217 Professor Moody's Different Side

Well, she'd done it now. With her thoughtless words striking at her twin's insecurities, Oleandra had caused a rift to open between the two of them, and she didn't know if she could ever fully mend it. But for now, Daphne wanted nothing to do with either Oleandra or Tracey.

The days continued shortening and the shadows continued lengthening as Christmas Day approached. The castle's Christmas decorations were more ostentatious than ever; probably to impress the visitors from afar. It seemed as though everyone was in the mood to make merry, except Oleandra and some of the more stuck-up teachers: Professor McGonagall, Professor Binns, Professor Moody and Professor Snape, who were all taking their classes as seriously as ever.

Oleandra had never felt this lonely since she had started attending Hogwarts; it was as if she had returned to those depressing days before her magic had manifested itself. Back then, she'd been no more than an afterthought to her family, and she hadn't been able to make meaningful connections with the Muggle children either. But even now, despite being surrounded by her fellow Slytherins and having her best friend Tracey at her side, she felt lonelier than ever; nobody could replace a twin sister.

All of a sudden, the other students' every move seemed calculated; their eyes cold and unfeeling. It was strange; Oleandra had never felt this way about other people before. While she had never been the most trusting person, she had always given others the benefit of the doubt. She had known some of these people for four years, but now they seemed like perfect strangers to her.

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" Professor Moody barked, startling Oleandra out of her reflections. "Greengrass, see me after class!"

It was the last class of Defence Against the Dark Arts before the holidays, and Oleandra had been half-heartedly listening, feeling very sorry for herself. As for Daphne, she'd been sitting as far away from her as she possibly could, studiously ignoring her sister with single-minded intensity.

When the class ended, Oleandra reluctantly got to her feet and plodded over to Professor Moody's desk, ignoring Tracey's worried look.

"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Oleandra asked stiffly.

"In my office, Greengrass," Professor Moody simply answered, gesturing to the door behind him.

Oleandra followed him through the doorway, taking a moment to look around the room, which was now filled with a motley of curious magical apparatuses. Her eyes last fell on a strange mirror in which shadows swirled.

"Like it?" said Professor Moody gruffly, noticing Oleandra's gaze. "That's my Foe-Glass; one of the last of its kind. They don't make them like they used to!"

Professor Moody laughed harshly, before falling silent. Silence fell over the room.

"Trouble in paradise, Greengrass?" he said at last, his expression softening slightly.

Oleandra nodded numbly in response.

"Having a fight with your sister, are you?" asked Professor Moody gently. "Family; it can be difficult sometimes. Best you can do is talk it out before it's too late; you've only got the one, after all."

"Do you have any family, Professor?" Oleandra asked, slightly intrigued despite herself.

"Once upon a time," said Professor Moody, closing his one good eye, as if to better bring up their appearances in his mind's eye. "But not any longer."

"I'm sorry if I caused you to remember any bad memories," said Oleandra sincerely.

Another silence fell over the room.

"You're a good girl, Greengrass," said Professor Moody with a slight smile. "But I'm fine. My family was lost to me a long time ago; but it's not too late for you to apologize yet. And if I'm not mistaken, your sister's not the only one you need to make amends to. You were aware that Potter was under his Invisibility Cloak that day at Rosemerta's, yeah?"

Oleandra nodded; it was true. At the time, Harry had thought she had gone full Malfoy by wearing a Potter Stinks badge. And the way in which he treated her in return had ticked her off, so she had mean-spiritedly poked fun at him in front of his friends, fully knowing he was there, but couldn't show himself. It had all a big misunderstanding on both parts, so it was best to put things straight, wasn't it?

"Thank you, Professor," said Oleandra gratefully. "I suppose I needed someone to tell me that."

"By the way…" said Professor Moody abruptly. "Have you solved your Triwizard clue yet?"

"Of course," answered Oleandra. "It was incredibly easy—"

Deceiver. Deceiver. Deceiver.

Oleandra's eyes twitched; she felt as if she were seeing double all of a sudden, but upon rubbing her eyes, her vision returned to normal. For a second there, Oleandra had seen Professor Moody with two faces, superposed over each other, like he'd been wearing a translucent mask. What had that been about?

Suddenly, Oleandra saw something move out of the corner of her eye: shadows once more swirled in the Foe-Glass, reforming before her eyes. The silhouette of a slender woman distinctly appeared in the glass…

"N-no…" stammered Oleandra. "It's not possible… It can't be…"

"What is it, Greengrass?" growled Professor Moody, his prosthetic eye spinning wildly in its socket as he instantly went on high alert and reached for his wand. "What did you see?"

Oleandra took a deep breath to calm herself down and stood up.

"That's my business, Professor," Oleandra said coldly. "Thank you for the advice; I'll keep it in mind."

"The safety of the students is my business!" snarled Professor Moody. "Now sit back down and tell me what you saw!"

"Or what? You'll attack me again?" said Oleandra coolly, looking him straight in the eye.

"If I have to."

The two sized each other up, staring into each other's eyes. But when Oleandra broke eye contact and strode out of his office, Professor Moody made no attempt to stop her.

Oleandra's brisk walking pace out of the classroom soon turned into a sprint; she had to get some answers now, before it was too late. The female figure she had seen in the mirror possessed long, pointed ears, which could only mean one thing: somehow, a Dusk-Elf had managed to follow her back to Earth.