Can I just take this moment to say that flying is quite possibly the most uncomfortable form of travel known to witch or wizard? I couldn’t seem to get comfortable. Harry was a natural, of course, grinning the entire time we were in the air, paying no attention to the Squib who was desperately clinging to the broomstick behind him and trying not to grab onto his waist in sheer terror as the broom twisted and turned over Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and eventually the bare countryside. I had flown before, certainly, but it had been with Father. He would be extra careful about staying low to the ground, and he never went too fast for me. I had liked flying with Father.
I spent a long time watching Ron and Hermione fly. Hermione, too, looked scared, but she didn’t hesitate to hold tightly onto Ron. He didn’t seem to mind and once, when they thought I wasn’t looking, I saw them riding with her head on his shoulder. That vixen! Ron was too polite to push her away, of course. I was sure that was it.
I didn’t admit it to Harry, but I was exhausted. After giving him my address he didn’t talk to me at all, though, so I doubt he would have noticed if I’d fallen asleep and plunged to my doom. Only the thought of Mother and Father kept me from slipping away into the comforting clutches of the wind, clouds, and stars. They were beautiful, sparkling in the early morning sky.
Just a few weeks ago my world consisted of Alta’s taunts and Joanna’s help, Ophelia’s bullying and Sarah’s strange coloring. It seemed a long time since I had thought of Sarah and Joanna. No doubt they had forgotten about me, forgotten about the little Squib girl they did homework for. Probably even Alta had given up searching for the butt of all her jokes, and Ophelia and Alta’s other sidekick, Emily, had found new jokes to laugh at. This should have made me happy, but instead I felt empty inside. Had I made so little impact on the school that they would have forgotten me already?
“Cassandra!” I glanced around with a start. Harry was turned around on the broom, looking concerned. “Are you awake? Your house is too far away for us to finish the journey tonight. We’re going to get some rest and then finish the trip in the afternoon, alright?” I nodded. What else could I do? I didn’t have a say; I simply thanked Merlin as the broom came to a stop on the ground and I stumbled off of it, glad to be back on solid ground again before looking around.
We were in a barren moor, without a house in sight. Why had we stopped here? Why not at one of the many fine inns all over England and Scotland that catered to witches and wizards, where we could all get comfortable beds, a warm bath, and a hot meal? Didn’t they have any money? Well, that wouldn’t be a problem. Father had accounts all over Great Britain. I decided to bring the subject up myself.
“Hermione,” I said in a low voice, walking over to where she was dismounting from the broom, “if money’s a problem, Father is known to almost all the inns in Europe. He would be happy to let us use his money to sleep there. It would be preferable to sleeping on the ground.” But Hermione shook her head. Why was she shaking her head? She needed to stop doing that! I didn’t want to sleep on the ground! I might be attacked by a giant man-eating flobberworm during the night!
“People would notice if we stayed at an inn,” was the only explanation she gave me before leaving me to talk to Harry and Ron. Well, fine. I would do perfectly well on my own, thanks very much. I didn’t need her. So I curled up in a ball on the ground, trying not to shiver.
I woke up around eleven to find a blanket draped over me. As I sat up, blinking and yawning, I noticed where I was. The moor! I was going back home! I jumped up in a flash and in no time at all was waking up Hermione.
“Come on!” I said, as I shook her, “come on, Hermione! We’ve got to get going! It’s still Halloween! Mother and Father will be at home now, I know they will!” It was strange to think of all that had gone on since three o’clock or so this morning. I had met Hermione, I had left the school, become part of a mission to save the school… mind boggling.
Harry and Ron were awake now as well, and as Hermione woke up she told me to go and attend to the broomsticks. I didn’t know what she meant by that, but I hovered around them, straightening the twigs, and soon we were up in the air again, me behind Harry and feeling sick.
It was only an hour or so before I recognized the outskirts of our lands. Home! No broomsticks not carrying a Pralent were allowed over the grounds, so Hermione and Ron would wait for Harry and me just outside the grounds. Harry and I continued the flight in silence until we were in sight of the house. It looked just as I remembered it. Harry and I got off the broom, and Harry walked a little behind me as I positively skipped to the house, greeting everything I saw- the garden, a tree I loved to read beneath, and, finally, the front steps of the house where I had seen Professor McGonagall only a few months ago.
“This is it!” I yelled back to Harry. He nodded at me, giving me a small smile at my excitement. I supposed that without parents of his own, it made him sad to see me about to be reunited with brilliant, loving parents. They would make him feel welcome, though.
I ran up the steps and knocked on the heavy door five times, practically bouncing up and down on the spot. I could hear footsteps approaching, and my heart beat faster with every step I heard. Who would see me first? Mother? Father? Would Mother cry? Would Father have to sit down? The door swung open, and I prepared myself to be swept into a parent’s arms.
It was Willable, our house elf. I threw myself onto him anyway, even though I would have rather seen Mother or Father. Good old Willable! He’d been with us since I was born, at least, and probably before. His entire family had served ours.
“Willable!” I squealed, hugging him tightly. He stood stiffly for a moment before pulling away. I was confused. We’d always been good friends. Did he have some sort of disease?
“Master, Mistress!” he called, turning and walking into the living room. I followed him, unable to contain myself. Harry walked into the house, standing in the doorway and watching.
“What is it, Willable, did something fall over?” It was Father! He stood up from his high-backed red chair, folding the Daily Prophet and sighing. That was when he saw me. His face went blank of all emotion as I threw myself on him, hugging him around the waist. Tears were streaming down my face, I was so happy. I had missed him so much. But he didn’t hug me back. Why not? Maybe he also had some sort of horrible disease that he didn’t want to pass on to me! Maybe the whole house did. How horrible!
“It’s me, Father!” I sniffled, wiping my eyes. “Cassandra. Oh, Father, I missed you so much! They treat me absolutely horribly at school, I suspect they sent you fake letters from me saying that I was wonderful, and they confiscated your letters so I wouldn’t know! Is that what they did, Father?” He pulled away from me, and I fell to the floor in a heap. “Father?” He shook his head. Just then, Mother poked her head around the corner to see what was happening. “Mother!” I shouted, the tears coming again. Her face blanched, and she stepped out around the door and ran to where I was huddled. I knew Mother loved me! I did!
But she stopped when she saw Father. He looked at her and shook his head. Mother’s hands were trembling as I reached out for her, but she stepped behind father. I could see tears forming in her eyes, but she didn’t budge. What was going on? Why were they doing this? I was crying harder now, but neither my mother or my father reached down to hug me or scoop me up into their arms, telling me everything was going to be alright. Why were they doing this?
“Go.” Father spoke to me, but he was looking above my head. “You shouldn’t be here. Go back to Hogwarts. That’s where you belong.”
“Father…” I choked on my sobs. “Father, everyone hates me there. I belong at home with you and Mother and Willable. I can help Mother around the house, and maybe I can become a potions master! I can even help you set up for the Halloween Ball, Father. Let me stay, Father, please, let me stay! I’m your daughter...” But she shook his head again.
“You… you are no daughter of mine.” Tears were streaming down Mother’s face, and she turned away from me, holding onto Father’s arm like a lifeline. “Willable, go back to work. Don’t let her back in the house.” Father… Mother… “Come, Belinda.” And he turned, Mother following him as he left the living room. I could hear Mother’s cries from the kitchen. Willable hurried upstairs, not looking at me. As for me, I just laid there and cried.
“Cassandra?” It was Harry. I’d forgotten he was there. He sat down on the floor beside me, not making any move to comfort me. I had always pitied him for not having parents, for having only Hogwarts as his true home. But now… now I was just like him. My parents, the one thing I was sure I could count on, had abandoned me. They told me they loved me! They hugged me and kissed me and dressed me up. But as soon as I wasn’t their perfect Cassandra anymore, they had left me as someone else’s problem. Even Mother, though she cried, had made no move to help me and welcome me back into my home. “Cassandra, where’s the cup?” The cup? What cup? Then I remembered. I looked up at the mantle. The cup was gone.
“Gone…” I whispered the word. The cup was gone. My family was gone. My home was gone. And as Harry took me outside to meet Ron and Hermione and the four of us flew back to school in stunned silence, I knew that I was gone.
Late Bloomer by Just Tink
Chapter Notes: I know this chapter has been a long time coming, but I hope that this chapter will be worth it, guys!