A/N: To the guest, you are very welcome for me putting Cassia in Hufflepuff.

Chapter 9: Hallowe'en Hijinks

The next morning, Cassia, Lily, and Sally-Anne made their way to the Great Hall.

"Cassy!" Harry shouted. He and Ron looked tired and Cassia thought that maybe he was just excited to be made the youngest Seeker in a century.

"What?" she asked.

Sally-Anne and Lily headed inside the Great Hall.

"There's a three-headed dog in the out of bounds corridor," said Harry.

"What?" replied Cassia. "That's the most…terrible joke I ever heard."

"I'm not lying," said Harry. "Ron, Hermione, Neville, and I all saw it. Hermione reckons that it was standing on a trapdoor."

Cassia looked at him. "So it must be guarding something. But what would it be?"

"I think it had something to do with that package that Hagrid took out on our birthday," Harry said.

"Brilliant," said Cassia. "Hogwarts is the safest place, so I can see hiding something here."

"But the question is," Ron said, "What is it? It has to be something really powerful or really dangerous."

"I'll think about it while I eat," said Cassia, heading into the Great Hall. She went and sat down next to Lily, across from Sally-Anne. She told them about her conversation with Harry.

"So, why put something dangerous here?" Sally-Anne asked. "Why not put it somewhere where there's not a bunch of students running around?"

Cassia shrugged, "I figure that it's best not to question what's going on in the school."

All throughout the classes, Cassia was excited to start Quidditch training. So when Tamsin said to come down to the Quidditch pitch, it took all control for Cassia to not run down to the Quidditch pitch.

There was six members standing on the Quidditch pitch with a large wooden crate.

Tamsin handed Cassia a broomstick. "Potter, this is Heidi Macavoy, the other Chaser." She pointing to a light brown haired girl. She pointed to a dark-brown haired girl, "That's Maxine O'Flaherty." She pointed to a dark-skinned boy, "That's Anthony Rickett. They're the Beaters." She pointed to another light-brown haired boy, "That's Herbert Fleet. He's the Keeper." She motioned to a dark-haired boy, "That's Cedric Diggory, he's the Seeker." They looked to be in their third or fourth years, except for Tamsin.

Cassia nodded at each of them, in greeting.

"Now, there's three Chasers on the team. Macavoy and I are the Chasers. You're the third Chaser." She walked over and open the crate. She picked up a red ball. It looked to be able twelves inches in diameter and looked to be made out of leather. She threw it to Cassia, who caught it. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try to get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Got it?"

Cassia nodded, "Sounds simple enough."

"The Keeper flies around the hoops to stop the other team from scoring," Tamsin said. Cassia looked at the box. "The Beaters try to block the Bludgers, which try to knock players off their brooms. That's why there are two Beaters on each team. Are you following all of this?"

Cassie nodded. "Three Chasers put the Quaffle through the hoops, the Keeper guards the hoops, and the Beaters hit the Bludgers, which try to knock players off their brooms."

Tamsin gave a small smile, "Good. Now the Seeker's job is to find the Golden Snitch, which is the most important. It's hard to catch because it's fast and difficult to find. That's Diggory's job. You don't have to worry about it. The Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. The game is over when the Snitch is caught. You got that?"

Cassia nodded. That was what Harry was going to do.

"So, Macavoy and I are going to be one your team, while Rickett, O'Flaherty, and Diggory are going to be the opposing team. Fleet is going to be the Keeper. We're going to have a match as the Chasers. Just to see how well you do."

"What about the Bludgers?" asked Cassia.

"When you get a good broom, we'll let them out," Tamsin said. She mounted her broom and held onto the Quaffle. "Now mount your brooms."

The team mounted their brooms and kicked off. Cassia felt that familiar rush of happiness kick in, along with the feeling of adrenaline. It felt amazing.

Tamsin threw the ball in the air and Cassia shot up to catch it, seeing Cedric and Anthony do the same. She managed to catch the Quaffle and dived down to avoid hitting Anthony. She shot forward to the goal post where Herbert was at.

She threw the Quaffle to Heidi when Maxine and Cedric came to her.

Heidi threw the Quaffle through a hoop.

They did that for the next two hours. Cassia had passed the Quaffle to Heidi and Tamsin when she was getting blocked. She had managed to score a lot, even though Herbert had blocked some of them.

It was nearly night time when Tamsin called for them to get to the ground. When they landed, Tamsin was grinning madly.

"I think that's enough for one night. I think we will do well this year," Tamsin said. "We have a kick-ass new Chaser, so we might be able to win this year."

"We still need her to get used to the Bludgers," Heidi said. "She might not be able to handle getting hit with a Bludger."

"I can handle it," Cassia said. She was going to say that her cousin hits her all the time, but she held back from saying it. She noticed how the team was looking at her strangely. "Trust me on that."

Tamsin shook her head and said, "Good job, team." She looked at Cassia, "Especially you, Potter. I want to see the best out of you before I graduate."

"I will," Cassia said.

"Excellent," said Tamsin.

One week later, Cassia got something interesting in the owl post. There were three owls, carrying a long, thin package. Well, there was another set of three owls carrying another long, thin package.

Cassia assumed that one of those had to be her new broomstick. One set flew down and dropped the package right on the table in front of her. A letter landed on her toast and she ripped the letter open.

DON'T OPEN AT THE TABLE

This is your new Nimbus Two Thousand. If everybody knew you got a broomstick, they'll all want one.
The Hufflepuff team with meet you at the Quidditch pitch tomorrow at six.

Good luck.
Professor P. Sprout

Cassia passed the note to Sally-Anne, who read it, and passed it to Lily.

"I want to see it," Sally-Anne said.

She noticed how Harry and Ron left the Great Hall. She grabbed the broomstick and followed after the two boys. Lily and Sally-Anne followed after them.

There was a problem because Crabbe and Goyle were blocking the stairs. Malfoy appeared and grabbed the nearest broomstick, which was Cassia's.

"Hey!" shouted Cassia.

"Give it back to her, Malfoy," Harry ordered.

Malfoy felt the package and tossed it to Cassia. "That's a broomstick." He looked jealous and spiteful. He looked at Harry, "And I suppose you got one, too?"

Harry nodded.

"You'll be for it this time, Potters, first-years aren't allowed them," snarled Malfoy.

"And they're just not any broomsticks," Ron said, "They're Nimbus Two Thousands."

"Yeah, and what did you say you had again?" asked Cassia.

"A Comet Two Sixty?" asked Ron. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley?" snapped Malfoy. "You couldn't afraid half the handle. I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."

Before anyone can respond, a voice said, "Not arguing I hope, gentlemen and ladies?"

"The Potters have been sent broomsticks," Malfoy accused.

Professor Flitwick smiled at that. "Yes, yes, that's right." He looked at the twins and beamed at them. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potters. And what models do you have?"

"Nimbus Two Thousands, sir," said Harry. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that we've got them." He put his arm around Cassia's shoulder and pulled her close. He shook her a little.

Cassia smiled and nodded at that. It really was Malfoy's fault that they got the broomsticks. She pulled away from Harry and hurried away with her friends. They went to the door that led to the kitchens and went down to the entrance to the common room. The three girls got through the barrels and crawled through the tunnel to the common room. There were a few Hufflepuffs sitting on the chairs and talking to each other. Anthony Rickett waved as the three went to the dormitory and Cassia put the broomstick on her bed. The three ripped the wrapping off the broom and Harvest went to slap at some of the paper that they removed.

After the broomstick was unwrapped, Cassia looked down at it.

The Nimbus Two Thousand was sleek and shiny and made out of mahogany. The tail's twigs were neat and straight, compared to the school's broomsticks. In gold lettering near the handle was: Nimbus Two Thousand.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God," Lily said. "It's beautiful."

Cassia nodded in agreement, even though the only other broomstick she saw was the one that the school had. It was magnificent compared to that one.

"Can I ride it after you?" Sally-Anne asked.

"No, she's letting me go first," Lily said. She looked at Cassia, "Right?"

Cassia wasn't sure what to say. She didn't want to pick one friend over the other and have them get upset because they weren't picked first. "I'll think about it. I was thinking of going to ride it tonight at the Quidditch pitch. Maybe practice throwing the Quaffle through the hoops later."

"You sure are taking the Chaser thing seriously," Sally-Anne said.

Cassia shrugged, "Well, it's a position that my dad played as and I really want to do my best to make Applebee happy, because she told me to do my best."

Sally-Anne nodded, "Understandable. Maybe we might win this year."

"Does it feel odd knowing that you and Harry have to play against each other?" Lily asked.

Cassia shook her head, "Not really. For sports, we ended up on opposing sides at times."

Lily nodded, but Cassia did get a strange feeling in her stomach at that. She did hear how Quidditch was practically a big deal, but she shook the thought off. She and Harry promised not to hate each other if they got Sorted in separate houses. It would be stupid to hate each other over a game of Quidditch.

"We should head to class," Lily said. Cassia stuck the Nimbus under her bed and they left the dormitory together.

Throughout the day, Cassia had trouble concentrating on her schoolwork because was itching to go down to the Quidditch pitch and try out her new broomstick. It was still a bit of shock that she even owned something that was brand new.

After school, Cassia, Lily, and Sally-Anne did their homework and ate dinner. At six-thirty, Cassia grabbed the Nimbus and snuck out of the Hufflepuff common room and went down to the Quidditch pitch. She mounted the Nimbus and took off on it. The Nimbus turned with every slightest touch as she swooped in and out of the goalposts. She dove to the ground and pulled up before she can hit it. She swerved up and sped to the other side of the pitch, before flying in and out of the goalposts.

She hovered when she noticed another figure heading straight at her. She almost squeaked and dove to the ground, as the figure flew through the goalpost she was hovering in front of. She heard familiar laughter.

"Damn you, Harry!" shouted Cassia.

Harry laughed again, "Race you to the other side!"

Cassia couldn't help but laugh as she shot forward to the goalposts. It was just so joyful and freeing to be flying on a broomstick.

They got at the goalpost at the same time.

"Were you practicing being a Chaser?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I trained last week," Cassia said. "I just wanted to fly the Nimbus." She shrugged. "Catch me if you can!" She shot off towards the opposite goalposts and weaved in and out of them.

"Hey, Potter, come down!" a voice called. Cassia turned to look and saw that it was Oliver Wood.

Harry and Cassia went down. Oliver was holding the large wooden crate under his arm.

"Very nice," said Oliver, looking at the twins. "I see what McGonagall meant…you two really are naturals." He looked at Cassia, "I'm going to teach him the rules."

"Then can I have the Quaffle, so I can practice?" Cassia asked.

"Right after I explain it," Oliver said. He opened the crate.

"Okay," replied Cassia, shrugging.

"Right, now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers," Oliver explained.

"Three Chasers," repeated Harry as Oliver took out the Quaffle. Cassia tuned him out as she thought about taking off on the Nimbus again. She caught the Quaffle when Oliver threw it at her and she mounted the Nimbus and took off on it. She flew by and threw it in the goalposts. After doing that for a while, she landed and put the Quaffle back in the wooden crate, turned to find Harry, who was diving to catch something, and headed inside.

On top of Quidditch practice twice a week, schoolwork, and homework, Cassia realized that she had been at Hogwarts for two months. Hogwarts started feeling more like home than Privet Drive had ever had.

The lessons were beginning to get more interesting as they mastered the basics and Professor Flitwick said that they were ready to levitate things as he had demonstrated when he made Neville's toad fly across the classroom.

Cassia woke up on Hallowe'en smelling baking pumpkin and couldn't help but smile. She loved Hallowe'en, even though she wasn't allowed to celebrate it. She loved the decorations and the costumes. She got up and got dressed. She couldn't help but feel excited about Hallowe'en. She was sure that she was going to have a smile for the rest of the day and she was sure nothing could ruin it.

She even wished Snape a Happy Hallowe'en when she passed him in the corridors, who seemed to give a small smile back at her, before scowling again. It was a little unsettling.

The smell of baking pumpkin even lingered in the corridors.

In Charms, Professor Flitwick said, "Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising! Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too—never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

After having them practise swishing and flicking, and saying Wingardium Leviosa, Professor Flitwick had them get in pairs to make a feather levitate. Cassia had tried catching Harry's eye, but she ended up partnered with Sage instead, while Harry was partnered up with Seamus.

She tried to sound conversational as she said, "So, I hear you have sisters."

"Three of them," Sage said as he swished and flicked his wand. "They're triplets."

"I don't know what I would do if I had two brothers," Cassia said. "One is enough for me."

"Do you mind?" Sage asked, "I'm trying to get this feather to levitate. I'm not trying to be rude, but it's kind of distracting."

Cassia almost scoffed, but she nodded. They took turns trying to make the feather fly, which turned out to be very difficult. She held up her wand and was sidetracked when Seamus caught his feather on fire, which Harry had to put out with his hat.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted.

"You're saying it wrong. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long," Hermione instructed.

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron spat at Hermione.

Cassia swished and flicked her wand, "Wingardium Leviosa!" In a way, she didn't want Hermione to win more points for Gryffindor. She swished and flicked her wand again, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather stayed put and Cassia tried one more time, "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather flew up a inch and then slowly it went up.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Cassia's feather flew down and landed on a Slytherin's girl table a few people away. Cassia was sure that it was Millicent Bulstrode who glared at her. Cassia looked away quickly.

At the end of class, Cassia felt a little disappointed.

"Don't worry," Sally-Anne said. "It's not the end of the world. Granger's feather was just faster and he noticed it. Although I think you got your feather in the air first."

Cassia shrugged, "I just didn't want her to get points."

For the next class and all afternoon, Cassia noticed that Hermione didn't show up for class. It was strange, considering that Hermione would never miss a class.

After class ended, Cassia had to go to the toilets. She heard sniffling as she entered the toilets and stared. She had heard about Moaning Myrtle's out-of-bounds toilets on the second floor, but she wasn't entirely sure if the ghost decided to go to this toilet.

"Myrtle?" Cassia asked tentatively.

"Go away!" Hermione shouted.

Cassia blinked at that. "Are you okay?"

"Are you here to insult me, like Ron?" Hermione asked.

"I'm a Hufflepuff," Cassia said as if that explained everything. "What did he say?"

"He said that I was a nightmare and it's why I have no friends." Hermione said sounding like she was crying again. "Now leave me alone."

Cassia didn't know what to do. She wanted to make sure if Hermione was okay, but she also wanted to listen to Hermione and respect her wishes, so she left. She went to the Great Hall and was awed by the sight.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more bats swooped over the table in low black clouds. They made the candles in the pumpkins stutter. It looked truly Hallowe'en.

Cassia went over to the Hufflepuff table and sat down next to Lily. Cassia said, "I love the decorations. Everything. It's what Hallowe'en looks like." The feast appeared on the golden plates and Cassia helped herself to some steak.

The doors to the Great Hall burst open and Cassia turned to see Quirrell sprinting in.

Quirrell's turban was askew and he looked terrified. He reached Professor Dumbledore's chair and slumped against the table. He gasped out, "Troll—in the dungeons—thought you ought to know." He proceeded to faint.

Cassia was briefly confused and then in clicked that there was a troll in the castle. She started panicking because how did a troll get in? Hogwarts was supposed to be the safest place in the wizarding world!

"A troll?" shouted Lily sounding terrified. "In the castle? Holy Mary!"

Dumbledore set off a bunch of purple firecrackers from the end of his wand, which quieted down the panic. "Prefects! Lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

"First-years over here!" Gabriel Truman shouted. "I need you to stick together!"

"Yes, don't panic and don't run off, now." Gabriel's partner, Mackenzie, said as the first-years gathered around. She looked at the first-years. "Wait, where's Hannah?"

"Over here!" the blonde girl shouted, bounding over. "I got lost in the crowd."

"All right, now let's go," Mackenzie said, as they started to leave the Great Hall.

Cassia felt like something was off as they headed to the door to the kitchens.

"Cassy!" a voice whispered from behind her.

There was only one person who called her that. She turned to see Harry and Ron. "What?"

"Hermione," Harry said.

Cassia was confused, "What about her?" It dawned on her and she cursed. "Right. She doesn't know about the troll."

"And we want you to go get her," Harry said.

"Why me?" asked Cassia indignantly. "Ron should do it. He insulted her."

"You're a girl," Ron said.

"Thanks for noticing," replied Cassia flatly. "You're very observant."

"Oh, just go do it," said Harry.

Cassia sighed and they made their way to the girls' toilets. They crept along the corridors.

"Can you smell something?" asked Ron.

The smell hit Cassia and she covered her nose. It smelt like that pair of really old socks that Dudley had once made her smell and that one dirty toilet that Piers and Malcolm had once tried to solve her head into before the Toilet Incident.

"Oh, that's foul," Cassia said.

"Ssh," Harry shushed her. There was low grunt and shuffling footfalls. At the end of the passage to the left was something huge moving right at them. Harry grabbed Cassia's arm and dragged her to the shadows.

The dull, granite grey club-wielding troll was about twelve feet tall. Its body was lumpy and it had a bald head. It had tree-trunk thick short legs and had long arms that dragged on the ground.

It stopped at the entrance to the girls' toilets and wiggled it's large ears, probably making up its mind on something, before entering the toilets.

"The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," said Ron, sounding nervous.

"Bad idea," Cassia said.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"I think Hermione's in there," said Cassia.

As if on cue, a high-pitched terrified scream emitted from the toilets.

Ron turned pale, "Oh, no."

"Damn right on 'oh, no." Cassia said as she ran for the toilets, Harry and Ron following closely behind.

Cassia threw open the door to see Hermione shrinking against the wall, looking like she was about ready to faint. The troll was advancing on Hermione and knocking sinks off the walls.

"Confuse it!" Harry said, sounding desperate. He grabbed a tap and threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

The troll stopped and turned around, blinking to see what made the noise. It looked right at the Potter twins and Ron. It seemed to hesitate and then lumbered for them. It lifted its club.

Ron threw a metal pipe at it, yelling, "Oy, pea-brain!"

The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe that hit its shoulder. It heard the yell and stopped. It turned to Ron, giving Harry time to run around it. Cassia picked up a piece of porcelain and threw it at the troll, "Oy, stupid! Over here!" She grabbed another piece of porcelain.

"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione.

The troll looked at Cassia and moved towards her, as she threw the piece of porcelain at the troll. She backed up right into a stall and ducked right as the troll swung the club at her, breaking the top half of the stalls. The wood splintered and fell on top of her.

"Cassy!" Harry shouted sounding terrified.

"I'm fine!" Cassia shouted from under the wood.

Cassia lifted her head as the troll started raising it's club.

"Over here!" Ron shouted throwing something at the troll.

The troll roared and Cassia lifted her head to see the troll lumbering towards Ron.

Cassia got up and grabbed a piece of wood. She threw it at the troll, "Hey, get over here, you stupid troll!"

The troll turned towards her and Harry ran over, jumping right on the troll's back. "Don't you hurt her!"

His wand ended up going straight up on one of the troll's nostrils. The troll howled with pain and twisted, flailing it's club around. Harry was clinging on for life.

"Harry, you idiot!" Cassia shouted, "I had it under control!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted, swishing and flicking his wand.

The troll's club flew out of its hand and hung high in the air. The club turned over so the handle was pointed at the ceiling and then dropped right on top of the troll's head. The troll swayed and spun around, before face-planing the ground, unconscious. The whole room trembled.

Cassia ran over to Harry and helped him up. She asked, "Are you okay?"

Harry nodded.

"Is it—dead?" asked Hermione.

Harry examined the troll. "I don't think so. I think it's just been knocked out." He bent down and pulled the wand out of the troll's nostril. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue. Harry made a disgusted sound, "Troll bogies." He wiped his wand off on the troll's trousers.

There was a slamming sound and footsteps running.

Cassia didn't realize how much of a racket they had been making. Of course someone had to have hear the noise.

A moment later, Professor McGonagall came bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape and Quirrell. Quirrell took one look at the troll, whimpered, and sat down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Snape crouched down to look at the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron, Harry, and Cassia with the most furious look that Cassia had even seen.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" demanded Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Cassia glanced at Ron, who still hand his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitories?"

Snape gave Harry a piercing look, before give Cassia a swift, piercing look. Cassia looked away from that.

"Please, Professor McGonagall—they were looking for me," Hermione said in a small voice.

Professor McGonagall admonished, "Miss Granger!"

Hermione continued, "I went looking for the troll because I—I thought I could deal with it on my own—you know, because I've read all about them."

Ron finally dropped his wand at least. Cassia's mouth opened. Hermione lying to a teacher? Was she dreaming?

Hermione continued, "If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with it's own club, while Cassia distracted it. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Harry and Ron tried to look like the story wasn't new. Cassia was too shocked to attempt to look like she wasn't hearing the story for the first time.

"Well—in that case…" started Professor McGonagall, looking at the first-years. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll your own?"

Hermione hung her head and Cassia was still speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and Hermione was pretending that she had. It was as if Dudley started defending Cassia and Harry from his gang.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," stated Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."

Hermione left and Cassia felt very sick afterwards as Professor McGonagall rounded on her, Harry, and Ron. "Well, I still say you were lucky, but no many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll." She looked specifically at Cassia, "You award Hufflepuff five points. Professor Sprout and Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

Cassia left the chamber and headed down the corridor and headed to the basement. She didn't want to get caught lurking around and get more points taken off. She couldn't wait till she told her friends about what had happened.