Dear Diary,
I am Cassiopeia Black. I was given this diary as a gift from my mother a day after I was sorted into Slytherin House. It is my first day of school and I am already immensely bored. I tried to keep in line with my studies, but it seems I am far too advanced for these imbeciles I attend classes with...including my cousin, Callidora Black. I have been listening to these Professors prattle on about what they expect of us, and it seems no one has grasped the concept of paying attention. In History of Magic, the Professor completely ignored us while he began teaching. He didn't even explain his syllabus to us, however, after looking around, I discovered it was written on the board behind him. He apparently expects more from these First Years than the rest of the staff. Even though he began teaching the class as early as the first day, most of the students couldn't help but be more obnoxious, making it impossible to pay attention to the Professor.
I'm so glad it's lunch right now. I am so tired of dealing with my classmates and their lack of decorum. Every time we sit in class I feel as if the clock on the wall seems to be ticking backwards, instead of forward, as the time just continues to go on and on. Will these shenanigans continue, or will we actually get to accomplish something within the next few days?
I'm so tired of Callidora. Every time I attempt to sit in the seat furthest away from her, she manages to steal the seat next to mine. Doesn't she realize I do not like her? Sure, I'm civil when it comes to speaking to her, but does she not comprehend that I am attempting to avoid her at all personal costs? Oh no...she's coming-
"There you are, Cassiopeia. I have been looking everywhere for you. Don't you know it's lunch time? We have to go to the Great Hall," Callidora spoke as she placed her hands against her hips. "Where is your escort, Pollux? I thought he was required to find you and escort you to all of your classes?" Callidora asked as she sat down across from Cassiopeia.
Oh, why now? The bane of my existence has come to haunt me. Cassiopeia smiled as she looked up from her diary, closing it's pages. "I asked Pollux to drop me off here because I wanted to get ahead in my classes. I believe he is in the stacks looking for a book he requires for one of his classes. I did not ask. Where is your escort, Callidora?"
"Oh...well..." Callidora began but Cassiopeia stood up as she shook her head.
"You dared to drill me about my escort, when you lost your own," Cassiopeia said sweetly, but she was being quite sarcastic and it could be read in her green eyes.
"I...you caught me," Callidora said as she shrugged her shoulders.
"You need to act more like a lady, Callidora," Cassiopeia seethed as she stormed into the stacks. "Pollux?"
"Yes, Cassie?" Pollux replied as he appeared from behind the stacks, "Is there anything I can help you with?"
"Can you please escort Callidora to the Great Hall?" Cassiopeia pleaded with her brother.
"I could but I cannot leave you here alone. You will have to come with us, Cassie," Pollux stated as he linked arms with his sister. "She is being as annoying as she is at the annual family ball, isn't she?"
"Yes..." Cassiopeia whispered back into her brother's ear before finding themselves in the study hall of the library where she had left Callidora.
"Callidora?" Pollux inquired, looking around for her, as she seemed to have disappeared once again.
"Oh...Pullox, you really are here," Callidora said as she waved her hand in front of her face, feigning the need to breath.
Cassiopeia refrained from rolling her eyes at Callidora's theatrics. "Let's go to the Great Hall, Callidora."
"Oh, alright," Callidora said as she smiled, walking beside Cassiopeia and Pollux as he escorted them to the Great Hall for lunch. They still had
enough time to sit casually and eat before heading to their next class.
Cassiopeia grudgingly sat next to Callidora as Pollux sat on her other side. Luckily, Callidora remained silent as she picked at her food, not consuming much of what appeared on her plate.
Cassiopeia merely kept all her inner dialogue to herself as she ate silently.
When the bell chimed, indicating lunch was over, Callidora's escort came and retrieved her. It was quite a sight to see. The boy was scolding her as much as Cassiopeia had wanted to do.
"It seems we've slipped away from her, for now, so what class are you attending next, Cassie?"
"Transfiguration with Professor Dumbledore," Cassiopeia responded as they both stood up. She placed her arm in her brother's when he offered his own.
"You will like that class. It teaches you how to transform one thing into another," Pollux stated softly.
"I know," Cassiopeia responded, shaking her head as he lead the way through the halls, up the stairs and to Professor Dumbledore's classroom.
"You will have a good time in school, I promise you that, Cassie," Pollux stated as he opened the Transfiguration Classroom door for her.
"Oh look, Calli has chosen her seat. You have the ability to sit away from her now," Pollux stated as he pointed out the fact Callidora was already sitting with a different Slytherin girl she did not know.
"Things are starting to look better and better," Cassiopeia smiled as she walked to the Slytherin side of the class and chose a seat closer to the front of the room.
-I'm back, Diary, now that I can actually write. I am finally not sitting next to Callidora. I can finally tell you about her idiotic tendencies. Can you believe she went off without an escort, just because she couldn't find me in the Great Hall during lunch? Being part of the Black Family is becoming more and more of a hassle, the more I have to deal with the cousins of our family. I sincerely hope they do not expect me to marry any of them. Seriously, I wish I was part of a happier family. Our family blasts people off the Family Tapestry if they are unliked, a squib or a blood-traitor. What will they make of me when I refuse to marry?
Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. The Black Family is a huge lineage of forced unhappiness, due to pride and prejudice. I am unhappy that my brother Marius was kicked from the family, he was my little brother. I took care of him until they determined him unfit to be in our family. Now he's gone. Where, I will never know. I miss him. I hate our family. I hate our rules. It's just ridiculous. Oh, I best be going. Professor Dumbledore has entered the room-
Professor Dumbledore entered the room with a smile on his face, wearing a bright yellow robe that clearly clashed with his bright auburn hair. He smiled as he saw all the shocked faces around the room. "Hello, Class, I'm Professor Albus Dumbledore and this," He broke off as his robes changed from the obnoxious yellow to a dark red, like the color of his house. The strangest thing about it was that the style of his clothing had also changed. At first, he had only been wearing plain yellow robes and now he wore an extravagant piece of craftsmanship, which had hints of alchemy symbols along the sleeves and hemlines in gold. Cassiopeia looked up as Professor Dumbledore continued, "this is Transfiguration. I will be teaching you things like how to change a mouse into a tea cup."
The class had been stunned silent. It was the most dramatic effect any Professor had ever had on a class before. He demanded attention without shouting or showing his dominance over the class. It was quite refreshing. The class, itself, was a reiteration of what the other Professors had said throughout the day - the requirements of the class, what he expected of the class. However, towards the end of the class, he left it open for students to ask him questions.
"Yes...Mr. Potter, what question might you have?" Professor Dumbledore asked as the boy raised his hands.
"What is your position on war?" Mr. Potter asked promptly, with a smile on his face.
"Why are you bringing this up, Mr. Potter?" Professor Dumbledore asked quickly.
"Because of the fact Grindelwald has started to gather men to destroy towns across Europe, sir," Mr. Potter stated clearly.
Professor Dumbledore sighed as he took a seat upon his desk. "Oh, yes, Grindelwald." It seemed as if he stated the name in a tone unrecognizable to the student body, a tone that lacked any life, no anger, no regret and no life. Devoid of emotion. "I feel as though as us older men declare war but it is you youth that must fight and die. Grindelwald seems to be a man who hides behind his followers, like a coward who seeks to control the world like chess pieces."
Another hand raised, immediately, by another student Cassiopeia didn't know by name.
"Yes, Ms. Bulstrode?" Professor Dumbledore asked confidently.
"I thought you and Mr. Grindelwald were friends..." the blond girl stated, standing up to speak.
"Only briefly, my dear. So briefly that we can only be called mere acquaintances," Professor Dumbledore answered swiftly. "Anyone have any questions related to Transfiguration?"
Cassiopeia smiled as she raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Black, in the front row?" Professor Dumbledore smiled.
"When will we begin to practice the spells taught in this class." Cassiopeia smiled back to Professor Dumbledore.
"Ah, very good question. It will all depend on how fast your classmates are on learning the content of this class, Miss Black," Professor Dumbledore stated.
"Oh...yes, I forgot to hand out the written Syllabus. How forgetful of me," Professor Dumbledore stated as he clapped his hands and pieces of parchment, with the syllabus written on them, appeared in front of each student who was attending the class before the bell rang to dismiss the class.
-I'm back, only briefly, but I wanted to mention I immensely enjoyed meeting Professor Dumbledore and I was surprised about the boldness of two of my classmates asking such personal questions about our professor. The first question struck me as odd since a Gryffindor had asked him his position on war. The second person didn't surprise me as much because she was a Slytherin, but why would she bring up the fact he was friends with Grindelwald at a time like this? Couldn't she see the lack of emotion in his eyes? I'm completely recalculating how long it will take my class to learn the theory of our classes. I was expecting them to know the moment we entered the doors of Hogwarts, but it seems no one truly studied before their first day of school. It's despicable that I am a peer to these people. I simply wish that I could be in the same class with my brother, Pollux. At least I know he is somewhat more intelligent than these imbeciles I'm attending classes with on a daily basis. WHY DO I HAVE TO BE WITH THEM? Can I not test out of some of these classes and go into a different level? Oh, My brother's here to escort me to my last class. Bye for now.
"Oh, Pollux, you were right about this class. It was immensely enjoyable." Cassiopeia smiled as she closed her diary, grabbed her syllabus and walked to him.
"I told you that you would, Cassie," Pollux said as he offered his arm to his sister. "I'm so glad you enjoyed it. So what class do you have next?"
"Herbology in Greenhouse number four, Pollux," She said as he lead her around the school, going down the stairs and heading for the greenhouses, outside of the castle.
"You may or may not enjoy this class, Cassie. I'm not sure how you feel about getting your hands dirty. I know Callidora will freak," Pollux stated snidely as he made his little sister laugh.
"Oh! I could just see her face if she got dirt underneath her nail. She would be a total mess," Cassiopeia stated frankly as she giggled behind her free hand that she covered her mouth with.
"Please tell me every explicit detail. Burn it into your memory. I would love to see the look on her face when she realizes she has to get her hands dirty," Pollux stated as she continued to giggle, just thinking about what he said.
"Ok, brother. I promise," Cassiopeia stated as he escorted her across the lawn to the greenhouses.
"Here we are, Cassie. These our the Hogwarts Greenhouses, and number one is the one we just passed, and this is number four." Pollux stated as he halted them in their tracks before the second greenhouse.
"That doesn't make sense," Cassiopeia stated as she looked at her brother in question.
"It will take some getting used to because the numbers in Hogwarts aren't very logical," Pollux stated as he patted her head. "Now be good and please burn the image to your mind so I can see your memory."
"I will brother, trust me." Cassiopeia smiled as she left her brother's side and entered the greenhouse to find only a few classmates, including her cousin, Callidora.
"What is this...dirt? No, this is ridiculous. This cannot be a required class. It simply cannot be a requirement, can it?" Callidora was already whining about the dirt and she hasn't even touched it.
"But it is," Cassiopeia replied as she walked over to Callidora, "Now be quiet and act like a lady."
"But I am acting like one. No lady would ever touch...this-this dirt," Callidora whined.
Cassiopeia shook her head as she took a seat on the stool.
"Good Afternoon, class. How is everyone this afternoon?" spoke the most fascinating beauty Cassiopeia had ever seen. She had long blonde hair, and fierce green eyes like she had never seen. She was wearing light green robes that were as light and elegant as she appeared.
"No way!" Callidora responded as she saw their Professor for the first time.
"What is going on, Miss Black?" The Professor asked softly.
"I cannot argue that a lady doesn't get her hands dirty, if you get yours dirty, Professor," Callidora stated as she sat back down on her stool.
"Ah, that. I simply do not see why you would think that way, Miss Black. It's a huge misconception for our generation to think in terms like those. Women have been tending to gardens since the time of the Four Founders of Hogwarts, Helga being the first Herbologist to teach this class."
The class, again, was a repetition of what was expected to be seen and the discussion of the syllabus. No one got their hands dirty today and Cassiopeia was slightly disappointed by that fact, as the look on Callidora's face would have been priceless if she actually had to put her fingers in the dirt. The class ended quite smoothly, the bell chiming to declare the end of the day. Cassiopeia pulled out her diary as she waited for the arrival of her brother to escort her back to the common room for the break between the last class and dinner.
-I was expecting more of a reaction from Callidora when she learned she had to put her precious hands in the dirt for Herbology but, since we did not have to place our hands in the dirt today, it wasn't as hilarious as I imagined it would be. I simply cannot wait to see the look on her face, when she actually has to get her hands dirty. It will be so priceless and will forever be burned in the back of my mind for eternity. Oh, it looks like Pollux is here already, what a strange surprise.
"So...how did it go?" Pollux goaded his sister for answers.
"Not as hilarious as we were expecting but still priceless when she realized she has to put her hands in dirt at some point. I cannot wait to burn the memory of her actually placing her hands in the dirt into my mind," Cassiopeia stated as she giggled behind her hand.
"You must share that memory with me later. I want to see it all," Pollux stated as he walked leisurely back to their dorm.
"I promise you, brother, it's not much to see but I will share it with you." Cassiopeia smiled, as they arrived at the dorm and Cassiopeia found herself alone in her, thankfully private, dorm room. She had pressured her father into paying the extra cash to receive her own room away from Callidora.
-Free at last. The day is nearly over and everything seemed to move smoothly after witnessing Callidora's outrage in Herbology. I am quite fond of my memory of her shouting that she couldn't possibly place her fingers into the dirt. Obviously she didn't say it that way but it was hilarious, all the same. I think I will bid you farewell until tomorrow, Diary. Overall, I had a good day, when I think back on it.
Thanks for listening,
Cassiopeia Black