Word about Harry collapsing on the train traveled fast, which came as no shock to Katie, because when Draco Malfoy caught wind of an embarrassing rumour, it spread like the plague. At breakfast the next morning, Katie was sat with Pansy and Draco. The blonde was keeping the entire table entertained by telling an over-exaggerated version of the story of Harry passing out, all while Katie awkwardly picked at her food in silence.
"Hey, Potter!" Pansy yelled so suddenly that it startled Katie. "Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooo!"
Katie elbowed Pansy's arm. "Hey, knock it off." she said disapprovingly, but Pansy ignored her friend, as though she didn't exist, and soaked up the praise she was getting from the rest of the Slytherins for mocking Harry.
"So Draco changed his hair and Pansy changed her personality... noted." Katie said to herself before sighing sadly. She quickly emptied her plate and stood up, which didn't go unnoticed to Draco, who was suddenly more interested in Katie than the thunderous applause he was getting from his housemates.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?"
Katie didn't bother responding. She wasn't in the mood for a confrontation with Draco Malfoy that morning — her first class was History of Magic and she needed to reserve as much mental strength as possible to survive an hour of listening to Professor Binns talk in his drawling tones.
Katie arrived at the Gryffindor table to hear Ron lecturing Hermione about her third year timetable.
"But look, see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath, nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And look — underneath that, Arithmancy, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one's that good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"
"Don't be silly," Hermione snapped. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once.
"Three classes at once?" Katie chimed in. She swung her legs over the bench and sat down beside Harry, who shuffled over to make more room for the girl.
"Good morning, Katie!" a cheery Ginny Weasley called down the table to Katie, who waved happily.
"I see Malfoy is putting on quite the show." Hermione said. Katie turned around and, sure enough, Draco was still pretending to faint with terror. Harry growled to himself so Katie put a reassuring hand on his back to keep him calm.
"Ignore him," she told Harry. "He won't be laughing when you annihilate him in the first Quidditch match."
Fred — or George, Katie still didn't know the difference — Weasley butt into the conversation. "You have to stop rooting for the rival team, Kat."
There was a violent screeching noise as Christian Blair slid up the bench, only coming to a halt when he collided with his sister.
"He's right," Chris nodded. "But in all fairness, you're too good to be playing for Slytherin."
"Stop that—" Katie began, but she was cut off by a thick Irish accent.
"Well, he's not wrong. You'll be playing for the Montrose Magpies in no time. Apple?"
"Good morning Niall. No, I don't want your half-eaten apple."
Niall chuckled. As he was standing behind Katie, he placed a hand on either of her shoulders and bent down so that he could squeeze his face into the small gap between the heads of Chris and Katie.
"Katerina Blair — captain of the Montrose Magpies." he said, his voice filled with awe and wonder.
Ron scoffed. "If you play for any team other than the Chudley Cannons, we are going to have some issues."
Everyone who was part of the conversation laughed at that. Katie briefly looked over her shoulder to spy Draco Malfoy staring at the Gryffindor table with a nasty scowl on his face. He clearly wasn't very happy to see that his mockery was no longer getting to Harry.
"Oh, Katie, what did you want to talk to me about?" Harry asked, only this time, no one else seemed to hear, and did not poke their noses into Katie's business. Katie's mouth grew dry at Harry's question. She glanced around to make sure that no one was watching, then she grabbed Harry's hand and led him out to the Entrance Hall. After checking that there was no one around to eavesdrop, Katie started telling Harry the story that had been nagging at her for weeks.
"Alright, so, two years ago—"
Harry instantly cut across Katie. "Hang on, you're only now telling me about something that happened two years ago?"
"Well, yes, but it's only really been bothering me since the day we were in Diagon Alley — although, it did bother me at the time, but I didn't know you back then and I eventually forgot about it until a few weeks ago and... and I'm rambling. OK, so—"
"Don't forget to breathe." Harry said, raising an eyebrow.
"Two years ago, the summer before first year, I went into Ollivander's to get my wand. He gave it to me — 13 1/2 inches, yew, dragon heartstring core — and then he told me that it was almost identical to my father's wand, the only difference being the core."
Harry's face was scrunched up in both concentration and bewilderment.
"I don't get it." he stated finally.
"That's not all." Katie drew in a deep breath. As she continued to speak, her eyes seemed to grow wider with fear after every word. "He kept talking about my father. He told me that he was a troublemaker, but he was a really skilled wizard... emphasis on the word was."
Harry's eyes seemed to brighten with every word. As he pieced together the puzzle, his contorted face unraveled itself.
"But your dad isn't dead." Harry pointed out.
Katie nodded earnestly. "When I pointed that out to Mr Ollivander, he didn't say anything. He just looked at me funny. It was almost as though he knew something that I didn't."
"And did you talk to your dad about this?"
"No," Katie shook her head. "Honestly, I kind of forgot all about it over time. I mean, I was a bit distracted with the Philosopher's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets and whatnot, but when I saw Mr Ollivander again, it all came rushing back."
Harry knitted his eyebrows together, wrinkling his forehead, and sunk into deep thought. It didn't take the boy long to come up with a liable conclusion. "Maybe Mr Ollivander just—"
"—just made a mistake. Yes, I thought so too. But I asked my dad what his wand was made from..."
"And?" Harry pressed eagerly. He had grown very interested in Katie's story, which was evident by his enthusiastic tone and wide pupils. There was a long, tense silence as Katie tried to find the courage to speak these next words, because she knew that if she said it aloud, then that would make the fact of the matter true.
"Ash wood, 12 inches, dragon heartstring core..."
The stunning realisation hit Harry like a truck, so much though that he slightly stumbled on his feet and let out a strange choking noise.
"But Ollivander said that the only difference between your wand and your father's is the core!"
"And I have a dragon heartstring core."
"And your wand is made from yew, not ash."
"And mine is longer."
"Bloody hell!"
Katie and Harry both jumped when they heard the third, uninvited voice join into their conversation. They whipped their heads around, and Katie felt her entire body grow viciously hot when she caught sight of her two close friends standing all but seven feet away from her and Harry.
"You're adopted?" Ron questioned, flabbergasted. Hermione hit him with a book that she was holding.
"Don't be so stupid," she scolded. "Of course Katie isn't adopted. She looks exactly like her brothers, for goodness sakes!"
"Thanks, Hermione." Katie responded diffidently, uncertain if being compared to her brothers should be taken as a compliment or not.
"But what does this mean?" Harry asked. His question was directed not only at Katie, but to his other friends as well. The four students looked helplessly around at each other, each of them as clueless as the next.
"I din't know." Hermione spoke finally, and if Hermione Granger didn't know the answer, then was there really even an answer at all?
***
Katie sat down in her assigned History of Magic seat, which was next to Draco Malfoy. His nose was tilted up in a snobby manner and he wore a smug expression on his face. Katie expected that he was still bathing in self pride thanks to his popular passing out scene.
"So," Draco began with a taunting undertone to his voice. "Adopted, huh?"
Katie had been flicking through the pages of her book when Malfoy's question registered with her occupied brain. She instantly stiffened up, freezing like a statue, and her mouth quickly went dry yet again.
With a quivering voice, she said, "You heard?"
The evil smirk on Draco's face seemed to be growing more and more by the second. "Oh, yeah, every last word." He spoke slowly so to let his sentence sink in.
Katie shook herself and willed her breathing to relax. She then cleared her throat and continued to flick through the History of Magic book.
"For the record, I'm not adopted." she said firmly.
"Of course not, you look identical to your filthy Gryffindor brother."
"Watch your mouth." Katie warned, her eyes narrowing. Malfoy let out a shallow laugh.
To Katie's relief, Professor Binns started the lesson, which was something she never thought she would be thankful for, but Katie would rather be lectured by Professor Snape than engage in personal conversation with Draco Malfoy, a person who she knew she could not trust.
However, Katie's relief was short lived. Draco leaned to the side and spoke lowly in Katerina's ear. He really wanted to make it clear that he had leverage over her, make it clear that if she ever crossed him, he would be able to make her life a living hell.
"I suppose you being sorted into Slytherin makes sense now."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Katie spoke in a low hiss. Draco's lips once again curled into a smirk. Katie began to wonder if he was capable of composing any other facial expression.
"You've always wondered why you, a girl from a long line of Gryffindors, was sorted into Slytherin, right?"
Katie hesitantly admitted to herself that what Malfoy was saying was true, but she would be damned if Draco thought she was going to buckle under the weight of his teasing.
"It happens." she said, her teeth gritted.
"I wouldn't be so sure," Draco leaned back in his seat but kept his voice hushed. "Even your younger brother was sorted into Gryffindor, but now it all makes sense. Your father was a Slytherin—"
Katie had just about had enough. She finally snapped. "My father is Anthony Blair and he was a Gryffindor!"
Professor Binns came to Katie's rescue and broke up the aggressive confrontation.
"Is there a problem Mr Malfoy? Miss Blair?"
All heads turned to face Katie, who was still glaring at her partner, and Draco, who was almost grinning from ear to ear. A thick silence engulfed the classroom as Katie regained her composure and Professor Binns awaited his response.
"No, sir. No problem."