Harry Potter and the Sorceress of the Stars

At long last, the Hogwarts Express ground to a halt at Hogsmeade station. Oleandra and Daphne carefully manoeuvred their way through the crowd of students, dodging a few stray elbows down the aisle, before hopping off onto the platform. To Oleandra's surprise, the rain that usually greeted Hogwarts students on the first of September was conspicuously absent— making the customary mad scramble for the stagecoaches far less competitive than in previous years.

"You… you can see them?" Oleandra asked softly, noticing Daphne's gaze unconsciously wandering to the skeletal beasts harnessed to the carriages. "Do you want to talk about it, or…?"

The carriages were drawn by Thestrals— magical beasts that could only be seen by those who had witnessed death and had understood its implications. Daphne previously hadn't been able to see them, leading Oleandra to wonder whose death she had witnessed…

"No," said Daphne hoarsely, avoiding her sister's concerned gaze. "No, I would not."

Just as Oleandra was about to press Daphne for more details, an unsettling sensation washed over her— an overwhelming feeling that someone was watching her. Her intuition screaming at her to turn around, Oleandra whirled around on the spot, her eyes scanning the crowd in search of the elusive person spying on her, but she failed to notice anything out of the ordinary.

There were plenty of students pointing and staring at her— after all, everyone knew her incredible feat in managing to rout Voldemort twice— but the sensation of being watched wasn't coming from them.

"Excuse me," said a third-year Gryffindor girl with shining eyes, approaching Oleandra with a Muggle pen and a sheet of A4 paper. "Would you mind signing an autograph for me…? It's Daisy."

"Er…" said Oleandra, at a loss for words. "Certainly, I don't see why not…"

The girl squealed, handing Oleandra the writing implements— and as soon as Oleandra had finished signing her name, she returned to her tittering friends, her face as red as a beet.

"That was weird, to say the least," said Oleandra, turning back to her sister, only to find that she had vanished. "…Daphne?"

The feeling of being watched had also vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving Oleandra standing there on the platform, feeling completely bewildered.

"First years line up over here!" Hagrid was yelling. "All first years ter me!"

With Daphne having disappeared into the aether, Astoria boarding a carriage with a bunch of her Gryffindor friends and Tracey having vanished off the face of the Earth a month ago, Oleandra found herself on her own.

She reluctantly set off to find a carriage of her own, and after a long and bumpy ride— one she was forced to awkwardly share with a gaggle of second years— Oleandra at last found herself standing before Hogwarts's tall walls once again.

"Oleandra, over here!" Ron's voice rang out, pulling her attention in his direction. "Have you— gah!"

She turned her head, just in time to witness Ron tripping over his own feet as he attempted to jump out of his carriage. His latest growth spurt had done nothing to help with the lack of coordination between his gangly limbs…

"Harry's not with you?" asked Hermione worriedly, as she walked over to Oleandra's carriage and peeked inside. "We haven't seen him since noon, so we were getting worried…"

"We ate lunch together with the new teacher in compartment C," said Oleandra. "We both left at the same time— a few minutes before we arrived at Hogsmeade Station— but I haven't seen him since."

"Oh good," said Ron, breathing out a sigh of relief. "At least he didn't get poisoned."

Oleandra looked at Ron quizzically.

"Well, Harry told us this Slughorn bloke used to be Head of Slytherin, and you know how Snape is," said Ron uncomfortably. "We sort of reckoned he might have spiked Harry's lunch, or something like that…"

"What a load of rubbish!" said Hermione indignantly. "We? Don't you mean you?"

Oleandra rubbed her arms, shivering slightly in the cold night air. While Ron and Hermione were having their lovers' spat, their fellow students were climbing up the castle's stone steps and streaming into the warm Entrance Hall…

"I'm certain he'll turn up, sooner or later— no point standing around in the cold, is there?" said Oleandra briskly. "Well, shall we?"

"Harry wouldn't want us to freeze to death," said Luna Lovegood dreamily— though Oleandra was only now noticing her presence. She then added, her tone shifting to one of wistful remembrance; the kind one would use to speak of the dearly departed, "wherever he is now…"

Taking advantage of the awkward silence, Oleandra excused herself, and she hurried up the castle's front steps, catching up to the tail end of the crowd. Looking up, she could see Hogwarts's walls looming over her and the castle's dark spires piercing the starlit night sky, but below, the Entrance Hall's warm flickering lights were beckoning to her!

As she crossed the Entrance Hall and entered the Great Hall, with its floating candles and its starry ceiling, Oleandra was overwhelmed with nostalgia. If only Tracey was here, Oleandra found herself bitterly thinking, as she made her way to her usual spot at the Slytherin table and sat next to her sister, unwilling to talk to Daphne after she had ditched her.

Once every student had settled at their seats at each of the four long tables, the Great Hall's double doors opened once again, and a throng of tiny first years streamed in, following Professor Sprout to the other end of the Great Hall, like ducklings following their mother duck.

Professor Sprout came to a stop in front of the staff table— she waved her wand, conjuring a four-legged stool, upon which she placed a frumpy Wizard's hat.

As per usual, the Hat burst into song, but Oleandra couldn't be bothered to listen to its lyrical calls to unity. Once the Sorting Hat had finished its song, Oleandra mechanically clapped along with the rest of the Hat's audience, and at last, the Sorting Ceremony began in earnest.

"Apostu, Dreyfus!"

…

"RAVENCLAW!"

Oleandra yawned— there were more first years than in any previous year, and by the time the letter 'D' came around, Oleandra eyelids were already growing heavy. The warmth of the Great Hall was making her drowsy, and despite her best efforts, she was beginning to nod off…

…That is, until Professor Sprout loudly shouted the next first year's name.

"Dulac, Mai!"

Oleandra's eyes snapped open, and she sat up straight, now wide awake.

Her gaze shot to the front of the Great Hall, and she locked eyes with the cute blonde-haired girl sitting on the stool. As Professor Sprout lowered the Sorting Hat onto her head, a hint of a smile curled at the corners of the girl's lips.

Feeling rather unsettled, Oleandra shuddered ever so slightly.