Chapter 22 Unforgettable Lessons (Cassie)

            My name is Cassie.

            Harry was acting strange the next day. He was constantly looking around. He always watched the other Animorphs and me nervously. He shied away from the other boys in his House.

            Ron wasn't in class today, which was strange, and Harry wouldn't tell me why.

            No one seemed to notice this change in Harry but me. As I walked to Care of Magical Creatures with him, I asked him what was wrong.

            He rubbed his scar. "Nothing, Cassie. I'm fine. It's just that…" —he lowered his voice— "they make me nervous."

            "Oh." I could understand that, but that wasn't the whole of it. I have a kind of instinct for these things.

            "Why are you coming to Care of Magical Creatures?" he asked.

            "Uuuh…" I said. It was then I realized I was supposed to be going to Herbology. The Gryffindors had Care of Magical Creatures with Slytherin, not Hufflepuff.

            Harry grinned and pulled a spare Gryffindor crest out of his pocket. "I don't know the spell to attach it, but I bet Hermione does. You can be a Gryffindor for a day."

            I hurried over to Hermione, who smiled kindly and used a spell to cover up my Hufflepuff crest with the Gryffindor one. She yanked off my tie and gave me a spare Gryffindor one from her pocket. She told me the reason she kept it there was so she could change the one she was wearing if she got a potion all over it and that I could borrow it.

            When Harry was talking to Jake, I leaned over to her and whispered, "Do you notice the strange way Harry is acting?"

            Hermione frowned and bit her lip. She glanced around to make sure no one had heard and nodded. "I asked him where Ron was. He said he didn't know but I know he does. I looked all over the common room and even in the Hospital Wing, but Ron wasn't there."

            My heart started to pound. Visser Three hadn't killed Ron…

            Had he?

            When we got to the class, Hagrid was there. He looked particularly cheerful today. A large sack was slung over his shoulder. He beamed at his students as they gathered around him.

            "We're going into the Forest today!" he said happily.

            There were many gasps of shock. I did it, too, just so I didn't look strange. I didn't know what was so bad about the Forbidden Forest (other than its name), but apparently everyone else did.

            I looked at Harry to see his reaction. His eyes were unfocused, as if he were thinking. They snapped back to normal, and he flared his nostrils.

            Hermione leaned over to me and whispered, "We've had previous… experiences in the Forest."

            I nodded.

            Hagrid led us into the forest. After a while, I began to think he had gotten us all lost. Everyone was getting nervous. I must admit, my own stomach was churning. I had no idea what to expect, and Harry had told me of Hagrid's love of monsters.

            "Aaah, here we are!" he said, stopping suddenly. We were in a large clearing, but it was still pretty dark. "Now, I'm gonna call 'em, but I have this steak jus' in case." He explained, pulling an abnormally large stake from the snack. It looked larger than I had ever seen before. It was big enough to be dragon's meat! But dragons weren't real.

            Were they?

            He cupped his hands around his mouth and sounded some weird call. It would have been funny if I had known what was coming.

            When I saw it, I nearly had a heart attack. I mean, I'm usually good with animals, but I had never seen the likes of this before.

            It seemed to be a horse with only flesh and bones. It had two bat-like wings. Its eyes were all white, which meant they should have been blind, but you could tell by the way it swung its head around that it could see. It was completely black. Its face looked like something out of a nightmare.

            "All right'," Hagrid said, "Who can see 'em?"

            Harry's hand shot up in the air, followed by Neville's, and a Slytherin boy's. All Animorphs present raised their hands. When Hagrid saw the number of hands, he looked troubled. "Eigh' in a class? Well, these are thestrals. Can anyone tell me why some can see 'em and others can'?"

            Hermione's hand shot up and stretched to its fullest extent. I bit back a smile. The corners of Hagrid's eyes crinkled into a smile. "Yes, Hermione?"

            "People who see thestrals have seen someone die." Hermione said, face flushed.

            "That's righ'. Ten poin's to Gryffindor." Hagrid said.

            Hagrid started to explain about the thestrals, but I wasn't paying attention. I sidled over to Jake. "You can see them?" I whispered.

            He nodded, face pale.

            Harry was looking relieved. "I thought I was mad when I saw the thestrals pulling the carriages to the school when no one else did."

            "You began seeing them this year? Why? Who did you see die?" Jake asked quietly, making sure no one overheard.

            Harry suddenly became very interested with dead leaves on the ground. His eyes hazed over again as he thought. "I was entered into a contest last year, the Triwizard Tournament…" he said slowly, eyes still unfocused, "At the last task, I was transported to a graveyard. Voldemort was reborn that night. He—he killed the boy I tied with, Cedric Diggory. That's when I dueled Voldemort and saw… I saw my Mom and Dad." He stopped, looking as if horrified he had let this slip.

            My eyes filled with tears. "Oh, Harry," I whispered. I put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged away.

            "It's not that bad. They were only echoes that came out of his wand. They weren't real." He busied himself by boldly stepping forward and stroking the neck of one of the thestrals.

            I looked down at my hand, frowning. When I had touched him, he had felt… strange. I can't really describe it. I frowned further and furrowed my brow. It was like he hadn't felt…

            I quickly grabbed Jake's hand. He looked shocked for a moment, but then gave me a perplexed glance. I felt something running just below the surface of his skin that wasn't his pulse… it was so slight I could barely feel it…

            I put the back of my hand against Seamus's arm, so that it looked like we were so close together that I couldn't stand without brushing him. The feeling I had felt when I touched Jake's hand wasn't there even remotely.

            My heart started to race. My mind was reeling. Beads of sweat dotted my forehead and eventually trickled down my cheeks, making me have to wipe them away quickly. It was cold out, so I shouldn't have been sweating.

            Jake shifted nervously. He could probably see my nerves were running high and that something was wrong, because he looked anxious. He shot me a questioning look, so I said, "Not now. Later."

            I licked my suddenly dry lips. I sincerely hoped I was wrong… that I was somehow incorrect…

            I moved forward and stroked the nearest thestral. It shuddered under my touch, but then calmed and let me run my hands along its back. I had a sudden idea.

            Since there were only few of us that could actually see the thestrals, I led it into the trees. Seamus and Dean stared at me like I had three heads. It then occurred to me that they couldn't see the thestral.

            Though I knew it was incredibly risky, I demorphed. The thestral watched and its nostrils flared at the changing scents. "Good thestral," I soothed, taking its face in my hands. My robes were now too big, so I had to roll back the sleeves. I closed my eyes and concentrated, absorbing the threstral's DNA into my bloodstream. It continued to stare at me through its white eyes.

            I quickly remorphed and went back to the class, whispering to Jake what I had just done. His eyes lit up. "Good idea," he mouthed, and went off to acquire one.

            The two of us slowly told the others. Harry didn't have to demorph to acquire them. I was actually a little nervous about him acquiring it. Hermione had all ready acquired it when I told her about it.

            By the end of the class, all of us had a thestral morph except Ax.

            "Thestrals can bring you anywhere you want to go," Hermione said as we walked from the class, "And they're incredibly fast."

            "Good," I said, bobbing my head in agreement.

            Harry opened the Chamber for us that evening, after dinner. He had much more difficulty with it than the day before. In fact, it looked as if he almost couldn't pronounce the words in Parseltongue. He managed it eventually, and left with a flushed face.

            We all went down to the Chamber, demorphed, and stashed out robes were they wouldn't get wet. It felt good to be in my own skin again. I felt so good that I almost forgot what I was going to tell Jake. Actually, I wouldn't have told him if he hadn't reminded me and that would have been a big mistake.

            We walked over to a corner when no one else was really paying attention. Jake took me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. He was a good head taller than me, so I had to tilt my head back slightly.

            "What's wrong, Cassie? You were really pale and sweaty in detention."

            "Jake…" I said, voice shaking, "I think Harry is a Controller."

A/N: Wow, am I surprised how fast I typed this one. Of course, I'm leaving you hanging again. Sorry 'bout that. I just can't help myself! ::coughs:: Anyhow, these chapters should be coming quite quickly now that I know what to write about. Sometimes, I just have to… type by ear.

Someone asked about the Animorphs' wizarding appearances. I have a terrible memory and am sorry I can't remember your penname. Here they are:

Jake shrunk about a foot. His nose lengthened. His hair turned the color of straw, like Rachel's. His pale skin browned a little. His eyes… I blinked. His eyes turned emerald green, just like mine. Just like my mother's. The muscles on his arms and legs toned a bit.

Marco sprouted like a bamboo shoot. He became pale, a real contrast with his Hispanic complexion. His brown eyes became baby blue. His hair changed from black to brown like Hermione's and stuck up in the back like mine. His nose flattened a little. His thin arms and legs became muscular.

Rachel stayed the same height. Her hair turned black as night, like mine, and crawled back into her scalp until it was shoulder height. Her blue eyes became brown, like Jake's. Her skinny features rounded a little. Her front teeth grew and looked suspiciously like Hermione's had last year.

Cassie grew and became skinnier than she had been. Her hair became light brown and fluffed out like Hermione's. Her skin became as pale as mine. Her eyes stayed brown, but lightened to a dark hazel. I could see a dash of green from my eyes. Her nose became a little pointed.

Ax's skin became a chocolate-colored brown. His hair became black like mine, but rather thin and wavy. His eyes became deep brown. He was just a little taller than I was. He, too, had buckteeth like Hermione's. A mouth grew and his teeth flashed white in his face.

Tobias's hair was dirty blond. He had Hermione's eyes and my stature. He grew to be almost as tall as Jake (in his usual form). His nose was quite flat.

It's a little long, but you get the point. Stay tuned for my next chapter, which I don't know the title yet, but I do know it's narrated by our lovable Harry Potter. Peace out!