"Pfft!" Oleandra desperately tried to hold back her laughter as Professor Lockhart made the famous Harry Potter reenact scenes from his book. The poor boy was currently half-heartedly imitating a werewolf, timidly howling under the teacher's encouragement.
Daphne elbowed her hard in the ribs. "Will you get a hold of yourself?" she hissed. "The last thing we need is to make Professor Lockhart mad at us."
Oleandra managed to control her emotions. If Lockhart refused to sign their autograph, then Astoria could say goodbye to her cure. If her hunch was correct, then her blood malediction would be cleansed once her conflicting bloodlines were purified.
Personally, Oleandra wasn't too keen at the idea of permanently altering her body, but Daphne seemed very excited at the idea of imbibing a potion whose effects were unclear.
Daphne's newfound thirst for power was differently motivated from Oleandra's. Whereas Oleandra wanted power to gain acceptance, due to her being neglected during her childhood, Daphne wanted power to break free from her obligations. As the official heir of the Greengrass legacy, she had previously resigned herself to the fact that she would be forced into a marriage of convenience with another pure-blood family. The family's good fortune depended on trade with other pure-blood families. They wouldn't be seen as equals if the purity of their future heir's blood was put into question, after all.
The bell rang, pulling Oleandra away from her thoughts.
"Homework — compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf! Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!" cried out Professor Lockhart as the students started to leave.
All that is, except the twins and the Gryffindor Trio.
Unbeknownst to Oleandra and Daphne, the Golden Trio had somehow determined that Malfoy was the true Heir of Slytherin, contrary to the popular consensus that the Heir was Oleandra. They knew her a little better than most, and as far as they knew, she didn't have anything against Muggle-Borns. Or at the very least, as far as Muggle-Born hatred went, Malfoy was the clear winner. Hermione could easily tell when someone was looking down on her; she had more than enough experience in that regard.
In any case, Hermione had planned on brewing the Polyjuice Potion to get to the bottom of the matter. They would take Malfoy's cronies' appearances, and ask the man in person about the Heir of Slytherin. But to get the recipe, they had to read Moste Potente Potions, which was in the Restricted Section of the library…
The two groups looked at each other, unsure as to how to proceed.
"After you," said Daphne politely. The last thing she wanted was witnesses when they tricked the Professor!
"No, no," replied Granger nervously. "Our business will take some time. Why don't you go first?" The last thing Hermione wanted was for friends of Malfoy to ask themselves why they needed a Potions book from the Restricted Section.
"Now, there's no need to fight over me like this!" said Professor Lockhart, laughing. "Miss Granger, as the best student of the year, why don't you go first?"
Seeing they weren't going first, Oleandra gave the Gryffindors a little privacy and walked away, pretending to inspect the room's less than tasteful decorations, while Daphne stood in line.
"Er —, yes," stammered Granger. "I was reading Gadding with Ghouls, and — I was wondering about slow-acting venoms — Ahem, long story short, I thought a book from the Restricted Section of the library might help me understand what you said in it, so could you sign this, please?"
The only words Professor Lockhart had needed to hear were "Gadding with Ghouls," and "sign this, please."
"Ah, Gadding with Ghouls! Possibly my very favourite book. You enjoyed it?" said Professor Lockhart, flashing a brilliant smile at her as he took out an enormous peacock quill.
"Oh, yes," said Granger eagerly. "So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea strainer —"
As she wandered around the class, Oleandra spotted a very familiar cage, covered by an even more familiar piece of cloth. She lifted a corner of the cloth, revealing the flittering mass of electric blue critters hidden underneath.
"Hello, little guys," Oleandra grinned at them. "Remember me?"
"Fae eyes, fae eyes!" the Cornish Pixies tittered. "Big lady!"
"How— What do you know about my eyes?" Oleandra blurted out. Her Mystic Eyes were perhaps her best kept secret, seeing as they were pretty much useless in most situations. So far, their best use had been allowing her to perceive the secrets hidden in the constellations of the night sky, giving her access to runic magic.
The Pixies beckoned her closer, then screeched in laughter as they almost managed to poke one of her eyes out. Oleandra scowled at them, covering their cage again, and left them to their antics.
"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student of the year a little extra help," said Professor Lockhart. He noticed Weasley staring at his quill with a strange expression.
"Yes, very nice, isn't it?" he added, giving his flamboyant quill a twirl, before signing the small piece of paper Granger had handed him without even reading its contents. Their business done, the three Gryffindors started leaving.
Daphne watched on, completely dumbfounded. He really was that stupid, and it really was that easy!
"Get rid of the rune!" Daphne hissed to her sister under her breath, just as Oleandra returned to her side. There was no need to risk getting caught if they could simply ask the teacher to sign their slip!
Oleandra hurriedly turned her back to the teacher and smudged the ink, breaking Perthro's concealment and anti-scrying effects, which made the photograph turn back into a permission slip.
"Professor Lockhart, we had the same question, actually," said Daphne sweetly. "Could we bother you to sign our permission slip?"
"Ah, my other two best students!" exclaimed Professor Lockhart.
This time, he actually took the time to check what he was signing, as he couldn't help but notice the black ink smudge Oleandra had left. It wouldn't do if he had to sign an autograph on a dirty rag of a parchment, after all!
"Ahh, yes. Moste Potente Potions, I know it very well. I must say I don't blame you for coming to me instead of the Head of your House, that dear old Severus. I don't mean to brag, but I do know more about these unconventional potions that your classically educated teacher," Professor Lockhart said.
"You do tend to learn about these things on the job while adventuring," he continued, winking at them as he handed them back the signed form.
Oleandra had a bad feeling about this. The moment they had heard the words "Most Potente," the Gryffindor Trio had suddenly bolted out of the classroom. They couldn't have been after the same book as them, right?