Harry Potter and the Sorceress of the Stars

"Good, very good!" exclaimed Professor Tofty, Oleandra's examiner for the Charms practical exam. "Now, if I could ask you to take this winter squash and make it dance a little jig for me…"

Oleandra stared at the elongated butternut squash that the elderly gentleman had just placed on the table in front of him, racking her mind for solutions. The problem that Professor Tofty had set before Oleandra reminded her a lot of the kind of hypothetical questions that would be given in maths exams at her old Muggle school:

John has twelve watermelons in his left hand and sixteen apples in his right hand, and Susan has one raspberry in her purse.

John's train bound for Newark-on-Trent leaves at noon from London, while Susan's train bound for London leaves at 3:45 from Newark-on-Trent.

Considering a 60-inch diameter for the locomotive's wheels, an average speed of 70 mph for both trains, and that John and Susan weigh respectively 80 and 160 pounds:

a) give the engine drivers' shoe sizes, b) give the exact time when the two trains will pass each other, and c) describe what kind of fruit tart John and Susan will be able to bake with their fruits.

Take into account the curvature of the Earth.

Oleandra sighed— when would she ever need to make a squash dance? This sort of thing would never happen in real life, and the squash didn't even have legs, for goodness's sake…

But that was thinking like a Muggle— there wasn't much that couldn't be achieved with magic!

"Ducklifors!" Oleandra chanted, pointing her wand at the squash.

The butternut squash's neck began thinning; its stem rapidly morphing into a duck's beak, and before long, there was a pure white Pekin duck quacking on the table.

"Tarantallegra!"

The Dancing Feet Charm obviously needed to target feet to take effect, so Oleandra had simply turned her squash into something that had some. She had never been horrendously bad at Charms, but it had never been her speciality either— so, she had decided to rely on some light Transfiguration!

"Splendid!" said Professor Tofty with a hearty laugh, as he watched the duck dance. "But did it not occur to you, my dear, that a simple Leg-Growing Charm would have done the trick?"

"Quack!" quacked the tap-dancing duck, staring reproachfully at Oleandra for what it was being made to endure.

Oleandra shook her head— she had missed the last few months of school, so she supposed that Professor Flitwick must have demonstrated that particular spell during her absence.

"I can see that you are in a hurry to leave, Miss Greengrass," Professor Tofty continued. "I understand that a Witch such as yourself must have her own considerations, but please bear in mind that these examinations will decide your entire future—" But upon seeing Oleandra's miserable expression, Professor Tofty relented, sighing and shaking his head wearily. "—but if it means that much to you, then I would be willing to bend the rules a bit, in light of your contributions…"

Oleandra looked at the old man hopefully.

"Why don't I have you demonstrate the most advanced Charm you know?" he said. "To wrap up this little examination."

"Thank you," said Oleandra gratefully. "Then, I'll pick… the Patronus Charm."

Oleandra closed her eyes and thought of her family. Astoria was safe, Iris was safe, and now she knew for a fact that Daphne was safe. And as for her father… he was still missing, so the best news was no news.

"Expecto Patronum!" Oleandra shouted, pointing her wand at the ground.

White mist burst out of her wand and began slowly drifting downwards, before thickening and condensing into a whirlpool of white light, like milk swirling in a glass. Gradually, the figures of various aquatic animals took shape from within the lake of light, and they began dancing and frolicking around Oleandra…

"My, what an unusual Patronus!" exclaimed Professor Tofty, as he scribbled something onto his notepad. "Most excellent, Miss Greengrass! You are free to go!"

"Thank you, Professor Tofty!" Oleandra shouted as she dashed for the exit.

The instant Oleandra had crossed the circle of white light's threshold, her Patronus dissolved into nothingness; and she then barrelled through the testing hall's side door, hoping to catch up to Daphne before she disappeared again.

She looked left, right, and left again, but just as Oleandra had expected, Daphne wasn't in the corridor. Would it have been too much to ask for Daphne to just stick around and wait for her to finish her exam before leaving?

"Banana Hanger," Oleandra muttered under her breath.

Profound runic patterns appeared on Oleandra's body, and she pressed the tattoo that had just appeared in black ink under her ear— and the moment she had done so, Daphne's voice rang out clearly within Oleandra's head, her sharp words bouncing between Oleandra's two ears.

'It's about time you thought about Faraway Communication Galdr,' said Daphne tiredly. 'I was waiting for you to call.'

"That's because I didn't think I'd have to— I wanted to talk to my sister face-to-face!" Oleandra hissed into her palm, trying her best to avoid looking like she was talking to herself to passers-by. "Where were you, all this time? Or better yet, where are you right now? I'm coming to you!"

'If you have something important to say, make it quick, I don't have much time.'

"Ehwo," Oleandra whispered, weaving an additional rune into the Galdr.

Ehwo, or Ehwaz, was also known as the twins and the horse; the rune of partnership and mutual understanding. And for a split second, Oleandra felt Daphne's unimaginable distress and guilt… and then her twin sister quickly shut her out of her mind.

'Oh, give it a rest, would you?' came Daphne's sorrowful voice in response. 'If there's nothing else, just know that we can't be seen together, and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay as far away from me as you can when we see each other at school again.'

"But…" Oleandra protested.

'You can use the Galdr if you want to talk to me again at Hogwarts,' said Daphne bitterly, 'but it's more than I deserve. Goodbye, Oleandra. I'll see you later.'

And just like that, Daphne cut off the flow of magic between them, and their communication ceased. Their brief conversation left Oleandra with more questions than answers, but there were a few things that she managed to glean from their conversation.

Firstly, Daphne had not escaped Voldemort's control, which was something that had very quickly become clear to Oleandra.

Secondly, Daphne had waited for her to call, rather than initiating the Faraway Communication Galdr on her own, which implied that she had sworn an Unbreakable Vow of some kind.

If Oleandra was guessing correctly, the Unbreakable Vow's stipulations prevented Daphne from taking certain specific actions without permission. For instance, initiating a conversation with an enemy such as Oleandra… the loophole being that nothing was stopping her from answering.

After all, it was only too easy to respond to a taunt in the heat of battle, and Oleandra figured that Voldemort wouldn't risk losing his Dark Lady to an Unbreakable Vow in such a stupid fashion. And furthermore, in Oleandra's opinion, Daphne had to have made the Vow with one of the Death Eaters, because Voldemort would never have risked accidentally breaking his contract, suffering the penalty of death as a result…

Thirdly and lastly, something nefarious was at work— but when was that ever not the case with Voldemort?