“What do you get when you pour boiling water down a rabbit hole?”
“What?”
“Hot cross bunnies!” Joanna and I groaned as Sarah giggled. “Come on, it was funny!” Who knew that Sarah would have such a love of bad jokes?
It was nearing the end of December and Joanna, Sarah, and I were eating lunch next to the lake as we had every day for over a month now. Even now that the ground was covered with snow, we still made the trek out here every day to stand under a tree and eat the sandwiches that Joanna would get from the Great Hall. It had become a ritual for us; the only time of day when the three of us were together to simply talk.
Hogwarts was completely different now that Sarah had taken me under her wing. Through Sarah’s eyes, everything about the castle and grounds was wondrous, and though I didn’t appreciate it nearly as much as she did, I still enjoyed it more than I had before. And while Sarah knew everything there was to know about the grounds, Joanna had helped me to discover the dungeons, especially an abandoned classroom where Sarah and Joanna taught me about Herbology and the history of magic. I still wasn’t allowed to attend classes, but with help from the two of them I was almost as skilled as they were in classes that didn’t involve magic. I could certainly recite the years of the goblin rebellions just as well as Sarah could.
Learning about magic certainly helped to brighten my days. Although Alta and Emily- I rarely saw Ophelia with them anymore- still taunted me on a regular basis, their insults didn’t affect me as much as they previously had. Mr. Filch was still absolutely horrible, but it helped to know Joanna and Sarah were in the dungeons waiting for me to finish. My parents? That blow still stung. I tried not to think about them, but the problem was staring me in the face when Professor McGonagall told me my parents were going to America for Christmas. Obviously I wouldn’t be going with them, and it was that that we fell to discussing under the tree.
“Have you figured out what to do yet?” Joanna asked me as Sarah gradually stopped giggling. Sarah had invited me to spend Christmas with her, but Mr. Filch wasn’t allowing me to leave. It was probably better that way- seeing Sarah with her family might make me even more homesick. Joanna was also going home, but she hadn’t invited me and didn’t seem to speak of her family with longing. Obviously something wasn’t right, and I wasn’t upset that no invitation had been extended.
However, this left me in a bit of a dilemma- for the first time since Sarah, Joanna, and I had become friends, I would be at Hogwarts without them. The worst part, of course, was that a fair amount of people were staying here. Almost all of the magical families realized that their children would be safer at Hogwarts then at home, and with the recent increase in attacks many of the students didn’t have a home to go to. Jane and Carter, for instance- though I never spoke to them, Sarah told me their dad had been killed last week, and that now they were orphans. Sarah pushed the subject of Jane, Carter, and Mirabelle whenever the opportunity presented itself. I always ignored it. Now, however, I had to think about myself.
“I don’t really have a choice,” I said, shrugging. “I’ve got nowhere to go and I’m not allowed to leave anyway. I’ll be staying here, won’t I?”
“She meant what are you going to do about- you know.” Sarah apparently wanted to know if I was comfortable with the two of them leaving me open to assault from the other first years without any sort of protection from them. In truth? I was scared stiff. I had considered stuffing myself into a toilet and joining Moaning Myrtle more than once. That, however, would not go over well with my friends. Ah, friends. The word still felt sweet.
“Just stick to my work,” I told them, as I had rehearsed in front of the mirror in the girl’s room this morning. (I almost never went into my own rooms if I could help it. When Madam Pince didn’t kick me out I slept in the library, trying to ignore any sort of amorous encounter. When she did notice me asleep under a table, the girl’s bathroom was my main refuge. I even kept some robes behind a toilet.) “They can’t hurt me if they can’t find me, after all. I’ll just scrub like a good girl until you two get back.” They seemed satisfied with this arrangement, and we finished eating quickly. They were both going home today and needed to finish packing. As for me, I had some work to do for Mr. Filch.
Today I was hanging Christmas decorations- a pleasant task, believe it or not, when I managed to stay away from the caretaker. As soon as I saw Mr. Filch heading my way, a scowl on his face, I busied myself helping Hagrid carry bundles of decorations into the hall.
“So ‘ow are you, Cassandra?” Hagrid seemed genuinely pleased to see me. I almost never made it down to his house. “Keeping yerself busy?”
“Yes,” I replied. “Quite. There’s a lot to do around the castle, with Christmas and everything. I suppose it’s because so many students are staying here this year.”
“Probably,” Hagrid agreed, and we passed the rest of the time with minimal small talk, mostly moving Christmas decorations around the castle. I even took the time to polish the suits of armor in the entrance hall. Believe it or not, I felt rather proud of myself as I admired my handiwork later that evening- even more so when Sarah and Joanna admired it. They had come down to say goodbye.
“Promise me that you’ll owl,” Sarah said, pointing her finger at me. “I don’t want you slacking off. And if it gets too bad, then you can hide in my dormitory.” I smiled. Like I would be welcome in her dormitory.
“I promise,” I said anyway.
“Take care,” Joanna said, shaking me firmly by the hand and giving me one of her knowing looks. “Happy Christmas.”
“Happy Christmas.” I still couldn’t figure her out. Perhaps that was why she was in Slytherin. Before I knew it the two of them were gone, and I was left standing in the entrance hall without a friend in sight.
Did friendless Squibs send off some sort of signal? Before I could blink Mr. Filch had appeared, holding a mop and looking murderous.
“Scrub,” he commanded, and disappeared as fast as he had come. Sighing, I did as he told me. One day, I knew, I would rebel against him. I would stab him to death with my broom and then suffocate him with my mop. It was thoughts like these that kept me moving.
“My wild wizard knows that my broomstick doesn’t fly…” I couldn’t help but sing it. I had always hated The Weird Sisters, but this particular tune, not so much a song as a mournful ballad, seemed to get stuck in my head every time I heard it. (Joanna had a small wizard radio.) It was particular good to sing while mopping the entrance hall. I twirled around my mop, pretending to waltz and getting a bit carried away with my singing. I had become so loud that I hadn’t heard the person come up behind me and ran right into them.
“Watch it!” I turned around quickly to see- just my luck- Jeremiah, the Potions expert of Ravenclaw rubbing his head. (He was shorter than me, so I suppose it collided with my shoulder.)
“Sorry,” I told him, trying to remember Sarah’s advice- if I encountered anyone, don’t show fear. Be strong. “Didn’t- didn’t see you.” No! I was stuttering! That was a sign of fear! What was I doing?
“It’s fine,” he mumbled, suddenly turning red and glancing down at the floor. “Professor Slughorn sent for you.”
“For me?” I barely saw Professor Slughorn these days since I wasn’t taking classes. “Why?” Jeremiah shrugged, his face still red.
“Dunno. He needs you now. In the second dungeon on your left when you go in.” The left? I had never been in there before except to clean, and it was basically empty. But Jeremiah was Professor Slughorn’s favorite student, so he must have known what he was talking about.
“Okay,” I agreed, dropping my mop. “Erm… thanks.” Jeremiah didn’t say anything, just disappeared up the stairs. I had gotten rid of him! I was strong! I was powerful!
Leaving the mop where it was, I proceeded into the dungeons, knocking tentatively on the door on the left hand side. When nobody answered, I pushed it open gently.
“Professor?” I called his name, but nobody answered as I stepped into the room. “I got your message-” I had to stop talking, though, because I was screaming.
A bucket of beetle eyes and slugs had just dumped itself over my head. As I screamed, laughter came from behind me. I tried to walk forward, but the floor was slippery from the slugs, and I fell flat on my back, sliding into the wall with a crash just as the lights were suddenly extinguished.
The girlish laughter grew fainter as running feet left the dungeon. I wasn’t stupid- Alta and Emily had struck, and now I realized it would only be a matter of time before they struck again. I couldn’t help but shed a tear or two as I tried to pull the slugs out of my hair. I was a crying mess lately. Still, this time I would not run from them. I would fight back with a vengeance, and I would not let them get to me. What I would do, I didn’t know. But as I left the dungeon to try and wash up, I knew it would have to be something good.
*
It was Christmas Eve, and so far Alta and Emily had struck twice more, both times by systematically dirtying the school I worked so hard to clean. Whenever I saw Jeremiah, he turned bright red, but he never delivered me another message after the first incident. I never saw Ophelia with the pair of Gryffindor girls anymore. She was always by herself. But I had more to worry about than my problems with the other students. Right now I was worried about Christmas.
I had sent Mother and Father their Christmas presents a week ago- scarves that I had ordered from Gladrag’s Wizard Wears. I didn’t expect much from them, to be honest, but all the same I was scared. It was fine to think I might not get a present from them, but to actually wake up on Christmas morning without a humongous pile of presents in front of me could possibly send me over the edge. As Sarah said, I was in a fragile emotional state.
I had the evening off, and so was able to go down to the Great Hall for Christmas Eve dinner. The students were chatting merrily, and I almost smiled as I darted among the chaotic hall. With Christmas tomorrow, nobody had time to notice a Squib darting among the turkeys. I even managed to make myself a plate at the emptier end of the Ravenclaw table without being ridiculed.
Of course, I should have realized it was too good to be true.
“Why aren’t you home, Squib? Parents don’t want you either?” I turned around to see none than Alta, standing there with Emily and a smirk on her face. I could feel myself turning red, and the pair giggled at my discomfort. “They have to want you more than we do. Or do they hate you as much as us?”
I didn’t make eye contact with either of them, just like Sarah had told me. Instead I just kept serving myself turkey, even though my plate was full.
“Does being a Squib make you a pig, too?” Emily giggled at her own wit, and Alta nodded appreciatively. “No- a turkey!” The two burst out laughing at that one, and just as I was about to reply, a voice came from next to me.
“Did you get that one out of a Christmas cracker?” I looked around in shock, and at first I didn’t see anybody. Looking down, however, I saw Jeremiah standing next to me, a determined look on his face.
“I wasn’t talking to you, pipsqueak,” Alta replied, raising one eyebrow. “Mind your own business. You don’t want to associate with our little Squib.” Jeremiah looked terrified, but to my shock, he replied.
“Sod off, Alta, unless you don’t want the whole school to know about the spaghetti incident.” I swear, the color drained out of Alta’s face so fast that I expected to see a puddle of blood on the ground. Without another word, Alta shot a look of loathing at Jeremiah before taking off to the Gryffindor table, Emily close behind. As for me, I couldn’t contain myself any longer.
“What was that about?” I didn’t mean to sound rude, but what else was I supposed to say? Jeremiah didn’t reply at first; he just kept staring at the ground with a blush on his cheeks. Then he quickly pulled a chocolate frog out of his pockets and shoved it into my hands.
“H-happy Christmas, Cassandra,” he stuttered. Then he darted away, leaving me standing in the hall with a forgotten plate of turkey at my side.
Late Bloomer by Just Tink
Chapter Notes: sorry for the wait! I have finished writing the story, so as soon as each chapter is beta-d I will get it up as soon as possible. Book seven is disregarded, obviously.