Chapter 9
The Trip to Hogsmead

Harry, Ron, and Hermione did not go to visit Cassie until nearly a month later on a very dreary and cloudy Saturday, for they had no time. Hermione had pestered Harry and Ron to bring Cassie her homework, so it was with great regret that they brought down a large tower of papers to her bedside stand.

"Think she'll wake up today, mate?" asked Ron as they saw Cassie was still lying motionless in bed (Madam Yeal had promised she would tell them if Cassie woke up, but as she never contacted them, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were pretty sure that Cassie hadn't in the past week.)

"Wel-" Harry began, but was startled into silence by Cassie's eyes suddenly snapping open.

"Hey, you're up Cassie, that's great!" exclaimed Ron, but Harry and Hermione shushed him.

"Look at her eyes, something is wrong, go get Madam Yeal," whispered Hermione urgently to Harry.

Harry looked and noticed that flames seemed to be burning in Cassie's eyes, or at least reflecting in them. He nodded and quietly slipped into Madam Yeal's small office. When Madam Yeal was found, he quickly explained what had happened and they bustled out to Cassie's bed. By the time they had arrived, Cassie had already begun to make odd noises in the back of her throat. The fire in her eyes burned ever brighter and the tips of her hair, normally a honey brown, had turned whitish grey.

"Could you three please leave and visit her some other time? I believe now is not the best time to be around her," said Madam Yeal kindly.

"We should go and let Madam Yeal quietly help Cassie recover," commanded Hermione in a whisper and the three of them left.

The next day, a few of Cassie's classmates went to see her. Harry, Hermione, and Ron stayed behind to finish a couple essays, agreeing they would visit Cassie Monday, after lessons.

Sunday came and went, spent entirely on homework, and Monday dragged on slowly (things often did when you were terribly eager to do something, and Harry did want to check on Cassie's condition quite a bit) until at last, the bell rang. Harry hurriedly packed up his stuff, and along with Ron, he raced down the corridor to find Hermione.

It wasn't long before they spotted her and they changed course to the hospital wing. When they arrived, a curtain was drawn around Cassie's bed.

"You can't visit her currently, her illness appears to be contagious," said Madam Yeal sadly from behind them. "One of her classmates came to visit yesterday and stayed for a while. It wasn't long before they puked and fell ill as well."

"Oh, it's alright, we'll come back in a couple weeks then and see what happens," said Hermione hastily before Ron could respond grouchily.

"Thanks for understanding," said Madam Yeal with a smile, and they left.


Two weeks later, Hermione, Ron, and Harry did not have as much homework as usual. They decided two weeks would be a time long enough for Cassie to heal, so on Saturday, they once more headed to visit Cassie. The moment they entered though, they spotted Madam Yeal.

"I'm so sorry, I moved her to St. Mungo's because she was just so ill and stranger and stranger things kept happening. Last night, I woke up to her bucking in her bed and she had a horrible fever," Madam Yeal informed them miserably.

"It's fine," replied Harry.

"Well, I'll tell you immediately when she gets back!" said Madam Yeal considerably brighter.

"Sure," the three of them replied before heading out.

"Well then, I saw on the notice board we were having a trip to Hogsmead tomorrow," said Hermione. "I didn't tell you because I wasn't sure if we could go, you know, maybe we should stay here with Cassie. But if she isn't here, why not the three of us go all together? We don't need permission anymore because we are adults now, in the wizarding world, no matter how you look at it."

"We still have trips to Hogsmead!?" exclaimed Ron excitedly.

"Yeah, I just noticed the other day. They say we only go to Hogsmead twice a year; once a few months into the school year, and once a month before school ends. We get to go to 'Spiders-Cider' during Halloween once we're here for two years. And then the rest of the time we go to a place called Pigsmeadow, it's designed after Hogsmead so you'll see they are very similar," Hermione explained.

"Let's go tomorrow and maybe buy Cassie a get-well gift," suggested Harry.

The three of them agreed to that plan and headed to the lake to study.

Sunday came and they were transported via the school's subway to Hogsmead, which was busy indeed. Ron, Harry, and Hermione parted their separate ways and agreed to meet up in two hours at the Three Broomsticks.

Harry wondered past many shops and bought some new quills and ink bottles. He especially adored the large, sleek eagle feather quill he found that was sort of a bronze-ish color and quickly purchased it. As he passed some more stores, he bought a small box of chocolate frogs for Cassie (he had noticed how much she liked to eat them) and carefully carried it around with him the rest of the trip. When he passed by a bookstore, he peered in and saw Hermione looking around thoughtfully near the back. Stifling a laugh, Harry continued on and bought Hedwig the Second some owl treats. He and Ginny had continued to exchange letters back and forth.

At long last, two hours were up and Harry rejoined Hermione and Ron back at the Three Broomsticks. They ordered three cans of butterbeer and sat drinking cheerfully. They discussed all that had happened during their two hours and it turned out Hermione had spent her whole entire time examining books in different stores.

Harry then told his tale of spotting Hermione and of his shopping before proudly presenting his eagle quill feather and putting it safely back into its bag.

Ron went next, and he turned out to have had by far the most interesting time. He had spotted Malfoy shopping around and they had talked for a while (they were now on rather good terms.)

It started snowing after that, but Hermione and Ron still wanted to look around some more, so they dashed into stores. When everyone had shopped enough, Harry bought them each a large lollipop and they headed back to N.E.X.T.

Dinner was delightfully cheerful and merry as everyone exchanged stories of what they had done that day, for usually this did not happen very often. People laughed at each other's days or beamed with pleasure at presents that they had been bought.

Bedtime seemed to approach much to soon, and before Harry knew it, he was reluctantly waving goodbye to Hermione to go off to sleep.

In bed and reflecting upon the day, Harry got up again and wrote another letter to Ginny before making a simple card for Cassie. He sent Cassie's off with a school owl and Ginny's with Hedwig the Second. Feeling able to sleep at last, Harry headed back to his bed and climbed in.

Before he knew it, Harry was fast asleep.