YOU SHOULD ALL TOTALLY READ THIS!
IT'S BEEN EDITED, LIKE, A LOT!
A/N: Okay, so I was looking for my Word file of this chapter and discovered that I'd lost it because it was on a flash drive that I was using for school stuff last year and, well, lost. Actually, that probably means I've lost all of my fanfiction Word files. S***! Whatever. I was going to update this story, but I wanted to read all of it first and I couldn't find my handwritten version of the first chapter either (that's what I get for writing it at school). Long story short, I was manually copying it from the fanfiction site and kind of edited it along the way. For those of you that have read it already, I think you'll like this version better because the first meeting with Snape is better and the Cassandra character as whole is just better represented here (in my opinion). Whatever, leave me your thoughts, please?
More Power to Danger PrologueSnape POV
It was the first of September, also known as the first day of term for those that are affiliated with Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sitting next to me was Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher thanks to Quirrell's death at Potter's hands. Lockhart was preening like a bloody peacock from all the attention he was getting from the students, females in particular. The Headmaster droned on as he usually does as he welcomed everyone back before summoning McGonagall to start the sorting ceremony.
As the first year walked in with the Transfiguration mistress I felt a wave of unrestrained, pure magic, it was breath-taking. My eyes hunted for the source of the magic. Surely it couldn't have belonged to a first year; if it had there wouldn't have been a mere wave, but a hurricane constantly bombarding everyone around them with pure magic, and I would have no trouble discerning the source. No, one of the older students must have let it slip. Yet – even though I would never admit it aloud – Potter is the only student currently attending that has the potential of harnessing that much magic.
I scanned each of the first years as McGonagall called them up and dropped the bewitched hat on top of their heads, but I saw no hint of anything on any of the faces. Near the end the Deputy Headmistress called, "Tera, Cassandra." A girl with long, dark hair walked up to the stool and had the Hat placed on her head like all the others, yet unlike the others, the Hat paused before saying, "We need to balance the power. SLYTHERIN! May you bring back the pride to your house."
The Hat was removed and the next student called but my gaze remained on the girl. She walked calmly over to the Slytherin table and was welcomed with polite smiles and nods of acceptance just like all the students are. As she took her seat she seemed to feel my gaze and her eyes rose to meet mine. I felt a surge of power unlike any I had felt before, it wasn't colored by hateful emotions. In fact, it wasn't colored by any emotions at all, except maybe the barest hint of curiosity.
The rest of the meal passed without incident. Before dismissing everyone Dumbledore said a few words, probably reminding everyone of basic rules, welcoming the first years a final time and instructing them to follow the prefects to the dorms – I couldn't be sure, I'd stopped listening to what the Headmaster said during meal times while I was a student and never found it necessary to drop the habit. As soon as Dumbledore was finished I was out of my seat and exiting the Great Hall through the door behind the Head Table. I took the short cuts to the dungeons in order to get there before the group of prefect-led first years. I met them in the hall before the dormitory. "Miss Tera, you need to come with me." The girl looked up when she heard her name but didn't move to follow me. "Come along," I told her sharply as I led her into my classroom. "Do you know why you're here?" I asked her as she entered behind me.
She looked at me for a moment before surveying her surroundings. "Because you brought me here," she answered flatly. I sneered at her. She sighed. "No, sir, I don't know, actually."
That smart-mouth was so different from the serenity and innocent curiosity evident in her magic I was surprised – and disappointed. Someone as powerful as I believe her to be can't afford to be irrational or quick tempered. "You're here because you possess immense that no one your age has any business even trying to control. If I think for a moment you're unable to cope with, control or otherwise deal with this power I won't hesitate to lock it away, but I'm going to attempt to teach you how to control it before I go such extremes, is that understood?"
She nodded without looking at me. "Yes, sir," she said quietly.
"Look at me," I demanded.
She hesitated before looking me in the eye, and again I felt that surge of pure, yet serene power. "Dumbledore would turn you into a pawn for his 'greater good', and I wouldn't care if you had been placed into any other house," well, I would because in the wrong it's quite possible she could destroy the world as we know it, "but you were put in mine so it's now my job to make sure that that doesn't happen, do you understand?"
"Of course, so what do we do first?" she said with a smirk.
I could feel myself smirking, too. "I'm going to give you lessons to teach you Occlumency which will help you mask your power but until you have at least basic shield built you need to avoid making eye contact with Dumbledore, everyone if you can, but especially him. We're going to put a block in your magic," I raised my hand to cut off her protests. "It will be a semi-permanent block, adjustable so that over the years, as you learn, you can have more access to your magic until you've learned to control all of it." She nodded her understanding.
"Eventually I will teach you to mask your strength, so that when all of your magic is released you don't attract unwanted attention." It would be a large undertaking but worth it to keep a powerful Slytherin out of the lime-light.
"How long will it take? For me to learn all of this I mean?"
"That depends wholly on how much you apply yourself. For certain students it would be impossible for me to teach them these skills."
She blew out a sigh. "Great. When do we start?"
"We will establish the bind tonight, that is essential. Everything else can wait … until tomorrow."
It took her six months to master Occlumency, it turned out she had a natural affinity for it. By the end of the year she'd mastered masking to the point where – when she wanted to – she could be mistaken for a muggle.
Still, we continued our sessions, and for five years she stayed out of the Headmasters plans.