Harry Potter and the Sorceress of the Stars

As Oleandra tumbled down from branch to branch, only one single thought crossed her mind, and it certainly wasn't anything the likes of, "where am I?"

"Arghh!" she shrieked loudly.

Oleandra, as the source of the spell that had gone terribly wrong, was sent to the nearest source of magic to her destination that was also a tree, or made of wood: the Whomping Willow. Which, coincidentally, had just been stirred up into a frenzy by getting crashed into by a certain flying Ford Anglia. After they had parted, rather than wait for the next train, Ron had taken his father's car skywards and followed the Hogwarts Express from above.

Oleandra hung on for dear life as the furious tree whipped its appendages every which way, intent on pummelling the little blue car. Then, it was her branch's turn to strike. Oleandra had no idea of what was about to happen to her! Everything turned into a blur and as she streaked through the air, clinging desperately to her branch, she somehow managed to let an incantation escape from her lips.

"ELHAZ!"

And then she lost her grip. Fortunately, she managed to make the number three with her fingers (American style), which was one of the relatively simpler hand signs, granting additional potency to her protection rune. 

Oleandra was flung at the car, shattering the rear windscreen and landing on the back seat, bruised but otherwise fine. Suddenly, the car pitched forward and fell out of the tree. Its driver stepped on the gas, taking the Ford Anglia outside of the tree's attack range. Fortunately, it could only move its branches, and not its roots. Otherwise, they would have been in trouble, since the car had apparently decided it had had enough.

The blue car opened all of its doors, its seats tilting sideways to eject its passengers rather unceremoniously. Then, it shot out the contents of its trunk into the air, Potter's owl hooting angrily as it escaped its cage and flew off in a huff. When it was free of anything that wasn't bolted on, the car honked its horn and drove away.

"Come back!" yelled Ron. "Dad'll kill me!"

It's at that moment that Harry remembered the face he had seen in the back view mirror. He circled around the luggage; and soon spotted Oleandra lying unconscious on the ground, a bright red gash on her forehead.

Ron stared at her. "You don't suppose she's the one who caused the car to break down, do you? I reckon she might have done something to make us crash as we were arriving, to get us in trouble."

"I don't think so," responded Potter. "I saw her fly in through the back window; I think she was already in the tree when we got there."

"Blimey!" gasped Weasley. "What in Merlin's name could she possibly have been doing there? And how did she beat us here, then?"

Potter shrugged; he had no clue. He looked around, searching for the other two girls he remembered from their party. They were nowhere in sight.

"Well," he said haltingly, "we can't just leave her lying there. We had better get her to the hospital wing."

All of a sudden, an owl swooped down and dropped a letter onto Oleandra's chest. 

"We probably shouldn't open it, it's probably something personal," argued Potter.

"It might be an emergency," said Weasley. "What if it's related to why she was in the tree? Or what if they need an answer now and she can't answer?"

To be fair, Harry was also terribly curious, so he tore open the envelope. Looking at the letter, he found it to be incredibly familiar.

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Dear Ms. Greengrass,

We have received intelligence that you have Disapparated or used an unknown Charm of a similar nature in Regent's Park in London this evening at nine thirty. As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and Apparition is forbidden without a licence. Further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non-magical community (Muggles) is a serious offence under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.

Yours sincerely, 

Mafalda Hopkirk,

improper use of magic office

Ministry of Magic

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"Crikey," said Ron, looking impressed. "That explains it. She apparated here directly."

All mysteries solved, they set about taking Oleandra to the hospital wing. The two boys each took one of her arms and propped her up, then frogmarched her to the castle. Luckily, they wouldn't have to drag Oleandra all the way since she began to regain consciousness once inside the main gates.

"Wha—?" she mumbled, eyes fluttering open. "What's going on? Where am I?"

"Oh good," said Weasley, looking rather relieved. "Won't have to drag her up the stairs. You apparated on top of the Whomping Willow, and it gave you this." He pointed at his forehead, to indicate where she had been hurt.

"This belongs to you," said Potter sheepishly as he handed her the letter. "It, ah— got torn open in the scuffle."

"By the way, we saved you," said Weasley. "No need to thank us. You don't owe us anything. Except your life, I s'pose."

Potter nodded, wincing as Weasley nudged him in the ribs with his elbow.

"Do you need us to take you to the hospital wing?" asked Potter. He hoped she didn't; he was getting rather famished, and the toffees he had eaten on the way had left him parched.

She shook her head. She was still wondering what had gone wrong; why had they got separated and landed in different locations? And then it hit her. Her spell was the problem! It worked fine if she wanted to travel alone; but if she wanted to travel in a group, she had to include Wunjo, the unity and harmony rune! She groaned, facepalming. She winced. Ouch, she had forgotten she had an open cut on her forehead.

"No need," she said tiredly. "Let's just go straight to the feast. We're going to miss the sorting at this rate." 

Walking at a brisk pace, they quickly reached the Great Hall and cracked the door open a sliver, peering in.

Strange; all the teachers were there, except Professor Snape. Where could he be? As Weasley and Potter enthusiastically discussed all the reasons how he might have been fired, they soon discovered he wasn't far at all; he was right behind them.