Disclaimer: All rights go to JK Rowling. Anything you don't recognize is mine.
Updated as of 3/28/2019.
Chapter Two
The Most Annoying Stare
"Look at this," Alice said in dismay, shoving her schedule into Cassie's face and narrowly avoiding the spoonful of porridge that was currently on its way to her mouth. "Double Charms and Double Potions? All before lunch?"
Cassie didn't immediately respond, letting the porridge sit on her tongue for a moment as she quickly scanned Alice's schedule, relieved to see that they had almost precisely the same classes together, save for the fact that Cassie's electives were Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures while Alice had Divination and Muggle Studies in those blocks.
"At least we'll get it out of the way first," Cassie said optimistically. She pointed to a blank spot on their schedules. "And we get a break between the two."
"I guess," Alice said, tracing her finger up and down the parchment before landing on 'Defense Against the Dark Arts.'
"D'you reckon this new teacher is going to be any good?" she asked. Cassie followed her gaze up to the staff table, her eyes picking out the newest addition of a tall, severe-looking blonde witch, who Dumbledore had introduced the night before as Professor Claudia Carlisle.
"Dunno," Cassie said, shrugging. "She looks like she's constantly sucking on a lemon though, so I wouldn't get your hopes up."
Alice nodded distractedly, her gaze now resting on Frank Longbottom, who was sitting some way down the bench from them. Grinning slightly upon this observation, Cassie went back to her porridge as Professor McGonagall swept up and down the Gryffindor table, passing out timetables as she went.
"Jones – where is Harper Jones? Ah, yes, there you are – tuck in your shirt, Jones, we are not slobs in Gryffindor House!"
"Yes, Professor," Jones muttered, tucking in his shirt and quickly adjusting his black robe to cover the failed attempt as McGonagall walked on.
"Potter," she said, coming to a stop behind James Potter and glowering disapprovingly at his untidy black hair. The professor must have sensed this was a lost cause already though, as she just handed him his schedule.
"Now, Potter, I expect you to be on your best behavior this year," McGonagall said sternly, fixing him with her piercing gaze as he looked back to her innocently. "I just hope that your friend Mr. Lupin will help to keep you out of too much trouble."
Curious, Cassie looked at the sandy-haired boy across from Potter, her eyebrows rising when she noticed the prefect badge pinned to his robes.
"Professor, you know I wouldn't dare think to get myself into trouble," Potter said, widening his hazel eyes in mock-earnestness. "Everything that's ever happened to me has just been unfortunate circumstance."
Professor McGonagall said nothing, though her lips twitched slightly when everyone in the vicinity chuckled under their breath at his words.
"Best behavior, Potter," she replied. "And that goes for you, too, Mr. Black." She eyed the boy sitting next to James with equal intensity before sweeping off down the table, and Cassie watched them share a grin as she left.
"Good one, James!" Peter Pettigrew sniggered, his round face lit up in admiration. Cassie rolled her eyes before going back to her porridge. Four years later, and Pettigrew still acted as if Potter and Black were the greatest things since sliced bread.
"We should get going soon," Alice said, glancing at her watch. "Classes start at nine, and I don't want to be late our first day back."
Cassie nodded, draining the last of her pumpkin juice and standing as Alice gathered her book bag. The two girls started out of the Great Hall, bypassing James Potter as he belched loudly on command. Cassie wrinkled her nose as those nearest roared with laughter, wondering how that could even possibly be funny.
She cast the group of boys a cursory glance, just as Sirius Black looked up and made eye contact with her. Familiarity flashed in his silver gaze, and before Cassie could avert her eyes, she saw him lean over to Potter and whisper something that made the bespectacled boy turn and grin at her, though Black was not smiling.
Heat prickled her cheeks, and she quickened her pace, remaining silent as Alice chatted on about something she hadn't been paying attention to, but she was relieved when they exited the Great Hall and the intensity of Potter's and Black's stares dissipated.
They climbed the great marble staircase together, heading for the third floor as other students ambled past, the older ones taking their time getting to class while first years walked together in small packs, their eyes wide and quite a few of them looking frightened at the prospect of searching for one classroom in such a huge castle.
"Were we that small when we were firsties?" Alice asked.
"Probably." Cassie shrugged. "I'm pretty sure everyone looks like that at some point, though."
"The wonders of puberty," Alice agreed, and Cassie snorted.
They made their way down the Charms corridor, all thoughts of Potter and Black pushed to the back of her mind as she debated the various heights of firsties with Alice. They entered the Charms classroom and took a seat in the very middle of all the joint desks, being the first ones to arrive, even before Professor Flitwick.
The class started to fill as it got closer to nine, fifth-year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors drifting in with laughter and conversations, the mood light and happy after a summer holiday away from school.
When the bell tolled for nine o'clock, Professor Flitwick bumbled into the classroom, humming genially to himself as he took a seat behind his desk, sitting atop a stack of textbooks so he could peer out to the class.
"Good morning, and welcome back!" he greeted in his high, squeaky voice. "I trust you all had a wonderful holiday, and made sure to remember all those Charms we learned last year?"
There were a few nervous chuckles from around the room, but Cassie noticed the Ravenclaws trading smug looks, and guessed that they had not forgotten.
"Would anyone care to give me the names of one of the spells we learned last year?" Professor Flitwick asked, and immediately several Ravenclaws' hands shot into the air. "Yes, go ahead, Miss Flynn."
"Accio, sir, the Summoning Charm," a girl with dark blonde hair said. Flitwick nodded proudly.
"Excellent, five points to Ravenclaw," he said. "What else? Yes, Mr. Myers?"
"The Banishing Charm, Depulso," a Ravenclaw boy said, and Flitwick smiled.
"Take another five points for Ravenclaw," he chirped, looking around the room and eyeing all the shuffling students whose hands were not raised. "Come now, class, it's only been a few short weeks! What other spells did we learn?"
"The Seize and Pull Charm," a voice called from the back. Cassie turned to see James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin enter the classroom. Lupin and Pettigrew slunk into open seats together while Potter grinned from the doorway, he having been the one to have spoken. "Carpe Retractum."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Professor Flitwick said, nodding curtly as he and Black took the last seats open, two rows behind Cassie. "I had hoped with today being the first day of lessons that you would be punctual, but since you answered my question correctly, I won't take any points. This time."
He eyed Potter sternly. The Gryffindor grinned, sheepish, but Cassie could still see his arrogance shining through clear as day.
"It won't happen again, Professor," Potter promised. "See, we actually like Charms."
"Probably because it's one of the only things you're good at," Black said, slapping Potter on the back as the rest of the class tittered at the look of mock-hurt on the bespectacled boy's face.
"All right, settle down, class," Professor Flitwick said, holding up a hand as Cassie turned back to the front, trying to shake off the uncomfortable feeling the two gave her after remembering their stares this morning. "Let's continue on with our review…"
The next two hours passed slowly for Cassie. Not having to learn anything new just yet, and having retained her notes from last year, she let her mind drift, doodling lazily on a piece of parchment she had pulled out just in case.
Occasionally, she would hear Potter or Black snigger from behind her, and though this was not a new thing after spending four years of lessons with them, she couldn't help but feel that their whispers were directed at her.
Don't be stupid, she thought. You've never spoken to them before, and they've never even noticed you until now. Why would they be talking about you?
But the feeling persisted, and when the bell rang to signal the end of class, Cassie stood up and packed her things slowly, hoping Potter and Black and their two friends would leave before her, so she didn't have to walk past them again.
Fortunately, luck was on her side, for when she turned around, slinging her book bag over her shoulder, the four boys were gone. Cassie let out a tiny sigh of relief.
"Do you want to go for a walk outside?" Alice asked as they bid Professor Flitwick a good day and departed the classroom. "It's so nice today, and I want to enjoy this weather while it lasts."
Cassie was about to answer, but stopped when she heard a familiar snicker nearby. Whirling around, she spotted Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew huddled in a little group beside the classroom, but they were looking elsewhere rather than at her – probably poking fun at another student, she presumed. The thought made a muscle in her jaw twitch, though she was secretly glad their laughter wasn't directed at her. Black turned to say something to Potter, catching Cassie's eye as he did so, and she gave him the most baleful glare she could manage, narrowing her eyes in silent warning.
Black paid her no mind, simply dropping her gaze and saying something that caused the four boys to roar with laughter. Cassie shook her head, her face feeling warm at the short interaction.
"Walking sounds like an excellent idea," she said, scowling, and before Alice could say anything else, she had grabbed the other girl's arm and dragged her off down the corridor.
By the time she entered the Great Hall for dinner later that day, Cassie's stomach was rumbling with hunger. The quick lunch she'd scarfed down earlier was a forgotten memory as the scent of food reached her nostrils, making her mouth water.
The day had slipped by surprisingly quickly after Charms despite the dreaded Double Potions, and her Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures classes after lunch. So far, they had yet to be assigned any homework, but Cassie shuddered at the thought of Double Transfiguration with Professor McGonagall tomorrow, already knowing that the stern witch would undoubtedly assign them a whole chapter to read from their textbook – if she was being lenient. Their Head of House had warned them all before the holiday that fifth year was O.W.L year, and that meant the most arduous and excessive work would be given to them as preparation for the exams next summer.
The thought made Cassie's heart warm like nothing else.
"Cassie! Over here!" Alice called, waving her hand to get Cassie's attention. Cassie saw the other girl patting an empty seat beside her and walked over, her stomach nearly whining at the sight of a pot roast only a few feet from Alice.
Cassie took the seat next to Alice, sitting across Marlene McKinnon and Lily Evans, the other two girls they shared their dormitory with.
"Hi, Cassie," Lily said warmly, smiling at Cassie as Marlene waved, too busy chewing to say a proper greeting.
"Hey, Lily," Cassie returned. "Sorry I missed you and Marlene last night; I was just so tired I couldn't help falling asleep."
Lily laughed, her pretty heart-shaped face lighting up with the sound.
"Don't worry about it," she said. "We were all pretty tired."
"Not on Cassie's level." Marlene grinned. "I forgot how much you snored."
Cassie rolled her eyes, filling her plate high with shepherd's pie and buttery rolls, though she smiled all the same.
"Snoring is good for you," she said. "I mean, it totally cleared up my complexion. See?"
She stroked her cheek playfully, and the other girls laughed, making a warm feeling spread through Cassie as she began to eat. She would never dare crack a joke like that at home, in fear of earning disapproving looks from her parents, and the only other person in her family that she could play around with was gone, sucked into some mysterious group that she feared would never give him back.
Swallowing past the sudden tightness in her throat, Cassie tuned back into the conversation, taking a swig of pumpkin juice as Marlene suddenly burst out, "Why does he keep looking down here?"
"Who, Potter?" Lily said, not even bothering to look up from buttering her roll, as Cassie and Alice exchanged a knowing glance. It was no secret that James Potter was like a lovesick puppy when it came to Lily Evans, but Marlene's answer made them all look up at her.
"No, surprisingly not." She frowned. "Black's the one who keeps staring."
Cassie paused, her fork halfway to her mouth as a flare of indignation swept through her. Craning her neck, she looked to see that Black was indeed staring over at them, and she glowered when they made eye contact for what seemed like the hundredth time since yesterday. For Merlin's sake, what did he want from her?
"Just ignore him," Cassie muttered, going back to eating her shepherd's pie as Marlene shrugged, turning away.
"I guess he's decided to take a leaf out of Potter's book this year," she said. "I just don't understand why boys think it's acceptable to stare at girls. And not in a "I'm-madly-in-love-with-you" type of way. More like, "I'm-going-to-watch-you-in-your-sleep" type of way."
Cassie snorted into her pumpkin juice as Alice and Lily laughed.
"I agree," Alice said, grinning. "It's the most annoying stare."
"Who d'you think he was looking at, though?" Marlene asked. She chanced a glance back down the table, and Cassie copied her, though luckily Black had gone back to dinner and talking to his own friends.
Cassie looked back to her plate and shrugged, trying not to seem too guilty. She didn't know why, but admitting it was her that Black was staring at did not bode well with her. The whole ordeal was dredging up memories of last year, when all the students – and even some of the staff – had begun to look at her as if she had grown another head after the rumor had spread about her brother. The reminder left a pinched feeling in her gut, and she suddenly wasn't as hungry anymore as Marlene sighed dramatically.
"Well, I honestly wouldn't mind if he was staring at me," she said, tossing back her strawberry-blonde hair, her blue eyes twinkling wickedly. "He's grown quite attractive, hasn't he?"
Lily and Alice wrinkled their noses at this, and Cassie scoffed.
"Yeah, about as attractive as a flobberworm can get," she said, and this caused Lily and Alice to laugh again. Marlene shared a tiny grin, though fortunately she didn't push the subject of Black's staring further.
"Speaking of flobberworms," Lily said, finishing off the last of her roll in one pristine bite and wiping her mouth with a napkin. "Do you think Professor Kettleburn is going to let us take care of one this year?"
"Maybe," Cassie said, as Alice and Marlene started their own separate conversation; they had decided to take Divination over Care of Magical Creatures in their third year, so it was just Cassie and Lily in that class. "Don't you think they're a bit tame, though?"
Lily shrugged. "I just hope he doesn't make us test our wilderness survival skills again. "That was the worst thing ever."
Cassie thought back to their final exam last term with Professor Kettleburn, which had been a practical test to see if they could trek a short distance into the Forbidden Forest on a trail the professor had designed like an obstacle course filled with magical creatures. Cassie suppressed a shudder when she remembered her near-miss with a fire crab. She still had the singed sock and the burn mark on her ankle from where the creature had tried to blast her, and she agreed whole-heartedly with Lily.
"Oh, I talked to one of the Hufflepuffs in Herbology today about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Lily said, changing the subject.
Cassie looked up in interest. "Oh?"
"Yeah, he said he had her this morning," she confirmed, tucking a long strand of red hair behind her ear.
"What did he say?" Cassie finished off the last of her dinner and eyed the platter of treacle tarts resting nearby as Lily shrugged.
"That she was extremely strict, and had a short temper," she said. "He told me that she took ten points from a student just because he was chewing gum."
Cassie groaned. "Why do we always have to get the worst Defense teachers?"
"I don't know." Lily frowned. "I just hope she isn't like Professor Swann. Remember him?"
"How could I not?" Cassie replied, thinking back to their second year professor with a grimace. "He almost let a student get eaten by the giant squid."
"Maybe she'll be a good teacher, though," Lily said, looking up to the staff table. For the second time that day, Cassie's eyes sought out the witch seated at the left wing of the table, her white-blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun that heightened her sharp features as she surveyed the students below with frosty eyes.
Suddenly, those icy eyes were upon her, and Cassie dropped her gaze quickly, hoping the professor wouldn't remember her rude staring when class came the next day.
"Yeah, maybe," she agreed without conviction. She took another swig of pumpkin juice and hoped the drink would melt some of the ice that had suddenly coated her insides when Professor Carlisle had looked at her.
Next Chapter: The New Professor
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