Potter's Girl / Butterfly Effect.

71. Curiosity Killed The Cat

CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE;

CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The first Hogsmeade trip of the year came much too slowly, as though teasing the students with its promises of Zonkos' products and Honeydukes sweets.

   Cassie awoke early on the day of the trip to find the weather proving extraordinarily snowy. The vast and untouched whiteness of it stretched further than her line of sight, giving the illusion of a never-ending emptiness. Somewhere in that emptiness, Cassie thought with a frown, Lord Voldemort hid out, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Cassie shuddered and rid herself of the thought by moving to the bathroom to splash her face with water.

Only an hour later, she trudged into the white desolation; Harry, Hermione, and Ron at her sides. The four of them had wrapped themselves up in multiple layers of clothing to protect from the harsh and biting cold air, but even still, a portion of their faces was left uncovered and caused their eyes to water against the extreme temperatures. Snowflakes slowly sprinkled onto Cassie's hair and the cold bit her nose and cheeks, both staining red. By the time they arrived at the small town of Hogsmeade, the bare portion of her face was raw and numb.

   Ron was busy recapping the story of Harry attempting his new spell during the early hours of the morning, ending in Ron hanging upside down in his bed, which he may have been laughing at currently, but was probably quite a scare as a wake-up call.

   "Was this spell, by any chance," bristled Hermione, "another from that potion book of yours, Harry?"

   "Always jump to the worst conclusion, don't you?" Harry frowned, though quickly shrugged and gave a dismissive expression. "Yeah, it was, but so what?"

   "So you just decided to try out an unknown, hand-written incantation and see what would happen?"

   "Why does it matter if it's hand-written?" Cassie asked curiously, deciding to jump in and save Harry's arse.

   "Because it's probably not Ministry-approved," said Hermione, as the two boys rolled their eyes. "And also, because I'm starting to think this Prince character was a bit dodgy."

   "Probably because he was better at Potions than you," said Cassie under her breath, huffing out a sigh that steamed the air in front of her face. "Listen, let's just enjoy our trip to Hogsmeade without any rows over the Half-Blood Prince and – and not visit Zonkos?" she finished in surprise, as they came up on the boarded-up shop. "They've closed up everything!"

   Cassie glanced around the town to see nearly every surrounding shop adorned with boarded windows or a large CLOSED sign on the door. She frowned, suddenly feeling quite dejected. "Where're we supposed to go?"

"Three Broomstick's open," suggested Ron, nodding toward the forever lively pub. Professor Slughorn was entering when the four teenagers looked over. Harry suddenly brightened.

"Fancy a butterbeer?" he offered, smiling slightly at Cassie, Ron, and Hermione.

The Three Broomsticks seemed to be stuck in a happier time, when the impending doom of war wasn't hanging over everyone's heads and all anyone wanted to do was order a butterbeer or some other drink. Torches lit the pub on the wooden walls and the light danced off drunk wizards. Cassie was almost sad to see such a sight.

"Harry, m'boy!" Professor Slughorn waddled over within the moment in which Harry, Ron, Cassie, and Hermione had settled into a corner booth, slowly removing layers of jackets as the warmth of the pub hit them. Slughorn beamed at them. Hermione and Harry gave him amicable grins, but Ron only ignored him and Cassie gave him a sarcastic smile. She still hadn't forgiven the Professor for his offhand comments about Muggleborns.