Disclaimer: Harry Potter Characters and Plots belong to J.K. Rowlings. Cassi belongs to me.
Chapter Five
Sure enough, after her late night adventure, Cassi slept in too late to catch Hannah before breakfast. However, she saw Ginny Weasley sitting unaccompanied at the Gryffindor table and rather hesitantly moved to join her.
"Oh! Cassi!" Ginny looked up with a smile, brushing her bright red hair out of her face. "Good morning!"
"Is it all right if I sit here?"
Ginny glanced around. "Well, no one's watching. I don't think they'll expel you for sitting at the wrong table."
"Good," said Cassi with a sigh of relief. She plopped her books down on the bench and dug into the waiting pile of toast and ham.
"So, Ron said you went flying last night."
"He did?"
"Yes. I'm rather envious. The boys never let me fly with them."
"Well, don't let it bother you. Hermione made them."
"Oh!" There was a knowing look in Ginny's eye. "Well, that explains it!"
Something croaked over their heads and they turned to see Neville with Trevor the Toad in his hands. "Er-" he said awkwardly. "Can I sit here?"
"Sure," said Ginny. "But Trevor has to go in his box."
"Ohh good!" said Neville, emitting a sigh of relief. Ginny stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" he wondered.
"You two!" she chortled. "Cassi did the exact same thing!"
Cassi smiled. "I did, didn't I? We must be the group of rejects."
"Don't let Hermione hear you say that," said Ginny, still giggling. "She might start a new group. S.P.R.W."
"Society for the Promotion of Reject Welfare? Wouldn't she name us something other than rejects?"
Neville looked at them rather curiously. "I thought S.P.E.W. was a good idea. A little odd, but I always did feel sorry for my grandmother's house elf."
Ginny stopped giggling. "Yes, that's true. Although Ron doesn't think Hermione is going to manage much with it…not that Ron is the world's best authority on what Hermione can or cannot do."
Suddenly a commotion near the doorway attracted their attention. Immediately the surrounding students began rising and moving en masse towards the entrance.
"Where are they going?" asked Neville, who had just started his toast.
Cassi craned her ear towards the door, listening to what the others were saying. "I think the Beaubaxton students have arrived!"
"You're right!" said Ginny, leaping up onto the bench and peering over the crowd. "I see their headmistress. She's nearly as tall as Hagrid!"
"That's not possible!"
"Look!"
Cassi mounted the bench besides Ginny, and Neville scrambled up after them. Sure enough, a simply enormous woman was leading a line of proper-faced blue-clad students down the hallway. Several of the Beaubaxton girls seemed to be emitting a silvery glow, and the boys nearest to them were staring with slightly vacant expressions.
Ginny looked a bit annoyed. "They must be part Veela," she muttered.
"Ve-Veela?" stuttered Neville.
"Oh not you too!" she groaned.
It didn't take much guessing to figure out what a Veela's powers were. Cassi rolled her eyes. "Come on, Neville. I think we're supposed to follow them."
But before they could make any headway through the crowd, a new group of shouts joined the noise.
"It's Durmstrang!" shouted Fred Weasley, who had appeared somewhere to their left.
"It's Krum!" added George.
"Krum?" gasped Cassi. "Viktor Krum, the Quidditch player?"
Ginny too, was wide-eyed. "It is him! I saw him at the World Cup!"
"Isn't he too old to be a student?"
"Apparently not!"
Cassi could still hear the Weasley twins, who were now apparently taking bets that Krum would be the Durmstrang champion. After managing to catch a glimpse of the famous young man herself, she couldn't imagine that anyone would actually take them up on it.
That night, the whole school, as well as the visitors, were assembled together in the Great Hall. Dumbledore (appearing for the first time since the opening of school) rose and issued a welcome to the newcomers. Then he revealed a large goblet emitting blue flames. There was a ripple of surprised excitement among the students as they realized that this would be the method for picking the school contestants. The excitement was less, however, when the headmaster added that he would be drawing an age ring around the cup, preventing those less than 17 years of age from entering. Fred and George Weasley, however, looked delighted. Cassi was to far away to hear exactly why. But then, who ever know what was going on in their minds?
Cedric was being wildly cheered. Several girls had produced parchment and quills, and after many slaps on the back from the boys, he scribbled down his name and carried it up to the goblet.
Cassi found herself watching him with some nervousness. She was proud of him, of course. Delighted that Hufflepuff should have such a brilliant contestant. But still, she was worried. According to the stories, previous competitions had been dangerous enough to result in the death of a handful of contestants. More than a handful, in fact. While Cedric was certainly one of the best the school had to offer, that was still no guarantee of his safety.
And no one seemed to realize this. Not even Cho Chang, who was watching Cedric with a shy smile on her face. Cassi sighed rather irritably. No one seemed to know whether Cho and Cedric were actually "going out" or not, but they definitely liked each other. And no wonder. Cho was smart, and pretty, and only a year younger than Cedric. It was a perfect match.
Feeling rather depressed, Cassi let her mind drift from the clamor in front of her to the mystery lurking at the back of her mind. Professor Moody had been steadily avoiding her all day. Of course, there hadn't been any DADA class, but she had watched him during dinner and not once had he glanced her way. However, he did seem to be keeping a rather close eye on Harry Potter. That wasn't surprising, of course. If there really was danger, Harry was a more likely target than anyone else. Who else had ever before defied the Dark Lord and lived?
Perhaps Cassi was overthinking this. Moody obviously had a reason for bringing her to school now. In due time he would surely answer all her questions- wouldn't he? He knew the answers. It was clear that either he was her secret keeper- or he had killed the secret keeper.
That was the only thing that made Cassi uneasy. Though every core of her being revolted against it, she couldn't shake off the nagging thought that her parents were somehow connected to the Death Eaters. It would make sense for her mother- her real mother- to have been her original secret keeper. Therefore either Moody was a friend of her mother's- or he had killed her. Could she really trust a man who had killed her mother?
But what if her mother was connected to the Death Eaters? Who then did she owe her loyalty to?
There was a sigh and Hannah sank down next to her.
"Hannah?" she looked up in surprise. "I thought you were upset with me."
"Oh a little. But I missed having my best friend around."
"What was the matter?"
Hannah's cheeks went pink. "You won't tell?"
"Of course not."
"And you won't laugh?"
"If I do I shall sincerely apologize for it."
"Cassi!"
"I won't laugh! What do you take me for?"
"All right!" Hannah tilted her head towards Cassi's. "I- fancy- Neville Longbottom."
"You WHA-"
"SHHH!" Hannah quickly clamped her hand over Cassi's mouth. "Keep it down, will you? We're in a public place!"
Cassi was trying not to laugh. Neville was all right, but he wasn't the sort of boy that she could imagine anyone fancying. "You've got to be joking. Neville Longbottom?"
"I thought you might understand. He's your friend, after all."
"He's a lovely friend. But still- fancying him? And you were- you were jealous of me, weren't you?"
"Yes. I was a bit of an ass. But you can understand that, can't you? I mean…I thought he might like you. The two of you seem to get along pretty well."
Cassi cast a rather horrified glance at Neville. He was laughing at the Weasley twins- apparently their scheme to penetrate the age ring had backfired and they were sporting bushy white beards. At any other time she would have laughed as well.
"No," she told Hannah firmly. "I do not fancy Neville, and he does not fancy me. Don't be silly!"
"Good then," said Hannah. She looked considerably relieved.
The room had quieted. Viktor Krum was approaching the goblet.
"Who do you think would be most likely to win?" Hannah whispered, watching the Quidditch champion drop his paper into the blue flames.
Cassi didn't answer, but her eyes were fixed on Cedric.
Restored to Hannah's good graces, it was nearly impossible not to tell her friend about Moody's revelation. It seemed hard to believe that Hannah's knowing would present any real danger, and yet at this point she had no reason to risk it. Still, it seemed that she should do a bit of research into the Black family. At any rate, it was worth seeing if there was any truth to the allegation that stellar names among wizards were cursed to remain within the Black family.
So, with that in mind, the next day after classes she headed down to the library. Hermione, of course, was already there, and rather than speak to the intimidating librarian, Madam Pince, she decided to ask her friend for assistance.
"Hello, Hermione," she whispered.
Hermione looked up, a bit surprised. "Cassi! What are you doing here?"
"Research. Where can I find books on wizarding families?"
"They're all over in the history section. Two rows down and one over. Who are you looking for in particular?"
Cassi ignored this. "And what about curses? How can I find out curses that we know to be in effect right now?"
Her friend thought for a moment. Then, setting down her own reading material, she crossed over to a shelf and pulled down a thick tome. "Outside of the official Ministry of Magic records, this is probably your best option." She looked at Cassi curiously. "What exactly are you doing, Cass?"
"Research," Cassi repeated.
Hermione shrugged. "All right. If you need more help, let me know."
Her attention already on the book, Cassi merely nodded. Squeezing between two Ravenclaws, she left Hermione's aisle and sought a deserted corner. There was an old armchair near a window that looked promising, and she curled up comfortably in its worn seat.
The book was more interesting than she expected. Someone, obviously, had gone through a great deal of work to track down rumors and suspicions. Apparently, nearly every family had some sort of curse or spell placed on it. The Weasleys, for instance, owed their red hair to more than genetics.
But the book was a mess. Supposedly the entries were arranged in chronological order according to when the curses were supposedly cast, but there was no way for Cassi to know when the Black curse could have originated. It seemed that the only way to find it would be to read her way through all 768 pages. Now that was going to be an easy task! She groaned.
"What's the matter?"
She jumped slightly and looked up to see Neville looking down at her.
"Um, nothing. I'm just having trouble finding something in here."
Neville's face lit up. "I know how to do that!"
"You do?"
"Yes! Professor Moody showed me how when he gave me this book- " He pointed to a herbology book in his hand. "All you do is tap the cover like this-" he did so with his wand "and say occulus mimbletonia." His book immediately flipped open and the pages flew by, stopping at a beautiful painting of an oddly distorted fungus.
"Occulus mimbletonia?"
"Well, you would change mimbletonia to whatever you were looking for."
"What if it's mentioned more than once in the book?"
"Well, the charm leads it to the first occurrence. You say it again to go to the next one."
"Huh," Cassi smiled and shook her head. "Thanks Neville! I don't think even Hermione knows this one."
Neville looked even more pleased. "Moody isn't half bad. He felt sorry for- well- class the other day."
"Really?"
"Yes. I was a bit scared of him at first, but I'm not now."
Cassi narrowed her eyes as she looked at Neville. "Er, if you don't mind me asking, why did you get so upset in class?"
His face froze. "That's…"
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "You don't have to tell me."
He shook his head slowly. "No. I just- I just haven't told anyone before. I'm afraid that they'd- well, you wouldn't. But you won't tell anyone, will you?"
"Of course not, Neville."
He leaned awkwardly against the window frame. "You know how I live with my grandmother?"
"Yes."
"Well, I'm not an orphan. My parents are alive but- they're in St. Mungos."
Cassi gasped. "Oh! How long have they been there?"
"Since I was a baby."
"Ohhh…"
Neville took a deep breath. "When You-Know-Who was destroyed, four death eaters tortured my parents for information. They used the Cruciatus Curse. My parents- never recovered."
"Oh Neville…I'm so sorry…"
"It's all right," he said, a bit fiercely, though not in a completely convincing manner. "They're heroes. It's just…"
A bell rang. It was time for dinner.
"Thanks for telling me, Neville," said Cassi, placing her hand on his arm. "I understand now."
He nodded. "And you won't tell anyone?"
"No, I won't."
"Let's go eat then."
Cassi tucked the book of rumored curses under her arm. She'd have to continue her investigation later. For now- it was time to discover the contestants for the Triwizard Tournament.
It would be great to get some reviews before I post the next chapter! I know I have readers, because you're adding this to your alerts, which is great! But I'd like to know if I'm meeting expectations, etc, so far! Is there anything I could do better?
