Chapter 157: Prongless
Daphne took a lock of her hair and put it on the stone bricks the crenels were made of, then laid her palms flat on it and concentrated. She had planted her hair into the very stone, digging her roots into the enchanted bricks. And then, she pulled, a dense mass of tangled vines emerging from the stone.
"And there we have it," Daphne said, shivering. "Grab on, and I'll lower us to the ground."
Daphne jumped off the side of the castle and abseiled down, extending her vines as she went. Cautiously, Harry and Hermione grabbed onto the vines, and began gently sliding themselves down.
The instant Daphne reached the ground, her shivers intensified. She had become very sensitive to the cold due to her transformation; she could feel something terrible heading their way. They had been too slow; Macnair had arrived with a veritable army of Dementors. This was bad; Harry and Hermione were still climbing down her vines!
"Well, well," shouted Macnair. "A prisonbreak? Throw down your wands and spare me the trouble, and I'll see to it that you make it to the trial before I set the Dementors on you!"
Daphne froze, unsure of what to do. She was sure it was too dark and that Macnair was still too far away to be able to recognize her, but she couldn't allow the executioner to see her face. And in desperation, she stamped her foot on the ground.
It might have seemed like a gesture of helpless rage, but it was anything but. Daphne's roots pierced through her shoes and extended through the dirt, before emerging from the ground underneath Macnair. Hundreds of roots burst out and ensnared the man, slamming him down flat on the ground face first and binding him in place.
Daphne was banking on the fact that Harry had mastered the Patronus Charm just as her sister had; otherwise, they had just jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Without their handler, the Dementors were free to act as they pleased. But just as they approached Harry, ready to indulge in a tasty meal…
"Expecto Patronum!" Harry hollered.
Brilliant silver light shone from Harry's wand, momentarily blinding Daphne. When she opened her eyes, she was met with an astounding sight: a silver doe, just like the one she had seen coming from Hogsmeade, was chasing down the Dementors. The dark creatures fled before the shining Spirit Guardian that was bounding after them, obliterating them upon contact.
"What the Hel is going on here?" said a familiar voice nearby.
"Sister!" Daphne cried, before embracing Oleandra, who had just revealed herself from under Harry's Invisibility Cloak.
"Lupin dropped me off as close to Hogwarts' entrance as he dared," said Oleandra. "I see it wasn't smooth sailing for you, either."
"Is Lupin okay?" said Harry, jumping off the vine and running up to her.
"He's fine," Oleandra reassured him.
"We're still in trouble, though," sighed Hermione. "We couldn't make it back in time to the Hospital Wing."
"What do you mean, couldn't make it back in time?" said Oleandra incredulously. "You have a Time-Turner; and I know for a fact you can use it more than once as long as you don't exceed the maximum; my sister told me she had three copies of herself running around at the same time for some classes."
"Sis's right," said Daphne. "Why were we worrying about this? Let's just hide out in a cupboard for about an hour, and then all we need to do is turn back time one hour so that we're not late."
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One hour later and one hour back into the past, Oleandra, Daphne, Harry and Hermione walked out of a broom closet and arrived right on time in front of the Hospital Wing, where Dumbledore was waiting. Harry removed his Invisibility Cloak and tucked it under his arm, revealing the four of them.
Dumbledore locked the door before their eyes with a tap of his wand. Was he messing with them?
"I'm sorry," he said with a smile, "you'll need to wait for your past selves to leave before entering the room. Well, how did it go?"
Hermione sighed in relief.
"I knocked out a few Aurors on my way out with Lupin," said Oleandra. "They'll be fine. Oh, and Lupin suspended Mad-Eye upside-down near the boathouse."
"Was it really necessary to destroy my boathouse?" said Dumbledore, a twinkle in his eye.
"He was really strong," admitted Oleandra. "Even with the two of us, we ought to have lost. We only won because I was on home ground, and he couldn't swim very well…"
Oleandra's voice trailed off. Why exactly had she subconsciously considered the Black Lake home ground?
"We saved Sirius and Buckbeak!" said Harry, taking the opportunity to give his report. "I—"
"Hold that thought, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Yes, I think you've gone, which means you're free to enter. You've done well, and you've earned some rest."
Dumbledore unlocked the door, allowing the four to slip inside and climb back into their beds. A few moments later, Madam Pomfrey emerged from her office.
"Did I hear the headmaster leaving?" she said angrily. "Am I allowed to look after my patients now?"
"Excuse me, Madam Pomfrey?" said Oleandra, wincing.
"Yes, what is it, dear?" she answered.
"I think I've broken a couple of my ribs," Oleandra said, clutching her sides. "And I've got this nasty bruise here on my chest."
"What are you on about?" said Madam Pomfrey, frowning. "I just gave you a thorough checkup and healed the bruises that brute Black gave you, how could you possibly have got yourself injured again in the few minutes I left you alone with the headmaster?"
Still, Madam Pomfrey was a professional; if her patient told her she was hurt, then she needed to heal her wounds. And to her stupefaction, she found that Oleandra sported a bunch of brand-new bruises as well as a grand total of two broken ribs and four more cracked ones.
And then, Oleandra heard some voices loudly arguing rapidly approaching the room.
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