บท 159: Summer Vacations

The sounds of seven consecutive detonations rang out through the courtyard; dirt and fragments of rocks flying everywhere through a thick cloud of smoke. Oleandra winced; despite holding her hands over her ears, they were still ringing from the terrible din.

"Well, Sis," Oleandra said, coughing, "you certainly don't take half measures."

"You know me all too well," replied Daphne, "No risk, no reward."

Oleandra and Daphne were currently availing themselves of the free time the summer vacations afforded them by devising new spells. Back when Sirius Black had first invaded the castle, Daphne had given Oleandra the idea to use other constellations as inspiration for new magic, using the existing runic system as a base.

She had thus given the other members of the Starshower Club some summer homework: create a new spell based on an existing constellation, but that was easier said than done. Oleandra had always been very careful when attempting new spells that didn't have any descriptions, but this was to go even further beyond. Creating new spells was a dangerous affair; this sort of activity could get you injured, or even killed.

"Mind you, what exactly are you trying to achieve with this?" Oleandra questioned her sister. "Hunt down a Dragon by yourself?"

Daphne had chosen the Pleiades; the star cluster wasn't considered a constellation by any modern standards, but she felt some affinity for the Seven Sisters. As for Draco, he had chosen the Draco constellation, of course, while Tracey was still annoyingly in the process of choosing a constellation.

Stepping closer to the crater she had created to admire her handiwork, Daphne replied, "Of course not; I'll have the small-scale version of the runes painted on my back like you're planning to do. It'll be less powerful, but at least I won't have to chant all of the runes' names."

After two expeditions into other worlds, Oleandra had realized that runic tattoos weren't the way to go; since each world's runes took different forms, if she decided on a set of tattoos, they would only be good for that realm. And thus, Daphne had invented a special kind of ink that could only be washed off with lime juice, which was perfect their group's use case: the ink was only as permanent as they wanted it to be!

Just as Daphne was about to explain that the seven magical arrows she fired were homing, she was interrupted by a furious cry.

"MY COSMOSES!" shrieked Iris, the twins' mother, from the second floor of the Greengrass mansion. "OLEANDRA, COME HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!"

"But I didn't even do anything!" Oleandra shouted back. "Really now, Sister," she said to Daphne, "did you really have to aim for Mother's flowers? Aren't you supposed to be a guardian of nature, or whatever it is Wood Nymphs do?"

"There was a Gnome nest under the flowerbed," said Daphne in a detached tone. "I was simply aiding Mother by ridding her of the pests infesting her garden."

Garden Gnomes liked to dig their holes in Wizards' gardens, making a mess of lawns and everything else a fine British Wizard would hold dear in their homestead. They were capable of speech, but it remained to be seen if their limited sentience gave their lives any value. At any rate, Wizards much preferred the inanimate grass their lawns were covered in to the ugly creatures, so there weren't many who were ready to debate on the Gnomes' behalf.

With a wave of Daphne's hand, the cosmos flowers received new life, growing back from the infinitesimally small root fragments left behind from her attack.

"There," she said with satisfaction, "good as new."

Oleandra and Daphne brushed themselves off and headed back inside the villa. This was the Greengrass family's summer home; their main home was a posh mansion in Knightsbridge, London. Now that all three sisters attended Hogwarts, they didn't return there very often.

Incidentally, both sisters were grounded until further notice. Oleandra hadn't written home about the Nidavellir expedition, and Daphne hadn't either, thinking her sister would take care of it. Naturally, when their parents learned about their little trip from Lucius Malfoy, of all people, they were less than pleased!

"First the basement, and now my cosmoses," said Iris, fuming. "Do I have to chain you to your bedpost to keep you from causing trouble?"

"I'll admit that flooding the basement was my mistake," said Oleandra in protest, "but I have nothing to do with this! Why don't you ask Daphne?"

Iris looked at Daphne in suspicion. She used to be such a good girl, never causing trouble, always obedient… Oleandra was having a bad influence on her; now, her hair was green, she went on dangerous adventures, experimented with crazy magic… Although, her grades had never been better.

"Well?" Iris prompted her.

"I was only getting rid of some Gnomes," said Daphne innocently. "I also took care of your cosmoses; they've never looked so good. You might win a prize if you took them to a flower show."

Iris frowned; now this was a case of excessive force if she'd ever seen one. If there indeed had been any Gnomes under her flowerbed, then they had probably been obliterated. Still, one look over her daughter's shoulder told her that at least one part of her story was true; the flowers looked very healthy.

"The next time you want to help with the gardening, ask me first," said Iris after a while. "Oh, and there's some mail for you, girls," she added, taking out some envelopes. "You have a letter from one Harry Potter— ooh, making connections in high places, are we— one letter from an unknown sender— some sort of tropical bird was carrying it— and one letter from one Ginny Weasley—"

The twins took the three envelopes and climbed up the stairs to Oleandra's room, where they would have some peace and quiet to read. At the top of the stairs, they found their little sister leaning against the railing.

"What have you got there?" asked Astoria curiously.