cassandra
It was a Friday night. Cassandra should be getting drunk in the boys' dorm, but instead she was sitting in Dumbledore's office. At least it was an interesting place to be. There was always something for Cassandra to stare at while she pretended to listen to whatever Dumbledore was saying.
Cassandra was watching a globe spin when she heard her name. Cassandra turned to Dumbledore who was looking at her like a parent looked at their toddler who was misbehaving. Shit, Cassandra thought.
"As I was saying," Dumbledore sighed and Cassandra sunk into her chair in embarrassment, "We need to understand the full extent of your powers. Have you ever tested your limits?"
"No, we were only in the beginning of my training before my mum... before she died. I wasn't born with all of my abilities. When I was little I could only consume magic accidentally. Only after I accidentally siphoned my mom when I was eleven was when she started teaching me how to control it. Over the years I've learned how to do it on a bigger scale. I could probably absorb all the magic in the room if I wanted too."
"Let's not do that," Dumbledore chuckled, "But I am interested in how big of an area you can siphon magic from."
Dumbledore walked out from behind his desk and over to Cassandra. He held out his hand to Cassandra and she grabbed it. As soon as her fingers brushed Dumbledore's skin she could feel a tug from the pit of her stomach and her body began to spin. When she opened her eyes she was standing on the island in the middle of the Black Lake.
"I thought no one could Apparate in or out of Hogwarts grounds," Cassandra questioned.
"I've temporarily lifted the enchantments around Hogwarts," Dumbledore shrugged.
"I didn't know that was possible."
"Well... being me has it's privileges," Dumbledore smiled, "but due to safety concerns, we should probably make this quick."
With the wave of his wand, Dumbledore animated all of the plants on the island. The trees began to dance and wave their branches, the grass wiggled against the wind, and bushes rolled around the island.
"If you please," Dumbledore waved to the island around them.
Cassandra dropped to her knees and began to concentrate. Fairly easily she began to siphon the magic from the island. The plants within a ten foot radiance stopped moving and Cassandra smiled. After a few seconds however, it became harder. She had never siphoned magic for so long.
As more and more magic entered her body, Cassandra winced. It was becoming uncomfortable, but she didn't stop. The magic was like a drug, it hurt but she wanted more, a lot more.
She didn't want to stop, but Cassandra's concentration was broken by a loud thump. Cassandra looked up and found Dumbledore laying on the ground. "Dumbledore!" she shouted and ran over to his body. She turned Dumbledore over and found him regaining consiousness. Cassandra let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding.
"I'm alright," Dumbledore grunted as he sat him. Cassandra helped him to his feet then stepped away. "That was insightful." Dumbledore noted.
"W-what happened?"
"I think you absorbed my magic as you were siphoning the island."
"I'm sorry, I've never been able to do that before. It doesn't make sense I wasn't touching you, I shouldn't have been able to do that," Cassandra frantically said.
"It's alright. I asked to see the full extent of you powers, you were merely giving me the answer I was seeking."
Despite Dumbledore's assurance, Cassandra still felt extremely guilty. However, what bothered her the most was how good she felt. There was so much magic coursing through her veins Cassandra doubted there any limits on what she can do. When Dumbledore outstretched his hand to Cassandra she could barely look at him as she took it.
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.
A cracked door on her left caught Cassandra's attention. There was a glowing light illuminating the door frame from the other side. Cassandra walked to the door, unable to fight her curiosity, and gave it a slight push.
It was dark inside the room, illuminated only by the faint glowing light. The ceilings were extremely tall and was supported by many rising columns. Cassandra stepped into the large room and found a fifteen foot mirror on the other side of the column blocking her sight. In front of the mirror sat a boy wearing a black suit. He was so focused on the mirror he didn't notice Cassandra walk in.
Silently, Cassandra turned to leave. She had almost exited the room without detection, but a loud creak of the door gave her away. They boy snapped his head around to Cassandra. It was Theo. Cassandra let go of the door and started walking inside.
"Cassandra," Theo stammered as he quickly stood to his feet.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude-"
"No worries," he smiled, but Cassandra could tell she had definitely interrupted something important.
Cassandra crept toward the large mirror. The frame was made of intricate, golden designs and at the top a phrase in Latin was inscribed. "What is this?" Cassandra asked in awe.
"It's called the Mirror of Eraised. It shows you your deepest desire."
"W-what, what do you mean?"
Theo smiled and walked over to Cassandra. He placed a hand on the small of her back and lead her to the mirror. Her feet moved in front of the mirror, she looked up and into the reflection. Cassandra gasped. In the mirror she saw her mother standing behind her with her hands on her shoulders. Her mum was smiling at her lovingly. "Mum?" Cassandra whispered. She reached up to grab her mothers hand, but Cassandra's hand hit her own shoulder instead.
Cassandra turned around and found no one other than Theo behind her. Her heart dropped to the floor. For a moment her mum was alive again. For a moment everything was perfect again. Tears were falling down her cheeks, but Cassandra didn't care. She turned back to the mirror and her mother reappeared.
"How is this possible?" Cassandra sniffled.
"I don't know, I found the mirror one day when I was looking for a quiet place to study. I come back every so often. I try to stay away, but sometimes I can't help myself."
The mirror glimmered and cast a golden light across Theo's face. His expression was filled with longing as he looked at himself in the mirror.
"What do you see?" she asked.
"My family... I see them standing with me. They're congratulating me after a quidditch match..." Theo smiled. He raised a hand to touch the mirror, "my mum died when I was young. My dad raised me after that... he's not exactly the fatherly type," he laughed half-heartedly.
"I'm sorry," Cassandra muttered.
"Don't be, we all have our own shit we have to deal with."
"Yeah, I guess we do."
Cassandra turned back to the mirror. She smiled at her mom. She looked almost the same, but with less grey hairs and worry lines. She looked healthier than Cassandra ever saw her, as if all the years of hiding weren't weighing down on her health. Her mum always made the best out of their situation, but as Cassandra grew up she began to realize how difficult it was for her mum to handle their situation.
It was always worse during the spring. Sometimes Cassandra would find her mum crying alone in her room clutching an old t-shirt. And sometimes her mum would drink herself to bed. Cassandra never let her mother know that she knew. Her mum wouldn't want Cassandra to worry, so she would pretend like everything was normal.
When Cassandra looked in the mirror, she knew this version of her mother never went through that stress and despair. Her mum was happy.
"We should probably leave, it's not good to look into the mirror for too long."
"Yeah.." Cassandra mumbled.
They walked from the dungeons in silence. But it wasn't awkward, it was comforting. And Cassandra realized, neither one of them was alone anymore.
**********
A/N
Sorry for the late update, it's been a crazy week. But I just sent in my last college app wahoo! So I'll have more time to update now;)
On a different note, has anyone else been following the stock market this week?! Gamestop and AMC are still going bonkers at the moment and I've been losing my mind over it. This whole situation has been so funny. Remember when we thought 2021 would be a normal year? HA we wished.
I'm scared for this Wendsday though, we've have a pattern of mine monumental events every Wendsday of 2021 and idk if we can handle anymore. Insurrection, impeachment, inauguration, and investment.
I hope you guys have been handling this craziness well.
Until next update,
Madds
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