Oleandra Awakens

"Hello?" Tracey said, waving her hand in front of Oleandra's face. "Are you in there? You're not going to punch me again, are you? Because the last time you froze—"

Oleandra blinked a few times; she wasn't in her mind palace any more. It seemed like no more than a few instants had passed on the outside, but from her perspective, it felt like she'd been talking to the Ladies of the Lake, all of her past incarnations, for ages.

"I— I'm fine," Oleandra responded. "I… feel fine!"

In fact, she was more than fine; she felt rather liberated. The Magus, who had turned out to be Merlin, the greatest Wizard of all time, had been the one to curse the Lady of the Lake's soul as punishment (?) for sealing him inside of the World Tree for eternity.

Merlin had sealed three of her aspects: her magic, her talent, and her past.

Three years ago, Oleandra had circumvented the curse that had turned her into Squib by accidentally (?) drawing her power from the stars, after discovering the rune of inheritance Odala while watching the night sky.

Two years ago, Oleandra, the current incarnation of the Lady of the Lake, had discovered the existence of the curse itself from Tom Riddle's diary. Where had that thing gone, anyway?

One year ago, Dementors, who had the power to make their victims relive their worst memories, accidentally showed her a fragment of a memory of her past life as Viviane, removing the seal on her Transfiguration talent.

And now, Oleandra knew of her past lives, removing the curse once and for all. She, and her future incarnations, were finally free of the curse.

"And now, you know the truth," Viviane said. "There is much to do; our sacred duty must be accomplished."

Oh, and Oleandra was now stuck with an annoying not-ghost that only she could see. Except, she wasn't entirely convinced that the burden of rescuing Avalon was hers to bear. She had lived her entire life as an ordinary human; why should she care about a bunch of Fairies she had never met?

"Well?" Viviane said, raising an eyebrow. "Say something."

Oleandra looked at her in surprise. She had been inner-monologuing for a while now, but it didn't seem like Viviane had heard any of it.

"You can't read my mind?" Oleandra asked in confirmation. "But you're living inside my head."

"I'm just a shadow," Viviane explained. "There's really not much I can do without a body of my own. We memories mostly exist to teach and guide you. It's the main difference between humans and we Greater Fairies. You see—"

"Please," Oleandra moaned. "No more exposition. I think I've had enough to last a lifetime."

"Very well, then," Viviane nodded. "Perhaps that is for the best. In any case, if you wish to communicate with me in public, you need only speak under your breath, and I will hear you."

Great. That was just great. Now she was going to look like a crazy person each time she needed to speak with her imaginary friend. Tracey was already looking at her as if she'd gone off the deep end.

"What are your plans, if you don't mind my asking?" Viviane asked after a moment.

"Well, I was going to take it easy, since it's the holidays," Oleandra grumbled. "But for now, Tracey and I were going to visit my sister Daphne in the Hospital Wing."

And thus, Oleandra and Tracey made their way out of the dormitories. Viviane floated above Oleandra's head, keeping a watchful eye over her surroundings. Oleandra soon realized that Viviane was incredibly curious about everything she saw, as she kept asking questions about the castle to which Oleandra herself had no answer (which was why Viviane was asking her to ask other people about them). After all, Viviane had been born five hundred years before the four founders had even begun to lay the first brick of the castle. Back then, Britain had been divided in many small countries, and spellcasters of all kinds and denominations had lived in clans, either in hiding or in service to the various crowns.

When they arrived in the common room, they witnessed a strange sight. Millicent Bulstrode was kneeling on the ground, and a few boys were watching her.

"Come on, Mittens!" Millicent was saying, clapping her hands. "Do it again!"

 The so-called Mittens was Millicent's beloved tabby cat, which was currently lazily licking its front paws. If that was what Millicent wanted it to do, then mission accomplished.

"I'll give you a snack," she said tantalizing. "Who wants a tasty sardine?"

Millicent waved the tiny fish above the cat's head, who followed it closely with its vertical-slit eyes. In a flash, it leapt straight up and snatched the fish out of her hands.

"Mittens, no!" Millicent said in dismay. "You need to show us the trick I taught you before I give you the treat!"

"Eh…" Crabbe was telling Goyle in a doubtful tone.

Monosyllabic as ever, that one, Oleandra told herself. Still, she walked forward to see what was going on. However, the moment she approached, the cat looked over her shoulder and hissed. Hackles raised; it then executed a perfect backflip, before scarpering off in the opposite direction.

"See?" Millicent said proudly. "I told you Mittens could do a backflip."

She stuck out her hand, and Crabbe and Goyle reluctantly handed her a few bronze Knuts. She then ran off after her cat, calling out, "Mittens! Come back!"

Oleandra glanced over her shoulder, where Viviane was floating, and placed her hand in front of her mouth, before murmuring, "I think Mittens saw you."

"That's not possible," Viviane said, frowning. "I'm not like a Ghost; I only exist inside your head."

With that out of the way, there was nothing stopping Oleandra and Tracey from grabbing a late breakfast, before going off to see Daphne in the Hospital Wing, a few croissants in hand. Viviane looked longingly at the pastries; it must have been quite a while since she had last eaten.

"Well, do you have them?" Oleandra asked Daphne when they finally arrived at their destination. She was worried that they might have dissolved into the Black Lake back when Daphne had jumped into their inky depths from a height of seven hundred feet.

"I do," Daphne responded, her eyes glinting. "A handful of Phoenix ashes, ready to be used!"