The Halloween Incident
Almost two months had passed since classes had started. The entire school was in a festive mood, as it was Halloween! The corridors were adorned with fallen leaves and pumpkins, and the air was filled with the smell of pumpkin spice latte.
Halloween morning was to be spent in Professor Flitwick's class, where they were finally to be taught the Levitation Charm!
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising!" said Professor Flitwick in his little high-pitched voice, standing precariously on a pile of books. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Oleandra tried her best, but the feather she was supposed to be levitating refused to budge.
"Levioso!" said Tracey while Professor Flitwick's back was turned, trying to get away with free points with the much easier Floating Charm.
Oleandra racked her head for runes she might use to help her cheat as well, but none came to mind. She might be able to freeze a feather in place in the air, but she couldn't control its flight, much like the Floating Charm.
"I guess I have to actually learn this one," she thought to herself. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
By the end of class, she hadn't succeeded, and her arms hurt from swishing and flicking so much.
As she was leaving, someone bumped into her from behind, causing Oleandra to drop her things.
"Watch it!" she yelled after them irritably.
History of Magic was the next class. As Oleandra was organizing her things, she noticed she had an extra copy of The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1). Curiously, she flipped open the cover. Hermione Granger, was what was written on the top left corner of the inside cover. Oleandra looked around the classroom. Granger didn't seem to be present. Strange.
Oleandra considered throwing the book into the nearest bin or handing it over to one of Granger's friends. Although she didn't seem to have any. However, seeing as how Granger had technically saved her and her sister by casting Finite on them after the duel, she begrudgingly decided to hand the textbook over in person and take the chance to thank her. It wouldn't do to remain in the debt of a muggle-born, she justified to herself.
After an excruciatingly boring period of History of Magic, she overheard one of Patil twins (if they weren't in different Houses, Oleandra would never have been able to tell them apart, not that she knew their names anyway) say that Granger was crying in the girls' bathroom.
Lucky, she told herself. Now she didn't have to go ask them in person where Granger was.
After a short jaunt to the girl's bathroom, Oleandra heard some light sobbing.
"Come on," she told herself. "Just give Granger the book, thank her for not abandoning you, and be on your merry way."
Oleandra coughed to get her attention. The crying and sniffling stopped.
"Miss Granger?" she asked. "You dropped your book earlier. I came here to return it to you."
"Oleandra? Just — sniff— leave it there, on a sink, or, or something."
Oleandra took a deep breath.
"I also wanted to —"
No sooner had she breathed in that it had all came back out of her with a spluttering noise. What on earth could possibly stink so much? What in Merlin's beard had this Granger eaten for breakfast!?
The answer soon walked in, in the form of an enormous, putrid, hideous Mountain Troll. And then, to Oleandra's horror, someone locked the door behind it! Was someone trying to murder her?
Oleandra's brain had scarcely registered the incredible amount of danger she had somehow found herself in that the troll decided to swing its great big club across the stalls, knocking them over and sending pieces of wood flying everywhere. Toilet bowls ruptured and water started flowing all over the floor. Eww.
"What was it with Granger and being faced with gigantic monsters!?" Oleandra screamed internally. "This only happens when you're around!"
"Thursaz!" Oleandra desperately yelled to little effect.
Granger crawled out from under the wreckage and screamed at her, "Trolls are innately resistant to magic! You'll have to hit them with a much stronger spell than that, or hit it with a physical attack on its head!"
Which was easier said than done. First-year witches aren't known for their powerful magic, and they certainly aren't known for their herculean strength.
And then, it was all over.
The troll swung its club at her, and her life seemed to flash before her eyes. At first, the images went by fast.
While she had been rich beyond measure, her youth had been a lonely affair. Even though her family loved her, they were bound by centuries upon centuries of theories of magical supremacy. Even though she wasn't treated badly, she was purposely left behind at home, and ignored at family reunions.
At muggle primary school, even though she wasn't by any means abnormal, she was still different enough to be left out. She didn't have any enemies, but she didn't have any friends either.
If only I had magic, she dreamed, my family would accept me again.
If only I had power, she dreamed, I would be beloved and respected by all.
And then, she did have magic. Her dream had come true. She had her Mystic Eyes which gave her migraines, she had the magic she learned in school that she wasn't really good at, and…
She had the stars. They answered to her, and her only. The constellations of the twenty-four runes spun around in her mind space. One shone brightly at her.
Oleandra closed her eyes and raised her arms in the air, her body perfectly imitating the form of the fifteenth grapheme of the runic alphabet.
"Elhaz, protect me." she spoke.
And then the monster's club slammed into her small body, sending her crashing into the wall in a jumbled mess, limbs falling uselessly at her side like a marionette whose strings were cut.