Another Hogwarts Mystery

Chapter 1 - Nightmares

Everything was pitch-black. A feeling like floating in a deep, dark ocean of emptiness. It felt like being stuck in nimbus. She could not sense or feel anything around her. Her arms were moving around in a great hustle. Panic was rising in her body like water coming up a fountain, and her breath was heavy as if her lungs were nearly exploding. Where was she? Suddenly and out of nothing, there was a flash of red light. So illuminating that it was almost blinding Casandra. She smacked her hands on her eyes and let out a high-pitched scream. "It's hitting me. I am going to die" she thought. The red light, however, did not hit her. After a few seconds, Casandra removed her hands from her eyes and opened them slowly. She didn't trust her own sight. There, a few metres away from her, the ghostly silhouette of a boy floated in mid-air. A strand of his short blonde hair fell on his face. Although he was very handsome, something seemed to be oddly wrong with him. His face was covered in sweat and his skin colour didn't look healthy at all. It rather looked as though every drop of blood was soaked from his face. A greyish colour, not as pale as white, but with hardly any evidence of life. The boy's eyes were open in shock. They had a shade of blue that was more intense than the Indian Ocean. Then, floating horror-struck in this sea of darkness, Casandra's heart fell several meters. The realisation hit her as hard as a punch in the face. This boy was her brother.

"Benjamin! No!" screamed Casandra. She was struggling with herself, trying to make her way to her brother. It was no good, though. She could not move a centimetre. Despair was matching with the panic and Casandra felt tears starting to run down her face like a waterfall. Her heart was pounding so fast, she could hardly breathe. "Benjamin! Answer me!" she screamed once more, but there was still no reply. Suddenly, she heard another voice. At first, it was so dull that Casandra couldn't tell whether it was female or male— or human at all. As it came slowly nearer and nearer, like a snake slithering around the floor, she knew at once whose voice it was. "Mum! Over Here! Help me! It's Benjamin, I think he's hurt!" cried Casandra, but again, there was no answer. A blurry image of an outstanding beautiful woman appeared out of the dark mist. Her long, black hair hung down towards her marvellous curves like a curtain of dark silk. Her face was bony and pale as death. She had small heart-shaped lips which were mahogany and protruded from her fair skin. The way she walked equalled a gazelle. Slowly moving forwards, her long black dress slit along the floor behind her. As beautiful as she appeared, the more horrible the look on her face seemed to be. It was a mixture of pure hate, mocking, and disgust.

"How dare you betraying your parents and smudging your family's honour?!" hissed Casandra's mum. "You filthy little blood traitor! How dare you!" it was more like a scream this time when Casandra's mum addressed her son. "Now, how does it feel? Laying there in shock? Can you comprehend now what it feels like to be stunned by a family member? Ugh, you disgust your father and me." The boy seemed to answer with his eyes and Casandra's mum replied with a twitching and mocking smile on her face. "Ha! Do not think for a second that we would believe that you regret it. We know you have chosen your side and we'll make sure you'll pay for it. Did you really think, I mean, did you actually believe that you could backstab your own family just like that and get away with it?!" Again, his eyes seemed to deliver messages Casandra could not decode. Her mum, however, seemed to be reading her son's mind and let out a quirky laugh. "Tut-tut, Benjamin! No, you are not our son anymore. You have chosen not to obey the Dark Lord's will, you have chosen to dishonour and disgust your family and you – only you – have determined your faith. Farewell." Casandra's mum pointed her wand at her stunned son and with a lazy move she shouted "Avada Kedavra!" Jets of bright green light erupted from her wand and crushed against Benjamin's chest. His body span around and flew several metres away into the dark mist.

"NOOO! BENJAMIN, NOOO!" screamed Casandra, her arms were moving in every direction now. She wanted to run towards her brother, but she still couldn't move as though being tied to an invisible pipe in the middle of nowhere. Slowly the images of her dead brother and her triumphing mother faded away like raised dust. Her horrible and evil laughter became duller. Everything was pitch-black again. Casandra felt her extreme fast heartbeat and her fastening breathing, when someone touched her. "Casandra! Are you alright?" said a girl while shaking her. Tardily, she began to open her eyes. She had to blink several times until the blur was gone. A dark-haired girl in her late teens was leaning over her. Her skin was flawless and her dark eyes were unsettlingly deep. "Beverly? Is that you? Oh goodness...My head hurts. I feel sick." whispered Casandra, almost so quiet that Beverly only got half of the utterance. "What happened? Did you...did you have that kind of dream again?" asked Beverly. She was a very gorgeous looking young teenage girl, but the worry on her face made her look quite old. Casandra looked around. They were sitting in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Everything looked so cosy, warm and welcoming – so different to the scene in her dream – Casandra could not believe that she had just been to what felt like nimbus. It seemed to have been ages ago by now. "Well, yes, I think so..." replied Casandra, still looking very pale in the face "It was terrifying. Even worse than the last one and it –" "—felt so bloody real?" interrupted Beverly. "Yes, exactly. I dunno, I even had the feeling that Benjamin wanted to talk to me...through his eyes..."

"Casandra, I've told you, you're paying these dreams way too much attention. They don't do you well, you know? Ben is dead, and I k-know, I know it's awful. I mean, especially with the thing your m-mum did, but you can't bring him back, c-can you? He wouldn't have wanted you to suffer that much, r-right? stammered Beverly. "Yeah you're probably right..." murmured Casandra. Her eyes wandered across the compartment and out of the window. The landscape was hillier now and a huge lake emerged from behind the wall of mountains. The weather became windier and cloudier. Rain was starting to fall against the window, when the compartment door slid upon. A tall boy with dark blonde hair stood in the door. His slightly curled hair was laying in every direction. Especially his fringe was really shaggy. "Ah there you are! Sabrina and I were waiting for you in the lunch carriage. We're almost at Hogwarts, have you been in here all the time?" asked the slightly annoyed boy.

"Oh, good gracious, Scamander!" barked Beverly "I am so sorry for not informing our new Head Boy about staying in our compartment!" "Ugh, really, Brooks?" snapped Scamander "Oh c'mon Beverly, you know that I didn't mean it like that! See, Sabrina and I were really worried and– " "—sure, of course you were and –" snapped Beverly.

"GUYS!" shouted Casandra "I can't stand your rows anymore! Beverly, will you please get over Nick becoming Head Boy?" she gave Beverly an annoyed look and addressed Scamander again "Nick, look, I'm really sorry for letting you wait for us in vain, but I fell asleep and..." Casandra paused for a few seconds "and I had this shitty nightmare again. Beverly stayed with me, because I felt terribly sick when I woke up". She felt the urgent need of defending herself, when Nickolas interrupted her. "It's alright, Cassy," replied Nickolas "I didn't mean to put the pressure on, you know. We were just wondering... I mean, it's always been a tough time for you on the train. Now, since the thing with your brother, we –"  "I know," barked Cassandra "For god's sake, Nickolas, I know what it's been like for me on this bloody train. In contrast to you, I'm not well known for my brilliant family, but for them being the most dangerous Death Eaters!". Time seemed to have stopped. Everyone was frozen in their position, with their eyes fixed on Casandra, whose eyes were full of tears now. The only audible sound was the pitter-patter of the rain against the window. "Cassy, it's alright, I guess Nick didn't mean it like that." explained Beverly. She passed her a tissue and stroked her knee gently.

Casandra knew she had gone too far and felt immediately sorry for her little tantrum. "I'm sorry Nick. I didn't mean to explode like that. It's just all too much for me at the moment. I've always hated being on the Hogwarts Express. Especially since Slughorn's invitation to his lunch table two years ago. All the other students, everyone being so famous, having their glorious parents or ancestors. And then there was me: the daughter of Raymond and Gwendolyn Clark, two merciless Death Eaters. Ugh, I can still see their mocking faces. At least I had Ben and you all. But now, with Benjamin gone, I don't wanna know what they're talking about me or my dead brother behind my back. I'm not only the daughter of the most terrible Death Eaters, but also the daughter of two Death Eaters who murdered their own son! I don't think I can –" "—oh you can! Dear, you still have us, and we won't let you down. We'll stand up to these gits together!" Sabrina interrupted her. She is such a gorgeous girl, Casandra thought. Sabrina was a tall girl with long and curly brown hair. She radiated such an elegance.. Her smile has always been infectious and so was it now. Casandra smiled again.

"Alright everyone, I think it's time to put our school robes on. We'll be arriving soon." Nick said, and everyone looked for their clothes to change. Only Casandra stayed where she was and stared out of the rain-covered window. The castle of Hogwarts became bigger and Casandra could see the lightened windows. Soon, she'll be sitting in the Great Hall with delicious food, but so she would also have to face the mocking and staring looks of her fellow students. Maybe she could sneak into the kitchen afterwards, steal some Phoenix wine, hide herself at her favourite place in an unused room next to the library, and read her new book. Casandra's daydream was breaking like a bubble when the Hogwarts Express came to a stop. They had arrived, so Casandra put on her robes and left with what felt like massive stones in her insides. She did not know that this year at Hogwarts would indeed change everything. Even her whole life.