cassandra
It was a gloomy Tuesday morning. The bewitched ceiling in the Great Hall rumbled as the students ate their breakfast. Cassandra was nursing a goblet of orange juice as she read the new edition of the Daily Prophet, luckily the news was drab. Her section of table was empty besides Hermione who was reading a large textbook.
The calming silence was soon interrupted by the arrival of Ron and Harry. Ron kicked his legs over the bench and slid next to Cassandra. "You might as well kill me now, I'd rather go quickly. Snape is sucking out my soul, class by class and I can't take it anymore. It's bloody agonizing," Ron groaned dramatically. Cassandra only responded by playfully rolling her eyes.
"You can't die now," Hermione said while still reading her book, "your mother would kill you if you don't receive at least a few OWLs."
"I don't care," Ron pouted, "first period potions should be classified as cruel and unusual punishment."
"It can't be that bad," Cassandra reckoned. Harry and Ron shot their attention to Cassandra in surprise. Both boys' eyes shot out of their head when Cassandra informed them what she said was not a joke and she was indeed being serious.
"Snape is bloody awful, you just wait you'll be eating those words in about forty minutes," Ron predicted. He gave Cassandra a reassuring pat on the back before turning to his food.
*****
Unfortunately, Cassandra did eat her words, but it only took thirty minutes. The potions classroom was characteristically dark and gloomy. When Cassandra sat down next to Ron she could hear the steady drip of lake water falling from the ceiling.
The dark room was filled with chatter, all the students were trying to squeeze in their last words before Snape arrived.
Cassandra turned around on her seat to face Harry and Hermione who were sitting at the table behind her and Ron, "So, is this guy like a vampire or something."
"Surprisingly not," Harry joked.
Ron looked like he wanted to input his opinion, but he was distracted. "Oh look it's baby Potter and his little nannies," sneered a voice from behind Cassandra.
Three boys approached the quartet. The one standing in the middle had bleach blonde hair. He was tossing a green apple between his hands with a rather arrogant look across his face. The boy on the right had dark, curly hair with a matching complexion. He seemed to be interested in anything other than what the blonde boy was saying. The boy on the left however was the most striking. His wavy black hair fell over his face in all the right places. Cassandra couldn't help but noticed he looked like Harry, but his features were sharper and more defined.
Harry and Ron looked like they wanted to say something to the boys, but they stayed quiet. "Theo, how long do you think it will take for Potter to faint and call for his mummy? I don't think he'll make it another three days," the blonde boomed.
The boys were starting to look slightly less attractive to Cassandra... slightly. Harry looked like he was about to lose his cool and Cassandra was not about to attend another detention. She needed to deescalate the situation.
When the blonde turned his gaze to Cassandra he looked surprised. Cassandra took opportunity of his speechlessness and dramatically sized up his stature from top to bottom. When she was done she shot the boys a disinterested look and turned her attention to Harry and Hermione without a word.
"As I was saying," Cassandra rolled her eyes, "I couldn't decide between the cinnamon and chocolate biscuits at dinner last night... it was a really tough decision." Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked extremely confused, but Cassandra had already accomplished her goal.
The blonde boy's pale skin was flushed bright red with anger and embarrassment. He stormed off with his two friends before anyone else could say a word. The quartet exploded into laughter.
"Cassandra that was bloody brilliant," Ron exclaimed.
"I haven't seen Malfoy look that embarrassed since Moody turned him into a ferret," Harry laughed.
"So, that was Draco Malfoy?" Cassandra asked. Harry had mentioned him a few times at Grimmauld Place. Now she understood why he didn't tend to use kind words when describing him.
"Yeah and his buddies Blaise Zabinni and Theodore Nott. They're all rather awful," Hermione explained.
"That's too bad," Cassandra sighed, "They're pretty hot," she joked.
The door in the back of the classroom creaked open and the whole room went quiet. Snape rushed through the door, robes billowing behind him.
"Today you will attempt to brew a babbling beverage. I encourage diligence and precision, there is no room for error today," Snape concluded. He slowly took a seat behind his desk and stared at the students, "what are you waiting for?" he challenged and pointed at the board where he had written the directions.
The students began creating their potions while Cassandra stared in shock at the board. There were almost forty steps written down, and they looked extremely complicated. It would take a miracle for Cassandra to have the potion done by the end of the hour.
"You good, mate?" Ron peered over from his cauldron.
"Y-yeah... it's just I've never made a potion before," Cassandra admitted.
"Never?!" Ron gasped. Cassandra shook her head in response. "You should've sat next to Hermione, I'm bloody awful at potions."
"Well, at least I'll boost your confidence."
With great difficulty, Cassandra started to make her potion. She tried to follow Ron, but after she noticed how much she was slowing him down, she told him to continue without her. Now she was left trying to distinguish between the many ingredients and following the complicated instructions.
After fifty minutes, students began bottling their potions and leaving them on Snape's desk. Cassandra became extremely nervous, she was only half-way done and her potion had a strange aroma. She glanced over to the Slytherin boys from before. Malfoy was packing his bag while Theodore was sitting at his seat... staring at back at her. Instinctively, Cassandra turned her head away, but curiosity got the better of her and she turned back. He was unapologetically staring at her, even after they made eye contact. Theodore gave Cassandra a smirk and stood from his seat and followed Malfoy out of the dungeon.
Cassandra turned her attention back to her cauldron and tried to ignore whatever just happened. The dungeon was almost empty now besides Hermione and Neville. Snape was sitting at his desk reading a book, paying the students no attention. Once Neville placed his bottle on Snape's desk, Cassandra began to panic. She threw the rest of her ingredients in her cauldron and stirred it a few times before bottling it up. It was a shade of bright fuchsia compared to the thirty bottles of green liquid atop the desk. And the once unpleasant smell was now completely repulsive. Cassandra gagged as the fumes spread. She tried to cover her cauldron, but it was no use.
The smell must have traveled across the classroom because Snape burst from his chair in anger. "Is this what you call a potion?" Snape challenged as he waved the contents of her potion away with his wand. "How absolutely atrocious. Don't even bother handing in whatever abomination you managed to brew."
"But Professor..."
"Leave my classroom, and don't return until you are competent enough to produce a potion distinguishable from a first year's." Snape hissed.
Hermione quickly helped Cassandra gather her things and pulled Cassandra out of the classroom. "What an awful teacher," Hermione declared as they rushed through the dungeons, "I can't believe he didn't help you at all. He knows you've never learned potions before."
"Whatever, it's useless anyways." Hermione looked like she wanted to say something, but she kept her mouth shut and instead changed the conversation.
"Theodore Nott was staring at you the whole class."
"Yeah, I noticed," Cassandra mumbled.
"I thought it was rather funny, but Harry didn't agree."
"Well it doesn't seem like he'd find anything about those boys funny, they don't like each other very much," Cassandra laughed.
"Yeah, you're right," Hermione said quietly and they finished their walk to Herbology creating a study plan for potions.
*****
The next few days passed dreadfully slow. Teachers drowned the students in homework and tests in preparation for OWLs. Cassandra was still struggling in Potions, but at least she was allowed back in the classroom. After hours of late night lessons from Hermione, Cassandra was now officially smarter than a first year.
Her other classes were much easier. Thanks to her mother, Cassandra was well advanced in Charms and Transfiguration. Fortunately, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures were tolerable considering her lack of knowledge. Professors Grubbly-Plank and Sprout were very considerate and helpful, which made it a lot easier for Cassandra to attempt catching up with the classes.
Meanwhile, the Gryffindor common was surprisingly empty for a late Thursday night. Cassandra was sitting by the fire with Hermione, reviewing potions materials while Ron was sitting at a nearby table scribbling down his Divination homework. Their studying was interrupted by the squeal of the portrait door opening. Harry rushed through and slammed the door behind him. He looked like a ticking time boom ready to explode as he sat on the chair across from Cassandra.
"I'm guessing remedial potions didn't go so well," Hermione grimaced.
"I'm never going back, it was useless. I don't even understand why I need to 'block my mind' anyways. Without my connection with Voldemort Mr. Weasley would be dead," Harry exploded, but Cassandra noticed he was careful not to raise his voice around the few students left in the common room. Harry's Occulumency lessons were a secret.
"Harry you can't quit, Dumbledore wouldn't ask you to do this if it wasn't important," Hermione pleaded. Cassandra noticed Ron was being uncharacteristically quiet.
"If it is really that important, he would have told me himself."
"Harry, what if Voldemort finds out about the connection between you? You don't know what he could do. You need to keep going to lessons." Cassandra pleaded. She could tell Harry wasn't expecting her to speak. His surprise kept him from arguing further, but he was still noticeably angry.
After another hour of work, Hermione and Cassandra said goodnight to the boys and went to their dormitory. Lavender was already snoring in bed, but Pavarti was awake reading. Cassandra asked Pavarti about her day while she changed into pajamas. Apparently one of the Ravenclaw boys got an extremely transformative makeover during break and now Lavender and Pavarti were fighting over his attention.
As Cassandra listened to Pavarti explain the sudden attractiveness of Anthony Goldstein, she couldn't help but become jealous. She wished she could worry about trivial things like boys and their new haircuts. Instead, Cassandra worries about death, endless suffering, and the other effects of Voldemort's impending return.
Eventually she climbed into bed, waiting for sleep to overtake her body, she imagined a world were she could gawk over cute boys with Lavender and Pavarti without a care in the world.
*****
It was slightly easier for Cassandra to roll out of bed the next morning once she realized there was only three classes separating her from the weekend. She didn't even wait for Hermione before rushing to breakfast. The Great Hall was nearly empty when Cassandra sat down. The Gryffindor table was only occupied by a group of third years a few meters down.
As Cassandra poured herself cereal, a letter dropped in front of her. It nearly landed in her milk, but luckily the letter bounced off Cassandra's arm and landed on the floor instead. The owl that had carried the letter, picked it up from the ground and dropped it back on the table before flying off again. Cassandra opened the letter and read the message,
Please come to my office during lunch hour today, only your presence is required. I would appreciate if you refrain from discussing our meeting with your friends, I will explain later.
-Dumbledore
PS
The password is Laughing Taffy
Cassandra smiled after she finished reading the letter. Although school was interesting, she was itching to finally do something meaningful. Learning about Unicorns and Goblin history was fascinating, but fighting this war was Cassandra's real purpose.
When Harry and Hermione approached the table, Cassandra shoved the letter in her cloak and pretended to be interested in the crumbs of her muffin. Hermione, like usual, was more interested in preparing for classes than eating breakfast. While Harry decided to follow Cassandra's lead and pour cereal. As they ate, Cassandra and Hermione were careful not to mention anything concerning Occulumency and Snape in attempt to preserve Harry's good mood.
Slowly, the Gryffindor table began to fill with students. As she listened to Harry and Ron talk about quidditch, Cassandra thought about her letter form Dumbledore. She felt guilty not sharing her letter with Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but she wanted to meet with Dumbledore before making any decisions.
By the time lunch came it was easy for Cassandra to slip away unnoticed. Ron was a complete wreck over the upcoming quidditch match tomorrow. And after him and Harry ran into Malfoy after Divination, Ron was inconsolable. Before they entered the Great Hall, Cassandra muttered she forgot something in the common room and quickly slipped down the halls before Harry, Ron, or Hermione could protest. When she was out of sight she turned the opposite direction and began walking to Dumbledore's office.
The eagle statue guarding the entrance began to turn, revealing a hidden staircase after Cassandra said the password. She slowly began her ascent to Dumbledore's office. Cassandra didn't understand why, but she became nervous as she approached the large metal door at the top of the staircase. Before she could knock, the door swung open revealing a dark and intricate room.
There was many shelves and tables filled with books and obscure objects. The room was lit by torchlight lining the ceiling. As Cassandra walked toward the desk on the opposite side of the room, she found herself peering at the many things Dumbledore had on display. There was a bowl of jumping licorice on the table next to her and on her other side sat many different silver instruments that seemed to omit puffs of smoke.
As Cassandra drew closer to the desk in front of her she noticed a line of portraits across the wall above. Many of them were staring at her, but no one spoke. They were much more pleasant than the portrait at Grimmauld Place. Before Cassandra could call out, a door above her opened and Dumbledore walked through. He walked down the staircase in front of her and smiled.
"Cassandra, thank you for coming."
"Yeah no problem," she said unsurely. Cassandra still wasn't sure why she was here. Dumbledore's letter was not very informative.
"I've asked you here today so we can discuss your powers further. I've researched your abilities since we last talked and I haven't been able to find any information about them. If you could tell me more about how they work and more details, then I might have better luck."
"What do you want to know?"
"Do you know if you inherited these powers?"
"Yeah, my mom explained they run in our family, although it often skips generations. The last person my mom knew to have these abilities was my great-grandfather."
"I see. And your father?"
Cassandra shifted uncomfortably where she stood. Her mother never talked about her father. "You know as much as I do, sir," she joked, "my mum never talked about him. She said he was someone she met while in school..."
"Do you know where she attended school?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"I don't know that either," Cassandra mumbled. This conversation was very clearly pointing out how very little Cassandra knew about her mother. How could she not even know where her mother went to high school?
"Maybe I can find out more, if she was a witch she must be record of her somewhere. She shares the same last name as you?"
"Yes, Diane Dalton."
"Do you have a picture?"
Cassandra only shook her head in response. All of her belongings had burned along with her house. It was probably the hardest thing she ever had do to, but her mom made her promise. For as long as Cassandra could remember, her mother had ingrained the escape plan in Cassandra's memory. She might have ignored every step when she saw her dying mother, but at least she remembered to burn the house before disapparating. There was too much evidence in their house, the Death Eaters would have found her in hours.
"Well I'm sure I will find something," he smiled sympathetically. He then changed the subject, sensing Cassandra's discomfort, "Professor Mcgonagall tells me you are performing exceptionally in her class."
"Spells are easy for me," Cassandra shrugged, "I've always been able to perform most spells I've attempted. With practice I don't even need my wand, but I've noticed that's not exactly normal."
This last piece of information seemed to peak Dumbledore's interest. Cassandra watched as his brain began to churn and thoughts flew past him. After a few moments Dumbledore spoke, "Do you think you could show me?"
Cassandra looked around the room, wondering what she could do. When her eyes fell on the silver bowl she noticed earlier, Cassandra got an idea. With the wave of her hand, the licorice candies inside the bowl floated in the air. After a few moments, she let them drop back in the bowl and she turned back to Dumbledore.
"Very peculiar," he said softly while deep in thought.
"That was the first spell I did without a wand. It scared the life out of my mother," Cassandra chuckled, "I was practicing the incantation without my wand and suddenly every paper in the room began to float in the air." Cassandra smiled at the old memory. Her mother used to teach her magic in the basement of their home. When Cassandra turned eleven, her mother spent weeks turning the unfinished basement into a makeshift classroom. Every day after muggle school, Cassandra and her mother would go to the basement and she would learn magic. It was always her favorite part of the day.
"No one else knows about this?" Dumbledore asked. Cassandra shook her head in response, she hadn't even told her new friends. "You must keep it that way, this could draw a lot of unwanted attention."
"Don't worry, I don't plan on telling anyone else."
"I'm sorry it has to be this way."
"I'm used to it," Cassandra lamented, "my mum always used to say great power will allow you to do do great things, but it will always leave you alone."
"Your mother was a smart woman."
"Yeah she was," Cassandra smiled.
After a few more minutes of small talk, Dumbledore dismissed Cassandra and she made her way to the Great Hall for lunch. As Cassandra left the office, she didn't know what to feel. Before she left Dumbledore explained why he was ignoring Harry. She understood he feared Harry's connection with Voldemort, but ignoring him seemed to be doing more harm than good. But Cassandra also knew whatever was causing their connection wasn't normal, so she decided to trust Dumbledore... for now.
When she approached the Gryffindor table and saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron consumed by laughter and joy, Cassandra knew she made the right decision.
**********
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