A.N. Cassian is pronounced Cash-un. And Cass of course pronounced as Cash
Not sure exactly which house to sort Cassian into. Hopefully, you the readers could be so kind and tell me. As well as what House you'd like Dudley in
Chapter I
Stepping into the shop, Severus inhaled the aroma of herbs, candles, incense, and bottled sprays. It was a smell of familiarity associated with memories; some bittersweet. Walking among the shelves he took his time picking out the items he wanted and placing them in his basket. He knew where everything was having visited this particular store frequently and for many years.
If any of his colleagues could see him they wouldn't believe it. As a Slytherin and former Death Eater, he was viewed as a Muggle hater. Yes, at one point in time he had hated them. His Muggle father was to blame for that. He was one of the reasons Severus had craved the power the Dark Lord promised his followers.
There were places in the Muggle world however that he found comfort and contentment in. This little shop on the corner of the friendly shopping square was such a place. Besides, you could find some decent herbs in this store for teas, pastes, and potions that you couldn't find in a regular apothecary.
Placing small vials of eucalyptus oil and lavender next to his clump of skullcap, he went to the counter. The cashier was a man named Beltram, but liked to be called Bert, was the propertier and cashier since Severus had discovered this place in his youth. At the moment Bert was filling an orange messengers bag with packages. Seeing Severus, he nodded a greeting smiling. "Be right with you."
"Oi, people actually bury this garbage?" A young unique voice called from a book rack. The owner of the voice was a boy of perhaps ten or eleven and dressed as unique as his voice.
The boy wore a black long sleeved shirt under a sky blue shirt with a white hood and sleeves. His jeans were a faded gray-black cut to mid-calf and frayed with deep side pockets. His socks were bunched atop his tan boots. The hands holding the book were in fingerless cloth gloves. A backwards black cap atop his black hair. Smokey colored glasses hid his eyes. All in all, Severus thought him a delinquent.
The boy ignored Severus and with a snort turned another page. Bert looked up frowning, a note of warning in his voice. "Don't hurt my merchandise, Cass."
"I won't." The boy, Cass, put the book back on the rack entitled How to get in touch with you Inner Wizard. He shook his head.
Adding a paper bag to the full messenger bag, Bert said, "That'll be twenty-five pounds."
Sighing, Cass dug into a pocket and handed over a twenty then a five. Grabbing the messenger bag he slung it over his shoulder with a grunt.
"You sure you want 'em all today?"
Nodding the boy answered, "I"m still ninety pounds short. I'll see you next time."
At Severus' arched brow, Bert laughed as he began to add up his purchases. "Cassian delivers orders for me. The boy is saving up for a violin."
"He doesn't look like a musician."
Bert laughed again. "Don't let his getup fool ya. He's a good kid. Talented too. He performs on street corners during the weekends. He's really good with them puppets. You should go see for yourself."
Looking Severus in the eye meaningfully he stated, "The way he manipulates them puppets is what some might describe as magic."
Severus threw a look at him but Bert was busy wrapping the glass bottles of oil in paper. He didn't say anything else aside from wishing Severus a good day. Leaving the shop, Severus went to his favorite tea shoppe. Ordering a cup of tea with a honey and apple turnover, he sat outside watching the passerby as he mulled over what Bert said.
Catching a bit of bright orange, he turned to see it was the boy Cass across the plaza. He seemed to be staring at something in the window of the antique store. Looking him over, Severus shook his head. There was not any way this could be the boy the Ministry and Dumbledore had been looking for. For one thing, this kid had black hair, the Ashwood boy had golden-brown hair. Ashwood was the son of a Pureblood, an aristocrat. This boy looked like a Muggle delinquent.
Ever since the Ministry had picked up Ashwood's magical signature located in this general area it had been under surveillance day and night by an Auror. The Minister of Magic asked Severus if he would look into the matter since he frequented the district and wouldn't seem out of place. No one said he could do a little shopping and enjoy his time out. Still, Severus had not thought that Ashwood, if the boy really was Ashwood, would stick around so long in one district.
Knowing that Bert wouldn't pull his leg so Severus came back on the weekend to see if the boy really was using magic. Seeing a large crowd gathering not too far away, he went to see if this was the 'show' Bert was talking about. He scowled when a girl screeched when music began to blare from a cheap boom box. The crowd was soon clapping and making the appropriate awed sounds. Edging closer to the front of the crowd, Severus saw the boy from Bert's shop just as the man said he would.
The boy was dressed like a delinquent just like the other day. He wore a long sleeved gray shirt with a sleeveless black shirt that had an ornate sliver cross on it. A blue plaid shirt tied about his waist. Black cloth fingerless gloves and calf length shorts with deep side pockets. The sunglasses were still on his face and his hat was on the ground that already had some money in it. His necklace was clearly visible as well. It was a leather chord that held some type of coin with peridot, gold, and topaz beads. Severus sneered. Jewelry belonged on women unless it was for a specific purpose.
His cursory glance over, Severus actually watched the boy as he danced and was soon caught up in the show as well. As he watched he noticed that the boy was moving fluidly without any wasted movements. Two puppets were dancing in sync with the boy just as gracefully. It looked effortless and easy especially since the boy was smiling, but Severus knew that like any art, the boy was probably concentrating really hard to make it seem that way for his crowd.
When the song ended, both the boy and his puppets bowed as the applauded and tossed coins and bills into the cap. Another song and once again puppets and puppeteer moving to the music. Paying more attention to the puppets, Severus' eyes widened and quickly darted to the boy who's hair was starting to clump together with sweat, beads of it on the boy's upper lip and forehead. The more he watched, the more certain he was that the boy was using magic. Cassian was consciously using magic and it was any magic that he had cast. The boy had used an animation spell on those puppets.
After about a half hour in which Severus saw who the boy's skin become almost clammy, the boy bowed again, thanking the crowd then apologizing, still smiling. He told them to come back next week. He sat down nearly spent. The crowd dispersed making sounds of both disappointment and excitement. They all thought it was clever show, none seeing what Severus had.
An animation spell uses up a lot of magic and is a difficult enough spell on its own. How good it is and the length of the spells lasts depends on how strong and skilled the caster of the spell is. And considering Cassian had lasted for a half an hour at his age and it was perfectly done, the boy was indeed as Bert put it, 'talented'. Especially since Severus hadn't felt him cast the spell in the first place.
Severus moved closer to where the boy had slumped next to his cap of money and small boom box. The boy was slowly sipping water from a water bottle instead of gulping it down.
'Smart boy,' Severus thought. Gulping it down would more then likely upset the stomach.
Seeing the wizard the boy stated, "Bert said you might come 'round."
"He insisted that I come to your puppet show." Severus watched the boy intently as he said his next sentence. "Said some people might call what you do with those puppets magic."
Cassian didn't react all as just took another swallow from his water bottle. Wiping his mouth with the back of one gloved hand, he replied, "Is that so? Well, there's all kinds of magic I suppose." Capping the bottle he slid it into one of those deep side pockets as he stood up. "If you believe in that sort of stuff."
"You don't?"
Cassian stared at him, lips pursed, a serious expression on his young face making him seem older. Picking up his cap he didn't even count the money as he put it in one pocket and donned the cap. Before the boy flipped it around backwards, Severus got a good look at the patch. It was a variation of the Dark Mark and the Jolly Roger, as if they had been merged into one. Except there was no crossed bones or cutlasses but lightning bolts behind the Dark Mark.
It was only his years of being a double agent that helped Severus from betraying any emotion. He had never seen anyone so brazenly display the Dark Mark for all to see. "Where did you get that patch?"
An ebony eyebrow arched over the smoky glasses. "I made it. Why, you interested in one?" The boy smiled as he carefully picked up the limp puppets then his boom box. Straightening, he faced the wizard asking, "So, which is it? You for or against the club?"
Without waiting for a response, the boy began to walk away. Severus eyed the boy while he fell in step with him. Severus knew which club the boy was referring to but had no idea if the boy was a junior Death Eater in the making and if not why wear the mark? There was also something about the boy that was familiar but he couldn't quite place his finger on why that was.
"What about you? Which side are you on?"
The corner of Cassian's mouth twitched. "I'm neutral; at the moment."
Stopping at the entrance to the underground Cassian turned to the Potions Master. "I'm sure Bert's already told you mine name. Might I have yours?"
"Severus." He had decided that the boy didn't need to know his last name. He was not expecting the sudden alertness that came through the boy's body language. Obviously, he now had the boy's undivided attention.
"Severus? As in Severus Snape, Potions Master and teacher at Hogwarts?"
"How do you know that?" Severus' eyes narrowed.
"Severus isn't that common a name," he replied sounding distracted.
Giving the boy his patented glare that scared Gryffindors and made his Slytherins nervous. "I will ask you one time more. How did you know my name and occupation?"
"My father."
"And your father would be?" Severus could feel his irritation rising.
The boy's face didn't have any emotion present at all when he replied. "His name was Markale Ashwood."
Smirking when the man seemed to be startled, a frown on his face. Flicking an envelope to Severus which he deftly caught, Cassian began to descend the stairs. Calling over his shoulder, "I'm sure you know how to get in touch with him."
Looking down at the envelope in his hands, Severus saw the name ALBUS DUMBLEDORE written in precise neat caligraphy.
A.N. Sorry this chapter was so short. I promise the next one will be longer and it won't be so long in between postings. I'll try to update at least once a week. Two weeks at the most. Thanks for being patient.