Chapter 10
Tomes and Scrolls was much quieter than the other shops. Dust motes floated lazily through the warm candlelight, and rows upon rows of books towered over them, their spines worn and gilded with age.
Cassidy trailed her fingers along the shelves as Neville helped her scan the titles. They found a section labeled Wizarding Heirlooms & Magical Artifacts, and Cassidy's necklace pulsed again.
Her breath hitched.
She yanked a book from the shelf at random and flipped through the pages. Nothing. Another book. Still nothing.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she reached for a third.
And then—
She froze.
Near the bottom of the page, in a small, faded sketch, was a pendant.
Her pendant.
She sucked in a sharp breath, her heart hammering.
"Neville," she whispered, gripping his arm. "Look."
Neville leaned over her shoulder, eyes widening.
"Cor Verum," he read aloud. "The True Heart."
Cassidy swallowed. The passage was short, but it described a necklace crafted centuries ago, enchanted with ancient magic. Its true purpose was unknown, but it had been lost to history, its last known owner mysteriously disappearing.
Cassidy's stomach twisted.
Mysteriously disappearing.
Before she could read further, the shop door creaked open, and a gust of cold air rushed through the shop.
Cassidy stiffened.
It was the same feeling she'd had before. A shift in the air.
The necklace burned against her skin.
Neville must have sensed her unease because he grabbed her wrist. "Cass? What's wrong?"
Cassidy exhaled sharply, shaking her head. "I—nothing. Let's go."
Neville glanced at the book in her hands. "Aren't you going to buy it?"
Cassidy hesitated, then closed the book and slipped it back onto the shelf. "No, I've read what I need to know."
Neville looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn't. Instead, he gingerly took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"You'll figure it out," he murmured.
Cassidy swallowed, nodding. "Yeah."
But as they left the shop, the feeling of unease lingered.
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"That was amazing," Ron sighed as they climbed the moving staircase, his bag bumping against his leg. "Honeydukes was packed—but worth it. I got a whole bag of Fizzing Whizzbees, and they had these massive slabs of chocolate, Hermione, you'd have loved them—"
"I did see them, Ron," Hermione said, exasperated.
Ron ignored her, turning to Harry. "Then Zonko's? Brilliant. Got these fake wands that explode when you pick 'em up—Fred and George bought five, so you just know Filch is gonna have a stroke before the week's up. And then, oh—you should've seen—Cassidy, what was that thing outside Scrivenshaft's?"
Cassidy, who had been unwrapping a Sugar Quill, blinked. "Oh, that self-writing quill? It nearly stabbed some bloke in the eye. Absolute menace."
"Yeah, that's the one! And then at The Three Broomsticks—insane, Harry. You would love Butterbeer. It's all warm and foamy—bit like liquid toffee, but better. So much better."
Ron hesitated, then added, as though it were just an afterthought, "Not that I saw much of you two in there."
Cassidy raised a brow. "What?"
Ron shrugged. "You and Neville. Off in your own little corner."
Harry, who had just taken a sip of a drink Cassidy had bought him, glanced up, sensing the shift in Ron's tone.
Cassidy just rolled her eyes. "We were just talking."
Ron let out a short hum, like he didn't quite believe her.
Cassidy narrowed her eyes, but before she could prod, Hermione huffed, clearly picking up on Ron's mood. "Oh, honestly, Ron. Just because you spent the entire trip glued to Fred and George—"
"I was not glued to Fred and George," Ron shot back, ears tinting red. "I just happen to appreciate quality pranking materials, thanks."
Cassidy frowned but let it go. For now.
She cleared her throat. "Anyway. Harry, what'd you get up to while we were gone?"
Harry hesitated before answering. "Not much. I just talked to Professor Lupin. He told me he knew my mum. And my dad."
Cassidy's steps slowed. Her fingers twitched at her side, mind racing.
Lupin... and her dad.
A memory surfaced.
"No way," she muttered, snapping her fingers as the others stopped. "Remember after that Boggart class? When I spoke to Lupin?"
They nodded.
"He brought up my dad then, too. And on the train, when Harry fainted—he called me by my middle name."
Ron perked up. "And that would be—?"
Cassidy ignored him. "I confronted him about it later, and you know what he told me? That the name 'suited' me. But I knew that was—"
"Cassidy!" Hermione hissed as she barely stopped herself from saying bullshit.
"—so I pressed him for more. And he said someone he knew liked to say the name. And if I wanted to know who, I should ask my dad."
Ron furrowed his brow. "Weird. Have you heard from your dad lately?"
Cassidy faltered. "No."
A heavy silence followed. Even Hermione, who always had a theory, looked uncertain.
"I read a book from one of the bookstores, too," Cassidy continued. "I found out something about the necklace. It has a name. Cor Verum. True Heart."
"True Heart?" Ron repeated, furrowing his brow. "What does that even mean?"
"It could have something to do with what Dumbledore said in first year," Harry said thoughtfully. "About how it amplified my true intentions when I went against Quirrell."
Cassidy snapped her fingers. "Exactly, Potter. Now we're getting somewhere. It also said it'd been lost to time or something. But my dad told me it's been in my family for years."
"Your family could've been hiding it." Hermione said carefully. "Maybe there's more to it than we realize."
Cassidy hesitated, her fingers instinctively brushing the pendant at her neck. "I mean... I guess that's possible," she admitted. "But if they were hiding it, why give it to me?"
"Maybe it's not as trustworthy as we think it is." Hermione lowered her voice, glancing at Cassidy's necklace like it could hear her.
Ron scoffed. "Come off it, Hermione. It's got us this far, hasn't it? It saved her life last year, remember?"
Hermione pursed her lips. "I know, but that doesn't mean it's entirely good. Artifacts like that always have a cost."
Cassidy's stomach twisted slightly at that, but she forced herself to shake it off. It's just a necklace. It had always protected her before.
Hadn't it?
As they got closer to the Gryffindor common room, the corridor felt off. A draft whistled through the air, and a crowd of students stood in front of them, all speaking in low tones. Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and some other students had caught up to them.
Seamus furrowed his brow. "Is it just me, or does something feel... wrong?"
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
"Neville probably forgot the password again," Ron muttered, scowling.
Before Cassidy could smack him for it—
"Hey!"
Neville had appeared behind them, face flushed from embarrassment.
Ron turned, startled. "Oh, you're there?" he said mockingly.
Cassidy rolled her eyes, reaching out to squeeze Neville's arm reassuringly. "Ignore him, Nev."
Neville gave her a grateful smile.
Ron scowled harder.
"Excuse me... excuse me, I'm HEAD BOY." Percy Weasley made his way to the commotion by shoving through a bunch of students quite pompously. Cassidy, who had thought him quite good-looking in her first year, nowadays thought he needed to take his head boy badge and shove it up his—
"Get back, all of you." Percy said lowly. Cassidy felt a shiver go up her spine. "No one is to enter this dormitory until it has been fully searched."
"What?" Cassidy breathed, trying to see over the heads of people ahead of her. Ginny Weasley suddenly appeared in front of them, eyes wide with fear.
"Ginny, what's happened?" Cassidy asked her, taking her by the shoulder.
"The Fat Lady, she's gone!" Ginny answered. Cassidy gasped softly, looking back up with the others as the other paintings murmured and panicked.
"Serves her right, she was a terrible singer." Ron scoffed, and Cassidy elbowed him.
"Ow!"
"It's not funny, Ron!" Hermione protested. Cassidy sighed and looked up at George Weasley, who was standing next to Fred higher up the stairs. He caught her eye and winked, causing her to smile and roll her eyes.
"Oi, can you stop flirting with my brother? We've got a real problem here." Ron said, scoffing as Dumbledore was seen coming up the stairs.
"A problem you made a joke about a moment ago." Cassidy hissed back. She kept her eyes on Dumbledore as they pushed forward to see the front of the portrait and Cassidy felt her breath catch.
The Fat Lady's portrait was in shreds. She was nowhere to be seen, and Dumbledore ran his fingers over the damaged portrait gingerly.
"Oh, Merlin, Black's coming for us now." Cassidy whispered solemnly, putting her hands together in prayer. Hermione smacked her hands down.
"Mr Filch, round up the ghosts. Let them search every painting in the castle and find the Fat Lady." Dumbledore said, speaking over the distant wails of another painting.
"There's no need for ghosts, Professor." Filch replied, looking elsewhere and pointing. "The Fat Lady's there." Cassidy looked toward where Filch was pointing, which was a smaller painting, not too far off.
Immediately, all the Gryffindors (plus Dumbledore and Filch) ran towards it, ignoring Percy's protests ("mind where you're going")! Cassidy almost stumbled, but was steadied quickly by George, and kept running towards the painting with the others.
They finally arrived at the painting, Dumbledore in the lead. The Fat Lady was sobbing behind the painting of a pig, mostly hiding from sight. Cassidy felt bad for screaming at her on the first night and breaking her glass, but more important things were at hand now.
"Dear Lady, who did this to you?" Dumbledore asked calmly.
She rose from behind the pig, whimpering miserably.
"Eyes like the Devil, he's got." She took a deep breath. "And a soul as dark as his name. It's him Headmaster, the one they all talk about, he's here somewhere in the castle. Sirius Black!"
The Fat Lady squealed in fear and hid behind the pig. Cassidy sighed, shaking her head.
"Maybe my mum should've sent me to Uagadou." She lamented, and George Weasley pushed her head.
"I assure you, Cassandra, last-minute transfers will not be necessary," Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling. He turned to Filch, a more serious expression on his face. "Secure the castle, Mr Filch. The rest of you! To the Great Hall!"
They all immediately obliged, the large crowd of students making their way down the stairs. Cassidy saw Harry standing there, still staring at the torn portrait, and took him by the shoulder gently.
"Come on." She said softly. He hesitated before nodding, following Cassidy, Ron and Hermione down the stairs.