Sorry for the wait, but this took a while to write. I don't want to move the story along too quickly, but at the same time I don't want it to get boring.
Oh, and I don't even know if JKR ever even considered there to be an American Wizarding World. My best friend and I made all the stuff about it up.
I don't know if Aurther was attacked on Halloween night in the books/movies, but he is in this.
Disclaimer: Anything canon that you see (characters, spells, etc.) don't belong to me. They were created by JKR and her brilliance.
Cassie's POV
"What do you mean attacked?!" Cassie asked as she ran down a corridor with Severus.
"Just that," he replied, "Arthur Weasely has been attacked by the Dark Lord's snake. Potter saw it in a vision." The blonde frowned. "I have asked to help retrieve him from the Department of Mysteries. I cannot look after jittery little prats."
They came to a door on their right. Inside the room was Harry and his friends. He was pale and was trying to calm Ron down. Hermione was holding another girl and rubbing her back.
Hmmm. Red hair. Probably a Weasely. Oh, right! Ginevra, the blonde thought as she entered.
Harry looked up. "Professor Everpine!" He sounded relieved. His emerald eyes sparkled so brightly that said woman had to look away.
She couldn't look at those eyes. Not after that dream.
After sitting in a nearby chair, Cassie asked the child how they were. The answers weren't unexpected. Hermione put on a brave face and said that she was alright. Her acting was pretty good, but her eyes gave away her distress. Ron was angry that he couldn't go and help his father. Ginevra was sniffling, the evidence of tears on her face.
The blonde stared disconcerted at Harry, though. He remained quiet the whole time except when he said he was fine. His skin was paler than usually and his eyes had become duller.
Cassie sat next to him cautiously. "Harry…"
"What am I doing wrong, Professor?" the raven asked in a quiet voice. "The Olcumency lessons, I, I thought I was doing good, but now I…" He looked around hopelessly before staring at the woman. He searched her face for an answer.
She sighed. "It's not your fault," she began in an effort to sooth the boy. "I should've been more diligent while teaching you." She held up her hand when he made to protest. "No, no, I need to take some responsibility for this."
The witch then searched her brain for anything that could make the boy feel better. Suddenly, an idea hit. Harry probably had no idea about her side of the family. How could he? He didn't even know they were related.
"You know how I said American Wizarding society was different from British?" He nodded. Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie saw that the other children had decided to listen in. She took a deep breath and began. "Well, for one, blood status is different for us. There are old purebloods, who've had magic in their families for a long time. Then there are the new purebloods, whose parents are both rigs…"
"Rigs?" Hermione asked while raising her hand like in class.
Cassie smiled in amusement. "Origos," she responded, "It's Latin for source. It used to describe the predecessors of people with magic. Here they're known as muggles." Seeing the brunette's nod, the woman continued.
"Then there are half-bloods, who have one origo parent and one pureblood parent. Lastly, halfbreeds are the ones with one magical or origo parent and one parent that is a magical creature." The blonde finished with a wistful grin.
Seeing that her students were getting interested, she continued. "There are rules for everyone, of course. New purebloods are given lessons on Wizarding culture starting at age three. They are placed in families in which both parents are also new purebloods. The two rigs have their memories tampered with so they forget about the child. This keeps our world better hidden."
Ron and Ginevra simply nodded at that. Hermione looked horrified at the thought of children being taken away from their parents. Harry, however, had a hint of jealousy on his face. The professor narrowed her eyes and made a mental note to check into that.
"Purebloods marry each other. This is to keep the magic going. Of course, some fall in love with origos and marry them. That's fine, too, but old purebloods like to marry other old purebloods; I can't remember ever hearing about anyone of a different status in my family. Half-bloods are required to marry each other, so that their children become what is called contemporary purebloods. Halfbreeds can either marry a pureblood, classing their kids as contemporary purebloods, or a magical creature, classing their kids as magical creatures. Contemporary purebloods usually marry either new purebloods, making their kids old purebloods, or origos, making their kids helf-bloods."
Seeing the disgruntled looks the students were giving her, Cassie smiled reassuringly. "That's all the requirements for that, though, and blood or creature status doesn't really matter beyond that. Discrimination in any form against anybody because of their status is greatly looked down upon. Refusing to give employment or shelter or something like that because of it results in punishments varying from a fine to jail time."
The younger witch, who had settled down, perked up at this information. "And the prison? Is it like Azkaban?" she asked eagerly.
"Not really," replied the blonde, "It's just called prison or jail for starters. I guess nobody saw the need for a fancy name for it. Another thing is that vampires are used as guards; true, we don't treat the prisoners too nicely, there's a reason they're in there, but we don't want to kill them."
"But what about the Dark Wizards? They deserve bad treatment. They're evil!" Ron piped up. His sister nodded from her seat beside him.
Cassie sighed. "There's a process, a trial every person must go through before they're sent to prison. They are brought to the Administration of Enchantment, our Ministry, and are put on trial before the Assembly. Those are officials elected for these things. Anyway, if they're found to be truly evil, the death sentence is given. If not, their length of jail time and treatment during it varies according to their crime."
Harry had a nervous look on his face. It appeared that he had a bad experience with the government and was worried about something. "Ministers, politicians… they're not really, um, dependable? They're, well, greedy and…"
The woman cut him off. "The Administrator, as well as the Assembly members have to be fair and impartial. To ensure this, elections are held every other year. All candidates have magically recorded funding to prove they ran a clean campaign. Several different advisors, one man and one woman of each status are given to the Administrator."
The glasses clad boy gave a slight sigh of relief before changing topics. Cassie silently thanked Merlin for it. She loved talking about her homeland, but some opinions and customs weren't received well when told to wizards in Europe.
-LINE BREAK-
The next day, Cassie stood in front of her fifth year class minus a certain redhead. She had informed the four Weaselys they didn't need to worry about her class until the holidays were over. They needed to relax after what their dad had gone through.
"Well, it's nice to see you all again. Your group essays on Avifors have been graded and are on my desk. Please pick them up after class! Now, I'm going to do something a bit different today. I understand that magical creatures were third year, but I've been requested by one of your classmates," she glanced swiftly at Hermione, "to discuss house elves."
Groans filled the room. The blonde could relate. She didn't understand what the big deal was. Sure, the elves were technically slaves, but it was a symbiotic relationship. She pushed these thought aside as she began her lecture.
"House elves are a special breed of elf. They serve their masters without hesitation, and in return their life forces are sustained by said masters' magic…
-LINE BREAK-
Harry's POV
The Req. Room had transformed into a library for Group Seven. The four teenagers had gathered there to write twelve inches of parchment on two simple spells and how it could be used to hurt somebody. The teenagers decided to pick the spells first and then look up any dangerous side effects.
Lumos Solem, a spell that causes a light as bright as the sun to appear out of the castor's wand. Blaise suggested it, reasoning that his mother must have told him to not stare directly at the sun for a reason. Harry looked through nine books containing information on the spell before finding documentation of a child going blind after being hit in the eyes with the spell by his little sister.
Justin suggested Rictumsempra, which causes the victim to burst into uncontrollable laughter. He had planned to use this spell for the assignment was given. As an aspiring healer, he liked to read both magical and muggle medical books and had brought one giving examples about how laughing too hard can cause suffocation.
The assignment was finished rather quickly after that. Padma was in charge of all of the writing, having the best handwriting, while the boys did the rest. Afterwards was spent talking about their lives.
"Seriously? You can produce a Patronus? A corporeal one?" Justin asked while his eyes widened. At Harry's nod, he continued, "Blimey!" Blaise whistled in appreciation.
Padma began asking questions and writing notes. Harry couldn't help but smile at that. The Indian was a lot like Hermione, except she was more quiet and composed. She never pressed too hard about anything, and, although Harry had a hard time admitting it, she was more studious than the brunette. She always wanted to hear what the professors had to say and do her own research afterwards, never arguing with a professor. The black haired girl said that even scholars had personal opinions, and there was no use trying to change them.
"If you want," the raven began, "I could teach you. Not that I think you wouldn't learn just as well by yourself, but it's always better to have help." The end had Harry stumbling over his words a little as Padma smiled at him and nodded.
"Thanks mate," the Italian drawled sarcastically. Harry felt his face heat up.
-LINE BREAK-
"Oh, baby," a woman with brown hair sighed out as she hugged a much younger Professor Everpine. "It'll be alright; he'll be alright." The woman's voice cracked while holding the sobbing blonde.
A blonde haired man patted the girl's shoulder. "Your mother's right. You heard the healers."
"I know," Professor Everpine stated, shaking her head violently. A crazed look was in her eyes as she looked at the two who were apparently her parents. "But he'll always have those scares, those memories! And poor Remus! The guilt will kill him!" Just then, a child who looked like Sirius came through the door. The blonde turned around and snarled. "YOU!" She pulled out her wand and casted a stinging curse.
Harry panted as he came back to himself. Looking up, he looked at a slightly pale Professor. He had gotten past her mental wall for the first time, and she knew it.
"I, I, think that's enough for tonight, Harry," she said while clenching her shaking hands. "Goodnight." With that, she rushed him out of the room.
TBC…
How do you get a kid's mind off of a tragedy? By giving them an educational lecture about politics of course! Also, I don't like the words "muggle" or "mundane" too much. I've always thought those two words sounded too derogatory.
Harry got his first glimpse at a memory Cassie wanted to hide. What will he think about it?
HarryXPadma isn't a ship regularly used. I never even considered it before this chapter, but I feel it would go nicely with the plot for now. Feelings change, though, so I don't know if I'll keep them together (if they get together at all). I won't make this fic have HP/GW, though. I just really don't like Ginny.
Comment, review, suggest!