Cassia's POV
Dora and I were staying at the Leaky Cauldron, along with Hermione and the Weasley's, for the last few days before we had to leave for Hogwarts. I'm so excited for third year! Nothing could ruin my good mood! Except...there's a criminal on the loose, by the name of Sirius Black. I don't know what he was locked up for, but I really don't want to find out!
My outfit:
The morning we were due to leave, Cricket and Crookshanks were chasing Scabbers. Hermione and I caught our pets, only to have to face an angry Ron less than a second later.
"I'm warning you two, keep those bloody beasts of yours away from Scabbers, or I'll turn them into tea cozies," Ron snapped at us.
"They're cats, Ronald. What do you expect?" Hermione retorted.
"It's in their nature," I added.
"Cats? Is that what they told you? Yours looks more like a pig with hair, if you ask me, Hermione," Ron shot back, glaring at Crookshanks.
"Oh, that's rich, coming from the owner of that smelly old shoebrush," Hermione retaliated, sending a glare right back at Scabbers. I speak for both of us when I say I really hate that rat. "That's right, Crookshanks. You just ignore the mean little boy," she purred.
"Harry!" Ron suddenly exclaimed, looking up at something.
Hermione and I turned around and exclaimed, "Harry!" in unison.
Harry raced down the stairs he was on and gave us all hugs (and giving cricket a little pat on the head, of course). We took him to one of the tables in the dining area, and Ron showed us a clipping from the Daily Prophet, with his family on the cover.
"Egypt? What's it like?" Harry asked eagerly.
"Brilliant. It's got loads of old stuff, like mummies, tombs. Even Scabbers enjoyed himself," Ron replied.
"You know, the Egyptians used to worship cats," Hermione pointed out.
"Yeah, along with the dung beetle," Ron retorted.
I leaned closer to Harry and whispered in his ear, "Ron's mad at Hermione and I because our cats were chasing Scabbers again."
"Oh," Harry whispered back.
Fred and George walked by us, glancing at the paper. "Not flashing that clipping about again, are you, Ron?" George asked.
"No. I haven't shown anyone," Ron fibbed.
Fred rolled his eyes at that. "No, not a soul. Unless you count Tom," he sarcastically said.
"The day maid," George chimed in.
"The night maid."
"Cook."
"The bloke who fixed the toilets."
"And the wizard from Belgium." With that, they walked off to who knows where.
"Harry! Cassia!" Mrs. Weasley called out to us, coming over and giving each of us a motherly hug.
"Mrs. Weasley!" Harry greeted.
"Good to see you, dears," Mrs. Weasley returned the greeting, "Now, you both have everything you need?"
"Yes," I answered.
"Yeah," Harry added.
"Yes? All of your books?" Mrs. Weasley asked. We nodded. "And all of your clothes?" she asked.
"Everything's upstairs," Harry answered. I nodded in agreement.
Mrs. Weasley gave our cheeks a loving pinch. "Good children." She walked off, probably to help Ginny or keep the twins in check.
"Harry, Cassia," Mr. Weasley greeted, coming up to us.
"Mr. Weasley," Harry acknowledged as we both shook hands with him.
"Harry, Cassia, I wonder if I might have a word?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Of course," I replied.
Mr. Weasley led us away from the others, near one of the 'Employees only' zones. "Harry, Cassia, there are some within the Ministry who would strongly discourage me from divulging what I am about to reveal to you and Cassia. But I think you need to know the fact. You are in danger," he informed us. He put his hands on our shoulders. "Grave danger."
"Does this have anything to do with Sirius Black, sir?" Harry asked.
"What do you know about Sirius Black?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Only that he's escaped from Azkaban," Harry replied.
I nodded in agreement.
"Do you know why?" Mr. Weasley asked us.
We both shook our heads.
"Thirteen years ago, when you stopped..." Mr. Weasley started to explain.
"Voldemort," Harry and I both cut him off.
"Don't say his name," Mr. Weasley hissed.
"Sorry," we both apologized.
"When you stopped You-Know-Who, Black lost everything. But, to this day, he still remains a faithful servant. In his mind, you are the only thing that stands in the way of You-Know-Who returning to power. And that is why he has escaped from Azkaban. To find you," Mr. Weasley explained.
"And kill us," Harry assumed.
"Harry, I want you and Cassia to swear to me that no matter what you might hear, you won't go looking for Black," Mr. Weasley said.
"But, Mr. Weasley, why would either of us go looking for someone who wants to kill us?" I asked.
<><><><><>
"I didn't mean to blow her up. I just sorta...lost control," Harry told us as we made our way down the train, looking for an empty compartment. He had just explained to us how he somehow managed to blow up our aunt Marge, with his anger. I pretty much cracked up when I heard this, until a sharp nudge in the ribs from Hermione told me to quit it.
"Brilliant," Ron complimented.
"Honestly, Ron, it's not funny. Harry's lucky he wasn't expelled," Hermione scolded him.
"I think I was lucky not to be arrested, actually," Harry corrected her.
"I still think it was brilliant," Ron remarked.
"Come on, everywhere else is full," I said, leading them into a compartment with a seemingly-asleep man.
"Who d'you reckon that is?" Ron asked, glancing at the man.
"Professor R.J Lupin," Hermione replied.
"You know everything! How is it she knows everything?" Ron complained, earning an eye roll and a huff from me.
"It's on his suitcase, Ron," I told him.
"D'you think he's really asleep?" Harry asked.
"Seems to be. Why?" Hermione replied.
"I've got to tell you something," Harry answered, "We both do." I closed the door to our compartment and sat in Harry's lap as he explained how Sirius Black wants to kill us.
"Let me get this straight: Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban to come after you two?" Ron asked.
I nodded.
"But they'll capture Black, won't they? I mean, everyone's looking for him," Hermione pointed out.
Ron shrugged. "Sure, except...no one's broken out of Azkaban before, and...he's a murderous, raving, lunatic," he commented.
"Thanks, Ron," Harry sarcastically replied.
I sighed. "Okay, I'm just...gonna go change." I grabbed my robes and made my way to the changing compartments. Just as I'd finished putting my Hogwarts uniform on, however, the train lurched and I fell to the ground. "What's going on?" I said to myself. I got out of the changing compartment and started to make my way back to the compartment when the train gave another lurch and I fell again.
One of the compartment doors opened. "Cassia?" a familiar voice called my name. When I looked in the direction of the voice, I saw Cedric making his way over to me.
"Cedric?" I asked.
He grabbed my hand and pulled me to my feet. "What are you doing out here?" he asked.
"I came out here to change into my uniform because the conversation in my compartment got a little awkward," I explained.
"Why?" Cedric asked.
I leaned close and whispered into his ear, "We were talking about Sirius Black."
Cedric did a double-take. "Sirius Black?!" he echoed, making me slap a hand over his mouth.
"Cedric, what's the matter with you? Are you trying to attract a crowd?!" I whisper-yelled, before removing my hand from his mouth.
"Sorry," he apologized, "But why were you guys talking about him?"
I sighed. "Evidently, he broke out of Azkaban because of Harry and I, so he's trying to track us down."
"Wow...that's scary," Cedric said, growing very nervous.
"I know. It's giving me chills just thinking about it," I agreed.
Without warning, the lights in the train went out, one by one. Cedric and I were now in complete darkness.
Cedric pulled out his wand. "Lumos," he whispered. The tip of his wand lit up, sort of like a flashlight. He held my hand. "Come on, I'll walk you back to your compartment," he offered, taking my hand.
I could only in agreement. It wouldn't have been a good idea to try and go back by myself, especially in this darkness. We began the trek back to the compartment I'd been sharing with my brother and my two best friends, when the train lurched again, almost knocking us both to the ground.
"What was that?" I asked, clinging tighter to Cedric.
"I don't know," he replied, "But whatever it is, it can't be good."
The two of us continued to walk, until we finally found my compartment. But as soon as we got inside, I felt goosebumps forming on my arms. It started to get really cold, all of a sudden, to the point where even the window was frozen, and if I exhaled, I could see my breath. Cedric pulled me closer to him and wrapped his robe around me tightly, like a blanket.
Then the train lurched once more, scaring the daylights out of Ron. "Bloody hell! What's happening?!" he asked.
A dark, cloaked creature made its way to our compartment and opened the door without even touching it. I could feel myself growing sad inside. It was as though all the joy had been drained out of my body. The creature had no eyes or nose, only a mouth. Crookshanks and Cricket hissed when it turned in their direction, while Scabbers just scurried closer to Ron. The creature faced Harry and I, and I felt all my good memories being ripped out my brain. It was a painful feeling. I began to feel more and more depressed with every passing second that the creature fed on my brother and I. But then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Professor Lupin open his eyes and stand up, pointing his wand at the creature. A blindingly bright light shone from the tip, and I felt everything go black. The last thing I remember before losing consciousness is the sound of a female voice screaming.
<><><><><>
"Cass...Cassi, wake up," I heard Cedric whisper, shaking me gently. When I opened my eyes, I saw that I was lying across the seat, with my head in his lap. I sat up slowly, putting a hand on his shoulder for support, and scooted over so that I was next to him instead of on him.
"Here, eat this. It'll help," Professor Lupin spoke, holding a brown square in front of me. I raised an eyebrow at him. "It's alright, it's chocolate," he assured me. I hesitantly reached out and took the chocolate. So did Harry.
"W-What was that thing...that came?" Harry asked.
"It was a Dementor, one of the guards of Azkaban. It's gone now. It was searching the train for Sirius Black," Professor Lupin explained, before getting up from his seat. "If you'll excuse me, I need to have a little word with the driver." He opened the compartment door, and then turned back to look at us. "Eat. You'll feel better," he encouraged us as he left.
Harry nibbled a bit of the chocolate and I could immediately see a wave of relief wash over him. "What happened?" he asked.
"Well, you sort of went rigid. We thought maybe you were having a fit or something," Ron replied.
"You fainted once you saw that monster, Cassia," Cedric added.
"And did any of you guys, you know, pass out?" Harry asked.
Hermione shook her head.
"No. I felt weird, though. Like I'd never be cheerful again," Ron answered.
"But someone was screaming. A woman," Harry said.
"I heard it too," I spoke up, before biting a small chunk of the chocolate.
Hermione eyed us. "No one was screaming, you guys," she said.
<><><><><>
It was still pouring rain when we arrived at the Hogsmeade station. All five of us took the first carriage to Hogwarts, where we watched the Sorting Ceremony, followed by a performance from Flitwick's choir.
Dumbledore made his way up to the podium as the applause died down. "Welcome, welcome, to another year at Hogwarts!" he started, "Now, we have two changes in staff this year. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who's kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Good luck, Professor!"
As we applauded, Professor Lupin stood up and gave a motion that was a mix between a nod and a bow before sitting back down.
"Of course, that's how he knew to give you the chocolate!" Hermione said to us.
"Potter...Potter!" an all-too-familiar voice whispered, forcing Harry and I to turn around. It was none other than Malfoy. Ugh! Doesn't he have anything better to do than pick on us? "Is it true you and Sissy fainted?" he asked, as one of his goons pretended to faint. "I mean, you actually fainted?" he pressed. I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron butted in, turning Harry and I away, so that we were facing Hermione again.
"How'd he find out?" I asked.
"Just forget it," Hermione whispered.
We turned our attention back to Dumbledore's announcements. "...our Care of Magical Creatures professor for many years has decided to retire, in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs. Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be taken by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid," he announced.
Everyone -- minus the Slytherins -- erupted in applause and Hagrid stood up, acknowledging himself. The entire staff table shifted forward when he did. I could hear Seamus whistle through his teeth before the applause ceased.
"And finally, on a more serious note, Hogwarts will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban, until such a time as Sirius Black is captured," Dumbledore continued, "The Dementors will be stationed at every entrance to the grounds. Now, whilst I've been assured that their presence will not disrupt our day to day activities, a word of caution. Dementors are vicious creatures. They will not distinguish between the one they hunt and the one who gets in their way. Therefore, I must warn each and every one of you, give them no reason to harm you. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving. But you know, happiness can be found even in the darkest of times..." He waved a hand over one of the candles near him. "...if one only remembers to turn on the light." He waved his hand again, and the candle was relit.
Not too long afterwards, we were dismissed to our dorms, but the Fat Lady wasn't even paying attention to us. Her focus was on trying to break a glass with her singing voice. She didn't even acknowledge Seamus when he said the password.
Seamus turned to Harry and I. "She won't let me in," he complained.
"Fortuna Major," Harry impatiently said.
"No, no, no. Wait, wait. Watch this," the Fat Lady objected. She sang really loud, and might I add, very badly! I clamped my hands over my ears, and so did some of my fellow Gryffindors. As she sang, she bashed the glass against a pillar in her portrait, breaking it. She gasped. "Amazing! Just with my voice!" she bragged, making me roll my eyes.
"Fortuna Major," I said at the same time as Harry.
"Yes, alright. Go in," the Fat Lady snapped, letting us in. I heard her mutter an insult under her breath, but I ignored it as we walked into the common room and rushed up the stairs into our dorms.
Even though I was snuggled up under the covers, it was hard for me to fall asleep. The Dementor incident from earlier was still fresh in my mind, and so was Dumbledore's warning about them. Trouble was coming this year. I could feel it in my gut.