My eyes opened slowly, fluttering open and shut a few times before I was finally able to take in the area around me. Where was I? This looked like the girls’ bathroom. Wait a moment… I sat up, rubbing my eyes as I woke up fully. This was the girls’ bathroom.
My face slowly turned scarlet as I recalled the details of last night. Had I really giggled? Acted like a fool in front of a Slytherin? The entire school would now know that Cassandra Pralent had a fit in the girls’ bathroom. Not that they would use my name. No, they would just call me squib. It rarely came as a shock, these days. I sighed as I got up off of the floor, my neck stiff from the odd position I had slept in. My eyes glanced around the room until they fell on the pile of books I had carried with me the night before to work on my homework, and my heart sank further.
Perhaps if they couldn’t snap my wand in half they would simply expel me from the magical community forever! I couldn’t let that happen. Knowing that magic was real but not being able to acknowledge its existence would be just as bad as being a squib! I grabbed the parchment and started to scribble words, but I gave up and tossed it aside after just a few sentences. There was no point. I would never finish it before class started. I gathered up my books and made my way to the Great Hall for breakfast- if I was going to be forced out of magical Britain I didn’t have to worry about changing my clothes or fixing my braids.
Breakfast was wonderful, as usual, but I couldn’t concentrate on my food. I still had an hour before Herbology that I was supposed to spend cleaning with Mr. Filch, but after I had finished eating I decided to walk around the grounds instead. If I was going to be kicked out, I at least wanted to spend my last few hours doing something besides taking orders from that monster of a man.
It was a few days before Halloween now, and it was chilly as I stepped outside and wrapped a scarf around my neck. Something had been chewing on the ends of it while it was sitting in my trunk, and I played with the tattered bits absentmindedly as I walked down to the lake. The wind tore at my hair, pulling it out of its braids. I didn’t bother fixing them. My head felt surprisingly light without the tugging weight of them.
“ ‘Ello, Cassandra,” I heard, and turned around to see Hagrid behind me. “It’s too cold to be out here yerself, ye know. Come into my hut, ‘ave a cuppa tea.” I nodded and followed him across the grounds, not paying attention to the landscape. It was all just trees anyway. Hogwarts, Hogwarts, stupid, stupid Hogwarts. What did I care that I was leaving?
“In here,” Hagrid called, and I looked up at him to see a wooden hut. My first instinct was to shudder. It was old and decrepit and… old. I was about to refuse the tea when a particularly cold gust of wind almost blew the scarf from my neck. Perhaps a small cup of tea would be nice after all, as long as I didn’t inhale.
He held open the door for me, and I was greeted with surprising warmth as I stepped inside. The first thing I saw was a huge dog leaping at my face. I screamed and covered my head with my hands, shaking in terror. Of course! They couldn’t snap my wand, so they decided to execute me instead! Hagrid was part of the plot!
I heard him laughing behind me, and the monster animal was slobbering all over my robes. I removed my hands from my head, face burning. It was just a dog after all. Still, there was no reason Hagrid wouldn’t give me my tea and then kill me. I decided to stay on guard, just in case.
The next thing I saw was Joanna and Sarah sitting at Hagrid’s table, watching me with piles of books on their laps.
“What are they doing here?” I mumbled. To start with, Sarah was considerably below me. Even though I was about to be killed, I could still have standards. Besides that, Joanna was a Slytherin. That would have been enough evidence to be frightened of her, but she had also seen me having a fit in the bathroom. Were they here to watch me die?
“They’ve got somethin’ for you,” Hagrid said gently as he went over to where a teapot was just starting to whistle. “Wanted to give it you themselves.” Pouring the boiling water into four huge mugs, he added a fistful of tea leaves to each and set them on the table. The wooden mugs he used were old and cracked, but I still felt myself being drawn to their fragrant aroma. Sarah and Joanna silently opened their school books to reveal slightly squashed rolls of parchments that they passed towards me. I opened the first one and read the top. ‘An Analysis On Goblin Wars, By Cassandra Pralent…’ I looked up at them, shocked.
“You wrote my essays for me?” They were all clear and concise, just past the needed amount of parchment. Sarah shrugged.
“Jo said you weren’t able to get them done last night, so we did them for you,” Sarah explained. “We just split the work in the library.” Jo? Were they friends?
“But don’t think we’re trying to suck up to you,” Joanna was quick to add, and I was reminded of the famous Slytherin snake striking.
“You shouldn’t have to fail because you had… other duties,” Sarah said, not looking at me. Would I have done the same for her? No, I answered myself. I wouldn’t have. Hagrid looked pleased as he tasted the tea. I didn’t say anything, just reached forward and took the cup, trying to sip it without my lips actually touching the wood. It was good, and it gave me time to think about what to say. What could I possibly say? But before I could even think about it, the two gathered their books and stood up.
“Thanks for the tea, Hagrid,” Joanna said, without acknowledging me. Sarah gave the man a smile, but didn’t even spare me a glance. I watched them as they opened the door and headed up to the greenhouses. Hagrid patted me on the shoulder so that my spine cracked.
“They’re good girls,” he said fondly. Once again I was surprised. Sarah was strange and Joanna was a Slytherin. These were not your traditional good girls. Hagrid seemed to know what I was thinking. “Now wasn’t that nice of ‘em, to write the essays again, with different words and all?” I looked at him sharply.
“Didn’t they just copy their own essays?”
“No, they wrote ‘em from scratch.” Hagrid smiled at me, but I was confused. Why on earth had they done that? I had treated Sarah as fitted her station in life, but I had never expected to be helped for it. And Joanna… well, she was a Slytherin! They were evil people who didn’t help others, weren’t they? “Best be getting to class, Cassandra,” Hagrid said after a minute. “I’ll explain ter Filch that you were in my care this mornin’. Have a good day.” He ushered me out of his hut more confused than I was going in.
I was in a daze the entire walk to Defense Against the Dark Arts. What had that all been about? Joanna had made it clear that they didn’t need me as a friend, but they had done my homework for me. I treated Sarah Morgan with contempt whenever I encountered her, but she had probably spent hours working for my benefit only. Why?
Joanna was already seated when I arrived in class, and I studied her closely as I took my usual seat in the corner. She seemed like a Slytherin. She had a green and silver scarf on, and she was talking to another Slytherin first year that had made fun of me before. What made Joanna so different from that other girl? That I could answer for myself. Joanna had done my homework, whereas the other girl would have laughed in my face.
“Essays on your desks!” Professor Munch called, and I pulled the squashed roll out of my bag and placed it in front of me. With a Summoning Charm the scrolls rushed towards him. “I am in no mood to lecture today,” he cried, throwing his arms about dramatically. I had noticed him doing this a lot. “So you are going to split into pairs for some practical work!” Had my heart just stopped? I couldn’t do practical work, not when it required a wand. And pairs? Even worse. “I will turn out the lights, and each of you will go on the opposite side of the room as your partner. I will declare one side the vampires, and they will have to sneak up on their partner and bite them.” I wasn’t the only one who looked slightly alarmed at that, but Professor Munch didn’t notice. “Go on, pair up!” Students stood up from their desks and began to stand together.
I panicked. It took only a few minutes before everybody except me had a partner, and I stood awkwardly next to my desk as the Slytherin students whispered. Professor Munch looked surprised.
“Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere else right now? Never mind,” he continued before I could explain, “you’re here now, and I can’t do anything about it.” Did he sound resentful? “No partners, then. The side of the room that is vampires can attack anybody on the other side. Bite people by poking them with your wands. If you’ve been bitten, fall down. Those being bitten can use any spell they can think of to repel the vampires.” Did Professor Munch just give a group of Slytherin first years the right to use any spell they could think of? Was he mentally challenged? Worse yet, I didn’t have a wand or the ability to use spells. But there was no time to protest, and I was shoved over to the side of the humans by the other students. “Begin!” Professor Munch called, and the room blacked out.
I hovered nervously at the back of the room, unsure of what to do. The vampires had not yet begun to attack, and I couldn’t help but be frightened. I didn’t like being in a blacked-out room with so many Slytherins, even if one of them had done my homework for me. I gave a little shudder, more than ready for the class to be over.
That was when I heard the mutter. Before I could do anything my arms and legs snapped to my side and I fell to the ground, still as a board. I couldn’t scream for help with my mouth snapped shut, and I could hear the quiet laughter of several students around me.
“Prop her up!” one of them whispered, and to my horror I was lifted up and leaned onto the wall. I still couldn’t see anything, but I could feel the students as they poked and prodded me. “Just a little study on Squibs,” the one who had spoken before said to me. “Tell us, can you feel it if I go like this?” and she slapped me across the face so hard I could hear it.
“Nobody wants you, Squib,” a boy said, and then the spell was taken off of me with another muttering. The lights went back on as somebody across the room yelled that everyone was out, and I was able to see again. I was the only one standing up. Everybody was lying down on the other side of the room, and I could see the smirks on the faces of many. Not only could I not tell who had slapped me, I couldn’t see the person who had freed me from the bind. Not Joanna. She was a Slytherin, and I still refused to trust her. Professor Munch, perhaps? But it had sounded like a girl’s voice.
“Vampires win this round,” Professor Munch announced as he moved to the front of the class. “Now switch sides, vampires be humans and humans be vampires…”
“Pralent!” The door swung open with a bang and revealed Mr. Filch in the entrance, positively fuming. “Get over here!”
“Can I help you, Mr. Filch?” I was never so grateful to Professor Munch in my life. Inconsistent he might be, but he distracted Mr. Filch’s attention. Mr. Filch turned to him and glared.
“The girl was supposed to work this morning,” he growled, “and she’s a caretaker, not a student!” The words stung as much as the slap. I hated to associate myself with Mr. Filch in any way. “I’ve spoken to the Headmistress about it, and Pralent isn’t in any classes until she shapes up on my end.” I gasped. No classes? Then I would be completely a caretaker, never being able to escape from Mr. Filch. Merlin, what a thought! I could see Professor Munch shrug. No! Shouldn’t he be concerned that I wouldn’t learn anything? But he only shrugged. “Come on, Pralent!” Mr. Filch roared, and I was once again consumed with a hatred for this thing as I gathered up my books and followed him out into the hallway.
“I’d string you up by your thumbs if it was up to me,” he said, “but the Headmistress says no, you just got to learn. Well you’ll learn with me alright, and make no mistake. They’ll be no sleeping in, no working on essays, no tracking in extra mud! Just work, Pralent. You hear?” I nodded.
Well, it certainly hadn’t been my best day. I’d had two people I wasn’t friends with do my homework for me. I had been attacked by a Slytherin and then protected by a different one. You could say I had a friend, if Squibs had friends. I was beginning to think they- we- didn’t.
But how was I supposed to find them if I spent all my time working with Mr. Filch?
Late Bloomer by Just Tink
Chapter Notes: thanks to my great beta, potterphile12- If she wasn't an administrator I'd nominate her for the Quicksilver Quills.