I Fought the Law...

Why had they stopped shooting? Had the Aurors arrived? That couldn't be right, she couldn't hear any fighting. Oleandra slowly peeked through the hole she had just dived through while maintaining the armour of Elhaz. Gone! The Death Eaters were all gone!

She didn't know why they had disappeared, but at least it gave her a moment to catch her breath. Oleandra quickly found her pouch inside the tent; its contents had been spilled all over a table. Nothing was missing, or at least, nothing important was missing: her wand, the bottles of Basilisk venom, the hand of Glory, the special talisman paper she had purchased at that stationery store in Diagon Alley… and most importantly to her, her combat robes, made with real Basilisk skin and Acromantula silk!

"Incendio!"

Oleandra set the mystery thief's tent on fire, to hide the evidence that she had stolen back her belongings. Upon exiting the tent the normal way (through the entrance; or is it exit, in this case?) Oleandra found the name Crouch inscribed on a small sign hammered into the ground. Of course it was him.

Upon seeing something greenish floating in the sky out of the corner of her eye, Oleandra drew in a sharp breath; that green skull with the snake coming out of its mouth in the air was the Dark Mark, Lord Voldemort's sign! Everyone knew what this represented; during the First Wizarding War, it was synonymous with despair. When the Dark Mark appeared above someone's house, you knew its inhabitants were marked for death, and there was nothing you could do to save them.

"Fire!" yelled a voice nearby. "I saw them shooting at someone inside! A young girl, I think!"

"We'll take care of it, Amos," said another voice. "You go reinforce the others under the Mark; we'll take care of the rest here."

Startled, Oleandra momentarily froze. She wasn't exactly innocent here; she was the one who had set the tent on fire. She couldn't fly away, and she didn't have time to Tree-Port away. Using Perthro to thin her presence to remain undetectable was also of no use; the Aurors were already actively searching for her. Unless…?

Thinking quickly, Oleandra drew a tube of lip balm from her pouch and used it to rapidly draw Perthro on her cheek… Only, in its reversed form, which created a Glamour, allowing her to look like another person. And the first face Oleandra had thought of was that of the terrified little Muggle girl that the Death Eaters had levitated.

Moments later, Oleandra, who had disguised herself as the Muggle's eldest daughter, was discovered in front of Crouch's burning tent. Oleandra's eyes flickered over to the badges on their chests; phew, they were in the Obliviator Squad, they weren't Aurors.

"Hello there, dear," said one of them with a pleasant smile, putting his hands on his knees and leaning in to lower himself to what he thought was Oleandra's eye level. "Were you scared? Everything's going to be all right, now. Can you tell me if you're hurt?"

"I think I'm fine," said Oleandra uncomfortably, unconsciously crossing her arms in front of herself. The illusion of the little girl she was projecting was shorter than her actual height by about two heads' worth, which meant that the Obliviator was staring right into her chest.

"Let's get you back to your family, shall we?" said the Obliviator gently. "A nice lady will check you for injuries, and then we'll make all the bad things go away. Does that sound fine to you?"

That did not sound fine at all, but Oleandra still nodded. What exactly was she supposed to do next? The Muggles would obviously notice that they had an extra daughter. Still, as long as she isolated the Obliviator from the others, she could sneak attack him. 

After a short walk, Oleandra and the Obliviator entered a big tent.

"Here's your other daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts," said the man. "Safe and sound. Any other children I should know about?"

"Merry Christmas," said Mr. Roberts dizzily. "I just love surprises."

"I was so sure we only had two children," said Mrs. Roberts woozily. "She does look like one of mine…"

"Arnie, you dolt!" admonished the female Healer in charge of the Roberts. "How many times have you Obliviated these poor people? They can't even remember how many children they have!"

Oleandra blew an inward sigh of relief. She hadn't been found out yet; apparently, Obliviating people too many times made them Confunded.

"Are you hurt, dearie?" said the Healer as she reached over to pat Oleandra's head. 

In response, Oleandra vehemently shook her head and backed away in fear. Her disguise wasn't even skin deep; it was all over if she was touched.

"You'd better go first, Arnie," said the Healer. "She's too scared. But don't frighten her too much! Experiences like these tend to stay even after Obliviation."

"I know, I know!" said the Obliviator named Arnie in exasperation. "I don't tell you how to do your job, so don't tell me how to do mine! Obviously, I'm not going to traumatize the poor girl!"

Oleandra scurried off into the back of the tent, hiding behind a curtain divider. 

Obliviators used mind magic, which she was supposed to be immune to. However, she didn't want to test the extent of the runes' protection; it wouldn't be funny if she was found out while the Obliviator sorted through her memories to alter them with the False Memory Spell. 

It would be even worse if the Obliviator did a blanket Obliviation without checking her memories, which would systematically remove any knowledge of magic from her head. Then she'd be stuck living life thinking she was an eight-year-old Muggle, since nearly all of her memories involved magic in some way.

"I'm not going to hurt you!" Arnie called out, running after her, but as soon as he turned the corner, Oleandra viciously kicked him in the privates with all of her strength, making him fall to the ground and writhe in pain.

"Arnie?" said the Healer. "Everything all right back there?"

Oleandra grabbed a metal bedpan lying on the ground, then dashed out from behind the curtain. Using Cloak the Lethifold to bolster her arm strength, she flung it straight at the Healer's face, which knocked her out instantly. There; she had just neutralized both of the Wizards using Muggle means, with old Arnie as witness; now, she could run away.

"What are you waiting for?" Oleandra screamed shrilly at the Roberts, who looked absolutely unconcerned by what had just transpired. "They're aliens; they want to suck out our brains! We need to run!"

In their befuddled states, the Roberts decided to believe in the person who looked like their daughter, and all five ran out of the tent before scattering in five different directions, screaming their heads off all the while. Up in the distance, above the forest, a second floating skull appeared, only to disappear a few seconds later.