What have I got myself into

"And what are you doing here?" Argus Filch spat. "Up to no good, I suppose? Back to your common room before I write you up."

"But…"

"No buts!" Filch said, his beady eyes squinting maliciously at her. "It looks like you do want detention…"

Now this was troublesome. Oleandra had promised Harry she'd wait at the North Hall after dinner, but unfortunately, Filch had found her loitering about. Harry had been supposed to send word about Buckbeak's trial, but now they wouldn't be able to meet, as Filch was forcing her to move away from their meeting place.

Perhaps she could get in contact with him through the Galdr of Faraway Communication? No, that wouldn't work; she hadn't marked Harry with a rune; it was the same as not having his phone number.

'There's no doubt that the execution will go on as planned,' Oleandra thought to herself. 'They've even brought the axe, which means it will go down before the day is done. I don't have much time to do my part.'

A quick look over her shoulder informed her that Filch was still guarding the door to the outside. In fact, he was still looking at her suspiciously, following her every movement with his eyes. Ugh, what a creep. Well, it wasn't as if she could leave through the front door, anyway. There was no use staying here.

'What about flying out through a window?' Oleandra thought. 'No, that won't work either. It's usually possible to fly around Hogwarts, but not this year; the Anti-Flying Jinx around the grounds is active because the administration thought there was a chance that Black would enter Hogwarts by air; and a fat lot of good it did to stop him.'

And then it her; Anti-Flying, that was only to stop broomstick enchantments from working, right? As far as she knew, she hadn't seen birds falling out of the sky. And she'd already flown over Hogwarts using the Lethifold. Logically, she'd still be able to; it hadn't been that long since she'd last done it.

If she remembered correctly, there were a few windows in the History of Magic classroom nearby, though that room was a few stories up from the ground floor. If something had somehow changed, she'd be falling from quite a height; it was definitely high enough to kill her if she landed wrong.

Upon reaching the classroom, Oleandra looked around to see if anyone was looking. As exams had just ended, people had no business in this area of the castle, which meant there was nobody to get in her way and ask nosy questions.

"Alohomora," Oleandra said, pointing her wand at the doorknob.

The door swung open slowly, making creaky noises, and Oleandra stepped inside the classroom. It was strange, going inside an empty classroom in the late afternoon in the summer; it gave the place an otherworldly feeling. She walked over to a window and opened it; nobody would think to lock a window so high up from the ground.

"Well, here goes nothing," Oleandra said to no one in particular as she lowered herself out of the window. Taking flight from such a height was much scarier than taking off from the ground!

A familiar feeling of weightlessness washed over her; thankfully, the Anti-Flying Jinx wasn't able to stop Cloak from using its natural abilities. Seeing as she wasn't about to plummet to the ground, Oleandra let go from the windowsill and flew off to Hagrid's hut. But to her surprise, she found three very familiar faces doing the job she was supposed to do! Well, time for a superhero landing. 

"Heya, Sis," Oleandra called out as she landed next to Daphne, Harry and Hermione, who were busy tugging at Buckbeak's rope. "Sorry for the delay, Filch got in my way. I didn't know that these two had dragged you into this."

"Shh!" said Harry and Hermione at the same time.

"The people from the ministry, they're inside Hagrid's house," explained Harry. "They saw Buckbeak already, so it's fine to take him away now."

"And these two didn't drag me into this," said Daphne curtly. "You did."

"Don't tell her anything she doesn't need to know about the future," said Hermione with a serious look on her face. "It could have dire consequences if she doesn't do things exactly as we remember them. The best thing we can do is just let her act naturally."

"Okay," said Oleandra, as she helped them drag Buckbeak out of his pen and into the Forbidden Forest. "Now you've lost me. Are you playing around with the Time-Turner again?"

"You told her about it?" said Hermione, aghast. "Professor McGonagall explicitly said we weren't to tell anyone about time travel!"

"Oh, like you're one to talk," grunted Daphne as she pulled on the rope. "You told Harry, didn't you? Besides, I didn't tell anyone; they guessed it. My sister and Tracey aren't idiots like your two friends."

"Hey!" grumbled Harry. "I resent that."

"You mean your sister's not the only one who knows?" cried Hermione, appalled.

It's in this way that the four of them, along with Buckbeak, continued moving along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Oleandra had no idea where they were going; but apparently, she also had to be there.

"Why aren't we freeing Buckbeak?" Oleandra asked as they walked. "That was the plan, wasn't it?"

"Don't ask," said Hermione. "You're not supposed to know yet. Ah! Good, we've made it."

Hermione was pointing at the Whomping Willow, which could barely be made out through the trees.

"Before you go," Hermione began.

"Before I go where?" Oleandra immediately asked.

"Stop interrupting, Sis," snapped Daphne.

"Remember," said Hermione. "Don't say anything about Buckbeak. You never met us; you never saw us. Now, when the tree stops moving, follow our past selves into the hole under the Whomping Willow. You HAVE to go, because we saw you there. Now, unless you don't want to be unborn or cease existing, I suggest you get a move on."

"Well, that's awfully convenient," grumbled Oleandra as she took flight. "Do this, do that, if you don't, you'll stop existing."

"Don't worry about it, existing is what you do best," Daphne called out after her. "And don't forget about me, okay?"

"I'll try my best!" Oleandra called back.