Chapter 8
"Come on, Ron, you have to admit it was a little funny." Cassidy tried to keep up with Ron on the group's way to their next lesson. It was now his turn to be mad at her, as she had laughed the loudest after his mother's Howler.
"Quit it, Cass," he grumbled, the other three still struggling to keep up with him. "it was really embarrassing." He said the last part with a whisper, and the others didn't hear. Cassidy stopped and watched Ron storm off, catching her breath for a second.
"Just leave him, Cassidy." Hermione said, huffing beside her as Harry ran up to Ron. "He'll feel better after supper."
⋆⋆✧⋆⋆✺⋆✷⋆✧⋆⋆⋆✺⋆⋆✷⋆✧⋆
Cassidy sat beside Hermione in their first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, her favorite subject and the one in which she'd earned the highest grade last year. She had been first in the class, Hermione coming second—something that didn't happen often. While Hermione excelled in theory and books, there were certain subjects that required quick thinking, creativity, and impulsiveness. Defense Against the Dark Arts was one of them.
However, when Cassidy saw their new professor for the year, she started to rethink her favorite subject.
"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," the blonde-haired wizard, Gilderoy Lockhart, beamed down at the class. Cassidy groaned, resting her head on her desk.
"Me."
"Oh, Merlin, save us now," Cassidy mumbled under her breath, while Hermione stared up at Gilderoy in awe.
"Gilderoy Lockhart! Order of Merlin, First Class. Honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League. And five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile."
"I've never seen such a severe case of narcissism," Cassidy muttered, wide-eyed as she shook her head. Hermione sighed, gazing up at Gilderoy dreamily as he flashed his signature smile.
"But I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Band of Banshees by smiling at them, did I?"
"You'll get rid of me soon enough," Cassidy grimaced as Gilderoy showed off his signature smile. Hermione smacked her shoulder lightly, eyes still locked on the Professor.
"Miss Sweet," Lockhart called out suddenly, interrupting her muttering. Cassidy froze, mid-grimace, as the entire class turned to look at her. "Do you have something you'd like to share with the rest of us?"
Cassidy glanced sideways at Hermione, who was now glaring daggers at her, clearly mortified. "Not at all, Professor," she said quickly, her voice as sweet as honey. "Just admiring your... credentials."
Lockhart's chest puffed up even more—if that were possible. "Ah, my reputation precedes me," he said with a wink. "But I assure you, my dear, it's not just about looks or accomplishments. It's about dedication, bravery, and—"
"Modesty?" Cassidy muttered under her breath, earning a snort from Harry, who was sitting behind her with Ron.
"Exactly!" Lockhart exclaimed, clearly oblivious to her sarcasm. "A fine observation, Miss Sweet."
Ron, who had finally cooled off from earlier, leaned forward in his seat to give Cassidy a smug grin. "Careful, Cass. You might give him ideas."
"Now!" Lockhart exclaimed before Cassidy could reply. "Be warned. It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind." He pointed his wand towards a cage covered with purple cloth, and for the first time since the class had started, Cassidy leaned a little forward, intrigued.
"You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room." Lockhart continued. The cage started to rattle, making some students jump in fear.
"Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here."
"What, even death by hairspray?" Cassidy asked innocently.
"Yes, Miss Sweet. Not even this hairspray you speak of can hurt you while I'm around." Gilderoy did not catch on to her sarcasm, yet again. Slowly, he reached for the cloth covering the cage.
"I must ask you not to scream. It might... provoke them!"
With a hurried flourish, Lockhart ripped off the cloth covering the cage, to reveal...
"Clawless Pixies?!" Seamus Finnigan said incredulously, laughing at the very violent, very ugly purple pixies rattling inside the cage.
"This has got to be a joke," Cassidy groaned as the students around her laughed. "I thought we were going to fight a baby troll or something!"
"Share a lot of similarities with those things, don't you Sweet?" Draco Malfoy called from the back of the classroom, getting a few laughs from the Slytherins. She turned around and shot him a glare, and he cowered slightly.
"Miss Sweet, they may not be trolls, but they are just as dangerous. Don't be fooled." Lockhart lectured heartily. "Laugh if you will, Mr Finnigan, these pixies can be the deadliest and trickiest little blighters. Let's see what you make of them!"
Without warning, Professor Lockhart released the pixies into the classroom, and one of them flew straight for Cassidy's face as Hermione ran away.
"ARGH, WHAT THE F-"
"Profanity will not be tolerated, Miss Sweet!" Gilderoy yelled after her, as she ran around the class screaming with the other children. The pixie was still attached to her face and laughing maniacally. Other pixies flew around in teams, wreaking havoc and distress.
Books were torn, ears were pulled, and when Ron had finally wrestled the pixie off of Cassidy's face, she spotted two pixies carrying Neville Longbottom upwards by the ear.
"GET OFF HIM!" She yelled among the chaos, throwing books at the two pixies. Injured but still determined, they kept carrying him up, hanging the poor boy by the chandelier.
"Oh, Nev," she muttered helplessly as he hung there.
"Cassidy, watch out!" Hermione yelled, pushing her out of the way of a flying glass ball. It crashed to the floor, having narrowly missed her.
"Thank you, 'Mione!" Cassidy said, grinning. Her face fell when she saw a pixie pulling a lock of Hermione's curly hair. She noticed too, and started to scream.
"Get off me!"
Harry appeared behind her, book in hand. "Hold still!" He swung the book on the pixie, sending it flying.
Meanwhile, Professor Lockhart was attempting to cast a spell. "Peski—Piskie—Pesternomi!" he cried. But his wand was snatched away by another pixie before he could finish. The swarm sent a hanging skeleton display crashing to the ground. Cassidy clasped her hands together, closing her eyes in fervent prayer.
"Merlin, take Professor Gilderoy. He's ready. While you're at it, take us too."
"Cassidy, get UP!" Ron yelled, grabbing her by the hand and pulling her to her feet. She opened her eyes just in time to see Gilderoy Lockhart running out of the classroom. Shaking her head in disappointment, she grabbed the nearest book and started wrestling off the pixies with the other three.
"What do we do now?!" Ron cried out helplessly.
Hermione suddenly stood up, drawing her wand.
IMMOBULUS!" She screamed.
The pixies all froze midair, blinking helplessly.
"Great thinking, Mione." Cassidy muttered, staring in awe at the frozen pixies. "Now, what was that charm for getting people off chandeliers....ah! Descendio Lucis!" Cassidy swished her wand, and Neville slowly floated down from the chandelier.
"What spell was that? I've not seen it in any textbook." Hermione asked, watching Neville land softly. Cassidy smiled smugly.
"I made it myself, for fun. My dad made me learn Latin. It gets easier to make up spells when you do that, really." She explained proudly, before turning to Neville, who looked visibly embarrassed by being saved yet again.
"Nev, are you alright?" She asked worriedly, while Ron rolled his eyes behind her.
"Why is it always me?!" He huffed, getting laughs out of the group.
✺⋆⋆✷⋆⋆✧⋆✺⋆✧⋆⋆✺⋆⋆✷⋆✧
"It's weird, you know." Cassidy thought out loud, looking up in the sky as she, Ron and Hermione sat on a courtyard bench. Harry was off to Quidditch practice.
"What's weird?" Ron asked her, Hermione reading a book silently but still listening.
"The necklace." Cassidy played around with the pendant. "Hasn't warmed up in a while."
"Well, that's a good thing, right?" Hermione piped up, hopeful.
"Yeah, maybe our problems are over. No more dark magic to detect." Cassidy mused wistfully, closing her eyes.
"No more You-Know-Who," Ron mumbled, looking up at the sky as well. It was perfectly blue. "Wouldn't that be a nice thought?"
The three of them heard heavy footsteps, snapping them out of their reverie. The Gryffindor Quidditch captain, Oliver Wood, seemed to be exchanging words with the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint. It didn't look good.
"Oh, I smell trouble." Ron shuddered, and the trio walked over to see what it was all about. As they got closer, they saw Oliver was reading from a note.
"...permission to practice today. Owing to the need to train their new Seeker." He set the piece of paper down, staring Marcus in the eye.
"You've got a new Seeker? Who?" Oliver asked incredulously.
Stepping aside, the Slytherin players revealed...
"Malfoy?" Harry said, shocked.
"And just when I thought things were getting peaceful around here." Cassidy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"That's right." Draco sneered. "And that's not all that's new this year."
He brandished a shiny, dark broomstick, one that Cassidy would've given up her owl Moony for.
"Those are-" Ron started.
"Nimbus Two-Thousand and Ones!" Cassidy gushed, momentarily in awe before she remembered who they belonged to. She cleared her throat and stood straight.
"Yeah. Um. Whatever." She mumbled, avoiding all the stares she was getting.
"Er, anyway, how'd you get those?!" Ron asked, attempting to defuse the awkwardness.
"Gift from Draco's father." Marcus gloated, crooked teeth gleaming.
"See Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best." Draco quipped, glaring at Ron.
"At least no-one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in. They got in on pure talent." Hermione shot back. Cassidy widened her eyes, not used to Hermione biting back as frequently as she had been lately. She was proud.
Draco narrowed his eyes, stepping closer to Hermione.
"No one asked your opinion. You filthy little Mudblood-"
The insult hadn't even fully left his mouth before Cassidy was in motion.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" she yelled, shoving past Ron. Her fist connected squarely with Draco's jaw before anyone else could react.
Draco staggered back, wide-eyed, clutching his face as a red mark blossomed on his pale skin. Marcus and another teammate made to step forward, but Cassidy rounded on them with her wand drawn. "Try it. I dare you."
The Weasley twins whistled lowly, giggling.
Ron gawked, frozen mid-step and staring at Cassidy's angry face with fear. And something else. Hermione gasped behind her. "Cassidy, stop!" she hissed, but her voice was tinged with shock and gratitude. "You'll get in trouble!"
Draco recovered enough to sneer again, though his voice was quivering slightly. "You're going to regret that, blood traitor," he spat. "You'll be hearing from my father—"
"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy. Eat Slugs!" Ron bellowed, pointing his wand at Draco.
Unfortunately, Ron's broken wand had other ideas. The spell backfired, and with a loud spluttering sound, Ron was thrown backwards.