𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 | f. weasley

𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐔𝐄

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Born on the same day as the 'boy-who-lived', Cassandra 'Cassie' Black had lived at the Grimmauld Place almost all her life. At the tender age of one, not sooner after You-Know-Who's "death", both her parents had stepped out of her life. She did not remember much of her mother – which was surprising since she was gifted (or rather cursed) with exceptional memory – except for the fact that she had hazel eyes. As for her father, she knew of him well – his name, occupation, age, and appearance – it was engraved in her memory. But he was not a topic she spoke about. Whether it was out of embarrassment, distaste or sheer secretiveness, no one knew why she held her tongue when it came to him. 

But what was known was that she was a pureblood and a Black – the pureblood fanatic house who had quite a few members outlawed, put in Azkaban, in hiding, dead or a part of the 'blood traitor' families. This also made most people assume Cassie's father's fate belonged to one of the mentioned categories. When anyone asked the girl, her rosy cheeks would lose colour and she would become eerily silent, leaving the person rather uncomfortable.

For the majority of her life, she was looked after by various people, close relatives or powerful Aurors of the ministry. These people included Remus Lupin, her godfather; Kreacher, the family house-elf; occasionally Alastor Moody, a powerful ex-Auror and once, just once, the Malfoys (only because they were relatives). 

Albus Dumbledore had been very assertive when it came to the care of Cassandra – taking all the necessary measures to ensure that she was with able and reliable hands. He even made the Ministry of Magic make an exception for Cassie and allow her to perform magic outside of school. Many questioned his favouritism towards the young Black girl, recollecting that he had given the Harry Potter away to his muggle relatives instead into the hands of a member of the ministry as he had done for Cassie. They often received a response in the from of a stern gaze from Dumbledore, making them retreat and not question his decisions any further. However, all this protection would remain only till she came of age [for Hogwarts], that is, eleven years.

By the time she was eleven, she was well versed with more spells and curses than Seventh Years and knew all the books of the year cover to cover. She had been trained by various Aurors and even Dumbledore himself, making her adept in any sort of duel. Character-wise, she was a quiet girl, who only spoke when spoken to. She would always observe people, study their actions and deduce their personalities – which she would always be correct about. She had the eyes of a Black, which always shined with mischief – not that she was one of the mischief-makers. Her face always bore a solemn expression and very few people could be privileged enough to say that they had seen her smile. Cassandra Black had a lot of secrets locked up inside her and she was good at keeping them just the way they were – secrets. No matter how much she trusted a person, she would not reveal all the dark information she held in her mind. She never had, and she never intended to in the future.

And with that very solemn yet mysterious face, Cassandra stood patiently in front of the grand doors of the Great Hall, awaiting the arrival of Professor McGonagall, who would lead the first years for their sorting. She was only a few students behind 'Harry Potter: the Chosen One', whom she recognised immediately, like many others. She had heard and read all sorts of tales about the boy but felt extremely guilty to approach him – whomsoever knew of why? 

So instead, at that moment, she carefully observed each first year with her shrewd eyes because it was always her belief that a person's stance in an unknown and new situation always revealed a lot about their character. Her eyes scanned the crowd of students and stopped abruptly at Harry once again. He was talking in hushed whispers with a ginger - who seemed to be wearing second-hand robes. Cassie recognised that because she had been placed in that position in the first few years after her parents' disappearance.