Professor Bathsheda Babbling

Of course, Oleandra was more than just slightly miffed when Daphne told her she had lost her music box, but Hermione was surprised, and a little suspicious, at how she took the news in stride. After all, from Oleandra's perspective, Daphne had only gone around a corner for about five seconds, before coming back claiming she had managed to lose her sister's precious music box within that interval.

When Oleandra learned the truth about her sister's misadventures over dinner, she started sweating bullets. In any case, she was glad to be rid of an object originating from a temporal anomaly. Turning back time was way too dangerous, she decided. Better to stick to stasis and time acceleration magic, she told herself, much less risky.

In the afternoon, Draco and the girls entered the Study of Ancient Runes classroom for their first lesson. Oleandra was a little curious to see the world at large's perspective on this branch of magic, and how it differed from her true inheritance.

Feeling a prickly sensation down her neck, Oleandra turned around to see that Hermione staring holes in the back of her head. Oleandra smiled weakly in her direction and gave her a wiggly wave, before turning back just in time to witness the teacher walking into class.

"Good day, students," said the teacher, "I am Professor Bathsheda Babbling, your Ancient Runes teacher."

"To begin with, let me just say that the Study of Ancient Runes requires just that; study," Professor Babbling said. "Do not expect to pass this class without hours of personal study."

Oleandra cracked her knuckles and leaned back in her chair, getting comfortable. This was going to be so easy.

"We shall mostly focus on the most popular magical runes of northern Europe," she continued, "the Futhark runes."

"We've got this in the bag," Oleandra whispered to Tracey, who low-fived her under the table.

"This course shall also cover the runes of the so-called cradles of magic; countries whose influence on western modern magic is undeniable. As such, be prepared to learn the basics of Sumerian, Middle Egyptian, Old Avestan, Latin, Ancient Greek, Aramaic, Coptic, Persian, Arabic and Hebrew."

BAM!

The entire class looked over to where Oleandra had once been sitting, the sound of a crash and a yelp of pain having just resounded throughout the room. Oleandra had lost her balance and fallen over backwards in surprise; she hadn't been prepared to hear those words come out of the teacher's mouth, as the course books barely covered those topics.

"Is everything quite all right, back there?" Professor Babbling called out.

"Sorry!" Oleandra called back. "Is this part of curriculum new? I haven't heard about this from upperclassmen."

"That's right. Professor Dumbledore judged that there were some gaps in the knowledge this class taught," Professor Babbling said, frowning, "I worked with the Ministry all summer to create this new curriculum. Now, moving on…"

So it was Professor Dumbledore's fault! How dare he make her learn things! Oleandra looked behind her; Hermione's eyes were glittering with excitement. Well of course, she of all people would be happy to have to learn more. At any rate, this little surprise didn't upset Oleandra all that much. With the Ingwaz rune, pure memorization was a cakewalk, after all. Draco, however, didn't seem all that happy. He was also taking another difficult subject, Arithmancy, and had only selected Ancient Runes for free credits.

"However, the study of the runes of East Asia will not be part of the curriculum," Professor Babbling continued. "Those hoping to learn about arrays and formations may still get a chance in their seventh year, as exchange students with Mahoutokoro."

The teacher paused.

"Though, you will need to take Alchemy as an elective course to qualify for the exchange program," Professor Babbling said with a laugh. "Expect to face some competition, as every other magical school wants to send their students there; Mahoutokoro holds the Cintāmaṇi Stone, after all. After the unfortunate incident two years ago, it is the last Lapis Philosophorum left in existence, and not many get the chance to study it."

"But I digress; let us start learning about runes, shall we?" Professor Babbling proposed. "The Ancient Runes we use nowadays were invented by a Nordic Wizard named Odin, more than a thousand years ago. He and his family made such an impression on the local Muggles that they were mistaken as gods!"

A niggling feeling appeared in the back of Oleandra's mind, as information bubbled up from her subconscious; what Professor Babbling had just said wasn't accurate.

Ancient Runes went back as far as prehistory, when early Wizards copied the symbols they saw on ancient magical creatures onto themselves and communed with the stars. Odin was actually the latest of the first Runesmith's reincarnations; a twenty-thousand-year-old early human!

A shiver ran down Oleandra's spine when she thought of the means that such a monster would have.

"A master of runes is called a Runesmith," Professor Babbling continued. "They are very well-regarded craftsmen in our circles, as it takes a great deal of knowledge, practice and effort to become one. Runes must be precisely drawn and coloured in order to take effect, and a perfect rune will retain its magic forever."

"Yes, ah, Miss Granger?" the teacher said, spotting Hermione's raised hand.

"Excuse me, Professor," said Hermione, giving Oleandra a sidelong glance while she lowered her hand. "Is it possible to use rune magic without even drawing runes?"

"You are referring to the Greengrass's magic, are you not?" Professor Babbling said, eyeing the twins. "If you had asked me this question two years ago, I would have thought you were joking. That is, until Professor Dumbledore informed me of their feats, and made me ward every square inch of the castle against rune-based spatial incursions."

She glared at the Greengrass twins as she said those last words. As a prideful girl, Oleandra had never regretted showing off what she was truly capable of, and she wasn't about to start now. It's not as if she didn't understand the importance of keeping a trump card hidden; but she wasn't about to start playing the pig to eat the tiger.