’s true, you want to find the Master Smith’s forge just as much as I do.”

“OK, you got me there.”

“Here we go…” They’d just passed through another large archway. “Things are starting to look familiar.” She turned left once more and headed for a large ornate door. The room itself looked a great deal like a warehouse and had many containers stacked up on shelves.

“It’s like they just walked away from the place,” Apple Bloom commented.

“I’m thinking that these deep chambers predated Equestria.” Aerie stopped at the door, cast a spell on the door, and then slowly opened it.

“What spell was that?” Sunset asked.

“Simple lubricant spell. The last thing I want is to go this far and be stymied by a door mechanism that doesn’t want to work.” Aerie stepped through the door. “Bingo.”

“That has got to be the biggest blacksmith shop I’ve ever seen,” Apple Bloom said softly as she looked into the room, her lantern illuminating whichever direction she looked.

Aerie hadn’t thought about what she would do next. Sure there had been light in the other underground chambers, but to reach over and turn on a light switch was technically her brain shutting off and her body doing its own thing.

Suddenly there was light.

“I wonder if that explains the fresh air?” Sunset said dryly.

“Hum… who would have thought?” Aerie looked at the switch as her mind played catch up.

“How old do you think this place is?”

“Predates Canterlot as we know it. Few ventured into the mines when I was a filly. Occasionally a team would go in to harvest crystals, but that was about it.”

“Good air, no one goes down here, a good place to set up a hive,” Idol added.

“Most ponies use enchanted lighting systems created by unicorns,” Sunset stated. “Electronics are just a novelty and here this place has working lights that are older than a thousand years.”

“Might even be pre-Discord.”

“Pre-Discord?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked about.

“I don’t get it?” Cozy said as she ventured into the room. Within the room was mine equipment waiting for repairs along with all manner of bladed weapons and armor. “If they had electricity, why mess around with such old-fashioned weaponry?”

“My hammer is a bit like an artillery device. And given that they undoubtedly had access to other worlds, the last thing they’d want to do is take weapons with them that would stand out too much.” Aerie took a step and slowly made her way over to a large hammer near the forge. When she was but a pace away electricity arched out connecting her hammer and the one on the bench. A moment later a small portal opened up and the one on the bench vanished through it.

“What just happened?” Sunset asked.

“I have Nova Silverwood’s hammer. The one meant for her. The one meant for me just went to her… I sure hope it didn’t break anything.” Her statement was met with silence. She looked about and spotted the mining lance, took a step, reached out, and placed her hoof on it.

“Nova…” Scootaloo said softly and then walked over to her.

“It won’t do me any good against dementors.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a mining lance used by Unicorns a long time ago,” Sunset informed her. “It will cut through solid stone. Nova, you weren’t thinking of doing something with that?”

Aerie picked it up and put it in her saddle bag. “Kobayashi Maru. The no-win scenario. Unless one cheats. This will be my cheat code.”

“I see,” Sunset said softly and then walked over to a table where several items lay. “Do you intend to kill?”

“If I must. I don’t want to. Not needlessly. But if I am faced with the cancer that has permeated wizard society I can see no other way than I will. I’m not exactly an innocent babe.”

“I’ve heard,” Idol said softly. “You were restoring order. You need not be ashamed.”

“We could have been friends.”

“The ideal way to deal with an enemy. Make them a friend. But we can not be friends with everyone just as we dare not reveal ourselves to just anyone.”

“Truer words,” Nova replied. “Just as I must never reveal my true self to just any wizard. They’d brand me a monster to be destroyed, of that I’ve no doubt.”

“I’d call you an angel,” Sunset offered as she picked up an odd flashlight-shaped device in her magic turning it about to examine it. “One of them Arch angels that go in and kick flank.”

“Sunset… is that what it looks like?” Both were now very interested in the interesting item Sunset had found.

“Kind of looks like it.” A small hatch opened up to reveal an empty chamber. “Well… that’s either a battery compartment or it needs a crystal.” She pointed the business end away from herself. “Definitely not working.”

“Any more floating about?”

“I thought you wanted a new set of daggers?”

“New daggers would be nice, but they’d be useless against a Dementor. Or so I suppose.”

“Whereas a device capable of cutting through steel just might. Look, if you find yourself cornered just try that headache inducer of yours.”

“You mean a burst of all four of my pools of manna.”

“It’s what our new energy weapons are based on.”

“Speaking of which, has Bright Star shared their Dimensional Warp tech with us.”

“We’ve already got the Firefly fully outfitted. Look, with what you’ve suggested might happen I fully intend to follow that train.”

“I’m half tempted to have the Arcadia show up at school.”

“I thought you wanted a low profile?”

“I got bad news from Mrs Silverwood. I’m down to one item left to find and destroy. Mrs Silverwood was able to locate the hiding place and someone else has already been there.”

“Here’s the daggers,” Apple Bloom offered from a short way away.

“If push comes to shove, I think it may be time for a show of force. If Wizardkind sends dementors to Hogwarts, Akkadia declares it an act of war.”

“Something tells me you might want to clear that with Mrs Silverwood.”

Aerie’s first indication that the new school year was indeed going to be the year of the Prisoner of Azkaban happened the same day they all got their letters for the coming school year. Hoshiko had returned from Japan the day before and had brought numerous items with her from the Fushimi Inari shrine. To each, she presented a small brocade bag which she explained had received the blessings of Inari and intended to protect from harm and corrupt beings.

Aerie put down the morning paper and let out a sigh. The Headlines: Lucius Malfoy escapes from Azkaban.

👥

“Aster?! Aster, calm down, please.” Nova Silverwood had been summoned to a lab to deal with a pony who’d had a breakdown only to find that it was Aster who was destroying the lab. Everyone was presently in pony form.

“Princess,” Aster said softly, her face streaked with tears, went to her and the two embraced and slumped to the floor.

“Aster please, what is it that has you so upset?”

“That monster, that abomination…” Aster was on the team that was analyzing the genetic makeup of Slytherin’s monster. “It’s made of pony.”

“What?”

“The base DNA is winged pony. It’s Equestrian DNA. When that beast back in 1903 attacked the pony tribes it wasn’t eating the eggs, that’s how it reproduced. Instead of creating a basilisk from a chicken egg that son of a Minotaur figured out how to use a pegasus egg.”

“Miss Aster?” Isolde called tentatively from the door. She was in her human form given it was easier for her to ride over that way. She’d been brought over to see if she could calm Aster down. She’d heard.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’ll be alright. It’s just that if someone offered me a way to go back in time so I could kill Salazar Slytherin I’d jump at the chance right now.”

“You and me both,” Mrs Silverwood said softly. She let out a huff. “Isolde, can you look after Aster? There’s something I need to check on.” Nova Silverwood Swan let go of her embrace and stood up. She walked over to the smashed doors that opened out over a balcony, stepped out, stood up while transforming to human form kept her wings, and held out her hand. Moments later a large war hammer came flying through the air and slapped into her palm. “There is something I need to check on.” A moment later her wings had lifted her into the air.

“Where is she going?” asked the pegasus that had brought Isolde over. “And in full warrior mode no less.”

“Looks like she’s going to Hogwarts,” Isolde said as she watched Nova Silverwood vanish from sight. “And what’s with that hammer?”

“That hammer showed up about a week ago. Left a crater in the forest floor,” Aster informed her.

Nova Silverwood alighted on the steps to the great hall at Hogwarts a short time later, now in full armor. She pushed her way through the doors even as her Moonie landed on the steps behind her.

“Nova, what are you doing? Where are you going?”

“I need to check on something.”

She’d only gone a short way when Dumbledore came hurrying down the hall to greet her.

“Professor.”

“Mrs Silverwood? What brings you to Hogwarts in dare I say it, a murderous mood, it would seem.”

“I need to check on Slytherin’s crypt,” she offered as she continued past.

“You know where it is?” Dumbledore turned and hurried after her. “And is that Aerie’s hammer?”

“She’d gone down there in oh-three,” Moonie offered as she transformed into human form. “Regarding the hammer, yes, technically.”

“Technically?”

“This one is mine now. The beast I hunted so long ago fled from me on realizing it was being hunted. I wanted to go after it but had to satisfy myself with the destruction of a large effigy of the man’s face. That’s where I found a clutch of eggs. In a chamber behind the face. The primary entrance is the second-floor girls’ toilets. That much I’m sure you’ve figured out. Care to join me?”

“I may regret it, but yes, I’d like that. I’d like to know for myself what’s down there.”

“Well then, come along.”

The three continued along until they’d come to the room they’d wanted.

“Um… hello?” Myrtle offered as the three entered.

“Good morning Miss Warren,” Moonie offered. “We seem to be on a mission.”

“Can I come?”

“I don’t see why not?” Nova offered as she sought out the faucet with the snake on it. “Let’s see if I can still do it…” She whispered that most ancient of tongues and a moment later the fountain for washing hands parted, the floor opened, and circular stairs appeared.

“You can open it?” Myrtle exclaimed excitedly. She let Nova Silverwood go first.

Down, down, and even further down they went.

“Something wrong with your hand?” Nova asked Dumbledore. The steps had gone deep under the castle and he’d yet to steady himself with his right hand.

“Something bit me. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Indeed.”

The path leveled out into a smallish cavern from which several concrete culverts connected to various tunnels. Here and there stalactites hung from the ceiling, water could be heard dripping, and in a few locations, natural columns could be seen. And the light, well, interesting enough, that was coming from Myrtle. After all, what use is a ghost that can’t be seen in the dark?

“Is that… I mean the concrete?” Dumbledore had pulled out a wand which he held in his left hand. The light coming from it was a little better than Myrtle’s light. Not that Nova and Moonie cared. They could see mighty fine in limited light, or even no light.

“Romans had concrete. No reason to believe the founders didn’t know how to make it. Might even help to explain some of the peculiarities of this place given that the shaft shouldn't even exist. Heck, a couple hundred years ago most nonmagical people had no indoor plumbing. Come on, this way,” Nova Silverwood offered as she headed down the largest tunnel. “Be nice if there were maps of these tunnels somewhere.”

“Afraid it would take a dedicated survey party and I doubt we’d have many volunteers.”

“And some heavy artillery,” Moonie added.

“And bring the roof down on their heads I’d think,” Nova mused. “Although… I just bet the Weasley twins would jump at the opportunity.”

“I’d be surprised to learn they haven't already been down here,” Dumbledore mused. “Oh, I do keep track of after-hours activities when I can. I am, allow some mischief. I wasn’t much better. And to be honest I spent a good deal of my younger years here actively seeking out entrances to the underground. That’s how I know how dangerous it can be down here.”

They had but a short time to go to come to a large vault door. Nova Silverwood spoke in that strange hissing language, the snake-like bolts drew back, and the door opened. She stepped through followed by Dumbledore, Moonie, and Myrtle.

“Snakes… of course, it’d be snakes,” Dumbledore said softly as they entered the massive chamber.

“I’d put a substantial seal on that door. So what sort of crypt does Godric Gryffindor have?”

“Compared to this, a fairly modest crypt at a reasonably mundane cemetery.” Dumbledore stopped on spotting the ruins of Slytherin’s face. “And the pools. All this water. No proper basilisk would want to have anything to do with a place like this. They don’t like water. Mrs Silverwood?”

Nova spread her wings and lifted herself into the air, and then dropped on the edge of the ledge that led to the chamber beyond. Dumbledore climbed up to where she was to lay his eyes on a chamber covered in the remains of cracked shells and the bones of the creatures inside. Beneath them, there was a floor with finely detailed inlaid patterns. Nova slowly walked over to one of the eggs, pulled out her wand, and picked through the remains.

“So what are we looking for?”

“When I attended school here I discovered this chamber. I’ve kept what happened here a secret from all save the headmaster because I bungled my attack. The monster fled.” She shifted to the remains of another egg. “Look at the floor. There are inscriptions. As for what I’m looking at, Salazar Slytherin was using pegasus eggs. From this, he created a much larger monster that wouldn't mind such damp conditions. I rescued one pegasus egg that hadn’t been tainted yet, but, they are all in varying stages of metamorphose. Half pony, half draconic.” She moved to another, checked it, and then on to another to check that too. “Instead of using chicken eggs, he used pegasus eggs. I killed them. All of them. At least that’s my assumption. The eggs were a sickly green. Monsters so far as I knew, and I destroyed all but the one that escaped me.”

“You’d no way to know, and I dare say you’d not have a way to reverse it. Even with all my knowledge I’ve never heard of such a thing as this let alone a way to reverse it. Very dark magic this. To twist such a creature. Pure, innocent, and magically potent. Salazar was truly twisted.”

“Dark magic the likes of which even those who study it would not touch I gather.”

“I know of no way to reverse something like this,” Moonie offered. “Even if we had known.”

“We would have been forced to destroy every last one of them anyway. Is that what you are saying? Knowing would have made it that much harder.”

“And the one you saved?”

“You know him. I named him Goldwine. He spends the winters in the islands, and summers in the Silverwood community. He is showing his age and doesn’t care for extreme temperatures.” She moved to another egg, and then on to another. “He keeps busy with his civic responsibilities given he’s the head of the Silverwood clan.”

“I thought you were the head of your clan?” Dumbledore asked.

“I am their Princess and Matriarch. I am not the head of the clan. I am not the clan Chief.” She moved to another shell. "Each of the English pegasus clans has their chief.”

“How many were you going to inspect?”

“Any shells without an occupant could potentially be another of those aberrations lurking about down here.”

“A rather frightening thought.”

“And then I’ve got a mind to destroy this floor.”

“You’d risk the ceiling coming down on you.”

“In which case you should probably leave,” Myrtle suggested dryly.

“But… Mrs Silverwood? You’ll die.”

“Not hardly.”

“What about the wards? Not to mention the possibility of unintended consequences.”

“The wards never stopped me, nor is this tied to the wards. The script, while Greek-based, lacks any of the older Akkadian scripts.” She moved about now examining the script. “Yes, I can access the wards, and that is linked to a much older artifact.

“Selena…” Nova said after she’d looked about a while longer. Dumbledore had begun to look about as well and had found a small iron shot. It looked to have been round at one point but showed signs of having hit something hard at a high rate of speed.

“There, um…” Dumbledore had found a shell that was cracked open and not smashed.

“Yes, I saw that. Part of why I want to destroy this incubator. That is what it is after all. Simply putting a toad on an egg never did anything without a catalyst.
“I can only hope there is only one. I may never find that last victim, but I can make sure no other foal gets turned into Slytherin’s basilisk. And you can keep that iron shot. It’s what I used to destroy the mask and the eggs. I like to keep some shots on me. I can propel the shot at some mighty deadly speeds.
“Selena, if you could, get Professor Dumbledore out of here.”

“Professor,” Moonie offered and turned back into a pony. “Allow me to give you a lift… here…” Given the robes he wore she needed to lay down so he could climb up. “You ever ride a pegasus?”

“Well, no actually,” he offered as he readied to climb on.

“Legs ahead of the wing joints.”

“Yes, yes, that much I know. I’ll be sitting right on your shoulders.”

“In this case, you are going to need to lay flat on my neck. Low clearance.”

“You aren’t thinking of trying to fly out of here are you?”

“Not enough room for the wings past the snake statues. I will be trotting through most of it, and there should be just enough clearance for most of it. I just don’t want your head connecting with a stalactite.”

“I’d say we are in agreement with that.”

“I think I’ll stay. I want to watch,” Myrtle announced. “What? I’m dead. I can’t get any deader.”

“Fair enough, and Selena, as soon as you’ve got him up those stairs, let me know,” Nova said with a smile on her face. “We wouldn't want him trapped down here.” She waited for Dumbledore to get mounted up, and as Moonie flew to the far end she walked to the center of the incubator. There she waited while Myrtle busied herself by looking at all the little things she found interesting.

“Is he out yet,” Myrtle asked after about an hour.

“That’s a lot of steps for one old man.”

“Imagine if it had been a pitfall with no way out.”

“That’d just be dumb. I’ve no doubt Salazar Slytherin would have wanted a student to do the dirty deed as their first act of blood cleansing before starting on his vocation of being a general all-around mass murderer. A pitfall like what we went down might just kill anyone attempting it. And how would they get out.”

“Ride the beast maybe?”

“I suppose I could ask Isolde, but I doubt she remembers all that much.” She had to think for a moment. “To be honest, I’m not so sure my questioning her about it is even a good idea.”

“Dying wasn’t that big of a deal for me… one moment I’m about to yell at Riddle for being in the girl’s toilets, and the next I’m dead, wondering what happened... it was what happened after. What he did. My body was left to lay there until someone finally came to look for me. *Took them hours and hours to find my body. I know, I was sitting there waiting for them. Olive Hornby came into the bathroom. It was her fault I was there in the first place. 'Are you in here again, sulking is it, Myrtle?' Olive said in her typical scolding tone. I swear she outright hated me. The only reason she was there was because Professor Dippet asked her to look for me. And then she saw my body. I think she thought that maybe I’d passed out. Would you believe that she kicked my body? Actually kicked my body? Well, I showed her. I made a point of haunting her… at least until the Ministry did something that kept me locked in the school. Not being able to do any of the things I wanted to do. Being stuck here at school.” She’d gone over to Nova and looked up with longing when Nova reached out and gave her a pat on the head. “I am so tired of being dead. I want to live. I want to move on. I don’t want to be like this anymore.”

Nova just didn’t know what to do. What to say? She could run her hand through Myrtle’s hair. She at least could do that. It was a bit like playing with strands of a cloud like Myrtle was a cloud become sentient given form.

“I’m not interrupting something?” Moonie asked as she reappeared a short distance away.

“She doesn’t want to be a ghost anymore, and I just don’t know what to say.”

“I see.”

“Selena, what’s it like for you? You’re a ghost,” Myrtle asked.

“I’m not actually a ghost. I’m a Guardian Spell become self-aware.”

“Oh.” Myrtle certainly hadn’t expected that.

“She doesn’t have all the limitations a ghost has,” Nova offered. “There are things that she can’t do, but there is a lot she can do that a ghost can’t. She can make herself solid, she has warmth...”

“Let’s just blow this place and get out of here. I have got a hot date with Aerie’s Moonie. We think we’ve got an idea of how we might make a little Moonie for Hoshiko.”

“What?! You’re joking? Right? Tell me you’re joking. Moonie…”

“Just smash that incubator.”

“Fine,” Nova offered, summoning up her armor if for no other reason than to protect Moonie’s amulet. “Myrtle, I’ve no idea what’s going to happen, so you might want to put some distance between you and this place.”

“You, you care?”

“Of course, I care. Even if I can’t do anything for you, I care.” She took a breath and let it out slowly. “Fine, I think I get it. I’m just worried that you might end up worse off than you are.”

“What could be worse than what I’ve got?”

“This is Salazar Slytherin’s handiwork I plan to break.”

“Ahhh… maybe I’ll just go over there...”

Myrtle scooted over to the far end of the crypt, turned, and waited. Moonie vanished, Nova paused a moment, took in a deep breath, let it out, lifted the hammer, and brought it down.

She did succeed in collapsing a ceiling, just not the one above her head.

“Mrs Silverwood, are you alright?” Myrtle asked moments later.

“Nova?” came Moonie’s voice.

“What just happened?” Nova asked. She’d managed to land on her feet but had allowed herself to crumple down until she was prone on the floor. Sitting up to look about she discovered that she was now in an enormous antechamber. It was even moderately lit.

“The incubation chamber was the ceiling for this place,” Myrtle informed her. “Also, the big vault door slammed shut. I think we are going to need a new way out.”

“Well…” Nova got to her feet, the hammer still in hand. At one end a doorway that led to a long corridor that appeared to go deeper into the drumlin the castle sat upon. At the other end, the chamber opened out with passages left and right, stairs that dropped down into a depression, and a large ornate arch far too high up to be intended as a way of egress. Unless...

“This place looks a good deal like the citadel on top of Mount Thorn,” Moonie said as she too looked about. The opulence and grand scale of the place were every bit as splendid as the palaces of Canterlot.

“It’s Akkadian in origin… and to be honest, what were they even doing building something this big so far out in the sticks?”

“The sticks?” Myrtle asked.

“The seat of power when all this would have been built would have been in the region of Mesopotamia between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.”

“Mmm, kay.”

“And you don’t know where that is, do you?”

“I know about the Mediterranean, but that’s about it.”

“With all the time on your hands, you should read more. Back then the English isles were part of a larger land mass that encompassed much of the North Sea,” Aerie supplied. “That and a good deal of Scotland was under ice.”

“Mostly rural. Farmland,” Moonie added. “Even with my vast knowledge I can’t think of any reason to build something so substantial so far away from the seat of governance, and I dare say it would have been underground even then.”

“The question then becomes, why?”

“A mine, perhaps?” Myrtle asked.

“Seems a bit much for a mine,” Nova mused. “Unless… what ore would be so valuable as to warrant something like this?”

“Could it be Mithril? True silver as it’s sometimes called?” Moonie asked. “Ah! I think I know. I think it’s the Mjalli mines. Yes, there is something in my memories about a mine that produced great wealth in all manner of minerals including the white metal. White gold it was sometimes called, but was very difficult to find. The irony is that only an advanced civilization would even recognize its value beyond a novelty metal.”

“Mjalli?” Myrtle asked.

“It’s an old Icelandic word that refers to the color white. Ergo, the white mines. I do a lot of reading. Why the White Mines might even have been the inspiration for Khazad-dûm.”

“Somehow that’s not very reassuring,” Nova replied in a deadpan tone.

“What? How bad can it be?”

“No one drop anything into any wells. Come on, let’s see what’s through that upper doorway.”

“We going up?” Myrtle asked.

“If I can get high enough I can teleport out of here.”

“Ya, going through solid rock isn’t easy.”

“No?” Moonie asked Myrtle as Nova swept her wings out and lifted into the air.

“This… vapor that makes me, me, doesn’t like going through large amounts of anything. It… It’s kind of hard to describe. My consciousness will make it to the top but it’ll take a while to reconstitute myself.”

“A filtering effect,” Nova called as she angled to land in the doorway. “Come on, don’t just sit there.”

“Coming,” Moonie called back followed by her and Myrtle joining her on the landing a moment later. Beyond the door lay a smallish chamber which connected to a hallway. Beyond that, they came to a bridge that spanned a chasm that plunged into darkness. From there the passage led into another chamber, and then into an enormous cavern that they had to cross a bridge to get to a central platform. Beyond that was another bridge that led to an enormous doorway. The one thing that concerned Nova was the huge statue resting on a four-handed great sword that had been plunged into the platform.

“Hold back a bit,” Nova said softly.

“Appears to be a golem,” Moonie advised.

“Ya, that’s what I’m thinking. By rights, it should recognize me as an Akkadian Princess, but I’m doubting it.”

Nova approached, the golem stood up and a half a dozen smaller golems dropped into place to block any further advance.

“Stand aside!” Nova shouted. “I am a princess of the blood royal!”

“And they are advancing,” Moonie announced.

“I can see that,” Nova replied, gave the hammer a twirl, and flung it at the big one. The hammer hit true and didn’t even slow down until Nova willed it to return. The big golem looked at the hole in its gut and shattered to the floor. Nova threw the hammer once more, wide of the advancing line of golems, and with a sweep of her hand, the hammer swept through the line mowing them down.

“Well, that was easy,” Myrtle said as the hammer slapped back into Nova’s palm.

“Ha, without the hammer it would have been downright annoying.”

From there they passed into another great cavern where an arched gateway stood on one side of a circular platform. There were two passages here, one to the left, the other to the right with no apparent way to get to them.

“Left passage continues up,” Moonie offered. “What? I did mention exploring these passages.”

“You know I wanted to explore these chambers.”

“You were just a filly.”

“Can’t say why I never explored them,” Myrtle offered as Nova spread her wings and flew over the gap. The others followed where they found a long staircase up a gallery that led to a grand hall at the end of which was a grand rotunda with another doorway that overlooked it. She also couldn't help but wonder how someone without wings would have gotten to it as they passed into another chamber with yet another bridge over a gap. From there they passed into another great chamber where a damaged golem stood guard. Nova eyed it cautiously as they passed but it looked as though the enchantment had failed long ago.

“Force field,” Nova announced on arriving at the exit door. “Hummm, I know.”

“Got it,” Moonie announced as Nova transformed into a pony. “What? It’s my original function.”

“Come on…”

“Um, there’s another golem,” Myrtle announced.

“Everyone through,” Moonie said as she walked through the entryway. Nova followed with Myrtle right behind. Suddenly the force field was back, and the golem stopped where it was. Ahead of them, there was another hallway with grand double stairs at the end. From the landing they passed through a doorway into a modest hall and then through another doorway that led to a cavern of gigantic proportions with yet another platform in the middle of it accessible via a bridge. On it was a lone archway that resembled the one the veil hung from.

“What now,” Nova wondered as they crossed the bridge.

“More golems,” Moonie announced.

“Curious… Ah I see, several of them are out of phase and we are supposed to go through the gateway to fight them.

“They don’t seem to be responding to us,” Myrtle observed.

“We got here without beating the last challenge I think. And I see the next doorway off over yonder. I can just imagine that if this were a video game we’d have broken it.”

“That and we’d be stuck,” Moonie added.

“We aren’t though. We’ll just fly over there.”

“I’m wondering if it might have something to do with no one being remotely human right now and the last challenge was just broken?” Myrtle offered as they crossed the gap.

“Possible, I’d imagine,” Nova replied and then dropped down into the next chamber.

They all froze at the sight of a massive statue that was hunched over a raised dais.

“Do we dare?” Myrtle asked. “I do have the feeling we aren’t far from the surface.”

“This one is different,” Nova said softly and started forward. She was but a few feet from the statue when it shed a single glistening teardrop that splashed on the barren stone floor. Nova, for whatever reason hit remnants of the teardrop with a ball of foxfire before it could dissipate.

“Nova?” Moonie called and even gave her mistress a shake.

“Sorry. It’s alright.”

“You zoned out,” Myrtle informed her.

“The Pensieve Dumbledore has, used to be here. Seems he’s done the challenge at least once and decided to just help himself. Anyway, I experienced a memory. Professors from Hogwarts. One of them had created a spell that could take a person’s pain away. At first, it looked promising but it created a dark quick silver-like stuff that looked like it was pure refined dark magic. And then she bottled it like it was nothing.”

“Dark magic?” Moonie offered.

“If I were to speculate I might go so far as to suggest she was extracting the Yin from her subject’s soul.”

“I am made of both light and dark,” Moonie said softly. “I was conceived from darkness, but at my core, my heart is a light my darkness could never overcome. Taking that from me to turn it into some form of magical energy… it frightens me.”

“Me as well,” Nova offered, and hugged her. “I think the people who made it through the challenge were meant to experience that memory as a warning.” Nova stood up transforming as she went. “Come, there’s a passage back to Hogwarts over here.”

Nova led the three through a door behind a blank portrait which went up a reasonably short flight of stairs that opened into a large chamber with four large portraits. In the center of the chamber was set a three-dimensional map of Hogwarts. A single individual waited in a portrait.

“It has been a long time since anyone has passed our test,” Offered the man in the portrait.

“Percival Rackham, I presume. Test indeed. I was investigating Salazar Slytherin’s chamber when I fell through the floor to find myself in your test. But tell me, did you tamper with the golems or do they just attack anyone?”

“Tamper? My dear, they are there to test if a person is worthy of wielding ancient magic.”

“Ancient magic? It’s Akkadian magic that you discovered. That’s an Akkadian mine where precious metals were unearthed. I am Princess Nova Moon, Matriarch of the Silver Woods, and Priestess of Akkadia. Those golems were not your playthings.” She spread her wings followed by Moonie taking on human form.

“You, but…”

“You do know that’s just a painting, right?” Myrtle asked.

“I thought Akkadia was but a legend?” Rackham asked. “What we did, our living counterparts that is, we’d discovered ancient magic lingering here and in other places and feared what would happen if it were to fall into the wrong hands, and it nearly did.”

“If you are talking about that extracted pain, it was your fault for not putting an end to her activities.”

“You were able to see the memory?”

“I have my ways. As is I know where the pensieve can be located and yes, I plan to have a chat with the headmaster about it.”

“He had no business taking it. He was so promising too.”

“Meanwhile, I have a giant Basilisk roaming around and I can’t even track it without having to fight my way through old security infrastructure that no longer recognizes Akkadian nobility.”

“What about the map?” Moonie offered. “This seems to be the master control for the wards.”

“Is it now?” Nova said, a smile crossing her face. She hung the hammer from a hook on her belt and with a few gestures of her hands the image of Hogwarts lifted until they could see a sort of three-dimensional cross-section of the room they were in. Nor did it take long for her to discover that Dumbledore had lied about access to the room. “Would you just look at that? We’ve but a few stairwells and we’ll be in the base of the Astronomy tower.”

“We, um, actually locked him out after he stole the pensieve,” Rackham offered. He’d been joined by the other three portraits who were quietly talking to each other. Chatter that stopped when the map raised even further to reveal much of the tunnel network below. Here and there ancient script hung near places where golems were located. Every last one was flashing red.

Nova stepped back, brought up a heads-up display, and began flipping through screens.

“Looks like I’m going to have to do a full reboot to fix it,” Nova announced a short time later. “Let’s see…” She ran the map back down. “Any nonmagical in the area? Looks like we are good. Beginning reboot.”

“Hold on, what’s that going to do?” asked a rather stern-looking woman from a painting.

“Can we not stop her?” asked a rather portly man.

“She has full administrative control. We can’t,” Rockham announced.

“What I’m doing is shutting down the wards,” Nova offered.

“That’s bound to have Dumbledore in a tizzy,” Moonie offered with a smirk on her face.

“But… the muggles will be able to see Hogwarts.” he was a middle-aged man of Indian descent dressed in a black Sangeet and turban.

“One, there’s no one about. It is a rural location after all, and two, the muggle government knows about Hogwarts.”

“What?!” all four portraits exclaim causing Moonie to bust out in laughter.

The map vanished and the space in the floor went dark.

“In their blind zeal to remain apart from the nonmagical community, they became arrogant and aloof to the point that they completely missed when the nonmagical world surpassed them in technological advances. They now have the ability to look down from great heights and see things that they would not otherwise see. Magic has its limits. Ah, here we go.”

The map space had lit up again and the words Leukós Metal’lum appeared followed by Paráthyra has experienced an unexpected problem. Correcting for errors… Paráthyra must restart.

“Lovely.”

“You’ve broken it!” the man from India proclaimed.

“Broken it? Broken it!?” Nova shouted turning on the portraits. “If your original had left well enough alone the system would have been fine. But no, you had to muck about with it!”

“What’s going on down here!” Dumbledore shouted as he burst through a doorway at the top of a landing above two crescent staircases.

“Great, now you’ve let him in,” the woman griped.

“Professor,” Nova called.

“Just doing some much-needed maintenance.”

“You said you were going to destroy Slytherin’s incubator, not destroy the whole school!”

“Whatever are you talking about?”

“The wards are down?”

“And?”

“But the wards are down!” The man was quite apoplectic.

“Nothing is falling apart,” Moonie offered. “And yes, I popped out to have a look.”

“Professor, I’m just straightening out the mess the people who had those portraits commissioned made.”

“Oh, the Keepers. I should have known they might have something to do with it. Ah...”

Leukós Metal’lum had appeared again, followed by archikopoió, archikopoió, archikopoió.

“And we are back,” Nova offered as the map reappeared. “Looks like several systems had to be isolated due to faults. The whole system was in danger of experiencing a cascading collapse.”

“And what would that have done?” Dumbledore asked.

“Anything from nothing to boom. All because four individuals got it into their heads to muck about with things they don’t understand.”

“Nova, I’ve got an idea,” Moonie announced. “Our Tia doesn’t have a whole lot to do beyond foal sitting. Maybe she can have a go at fixing everything?”

“Tia, who’s Tia?” Dumbledore asked.

“Tardis Interface Assistant,” Nova informed him. “It’s a very special traveling box that my Aunt gave me years ago. It lost the ability to travel on its own, but boasts a substantial displaced space.”

Nova looked about, transformed back to her pony form, went to a blank wall, and cast a spell on the wall. A moment later a very ornate door appeared on the wall complete with a stained glass arched window over the top that depicted the Equestrian blazon of two alicorns representing day and night.

“Tia,” Nova called as she opened the door. “Would you like a hobby?”

“A hobby?” asked a golden alicorn in the doorway that looked suspiciously like Princess Celestia.

“We’ve found a Mithril mine. Or at least that’s what we think it is. The systems are long overdue maintenance.”

“I see…” replied the alicorn of light. She poked her head through the door, looked about, and ventured cautiously into the map room. “I see. Most interesting.”

“One of the things we need to do is get full control of the security systems or disable them if we can’t. And there could be any number of undesirable creatures in the tunnel systems.”

“For what it’s worth, I did my best to block off all access I could find,” Dumbledore announced. “Sending students down into that deathtrap was unconscionable.”

“Now see here,” Rackham protested.

“Tia, while you are at it, lock those portraits out of the system so that they can’t do any more harm.”

“But we are the keepers,” Rackham protested. “Our challenge course…”

“I will be dismantling your challenge course and putting things to right,” Nova informed him. “This is one time I find myself in agreement with Professor Dumbledore.”

Author's Note

Well, that was a dozy.

Yes, I could have turned that into three chapters, I just didn't want to. Or I could have done a short chapter followed by a long chapter. I didn't want to do that either as the short chapter would have been the shortest I'd ever posted.

Nova Silverwood's journey through the bowels of Hogwarts is inspired by the video game "Hogwarts Legacy".

Now... I might be taking a summer break... or in the middle of a break, so I may not have many things to post following this. That and I am at a bit of a loss as to what to do the next school year. There isn't much of a story left until it's time for the World Cup. Unlike the canon version of Prisoner of Azkaban, Mr Malfoy isn't going to try to get into the school. Yes, there will be dementors, but no big black dog, and no rat to be found out.
About all that's left is pony shenanigans.

As of this moment I've enough to last till the end of the month. I'm thinking I might take a few scenes out of the movie and just push on through to the Tri-Wizard Tournament.