I have spent the past six years of my life developing Cassia from an awful mess into the character she is today. I've poured my heart and soul into this gal. I'd love it if you'd give her a chance.


Cassia Potter was not planning on spending her eleventh birthday in an old shack on a rock in the middle of the sea, but there wasn't much she could do about it. After the letters to she and Harry refused to stop their incessant arrival, Uncle Vernon decided to take the family on an impromptu vacation. Cassia just wished it wasn't somewhere that she could practically feel the hypothermia setting in.

After a rather lackluster dinner and a failed attempt by Uncle Vernon to make a fire, Cassia and Harry were given the most threadbare blanket and were told to sleep. Cassia wondered how they were expected to sleep when it seemed as if the raging storm outside was going to wipe their little shack from the face of the earth, but she didn't say anything. She simply curled up on the ground with Harry and listened to the Dursleys impossibly loud snores.

Harry's foot nudged her leg, and Cassia looked up from where she had her face buried in Harry's chest, trying to get warm. "What?" she mumbled, hoping she was close enough to his ear that he could hear her above the storm and the Dursleys snoring.

"It's five minutes to our birthday," Harry informed her with a grin. "We're going to be eleven, Cassie."

Cassia smiled at Harry, not nearly as excited as him. Birthdays were just another day for her. The closest thing she'd ever gotten to a real present was a spatula when she and Harry turned eight because the Dursleys decided it was time for her to learn to cook. Worst of all, their birthday was in summer, so Cassia couldn't even guilt-trip some form of sweet from one of the teachers for her and Harry.

While Harry practically buzzed with excitement beside her, Cassia closed her eyes and hoped she'd be able to get to sleep. If the shack was going to be blown away, Cassia would prefer to drown in her sleep, thank you very much.

Cassia was certain she was on the verge of sleep when a booming knock came at the door. She bolted upright at the bang, her arm flinging out in front of Harry. There was another knock and Dudley sat up from his place on the couch, looking even more confused than usual. Uncle Vernon came into the room holding a gun, yelling threats at whoever was knocking on the shack door. Harry shoved Cassia's arm out of the way.

The door fell off of its hinges, crashing into the floor with a loud bang. There was someone standing in the doorway, his figure illuminated by a flash of lightning outside. He was the largest man Cassia had ever seen, with a large bushy beard that was probably bigger than her if she curled up into a ball. Cassia could just barely make out the man's eyes amidst all the hair.

The man ducked his head down so he could fit into the shack and picked the door up, shoving it back onto its hinges. Cassia tensed, resisting the urge to move in front of Harry again.

"Couldn't make us a cup o' tea, could yeh? It's not been an easy journey."

Cassia stared at the man, the glare on her face being replaced with confusion. Those weren't the words she was expecting from a potential murderer giant.

The man ordered Dudley off of the couch. Cassia's cousin ran to hide behind Aunt Petunia, who was cowering behind Uncle Vernon. She wondered when her aunt had come in an exactly why she'd want to face the intruder but brushed it away. She was more focused on the giant who had just broke down the door.

Apparently the man was focused on the twins too, because as soon as he banished Dudley, he turned to them, beaming. "Harry and Cassie!" Cassia winced at the nickname. Only Harry got to call her that, and rarely. "You know, the las' time I saw yeh, yeh were little babies. Spitting images of yer father, the both if yeh. Course, Harry got his mother's eyes." The man laughed and Cassia scowled at him. Just who did this man think he was, talking about her parents?

Uncle Vernon seemed to be wondering the same thing, because he raised his gun at the large man again, telling him in a shaking voice, "I demand you leave at once!"

"Ah, shut up Dursley, yeh great prune," the man told Uncle Vernon. He reached over, pulled the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hand and bent the end up like it was clay.

Uncle Vernon let out a noise that resembled a deflating balloon and Cassia stepped slightly ahead of Harry. Adults, or anyone stronger than them, were never a good thing.

The giant smiled at Harry and Cassia as he turned away from Uncle Vernon. "Anyway, happy birthday to yeh. I made yeh summant, but I mighta sat on it. Should still taste good though," Out of one of the pockets of his massive coat, the man pulled out a box, holding it out to the,.

Harry took it before Cassia could reject it, opening it up to reveal a chocolate cake. Written across it in green icing was 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' then in smaller, more cramped writing, 'HARRY AND CASSY.' Cassia frowned at the cake, not understanding why they were given something so amazing from a stranger. She hadn't even had to try to convince the man to give it to them.

"Who are you?" Harry asked. Cassia flinched at his bluntness, praying the man wouldn't get mad.

"Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts," the man - Hagrid - told the twins in a rather proud voice. Cassia wondered if his title was supposed to mean something to her. "Now, what about that tea?"

Cassia shuffled to follow Hagrid's movements, remaining in front of Harry as the giant bent down in front of the fireplace. She knew Harry was glaring at her, but she didn't really care. Until she knew if this Hagrid was trustworthy, she wasn't letting her brother near him.

Hagrid moved away from the fireplace to show a fire flickering in the grate. Cassia and Harry stepped towards the sudden source of heat as Hagrid sat down on the couch. Cassia vaguely registered Hagrid pulling out a ridiculous assortment of items from his coat, but she was more focused on the chill being driven from her bones.

It wasn't until Hagrid started cooking sausages that Cassia realized something strange was happening. She edged away from the giant man's arm, tugging on Harry's sleeve "I don't like this," she mumbled in her twin's ear. "He's freaky."

"Cassie, he's not that bad," Harry protested. "I mean, he lit a fire for us and made us a cake for our birthday."

"You can't keep meat in your pockets," Cassia hissed. "It'll go bad and yet this man-"

"Here you are!" Hagrid interrupted. "All done." He handed Harry and Cassia a sausage each. Cassia eyed him nervously.

"Who are you?" she asked, reflecting Harry's previous question. She needed answers and she wasn't about to let Harry ask.

"Like I said, Hagrid, Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts," Hagrid answered.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid we don't know what Hogwarts is," Harry said.

"Yes, what is it?" Cassia added. Better she ask the question than Harry.

"Yeh don't know what Hogwarts is?" Hagrid asked, resembling someone who'd just been told their puppy was run over. Yeh mean, the Dursley's never told you what it was?"

"Sorry," Harry said.

"Yeh shouldn't be apologizing Harry," Hagrid said, annoyance seeping into his tone. "It's them who should be sorry. I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters, but I never expected this. Yeh never wondered where you got it all? Where Lily and James learned it?"

Cassia was even more curious now. She couldn't care less about her parents, but this was getting interesting.

"STOP!" Vernon bellowed. Apparently his fear didn't extend to this. That only made Cassia more interested. "Right this instance! I forbid you to tell them anything."

"You forbid me?" Hagrid said darkly, rising to his full height. Vernon squeaked and cowered away from him. Hagrid turned back to the twins and Cassia did her best to make herself look smaller. "Harry, Cassia, yer mum and dad, the two of yeh, yer magic. Wizards and witches, the lot of you. Dumbledore, he sent yeh with a letter explaining all of that, but I never thought yer aunt and uncle wouldn't tell yeh what you were."

"Magic?" Harry breathed out. "But that-that's impossible. We're ordinary. We can't be-we just can't."

Cassia stayed silent as Harry babbled on. Her head suddenly felt very full. She knew Hagrid was right. She and Harry had never been normal. It was only natural they were made of something greater than the Dursleys. No wonder they wanted to keep it hidden from the twins. They were scared of being undermined.

Cassia wondered how soon she'd be able to punish the Dursleys for their treatment of her and Harry.

"Here are yer letters. You should read them now," Hagrid said, handing over the letters. Cassia ripped hers open, eyes scanning over the letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: ALBUS DuMBLEDORE

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Ms. Potter,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins September 1. We await you owl no later than July 31. Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

"What does it mean by owl?" Harry asked, looking up from his letter. Hagrid's eyes lit up.

"Oh, that reminds me!"

He reached into his coat to pull out an owl. Cassia stared at it in amazement. How could an entire owl fit into the coat? And survive? Of course, the meat was still good and he did have all those kettles and things, and he was part of the world of magic. But what spell would you have to use to keep the pockets deep enough for all those things, and keep the owl alive, and the meat fresh? Did it come with the coat, or did Hagrid enchant it himself?

"I can hear your brain running," Harry whispered to Cassia as Hagrid released the owl into the storm. "We'll figure this out later, let's just go with it for now."

Cassia stuck her tongue out at him, but did her best to try to keep her mind from analyzing every little thing. She didn't want to miss anything because she was stuck in her own head.

"They can't go," Vernon said suddenly. All eyes turned to him. His face was slowly turning from white to red, a sure sign of his impending anger. Cassia slowly placed herself in front of Harry.

"I'd like teh see a muggle like you stop them," Hagrid snorted.

"Muggle?" Harry blurted out.

"Non-magical folk," Hagrid answered. "And this lot are the biggest muggles I've ever seen."

"They can't go," Vernon repeated. "We took them in, but we swore we'd stomp out their… freakishness." Cassia flinched, realizing everything she and Harry had faced from the Dursleys was because of their heritage, because of something they were born as.

"You knew?" Harry asked. Cassia couldn't bring herself to get upset with Harry's question. She was too angry at her relatives, who kept this from them, abused Harry for years for no reason at all.

"Of course we knew," Petunia spat. "How could we not? Oh, my sister got a letter just like that, and every summer she was home, turning teacups into rats and waving around that wand of hers. She was a freak, and I was the only one that saw that. Our parents were proud of her, of having something like that in the family. And then she met that Potter. They ran off and had you, and I knew you were going to be just as freakish, as abnormal, as them. And she went off and got herself blown up and we were stuck with you!"

"You said they died in a car crash," Cassia said quietly. She had blamed her parents for such a long time for being stupid enough to get into a car accident. But if they hadn't, that meant it might not have been their fault. She could have been angry with them for nothing.

"Lily and James Potter, killed in a car crash?" Hagrid yelled. Cassia shrunk in on herself, trying to become a smaller target. Neither twin had seen any good come from attracting the attention of large angry men. "How could Lily and James Potter have been killed in a car crash? The entire wizarding world knows their names, all the Potter's names, and you've been telling these kids their parents died in a car crash! It's an outrage!"

"What happened?" Harry asked. Cassia could hear the hunger for knowledge in his tone. He always cared more about their parents than she did. "To our parents, I mean."

"Oh, Harry," Hagrid sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. The anger seemed to drain out of him in a mere heartbeat. Cassia couldn't say that bothered her. "I dunno if I'm the right person teh be telling you. I thought you'd know already. I mean, yer famous, the two of yeh. But yeh can't go to Hogwarts not knowing. Yeh just can't. It wouldn't be right. I'll try my best to explain.

"It starts with a person named-well, I don't like teh say it, but I suppose you won't have heard it before. He was real bad. People are still scared teh say his name. He was-" Hagrid cut himself off, shuddering. "He was the worst you could possibly get."

"So, what was he called?" Harry asked.

"Maybe you could write it down?" Cassia suggested.

"Dunno how teh spell it," Hagrid admitted. "His name was… Voldemort. There, don't make me say it again. Anyway, he got power hungry and started looking fer followers and people… well, they joined him. Some of them were scared, some of them just wanted a bit of power. Because he was powerful, see. Those were dark times. Yeh couldn't trust anyone. And if yeh tried teh stand up teh him, he killed yeh.." Hagrid paused a moment, lost in thought. "Hogwarts was just about the only safe place left. Reckon You-Know-Who was too scared of Dumbledore to ever make a move on it.

"Yer mum and dad, they were right good witch and wizard. It's strange You-Know-Who never asked them to join him, but I reckon he knew they were too close to Dumbledore to want anything teh do with him.

"But one night, he showed up at yer house. No one knows why. But Halloween ten years ago, he showed up, and- and-" Hagrid cut himself off to blow his nose into a large handkerchief. "Sorry, I knew yer parents, nicer people yeh never met. But You-Know-Who, he, he killed em. And then, he tried teh kill the two of yeh, but the thing is, he failed. You two are the only people teh ever survive the killing curse. I mean, Harry, yeh never wondered where yer scar came from? I suppose Cassia got off lucky, without a mark, but Harry, yer cut is no ordinary thing. It's what happens when yer marked by a dangerous curse. He killed some of the greatest witches and wizards of that time, but you two, you survived, and yeh was only babies."

Cassia's heart squeezed in her chest. She always knew Harry was something special, that he was meant for greatness. And here was her proof. She grabbed Harry's hand in a scared sort of pride, and he looked up at her in shock. Cassia rarely initiated contact.

"I took yeh from yer house myself, brought yeh to this lot. But I never would've if I knew."

"Rubbish!" Vernon declared. Apparently he'd regained the ability to speak once again. Cassia moved back in front of Harry. "I admit, there's something odd about you two, but it's nothing a good beating shouldn't be able to take of you. Your parents were a bunch of freaks, and as far as I'm concerned, the world is much better off without them. They were asking for it, getting mixed up with all those wizarding types-"

"One more word," Hagrid thundered, leaping to his feet, jabbing his large pink umbrella in Vernon's direction. "One more word Dursley, I'm warning you."

Vernon flattened himself against the wall, apparently deciding that shutting up was the safest option to avoid being stabbed by an umbrella-wielding giant. Cassia would have laughed at that idea if she wasn't scared of being the next person to face Hagrid's wrath.

Hagrid sank back down into the couch. With a loud creak, the couch sagged to the floor, completely broken after so much abuse.

"So where did You-Know-Who go?" Harry asked. Cassia had to admit, she was curious about that too.

"Did he die?" Cassia asked,

"No one knows," Hagrid admitted. "He vanished that night. That's what makes yeh so famous. You-Know-Who was gettin' so powerful, and he just up and vanished.

"Some say he died, like how you asked, Cassia. Some say he's still out there, but a bunch of people came back over to our side. Came out of trances and such. They wouldn't have done that if he was still around, I reckon. But most people think that he's still out there, just lost his powers. Somethin' about the two of yeh stumped him, stripped away his power."

"But we can't be magic," Harry said. He looked to Cassia for support. "We just can't. We're ordinary."

Cassia frowned at him. Surely he would be prepared to accept his greatness. This meant they were special, they were meant for something. Why would he want to deny that?

"Yeh never made anything happen when yeh were scared or angry?" Hagrid asked. Harry's eyes lit up, and Cassia could tell he knew what Hagrid was talking about. Apparently Hagrid did too, as he beamed at the twins. "See? Harry and Cassia Potter, not magic. Yeh'll see, yeh'll be right famous at Hogwarts."

Cassia smiled at Harry. He blinked at her in shock, and smiled back. "We're magic," she whispered to him. "We're leaving."

"No," Vernon said loudly. "No, you are not going. They are going to Stonewall High and that's that. I've seen what's in those letters and they're not going."

"Well I'd like teh see you stop them," Hagrid snarled. "Harry and Cassia's names have been in the book since the second they were born! They are going to the finest wizarding school in the world and they'll be with youngsters of their own kind fer once. They'll be under the finest headmaster Hogwarts has ever seen, Albus Dumbledore-"

"I am not paying for some crackpot old fool to teach them magic tricks!"

Cassia shoved Harry back into the corner of the shack, getting him away from Hagrid as he let out a roar. He swung his umbrella over his head, pointing it at Dudley. A bright light and loud crack echoed around the room, and when Cassia could see again, Dudley was leaping around clutching at his bottom. A small, curly tail was poking out through his trousers.

Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley disappeared into the other room, slamming the door behind them. Hagrid sat down, smiling sheepishly. Cassia didn't let Harry get past her, knowing all too well that tempers didn't calm just like that. If anyone was going to be the target for the remaining rage, it was going to be Cassia, not Harry.

"Sorry, shouldn't have lost my temper like that," Hagrid admitted. "It didn't work the way it was supposed to anyways. He was supposed to turn into a pig, but I guess he was just too much like a pig to do much more. But, er, I'd be grateful if yeh didn't mention this to anyone at Hogwarts. Not supposed teh do magic, yeh see." He seemed to realize that Cassia was blocking Harry in the corner. "Well, what're yeh doing over there?"

Harry shoved pass Cassia. "Nothing."

"Yeh should probably get teh sleep," Hagrid said. He pulled off his overcoat, handing it to Harry who staggered slightly under the weight. "Yeh can use this, but it might wiggle a bit. Lots teh do tomorrow."

Harry settled down on the floor, lifting up the coat slightly so Cassia could lay down next to him. "We get to leave," he said softly. Cassia grinned.


If you maybe want to talk to me about my beautiful daughter, come find me at cassia-potter on tumblr!