DISCLAIMER: I solemnly swear that I don't own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters, but I will do my best to take the great JKR's universe and make a mess of it with plots and OCs that I do own.

Mischief Managed

A/N: Hellooo! Thanks for reading and please enjoy! Reviews are always welcome, flames are not. Sorry this chapter took a while to post (at least, by my standards). I wanted to make it extra long because, guess what? The last chapter got this story over 1000 hits! That is amazing to me, absolutely amazing! Thank you so much!

OoOoO

Cass walked to dinner with Sarah and Brooke in silence. The three girls had walked around the castle after Defense, wanting to get to know their way around the huge school. Brooke had been sure they were going to find some secret passageway, but they only managed to find that Mr. Filch was not a nice man, and most certainly did not tolerate 'disrespectful, lying brats that thought they were better than everyone else.' Sarah and Brooke had been terribly affronted by the caretaker's behavior, but Cass found herself very sorry for the man for reasons she couldn't quite articulate, even to herself. Cass felt that he lacked something, something that should have been his, but wasn't…

Cass's silence, however, did not come from the caretaker's rudeness, but rather what had happened in Defense Against the Dark Arts. The pale, red-eyed man sent shivers down her spine and spikes of fear deep into her chest. She was confused by the vision as well; who was the other man, the one that looked like a rat? But most of all, Cass felt extreme pity for Harry Potter. All afternoon Cass held felt sick to her stomach at the thought of Voldemort, but the poor boy had to live through that.

So, it was a very sullen-looking Cass that arrived at dinner. She sat down with Brooke at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the concerned looks her friend gave her. It was only when Jackson and his gelled hair went swaggering over to an angry Pauline, only to be shrieked at by the girl, did Cass loosen up and laugh alongside Brooke. The murderous look Jackson shot Cass in response made her laugh even harder, but when he winked at her—the arrogant, smirking git—she had half the thought to throttle him. Brooke had just cackled, making Cass want to throttle her.

That night in the Gryffindor common room, the two red-haired boys, which Cass later found out to be the Weasley twins, were advertising weird products called Puking Pastilles and Nosebleed…somethings. Cass had rolled her eyes at them when they asked her if she wanted to test them out.

"Of course, we'll pay you," Fred said.

"It's a perfect way to make a couple of Knuts—" George started.

"—or maybe even some Sickles, all with very little—" Fred continued.

"—risk to you!" George said.

"So, what do you say?" they finished together.

Cass lifted her eyebrows at the strange way the twins spoke, but still shook her head. "I have no interest in being a guinea pig." Cass smacked one of the strange treats out of Brooke's hands. "Don't eat that, come on." She dragged a protesting Brooke away from the twins, who clutched their chests in mock heartbreak.

"What was that for? I could've made some money!" Brooke complained.

"If you ate that, you would've been puking slugs!" Cass exclaimed.

Brooke rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Yeah, right. You're just—" Brooke cut off as Euan retched, apparently having eaten one of Fred's and George's strange treats. Cass watched Brooke's eyes go wide as a slimy, green slug flew out of the boy's mouth.

It was then that Hermione came striding angrily over to Fred and George, who were calmly picking up the slugs and examining them. Cass didn't see the twins get shrieked at by Hermione, however, because Brooke had grabbed her hand and Cass was forced to run with her up to their dormitory.

Brooke slammed the door to their bedroom, finally letting go of Cass. She turned to Cass, her mouth working but no sound coming out. Cass shot a glance around the room; Pauline wasn't there.

"What?" Cass knew exactly what, but she wanted Brooke to say it. She had decided to tell her friends about her gift. Afterall, they would most likely find out anyway, so Cass thought telling them was the best course of action.

At last, Brooke found her voice. "How—how? Was that just a lucky guess…but the Transfiguration thing? You knew about the matches, now the slugs? What? I—no... understand?"

Cass giggled. "Brooke, there is a thing called grammar, and that's not it."

Brooke glared at Cass. "You know what I mean. How'd you know?"

"Um…I'm not sure how to say it," Cass said awkwardly.

"Well, try," Brooke said curtly.

"Okay…" Cass took a deep breath. "IcanSeethefuture!"

Brooke's eyes widened. "Really?" Cass nodded. "Absolutely wicked! That's amazing!"

Cass felt immediate relief; she had been worried that her friend my think it weird. "So, you don't think its…strange?"

"No, of course not! I—"

The door to the room opened and Pauline walked in, red hair braided back tightly. She saw Brooke and Cass and muttered, "Losers."

Brooke whipped her head to look at Pauline. "What's your problem?" Brooke huffed.

Pauline's eyes narrowed and she turned her head sharply. But Cass wasn't there anymore.

A girl with strawberry blonde hair stood angrily from a curtained four-poster bed. The girl launched herself across the room, towards another girl with box-braids.

The first girl was yelling at the second. After a few seconds, the girl in braids slapped the other one, not hard, but enough to leave a red mark.

Cass's hand flew on its own accord to grab Brooke's cuff. Brooke just spun around and put her hands on her hips. She made a wild gesture at Pauline, whose back was turned. Cass shook her head firmly.

"Does anyone need to use the loo? 'Cause I'm going to shower," Cass announced. Brooke shook her head and Pauline didn't do anything, which Cass took as permission to use the bathroom.

Cass flipped open her trunk and dug out sweatpants and a T-shirt. Cass then walked to the loo and turned on the shower, locking the door behind her.

While she waited for the water to heat, Cass took her hair down from her ponytail, letting it fall over her shoulders in waves. When steam started to cloud the mirror, Cass jumped in the hot shower.

As she washed herself, Cass reflected on her day. Meeting Janelle, transfiguring matches, meeting a talking toad (a very rude talking toad), having disturbing scenes forcefully played in her head…a pretty busy day. Despite its bad parts, Cass was happy with her day. And very excited about the many more to come.

OoOoO

Cass waited outside the Charms classroom with Brooke in a queue. While she and Brooke were the only Gryffindors there so early (five minutes before class) a whole crowd of Ravenclaws was already there.

Three sets of clonking footsteps made Cass glance up from a piece of parchment that she had been drawing on; she had been trying to imitate the style of art used with many of the paintings in Hogwarts but couldn't get it quite right.

Cass and Brooke groaned in unison. It was the three arrogant boys from yesterday; Jackson, Nick, and Euan. Here I was hoping they thought class was beneath them, Cass thought.

The three Gryffindor boys walked over to Cass and Brooke in what they probably thought to be a cool, confident manner, but what really looked like a bunch of walrus's flopping.

"Hello, ladies. How are you this fine morning?" said Jackson.

Nick said, "Obviously you got your beauty sleep. Well, maybe not you, blondie."

Cass narrowed her eyes in anger. "Obviously you didn't…or maybe you did and there is just no helping it." Brooke seemed hurt, and her pained expression only fueled Cass's next words. "Don't be rude to my friend, Nick."

Cass didn't get a chance to say anything more as the door to the Charms classroom opened and a tiny wizard stepped out. He said in a squeaky voice, "Come in, everyone!"

Cass turned her nose up at Nick and the other goons and walked over through the door. As she passed the teacher, he did a sudden double take and his eyes widened in an almost comedic, cartoonish way.

A red-haired girl sat in a desk. She had startling green eyes and a beautiful, angelic face. She had her hand in the air, eager to answer questions. A ting wizard smiled at her warmly and called on her.

Cass finished her step rather hardly as she returned to her surroundings. Cass schooled her face into polite questioning at the tiny wizard's wide eyes and asked, "Sir?" Why did he look at her like that?

The wizard shook his head. "I apologize. You just reminded me of someone…But, of course, that is quite impossible." Cass nodded, but her mind was raging; why did so many people seem to think that? Professor McGonagall, those people on the platform, even Harry Potter. Jeez, wizards don't seem to know that sometimes people can look like other people. Is the wizarding community that small?

Cass chose a seat next to Brooke, near the front. From her schoolbag, she dug out some parchment, a Self-Inking Quill, and her silver wand. To her right, a frizzy, golden-haired Ravenclaw girl with bangs sat down. Cass gave her a small smile, which she returned. The Charms classroom felt very airy, filled with light from windows depicting the picturesque landscape around the castle. Cass loved it.

The tiny professor stood before the classroom (he had to stand on a pile of books to be seen) and announced, "Hello, Gryffindors and Ravenclaws! Good morning, I'm Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher."

"Good morning, Professor Flitwick," came a chorus of first-years.

Professor Flitwick beamed. "Excellent! Now, for roll call…" Professor Flitwick called out all the students' names in the class. Through this, Cass found out that that the Ravenclaw girl next to her was named Cyrene Lyonslatter.

With a final "…Smith, Jackson!" and a grumpy "Here!" the lesson began.

"Charms usually last longer that other spells, meaning most must be maintained through concentration on the caster's part. Take the Lumos Charm, for example. One must continue to concentrate on producing light if they are to sustain the charm," lectured the professor. Throughout the lesson, Cass took immaculate notes on charms and what they are. After about an hour of theory, Professor Flitwick had them practice a move with their wands called the 'Swish and Flick'. He told the first-years that this movement, coupled with the proper incantation, would make objects fly and was aptly named the Levitation Charm. They wouldn't be learning the incantation for a while, but it was still good practice and allowed them to work on their form.

Cass rather enjoyed Charms. Although there was a lot of work to be done, the classroom was filled with the buzzing of multiple conversations. She struck up conversation with the Ravenclaw girl, Cyrene.

"So, how do you like Hogwarts so far?" Cass asked, flicking her wand.

Cyrene held her pointer finger up as she scribbled something down on her parchment. "I am enjoying it very much, thank you for asking," she replied without looking up.

Out of the corner of Cass's eye, Brooke was making a face that was mockingly polite. Ignoring this, Cass said, "I think it is absolutely brilliant…I'm Muggle-raised, so magic is still very new to me."

Cyrene turned to look at Cass. "Muggle-raised? Not Muggle-born?" she asked. Doesn't miss a thing, Cass remarked.

"Well, I was—I was abandoned at a fire station and an older couple took me in…I don't know if my parents—my birth parents—were magical or not," Cass said awkwardly, mentally berating herself. Why couldn't you have just kept it simple and said 'Muggle-born'? No, you have to spill your life out to everyone.

Cyrene gazed at Cass with sympathy, but only for a second. After that second, she said, "Well, I have to agree; magic is wondrous."

"Yeah, totally wicked," Brooke added with a jab of her wand. Sparks flew wildly from it in all different colors and Brooke gave a loud, "Eek!"

"One should never wave their wand willy-nilly, as it may have disastrous consequences," Cyrene recited from her notes, but she seemed almost fascinated with the sparks. "I wonder what specific action caused this…would one be able to recreate it?" she muttered to herself, looking over her parchment with furrowed brows.

"Brooke, honestly, don't shriek like that. It's a couple of sparks—look, now it has stopped," Cass said, biting back her laughter as Brooke stared at her wand with an open-mouth. Suddenly, Brooke's eyes narrowed.

"You—you Saw this coming, didn't you?" she whispered furiously, gesturing at her wand.

Cass shook her head. "I'm not sure it works like that…actually, I'm not sure how it works at all. But I didn't See anything." Brooke just scoffed and went back to work with her 'Swish and Flick'. Cass noted with amusement that Brooke was being a lot gentler and not jabbing her wand anymore.

OoOoO

Cass and Brooke walked through the large oak doors that led outside the castle, Rose and Janelle with them. Today, Rose had beach-blond hair and grey eyes. Afternoon sunlight was in Cass's eyes and a warm breeze made her hair dance and tickle her face.

The first-years walked towards the greenhouses. They were clad in outdoor boots and dragonhide gloves. As they walked to Herbology, Cass looked around the grounds with wide eyes, trying to imprint the image into her brain. It was absolutely beautiful with tall, swaying trees, well-manicured lawns, and the enormous castle behind them. Straight out of a fairy tale, Cass thought.

A dumpy, little, and slightly graying witch greeted Cass and her friends in one of the greenhouses. Cass breathed in a deep, earthen smell that reminded her of rain showers and gardening with Grandma Joyce.

Strange-looking plants filled the glass-covered room. Plants much too big, plants much too small. Plants with spikes, cracks oozing slime, wrinkles, and more. Some plants didn't even look like plants at all, which made Cass want to investigate them immediately. She resisted the urge and stood beside Janelle and Rose at a table holding spiky bushes.

"Welcome to Herbology, first-years. Good afternoon!" shouted the professor.

"Good afternoon, Professor Sprout!" the first-years replied. Cass observed that the loudest and most enthusiastic replies came from Hufflepuffs.

"Well, it seems introductions are irrelevant, seeing as how you all know me," Professor Sprout chuckled. "That means we can get straight to business. Right, so Herbology is the study of plants, magical and mundane alike. This year, we'll deal with both, as well as some basic spells used for proper maintenance of a plant.

"Now, Herbology is messy, I'm not going to lie. You'll get dirt under your fingernails—even with the gloves," said Professor Sprout. She went on to explain the year's curriculum using fascinating words (at least to Cass) like Puffapods and Tenetacula. Most of these Cass didn't understand, but she took careful notes on everything. After doing that, Professor Sprout took everyone on a little tour around the first-year greenhouse, pointing out absolutely wicked-looking plants and curious gardening tools Cass had never seen before. She described methods on taking care of dragonhide gloves, safety precautions when dealing with an unknown plant ("Whatever you do, don't eat anything!"), and all sorts of other useful information. At the end of the lesson, Cass did have dirt on her brow, but it wasn't as bad as Bello having dirt in his ears of all places.

"Well, have a great afternoon, everybody!" Professor Sprout dismissed the class. Cass gathered her things and placed her gloves into their small wooden box delicately. She, Rose, Brooke, and Janelle walked back up to the castle together. Bello had to stay behind while Professor Sprout gave cleaned his ears from the gunk—which had turned out to be deadly Aconite pus. The professor seemed exasperated, telling Bello that she had a fifth-year class immediately after this and how he had better not do it again.

"Poor Bello, I wonder how he did that?" said Janelle.

Brooke snorted, "Only Bello could do that. You know, there was this one time where he accidentally got stuck on the ceiling fan?" Cass and Rose immediately burst into hysterics and even Janelle laughed. "It was the biggest fiasco ever."

The four girls talked all the way up to the oak doors before Cass and Brooke broke off, heading up to the Gryffindor Tower for a quick wash-off. They had the rest of the afternoon off, so Cass and Brooke took their time.

"I really liked that class," Cass said.

"You really like every class," Brooke replied, mimicking taking notes with an overly dazed expression on her face.

Cass narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Better than being afraid of a couple sparks," she retorted.

Brooke harrumphed and grumbled to the Fat Lady's portrait, "Quiritus Mimbletonia."

Up in the girls' dormitory, Cass unloaded her backpack while Brooke showered. Upon making sure she had her books for tomorrow, Cass took out a Color-Changing Quill and some spare parchment and began to doodle idly while staring out the window. Her mind wandered for a while, going from the vision of the red-haired girl to wishing she was back outside to…Voldemort. The vision from Umbridge's class came to the forefront of Cass's mind and she shuddered involuntarily. She looked down at her paper and the snake-like face of Voldemort stared up at her amidst other, random doodles.

The door to the loo opened and Brooke stepped out. Cass hastily shoved the paper into her bookbag and tried to school her face into boredom. "Took you long enough," she said.

Brooke rolled her eyes and replied, "Whatever."

OoOoO

At midnight, all the first-years headed out to Astronomy. Cass had to literally drag Brooke out of bed, earning her a hard glare and some flying sparks from Brooke's wand, which was gripped tightly in her hand. Pauline had already been up and was reading by the window. When she saw Cass getting Brooke up, she had smirked, which Cass had promptly returned. Why is she like this? Cass had thought.

Now, up in the tall Astronomy tower, a witch with a red lantern and a pointy red hat greeted the first-years. Cass set her telescope down, panting. It had been a long walk up and carrying an such an awkward load had only made it worse.

Around Cass were all the first-years, grouped by the colors of their robe liners. The sky was open to them and Cass gazed at it in wonder, taking in the stars, the beautiful stars. A voice interrupted her gazing.

"Hello, first-years. My name is Professor Sinistra, the Astronomy teacher," said Professor Sinistra.

"Hello, Professor," Cass replied. A few students echoed her, but most were rubbing their eyes tiredly.

Professor Sinistra chuckled. "Please, don't be too enthusiastic. Now, you're all here to study the night sky. Usually, Astronomy classes are split up between houses, but this year's class is on the smaller side, so it's been combined.

"Astronomy comes from the Greek word astronomos, meaning star-arranging. In this class, you will study celestial objects such as planets, stars, asteroids, comets, moons, dwarf planets, and distant galaxies. We'll start with galaxies, as they are very easily spotted due to their shapes. More importantly, in my excellent opinion, they are quite beautiful," the professor paused to let some students (including Cass) write down notes. It was mostly Ravenclaw students, but Cass saw Sarah and Janelle taking notes, too.

"Now, who knows how many types of galaxies there are?" asked Professor Sinistra. Immediately, several Ravenclaws raised their hands anxiously. Cass didn't know the answer, so she just wrote down in her notes 'Types of Galaxies'.

Professor Sinistra had picked on Cyrene, the girl from Charms. "There are four types of galaxies: elliptical, peculiar, irregular, and spiral," Cyrene answered. Cass scribbled down the names rapidly, as the Ravenclaw had talked somewhat quickly.

Professor Sinistra nodded. "Very good. Does anyone know the closest galaxy to ours?"

Once again, the Ravenclaws raised their hands, but, this time, so did Cass. Professor Sinistra pointed to Cass. Smiling, Cass answered, "The Andromeda Galaxy."

Professor Sinistra nodded and explained all the different types of galaxies and what their shapes were. She described galaxy clusters, nebula disks, and many other things. At the end of class, the first-years were told to look through their telescopes (which were magically enhanced) to see if they could spot any galaxies. Bello said he had seen one almost immediately after the instructions were given and very enthusiastically pointed it out to Professor Sinistra.

"Mr…."

"Glaucuson, ma'am."

"Mr. Glaucuson, that is a speck of dust on your telescope lens."

Brooke sniggered loudly, making Cass jab her elbow into her side. Princess Sasha had said, "What a loser." This made Brooke's eyes narrow dangerously and Cass, Janelle, and Rose all grabbed her robes to stop her from walking over to Sasha. Luckily, Sarah stomped on Sasha's foot 'accidentally', so Brooke calmed down. It's funny how she sniggers at Bello, but then gets mad at Sasha, Cass remarked to herself, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Okay, class, that concludes our lesson. Please have a good night," Professor Sinistra said hastily, probably wanting to avoid any confrontations. As Cass put away her things, her eyes smarted in what was becoming a very familiar way.

A boy with brown eyes and light brown hair tripped over an outstretched foot and knocked over a whole row of telescopes before stumbling over a low wall and falling, falling, falling…

"BELLO!" Cass screamed, making Brooke jump about a foot in the air. Cass's head whipped around and she saw Sasha stick her foot out…

Almost all of the first-years could only watched in horror as Bello tripped and made the telescopes fall over like dominoes before sailing backwards over the wall into thin air. Cass, however, had started running the moment she saw Sasha's foot and shoved the aforementioned Princess out of the way to grab Bello's foot that was rapidly disappearing over the wall.

Cass grunted at the weight as Bello whimpered. "Help me," she choked out, struggling to hold on to her friend. Hands reached over beside Cass and grabbed onto Bello. With a big heave, he was back over the wall, safe and sound.

Professor Sinistra, it turned out, had been just behind Cass after the telescopes had been knocked over. It was her that had aided Cass in hauling Bello back onto the tower, away from certain death. Cass looked around wildly for Sasha, wanting to scream at the witch for almost killing her friend. But, somehow, the Slytherin had managed to get to the other side of the tower, looking pale, but not necessarily regretful. Why that little…

"Mr. Glaucuson are you okay?" asked Professor Sinistra as she wiped sweat from her brow. Bello gave a sharp nod, panting hard.

The older witch turned to Cass. "And you?"

Cass managed to reply, "I'm fine, just shaken up a bit."

"Good. Now, I must ask…how did you know?"

Cass panicked. Uh oh… "I, uh—you see, er…good instincts?" Cass said awkwardly. As Professor Sinistra raised her eyebrows is a way that said, 'you expect me to believe that?', she sighed. "I—I Saw it."

There were several gasps from the onlookers. But Brooke, bless her, suddenly caused a great distraction. "BELLO!" she shrieked and flung herself at the boy. "Merlin's pants, are you okay? What happened? You just fell and the telescopes and the wall…you went over the wall! You almost died!" The poor boy was fiercely embraced by Brooke. Discreetly, Cass mouthed, "You're overdoing it."

"Gerroff me!" came a muffled voice. Brooke let go, winking at Cass from behind Bello's back.

Professor Sinistra stood and said, "Everyone clear out, now! Anyone still out here by the count of three will lose fifty points from their house!" Like the switch of a light, the first-years cleared out. Sarah, Janelle, and Rose hesitated, but went out with the rest. Only Brooke, Cass, and Bello remained with Professor Sinistra.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. You, Miss McGarther, right?" Cass nodded. "You…Saw…Mr. Glaucuson falling before he actually did?" Cass nodded again. "Hogwarts hasn't had a Seer in a long time, and never one so young. Has anything like this happened before?" Cass nodded once more, sharing a glance with Brooke. So much for not drawing attention to myself.

"Cass…thank you so much. I would have," Bello paused, gulping. "I would have died if it weren't for you." Cass smiled at him and nodded her head.

"Yes, thank you, Miss McGarther. I believe a reward is in order…thirty points to Gryffindor." Cass and Brooke shared excited smiles; that was more points than they had ever received combined. "Now, I must ask Mr. Glaucuson about exactly what happened, so you may head back to your dormitories."

Brooke and Cass got up, but before they left, Cass said, "Professor, I saw Sasha stick her foot out to trip Bello." Brooke inhaled sharply and her nostrils flared.

Professor Sinistra looked thoughtful. "Be that as it may, Miss Ricardo was on the other side of the tower by the time I fully took stock of everyone's location. I'll investigate it, but there isn't much I can do if she claims innocence, because she was far away from Mr. Glaucuson from what I saw." Cass was about to protest but thought better of it and followed Brooke out of the tower. Cass's head was starting to hurt badly. Must be from all the visions today, Cass concluded, recalling the vision from earlier about the red-haired girl. It was then when it clicked. Maybe Professor Flitwick wasn't talking about her resemblance to Harry Potter when he said she looked familiar, maybe he was talking about her resemblance to her parents! What if her parents had gone to Hogwarts?

That thought put a bounce in her step. Maybe she could find her birth parents after all. Once she did, she could demand from them why exactly they left her at the bloody fire station. But, more than that, she would finally meet the people that brought her into this world…she could finally find out if they loved her…or if they didn't. Cass wouldn't be left wondering about her parents any longer. You're getting ahead of yourself, Cass, she told herself. No use hoping over something on…what exactly? A tiny, two second vision? Honestly…

OoOoO

The next morning, Cass got to experience first-hand the famous Hogwarts rumor-mill. The whole school was abuzz with the news of last night's Astronomy class. Great…

On their way down to breakfast, Cass and Brooke were stopped by Rose and Janelle.

"Why didn't you tell us you were a Seer?" demanded Rose, sporting pink hair and violet eyes, the same combination from when Cass had first met her. Had that really only been a couple days ago? Cass thought.

"Well…I was going to tell you guys this weekend," Cass replied.

Janelle accepted that. "I think it was brilliant how you saved Bello, Cass," she said.

Rose nodded in agreement. "Yeah, thanks a lot. We're really grateful, honestly. I just can't believe you're a Seer. I didn't know it was possible to be such a young Seer."

Cass cast her eyes downward. "It's not normal…Professor McGonagall seemed really surprised when I told her about it," she murmured quietly.

Rose seemed surprised but didn't get to say anything as they just entered the Great Hall. Whispers picked up and Cass sighed. Great, just great.

"Come on, Cass. It's fine, it'll probably only last a day… at least no one thinks you're an attention-seeking brat…" Brooke said in what she must have thought to be comforting. Cass only felt anger; it was then that she realized that while everyone was making fun of Harry for lying about Voldemort, he was telling the truth. How hadn't she realized that before? And what, exactly, can you do about it? Cass groaned in frustration; why had she been given this gift?

"I don't think he is an attention-seeking brat," she said curtly.

Brooke looked flustered and stammered, "I-I don't either, of course. Um, let's sit down." She then muttered to herself, "Merlin, you try to comfort a girl." Cass ignored that, grabbed some toast, and began buttering it.

In the process of eating her food, Cass suddenly sighed and looked up to see Nick, Jackson, and Euan striding towards them arrogantly. Just what I need…

"Hello, Miss Cassandra," said Nick, pointedly ignoring Brooke.

"Hello pr—I mean, Nick," Cass replied icily, annoyed that he was ignoring Brooke. Brooke just choked back a laugh at Cass's greeting, but Cass mentally scolded herself. Really, almost using profanity? You're not a sailor.

Jackson said, "So, you can See the future, huh? Pretty useful…could you cheat on tests?" Cass was taken aback for a second at the sudden question but rolled her eyes just the same before turning her back and ignoring the boys.

"Miss Cassandra…" Euan started, before Brooke told him off for being 'an annoying boy with too much hair gel in his too-hard hair.' Cass giggled at that, she just had to.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you about the attention-seeking brat thing. I just think it is unfair to Potter," Cass apologized.

"It's okay, I know you didn't mean to be snappy," Brooke said. "Now, can we talk about almost calling Nick a pri—"

"Brooke! Don't say it!"

"What? You almost did!"

"Well I was never going to actually say it, I was just trying to make a point," Cass said dismissively, hoping Brooke was going to believe her.

"Uh-huh, whatever you say, O' Great Seer," Brooke replied, grinning. Yeah, she saw right through that one, Cass thought.

Just then, two older Gryffindor girls walked towards Cass and Brooke. Oh no…

"Hi, you remember us, right? I'm Lavender, remember?" The dirty-blond and curly-haired girl said.

"Um…" Cass said.

"Of course you do! So, me and Parvarti—"

"—Parvarti and I," Parvarti corrected.

"Come on, Parv. Anyway, Parvarti and I are very, very enthusiastic about fortune-telling. I mean, we're Professor Trelawney's—she's the Divination teacher—absolute favorites," Lavender continued excitedly, oblivious to Brooke's silent laughter. "So, we were just wondering if you would like to hang out with us? We could talk about boys, the future, nails, hair, makeup, boys, and the future! What'd you say?"

"Um…yeah, maybe some time," Cass said, not having the heart to tell them no.

Parvarti and Lavender beamed. "Yay! If you need anything, please don't hesitate to tell us!" Parvarti said. The two walked away, giggling.

Brooke just couldn't take it any longer and burst out laughing, spewing milk all over her robes. "I can't…Merlin…that was funny!"

Cass giggled a bit, too. "I just couldn't say no, Brooke. What have I gotten myself into?" Brooke just laughed harder.

OoOoO

"Miss McGarther, I need to speak with you," said Professor McGonagall after Transfiguration had ended. Cass felt a spike a nervousness shoot down her chest; had she done something wrong?

Brooke, Janelle, Rose, and Bello all looked at her questioningly. Cass just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. They all left, so Cass walked over to Professor McGonagall's desk.

"Miss McGarther, I must first say how grateful I am that you saved Mr. Glaucuson's life. His parents have owled me and told me to personally express their gratitude. That was very…Gryffindorish of you," said the professor, even giving Cass a rare smile. "Although Professor Sinistra has already given you thirty points, I will award ten more for a quick response."

Cass smiled. "Thank you, Professor."

"You are quite welcome," replied Professor McGonagall. Her face grew more serious. "Miss McGarther, I urge you to be careful. You have a gift. Use it for good, but do not flout it. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am, I promise," said Cass. Professor McGonagall nodded her head in dismissal, so Cass slung her backpack across her shoulder and walked out of the classroom.

Outside, Rose, Janelle, Brooke, and Bello waited for her. When she walked out, Brooke asked, "So, what'd ya do?"

"I—hey, why did you automatically think I did something wrong?" Cass asked, huffing.

"Well?"

Cass sighed and said, "I didn't do anything wrong, thank you very much. In fact, Professor McGonagall gave Gryffindor points for…well, you know."

"Oh, that's great!" Janelle said.

"Yeah. I'm gonna go to the loo, meet you guys at lunch?" Cass said.

Rose nodded. "Mhm."

Cass headed towards the bathroom on that floor, her mind spinning. What exactly had Professor McGonagall meant by her warning? Of course Cass wouldn't flout it, so why had the professor thought she needed to say something?

So engrossed in her thoughts, Cass gave a muffled shriek when she collided with something solid. Her backpack flew from her shoulders and landed with a thud on the ground, its contents spilling all over the floor.

"Oof! Sorry, I didn't see you!" said Cass hastily. She looked up to see Harry Potter rubbing his head. His head? I didn't run into his head.

"No, er, it's my fault. Here, I'll go get your books," he said, rushing over to Cass's spilled school supplies.

"Um, thanks," said Cass awkwardly. Harry didn't seem to hear her; he was looking at a crumpled piece of paper on the ground.

"You…that's…" muttered Harry.

"Sorry?"

Harry looked at Cass, his green eyes filled with accusation. Cass stumbled back a bit, wondering what the heck he was so upset about. Then she saw what he was holding and paled; it was the drawing of Voldemort that she had shoved into her backpack last night. No wonder he was upset.

"It looks exactly like him. I described him to people, but this…you would have to see him to draw this," Harry said as he gripped the paper tightly.

"I did see him…I, um—it was a vision, you see," Cass stammered.

Harry calmed down. "Oh…oh."

"Yeah…Look, Pott—um Harry, I just want to say I'm sorry. That face makes me sick thinking about it, and I didn't even live through it, I only Saw it. And everyone calling you an attention-seeking brat who can't stand it when he isn't the center of attention…it's wrong. Just wrong. And I'm sorry," Cass said, wincing slightly at the awkwardness.

Harry nodded. "Sorry I freaked out. And thanks, it means…it means a lot." He picked up the rest of her books and handed them to her. "Oh, and good job saving that Hufflepuff last night. From what I heard it was pretty impressive."

Cass shoved all the books into her backpack. "Thanks. It was really just luck. Anyone could have done it."

The corners of Harry's lips tugged up slightly, for whatever reason. "Well, er…'bye," he said.

"'Bye."

Cass walked to the girl's loo and sat her bag in the sink. She rearranged the books inside it more neatly and took out the colorful piece of paper she had doodled on, the one with the face of a monster. Cass ripped it in half, then into quarters, before crumbling up the scraps and tossing it into the rubbish bin.

OoOoO

"Good afternoon, class. Today we will be reading chapters three through four, so if you could take out your books and some parchment for notes, please," said Umbridge sweetly, flashing a wide, poisonous smile.

Cass did as she was told, exchanging a glance with Sarah and Brooke. However, on her parchment was not notes on 'Theory of Common Jinxes' but rather some notes copied from her Potions book. Cass had heard the Potions teacher, Professor Snape, was very hard on students, so she wanted to be as prepared as possible for his class tomorrow.

After a few minutes of pretend reading from Cass's book and actual reading from her parchment, Professor Umbridge cleared her throat loudly.

"Now, class, I will ask you to show me your notes on chapters three and four, to make sure that you have fully comprehended the material," said the toad. She smiled wickedly at Cass, as if she knew Cass hadn't been taking notes. Cass just smiled back politely and grabbed a piece of parchment from behind her Potions notes, taking care to shove the Potions notes under her book discreetly. Cass had read up on chapters three and four and taken detailed notes beforehand. Seeing the future had its perks.

The Slytherins and Gryffindors formed a queue in front of Umbridge's desk and were handing their notes to her, who just barely glanced over them. When Cass gave hers to Umbridge she gave a satisfied 'hem'. That was before she actually read the notes and her smile vanished so rapidly that Cass very nearly laughed.

Umbridge took a lot longer reading Cass's notes than any other students' notes. Finally, she said, "So, Miss McGarther, it seems you have learned to write without even lifting your quill. Would you like to explain?" Cass blanched; she had forgotten about that part.

"Of course I haven't…Professor. I, um, already took notes on chapters three and four," Cass replied, deciding honesty was probably best in this circumstance, even with the toad.

"What have you been doing all class, then?"

"Rereading, ma'am." Okay, a little white lie won't hurt.

Umbridge narrowed her eyes but handed Cass's notes back to her. When she passed Sarah on her way back, Cass mimed wiping sweat off her brow, making the Slytherin silently laugh.

The rest of the class passed in silence as they took a short quiz on 'Theory of Common Jinxes'. While Umbridge had passed out the exam papers, Brooke pushed her tongue against her chin, mimicking a toad ribbiting. Sarah had sniggered loudly, earning her a sweet "Hem, hem" from the toad herself.

At the end of class, Cass was packing her things away when Princess Sasha walked up to her.

"Hello, Cassandra," she greeted in an imperious manner.

Cass narrowed her eyes angrily at the witch. "Do not presume to even speak to me, Princess. He could have died and you greet me like we're friends?" she whispered furiously at Sasha.

Sasha's eyes widened innocently. "I just wanted to say how absolutely amazing that save was."

Cass rolled her eyes and stalked off, not trusting herself to remain civil towards the person that had tripped Bello. Maybe Sasha hadn't meant to make him fall, but she had still tripped him. Brooke jabbed her elbow into Sasha's side, hard, as she walked past her. Sasha just narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.

Outside the classroom, Sarah ran up to Cass and Brooke. "Hey, I'm sorry about Sasha—"

"Don't you ever apologize for her. It was not your fault and I don't want to hear you say sorry for something that—like I said—was not your fault. Especially for something that Princess Sasha did," Cass interrupted firmly. Sarah nodded and her dark hair bounced.

"I just can't believe she would do that, I mean, he almost died! And then she greets you like nothing happened and acts innocent! Ugh!" Brooke said angrily.

"I know, I know. It's no use starting a fight, though," Cass replied. Sarah broke off from the group, heading towards the Slytherin common rooms. "See you at dinner, Sarah," Cass said.

"See you at dinner!"

Cass and Brooke walked back up to the Gryffindor Tower, talking about different ways to prove Sasha had tripped Bello. Although they couldn't come up with anything, the thought of proving Sasha guilty was enough to make them grin.

OoOoO

A woman of color sat at a desk and was shrouded in darkness. She was muttering to herself in what seemed to be French. The room she was in was lit by a single flame hovering above her head. An ebony and intricately carved wand lay beside her right hand; a witch, she was a witch.

The darkness around the witch shifted, making its shape more defined. What seemed to be wings of the blackest black could be made out from the darkness. They seemed wrong; the product of dark and evil magic.

The hovering flame illuminated the witch's face, which was very beautiful. Suddenly, she looked up. Pitch black eyes bored into the dreamer's before a jolt of pain shot up the dreamer's body.

Cass lurched awake only to find herself on the floor and wrapped tightly in her sheets; she must have fallen off the bed. From the other side of the room, Brooke gave a loud snore.

Cass gulped in breaths as her dream rapidly disappeared from her mind. She hastily withdrew a piece of parchment, a quill, and ink from her backpack before flicking the light on. Cass's hand flew across the paper on its own accord as she desperately tried to remember the dream. It might be important! Why can't I remember it? she despaired.

The drawing on the page was half-formed and with shaky lines. If Cass looked at it from a certain angle, she could almost make out a pair of wings. Like that's helpful, she thought. Still, she stowed it away in her trunk for future reference.

"Bad dream?"

Cass jumped a foot in the air at Pauline's voice. "Yeah," she replied once she regained her composure.

"That sucks."

"Yeah, it was pretty scary…"

"You woke me up."

Cass sighed. "I'm so very, very sorry," she said sarcastically.

"Apology accepted," Pauline said, either not recognizing or choosing to ignore the sarcasm. "Do you…do you want to talk about it, or can I go back to sleep?"

Cass sighed again. "I don't even remember it, really. Let's both just go back to sleep." Pauline must have agreed, for she said nothing else. Cass turned the light back off and drifted into an uneasy sleep filled with dreams of wings and darkness.

OoOoO