Pelted by battering sheets of rain, Oleandra surveyed Malfoy Manor hundreds of feet below, Suit the Lethifold's leathery hide billowing around her. At first glance, its defences seemed limited to the tall hedge bordering the grounds and the wrought‑iron gate blocking the entrance, but in her Mystic Sight, she saw that the manor and its grounds were enclosed within a luminous bubble, a telltale sign of magical warding.
Draco's… or rather Cassiopeia's memories of the past few months were rather hazy, but according to what little she could remember, You-Know-Who had turned the Malfoy family home into his own personal base of operations, and as expected, it was heavily enchanted against intruders.
"It's no good," Oleandra called as she landed at Malfoy's side. The skies were rumbling, and she'd rather not stay too long in the air if a thunderstorm was brewing. "The entire estate is covered by some kind of Bounded Field, and I'd rather not Apparate blindly into the house if I can help it."
Even though she had already been to Malfoy Manor before, Oleandra wasn't foolish enough to Apparate directly inside to rescue Astoria and Tracey, which meant she'd have to cross through the Bounded Field to enter. For one, it had been too long since she'd last visited; if the décor had changed even slightly since then, she'd fail to Disapparate. For another, she might reappear right in the middle of a bunch of Death Eaters.
As for the warding… it was impossible to know which enchantments had been layered onto the luminous dome, but Oleandra guessed there would definitely be a Caterwauling Charm hidden in there somewhere, primed to alert the manor's residents to her presence the moment she entered.
"The gates should open for me," Cassiopeia said hesitantly. "I'm still Draco inside, so they should recognise me, I think…"
If the gates failed to accept her, then the entire household would be woken up, and then Tracey and Astoria would either be executed on the spot or taken hostage to force Oleandra to give herself up.
"Well, I don't want to leave Tracey and Astoria at that Witch's mercy a second longer," Oleandra said. "If we wait any longer, the rainstorm's going to clear up and we'll have to infiltrate in broad daylight, so we're doing this now."
With a flourish, Oleandra produced the Invisibility Cloak and swept it over her head, vanishing from sight. Though the Hallows weren't invincible, and the Cloak's concealment wasn't nearly as impenetrable as it had first been advertised to her, it was still her best option if she wanted to sneak around.
"I'm right behind you," came Oleandra's disembodied voice behind Malfoy.
Shivering slightly, Cassiopeia drew her coat tighter around herself, though it wouldn't do her much good— she was already drenched from head to foot— and strode up to the front gate. With a metallic groan, the wrought‑iron gates swung open, allowing both girls to step through, before closing behind them with a resounding clang.
A sliver of Oleandra reappeared as she drew back the Cloak, allowing Cassiopeia to slip under its silvery folds. Just in time, for the manor's front doors burst open to reveal a rather short and squat man.
"Why is it always me?" Peter Pettigrew muttered to himself, as he peered through the torrential rainfall to see who was at the gate. "Hello?" he called uncertainly. "Who is it? Show yourselves!"
The mousey-looking man began wringing his hands nervously. There was nobody there, so what exactly was he supposed to report? If he bothered the others for no good reason, he would be shouted at… damn it all, he didn't deserve this treatment, he'd been the one to resurrect the Dark Lord in the first place!
"H-Homenum Revelio!" Pettigrew squeaked, waving his wand.
Oleandra and Cassiopeia held their breaths.
"Nothing," Pettigrew grumbled. "I'll complain to Lucius… he's even lower than I am on the pecking order. Not so high and mighty now, are we? Hehehe…"
Either Peter's spell had failed, or it had failed to penetrate the Invisibility Cloak's concealment.
"Quickly!" Cassiopeia hissed.
Oleandra took aim at Pettigrew's back as he turned to re-enter the manor.
"Confundo!"
Pettigrew froze mid‑stride, eyes glazed over, and the two girls slipped past him, their ankles flashing briefly as the hem of the Invisibility Cloak lifted and fell. As they crossed the threshold, Oleandra snapped her fingers, summoning Laukaz's power to draw the water from their hair and clothes and leave it at the doorstep, so as not to leave wet footprints all over the entrance hall.
Once inside, Oleandra released Pettigrew from her spell.
The mousey man shook his head and looked around blearily as he recovered from his fugue state, before coming back inside, closing the door behind him. The two girls then watched as he pushed open the double doors leading deeper into Malfoy Manor, but much to their surprise, they found that the ballroom past the entrance hall was filled with Death Eaters.
"What's going on?" Oleandra mouthed, as the double doors slammed shut, leaving them alone in the entrance hall. "I thought the Death Eaters had moved their base of operations to London?"
Cassiopeia shrugged.
"Haven't the foggiest," she said. "Come on, this way."
Taking care not to let the Invisibility Cloak slip high enough to reveal their feet, Oleandra and Cassiopeia edged into the adjoining cloakroom. Oleandra eased open a side door, peeked into the corridor beyond… then swiftly closed it again and withdrew her head.
"There's so many people!" Oleandra hissed, "How are we supposed to get around?"
According to Malfoy, they would most likely find Astoria and Tracey in the basement, but to get there, they would have to take the stairs, which were a few rooms away… how exactly were they supposed to get there without bumping into someone while invisible?
"Maybe if I blasted a hole into the ground," Oleandra muttered. "No, that's a terrible idea… then we'll have no choice but to disguise ourselves."
"You go on ahead. I don't like what I heard from that rat earlier," Cassiopeia murmured. "I'm worried about Mother and Father… I need to see them."
Splitting up suited Oleandra just fine. Two seventeen-year-olds could barely fit under the Invisibility Cloak, so she'd be able to move more easily on her own.
"Here, allow me," Oleandra said, drawing a tube of lipstick from her pouch. She drew a series of runes on Malfoy's cheek, before chanting in a low voice, "Perthro, Mannaz, Elhaz… the Dice Cup, the Cosmic Egg, the Swan… safeguard this woman's identity."
Malfoy assumed the likeness of Dolohov, though her features remained faintly blurred. To anyone who looked her way, she would appear as the Death Eater himself, but with her presence so subdued, few would give her a second thought unless she drew attention to herself or excessively bumped into people.