facade - harry potter

one

It was a rare occasion that a young witch would transfer schools so late in her education. But for so long, Cassiopeia Cage's parents sat eagerly on the thought to move to England and enroll her in Hogwarts and as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named grew stronger, there was no hesitation in packing their things and heading for the epicenter of dark magic. Anything to be closer to him, Acantha and Finneas Cage thought.

Cassiopeia was one of the earliest students to arrive on the train, and she sat in a compartment by herself.

Her parents had been too excited to send her off, 'to fulfill her destiny' they said. On the platform, a thousand kisses had been placed on her head from Acantha as she grasped Cassiopeia's head in her hand.

"This is what we've been dreaming about, Cass. It's...it's going to be great. Just hang in there, you'll adjust soon enough" her mother smiled.

"I know." Cassiopeia forced a smile. Like everyone, she knew of the greatness of the Dark Lord but that didn't stop her from dreading a new school.

"You won't have trouble finding friends darling, if that's what you're worried about"

"Well-"

"Cass, you're smart. You're beautiful, talented and...powerful. People will be rushing from all directions to be your friend" Acantha said sweetly.

"And don't forget the kids you've already been introduced to," Finneas said, "Draco Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Vincent Crabbe..." He went on and continued to list the children of dark wizards, that had been very gleeful to have three more pureblood wizards to stand beside their Lord.

In the compartment, she fiddled with the hem of her skirt and looked out the window to see no trace of her parents left on the platform. Probably off to find the Malfoy's, the favourite of their new friends.

She watched as students began to fill up compartments. A few looked at her curiously. Yet, no one introduced themselves or sat next to her.

Draco, Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle knew she was to start this year. The fact that she'd be on the Hogwarts express didn't go unknown. But none of them showed their faces. Instead, a girl with scraggly blonde hair and an aura of dottiness opened the door.

"Is it alright if I sit here?" she said, in a soft dreamy voice.

Cassiopeia looked up at the interesting looking girl, a necklace made with butterbeer caps around her neck. She seemed like quite the opposite to the friends she had been introduced to. Was she allowed to befriend people outside her family's circle?

"Sure." Cassiopeia replied.

The girl sat beside the window across from her and opened up a magazine, 'The Quibbler', before turning it upside down. She stared across at Cassiopeia, studying her as if she were a spellbook.

"I'm Luna Lovegood. What's your name? You must be new, I haven't seen you before."

"Yeah, my name's Cassiopeia Cage. I just moved here-" she replied, happy that at least one person had acknowledged her. Now she knew for sure, that she wasn't actually invisible.

"From America?! Wow... It's nice to meet you."

"How'd you know I'm from America?"

"Your accent, silly." she grinned, before lowering her eyes down to her magazine to read.

Cassiopeia opened her mouth to say something, so they didn't fall into the awkward silence of lost conversations. But the door opened again. Two students stood in the doorway. A girl, with flaming red hair. And a boy, with wild untamed black hair.

"There's room in this one, there's only Loony Lovegood in here. And..." the girl started, turning to Cassiopeia.

"Who are you?"

"Cassiopeia Cage." she replied, smiling at the girl. She wasn't Pansy Parkinson either, but the more friends she made, the better. As long as she didn't tell her parents.

"Ginny Weasely" she smiled back. "Is it okay if we take these seats?"

"Sure," Luna said, staring at the boy.

Ginny sat down next to Cassiopeia. The boy sat next to Luna, awkwardly avoiding her gaze. Cass guessed he hadn't met her before, which made her feel more relaxed. That not everyone had met each other. Maybe she could slip under the radar, pretend she had been there since she was 11 and make everyone feel bad for not remembering her. But she was sure her presence at the Sorting Ceremony, not being already placed in a house would debunk that pretty quickly.

"I'm Harry" the boy said to Luna and Cassiopeia.

"Harry Potter. I know who you are." Luna said, still staring at him.

Harry Potter. The boy who lived.

Her heart dropped. She had found herself sitting with the boy who was the Dark Lord's ultimate rival. The boy who once defeated him. It was him. She didn't expect to meet him so soon.

"Luna's in my year, but she's in Ravenclaw," said Ginny.

"Which beyond measure, is man's greatest treasure" Luna replied before returning back to her upside down magazine. "Cassiopeia's from America. She just transferred."

She looked across at Harry, and caught a glimpse of the infamous scar on his forehead. He caught her staring, their eyes joining in contact.

"So, you were at Ilvermorny then?" Ginny asked. But the sentence didn't reach Cassiopeia, as her thoughts remained on the boy who sat across from her. The one she heard so much about. The one who was the name on every dark wizard's lips.

"Harry Potter. The boy who defeated Voldemort" said Cassiopeia. She saw Luna's eyes flick up from her magazine at the mention of the name. But Harry didn't flinch. He just looked at her, suspiciously. Maybe he was surprised that she didn't cower in fear of his name.

"You said his name," he said. "Good. Because he's back. And there's no use in everyone flipping out at the sound of his name." His voice was tainted with bitterness, like he was fed up with everyone already. The year hadn't even begun. She knew why, she had seen the Daily Prophet headlines.

"I agree. Remove the fear of the name, remove the fear of the thing itself." she said, smiling and cocking her eyebrow. Of course, she couldn't let Harry Potter know of her true stance. That would ruin her whole plan. Their whole plan.

Then, the train started and sped off through the country. Soon, her new journey would begin. All she hoped for, was to not fail her parents. Or the Dark Lord.

a short one for the first chapter, but it's only a taste of what's to come my loves.
xoxo bagelsbitch