The Loyal Rival

Cardcaptor Pandora
Episode VI
The Littlest Rival

"Turn to page 32 in your books," Professor Black instructed. Pandora exchanged a bored look with Harry, who sat between her and Ron. Hermione was on the other side of Ron, and seemed quite eager to continue learning.

Ron jotted a note in the corner of Harry's book, and they both sniggered quietly. Pandora attempted a snatch at the book, but Harry stopped her ahead of time. She slouched back in her own seat, hating being left out, but not wanting to make too much of an issue out of it... just yet.

Professor Tamarah Black started a sentence, but was interrupted when the door creaked open, and a very young girl with auburn hair, green eyes, and glasses that were five times too big for her walked in, led by Professor McGonagall. "Hello, Professor McGonagall! Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes. This is Holly Daimen, and she will be joining the Fifth Year Gryffindors for this class only. She's... a little advanced, so we're having to put her in different classes to make sure she's at the level she needs to be at."

"Hello, Holly!" Professor Black greeted, having to bend down almost half way to meet her at eye-level. "What house are you in?"

"I'm in Ravenclaw."

"You must be to be so intelligent! To be in a Fifth Year's class at your age.... How old are you?"

"Nine."

The whole class was very quiet for a moment until Professor Black cleared her throat and stood up. "Well, you are rather young! How impressive! Let's see.... There's a seat next to Pandora! You can sit there, okay?"

The little girl nodded and headed to the empty seat next to Pandora. Pandora felt a slight shiver as the girl neared, a familiar feeling taking over. Much the same feeling she felt when she first met Lauren and Sydney....

"It's not fair!" she heard Hermione complaining to Ron. "They aren't allowed to enter school until they're eleven anyway, she shouldn't be able to get ahead! Or I'd be a graduate by now!"

Holly blinked past Pandora through her huge glasses. Professor Black had gone back to teaching, but being that they were all in the back of the room, they could get away with a little bit of chatter. "Can I ask you a bit of an odd question?" Pandora asked the little girl.

"Yes, I am the Heir of Ravenclaw," the little girl answered without even looking at Pandora. "And you are the main Cardcaptor." She glanced sideways at Pandora without even the slightest of grins. She was the most serious child Pandora had ever met. "Tawhiri told me..."

"Is that... your beast?"

"Yes, she's a pretty white leopard with black raven wings. And we should stop talking, it's very rude to talk during lessons."
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Pandora thought Tuesday was never going to end. She had hardly had a chance to talk to Harry, mostly because he had been so busy with Ron and Hermione for the past few days, and she had so much to tell him.

As Ron and Hermione headed for the tables in the Great Hall for dinner, Pandora finally managed to steal a few minutes with Harry alone. "I have so much to tell you!"

He smiled uneasily. "Really? Yeah... I guess we haven't had much of a chance to talk lately..."

"It's... it's okay. You've had to be with them, and they don't like me very much, me being a Malfoy and all..."

"That's not really it. We've just been through a lot together."

"Yeah... I know..." She shook her head, her heart skipping a beat as she looked into his green eyes. "Well, anyway! Might as well not waste the time I have now! So much has happened!"

Pandora was in the midst of telling him about Holly when Dumbledore stood up to make an announcement. "I know that we hadn't made much of a habit out of school-wide parties in the past," he began, "but last year's dance seemed to be quite a success. Thus, this year, the other professors and I are going to throw a Halloween masquerade party for you, our wonderful students. It will begin at seven o'clock with dinner and will end whenever Snape and McGonagall finally manage to get everyone back to their towers on Halloween night. I hope you enjoy it!"

"There, Ron. Halloween's two weeks away, he gave you plenty of time to get the guts up to ask Hermione!" one of the Weasley twins said in passing as Pandora and Harry joined Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

Ron's ears turned a bright red as Hermione resisted a grin, succeeding only in tightening the dimples on the side of her face. "Will... will you go with me, Hermione?"

She crossed her arms and smiled a bit more openly as she answered, "Well, I suppose so, unless something better comes along. So did it not take you quite as long to remember that I was a girl this year?"

The young couple continued back and forth for a while with Harry laughing at them, Pandora at his side, picking at her food. Ron finally looked over at Harry and said, "It's not like you had any better luck last year! You gonna ask Cho?"

Pandora thought she was about to choke on the minute bite of bread she had just taken. She wanted to cry, but there was no point in it. It wasn't like he was her boyfriend. No. That could never happen....

Harry's ears turned a few shades pinker, and she could have sworn that he glanced over at her. "I'll probably ask her, yeah... I don't know... She might want to stay out of it entirely, considering everything that happened with Cedric and... and everything..."

"Oh, come on! It's not like they were getting married! Sure, she probably misses him, but I don't think she's going to sit around mourning his loss forever."

"I guess you're right," Harry said, a little more confidence behind his voice. "So when should I...."

Pandora stood up quickly and walked away. She didn't know why, and she knew it was probably awkward for him, but she couldn't listen anymore. She walked away from the Gryffindor table straight for the Slytherin, where Draco seemed to be engaged in a deep conversation with Pansy, which Pandora promptly interrupted. She was his sister, after all. That's what sisters do. "Hey, Dray. Hi, Pansy."

Pansy nodded silently, looking a little put-out at the interruption. Draco was a bit more welcoming, but not much. "Any reason you're over here, Gryffindor?"

"That's not fair, Dray. I'm not really, and we've been over this hundreds of times!"

"Father thinks you are."

"I really don't care what he thinks."

"Of course you don't. So what do you want?"

She glanced uneasily at Pansy and said to Draco, "I really need to talk to you... alone..."

"Can't it wait?"

"Please, Dray?"

He started to protest again, but that pathetic look from her big pitiful amber eyes immediately stopped him. "Fine." He threw a look at Pansy which she took directly to mean 'get out,' and went to find her little gang of girls. "What is it? Potter not asked you to the dance yet?"

She thought she was going to kill him, but she restrained herself.... barely. "He's going to ask Cho, don't you know?"

"I could have figured as much." He looked away a little uneasily. "Are you okay with that?"

"I don't really have another choice but to be." She noticed the distant expression and placed a hand gently on his arm. "Dray, something's been bothering you... What is it...?"

But he turned away and took a few steps forward. "Maybe he'll come around, Panda. You're much better than that Ravenclaw, anyway."

"Speaking of Ravenclaws, have you met Holly Daimen?"

"The nine-year-old with the huge glasses that's in my Transfiguration class?"

"Yeah, that one. She's in fifth-year Transfiguration?!"

"Yes. Crazy, isn't it? Well, nice talking to you, but I need to spend some time with Pansy...."

"You on a leash now, or something?"

"NO! We're not even going out! She's just... my date and all so I thought I'd try to be nice to her for the next two weeks."

"Dray, if you meet any strange Slytherins, will you tell me?"

This caught him off guard. "Strange Slytherins? The house is full of them! Anything in particular?"

"No... not really... Never mind..." And she walked upstairs to her room in the Gryffindor Tower, not having eaten much of anything, and remembering just in time to grab a sweet roll for Rangi.

He flittered over to her anxiously. "You're here early! Not that I'm complaining, I was starving!" he said in his Cockney accent.

"I'm sorry," she said, a little down.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked, his mouth full. "It's not like you to be depressed! Not like you at all!"

"I've got another rival, for one thing."

"Oh?" He swallowed his food and fluttered up into her face. "Is it... is it Slytherin...?"

"No..." she said uneasily. "She's the Ravenclaw.... But I was going to ask you about that..."

"Oh, don't worry! Never mind!" he said cheerily. "A Ravenclaw? That's nice! She'll be a great help! A lot like Sydney!"

"She's nine years old and in Fifth Year classes!"

"You'd expect any less?"

"I guess not..." She stopped and looked away. "So if there's a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw.... That means there has to be a Slytherin too, right?"

Rangi sat next to her uncomfortably. "Well, yes... Naturally...."

"Do you know who that is?"

"You seem to have some sort of theory."

"I do." Pandora looked around nervously, as if someone else were listening, but she was quite sure the room was empty. "You-Know-Who is the Heir of Slytherin, right?"

"True, but it's the youngest heir at the time of the discovery of the Center which becomes the Cardcaptor."

"Okay... so what you're saying is that he is not the youngest heir..."

"Yes."

"Do you know who that is?"

"No."

"You're not very helpful."

"I'm sorry!"

"Hey, Pandora?" a voice said behind a slowly opening door. Rangi fell to the bed as a stuffed animal, and Pandora whirled around anxiously as Hermione walked in. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay..."

Hermione was rarely nice to Pandora. They didn't always get along very well, but sometimes they could. "Sure I am!" she lied. "What would make you think differently?"

"You just left so quickly... right when Ron and Harry were talking about the dance and Cho and everything..."

"Yeah, well...." she blushed.

"You like him, don't you?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Hermione smiled and patted Pandora's shoulder. "It's not a bad thing that you like him, it's just a bad thing that you happen to be a Malfoy and he happens to be a Potter and he happens to be obsessed with Cho Chang."

"I know. I could never live up to that, could I? I don't even know why... why I like him so much..."

"It's okay," Hermione said comfortingly. "You'll get over it and find someone much better, I'm sure. It can't be all that hard, after all..."

They both laughed for a minute, then Hermione said, "Can you believe that Ravenclaw girl? It really isn't fair! They're not even supposed to be admitted until they're eleven. She's probably just from some rich ancient wizarding family that paid her way in..."

"Probably," Pandora responded, smiling inwardly.

They talked a bit more before Hermione walked back downstairs to the Common Room to meet Ron. "You're so lucky..." Pandora murmured as she walked out the door.

Rangi immediately came to life again. "It's just Harry Potter! What's the big deal about that?"

"I don't know!" Pandora said, a little more forcefully than she intended. "I... I really don't know," she repeated, calmly.

"Pandora!"

This particular voice didn't frighten Rangi to his limp form, because it was very familiar. Pandora turned and smiled as Lauren Phillips walked in. "Hi, Lauren. I'm sure you've heard by now."

"She's the Heir of Ravenclaw, did you know that?"

"Yes, Love. I did."

"Oh...."

There was an awkward silence, which Pandora felt obliged to fill after slapping down little Lauren's hopes so fast. "So do you have any idea who you're going to the dance with?"

She shrugged and smiled. "It's not really that big of a deal for me, but I'll probably figure something out! But guess what! Chris is going with Ginny!"

"You mean he actually had the nerve to ask her?"

"Yes! And she accepted!"

"That's... great..." Pandora was highly considering rolling over and dying. "Um... I think I'm going to go for a little walk around the castle..."

She was very happy to get out of the Gryffindor Tower. Too many people to see that might have something to say...

Not that what wanted to talk to her now was much better...

"Hello, Pandora..."

She rarely heard Crabbe talk. Usually Goyle did all the talking if Draco wasn't around, and Crabbe just did whatever he was told, but at this particular moment, neither Dray or Goyle was there. Only Crabbe. "What do you want?"

"Aren't you.... friends... with that pretty Hufflepuff girl, Sydney?"

Pandora blinked at him for a few seconds, for it was the first time she had ever heard him speak a complete intelligent sentence. "Uh... yeah... why?"

"Because.... I was wondering if you knew what she liked."

"Why do you want to know that?"

"Because I want her to go to the dance with me."

She thought she was going to lose her jaw somewhere around her ankles, but somehow she managed to keep it attached. "That's... that's nice... Well... I think she likes chocolate a lot... or at least most girls do."

"Anything else?"

"I just met her a few days ago, Crabbe. I don't know very much."

"Well what would you like if you were her."

"I don't know, give her flowers or something and leave me alone!" she yelled and stormed off, leaving behind a very baffled Vincent Crabbe.
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It was only three days before the dance, and Pandora was sick of hearing about it. Harry had asked Cho, and (to Pandora's deep regret) she accepted. Everyone seemed to have dates, even Crabbe with Sydney, and Lauren with some random Gryffindor Second Year. The only person she knew who didn't was the little Ravenclaw, Holly.

"I don't see what all the fuss is about," Holly said one evening, while the four Cardcaptors sat together outside beneath a tree. They tried to get to know one another, and really were becoming the best of friends.

"You'll understand when you're older," Sydney said with a wink.

"She's not old enough to understand anything," Lauren said, with just the slightest of attitudes.

"Yes, that is why I am nine years old and in classes much higher than yours."

Sydney and Pandora laughed as Lauren chased Holly around, trying to kill her. "Gryffindors," Sydney sighed with a shrug.

Pandora nodded, her thoughts returning to Harry. She sighed and gazed ahead of her, her mind clouded.

"Hey Panda!" cried Rangi's voice. She looked up to see him flying at her with Tu, Tane, and Tawhiri following. She liked all of them pretty well, except for Tu. Probably only because she felt like he was too hard on Lauren.

"What's up, Rangi?"

"I think you may have a mission," he said in a low, confidential voice, though no one else was about or he wouldn't even be flying around in the open. "Have you heard?"

"No, I can't say that I..."

"Red alert!" Lauren whispered suddenly, taking the opportunity to bash Tu on the head to make him fall down (and probably, too, because it made her feel a lot better).

The four girls turned to see Professor Everest walking hand-in-hand with Professor Snape down one of the pathways. Lauren wanted to take a blackmail picture, Sydney was caught somewhere between blushing and barfing, and Holly shielded her little innocent eyes (though her glasses were far to big to fit behind her hands). Pandora, for her part, could not keep her eyes off of them. It wasn't really the couple that kept her so interested, but mostly Professor Everest. She was one of the strangest people Pandora had ever met. Sometimes it was like there was something else there, like she had felt with the other three Cardcaptors.

Then it hit her, hit her so hard she was afraid Eva Everest might sense it. Perhaps she was the Heir of Slytherin! It would make perfect sense. She could easily be Voldemort's daughter, for he was plenty old enough and she was plenty young enough. Not to mention Snape's constant admiration of her, and even what she taught could be considered part of the Dark Arts. Incanting was often used for special curses, and people had to be very careful when they used the more advanced spells simply because they were so powerful.

Pandora suddenly felt Everest's eyes upon her, and she began walking closer, Snape at her heels. Pandora felt her cheeks flush, afraid that Everest was on to her, and even more afraid of what she was capable of doing to the other four Cardcaptors...

"How are you girls doing?" she asked, smiling.

"We're great!" Lauren piped in, obviously not sensing anything out of the ordinary. "How are you, professors?"

"Fine, thank you," Everest answered, Snape grunting in agreement. "I was just about to tell Sev... Professor Snape.... about my promotion!"

He eyed her as if he were shocked that she would inform the students of such affairs. "Are you sure Dumbledore would approve of you telling everyone just yet? What is this promotion, anyway?"

"I'm almost afraid to tell you," she said, playfully tugging at his hands while the girls exchanged disgusted glances. "I'm going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!"

Pandora's heart sank. What a wonderful position for the Heir of Slytherin... "What is happening to Professor Black?"

"It's going to be announced at the Halloween party, but I'll go ahead and tell you all about it anyway, as long as you promise not to tell." All four nodded. "Well, Tamarah is moving away to live with her husband. They have been married for... well... a few months, anyway... and she's only been able to see him on weekends. The stress I'm sure has gotten to her. But not only that, she found out a few weeks ago that she's going to have a baby!"

The girls awed and cooed as girls generally do after hearing such news, and Pandora figured that must have been what Ron, Harry, and Hermione had been going on about in class a while back. She was still upset that Harry hadn't told her...

Snape, as if to break the happy mood which is usually his style, interrupted saying, "There might not even be a party if things keep up as they have."

"What things?" asked Sydney. She rarely spoke up so quickly to professors, but her dearest party was at stake.

"It's none of your business, you are a student."

"Now, Severus..." Everest said, with a smile. "I'm surprised they hadn't heard about it already." She looked back at the students and continued, "Something strange has been happening the past few days. Things have been going missing all over, right next to people! For example, Professor McGonagall put one of her books down next to her in the teacher's lounge the other day, with at least seven other professors in the same room, and as soon as she turned around, it was gone! No one saw anyone come in, or heard the door open. And the strangest thing is, it doesn't seem to have any pattern in what it is stealing. Just whatever is around."

"That's really strange..." Pandora commented softly, her thoughts trailing. She threw a glance at the other girls, who seemed to be thinking the same thing she was.

"Oh well, hopefully something will turn up, or we'll be breaking a lot of people's hopes, I'm sure. But we should be getting along. Goodbye, children!" And the couple walked off together.

"Rangi, did you hear that...?" Pandora said, turning to where Rangi had been lying limp on the ground...

... but nothing was there.
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"Well do you have any better ideas?"

Holly rarely seemed cocky, but she was also getting very annoyed about not having her idea accepted.

"You've been Cardcaptoring the least amount of time, therefore you should just leave it to us experienced ones! You don't even know if there is an Invisibility Card!"

"Lauren," Pandora said, calmly, "Holly might be on to something. Maybe we should listen."

"Thank you, Pandora," Holly said, adjusting her huge glasses on her nose. "Whoever the culprit is seems to only steal things while the person is nearby, but distracted. You obviously cannot see them while they are there. They also cannot be someone who can only move things from where they are to another place, or people would surely notice whatever it is flying through the air. But if this person is invisible, then all they have to do is snatch it and hide it, thus making the object invisible as well. Does that make sense?"

"No, it's stupid," Lauren said, sticking her tongue out, though Sydney and Pandora both nodded in agreement.

"So you think that the best way to catch it is to set a trap? Leave something out that they would want?" Pandora suggested.

"Yes, but the only problem left is what do they want?"

"See, you're not nearly as smart as you think you are!" Lauren said.

"So what I was thinking," Holly continued with an irritated glance at Lauren, "was that the culprit seems to be taking things that it would think are important to people, that they see them with all the time. Professor McGonagall always carries her books around, and we always have our Guardian Beasts. I don't think it's probably the smartest of cards, or it would know better as to what to waste its time on."

"What do we have though that it would consider important?"

"I have my glasses with me all the time," Holly suggested. "If I lay those down, and we pretend not to care and do something else, then our only problem left is to know how to capture it since we won't be able to see it. It will be invisible, after all."

"You think way too far ahead," Sydney laughed.

Holly ignored the comment and asked Pandora, "What cards do you already have?" Holly didn't seem very interested until Pandora got to the Rain Card. "That's perfect! Get the Rain Card to rain over the Invisibility Card, and you'll be able to see the space it is in!"

The other three blinked at her. "That's the stupidest thing I ever heard!" Lauren said.

"Funny, I thought it was ingenious."
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The capturing of the Invisibility Card turned out incredibly successful. The yellow-backed Hufflepuff Card became Pandora's, and everything that it had taken appeared in a pile at her feet as the card was sealed. After everything had sort of been taken back to its owner (by use of the wonderful card), Pandora tried desperately to have Holly take it.

"Are you kidding?" she said. "I don't want to be a Cardcaptor! I just like figuring out how to do it!"

It was now only two days before the Halloween party, but instead of worrying about a date, Pandora couldn't stop thinking about the Heir of Slytherin, whose coming seemed to be just around the corner.