Chapter 2

The Dream and Keys

Cassy didn't get very much sleep that night. She was kept awake by the thought of one of the creatures attacking her or Cassidi. Also she was very nervous and excited about school the next morning. Finally she drifted off to sleep. She had a very strange dream. She was running after a creature that was flying on a broom. It kept on laughing at her. She jumped onto its back and knocked it down. She turned it over and it was Cassidi. She had red eyes, fangs, rotten fingernails and a voice like fingernails on a chalkboard. Cassy screamed and woke up. She was in a cold sweat, her heart was pounding and she was breathing like she had just ran a race. She was awake for some time now. She paced the floor. She looked up at the roof and tripped over something. It was a set of keys. She looked at them carefully. One was a key to the broom cupboard, another was a key to Snape's privet potions storage. Still another one was to a room that stopped time. Cassy was very interested in this one. It had instructions on it. There was a gargoyle somewhere in the room. There was also a button on the roof of its mouth. Cassy had no trouble finding the gargoyle. She pressed the button and a little slot came down with a key hole inside. She took the key and turned the lock. The gargoyle's mouth dropped down, down. down until it made a little door way. Cassy stepped into it. She looked back at the outside of the gargoyle and saw that nobody was moving and nothing was doing anything. The clocks weren't moving and people weren't breathing. She looked back inside. It was a room that was all white. There was a large pool in the center with one hundred golden taps around it. There were soft white towels on a rack. She looked around the room. There was a piece of parchment in the corner of the room. She walked over to pick it up. There was nothing on it. It seemed very old. She had heard about something like this. She took out her wand and tapped the parchment and said, "I solemly swear that I am up to no good." The parchment start to change. Lines started to appear like spider web and little dots formed with names. It showed all the secret passage ways and where the people were. Cassy looked at it and gasped. It showed Snape coming towards the Gryffindor common room. She ran out of the room and locked it up. She grabbed her wand and ran down the stairs still looking at the map. Snape was now in the common room. Cassy got really scared. She tried not to breathe so loudly. Snape was looking at the fire place. He was muttering words in the voice that sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard. Cassy looked down at his fingernails. They were rotten. She had no way to curse him and then get out with out him seeing her or having one of her friends hurt. She didn't have an invisibility cloak and didn't know any spell in existence that would make you invisible. She decided to cast a body-binding curse on him and see if it worked. If that didn't work she would try tons of other spells.

"Petrificus Totallus!" she whispered. A light came out of her wand and stopped Snape. He fell over on his back. Cassy had no idea how long it would last so she wasted no time. She ran up the stairs and got Cassidi.

"Wha-what's the matter?" Cassidi said groggily

"Come on! We have to go to Dumbledore! Snape was in our common room! Grab your wand and cast a body-binding curse on anybody with those symptoms!" aid Cassy. Cassidi jumped out of bed and grabbed her wand.

"Let's go!" she said. They ran down the stairs. They cast the body-binding curse on Snape just to be careful. They ran to Dumbledore's office. They had to remember the password.

"Wattlebird!" said Cassidi. The gargoyle sprang to life and jumped aside. They ran up the stairs. "Professor Dumbledore? Are you here?" said Cassy. Out of nowhere the was a voice.

"Yes! I'm over here, in the library," said a voice. It was normal. Cassy and Cassidi ran over.

"Professor! Snape was in our common room. He had all the symptoms of the creature we told you about! We learned that the spell to stop them is the full body-binding curse. I fear that the rest of the school in great danger because of him. We don't know how long our spells will hold him! We need to get back to the Gryffindor common room now!' said Cassy talking quite fast.

"Yes, yes we will. Let's go now," said Professor Dumbledore calmly. They ran to the common room. Snape was on the ground. She had fangs, red eyes, and rotten fingernails.

"Oh dear," said Dumbledore.

"See? This is what we were talking about. The driver, the old lady in the shop and Professor Snape." said Cassidi.

"I have no idea what kind of creature this is. Let me take Professor Snape to Professor Whippletree. I forgot to announce that Whippletree is your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Perhaps he knows what it is. If not I'll ask Haggard and in the mean time, I will look in the books. I want you to look too." said Dumbledore. Cassidi and Cassy nodded. They watched Dumbledore lift Snape in a spell and carry him off. They then walked off to their dormitories. They had another 2 hours of sleep to get. Cassy was still tired. She woke up ten minutes before she was supposed to and went into the room that stopped time. She slept for what seemed five more hours. She got up and felt great. She was ready for school. She went back out and got dressed. She quietly walked down stair and left the Gryffindor common room. The castle was very beautiful at this time. She opened the Great Hall's doors and walked inside. There were a fair amount of people sitting at the tables. She sat down and dished out some bacon and eggs on to her dish. She propped her book bag up against the bench. She took out a book for the creature and propped it up against her goblet. She read a lot Cassy was almost done when Cassidi came down and sat beside her.

"What-cha readin'?" she asked.

"A book for Snape's symptoms," replied Cassy.

"Oh," said Cassidi as she dished herself some bacon and eggs. "Find anything?'

"No! He is getting really annoying and scary!" said Cassy getting angry. "I have an idea that a banshee and a vampire had a baby together, but then I stomped that one because the vampire would probably suck the blood of the banshee. Then I realized that when a vampire bites its victim, the victim turns into a vampire too. So the banshee turns into a vampire too. That is just an idea mind you." Cassidi stood there in her seat looking at Cassy as though she didn't understand a word she just said. "In other words, the vampire could have bit the banshee turning it into a vampire too. You do know that when a vampire bits someone, they turn into a vampire too right?" said Cassy as she rolled her eyes.

"Of coarse I do. I just didn't understand any of that other stuff," said Cassidi shrugging.

"OK .What I was saying was I thought that a vampire and a banshee had a baby together But then I realized that a vampire bits and thus turning the victim into one as well. Get it?" asked Cassy.

"Yes .Now I do. Thank you," said Cassidi as she scooped more bacon onto her plate.

"Never mind," said Cassy.