Christmas Party with the Gang

"Merry Christmas!" said Professor Dumbledore, popping a noisemaker. "Come, sit with us, it'll be merrier. Tis the season, isn't it?"

The Great Hall had all been decked out for Christmas season and decorations abounded. Ribbons, wreaths, fake snow, you name it, they had put it up on the walls! Fairies fluttered every which way, throwing out sparkles with their tiny fists. As soon as they saw Oleandra enter, they all started chittering excitedly again.

However, the mood was anything but festive. In fact, it was downright awkward for everyone involved. Apparently, Ron and Hermione were fighting because one of their pets had tried killing the other. Moreover, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there, as well as both of Oleandra's parents and Draco's parents. As usual, Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy were at each other's throats, while Maxwell Greengrass was trying to mediate.

There were quite a few students staying over for Christmas this year, though Oleandra didn't know if that number was more or less than usual; it was her first time spending Christmas at school. 

From Gryffindor, there was the Gryffindor Golden Trio: Harry, Ron and Hermione; as well as Ginny and Percy, the latter having stayed behind to help with the search for the missing students instead of going back home as he had planned. 

From Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, there were two random first years, plus Penelope Clearwater, who had stayed for Percy. 

From Slytherin, there was the Slytherin Silver Trio, Oleandra, Daphne and Tracey; Draco and a fifth year were also there.

As for teachers, there were Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick. And Filch was also there, as an afterthought. All of the other teachers had left to spend Christmas with their loved ones, except and Professor Lupin and Professor Trelawney, who had none. She could have come down for the feast, but she must have prophesized that coming down from her tower was a bad idea, as she didn't show her face. As for Lupin, he was sick, as usual.

After the feast, Harry went up to talk to Oleandra, while Hermione went off to discuss something with Daphne out of earshot.

"What?" asked Oleandra incredulously. "You want to know my impressions of Sirius Black? What for?"

"He tortured you four days straight, didn't he?" Harry said, repeating what he'd heard. "You must have noticed something, anything, that could help."

"Right after you left the Three Broomsticks," Ron explained, "Harry overheard the teachers saying how Sirius had been best pals with his dad. He knew Voldemort was after Harry's mum and dad, so he just gave them up, just like that. And right after that, he killed another one of his friends when he came to confront him. What was his name, again?"

"Peter Pettigrew," said Harry darkly. "Dumbledore even volunteered to be Secret Keeper, but my parents trusted Sirius with the job. And what did that get them? They were betrayed, and I ended up with the Dursleys."

"Come on, Harry," said Ron, visibly uncomfortable with this line of discussion. "Why do you want to learn more about him, anyway? It's not as if you'll be going after him. Why don't we ask Oleandra to help us with Buckbeak's case?"

Simultaneously, Oleandra and Ginny's ears perked up; they had heard something valuable. They both spoke up at the same time:

"Secret Keeper? As in the Fidelius Charm's Secret Keeper?"

"Did you just say Peter Pettigrew?"

"Yeah, I did," said Harry heatedly. "And also yes. How do you even know about the Fidelius Charm, anyhow?"

 "Tell you what, I'll tell you all you want about Sirius Black; Hel, I'll even help you hunt him down, in exchange for favour," Oleandra said.

"What do you want?" said Harry excitedly. He knew Oleandra was quite strong; if she hadn't been caught by surprise, he was confident she'd have a fighting chance!

"Harry, this is a bad idea," Ron cautioned him. "Remember what Sirius Black did— he blew up an entire street." Turning to Oleandra, he added, "and he already beat you once, and pretty badly!"

"It'll be different this time," said Oleandra, shrugging her shoulders. "At any rate, I just want you to help me ask Dumbledore about the Fidelius Charm." 

After her experience with the Dusk Elves, Oleandra had grown slightly more short-tempered, and quick to anger. She wanted to hit something, and Sirius Black would do just fine. Maybe it was her way of coping with trauma, or maybe the dark magic of the Helm of Awe's sigil was making her act more impulsively, who knew?

"Oh," said Ron in relief. "I thought you were going to ask— you know what, never mind."

"What did you think I was going to ask?" said Oleandra, raising an eyebrow.

"During supper, you complained about how Sirius Black had stolen your Nimbus 2001," Ron explained his reasoning. "I thought you were going to ask Harry for his Nimbus 2000."

"I already own a Nimbus 2000," laughed Oleandra. "I don't need Harry's."

"Right," said Ron. "I forgot you were rich."

"I got it for free, courtesy of the Slytherin Quidditch team's budget," said Oleandra.

"The rich get richer," said Ron spitefully. "Oh, right, I nearly forgot; could you help us with Malfoy? His father got the Ministry to agree to execute Buckbeak. I mean, I don't care about the thing, but Hagrid'd be sad if he lost him."

"Just tell me when they execute him," Oleandra said offhandedly. "I'll come spirit it away when the time comes. Trying to convince Lucius Malfoy is a lost cause, unless you have something of equal value to give him in exchange."

The only reason she accepted to help free Buckbeak free of charge was because she felt responsible for the incident. But with that, that was the end of that conversation; she had some questions for Dumbledore.

Harry and Oleandra returned to the table at the centre of the Great Hall, where the professors were all laughing uproariously at Dumbledore's party trick magic.