Symbiote

Daphne seemed to have regained her usual cool, Tracey's teeth were still chattering, while Ginny seemed oddly frustrated.

"Don't worry about me," Oleandra reassured them. "They can't hurt me. I'll be back soon."

The man with the chocolate raised an eyebrow, then followed Oleandra and the Auror out of the compartment.

"If you insist on talking to those dark creatures, at least allow me to tag along," he said. "Unlike a certain Auror, I have mastered the Patronus Charm."

"Fair enough, Mr…," said Oleandra.

"That's professor to you, Miss Greengrass. Professor Lupin," said the man. "I'll be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year."

"I can cast a Patronus," the Auror said in a huff. "But you know how Dementors are, they drain the happiness right out of you. When I saw it try to slurp out your soul, I was sure I'd lost my job…"

That was what he'd been worried about?

"Speaking of which," said Professor Lupin curiously. "How did you protect yourself from the Kiss? Is it a special spell from your family? If you could share how —"

"Something like that," said Oleandra vaguely, interrupting him.

A few moments later, they had reached the end of the train, where a bunch of Aurors were busy corralling a number of Dementors. It seemed as if their happiness-draining aura stacked with each other, as Oleandra suddenly felt very cold both outside and inside.

As soon as Oleandra arrived, the Dementors all turned towards her.

"What are you doing, Kane?" yelled one of the other Aurors. "Get that girl away from here! You, Dementors! Get in line!"

But the Dementors were no longer listening to the Aurors, and had begun to glide towards the newcomers. Professor Lupin, to his credit, didn't run off, and instead produced a thick shield of milky white translucent light from his wand.

"Stay back!" he warned.

The Dementors had mouths, but they didn't need them to project their voices.

"Smells of death…"

"Smells of home..."

"Mists of Hel…"

"You're not from here, are you?" Oleandra asked. "You're from Helheim?"

"Niflheim..." 

"Helheim, Mistress Hela's domain in Niflheim…"

"Marked One…"

"Banished to Midgard…"

"Why were you banished?" asked Oleandra.

"Punished. Only consumed good…"

"Punished?" Oleandra raised an eyebrow. "You mean, you're supposed to take everything, good and bad? Hela makes you do this?"

"Clean souls of memories, emotions, prepare for cycle of reincarnation…"

"Why did you attack me?" asked Oleandra. "Why do I still have my soul?"

"Smelled of home…"

"Marked Ones can't be licked clean…"

"Egg…"

"Miss Greengrass, the train is about to leave," Professor Lupin reminded her. "Unless you want to walk the rest of the way, I suggest we get back on the train."

"It's fine, I have what I wanted to know," said Oleandra, turning away from the Dementors.

"Please…"

"Bring us home…"

"Starving…"

"Promise…"

"Take us home..."

Behind her, Dementors continued projecting their hoarse voices into her head, while the Aurors were giving her strange looks. The Dementors had all spoken straight into her mind, therefore none of them had heard a word they had said. What concerned the Aurors, was how a nearly third-year had boldly demanded answers from them, and how the Dementors had obviously answered her questions.

"I'll do my best," said Oleandra without turning around, and she boarded the train.

"Miss Greengrass, nothing good can come from those dark creatures," said Professor Lupin, somewhat concerned. "They're pure evil."

"It's not their fault," answered Oleandra somewhat cryptically. "They don't belong here."

That was the first time Lupin had ever heard someone defend Dementors in such a way. Most people would argue that they were a necessary evil, as they guarded Azkaban very well. Apart from the curious case of Sirius Black's escape, of course. But Dementors, misunderstood? Lupin wouldn't, couldn't understand.

From what Oleandra had gathered, Dementors had a similar role to the river Styx. They were a necessary part of the cycle of reincarnation; they washed the soul clean of its former life's attachments and memories by eating it, and probably excreted it out afterwards. A 'fresh' start, so that when souls found their way back into the world of the living, newborns weren't born with memories of their past, as abominations.

But that wasn't the concerning part. Marked Ones were apparently immune to the Dementors' touch, which meant they went through the cycle of reincarnation with their memories intact. Oleandra was sure that 'Marked One' referred to the way the Runes of the Stars were engraved upon her soul. But she didn't have any memories of any past lives, and she had only received the blessings of the stars two years ago, as far as she knew.

What's more, the Dementors made it sound as if there were more of these Marked Ones. What did this all mean? The original users of the primordial runes, the so-called Nordic gods, the Æsir, were they still around? If so, why hadn't Oleandra found proof of their existence in the near past? Why did records of them only exist inside of old history books about ancient Wizards?

Oleandra thanked Professor Lupin and returned to her compartment, where she shared what she had just learned with her sisters and Tracey. Ginny seemed to have returned to her original compartment, and Astoria had similarly come back.

"Hmm," said Daphne, mulling things over. "If they really were still alive, these so-called gods, would you really be enemies with them, though? The stars did choose you, didn't they?"

"I suppose so?" Oleandra said uncertainly. 

She wasn't sure of anything any longer. She had taken for granted the title of Lady of the Stars, but now Oleandra was beginning to experience impostor syndrome. 

The train wasn't far from Hogsmeade station now. The rest of the journey felt like it lasted an eternity, but at long last, the Hogwarts Express finally arrived at its destination.

"Firs' years this way!" called out Hagrid, the groundskeeper. From the looks of it, he had been released from Azkaban intact.

"See you later, Astoria!" chorused Oleandra and Daphne, waving their little sister goodbye. Tracey waved as well.

Astoria beamed and waved back, then joined the rest of the first years for the boat ride across the lake. It was still raining cats and dogs, poor girl. Meanwhile, second years and up rode up to the castle in stagecoaches that magically pulled themselves, Oleandra had heard.

She had missed this experience last year, since she had Tree-Ported into school last time, so this was the first time she was going to school this way.