Chapter 5
Harry gazed at the castle as it drew ever nearer from the carriage window. He spotted that Cho was in the carriage next to his and waved at her, almost falling out of the window. If it hadn't been for Ron pulling him back, he would have been trampled by invisible horses. Th carriages finally came to a complete stop, and the students got out, climbing the main stairs. Harry climbed carefully, thinking he might just slip. Why he thought that, he didn't know for the moment. But, as soon as he got inside, he stepped on a huge banana peel and slid all the way down the hallway. Harry crashed into the wall and was knocked down. He looked up, dazed, to see Peeves the Poltergeist eating a banana without its peel.
"Aww! Poor ickle Harry slipped!" the evil little apparition said, cackling his head off and spitting banana at other arriving students.
"I knew I had a bad feeling about this," said Harry, rubbing his head and getting back up. He walked over to where Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had stopped in their tracks and watched him glide across the floor.
"You're not hurt, are you Harry?" asked a concerned Ginny.
"No, but thanks Ginny," he said, dusting himself off. He walked inside with his best friends, and Ginny ran to the other side of the Great Hall to talk with some of her old buddies in her own class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked passed the Slytherin table, and caught sight of Draco Malfoy, or what was left of him. His face had been transfigured into that of a red dragon's. Harry and Ron started laughing and pointing at the spectacle, and even Hermione joined along. They went back to their own table to await the Sorting Ceremony and Start of Year Feast.
"I can't wait to eat. I could inhale a whole horse right now!" exclaimed Ron.
"Ditto," said Harry.
"Geez, you guys are pigs. And don't you remember? We're not supposed to eat the food! The house elves down there are being forced to cook and clean for us!" Hermione said in her let's-save-the-house-elves way.
"Honestly, Herm. You're not still on about that S.P.A.W. thing, are you?" Ron said exasperatedly.
"It's S.P.E.W., and as long as these elves are oppressed, I'm going to fight for their freedom!"
"Hermione! Give it a rest already!" Ron said to her.
"Give it a rest?!" she exploded. The simple conversation turned into a full blown fight. Harry watched them bicker for a few minutes, until the three-legged stool and raggedy old Sorting Hat were brought out by Professor McGonagall. Everyone stopped talking, even Ron and Hermione, to cheer. The scared first years were brought onto the stage, and then the Hat began to sing.
Welcome back to a brand new year! I surely hope it's full of cheer!
But first, we must put some things aside Like the little first years here for the ride
They will be sorted magnificently Because they will be sorted, of course, by me!
Will they be a Hufflepuff, patient and true? Or will they be a Gryffindor, always loyal to you?
Or perhaps they belong in Slytherin for their power? Or maybe in Ravenclaw, where cleverness is the desire?
It doesn't matter where they go! For in them, their talents will truly show!
Everyone clapped for the wonderful Sorting Hat's song, then turned to the nervous little faces on stage. One of them particularly drew his attention: a girl with long, dark hair. She wasn't much different from the rest, since she seemed the same height. But, her face gave her the appearance of being much older, and she seemed to have refused to put on the uniform under her cloak. Instead, she wore a violet dress. He watched as the Professor McGonagall went down the list, until the one girl who held Harry's fascination was left on stage.
"This year, we have a very special surprise. A new student who has been educated in America has come to us," announced Professor McGonagall, a smile curling on her lips. Everyone held their breath. An American? At Hogwarts? Professor McGonagall continued. "She has been accepted by special honor by Dumbledore himself, to be placed immediately in the fifth year." Dumbledore nodded his head. "May I present to you a very special lady: Cassandra Takachi!" Clapping filled the hall. Harry and Hermione stood up in their chairs.
"Cassie? I know her!" yelled Harry.
"Bunnie? I know her!" yelled Hermione at the same time.
"Wait a minute, you know her?" they both yelled, pointing at each other. They both looked back at the stage, where Cassandra Takachi was smiling back at them, and to the Ravenclaw table for some reason. Harry looked in that direction and saw Cho Chang clapping really hard. Cassie sat on the stool, and the Sorting hat was placed on her head. It slipped nearly over her whole head, and stayed there for a long time. Gee, Harry thought, she must be really hard to place. Suddenly the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!" The whole Gryffindor table got up and clapped for her like they did for all the other first years, except they clapped even harder to have the special student in their house. Cassie came to Harry and Hermione and gave them a huge smile.
"Told you I'd see you soon," she said smartly to them.
"Oh my god! I can't believe it! We'll be roomies and everything!" an ecstatic Hermione yelled.
"How come you didn't tell me you were going to Hogwarts?" Harry asked Cassie.
"Well, I didn't know how I was going to state such a thing to the famous, and handsome, Harry Potter!" she said, grinning. She gave them both hugs, and then was caught by surprise when someone hugged her from behind.
"Cassie-chan! How did you hide this from your big cousin?" Cho Chang said.
"Not....by........getting.......my.......air.......cut.......off......,"Cass ie replied. Cho let go of her, and beamed at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"So, you're friends with my little cous here?" Cho said, giving Cassie a little push.
"Uh, yeah. I didn't know you had a cousin, Cho," Harry said.
"Well, she does," said Cassie happily.
"She's more like a little sister to me, right Cass?" Cho said, putting her arm around Cassie's shoulder. "We even, live in the same place, and share the same pets!"
"Remember those three cats, Harry?" Cassie asked. "Those are our cats. He he!" Suddenly, the Sorting Hat, which had been lying idle on its stool, exploded off of it, and into Hermione's hands.
"You didn't Bunnie," Hermione said, eyes widening. "You couldn't have. You shouldn't have!"
"Oh, but I did, Hermione! You shouldn't have traded me those Filibuster Fireworks for the Sailor Moon cards!" said Cassie, or rather, Bunnie with an evil grin. Harry caught on and glanced over to Malfoy, who was just as surprised as everyone in the room. There was quite a commotion about the exploding hat, and Harry took advantage of it to ask Cassie one last question.
"You turned Malfoy into a dragon, didn't you?"
"Yup! I did, after he used that lame pick-up line on me!" Cassie said, grinning wider.
"That's my cousin," said Cho, who turned back to Harry and seemed to be looking him up and down. "You've changed, Harry!" she said happily.
"I guess I did," Harry replied, rubbing the back of his head. Harry looked sideways, and saw the Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore heading towards Cassie and Cho. "Run!" he yelled, but it was too late. The teachers had grabbed Cassie by the scruff of her neck and taken her away.
"Ouch," the Sorting Hat mumbled while in Hermione's hands. "that really hurt...."
Professor McGonagall got back earlier than the other teachers to get the feast started. She clapped her hands and the golden plates and goblets immediately filled to the brim with food and drink. Even Hermione couldn't resist the delicacies, and dug in without a second thought to S.P.E.W. Before the feast finished, Professor McGonagall called all the new prefects over to her. Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy all left their tables to talk with her. When they returned, Harry was curious about what the teacher had said to them.
"Nothing much, Harry," Ron said. "She just told us to lead the first years up to the common rooms after the feast, and that we must be good role- models for them." Ron rolled his eyes. "That's a good one."
"Yeah, and she also told us about our special perks. We still can stay in our old quarters with everyone else, but we have a special common room, and even a bath, all to ourselves!" Hermione added, bursting with glee. As soon as she said that, Cassie returned and sat next to them.
"Oh dear, you must be so hungry!" Ginny said, talking to Cassie for the first time.
"No, they gave me stuff to eat in Dumbledore's office," Cassie replied.
"What happened?" Ron asked. A smile lit up Cassie's pretty face.
"They said I was the first person in school history to almost get expelled on their first day!" she bubbled. "I've caused more trouble than the Marauders and the Weasley twins combined, they said! I don't know either, but that has got to be a great accomplishment! Oh, and they said that they didn't give detentions on the first week though, so I don't have to go to one!" Cassie smiled even more.
"Wow, you sure are wild, err, what should we call you?" Ginny asked.
"Hmm," Cassie thought. She looked up to the enchanted ceiling, which was currently sparkling with millions of stars. "I know! Just call me Cassie. My old friends back home already call me Bunnie. Plus, Cho already calls me that." She gave Ginny a smile.
"Okay Cassie!" replied Ginny happily. Finally, Professor Dumbledore rang a little bell. Everyone directed their attention to the front of the hall.
"A few last minute thoughts for my students. If you sneeze too hard, you could break one of your ribs. If you hold in the sneeze, you could rupture and damage your spleen. Thank you," Dumbledore said with his wholesome smile. Ron and Hermione led their first years up the stairs, giving them advice on how to get around Hogwarts, while Harry, Ginny, and Cassie tagged along behind them.
"Do you know that the stairs move on their own sometimes? I read it in Hogwarts, A History," Hermione remarked matter-of-factly.
"Oh, bloody hell. I knew it was coming," Ron said. "You just have to stick that bloody book into every conversation, don't you?" he said.
"Ronald Weasley! That is no way to set a good example for our little first years!" said a shocked Hermione. And again, they fought, sort of scaring the little ones into thinking that their prefects were nuts.
"Are they always like that?" Cassie whispered to Harry.
"Unfortunately, yes," he whispered back. "It's only because they don't want to admit that they're madly in love with each other."
"Well, we'll just have to do something about that, now won't we?" said Cassie, getting another evil smile. They giggled for a moment, and then found that they were right in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Passowrd?" the Fat Lady said. Hermione took a deep breath.
"Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious," Ron said before Hermione could. Hermione shot him another evil glare, and crossed her arms as they led the first years into the warm Gryffindor common room. Like all first years on their first night, they went straight to bed. Ron and Hermione continued to fight, as Harry, Ginny, and Cassie watched on in awe.
"Well, I've gotta go to bed now. See you in the morning!" Ginny said after 10 minutes passed.
"We' should be going too, you know," said Cassie, tugging on Hermione's cloak.
"Yeah," Harry said, tugging on Ron's.
"Fine then, we'll go, but this isn't over, Ron!" Hermione said. She then turned to her new friend, saying, "You know, I always did wonder why there we were one Gryffndor girl short..."
"Can you imagine the nerve of that girl?" Ron said indignantly.
"Aw, come now Ron. You don't think she' pretty when she's mad?" Harry said playfully.
"Well, yeah, but...Harry, that's not the point!" Ron screamed.
"Whatever, Ron. Let's get on to bed," Harry said, motioning upstairs.
"Yeah, ok," Ron said, and he followed Harry upstairs to their room
Harry gazed at the castle as it drew ever nearer from the carriage window. He spotted that Cho was in the carriage next to his and waved at her, almost falling out of the window. If it hadn't been for Ron pulling him back, he would have been trampled by invisible horses. Th carriages finally came to a complete stop, and the students got out, climbing the main stairs. Harry climbed carefully, thinking he might just slip. Why he thought that, he didn't know for the moment. But, as soon as he got inside, he stepped on a huge banana peel and slid all the way down the hallway. Harry crashed into the wall and was knocked down. He looked up, dazed, to see Peeves the Poltergeist eating a banana without its peel.
"Aww! Poor ickle Harry slipped!" the evil little apparition said, cackling his head off and spitting banana at other arriving students.
"I knew I had a bad feeling about this," said Harry, rubbing his head and getting back up. He walked over to where Hermione, Ron, and Ginny had stopped in their tracks and watched him glide across the floor.
"You're not hurt, are you Harry?" asked a concerned Ginny.
"No, but thanks Ginny," he said, dusting himself off. He walked inside with his best friends, and Ginny ran to the other side of the Great Hall to talk with some of her old buddies in her own class. Harry, Ron, and Hermione walked passed the Slytherin table, and caught sight of Draco Malfoy, or what was left of him. His face had been transfigured into that of a red dragon's. Harry and Ron started laughing and pointing at the spectacle, and even Hermione joined along. They went back to their own table to await the Sorting Ceremony and Start of Year Feast.
"I can't wait to eat. I could inhale a whole horse right now!" exclaimed Ron.
"Ditto," said Harry.
"Geez, you guys are pigs. And don't you remember? We're not supposed to eat the food! The house elves down there are being forced to cook and clean for us!" Hermione said in her let's-save-the-house-elves way.
"Honestly, Herm. You're not still on about that S.P.A.W. thing, are you?" Ron said exasperatedly.
"It's S.P.E.W., and as long as these elves are oppressed, I'm going to fight for their freedom!"
"Hermione! Give it a rest already!" Ron said to her.
"Give it a rest?!" she exploded. The simple conversation turned into a full blown fight. Harry watched them bicker for a few minutes, until the three-legged stool and raggedy old Sorting Hat were brought out by Professor McGonagall. Everyone stopped talking, even Ron and Hermione, to cheer. The scared first years were brought onto the stage, and then the Hat began to sing.
Welcome back to a brand new year! I surely hope it's full of cheer!
But first, we must put some things aside Like the little first years here for the ride
They will be sorted magnificently Because they will be sorted, of course, by me!
Will they be a Hufflepuff, patient and true? Or will they be a Gryffindor, always loyal to you?
Or perhaps they belong in Slytherin for their power? Or maybe in Ravenclaw, where cleverness is the desire?
It doesn't matter where they go! For in them, their talents will truly show!
Everyone clapped for the wonderful Sorting Hat's song, then turned to the nervous little faces on stage. One of them particularly drew his attention: a girl with long, dark hair. She wasn't much different from the rest, since she seemed the same height. But, her face gave her the appearance of being much older, and she seemed to have refused to put on the uniform under her cloak. Instead, she wore a violet dress. He watched as the Professor McGonagall went down the list, until the one girl who held Harry's fascination was left on stage.
"This year, we have a very special surprise. A new student who has been educated in America has come to us," announced Professor McGonagall, a smile curling on her lips. Everyone held their breath. An American? At Hogwarts? Professor McGonagall continued. "She has been accepted by special honor by Dumbledore himself, to be placed immediately in the fifth year." Dumbledore nodded his head. "May I present to you a very special lady: Cassandra Takachi!" Clapping filled the hall. Harry and Hermione stood up in their chairs.
"Cassie? I know her!" yelled Harry.
"Bunnie? I know her!" yelled Hermione at the same time.
"Wait a minute, you know her?" they both yelled, pointing at each other. They both looked back at the stage, where Cassandra Takachi was smiling back at them, and to the Ravenclaw table for some reason. Harry looked in that direction and saw Cho Chang clapping really hard. Cassie sat on the stool, and the Sorting hat was placed on her head. It slipped nearly over her whole head, and stayed there for a long time. Gee, Harry thought, she must be really hard to place. Suddenly the hat yelled out, "Gryffindor!" The whole Gryffindor table got up and clapped for her like they did for all the other first years, except they clapped even harder to have the special student in their house. Cassie came to Harry and Hermione and gave them a huge smile.
"Told you I'd see you soon," she said smartly to them.
"Oh my god! I can't believe it! We'll be roomies and everything!" an ecstatic Hermione yelled.
"How come you didn't tell me you were going to Hogwarts?" Harry asked Cassie.
"Well, I didn't know how I was going to state such a thing to the famous, and handsome, Harry Potter!" she said, grinning. She gave them both hugs, and then was caught by surprise when someone hugged her from behind.
"Cassie-chan! How did you hide this from your big cousin?" Cho Chang said.
"Not....by........getting.......my.......air.......cut.......off......,"Cass ie replied. Cho let go of her, and beamed at Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
"So, you're friends with my little cous here?" Cho said, giving Cassie a little push.
"Uh, yeah. I didn't know you had a cousin, Cho," Harry said.
"Well, she does," said Cassie happily.
"She's more like a little sister to me, right Cass?" Cho said, putting her arm around Cassie's shoulder. "We even, live in the same place, and share the same pets!"
"Remember those three cats, Harry?" Cassie asked. "Those are our cats. He he!" Suddenly, the Sorting Hat, which had been lying idle on its stool, exploded off of it, and into Hermione's hands.
"You didn't Bunnie," Hermione said, eyes widening. "You couldn't have. You shouldn't have!"
"Oh, but I did, Hermione! You shouldn't have traded me those Filibuster Fireworks for the Sailor Moon cards!" said Cassie, or rather, Bunnie with an evil grin. Harry caught on and glanced over to Malfoy, who was just as surprised as everyone in the room. There was quite a commotion about the exploding hat, and Harry took advantage of it to ask Cassie one last question.
"You turned Malfoy into a dragon, didn't you?"
"Yup! I did, after he used that lame pick-up line on me!" Cassie said, grinning wider.
"That's my cousin," said Cho, who turned back to Harry and seemed to be looking him up and down. "You've changed, Harry!" she said happily.
"I guess I did," Harry replied, rubbing the back of his head. Harry looked sideways, and saw the Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore heading towards Cassie and Cho. "Run!" he yelled, but it was too late. The teachers had grabbed Cassie by the scruff of her neck and taken her away.
"Ouch," the Sorting Hat mumbled while in Hermione's hands. "that really hurt...."
Professor McGonagall got back earlier than the other teachers to get the feast started. She clapped her hands and the golden plates and goblets immediately filled to the brim with food and drink. Even Hermione couldn't resist the delicacies, and dug in without a second thought to S.P.E.W. Before the feast finished, Professor McGonagall called all the new prefects over to her. Ron, Hermione, and Malfoy all left their tables to talk with her. When they returned, Harry was curious about what the teacher had said to them.
"Nothing much, Harry," Ron said. "She just told us to lead the first years up to the common rooms after the feast, and that we must be good role- models for them." Ron rolled his eyes. "That's a good one."
"Yeah, and she also told us about our special perks. We still can stay in our old quarters with everyone else, but we have a special common room, and even a bath, all to ourselves!" Hermione added, bursting with glee. As soon as she said that, Cassie returned and sat next to them.
"Oh dear, you must be so hungry!" Ginny said, talking to Cassie for the first time.
"No, they gave me stuff to eat in Dumbledore's office," Cassie replied.
"What happened?" Ron asked. A smile lit up Cassie's pretty face.
"They said I was the first person in school history to almost get expelled on their first day!" she bubbled. "I've caused more trouble than the Marauders and the Weasley twins combined, they said! I don't know either, but that has got to be a great accomplishment! Oh, and they said that they didn't give detentions on the first week though, so I don't have to go to one!" Cassie smiled even more.
"Wow, you sure are wild, err, what should we call you?" Ginny asked.
"Hmm," Cassie thought. She looked up to the enchanted ceiling, which was currently sparkling with millions of stars. "I know! Just call me Cassie. My old friends back home already call me Bunnie. Plus, Cho already calls me that." She gave Ginny a smile.
"Okay Cassie!" replied Ginny happily. Finally, Professor Dumbledore rang a little bell. Everyone directed their attention to the front of the hall.
"A few last minute thoughts for my students. If you sneeze too hard, you could break one of your ribs. If you hold in the sneeze, you could rupture and damage your spleen. Thank you," Dumbledore said with his wholesome smile. Ron and Hermione led their first years up the stairs, giving them advice on how to get around Hogwarts, while Harry, Ginny, and Cassie tagged along behind them.
"Do you know that the stairs move on their own sometimes? I read it in Hogwarts, A History," Hermione remarked matter-of-factly.
"Oh, bloody hell. I knew it was coming," Ron said. "You just have to stick that bloody book into every conversation, don't you?" he said.
"Ronald Weasley! That is no way to set a good example for our little first years!" said a shocked Hermione. And again, they fought, sort of scaring the little ones into thinking that their prefects were nuts.
"Are they always like that?" Cassie whispered to Harry.
"Unfortunately, yes," he whispered back. "It's only because they don't want to admit that they're madly in love with each other."
"Well, we'll just have to do something about that, now won't we?" said Cassie, getting another evil smile. They giggled for a moment, and then found that they were right in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Passowrd?" the Fat Lady said. Hermione took a deep breath.
"Supercalifragilisticexpealidocious," Ron said before Hermione could. Hermione shot him another evil glare, and crossed her arms as they led the first years into the warm Gryffindor common room. Like all first years on their first night, they went straight to bed. Ron and Hermione continued to fight, as Harry, Ginny, and Cassie watched on in awe.
"Well, I've gotta go to bed now. See you in the morning!" Ginny said after 10 minutes passed.
"We' should be going too, you know," said Cassie, tugging on Hermione's cloak.
"Yeah," Harry said, tugging on Ron's.
"Fine then, we'll go, but this isn't over, Ron!" Hermione said. She then turned to her new friend, saying, "You know, I always did wonder why there we were one Gryffndor girl short..."
"Can you imagine the nerve of that girl?" Ron said indignantly.
"Aw, come now Ron. You don't think she' pretty when she's mad?" Harry said playfully.
"Well, yeah, but...Harry, that's not the point!" Ron screamed.
"Whatever, Ron. Let's get on to bed," Harry said, motioning upstairs.
"Yeah, ok," Ron said, and he followed Harry upstairs to their room