บท 317: Mind Crush

Mafalda peered suspiciously at her roommates over the top of her book. Oleandra, Daphne and Tracey were whispering conspiratorially in a corner of the dormitory room, while sneaking glances at her every once in a while. She had a feeling they were talking about her behind her back…

"I'm thirsty," said Daphne all of a sudden. "Anyone want a glass of water?"

"I do!" said Tracey brightly.

"Good, then you can get one for the both of us," Daphne said pleasantly.

Tracey left the room, grumbling all the while.

A few minutes later, Mafalda, who was trying to concentrate on her homework, once again looked up. What were they playing at now? The third girl Tracey had been gone for a while now, and now Oleandra and Daphne were whispering loudly. And then… Oleandra got to her feet, drew her wand and pointed it right at her, before uttering a single word.

"Legilimens."

A part of Mafalda wondered why she hadn't reacted to the wand aimed at her forehead. She should have resisted, right? But what did it matter? She had a feeling that she wouldn't be remembering any of this a few minutes from now…

"Did you get her?" said Tracey, poking her head through the doorway. "I haven't really done a Confundus Charm before, so it took me a few tries…"

Daphne had taught Tracey the Confundus Charm right before sending her off to get a glass of water, and she had performed quite well for her first time.

"You did fine," said Daphne reassuringly. "I think you underestimate yourself a bit sometimes. It's a fifth-year-level spell anyway, so there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do one."

The trio's plan was quite simple— Tracey was to first leave the room, before Confunding Mafalda from behind upon returning a minute later, leaving Oleandra free to read her mind without resistance.

To Oleandra and Daphne, it stood to reason that Mafalda's attention would be mostly focused on them, since all three of them had fought in the battle of the Chamber of Secrets. Their gambit had worked; Mafalda had completely disregarded Tracey's magical abilities and chosen to focus her attention on the twins, leaving her wide open to a sneak attack from behind.

"I've got the essay topic," said Oleandra as she examined Mafalda's memories. "I'm going to look into what happened in the Chamber of Secrets while I'm at it."

Images, sounds, smells, impressions and feelings bloomed inside Oleandra's head. Legilimency wasn't quite mind reading per se, it was a bit more than that. It was like watching a film, but instead of being a simple spectator watching it on a screen, it was more like being among the camera crew who had filmed it!

"Hmm…" said Oleandra, biting her lower lip as she concentrated. "I don't see any signs of tampering with her memories, but something's strange… I'll try pushing her a little harder."

Unfortunately, Oleandra was a novice at Legilimency, whereas Gilderoy Lockhart was a master of his craft. When he erased a memory, it was gone for good; not even Lord Voldemort could have broken one of his Memory Charms, like he had done with Bertha Jorkins.

And though slightly inexperienced compared to the main body, the memory of young Tom Riddle in the diary had created Mafalda's false memories himself. As a master of manipulation, he knew exactly what made people tick, and so he had crafted a completely believable narrative for her to be the Heir of Slytherin.

"Oleandra, stop," said Daphne worriedly. "You're hurting her."

Mafalda was moaning and a trail of blood was running down from her nose, so Oleandra reluctantly stopped her mental assault. If Mafalda became a vegetable or lost her intellect as a result of her actions, there would be hell to pay.

"Well?" Tracey asked. "Is she the real heir of Slytherin?"

A drop of cold sweat ran down Oleandra's back. Her novice-level Legilimency told her that Mafalda was behind the Basilisk's attacks, but it also told her that over the past years, Mafalda had doubted her own memories countless times. What could have possibly driven her to open the Chamber of Secrets, after all?

What's more, Oleandra's Mystic Eyes of Truth Seeking clearly indicated that a large portion of Mafalda's memories had been faked…

In other words, Mafalda was truly innocent, which meant that the real mastermind and true Heir of Slytherin was still concealed in the shadows of anonymity. What's more, they were a master of mental magic, one able to craft memories so convincing that they could fool even Dumbledore and the Ministry's best.

"It isn't her," said Oleandra in disbelief. She was still coming to grips with the revelation.

"Well, I could have told you as much," said Daphne worriedly. "The whole affair stunk from the very beginning."

"Not to mention Professor Dumbledore would never have allowed her to return if she'd really been the Heir of Slytherin," Tracey piped up.

Oleandra didn't know which was worse: sharing a bedroom with the Heir of Slytherin, or knowing that the real Heir was still on the loose. In any case, she had other more pressing matters to attend to, like a whole pile of homework to do: a foot-and-a-half-long essay on Giant wars for Professor Binns, an essay on the use of Moonstones for Professor Snape, and a dream diary for Professor Trelawney. And speaking of writing…

"Hel, I knew I had forgotten something," Oleandra swore. "I forgot to write a letter to Mother and Father; they still don't know I'm still alive."

"Someone needs to pay for your school books," said Mafalda dizzily from her corner of the room.

"Say," Oleandra slowly said, as a thought occurred to her. "D'you think Voldemort allows Mother and Father to read their mail, or would I just be wasting my time writing to them…?"

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Since she would be having detention of unknown duration with Professor Umbridge on Tuesday, Oleandra proactively completed the day's homework— with Daphne's and Tracey's help, thankfully. Then, at midnight, she left the common room and took over patrolling duties from Draco.

It felt rather strange being able to walk Hogwarts's halls at night without walking on tip toes, sticking to the shadows or trying to avoid being spotted by the patrols. She was a prefect now, so she was the patrol, but some habits were hard to kick.

Her sneakiness still served her well, though; it allowed her to get the jump on some first year Ravenclaws wandering the halls after hours. They claimed to have failed to solve their guardian statue's riddle, blocking them from entering their own common room— a likely story, but Oleandra would have been more inclined to believe them if they had been anywhere near Ravenclaw Tower.

And so, Oleandra gave them detention; this way at least, she wouldn't be the only one to have detention on the second day of school.