Oleandra's Prophecy Backfires

Oleandra flipped through The Dream Oracle's pages, trying to find the entry for the significance of ice cream. She had found the page on Dragons easily enough… D, E, F, G, H, I…

"How many letters are there in Lindworm?" Tracey asked distractedly. "I'm supposed to add the number of letters to my age and the date…"

But Oleandra wasn't listening any more, she was listening to Umbridge ask Professor Trelawney how many years she had held her job. (It was 16.)

"Professor Dumbledore appointed you?" Umbridge asked.

"That's right."

"And you are a great-great-granddaughter of the celebrated True Seer Cassandra Trelawney?"

"That I am."

Professor Trelawney held her head a little higher in pride, but it all soon came crashing back down again when Umbridge pointed out that her family had produced no Seers in three generations before her birth. Visibly, Umbridge thought that the Seer bloodline had diluted itself out of existence— in other words, that Trelawney was a big fraud, just like Oleandra had told her.

And all smiles, Umbridge then asked Professor Trelawney to make a prediction for her.

"The Inner Eye does not See upon command!" Professor Trelawney said in scandalized tones.

Which was true, but it also meant that the True Seer method of Divination was not teachable to those who didn't have the Sight. In other words, even though Trelawney was a real Seer, her class was pointless, since none of her students had the Sight.

"I see…" said Professor Umbridge, who was looking mightily unconvinced.

Professor Trelawney looked around the class, desperately trying to find a lifeline. And she found one— causing Oleandra's heart to sink in her chest like a stone.

"Miss Greengrass is a fellow True Seer!" Professor Trelawney quickly explained. "She can vouch for me; can't you, dear?"

"Is that so?" said Professor Umbridge, who was now looking thoroughly amused. "Could you make a prediction for me, then?"

There was only one problem with that: Oleandra was not a Seer; Merlin had hijacked her body the last time she had looked into a crystal ball, since her existence had proper mucked up the very delicate mechanisms of fate, and caused Trelawney to miss the opportunity to make her own prophecy. Oleandra could use Runestone Divination, but that wasn't what was being asked of her right at this moment.

"Er…" Oleandra said weakly. "The Inner Eye does not See on command?"

"That's what I thought," said Professor Umbridge slightly smugly.

"Wait!" said Professor Trelawney shrilly. "She did make a prophecy, two years ago! O.G. to S.P.T. and H.P.! Subject: Dark Lord and unnamed servant! Professor Dumbledore and I took it to the Department of Mysteries ourselves two years ago! I committed it to memory; I can recite it for you!"

Prophecies could be recorded in prophecy balls for posterity if one acted fast enough and had the magical know-how. After Merlin had made his prophecy using Oleandra as a medium, Professor Trelawney had run to Dumbledore to alert him of what had occurred, and together, they had recorded the prophecy and then taken it to the Ministry.

Professor Trelawney took a deep breath, before reciting in the most mystical tone she could muster:

"It will happen tonight. The Dark Lord lies alone and friendless, abandoned by his followers. His servant has been chained these twelve years. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will break free and set out to rejoin his master. The Dark Lord will rise again with his servant's aid, greater and more terrible than ever he was. Tonight, before midnight, the servant will set out to rejoin his master…"

Professor Trelawney looked expectantly at Umbridge upon finishing her performance, but contrarily to her expectations, Umbridge was now looking at Oleandra with her evil little eyes.

"So," Umbridge said softly. "This little plan of Dumbledore's has been in the works for some time, hasn't it?" She turned back to Professor Trelawney and asked, "And Miss Greengrass told you this herself?"

"She did," Professor Trelawney responded eagerly.

Uh-oh, this was quite bad, wasn't it?

"You can't punish me for things that happened before you arrived," Oleandra preemptively said.

The Department of Mysteries did not share what they did with the rest of the Ministry; their workers were called Unspeakables for a reason. After all, nobody had ever been made aware of the neither can live while the other survives prophecy; the very one that had got Trelawney hired as a Divination teacher at Hogwarts.

As such, not even an important person like Dolores Umbridge, a Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, had any clue as to what transpired in the Department of Mysteries. How very convenient…

"I'm done with my inspection," Umbridge said, slipping her clipboard into her bad. "It was most… illuminating."

Oleandra gulped.

On the bright side, Oleandra's hold on Umbridge with Fairy magic was still strengthening; Umbridge was walking away from her with the biggest misconception ever…

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"You're amazing," said Tracey with starry eyes as they walked together to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. "You're so strong, and you're a Seer on top of it all… Maybe if I was half as amazing, I—"

"Oh, don't say that," said Oleandra uncomfortably. "I'm not even a real Seer, anyway."

"But you predicted that You-Know-Who's servant would rejoin him, and that he would help him restore his power!" Tracey insisted. "I heard Harry's story, it all fits in perfectly! You're telling me you didn't predict all of that?"

"Well, yes, but…" Oleandra said hesitantly. "Oh, just forget about it…"

Oleandra didn't like concealing things from Tracey, who wholeheartedly admired and adored her. Tracey deserved better than that, someone better than her…

"You'd better stop praising her before her ego explodes," said Daphne as she ran out from behind them. "It'll take forever to pick up the pieces."

"No running in the halls," said Oleandra sharply.

Daphne rolled her eyes, and Oleandra clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her twin sister always spoke like she was a hundred years old, but very rarely, she would act the way she looked. It was a rather good thing that Daphne had a calm temperament most of the time; if immortality and eternal youth meant she'd never mature and act like a little girl for the rest of her life…

Oleandra didn't even want to think about it!