"Oleandra! Oleandra!"
At the sound of Tracey's voice, Oleandra leapt off George's shoulders and soared over the jubilant crowd, launching herself into Tracey's arms as she ran to meet her.
"Tracey!" Oleandra exclaimed as they hugged and spun together. "You've done it!"
Tracey beamed at her. "I know!" she said happily. "I know!"
The crowd swarmed around them, chattering excitedly and asking about the long, serpentlike Dragon that had rampaged across Voldemort's army and scattered the army of Trolls and Giants that had been about to trample them.
"That's right!" Oleandra said loudly. "Tracey cast that spell!"
Now that they knew who was responsible for that formidable piece of magic, the crowd went absolutely bonkers. Wizardkind respected the truly strong, and if it hadn't been for the Lindworm's timely arrival, there was no telling how the battle might have gone. In the defenders' eyes, Tracey was a great hero, just like Oleandra and Harry!
"It's the Centaurs!" someone suddenly exclaimed. "They've returned!"
The Centaurs were received with great acclaim by the defenders. Though their intervention in the final battle had been greatly overshadowed by Tracey's and Daphne's Lindworm phantom, their aid had nonetheless been greatly appreciated. The crowd parted as they trotted through the rubble of what little remained of the Bell Tower's Entrance Hall, until at last they came to a halt before Oleandra and Tracey.
One of the Centaurs separated himself from the herd and stepped forwards, and though it had been a while since they had last met, Oleandra recognised him as Magorian. The two girls were forced to crane their necks to look him in the eye, for he towered over even Hagrid.
"Lady of the Stars, a new star has risen in the night sky," Magorian said proudly, holding his chin high. "The stars have aligned. The time has come at last."
Worried whispers rippled across the crowd.
Although many of the defenders had seen You-Know-Who crumble to ashes before their very eyes, the Dark Lady's prophecy remained firmly engraved upon their minds. Though the conditions required for her rise were rather obscure, Magorian had just cast light upon one of them. The Dark Lady was about to ascend to the height of her power, and so long as she lived, the Dark Lord would endure… could it be that he was not actually dead, they wondered?
An indescribable feeling of unease washed over Oleandra. She rose into the air, searching for something amidst the sea of heads below, though even she did not know what she was looking for… and then it struck her. Where had Harry and his friends vanished off to? They ought to have been the centre of attention, and yet they were nowhere to be seen. Had they slipped away during the Centaurs' entrance?
"Follow me," Oleandra said at last. "I'll lead you to your promised land beyond the stars… but fair warning, you might have to climb a few stairs to get there."
The crowd once again parted to let the procession of Centaurs through.
The time had at last come for Oleandra to fulfil the very first promise she had ever made at Hogwarts. Followed by a number of curious students, she led the Centaurs through the halls, across the Transfiguration Courtyard, over the suspension bridge, and into the Quad Courtyard, before at last beginning the arduous climb to the seventh floor, to the Room of Requirement…
After pacing in circles for several minutes before the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, the outline of a door drew itself upon the opposite wall. Oleandra grasped the doorknob that appeared and pulled the door open, and one by one the Centaurs ducked into the Room of Requirement, where a stone archway covered in ancient runes stood in the middle of the chamber.
"Do you remember the incantation, Tracey?" Oleandra asked.
She pressed her palm against the stone. It was cool to the touch.
"Er…" Tracey said thoughtfully, "Raidhu, the riding rune, Eihwaz, the yew tree rune, and Dagaz, the hourglass rune?"
"Better include Wunjo," Oleandra cautioned. "Without the harmony rune, the gateway might not spit out our four-legged friends in the same place."
One of the Centaurs stamped his hooves.
"Let the stars decide our fate," he said angrily. "You may forgo that rune."
"Contentious as always, eh, Bane?" said another Centaur, whom Oleandra recognised as Firenze. "Set aside your pride, and let the human woman weave her spell in peace."
Tracey walked up to Oleandra's side and pressed her palms to the cool stone of the Gateway. Oleandra was only going through the motions, so unbeknownst to Tracey, she would be supplying all of the magic required to open the way to Nidavellir.
"Ready?" Oleandra said, and Tracey nodded. "Raidhu, Eihwaz, Dagaz, Wunjo!"
The stone warmed beneath their hands, and one by one the runes carved into the black stone of the archway began to glow with warm colours. There came a low rumble as the gateway opened a sliver and light began to pour from the widening gap, but the door remained only partly ajar; between the two of them, they did not possess enough magic to force it fully open and allow the Centaurs through.
Tracey groaned. She had already exhausted most of her stamina helping Daphne perform the Insigil of Lindorm, and Oleandra wasn't of any help… but just as she was about to faint, a platinum-haired beauty darted out from the crowd of curious onlookers and placed her palms on the gateway's other pillar, and with a bang and a flash of white light, the portal flew wide open.
"Cassiopeia!" Oleandra exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. "What are you doing here!?"
"Acquaintance of yours…?" Tracey said with difficulty, a hint of jealousy on her face. "She's awfully pretty…"
"I was starting to feel embarrassed for you, watching you flounder about trying to open a simple gateway," Malfoy grunted, the effort creeping into her voice. "With this, we're even, understood? Though don't forget, you still have to change me back…!"
Without hesitation, the Centaurs filed into the veil of light shining between the Nidavellir Gateway's stone pillars, vanishing one after another. After what felt like an eternity to Tracey and Cassiopeia, the last of the wise beasts had crossed over into the other world, and as one they tore their hands from the archway, closing it with a resonant bang.