ALL NOVEL Chapter 433: Amelia Bones
Walking out of the testing room, Oleandra was fairly certain that she'd just failed History of Magic.
Due to her remaining O.W.L.s getting cancelled and then getting bundled into one package, she hadn't had the time to study at the last minute, but in actuality, Oleandra had no one to blame for failing her History of Magic O.W.L. other than herself.
Umbridge had expelled Oleandra in the last week of February, and she had then spent the next four months in convalescence— so instead of having to sit her O.W.L.s in mid-June, she had taken them in the last week of June, giving her an extra week to study compared to her fellow students… in theory.
"Ah, well," Oleandra told herself. "It's not as if I was planning to take History of Magic to N.E.W.T.-level, anyway…"
The idea of never having to set foot inside of Professor Binns' dreary classroom ever again cheered up Oleandra greatly, so with a spring in her step, Oleandra began retracing her steps to the department's entrance, getting lost a few times along the way— the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was the Ministry's largest department by a wide margin.
Oleandra wended her way past columns of cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other until they reached the ceiling— doubtlessly filled to the brim with paperwork— until eventually, she managed to find her way to Madam Bones' office; which was located at the other end of the long corridor that led to the lifts.
On the Department Head's door, there was a rather austere-looking platinum silver-coloured metallic plaque that read:
'Amelia Susan Bones— Magical Law Enforcement Department Head'
There could be no further doubt about it; Oleandra was in the right place, so she knocked on the dark mahogany door.
"Come in," came a woman's voice.
"Good day," said Oleandra, walking into the room. "The Minister said you would be expecting me?"
As Oleandra pushed the door open, the first thing she noticed about the office was the tidiness; it was quite unlike the rest of the department, which was littered with abandoned instruments, flattened messenger paper aeroplanes and stacks of cardboard boxes.
Glancing at the rows of neatly organized tomes on the shelves on the sides of the room, Oleandra doubted she'd find even a single book out of alignment by more than half an inch.
"That he did," said Madam Bones, who was sitting at her desk. Looking up from her paperwork, she gave Oleandra a good hard look through narrowed eyes, before steepling her fingers. "…You're thinner than I thought you'd be."
The muscles that Oleandra had diligently trained over the past three years had all but melted away, due to her absorption of a Dusk Elf's bloodline factor— but make no mistake about it, Oleandra was much stronger than she'd ever been. She wasn't a match for Astoria's speed yet, but if she felt like it, Oleandra could very well throw someone as heavy as Crabbe across the room— one-handed.
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Madam Bones called out.
The door swung open, and Daphne strode in— all 4'7" of her. Oleandra gave her twin sister a sidelong glance— she was looking healthier than the last time she'd seen her.
"Now that you're both here," said Madam Bones, eyeing Daphne's short stature, "I'll get straight to the point. No matter what Scrimgeour says, I cannot afford to spare manpower to guard little girls— and neither do I care much for his idea of making children fight our wars for us."
"Unless I'm mistaken, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, you used to be Scrimgeour's direct superior," Daphne piped up. "You would have arguably had a better chance at getting the post than him, but now, you're complaining about having to obey your superior's orders?"
Evidently, Daphne had done her homework right before coming here— as the ex-Head of the British Auror Office, Scrimgeour had indeed used to be Amelia Bones' subordinate.
"Scrimgeour wanted the job, so I let him have it," said Madam Bones, scowling at Daphne. "I simply saw no point in fighting over titles in the midst of the greatest crisis the Wizarding World has ever faced."
"How very noble of you," said Daphne sarcastically.
Oleandra did a double-take at her sister; she wasn't used to Daphne acting so uncharacteristically churlish. She knew Daphne's tongue could grow wickedly sharp when she wanted it to, but Madam Bones was here to help them— even if they didn't really need it…
"I couldn't afford to leave my post as the Head of the Ministry's most important department," said Madam Bones begrudgingly. "Whereas, Scrimgeour could easily leave his post— it was not a difficult decision to make, considering the circumstances."
From the increasingly irate look on Amelia Bones's face, it had not been an easy decision for her to make in the slightest.
"Well, then," said Daphne offhandedly. "Glad to know we've only got the second-best man for the most important job in all the land, eh?"
A vein popped on Madam Bones's forehead.
"Why am I even arguing with you brats about this?" she snapped. "Scrimgeour insisted that he wanted his precious protégés under armed guard, so how about spending the night in lock-up until you learn to behave?"
Oleandra discreetly tapped the invisible runes drawn under her ear, pretending like she was scratching her neck. Daphne's behaviour was incomprehensible, and Oleandra wanted to get to the bottom of things.
'What are you playing at?' Oleandra projected into her sister's mind, using the Faraway Communication Galdr. 'Care to enlighten me?'
Oleandra knew that Daphne had been forced to make an Unbreakable Vow with the enemy, but she didn't know the exact nature of the restrictions that had been placed on her. This was all conjecture, but Oleandra supposed that the rules had to be lax enough for Daphne to remain useful, but restrictive enough to prevent her from turning traitor to Voldemort's cause.
So far, Oleandra knew of one rule: Daphne wasn't allowed to initiate contact with the enemies of Voldemort. Although, now that Oleandra was thinking about it, wasn't 'enemies' too broad of a definition? Maybe Voldemort was scared of what they could accomplish by combining their powers— perhaps he had merely forbidden her from initiating contact with her family members…?
'I'm not playing,' came Daphne's urgent voice in response. 'Amelia Bones must not be allowed to return home tonight!'