Remus Lupin looked up when an unfamiliar owl fluttered in his kitchen window to offer him a very large letter at breakfast. It was only a month or so before that the school year had ended, alongside the very public and gushing headline talking about Voldemort getting curbstomped by a second-year student and a few ghosts. The funny thing was, that had been a Rita Skeeter article- but just like the last several about Hogwarts students, it had possessed a favorable tone- and he rather suspected Rita was beginning to revere the anonymous ‘Goddess of Reports and Duels’ as some kind of deity. By looking back between the various articles, he found out that the apparently aptly-titled Goddess held some kind of authoritative position with Defense Against the Dark Arts.
In any case, he had very kindly agreed to take up the Defense Against the Dark Arts professorial position for Dumbledore, and had about two weeks left to decide on the direction his classes would go, and what books would be required for them.
So of course, he’d sent a letter to Professor McGonagall, to inquire after the records left by previous Professors- to find out what he had to build on. She’d been able to give him just four years of records, though, not the expected six- because apparently, the last two years of professors hadn’t left records. Not only that, but she’d actually expressed both surprise and gratitude for his request- because neither of the prior two years’ professors had made such a request!
After that, he’d sent a letter to Dumbledore, to ask after those last two years.
It had been almost a week since- which was funny, Dumbledore didn’t normally take nearly that long to reply.
Then of course, this owl was a snowy owl- and he was reasonably certain Hogwarts only had barn owls.
He accepted the very thick envelope graciously, and offered the owl some bacon- for some reason, all werewolves thrived on the stuff, and he was lucky enough to have a good enough relationship with a friendly pig farmer that he had more than he’d ever need- while he opened and read the letter, genuinely curious.
To his surprise, it was his letter of request to Dumbledore- and when he glanced down the oversized piece of parchment, he saw why. His letter had been forwarded between people, each one adding a little note to the end of it, to get it where it was headed.
Dear Hogwarts Student Instructor Program,
Could you please furnish Professor Lupin with whatever records you have to this end? He is an old friend of mine, and has kindly agreed to take up the position.
-Albus Dumbledore.
Bonbon,
You’re the only one that knows where these records are kept- could you take care of it, please?
-Twilight Sparkle
Hailey,
Please take care of this- see attached student records.
Bonbon.
He reached the bottom of the piece of parchment, and sighed. Before digging in the pile of papers that comprised the rest of the envelope’s contents, he turned it over… and was at once glad he did.
Dear Professor Lupin,
During the 2021-2022 school year, Professor Quirrell’s classes were little more than a joke- and as a matter of fact, classroom attendance very quickly reached zero, and remained there for much of the year. There simply wasn’t anything to learn- which forced the Student Instructor Program Management Team to find their own material to pass on. This was reinforced when Quirrell was later discovered to be hosting Voldemort himself. I have very little personal experience with him; I was not an HSI until halfway through the year, and was essentially forbidden from attending his classes, for safety reasons.
During the 2022-2023 school year, Professor Lockhart’s classes were marginally better, though he was merely re-enacting his books. This is, of course, unless you count that he was an aggressive, molesting moron that only ever hurt his students, and later accidentally obliviated himself after I brought him with me into the Chamber of Secrets. The reports pertaining to Defense Against the Dark Arts classes in this period comprise just over one and a half classrooms at Hogwarts, so I will spare you the reading and try to hit the high points.
Overall, thanks to the far substandard Professors for the last two years, the Student Instructor Program was forced to produce our own material for instruction. Since we lacked the experience and expertise of a true Professor, there are likely many gaps in the material we were able to cover.
Your third-year class spent half of their first year focusing on defensive mindsets and enhanced awareness, and the other half some basic defensive spells. Their second year was then spent with a focus on incapacitating spells and, following the Dueling Club, the practical uses of various spells in duels.
Your second-year class spent its first year studying a blend of the same materials- some mindsets, some awareness, some defensive spells, and some practical skills.
Naturally, even though upper-year students, being your fourth-year class and above, are not participating in the Student Instructor Program, we still endeavoured to provide them with suitable optional supplement to the Professors’ lessons, and received positive feedback. Only two classes had complete participation in this supplement; one has already graduated, and the other will be your fifth-year Gryffindor class.
I have attached a breakdown of the material that each class has covered, when, and estimated average uptake of said material.
Sincerely,
Hailey Potter
Head Student Instructor for Defense Against the Dark Arts-
And yes, the Goddess of Reports, apparently.
Lupin laughed out loud- then, as he paged through all the additional pages the girl had attached, he scowled. The report was far more detailed than he had any right to expect, but there was a glaring deficiency.
They had never studied creatures… which were generally agreed to be the best starting point for young students.
He knew what he would be teaching. He had lesson plans to draw up.
Hagrid looked up at the row of students at the head of the room. He’d bungled the test- he knew it. Even though he also knew they weren’t allowed to fail him, since it was Dumbledore hiring him on, not them.
Still, they were in the Castle during the summer, just days before the Hogwarts letters would get sent out to begin the shopping season, by his request. He’d been flabbergasted when Dumbledore offered him the job- and was desperate to prove that he could handle it, to prove that Dumbledore hadn’t made a big, Hagrid-sized mistake. So, he was availing himself- that was the word, right?- of every resource available to him.
Such as the Student Instructor Program’s Student Instructor Course. The entire management team was at the head of the class as instructors, alongside a number of other ‘guest instructors’ that were experts in teaching. It was so strange, studying under a good twenty students… in order to be able to most effectively teach a class of about twenty students.
“Well,” Hailey began, looking over the papers in front of her; for some reason, she had been the spokesperson for the entire team throughout. “I believe you know our verdict doesn’t matter,” she observed, then looked up, and smiled. “But it was a pass anyways.”
Hagrid stared. He’d messed up- he knew he had. And he knew where he had, and how.
She chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry about small mistakes,” she told him. “They happen to all of us, and what’s important is being able to learn from them. Which you did demonstrate, I might add.” She sighed. “There’s really only one thing I’m worried about. You know how scatterbrained Forzeda was?”
Hagrid winced. Forzeda was one of the fictional people he was “teaching” in his test- one Hailey had played, actually, and amazingly well at that.
She nodded. “There are several students like that, or even worse. Compounded with your natural strength skewing your assessment of how much risk a creature can pose to a student, that could cause some huge problems… So keep that in mind, but other than that, we say go for it!”
Hagrid almost smiled, but his worry still got the best of him. “What was the score?” he made himself ask.
“Ninety-three percent,” Hailey answered cheerfully. “And a hundred percent on the sudden-death points.” She smiled up at him. “That puts you firmly into the top twenty percent- some, what was it, ninety-eight percent?” She looked over at Bonbon, who nodded. She nodded herself. “Ninety-eight percent of which are still instructors.”
Everyone at the staff table, with the exception of only Hagrid, stiffened when they saw the house-elf bringing in the letter and note to Professor McGonagall. The letters had only gone out that morning- so it could only mean it was someone for whom delivery was outright impossible. Hagrid, meanwhile, didn’t know.
As for herself, Minerva sighed as she accepted the note and letter, then unfolded it to read… and froze. She read it over, three more times.
“Who is it?” Dumbledore asked.
“Myrtle Warren,” she answered slowly. “Last stall, second floor girl’s lavatory…” She lowered the note and letter to the table together. “Hogwarts.”
“How is that even possible?” Flitwick asked.
“Good question,” Dumbledore muttered, before looking at McGonagall. “You going to take it to her?”
She shrugged. “Might as well try.”
“Myrtle?”
Myrtle Warren, often nicknamed ‘Moaning Myrtle’, floated up out of the toilet without sending water cascading everywhere. “Mm?” she asked.
Professor McGonagall slowly extended an arm towards her, holding the letter. She was much too far away, wary of splashes. “You have a letter.”
“I-!?” Myrtle began, staring at it. “I have a letter…?” She floated forwards, out of the stall, and slowly reached out a hand towards the letter.
Then, very suddenly, she crashed to the floor with a startled scream.
“What the-!?” Myrtle cried, while McGonagall just stared… before turning pearly white again and floating upright, looking astounded. “Did I just-!?” she began.
She nodded.
Myrtle looked down, at the floor, and carefully floated down to just barely touch it. Then she took a deep breath… and, once again, became solid. She stumbled, and stabilized herself on the stall dividers, before taking two deep breaths and looking at Professor McGonagall. “I think I did it again!”
Vernon Dursley looked around uneasily as he walked towards the unfamiliar shop on the unfamiliar street. It took him a second, but he spotted Hailey sitting at one of the tables and reading something. He hurried over. “How is it going?” he asked, without preamble.
Her return from Hogwarts had been… interesting, to say the least. Not only had her hair been far shinier and longer than it had ever been before, but she’d also been one-arming her heavy trunk around like it was made of tissue paper. On top of that, when Petunia had rushed forward to hug her, she’d overbalanced- and Hailey had caught her, apparently effortlessly supporting her aunt’s weight.
The Big Question had eventually been asked over dinner- and apparently, not only was her transformation into Harry now voluntary, but she’d killed Voldemort a second time.
Then there was last Wednesday, when Petunia had taken her out shopping while he worked. Some mugger or another had decided to attack them- and not only had Hailey treated his attack with disdain, she’d crumpled his knife into scrap metal with her bare hands. Her explanation had been only two words: ‘I’m invulnerable.’
Hailey looked up, and smiled. “Pretty well,” she told him. “We’ve finished with the main throng, so now we’ve just got the stragglers left to deal with. How about you?”
He cracked an uncharacteristic smile as he sat down. She’d be getting on the train to Hogwarts in just one week- and he’d been ferrying her to and from the Leaky Cauldron every day on his way to and from work. “The usual,” he answered. “Fridays are always busy.”
She chuckled. “Always. Even here. Ice cream?”
He winced, glancing up at the sign. It was Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor that he’d met her in. “I didn’t bring any cash,” he told her. “And I don’t want to impose.”
She laughed out loud. “You know how much it costs?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“Twelve knuts. Call it just under two pounds.” She shrugged. “Then of course, I didn’t really think about it at the time, but HSI is a paid position. And they aren’t paying me in galleons- no, the pay is in bits, their national currency. Which has a forty-nine point three times advantage, when converted to galleons- so twenty bars per week for a hundred and thirty weeks now…” She shrugged. “All told, each ice cream costs me about… what was it? Three pence? Worth of said bits.”
He looked at her. “Bars?”
She nodded. “Each one is a hundred bits. I’ve got an account at the local bank to the portal on their side, where most of it is being kept safe.” She chuckled. “Where it all was being kept safe, until I withdrew a couple bars on the way home last month.”
He sighed. “Oh, alright. What’s on the menu?”
I won't pretend to understand the math. Buttttttt:
Moony'shereMoony'shereMoony'shereMOONY'SHERE!!!
Hayley should've learnt a lesson about the world by now. No good deed goes unpunished
Invulnerable, huh? I wonder how her insanely high (for a 12 years old) powers will keep once her parents are gone. I don't think any teenager or young adult would want them around for that they get up to, no matter how much they missed them in their childhood.
I'd say staying around adults in children's bodies too long has been extremely negative in her development. A 12 years old should be allowed and able to behave like a 12 years old at least most of the time, what we see is a young adult. Cocky, confident and reasonably mature. Way too mature for a healthy, non violent, non-demanding upbringing. I hope the equestrians are taking proper care of her and the other instructors in that regard.
Invulnerable to mundane is believable for ponies curious she got to be an earth pony - or is she a crystal one?
11078411
Yes, she's an Earth pony.
And yes, the early maturation is something that was partly from her past at the Dursleys, as Harry... partly from her parents (At this point, that influence has gone away, but it was there for long enough she's grown into it)... And of course, partly from that final scene not long ago where her friends were in danger. The Equestrians are probably real confused about exactly how to deal with her, since they've never seen a foal mature so quickly... That said, they're also more than willing to capitalize on her skills & talents even as they build a support structure around her to help her continue to grow in a healthy way. They're undoubtedly struggling with the children's bodies thing as well... But yes, Hailey is definitely far too mature, especially when you look at what I have planned- which is simply in character for this Hailey, yet without her, would tend to be something Dumbledore would do, more than anyone else.
Her insane powers... are actually separate from her parents by now, too. All the knowledge/etc stuff was learned in at some point to actually be her, rather than her dad- and the invulnerability is her CM power...
DADA wasnt taught for decades at Hogwarts so theres no professors notes, and it came along after syllabus books so theres no coherent resource that hasnt been lost to time and baselisks?
Good thing Haily dont know about stock market or percentage trading on fractional derivitives. Given Goddess of Reports though, she gets a heads up what comes next, which would seriously break the system gven noone else as even a lunar reflector temporal loop yet.
11078430
She's going to need a LOT of therapy once she grows up. Honestly should start getting now, her previous life plus the harrowing moments she went through left a mark - there's absolutely no child in the world capable of going through that unscarred. Not to mention her brain isn't nearly mature enough for her to actually be as mature as she presents herself, she isn't even a teenager yet (almost, but not yet). And with all those responsibilities? Oh boy, she might not break, but there's no way she won't be a wreck of an adult with a metric fuckton of issues to work through.
Not criticizing how you're writing her, those are her strong moments and this isn't a drama, just putting thoughts on what what's shown have as consequences. For all we readers know there's already been a movement to get someone(s) for her and other students with similar needs to help them. Now that she's a pony too they don't quite need that much secrecy anymore, so maybe there's more going on. Or maybe they're too busy with everything else and the thousands of ponies they need to care for that she slipped through the cracks. Sad, but possible.
On powers, that's terrifying. She reached almost Hermione levels or apparent competence and power without the locking up in combat part. Maybe that's just appearance, maybe she overdeveloped and effectively plateau'd and is going only to learn more - she looks already top world tier at 12 - but only the future will tell. Then again maybe it's just perspective and she's "just" on a truly competent adult level... but looks unlikely. You did mention she learned all her parents' stuff, so she's "only" been speedran through Howgarts with a little bits and bobs extra, which means she's not going to change that much anymore... possibly. Still curious, you're handling this story much better than the previous ones, so earned trust is given
That's one awesome cutie mark. I wonder how much raw power you need to overwhelm it, and what great disaster called for someone to be marked so
In olden times, a Bit was 1/8 of a Dollar. Came from the old Spanish Peso (where we get the $ symbol from) being able to be broken into 8 pieces and still be considered legal tender (pieces of 8).
Thus the old jingle: Shave and a haircut, 2 bits.
(25 cents)
11078490
Huh, interesting. The more you know, I guess!
11078468
Hmm... And I happen to be just reaching the point where it starts becoming overwhelming even for her and her (presumably extensive) support network in where I'm writing, so some of the strain is starting to show through. Which means we may well start finding out about that support network... if she even has one. I imagine magic is gonna help quite a bit with the whole physical maturity issue, especially with the Papa Tango rewriting the way her magic- and, by extension, her body- works, but it'll only go so far. I think the strain breaking through was because she's actually realizing, inside, exactly how much power she wields... and how badly it can go wrong. No, it's not one of those "formative superhero moments" that starts with a tragedy, but she realizes that one could happen very easily... and all told, there's very little that can stop her.
Her power... comes a lot from studying. Hermione invents, and Hailey uses. But of course, necessity is the mother of invention, so Hailey ends up with the "street fighter" skillset of, say, Starlight, while Hermione ends up with the "book smarts" skillset of, say, Twilight. But of course they share, and teach each other... which blurs the edge. And yes, Hailey has enormous confidence, granting her a certain fearlessness in combat... which is mostly because she knows what her CM power is.
As for the CM... Her CM power is basically her mother's protection on steroids- it is, quite simply, the Indomitable Defense... which does, incidentally, extend to her natural wards and skin (a defensive structure, technically), resulting in invulnerability. It also helps quite a bit for DADA... As for raw power required to overwhelm it, I never really defined the limit. Especially as time goes on and she gets stronger, I imagine it'd easily reach planet-splitting or even shattering levels of energy required. Yes, she's fast achieved Mary Sue power levels, which makes it about the right time for her to start having problems she can't solve by batting an eyelash. Oh, yes, and the Triwizard Tournament, because her CM power is only active while she's Hailey. Harry is still plenty vulnerable.
11078582
Interesting! I bet it'll be quite the experience for them. Specially since keeping such a powerful individual sane and mentally sound is extra important due to the possible colateral damage.
Ah, actual invulnerability, not the perception of a 12 years old of it. Ok, that changes things a lot.
Can't say I like it, but that boils down to preference. Doesn't mean that Superman levels of invulnerability make the story bad, but it does make mostly everything kinda superfluous. Why care about defense when you can just ignore it? Or blow it away? Even most "violence won't solve it" problems need to be with people you don't want to hurt, because else there's always a threshold where violence justifies the end, such as in when the British ministry of magic starts acting upity in a way that endangers or hurts people. If you're invulnerable and are what seems to be Dumbledore levels of power you are a political entity even if you don't want to. You have power to affect things, so your compliance or silence become a political move. Inaction is a choice, so she's well into her way to never be able to act like there's no external consequences. Kinda like Dumbledore, but even more because she can actually tank an Avada Kevadra without flinching. Forget almost like, she's a more powerful figure than Dumbledore ever was just because of that.
Sure, there's the Ponies, but they're not staying on Earth for those thousands upon thousands to define Great Britain. That girl will need some hefty psychological help once she notices that.
Anyway, I think Sues on that level are Bad News for a story due to making the world either ridiculous or start and arms race. If she gets that powerful there won't ever be a physical threat to ever be dangerous to her, for it'd literally destroy the planet with a stray punch. It's automatically locked forever as a possible story direction unless everything school isn't relevant anymore. And even then it becomes "why the hell would they care about that insipid piece of nothing when they're on a level they're a global player by dint of existing".
Mostly I think it becomes worse by her being 12. Every single other Wizard on Earth is made interior by her existence. They'll never be as powerful, for she goes beyond human magic. She's a 12 years old child that can topple magic nations - and that's by current power level, not future, since the most powerful magical killing tool doesn't phase her - and she's barely begun learning magic. She doesn't have the equestrian motivation to not interfere with this world's government. She's the standard no Wizard can reach, ever, for time is her plaything, reality bound to her whims and no mere mortal can hope to touch her. She doesn't have issues that won't by narrative necessities be overcome.
You've made her into a goddess. At 12. By merit, not more than a higher power nudge. Where can she grow to?
Now, being the devil's advocate to my own argument, you can very well make it irrelevant to the story. Would necessitate she never be involved in any scene where that's relevant, but possible. I might just as well be raving like a lunatic against a wind that isn't even blowing against me. If that, then you know just to ignore worries you've already gone through. That you didn't even need to define an upper bound means it'll never be relevant in the story and consequences to the world are not relevant to it anyway. If her challenges are about people who she cares about then force matters squat when you're worried about making your girlfriend feel better about her grades.
But that would make this story a drama, not an adventure. At least as long as she's an involved character.
TL;DR: true invulnerability or close enough to it combined with the other powers are good if the idea is to elevate characters to form a pantheon, very hard to not break everything otherwise
But I do, even if I doesn't sound like it, believe you can pull it off
Edit: holy hell this is a wall of text. Sorry for the ridiculous length, I should stop making comments more then a couple paragraphs on the phone
11078816
On the phone? Oh My. You can tell I’m on my phone right now because it’s really short…
Sooooo Harry/Hailey was supposed to be born in 1980 and the first novel took place in 1991 (six years before it was published). That plays a big role on the setting especially with how different things have changed in the 20 years since then. Was there a reason for change in dates or was it just a mistake?
11078904
It was deliberate- I pushed it to 2010/2021 because it puts the story in an age I’m familiar with.
11078816
Hmm... Now rereading that on the desktop, and I can honestly say I'm not sure how to respond to it without some pretty major spoilers. For the most part, she has one saving grace so far: Anonymity. Nobody knows who she is... Well, somebody does, but nobody realizes exactly how powerful she is. But of course, especially with a mind like hers, that's going to change before long. She'll do something where people can see, and the secret will get out. (The Chamber of Secrets doesn't count).
11078930
No spoilers needed, i just like talking about stories and curious to see how it'll develop from here
I suspected Lyra happened.
Wait, now Haley is an pseudo alicorn?
11079427
Nice guess, but it’s not Lyra this time around!
11079524
Nope, she’s an earth pony. She’s just also a witch with Pinkie knowledge…. And she knows her CM power, of course.