Oleandra's mind went blank.
Unless she sacrificed herself, Voldemort could never be defeated? She had dedicated her life to restoring Avalon, not to stripping away just one Dark Wizard's immortality! She did not mind lending a hand here and there to make the world a better place for the Great Fairies who were about to be restored to life, but to go so far as to offer her own life…
"You may rest easy, Miss Greengrass," said Professor Dumbledore, watching her face closely. "You need not sacrifice yourself, for you have already cast off Lord Voldemort's corrupting influence. You have been free for just under two years now."
"That's why I suddenly became a Parselmouth? But the timing…" Oleandra said, troubled. "Only recently, I…"
"I believe you have retained Lord Voldemort's ability to speak to snakes because you found it useful," said Professor Dumbledore, as though reading her thoughts. "Should you no longer want it, I am certain the ability will fade, with time."
Oleandra thought back to two years ago.
Indeed, she had found herself far moodier and quicker to anger than before, though she had attributed it to the pains of growing up, to the loss of her mentor, Viviane… and to her closeness to the subject of the Dark Lady prophecy, her sister Daphne. It had been a stressful time for her and her family, which she had left to fend for themselves…
Oleandra's head hung low in shame.
Had she paid more heed to Daphne's feelings, been more mindful that their parents were being held hostage by the Death Eaters, rather than single-mindedly obsessing over the restoration of Avalon… might she have prevented all this? Saved Daphne from possession?
"How can I save them?" Oleandra asked as she raised her head, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. "How did I cleanse myself? I had no idea I was playing host to Voldemort's soul, but if I can do it again, for them…"
Dumbledore shook his head.
"Horcruxes act as anchors, binding each part of Voldemort's soul to the world of the living, and so cannot enter the world of the dead… but the Archway in the Department of Mysteries leads directly to the afterlife," he explained. "That is why, when you passed through the Archway two years ago, the fragment of Lord Voldemort's soul clinging to you was forcibly expelled from you."
Oleandra rubbed her chin pensively. It would not be difficult to convince Harry to follow her through the Archway once she had explained everything to him, but it would be quite another matter to force Daphne through… she would have to defeat her first, and as Voldemort's latest Horcrux, she possessed all his skills…
"I believe I know what you are thinking, but I fear it will not do," said Professor Dumbledore, a note of quiet sorrow in his voice. "It is something in your runic magic that permits you to venture into the afterlife as you please, is it not? Harry does not possess the same capacity to withstand the mists beyond the Archway. Should he meet the same fate as Sirius, it would, I fear, amount to no less than placing Lord Voldemort's final victory within his grasp."
Professor Dumbledore was right, Oleandra realised. She had, moreover, noticed Daphne using runic magic less and less as their sixth year wore on, and by their seventh, she had ceased using it altogether… since both the Horcrux and the magic of the stars relied upon the soul, perhaps they were mutually incompatible… it was possible that the parasitic presence had warped the runic engravings etched across Daphne's soul.
If Harry and Daphne were to pass through the Niflheim Gateway in their current states, their unbound souls would be torn from their bodies, and Oleandra would have to spend aeons searching for them before the Dementors licked them clean… just as Sirius had lost the last twenty years of his memories and emotions to them.
Oleandra's shoulders sagged.
"All is not lost, however," Professor Dumbledore said. "As the Seer who brought us the Dark Lady Prophecy, I assume you have memorised its contents?"
Oleandra nodded.
"The Dark Lady will rise when the veil between worlds grows thin and the stars align," Oleandra recited. "Abomination against nature, bearing a wand of yew and made monster by her peers, the Chosen One shall in turn choose her as his final foe…"
"Allies shall turn against each other, siblings shall fight to the death," Professor Dumbledore concluded. "The dead shall tread the land once more, for as long as the Dark Lady yet lives, the Dark Lord shall endure… Paradise on Earth awaits."
The Aesir had descended from the starlit heavens when the veil between the Nine Realms was at its thinnest, at the height of the summer solstice, just as Oleandra and Daphne had come of age. That fateful night, the stars had aligned and Daphne had slain Dumbledore before Harry's very eyes, thereby forcing him to choose her as the Dark Lady, his final foe.
However…
"I once believed the prophecy had already begun, when the battle in the Department of Mysteries took place, when the stars in the Space Room aligned and you rescued Sirius Black from the Archway, but I was proven wrong," said Professor Dumbledore, with renewed determination. "Prophecies may come to pass without fail, but it is only when one cements one's thinking to a single interpretation that the fate becomes truly immutable… there is yet time to guide this world towards a better future. Miss Daphne Greengrass may not be the second prophecy's subject…"
"I'm listening," Oleandra said.
Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"You are collecting the Deathly Hallows because there is something world-shaking you wish to accomplish, is that not the case?" he said. "When all three Hallows are brought together, it is said that their master shall have mastery over Death itself…"
Viviane's prophecy stated that Arthur Pendragon would one day return from Avalon to save Britain; all of Britain, including Avalon, Paradise Island, itself. Once Oleandra had become the Master of Death, it would be all too easy for her to accomplish this, would it not? Supposing the legends were true, naturally.
"The dead shall tread the land once more…" Oleandra murmured. "Paradise on Earth awaits."
"Oho! I see you already have an inkling of what to do…" Professor Dumbledore said, his eyes glittering with excitement. "Then go, Miss Greengrass, and do what you must do; Harry and the others will take care of the rest!"
Oleandra turned to leave.
"Ah, there is one more thing…" Professor Dumbledore added. "Concerning the final fates of the Dark Lady and Harry, there is something you ought to know…"