renegade | sarah

[diana eoina bainbridge]

hangman is comin' down from the gallows

and I don't have very long

May 15, 2026
sarah jane oliveira

Diana left The Hog’s Head, it was still light out, but that was expected during the springtime. Standing for a moment, she scoped out the old path before her. It wasn’t even a few years ago she happily walked these paths with her friends and family, her blue scarf around her neck to keep her warm when it snowed. Much had changed, and it had since that day during her sixth year. The day she was backed into a corner, and like a scared animal, she did what she needed to do to survive but, more importantly, to protect her family. The idea of losing Cara or any other of her sisters made her stomach turn, and tears well up in her eyes. Well. It used to.

After a year of living in constant fear and anxiety, she’d been forced into Occlumency training. Asher Burke’s icy and malevolent blue eyes were seared into her brain. If not because it was a painful memory but because he’d forced himself in there time and time again until she put up a fight. Walking down the path, she shifted her appearance so her nose was back to its natural shape and her hair was long and dark past her shoulders. She’d met a customer in the bar but then stayed while a colleague worked the bar. They were friendly enough, and really Elaine’s followers were the closest she had to friends these days.

Her stomach did a flip at the thought. Elaine had sent out a short but mysterious message. Avoid Hogwarts and the village mid-May, and this had piqued her curiosity. While Diana didn’t want to think the worst, she focused on her Occlumency training to keep her mind as calm as she could manage. Otherwise, she’d stand out. Maybe it had to do with the dragon egg. Diana knew about that but not much else. She hadn’t seen Elaine in a few weeks, and so far, she was just waiting for orders. Walking down the path, she turned down a dark alley. Her favorite places to pass through quickly, but she spotted someone else walking from the other direction. Keeping her head down, she glanced up and realized she knew that face—why was she here? ”Sarah?” She whispered loudly as she approached. It was a random encounter, and of all places to be in the world, what was she doing here?

template by vee

[sarah jane oliveira]

May 15, 2026

"Sarah?"

Nearly turning her wand on the person who had spoken to her, Sarah Oliveira jumped at the sound of her name. It wasn't so unusual to encounter other Purifiers around dark corners, but Sarah's guard was up. Between Elaine's warning to them that they shouldn't be in or around Hogwarts in mid-May and the limited information that Magical Interpol had apparently gathered about Elaine's whereabouts, Sarah knew that she needed to get to the castle. Whatever Elaine might have been up to, there was little that she could do to assist her if she were to get sacked from Magical Interpol—or worse, arrested again.

Too much hung on the "good girl" image that she had crafted for herself. Elaine might have been the one to initiate it, Sarah knew, but it hadn't been without effort on her part. She had her life in order more than ever, and she was aware that it wouldn't look right for her to be so sociable with Diana Bainbridge when she was meant to be working.

"Can't chat," Sarah mentioned, glancing at Diana and then moving quickly to get a better view of the castle. It looked perfectly normal. Even though Diana knew exactly what she knew—that Elaine was alive and well—she couldn't risk bringing up anything more about why she was where she was. If anyone else overheard, then that was bad news for her regardless of the circumstances. Word would get back to Elaine, or Interpol would feel that she had jeopardized her work. She couldn't have it both ways.

Was she wrong to be there, or would Elaine forgive her for her disobedience if it meant maintaining the cover that she had orchestrated for her? Never mind that. Had Elaine placed Diana there? It was possible, Sarah thought, although it seemed that her curiosity might have been what had brought her there. Sarah wanted to scold her and bring up the fact that Elaine could have had her head, but she resisted the urge to say anything. It was too dangerous to try to gauge what Diana did or didn't know.

diana eoina bainbridge

[diana eoina bainbridge]

hangman is comin' down from the gallows

and I don't have very long

May 15, 2026
sarah jane oliveira

Diana noted how Sarah raised and lowered her wand at recognizing her, but she didn’t appear as she would have if they’d bumped into each other at headquarters or even at the bar. Purifiers typically kept to themselves and focused on their work. Diana worked on her research and modifications to magical items for the most part unless Elaine had a task for her. But, from what she could tell from whoever she would bump into, that vague message had ruffled a lot of feathers. If Diana remembered Correctly from her own school days, Sarah had younger siblings still at Hogwarts.

Sarah walked slightly past Diana and was craning her neck to view something. Turning, she noted the Castle was mostly visible from here, though the view was not as great as being up close, of course. Diana looked behind her, seeing a few figures walk past the alley entrance, but their focus was elsewhere. What was all this? ”Sarah.” She mumbled, walking back through the entrance she came through. ”Sarah.” She spoke a little louder and looked around again. At least on this path, there wasn’t anyone notable. ”What’s going on, what are you doing here?” Did Elaine plan some tasks for Sarah? Diana wasn’t eager to volunteer and help, but it wasn’t as if she had a choice at times.

template by vee

[sarah jane oliveira]

May 15, 2026

"Sarah. Sarah."

There was her name again, and Sarah had half a mind to tell Diana to just shut up. She really couldn't do with any distractions. If Diana knew what was good for her, maybe she would realize that and do it without being prompted. She didn't shut up, though; she instead asked her what was going on and what she was doing.

"Interpol business." Sarah said plainly, and she wasn't lying about that, either. She was there for that reason, and hopefully Diana was clever enough to realize that Interpol wasn't there for no reason. It wasn't a coincidence that it happened to be mid-May. She wanted to be able to tell her that it was nothing, but it wasn't nothing. Elaine had been found out. Someone had revealed too much, and all Sarah knew was that she hadn't been the one to do it.

She looked between Diana and the castle, wondering why she was there. From what she'd seen, Diana had been relatively close to Elaine; she didn't seem to be one to go against her wishes.

diana eoina bainbridge

[diana eoina bainbridge]

hangman is comin' down from the gallows

and I don't have very long

May 15, 2026
sarah jane oliveira

Sarah seemed determined to act like Diana didn’t exist. But something felt off, and Diana’s hair darkened at the anxiety building in her chest. Finally, she received an answer, but it was short and did absolutely nothing in telling her the situation, and Diana rolled her eyes. Glancing back at the alleyway, she noted more figures walking past. Was all of Interpol here? And why? The Ministry typically dealt with domestic matters.

Sarah kept glancing at the School, and Diana slowly looked as well. ”What do you know?” Diana kept looking at the Castle where she’d spent so many happy years and so many terrified ones. Slowly she looked back at her colleague. ”Sarah, what's going on at the School. Why is Interpol here?” Diana still kept her voice low, occasionally scoping out their surroundings to see if anyone was around. If the School was involved she needed to know, her sisters were there. The thought tugged in her chest, her personal feelings at war with the Unbreakable Vow she’d taken even though she knew which choice she would make.

template by vee

[sarah jane oliveira]

May 15, 2026

Diana remained persistent, asking her what she knew and what was going on at the school. Either she couldn't put two and two together, thought Sarah, or she was on the right track but needed the verbal confirmation. Unfortunately for Diana, they didn't have time for a full conversation about what was happening, and Sarah was sure that the team that was already preparing to make its way into Hogwarts would have something to report soon.

Knowing that she would have Diana hanging around her forever if she didn't satisfy her with a better answer, Sarah sighed through her nose. "Elaine," she told Diana, opting not to elaborate further. She couldn't say much in the capacity of her day job—and even that was risking it. There were worse things she could have done or said, certainly, and obviously the students at Hogwarts would start to realize that something was up when Ministry and Magical Interpol officials were visibly approaching the school. Though the Aurors might have trained in stealth, Sarah was sure that even they couldn't show up entirely unnoticed.

diana eoina bainbridge

[diana eoina bainbridge]

hangman is comin' down from the gallows

and I don't have very long

May 15, 2026
sarah jane oliveira

Sarah gave her a look, but Diana remained persistent. It wasn’t like her to push and especially not with Sarah, but her anxiety was high, as was her suspicion. Elaine was planning something, and it was now mid-May. She was more on edge now than she had been since joining the Purifiers. The frustration was clear from the girl in front of her, but then she spoke a single word, and Diana stopped breathing for a moment as she processed this confirmation. When she decided to breathe again, she looked back at the Castle again and then back at Sarah.

”You don’t think—“ But she stopped as she heard the very distant sound of screaming. But not the screaming of kids outside like during her time at the school but terror. Diana recognized the sound since she had reached that point a few times. ”What is…” But again her attention wavered but back toward the Castle as she heard a noise—a screech of some sorts. But she didn’t immediately see anything except smoke now. ”Smoke…” Diana muttered out loud, just barely noting the creature flying from the Castle. Diana was aware that Elaine had a dragon egg, but it looked like a small Dragon. Had this been her plan all along? But that creature looked so small.

”I have to get my sisters.” She looked at Sarah for a mere moment before running down the path out of the village. She knew Sarah wouldn’t stop her, there had been no orders, and therefore this wasn’t disobedience—though Diana would risk the terms of her Vow for her family anytime.

[end diana]

template by vee

[sarah jane oliveira]

May 15, 2026

Sarah watched as Diana looked between her and the castle. She was beginning to put the pieces together, to understand what was going on and why it was so serious that even Magical Interpol had gotten involved on an otherwise pleasant day in Hogsmeade. "You don't think—" she began, but her thought was interrupted by what was clearly screaming in the distance. That alone was probably the confirmation that she had needed to understand that what was happening was what she thought was happening.

Diana didn't speak in a full sentence, clearly trying to process everything. "What is…" she started at one point, only to be distracted from it by the sound of a screech. "Smoke…"

The dragon that was emerging from the castle didn't look large enough to cause the extent of what they were seeing already. It hardly looked capable of doing more than toasting some marshmallows. More realistically, a young dragon like that could torch a single classroom, maybe, but little more than that.

"I have to get my sisters," Diana told her, running off before Sarah could say another word to her. Speaking of sisters, Sarah knew that her youngest sister, Evelyn, must have been in the castle. She needed to get in there anyway—and even sooner if members of the public were going to try to make their way in.

diana eoina bainbridge
Fin!