บท 403: Expelled

"Expelled."

Umbridge's voice kept ringing in Oleandra's head over and over, as she lay in her bed, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling of her rented room in the Three Broomsticks Inn. She couldn't help but replay the previous day's events in her head, tortured by the existence of this simple word, which had such terrible consequences.

"Expelled."

As she ruminated on her expulsion, unable to fall asleep, Oleandra heard a knock at the door. She ignored it; it was probably just Harry, and she really didn't want to see him at this moment.

"Don't let Potter do anything stupid. Keep an eye on him."

Those had been Professor Snape's last words to her. He had offered no words of support, nor had he offered his sympathy— he had only whispered those words in her ear.

"Expelled."

Oleandra thought back to her last moments as a Hogwarts student, wondering what she could have done to change her fate. With the fireworks flying every which way, it had almost been as if the adults had forgotten about her and Harry; they had sneaked away back down to the Great Hall, which they had found in a state of absolute pandemonium.

"Expelled."

The Weasley twins had set off their entire stock of special fireworks in the Great Hall as a distraction, as an attempt to lure the headmistress away from the Room of Requirement. Unfortunately, they had taken too much time to return to the Gryffindor common room to fetch their explosives, so Oleandra had been forced to attack Umbridge, to prevent her from finding Hermione's bloody list of names.

"Expelled."

Through Oleandra's heroic actions, the roster of RC (temp) members, along with the Inquisitorial Squad members that had gone to fetch it, had remained sealed within the Room of Requirement.

"Expelled."

Astonishingly, once that traitorous sneak Marietta Edgecombe had been found by the Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt and interrogated by Umbridge, her script seemed to have completely changed. Instead of naming any more RC (temp) members, she had begun lying.

"We were all made to wear masks," she had explained. "Only Harry Potter and Oleandra Greengrass knew everyone's names, which they kept on a sheet of parchment…"

In Oleandra's opinion, one of the other RC (temp) members had to have got to her before Kingsley and modified her memory, just like she had done with Umbridge. The only problem was that whoever had changed Marietta's memories couldn't make her contradict the things that she had already said (without making it obvious that they had tampered with her memories), which meant that they weren't able to get Oleandra and Harry off the hook…

Oleandra sighed.

Of course, the fact that she and Harry had attacked Umbridge and Cedric couldn't be erased either, which is what had ended up getting them both expelled, after all was said and done.

"Expelled."

Everything after that was a total blur. It had all happened so suddenly, so fast… They had been given an hour to pack their things into their suitcases and leave the school's premises, and Professor Snape had made them rent a room in Hogsmeade until the coming weekend, when a teacher would be free to escort them to Sirius's house from the Hogwarts Express. It was too risky to take the Knight Bus, apparently…

If there was a silver lining to everything, it was that the Aurors had given them back their wands, in exchange for them keeping quiet about Umbridge attempting to use an Unforgivable Curse on them.

Since they had been expelled from Hogwarts, they wouldn't be allowed to sit their examinations at school, but they would still retain the right to take their O.W.L.s independently from the school, during the summer remedial examinations.

They would also be allowed to sit their N.E.W.T.s, but without having access to higher education, their sixth and seventh years at Hogwarts, there was little chance they'd be able to pass them, forever dooming them to dead-end careers…

"I might as well accept to work with Fred and George," Oleandra muttered to herself. "Becoming a toymaker wouldn't be so bad…"

If it hadn't been for the Inheritance of the Stars and her gift for runic magic, Oleandra would have rather liked to become a Healer, just like Viviane had been for the court at Camelot. Oleandra had only healed a few people so far with the ancient spells she had been taught, but helping others always left a funny little feeling in the pit of her stomach.

There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Owl for you, dear," came Madam Rosmerta's voice from the other side of the door.

Oleandra lazily rolled off her bed and got up to answer the door.

"There you are," said the proprietress, handing Oleandra a letter. "The owl that delivered your letter looked awfully tired, so I took the liberty of offering it a small snack…"

Oleandra thanked her and took the letter, before locking herself in her room again. She quickly tore open the unmarked envelope, only to find a sheet of parchment within; completely blank, save for the crest of the Order of the Round Table: a crossed wand and sword.

Remembering the diary that she had found in her second year, Oleandra laid out the piece of paper on her desk, retrieved a pot of ink and a quill from her pouch, and wrote a single word on the blank parchment.

"Hello."

It took a few minutes for a response to appear beneath Oleandra's initial message— it appeared that the letter had been enchanted with a Protean Charm.

Progress report.

"Not enough information to go on," Oleandra wrote back.

A few months ago, the Order of the Round Table had sent her a coded letter, but it had taken Oleandra quite some time to decode it. Right before returning to Hogwarts from her Christmas vacations, Oleandra had sent them back a response letter, detailing her progress on her various tasks (such as recruitment and gathering information on the Order of the Phoenix), but she had failed to mention anything concerning the special mission that they had assigned her, for the simple reason that she had no idea where to start.

The situation has escalated beyond our control. Uncovering the truth behind Project: Heliopath now takes precedence over all current and pending assignments.

"Why don't you have one of your more experienced spies have a go at it?" wrote Oleandra.

You are our last remaining agent in the British Isles, and it is only thanks to your predecessor that we know that Voldemort is after Project: Heliopath.

A shiver ran down Oleandra's spine.

The only information we have concerning Project: Heliopath is that it is the fruit of a joint initiative between every Ministry's Department of Mysteries. The British Ministry is unprecedentedly weakened, so this is the perfect opportunity to find out the truth. Your primary focus should be obtaining the asset before Voldemort. If the asset cannot be obtained— destroy it.

As Oleandra was about to write a response, she heard a knock at the door, followed by a hushed whisper.

"Oleandra?" came Harry's urgent voice. "I need to talk to you— now!"