C. M. Black: Eyes on an Owl

Chapter IX: A war without weapons

Despite the darkness, there was an obvious absence on the platform that the group could not help but notice. There was no great imposing figure with a lantern by his side, a loud voice booming for the tiny first years to gather round and make their way to the age old boats that would take them across the water to the castle. What was there was a smaller, slimmer figure. The lantern was equally as bright yet harder to see some five feet closer to the ground. The first years peered around nervously, grouped together around the scarred woman that had waved them over.

'Where's Hagrid? Why is Grubbly-Plank here?' asked Harry, craning to see farther down the platform.

There was no sight of Hagrid anywhere. Professor Grubbly-Plank brushed away Harry's enquiry as coolly as she had the year before when he had taken leave. There was something ominous in his absence. The last Cassy had heard he had been sent on business for Professor Dumbledore. Surely the plan would have been for him to return by now; the curiosity that would gather amongst staff would be containable, but a nuisance. Cassy doubted many of the students would even care that he was gone, having witnessed the excitement at the change of staff the year before. Yet, the Ministry would notice. The Ministry would be watching and Professor Dumbledore must have known that, so it still left Cassy with the hanging question of where their half-giant friend had vanished to if he was yet to return.

Harry was visibly disgruntled as they walked towards the carriages. Always, since their first year, he had been keen on visiting Hagrid in the first weeks of school to catch up on the time missed in their summer apart. It was most likely one of the things he had been looking forward to most about returning, speculated Cassy as she stared at the back of his head. Seeing a friend was the small twinkling of light in what otherwise promised to be a sullen and tedious year of staring and taunting of lies and death. Hagrid always had something cheerful to say. Even if he was often brash with his words, Cassy found it had helped a lot through her time at Hogwarts.

Cassy sighed. She halted suddenly, narrowly missing collision with Harry's back. He was unmoving, staring, his lips partly opened and his eyes a fraction wider than they should have been. Curiously, Cassy followed his gaze. Black, leathery skin and milky eyes gazed back at her. The long face was thrown side to side as giant hooves beat the ground impatiently.

'What is that?' breathed Harry.

'What is what?' asked Ginny, climbing into the nearest carriage.

'That horse-thing,' he said, nodding.

The Thestral huffed.

'These carriages pull themselves, Harry,' said Hermione, climbing in beside Ginny.

'No, they don't. That's a Thestral,' explained Neville. He stepped past Cassy and Harry as the other two girls turned in surprise.

'You can see them?' asked Harry to Neville.

'There are four of us here who can see them, I believe,' said Cassy. She moved from behind him and took a seat closest to the Thestral. Gingerly, she reached over and patted its back, the skin smooth but tough beneath her soft fingers. She paid no attention to the heavy silence that developed behind her.

'Cassy,' said Neville softly. 'When I mentioned to you about them in first-year, you couldn't see them.'

Cassy did not respond. She did not see what there was to clarify. It was obvious what had happened. It would take less than a second for them to reassess what they had wrongly believe to have happened that evening; she had not seen Alphard after his death, she had clung to him during it.

The carriage rocked gently as Harry finally climbed on board. No one spoke again until they reached the castle. Cassy spared the briefest of thoughts as to what they wondered, but she found she did not care. They had probably moved on to how Neville and Luna had been able to see Thestrals by the time the wheels slowed to a halt. Even without turning, she could clearly see Harry avoiding looking at her.

Unsurprisingly, Hagrid was not in the hall either. He was not seated at the long teachers table. His seat was empty, inevitably left spare for Professor Grubbly-Plank. More curiously, however, a few seats closer to the Headmaster sat a woman in pink. Her hair was tightly curled and mousy brown, a pink bow fixed on the left-hand side. Her face was large and her mouth reaching from almost side to side. Wide and short, she was dwarfed next to the long, tall stature of Professor McGonagall on her left.

'That's the woman from my trial,' murmured Harry as they took their seats at the Gryffindor table.

'She hates you then,' whispered back Cassy.

There was not even a noise of resignation. Harry merely nodded and said, 'If she is going to teach Defence then I can kiss my OWLs goodbye. She'll fail me as much as Snape.'

The other students did not fail to notice the pink mass at the staff table either. There were many curious stares and loud whispers of discussion. The woman, of whom Harry had forgotten to name, sat with a pleasant smile on her face the entire time, looking down at each child as if there was nothing more she loved in the world than their smiling, youthful faces. She almost appeared kind, too soft, too caring to be the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, but Cassy was well aware otherwise. Harry had informed her of every detail of his trial. The blunt words in her honey-sweet tone, the sugary smiles that hid and deceived the real message on her tongue. She did not believe Harry. It made even a member of staff the opposition, their backing was being punctured by her very presence.

Professor Dumbledore rose from his chair and extended his hands widely in front of him. Everyone fell into silence, some turned expectantly to the grand closed doors. He took his place again and nodded to Professor McGonagall, who strode quickly down the aisle between the tables and slipped out of the doors. A small echo of the new students' conversations sounded before the door was shut again and the hall was left silent. Soon after, they opened once more and Professor McGonagall came striding in with a gaggle of nervous and curious children.

The stall was all ready present with the Sorting Hat upon it. It groaned, opening a small fold in the fabric that looked suspiciously like a mouth. With a small cough, it began yet another welcoming song to introduce itself.

In times of old, when I was new,
And Hogwarts barely started,
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted.
United by a common goal,
They had the self-same yearning
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach"
The four good friends decided.
And never did they dream that they
Might someday be divided.
For were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw,
So how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there, so I can tell
The whole sad, sorry tale.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
Whose ancestry's purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those whose
Intelligence is surest"
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
With brave deeds to their name."
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot
And treat them just the same."
These differences caused little strife
When first they came to light.
For each of the four founders had
A house in which they might
Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning just like him.
And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest
and taught them all she knew,
Thus, the Houses and their founders
Maintained friendships firm and true.

So Hogwarts worked in harmony
for several happy years,
but then discord crept among us
feeding on our faults and fears.

The Houses that, like pillars four
had once held up our school
now turned upon each other and
divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school
must meet an early end.
what with duelling and with fighting
and the clash of friend on friend.
And at last there came a morning
when old Slytherin departed
and though the fighting then died out
he left us quite downhearted.
And never since the founders four
were whittled down to three
have the Houses been united
as they once were meant to be.

And now the Sorting Hat is here
and you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
because that is what I'm for.
But this year I'll go further,
listen closely to my song:
though condemned I am to split you
still I worry that it's wrong,
though I must fulfil my duty
and must quarter every year
still I wonder whether sorting
may not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
the warning history shows,
for our Hogwarts is in danger
from external, deadly foes
and we must unite inside her
or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you...
let the Sorting now begin.

There was a speckled round of applause. Cassy clapped slowly, her eyebrows dipped down into a thoughtful frown. It was longer than the previous songs, the message was sombre and warning, not at all like the joyful introduction she had had in her first year. The first-years glanced around nervously at one another as the clapping quickly silenced. Danger, crumbling, disorder and creeping faults and fears, none of it set an encouraging tone and to those in doubt of Voldemort's return it merely sounded like nonsense. To those who believed, it was a warning, a warning for them to unite early to prevent disaster. Cassy could have laughed. The hat was going to change no one's minds.

'Has the hat ever given a warning before?' whispered Hermione as Professor McGonagall cleared her throat to begin the sorting.

'Oh, yes,' came a voice from beside them. The group turned to see Sir Nicholas floating midway through the Gryffindor table. 'Its messages are always the same, filled with co-operation and unity. It feels honour bound to warn the school of great dangers approaching.'

'Shame it included Slytherin in that. No one can get along with them,' mumbled Ron.

Sir Nicholas turned to him with a frown and Harry looked past Cassy's shoulder at the next table. As his expression slowly grew into a sneer, she knew he had most likely locked eyes with Draco.

As names began to be reeled out one after another, Cassy turned her attention to the current students. Slowly, her head barely turning as she inspected them, she drank in every stare and tense muscle on those surrounding them. Each time someone peered at Harry, she mentally logged their emotion – fear, confusion, curiosity, admiration, there were many different emotions swilling through Gryffindor. Hufflepuff on the table across seemed calmer when she caught them looking, but there was no definite support there either. Ravenclaw sat behind her, too far away for anyone to bother passing a glance at Harry. Slytherin was bypassed entirely.

There was no grand conclusion of support from anywhere. The tale of Voldemort's return was a lot for anyone to take in and no house was entirely uniform in anything they did. Cassy vaguely listened as Professor Dumbledore spoke his timely welcomes, her mind was focused on the other staff members and whom seemed to be avoiding their end of the table, or those looking too much. Professor McGonagall kept her eyes forward, while Professor Flitwick glanced over to them twice before catching Cassy's eye and smiling at her; he believed Harry then. The woman in pink did not look towards Harry at all, smiling politely at the back of Professor Dumbledore's sparkling hat the whole time.

When the silver platters filled with freshly cooked food from the kitchens below, Cassy turned back to the table.

'What were you looking at?' asked Harry, as soon as the loud, echoing chatter erupted.

'I was watching for those watching you,' she replied lowly.

Harry craned his neck and rotated in his seat as he frowned.

Cassy piled several Yorkshire puddings onto her plate. 'There are some who are believing and some who are more hostile, yet a decent amount who I could only see curiosity.'

'If they are going to be stupid and believe I'm a liar then they are in for a nasty shock,' he spat.

'You could at least try to concentrate on the positive parts of what I said,' said Cassy flatly and Harry sighed deeply, slowly squashing his peas into a watery paste.

'Yeah, I should just be happy that some people do believe me... but really - '

'Harry,' said Cassy imploringly. She jerked her head to where several younger students had inclined their heads to listen at his loud outburst before.

'I... I don't really care,' he said weakly, with a shrug.

Cassy snorted and Hermione sighed beside her.

'Just ignore them, Harry. People will think what they think until proven otherwise, it is just how they are,' said Hermione simply.

'Or until the novelty of being angry wears off. Then they will actually begin to think for themselves, they will most likely come around. Take third-year, for example, everyone avoided me because my father was publicised as a mass murderer, but people began to act natural again once the excitement of him bursting in and killing them wore off,' offered Cassy.

The younger students suddenly turned away, grimacing at the revelation of who they had been eavesdropping on. Noticing, Cassy let a very low, satisfied chuckle that had Harry laughing into his drink and Neville rolling his eyes with a grin of his own.

'Honestly,' he said.

The meal continued in relative ease. Hermione had become irate with Ron shortly after for mentioning deducting all the points from Slytherin by tomorrow lunch; Neville and Ginny tried to calm her down, but the more glazed Ron's eyes became as she spoke the hotter her temper became. Harry watched the two squabble with mild interest.

'Do you think we'll hear anything from our friends while we're here?' he asked, leaning a faction closer across the table.

'We were hard pressed to get information at the house, let alone here,' muttered Cassy. 'We need a better way of disguising what we are talking about.'

Harry hummed. 'How about we call it Grimmy, then it sounds like a person.'

'Like Death, perhaps,' said Cassy with her eyebrows raised, 'but yes, Grimmy it is.'

'Do you two plan on leaving any treacle tart for anyone else?' asked Ginny loudly from beside them.

Both Cassy and Harry looked down at the circular dish between them. It had less than a quarter remaining. The longer they had been talking, the more of the tart they had eaten. Harry shrugged and said, 'Obviously not. It's ours.'

Completely disregarding what he had said, Ginny leant across and snatched the dish from between them before either could mock grumble.

There was a clinking from the front of the hall. The food vanished from their plates and their cutlery was left empty in the air. Faintly, as the chatter died down, a short groan was heard. Cassy and Harry grinned at one another; Ginny had not got to eat any of the tart she had stolen.

'Good evening, new and old. We are once again brought together to begin another year at Hogwarts. I have a few announcements to make, the first being the return on Professor Grubbly-Plank and the appointment of our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge,' called Professor Dumbledore loudly.

A scattered applause echoed through the hall. No one expected her to last long and no one particularly cared for her first impression either. Quietly, murmurs circulated from some of the older students.

The name rang through Cassy's ears. It rang and rang, echoing through her brain like an old song. She knew it. She had heard it before, she was certain. Yet, if she had, it raised the question as to why someone with a high enough profile within the Ministry would attend Harry's trial. Surely the ranks did not all fall in for a simple expulsion; then again, it was Harry Potter and the accusation of Dementors in a Muggle town was hardly something that could not be investigated, she reasoned. Yet, she could simply not place the name.

'Next, I would like to remind you that Quidditch try-outs are to be later this month,' said Professor Dumbledore. He did not bat an eyelid as Professor Umbridge made a small, high noise, caught somewhere between a giggle and a cough. 'Captains are to pick the exact date, but I have been advised by the Heads of Houses to suggest it be no later than October seventh.'

Professor Umbridge coughed again. Slowly, wearing a too-polite smile for what anyone else would have done, Professor Dumbledore turned to her. 'Yes, Professor Umbridge?'

'I have a few things to say, if you will, Headmaster,' she said brightly, and stood, almost appearing to lose height as she did. There was no sign of an agreement as she peered from face to face and giggled to herself, but Professor Dumbledore intertwined his hands and watched patiently none-the-less.

Professor Umbridge smiled, her wide mouth stretching side to side. From the distance, Cassy might have been fooled into thinking her brown eyes were warm and full of sentiment; she knew better though. They merely appeared so because of her cheeks rolling to meet them in way of her giddy, false smile. Cassy finally understood where she knew the woman from; she was the Senior Under-secretary of the Ministry. A vile woman whom even the purest of Wizards disliked. She was tolerated due to her position, but beyond the Minister himself, Cassy did not know a single person who sought to spend time in her company. Even Lucius loathed her. She got in the way of his own influence too much to be properly civil company.

The Ministry was interfering at Hogwarts and had no intention of being subtle.

Oh, Harry, thought Cassy as she tucked her chin into her palm, you have made such a mess.

'Thank-you for the welcome, Professor,' she cooed. 'It is wonderful to be back in Hogwarts and to see so many bright faces looking back. I am sure we will all be very good friends.' Her voice was high and her words slow, as if speaking to a neighbour's misbehaving, repugnant child.

Cassy looked eyes with Harry, he grimaced at her. He hated her, everything about her from the tightened lower lids and elongated corners of his mouth. Neville had his eyebrows raised and Hermione looked thoughtful; Ginny appeared repulsed.

'The Ministry has always taken the education of young witches and wizards very seriously,' she said, smiling with bright eyes as if becoming tearful at the notion. 'Rare gifts must be guided and nurtured and it is the responsibility of the staff to do so. Each headmaster has brought something different to the school, lest we have stagnation, but progress for the sake of progress must be discouraged. What does not add to society must be eradicated. Certain traditions require no tampering, if they are well tried and tested then it is best we leave them be. We must have a balance between old and new...'

It sounded almost absurd that the Ministry intended to remove aspects of Hogwarts it did not approve of; absurd, but not illegal, the school was, after all, under the control of the Government. Cassy huffed, almost laughing, and gained the attention of her friends surrounding her. Hermione pursed her lips, not turning, but Cassy knew she had come to the same conclusion.

Focusing more on older wizarding traditions would integrate the Muggle-Borns better, it almost sounded positive and undoubtedly would have if exiting someone else's mouth. Some habits must be recognised as pointless and Cassy had no desire for the year of shearing to occur during her OWL examinations.

'...Pruning what ought to be prohibited,' finished Professor Umbridge, still smiling sweetly.

Cassy's eyes flinched minutely in alarm.

'Thank-you, Professor Umbridge. Now, off to bed with all of you,' said Professor Dumbledore curtly, splaying out his arms as if to usher them away from Professor Umbridge behind him.

Noise erupted and half the hall was on their feet before he had even finished his sentence. Cassy leant over the table quickly, locking eyes with Hermione, whose mouth had become tense and thinly pressed.

'She is not going to let us practise advanced spells in Defence,' said Cassy immediately.

Hermione shook her head. 'They're in the exam, she has to.'

'If the Ministry thinks there is going to be no war, then I think duelling falls under "what must be prohibited". The threat they fear most is an uprising, is it not?' continued Cassy.

Harry, Neville, and Ginny were looking between the two with varying looks of curious anger. Harry was scowling all ready, his mouth partly open, ready to demand to know what they meant, but neither girl looked at him. They stared at one another severely. The moment Hermione's eyes darted towards the lingering first-years, Cassy knew she had got through. There was simply no way Umbridge was doing to be a productive teacher. She was not like Remus, who taught them what he thought they were ready to know, or like Barty Crouch Jr, whose unorthodox methods had taught them much last year in the way of survival. Professor Umbridge did not wish for them to advance for the sake of advancement; she did not wish to see them prevail at all.

'There will be mayhem. The students will never allow it, even if the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts,' said Hermione with a faint shake of her head. Her brown-eyes lingered on Cassy for a moment, silently stating the conversation would continue later, when Lavender and Pavarti were asleep like they held most of their conversations.

'Where did you get that from?' asked Neville, eyebrows knitted down in concern.

'Weren't you listening at all?' asked Hermione. 'Anyway, first-years, follow me! Ron, get over here.'

'Oy, Midgets!'

'Ron!'

'I zoned out when she began talking in circles,' admitted Neville sheepishly.

'So did I,' agreed Harry. 'So, what did you two mean about Defence?'

'Given what she said about pruning practises and preventing progression that does not need to be made, I would wager that she is not going to teach her class quite the way we need it to be,' said Cassy lowly.

She, Harry, Neville, and Ginny, pushed their way through the crowds and up the tall marble staircases towards the Gryffindor Tower. There was much discussion echoing through the halls, but not many at all seemed to be discussing Professor Umbridge. Most seemed to have lost interest shortly after she began like Harry and Neville, and even Ginny was struggling to recall exactly what had been said.

'Even if she doesn't want to teach us, she has to at least teach us what's in the syllabus though,' offered Ginny reassuringly.

Cassy pursed her lips. 'Who do you think writes the syllabus?' Everyone paled slightly and Cassy sighed. 'I am just speculating, of course. She might be fine, but she is certainly here to keep an eye on the school and make sure your story, Harry, is not being encouraged. Otherwise, they would not have sent someone so high within the Ministry to teach.'

'Bloody wonderful,' muttered Harry. 'I'm going to bed. Goodnight.'

He stomped up to his dormitory with Neville following closely behind, waving good-bye. Ginny flashed her eyebrows in a silent declaration of how poorly that revelation had gone, before dismissing herself to her dormitory too.

Not even bothering to sigh, because she had expected nothing less, Cassy followed their lead and planned her acquaintance with her own bed. First-years had begun piling in, spilling out across the room in their eagerness to explore and inspect. Their voices were high and excited, barely contained in the half-hearted whispers. Ron was caught somewhere in the centre, physically moving the children out of the way, while Hermione seemed to be in a hushed conversation with a particularly anguished looking girl with blonde pigtails.

When Cassy shut the dormitory door behind her, Lavender and Pavarti immediately fell silent. Their eyes were wide for a moment, before they both smiled and greeted her too warmly for their distant companionship.

'Evening,' said Cassy civilly. Her eyebrows were lowered only a fraction, but it was all that was needed to let them know of her suspicion.

'How was your summer?' asked Lavender cheerfully, her legs crossed on Pavarti's bed and clothed in stripy pyjamas.

'Agreeable,' she said blandly. 'Your own?'

'Oh, it was nice.'

Nothing more was said, but Cassy could hear the faint sounds of their whispers through the bathroom door as she changed into her own nightclothes. Once again, she heard the door open and the sounds stopped. Footsteps crossed the room and the chatter did not continue. Cassy rolled her eyes at the obviousness of her two housemates, they did not even think to create a fake discussion to hide themselves. When she exited the bathroom, Lavender was back on her own bed and the two sat silently, occasionally glancing at one another.

'If you have something to say, just do it,' said Cassy as she folded her uniform back into her trunk.

Lavender jumped slightly, but leant forward, gripping her ankles with her hands and whispered loudly, as if expecting someone to burst in if overheard. 'About Harry.'

Cassy stared at her expectantly and Hermione, who had joined not long ago, turned away from her own trunk to stare over her shoulder. Lavender said nothing more though and simply continued to watch them both.

'What about him?' asked Hermione after a second.

'His story,' she said. 'What do you think?'

'What do you think?' countered Cassy.

Lavender and Pavarti glanced at each other and Lavender bit her lip.

'My sister isn't convinced,' admitted Pavarti, 'and my parents are unsure, but I think he is probably telling the truth.'

'I just don't see why the Ministry would not be supporting him if he was, you know. It's not like they'd just be able to ignore it,' added Lavender.

Cassy thought she heard Hermione snort, but maintained her flat expression as she regarded Lavender and Pavarti coolly. 'I know that Harry is not the type of person who would bring back a corpse of another student for attention, nor harm himself to gain popularity.' While her voice was low and level, she very nearly hissed 'corpse', the sound becoming long and the 'c' harsh on her tongue. Her expression did not change, but theirs did.

'I don't really like to read the Daily Prophet and neither do my parents. They say it's a load of rubbish,' said Pavarti more confidently.

Lavender shifted. 'I don't see how a dead man could come back to life though.'

'Harry's not lying,' snapped Hermione, standing with her pyjamas bundled in her arms. 'If you don't think the greatest Dark Wizard of all time would be able to cheat death, then you need to think again. Of everything he has done, I hardly find this the least believable.' She had her eyebrows raised pointedly, before striding across the room and locking herself in the bathroom.

Lavender said nothing more for the rest of the night.

Lavender was not the only one who appeared to be having difficulties believing Voldemort had returned. As soon as Cassy and Hermione had emerged from the girls' staircase the next morning, Harry was out of the armchair and across the room to the portrait hole before they had even managed to wish him a good-morning. Neville waved them to follow quickly and as they all fell into step, Harry burst into an angry monologue that no one dared interrupt.

Seamus did not believe him. His mother did not believe him, choosing to agree with the deluded image of him that the Daily Prophet had conjured that summer. He had asked for Harry to recount what had happened that evening, something Harry struggled to do for anyone, and he could not for Seamus. Instead, he had snapped, telling him he could go and believe the Daily Prophet in his own time.

Cassy narrowed her eyes. 'Did you insult his mother?'

Harry cringed.

'Harry, that was your chance to persuade him otherwise. Now he will probably not believe you on principal,' she scolded.

'What was I supposed to do? Just ignore it?' he snapped.

'Yes!' implored Cassy as though it was obvious. 'It would have been more beneficial if you had kept your head together and treated him civilly to win him over.'

Harry sighed deeply. 'Why can't you just follow me round and tell me what to say? My life would be easier that way.'

Cassy was almost flattered and if it was not for the disgruntled tone in which he had spoken, she might have smiled. However, she said, 'You need to work on what you say. If you can begin to change people's minds here, then their families will hopefully come around and it will be doing the Order a massive favour.'

'Right,' said Harry dully.

'Look,' said Cassy with a sigh, 'It is normal to be angry about it, but - '

'It's fine. I'll just be more enthusiastic to those who think I am an attention-seeker,' interrupted Harry, his hands stuffed in his trouser pockets.

Cassy let out a frustrated growl and turned her head. Ignoring him, Cassy listened to Hermione and Ron bicker some way behind. Fred and George had posted a notice on the Gryffindor board, stating they wanted volunteers to help test their products; Hermione wanted Ron to take action, but Ron had just laughed until he realised she was, in fact, very serious, and the pair had dissolved into an argument.

'I don't care if it's "virtually painless" they can't test things on first-years!' said Hermione, shrilly.

'Look, I am not going to be the one to tell them they can't, because who do you think they will test them on next? Me, that's who,' said Ron, his hands thrown up in defence.

'Then I'll tell them,' said Hermione.

'Good. Go for it,' said Ron.

Hermione strode past Cassy, Harry, and Neville, her nose pointed high as she entered the Great Hall with a determined purpose.

'...You're not serious, are you? You're mad!' called Ron after a second, hurrying by too to catch her before she spotted the twin at the far end of the table.

'Well, the Prefects are going to be interesting this year,' said Neville, falsely bright.

Both Cassy and Harry let out a flat, disinterested hum and took seats on opposite sides of Ginny, leaving Neville next to Luna on the other side. People were no longer bothering to pretend not to be interested in Harry. They stared openly up and down the table, from across the hall and back, and even the Slytherins were turning in their seats to inspect.

'Harry, you're making it rain, mate,' said Ron as he passed, finally having steered Hermione back around.

The charmed sky above them was dark and thunderous, although the clouds above everyone else remained white and fluffy, the barest rays of sun filtering through their wispy edges. The rain began to ease as Harry stared up at it consciously.

As Hermione took a seat on Luna's other side, the conversation fell into place and Cassy and Harry's tenseness began to waver. Timetables were handed out and everyone compared their hours free with one another; Ron could be heard mourning the lower numbers of free periods all ready further down the table. Dean and Seamus nodded along with him, while Ginny grinned, having the luxury of fourth-year relaxation.

Angelina Johnson, the new Captain of the Quidditch Team following Wood's departure two years ago, approached with her chest puffed out and the shining badge fixed where all could see. Harry congratulated her enthusiastically and she instructed him to meet the team on the pitch on Friday at five for Keeper try-outs. Harry nodded and waved, watching her go as he curiously considered who might make the team.

'At least you made the team without question,' said Neville, mopping up the baked bean juice with his toast.

'Of course he did,' said Ginny brightly. 'There wouldn't be much of a team without Harry!'

He grinned back at her and his foul mood finally seemed to begin to lift. The rest of breakfast was spent in lively chatter that had been sorely absent in their long train journey the day before. Eventually, the owls swooped down with the post. Two large reels of paper were deposited in front of both Cassy and Hermione, black print covering side to side. Lowly, Harry grumbled that the pair were still reading the Daily Prophet, but they both brushed him off with the need to know before they were told by an unsavoury source, most likely Draco pretending to be deranged; Cassy was rather looking forward to seeing Harry finally snap at him and unleash the pent up rage he had built towards the other boy for the last four years. She certainly had no intention of preventing it.

Cassy cast a sideways glance at the Slytherin table, only to see Astoria hovering not too far away, as if just having stood herself. She smiled at Cassy and ran a hand through her straightened blonde hair. Her head jerked towards the door.

'Excuse me,' said Cassy, stuffing the paper towards Harry, who had been reading over her shoulder despite himself. She smiled warmly at Astoria as the two left the hall, only acquiring a few disturbed stares along the way. The moment their feet stopped moving, Astoria rounded on her, gripping the tops of Cassy's arms tightly.

'How are you?' she burst. 'I wanted to find you on the train, but Daphne insisted that I sat with her to make sure I did not get up to anything unsavoury. My parents are on high alert now and you will not answer any of my questions!'

'Your parents believe Harry too, then?' asked Cassy, not particularly surprised. The Greengrass family kept up with affairs and like any other Pure-blooded socialites, they would hear all about Voldemort's great return somewhere down the line.

'Of course,' said Astoria, frowning. 'My parents were never Death Eaters, but they knew a fair bit about the Dark Lord, seeing as they were out of school for the years leading to the real climax of it all. They supported quite a few of his policies too, so my summer was interesting. Anyway, I want to know how your summer was. You were ever so evasive and I want to know why.'

Somehow Cassy could not justify stating she had been hiding in the headquarters of a secret order set to destroy the Dark Lord's second rising, she could imagine Astoria's face if she did though and while it would undoubtedly be hilarious, Astoria was not one to shrug it off as a joke. She would dig and dig until she either got what she wanted or she would ask her father to get it for her and in that case Cassy would be in serious trouble when word got back around to Tonks. Instead Cassy frowned slightly and went with the second, although no less truthful reply.

'I was staying with my new guardian and we had many things to sort through. I was... preoccupied.'

Astoria winced. 'Right. Sorry.'

'What black magic has made a Greengrass apologise? Oh my,' came a drawling voice from nearby.

Both girls turned to see Stephen wandering towards them, his hands charmingly in his pockets. They greeted him simultaneously and he nodded back.

'I thought I saw you two making a quick escape,' he said.

'I wanted to ask Cassy about her terrible letter replies,' admitted Astoria.

'Ah, yes. Writing a page and getting half of one back,' he said in a false tone of fondness.

'Half? I got a third at best. I see who your favourite is,' said Astoria, crossing her arms.

Cassy rolled her eyes as Stephen and Astoria laughed. 'I was not that bad. Congratulations on your twelve Outstanding OWLs, by the way. Very impressive.'

'Thanks. You're going to have the fight of your life this year. It's not as easy as it sounds,' he said.

'I will work as much as required to match you and ensure my victory over Hermione,' said Cassy easily, waving her hand dismissively.

'Am I a rival now?' asked Stephen cheekily.

'I need to be perfect to do what I want to do,' she said.

'And what is that exactly?' asked Astoria curiously.

'None of your concern. Actually, I have something important to ask.' Cassy's voice suddenly dipped and she leant in closer to the pair of them and they followed suit. 'What is the consensus of Voldemort in your houses?'

Stephen flinched slightly at the name and Astoria merely blinked in surprise.

'It is split,' admitted Stephen.

'I do not know of anyone who does not believe, although I am willing to wager that none of them will admit it,' offered Astoria.

'Is this about Potter?' asked Stephen.

The three of them turned at the same time to see Harry, Neville, and Hermione emerge from the Great Hall, most likely on their way to History of Magic. They were peering at the stationary students, then Harry spotted Cassy and scowled suddenly as his eyes took in the two people beside her. Cassy frowned.

'He's in a pleasant mood,' muttered Stephen.

'Ignore him. He has been in a foul mood all morning,' assured Cassy.

He had cheered up when I left him, she thought to herself, I wonder what happened.

Quickly, as Harry stared her two friends down, Cassy bid good-day to Stephen and Astoria and strode over to Harry, Neville, and Hermione as if she had not noticed the irritation radiating from the former at all. She adjusted the bag strap on her shoulder and looked at Neville and Hermione expectantly.

'History, then?'

Before either of them could comment, Harry cut in, 'What were you talking about?'

The phrase "none of your business" was on the tip of Cassy's tongue, before she turned and began the long journey up to their classroom. She replied with a shortened truth instead. 'I was congratulating Stephen on his OWL results, twelve Os is impressive.' Her voice suddenly lowered and she smirked. 'I was thinking about asking him to tutor me, actually. I would not mind the advantage.'

'That's not fair,' said Hermione indignantly and Cassy turned her head away as her smirk grew wider. 'Besides, he needs to concentrate on his own NEWTs.'

'Is it a problem?' asked Cassy. She swung her head round to show her teasing grin when Hermione sniffed.

'I will still get better grades if it kills me,' she said, full of confidence.

Cassy and Neville laughed. Behind them, there was a distinct lack of amusement. Cassy glanced around to see if Harry was still there, having lagged behind the whole way and while he was, his face was colder than before and his jaw was set tensely. Cassy frowned again.

'Has something happened?' she whispered.

Neville appeared perplexed, but Hermione was frowning thoughtfully. She took a few seconds to finally shake her head and shrug.

'I don't think he likes Goodridge too much. He is Shandy's friend, after all,' whispered Hermione.

'He's not going to cause trouble. We are friends,' muttered Cassy in return.

When Hermione shrugged again, Cassy chose not to think about it anymore. Harry was being delicate that morning anyway and if he chose to be angry because of Stephen's appearance in the hall then Cassy would leave him to it.

The four of them drew to a halt outside of their History of Magic classroom. They were the first there. Silence filled the halls, pierced only by the occasional bird calls or swaying of the late summer leaves. No one had anything to say, their conversation forced dry only two hours into their first day.

Nor did they talk through the lesson. Lavender and Pavarti behind them never ceased, but Cassy took notes diligently as Professor Binns droned on through his monotonous tale. There was not much sense of relief when the bell rang. Not for the first time, Cassy thought she might have preferred to spend another hour in silence.

'Hello, Harry,' came a sugary voice from behind the four as they moved on to Potions. Everyone turned to see Chang smiling shyly, focused on Harry. She glanced at Cassy. 'I see you found your friend, then.'

'Oh, yeah. She tends to come back by herself,' said Harry, emitting an awkward laugh as he ruffled his hair.

Chang laughed.

Cassy let out a long, low hum from deep within her throat. She was not a dog to be called upon whenever Harry called for it, nor Chang, for that matter. With half-lidded eyes, she said, 'Excuse me… again.'

Effortlessly, and with little patience, Cassy weaved in-between the forthcoming students and those to slow, those who meandered without care; those happy to have returned.

'Cassy, wait up,' called Neville.

Cassy did not slow, but Neville caught up, jogging and apologising as he bumped shoulders with every other person in the hall, lacking Cassy's slight frame and easy grace.

'Hey, class is with Snape, remember. There's no need to rush,' he huffed as he fell into step beside her.

'I am in a hurry to leave Harry behind. I feel as though I have missed something. He was fine earlier. Now the only thing that makes him smile is Chang,' commented Cassy.

Neville shrugged, but the motion was very nearly lost amongst the current motion of his fast swinging arms at his side. 'I don't know anything about that, but this morning was weird, I will give you that. Although, I think you might be a bit more mad about Cho being so keen suddenly - '

'Asked Luna on a date, have you?' snapped Cassy and she watched with satisfaction as Neville coloured rapidly from his neck to his hairline. He fumbled for a moment and then fell silent. He stared at his feet and his hands stopped swinging so eagerly. Instead, they rose to grip the strap of his bag, his fingers fiddled with the golden clasp.

Cassy sighed. 'Neville, I am sorry. I am just...' She could not think of what she felt. She was just angry all the time today, furious, vexed, cross, seething; even as she smiled there was an underlying rage, waiting to jump and to snap and Harry had become very good at pushing the molten heat to the surface of her tongue in the last few days. She hated Harry being angry with her, but she hated the uncertain look on Neville's face more.

' 'S'kay,' he mumbled and Cassy's eyebrows arched upwards in the centre.

'Really, that was unfair. I will make it up - ' she began, yet her words fell short as a bush of brown hair popped into view over the shoulders of the short first years that had piled out of Transfiguration.

'You two walked quick!' said Hermione as she adjusted her shoulder strap. 'Are you all right Neville?'

'Oh, yeah. I was just thinking,' he covered. His face twisted into a grimace. 'It's just, this years supposed to be difficult, right? So imagine how Potions will be. Snape's going to through me out for sure.'

'He can't do that,' assured Hermione warmly. 'Just sit beside me and I'll make sure you don't fail.'

There were only seconds to spare when Harry dashed into the classroom. Panting, he peered around, noting Neville and Hermione near the back, far enough out of sight that Hermione would be able to offer vague instructions if Neville were to become off-course, while Cassy sat in front with an open seat beside her. He slumped down into it, passing her an awkward smile. He said nothing else.

A brief flicker of panic rose in Cassy's stomach. Perhaps the reason he was being so peculiar with her was because he had figured out her feelings at long last.

Once class was in session, Cassy did not have time to dwell on such thoughts. It had given way to a silent shock, an amazement for the boy beside her. For once, Harry was taking notes from not only the board, but from what Professor Snape dictated as well. His page was full and comprehensive. His potion lacked faults. He measured carefully and she could read the numbers his lips soundlessly formed with each stir. It was not perfect, a shade too light to be magnificent, but it was astounding all the same. Harry had actually put effort into the class for the first time and he would surely be rewarded. Even Professor Snape could not help but be surprised by the good work.

Despite wracking her brain for reasons, Cassy could not fathom where this new found effort had come from.

Eager to see if this new found dedication followed into any other class, Cassy took a seat beside Harry in Defence Against the Dark Arts after lunch. The class could not be any more alarming than Professor Moody's had been, nor any more boring that Professor Lockhart's; Cassy did not even venture to think it could be more useful or enjoyable than Remus' had been. She was all ready suspecting the worst.

The worst had been confirmed only moments after Professor Umbridge had entered.

'Good morning, class,' she said sweetly.

There was a scattered reply of 'Morning, Professor.'

Professor Umbridge tutted. 'I said, Good morning, class.'

Everyone peered at one another with varying expressions of amusement, disbelief, and horror. When she cleared her throat, the Gryffindors broke out into a monotonous, reluctant chorus of greetings that seemed to pacify her. Her back was soon turned to the board, where she wrote three simple aims. They contained no magic, or practice, but simple reading, to understand the theory of the subject and the legality of use. It was a lesson Cassy would imagine the Ministry of Magic laughing while writing, proud of themselves for their ingenious pruning of dangerous practices. Professor Umbridge then turned to her desk and sat behind it, her pink court shoes barely touching the stone floor beneath them.

'Right, wands away. You won't be needing those,' she said, her voice high and bright. 'I want you all to read paragraph one from your text book Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbery Slinkhard and we will ask questions at the end. Has everyone got their copy? I expect either "Yes, Professor", or "No, Professor". None of this mumbling, understand?'

'Yes, Professor,' the class replied reluctantly.

'Good,' said Professor Umbridge. 'Now, off you go.'

Harry was all ready frowning as he pulled his text towards him. Cassy did the same with hers, before she flicked it to page five, Chapter One:

Magical Defensive Theory outlines the most basic and most important rules of Defensive magic. Primarily, one must regard counter-curses and spells as nothing more than a last resort. They are not to be used for amusement, nor by children in any circumstances. Only adult practising witches or wizards are condoned to use defensive magic due to the complex theories behind it and the dangers that come with casting.

Cassy mentally snorted. The book read as if aimed at children, patronising and useless. She doubted even first-years would regard the text as anything above fuel for the common room fire. The page continued in the same fashion and steadily became increasingly dull as the theory began to take hold.

Beside her, Harry was absently staring around the room, inspecting the other students in an effort to avoid reading it himself. On the table across, Ron was twisting his quill in his hands, his eyes never moving, while Dean and Seamus had given up and had turned their notes into a round of noughts and crosses.

Shaking her head, Cassy tried in vain to return to the textbook, but it was nothing she did not all ready know, or at least could be deduced by common sense. Her eyes began to drift again.

On her other side, Neville was slowly taking notes. His hand moved carefully, writing half a sentence for every eight his glazed eyes skimmed over. Next to him, Hermione sat with her copy shut in front of her and her hand in the air. Her eyes were locked on Professor Umbridge, who seemed to be carefully looking the other way. Hermione waved her hand slightly.

Cassy turned to Harry, who had also been watching Hermione's silent struggle, and raised an eyebrow. He did the same in return and gave her a slight shrug. Soon, Neville abandoned his efforts to read too, the tedious text overwhelmed him at last, and he stared at the battle of wills between their friend and the teacher with great interest also. In fact, after five minutes, none of the class were reading, but waiting eagerly to see what Hermione found so important that even she would not follow the lesson plan. It appeared to be enough, for Professor Umbridge soon turned and smiled at her.

'Yes, dear?' she asked, appearing attentive and helpful, as if just having noticed Hermione's surely aching arm.

'Not about the chapter,' replied Hermione. She opened her mouth to continue, but Professor Umbridge did not allow it.

'We are just reading for the time being. Other questions can be asked at the end of class.'

'It's a question about the aims, actually. They make no mention of using magic,' said Hermione confidently before she could be hushed.

Many of the students turned to the bored, as if only just noticing that fact. A small mumble broke out amongst them, but Cassy merely raised an eyebrow again. She could not fathom what Hermione expected to gain from her enquiry. It was quite clear the year was going to be a farce, she had told her so at dinner the night before and she had agreed, so she did not see the need to bring it to attention. She noted that Hermione did not meet with her eyes.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows. 'What is your name?'

'Hermione Granger,' replied Hermione calmly.

'Miss Granger, when do you think you will ever need to use defensive spells?' laughed Professor Umbridge, revealing her sharp teeth. 'What do you expect to have to face in my classroom that would ever warrant their use? I understand that the past teachers, with the exception of Professor Quirrel have all been below standard, but to assume you will be likely to be attacked by Dark Creatures every other day is simply absurd.'

Harry's hand was now in the air.

'Professor,' began Hermione.

'Hand up before speaking, Miss Granger,' interjected Professor Umbridge. 'Now, you, what's your name?'

'Dean Thomas,' said Dean from across the room. 'Professor Lupin was actually a great teacher, the best we've ever had, actually.'

This conversation is pointless, thought Cassy. All it was doing was to create uproar. They would not change her mind. She was here to do as the Ministry asked and if her speech the day before was anything to heed, she was very serious about upholding it.

'Now, I am not here to criticise the previous teachers the school has seen, but such dangerous half-breeds should - '

'Who cares if he was a Werewolf? He was still the best teacher we've ever had, hands down,' said Dean flippantly.

Cassy smirked at him and several of the students nodded along.

'Mr Thomas, hand up!' snapped Professor Umbridge. 'Now, I know the Dark Curses you were illegally shown last year has made you worry that something is out there, but there isn't.'

'What about exams?' called Pavarti. 'What do we do then?'

'Hands! And you will perform it in the exam under Ministry controlled conditions only,' said Professor Umbridge, smiling tightly.

'The first time we practise will be in the actual exam?' scoffed Ron. 'That's mental.'

Professor Umbridge turned to reprimand him, but Ron had half-heartedly raised his hand before she reached him.

'Theoretical knowledge, the Ministry believes, is more than sufficient,' she said shortly.

'Only because the Ministry is sufficiently thick-headed,' breathed Cassy resentfully. Harry burst into giggles, but Professor Umbridge ignored them.

'What good is only using it in the exam when it will give us no practice for real life?' asked Harry loudly once he had composed himself again, his hand still high in the air.

Professor Umbridge turned to him, her face fixed in a blank stare and her voice soft. 'My classroom is not real life, Mr Potter.'

'Professor, you will find there have been more attacks in this school than outside of it,' said Cassy. Inwardly, she almost berated herself for not keeping her mouth closed, but if the entire class was burning down the lines of etiquette then she might as well side herself with Harry and be done with it.

'Hand up when speaking in my classroom,' said Professor Umbridge, her voice losing some of the sweetness in her impatience. 'Your name is?'

'Cassiopeia Black,' replied Cassy, meeting the Professor's eyes calmly.

'What do you suppose there is in those streets waiting to attack children, dear?'

'Oh, I don't know. Voldemort, maybe?' said Harry loudly.

The class was startled into silence and Professor Umbridge's wide mouth elongated further into a toothy grin.

'Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter,' she said cheerfully, 'for lying.'

Harry sneered and Cassy pulled his hand down as it automatically reached for attention again. With her eyes fixed on Professor Umbridge's face, she leant over and whispered almost soundlessly in his ear. 'Something is not right. She is too happy. Be silent.'

Harry wriggled his hand from her grasp. She snatched his hand back, urging him to keep still and stay quite. He had said what he had wanted and now that was done.

'Harry, just walk away,' she whispered.

Professor Umbridge stood and folded her hands in front of her. 'You have all been told that You-Know-Who has returned, this is not true.'

'Yes it is. I fought him the night Cedric died!' snapped Harry. He wrestled his arm free from Cassy.

'Mr Potter! Do not raise your voice at a member of staff. Detention.' Professor Umbridge made a poor effort to conceal her pleasure. 'Tomorrow evening and five o'clock sharp in my office. To the rest of you, I assure you it is a lie and the Ministry assures you there is no danger. Any concerns can be reported to me. As a friend, I wish to hear about anyone making you concerned with their vicious tales. For now, everyone back to work.'

If Cassy had not been raised to be composed, she would have snorted at the absurdity. However, she was more preoccupied with grabbing a limb as Harry suddenly stood and strode over to Professor Umbridge's desk, his head high and his eyes narrow. Cassy had missed her chance to force him to sit, he seemed to have been expecting it and side-stepped almost immediately.

'So according to the Ministry, Cedric just dropped dead on his own account that night, did he? He was murdered by Voldemort. He was murdered because Voldemort doesn't care for anyone, he doesn't care who he kills, be them children or otherwise. He killed Cedric because he was in the way, because he did not care for his life at all. He will kill us if we don't defend ourselves.' Harry spoke clearly, almost controlled, if it had not been for the audible wavering of simmering rage. Tightly, his hands were balled into fists at his sides. His back was to the class, unaware of the horrified and curious faces that stared intently at him.

For a moment, Professor Umbridge said nothing. She scribbled on a small piece of pink parchment and then handed it to Harry, who almost crumpled it immediately.

'Take that to Professor McGonagall,' she said calmly.

Hermione let out a hiss and Neville turned in his seat to watch Harry stomp from the room, only turning back once Professor Umbridge emitted a soft cough, instructing them to all return to work.

As Cassy scribbled down half-hearted notes, she tried to piece together the expressions that had followed Harry to the door. There had been pride, amazement, fear, anger, and horror. Very few seemed to value what he had done. It was only Ron and Dean who had been grinning behind their hands in quiet support. Everyone else seemed shocked, if not mortified. Although her eyes kept moving, Cassy did not take in any more words from the chapter. Her mind was filled with darkness, the laughter and cheers, the sound of brass instruments filling the night sky and the cheers of both Durmstrang and Beauxbatons melding with the cheers for Hogwarts. The atmosphere of the Tournament was easy to imagine; the sight that followed was not. She tried to picture Harry returning with the cup, Cedric in his arms, unmoving. She tried to picture what Harry would have called, if he had looked to the crowd, to Professor Dumbledore, or straight at Cedric as she shouted of Voldemort's return that night.

It was suddenly easier to understand why people found it difficult to believe the Dark Lord had returned. The Tournament had been dangerous enough to kill a man as it was, anything could have happened, there were at least one-hundred ways to explain the death without involving the reanimated form of the single darkest wizard of all time. It would be a hard sight to take in, but they had had long enough. Their house-mates and those in their year had had long enough to know Harry to know he would never lie, but those in the world would think he was mad with reason. She too, expected she would think him odd if she had never met him.

Cassy found Harry outside the common room before dinner. She had arrived to drop off her bag, hoping to see him before he was forced to shut down at the soon to be unyielding stares and comments in the Great Hall.

'This year is going to kill me,' he said.

She smiled grimly. 'You say that every year and you have survived so far.'

'Yeah, but I've got a feeling about this one,' he said, his voice flat and his lips pressed together thinly.

Cassy's smile widened into a sarcastic smirk. Harry was quite right, the year was going to be the most trying and taxing of their time if the first day was any standard.

Whoops, longer than expected. I have a feeling most of these chapters are going to be longer than the previous ones simply out of what I have to get in them. The little fights will be quite common for the next few chapters. I didn't realise how angry Harry was through the year until I read the book again recently, so while Cassy changes things, I don't think she would impact on that too much, especially when her own problems are present too.

I've started giving the plot of year seven some serious thought now and it's made me quite sad, haha. I usually avoid reading that book because I don't like to think of it as the end of it all.

For a note, I certainly enjoy writing the latter half of this year more. In the actual series, the fifth book is not my favourite because so much of it is setting up Umbridge, conflict there and Harry's anger, quite frankly I find it a bit tedious. If you do to, please stick with me until I can shift beyond that point. I have substituted a lot of the direct narration on it out for Cassy's own issues, but that can be a bit emotionally draining too, so it's split up across many chapters. I hope it makes sense when reading, because they all add together to explain exactly what she is going through as a major character arc. (I like to have one at least every two years of this story. Second, third, and fifth are the big ones). If it gets a bit unclear, let me know!

Thanks!