DISCLAIMER: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the associated characters. But Cass and the plot are mine, mine, mine, mine, mine! If only I could make some money, money, money!
A/N: Hellooo! Amazing reviews, check! Over 1,900 hits, check! *insert squeal of happiness here* Thanks, you guys are the best! But enough about me being overly excited, I have another chapter to write, and you have another chapter to read…I'm dropping some hints in this one. Or are they red herrings? Do they mean something or do they mean absolutely nothing? Mwuhahah. Feel free to guess in the review section!
OoOoO
Cass nibbled on her toast and sipped her tea, holding back a yawn. After the nightmare last night (or rather, early this morning), she just hadn't been able to fall back to sleep. Instead, she had practiced her 'Swish and Flick' wand movement to take her mind off things. When she thought she had that down, she looked in her Charms textbook and practiced the incantation. Cass had been very pleased when the feather floated into the air slightly, not very high, but still levitating.
Now, however, she was regretting not trying harder to fall asleep. Cass's eyes ached and her head was throbbing slightly. Nevertheless, she quizzed Brooke on Potions ingredients in preparation of their first period.
"Okay, so for a Curing-Boils Potion, you need—"
"Cass! I'm sure it'll be fine, why are you worrying so much?" Brooke said in exasperation.
Cass shrugged. "Dunno, I just don't want to make a fool out of myself."
"You won't make a fool out of yourself. Merlin's pants, it's just Potions!" said Brooke. Cass hid her smile behind the lip of her cup. In truth, she didn't really care about quizzing Brooke; she just wanted to tick her off because it was funny.
Cass looked around the hall. Fortunately, Brooke had been right about the rumors of Cass being a Seer; barely anyone glanced at her today. Although Cass found it odd things blew over so quickly, she wasn't about to complain. Cass glanced at her plain, leather watch.
"Come on, Brooke, time to go," Cass said just as the girl was putting a big piece of bacon on her plate.
"But Cass," Brooke complained.
Cass rolled her eyes and walked towards the entrance hall. Brooke snatched the bacon off her plate and ran after her, muttering, "Over-enthusiastic, little meanie."
OoOoO
Cass waited with Sarah outside the Potions classroom. Brooke had gone to use the loo, so Cass was right smack in the middle of a bunch of Slytherins. She didn't mind, but everyone—other than Sarah, of course—gave her sideways glances.
An ebony-haired boy with bright blue eyes walked up to Cass and Sarah. "Hello, Cassandra, right?" he asked.
Cass turned to face him. "It's just Cass, actually. Who are you?"
"Oh, this is Marcellus, Cass. I think you saw him on the first day, when you walked over to our table," Sarah introduced.
"Marcellus, huh? Anything to do with Mars? The god, I mean, not the planet," Cass asked, recognizing the name from one of the myths Grandpa Jimmy had always read to her. Marcellus…wizards have weird names.
Marcellus smiled. "Yeah, I'm surprised you recognized that, not many people do. The Romans believed Mars was a warrior, you know," he said in a slightly boastful tone. "But you can just call me Marcell."
"Okay, then, nice to meet you, Marcell."
"Pleasure's all mine, Cass," Marcell replied smoothly. Cass suppressed a smile; she didn't want the boy to get a big head thinking he was charming.
"Hey, I'm back," Brook said as she walked up to them. She took her backpack from Cass's arms; Cass had been holding it for her.
Marcell was now talking with another Slytherin boy, so Cass turned to Brooke and was about to say something when the door opened and a hook-nosed, greasy-haired wizard opened the door to the Potions classroom. The first-years all filed in and took their seats. Cass sat with Brooke, Sarah, and Marcell at one of the black-topped tables.
Cass gave a small shiver; it was quite chilly in the Potions classroom, as it was in the dungeons.
Professor Snape walked back to his desk while giving an intimidating glare to all the students. Thankfully, he didn't even look in Cass's direction, so she had avoided his glare.
"Abercrombie, Euan," the Potions master called out.
"Here," replied Euan.
Professor Snape continued roll call, not even looking up from his parchment while doing so. Finally, he got up from his desk and strode to the front of the class, looking imperiously at the students. His eyes were black and beady, and they made Cass think of dark tunnels and cold places. He had no trouble keeping the class quiet.
"You are here to learn subtle science and exact art of potion-making," Professor Snape said in barely over a whisper. "Many of you dunderheads will not understand the beauty of this fine trade, but maybe some of you will be acceptable…" Brook had opened her mouth in anger over being called a dunderhead, but Cass stamped her foot down on Brooke's foot, hard. "…or maybe not," Professor Snape finished. He was glaring at Brooke and, for a second, his creepy eyes met Cass's green ones. His expression turned unreadable and he quickly looked away.
A small girl with red hair ran down a hill, giggling, her head flying behind her like a flag. A young boy with black hair that fell in his eyes raced after her, hooting with laughter. The sounds of their joy rang through the Seer's head before…
" Miss Miller!" Professor Snape said suddenly. "Tell me the three basic ingredients of a Pompion potion?" It's that red-haired girl again! Cass thought in recognition.
Brooke swallowed but replied, "Moondew, Wiggintree bark, and aconite!" Cass shot her a smirk that said, 'bet you're glad I made you study, now, huh?'
Professor Snape looked disappointed that Brooke had answered correctly, but said, "Acceptable answers, if a bit simplistic." Simplistic? You asked for basic ingredients, of course Brooke was going to choose simple answers! Cass thought furiously.
"Smith! What is the difference between aconite and monkshood?" snapped the professor.
Jackson Smith, one of the Gryffindor boys, looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Um…the way they're spelled?" he said hopefully. Cass barely restrained herself from smacking her head with her hand in exasperation; really, that was all he could come up with? Any answer was better than that answer, even a simple 'I don't know.'
Professor Snape seemed to agree. "I won't tolerate any cheek in my class, Smith. A point from Gryffindor."
Brooke narrowed her eyes at Professor Snape, but Cass gave her a warning look and shook her head. Honestly, why was that girl so impulsive? Professor Snape instructed the class to brew a potion to cure boils, giving Cass a moment to think on her vision.
Who was this red-headed girl? Obviously someone important, she had two visions about her already! She must have gone to Hogwarts; how else could Cass be so recognizable to so many people? Although the thought scared her a bit, Cass resolved to ask Professor Snape if he knew her parents at the end of class. Maybe if she worded it just right…
Cass snapped herself out of her thoughts and focused on her potion more (because Brooke, her partner, certainly wasn't). She carefully stirred the potion in her cauldron the exact amount of times her textbook had said. Cass counted out each porcupine quills individually and placed them gently in the liquid one by one. Cass also took meticulous notes, writing down some mistakes others had made and how to avoid them.
By the end of class, Cass's and Brooke's potion for curing boils received an Acceptable from Professor Snape. Although Cass was definitely not satisfied with that grade, it was the very highest of the Gryffindors (which said a lot about how much Professor Snape liked Cass's House). All of the Slytherins had gotten at least an Exceeds Expectations, though most of them got Outstandings. While inside Cass fumed about the unfair grade (Brooke fumed on the outside, much to Cass's disappointment), she kept a calm exterior so Professor Snape might listen to her.
Once it the class had started filing out, however, Cass's gut gave little squeezes of nervousness as she walked up to Professor Snape's desk and she almost backed out. What kind of pansy are you? It's not like he's going to hurt you, for goodness sake, Cass thought as she steeled herself.
"Professor Snape, sir?" Cass asked awkwardly, as the Potions Master was staring at a piece of paper determinedly.
"What?" Professor Snape snapped, not taking his eyes from his parchment.
Cass shoved down her nerves and said, if a little quickly, "Well, sir, it seemed that you recognized me…you see, I had this v—" Cass cut herself off; did she really want to tell the mean professor that she had seen his younger self running down a hill with some girl? Cass had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. "I was just wondering if you knew anyone that looked like me, sir. Like my parents. I—I'm looking for them." Why had she done this? There were a million other ways, why ask the teacher everyone hated?
Professor Snape looked up sharply. Some emotion flashed in his eyes, but Cass couldn't read it. "Who do you think I am, girl? A genealogy?" he demanded. Despite his hostile tone, Professor Snape looked…scared? No, surprised—nervous. He gave very little reaction—just a slight narrowing of the eyes—but Cass could tell nonetheless.
Cass put on a façade of contrition, but inside she was thinking, hard. Who, exactly, were her parents—no, her parents were Grandma and Grandpa. Who were her biological parents? And why did Professor Snape react like that? Instead of asking any of these questions, Cass said, "I'm sorry, I just thought…I have no where to begin looking for them, so asking people that—that might recognize me through them, just to…just to start, I thought it would be a good idea." That was all the apology he was going to get. Cass wasn't about to grovel to Professor Snape, especially not when he had snapped at her.
Professor Snape curled his lip, but Cass saw right through it to the nervousness he was hiding—or trying to. "Don't waste my time with stupid questions, girl," he growled.
Cass had half the thought to say, 'Okay, then, so can we talk about my grade then?' but decided it probably wouldn't turn out very well. Luckily, she didn't have to say anything else, for Professor Snape turned back to his parchment and flicked his wrist sharply at the open door, making it bang against the wall loudly. Honestly, was that really necessary? The door was already open, for goodness sake, Cass thought with an inner eye roll.
A couple meters outside the class, Brooke waited impatiently. "What were you talking about with him?" she asked as they headed to lunch.
"I talked to Professor Snape about our grade because I thought it was completely unfair," Cass lied, not wanting to explain the real reason to her friend. It just felt too personal to Cass.
"I know! Our potion was the absolute best. Stupid, prejudiced git!" Brooke grumbled. "But why didn't you ask me to join you?"
Cass shrugged. "He didn't really seem to like you, did he? I wanted to give our grade the best chance."
"Did Snape change it?"
"No," Cass sighed. She was starting to feel a little guilty about lying to Brooke. Thankfully, Brooke didn't ask Cass any more questions and went into a rant about how hard they had worked on their potion, how it was the best of the whole class, and how Cass and Brooke deserved an Outstanding. Cass thought it was a bit too much (Brooke had barely helped; Cass should be the one upset) but she agreed in all the right intervals and mumbled a couple of responses. Her mind was really focused on one thing: her birth parents.
What had started as simple curiosity and the want for a bit of closure was quickly turning into a need for the truth. Cass just had to know what had gotten Professor Snape so worked up. She had to know why Professor McGonagall looked at her sadly from time to time. Maybe it was just wizards not realizing that people can look similar, Cass mused occasionally. But, then again, I have to know whether it is just a coincidence or if my parents actually went to Hogwarts.
When Cass and Brooke arrived in the Great Hall for lunch, Cass felt a vigor to find out who her parents were. The library sounds like a good place for a genealogy, Cass thought.
OoOoO
Severus Snape snarled the password to the Headmaster's office, 'Cockroach Cluster', and whisked up the stone steps. Without even bothering to knock, Snape strode angrily into the room.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Snape demanded to a politely smiling Dumbledore.
At his words, Dumbledore's smile slipped and was replaced by furrowed white eyebrows. "I'm afraid I don't know what you are talking about."
"Why didn't you tell me that she was that powerful of a Seer?"
Dumbledore didn't have to ask who. "Severus, what do you mean?"
"I mean that she just asked me if I knew her parents, Headmaster, that's what I mean," Snape snapped.
Dumbledore looked taken aback and sat in pensive silence for a while. Finally, he said, "I didn't know she could sense the past, Severus. It shouldn't be too much of a problem, though. She may sense you knew her parents, but she can't See—"
"Pardon me, Headmaster. I believe she did See something," Snape interrupted.
"Then, please, explain to me what happened," Dumbledore said quietly. Snape went on to explain how the girl had stayed after class, how she almost said 'vision', and how she had asked Professor Snape about her parents. Dumbledore listened carefully and looked very worried by the end of Snape's tale.
"Headmaster, if she finds out the truth…we can't let the Dark Lord know about her. And I—I can't fail…I can't fail…Potter would believe himself allowed to do however he pleases, I won't stand for it," Snape finished quickly to cover up his stuttering.
"I know, Severus, I know. Voldemort cannot know…they cannot know."
OoOoO
Cass jumped out of bed excitedly. It was the weekend! This meant she could explore the grounds, hang out with her new friends, and get to know Hogwarts better. She hurriedly went through her morning routine, then sat drawing galaxies and stars while Brooke got ready. The two girls were out the door before Pauline could say, "Losers."
On the way to the Great Hall, Brooke and Cass met up with Rose, Bello, and Janelle.
"Uh…hi, Cass. How—you sleep—doing—uh, great?" Bello asked with much embarrassment.
Cass didn't skip a beat at his poor delivery, though. "I slept great and I'm doing wonderfully, thank you so much, Bello," she said as warmly as she could, hoping to diffuse the awkwardness. Bello had been like this since the whole Astronomy debacle.
Rose, whose hair was red today, smacked her head in frustration at Bello's ungainliness. Brooke laughed as silently as she could (which wasn't very silent at all).
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving. Let's go to breakfast," Janelle said to take the focus off Bello. Cass shot her a grateful look; she didn't like making Bello uncomfortable, even if it wasn't her fault.
The rest of the walk, Janelle and Cass forced conversation about anything while Bello trailed behind and Brooke and Rose were stuck in between, looking uncomfortable.
Outside the Great Hall, the whole Slytherin House filed in as one group. Sarah, along with Marcell, were towards the back of the group and both waved at Cass, who waved back with a grin.
Cass and her friends walked through the door and into the Great Hall. Rose, Janelle, and Bello walked over to the Hufflepuff table while Brooke and Cass walked to the Gryffindor table.
As Cass bit into her toast, Brooke whispered, "Cass, you know those older Gryffindors, uh…what are their names? Fred and George?"
Confused, Cas nodded. You couldn't go anywhere in Hogwarts without hearing of the prankster twins at some point.
"Well, um, don't look now, but they're grinning at us. Evilly," Brooke said tightly. "Cass, remember how you wouldn't try their Puking Pastilles? How you dragged me away, too? What if they're getting back at us?"
The room flickered and Cass's eyes smarted painfully.
Hands reached for a jar of red jelly. Upon contact with the jar, it exploded, sending bits of jelly and other food everywhere. A set of orange-haired twins laughed in the background.
"Brooke, don't—" Cass started, but Brooke's hand was already almost touching the jar…
Cass ducked under the table quick as a flash, pulling her hair around her shoulders so it wouldn't get dirty. She yanked a clean napkin down with her. CRACK! The glass jar burst open above Cass's head and jelly splattered everywhere in a two, maybe three seat radius.
Amidst shrieks of surprise and outrage, Cass could hear the Weasley twins guffawing like maniacs. Cass came out from under the table, completely clean, and Fred's and George's smiles vanished simultaneously.
"Uck!" Brooke exclaimed in disgust. Cass handed Brooke the napkin she had grabbed before the explosion and stood up angrily.
Cass strode to where the twins amidst a lot of whispering from the surrounding tables. "Give me those napkins," she snapped. Fred and George stared at her, agape, probably wondering how she was completely clean. Cass rolled her eyes and ripped the napkins from Fred's and George's place at the table, as well as a couple extra ones. A few people started laughing at the situation. Without another word, Cass walked back over to the demolition zone and passed out the napkins to the jam-covered Gryffindors.
Towards the end of the table, where the older Gryffindors were sitting, Cass heard a female voice say, "That's it; I am writing to your mother. Really, pranking first-years? You should be ashamed of yourselves." Cass smiled. She had a feeling the voice belonged to a certain prefect with a habit of scolding the twins.
"Cass, why didn't you tell me it was going to explode? I'm all sticky now," Brooke complained as she wrung jelly from her hair.
"I tried, honestly. It was too late, though. Besides, I would be more worried about the glass from the jar," Cass replied.
"What? The glass? I didn't even feel anything sharp, just the jam," Brooke said in confusion. Looking around the table, Cass realized that there wasn't any glass from the jar on the table. Huh, weird.
It was at that moment that Professor McGonagall strode furiously down the aisle towards the twins. "HOW DARE YOU! GLASS COULD HAVE GOTTEN IN THEIR EYES, I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO DISGRACED BY A GRYFFINDOR!" she shrieked at them.
George winced, but Fred said defiantly, "We would never risk glass in their eyes. A simple Vanishing Charm prevented the glass from exploding, too!"
"Oh, so that is what happened," Cass murmured to Brooke, who was shaking with laughter at the twin's predicament.
"Detention!" Professor McGonagall said harshly.
"Hem, hem!"
Cass and Brooke, as well as many other students, groaned in unison.
"I think a more severe punishment is in order, Minerva, don't you?" came the sweet voice of Umbridge.
Professor McGonagall turned to Umbridge with eyes wide with disbelief, but they soon narrowed. "I can discipline students of my own House," she said curtly and promptly turned to Fred and George again.
"You will come to my office during your third period on Monday to discuss your punishment more privately," she told them sternly before walking off, giving a nod to Cass.
A seventh-year girl chuckled slightly. Cass sent her a questioning look.
"Fred's and George's third period is Defense," she explained with a grin. Cass and Brooke giggled; Professor McGonagall just retaliated against Umbridge by taking the twins straight out of her class, and Umbridge couldn't do anything about it.
Point for the good professors, Cass thought.
OoOoO
Cass jumped down the stone steps happily, breathing in the fresh September air. Rose ran down the stairs after her, Brooke, Janelle, and Bello behind her. The five first-years, after Brooke had cleaned the jam off her body, had decided to take a walk around the large lake. Cass saw some older students already out here, soaking up the sun.
"Did you see the look on Dumbridge's face when McGonagall announced that Fred and George were to go McGonagall's office during her class? Ha! Priceless!" Brooke said, giggling.
"What even happened, anyway? All I saw was jam everywhere, well, except for Cass," Rose inquired.
"Stupid twins wanted to prank us, probably to get back at me for not trying their weird treats. So, they enchanted a jar of jam to explode whenever someone touched it. Luckily, I Saw it happening before it did and I tried to warn Brooke, but it was too late. So I just ducked under the table as fast as a could," Cass explained.
"Uh, great job, Cash—Cass," said Bello with a red face.
"Thanks, Bello," replied Cass kindly.
The first-years reached the lake and Cass gasped. It was beautiful, serene, and big. Really big. The still-rising sun reflected off the lake's surface and gentle waves created ripples in the water. Cass was glad she brought quills and parchment with her, so she could attempt to capture the picturesque waterscape.
"Wow, it's…" Janelle said.
"Breathtaking," Cass finished for her. The others nodded in agreement.
"Well, are we just going to stand around like fools all day, or walk around the lake?" Brooke interrupted their gazing loudly. Cass rolled her eyes; couldn't the girl appreciate some beauty?
"Okay, let's go!" said Janelle cheerfully. The five first-years started to walk around the lake, kicking pebbles around and telling amusing stories. At one point, a large tentacle shot out of the water and gave them a little wave. Intrigued, Cass had timidly stuck a stick in the water to see how deep it was. After it went down to her hand, Cass had given up, but her curiosity had not really been sated.
Around midmorning, Rose suddenly said, "Hey, Cass, I wanna try something."
Cass, who had been gently prodding a strange, lumpy creature, looked up. "Sure, what?"
"You know how you can See the future?"
"Um…yeah."
"Can you See other things?"
The question threw Cass off guard; did Rose know about her visions of the past? But then the Metamorphmagus said, "Like, if someone is lying? Or how many fingers they're holding behind their back?"
"I'm not sure, I've never tried," Cass said, deciding not to tell her friends she could See the past sometimes.
"Well, then, now seems like the perfect time," Brooke said.
"Okay, so how do we test it?" Cass asked, eager to learn some control over her power.
The others thought about it for a second. Janelle said, "How 'bout we blindfold Cass then hold up objects. Cass can tell us what she thinks they are."
"Great idea!" Cass said. She took her sweater from her waist and tied it around her eyes. Cass could hear her friends rustling about to look for random objects for Cass to guess.
"Okay, I have something you would never be able to guess without the Sight," Brooke said suddenly, surprisingly very close to Cass.
Cass took deep breath and tried to broaden her mind, to reach out with it. After a few seconds, she confidently said, "Centipede."
"Wow, pretty close. It's a worm," Brooke said. Cass felt a flicker pf annoyance; she would have liked to have gotten it right.
"Okay, okay, my turn," Rose's voice came from somewhere to Cass's left.
Knowing what to do this time, Cass's reply was a lot quicker. "A piece of hair?" The question in her voice didn't come from not being sure what the object was, it came from the actual object itself. Did she cut off a piece of her hair?
"Right! Good job! I'm surprised you got that," Rose praised.
"Where did you even get hair?" Cass wondered.
"I cut it off, duh."
For a second, Cass was confused. Why would she cut off her own hair? Then she realized that, as a Metamorphmagus, Rose could just make it grow back. Duh, Cass repeated Rose's word in her mind.
"Um, I can go next?" Bello's voice came from in front of Cass. He sounded uncomfortable.
"Yeah, um, Bello?" Cass asked, wanting to stop Bello from feeling so awkward around her.
"Yes?"
"Please don't be so…so nervous around me. You don't have to feel like you owe me anything, I saved you because you're my friend and I know you would do the same for me. So, please, don't feel so uncomfortable, Bello," Cass said gently, but firmly.
Bello was silent for a while, but finally said, "Okay, thanks for saying that Cass. I guess…I don't know why I was embarrassed. And you're right, I would do that for you, too." Cass smiled, glad her friend was back to his normal self.
"That was nice of you, Cass," Janelle said.
"Uh huh. Oh, Bello, your object is a…pinecone."
Janelle, Brook, and Rose giggled. "What?" Cass asked.
"That is my object. Wrong person, Cass," Janelle said.
"Oh, oops," said Cass in embarrassment.
"Sorry for laughing," Janelle said.
"No, it's fine. It's funny," Cass giggled. Oh, well. I'll get it eventually, Cass thought positively. And she would. Cass would keep practicing until she got it right, because this was her gift and she was going to use it for good.
OoOoO
