142 Ligma Crystal Balls

Oleandra's last exam was Divination. When she arrived in the room right under Professor Trelawney's classroom with Tracey and her sister, she found that it was full of students doing some last-minute reviewing.

"What's going on?" Daphne asked one of the Patil twins. "Why isn't anyone climbing up the ladder to class?"

"Professor Trelawney is doing the exams one-on-one," the Patil twin explained. "We all need to wait our turn, since she'll be seeing us separately.

"We'll be here for a while, then," said Daphne, frowning slightly.

"Parvati Patil," came Professor Trelawney's voice from above.

"Looks like it's my turn," Parvati said. "Wish me luck!"

Professor Trelawney seemed to be calling names at random, without any underlying logical progression. Or at any rate, it certainly wasn't alphabetical order. Each time someone came down the ladder after having completed their exam, they refused to say anything about its contents. The only people who ended up being somewhat forthcoming were Ron, who simply said the exam was, "rubbish," and Daphne, who said, "I'm fairly sure I just failed. This is stupid."

At this point, Harry and Oleandra were the only ones left.

"Figures we'd be the last," Oleandra muttered. "There goes my entire day."

"Wish we could be done with this," said Harry worriedly. "I just want to know if Buckbeak's appeal goes well."

"Don't worry about it," said Oleandra. "I'll be hanging out in the stairs by the North Hall after dinnertime in case you want to—"

"Oleandra Greengrass," called out Professor Trelawney.

"Good luck!" said Harry.

"Thanks!" Oleandra responded, as she climbed up the silver ladder. Incidentally, Hogwarts robes were so long and cumbersome that girls didn't need to worry about anyone sneaking a peek. Not that Harry would have tried, mind you.

As soon as Oleandra poked her head inside the classroom, a wave of heat and the sickly sweet, cloying smell of incense washed over her. Wrinkling her nose, she headed to the centre of the room, where Professor Trelawney sat at a table, a large crystal ball set before her.

"Good day, my dear," Professor Trelawney said. "We'll dispense with the pleasantries, since we are running out of time… Would you kindly gaze into the Orb? But of course, for this, you may take as much time as you need…"

Oleandra peered into the crystal ball and tried to empty herself of her thoughts. This proved to be fairly easy; after spending a few hours waiting, she had pretty much used up all of her thoughts already. Images slowly started appearing out of the fog.

"Well?" Professor Trelawney prompted Oleandra. "Do you see anything?"

"I see…" Oleandra murmured. "A lamppost? No, a tree. There's also a man under it."

"Do you see anything more?" Professor Trelawney pressed her. "Peer through the veil, my dear."

"No, no," muttered Oleandra. "There are two men. The other is… The other…"

Oleandra suddenly lurched forward. She felt a jolt of vertigo, as if she had almost fallen down a deep chasm.

"What is it, dear?" Professor Trelawney's voice seemed to be growing fainter and fainter; almost as if a thin layer of glass was separating Oleandra from her teacher. "Do you feel well?"

"I…" Oleandra began.

"It's been a while, Vee," said a voice full of laughter behind her. "You've been through a few incarnations already since we've last met in person, haven't you? I see you've managed to remove most of the seal, this time around. You're persistent, if anything."

"It's you!" Oleandra exclaimed, as she pivoted on the spot to face the voice. "You're the man from my dream! How am I even here!?"

Without her noticing, she had somehow left the Divination classroom. Professor Trelawney was, of course, nowhere in sight. How on earth had Oleandra travelled to this strange place? She had to be dreaming again, right? She had seen this tree in her dreams, and when travelling between realms. She was at the foot of Yggdrasil! 

The two shadowy figures she'd spied in the crystal ball were also both here, and one of them belonged to that of the man who had cursed her past incarnation, erasing her name from history and preventing Oleandra from using her magic properly.

"I just took the opportunity to guide your spirit here, since you entered a trance," the man said with a shrug. "Don't worry, you'll be able to make it back to your own body just fine."

Oleandra just stared at him in response. Who the Hel could do such a thing? 

"At the rate things are going, you're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. And as much as I love watching you blunder about through life, ruining everything you touch," the man continued, "I cannot allow you to go down this path again; the consequences for the world would be dire. And thus, I have a gift to offer you."

"What are you talking about?" Oleandra said shakily. "If you really want to help me, just lift the stupid curse you put on my soul and let me go on with my life! I don't care if I did something to you in my past life, but I'm not this Vee of yours!"

She looked nervously at the two shadowy figures. The person from her dream seemed like quite the chatterbox, but the other one seemed quite content to remain silent.

"This and that are two different things," said the man. "I'm still mad at you for sealing me inside this tree for all eternity, you know? If you want to permanently break my Fidelius Cursed Seal and spare your future selves the trouble of having to repeat this song and dance all over again, you'll need to uncover the truth about both of our identities on your own. But for now, you may call me by my job; Magus, or Enchanter."

"Fine, Mr. Magus," Oleandra said. "What did you want to give me?"

"Of all the things I taught you, the art of Divination was the only one you were completely hopeless at," the Magus said disapprovingly. "In order to produce a true prophecy, two things are needed: the right timing, and having the right people present. Since your presence has somehow disrupted the natural chain of events, I'll have you do it instead of her. And so, I'll leave you with a little prophecy of my own."

"…"

"…"

"Er, I'm still waiting?" Oleandra said. "You haven't said anything."

"No, no," said the Magus, shaking his head. "It's done already; you'll see when you get back. But before you leave, I'll leave you with some advice, since everything you touch turns to horse dung. In the very near future, you will be forced to make a decision. For the love of everything that is good, please do the OPPOSITE of what your gut tells you to do!"

"O…kay. So, what about that other guy?" Oleandra said, pointing her head towards the second shadowy figure. "Isn't he going to say anything?"

"Nope," said the Magus cheerily. "Now, back you go! See you later, Vee!"

"I told you, my name is Oleandra Greengrass," Oleandra managed to shout before she was sent back. "I'm starting to understand why—" 

Unfortunately, she couldn't complete the rest of her sentence, as she had already disappeared.