Magic in Shadow

Magic In Shadow

Chapter One

Something Wicked This Way Comes

"But Hagrid, this ticket says platform 9 ¾. There's no such thing...is there?"

Cassiopeia Black turned to look up at her giant guide with a questioning look--

--but he was gone.

"Okay, I can do this, don't panic," she chanted to herself under her breath as she pushed her trolley along the platform. She pulled the zip up on her leather jacket as a means of protection, then pulled it down again, telling herself she was being foolish. Her barn owl, Artemis, glared at her expectantly from inside the cage atop the trolley. She had been a present from Hagrid:

"To help yer' settl' in. I can' stand cats, an' y'all be laughed at if I get y' a toad..."

And there isn't the slightest chance I'll be laughed at if I can't even get to Hogwarts in the first place, eh?

Hopelessly she stared at the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, as if it would give her the answer. Suddenly, a girl ran through it. Actually ran through the barrier.

Cassie gritted her teeth and scowled, before running after her.

I hate magic.

Jocelyn Spearpent ran her hand along the emerald green snake that rested in her lap as she glared icily at the platinum blonde that sat opposite her.

"Draco," she hissed, "I may not be on the Quidditch team, but at least my family's reputation is still intact."

Draco frowned.

"What do you mean, Spearpent?"

She leaned forward, a grin playing on her lips. Crabbe and Goyle clumsily shifted forward in their seats, eyes wide. Draco sat still, eyes narrowed.

"Well, I imagine your father hasn't quite recovered from watching his only son and heir fall flat on his backside whilst losing a Quidditch match to Harry Potter." She leaned back, satisfied, and proceeded to fondle her snake.

Draco leapt up and brandished his wand in one swift move. If Jocelyn had been anyone else she would have cowered. However, she barely even flinched.

"Up for another midnight duel, Spearpent?" he spat. She didn't bat an eyelid. Inwardly, however, she groaned. The last time she had challenged Malfoy, she'd gone to the hospital wing sprouting house-elf ears.

Fortuitously, she saw a girl struggling outside the compartment with a heavy trunk. Acting highly out of Slytherin character, she stood up to go and help her. The snake immediately curled itself around her waist.

Pulling open the door, she tapped the girl on the shoulder from behind.

"Need a hand? There's a spare seat in here, and you don't want to be walking around when the train starts."

"Oh, thanks," came the reply. The girl dragged her trunk in backwards. Jocelyn held the door open for her and smirked at Malfoy, who was still standing. He smirked right back. She had a nasty feeling his was better.

Closing the door with a snap, she swaggered back to her seat. It was only when she sat down that he sat down, and it was only when he had sat down that she turned to the newcomer.

"Hi, I'm....Cassie?"

Cassie jerked her head up at the sound of her name. She looked up into the eyes of the last person she had wanted to see: Jocelyn Spearpent.

She vaguely heard a boy to her right say something, but she couldn't stop staring in frustration.

Jocelyn heard Draco snap something along the lines of: "Have I missed something here...?"

"Of curse you have, you twat," she said, snapping her head from one direction to the other.

"Cassie..." Draco mused with a smirk. He stood up and offered his hand to the girl, all the while radiating charm.

"Hi, I'm Richard the Lion Heart. Pleasure to make your acquaintance." This made the girl laugh, and she visibly relaxed.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Jocelyn spat. He turned to her with an appraising look.

"Cassie? I don't believe I've heard of you."

"Oh no, I'm Cassie," the girl piped up.

"Excellent. So, a proper introduction: Draco. Slytherin."

"Cassie...Capulet." She managed to pull out the name Dumbledore had given her just in time.

"And, your House?" Draco questioned.

"Ummm..." She chewed her lip, at a loss for words.

You're homeless! You don't have a house! screamed a nasty voice at the back of her mind.

Jocelyn, sat slumped back in her seat, arms folded with her snake dangling on her shoulder, answered for her, not bothering to look at either of them.

"She's new."

"What school are you coming from?" Draco interrogated relentlessly. Cassie was becoming very uneasy under all this scrutiny. Draco reminded her painfully of her father.

To Jocelyn's--not to mention Cassie's--surprise. Cassie rattled off a completely feasible story.

"I haven't gone to school before. My parents and I travelled extensively, and they taught me themselves, but they want me to learn magic properly, so they arranged it with Dumbledore so that I could come to Hogwarts." Jocelyn almost believed her.

"Which House were your parents in?" Draco demanded.

"They went to Beauxbatons," she replied shortly. She made a mental note to write all this down so she could memorise it. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to send a copy to Dumbledore. And Jocelyn.

This seemed to earn Draco's approval, and no more questions were asked.

"Well, with any luck you'll be sorted into Slytherin." Cassie merely nodded, knowing full well that was where all the Blacks ended up. The only Ravenclaw had been disowned and was poorer than Cassie--and Cassie was homeless, for Christ's sake--and the only Gryffindor was a deranged murderer and a betrayer on the run. An escapee from Azkaban prison, whose fate would certainly be death, or worse, a kiss.

Better Slytherin than Gryffindor, she supposed.

Better life than death.

"Anything from the trolley, dears?"

Cassie looked away from the window to the witch with the lunch trolley. Crabbe and Goyle immediately lunged forward, instantly blocking the trolley from view, but she'd already seen the Chocolate Frogs and the Bertie Bott's, and she wasn't interested. She's been fond of Honeydukes when she was very little, but nowadays anything remotely magical left a bad taste in her mouth.

"Out of the way, you pigs!" Draco ordered harshly. He and Jocelyn stepped up to the space unwillingly vacated by Crabbe and Goyle. Cassie turned back to the window.

"Not hungry, Cassie?" Jocelyn inquired impassively. She shook her head, her gaze focused on the flashing countryside behind the glass.

The Slytherins finished lightening their heavy purses, and the witch moved on. As an after thought, Crabbe and Goyle went after it for some pumpkin juice.

Draco noticed this.

"I...think I'll go and pay Potter a visit," he muttered maliciously, turning to go.

"Awww, does widdle Draco feel scared without his gargoyles protecting him?" Jocelyn mocked.

Draco flashed a glare at her, so venomous it made Cassie jump. He gave the girls a final smirk, and then swept out of the door.

Jocelyn leaned back and gracefully tossed Cassie a Chocolate Frog. Cassie didn't catch it and it fell to the floor. Jocelyn smirked. Nobody bothered to pick it up.

"I wouldn't bother trying out for the Quidditch team with those reflexes."

"It wasn't high on my 'To-do' list," she retorted. She shrugged and threw another frog into her lap.

Cassie deliberately picked it up and placed it on the side beside her. Then she turned back to the window.

"You're being stupid. You can't live like a muggle if you're not one, especially if you go to Hogwarts. You're going to be surrounded by others of our kind, day in, day out, it'll be inescapable. So," and she threw her a third chocolate frog, "you might as well start slowly," she finished kindly.

Cassie starred at the box on her lap. She'd been avoiding magic for so long, it felt wrong to go back to it. But Jocelyn was right; she was a witch, whether she wanted it or not. It was in her, something she couldn't escape... she was stuck. But it was something stronger than the blood that flowed through her veins. And it was far more important. As a witch...

"You don't have to be a Black," Jocelyn finished the thought for her. "Take baby steps." She motioned towards the frog. Slowly and carefully, she opened it. Ate it. Swallowed.

It was hard.

"It'll get better," Jocelyn murmured. Concern was etched all over her face.

"I'm sorry about the cauldron," Cassie apologised offhandedly.

"So you should be," she replied, just as casually.

"So we're...alright?"

"Sure." She grinned. "So....Capulet?"

"Shakespeare."

"Nice choice. We'll find you a Montague by the end of the year."

This made her laugh, more for the sake of laughing than because it was funny.

"So is Draco your boyfriend?"

"He wishes," she scoffed.

"What's with the... gargoyles?"

Before she could reply, the train began to slow down.

"That was quick," Cassie murmured feverishly.

"Too quick," Jocelyn added, peering out of the window.

"Then why have we stopped?" came the thick voice of either Crabbe or Goyle - Cassie couldn't tell them apart - as the three boys came back to the carriage.

Instead of an answer, the lights went out, plunging them into darkness.

"What the fu-ow! Gerroff me!"

"Move it, Malfoy"

"Ah, shit!"

"Cassie, that's my snake. I'd let go if I were you."

"It bit me!"

"Uh, no, that was me. Sorry."

"Who's that?"

"Crabbe."

"Ew."

"Why is it so cold?"

"Someone must have opened a door."

"Lumos."

"Thanks, Draco."

"I'm going to find out what's going on."

"Spearpent, light your wand. Goyle, follow me."

"Lumos."

In the light of the two wands, everyone's face was more or less visible. The girls and Crabbe watched as Draco slid open the compartment door, but the way was blocked.

In the dim light, it was not possible to see who the towering figure was. It was as tall as the ceiling, and was clad from head to foot in a cloak that concealed the wearer completely.

Well, almost completely. Cassie drew back at the sight of the single protruding hand. It was grey and slimy looking, covered in scabs, it looked dead and decayed--it was the very embodiment of everything she hated about the wizarding world: disgusting, dangerous, painful magic...

The thing under the cloak suddenly drew in a long, slow, rattling breath. It suddenly became intensely cold. Far too cold for Cassie to take. She moved back, as did Draco. She saw that he was shivering very badly because of the cold, but as she watched him closer, she saw that he wasn't shivering, but shaking...it was like he was having some sort of fit.

"Draco," Crabbe voiced warily. Without warning, Draco went rigid and crumpled down to the floor. He started twitching, and, sacred witless, Crabbe and Goyle yelled and retreated to the back of the compartment. She stumbled back against Jocelyn, who grabbed her shoulders firmly and held her upright. She reached a hand round to one of Jocelyn's and squeezed it, finding strength from knowing there was someone who wasn't about to go to pieces in close proximity. But the rest of her head was scattered. She was so cold her teeth were chattering, and she heard Jocelyn's breathing become laboured behind her, as if her chest had become restricted due to the cold. The figures in the doorway came closer, closing in on Draco's fitting form on the ground. Crabbe and Goyle were huddled behind the girls, no use to anyone, and Jocelyn couldn't move; whether because of fear or because she had simply become frozen to the floor, she couldn't decide. Cassie was slowly sinking to her knees, mumbling incoherently, eyes glued to the hooded figure that seemed to be sucking all of the warmth from the world.

Jocelyn heard the sound of footsteps, and then realized that the cloaked figure was retreating. She saw a silvery light come fro around the corner. The second the thing was back over the threshold of the compartment, she saw Draco sit up shakily and wide eyed, no longer cold, but bloody sacred. He got up, and, not seeming to realize that the hooded thing had gone, and bolted from the compartment, scraping past a shabby looking man who was coming from the other direction. Jocelyn watched Draco dash madly into the opposite compartment, and heard the startled and indignant yells of the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan before he slammed the door shut behind him.

"Are you girls alright?" asked the tattered looking man. Jocelyn drew a deep breath and turned to look a Crabbe and Goyle who sat slumped and whimpering under the window.

"Well, they don't look too good to me," she replied suavely. The man gave her a tired smile, and then his features darkened as he saw Cassie. She was sitting rigidly on the floor, her knees drawn up to her chin, shaking her head slowly and mumbling.

"Come on, it's alright, they're gone," the man said gently, crouching down as he helped Cassie to stand. Her head snapped up and her frightened grey eyes met his, and for a moment, the man stopped, frozen, seemingly recognising something in her eyes. He blinked, helped her to her feet, and regarded her quietly.

"Are you okay?" She nodded, flipping her hair out of her eyes. He stared again. It occurred to Jocelyn that he might recognise Cassie as a Black, and decided to step in.

"Thank you, we're okay now. I suppose you're the new Defence teacher?" she inquired, moving in front of Cassie.

"Yes. I'm Professor Lupin."

"This is Cassie Capulet. I'm Jocelyn Spearpent." He nodded in recognition of the last name, evidently coming to the conclusion that he didn't know anything about the other girl.

"Ah, yes. I knew your uncle Tobias very well." Jocelyn scowled--her Uncle Tobias had been a Hufflepuff and was an idiot as far as she was concerned.

The Professor glanced once more at Cassie. She was back to normal and was deliberately avoiding his gaze. "Well, I'll see you girls at school." And he left.

Almost immediately, the train started moving once more. Crabbe and Goyle instantly clambered off the floor and made for the opposite compartment where Draco had run to. The girls listened with amusement as the angry yells of the Weasley's multiplied in volume, and then jumped as they booth appeared in the open doorway, followed by Lee.

"Ah, ladies. You don't mind?"

"Not at all," Jocelyn cooed. "Cassie, these are the Weasley twins, Fred and George, (the two gave a theatrical bow) and Lee Jordan. The finest troublemakers in Hogwarts history," she proclaimed.

*

Behind the doorway, Remus Lupin shook his head sadly. Miss Spearpent had clearly never heard of the Marauders.

He wondered, as he made his way back down to the compartment wherein sat the son of Prongs, whether Padfoot's little cousin had any idea how wrong her friend's statement was.

*

The train came to a slow halt outside the school, and Cassie jumped up immediately, only to sit down once again, and then stand up in a more formal manner, wriggling in her school robes and feeling a little self aware. She was glad she'd kept her leather jacket on underneath--for some reason it was providing a substantial amount of unseen protection. "Leave your luggage," Jocelyn told her. "They take it up to the dorms for us. You'll like the Slytherin common room - lots of leather." Cassie grinned. As she walked off the train, she followed Jocelyn and Draco to where they were walking towards, black carriages, drawn by black horses, although, as she drew closer, she was shocked to see that they were completely fleshless. Their black coats clung to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads looked like those of dragons; they were creepy in a reptilian kind of way and their pupil-less eyes were white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither - vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats. Standing still and quiet in the gathering gloom, the creatures looked eerie and sinister.

"Those are huge," Cassie said, climbing into the carriage after Jocelyn.

"Not really. They only seat four." Cassie blinked.

"Oh, no, the horses, not the carriage.

"What horses?" a blonde Cassie hadn't noticed, with a face like a pug-dog asked her, snuggling next to Draco, despite his somewhat less than gentlemanly attempts to shrug her away.

"There you go, Cassie," Jocelyn said suddenly, motioning for her to look out of the tiny window. "Your first sight of the castle. Your home for the next year," she added. Cassie raised an eyebrow knowingly, but said nothing. She could not resist looking up at the famous castle she might have come to three years ago.

The carriage smelled faintly of mould and straw. They trundled towards a pair of magnificent wrought-iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars. Cassie drew away from the window with a shiver when she saw what were standing guard on either side; two more towering hooded Dementors. The carriage picked up speed on the long slopping drive up to the castle before swaying to a halt.

They dismounted the carriage and immediately heard a short tubby boy talking to an even tinier boy wielding a camera.

"Harry fainted! When the dementors came in--"

"Really? Do you think I could get a picture?"

A boy with messy black hair and glasses stepped down from a carriage looking queasy. Draco stomped over to him followed by the gargoyles.

"You fainted Potter?" Draco drawled delightedly. "Is Longbottom telling the truth?"

Jocelyn rolled her eyes and took hold of Cassie by the arm before Cassie could tell the boy exactly what Malfoy had done back on the train.

"Come on. Best not to get involved." Grudgingly, Cassie followed her up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, and into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches and housed a magnificent marble staircase which led to the upper floors. The door into the Great Hall stood open to the right. The crowd filled towards it. They suddenly heard a familiar voice calling over the crowds.

"Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!" Cassie and Jocelyn saw the boy with messy hair that Draco had taunted earlier, and a girl with a mass of frizzy brown hair turn back and walk over to Professor McGonagall.

"That's Potter. And that's Granger-one of the smartest girls in the school." Jocelyn informed Cassie dryly. Before they could walk another step forward, Jocelyn's way was blocked by a tall figure in black robes. Looking up Cassie saw his pale, sour looking face, framed by chin-length, greasy black hair.

"Miss Spearpent, follow me," He ordered sweeping away. Jocelyn shrugged at Cassie and followed him across the Hall and through a door as she mentally ran down the list of all the possible rules she could have broken in the last quarter of an hour. Nothing was springing to mind... but maybe it was all those illegal Firewhiskies?

Cassie was pushed along with the crowd but had just reached the doors when she felt a small tug on the robes around her waist, and was dragged sideways by a seemingly invisible hand. Looking down, she saw a tiny man with a fuzzy white beard and a cute smile on his face.

"Hello, my dear. I'm Professor Flitwick," he proclaimed in a squeaky little voice. Cassie nodded dumbly. "Would you just come through here please?" She followed walking slowly behind the little fuzzy faced teacher, who was running as fast as his little legs could carry him--one of Cassie's strides equalled five of Flitwick's.

She followed him through a door into a room which was packed with eleven year olds.

"Now my dear, you will be Sorted into your House after the First Years. Nothing to worry about, just a quick chat with a hat," he said reassuringly.

Before she could say a word, she was ushered through another door in the far corner of the room and at last found herself in the Great Hall.

Flitwick skittered past them to the front, carrying a scruffy, torn, pointed wizard's hat. She saw Hagrid come up to the front and placed a stool in front of them. Flitwick stood beside it. A worried glance around the Hall told Cassie that Jocelyn was still not back in the Hall.

"Now, when I call your name, come up to the front, sit on the stool and I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your House." Flitwick consulted a roll of parchment.

"Adams, Ashley." A tiny, blonde girl walked quickly up to the hat and Flitwick put the hat on her head. It covered her face so all you could see was her surprised mouth in an O shape and her blonde hair.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat screamed almost immediately. The table on the far side of the Hall erupted into cheers and applause and the girl walked happily over to the table. Cassie scanned the Hall once more, and noticed with relief that Jocelyn had reappeared and was sitting at the Slytherin table, talking to a redhead. She watched as Jocelyn pointed at her and said something to the redhead, who smiled and shifted up along the bench, leaving a space. The two girls grinned at her and the redhead winked. The knot in her stomach disappeared and she grinned back, and turned her attention back to the first years. The crowd had already thinned.

This will be fine...just shove the hat on, wait for it to announce the house, then try not to trip up as you walk over to the Slytherin table and sit down with Jocelyn. Piece of cake.

"Griffiths, Anna." A tall, cute girl with light brown hair walked quickly up to the stool and was made a Hufflepuff before the Hat even touched her head.

'Le Cott, Harriet' was another Hufflepuff, then 'McCann, Isabella' was made a Ravenclaw. When at last 'Wormwood, Hannah' was made a Slytherin, Cassie was the only one left standing.

"And I'm happy to announce that we have a girl joining us in the third year," Flitwick said. "Cassie Capulet." A murmur ran through the hall as she walked up and sat on the stool. She squeezed her eyes shut as the Hat was dropped over them.

Not Gryffindor...please not Gryffindor...

* * *

"That one."

"Which one?"

"That one!" Jocelyn laughed, pointing towards Cassie.

"Ah." Blaise nodded. "So she'll be in Slytherin?"

"Definitely. She's great." She didn't think it was necessary to mention she was also a Black.

"Excellent," Blaise nodded, tucking a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

The two girls watched as Cassie walked up to the stool and had the Hat put on her head. They waited for almost a whole minute.

"What's going on?" Blaise hissed.

"Shhh." Jocelyn snapped.

They waited. And they waited. Two minutes went by, and then at last...

"GRYFFINDOR!"