"You okay?" Ginny looked at the dark circles under Cady' eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She yawned. "I just didn't sleep well last night."
"Are you sure that's it?" Emily looked worried. "You looked more stressed than tired."
"Nightmare." Cady brushed of the remark.
"Hiya Kathy!" A blond haired boy bounced up to them, Cady recognized him from yesterday as Colin Creevey.
"Hi, how's Dennis?" Kathy smiled back.
"He's okay, he's freaking out due to the O.W.Ls, so, he's not much fun anymore." Colin made a face.
"He probably said the same about you, last year." Sari laughed.
"I guess so." He shrugged.
"Well? Are we going to breakfast or not?" Emily pushed, at a rumbling from her stomach.
"Let's go." Cady laughed. "We can leave these people to pursue a greater calling."
"I'm coming!" Sari hurried after them. "I'm not going to turn down food!"
"We'll catch up." Ginny waved them on. "Save us seats."
"'Kay!" Cady called back.
"Umm!" Sari sighed. "I love food!"
"Which is amazing, considering you're such a twig." Cady sat down and poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice.
"Am not!" Sari laughed.
Emily helped herself to a pile of scramble eggs, while Sari piled her plate with melon. Cady poured milk into her cereal, spilling a little.
Ginny and Kathy came in when the other three were deep into conversation. They sat down and began to pick and choose their different breakfasts.
"What did Colin want?" Emily asked, curiosity filling her large brown eyes.
"The Astronomy homework." Kathy shrugged. 'It took him ten minutes to get ton the point. He was so embarrassed that he couldn't remember what it was."
"Wait, we had Astronomy homework?" Cady looked frightened.
"Yes. What? Do you take it?" Kathy asked. Cady nodded fearfully. "Don't worry you wont need to do it since you haven't been to class
"You two are weird." Ginny laughed. "Most of us couldn't wait to get out of that class."
"Well, Sari takes History of Magic. She's even more crazy." Kathy retorted.
"Hey! History is fascinating!" Sari tried to glare but failed miserably and ended up laughing.
Ginny looked at her watch, then dug through her bag. "Cady, I need to get my Advanced Potion book up in the common room. Can you get to the room okay?"
"Don't worry about her. We'll be there." Emily reassured her.
"Okay, I'll see you there." Ginny took off.
The girls finished their breakfast and left the Great Hall to go to Potions. They had just started to go up a flight of stairs when it began to move, fast. Cady was left behind on the upper landing while, Kathy, Sari and Emily were on the quickly moving stairs.
"Omigod! Omigod!" Emily chewed on her lip.
Cady laughed at Emily's palpable distress. "It's okay. I'll find my own way."
"If you get lost, ask someone." Sari called up. But stay away from Slytherins! Especially older ones!"
"I'll be fine!" Cady hurried down the hallway to try and find a stairway than went down.
She turned a number of corners before becoming hopelessly lost. One turn made her even more confused.
"Excuse me, Lily. I can't imagine you being lost." An older, laughing voice came from behind her.
Cady whirled around to see the silvery, transparent form of an ancient man with a long silvery beard and half-moon glasses.
"I'm sorry, it's been awhile so I get confused." The old man smiled. "You do look a lot like her though."
"You…" Cady stuttered. "You're the old man I saw in the Pensieve!"
"Interesting." The old man's ghostly eyes twinkled. "I do suppose you looked in young Master Harry Potter's Pensieve?"
"Yes." She admitted.
"And what did you see me doing?"
"You were… you know what I saw! I know you did!"
"Possibly, though I would like to know your version of what you saw."
"Why should I?" Cady was frightened, giving her an air of suspicion.
"Well, it depends on whether you trust me or not."
"CADY!" A male voice called from down the corridor. For the second time in the span of five minutes, Cady whirled around again
Harry Potter was running toward her.
"What do you want?" She asked sourly.
But his attention wasn't fixed on her, but on the ghost behind her. "Dumbledore…" He whispered.
"Harry Potter." Dumbledore smiled. "It's been quite too long."
"Sir…" Harry's tongue seemed to stumble over the word.
"I see you have met your sister already." Dumbledore motioned to Cady.
"Sister?"
"Yes, your sister."
"I'm related to him!" Cady looked less than pleased.
"There is no point in silly sibling squabbles." Dumbledore looked exceedingly serious. "Now that you are in England you are in danger. A great enemy has come to know of your existence."
"I don't understand." Cady couldn't look more confused.
Dumbledore sighed. "I would allow for you to realize your relationship by yourselves, but there isn't enough time."
"Why would someone be after me?" Cady asked.
"If you are my sister, and I'm not saying you are, but one: you would be the daughter of one of Voldemort's biggest opposers and the brother of his worst enemy." Harry ran his hand nervously through his hair.
"Caroline, the worst thing you could have done was come to England now." Dumbledore looked sad. "Caroline Potter."
"I don't still don't understand." Cady bit her lip.
"Now is not the time." Dumbledore said vaguely. "You both are late for class and who knows who or what could be listening. Meet me in the common room tomorrow after your astronomy lesson." After saying this he disappeared into the wall.
"Who was that?" Cady asked.
"Albus Dumbledore, previous Headmaster of Hogwarts." Harry's jaw stiffened. "He was murdered by a follower of Voldemort at the end of last year."
"Oh." Cady sounded apologetic. "I'm sorry."
"I should have figured that he would become a ghost. The last place he'd leave is Hogwarts." And for the first time Cady saw the famous Harry Potter smile.
"Where have you been?" Kathleen hissed, when Cady slipped into the dungeon classroom.
"I got lost." She whispered back. "And I ran into… umm… an old friend."
Kathy looked skeptical, but let it drop as Professor Slughorn's enchanted chalk stopped writing instructions on the board.
"Today we will be making…" And he was cut off my a loud clanging as a high powered wad of chewing gum hit the simmering caldron in front of him causing it to wobble uncertainly.
"Hee, Hee, Hee!" A poltergeist zoomed above their heads. "Ickle sixies! Preparing for their N.E.W.T.'s are they?"
"Peeves!" Professor Slughorn bellowed.
'I wouldn't yell, Professor." Peeves wagged his finger at Slughorn. "Your precious caldron!" For the caldron had tipped dangerously and was beginning to spill over. In another instant a tidal wave of potion flowed over the classroom, soaking the shrieking students.
When the swirling grayish liquid subsided, a multicolored, wet class struggled to their feet.
"Peeves!" Slughorn bellowed again. "What did you do!"
"Just added some Magical Mess Remover, Professorhead." Peeves proudly displayed the bottle.
" Everyone follow me to Professor Flitwick's classroom." Slughorn sighed. "I hope to god it's not permanent."
"Permanent?" Sari squeaked. And with good reason, she was half bright green and half a lovely shade of robin's egg blue.
"I'm purple!" Kathy pulled at her wet once black robe.
"Please don't tell me my hair is the same color of the rest of me." Ginny closed her eyes.
"It's not the same shade…" Sari tried to be helpful. "It's a bit brighter pink, almost florescent."
"Shit!" Ginny swore.
"Yellow's not so bad." Cady touched her face.
"That's not yellow, that's more like Goldenrod." Emily chuckled.
"It's better than barn red." Cady shot back.
Most of the students were lucky enough to be just one color, but others were unfortunate enough to share Sari's predicament and be anywhere from two to a rainbow of six or seven colors.
The cluster of dyed students walking down the attracted the most attention since Dumbledore's death last summer.
"What happened here?" Professor McGonagal eyes widened when she caught up with them.
"Peeves added some Magical Mess Remover to my color restorative potion and dumped it over the class." Slughorn sounded as though he just wanted this whole thing to end.
"I'll get the Bloody Baron to have a word with him." McGonagal took a slow calming breath.
"Follow me, class." Slughorn ushered them into Flitwick's classroom.
"What happened?" Professor Flitwick squeaked.
"Peeves added some Magical Mess Remover to my color restorative potion and dumped it over the class." Slughorn repeated. "I was hoping you could help."
"I can try. It all depends on how much he added. It could be permanent." Flitwick bit his lip.
The class groaned, but eventually most of them got completely purged of their color.
"Careful, some of you might start acting like mood rings and change colors when feeling intense emotions." Flitwick couldn't stifle a giggle as one boy turned a light violet in embarrassment. "Well there's nothing to do about that except to wait for it to wear off."
Cady turned a deep blue in shock.
Just when she was starting to turn back to normal, Professor McGonagal came into the classroom looking for her.
"Can I see you in the hall, Caroline?" She asked pleasantly.
Cady nodded and followed her out.
"It has come to my attention that you need some extra tutelage, especially in the Defense Against the Dark arts. You will be taking classes in the Gryfindor common room every other night, that you do not have Astronomy, with Mr. Potter." She smiled knowingly.
"You know!" Cady whispered.
"Professor Dumbledore needs some confidants."
She waited till everyone in her dormitory was asleep. There was nothing verbally said about not telling anyone, but the expression on Dumbledore's face had told her that she probably shouldn't.
"Hey." Harry's voice came from behind her, causing her to jump about a foot and turn a rather sickly shade of green. "Interesting color."
" Please, the last thing is a comment of my coloring." Cady sighed.
"I thought you might like to look at this." He held out a book. "It's a photo album of Lily and James."
"I've always wondered who my parents were but I never thought I'd get a brother, too." Cady smiled as her fingers brushed the cover.
"They were a bit like Hermione and Ron." Harry smiled. "He was a troublemaking king and she was the perfect student."
"I don't think I've ever seen anyone happier though." She smiled at the waving figures of her new found parents. "Who's this?" She pointed to a smiling man next to James in a wedding photo.
Harry's smile faded. "Sirius Black, my dad's best mate. He was killed by his cousin."
"Sirius was the Godfather and guardian of the two of you." Dumbledore's shimmering form appeared from the wall.
"Please, Professor." Harry's jaw tightened.
" Very well. I will refrain from that subject. For now." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled "One random fact that I think your sister can relate to is that your father was an unregistered Animagus. As well as Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. "
"Sir!" Harry's face was a mask of rage. "How can you say that name calmly! Wormtail caused the world to suffer by bringing back his master!"
"An unregistered Animagus?" Cady said quietly, her skin the deepest red of embarrassment. "How did you know?"
"I've kept tabs on you, my dear." His half-moon glasses sparkled.
"Your one too?" Harry's eye's widened.
Cady bit her lip "Yes. I did it as a dare."
"Not quite as noble as James' reasons but I think you learned that it was quite dangerous."
"Yes, sir. But I at least showed her that…" A look from Dumbledore stopped her.
"What do you turn into?" Harry asked with avid curiosity.
"A fox." Cady turned a deeper shade of red.
" Harry, do you have the Pensieve?" Dumbledore asked, changing the subject.
"Right here, sir."