บท 226: Safe
Oleandra watched anxiously as Professor Dumbledore and Fawkes disappeared in a second corona of flames. Doubtlessly, the phoenix had taken him straight to his office, without detours; she could only hope that Daphne had made it out in time.
"I jumped," Daphne said matter-of-factly. "I'm going to need your help."
"You WHAT?"
"I incinerated the Devil's Snare; I couldn't leave any evidence. I wouldn't normally do this, but I believe in you."
The headmaster's office was located at the top of the Grand Staircase, at about the same height as the Astronomy classroom. Even if Daphne had jumped into the Black Lake, that was still a seven-hundred-foot drop at the very least; Wizard or not, no human could survive such a fall. And even if they did, they would soon die of shock from the cold December waters of the lake. Phoenix ashes were extremely rare, but they weren't worth your life. What was Daphne thinking? She should have just surrendered herself!
Even if Oleandra blasted through the windows of the Great Hall, there was no way in Hel she could make it in time to catch Daphne out of the air. Even so, Daphne would be in no state to swim once she landed; she had to rescue her.
"I'll go fetch Madam Pomfrey," Oleandra said vaguely, as she began to hover a few feet in the air.
"Whuzz hap'nin'," Ron mumbled. He was beginning to come out of his poison-induced coma.
"Ron, you're okay!" Hermione said shrilly as she hugged him, warm tears dripping down her face.
Oleandra didn't stick around; she directly shot through the windows above the teachers' table, ignoring the shards of glass cutting her face. Now exposed to the elements, she was greeted with a gust of icy wind, which felt like hot knives against her open cuts, but she ignored the pain and scanned the horizon.
Oleandra circled the lake, before stopping above the rippling water surface, which marked the spot where Daphne had landed in the water a few seconds earlier. She had precious little time left before her sister either died from exposure or from asphyxiation.
"Laukaz," Oleandra muttered under her breath, lowering her hand into the icy water.
Sending out her power like a sonar, Oleandra soon had a rough picture of what lay beneath the surface. Something large and of indistinct form was slowly sinking to the bottom of the lake. It didn't correspond to Oleandra's image of her twin, but what else could it be other than Daphne?
"Accio Daphne's robes," Oleandra incanted, pointing down at the lake with her wand.
Nothing. Either her Summoning Charm was too weak to pull up the robes (and hopefully Daphne along with them), or she didn't quite remember what her sister had worn this evening well enough for the spell to latch on.
"Lumos," she continued, lighting her wand tip.
Without hesitation, Oleandra took a deep breath and plunged after her sister into the murky depths. The sun had already set a few hours ago, and what little light made it here from the castle didn't penetrate far into the water. All around her was oppressive darkness; cold and silent as the grave. Oleandra redoubled her efforts and whip kicked her way downwards, ignoring the bite of the cold waters.
There she was! With the faint glow emitted by her wand, Oleandra could just barely make out Daphne's form suspended in the water, surrounded by what seemed like a mass of tentacles or algae, looking as if a gigantic Man O' War jellyfish were eating her head.
Oleandra clutched at her throat, a few bubbles escaping from her nose; upon trying to get closer, she had got tangled in whatever was surrounding her sister, and she was already running out of air. Fingers twitching, Oleandra tried in vain to bring Laukaz's shape to her oxygen-deprived mind, but the memory of the rune of the lake eluded her grasp.
She had been in too much of a rush to find her sister before she drowned, each instant too precious to waste, and now her own consciousness was dimming; she too was going to drown here, without having saved anyone.
"Honestly, this is quite vexing," she heard a gentle voice whisper in her ear. "You might be the only Lady of the Lake in history to ever drown."
"Daphne…?" Oleandra mumbled, but bubbles were the only thing to emerge from her mouth.
This was bad, she was already hearing voices. And then, Oleandra blacked out.
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The next thing she knew, she was lying on her back in the snow near the edge of the Black Lake. Oleandra sat up with a start and looked around her; Daphne was lying at her side, though she was looking decidedly blue. Oleandra realized why it had looked like Daphne's body had been engulfed by tentacles; her hair had grown to ridiculous lengths. Perhaps she had used it as a parachute, like a baby spider hanging onto a strand of web to glide in the wind.
Oleandra looked back at the lake; a gigantic tentacle was waving at her, off into the distance. She waved back; had the giant squid saved them? If so, why were they perfectly dry? Surely the giant squid didn't have access to dry towels or hair driers, right?
"And what about you?" Oleandra told her Lethifold reproachfully. "Why didn't you fly me out when I was drowning?"
It turned out that of all things, water was their greatest weakness. It wouldn't kill them, but drenching them in water turned them all soggy, rendering them lethargic. In this, Lethifolds had more in common with ordinary bath towels than any living creature. What curious beings they were…
In any case, it was now dry, so Cloak had no trouble flying Oleandra and the unconscious Daphne to the Hospital Wing, where Madam Pomfrey was spending Christmas, tending to those who had got injured during the week leading up to the twenty-fifth.
"Well, what's wrong with her?" Madam Pomfrey asked when Oleandra showed up carrying Daphne's limp body in her arms. "Let me guess; she found some Firewhisky, like this fool?"
"Ugh, my head," a fifth year Gryffindor girl moaned. "Can you stop talking so loudly?"
"Alcohol poisoning," Madam Pomfrey tut-tutted. "When will teenagers learn?"
Oleandra shook her head. Unfortunately, it seemed that for some reason, she couldn't tell lies any more, so she had to get creative with her storytelling.
"I found her in the snow, unconscious," Oleandra said. "And I think her legs are broken."
That was technically the truth. However, she was still being untruthful by omission; but Madam Pomfrey didn't need to know the events that had led up to Daphne falling unconscious and breaking her legs, did she?
"I've told Filch countless times to take care of the sleet on the battlements!" Madam Pomfrey said furiously. "It's a serious slipping hazard! She's lucky you found her before she froze to death!"
"And you're also needed in the Great Hall," Oleandra continued. "Ronald Weasley has been poisoned. He's okay, since he received some Phoenix tears, but he might need some additional care."
Madam Pomfrey quickly took care of Daphne's condition; soon, she regained a healthy pink tinge as her body warmed up, and she was given some Skele-Gro to fix her broken bones. Oleandra then accompanied her back to the Great Hall. It wouldn't do if the Healer accidentally ran into Astoria, who was disguised as Daphne. They were twins, not triplets!
In any case, it was a good thing that Madam Pomfrey didn't ask too many questions, and kept her charges' secrets. As a Healer, she needed to maintain the students' trust. If they didn't trust her, then they wouldn't come to her; and if they didn't come to her when they were injured, then they risked death, which was unacceptable to her!
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