Cassiopeia Pandora Gaunt Black, a young pure-blood witch, sets off on a journey at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Forging a special friendship with Draco Malfoy and the golden trio , she emerges as a courageous and ambitious young witch...
At breakfast, Cassi received a letter from Narcissa wishing her good luck. The parchment was delicately scented with the fragrance of the older woman, and Cassiopeia couldn't help but wear a silly smile that lingered on her face for several minutes.
After the meal, she remained seated, waiting for Minerva to descend from the teachers' table. The scheduling of classes this year was more complex than usual, as it was necessary to confirm that each student had achieved the minimum grades in their O.W.L.s to proceed with the chosen subjects for N.E.W.T.s.
Cassiopeia was promptly cleared to continue studying Charms, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration, Herbology, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Potions without delay. Minerva handed her a warm smile as she gave her the white booklet with the details of the new subjects, murmuring how proud she was.
"Oh, yes, ten aspirants have already signed up for the Slytherin Quidditch team. Snape will hand you the list in the next few days, and you can schedule the tryouts whenever you wish," she sighed, appearing nervous.
"Scared of losing the cup once again, Aunt Minnie?" Cassi teased, amused, receiving a stern look from her godmother.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Ha ha ha," Minerva pretended to laugh as she walked away.
Cassi let out a loud laugh as she dashed off to attend the first period of Ancient Runes and Arithmancy.
(...)
In the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, "Are you trying out for the team?" Cassi asked Draco as they sat down.
"I don't think so, Cassie. I'm not in the mood for it," he muttered, upset.
"Hey," she called, holding his hand. "You're not alone, remember?" she assured, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.
Draco gave her a faint smile before focusing on his books and widening his eyes.
A pile of heavy books was next to her on the table. "Oh, yes... The Ancient Runes professor assigned us an abundance of tasks. A project that's almost four feet long, two translations, and I need to read all of this by Wednesday," Cassi commented.
"Wow, Cassie," exclaimed Draco, looking at the books.
"I can handle it," she smiled nervously, glancing at Snape, who had just entered the room.
"Finally, professor," Cassi clapped with joy, and Draco whistled next to her.
Snape gave them a smile that quickly vanished when Hermione entered the room. He assumed a serious posture.
"Thank you both," he said softly as he adjusted his sleeves.
The room was darker than before as Snape closed the curtains and illuminated it with candles. New paintings adorned the walls, many of them showing people suffering from terrible injuries or strangely distorted body parts. No one spoke as the students settled in, admiring the dark and eerie paintings.
