158 The Beginning of the End

"He must have Disapparated, Severus. We should have left somebody in the room with him. When this gets out—"

"HE DIDN'T DISAPPARATE!" Snape roared. "YOU CAN'T APPARATE OR DISAPPARATE INSIDE THIS CASTLE! THIS— HAS— SOMETHING— TO— DO— WITH— POTTER!"

"Severus— be reasonable— Harry has been locked up—"

Snape slammed the Hospital Wing's door open, and he, Fudge and Dumbledore strode in. Of the three of them, Dumbledore seemed to be the only one to be thoroughly enjoying himself.

"OUT WITH IT, POTTER!" Snape bellowed. "WHAT DID YOU DO?

"YOU!" shrieked Madam Pomfrey. "SHUT UP! AND YOU, HEADMASTER!"

"Me?" asked Dumbledore, the large smile fading from his face.

"THE CONSTANT INJURIES I CAN ENDURE; SENDING STUDENTS OFF ON DANGEROUS QUESTS, AT THE LIMIT I CAN UNDERSTAND, BUT THIS? THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!"

"Poppy, please," Dumbledore began. "There must be some misunderstanding…"

"HOW EXACTLY DID THE GIRL MANAGE TO SHATTER ALL OF HER RIBS IN THE ONE MINUTE I LEFT YOU ALONE WITH HER!?" Madam Pomfrey screamed. "I'VE HAD IT UP TO HERE! OUT! OUT! ANYONE WHO'S NOT INJURED, OUTTTTTTT!!!"

Even Professor Snape seemed set aback by Madam Pomfrey's outburst. For a moment, he had even forgotten how angry he was. Fudge, Snape and Dumbledore just stood there dumbly, not quite certain as to what was going on.

"Poppy, I can explain," Dumbledore began, but Madam Pomfrey just emitted a piercing scream, before starting to sling Banishing Charms at the three.

"Depulso! Depulso! Depulso!" she shrieked.

"Albus, please, control that woman!" Fudge cried to Dumbledore as they ran for their lives.

"I'm afraid no one can stop her when it concerns her patients," said the sprightly Dumbledore, the first one out of the door.

"AND GOOD RIDDANCE!" shouted Madam Pomfrey, before sealing the door shut. "Now, dear," she said, addressing Oleandra. "Let me fetch some Skele-Gro for you, I'll be right back."

The moment she was gone, Oleandra burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!" she chortled. "The look on his face! Hahaha— Ouch! My sides!"

Daphne just rolled her eyes, while the two other conscious Gryffindors tried their best to stifle their laughter.

"Ugh," moaned Ron as he came to. "You're all back already? How did it go?"

Oleandra resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him as Hermione began narrating their adventures. What do you mean, already? Somebody clearly hadn't understood the concept of time travel.

===============================================================

The five were allowed to leave the Hospital Wing the very next day, only to find the castle empty of students; they had nearly all gone to Hogsmeade. Oleandra found it very strange that the place wasn't swarming with Aurors investigating the double escape of their prisoners; after all, she had managed to defeat their strongest retired Auror, who had put countless Death Eaters in Azkaban. Perhaps the Ministry didn't want to call too much attention on the fact they allowed their prisoners to escape from right under their noses? How very Fudge-like.

As she wandered through the halls, thinking about yesterday's incredible adventure, it suddenly occurred to her that she had never seen the infamous Marauder's Map that had caused this entire sequence of events. According to Lupin, he had left it open in his office.

And thus, Oleandra made her way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, as each classroom was directly connected to its teacher's office. There, just as advertised, she found the Map lying open on Lupin's desk. She took a deep breath, then located the room on the map.

Oleandra Greengrass.

There was a single dot in Lupin's office, and it was labeled with Oleandra's name. What else had she been expecting to find? Yep, that was her own name. And now that she thought about it, the map was how Harry had found her wandering in the castle the day Hagrid had invited her for tea, which meant that, of course, it had to be her name in there.

She sighed. She had been hoping to see the name of her first incarnation, hoping that the unfathomable magic of names would be able to pierce through the veil of the cycle of reincarnation. But no such luck; breaking the Magus's seal would have to wait another day.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spied two more names approaching the classroom.

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore

Harry Potter

"Ah, Miss Greengrass," said Dumbledore jovially as he entered the room, "I thought I might find you here. We were here to select a few essentials of Remus's to send him while he's on the run."

"I…" Oleandra began. "Professor Lupin didn't deserve this. They were going to administer the Kiss to him without even giving him a trial, just because he was friends with Black, and he's a werewolf. How is that fair?"

"The world is anything but fair," said Dumbledore sympathetically. "But it's on each of us to make the world a better place. You've already helped save innocent lives from a terrible fate, and that must count for something, don't you think?"

There was a lengthy pause during which nobody said anything. And then, Dumbledore looked straight into Oleandra's eyes, but for once, he didn't wince after a few seconds of eye contact.

"If you don't mind my asking," he began, "who truly inflicted those wounds on you, right before Christmas? I highly doubt it was Sirius, judging by your willingness to help the man."

"I have my own wars to fight," said Oleandra simply. "My enemies have nothing to do with Voldemort, or Hogwarts."

Dumbledore looked mournfully at her; no child should have enemies, and Hogwarts and Hogsmeade were supposed to be safe havens for young Wizards. None of this should have ever come to pass, and yet…

"Professor Dumbledore," Harry said after a while, "yesterday, when I was waiting for my turn to take my Divination exam, something strange happened to Oleandra, but she doesn't remember any of it. Professor Trelawney said she had made a prophecy— do you know what it all means?"

"Yes, Sibyll went to me straight away," said Dumbledore. "I expect she'd know how to recognize a real prediction; her great-great-grandmother was Cassandra Trelawney, a legendary Seer. I'm sure the Trelawney family kept records of the particulars."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Harry in confusion. "Does this mean she's not a real Seer? Then why was she hired to work here?"

"Oh, yes, she is a real Seer," said Dumbledore, a slight smile appearing on his lips. "There's no doubt about it, but she has only made one real prediction, as far as I know. And as you've witnessed, Oleandra didn't remember her experience. Similarly, Sybill has no idea she has the gift, and yet she acts as though she has it! Isn't that amusing?"

Oleandra kept her mouth shut; she knew she was no Seer, and from what she'd heard from the Magus, her past incarnation had been no great shakes at it either.

"Then, when Oleandra was talking about the servant rejoining the Dark Lord," guessed Harry, "she was talking about Pettigrew! But that means—"

"Yes," said Dumbledore gravely. "Young Ronald's rat was indeed Peter, and Lord Voldemort will rise again, more powerful than he ever was before."