ALL NOVEL Chapter 429: Accelerated Testing
"Ah, excellent," Scrimgeour called out to Oleandra as soon as she had stepped into the room. "I see you've received my message."
Upon her arrival on the fourth underground level, she had been directed to a certain room, having only been told that the Minister was waiting for her there— but she hadn't expected him to be surrounded by so many cats.
Scrimgeour abruptly stood up, his hand outstretched for a handshake; forcing the cat that had been sitting on his lap to jump off. The cat shot the Minister a resentful look, before strutting away in a huff. Oleandra had to blink a few times to verify that she wasn't hallucinating— was this really the same austere bloke she knew?
"I, er… couldn't help but notice the changes to the Fountain of Magical Brethren," Oleandra finally managed to say, as she took Scrimgeour's hand. "Why exactly…?"
"For morale, of course," said Scrimgeour drily, releasing Oleandra's hand after giving it a firm shake. "It's for the same reason the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures brought in these… cats. To give the people some hope for the future."
Just from the expression of distaste on his face, Oleandra could tell just how little Scrimgeour thought of this cat initiative… whatever it was for.
"Fudge's last act while in office," Scrimgeour added, upon seeing the look of incomprehension on Oleandra's face. "They're supposed to help the Ministry's employees relax, apparently— though I personally don't see the point."
A cat came up to Oleandra and rubbed against her shins, so she crouched down and petted it a few times until it meowed and walked away, deciding it had had enough.
"Ahem," Scrimgeour coughed to get Oleandra's attention. "Have you given my proposal any thought?"
On Monday, right before her Charms exam, Scrimgeour had asked her to stand by the Ministry in its time of need. Then, he had commissioned the Fountain of Magical Brethren's figures to be remodelled after Oleandra and company, so it was fairly clear what he wanted out of her.
"You want me to become a figurehead for the Ministry," Oleandra deduced.
"In truth, I would have preferred to also include Harry Potter; or the Chosen One, as he's now being called; in this conversation," said Scrimgeour irritably, "but for some reason I've yet to make sense of, Dumbledore has blocked all of my attempts to reach out to his ward."
"You never reached out to me about using my likeness for your fountain," Oleandra pointed out.
Scrimgeour raised an eyebrow.
"Your sister Daphne gave us the rights to your likeness," he said. "I assumed she had obtained your permission, but if that is not the case…"
"I suppose you might as well leave the fountain as is," Oleandra sighed. "Daphne's my identical twin— even though she looks younger than me. It's as much her right as it is mine to give away our likeness. Not that I'm complaining, though— my statue is quite dashing."
It was quite the ego trip for Oleandra to have an entire fountain dedicated to her victory over Voldemort in the Ministry's Atrium for everyone to see! Still, Oleandra couldn't help but wonder what Daphne was playing at… wasn't she now under Voldemort's thumb? Why would she ever give Scrimgeour permission to use their faces?
A knock at the door suddenly snapped Oleandra out of her musings.
"Come in!" Scrimgeour called out.
The door opened, revealing the diminutive and wizened figure of Professor Tofty.
"This is highly irregular," the ordinarily jolly old Wizard grumbled as he entered the room. "The Wizarding Examinations Authority ought to remain impartial…"
"We cannot afford to have the Ministry's saviour bogged down by examinations," Scrimgeour told Oleandra. "As such, I have taken the liberty of having the rest of your O.W.L.s… expedited."
In other words, in exchange for Oleandra and Daphne becoming figureheads to inspire the British Magical World, they would be allowed to take the back door. Give and take!
"Let us start with the Care of Magical Creatures exam," said Professor Tofty grumpily. "Unfortunately, the Beast Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures hasn't captured any of the creatures that would normally feature in a fifth-year exam, so this will have to do: among these cats, there are five Kneazles; would you kindly point them out to me?"
Kneazles resembled large alley cats; they were very smart, and they had the innate ability to detect suspicious people. Fun fact, Hermione's Crookshanks was actually half-cat, half-Kneazle. But most importantly, they possessed magic.
Oleandra's eyes briefly flashed golden as she activated her Mystic Sight to check which cats gave off a magical glow, but before Professor Tofty and Scrimgeour could notice that her pupils had turned into hearts, her eyes had returned to their normal states.
"That one at your feet, that one on the table, that one drinking water… and that one and that one," Oleandra rattled off, pointing out the beasts in quick succession. "Also, that one's half-Kneazle, and that cat's pregnant with nine hybrids."
"Are you quite certain you don't want more time, Miss Greengrass?" said Professor Tofty in surprise. "Very well, then…"
Professor Tofty clapped his hands, and the five Kneazles that Oleandra had pointed out lazily walked up to him. He then went to check the two additional cats that she had mentioned, and to his astonishment, he found that Oleandra had been correct on all counts.
"B-but how?" he stammered. "Merely by looking at them? Even I had no clue Snail was expecting kittens…"
"I'd say that warrants an 'O,'" said Scrimgeour lackadaisically, as he discreetly checked his watch. "Shall we move on to the next exam, then?"
The only magical beasts that the Ministry currently had at its disposal were Kneazles and a couple of confiscated Basilisk eggs— there wasn't much else they could test her on.
"To Potions, then," Professor Tofty agreed. "Shall we move to another room? We wouldn't want the cats to smell of potion fumes, now would we?"