204 A Change of Pace

The twenty-fourth of November, the fateful day of the first task, was coming up soon. Since nobody knew what the first task would entail, there wasn't much Oleandra could do in order to specifically prepare, except practice the Quick-Change Charm, which would allow her to smuggle all sorts of goods into the first task without breaking the rules, which stated that one had to enter the first task armed only with their wand.

Daphne was in charge of brewing as many different potions and antidotes as she could in hopes that one of them would come in handy. The rules didn't specifically state that champions couldn't get their friends to help them prepare, but Daphne would have helped even if it had been against the rules.

As for Tracey, she had volunteered to scout out information about the task, but so far, she hadn't had much success; by now, everyone knew the Slytherin Silver Trio about as well as the Gryffindor Golden Trio. Most students wouldn't even give her the time of day, while teachers kept their mouths firmly shut, so she'd ended up assisting Oleandra with her Quick-Change practise.

"Imagine an invisible layer under your clothes," Tracey recited from the book. "And remember to maintain the hand sign of the ram."

"What do you think I'm doing?" asked Oleandra in annoyance, wiggling her clasped hands in front of her.

Oleandra had already successfully mastered the version of the spell that had been adapted to use a wand. However, due to the circumstances (namely that her wand was supposed to be ashes in the wind), she had to show up to the first task armed with nothing.

However, the rules didn't state that Oleandra was barred from using objects found after the first task began, so as long as she could use the Quick-Change technique to switch into her combat robes, which would contain her very much intact wand, she could bypass the restrictions…

…On the condition that she mastered the wandless version of the Quick-Change Charm first. Otherwise, she'd only be able to rely on her runic signs and Cloak, who could hide in her clothes and easily escape detection.

Oleandra took a deep breath, carefully placing her left hand over her right, clasping them both together, extending her forefingers and middle fingers, and formed the hand sign of the ram.

"Cambio Exuvia!" Oleandra shouted, trying her best to remember the feeling of casting the spell successfully with her wand.

"No good," said Tracey, shaking her head. "You're still wearing your school robes."

"I can see that," grumbled Oleandra. "Why is this so difficult? I had no trouble using the Charm with a wand."

Had Ollivander been there, he could have explained the gist of it: all wands form a network with each other; and this network connects each and every wand-wielding Wizard and Witch in the world together. This link allows them to unconsciously access the collective knowledge of generations of magic users, be they alive or dead. One only needed to input the magic and the password: the wand movements and the incantation, to use any spell successfully!

This was the reason why Wizards reigned supreme among all the magical races: every single Wizard or Witch was standing on the shoulders of figurative giants; each one a fully trained soldier the moment they graduated!

When magic users omitted the incantation for Nonverbal spells, they gave their wands one less piece of information, which made the casting process that much more complex, since they had to shoulder a greater part of the burden. And when one skipped using a wand entirely, the casting difficulty would grow by entire orders of magnitude!

Luckily, Oleandra already had plenty of experience moulding magic through her fingers for her runic hand signs, so she already had a head start compared to most other Wizards when it came to wandless magic that required shaping magic flux with one's hands.

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The fateful day of the first task was drawing nearer and nearer, and Oleandra had only achieved minor success at the wandless version of the Quick-Change Charm. Seeing that she was banging her head against a figurative brick wall, Daphne suggested that a change of pace might help.

"There's a Hogsmeade outing today," she said on Saturday morning, the weekend before the first task. "I daresay a bit of fresh air might do you some good; you look like you haven't slept in days."

"Sis, I still need to practise," said Oleandra tiredly. "You go and have fun if you want to, but I scarcely think it'd be a good idea to head into the first task without being prepared…"

"Come on," Tracey coaxed her. "You need to take your mind off things, a change of perspective might give you some inspiration."

That was certainly true; and with a bit more encouragement, Oleandra allowed herself to be dragged off to the village. The first stop was, of course, Honeydukes; Daphne still had some money stashed away to buy sweets. Upon entering the shop, Oleandra felt a familiar feeling bubble up within her; she was being watched again. It was a different feeling than the usual stares she'd grown accustomed to receiving.

"Buy your Lime Slime quickly," Oleandra murmured to her sister. "This is giving me the creeps."

"Pardon me," said Daphne, elbowing her way past Hannah Abott to reach a container filled with green jelly. At her height, even the shortest third years stood a few inches taller than her, making it difficult for her to make her way through crowds.

Daphne paid for her small bucket's worth of Lime Slime at the counter.

"How about a hot Butterbeer?" Tracey suggested, rubbing her hands together. "It's getting a bit chilly, these days."

Oleandra discreetly checked her pouch, which had become rather light on Galleons in recent times. She barely had enough to purchase one glass, let alone a tankard. She sighed; it was difficult being poor.

Oleandra, Daphne and Tracey entered The Three Broomsticks pub, and waved to Stacey Pullman, who was still somehow stuck as a barmaid here, despite having her curse removed.

"I think I've just found an answer to our money problem," Oleandra said, nudging her sister with her elbow upon spotting a few familiar faces.