C. M. Black: Heart of a Lion
Chapter XI: Necessary sacrifices
Harry had just finished his explanation of last night's events to Neville when Professor McGonagall came striding over, her lips tightly pursed. She stood in front of them expectantly, as if waiting for them to launch into an elaborate simply stared.
'Did you two tell Mr. Malfoy a certain ridiculous tale yesterday?' she said, carefully looking over the three of them.
Cassy's eyebrows raised slightly, she had expected Draco to tattle, but it was certainly not yesterday he found out about the dragon. Something clicked in her mind. Draco had over heard them again. He had heard their plans to move Norbert that night and he must have told a Professor. Eyes sliding shut, Cassy let out a deep, silent breath of annoyance.
'What?' Harry said dumbly.
'Did you tell Mr. Malfoy that you have a dragon?'
'We certainly did not,' Harry said before his mind had a chance to catch up with him.
Professor McGonagall scowled at his tone, fury beginning to bubble in her eyes. 'He was out of bed last night. I caught him and he said you had a dragon. Why would he say that if you hadn't told him? It's a ridiculous excuse.'
'We did not tell him that, Professor,' said Cassy.
'Then why, Miss Black, was I informed by Miss Patil that you were not in your bed after curfew?'
'Excuse me?'
Oh, dear; was Cassy first thought. Normally, Professor McGonagall would have ignored such a ridiculous tale, but her insistence suddenly made sense. She wondered what else Draco might have said, like whether or not it was Hagrid's dragon, but she was brought around again by the Professor's shrill voice.
'I asked multiple first years and I have been told both yourself and Mr. Potter were out of bed in the night. It is a little coincidental that Mr. Malfoy should be spouting nonsense about a dragon when you yourselves were up and about. What were you two doing – in fact, it doesn't matter. The point is you two were up after curfew and must be punished for that, if only that.'
'Professor,' said Harry desperately, 'there was no dragon.'
'Oh, I don't doubt that! You two may have told him some ridiculous tale to get him out of bed and into trouble, but I am not disputing that there was no dragon. Did you two get yourselves up to watch?' Professor McGonagall snapped, openly scowling now. Her hands were on her hips, clearly stating that she knew they were lying, even if this was only half true, and her face held a certain no nonsense vibe that meant the conversation was really already over.
'Professor, we would never-'
'Quiet, Black. I'm horrified you were both out of bed, past that, I don't want to know anymore. Twenty points each and detentions, I think. You two can join Mr. Malfoy in his punishment.'
'You are being presumptuous-'
'Enough. do not speak to a teacher like that, Miss Black. Another five points.'
Cassy grit her teeth, her eyes darkening.
'Do not be late for class. Good-day, Mr. Longbottom.' With those parting words, she exited swiftly, leaving the three stunned first years by themselves. Several other house-mates were listening in, although it was hard to miss. Others watched from the corners of their eyes, then openly staring once Professor McGonagall had left.
'Forty-five points,' Harry mumbled. 'We've lost our lead.'
'This is ridiculous. She does not even know where we went, or if we were even really gone,' seethed Cassy, her face only slowly minor irritation, despite her voice. 'You can't just assume we were out to get him.'
Harry rubbed his eyes, muttering, 'Everyone will be so angry. We're in second now. Slytherin is winning again.'
'How dare Draco do something so stupid.'
Neville's eyes flicked nervously between the two, realising they were not listening to each other at all. He was glad, in some regards, for he was not involved, but at the same time he really felt he should be.
Although the loss of points was not major, people quickly noticed. There was not a soul in Gryffindor who was not horrified to see Slytherin winning again and rumours quickly spread in speculation of how so many where lost.
Eventually, it all came back to Cassy and Harry. People soon connected the dots, although it was mainly due to the first years gossiping that they had been out of bed that allowed the older ones to realise just what had happened. The exact reason remained unknown, Cassy, Harry and Neville unwilling to say and Draco did not speak up either because he knew nobody would believe there had really been a dragon. Saying he had told a professor would only make him look silly for thinking their could be.
While there were jeers and jabs about it, as well as running comments in lessons from the first years, nothing really came of it. Cassy and Harry had it pinned down to the fact that Gryffindor remained in close second. If they won their next Quidditch game, they would definitely be in with a chance of winning the house cup, which meant Wood was training his team harder than ever.
The practises were longer and Harry would always return completely exhausted. It did not help that exams were only a few weeks away now and classes and homework had intensified tenfold in the run up. They had little time to themselves and when they were not in class, they were working.
Studying had offered a good distraction, one that was almost good enough to push all their previous thoughts of school out of their minds. They had not even snooped around to check on Fluffy or Professor Quirrell himself that week, choosing to keep themselves locked in the library.
Cassy spent half her study time talking over concepts and spells with Harry and Neville. She did not seem overly fussed about the oncoming exams, but sat and worked with them anyway. It had meant more than once they were evicted from the library when Granger had complained she could hear them clearly. How she had they would never know.
However, Cassy had developed a comfortable working relationship with Granger – assuming she did what she was asked, when she was asked. For as much as Granger seemed to appreciate Cassy's intellect, they still struggled around the characteristic boundary in their methods, but as long as Cassy did not publicise it, Granger was content to let it go. Granger had even began helping Neville more in potions, whispering corrections in his ear when Cassy was too distracted or too far away. Out of class, Cassy still found her relatively dull.
Harry had been trying extra hard in lessons to answer questions correctly in order to win back some of the points they had lost. It was working and the gap was closing, but it was a very slow process and he was becoming bored of it very quickly. By the end of his Charms lesson and the fifth squeak of 'Well done, two points to Gryffindor', Harry had decided never to bother again.
They climbed the stairs, Cassy smirking at Harry's down-turned expression, having told him he would be aggravated before it really made a difference. They past a door, pulled to, with a small whimpering emitting from inside.
'N-no, please,' a voice they recognised as Professor Quirrell's said. 'Please, not again.'
They moved closer silently, trying to hear whoever it was he was speaking to, but instead they just heard him. There was not even the slightest murmur of anyone else and at times, Professor Quirrell's voice dropped so low they could barely hear that either.
'All right... yes, fine. I understand.'
Footsteps suddenly sounded and the three of them pressed themselves back against the wall. The door swung open, blocking them from view as Professor Quirrell scurried down the corridor and out of sight.
Moving quickly, they poked their heads into the classroom. A door was open on the other side. They stepped in, Neville hanging back slightly to watch the corridor as Cassy and Harry weaved their way past the tables. They stopped suddenly.
'What is it?' asked Neville.
'It's a cupboard,' said Harry, walking farther into it. 'There's no one here and no where to go.'
'Which poses the question of exactly who Professor Quirrell was talking to,' mumbled Cassy, her eyes trailing across every surface. There was not even a fireplace.
'Maybe he was having a nervous breakdown or something.' Harry poked around of the shelves a bit before stepping out of the cupboard.
'Yeah, maybe Snape's finally made him crack... I hope not,' Neville added in afterthought.
They peered around in silence for a moment, a small crack of the window made them all flinch. Whirling around, they looked at each other.
'We should go before someone notices we are in here alone,' Cassy said, ushering the boys out the door. The left it open, just as Professor Quirrell had in case he were to return and grow suspicious at the change, but quickly hurried out of sight down the hall to pretend as if they were never there.
'What should we do?' asked Neville as they sat at a table in the library.
'There is nothing we can do at the moment. We cannot know that Professor Quirrell really did give in, plus, we are not supposed to know about the Stone,' Cassy said quietly to avoid Granger overhearing.
'We can't even go to Dumbledore. Imagine the questions he would ask. We'd probably be expelled straight away, especially if we're not right. What if Quirrell hasn't given in or Snape's not trying to steal the Stone. That would be awkward,' said Harry, flicking the pages of his astronomy book over. 'And what if we are right and nobody believes us? Snape knows I hate him and Dumbledore will definitely believe him over us. He trusts him enough to protect the Stone...'
'So, we leave it and see what happens,' concluded Cassy.
'If something bad happens we'll try and stop him,' agreed Harry.
'He is a fully grown wizard, you know,' Neville said nervously.
'Then we will merely try and slow him down,' Cassy said airily. 'The Headmaster must have wards on the room to inform him of people entering. If he does not respond immediately, then the best we can hope for is that we slow the Professor down enough to give Professor Dumbledore time to arrive.'
'You make it sound simple...'
At breakfast the next day, both Professors Snape and Quirrell were present, allowing the three to relax knowing the Stone was most likely still on the third floor. Midway through breakfast the owls began to arrive, Cassy and Harry had small cards drop into their laps. They read:
Detention will take place tonight at eleven o'clock.
Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall.
Professor McGonagall.
'I was wondering when these would arrive,' said Cassy, placing it down and picking up her fork again.
'Eleven is a bit late, isn't it?' frowned Harry.
'What do you think we will be doing?'
'Can't be nice if Filch is involved.'
'It would hardly be detention if it were enjoyable.'
Neville smiled at his friends, still feeling slightly bad that, despite being involved, he had got away with no punishment at all. He looked over to Draco, spotting his detention card crumpled in his hand.
'Neville?'
Neville jumped, eyes spinning back to Cassy. He had been looked past the two and they turned in their seats to try and find what had caught his attention.
'Y-yes?' he squeaked, face turning pink.
'You zoned out,' said Harry.
'Were you looking at Draco? He looks displeased.'
Harry moaned loudly into his hands. Shaking his head slightly he said, 'I forgot that git is coming with us.'
'Language, Harry,' chided Cassy dismissively.
That night Neville waited up, wishing them good-luck as they left. Cassy and Harry sauntered down to the entrance hall, neither in any rush to see Filch or Draco. From a staircase four floors up, they could already see the both of them on the ground, but still chose not to hurry. Harry even suggested slowing their pace further just to make them wait longer. When they did arrive, the other parties looked extremely irritated.
'You're late,' Filch sneered.
'Not quite,' said Cassy placidly.
The man just barred his teeth before waving his hand, indicating for them to follow. They moved out onto the grounds, trailing far behind Filch and ignoring his grunts for them to hurry up.
'You'll think twice about breaking the rules again, won't you? Oh yes, oh yes, hard work and pain are the best teachers, always have been. Back in the day there was no nonsense about child cruelty or whatever they like the call it. I remember when you could string children up by their ankles in the dungeons... I've still got the chains and whips, just in case the Headmaster ever sees sense...'
The three students lagged back farther, horrified. Draco looked to Cassy, his eyes wide and mouth open. She gave him her own shocked look before turning away quickly, still annoyed with him.
Filches lantern swung slowly in his hand, squeaking faintly as they stopped near Hagrid's hut. The windows were lit and the door partly opened, allowing them to see the roaring fire inside.
'Filch? C'mon, I want ter get started already,' Hagrid's booming voice said from the vegetable patch beside his hut.
Cassy and Harry visibly relaxed and Harry even let out a small sigh. Filch must have heard because he swung around, snarling.
'You won't be enjoying yourself with him, boy. Oh no, you three'll be going into the forest tonight.'
'The forest?' Cassy and Draco said together.
'We can't go in there,' protested Draco, his voice tinged with panic. 'There are all sorts of creatures in there – Werewolves, I've heard.'
Filch grinned, his lips turning up at one side more than the other, revealing his sharp and yellowed teeth. 'Should have thought about that sooner. Besides, Werewolves will be the least of your problems.'
'If we cannot enter in the day, surely it is a terrible idea to have us enter at night. That is far more dangerous,' said Cassy, her eyebrows furrowed slightly.
'Maybe that's the idea,' grinned Filch. 'Nothing like a good mauling to sort out unruly children.'
Hagrid met them half way, crossbow resting on one shoulder and a pouch on his belt containing bolts. Fang, a large boarhound, was at his heels, drooling tremendously onto the grass.
'I've been waitin' long enough,' said Hagrid. 'All right you two?'
'Hello, Hagrid,' Cassy and Harry greeted simultaneously.
'You shouldn't be so friendly with them, they are being punished,' said Filch. 'Coddling them will do no good.'
'Been lecturin' again, Filch? Is that why yer so late? Yer shouldn't, it's not yer place to, they probably got enough o' that from Professor McGonagall. I'll take 'em from here.'
'I'll be back at dawn to collect what's left of them.'
Filch turned and scurried back to the castle. They waited until he was almost out of sight before speaking.
'Righ' then,' said Hagrid, drawing attention back to himself, 'we'll be-'
'I'm not going in there,' Draco interrupted loudly. 'There's no way.'
'Yer will if yeh want the stay at Hogwarts.'
'I thought we'd be writing lines or something. Not going out into the Forbidden Forest! If my father knew about this-'
'Yeh reckon he'd rather have yeh expelled? If that's what yeh wan' yeh can go up to the castle and pack yer things! Go on,' snapped Hagrid, not waiting for Draco to move before turning and striding towards the forest.
Cassy, Harry and reluctantly, Draco followed him. He talked as he walked, stopping at the edge of the forest.
'Right, what we're gonna do is dangerous, so listen up. I don' want anyone taking any risks, understand?'
Hagrid pointed using is crossbow to a narrow beaten path in the forest, lined by trees and roots jutting up from the soil haphazardly. They could only see six of so feet in front of them, even with Hagrid's lantern.
'See that silvery stuff on the ground,? he said, leaning the light closer. 'That's unicorn blood. That means there's a unicorn that's been badly hurt or maybe even dead. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna find the poor thing and if it's not dead, we'll put it out of its misery.'
Cassy's eyes narrowed, not liking where the conversation was going. She looked at Harry, who was gazing curiously, then to Draco, who just scrunched up his nose in disgust.
'What if whatever hurts the unicorn gets us first?' asked Draco.
'Nothin' will hurt yeh while me an' Fang are around. Right,' said Hagrid, 'we'll split up into two groups to cover more ground. Harry, yeh with me, Cassy, yeh go with Draco and Fang. Got it?'
Hagrid either did not see the restrained, but clearly displeased looks Cassy and Draco wore, or he chose to ignore them. With a sympathetic smile, Harry patted Cassy on the shoulder.
'Yeh can all shoot sparks, can't yeh? Green ones if yeh find the unicorn, red if there's trouble. We'll come an' find yeh, but be careful. Okay, let's go.'
With one last withered look at Harry, Cassy strode down the path to the right. Draco sighed some distance behind, but quickly caught up as Fang galloped past her to chase bats. They walked in silence for many minutes, just listening to the sway of the leaves and twigs snapping beneath their feet. Cassy hopped over a large, protruding tree root before hearing a satisfying thud, signalling Draco had fallen over.
'You could have warned me,' he growled, brushing leaves off his coat.
'Why would I do that?' she asked, not hiding her smile.
Draco just growled again, swooping past her and farther into the forest. He stepped past ever obstacle with exaggerated movements, but never turned back to Cassy, whom simply looked on amused.
'Branch,' she said suddenly.
Draco's head whipped around to look at her, but his feet did not stop moving. There was another thud and Draco reeled in pain.
'I warned you.'
'You did that on purpose!'
'Of course I purposely warned you.'
He snarled, stepping back over to her and staring down in what would have been intimidating, had Cassy not been so used to him. 'What is your problem?'
'My problem?' laughed Cassy bitterly. 'Dear Cousin, I do not have a problem. That is you. You are the one who either ignored me or went out of your way to irritate me and my friends. You are the one who had chosen to act as though you do not know me, that we are not family, just because I am in Gryffindor. I am not the one with a problem.'
Cassy pushed past him, lantern in hand and moved quickly down the pathway. Fang let out a whine as he ran to keep up.
'You don't get it, do you? You're a Gryffindor, you're friends with Potter and that Squib, Longbottom-'
'Do not insult them, Draco.'
'You even defend them! You'd argue with me for them. With me, your cousin. Do you know how bad that looks?'
'You know, you are the only one who cannot be happy for me. Uncle Alphard, Cousin Cissy, they both accept I am a Gryffindor. Why can you not?' she snarled.
'I always thought we'd be in Slytherin together!'
Cassy allowed herself to pause, sparing a quick glance over her shoulder at Draco, who looked shocked and uncomfortable with himself.
'Well, we are not,' Cassy said quietly. 'You can at least act civilly towards me and my friends, as I would to yours.'
'I would if you had better friends. Potter and Longbottom, really, Cassy?'
'Do not ruin it now, Draco. Insult them and I will hex you in the face.'
'No you wouldn't.'
'Oh really?' Cassy turned, her wand drawn and her lips pulled into a smirk. Draco stared, wide-eyed before scowling.
'Made you jump,' she teased, turning back around and walking on.
They were already deep into the forest, the trees were taller and their trunks thickened. Every few trees were splattered with the silver blood. The unicorn must have been on the move, sluggishly brushing against the tree trunks and staggering slowly to create such a pattern.
'It's over there,' Draco said, pointing off to the left where more blood lay on the ground.
They began to move that way, but Fang suddenly stopped. Cassy and Draco halted behind him, watching and standing silently as the dog's ears rose. His head moved slightly to the right, yet Cassy and Draco could see nothing. They waited for another minute, before Cassy gripped her wand tightly, pressing the lantern into Draco's chest and set off.
'What in Merlin's name are you doing?' hissed Draco, torn between following and remaining exactly where he was.
'There's a lot of thuds, quiet ones,' Cassy mumbled. She stopped suddenly to listen closer and Draco drew up behind her, leaning close. 'I think I can hear-'
'Back! Get back!' shouted a voice.
'Cassy!' Draco shouted despite himself. He reached out to pull her back, but his fingers only skimmed the sleeve of her coat.
Cassy had set off running as soon as the voice sounded, straight towards it. She pushed back branches and jumped over the roots, down into holes and darted past the trees. Stopping suddenly, she pressed herself against a tree as she heard footfalls which where not her own and heavier than any human she had ever heard. Her left hand rose to her mouth, trying to muffle her shaky breathing.
The feet grew louder and she could clearly hear multiple movements, she was out numbered, most likely, with little to rely on, but stealth. However, that did not act in her favour.
'Human, get out from behind that tree.'
Cassy stiffened even more.
Human, he called me a human, she thought quickly, that means he is sentient and capable of creating multiple footfalls – more than two legged... Centaur?
She peered out slowly, brining her wand hand around first. There were two centaurs, one who looked annoyed and one who had a much kinder face.
'What were you doing?' said the black-haired, angrier looking centaur.
'A very poor job at hiding, apparently,' answered Cassy lowly.
This made him scowl more, but the other smiled slightly. He said, 'How many humans are in the forest tonight? You are not the first we have met. By the sounds of that, you are not the last.'
Cassy could hear nothing, but the two centaurs looked past her into the dark.
'Excuse me, but may you tell me where that shouting came from? I am trying to find the others,' she asked, not expecting much in return. Centaurs were not helpful at the best of times and one of the two was particularly grumpy and the other appeared quite spacey. She was pleasantly surprised with the response she got, though.
The red-haired centaur gave a sorrowful smile, saying, 'Over there, Child.' He indicated back the way the centaurs had come. 'They will not be there now though, I expect Firenze had guided them out by this time. Are you also a student up in the castle? I have been told you learn a bit.'
'Yes,' said Cassy. She did not have to think of anything else to say because Draco and Fang suddenly came thundering down the path.
'Werewolves! I saw one, I swear!' Draco panted, bending over.
'Draco, I find it hard to believe there are any in this forest.' She looked down disapprovingly of his rude and unannounced entrance.
'The forest holds many secrets,' said the mournful centaur. It did little to comfort her, for that only made it sound as if she was wrong, which she really rather not be at that time. Looking up, she could not see the moon through the trees, so she had no way to tell if it was a full moon and potentially in danger, or not.
Draco's head shot up, looking as if he had only realised there were two centaurs in front of them. He stood with his mouth agape.
'Humans have no business here. Leave,' the dark-haired one snapped, finally having enough of the conversation. He pointed to their left.
'Pleasure to meet you both,' Cassy said, pulling Draco by his sleeve as he continued to stare at the two centaurs.
'Learn lots,' said the sorrowful one.
They began walking out of the forest quickly. Cassy took the lantern back from Draco, who stared over his shoulder until the trees became too thick to see them anymore.
'Hurry, Draco. Something might have happened.'
'What?' he said dumbly, jogging to catch up with her.
'Hagrid and Harry have already left the forest. There was shouting, so something must have happened. They didn't even send up sparks.' Cassy added in her mind that they very well might have, but the dense growth she and Draco had wandered into left very little in the way of sight.
'Oh good-'
'Draco, I will still hex you in the face,' she warned sternly.
'Why in my face?'
'Because you pride yourself in it and would not be able to hide your pig snout.'
'Pig snout?' cried Draco in disbelief, 'Why would you give me a pig snout?' He covered his nose with his hand.
'If you insist on acting like one you may as well look like one. Besides, it would be one hex for every friend of mine you insult.'
The trees were beginning to get thinner and their leaves more sparse, allowing the moonlight to shine in and illuminate the forest floor. The ground was softer and they both faced sinking mud at several points before choosing to deviate slightly to one side and step on as many roots as possible. With leaves crunching beneath their feet, Cassy almost missed Draco mumbling.
'I do not act like a pig.'
She did not reply for the edge of the forest was in sight.
'Harry, Hagrid!' she called, spotting them by Hagrid's hut.
'Cassy, are you all right?' Harry shouted back, running to meet her half way. From what was visible, Harry looked fine. There were no scratches on his face or hands, but the sleeves of his coat looked dirtied and his hair stuck up a little more than she remembered before entering. His skin was a pasty white colour that accentuated his eyes in a most unflattering, haunted manner, but that seemed to be all that was wrong.
'I'm fine, but I heard shouting. What happened?' she asked.
Harry leant close to her ear and muttered, 'I'll tell you in the common room.' He pulled away just as Hagrid reached them.
Hagrid looked her over and nodded, then turning to Draco, who stood some feet away.
'Yer all okay, aren't yeh?' he asked. 'Yeh can go back the yeh common rooms now then. Detention's over.' He seemed subdued and shaky and Cassy wished to ask him what had happened, but his hut door was shut loudly and his lights flicked off before she had a chance to make a sound.
After that, they departed quickly, splitting from Draco and hurrying back up to the common room as quickly as their aching feet would allow.
Neville was asleep on the sofa by the fire, having tried to wait up for them to return. He was shaken awake by Harry and as soon as he sat up, Cassy and Harry threw themselves down on either side of him.
'I've got so much to tell you two,' breathed Harry, pulling off his shoes.
'Did something happen in the forest?' Neville asked, suddenly wide awake.
'Kind of. I met someone, well some people, really – although one of them wasn't actually human... maybe neither of them were-'
'Harry, calm down,' said Cassy, leaning forward so she could see him past Neville. 'Explain slowly.'
Harry breathed in deeply. 'Me and Hagrid found the unicorn-' neither he nor Cassy bothered to reply to Neville's enquiring expression, '-it was dead, but there was something leaning over it, something covered by a cloak. They were drinking the unicorn blood.'
Cassy's and Neville's eyes opened wide and Harry took the moment to breath in deeply again.
'Hagrid started shooting at them with his crossbow, but it didn't really do anything... then Firenze – a centaur – appeared and drove it away. He offered me a lift because I'd slipped onto my side, it feels fine now though. As we walked, he told me exactly who was under that cloak.'
They lent closer, Harry's voice dropped to a whisper and said, 'Voldemort.'
Neville retracted in shock, his hands flying to his mouth and elbowing Cassy in the shoulder.
'The Dark Lord?' asked Cassy. 'How did he know?'
'Apparently, it's written in the stars. So is my death. Bane, another centaur, was under the impression that Firenze should have let me die and that they should not mess with fate.' Harry laughed bitterly, rubbing his eyes. 'Now all I have to do is wait for Voldemort to get the Stone, then he'll come back and kill me.'
The fire flickered and the three sat in silence, mulling over everything. Neville shook his head fiercely.
'Y-You-Know-Who fears Dumbledore. As long as he's around, nothing will happen to you.'
'Not if Snape gets it and gives it to him. What's to say he won't just kill me during the summer?'
'Harry, stop it. Nothing will happen. We will not let anyone take the Stone. Especially not... Voldemort,' Cassy said, testing how the name sounded on her tongue.
The statement was met with silence. The fire crackled and the chair squeaked, but none of them knew what else to say. Harry rubbed at his face, violently scratching at his scar, while Neville stared straight ahead, vacant expression, but ghostly white.
Cassy lent back and sighed. 'The idea of an immortal Professor Snape was bad enough. Although, if he did become rich he might have stopped teaching.'
The pair looked at her incredulously and even she could not believe she had said it. While it sounded like a good idea to cheer the two up, or at least make them relax, it just sounded ridiculous. Even though, Harry shook his head.
'That would be great,' snorted Harry. 'That, I could live with.'
The sun began to rise and the three felt exhausted, mentally and physically, unwilling to move. They did make it up to bed, falling asleep almost instantly, just as the rest of the castle was beginning to rise.
Nearly the end of the story now! Two chapters after this one, I think, then it's on to Year Two.
They got detentions, a) because they needed to, and b) because McGonagall flew off the handle at them in the book, so I figure they'd still be punished, if less severely for being out of bed and "making Draco follow". Since she had no evidence as to what they were actually doing, things don't turn out as bad.
And so, the reasoning for Draco's mean behaviour towards Cassy is revealed! It would be quite heart-breaking to be in a different house when you always thought you would be together. Plus, how could you act friendly when people expect you to hate one another now? Problems, Problems...
Also, sorry if this ones seems really dialogue heavy. A lot of the things addressed are best done in speech so...
Thanks!
