The Epilogue : Part I - The Shadow Army

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Sorting Hat's Surprise

It has been going on for weeks now at the Malfoy's Mayfair property. Since she got her admission letter and knew she would finally attend to Hogwarts, Cassiopeia spent most packing and unpacking her trunk with «everything she needed», a task that one could consider to be an easy business, if it wouldn't consist of half of her entire belongings.

On the first of September, before dawn, Cassiopeia was already awake and still trying to figure out how to put everything in her trunk.

Draco, who was authorised a few weeks rest after his Egyptian misadventures, was ready to accompany them to the Hogwarts Express. When he got up, he noticed that none of his two children were ready, as Cassiopeia was still packing and Scorpius was doing his traditional «I hate Hogwarts» crisis he has been doing for the past two years. But some threats and yelling later, Cassiopeia finally resigned on taking the real strict minimum and Scorpius relentlessly and quickly packed and got dressed. Once the two of them ready, the Malfoys finally left.

It was almost eleven when they arrived at King's Cross. They almost ran into the train station with the carts and the crowd and crossed the passage leading to the platform 93/4.

There were only few persons left on the platform when Draco, Astoria, Cassiopeia and Scorpius arrived at the Hogwarts Express which about to leave.

Scorpius quickly jumped into the train, and Cassiopeia was about to follow him when Draco stopped her.

"I... am so proud of you, my darling one," confessed Astoria, delighted and touched.

"Thanks you, mother," Cassiopeia said, as touched as she was.

"Be careful at Hogwarts, please..." dropped Draco uneasy.

"I will father, I promise," Cassiopeia hastily answered, surprised by the dramatic tone of his voice.

"And Cassiopeia?" he added, visibly embarrassed.

"Yes?"

"I..."

"Yes, father?" she said, full of hope.

"... I... t–think you should quickly climb up in the train, it's a minute to eleven O'clock," said Draco, after clearing his throat.

"—— you are right," Cassiopeia said, hardly managing to hide her disappointment.

She then took her trunk, got into the train, and as soon as she did, the train began to move. Cassiopeia just had time to lean out at the window to wave her parents goodbye before the train gathered too much speed and disappeared as it rounded the corner.

Cassiopeia felt awfully lonely at this moment, watching houses passing in front of her through the window. At this moment, she suddenly felt a mix of emotions so intense she busted into tears, and began to ask herself many questions at once. "What am I doing here?" was the first of the questions that came to her mind at this moment. She thought about Apparating out of the train and coming back home to hug her mother.

Strangely depressed, she then looked for a free compartment, walked in the corridors with her heavy trunk and her owl's cage for few minutes until she luckily ended up finding an empty compartment. She sat, took a small and old book out of her bag and began to read.

Her perfectly peaceful reading moment was suddenly troubled by shouting and laughter in the compartment next to hers. After a moment during which she simply tried to ignore it, she decided that it was enough and stood up to confront them.