章節 167: Rejection
Oleandra turned around and saw Harry rise from his seat with a look of fury on his face. He certainly wasn't about to let Dobby get beaten in front of his eyes if he could help it! She had to do something before the two of them started fighting. With a quick hop, Oleandra jumped out of her seat and lightly skipped down the stairs to the Malfoy's front row seats.
"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy?" said Oleandra sweetly, "Draco told me that in your letter to him, you mentioned wanting to talk to me, so here I am."
"Hm?" said Lucius distractedly. "Ah, yes. I wanted to ask you to stop getting my son involved in your… adventures. Great things await Draco; he has no time for distractions."
That answer was not at all the one Oleandra was expecting.
"You're not interested at all in a joint venture?" asked Oleandra. "It's not every day you get the opportunity to visit other worlds."
"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested," said Lucius, his cold eyes reflecting the lights of the stadium. "But from what I've heard, only you and the people you've marked can open the gates to different worlds. What's more, the only gate you know of is inside of Hogwarts. Dumbledore will never allow his school to become a staging ground for an invasion. Now, I have three questions for you."
"I'm listening," said Oleandra.
"Do you know of any other such gates to other worlds?"
"No," lied Oleandra.
Lucius Malfoy scanned Oleandra's face attentively.
"Is it required to possess your mark to activate these gates?" he asked. "And is it possible to remove your… mark?"
If one practised using runic magic with Oleandra's blessing, the twenty-four Ancient Runes would eventually engrave themselves upon their soul; this was what Lucius was referring to. Oleandra acted as a beacon; she resonated with the stars themselves, and Oleandra's companions would in turn synchronize with her, allowing them to use the magic of the stars for themselves. This is what Draco had described to his father; and Lucius hadn't liked what he'd heard in the slightest.
"Yes," confirmed Oleandra. "And no, not that I know of."
"Then our business ends here," said Lucius Malfoy curtly. "You hold all the power in whatever transaction we could possibly engage in, which is something I'm not interested in. Now, I believe the team mascots are about to begin their show…"
But before Oleandra could leave, Lucius Malfoy opened his mouth once more.
"One last question comes to mind, Miss Greengrass," he said coolly. "Were you the one who came up with this method of soul engraving in order to master your use of runes?"
"No," said Oleandra curtly.
"Thank you, Miss Greengrass," said Lucius coldly. "That will be all."
Oleandra turned around in a huff and began climbing up the two steps that led back to her seat in the second row.
"He's not going to beat Dobby?" Harry questioned Oleandra, noticing the dark look on her face.
"No," said Oleandra darkly. "Or at least, not in front of everyone."
"Sonorus!" said a voice coming from further up, near where the Weasleys were sitting. "Ladies and gentlemen… welcome! Welcome to the final of the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup!"
Looking over Harry's shoulder and up the stairs, Oleandra recognized Ludovic Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. A storm of cheers and clapping had just erupted from the audience in response to the man's words!
"And now, without further ado, allow me to introduce... the Bulgarian National Team Mascots!"
"I thought they were supposed to bring creatures from their homeland," mumbled Harry incoherently, "they're so perfect… so beautiful…"
Oleandra whirled around once more to see what the fuss was about; down on the Quidditch pitch, hundreds of women had swarmed the field. However, they weren't ordinary women: they were impossibly light on their feet, and possessed inhuman beauty. And then, they began dancing, and Harry went slack-jawed. If Oleandra was guessing correctly, those women were actually Veela, a race of magical beings that looked like beautiful women.
"Er, Harry?" said Oleandra. "Are you absolutely sure you want to jump off the balcony? I mean, be my guest, but as far as I know, you can't fly without a broom."
"Whuzzat?" mumbled Harry.
"You're drooling," Oleandra added helpfully, before pulling him gently away from the precipice. In the process of doing so, she spotted the face of her best friend down in the box below hers. It appeared as though Tracey had also succumbed to the charm of the Veela; her parents were trying their best to wrench her away from the edge of their box.
Once she was certain that Harry had regained his senses, Oleandra tapped her temples to activate her Mystic Eyes to see better. With her magical eyes, she could perceive magic itself, giving herself massive headaches in the process. Although, as her magical potential grew, she found that using her magical sight was becoming less and less of a burden, even in magical hotspots such as Hogwarts, or gigantic stadiums built entirely with magic, for example.
"And now," roared Ludo Bagman's voice from behind Oleandra, "kindly put your wands in the air... for the Irish National Team Mascots!"
Oleandra let out a low whistle as she observed the special effects: a green-and-gold ball of Leprechauns streaked across the field, before separating into two halves; each half heading to opposite sides of the field, where the Quidditch goal posts stood. A great rainbow appeared above the field, its two ends growing out of the goal posts. A huge shamrock appeared even higher above the rainbow, and it started raining gold coins, sending the spectators scrambling under their seats to grab as many as they could.
Obviously, the gold coins weren't real; Oleandra could tell as much with her Mystic Eyes: the coins seemed almost translucent to her. Shaking her head in amusement, she started back up the stairs with Harry in tow to sit back in her own seat.
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