Hera

{Chapter Six}

After Cassiopeia-Hera had left the hospital wing, she found herself in the courtyard. Her encounter with Neville Longbottom left her feeling both frustrated and angry. Even the thought of Draco, her own cousin, made her feel upset because of the events that had happened earlier that day.

So to cool herself down, she sat by herself on a bench, using a technique her Aunt Narcissa had taught to her, whenever she felt frustrated or angry.

She breathed in and breathed out, all in even breaths, whilst mentally counting up to thirty.

It wasn't even long before she heard someone call out her name. "Cassiopeia! Hera! Cassiopeia-Hera!" Blaise Zabini, a fellow first-year from Slytherin, came barrelling towards her, his uniform robes flapping behind him as he ran.

Forgetting all that had happened she was more concerned about Blaise, "Right, calm yourself. Is there something wrong?"

He took his time to catch his breath, inhaling his much needed oxygen. It was as though he had run a long distance. "You won't believe what I've just heard."

"Well, I never thought you were one for gossip, Blaise." Hera joked, patting his shoulder.

He shook his head. "No! Harry Potter made the Gryffindor quidditch team!"

Blinking multiple times, Hera couldn't comprehend what she just heard. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me. He's the youngest player in this history of Hogwarts! Isn't this exciting?"

"How..." She paused. "How did this happen?"

He shrugged still trying to catch his breath.  "People say Professor McGonagall recommended him to Oliver Wood -- which is the Gryffindor captain."

Concerned, Hera looked at Blaise. "Uhm Blaise, are you alright?"

"I-I don't think so." He mumbled, "I'm really out of breath...I need to see Madam Pomfrey."

♧

It was almost Halloween and Hera was excited for the festive event. She's heard so much about Hogwarts' Halloween feast, and she was looking forward to seeing how it would be celebrated.

In the Malfoy Manor, Halloween was just a night with a fancy dinner where they were allowed to have extra candy. It was a day, Narcissa would use as an excuse to throw lavish parties, with exquisite foods from all over the world, prepared by the houseelves in their kitchen.

Unfortunately, instead of having the whole day of Halloween off, she found herself still in charms class -- sitting with a large feather in front of her and another Slytherin girl called Millicent Bullstrode, who was taking more than what she was supposed to of her seat.

Professor Flitwick stood on a pile of books that were stacked upon each other on a chair. "One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation -- the ability to make objects fly. Hmm, do you all have your feathers?" The short teacher looked around the class as Hermione Granger, one of the muggle-born Gryffindors,  shows him her feather.

"Good. Now, uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hmm? The swish and flick. Everyone. The swish and flick." He waved his wand in the air. "Good. And enunciate. Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go then."

Hera looked at her wand than to the feather in front of her. Millicent had, by now, gotten her own feather from Professor Flitwick. "Windgardum Levosa." She repeated, making the feather jump up before floating back down.

Hera looked up as Professor Flitwick boasted about the bushy haired girl's levitating feather. Hera frowned and tried again before a loud explosion rang in her ears. She looked forward to see a small boy that sat next to Harry Potter with a burned feather in front of him.

The whole class was silent as Harry requested for another feather from Professor Flitwick.

Walking out of Charms, the smart bushy haired girl was walking ahead of the black-and-white haired girl in the halls. Hera decided to ask her for help in Charms since she still did not master the spell as of yet. "Excuse me?" She tapped on her shoulder as soon as she reached her. Her eyes went wide with shock. "Y-you're Cassiopeia-Hera Lestrange." She whispered.

Hera's smile slowly turned into a frown. She didn't appreciate it when people pointed out that she was the daughter of two Death Eaters. "I know who I am. But, besides that, I was meaning to ask you for some help. I need help with my charms and you seem to be very good with it."

Hermione soon lost all the fear she had earlier as soon as she heard the word help. "So you are asking me to help you with Charms? You are one of the smartest first years in Slytherin and you are asking me for help?"

Hera blinked, clutching her book to her chest. "Well... if you'd like to help me out. If you don't, I can ask one of-" She was stopped in mid-sentence.

"Yes! I'll help you! Meet me in the library on Monday!" Hermione said excitedly before running off to wherever she wanted to go to earlier.

Hera pursed her lips awkwardly before stalking off to find Blaise.

In the Great Hall, everyone was being festive as Halloween decorations were decorating the large hall. Jack o' lanterns were floating -- giving off light instead of candles. Candy and all sorts of sweets were laid out after having a large meal to celebrate Hallows' Eve.

Hera held the dessert spoon lightly in her hand as she listened to Blaise while eating her pudding. He was talking about the next quidditch game between Gryffindor and Slytherin. To say he was excited was an overstatement. He barely had any candy as he talked, only fiddling with the wrapper of an eclair he had before the meal.

"Harry must be really good to be placed on the Gryffindor team, especially if McGonagall suggests it!" He exclaimed.

Hera pointed her spoon at the cheesecake just in front of the duo. "Have you tasted the cheesecake? It's like a bomb in your mouth! Try it!" She tried convincing Blaise to eat desserts. 
"TROLL! IN THE DUNGEONS! T-TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS."

Hera turned in her seat to look at the fuss that was happening. Professor Quirell was running towards the Professor's tables. He stopped in mid-run and the hall is silent.

"Thought you ought to know." He said before falling to the ground. The hall went up in an uproar and various students ran in different directions.

"SILENCE!" Shouted Professor Dumbledore as he stood tall by his seat. The hall stilled in silence.  "Everyone will please, not panic. Now, Prefects will lead their houses back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

Prefect stood up and started assembling the houses in order. Hera got up with Blaise and they were both pushed towards the front where the rest of the first years stood. They followed the Slytherin prefect down the dungeons.

Blaise and Hera sat in the common room, sitting by the fireplace across from each other. Hera held a thick leather bound book in her hands while Blaise folded up a piece of scrap parchment. "Hera?" He called her.

Hera hummed, her nose still in the book. Blaise turned to look at his curly haired friend, watching the fire shine off her fair skin. "Do you think Hogwarts is still safe?"

Hera placed her bookmark to the placed she had stopped. She closed the book and looked at her friend. "Trolls are very stupid. They can't just waltz into well protected school. Especially if it is Hogwarts. The most safest place in the world, other than Gringotts." Hera explained.

Blaise looked at her confused. "Then how did it get in?"

Hera looked at her friend with a curious and confused expression on her face. She thought of all the possibilities of how a troll got into Hogwarts. "There can only be one logical explanation to that, Blaise." She said with her mind zoning onto the only conclusion that was on her mind.

"Someone let it in."