the siphon | h. potter

~eleven~

When Cassandra didn't feel the usual scrambling of her body she opened her eyes back up. She saw a very confused Dumbledore struggling to Apparate.

"It seems I can't perform magic, is this what usually happens?"

Cassandra shook her head. Normally when she was absorbing magic from an area, other people were only blocked from performing magic as she was siphoning. Once she broke contact things usually went back to normal. But nothing about this was normal.

"Can you Apparate us out of here?"

"I think so..." Cassandra muttered. She reluctantly walked over to Dumbledore and grabbed his arm.

"Aim for the astronomy tower."

With her gaze across the lake, Cassandra turned her hand and she Disapparated from the island. Cassandra's feet slammed into the stone floor of the astronomy tower. Dumbledore was stumbling beside her. He still looked weak, but he assured Cassandra he was okay.

"Well that was an adventure," Cassandra laughed and outstretched her arm towards the wall next to her. She only wanted to lean against it, but as soon as her fingers touched the stone it exploded.

Before Cassandra or Dumbledore knew what was happening, the entire astronomy tower blew to pieces. Pieces of rubble flew past Cassandra in the sky as she fell. As the ground neared Cassandra closed her eyes. She prepared for impact, but it never came. When Cassandra finally found the courage to open her eyes she found herself hovering a foot from the ground. Dumbledore waved his hand and she hit the ground.

Where the astronomy tower once stood was now a pile of rubble. Cassandra sat in horror. "What did I do..." she cried, unable to move her gaze from the broken tower. "What did I do," she mumbled over and over again. She remembered the night the Death Eaters attacked. She she collided with the Death Eater, he was knocked away with a blinding flash. It felt almost the same, but stronger and much more destructive.

Slowly, rock began floating through the sky and reassembling itself back into a tower. Cassandra turned to Dumbledore who had his arm raised and was pointing his wand at floating rubble. Once the tower was completely restored, Dumbledore walked over to Cassandra.

"Don't cry my child, it wasn't your fault."

"I BLEW UP A BUILDING!" Cassandra shouted. She immediately regretted it, Dumbledore wasn't the person she was mad at, she was mad at herself. But he didn't seemed phased.

"I am the one who pushed you to do this, the fault is mine."

"But-"

"No, there is no argument, the blame is on me. Now, I want you to go to dinner. The entire school will be there so there will be no witness to what just occurred. And try to enjoy yourself," Dumbledore winked. Cassandra's heart stopped, for a second she thought Dumbledore knew about their little gatherings in the boys' dorm. But that was impossible... right?

The castle's corridors were empty of students as Cassandra walked to dinner. It was if nothing happened. Ghosts floated by, portraits murmured, staircases moved, everything was normal.

*****

When Cassandra woke the next day she wasn't in a much better mood. Harry and Ron tried to convince her to go to breakfast, but she refused. Dinner was painful enough last night and she wasn't about to relive that. Once Harry and Ron gave up and went to breakfast themselves, she snuck out the portrait door behind them.

Cassandra wasn't exactly sure where she was going, she just wanted to be alone. After wondering around for thirty minutes, Cassandra found herself in an unfamiliar section of the dungeons. The corridor was empty and dark. There were no tapestries or portraits lining the walls like in other parts of the castle. She walked the mysterious corridor until her path was blocked. It was a dead end.