Stormseeker: Unwanted Destiny

After I send him a letter, Ron replies that he hasn't seen my diary. I must have carelessly left it someplace else. How could I be so stupid? But none of my searches come up with anything. I suppose there's nothing else to be done about it right now. If it turns up at Hogwarts, I'll know. Somebody might wind up dying for it, but if I'm alert, I can always go back and stop it if need be.

"It's totally not fair that you three get to go to Hogwarts," Sirius says, practically pouting. "Cassie! Can you exorcise Binns so I can get a job teaching History of Magic or something?"

Cassie smirks. "You, teach History of Magic? You'd need to study it first."

"You could always come as my pet dog," I say lightly.

"Now there's a thought..." Sirius says.

Remus snorts at the idea. "Relax, Sirius. We'll send you owls, and visit. And it's not like you'll need to stay cooped up in the house all the time, either."

"And you've got two friendly house-elves who aren't Kreacher," I say.

"There is that," Sirius says. "Rispy is surprisingly eloquent."

"And you might wind up getting other company, too, depending on what Dumbledore ends up doing," Remus says. "It is the Order of the Phoenix headquarters, after all."

"And with the diary missing, that may well wind up more necessary than I'd hoped for," I say grimly.

"Alright, alright," Sirius says. "I suppose it's not so bad. At least there's no Dementors here."

Sirius sees Cassie and me off to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The familiar red train is waiting to take us to Hogwarts. We wave goodbye to Sirius and climb on board, and take a seat in the first empty compartment we find.

"This is so exciting!" Cassie practically squees. "I get to finally go to Hogwarts!" I have to admire her dedication to her role, even when nobody is looking. The only time she seems to drop it is in the safety of Caer Danas.

"Excuse me," Ron says, poking his head into the compartment. "Is there room in here? Everywhere else is full up."

"Oh, hey, Ron," I say. "Come on in, it's just the two of us in here."

"Is this a friend of yours, Harry?" Cassie asks.

"Cassie, this is Ron Weasley," I say, gesturing to the redhead who is taking a seat. "Ron, meet Cassie Black."

"Black?" Ron says, frowning and practically jumping from his seat.

"Oh, relax, I'm not going to hex you or anything," Cassie says.

"But my dad tells me that the Blacks are all blood purist dark wizards and witches," Ron says.

"Well, I'm not," Cassie says, pouting. "I'm a half-blood!"

"Ron, that was awfully rude of you," I say. "You're going to make her cry!"

"I'm sorry," Ron says, looking sheepish.

"That's okay," Cassie says, going back to smiling again. "I forgive you."

"So, what house do you suppose you'll be in?" Ron wonders. "Think you'll be in Slytherin with all the rest of your family?"

"My father was in Gryffindor!" Cassie says. "But personally, I'm hoping for Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw?" I say with a little surprise. "Really?"

Cassie nods. "It sounds good to me. They're supposed to be really smart, and I want to learn everything I can about magic."

"Huh," Ron says, then looks to me. "So, Harry, how's Scabbers doing?"

"Oh, Ron!" I say. "You're not going to believe what happened."

"What happened?" Ron asks.

"I took him home, and Professor Lupin took a look at him, and recognized him!" I say. "He recognized Peter Pettigrew's unregistered Animagus form! Thanks to you, Sirius Black was discovered to be innocent. My godfather, and Cassie's father, is now free again." I beam at him.

"Wait, what?" Ron says. "Wait a minute. Scabbers... my rat was an Animagus? But, he-- he slept in my bed! He slept in Percy's bed for years!" He looks positively green at the thought.

"What an awful man," Cassie says, making a face.

"Excuse me," Ron says, standing up. "I've got to go find Percy." He quickly leaves the compartment.

"Poor Percy," I say, chuckling softly.

Shortly afterward, Hermione turns up. "Have either of you seen a toad?"

"Did Neville lose his toad again?" I say.

"Yes," Hermione says. She looks at me, and her eyes rest on my forehead. "Oh! You must be Harry Potter!"

"That's me," I say, smiling at her. "And this is my cousin, Cassie Black. And you are?"

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione says, coming in and helping herself to a seat. "I read all about you--" she proceeds to rattle off a list of books, but I hold up a hand and interrupt her.

"Hermione," I say. "Now, I don't mind, but going up to people and telling them that you read all about them probably isn't the best way to make a good first impression."

"Oh," Hermione says. "I'm sorry. I'm just so excited about going to Hogwarts, you see. I've heard it's the finest magical institute in Britain. It was such a surprise when I got my letter, since nobody else in my family is magical at all."

"Ah," Cassie says. "A Muggleborn. That explains it."

"What do you mean?" Hermione wonders.

"The way you're so excited about it and spouting off things you've read in books," I say. "We're excited too, but we've lived in this world. What do your parents do?"

"They're dentists," Hermione says. "Why?"

"Imagine if someone came into your parents' dentistry place," I say. "And said that they'd read all about dentistry in some book or another. And then kept going on about things they already know as if they're amazing new facts."

"Oh..." Hermione says. "I never thought about it like that."

I smile at her reassuringly. "I know you're excited and all, but do try to settle down. You can tell people about all the wonderful things you've read when they actually ask or express an interest in it, rather than going on and spouting random facts at everyone within earshot."

"Right," Hermione says. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Now, why don't you go ask one of the prefects for help finding Neville's toad?" I say. "Ask one of the older students to cast a Summoning Charm." I'd just do it myself, but it would be a little too obvious if a first year could cast that before even arriving at school.

"Thanks, I'll do that!" Hermione says, heading out of the compartment again.

"I hope she takes your advice to heart," Cassie mutters. "I don't fancy listening to an over-enthusiastic Muggleborn for the next seven years."

"She means well," I say, shrugging.

Draco turns up at our compartment next. I note that he appears to be missing Crabbe and Goyle. "I heard Harry Potter's in this compartment," he says. "Mind if I sit?"

"Go ahead," I say. "Nice to see you again, Draco."

Draco takes a seat next to me. "Who's your girlfriend?"

I snort softly. "This is Cassie Black, and she's not my girlfriend."

"A Black?" Draco says. "I hadn't realized that there were any Blacks around my age. Where'd you grow up?"

"I haven't actually been to Britain before," Cassie says. "I was raised by my great-grandfather Arcturus, in France. But he passed on this July."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Draco says.

"It's alright," Cassie says, smiling at him. "I've got my father back now, so I'm happy."

"Your father?" Draco says. "You mean Sirius Black?"

Cassie nods. "I'd wanted to come here to go to Hogwarts, anyway. I didn't really care to go to Beauxbatons."

"Hogwarts is so much better," Draco says. "Although I wouldn't mind going to Durmstrang, either."

"It's entirely too cold there," Cassie says disdainfully.

A little while later, the sweets trolley comes by, and we buy a bunch of treats. Cassie eats more than me and Draco combined.

"You're going to make yourself sick, Cassie," I say.

"Don'f gare," Cassie slurs through a mouthful of Cauldron Cake.

Ron returns shortly, but stops in the doorway to stare at Draco. "Who-- Wait, are you a Malfoy?"

"Draco Malfoy," Draco says absently, looking up at him. "Are you a Weasley?" He smirks. "So long as we're asking silly questions."

"Ron Weasley," Ron says. He looks at me questioningly. "You're hanging out with a Black and a Malfoy now?"

I snort softly. "If you're going to be bigoted, Ron, you can go somewhere else."

"Me bigoted?" Ron says, looking at me in shock. "But--"

"You're the one who started with those comments," I say. "Look, Ron. Your mum's great. Your brothers are awesome. But I'm not going to put up with anyone insulting my friends. Don't judge people by their families."

"I..." Ron says. "Sorry. I'll go." He quickly exits the compartment.

"Good job getting rid of that blood traitor," Draco says.

"You're calling someone a blood traitor in front of two half-bloods," I say wryly.

"Er," Draco says uneasily. "Right, never mind." He smirks. "Maybe I shouldn't be hanging out with you, either. But I don't really care."

"All I'm saying is, don't be hypocritical," I say.

"Hey, I can be hypocritical if I want to be," Draco says.

I snicker. "Just so long as you know when you are."

The train arrives at Hogsmeade Station, and we climb off. I head along with Cassie and Draco with the rest of the first years to the boats to take us across the lake. I might not be nearly as impressed as I was the first time, but I'm not so jaded that I can't appreciate the view.

We're brought into the entry hall for the Sorting. The anticipation and excitement among the batch of eleven year olds is nearly palpable.

"My brothers said you have to wrestle a troll!" Ron says.

I snicker softly, and don't even bother correcting him. I don't care all that much. Soon enough, we're brought into the Great Hall to listen to the Sorting Hat sing its song.

"That is not a troll," I murmur wryly to Ron.

I settle in to watch the Sorting with interest. "Abbott, Hannah" goes to Hufflepuff straight off. "Black, Cassiopeia!" gets called up next.

Cassie goes up to the front and puts the Sorting Hat on her head. She sits on the stool for what must be a good ten minutes while the hat wrinkles itself up and contorts itself in every which way, as if trying to decide what to do with her. Finally, it shouts, "RAVENCLAW!"

"Ravenclaw?" Ron whispers. "But she's a Black!"

"And she's a Ravenclaw," Draco says. "What's your problem?"

I try to pay attention to who gets Sorted where. Was Kevin Entwhistle a Hufflepuff before, or was he in Ravenclaw? I can't remember. But Anthony Goldstein definitely wasn't a Gryffindor. Then Hermione gets called up next, and is under the hat for a long time as well before it calls out, "GRYFFINDOR!"

I'd been wondering if that would change. Neville gets sorted into Gryffindor, unsurprisingly, and then "Malfoy, Draco!" gets called up. He gives me a smug grin and goes up to the front.

Before, the hat put him in Slytherin after hardly even touching his head. But this time, he sits there for no less than fifteen minutes, arguing with it no doubt, before the hat calls out "RAVENCLAW!"

"Ravenclaw!?" Ron repeats, dumbfounded.

What did I say to Draco to change that? Was it because of Cassie? Or what I said to him in the tailor? What did I say to him in the tailor? I talked about the houses, didn't I. Somehow, I managed to change something, and he got sorted into Ravenclaw instead.

I'm so caught up in my thoughts that Ron has to poke me when my name is called. "Go on, Harry, they're calling for you."

"Oh, oops," I say. I hurry up to the front and put the Sorting Hat on my head.

"Well, hello there, Lexen Chelseer," the hat says in my mind. "Hmm, now where shall I put you? You'd probably fit quite well into any of the houses, really. Plenty of courage, a good mind, loyal, ambitious..."

"Just put me wherever I belong," I say, looking wistfully over at Cassie and Draco at the Ravenclaw table. "You thought my Gryffindor traits were strongest before, didn't you?"

"This appears to be true, from what you remember of it," the Sorting Hat says. "But it would seem that your fundamental motivations and goals have changed since then. You have different priorities now. You no longer seek to protect others at the expense of all else. Now, you primarily seek knowledge, for its own sake even. This means you're going to RAVENCLAW!"

"Thanks," I think. I smile as I pull the hat off of my head, and go over to sit with my friends.

"Good job, Harry," Cassie says. "You got Ravenclaw too!"

"And you didn't need to argue with the hat for a quarter of an hour to do it," Draco says with a smirk.

"How did you guys ever manage to get Ravenclaw?" I wonder.

Cassie murmurs barely audibly, "People don't always realize, when they're eleven years old, what would be best for them, rather than merely what is expected of them by their family."

"I made a different choice..." Draco says quietly. "I decided not to just take the easy path." He grins at the two of us. "And this is all the fault of you two."

"Don't look at me," Cassie says. "I didn't do anything but get Sorted before you."

I smirk and watch the rest of the Sorting. There's no more big surprises, although there might still be some differences somehow since I don't really remember everyone in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. "Weasley, Ron" gets sent to Gryffindor, and "Zabini, Blaise" to Slytherin.

"Welcome to Ravenclaw," a prefect girl says to the new first years.

Dumbledore stands up and says, "Welcome, welcome everyone to a new year at Hogwarts. Before we begin, I'd like to say a few words. And here they are: Pickle! Feckless! Loofah! Pants!"

"He gives such stirring speeches, doesn't he?" Cassie comments.

After the feast, Dumbledore gets up again. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I have some announcements to make. First off, we are discontinuing Defense Against the Dark Arts, due to various circumstances. Please welcome Professor Lupin, who will be teaching Battle Magic this year."

I give Lupin a standing ovation, cheering him on. A number of other students also applaud politely.

"Among other scheduling changes, Astronomy is now an elective rather than a primary class," Dumbledore says. "Second years who took it last year have the option of continuing it a year early, if desired. We are also adding a new elective, Wizarding Politics. To that end, please welcome our other new teacher, Professor Malfoy."

I hadn't really paid attention to the head table. I stare up with surprise. I hadn't expected that Dumbledore would get him to come and teach it, but I suppose someone had to. Still, why didn't he ask me first? Is he violating our agreement already? The blond wizard stands up and gives a suave bow, sweeping his immaculate emerald green robes.

"Merlin!" Draco breathes. "He didn't even tell me he was doing this!" He obviously hadn't seen Lucius up front either.

"Don't feel bad about not noticing," Cassie whispers. "He was Disillusioned and just canceled it when Dumbledore announced it."

After a couple more moments of stunned quiet, I remember to applaud, and Draco and Cassie quickly join in. Most of the applause for the new Professor Malfoy is from the Slytherin table, although there's some other Ravenclaws who are enthusiastic about it as well.

Draco looks like he wants to sink into the floor. He was positively exuberant about being in Ravenclaw, but he obviously wasn't expecting his father to be present and watching. Far easier to deal with someone through owls, and normally he wouldn't have seen Lucius in person for months, plenty of time for the surprise to wear off.

I put my hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "Relax, Draco. There's no shame in being in Ravenclaw. You should be proud of it."

"But, what if he's upset about it?" Draco hisses with an expression of near-panic.

Cassie snorts softly. "And now we see why you'd never be in Gryffindor."

"I think it's great that you're in Ravenclaw," Terry Boot says. "We'll be dorm mates!"

Dumbledore is continuing on, warning about the Forbidden Forest being off-limits, not to use magic in the corridors between classes, Filch's list of banned items, Quidditch tryouts, and so forth.

As the feast breaks up and the prefects start showing the first years to their new dorms, Draco goes up to talk to Professor Malfoy. I'm not sure if I should tag along, but Cassie goes along with him, and she winds up dragging me by the sleeve.

"Father," Draco says.

"Draco," Lucius says. "However, you should call me 'Professor Malfoy' while we're in school."

"It's a pleasure to see you here, Professor Malfoy," I say. "I'm sorry that I'm not a third year yet. Will you be remaining here to teach after this year?"

"Perhaps," Professor Malfoy says. "We'll see how this year goes."

"Father..." Draco begins.

"You should hurry along now, Draco," Malfoy says. "Your prefects are leading the first years off, and you wouldn't want to get lost on the way to Ravenclaw Tower, would you?" He gives a small smirk. "We can talk later, if you like. I'll be here all year, after all."

"Come on, Draco," Cassie says, tugging eagerly at his arm. "I want to see the tower!"

I laugh softly and follow after them, waving and saying, "See you later, Professor Malfoy."

We catch up to the remainder of the first year Ravenclaws and get shown up to the tower, our new home for the better part of the year. I haven't been in Ravenclaw Tower very often before, and I didn't stay long the few times I was here.

"When you want to come into the tower, the eagle knocker will ask you a riddle," a prefect is telling us. "You need to answer the riddle correctly before the door will open. If you don't know the answer, you'll have to wait for someone to come along who can answer it. So a word of warning to all you first years, be sure to have everything you need before leaving the tower."

"Oh, Merlin," I mutter. I'd forgotten about the riddles. "I'm so bad at riddles."

Cassie just laughs at me. "You'll get plenty of much-needed practice, then."

We head inside into the open, airy common room, brightly lit by wide arched windows. The place is decorated in shades of blue and bronze. Comfortable couches are arranged for sitting, and a low fire smolders in the fireplace. Tables and chairs are situated to do homework on, and bookshelves line the walls.

"Boys' dorms are to the right, and girls' to the left," the prefect says. "Remember that the girls' dorms are off-limits to boys."

Draco and I head up to the first year boys' dorm. I don't really know the three boys that are sharing our dorm very well. I vaguely remember Terry Boot from Dueling Club, but I only knew Michael Corner and Stephen Cornfoot by name. Not that it really matters now. That was another time, another life.

"Still nervous, Draco?" Terry asks.

Draco nods. "I didn't think my own father would be a teacher this year!"

"He didn't exactly sound upset to me," I say.

"He never does," Draco says. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head. "Just... never mind. You guys better not mention this to anyone else."

"I don't think any of us care enough to bother..." Stephen says absently, yawning and flopping down in his bed. Michael looks like he's already asleep.

"Well, if you do, I swear I'll hex you!" Draco says.

"Relax, Draco," I say.

"Nobody's going to go starting rumors about you or anything," Terry says.

"Go to bed already," Stephen grumbles.

At breakfast the next morning, Anthony Goldstein and Seamus Finnigan come up behind us. "Hey, look," Seamus says. "It's the little crybaby Ravenclaw."

"You're a disappointment to your father!" Anthony adds.

Draco's fists clench in rage. He whips out his wand and shouts, "Furnunculus!"

Pimples cover Anthony's face. Anthony screams and runs off. Seamus looks up at someone approaching and decides it's a good time to retreat as well.

"Hexing other students before you've even had a single class?" Professor Malfoy says, strolling up nonchalantly. "Five points from Ravenclaw."

"Sorry, father," Draco mutters sheepishly.

"That's Professor Malfoy."

"Yes, Professor Malfoy," Draco says, looking like he wants to turn invisible.

Once Professor Malfoy is out of earshot again, I glare about at the table around us. "Okay, so who is the gossip around here?"

"It wasn't me," Terry says.

"Does it really matter?" Stephen wonders.

Draco fixes his gaze on Michael Corner. "You! It was you, wasn't it?"

"Huh?" Michael says, freezing with his fork halfway to his mouth. "Oh, Merlin, no! I'm not that stupid. It was probably one of the girls."

Cassie snorts. "I'll agree to that one. They were already tittering amongst themselves before I went to sleep. Morag especially seems to take Ravenclaw's love of knowledge for a love of gossip."

"I hate my life," Draco mutters. "I should've just gone to Slytherin."

It really bothers me to see Draco like this. Usually, he's the one kicking me out of a funk. Perhaps it's time that I return the favor.

"Don't let it get you down, Draco," I say. "I'm with you all the way."

"Me, too," Cassie says.

"And me," Terry adds, to my surprise.

"I'm going to keep my mouth shut for fear of getting hexed," Michael mutters.

"Are you guys actually going to eat or just talk?" Stephen wonders.

"Don't make me hex you," I say, smirking at Stephen.

Before classes begin, I head up to speak with Dumbledore at the staff table.

"Can I have a word, Headmaster?" I say quietly.

"Of course, Harry," Dumbledore says, leading me off into a side room to speak in private. "What do you need?"

"You didn't ask me about Lucius Malfoy," I say. "He'll be a perfectly fine teacher, but I thought we agreed that you'd run them by me first."

"Ah, my apologies," Dumbledore says. "I had to fill the position on short notice--"

"No excuse," I snap.

"--and the Board of Governers insisted on including him in order to accept my curriculum changes," Dumbledore says.

I sigh. "You could have at least said something beforehand. The clever Disillusionment surprise was a bit much. Draco would have had a heart attack if he weren't eleven."

"Can I make it up to you in some way?" Dumbledore asks.

I think for a moment, then shake my head. "No. I'll let it slide this once, as thanks for helping deal with Cassie's situation. But let's not have this happen again, alright?"

"Very well," Dumbledore says.

"I want to be able to trust you, Dumbledore," I say. "If I can't trust you with something like this, how can I know I can count on you for something even more important?"