𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 | f. weasley

five

WHEN HARRY, RON, HERMIONE AND CASSIE entered the Great Hall for breakfast on the first day of school, they were greeted by Draco Malfoy entertaining a group of Slytherins with a funny story. As they passed, he did a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit which was followed by a roar of laughter from the group. 

Cassie noticed how Harry's hands had been rolled into a fist as he tried to maintain his anger. Obviously, he did not want the Aunt Marge scenario to happen again but Cassie was more than certain that Harry would not regret making Draco or Pansy ─ who was currently trying to mimic a dementor to ridicule Harry ─ blow up and make them float atop of enchanted roof of the Great Hall. 

Harry sat on the seat beside George while Cassie took the seat beside Fred, sandwiching herself between the twins.

"New third-year timetables," said George, passing them out to the four new third years that had seated themselves beside the twins. "What's up with you, Harry?"

"Malfoy," Ron grunted sitting beside Harry, glaring at the Slytherin table.

George looked up at Ron's gaze and saw Malfoy pretending to faint in terror. Cassie grimaced at his pathetic acting skills. For a half-Black, he didn't seem to have an inch of drama when he re-enacted something. 

"That little git," he said calmly, " He wasn't so cocky last night when the Dementors were down our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"

"Nearly wet himself," responded Fred, throwing a contemplated glance at Malfoy. 

"Didn't realise he entered a Gryffindor coach? Filled with people not 'worthy of his kind'?" scoffed Cassie, picking up a loaf of bread and buttering it up.

The twins scoffed and Ron nearly choked on his food.

"Wasnt too happy myself," said George, "They are horrible things, those dementors,"

"Sort of freeze your insides don't they?" added Fred, grimacing at the sheer memory of them. 

Cassie felt a chill run down her spine as she remembered the train ride again. She knew for a fact the dementors came right to her because of her blood. Sharing the same blood as the mass murderer on the loose while having dementors circling the school made her wince internally as images of possible situations and unchartered attacks flashed before her eyes. Shaking those thoughts out of her head, she returned to the actual world which was bustling with noise as everyone reviewed their time tables. 

She turned to see Ron staring at Hermoine's time table dumbfounded at how she had few classes assigned at the same time. 

"Pass the marmalade," Hermione said, ignoring Ron's cries at how it was impossible to attend three classes at the same time. 

Cassie noticed she was closest to the marmalade and passed it over while Ron continued to pester Hermione, ultimately making her snap at him and ensure that everything was under control. Cassandra eyed her bushy friend with uncertainty but decided against asking her anything at the moment. Ron looked at Cassie with a surprised gaze to which the girl simply shrugged. Frustrated, Ron angrily stuffed his mouth with food. 

After getting greeted by Hagrid, the quartet heads towards Divination. Located at the north tower, they hurried up the stairs. The route was rather long, leaving all of them panting for breath halfway through. 

"There's ─ got ─ to ─ be ─ a ─ short ─ cut," said Ron, gasping for air as they climbed the seventh long staircase and stopped at an unfamiliar landing. Hermoine suggested taking an empty corridor which Ron immediately shot down saying it would take them south and began explaining his deduction. But Harry and Cassie weren't listening. While Harry's attention had been grasped by a painting, Cassie was found herself distracted by a page popping out of her books in her bag. Placing her bag down, she pulled out the book in question and opened to the page jutting out of it. 

The book was a leather-bound journal Remus had gifted her once for Christmas. He had told her it belonged to her father and knew that he would have wished for Cassie to own it. She flipped through the pages finding untidily written notes and journal entries, but mostly it was filled with doodles. She finally reached the page popping out and found it to be a sketch of a tower of Hogwarts. She looked out the window for a brief moment and looked back at the sketch. It was a drawing of the North Tower. Quickly clasping onto her bag, she stared at the drawing and studied it. Understanding the path she stuffed the paper back into a pocket of her bag and followed her three friends as they ran after the knight in the painting. 

Mid-run, Cassie realised that the knight was taking them through a longer route. Cassie wanted to stop them, tell them it would be faster if they travelled through the short cut she has learned from the sketch but then again, the sketch had been drawn over a decade ago, who knew if those routes had been blocked out? While she stayed behind to collect her breath, the three friends had already trailed out of sight. Shrugging, Cassie decided to embark on the shorter route. 

Thankfully, the short cut had not been blocked out. She found her self below the trap door of the class in no time, all the while maintaining a steady breath. Smiling at the wooden door above her head, she made a mental note to thank Remus for blessing her with that book. 

She knocked twice on the circular trap door which responded itself by opening and letting down a silver ladder. Fastening her bag to herself, she carefully climbed out and entered the peculiar classroom. A few students had already found their way up and had taken a seat. Cassie looked around to find that Harry, Ron and Hermione had not yet arrived. Being the good friend she was, she sat down on a table of four, saving the seats for the rest of them. 

Almost five minutes later, the trap door opened once again to reveal the three kids. Cassie waved at them and they joined her, still breathing hard after their run. 

"When did you reach?" Ron questioned, taking a seat beside Cassie as Professor Trelawney introduced herself and the subject. "I thought you were running with us?"

"I lost you mid-way. Then I found someone had slipped a parchment having a short cut drawn. Trying my luck I followed the path and found myself here before you all," Cassie whispered in return. Hermoine smiled, Harry nodded while Ron dramatically sighed and rested his head on his hands, turning his attention to the teacher.