152 The Strongest Auror

"We can't take the Floo Network," Lupin pointed out, as Oleandra started towards the fireplace. "The Ministry will be watching."

"The stairs it is, then," said Oleandra, pulling a sheet of silvery fabric from her pouch. "I have just the thing."

"That's James's Invisibility Cloak!" exclaimed Lupin. "How did you— When did you—"

"Harry should take better care of his things," said Oleandra. "He just left it outside the Whomping Willow for anyone to find. Don't worry, I'll give it back when it's all over."

"Wait, you're not…" Lupin began, as he realized he wasn't talking to his friend. When Oleandra used Perthro in this manner, it generated a magical Glamour around her that made her resemble her target. However, she was still a thirteen-year-old girl underneath; she was a lot shorter than Sirius, which meant that the Invisibility Cloak she was holding out was clipping through the illusion's arms.

Oleandra shushed him. She didn't know what kind of forensics magic the Ministry had; she preferred not to have her name pronounced out loud, just to stay on the safe side. With a flick of her wrist, she had covered the both of them under the Invisibility Cloak. Lupin, as a full-grown adult, needed to bend over slightly to help cover Oleandra under its folds, but at least they were fully invisible.

"There's something special about James's Cloak," Lupin whispered. "It's unaffected by spells, it's quite peculiar; no need to worry about revealing and detection spells."

Oleandra and Lupin shuffled their way up the Grand Staircase under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak. Every once in a while, Aurors would run up and down the stairs, but fortunately, nobody ran straight into them; which was a problem that invisible people often encountered.

Now, if one knew how to Apparate, the fastest way out of Hogwarts from here was to take the courtyard in front of the Great Hall to the boathouse, where first years arrived at the start of each year. The Anti-Disapparition Jinx that covered Hogwarts didn't extend as far into the Black Lake as it did for the rest of the castle grounds, which made it the shortest escape route.

"I don't think I remember ever seeing the full moon in my human form," said Lupin wistfully upon witnessing the satellite. "It's so… pretty. It's a shame that forcefully reversing the Werewolf transformation with the Homorphus Charm is a terrible strain on the body. Having two transformations in one night is bad enough, never mind swapping back and forth multiple times within an hour."

"C'mon Lupin, let's not get distracted," said Oleandra worriedly.

The place was completely deserted at this time of the night; but to be safe, the two never removed the Invisibility Cloak the entire way down the numerous stairs that led to the boathouse. There, they found that the place was only guarded by a single man, who had his back turned to them.

Lupin raised his wand under the Cloak, ready to stun him from behind.

"STUPEFY!"

Oleandra and Lupin dived out of the way; the man had instantly turned on his heels and fired off a Stunner directly at them, despite their supposedly being perfectly undetectable!

"What the?" Lupin gasped. "How did you know we were there?"

"Predictable, Remus," barked the man. "Did you honestly think you could take me by surprise under that thing? I could see you as clear as day!"

Oleandra recognized the man; that was Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, the single greatest Auror in the history of the British Ministry! She had run into him last summer at St Mungo's hospital, where he was accompanying his trainee Tonks in her investigation of Stacey Pullman! And this investigation had led them to Hogsmeade, where Stacey had been working as a barmaid.

"I didn't think that eye of yours was that powerful," said Lupin in surprise. "Please, for old time's sake; won't you let us pass?"

"You've got guts, bringing up the Order of the Phoenix in front of me, traitor!" spat Moody. "Dumbledore never should have trusted you. And now you're throwing in your lot with the Ministry's Public Enemy No.1."

"Just ask Dumbledore," pleaded Lupin. "He's the one who arranged all of this."

"I will," said Moody, "after I've captured the both of you! FUMOS!"

Moody conjured a magical smokescreen that filled the entire boathouse; Oleandra could barely see a foot in front of her. She clicked her tongue; from what she'd heard, that prosthetic eye of his could see through anything, which meant he wasn't fighting blind. She stored Harry's Invisibility Cloak in her pouch; it wouldn't be useful here.

But just as Oleandra was finishing putting away Harry's Invisibility Cloak, a red bolt of energy whizzed out of nowhere and struck her in the shoulder. Luckily, Cloak had shielded her, or she'd have been knocked out there and then!

"Finite!" Oleandra heard Lupin crying out every so often in order to clear the smoke. It wasn't having too much effect, though. Moody was much too strong.

Meanwhile, spells were flying left and right, as Lupin and Moody traded blows. Moody held the initiative here; everyone but him was an enemy, while Lupin and Oleandra had to take care not to hit each other.

"Cloak, suit mode," Oleandra murmured. The Lethifold obliged, and it covered her entire body. And just in time, too.

"Depulso!" barked Moody somewhere in the smoke. A jet of purple light came out of nowhere and struck Oleandra in the chest, sending her flying into a wall. Oleandra winced; that was sensitive area! The Lethifold was good at shielding her against slashing, stabbing and variety of other spells. And while it did help a little to scatter the kinetic energy from blunt force impacts, one had to remember that Oleandra was still flesh and blood under the suit! From what she could tell, she had fractured at least three ribs.

More multicoloured lights flew every which way through the thick smoke.

"Sturdy bugger, aren't you, Lupin!" Oleandra heard Moody gloat upon landing a hit on Lupin. However, Lupin wasn't down for the count; Werewolves were extremely resilient to magic. No wonder Wizards feared them so much; as long as they could endure the punishment, they could rush you down and savage you!

"LAUKAZ!" Oleandra shouted while Moody was distracted. The first order of business for her was getting rid of the Smokescreen Spell, and what better way to get rid of smoke than by trapping the airborne particles in water? 

She had noticed that her command over small bodies of water with the Lake rune far surpassed the scope the rune was supposed to have according to the stars. For instance, Oleandra could walk on water, while Daphne couldn't, no matter how hard she tried.

A huge water spout rose out from under the dock, destroying part of the boathouse and spraying cool water everywhere. As the lake water rained down on the battlefield, the smoke gradually began clearing, revealing the extent of the damage. Both of the other fighters had landed in the water; Lupin was doggy paddling over to dry land, while Moody, with his peg leg, was having trouble staying afloat.

"Sorry, but we'll be going on ahead," said Lupin. "Remember to ask Dumbledore about the truth of what happened!"

Lupin was forced to dive under the water in order to avoid a Stunner the furious Moody had sent his way. He surfaced soon after to find that Oleandra had obtained Moody's wand by using the Disarming Charm.

"It looks a little cold in there, so here's a little present from me," said Lupin. "Levicorpus!"

As if pulled by an invisible string, Moody was spun upside-down and suspended in the air by the ankle.

"I wouldn't try to lift the spell if I were you," Lupin added with a small cough, "unless you want another dip in the lake."

Oleandra and Lupin jumped into a nearby boat, which started moving by itself. Once they had reached a dozen feet from the shore, Lupin took Oleandra's hand, and they Disapparated.