Chapter 141: The Gauntlet
The following morning, Oleandra and her friends headed to the castle grounds for their Care of Magical Creatures exam. Professor Hagrid's exam was incredibly simple; foolproof, even. Each student was handed a Flobberworm, and in order to pass the exam, their Flobberworm needed to still be alive after an hour.
Of course, some people still managed to screw up something this simple. There was simply nothing to do, as Flobberworms thrived when left alone. Bored, Crabbe and Goyle started roughhousing for fun, and Crabbe ended up stepping on Oleandra's poor Flobberworm, killing it instantly.
Professor Hagrid pretended not to notice when Oleandra swapped her deflated Flobberworm for Crabbe's. After examining Harry's Flobberworm for a suspiciously long time, he ambled over to Oleandra and bent over to give hers a look.
"Don' do anythin' before the sixth," he whispered to Oleandra. "There's still a chance the appeal migh' work."
"Look, Professor, I know you're hoping for the best-case scenario where Buckbeak ends up alive and also gets to stay with you," said Oleandra. "But it's time to face reality. If I take your Beaky away, he'll at least get to live. But if you can't make up your mind, you'll lose him for real!"
"Bu' wha' if they change their minds?" Professor Hagrid argued. "Wha'll it look like if they spare 'im n' he's jus' gone?"
"Fine," said Oleandra. "But you're really making this difficult for me."
In the afternoon, Oleandra had her Potions exam with Professor Snape. For his exam, Oleandra had to brew a Confusing Concoction. Rather than looking confusing, this concoction made whoever drank it become confused, which ought to obvious, really. It was a moderately difficult potion to brew for most people, so, of course, it was no trouble at all for Oleandra.
At midnight, Oleandra went up to the top of the Astronomy Tower for her exam. As always, one had to be able to identify stars and constellations. It was ridiculously easy for Oleandra, of course. Her rune magic originated from the stars themselves, after all.
The next day, which was a Wednesday, Oleandra had History of Magic's exam. It wasn't particularly difficult for someone with a perfect memory, only tedious. In the afternoon was Herbology's exam. This exam was also easy for Oleandra, since the family business was to raise magical plants. The exam consisted only of repotting Chinese Chomping Cabbages.
On Thursday morning, Oleandra had her Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. It was a practical exam: Professor Lupin had set up an obstacle course, the obstacle being all the little creatures the students had learned about throughout the year. Well, minus the Werewolf that Professor Snape had introduced, of course (Too dangerous, as well as being unethical, as Werewolves were mostly human. It also didn't help that the exam didn't take place during the full moon). There were the aquatic Grindylows, the Gnomish Red Caps, the wispy Hinkypunks and naturally, one non-being, the Boggart.
"Ready?" said Professor Lupin. "…Go!"
Oleandra set off at a leisurely pace with her hands in her pockets. The first obstacle was deep pool of water, containing a Grindylow. You were supposed to use the Revulsion Jinx on them when they grabbed you, since their greatest weapon was their iron grip. Ironically, their bones were also their greatest weakness, being quite brittle, so you could easily make them let go of you without even using magic by strong-arming them.
Feeling a little contrary today, Oleandra decided that the best method to combat them was not to face them at all. Besides, she didn't want to get drenched in stinky Grindylow water.
"Laukaz," Oleandra whispered, forming the hand signs with her hands in her pockets.
To everyone's surprise, Oleandra's feet didn't sink into the murky waters; rather, she walked on the water as if it were made out of solid ground. This pool could be considered to be a very small lake, which meant the Lake rune would take effect!
Next, she needed to cross a series of holes filled with Red Caps. These creatures liked to bludgeon lone travellers, but they weren't particularly strong. They were easily dispatched with the Knockback Jinx; the trick was to avoid letting them swarm you.
"Elhaz," Oleandra murmured, extending from her closed fist her index, middle finger and ring finger, inside her pocket.
The armour of Elhaz was strong enough to repel the Red Caps' little weapons; sticks, stones, icepicks, pokers, blackjacks, maces, you name it, they had it! And so, Oleandra walked in a straight line through the mass of irate Red Caps, whistling a jaunty tune as she ignored their puny attacks.
Next, Oleandra had to walk through a marsh and find her way out, while ignoring the Hinkypunks trying to mislead her. Once again, she just walked over the water and easily reached the other end.
At the end of the obstacle course was an old trunk, which contained another Boggart. Oleandra climbed inside, wand at the ready. This time, however, the Boggart transformed into a shining Sigil: Ægishjálmur, the Helm of Terror. It seemed as though Oleandra had begun fearing her own powers. Nevertheless, nothing could scare her if she was prepared for it!
"Riddikulus," said Oleandra firmly.
The Boggart's form shimmered; the lines the Sigil was composed of turned into spaghetti strands, which fell limply to the floor. Oleandra giggled, before exiting the trunk.
"Well, I'm not sure how to grade you, Oleandra," said Professor Lupin. "You didn't exactly interact with most of the creatures, but you didn't get injured either."
"It's fine, isn't it?" replied Oleandra. "The class is called Defense Against the Dark Arts; I defended myself. I have no reason to hurt the little blighters if they can't even touch me, and I have no right to annoy them in their own homes if I can just avoid them."
"That's… actually very wise of you," said Professor Lupin. It was true that it was somewhat cruel to involve these creatures in his little exam, but it was for a good cause: so that his students learned to protect themselves against them. "But I hear that you killed a giant three-headed dog in your first year."
Incidentally, Hagrid had initially been very angry at Oleandra for that, but he had forgiven her when she helped prove his innocence by helping to kill the Basilisk.
"Oh, Fluffy?" said Oleandra. "I was much weaker back then; I didn't have the luxury to hold back."
"I see," said Professor Lupin. "Well, in that case, you pass with flying colours!"
"Pfft," snorted Daphne from the sidelines. "She just didn't want to get her shoes wet!"
"You're just mad because you can't walk on water like me!" Oleandra called after her.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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