Chapter 3
Once everyone is back from the holidays, the group goes to Hagrid’s to confront him about the Sorcerer’s Stone. The very second the others had told Cassia about him mentioning Nicholas Flamel, she knew it must involve the Stone. Remus had told her about it ages ago and they had joked about their old neighbor having used it since he looked ancient.
While they question Hagrid about Snape and the Stone, Cassia focuses on whatever is in the cauldron. She walks over to peer into it just before it starts to hit the sides of the cauldron and she jumps back at the sound. Hagrid scoops a large dragon egg out from over the fire. Cassia’s mouth falls open and she scrambles for a spot at the table. The dragon bursts from its egg. It toddles over on its unsteady legs and stops right in front of Cassia. She tilts her head at it before smiling, deciding that it’s cute and sticking her hand out to pet it. The dragon nuzzles into her hand and Hagrid laughs loudly, “Looks like Norbert’s taken a liking to ya,” Lifting her gaze from Norbert, Cassia faces the window and makes eye contact with Draco who is spying from outside. His eyes widen upon being caught and the rest of the group follows Cassia’s gaze to find him. He runs away once they notice him and they immediately leave Hagrid’s to try to get back to bed before being caught.
Draco, of course, told Professor McGonagall and now the five of them are standing in front of her desk. Cassia has her arms crossed and throws irritated looks at Draco who is beside her. He mouths “I’m sorry” to her but she just turns her head away. Finally, McGonagall says “All five of you will receive detention” and Cassia can’t help but giggle. Her hand quickly shoots up to her mouth to hide it. Draco nudges her, annoyed, which only makes her giggle harder. As Filch walks them out, she and Draco go back and forth about how she was rude for giggling but he was worse for ratting them out. Harry rolls his eyes at them and Ron mimics vomiting while Hermione just has a knowing grin on her face. Their banter is interrupted by Filch explaining their detention and Draco starts to freak out. “Students aren’t allowed. And there are… werewolves” he protests making Cassia flinch at his tone. Hagrid notices and offers her a comforting smile.
Having been raised by a werewolf, she’s always been very sensitive to common fear of them. The only werewolf anyone should be afraid of is Fenrir Greyback. He was the one that turned Remus and ever since learning about that, she has feared that he would come after her. He’s known for coming after children and has a vendetta against the Lupins. Remus has told her to not worry about it but how can she not?
Once in the forest, Hagrid splits them up. Cassia ends up with Harry, Draco, and Fang. “You wait ‘til my father hears about this” Draco complains and Cassia immediately snaps back “At least you have one,” Harry lets out a loud laugh and high-fives his sister leaving Draco looking embarrassed. They continue walking, a confident grin plastered on her face after humbling Draco. Suddenly she stops and reaches up to grab the scar on her neck, a sharp pain pulsating around it. Harry goes to ask her what’s wrong before the pain starts in his forehead. A creature in front of them lifts its cloaked head making Draco scream and run. The figure starts toward the twins and Cassia reacts faster. She puts herself in front of her brother and pulls her wand out. It gets closer and Cassia panics, not knowing any spells to cast against whatever this is. Hooves quickly sound in the distance, getting closer before fending off the creature. A centaur now stands in front of them and Harry looks stunned.
“Potters, you must leave,” The centaur urges and tells them it is horribly unsafe in the forest. He explains that the figure they saw was Voldemort and he was drinking the unicorn’s blood to regain strength. Before he can say any more, Hagrid, Hermione, and Ron approach with Draco in the front directing them to where he left the Potters. Cassia puts her wand away and joins them. “I think you scream higher than I do,” she teases Draco and he tells her to shut up with a smile on his face, relieved to see she’s alright.
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The four of them meet in the Gryffindor common room after everyone else has gone to sleep. Or at least they thought. Neville stands by the door, having predicted that they were going to sneak out again and lose points. Cassia tries to reason with him, explaining that they’re only trying to help. Before she can finish, Hermione casts petrifucus totalus, effectively petrifying the poor boy long enough for them to leave. “‘Mione, I was working on it” she scolds, hating using magic unnecessarily.
Cassia goes through the door first, this being her first and hopefully last time entering this room. The sound of a harp fills the air and they find that someone has already been through here and enchanted it to keep Fluffy asleep. After moving the dog’s paw off the trap door, the room goes completely silent and a large drop of slobber falls onto Ron's shoulder. With one large growl from Fluffy, they all climb through the hatch and land in a thick layer of Devil’s Snare. Hermione and Cassia quickly realize what it is and relax before sliding through and landing on their feet. They try to explain to the boys that they have to relax and Harry does so but Ron continues to panic. Hermione quickly remembers a herbology trick she read and casts a large flash of sunlight, forcing the plant to release Ron.
They walk further into the chambers, following a growing buzzing sound. Through another door, they find a room full of flying keys, a broomstick, and a locked door. Ron tries to unlock the door but is unsuccessful. Harry finds the key needed but has to fly in order to get it. He mounts the broomstick and is immediately swarmed by all of the keys in the room. Once he catches it, he tosses it to Cassia and she fits it into the door, freeing them from the room. Just outside, they walk onto a lifesized wizard chessboard. The pawns won’t let them pass so they have to play. Ron - being the wizard chess expert - assigns everyone their roles. Harry goes to a bishop's square, Hermione takes a castle’s spot, Cassia is sent to be the king, and Ron is a knight. “She can’t be the king! If we lose, they’ll take her out” Harry freaks out but Cassia just shrugs. “Then don’t lose” Her cheeky smile makes Harry more frustrated but the match starts so they can’t change anything now.
Turn after turn, pieces are shattered sending debris flying. Cassia stands protected behind a line of pawns that are slowly dwindling with each move. She prays Ron knows what he’s doing. The other queen demolishes a piece in front of Harry and he gets a better look at the board. Ron nods, knowing Harry has figured out his plan. “Once I make my move, the queen will take me. Then you’re free to check the king,” Ron explains and Cassia shakes her head, understanding what he’s going to do. “No. Ron, no!” Harry shouts leaving Hermione confused. “He’s going to sacrifice himself,” Harry tells her and she starts to protest too. “He has to. It’s the only way we can win. It’s the only way to get past” Cassia says calmly, knowing that Ron’s going to do it either way. Ron gives her a soft smile, thanking her for backing him up. He calls out, “Knight to H-3” and his horse moves to the space. The queen turns and swiftly plunges its sword into the knight piece making Ron tumble to the ground. Harry makes his move, ending the game, and they all rush over to Ron. The twins send Hermione to go get help as they continue through the chambers.
The next room is completely empty. A foul stench is the only notable feature of the room and Cassia quickly identifies the smell. “The troll. It must have escaped from this chamber” Harry agrees and they run to the next chamber, purple flames igniting behind them once they pass the door. Seven bottles sit in front of them and just behind the bottles is a line of black flames. Cassia squats down and grabs a piece of paper from the ground. It reads:
Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,
One among us seven will let you move ahead,
Another will transport the drinker back instead,
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:
First, however slyly the poison tries to hide
You will always find some on nettle wine’s left side;
Second, different are those who stand at either end,
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;
Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;
Fourth, the second left and the second on the right
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.
She reads it over and over again, slowly ruling out different bottles as she goes. Deciding the red and black bottles are not the potion, she moves them back. Once she gets about halfway through, Harry urges her to hurry up. “Fine!” She huffs in annoyance and picks up the bottles, smelling each of them. “Poison, wine, potion, poison, poison, wine, potion” She lists off confidently but Harry doubts her. Ready to move on, Cassia picks up the red and black bottles, downing them both. “Look, not dead and not flame retardant. Can we get a move on?” she tosses the blue bottle to Harry and he drinks half of it, letting her have the rest, still giving her a confused look. “I've been taking extra potions lessons with Snape. I got good at it” She explains with a shrug and walks through the black flames, taking the purple bottle with her.
They walk down a large staircase that leads to a room with the Mirror of Erised. Professor Quirrel stands in front of it and turns around when they enter. He explains all of the strange things that have happened this year. As he talks, Cassia looks around the room, trying to determine what must be done to fool Quirrel. He calls Harry up, giving her the chance to pocket the stone from the mirror while Harry distracts Quirrel. As he unwraps his turban, Cassia shouts “Harry, run!” and they both take off for the stairs. A hissing voice calls out, “Stop her. She has the stone” and suddenly a wall of flames blocks the twins from leaving. She turns back to face the evil-turned professor only to be met with a strange face on the back of his head. It speaks of their parents and while it’s focused on her, Harry steals it from Cassia but he isn’t sneaky enough. Quirrel charges him, trying to kill him. At the last moment, Harry tosses the stone to his sister and she catches it, putting it back in her pocket and running over to Harry. Quirrel’s hand seems to crumble from Harry’s touch so Cassia gets an idea and punches him directly in the side of the head. It turns to ash on impulse and the twins freeze for a moment, unsure of what really just happened. In their confused state, they don’t notice the odd ghostly figure flying from the ashes until it’s too late. It flies through them, knocking them to the ground.
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Cassia sits up groggily in a hospital bed to find gifts on the table beside her and a blond-headed boy asleep in a chair with his head resting at the foot of the bed. Her movement wakes him up and he smiles wide at her. Leaning down, he picks up a large box off the floor and hands it to her. “I had my mum send these for you. She made them herself instead of the elves,” He says and she opens the box to reveal dozens of pumpkin pasties. She looks at him with an even wider smile “These are my favorite!” He nods and reaches into the box, grabbing one for himself. “I know. You always take some with you after dinner” Cassia blushes and turns her head to try to hide it. Draco excuses himself so he’s gone before Harry wakes up, leaving the hospital wing with the biggest grin anyone has seen on the face of Draco Malfoy.
Harry wakes up soon after Draco has left, prompting Dumbledore to enter. The headmaster nods toward the box of pasties and asks “Narcissa Malfoy?” with a knowing smirk and Cassia nods. He then makes a comment about Ron having opened all of their chocolate frogs making Harry perk up, asking if they’re alright. “Yes, yes. They’re both just fine,” Dumbledore reassures, making both twins relax. He further explains that the stone was destroyed just as Madam Pomfrey comes in to tell them they’re free to leave for the feast.
The Weasley twins celebrated Cassia’s return when she entered the Great Hall and she had to tell them she just left the hospital wing so they were not, in fact, allowed to throw her in the air. She sits beside them as Dumbledore announces the standings for the House Cup. When he says that Slytherin won, she offers a small smile to Draco who pauses his celebration to look at her and smile back. The entire celebration is stopped, though, when Dumbledore interrupts with more points to award. Cassia cheers loudly as her friends and brother are given points for each of their strengths but she is quickly silent when her name is called out. “To Miss Cassia Potter for noble recklessness and loyalty in the face of criticism, I award 60 more points to Gryffindor House” Draco makes eye contact during the second reason with an exaggerated cocky smirk and she rolls her eyes laughing. “Assuming my calculations are correct, I believe a change in decoration is in order” Dumbledore claps and the banners change to Gryffindor, leading to an uproar at their table. The Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables join in, just happy that it’s not Slytherin again.