"My wand!" Oleandra exclaimed as Professor Lockhart lifted the box's cover.
Although she preferred using wandless runic magic in combat, being separated from her wand had still made her feel as though she were missing half of herself. Such was the hold wands had over their human partners that even Oleandra felt naked without her chosen companion at her side.
"Yew wood," Hermione said uncertainly as she watched Oleandra twirl her wand on her thumb's knuckle. "Isn't it?"
In a flash, Oleandra stopped spinning her wand and holstered it.
"What are you trying to say?" Oleandra said unkindly.
"Nothing," Hermione said hastily. "Professor, you were about to say something?"
"Ah, yes," Professor Lockhart said, turning to Oleandra. "As I was saying, my colleague retrieved your wand in secrecy from the pile of items confiscated from students and entrusted it to me for safekeeping. He believed you would need it… should you find yourself once more working with Harry or his friends."
Oleandra's pupil dilated.
Most of what Professor Lockhart had said was true… but, curiously enough, each time he had referred to Professor Snape as he, her Mystic Eye had signalled a lie. The only alternative to he being she, what could this possibly mean…? Professor Snape had put them in contact with one another; if he had not been the one to retrieve her wand, then who else could have done so?
"Now, onto the matter of the Horcruxes," Professor Lockhart said, slapping his thighs. "May I ask if you have found any?"
So, Professor Lockhart truly was in the know, Hermione noted with some relief. Finding all the Horcruxes was a monumental undertaking for a group of undereducated Wizards, so it was a comfort to know that a responsible adult they could rely on was also engaged in the task.
"Why don't you go first," Ron said, crossing his arms. "You've been collecting the Horcruxes too, yeah?"
"Don't be so rude, Ron!" Hermione screeched. "Professor Lockhart's saved countless lives! Including your brother's!"
The only lives she knew Professor Lockhart had saved for certain were Percy Weasley's, Iris Greengrass's, a few others during the Basilisk incident, and then Harry's, when he had come face to face with You-Know-Who during the Battle for the Prophecy Orb and been whisked away to safety. And between those two incidents, she was certain her idol must have saved many more!
"I found Hufflepuff's cup, and I wasn't even looking for it at the time," Oleandra said smugly, tapping the golden cup hanging at her hip. "Remind us how many you've found so far, Hermione…?"
"…none," she replied begrudgingly.
It was not really Harry Potter and his friends' fault that they had not found any Horcruxes yet; all the easy to find ones had already been taken away.
Ever since she had found Slytherin's locket gathering dust in a cupboard at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, Ginny had been running about the British Isles getting her hands on every Horcrux she could find, and she had not exactly been forthcoming with Dumbledore about which ones she had found, as a form of insurance against the strongest Wizard in the world.
Since Ginny refused to show her hand, despite their tenuous alliance against Lord Voldemort's main body, Dumbledore had felt forced to organise an expedition to find Slytherin's locket on his own terms, towards the end of the previous school year.
And that when everything had taken a turn for the worse.
Having been spared the ring's curse, since Ginny had got to it first, Dumbledore had not been marked for death. In his mind, he still had plenty of time left to train the Chosen One, which was why Harry had been left so woefully unprepared when a weakened Dumbledore was ambushed and killed at the top of the Astronomy Tower, upon their return from their failed expedition to find the locket.
"Tom Riddle's diary, Gaunt's ring, Slytherin's locket, Ravenclaw's diadem," Professor Lockhart recited. "All of these are accounted for, so you can stop searching for them, if indeed you were."
"Hang on," Oleandra interjected. "I lost the ring to Daphne…"
"Not just one!?" Ron blurted out. "You found TWO Horcruxes!?"
"…but you cleansed it yourself, don't you remember?" Professor Lockhart insisted. "The spirit held within is gone."
Oleandra was beginning to feel the onset of a headache. Her clone had taken Gryffindor's sword to the stone in the ring, she could vaguely remember this… but then the clone had spoken with Dumbledore's portrait about something, and had deliberately withheld their conversation from her, the main body… if she tried to remember, all she could see was a haze of fuzzy grey static…
"Tom Riddle's diary?" Hermione asked curiously.
"The spirit currently occupying Ginevra Weasley's body," Professor Lockhart explained. "She is the first Horcrux, both to be created and reawakened, and thus, she must be the last to be destroyed."
"Does the order of destruction really matter?" Hermione asked quizzically. "Harry never mentioned Dumbledore saying anything of the sort…"
"I assure you, my dear lady," Professor Lockhart said, "it is of the utmost importance that Ginevra Weasley is the last to be destroyed. I would explain, but…"
"…but you'd be spoiling your book?" Ron said grumpily. "We're talking about my sister's life, here!"
"…but it would take too long to explain."
Professor Lockhart sighed.
"All the artefact Horcruxes are accounted for, counting Hufflepuff's cup… but they're the least of our worries, I'm afraid," he then said. "The real issue is the Horcruxes that have incarnated themselves into human form. They can fight back, so they are infinitely trickier to destroy."
"How can we help?" Hermione asked eagerly.
In her mind, she could already picture Harry and Professor Lockhart duelling Ginny, Daphne, and You-Know-Who himself, while she and the others cheered in the safety of the background, having cleverly orchestrated the means by which they might prevail.
"On the night he was murdered, Professor Dumbledore carried on his person a crystal phial containing pure darkness," Professor Lockhart said gravely. "I understand it was not found on his body when it was recovered, so someone present that night must have taken it. This phial must be recovered at any cost; it should prove instrumental in You-Know-Who's defeat."
Oleandra's eyes widened in shock. That phial Loki had dangled in front of her, and this phial filled with darkness… they were undoubtedly one and the same. But Loki was gone from Draco Malfoy's body, and Cassiopeia had returned… did he, or rather she, still have it?
"What's inside this vial thing?" Ron asked. "If it's so important."
Professor Lockhart merely smiled enigmatically.
"Find the phial and return it to me first, and only then shall I explain… you would not understand before then."