Chapter 1
It was the middle of Harry's third year at Hogwarts. Well, not exactly the middle of the year, it was about two weeks from Christmas break. News had spread of a transfer student who would be arriving that night. It was the first time in a hundred years for any school to have a transfer student.
"So what do you think the new kid will be like, Harry?" Ron questioned during their History of Magic class.
"I'm just hoping it isn't another one like Malfoy." Harry groused. He looked at Hermoine who, as usual, was taking notes on Professor Binns lectures. "Do you know anything?"
"Actually, I've been talking to Professor McGonagall, and she says it's a girl from the American school. Apparently, she has fighting problems because of some stupid family thing." Hermoine said not giving her quill a rest. "I heard she has top marks on almost everything though."
"What doesn't she have top marks on?" Harry asked.
"Muggle Studies, but the American school has an awful teacher for that subject." Hermoine informed them.
"Great. We get to have another Hermoine to deal with." Ron whispered to Harry. Harry didn't answer him when the bell interrupted him. "It's dinner! That means we'll be meeting the new kid soon!" Ron exclaimed.
"Do you know her name?" Harry asked turning back to Hermoine.
"No. I don't know everything." Hermoine said.
"Cateye." Came a voice they knew all too well. They all turned to see Malfoy with his usual two goons, Crabbe and Goyle.
"Excuse me?" Hermoine asked.
"Her name's Cateye." Malfoy repeated gleaming. "My dad's an old friend of her Father. She's one of the few pure-bloods left." He gave a quick sneer at Hermoine. "She's wild that one, and she has excellent magical abilities. Believe it or not she can even fight like a muggle."
"Why're you telling us?" Harry asked sharply. He knew that Malfoy wasn't the type to give anyone information. Especially not to him.
"I just thought you would like to know who my girlfriend is, that's all." Malfoy said walking off with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels.
"Anyone who has connections to the Malfoys and would even consider going out with him has to be nuts." Ron said.
"I agree." Harry said as they finally entered the Dining Hall where Fred and George were laughing about something.
"What are you two laughing about?" Ron asked. "Couldn't be anything good, I suspect."
"Us?" Fred asked innocently. "Why nothing at all… you just might want to watch Malfoy over there."
"What did you do?" Hermoine asked.
"Well, we noticed that he always sits in the exact same seat in the Dining Hall." George informed them.
"So?" Harry asked.
"We planted dungbombs under his seat." Fred said, at that same moment they exploded, and Malfoy was covered from head to toe. In result, the entire hall burst into laughter.
"See?" George asked. "Nothing at all."
A girl stood outside the doors to a packed Dining Hall. She had black hair that was adorned with red highlights. Her eyes were green and observed her surroundings. She was wearing the school uniform, but she also wore wristbands, fishnets, studs, and army boots. Her most noticing feature was her coarse look which looked more severe because of her dark make-up.
The girl turned to Filch, who was eyeing her evilly. "You know what? You seem like a down right good fellow. You wouldn't happen to have a bit of candy, would you?"
"No." Filch answered sharply.
"What's with the severe attitude?" She asked. When Filch didn't answer she crouched down to look at Mrs. Norris. "Hello, Kitty. What might your name be?"
"Her name's Mrs. Norris." Filch answered.
"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Mrs. Norris. I am Jade Cateye." She reached out her hand to pet Mrs. Norris, and surprisingly the cat rubbed against it.
"You're the first person I've ever seen her do that to." Filch said dumbstruck.
"You treat them with respect, and they will in turn respect you." Jade chimed. Then she heard the voice of Dumbledore silence the sound of students. "As you all know, we have a new student." He said. "She has come to us from Lake Julian, the American school. I expect that she will receive the same courtesy that all of you have received. Now would you please welcome Miss Jade Cateye."
Jade opened the doors to an uproar of applause, which was soon silenced as she walked down the aisle between Gryffindor and Slytherin tables. The pure silence was only broken by Professor Dumbledore and Malfoy's applause. "Welcome, Jade, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." He said as she reached the front of the dining hall. "Are you ready to be selected into your appropriate house?"
"Yes sir." Jade answered. "And I must say that it is an honor to be able to join into this fine group of people here at Hogwarts."
"Harry." Ron whispered. "Look at Malfoy." He said gesturing over his shoulder to a mesmerized Malfoy. The only thing he was doing was staring at Jade like a lovesick puppy dog.
"That's just sick." Harry said. "I would hate to see how their kids would turn out." He then shuddered at the thought of more evil students that would attend Hogwarts in the future.
"Will you two shut up!" Hermoine hissed at them. "The Sorting Hat is going to decide which house she goes into!"
Everyone stared as Professor McGonagall carried out the Sorting hat along with the usual stool. Jade stared at it when it was placed in front of her. "This thing is supposed to decide where I go?" Jade asked. "How can it do that when it isn't even alive?" Then the Sorting Hat broke into song.
In this time of new,
As everything becomes older
We say hello to a new face
Another one to greet.
I can remember many years ago,
One thousand to exact,
Another child was brought to me
Who came from others
"Welcome to these blessed halls,"
I did say then to her.
"You are the first to know
Where two great schools stand."
And so she sat upon this seat,
And I chose which was best.
Which house would now suit you?
I will now decide.
The school applauded when its song finished. "Please sit down and place the hat upon your head." Dumbledore said. Jade sat according to the instructions and placed the hat on her head.
"I haven't had this hard of a decision in a long time." The hat said. "You have the brains for Ravenclaw, yes you do. Yet I see the will for power which is well suited for Slytherin. Hufflepuff would be too boring for you. Gryffindor… you wish for power so you can stand up to all your foes. Very noble indeed, but will you choose to use that power appropriately…. Very well. I choose…. Gryffindor!" The hat bellowed, but this time Gryffindor house didn't break into applause.
Jade stood up and walked between the two tables to where Ron sat. "Do you mind if I sit there?" She asked. Ron, who was scared out of his wits, scooted closer to Harry. "Could someone please introduce me to everyone?"
George snapped to the occasion. "I am George Weasly, and this is my brother Fred." Fred waved to her. "That is my other brother beside you. His name is Ron. Our sister, Ginny." Ginny gave a weak smile. "Hermoine Granger the know-it-all." Hermoine shot him a dirty look. "Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and Harry Potter." He then stared up at the front of the table. "And that boy way up there with the really big head, is Percy. He's the head boy, and no matter how much I hate to say it, he is in fact, our brother."
"It is very nice to meet all of you." She said. Then a note landed in front of her. She opened it and read, "You did that on purpose! Just wait until I tell my father! Signed Draco Malfoy." She laughed at this and spoke as she wrote him back. "You're right I did do that on purpose. I don't give a damn what your father says so go ahead and tell him, you shithead. With all hate in the world, Jade Cateye." She folded the paper and sent it back to Malfoy.
"He's such a shithead." She said to the group.
Jade finished her dinner quickly. The fact that she knew Malfoy was staring at the back of her head made her just a little self-conscious. Within a few minutes Harry, Ron and Hermoine were also done, so they agreed to show her where the dormitory was. They had just gotten five feet down the hall when Malfoy decided the grace them with his presence again.
"Hello, Cateye. It is very nice to see you again." Malfoy said in a fake sophisticated voice.
"The feeling is not mutual." Jade said cruelly and she led him ten more feet down the hallway, making sure to give Crabbe and Goyle an evil look to ensure that they wouldn't follow. "You think you can just control me like some little puppet? Well guess what? You can't, because you are an incompetent wimp who has to have trolls follow him around to keep himself safe. And to top this all off, you have to have your daddy do everything for you. I have granted you the grace of not humiliating you in front of your enemies, but next time you will never be able to show your face in this school again."
Farther down the hall Ron got a look at Malfoy's face, and burst into fits of laughter.
"Here is a little clue for you Draco." Jade continued. "All those hundreds of letters you sent me while I was in America… Did you ever notice I never wrote back? Guess what? I didn't even read them. The moment I saw your family seal I shredded them." And with that she gestured for Harry, Ron and Hermoine to lead her to the Common Room.
"Malfoy looked thunderstruck." Harry said.
"Finally something hit that pea brain of his." Jade said angrily.
"You are my HERO!" Ron said. "I've been waiting so long for him to get what he deserves, but everyone is afraid of his father's influence at the Ministry of Magic."
"I've met his father." Jade said. "He really isn't that tough of a guy. I remember when I was a little kid," She gave a small chuckle. "He was teaching me how to duel, and my first try at it I knocked him on his ass." She sighed. "That was before the family became distant. Then there was another time that Lucius had to pay Draco to put some pants on when he was a little toddler."
"Do you really think we need to know all of this?" Hermoine asked. "I mean… that is sort of private."
"I don't care." Ron said eagerly. "If you don't want to hear it you can cover your ears or something, but I like blackmail."
"Then another time Draco fell into a ten-foot-deep hole that was made because someone was trying to make a well. You should have seen his father! He was running around trying to find someone who could help him." She laughed again. "They ended up having to call in aurors, because Lucius insisted that only trained professionals save his son. He ended up in St. Mungos because the well was dry."
"Who knew he was human?" Harry asked. "He acts so high and mighty all the time that you'd never think that kind of stuff would happen to him."
"He acts that way because of all of that stuff." Jade informed them. "He really has only done one thing that wasn't very cowardly."
"What was that?" Ron asked.
"I don't really like to speak… well of Draco." Jade said.
"We're here." Hermoine said at the portrait of the fat lady. "Thoth." She said. Jade went in first and was blinded for a moment as Colin Creevy took a picture of her.
"What is it like to be related to…" But he was cut short as Jade slammed him up against a wall.
"What are you doing!" Hermoine exclaimed.
"Teaching him something very important." Jade said then turned back to Colin. "I have tried very hard to make sure that no one finds out about that, and I am not going to let some little brat like you ruin all of that. If you want to tell someone tell Professor Dumbledore so he can give you a nice little piece of parchment to complete your stay here at Hogwarts." She gave him a fake smile, released him, and sat down in front of the fire.
"What don't you want people to find out about?" Harry asked.
"Lineage." Jade stated. "People would be too afraid of me… they would… suspect things."
"Who? Malfoy?" Hermoine asked. "You said 'before the family became distant' while you were talking about Malfoy."
"No not them." Jade said. "But he is related to the person also. He doesn't care if people know… he just doesn't say anything because Lucius doesn't want anyone to know."
"Must be really bad then." Ron said.
"Is it true?" Hermoine asked.
"What true? It better not be about lineage." Jade said.
"No it isn't. I just wanted to know if you really are an animagus." Hermoine asked.
"Yes I am." Jade said. "I turn into a black cat. I have ever since I was six. That's actually a tradition of mine. I only partially transform on Hallows Eve and have the cat ears and the tail."
"Is that even possible?" Hermoine asked.
"Yeah. Don't you ever only partially transform something in Transfigurations class?" Jade asked. "Well it is the same basic principle."
"Then show us." Hermoine dared. "Show us."
"Wait until things quiet down more… Wait for the camera to leave." She said. They then sat there watching as the fire slowly started to become smaller. Finally they were the only ones in the room.
"Just a question." Harry said. "Why is it you don't want anyone else to see this?" He asked.
"Because I don't want people to suspect anything. I sometimes use my form to go get food and other things of the sort." Jade said. "Ever wonder why my form is completely black?" Jade asked the three and when they didn't reply she said, "How many kids bring black cats to school?" She asked.
"Very many." Hermoine said. "About fifty pure black cats are in this school alone. Then there are the black cats that kids and families keep at home, and that's only considering London." She said. "I guess it would be a clever disguise."
"Exactly." Jade said. "Slytherin house members have black cats also. So if I ever felt the need to give Malfoy a nice makeover while he was asleep…" She then cleared her throat. "How about I just transform now?" And with that two cat ears appeared on her head and she stood to reveal a long, black, furry tail. "Ain't it cute?" She said childishly.
"That is bloody awesome." Ron said. "Could you teach me?" He asked.
"It's hard to teach…" Jade said. "It usually takes months to learn how to properly transform. If you really want to learn I would talk to Professor McGonagall. I swear she really is the best teacher you could have for learning that."
"How many people are able to become animaguses?" Harry asked.
"It is a very rare ability." Hermoine said. "And after that, the Ministry of Magic keeps things highly regulated."
"Well, I believe we should head off to bed." Jade suggested.
"I'll show you to our dormitory." Hermoine said standing up and walking up the staircase. "See you two tomorrow." The girls said together.
"You too." Harry and Ron answered.
Hermoine then opened the door to the dormitory. It was a smaller room with only two beds. "Do you stay here alone?" Jade asked.
"Usually." Hermoine answered. "Sometimes Ginny comes to visit."
"Well now I'm living with you so don't try to be such a hermit." Jade said with a smile. She smiled happily seeing that all of her belongings were already waiting for her. She dearched around for her prized possesion. Finally, she found it, and pulled the solid-body electric guitar out of it's case. It's deep red color shone as she examined it for any type of damage. She didn't want her quarter-of-a-million dollar baby damaged. She smiled happily when she didn't find a scratched on its surface.
"Is that yours?" Hermoine asked.
"Yup. This is my baby." She said happily. "Well, I'm gonna go to bed" She then changed into her pajamas, tucked under the covers and fell almost immediately asleep.