Cassie barely glanced at Malfoy as he sat next to her halfway through double Potions.

"How is it, Draco?" Pansy asked worriedly, seeing the sling. "Does it hurt much?"

"Yeah," said Draco, putting on a brave sort of grimace.

Cassie gave him a sharp glance, and he immediately shut up.

They were making a new potion today, a Shrinking Solution.

Malfoy shifted his cauldron right next to Harry and Ron, directly in front of Cassie, so that they were preparing their ingredients on the same table.

"Sir," Draco called, "Sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots because of my arm—"

"Weasley, cut up Draco's roots for him," said Snape without looking up. Ron went brick red.

"There's nothing wrong with your arm," he hissed at Draco.

"Weasley, you heard Professor Snape; cut up these roots." Ron seized his knife, pulled Malfoy's roots toward him, and began to chop them roughly, so that they were all different sizes. "Professor," drawled Draco, "Weasley's mutilating my roots, sir."

Cassie rolled her eyes.

Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots, then gave Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his long, greasy black hair.

"Change roots with Malfoy, Weasley."

"But, sir—!" Cassie chuckled slightly. She had seen Ron spend the last quarter of an hour carefully shredding his own roots into exactly equal pieces.

"Now," said Snape in his most dangerous voice. Ron shoved his own beautifully cut roots across the table at Malfoy, then took up the knife again.

"And, sir, I'll need this shrivelfig skinned," said Malfoy, his voice full of malicious laughter. "Potter, you can skin Malfoy's shrivelfig," said Snape, giving Harry the look of loathing he always reserved just for him.

Harry took Malfoy's shrivelfig as Ron began trying to repair the damage to the roots he now had to use. Harry skinned the shrivelfig as fast as he could and flung it back across the table at Malfoy without speaking.

Malfoy was smirking more broadly than ever. "Seen your pal Hagrid lately?" he asked them quietly.

"None of your business," said Ron jerkily, without looking up.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," said Malfoy in a tone of mock sorrow. "Father's not very happy about my injury—"

"I'm gonna give him a real injury soon if he doesn't stop talking," Cassie growled to Theo, stirring her potion, which was acid green.

"—he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this—"

—he gave a huge, fake sigh—

"who knows if my arm will ever be the same again?" 

"So that's why you're putting it on," said Harry, accidentally beheading a dead caterpillar because his hand was shaking in anger.  "To try to get Hagrid fired."

"Well," said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, "partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me."

A few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Neville regularly went to pieces in Potions lessons; it was his worst subject, and his great fear of Professor Snape made things ten times worse. His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing it to splash back into the cauldron so that everyone could see.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate that thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice? What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Neville was pink and trembling. He looked as though he were on the verge of tears. "Please, sir," said Hermione.

"Please, I could help Neville put it right."

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville.

"Longbottom, at the end of this lesson, we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly."

Snape moved away, leaving Neville breathless with fear.

"Help me!" he moaned to Hermione.

Cassie poured her ingredients into the potion and left it to simmer, returning to the conversation in front.

"Hey, Harry," said Seamus Finnigan, leaning over to borrow Harry's brass scales, "have you heard? Daily Prophet, this morning, they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted."

The news caught Cassie's attention, and she felt Theo's gaze on her as her hands clenched. She leaned forward.

"Where?" said Harry and Ron quickly. On the other side of the table, Malfoy looked up, listening closely.

"Not too far from here," said Seamus, who looked excited.

"It was a Muggle who saw him.' Of course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she called the telephone hotline.

By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he was gone."

"Not too far from here..." Ron repeated, looking significantly at Harry. He turned around and saw Malfoy watching closely. Cassie pretended not to pay attention.

"What, Malfoy? Need something else skinned?"

But Malfoy's eyes were shining malevolently, and they were fixed, Harry.

He leaned across the table. "Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Harry offhandedly.

Malfoy's thin mouth was curving in a mean smile.

"Of course, if it were me," he said quietly, "I'd have done something before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy; I'd be out there looking for him."

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" said Ron roughly. "Don't you know, Potter?" breathed Malfoy, his pale eyes narrowing.

"Draco!" Cassie interfered, her voice sharp. "No!" she said warningly.

"What are you talking about?" Harry said angrily

"Listen, Potter. It's better if you don't know." Cassie said coolly.

"why?"

"You gryffindors are dumber than a rock. If you know the truth, you'll chase after him."

At that moment, Snape called, "You should have finished adding your ingredients by now. This potion needs to stew before it can be drunk, so clear away while it simmers, and then we'll test Longbottom's."

Crabbe and Goyle laughed openly, watching Neville sweat as he stirred his potion feverishly. Hermione was muttering instructions to him out of the corner of her mouth so that Snape wouldn't see.

Cassie and Theo walked, packed away their unused ingredients, and went to wash their hands.

At the end of the lesson in sight, Snape strode over to Neville, who was cowering by his cauldron.

"Everyone gather 'round," said Snape, his black eyes glittering, and watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a shrinking solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned."

The gryffindors watched fearfully. The Slytherins looked excited. Cassie looked uninterested, her mind pondering over the new fact. Sirius Black was near. She took her bag and walked toward the door.

The gryffindors burst into applause. Surprisingly, Neville managed to produce a decent potion.

Cassie glanced at Snape, who looked sour, pulled a small bottle from the pocket of his robe, poured a few drops on top of Trevor, and he reappeared suddenly, fully grown.

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape. "I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed."

Cassie chuckled slightly before heading towards the great hall.

************************

"Black," a voice called from behind, right outside the great hall.

Cassie turned around, her smirk in place, eyeing the three gryffindors that approached her.

"Potter," she snided.

"What did Malfoy mean by that?" Potter immediately asked

Cassie fixed Harry with a steely glare. "As I told you before, it's better if you don't know... As much as I don't care if you die, it's for your safety," she said, her voice low and controlled.

Harry's expression hardened. "I'm not afraid of your murderer father," he stated cruelly.

Cassie's glare intensified, her fists clenched at her sides. "You should be," she replied sharply. "But now is not the time nor the place for this conversation."

"I'll tell you, but not today," she stated.

Before Harry could press further, Theo arrived, casting a discreet glance at the group. "Need some help, Cassie?"

Cassie shook her head. With a final glance at Harry, Cassie turned on her heel and walked off towards the Great Hall.

*************************

Professor Lupin wasn't there when they arrived at his first Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson. They all sat down and took out their books, quills, and parchment. Pansy was attempting to make a conversation with Cassie, who just stared off, pointedly ignoring her.

When he finally entered the room, Lupin smiled vaguely and placed his tatty old briefcase on the teacher's desk. He was as shabby as ever but looked healthier than he had on the train, as though he had had a few square meals.

"Peasant," Draco coughed pointedly. The Slytherins broke into hysterics.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags? Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. They had never had a practical defense against the dark arts before.

"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready.

"If you'd follow me." Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.

Cassie waved at Peeves, who gave her a salute.

Astonishingly, Cassie was Peeves' favorite student, perhaps because of the reputation of Sirius as a prankster and Cassie helping Peeves out of tight situations a few times, aiding them in pranking Filch.

Peeves looked up to Professor Lupin, who was two feet away, then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song.

"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin--"

Cassie snorted loudly.

Everyone looked at her, then quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this. To their surprise, he was still smiling.

"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get into his brooms."

However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words except to blow a loud, wet raspberry.

Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand. "This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely."

He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves. With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright.

"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement. "Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again.

"Ae!" Cassie snapped, upset.

"Miss Cassie," Peeved wailed, floating down to her.

"Fora chiclete," Cassie immediately obliged, causing the gum to shoot back out.

"Now, Peeves, I heard Filch is going to clean the third floor today... do use that useful little trick I taught," she smirked.

"Ae Ae, ma'am," Peeves saluted her and gave Lupin a dirty look before leaving.

Lupin looked at her with a slight surprise before shrugging off.

"Shall we proceed?"

He led them down a second corridor and stopped right outside the staffroom door. "Inside, please," said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back.

Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering, and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth.

As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this."

He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway, he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear." Neville went scarlet.

Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows. "I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably."

Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.

"Now, then," said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall.

"Nothing to worry about," said Professor Lupin calmly, because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a boggart in there."

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Professor Lupin. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks—I've even met one that lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third year some practice.

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, What is a boggart?"

Granger put up her hand. "It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most."

"So the boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. "This means," said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror.

"that we have a huge advantage over the boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?"

"Er, because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be."

"Precisely," said Professor Lupin.

The charm that repels a boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a boggart is laughter.

What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. "We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please, Riddikulus!"

"Riddikulus!" said the class together.

"This class is ridiculous," Draco snorted, causing the Slytherins to chuckle.

"Good," said Professor Lupin, ignoring the disturbance.

"Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville."

The wardrobe shook again, though not as much as Neville, who walked forward as though he were heading for the gallows.

"Right, Neville," said Professor Lupin. "First things first: what would you say is the thing that frightens you most in the world?"

Neville looked around rather wildly, as though begging someone to help him, then said, in barely more than a whisper, "Professor Snape." Nearly everyone laughed.

Professor Lupin looked thoughtful. "Professor Snape... hmmm... Neville, I believe you live with your grandmother?" "Er, yes," said Neville nervously.

"When the boggart bursts out of this wardrobe, Neville, and sees you, it will assume the form of Professor Snape," said Lupin. "And you will raise your wand—thus—and cry 'Riddikulus'—and concentrate hard on your grandmother's clothes. If all goes well, Professor Boggart Snape will be forced into your grandmother's clothes."

There was a great shout of laughter. The wardrobe wobbled more violently. "If Neville is successful, the boggart is likely to shift his attention to each of us in turn."

Cassie hadn't quite thought about what her greatest fear was. Theo was muttering something about a dark mark.

She knew. Most of the Slytherins' fear was becoming death eaters.

"Everyone ready?" said Professor Lupin.

Cassie wasn't. She couldn't pinpoint what her fear was.

"Neville, we're going to back away," said Professor Lupin. "Let you have a clear field, all right? I'll call the next person forward. Everyone is back now, so Neville can get a clear shot."

They all retreated, backed against the walls, leaving Neville alone beside the wardrobe. He looked pale and frightened, but he had pushed up the sleeves of his robes and was holding his wand ready.

"On the count of three, Neville," said Professor Lupin, who was pointing his own wand at the handle of the wardrobe. "One, two, three, now!"

The wardrobe burst open. Hook-nosed and menacing, Professor Snape stepped out, his eyes flashing at Neville.

Neville backed away, his wand up, mouthing wordlessly. Snape was bearing down upon him, reaching inside his robes.

"R -- r -- riddikulus!" squeaked Neville. There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag.

There was a roar of laughter; the boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!"

Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy.

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati. A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin. Seamus darted past Parvati. Crack! Where the mummy had been was a woman with floor-length black hair and a skeletal, green-tinged face—a banshee.

"Riddikulus!" shouted Seamus. The banshee made a rasping noise and clutched her throat. Her voice was gone.

"Excellent! Ron, you next!" Ron leaped forward. Quite a few people screamed. A giant spider, six feet tall and covered in hair, was advancing on Ron, clicking its pincers menacingly.

"Riddikulus!" bellowed Ron, and the spider's legs vanished; it rolled over and over.

Some of the gryffindors pushed Cassie to the front of the line. Almost everyone stepped back a little, waiting to see what the Black Heiress's biggest fear would be.

Cassie stood ready, her wand in hand. The rolling spider head shifted into a form—something she wasn't expecting.

Her father.

Sirius Black.

The class immediately let out gasps and shrieks.

The first thing Cassie noticed was that he looked slightly younger.

"I never wanted you. You were a mistake."

"No," Cassie whispered.

"You will never be my daughter. That is why I deserted."

"Riddikulus," Cassie interrupted, her voice filled with anger.

Immediately, the Sirius Black boggart changed, but not into something funny. Something gruesome.

Sirius lay dead on the ground, an emerald dagger piercing his chest. Blood pooled around him.

Cassie let out a shout of laughter.

Everyone else was mortified, including Lupin, who looked at Cassie worryingly, who was still laughing.

Next was Potter. He raised his wand, ready, but

"Here!" shouted Professor Lupin suddenly, hurrying forward. Crack! The dead Sirius had vanished. For a second, everyone looked wildly around to see where it was.

Then they saw a silvery-white orb hanging in the air in front of Lupin, who said, "Riddikulus!" almost lazily.

Crack!

"Forward, Neville, and finish him off!" said Lupin as the boggart landed on the floor as a cockroach. Crack!

Snape was back. This time, Neville charged forward, looking determined. "Riddikulus!" he shouted, and they had a split second's view of Snape in his lacy dress before Neville let out a great "Ha!" of laughter.

and the boggart exploded, burst into a thousand tiny wisps of smoke, and was gone.

"Excellent!" cried Professor Lupin as the class broke into applause, some of them still quite shaken at the sight of the dead Sirius and Cassie laughing.

"Excellent Neville. Well done, everyone.

Let me see... five points for every person to tackle the boggart—ten for Neville because he did it twice... and five each to Hermione and Harry."

"Very well, everyone. It was an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on boggarts and summarize it for me, to be handed in on Monday. That will be all."

"Cassie? Are you alright?" Pansy immediately wrapped her arms around her, muttering a string of apologies.

"I'm fine," Cassie muttered, pushing her off. "Where is Draco?"

"Uh, he left with Blaise," Pansy said.

"Of course he did," Theo scoffed.

"Oh, come on guys, can't you wrap up this fight? Hogsmeade is coming up," she squealed excitedly.

*************

However, to Pansy's disappointment, the fight continued. Draco and Cassie weren't acknowledging each other, while Blaise, Pansy, and Theo were in the middle, trying to resolve the conflict.

The next week was pretty much the same.

Lupin's next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed, and Kappas, creepy water-dwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds.

Meanwhile, Potions class was as uninteresting as ever. Snape was in a particularly vindictive mood those days, and no one was in any doubt why. The story of the boggart assuming Snape's shape and the way Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes had traveled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn't seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin's name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever.

The news about Cassie's boggart spread too, and everyone was looking at her like she was some kind of manic psycho.

Cassie dreaded divination. Trelawny was mortified by her, so she didn't say much, but some of the other Gryffindors were honestly so irritating.

Especially those two idiots, Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, who had taken to haunting Professor Trelawney's tower room at lunch times and always returned with annoyingly superior looks on their faces. Worse, they started spreading rumors about her.

Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class, had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence.

Draco was busy with Quidditch practice, so there was no chance of resolving the fight.

*****************

Halloween arrived, and the whole Slytherin House buzzed excitedly about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend. Cassie would have been more excited if Draco was talking to her; it just wasn't the same without him.

"Ae!" Draco's pained voice cut through the chatter.

Cassie looked up to see Theo and Blaise dragging him towards her.

"Enough. You two. Resolve this," Blaise said, pushing Draco into the armchair in front of Cassie.

Cassie snorted slightly, looking expectantly at Draco, who still had bandages on.

"Uhm, Cassie--"

"You are a complete fucking asshole, Malfoy," Cassie interrupted.

Draco winced and looked up, only to find Cassie grinning.

"Fuckin hell, you scared the shit out of me," he said, chortling.

Pansy sniffed.

"There's nothing to cry about!" Blaise remarked.

"You all are idiots!" Pansy wailed, flinging her arms over Cassie and Draco in a group hug.

"It looks like we aren't needed, Blaise," Theo remarked.

"You both are idiots too!" Pansy added, dragging them in.

"Enough, Pansy," Cassie winced, pulling back.

"We can finally go to Hogsmeade together!" Pansy squealed. "And it's almost time."

Cassie glanced at her watch.

"Meet me here in 5"

********************

The houses were pretty surprised when they saw the infamous slytherin gang together again

i think. we should do Hogsmeade outfits 

I HAVE ABSOLUTELY 0 FASHION SENSE SO YALL CAN JSUT IMAGIN SMTH ELSE IF U DONT LIKE IT

Cassie wore an oversized black leather jacket with black smoked out eyeliner   McGonagall choked up slightly when she saw...cos Sirius too used to dress the same

PANSYY

I cant imagine boys. lmao just imaging them lookng super hot in shirts or smth

Hogsmeade was as enthralling as Regulus had told her about.

Blaise insisted they all go to Honeydukes, so that's what they did.

There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable: creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-colored toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows; a large barrel of Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizbees, the levitating sherbet balls—sweets: Droobles Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-colored bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps ("breathe fire for your friends!"), Ice Mice ("hear your teeth chatter and squeak!"), peppermint creams shaped like toads ("hop realistically in the stomach!"), fragile sugar-spun quills, and exploding bonbons.

They left the shops with huge goodie bags.

"Let's go get some Butterbeer," Pansy suggested, to which they all agreed.

With steaming Butterbeers in their hands, they sat around the table at the Hog's Head, talking about a world of nonsense.

"Hey, mate," Blaise called out to the bartender.

The bartender walked over, looking grumpy.

"How much for the Firewhisky?"

"You are not old enough," he grumbled, clearly not caring.

"We'll pay you double," Cassie offered.

The bartender looked at her for a second. "I don't give a shit... do what you want," he said, handing them two bottles.

Cassie immediately tapped the bottles, charming them to look like pumpkin juice.

They paid for the drinks and headed back, holding massive bags.

************************************

Halloween Feast-

The Great Hall had been decorated with hundreds and hundreds of candle-filled pumpkins, a cloud of fluttering live bats, and many flaming orange streamers, which were swimming lazily across the stormy ceiling like brilliant water snakes. The food was delicious, and though they were all full from sweets and Butterbeer, they managed second helpings of everything.

Throughout the feast, Draco looked extremely guilty and kept glancing at Blaise, who was shaking his head.

"What are you hiding, Dray?" Cassie demanded.

Draco immediately hid something behind his back.

"Draco Lucius Malfoy," her voice was low, her expression dangerous. "Don't make me ask again."

Draco gulped and handed her a letter with an elegant scrawl she recognized. Lucius.

Draco,

That beast will be executed for sure... I have paid the jury and executioner well... the hearing will just be a formality... Hope your classes are going well.

Lucius Malfoy

Cassie was livid. She crushed the letter in her hand. "What's wrong with him, Draco? Don't tell me you told him to—"

"I had sent him the letter the same day, Cassie," he admitted guiltily. "But come on, Cassie, it is just an animal."

"Innocent animal," Cassie seethed.

"Which hurt me!" Draco retorted, his voice rising.

"'Cause you insulted it!" she said.

"It's just a stupid beast."

"I fucking can't believe you, Dray!" she said, getting up harshly.

"Don't anyone dare follow me," she said, her voice full of anger, and she walked off.

"She'll come around, Dray," Blaise reasoned with Draco, who looked utterly upset. "We'll talk to her in the common room."

The feast finished with entertainment provided by the Hogwarts ghosts. They popped out of the walls and tables to do a bit of formation gliding; Nearly Headless Nick, the Gryffindor ghost, had great success with a reenactment of his own botched beheading.

However, the Slytherin group had lost its enthusiasm.

*******************

Harry's View

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the rest of the Gryffindors along the usual path to Gryffindor Tower, but when they reached the corridor that ended with the portrait of the Fat Lady, they found it jammed with students.

"Why isn't anyone going in?" said Ron curiously.

Harry peered over the heads in front of him.

The portrait seemed to be closed. "Let me through, please," came Percy's voice, and he came bustling importantly through the crowd.

"What's the holdup here? You can't all have forgotten the password—excuse me, I'm Head Boy—" 

And then a silence fell over the crowd, from the front first, so that a chill seemed to spread down the corridor. They heard Percy say, in a suddenly sharp voice, "Somebody get Professor Dumbledore. Quick."

People's heads turned; those at the back were standing on tiptoe. "What's going on?" said Ginny, who had just arrived.

A moment later, Professor Dumbledore was there, sweeping toward the portrait.

The Gryffindors squeezed together to let him through, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was.

"Oh, my—" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm. The Fat Lady had vanished from her portrait, which had been slashed so viciously that strips of canvas littered the floor; great chunks of it had been torn away completely.

Dumbledore took one quick look at the ruined painting and turned, his eyes somber, to see Professors McGonagall, Lupin, and Snape hurrying toward him. "We need to find her," said Dumbledore.

"Professor McGonagall, please go to Mr. Filch at once and tell him to search every painting in the castle for the Fat Lady."

"You'll be lucky!" said a cackling voice. It was Peeves the Poltergeist, bobbing over the crowd and looking delighted, as he always did, at the sight of wreckage or worry.

"What do you mean, Peeves?" said Dumbledore calmly, and Peeves's grin faded a little. He didn't dare taunt Dumbledore.

Instead, he adopted an oily voice that was no better than his cackle. "Ashamed, Your Headship, sit. Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape up on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful," he said happily.

"Poor thing," he added unconvincingly.

"Did she say who did it?" said Dumbledore quietly.

"Oh yes, Professor Head," said Peeves, with the air of one cradling a large bombshell in his arms.

"He got very angry when she wouldn't let him in, you see." Peeves flipped over and grinned at Dumbledore from between his own legs. "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, sending a message to the heads of the houses.

**********************

Back with Slytherins

They hadn't even reached the common room before Snape swooped in and ushered them all to the Great Hall.

"What's happening?" Blaise asked, frantically moving along with the crowd.

"What about Cassie?" Pansy asked.

"She probably reached already," Theo muttered. "I heard Snape already sent the people in the common room to the Great Hall."

The group arrived in the Great Hall, their eyes frantically searching for Cassie, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Where the hell is she?" Draco asked, worried.

"Why are we here?" Blaise asked a senior Slytherin.

"I don't know. Some Gryffindors were saying something about Sirius Black being in the castle."

"Fuck, what?" Theo looked around, alarmed. The teachers were talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall.

In all this commotion, Cassie was nowhere to be seen.

The group immediately rushed to Dumbledore.

"The teachers and I need to conduct—"

"Professor," Theo interrupted urgently, "Cassie is missing."

The teachers looked mortified, fearing the worst.

"Minerva, Severus... come with me," Dumbledore immediately said, walking out of the hall.

As soon as the gates to the hall were opened, Peeves swooped in, looking extremely devastated for the first time.

"Professor Head."

"Miss Cassie!"

*******************

A/n

UH. Guys like 1st thing i feel peeves wud be such bbgs to the pranksters cos idk. i have read so many fics were peeves are absolutely in love with james and sirius

also. two chaps in one day? and this one so long?

i think ill just flunk my entrance exams atp. but im so obsessed with this

ooh. what happened to cassie?

i still have some free time. i might write one more chap lmfao

till then byeii

mx riddle