"Hey Ron, look at this!" Hermione sat next to Ron at breakfast in the Great Hall.
"Why'd you want me to read a Muggle- oh…" Ron's mouth fell open and a bit of sausage fell out- which Ginny and Hermione both made expressions of disgust at.
"Fairies? But these women with wings don't look anything like fairies!" Ron gestured to the full colour photo of Nebula, Morgana and Roxy standing together in their fairy forms on the front of a Muggle newspaper.
"Oh, you're talking about those "fairy" women that revealed themselves to the world across the pond, eh? Me mam sometimes buys Muggle newspapers. Needless to say that she's been buying them a whole lot more recently…" Seamus piled scrambled eggs onto his plate.
"Not just across the pond. They say they have a magically hidden island of their own called Tir Nan Og that's off the coast of your home country!" Dean said to the Irishman sitting next to him.
"Ron, why are you acting like you haven't heard of them before? We talked about it with…" Hermione trailed off as she remembered that she and Ron were not alone.
"Oh. Yeah. Still, why are you showing me this?" Ron reached for a pitcher of pumpkin juice.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "They're giving more information on their type of magic now and personally, I think it's fascinating…"
"I don't even follow Muggle news that much and I agree…" Katie spread jam on her toast.
"But they're not Muggles obviously. They're a new kind of magic- or new to us anyway since they say they've been existence for thousands of years…" Hermione said.
"Other realms? How is that even possible?"
At the Ravenclaw table, the debate was on. Cho gestured to the newspaper as she asked.
"Quite possible according to them. I personally would love to learn more about it." Terry Boot said and most of the table nodded in agreement.
"They need to hurry up and write some books about their culture, their types of magic and these "other realms". I want to read all about it!" Anthony Goldstein bit into his toast.
"Back to my question! How is it even possible for other realms to exist?!" Cho exclaimed.
"It's just another type of magic we can study. Not like ours for sure but just because we do not quite understand it doesn't mean that it can't exist, Cho…" Michael Corner sipped his tea calmly.
"We can Apparate to other parts of the country, other parts of the world, yes. But to another world? How? How the bloody hell is that even possible?" Cho said.
"It must have been what your ex-boyfriend did after that confrontation in Diagon Alley back in mid-July since no one's seen him since…" One brown-haired girl sitting next to Cho went back to her porridge; completely ignoring the glare Cho was giving her and the laughter from those who heard her comment.
The Hufflepuffs were having their own discussion at their table.
"I tell you! This is some sort of trick by the American Muggles or maybe even their Department of Magic!" Ernie MacMillan banged his fist on the table, almost spilling his porridge.
"Oh, hush up, Ernie. You were the same one who thought Potter was the Heir of Slytherin back in our second year…" Hannah Abbott rolled her eyes as she cut up her bacon and eggs.
"With good reason! He was a Parslemouth and he was always found near the scenes of attacks! Besides, it' wasn't only me who thought so!"
"But he wasn't, Ernie. In fact, I apologized to Potter as soon as I could after I recovered from being Petrified. Now enough about Potter. We were talking about this new magic found out there in America…" Justin Finch-Fletchley ignored Ernie's reddening complexion.
"It's not a trick. Auntie's been in contact with Lawrence Rodman- the American head of Magical Law Enforcement and he's been saying it's the real thing this whole time. He hasn't met with this Queen Nebula person yet, but he has met with some other fairies from Tir Nan Og…" Susan said.
"Oh?" Zacharias Smith raised an eyebrow. "How come that news isn't in the Daily Prophet yet?"
Susan rolled her eyes. "Well, it's not like they can randomly go off and interview Heads of Magical Law Enforcement, can they? Besides my aunt said- and she said that I was free to tell you all this- that there's going to be an interview in a Special Edition of the Daily Prophet in a few days with the Fairy Queen Nebula herself!"
Several people at the table dropped their forks and knives in shock.
"REALLY?" Hannah's eyes widened.
"Oh yes! I'm not quite sure how it came about myself, but two Daily Prophet reporters got the chance to interview her! I would subscribe to the Daily Prophet as soon as I could if I weren't already a subscriber!" Susan resumed eating, leaving the table excited about this new bit of information which no doubt would be all over the school before breakfast even ended.
"Who wants to take bets that Potter somehow got to this "Magix" realm?"Blaise Zabini chortled as he read that day's Daily Prophet.
"Wouldn't put it past him. Potter's always breaking the rules and getting away with it…" Pansy Parkinson drank her glass of orange juice.
Like the rest of the school, the Slytherins were also interested in the news that more types of magic existed than the kinds they knew.
Draco Malfoy said nothing as he listened to his fellow Slytherins discuss the topic at hand.
Munching idly on some toast, he read the Daily Prophet thoroughly. Unless there was some sort of attack by the Dark Lord and his followers or a claimed sighting of Potter, the Prophet seemed obsessed with this "new magic" as was the rest of the Wizarding World these days…
"I hear they have a different kind of witch too. Witches that don't need wands like we do…" Daphne Greengrass passed a copy of Witch Weekly over to Pansy, who shared it with Millicent Bulstrode.
"So the girlie magazines are covering it too?" Zabini asked in surprise.
"Oh yes. How could they not? They carry articles about it now and this week's article is about a trio of witches from the Realm of Magix called the Trix. Apparently in their world, they rank near to the likes of Grindelwald and the Dark Lord now!" Pansy said.
"Oh?" Draco sat up and now began to pay attention. This could be some useful information for the Dark Lord…
"Paying attention now, aren't we, Draco…" Daphne said, sounding suspicious.
"Never mind me, read the article! All I keep hearing about are those freaks with wings…" Draco said.
Daphne's younger sister Astoria spoke up. "They say that the Trix almost took over the Realm of Magix and wreaked total havoc in it with some magic called "the Dragon's Flame" that is supposed to be the most powerful kind of magic they know! They stole it-"
"Wait… they stole magic?" Draco's eyes widened.
Astoria glared at him for interrupting her. "Yes, they stole it from a Princess Bloom of Domimo- a fairy by the way- who was its rightful keeper…"
Daphne nodded. "Yes. Apparently in their realm and with their type of magic, they can steal, give, strengthen, weaken and otherwise manipulate a person's magic. Scary stuff, isn't it?"
"And the year after that, they joined up with some shadow phoenix guy-"
"Then some wizard named Valtor- who also didn't need a wand…"
"Let's not forget the article they did on the witch Mandragora. Witch Weekly mentioned the Trix there too, but only went into detail on them in this issue…"
Draco tuned out after he heard that these witches who didn't need wands could actually steal magic and cast spells that he could only dream of.
He resolved to tell his mother to order a copy of Witch Weekly and show that particular article to the Dark Lord, just in case he was interested in recruiting a few new Death Eaters…
Even the teachers themselves were caught up in the talk about Tir Nan Og, the Realm of Magix and all that came with them.
After class that day, they had all gathered in the staffroom to a meeting that Dumbledore had called.
"So everything is going okay in school still?" Dumbledore asked.
"Everything is fine except for the fact that Potter is still missing and has been for roughly four months now… Fine indeed!" McGonagall said dryly.
"I see nothing wrong with that. If Potter wants to drop out of school, let him. Teaching that boy anything would be like trying to teach a rock…" Snape said in his usual monotone.
Professor Flitwick cut them off before an argument between the two could break out (again).
"I did not call you all here to speak about Harry Potter or where he might be. I want to know what is happening within this school…" Dumbledore frowned.
"If you had shown so much concern even a few months ago, Potter would not have left, but anyway…" McGonagall proceeded to give a general overview of her own classes.
Each teacher then proceeded to do the same and some discussions and arguments were had.
Once that was done, discussion turned to the topic of Tir Nan Og and the Realm of Magix.
"They change the rules of magic as we know it!" Professor Sinistra exclaimed.
"Not necessarily. None of them have our kind of magic. They're just introducing a new kind is all." Professor Flitwick said and many others also agreed with him.
"They also say that their kind of magic might manifest in women and girls all around the world!" Professor Vector said.
"So we might be seeing more of what they call fairies then?" asked Professor Sprout.
"It seems that way…" McGonagall answered. "Plus their magic works differently to ours so they would be detected differently to how Hogwarts does it for potential students…"
"This new kind of magic should be monitored. They could present a threat to us. Suppose they revealed our existence as well? That could be… disastrous…" Snape droned.
"They will not. My contacts in the Ministry have been keeping in contact with the American Department of Magic. They've been in contact with the… Queendom of Tir Nan Og since their princess was actually born in America…" Dumbledore said.
"I'm amazed you still have any contacts anywhere at all since you practically chased the Boy Who Lived out of the country…" McGonagall said flatly.
"I did not chase him out of the country, Minerva. I did my best to persuade him to stay…"
"He probably would have if you hadn't left him with the Dursleys all those years ago like I warned you against doing…" McGonagall's glare unnerved even Dumbledore- even though he would never admit it…
"The blood protection…"
"Enough about the bloody blood protection! It obviously didn't work since He Who Must Not Be Named was able to harm him in some way almost every year since he came to Hogwarts! I don't blame him for leaving in the slightest. In fact, the only reason you still have any power at all in our world is because it is said that He Who Must Not Be Named was only ever afraid of you. The Wizarding World may be fickle at times and downright stupid and they are only distracted now by this Tir Nan Og business, but they will certainly never forget about Harry Potter, especially at a time like this when we need him the most!"
"I will have respe…"
"You want respect from me? Respect is not automatic, Dumbledore. It is earned. You used to have it, but until you finally admit your mistakes, you have it no longer!" McGonagall turned on her heel and left the room, leaving many shocked expressions behind her.
"Welcome to my beautiful land of Tir Nan Og, Ms Humphries and Mr Whitlock…"
Nebula chuckled at the expressions of the two stunned British Wizarding reporters.
Eliza Humphries, a petite young woman with black hair in a ponytail had her blue eyes opened wide while Benjamin Whitlock, a tall, older man with curly light brown hair not only had his hazel eyes wide open, but his mouth as well.
"You may wish to take some pictures here if you like before we commence the interview…" Nebula suggested.
"Oh… Oh yes, Your Majesty!" Eliza Humphries fumbled for her camera while Benjamin Whitlock scrambled for a notepad and pen.
Nebula's wings flapped slightly as she spoke about her Queendom's environment, taking them on a tour of a garden of plants that neither Briton had ever seen either in the Muggle or the Wizarding Worlds.
"That is it for here. I shall take you to the palace now…" Nebula clapped her hands and energy discs formed beneath the feet of the two awe-struck reporters.
"This place is bloody amazing!" Eliza exclaimed as she made her camera float alongside the fairy queen, who was flying on her own wings.
Nebula chuckled. "It is, isn't it?"
Soon, they reached the sky entrance of the palace and Eliza summoned the camera back to her.
"May I?" She asked, gesturing to the large door with a pair of armed fairy guards on either side.
Nebula inclined her head. "You may."
They took pictured and made notes accordingly.
The guards bowed to their queen as one as she used effortless wandless magic to open the doors.
As they entered, the witch and wizard were once again stunned, this time by the beauty of the design of the palace of Tir Nan Og.
"Ever since we were freed, we took the liberty of doing some more light-hearted, whimsical decoration…" Nebula explained.
She led them into the throne room where several fairy guards stood on either side of the throne itself and bowed to their queen as soon as she entered.
Nebula flew up to sit on the throne and allowed them to take a few pictures of the throne room, including some of her looking very regal on her throne.
Eliza conjured a stand for the camera while Benjamin conjured two comfortable chairs which he place on Nebula's right side as she gestured to them to do.
Casting a spell on the camera so that it would take pictures with a flick of Eliza's wand, the interview commenced.
Several days later, in Hogwarts' Great Hall as the students sat down to eat breakfast, a flurry of owls flew in, all of them carrying copies of the Daily Prophet that were larger and thicker than usual.
"A flood of owls today, eh? Betcha the Prophet's vaults are filled to the brim from sales of today's edition alone!" Seamus shook his copy out and began to read it.
"I certainly won't be taking you up on that bet, Seamus…" Dean began to read his own copy.
Ron and Ginny sat on either side of Hermione as they read her copy together.
Interview With Earth's Fairy Queen
By Eliza Humphries and Benjamin Whitlock
Ever since the Fairies of the ancient Queendom of Tir Nan Og revealed themselves to both the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds, both have had something in common for once: being fascinated by them.
Media outlets both Muggle and Wizarding have pursued them for interviews. While several Muggle media outlets have been granted such interviews, Britain is only the second of the Wizarding communities after the United States of America- where their princess was born- to be granted an interview.
It all came about when Eliza took a trip to her hometown of Cardiff in Wales one weekend. She had an encounter with a British fairy who was also from that area whose name is Stephania Lewis who draws her powers from nature- plants, trees and the like. (Interviews with British Fairies will come up in subsequent issues starting with Ms Lewis).
They had a talk about their different kinds of magic and naturally after a while, the topic of Tir Nan Og came up.
After expressing the desire to interview Queen Nebula one day, she (Lewis) offered to see what she could do. After some dialogue on a cell phone (a sort of Muggle device that they can talk to each other while on the go with), she said that the Queen had agreed on the condition that the Daily Prophet send two reporters only and that Eliza was one of them.
So now that the question of how this interview came about has been answered, we shall present one of the most eagerly awaited articles in Daily Prophet history.
We sit here in the beautiful throne room of Queen Nebula's palace after a guided tour around a garden of flora and fauna that neither reporter has ever seen in either the Muggle or Wizarding Worlds, both of which are still visible through some high, arched, crystal-framed windows, swung wide open outwards.
The room is painted in a silvery blue, with wall-to-wall dark grey carpeting which gives it a cool, other-worldy air. Crystal statues of various magical creatures and fairies alternate with potted plants on the left and right sides of the room, a silver chandelier with magic golden energy acting as the lights in it hangs above us.
She sits regally on the throne, flanked on either side by loyal, armed fairy guards, who look as if they could certainly be in a fight with Death Eaters and be the ones to come out alive.
The interview commences with a simple question: Can you tell us anything about yourself, Your Majesty?
"I most certainly can…" She says. "As you may already know, I am the Major Fairy of War and Peace. I draw my powers from either of those concepts. After we were freed by the Winx Club and my niece Roxy from the prison that the Wizards of the Black Circle had us in, my sister Morgana handed over the crown to me as she wanted to live with her husband amongst what you all call Muggles…"
Your niece and your sister?
"Yes. My niece Princess Roxy, the daughter of my older sister the former Queen Morgana. She really is a lovely girl. I didn't even know about her until we were freed. She is studying at Alfea College for Fairies in the Realm of Magix right now where she is doing quite well and making friends. Until we can establish a fairy school of our own here on Earth which will take some time, that's what any other fairies from this planet may have to do as well. As for Morgana, she hasn't completely abandoned Tir Nan Og of course. She comes by fairly often and helps where she can, plus she has done a few interviews on our behalf…"
You say you will establish a fairy school here on Earth. What does that mean for the different magical communities already here on this planet?
"It means that for quite a long time, magic will turn up in women and girls much in the manner that you have your Muggle-Borns, plus some of our own may go and have children with the Muggles or some Wizardkind and have fairy daughters of their own. If they wish, they can train as fairies with us or go to Alfea. In fact, it has already started. We do have a few students with us now though not as much as Hogwarts would have, I imagine. There are also those who will choose to study as the witches we are more familiar with and attend Cloud Tower School for Witches in the Realm of Magix instead…"
Can you explain the different magic types for us, Your Majesty?
"I can indeed. In our kind of magic, some women who have a certain power level are given a choice. In Magix, tests can be done to confirm it. If they do have the right power level, they can choose to become a fairy or a witch. However, there are some who were born fairies or born witches because their female ancestors were such. There are a few exceptions. My niece has a roommate whose older sister and mother are witches, but this roommate was able to choose to study as a fairy. It may have had something to do with the women on her paternal side being fairies, but it can happen. Fairy or witch magic levels can also manifest in a girl whose family magic was never high enough to be able to choose to study as one or the other or a girl might be unfortunate enough not to have enough magic to become a fairy or witch at all, despite coming from a family of them."
What about power sources? We hear about fairies having different kinds of powers…
"A fairy's source of power can come from the environment, something she is particularly good at, a concept or even just passed down the line whether she had a witch mother/ancestor(s) or not. A fairy might have a witch mother with powers that come from metal and even though she might not be a witch like her mother, she could still draw her fairy powers from the same source. Morgana is the Major Fairy of Thought, I draw my powers from War and Peace yet Morgana's daughter; my niece Roxy has powers that come from animals- feeling what they feel, communicating and enabling communication with them and being able to take on some of their traits among other things."
What are your plans for future relations between your Queendom and the Muggle and Wizarding Worlds of Earth?
"Well, we are establishing relations with some Muggle governments who will have us. We will allow them to enter the Queendom and study magical history and theory of our kind. We may even establish embassies and have diplomats someday if things go so well. We hope to do the same with Wizarding governments someday."
Part 2 of this interview will be published next week.
"AWW!" Ron and Ginny cried out in disappointment as well as a few others around them at the fact that they would have to wait to read the rest.
"I'm a bit disappointed that this is a two-parter myself but this was indeed a good read. I learnt quite a bit from this short article…" Hermione said.
Ron, Ginny and several other Gryffindors seated nearby looked at her incredulously.
"Short? Did you really think that article was short, Hermione?" Ron asked.
"It was already long and is supposed to be a two-parter at that?" Ginny raised an eyebrow.
"Methinks Hermione has a different sense of what's a long read, you two…" Neville continued to munch on his cornflakes as he re-read his own copy. "I would love to be able to go there someday and study their plants. Those photos are absolutely stunning!"
"Lovely photos indeed. Tir Nan Og looks like such a beautiful place…" Colin sighed wistfully as did others.
"Hello everyone!" Luna walked over to the Gryffindor table so Hermione and Ginny made a space between them for her to sit.
"Hey Luna! What did you think about the article?" Ginny spread some butter on her toast.
"I thought it was wonderful. Provided insight into their kind of magic and had some lovely photos as well. I especially liked the one with her standing in the garden…" Luna pointed out the photo in question.
"Very nice indeed. I wonder what plant that is she was touching there…" Neville said.
"I just thought of something! Suppose the Crumpled-Horned Snorkack lives in Tir Nan Og!" Luna squealed.
"Snorkacks don't exist, Luna!" Hermione said exasperatedly.
"A couple months ago you would have said that Tir Nan Og, Magix and these kinds of fairies did not exist either, Hermione. Don't knock it until you know for sure…" Neville defended Luna.
A bunch of "ohs" passed through the students seated there as Neville put himself to sit next to Luna, separating her and Hermione, who looked to be turning red with what was either embarrassment or frustration.
"Hm. Neville's been stepping up and defending Luna much more frequently. I wonder…" Ginny looked at the pair, who were now having an animated discussion about the article.
Then she looked at her brother and Hermione, who were also discussing the article, albeit with less friendly tones.
They totally fancied each other. They just didn't know it yet…
Lord Voldemort sat in his favourite chair at Malfoy Manor, reading the Witch Weekly article that Draco had suggested via his mother. The Daily Prophet for that day lay on a table next to him, open to a picture of Nebula flying alongside the reporters sent to interview her.
This would not do. This… distraction of these… winged females would not do. Plus they could present a threat should they ever somehow decide to fight against him…
Plus that Potter boy had been gone for months now and he still had not been able to trace him down. He needed to make absolutely sure that the brat was dead and would be unable to stop him before he could claim a full victory.
His Death Eaters had been doing a few murders here and there, plus some Muggle hunting which was usual, but nothing too big since that massacre at a Muggle school in the summer.
That needed to change.
He also needed to find out more about the Realm of Magix and these "Trix". Would they be worthy of being broken out of where they were being held and becoming potential Death Eaters?
Their résumé was rather impressive after all…
But for now, the world had to be reminded that Lord Voldemort was back and was still very much walking, talking, torturing and killing.