Chapter 2
"Has anyone seen a toad? A boy named Neville's lost his." The girl said.
"No." Ron replied, shaking his head and looking a bit annoyed. Cassidy then noticed a bit of dirt on his nose but said nothing. The girl with messy hair caught sight of Ron's wand and looked immediately intrigued.
"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it then." She said. Ron cleared his throat again (Cassidy thought that was rather unnecessary) and recited the spell his brother had taught him. Nothing happened, apart from a rather sad-looking spark. To Cassidy's relief, the rat scampered off Ron's lap. Harry shrugged, Cassidy sighed in disappointment, and the girl started to speak.
"Are you sure that's a real spell? Well, it's not very good, is it?" She said the last part with a taunting smile. As she kept speaking, Ron turned to Harry and gave him a look of annoyance. Cassidy, on the other hand, was listening to the girl with great interest, as she explained that she'd already started practicing spells, and they'd all worked so far. Much to Cassidy's delight (and Ron's despair), the girl walked into the cabin and sat down opposite the three of them. She extended her wand to Harry's glasses (which were broken and only kept together by some tape, Cassidy now noticed).
"For example, Oculus Reparo." Harry's glasses magically repaired, and Cassidy gasped in astonishment.
"That's better, isn't it?" the girl said, clearly pleased with herself.
Harry stared at his glasses in awe, while Cassidy leaned forward. "That's brilliant! You've got to teach me that one," she said. Ron was busy chewing on another Chocolate Frog but looked up.
The girl turned to her with a curious smile. "I'm Hermione Granger. What's your name?"
"Cassidy Sweet," she replied brightly. Hermione's gaze dropped to the necklace around Cassidy's neck—a small, intricate charm with a circular shape. It was purple in color, but the different shades of it swirled inside the charm.
"Interesting necklace," Hermione said, tilting her head.
Cassidy straightened proudly. "My dad gave it to me. It's enchanted—well, sort of. He doesn't want to tell me what it does. But I bet it's really special," she said, flashing a grin.
"Is it?" Hermione replied, looking skeptical. "That's... unusual."
"It's really rare," Cassidy added smugly.
The girl then spoke again, looking at Harry closely. "Holy Cricket... You're Harry Potter! I'm Hermione Granger." Hermione turned to Ron.
"And... you are?" She asked, looking a bit disinterested.
"Uh... Ron Weasley." He replied, mouth full of Chocolate Frog. Hermione looked disgusted by his lack of manners.
"Pleasure." She replied, though it didn't look like she meant it at all. She turned back to Harry.
"You three better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon." Giving Cassidy one last glance, Hermione got out of the cabin, taking her bossiness with her.
Before she left the doorway, she hesitated and looked at Ron.
"You've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know? Right there." She rubbed the side of her nose and left. Cassidy tried to stifle her laughter as Ron rubbed it off. He looked thoroughly embarrassed.
The train rolled to a stop with a soft screech of brakes, and silence settled over the cabins. Suddenly, a deep, gruff voice bellowed from outside, startling Cassidy so much that she jumped in her seat. Stuffing a few of the leftover sweets in her pocket (after throwing some to the boys and advising them to save it for later), she followed Harry and Ron out of the cabin and off the train.
"Firs'-years! Over here!" the voice called, echoing over the chatter of students. Cassidy craned her neck, trying to see the source of the voice through the foggy window. A giant figure loomed near the train, holding a lantern that flickered in the evening mist. Cassidy's eyes widened as they got closer to the giant figure. He shone his lantern into the trio's eyes. Cassidy looked to Harry, who seemed to recognize the large man.
"'Ello, Harry." The giant man greeted him. Cassidy moved to hide behind Harry, terrified. The latter seemed unfazed.
"Hi, Hagrid." Harry responded, a large smile on his face.
"Whoa!" Ron exclaimed, sizing up Hagrid.
Hagrid saw Cassidy's trembling figure and smiled.
"Don't you worry, young lady. I don't bite." His gruff voice was softened by his kind smile, and a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at the three of them.
Cassidy peeked out from behind Harry, her fear slowly giving way to curiosity. "He's huge," she whispered to herself, though her voice carried. Hagrid chuckled as he turned to the growing crowd of first-years, raising his lantern higher.
"Right, then! Follow me, all of yeh!"
They all trooped to the shore of a very large lake, and that was when Cassidy saw it.
Her father's stories from his school days didn't do the place justice. The towering Hogwarts Castle was magnificent, perched on a large island. Hundreds of small windows seemed to make what would otherwise be seen as an abandoned and eerie castle something marvelous and inviting. This is it, Cassidy thought. This was where she was going to spend the next seven years of her life. Mouth slightly open, she took in the sheer beauty of it all, until she felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. She whirled around to be met face-to-face with Ron Weasley.
"Well, what is it, Ron?"
"Er, I think we're supposed to get on the boats over there, Cassidy."
Cassidy glanced at a small, mostly empty boat where Harry was seated, waiting for them expectantly. "Oh, right. Let's go, then," she said, shaking herself out of her daze as she followed Ron toward the boats. As she got in, she spotted the figure of Hermione Granger getting into another boat. Cassidy wished to be her friend. She seemed so... interesting.
The boats had lanterns on them, so she could see Ron and Harry's faces. They seemed to be staring at the Hogwarts Castle just as she was not too long before. As the boats softly glided across the lake, Cassidy found herself dipping her fingers into the cool water. She listened and looked as the students in the surrounding boats gasped and whispered at the sight of the castle, the lantern softly illuminating their faces.
As they finally arrived at the castle and were instructed to go inside, Cassidy found herself almost lost in the crowd of bustling first-years. She was only able to stay close to Ron by following his flaming red hair and tugging at his cloak, much to his annoyance.
"Would you stop doing that, Cass?!" Ron whisper-shouted.
"Sorry. Nervous habit." She mumbled in reply. Ron shook his head but didn't press further.
As the crowd of youngsters walked up a staircase, they were met with the face of an elderly but very stern-looking witch. She looked like she meant business, and Cassidy immediately let go of Ron's cloak. She spoke.
"Welcome to Hogwarts. Now, in a few more minutes you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but before you can take your seats, you must be Sorted into your houses."
Harry, Ron, and Cassidy looked at each other nervously, but Cassidy had remembered her father speaking highly of the house Gryffindor, the one he was in. She hoped she'd get into that one.
"There are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." As the witch said the last house, she looked pointedly at a group of troublesome-looking wizards, one of whom had pale blond hair.
Cassidy recognized him, and narrowed her eyes as he smirked and jostled his friends.
No time to dwell on that, she thought, and turned back to the elderly witch with a huff. The witch spoke again.
"Now while you're here, your house is like your family. Your triumphs will earn you points, any rule-breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, those with the most points will be awarded the highest..." the sound of croaking caught Cassidy's attention, and she turned to see a frog perched nearby.
"That must that boy's frog!" She muttered. Holding out her hand to it, the frog hopped into her palm, much to her surprise. There was a murmur as she called out.
"Er, anyone called Neville here? I've got your-" "Trevor!" A slightly pudgy looking boy pushed through the crowd to get to Cassidy, and he looked at her gratefully as Trevor the frog hopped into his palm. "Neville, is it?" She said, amused. Neville looked at her smiling at him and felt his face grow warm. Before he could reply, the two caught a disapproving look from the witch, her mouth thinning into a line. Neville slowly backed away; mouthing a 'thank you' to Cassidy and apologizing to the witch. Ron and Harry started snickering, and Cassidy shot a look at the two that made them shut up. The witch spoke yet again.
"The Sorting Ceremony will begin momentarily." She walked away, her heels clacking against the stone floor.
"Well that was something." Ron said teasingly. "He looked at you like you were his savior. I think he fancies you."
"Oh, do shut up, Ron." Cassidy rolled her eyes at him. Before Ron could reply, the silver-haired boy spoke up.
"It's true then. What they were saying on the train. Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts." Everyone looked towards the group, but more specifically, at Harry. Whispers filled the crowd, but Cassidy only kept glaring at the boy, who looked back at her with a sneer. Turning back to Harry, he motioned to what Cassidy thought of as two very ugly boys.
"This is Crabbe, and this is Goyle." The blonde boy announced.
"Are they aware that their names are Crabbe and Goyle?" Cassidy muttered to herself, but it carried. One of them cracked their knuckles and glared at her, but she stood her ground.
"And I'm Malfoy," the boy said. Malfoy pushed past her to get closer to Harry, which the latter noticed. "Draco Malfoy."
Cassidy nudged Ron, and they both snickered. Draco's head whipped towards them, eyes gleaming with malice. "Think my name's funny, do you? I certainly don't need to ask your names." He sneered. Ron and Cass simply looked at him, unbothered. Draco smirked.
"Red hair, Wild hair. Freckles, brown skin. A hand me down robe, and one that stinks of spoiled candy. A Weasley and a Sickly Sweet. Who would've thought?" Ron's demeanor changed, and Cassidy noticed.
"Don't listen to him, Weasley-" Draco interrupted Cassidy, turning to Harry, who didn't look very pleased.
"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. You don't want to make new friends with the wrong sort. Especially the weak ones." Draco looked at Cassidy when he said the last part, narrowing his eyes.
Cassidy then remembered the day Draco had paid a visit to her parent's shop with his father, purposefully making work difficult for her father, and muttering that cursed word whenever he didn't think Cassidy's mother was listening.
"Mudblood."
Cassidy had heard it, however, and had leapt onto Draco, screaming and scratching and having to be pulled off. He'd probably had to get some healing spell to hide the scar she would've otherwise given him, because his face looked unharmed now. She remembered Lucious Malfoy's yelling at her father, and his threats to get the place shut down and stop Cassidy from being able to come to Hogwarts. These threats however, had been empty.
Now, Cassidy and Ron stood looking at Draco hold out his hand to Harry. They held their breath, waiting to see what Harry would do.
"I can help you there." Draco said, a smug look on his face. Harry looked at Draco's hand incredulously, and looked back at his face.
"I think I can tell the wrong sort for myself, thanks." He replied. Cassidy let out a short, unabashed laugh, earning a final scowl from Malfoy before the elderly witch appeared again, clearing her throat and glaring at him. He walked off, defeated.
"We're ready for you now. Follow me." She said.