"Here, little Fairies," Oleandra called out. "It's me, your beloved overlord…"
On the evening preceding Valentine's Day, Oleandra had sneaked out of the castle to further her preparations for her date with Tracey; she had heard that a colony of Fairies lived in the Forbidden Forest, but she hadn't had much luck finding the elusive creatures.
So far, she had almost twisted her ankle by putting her foot through a burrow hole (belonging to a colony of Mooncalves, judging by the dung), and an angry Bowtruckle that had woken up early from its hibernation had jumped down from a tree onto her head, trying to poke her in the eye with one of its long wooden fingers.
This year, February had been relatively warm, so the January snow had already mostly melted away, but the humidity was making it feel colder than it actually was. She had also stepped in a puddle of frigid water earlier; she had dried off her socks with a snap of her fingers, but her feet were still cold.
As usual, walking around in the Forbidden Forest at night was an all-around miserable experience …
Oleandra sighed in annoyance, shivering from the cold. It wasn't as if Fairies were especially stealthy; they would glow and twinkle, making them extremely conspicuous in the dark. If she couldn't see them, then it could only mean that they lived further into the forest.
"You're not supposed to be in the Forest, Hogwarts student," a female voice called out behind her. "It's dangerous to be out here at night, you know?"
Startled, Oleandra spun on her heel to face her interlocutor. Granted, she had been wandering around in the dark, but how on earth had she missed someone with her Mystic Eyes fully opened?
A woman's head and torso were poking out of a tall beech tree, pulling aside the tree bark as if she were merely opening her shower curtains to look outside her bathtub.
"You're a Wood Nymph," said Oleandra, stating the obvious.
No wonder she hadn't seen it; no amount of night vision or magic sight would have allowed her to see through a mundane tree.
"And you're out of bed," the Wood Nymph said languidly. "Stomping around the forest in your big boots, waking up everyone. It's still winter, you know? Some of us are sleeping."
"My feet are not big," said Oleandra indignantly. "And I wasn't making that much noise! Do you annoy every passerby who walks by your tree like this?"
Ordinarily, the Wood Nymphs would be deep in slumber in the winter season, hiding away from the cold within their trees. However, a certain gigantic creature had made the forest its new domicile— one that quite enjoyed uprooting trees, just for the fun of it, so she and the other Wood Nymphs were sleeping with one eye open these days, so to speak…
"No," the Wood Nymph said.
To Oleandra's surprise, that statement turned out to be true.
"Whatever," said Oleandra, as she turned to leave. "I'm busy, so if there's nothing else…"
"Wait," the Wood Nymph suddenly called out. "Don't go that way, a Giant lives in that direction. Actually, you should really return to the castle, it's really not safe anywhere in the forest for your kind."
"I can take care of myself," said Oleandra irritably. "Goodbye."
Putting extra emphasis on her 'goodbye,' Oleandra turned to leave once more, only to find herself stopped in her tracks before having even taken two steps; the Wood Nymph had grabbed on to Oleandra's scarf and tugged on it, as if it were a dog's leash.
"Leggo!" Oleandra wheezed; her scarf was constricting her neck.
"I really don't want to have your death on my conscience!" the Wood Nymph insisted. "It's too cold to be doing this kind of thing, so please go back, so that I can get back inside my tree."
"If it's too cold for you to be outside, then let go, you busybody!"
Oleandra gave a tug on her scarf, and the Wood Nymph came flying out of her tree with surprising ease… and the collision sent them both sprawling into the muddy wet snow lining the forest floor.
"I just wanted to find some Fairies!" Oleandra moaned, as she struggled to extirpate herself from the Wood Nymph's hold. "Why am I wrestling with a stupid Wood Nymph in the mud!?"
Of course, Oleandra could have easily used her runic magic to get the Wood Nymph to let go, but she didn't want to hurt her, since she meant well. After rolling around a few more times on the ground, Oleandra finally managed to grab her wand and cast a Revulsion Jinx, forcing the Nymph to let go of her.
Rolling away, Oleandra got to her feet, shivering like a leaf in the cold, observing the Wood Nymph from a distance. It was looking around wildly; obviously, it couldn't see in the dark as well as Oleandra could…
Suddenly, a peculiar sound reached Oleandra's ears; the muffled thud of hooves beating against the wet snow, which was growing steadily louder with every passing moment. And in an instant, Oleandra and the Wood Nymph were surrounded by a herd of Centaurs.
"Venus is bright tonight," one of the Centaurs remarked. "Well met, Lady of the Stars— your voice reached our ears on our way to our quarry."
It had been a while since Oleandra had been called by that title.
"Hello, er… Magorian," said Oleandra, hoping dearly that she had remembered the name correctly. "I see you haven't forgotten about me…"
"Please, could you show this girl back to the edge of the forest?" the Wood Nymph squeaked. "She's going to get herself killed at this rate!"
"We Centaurs are nothing if not patient," said a black-coated Centaur, ignoring the Wood Nymph. "But the appointed time has not yet arrived. Why have you come here?"
A long time ago, Oleandra had promised the Centaurs that she would bring them to their promised land beyond the stars.
"I'm looking for Fairies," said Oleandra lamely; her reason for coming to the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night had nothing to do with anything as momentous as prophecy fulfilment. "Er… for a surprise party."
"I see," said Magorian. "You shall find what you seek, should you follow the last two stars in the constellation of the Plough."
After offering her thanks to the Centaurs, Oleandra left in the direction that they had specified. A short walk later, she found the colony of Fairies, who were lighting up a pine tree like a Christmas tree, and of course, Oleandra had no issues convincing them to return with her in a glass bottle.
But somehow, despite having found what she'd been looking for, Oleandra was left unsatisfied with her visit to the forest. Talking with the Centaurs had raised more questions than they'd answered…