章 255: The Hidden Bloodline

"Oleandra, snap out of it!" Viviane exclaimed, waving her translucent hands in front of Oleandra's face.

Unconsciously, Oleandra had been ready to snatch the steaming mug out of her sister's hands and down its contents in a single gulp. The last time they had made the potion, Oleandra and Daphne had both felt the stirrings of their bloodline yearning to be unleashed, but they had managed to restrain themselves long enough to fill a small vial with the potion to bring back to Astoria at home… Though the potion had ended up in Daphne's stomach.

Oleandra had never truly cast any blame on Daphne for falling for the temptation of drinking the potion during the fight against the Basilisk, since she too had felt the calling of her blood. And it seemed that time had only exacerbated her craving for the potion…

Astoria gingerly took the mug in her small hands, giving it a sniff, before wrinkling her nose.

"Ugh," she complained. "This smells like rotten leaves. Is this really safe to drink?"

Huh? It smelled fine to Oleandra. Actually, that was an understatement: it smelled divine, like freshly cut grass mixed with apple tree flowers…

"Something's not right," said Oleandra. "This isn't how she's supposed to react."

"Nonsense," scowled Daphne. "We made it perfectly; it looks exactly like it should. And don't think I haven't noticed the expression on your face; you just want to be the first to have a drink. Just patiently wait your turn; I need to adjust the ingredients' proportions for your body weight."

Daphne turned to Astoria and gently encouraged her.

"Go on," she said. "You'll fall asleep for a bit, but you'll wake up all better afterwards, okay?"

"I really think we should reconsider this," said Oleandra.

But no sooner had she had taken a step towards Astoria than vines suddenly whipped all around her, binding her limbs and fingers tightly and suspending her upside-down from the ceiling.

"What do you think you're doing, you daft cow!" Oleandra cried, struggling hard against her restraints. "Let me down!"

"I'm choosing to ignore that," said Daphne, "Because I know you're not in your right mind."

Oleandra swung helplessly from the ceiling. Blood pooled to her head, her heart pumping mightily in an attempt to keep the rest of her organs oxygenated. What exactly was she supposed to do in this situation? Her fingers were bound, and her wand was out of reach… Of course, her Lethifold!

Tendrils of darkness lined with tiny teeth lashed out against the vines, causing them to snap all at once and let go of her. Gravity once again regaining its hold on her, Oleandra dropped to the ground, but she immediately righted herself before she fell on her head and landed at Astoria's side. But it was too late; her little sister had already drunk the potion.

"She'll be fine," Daphne said confidently. "I've got a window open, so she's got plenty of light to complete the transformation; just watch."

Astoria managed to stagger over to a wall before collapsing, vomiting and coughing black blood, her skin flushing red. She was bleeding from all her orifices, and her veins were turning pitch black. She was showing no sign of turning green anywhere; something had gone terribly wrong.

This was nothing like Daphne's transformation process; while it had been quite scary to look at, it had still worked out. Oleandra remembered very well how Daphne had turned pale, before falling into a deathlike coma, spiderweb patterns of blood vessels turning green against her contrasting white skin; and finally, her hair had changed to its current emerald colour.

"This is nothing like how it was for you!" Oleandra cried. "She's dying!"

"What do you mean?" said Daphne, her smile faltering.

"Astoria said that the potion didn't smell right to her," Oleandra said. "Which means that the Wood Nymph bloodline must not be her primary bloodline origin! It's something else!"

"Then the potion's removing more of her than she can afford…" Daphne whimpered. "I've killed her…"

If their mother's bloodline wasn't the dominant one, then that meant that their father's was, most probably. Maxwell Greengrass, born Prewett… But what was the Prewett's bloodline origin? Salazar Slytherin had included a list of all the Wizarding clans born of the human weapon experiments in his notes, but Oleandra couldn't remember it, it had been too long…

But luckily, there was a certain person present who could, since she lived in the world of memories inside Oleandra's head.

"It's the Kamaitachi, a type of Japanese Fantastic Beast," Viviane explained. "It's an invasive species; like many of Japan's plants and animals. Just like the Kappa, it has found a new home in the British Isles. Oh, and the notes also say that this bloodline origin is shared between the Weasleys and the Prewetts. They have a common ancestor, which is why they're both red-headed."

Their family trees had diverged a long time ago, but they had recently rejoined; Oleandra's friend Ron was the fruit of the union of Arthur Weasley and Molly Prewett. Their family tree was now a family circle.

"That's great and all, Vee," Oleandra whispered. "But where am I supposed to get Kamaitachi hairs from?"

No sooner had she thought about it than the Room of Requirement shifted again, turning into some kind of… abandoned petting zoo? But why? And how? Ginny had told her that the Room couldn't break Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration; it couldn't create food out of nothing, nor could it create usable magical materials like animal hairs. Still, Oleandra wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It might have seemed utterly inexplicable to Oleandra, but there was a reason there existed a collection of abandoned animal parts in the Room of Requirements. And the reason lied with the infamous fifth year Hogwarts student from Oleandra's History of Magic lessons, the most savage goblin killer in history, the most hypocritical poacher to ever walk the Earth.

He had attended Hogwarts, and over the course of his studies, he had collected Fantastic Beasts and magical plants from Hogwarts's surrounding area to farm and to sell for profit… and he had hidden them here, monopolizing the Room of Requirement as his secret base.

Thank you, main character of Hogwarts Legacy!

"Eructo!" Oleandra exclaimed, pointing her wand at Astoria, causing her to vomit the rest of the potion she had swallowed. "Daphne, snap out of it! We can still save her; use my portion of the Tincture, and get started on another potion! I'll grab the hairs!"

Daphne rubbed the tears out of her eyes and unsteadily rose to her feet. She had no idea what Oleandra was going on about, but she knew that whatever it was she had in mind, it was better than doing nothing.

"Accio Kamaitachi hairs!" Oleandra called out, pointing her wand straight up.

This had to work; it just had to. She didn't know how they could possibly face their parents if they killed their little sister, accidentally or not. But worst of all, she didn't know if she could ever forgive herself.