Chapter Ten: The Lonely Hufflepuff

Casey stared up at the near full moon, as he lay awake in the hospital wing. Being burnt by Fire Berry Vines hurts, a lot, and those very burns still felt warm against his skin. It was the reason after all, why he couldn't get to sleep tonight. The mental image of a white jet of magic hitting him square in the chest, and then just a world of pain, was just too prevalent.

Lizza was here when he was brought in by Professor Longbottom the other day, but due to the pain of the burns, he passed out pretty quickly, and slept straight through the night. He had gotten to see Lizza this morning when he woke, but it was short lived, as Madam Pomfrey had dismissed her from the Hospital wing, and sent her to class, leaving him alone once again.

Casey was used to being alone. He had spent most of his life as, 'that strange kid', after all, but now that he had some worth wild friends, he actually felt lonely that they weren't around.

"Can't sleep either?" A voiced whispered beside him.

Painfully rolling onto his side, Casey turned over to see his potions partner Noah, also lying on his side, looking a little pale.

"Yeah, dam burns are keeping me up." Casey complained. "Why can't you sleep?"

"Still feel pretty lousy, I was sick last night, still feels like I'm about to throw up every few minutes."

"Sounds like crap."

"Yeah it is."

"So what happened down at the cabbage patch yesterday?" Noah questioned. "I overheard Madam Pomfrey saying you go burnt or something?"

"A stray curse knocked me into the Fire Berry Vines." Casey replied.

"Ouch! I've been burnt by those Vines before, that's gotta suck. Who cursed you?"

"I think my best friend did." Casey said, trying to recall the memory.

"Amber knocked you into the vines!? What'd did you do to piss her off." Noah asked surprised.

"Nothing, I think she was fighting with Melanie at the time. Honestly I don't know what happened. It's all kind of a blur."

"Melanie is a bit of you know…. Female dog…. So that figures." Casey chuckled at Noah's attempt not to swear. "Has Amber at least come to see how you're going?"

"No she hasn't. I think she might be avoiding me."

"Why though? That makes no sense," Noah said confused, "If I hurt my best friend, I'd want to see them the first chance I got, you know, to apologies."

"Same, that's why it's so out of character for her."

"Girls, who can understand them." Noah shrugged as best he could whilst lying down.

"Yeah," Casey whispered, "I'm going to try and sleep now Noah. 'Night."

"I should as well. 'Night."

Casey was finally able to leave the hospital wing a few days later, he was still a bit sore, but he was bored enough that the prospect of class enticed him.

What he was most looking forward to however, was catching up with Amber and Lizza. Neither of them had swung by the infirmary at any point during his stay, and he desperately wanted to grill them as to why. The theory of them avoiding him, was now a very high possibility.

When Casey turned the corner into his Transfiguration class, he was greeted by a very surprised Amber. He was about to sit down next to her, when she quickly changed seats and sat next to Derek. It was quite well known that Amber hated Derek, so Casey's surprise matched Amber's. As far as he knew, Derek had a crush on her, so it was just painful to watch her uncomfortably squirm next to him. It was obvious Amber wasn't interested.

And so began the week long game of tag. Casey would try to corner Amber to talk to her, and Amber would do everything she could to avoid him. Casey particularly hated it when Amber ran into her dormitory; to him it felt like cheating. Lizza became so fed up with what was happening between her two friends, that she refused to talk to either of them, until they quote: "Sorted out what you both have stuck up your shit holes."

It was just after lunch on Saturday, when Casey finally managed to gain some ground. Casey had seen Amber go into the bathroom on the 3rd floor, and decided to wait for her to come out.

"Amber can we please talk." Casey pleaded with his friend, when she exited the bathroom. Amber stood frozen for a moment, before the rest of her caught up.

"Sorry Casey, I got practice with Professor Hackle." Amber blurted out, and then proceeded to pace down the corridor.

"Amber, you practice with Professor Hackle on Friday's, today is Saturday. Plus, you're going in the complete opposite direction of the Muggle studies classroom."

"No I'm not." Amber said picking up her pace.

"Yes you are, now won't you please talk to me." Casey grabbed Amber's arm to try and slow her down, only for her to twist out of it.

With no other option, Casey quickly looked around to make sure no one was looking. He then tried his next stupid idea.

"Locomotor Wibbly." The curse connected with Amber, with the same precision as the one Raylea had hit him with earlier in the year.

Amber had instinctively stopped walking when she heard someone cast a spell, and was surprised to find out, that not only was she the target, but Casey had casted the curse.

"What the? When did you learnt how to cast the Jelly-Legs curse?" Amber said astonished, right before she realised that he had done. "Wait. YOU CURSED ME?!"

"I.… Well yes I did, but-"Casey tried to reply. But before he could finish, Amber started trying to slap him from her position on the floor, prompting Casey to move back, lest he suffer from her tirade.

"Break the curse now! Or I'm not going to talk to you. I know you know the counter curse." Amber folded her arms and refused to look Casey in the eyes.

"Sorry, here. Locomotor Mobilius." Amber had helped Casey for two weeks after their first incident with Melanie and Raylea, to learn the Jelly-Legs counter curse. He swore he wouldn't be vulnerable like that again.

What Amber didn't know though, was after he learnt the counter curse, he spent a further two weeks learning the actual curse as well. Figuring if he could already break the curse on someone, it couldn't hurt to know how to cast it as well.

Amber was still fuming once she got up and dusted herself off. "So when did you learn that?"

The words practically dripped out of her mouth.

"I started learning it after I figured out how to break the curse. I figured it would be useful in case we ran into Melanie and Raylea again. Fat load of good it did me that day in Herbology though."

"I see," The mention of what happened in the dual Herbology and Defence against the Dark Arts class, took a lot of the wind out of Amber's sails. "Sorry for accidentally cursing you a couple of weeks ago."

"Apology accepted, Ember." Casey said with a little smirk.

"Okay, I deserved that one."

Casey grinned yes. "What happened though? And why have you been avoiding me?"

"It's silly really." Amber folded her arms and looked away.

"Can you tell me? Please. It's sucked not having my best friend around."

"Okay," Amber sighed. "Well I kind of tried to stop Melanie from pricking you with an Aculee Jinx, and things sort of just… escalated. We struggled for a bit, then her wand sort of just let out this… random curse and knocked you into the Fire Berry Vines, it was weird."

"Honestly I would have preferred the Jinx. Those Vines really hurt."

"Well I know that now." Amber gave Casey a nudge in reply.

"But why did you start avoiding me?"

"I don't know." Amber said unconvincingly. "I guess. I felt like if I wasn't around, you wouldn't get hurt anymore. Whenever you get hurt or bullied, it's because of something I've done, I just make everything worse."

Tears formed in Amber's eyes and she leaned against the wall for support. Casey leant up beside her.

"Hey I don't need your help to get into trouble." It was the truth; trouble had a tendency to find him. "Believe me, way more stuff happens when you're not around. That's generally when everyone tries to have a go at me. Alone I'm an easier target, plus nobody wants to mess with Liz."

Tears now threatened to spill from Casey's eyes, when he thought about all the mean pranks, that he had to endure, since he had started at Hogwarts.

"Now you got me going" The boy said tearily.

"Well Liz and I will make sure you always have a bodyguard with you." Amber gave Casey a warm smile. "Friends again?"

"We always were."

Casey felt pretty good about making up with Amber. It was nice to have his best friend back. Walking back into the Common Room, Lizza saw them and threw her hands into the air.

"It's about bloody time." The relief in her voice was golden.

The 3 of them for the first time in weeks, got their books out, and studied together in the Common Room, with Amber leading the charge, tutoring them in practically every subject. When the Common Room door opened just before 10 (to let the last few students in before curfew), the trio broke up their study session due to the noise, and started off to their dormitories.

"Sucks that we can't room together." Amber said not for the first time.

"Unfortunately with CJ being a bloke, that's going to be a tad hard while we're at Hogwarts." Lizza clarified.

"We could go stay in the boys dorms." Casey couldn't work out Amber's obsession with the boy's dormitories.

"Yeah… Nah, that ain't going to happen," Lizza shooting the idea down quickly.

"What about Polyjuice potion? We could make him look one of us, then bring him to our room." Ambers comment made Casey groan.

"I don't think that'd work Amber, Polyjuice Potion only changes you on the outside, it doesn't change what's on the inside. Besides, Hogwarts been around for centuries, ya really think someone hasn't tried that already?"

"I suppose." Amber said defeated, at the same time relieving Casey. "I wonder if there is a potion that makes someone change gender."

"Probably, I mean magic can do some pretty crazy things already. Don't see why changing genders would be all that hard considering."

"I ahhhh… think I'm going to go to bed now girls." Casey supplied a fake yawn that turned real half way through.

"Oh you love it," Amber teased before she grabbed Lizza, and headed towards their dormitory. "Night CJ."

Casey always thought that after his Hogwarts letter, nothing else could change his life quite as profoundly. The next morning would call that bet, and then raise it.

When Casey woke the next day, he noticed that none of the other 1st year boys were in the dormitory, he didn't think anything of it at first, as he had slept in; it was Sunday after all.

But after he showered and got dressed, he noticed that no one else had re-entered the room, and it was quiet, too quiet. Stowing his wand in the back pocket of his jeans, Casey cautiously looked around the room, looking for bobby traps. Just when he was feeling confident that everything was safe, he opened his dormitory door, and stepped forward through the threshold.

Only for 2 pairs of hands to grab him. Casey's resulting scream was surprisingly loud.

"God CJ," Paul said trying to cover his ears, in addition to grabbing Casey. "You scream like a girl."

"Get off me guys," Casey snapped. He breaking free of the hold they had him in to no avail. "Let me go."

"Oh we'll let you go in a second, after we've had a little fun." Oakley jibed.

Oakley Bones was the defacto leader, of the group of the 1st year Hufflepuff boys that also included, Paul Peterson, Zack Diver, and Vince O' Flaherty. They were as thick as thieves, and delighted in tormenting Casey for some reason.

They never hurt Casey physically. Humiliate him with finally crafted pranks, yes, but physically hurting him was where they drew the line. In fact, Bones actually gave Amber a verbal beat down, for sending their fellow Hufflepuff to Hospital wing; Casey was quite shocked when he heard that one after returning. As far as they were concerned, the only ones allowed to mess with Casey, were them.

"When we came in last night, I overheard an interesting conversation between you and your friends." The other boys snickered at Oakley's comment. "Seems Amber was talking about giving you a Poly-Juice potion, to sneak you into the girls dormitories. Well we thought, that being such good friends, we'd help you."

Casey's blood went cold, when they through walked the round door, into nearly empty Common Room.

"G…Guys, come on; I really don't want to be drenched in Vinegar."

"Think of it like a shower." Vince laughed.

"I've already had one." Casey panicked. "What if someone will sees us, the… the girls won't be happy."

"It's a Hogsmeade weekend, practically all of the 3rd years and up, have left the Castle." Nick's grin grew wider and wider as he talked.

"And I don't think the two 2nd years in here, will mind if we have a bit of fun." Oakley asked the two 2nd year boys, who were catching up on some homework, before Quidditch practice.

"So long as you clean up after yourselves and don't hurt him, I don't care." Zander Stump responded. Frank Truman just shrugged.

"See," Oakley replied. "We'll even mop up the mess, if you play along."

"No way in hell I'm going to co-operate." Casey defied. "You'll have to push me through."

"Oh, we intended to." Nick confirmed. He then opened the door to the girl's dormitories.

Casey desperately tried to break free of the boys hold, but 4 on 1 wasn't exactly a fair fight. He made one last ditch effort and tried to reach for his wand, but to his horror, his back pocket was empty. Before Casey could think of a new strategy, Vince and Paul pushed him hard in the back, sending him careening through the doorway.

Casey braced himself for the oncoming wave of Vinegar, but instead, the momentum of the push made him trip forward and caused him to land, a couple of meters beyond the threshold. Turning around onto his back, Casey sat up, and looked up at dumbstruck faces of his antagonist's.

He then realised what had just happened.

What appeared to happen in slow motion, Casey saw Paul mouth the words 'what the hell', and then take a cursory step forward through the doorway. The moment his foot touched the other side, a trap door that Casey didn't even know existed, opened above his head, and blasted out a torrent of vinegar. The force was so powerful, that it knocked Paul onto his backside, and sent him sliding into the Common Room.

The noise of the vat opening, and the proceeding Caterwauling Charm, was loud enough to alert all the remaining members of Hufflepuff house. Casey heard doors open up behind him, so he turned, and saw the terribly confused faces of Amber and Lizza. A few girls from other year levels, also stood around with mouths gaping.

Everyone who came out of their rooms, just stared at the scene before them; boys from the common room, and girls from their hallway. Piece by piece, the onlookers started to put things together.

Emotions overwhelmed Casey. His thoughts moved so fast that, he became confused, and couldn't think how to react. Should he cry, should he burst out in laughter, should she start yelling?

Casey caught his internal monologue. 'Should, she, start yelling?'

"Shit." Casey uttered. His fight or flight reflex kicked into high gear, and right now, it was telling him flight.

Before anyone could stop him, Casey leapt to his feet and bolted towards the Common Room door; surprisingly not slipping on the vinegar as he went. Amber and Lizza tried calling out to him, but their cries fell on deaf ears.

Running out of the Common Room, Casey had no idea where his legs were carrying him. He wandered the castle for hours, taking him as high as the astronomy tower, and as far Quidditch pitch. Many students tried to ask him what was wrong, but he just ignored them and kept walking.

His thoughts kept revolving around the scene in the hallway. Being pushed, not being ejected, and then his friend's stunned faces.

Why? Why now? This wasn't how she wanted this secret to be revealed. 'He', 'She', Casey didn't know what pronoun to use anymore. Their world had been shattered earlier this morning.

In the end, Casey found themselves sitting alone, in the school boat house, with their knees brought up to their chest; their nails dug painfully into their arms.

"CJ? You in here?" Amber's soft voice caught Casey off guard. They turned and looked at her, but didn't answer. "Oh, Casey."

Casey watched as their best friend came and sat down beside them; enveloping them in a long hug. Any other day this action would have been welcomed, but today, Casey just felt hollow.

The two sat in silence for a while, neither wanting to be the first one to say anything. Eventually though, Amber's patience wore out.

"Want to talk about it?" Amber delicately asked.

Casey shook their head. They sat in silence for a little longer.

"You know, no matter what you are, you'll still be my best friend CJ." For all of Amber's tactlessness, sometimes, she could say the right thing at the right time.

"Thanks Amber." Casey whispered back.

"Talk to me CJ." Amber squeezed her friend's hand. "We're best friends. If we can get over me sending you to the hospital wing, we can get over this. You can trust me."

"I don't even know where to start," Casey mumbled. "You'll think I'm a weird freak."

"CJ, were both…. able to use Magic. I mean take yesterday for instance, we both levitated feathers across the room," Casey raised an eyebrow. "Okay, you, managed to levitate a feather across the room. Of course you're a weird freak. I'm a weird freak; everyone in this school is a weird freak."

"Not exactly making me feel better here Amber."

"Look, my point is, as far as the world's concerned, we're weird. So who cares what they think? If they have an issue with us being weird, we can just hex them." This at the very least earned a half chuckle. "There's nothing you can say that's going to make me think any less of you. You're my best friend remember, how many times am I going to have to say that before you get it."

It wasn't until after Amber had finished making her point, that Casey realised she had avoided using any pronouns in reference to them.

"Okay I'll tell you, but I have a feeling you already know what's up." Casey sighed.

"It's about what happened this morning, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Let me know if I get this wrong. But I'm guessing, being pushed into the girl's dorm, and then watching that dumbass Peterson get drenched in vinegar – and you not getting drenched yourself - made you realise..." Amber pausing, not sure if she should continue. "...that you wished you were a girl?"

Casey shamefully nodded. "Now you're going to think I'm weird."

Amber fed up with her friends constant self-attacking, clipped Casey across the back of the head. "Idiot! Have you not being listening to what I've been saying. I don't care if you're weird. Boy, Girl. Whatever! You're still going to be my best friend."

"Sorry, I guess I've been a little whingey." Casey conceded.

"A little?"

"Okay a lot."

Silence reigned once again. The conversation wasn't over - Casey could feel that - but things just became a little awkward. Amber uncomfortably sat next to them, and Casey wasn't sure what to say next, or how they were going to say it if they could. Fortunately, Amber was good with dealing with elephants in the room, awkwardness be damned.

"So…. You want to be a girl." Amber clicked her heels against the box they were sitting on.

"Yeah, but I don't even know where to start with that. Everything this morning just made things… more complicated. I don't even know what I am anymore."

"Well if this morning is anything to go by, I think you already know the answer to that question." Amber said bluntly.

"What do you mean?" Casey said, confusion rising.

"Well, remember what Liz said last night about Polyjuice potions."

"Yeah, what about it?"

Amber sighed in frustration. "Remember how she said even if you take the potion. it doesn't change what you are on the inside. The Castle will still see that deep down you're a boy. and kick you out. If that's true, then that also means the opposite is true."

"And…"

"And… this morning you got pushed into the girl's dorm, and the Castle didn't kick you out."

It was then that Casey got it. Even though Casey still sort of looked like a boy, when Peter and Vince pushed them through the doorway, the Castle saw deep down what Casey truly was, and decided, not to kick them out.

The Castle saw what Casey felt.

It saw her as a girl.

"I guess that makes sense as to why there's three beds in our dormitory." Amber mused, snapping Casey out of her thoughts.

"What?"

"Well I always thought it was weird, that our dorm had 3 beds in it, even though it was only Liz and I sleeping in there. Lizza always thought it was just a spare, but I always wondered you know?"

Casey was a little surprised to hear that. She was half expecting Amber to scream for joy when she realised that Casey could now room with them. After all, Amber had been going on about it since they were sorted into Hufflepuff. But now, Amber just seemed relaxed with it, like it was a certainty, and wasn't worth worrying about.

"How long have you wondered? You know, that I was a girl deep down?" Casey asked.

"Promise you won't be mad." Amber nervously replied.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because… Um, I sort of started suspecting right around the time we got our wands?"

"What!?" Casey yelped. "That was when we first met!"

"Sorry, it… it… it was just after Mr Ollivander told me what kind of wand you had, then the fact you let me play with your hair. And what he said afterwards got me thinking…" Amber was babbling now, trying to maintain damage control, but Casey just deflated at her friend's words.

"Am I really that obvious?" Casey sulked.

"No… Well yes…"

Casey shot Amber a dirty look.

"It's not your fault. Honestly, I don't think anyone else even came close, to putting two and two together before today. Come on CJ, even you have to admit, you're a little bit girly." Amber said gently.

"I was trying to make sure no one noticed." Casey was positively sulking now, all the hard work, that she had thought she had put into hiding her true nature, was coming undone.

"Well normally yes, you hide it pretty well. But whenever you're around Liz or I, your real personality kind of peeks through. Haven't you noticed, that even the teachers sometimes mistake you for a girl when you're around us, particularly over the last few weeks?"

Casey didn't answer, she knew Amber was right.

"Honestly, I don't think it's a bad thing you got found out." Amber said.

"How could this possibly be a good thing?" Casey's voice rising slightly.

"Well now you can just be yourself, plus you won't have to sleep with those idiots anymore and..." Amber said giving Casey a nudge. "You'll have the same 'protections' the rest of us girls have from them."

"I suppose so. The guys were never happy with me being in the same dorm room as them anyhow. Especially after the first night."

"What happened on the first night?" Amber queried.

"Well it's like you said, I don't think the Castle wanted me sleeping there. When we first got to the dorm rooms, there were only 6 beds in the room. We had to find a Prefect to get us an extra bed."

"See, as if you needed any more evidence." Amber said triumphantly. "You do want this don't you? The whole girl thing?"

"Amber with everything that's happened to me so far, I think I already am this."

"Good." Amber leaned over and gave Casey her yet another hug. The changing of positions this time however, caused Casey's stomach to growl loudly. "Girl, when was the last time you had something to eat."

"You're going to call me, 'girl', as often as you can now aren't you?"

"Absolutely." Amber smiled, with absolutely no shame whatsoever.

The walk back to the Castle wasn't long but they did take their time. Mostly because Casey was freaking out about what was going to happen when she got back. She was pretty sure there was going to be teachers involved which made her just plum nervous.

"I hate dealing with teachers; things always get worse with them involved." Casey fretted. Her nervousness of being expelled was growing rapidly. "If I'm going down, I'm making sure Bones and his rag tag group of knuckle heads, gets what's coming to them."

"Oh, that reminds me." Amber said blushing slightly, before reaching into her jacket. "Here's your wand."

"What the? Why do you have my wand?" Casey curiously asked, practically snatching back her most prized possession.

"Well you see, after you raced out of the common room, Liz went ballistic. She and some of the other girls jinxed the crap out of Bones, Diver and O'Flaherty. They then dunked them in vinegar the same way they were trying to dunk you. Anyway when they dunked O'Flaherty, I saw your wand roll out of his pocket, so grabbed it for you."

"I wish I had of seen it." Casey wished.

"It was pretty awesome. Professor Sprout didn't even punish Liz and the girls. She said it was 'the boy's own dumb fault, for coming up with such a stupid prank'. She did take 10 points off Hufflepuff though, but I think she was being lenient."

"Yeah sounds like it. Professor Sprout hates taking points of Hufflepuff."

"She wants to see you by the way. There are a few teachers and prefects out looking for you."

"Yippee." Sarcasm evident in Casey's voice. "Hang on, if they were out looking for me how did you find me first?"

"Ah…. lucky guess?" Amber was trying to avoid eye contact.

"Spill."

"Fine." Amber sighed. She then pulled out a small golden Spyglass from her back pocket. "I found you using this."

"You found me using a Spyglass? How on earth was this helpful indoors?"

"Look through it at the wall." Amber ordered.

Taking the Spyglass, Casey looked through the lens and pointed it at a random wall.

"Holy crap! This thing can see through walls?" Casey exclaimed.

"Yes it can." Amber gritted, snatching her spy glass from her friends hands. "And I'd appreciate it, if you didn't go around yelling it out to everyone. I get the feeling I probably shouldn't have it at school."

"Yeah fair enough." Casey still in disbelief. "That's a damn useful thing to have. Where on earth did you get it?"

"It's was my Mum's." Amber said solemnly, hugging the Spyglass close to her chest. "Dad said that I shouldn't tell Saffron in case…."

"Jands! Where have you been!?" Professor Sprout had just rounded the corner ahead of them, and had cut Amber off. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"Sorry Professor. I… I just needed some time alone." Casey uttered.

"I trust the reason for your return is McKinnons doing?" Amber quickly hid her Spyglass behind her back hoping Professor Sprout didn't notice.

"Yes Professor, I found her… I mean, I found CJ down by the boats." Amber bit her lip unsure about how she should address her friend.

"The boat house, why didn't I think to look down there." The Professor mused. "Come on Jands, the Headmistress wants a word with you."

"I'm not in any trouble am I?" Casey nervously replied.

"Good heavens no. It's not your fault what those boys did to you. But the Headmistress would still like a word about what happened."

Casey audibly gulped. Her nerves rising quickly.

"Come on then, let's not keep the Headmistress waiting." Casey barely had time to wave goodbye to Amber, before Professor Sprout whisked her off to the Headmistresses office.

Professor Sprout moved quickly, and led Casey to an area of the castle she had never been before. They came before a stone statue of a gargoyle, if one looked closely you could still see cracks and nicks from a battle long past.

"Password?" The Gargoyle asked, making Casey jump.

"Gingerbread." Professor Sprout replied.

The Statue turned around, revealing a spiral staircase behind it. Professor Sprout motioned for Casey to follow.

Casey stepped through the door at the top of the stairs, into the circular office of the Headmistress. The room was filled with all sorts of various knick knacks and silvery objects. Portraits of Headmasters and Headmistresses long past all lined the walls. Some were asleep, some were awake, and some were just not there. Casey even spotted the Sorting Hats resting place, as it seemed to snooze (if hat's could snooze that is), on its perch on a claw footed table.

Casey wished she had more time to examine the room, but Professor Sprout grabbed her attention first.

"Headmistress, I've brought Jands up to see you." Professor Sprout motioned Casey to come up to the Headmistress's desk, whilst she herself took a position beside it.

Professor McGonagall peered over the top of her glasses, to look at Casey when she came and stepped up before her. "How are you feeling my dear?"

"Um, nervous Professor." Casey timidly replied.

"You have nothing to be nervous about. I only wanted to talk about what happened in your Common Room this morning. You're not in any trouble." Professor McGonagall's gaze was firm, but sincere, though, that did nothing to ease Casey's nervousness. "I am sorry to ask this question of you straight up Casey, but I do need to know the answer, no lying please."

Casey nodded.

"Did you use magic to allow yourself to enter the girl's dormitory?"

"N…No Professor, I was pushed in by Paul and Vince." Casey truthfully replied.

Professors McGonagall and Sprout, both gave an audible sigh of relief. "I thought so my dear, I had to ask however. It's been awhile since we have had one, hasn't it Pomona."

"Since before Potter was here I believe." Professor Sprout smiled back.

"Casey, is there anything you like to tell me?" Only kindness remained in Professor McGonagall's eyes. Confirming to Casey that the Headmistress and her Head of House, had probably already had an idea of what was going on.

"I'm not sure how to Professor, it's really embarrassing." Coming out to Amber was one thing, she was her best friend. Coming out to the Headmistress, was something entirely different.

"Just tell us in your own words Casey. Don't be scared, we won't judge."

Thinking back to what Amber had said to her down at the docks, Casey took a deep breath and began her story.

"S…Since I was little, I always felt something was wrong, and I don't mean the strange stuff that happened around me, because of my magic. I mean something inside. When I found out that I was… That I could do magic, I thought: 'This is my chance to make all the wrongness go away',"

"When Paul and Vince pushed me into the girl's dormitory… I don't know, it was like, everything I was feeling suddenly became real. Like what I felt wasn't fake. But I was scared of how people would react, and I kind of freaked out. Amber found me down by the boats, and we talked. She made me realise that I'm… I'm a girl on the inside."

When Casey finished she was crying again. Professor Sprout came over and rubbed her back, while the emotions of the day overwhelmed her.

"It's alright dear. Thank you for telling us, you not the first student to set off the Caterwauling Charms, or find themselves in a dormitory that they previously thought they couldn't access." Professor Sprout's soothing voice calmed Casey down enough, so they could continue the conversation. She was surprised to hear that she wasn't the first.

"I believe the question now is, where to go from here?" Professor McGonagall regained her attention. "What would you like to do Casey?"

"I have a choice?" Casey sniffled.

"Of course you do." The Professor replied, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"But… But I thought I'd be expelled." Casey's imagination getting the better of her.

"Whatever made you think you were going to be expelled?" Both Professor's were confused at Casey's confession.

"Well… I… I don't know."

"Casey," Professor McGonagall addressing the girl's panic. "We aren't going to expel you for being yourself. That would be ludicrous. Expulsion is only used in the most extreme of cases."

"Oh," Casey said feeling quite silly.

"The question still remains my dear. What would you like to do from here?" Professor McGonagall bringing them back on topic.

"I don't know, what choices do I have?" Casey asked curiously.

"Well we have a few options," Professor McGonagall began. "If you wish, you may start attending school as a witch, or you can remain as you are now. Either way, with what has occurred today, the situation regarding your dormitory will have to be looked at. Another option available to you, is to transfer to one of the other Magical schools around the globe, and start afresh, if, that is what you want. We are fortunate that we only have one week left of term before the Christmas Holidays, so it affords you some time, if you will, to think about your decision."

Those were a lot of options, and Casey mulled over them for a moment. Staying as she was now was out, with what happened in the common room, it would practically be impossible to do that without the rumour mill going crazy. Half the school already knew about what happened this morning anyway.

Attending a different school piqued her interest. Resetting to '0', with nobody knowing who she was, sounded really cool, but once she realised she'd have to leave Amber and Lizza behind, the choice became clear.

"If possible Professor, I… I would like to attend school as a witch please."

"You sure?" Professor Sprout asked.

Casey nodded her reply. She wasn't 100% sure if she wanted this, but great big portion of her did. 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained' she figured.

"Very well, Miss Jands." Casey's heart leapt when Professor McGonagall addressed her. "In the meantime, I think it will be beneficial for you to stay in the hospital wing for the remainder of the week. The Hogwarts Express will return on Saturday, to take you back to London for Christmas. If you return from the break, and still wish to proceed with this course, Professor Sprout will move your belongings into the girl's dormitories. Will you be alright with this arrangement for the time being?"

"Yes, thank you Professor." Casey said with a smile.

"I'll also be writing to your parents this week explaining the situation to them, and of course what happened this morning," Casey's stomach plummeted; of course her parents would be involved. "If they consent, I will have Professor Slughorn begin brewing the Genus Invertus Potion when you return."

"Genus Invertus Potion? What's that?" Casey's curiosity piqued.

"It's a potion that inverts your gender love," Professor Sprout confirmed behind her. "Although it only changes your outward appearance, it doesn't change your anatomy so to speak."

"Oh." Casey said deflating a bit. "Is there a way to you know… change everything else…"

"Yes there is. " Professor McGonagall revealed. "However it requires some extraordinarily advanced transfiguration, that is well beyond even that of even N.E.W.T level spell work. I will not go into the details of the spell with you now, because I am quite certain it will go well over your head, but take heart in the fact, that is one that exists."

"I guess I shouldn't complain. I always wondered if there was like a magic spell or something that'd change me in an instant. I shouldn't be upset that once I have found it, it'll take a while before I can use it."

"That was very mature of you Casey." Professor McGonagall praised. "I however must warn you, not to try and attempt any Human transfiguration on yourself before then. The results of failed Transfigurations can be disastrous, and it could permanently disfigure you to the point, where, what you desire most, becomes impossible."

"Yes Professor."

"Your word Miss Jands. Your word that you won't attempt anything without either mine or Professor Rockfields supervision."

"I promise."

"Very well, then." Professor McGonagall finished. "If there isn't anything else, Pomona would you mind taking Miss Jands to the Hospital wing. I'll have a chat to Poppy later this evening."

"Of course, Minerva." Professor Sprout was already making for the door. "Come along Jands."

"Right, thank you Professor McGonagall." Casey then chased after her Head of House.

Casey didn't mind staying in the infirmary, for the week leading up to the Christmas break. It allowed her a moderate amount of peace and quiet. Moderate, because students at Hogwarts tend to get into mischief, mischief that tends to result in students getting sent to the hospital wing.

Practically everyone who came through the infirmary during that week, looked at Casey strangely. The rumour mill had gone into overdrive about what had happened in her Common Room, and pretty much everyone had heard some form of the story by now. People were a little weird about it, but in truth, all they wanted to know how she did it. Madam Pomfrey tolerated none of the gossip in her infirmary, and silenced anyone who tried to get anything out of Casey.

During classes, Lizza took the role of bouncer from Madam Pomfrey, and scared off anyone who wanted to get close. Lizza had taken the revelation of Casey's gender issue remarkably well, simply saying: "Well that explains a lot."

And didn't question it further.

Casey was nervous though once Saturday had finally rolled around, the ride on the train back to London, doing nothing for her nerves.

"Oh, come on CJ, it's hardly going to be as bad you say it's going to be. Telling McGonagall and Sprout went alright didn't it?" Amber was trying fruitlessly, to ease Casey's nervousness, about having to have the 'gender talk' with her parents.

"That's true, but this is totally different! You don't know my parents." Casey said trying to get her point across.

"I've meet your parents remember. I'm telling you it won't be that bad." Amber countered.

"And I'm telling you it will. They are way worse at home than when they are out in public." Casey being equally as suborn.

"Well if they are, just threatened to Jinx them. That'll shut them up."

"That'll never work! Or in case you have forgotten, we can't use magic outside of school."

"Yeah, but they don't know that." Amber said devilishly.

"They'll see through my lie, they can always tell when I'm lying."

"Oh my god, will you two girls can it! I am not dealing with your bitching all the way to London." Lizza shouted. Casey still hadn't quite gotten used to being referred to by female pronouns yet, and she occasionally wouldn't realise when someone was talking to her. This however, was not one of those cases.

"Sorry Liz." Both girls apologised to their friend. Lizza just waved them off.

"Thanks for letting me borrow Nocturne by the way Amber." Casey said breaking the silence.

"Anytime. Your sister is coming down to back you up with your parents yeah?" Amber asked.

"Yup. She'll be coming around to the house on Sunday. She was fairly surprised to see an Owl tapping on her window though. I'm just glad she had the presence of mind to write a letter back whilst Nocturne was still there." Casey remembered the mishap of sending her sister a letter. She was hoping she would be there at the station on tonight, but unfortunately one of her friends was getting married today, so she wouldn't be available until tomorrow.

"Nocturne's a pretty smart, I'm glad he found her okay." Amber nosed her owl affectionately who was currently on her lap.

"I'm just surprised that's she okay with girl you though. I just assumed with what your parent are like, she'd be the same, you know, bat shit crazy." Lizza admitted.

"Yeah my sisters cool. She was the first one to find out about girl me. She caught me sneaking into her closet when I was 7. As punishment she gave me a makeover, and took me out as her little sister. I loved and hated her for that day, it was fun though."

"Wow," Amber said amazed. "No wonder you like her so much. Pity she's not a witch like you. Could you imagine how cool it would be to attend Hogwarts with your big sister?"

"I won't lie, she was pretty jealous when I got my letter. But once she realised she wasn't overly interested in learning about magic, she told me to study twice as hard for her. I'm looking forward to showing her what I've learnt."

"Suck's that you can't actually show her anything though." Lizza commented.

"Yeah I know, but I've got most of my text books and stuff in my bag. So hopefully that'll be enough to convince her how awesome Hogwarts is. I'm looking forward to catching up with her."

"No, what you're looking forward to, is going shopping with her." Amber said with a giant smirk.

"I can neither confirm nor deny if that is the case." The grin on Casey's face betrayed her.

"Yeah, and I'm captain of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. You're full of shit CJ; you are so going to drag your sister to the shops first chance you get."

"Sooooo, Liz, thought about whatcha' going to say to your parents?" Casey rapidly changed the subject to get Amber off her case. Amber just laughed at her friends antics.

"That was a weak arse deflection Jands." Lizza was pretty miffed.

"So sue me, I'm done talking about my family." Casey defied. "Gotten any closer to your decision."

"No! And tying to pressure me into talking about it isn't helping." Lizza shouted.

"Sorry Liz, I didn't mean to upset you. We'll talk about something else." Casey came over to her Australian friend, and pulled her into a hug. She looked like she could use one Casey thought.

"No, you're just trying to be a good friend. Honestly… Honestly it's me who's being a lousy friend."

"How so Liz?" Amber leaned forward in her seat.

"Well it's like. I'm considering going to school back in Australia. Which is like, totally selfish of me, because I'd be leaving you both here, but, if I don't go back, I'll be miserable and homesick. It's… I want to go home. but I don't want to abandon either of you girls. It just sucks either way… and… and… I just can't decide." Lizza ended her sentence with tears rolling down her face.

Casey heart melted, she had no idea Lizza thought so much of her and Amber. Sure they'd been through a lot, but it'd only been 3 ½ months since they had met. Had they really bonded that much?

"Liz, no matter what you pick, CJ and I just want you to be happy." Casey smiled at Amber's sentiment, it was one shared by her. "Even if you pick Australia, we promise that will write to you every week to stay in touch. If you pick Hogwarts, then we'll do our best to make sure you feel like you're at home."

"Thanks girl's." Lizza mumbled.

"You're welcome Liz. Got to ask though, are you going to cry every time we get on the Hogwarts Express?" Casey added playfully.

"What about you? I thought Amber was the huggy one." Lizza gave Casey a playful shove as she spoke.

"Hey Amber's got an Owl on her lap. So someone had to hug you for her."

"You are turning into such a girl CJ." Amber quipped.

"I know! Isn't it great?"