Chapter 21 A/N I do not own Harry Potter. Sentences have been copy-pasted from the book, those aren't mine."
"You wouldn't believe what happened last night!" Harry whispered excitedly to Cassie and Merlin the following morning at breakfast before their Herbology lesson.
"Crabbe and Goyle got full marks on their essays." Merlin answered, making Cassie laugh loudly and making Harry look at him with narrowed annoyed eyes and describe in detail everything that had happened; from figuring out how the diary worked to what Riddle had shown him, and ending with Hagrid being expelled fifty years ago.
"Okay, go back. You said the book showed you a memory?" Cassie asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Yeah."
"Harry, you don't find that the least suspicious?" she asked in concern.
"Why should it be suspicious. Two years ago, transfiguring an animal to a goblet was fiction." Harry said logically.
"I realize you were raised by muggles, but this sounds like dark magic. How can someone enchant a diary to hold memories and speak with whoever writes in it? I don't pretend to know much about this, but it sounds worrisome." Cassie whispered back, looking to Merlin for support and finding it.
"She's right, Harry. Do you have the diary with you? We've never seen it." Merlin said.
"But Hagrid was expelled fifty years ago, and he's never spoken about why he was expelled, it makes perfect sense." Harry argued back.
"But Hagrid? He's a half-breed, there's no way he could be Slytherin's heir." Cassie said, reverting to French in her anxiety.
"You're speaking in French, Cassie." Ron pointed out, slightly annoyed that she wouldn't stick to one language.
"Sorry, Ron. Hagrid can't have been the one to open it. He's Hagird." Cassie said.
"And how do you know the memory was true, maybe it's been manipulated or something? And the book just drew you in? Harry it sounds suspicious." Merlin added, enumerating everything that might be able to do that and not liking it one bit.
"We had this same conversation last night!" Hermione huffed. "I think we need to find out more about this Riddle guy. Cassie and I only looked in the library for about a half an hour. We found nothing, but still. We should look again."
"I'm with Hermione on this one. I don't trust this Riddle person. Or this book. Why didn't you ever show us?"
"Forgot, to be honest, you weren't with Ron and I when we found it. And for a while we all just thought it was an empty diary. It wasn't until yesterday that I figured out how to use it."
"Harry, I think you should go to Dumbledore with this book." Cassie said softly, "I don't trust it. I've been around too many dark objects, it's better to be apprehensive about something this strange."
"Why don't we just ask Hagrid about it." Merlin offered. "Have him tell us his side of what happened."
"Yeah, how's that conversation going to go. 'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?' Not likely to be a happy visit." Ron said with a mouthful of porridge.
"Look. Merlin and I can't force you to do anything, Harry. But I think we should turn that diary over to a teacher. McGonagall or Snape or Dumbledore."
"Why Snape of all people?" Harry asked with a hint of enmity in his voice.
"I know you don't like him, Harry. But Professor Snape is highly qualified and very skilled. And more to the point, he's an adult! There's only so much a second year can do. No matter how gifted." Cassie argued, getting up as the bell rang for them to start heading to classes.
"I'll think about it. I will. But I'm not going to Snape!" he spat, walking further ahead with Ron and Hermione joining him.
"Y'know, if he weren't so damn stubborn, he'd have agreed and gone to a teacher. Sometimes I wonder why he's so popular." she huffed
"I'd give you a mirror, Cassie, but I value my limbs." Merlin joked, earning an eye roll from her.
"Also," Cassie kept ranting, "Why do they hate Snape so much. He may not be the most pleasant person to be around, or the nicest professor, but he's a highly qualified and skillful wizard! It's no giant leap to assume he would know what to do."
"Cassie, I love you, but if I hear more about this, I'm going to sew your lips together."
"Fine. Let's just get through this class. I think it's toadstools today." Cassie said, putting her bag down where it wouldn't get as dirty and spent the rest of class silently fuming over her friends' dumbness.
She was still upset with their relative stupidity that she decided to skip lunch and went instead looking for Malfoy.
"Draco," she greeted quietly in the dungeons after he left the common room with his usual goons behind him.
"Go up to lunch, I'll catch up later." he dismissed them, turning around and greeting Cassie in the same manner.
"You've made a decision, then?" he asked politely, thinking she would decline.
"I have. I do have conditions, however. The first one i-"
"We're not friends whenever there's others around. That's my condition, as I assume it would be yours as well."
"Actually I wasn't going to say that, but if that's what you wish, then we are friends when no one's around." Cassie said softly.
"Thank you, Father has already expressed that a friendship with someone who has been disowned isn't in my best interest. It seems a shame not to be friends with someone like you; intelligent and classy."
"Thanks." Cassie said laughing.
"Now, your conditions?" he asked, his tone slightly more familiar.
"You don't use words like 'mudblood' or 'blood-traitor' when we're together. And you don't speak of my family-other than my siblings, my family is off limits. And any insults you may have about Harry or any of my other friends, you keep them to yourself, at least when it's just us two. Unless you wish to include me with some of your other Slytherin friends. Daphne and Pansy are okay enough. So's Nott and Tracey Davis. I don't really like Zabini or Milicent, but I suppose I could tolerate them if you wish to be with them as well." Cassie told him
"So, you're okay being friends with other Slytherins too?" he asked curiously.
"Sure, I'm already friendly with Daphne and Pansy; Daph's got great hair and Pansy's got some really cute shoes."
"Sometimes I forget you're like them, you hide it well with your intelligence."
"I'll take that in a good way." Cassie said slowly, eyeing him carefully.
"It is. I suppose I wouldn't mind your friend Merlin knowing. He's good at potions and charms. And not as incredibly annoying as your other friends." he conceded.
"Friends?" Cassie said, holding out her hand with a small smile on her face.
"Friends." Malfoy said, shaking it and smiling back. "I'm heading up to lunch, see you later?"
"I'll be in the library until I have to go to detention with Lockhart." Cassie told him, annoyed that she had detention with him. Again.
"You two seriously get a lot of detentions, you know that." Draco told her as they walked to the staircase.
"What fun is messing with people without them knowing it was you?" Cassie asked, grinning toothily.
"Messing with them without them knowing is just as fun, and doesn't get you into that much trouble." he pointed out.
"Guess that's why I got into Hufflepuff and not Slytherin." Cassie said jokingly, making him stop.
"The hat considered you for Slytherin?"
"He-It? Whatever, he considered me for all of them." Cassie shrugged, "Suppose my Hufflepuff qualities were the strongest or whatever."
"You would have made a great Slytherin." he said, then turned back to the stairs and they separated once people could see them.
At the end of the day, she showed up to her detention with Lockhart and Merlin and answered fan mail with him for the next three hours.
She spent much of the rest of February alternating between the library and the courtyards. She would often find herself being pulled into empty classrooms or behind pillars for stolen moments with Tommy. Before Valentine's Day, they would make eyes at each other across the room and steal shy kisses when no one was around. Their relationship had quickly escalated after Valentine's day; walks around the grounds holding hands or linking arms, having dinner just them two in the kitchens, sneaking up to the towers during breaks to talk, or not. More often than not, Cassie was seen walking around with him during the day, unless she was with the Golden Trio and Merlin, or in the dungeons with Draco.
When she was not with them she was holed up in the library, doing her homework and researching the elusive T.M. Riddle. She'd figured out when he went to Hogwarts, what house he was in, surprisingly it was Slytherin, that he was a member of something called the Slug Club and that he was Head Boy his seventh year. She had just found out about his being a Head Boy when Cedric, Leon and Tommy walked into the library and grabbed her bag and books, Tommy taking her hand and dragging her out of the library, much to her displeasure.
"I was busy!" she cried, once they were far enough away that Madam Pince wouldn't shush them.
"No, you spend way too much time in the library. Besides, don't you remember what you agreed to in November. With everything that happened, and then the holiday, and then your unfortunate slip on the ice, we've given you enough time." Leon said from in front of her, walking backwards for a bit.
"Ugh! The whole Quidditch thing, right?" Cassie groaned, she had completely forgotten.
"Yes. The quidditch thing." Cedric said, an excited gleam in his eye.
"Fine, let's just get this over with." Cassie said, relenting to the training. "I can change right?" she asked after seeing the muddy pitch.
"Yes, Heidi's left her old uniform in the changing rooms for you. They were hers in her third year, should fit you." Tommy said, looking her over with calculating eyes.
"Okay, you lot leave me alone while I change." Cassie said, grabbing her bag and books from Ced and closing the door with a huff. She wouldn't admit it but she was a bit nervous. She'd seen matches, but never thought about actually playing. She knew how to fly, and she was a fair flyer, but she wasn't so sure how good she was at actually playing.
"Fair warning, I've got terrible hand-eye coordination. I'm sure I need glasses, but I don't think they'd look good with my haircut. And I'm rather partial to how I have it currently." Cassie warned them as she stepped onto the pitch and saw them with the Weasley twins. "I thought this was just us. Why're the Gryffindors here?" she asked, looking at them in mock contempt.
"To see if you're a good beater." Leon answered handing her his broom and motioning with his hand. "Now, let's see how good you are at flying."
"Prepare to be blown away at how bad I really am." Cassie joked, and shot into the air straight towards where they were hovering. The four of them quickly moved out of her way, turning around to see her flowing gracefully through the air, almost dancing.
"What exactly is that?" Leon called from the ground.
"I am dancing the Suzie Q, not well, mind you." she answered, maneuvering the broom in tight zig zags as she moved her arms in a circular motion to the rhythm in her head.
"Okay, just show us some loop-de-loops, and not tight zig zags." Cedric said, not entirely sure what Suzie Q was.
"Okay." Cassie said, doing what he asked.
"Good, now let's see how well you can dodge whatever's coming at you." Leon said, and started throwing things at her.
"Hey! A little warning next time!" Cassie cried after a rather ungraceful twirl in midair.
"No need to be graceful, we're seeing how well you fly, not how gracefully you fly." Fred yelled at her.
"Whatever." Cassie said, smiling at him and rolling her eyes playfully and continuing to dodge whatever they threw at her.
"Okay, let's see how well you fly in formation." Cedric said.
"Are you the quidditch captain?" Cassie asked, "This feels more like a tryout than you teaching me how to play the game."
"No, I'm not captain. But if you can't fly in formation, you can't play chaser. And if you can't dodge bludgers, you'd be out of the game pretty quickly." he explained.
"Oh." Cassie said, flying to a position beside Tommy.
After testing out her flying abilities some more, which they all agreed were pretty good, they started a friendly quidditch game, well, almost. Tommy, Cassie and Cedric were on one team and Fred, George and Leon-on a school broom- were on the other team. They only played with the Quaffle as they didn't have enough players for the Bludgers and Snitch. Cassie's team lost, Cedric had wanted to see how good a keeper she was, they made six goals in the time Tommy relinquished keeper duty.
"You'd be a great seeker! I could talk to Maxine, she's this years' Quidditch captain, to see if you could try out for a substitute, you're actually a really good flyer. And a natural chaser, you scored five goals against Fred Weasley, and he's not a bad keeper. Better beater, but still…"
"George was keeper, Ced. Fred's the one who kept throwing the quaffle at Tommy's head." Cassie said, smirking.
"How can you tell them apart? I'm sure their mother couldn't tell them apart."
"I'm a twin myself, I can spot the differences." Cassie said, "Besides, I'm pretty sure Fred's got a more twisted sense of humor than George. That or he's more ruthless when it comes to his pranks, which are very good, I must admit." Cassie said with a wink.
"You're a twin?"
"Fraternal. She stayed in France. I haven't spoken to her in ages." Cassie admitted, her secret was out, it was only a matter of time before others knew she was disowned, Draco himself said that there were rumors already.
"What's she look like?"
"Like me, only opposite, instead of blonde hair, hers is black and instead of short, she's tall. And she has green eyes, not blue. But our features are pretty similar. Especially the shape of our eyes and our nose. But she has higher cheekbones than I do. My face is more of a roundish diamond, hers is kind of heart shaped, but in a square-ish way, you know what I mean?" Cassie said, using her hands to show him what she meant about the face shapes.
"No, I don't know what you mean." he said, an amused smile on his face.
"Oh, whatever. I have pictures, you'll see what I mean. Actually, picture Harry in girl form and you've got a less vindictive Morgana. It's all in the smirk, and Harry hasn't quite mastered that yet." Cassie said, waving her hand dismissively as she turned into the changing rooms to shower and change before going back to the castle. She was giddy, it was really fun playing with them and if she did get on the house team, even as a substitute, she would have such a fun time at practices.
They kept up the quidditch practices for a few weeks, before Maxine agreed to see Cassie at one of the practices. Cassie had gradually gotten better at playing and was more than excited to try out, even if it wasn't a formal tryout. Tommy, Leon and Cedric convinced Maxine to let the Weasleys in to see how her tryouts went, along with Ron, Harry and Hermione, and Cassie was overjoyed to see them there.
Later that evening, after having been let on the team as a substitute chaser, Cassie practically collapsed onto her bed, exhausted from the physical and emotional exertion of the day. She had been able to go a few weeks without the nightmares, but once again they started: A handsome-faced boy with cold eyes, this time kneeling in a dank dungeon, a strange hissing noise coming from somewhere, then a deep rumble and the scene changed, she was outside the library, and the otter and hummingbird were there again, lying motionless on the ground with a familiar looking mirror on the ground beside them. At some point in the night, Cassie had begun to sleepwalk to the library again; she had asked one of the house-elves, Leepy, to keep an eye on her and go to one of the teachers that was patrolling the castle, in case she started sleepwalking again, as a precaution.
She made it to the library without much harm, she'd also taken to wearing slippers to bed to avoid more broken toes, and sat down once again at the tables, this time she'd grabbed a book from the restricted section, her magic flaring up and calling it towards her. It was a great dusty old tome with a worn leather cover and three bronze clasps in the shape of a snake's head. She tried opening it, still asleep, but the clasps wouldn't budge, no matter how hard she tugged. Her magic rose up in her, practically burning her eyes, and opened the clasps. She grabbed the quill and began writing. When she woke up before dawn the next morning, she found herself once more in the hospital wing, except this time without the constant pain of last time.
"Good morning, Miss Gratien." Dumbledore said looking out the window.
"I was sleepwalking again last night, wasn't I?"
"You were." he conceded softly.
"What did I do?"
"You gave Madam Pince quite a fright. You took a book from the Restricted Section and fell asleep with a nosebleed."
"Oh, dear. I should probably apologize to her, I know how hard she works to keep the books in good condition and there I went bleeding all ov- Professor, if the book was from the Restricted Section and I bled on it, wouldn't that be blood magic?" Cassie asked him, terrified that his answer was an affirmative.
"No, Miss Gratien. This particular book is not sentient or a grimoire. It is merely informative."
"Books can be sentient?" Cassie asked, her mind going back to Riddle's diary.
"They can, but usually it's a result of magic imbued within the books themselves."
"Dark magic?"
"Sometimes, sometimes they're just powerful charms and enchantments that remain so long as they are kept near magical energy."
"I thought there was magical energy everywhere?"
"Muggles have been able to drive magical energy from certain places, where they have lots of electricity and machinery. You know what those are, am I correct."
"I understand the basic principles of them, sir. Did I hurt myself?"
"The house-elf, Leepy, stayed with you after coming to inform me you were sleepwalking." Dumbledore told her. "She made sure you didn't harm yourself too seriously."
"I should really thank her. Do house-elves accept presents? I never thought to give any of mine presents so I don't know." Cassie said absentmindedly
"As long as it's not clothing." Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Were you having nightmares again, last night?" Dumbledore asked, looking at her intently. This time Cassie did not let him in.
"Yes, they were very similar to the other ones. I've been thinking about them, and I feel like I've been having them since the beginning of this year. The school year, I mean." Cassie said, amending her vagueness quickly.
"You have?" Dumbledore asked, his confusion and concern growing.
"Yes sir. I've been seeing that boy's face since September, I'm almost sure of it." Cassie told him firmly. "Who is he, do you know?"
"He was a student here a long time ago, before I became Headmaster. Does your family have any Seers?"
"I don't think so. I've had to study my family's genealogy before and there's no recorded Seers among my ancestors." Cassie said. "Why? I thought Seers predicted the future, you just said he was a student a long time ago."
"Yes, true Seers can access the Inner Eye and give prophecies. Oneiromancy is a branch of divination, which, should you decide on taking it next year, Professor Trelawney will teach you about. I myself don't know much about the subject." Dumbledore admitted.
"Oneiromancy? Dream… Prophecy?" Cassie asked, using what little Greek she knew to translate.
"Dream interpretation, yes."
"Professor, I'm not a seer. I don't have the sight. If I did, I would have waited a year to transfer here." Cassie said, half-heartedly joking.
"Miss Gratien, could you tell me how you opened the book. For as long as I've been Headmaster at Hogwarts, no one has been able to. We didn't even know what the book was on."
"I-I don't know, Professor. I can't remember." Cassie answered honestly as Dumbledore studied her.
"You are quite the accomplished Occlumens." he said after a while of not being able to break through her barriers.
"I realized I needed to learn when I found out about my grandfather. My mother has some skill in Legilimency and she would have found out much quicker than she did." Cassie admitted, blushing at his praise.
"Still, that would be just over a year of practicing. You are exceptionally talented at it."
"Thank you Professor. I thought I was only marginally talented, you and Professor Snape seem to know what I'm thinking at all times."
"We only do a very small part of the time. But don't let him know I told you. You're much stronger than you were last year."
"Practice, I guess. Necessity as well." Cassie admitted, glancing around for a clock. "What time is it?"
"Not even seven."
"Oh." Cassie said, then remembered why she was there and asked "What book did I open?"
"A book on a Dark wizard from Ancient Greece" he answered evasively, leaving Cassie open-mouthed.
"Why? What wizard."
"His name was Herpo, as to why. I can't even hazard a guess." Dumbledore answered.
"I've never heard of this man." Cassie said, her thoughts swirling in her mind as she tried to figure out what was happening to her.
"I should hope not. He wasn't a very good person." he answered. Throughout the whole encounter, he had not moved from where he stood by the window, but now he came close to her bed and sat down on the chair near it. "Have you ever heard of a horcrux before?" he asked, very serious and severe.
"No, sir. I haven't."
"You wrote this down last night." he said, handing her a piece of paper and trying once more to break through her walls.
"Herpo, Horcrux-splitting soul, Dark Magic-petrify, Immortal, chicken/toad-900." Cassie read out. "What does any of this mean? Does it have to do with the nonsense that I wrote down last time? Something about a cockerel and a weasel?" Cassie asked, very much confused and not really remembering what she had written last time.
"I honestly don't know. I was hoping you did."
"The Dark magic and petrify I can imagine what I was thinking there. But everything else I can't." Cassie said slowly, then began thinking out loud. "If this Herpo split his soul, where did it go? And if it went someplace is that what made him immortal? Is that what a horcrux is? A vessel where someone's split soul is stored? Why would anyone do that?!" Cassie asked in a frightened voice, looking at him in horror.
"You are much smarter than you give yourself credit for, Cassie. That is what a Horcrux is. Only the darkest of wizards would even consider it. Splitting one's soul means they become less than human. As to why they would do it… Power? Glory? Immortality?" Dumbledore offered; loathe to admit to her what it was, but afraid she would go looking for more information on it. "I trust you understand the gravity of this information, and I trust you won't share it with anyone. Not Merlin Rhydderch, not Harry Potter or Ronald Weasley or Hermione Granger. No one." he said urgently.
"I wouldn't think of it. This… this is evil, dark magic. I wouldn't go near it. There has to be something to stop me from sleepwalking again! There has to be!" Cassie said tearfully, afraid that something was leading her down this path.
"I'm afraid the only thing I can think of would be rather inhumane. And not something we would ever do."
"What? Chain me up? I'd almost welcome it if it meant I would never go near anything that mentioned that again." Cassie said feverishly, tears dancing in her eyes.
"I don't think we need to go to such lengths. For now, I'll have Poppy give you dreamless sleep every day to take before you go to sleep, and I will ask the house-elves to take turns watching to make sure you don't go wandering again. Especially with what's currently happening." Dumbledore told her, standing up to fetch Madam Pomfrey.
