the siphon | h. potter

~twenty seven~

cassandra

"Over here!" Cassandra yelled from across the field.

The teens were playing a competitive game of Quidditch. Cassandra and Ginny against Harry and Ron... naturally Cassandra and Ginny were crushing the boys. It turns out, Cassandra was a pretty good Quidditch player. She picked up flying fairly quickly after Harry taught her in June. And once she adjusted to her feet being off the ground, picking up the other aspects of the game was easy.

Ginny threw her the ball and Cassandra caught it between her arm and chest. Harry and Ron charged her, but she dodged them both and flew straight to the other side of the field before throwing the ball between the big metal ring.

"YES!" Cassandra yelled and raised her hands in the air in triumph.

The groans of Harry and Ron could be heard from meters away. Ginny flew over and gave Cassandra a congratulatory high five. The girls laughed as they watched Ron and Harry mope over their loss.

"It's not fair, Harry's a seeker. He's not used to playing on the field," Ron complained. Harry meanwhile raised his hands in the air and sent Ron a betrayed look.

"You just keep making those excuses, boys," Cassandra smiled and her and Ginny landed on the ground.

Over the past few weeks, Ginny had warmed up to Cassandra. Until her stay at the Burrow, Ginny had never liked Cassandra much. But after a few games of Quidditch and some saves from Phlegm, Cassandra was no longer on her bad side.

The familiar voice of Mrs. Weasley interrupted the celebrations. Her head was protruding from the kitchen window along with the sweet smell of pie.

"Come inside, you lot have mail," she yelled from the house.

Hermione shrieked with excitement, "it must be our school letters!"

Cassandra had to stop herself from bolting to the Burrow. School lists meant a trip to Diagon Alley for school supplies. After spending a month at the Weasley's she was beginning to become restless. It had been too long since she had seen the outside world. 

Once the clambering group of five filed into the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley began handing out thin envelopes. Everyone received an identical letter sealed by the familiar Hogwarts crest... except Cassandra. Instead, she was handed a fatter envelope, sealed with a different emblem.

Mrs. Weasley had a nervous expression as Cassandra broke the wax securing the opening. She was correct to be nervous, the letter didn't simply open, it sprung from Cassandra's hands and levitated in the air.

"Dear Miss Dalton," the letter addressed. The features of the letter had rearranged themselves to resemble a woman's face. As Cassandra attempted to process this new form of magic, the letter continued, "The Ministry has received intelligence of your failure to register for the Trace and repeated use of underage magic. As a clear violation of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, you are herby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Hoping you are well, Mafalda Hopkirk."

Every pair of eyes in the room was staring blankly at Cassandra while hers were trained on the deflated parchment dropping to the floor. Her brain was having trouble comprehending the words the letter had spoke.

She should have known the Ministry would come for her. After the battle with the Death Eaters and Voldemort last year, Cassandra became complacent. Dumbledore had warned her the Ministry was suspicious of her arrival at Hogwarts.

"Look, Cass, I'm sure this is nothing," Harry assured, "They expelled me last year, but Dumbledore fixed it. I'm sure he can do the same for you."

"Yeah..." Cassandra mindlessly replied as she picked up the letter from the floor. Inside was a piece of parchment reiterating the same message the woman had previously conveyed. No matter how many times she read the words, they didn't change.