The New Scar

Chapter Two:

The train raced along Britain as my new friends and I laughed and shared stories.

"So, Cassie," Harry said. "Are you going to try to be the new keeper for Gryffindor?"

I leaned back casually and said, "Well, it depends how good Gryffindor is. I can't be on a losing team."

That was when Harry and Ron went into a conversation, (more with themselves than me) about the Gryffindor Quidditch team and who was on it and whatnot. I noticed that Hermione sat in the far corner of the compartment, reading Hogwarts: A History. But every now and then, she peered over the top of the book to glare at Ron and Harry as they went on about Quidditch, and she gave me sympathetic looks whenever I jumped into the conversation.

While Ron was explaining one of Harry's moves in a Quidditch match against Slytherin House, the compartment door slid open. A pointy-faced boy with a pale face and slick, blonde hair slid it completely open. We all looked at him, the other three, I noticed, with more hate than I. Hermione had set her book down, and was sitting on the edge of the seat as though she was ready to stand. Ron's hand was edging toward his pocket in which concealed his wand. Harry, of the three of them had pure hatred flaring in his eyes.

The boy in the doorway was looking at Harry in the same way. His cold gray eyes glinting with malice. "New friend Potter?" he asked smoothly.

The boy took his eyes away from Harry's and looked at me. I was lost at what to do, so I did the best thing that I could do. Being in a good mood, or better than when I had left, I stood and held out my hand. "Cassie McGerald." I didn't smile, or have a true expression on my face. I tried to put it into a friendly, yet cautious pose.

He looked straight at me and smiled, (it looked like more of a sneer). He took my hand. "Draco Malfoy." We gradually dropped each other's hand.

He took a step back and said; "I'm going to give you the same word of advice that I gave to Potter when I met him. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. Weasley over there is so poor, his clothes wouldn't even be considered as a rag to clean another's shoes with."

Ron went bright red and found the handle of his wand. He looked at Draco with the deepest loathing. I looked at Ron and gave him a look that said, "chill."

I looked back at Draco. "I think that I know enough about Ron to know that he is a great person under the outer covering."

"Too bad that no one warned you about Potter," he said casually. "The Dark Lord is after him. Only a matter of time until he's caught up with him."

"Does it really matter if Harry's in danger or not?" I felt tension rising around me.

"Granger over there is a danger to herself. Doesn't surprise me though. She is just a stupid Mudbl..." THUD. A punch apparently landed across Draco's face, and one landed in his gut. I wasn't sure which one I did. All I knew was that my right hand was in a fist and it had swung through. I saw Ron get up off of the ground, his hand too balled up into a fist.

The compartment was really quiet. I looked around. Harry was looking at Ron and back at me as though he had just missed out on something fun. Hermione was staring just at me, wide-eyed. Since I hate silence, especially from something that I did, I said, "Friend of yours?"

A few minutes later, Ron and Harry returned from putting Draco in another empty compartment.

They slumped down in the seats across from Hermione and me. No one was sure of what to say. We just sat in the quiet for a minute or two.

After a bit, Ron said, "That felt good. Now I know what you felt like after you slapped him Hermione. Though I didn't get that bewildered face from him."

I looked over at Hermione. She gave a small smile as she looked at her lap.

"Typical," I said. "That one of the first people that I meet, I'd slug them." Harry let out a small chuckle.

Hermione suddenly snapped out of her trance. "Well boys, if you would leave Cassie and me to ourselves, we should change into our robes."

Harry and Ron took their robes out of their trunks and left the compartment. Hermione did the same and began to change and I followed suit. After a couple minutes, there was a knock at the door. "Hey you guys," came Ron's voice. "Are you done yet?"

"Yeah," I called. The door opened and they entered. I slightly envied the fact that they were allowed to wear pants, but thought that it really wasn't that big of a deal.

Another half hour passed, and we were at Hogsmede Station. As I got off, I saw a giant of a man standing in front of the crowd of first years. I stared at it trying to figure out if it was a man or giant when I heard my name being called. I looked around and Hermione was beckoning me over to a horseless carriage. Harry, Ron, Hermione and I stepped in. The carriage lurched forward. I must have looked scared or excited or nervous, because Harry said, "Don't worry. You'll really like it at Hogwarts."

"Uh.... Thanks. I'm sure that I will." I looked out the window of the carriage as it rolled along to the castle.

<*>

After we arrived at the castle, and got out of the carriage, I was in total awe. The turrets of the castle stood against a starry sky. Torchlight shone in the windows. I stopped to gaze at the spectacle, but was swept forward in the wave of students. Hermione's hand found my arm and she pulled me forward in through the oak front doors of the castle.

The sight of the Great Hall greeted me. I had read about it in Hogwarts: A History, but seeing it was breathtaking. Thousands of candles were floating in the air. The further that I looked up, I saw the famous ceiling that reflected the sky. Stars added to the light of the candles.

I was jolted back to reality by Hermione dragging me over to Gryffindor table. I sat next to her and Ron and Harry sat on the opposite side. A huge knot of excitement was inside of my stomach. Looking up at the front of the giant room, I saw the teachers up at the front table. In the middle was an old man with a long white beard and hair. His eyes glittered behind half-moon shaped glasses. I pushed my own glasses up the bridge of my nose. My eyes danced around the room for a few moments. I couldn't believe the sights before me: torch brackets burning merrily on the walls, students talking and chatting amongst themselves. It reminded me sickly of Shawmain. Only this place had more of a "home" and a "welcome" feeling. Not at all like the cold, drafty, castle feel of Shawmain.

I was slightly startled by a tap at my shoulder. I whipped around and an elderly woman in green robes with her gray and brown hair pulled back into a tight bun. "Ms. McGerald?"

"Yeah. That's me." I wondered what she could possibly want with me.

"Come with me please." She turned and walked toward the doors to the entrance hall.

I clambered out between the table and the bench and followed her. I looked back at Ron, Harry and Hermione. Ron looked slightly sick, Harry had his brow furrowed and Hermione just shrugged her shoulders. I turned back towards the doors and walked through. The woman was waiting for me.

"First off," she said. "I am Professor McGonagall. Head of Gryffindor House and your Transfiguration teacher."

I was in silence. I didn't know if she wanted me to answer or not. But she went on.

"I just feel that I should take you away from the Hall and feast for a moment to bring you up to speed."

I had to ask, "But won't the headmaster address the first years of what to and what not to do?"

McGonagall began to speak just as I stopped. "Yes, but you're a fifth year, and a transfer. Most of the first year students have siblings or parents who were educated here. They will know more than you in due time. I'm sure that Potter, Granger and Weasley will or already have filled you in on such things as the Forbidden Forest and so forth."

I nodded.

"And..." she hesitated a moment. "They have told you all about.... You-Know-Who?"

"You mean Voldemort? Yeah. They told me on the train." I wondered why I had to be out here instead of in the Hall.

"Good. And I noticed that you have an...unusual scar on your right arm."

She reached out and turned my hand palm up. There was my scar. The robes slid down to reveal its length.

"Ah, yeah, well I've had that since I was born. Harry said something about it having something to do with Voldemort, but I don't really believe him. It's just a scar." I slipped my hand out of her grasp.

She pulled her hand stiffly to her side. "A scar that could be affiliated with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. You know that he has risen."

"Yeah. I know all about that." I was fed up with this. "Ya know, you don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. If this scar is from Voldemort, I must have escaped him as a baby, so I can do it again as a fifteen-year-old." My blood was boiling. Why was this old bat questioning me?

She didn't push any further, but began another topic. "I want the students to meet you on their own, so I didn't give you an introduction in there."

I calmed down a bit. "Well, I'm glad that you did."

McGonagall gave a bit of a businesslike exhale. "Well, shall we go back in?"

I opened the door and gestured forward. "After you."

<*>

The feast was way over and the Gryffindors were sitting in the common room. I had been introduced to the Weasley clan. (Fred had clapped me on the back like an old friend and talked about how we met. Ginny was very upfront with me.) The other 5^th year boys, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom, seemed nice. Gryffindor seemed to be the place that I belonged. It was about 1:00 am, but Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were all sitting around the fire in the armchairs. I was looking into the flames and making sure that this wasn't all a dream. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harry looking at me hunched down in his chair, his hands laced out in front of his knees. I saw his eyes drift to the fire and then his head turned with them. I turned my head away from the fire and Hermione was (as I have usually found her in the few hours that I had known her.) sitting in the corner of the couch...reading. I couldn't see the title, but she was completely absorbed. Ron was setting up a card castle. It was really tall and very well balanced. I opened my mouth to say something to break the silence, but a huge BANG beat me to it.

I jumped and looked at Ron. His face was completely singed and the card castle had exploded. He looked over at me with a stunned face. "Exploding Snap...Great game!" He began to put the cards back together and shuffled them.

I gave a soft chuckle. "Interesting..." Harry was looking at me again. I gave him a smile. "Does he play that game often? I think that I should be forewarned before that happens again."

Harry laughed again and looked at the floor smiling.

"We had better go on up to bed." Hermione snapped her book shut and stood up.

I stood up also, "Yeah. Classes start tomorrow right?" I walked toward the staircase to the dormitories. Harry must have decided to go to bed too because he ended up on the other side of the end of the staircase. He started to go up and so did I. There were a few moments of this off and on, then, an awkward moment of silence and embarrassed looks.

"Are you two going up to bed or what?" Ron stood behind us with Hermione next to him.

Harry gestured up the staircase with his hand. "After you."

"Heh. Thanks." And I walked up to the dorm room.

<*>

It was 6:00 am and I was lying in my four-poster. In the two and a half hours that I was asleep, I had fitful dreams. One of which I was lost in a cornfield and was being followed by a beast. I didn't know what it was, but I knew that it wanted to hurt me...

Looking up at the canopy of my bed, I fished in my mind for something...something forgotten. I figured that this was a good time to do any remembering since I'd be busy this year. I closed my eyes...and snapped them open again. A huge flash of green light had displayed itself across my eyelids. A scream came from the back of my head. I couldn't tell if it was man or woman. It was a blood-curdling screech.

I looked over at Hermione's bed and saw that she was sitting up.

"Hey," I said quietly. "Did I wake you?" I sat up in my bed and shifted so that I was sitting up cross-legged and facing her.

She looked up at me. "Oh, no. I was just thinking."

I chuckled softly. "Don't. You don't need to. You're already obviously the smartest one in the year."

She smiled.

"What were you thinking about?"

She shook her head. "Nothing..."

"Yeah, right." I wasn't going to believe that. "What were you thinking about?"

"Oh, just someone." She was turning red really slowly.

"Oooooo. Who?"

She stayed silent.

"Aw, come one Hermione. You can tell me." She looked at me.

"I was thinking about...Ron."

"What were you thinking about him for?" I felt that I shouldn't push her, but I was interested in why she was thinking about Ron of all people.

Hermione sighed and moved around uncomfortably. "I just...was thinking...about how he's protected me and kept Malfoy from doing things to me..."

"You're his friend. Why shouldn't he?" I felt a little offended. Not that much, but a little. After all, I had protected her from Malfoy's words on the train. But I didn't worry about it.

She twisted her hands in her lap. "He...he just...I feel...strange around him."

I couldn't believe that I didn't see it before. "Oh my God Hermione..."

"What?"

"You like Ron!"

"I do not!" She looked at me like I had just shot someone.

"Oh come off it. It's so obvious. You were thinking about him, and you were telling me about how you feel around him." I was shocked, but not that much.

A slow smile curved around her lips. And she laughed an odd laugh. "Oh okay. So maybe I do. I have a good reason to though don't I? He's brave...when he needs to be." She smiled at that. "And he's cute. Don't you think?"

"Absolutely." I had to agree. Even though Ron wasn't handsome, he was awfully good-looking.

Hermione and I putzed around getting dressed. I had all my clothes on so I put my hair up into a ponytail. (It was basically my trademark hairstyle. Easy to do and it kept the hair out of my face, and out of my potions.)

After we were dressed, we headed down to the Common Room. No one was in there yet. We sat down and talked-oddly enough-about Harry and Ron.

"So you guys have known each other for how long?" I wanted to know as much about my 3 new friends as possible.

"Oh, ever since our first year on the train. Harry and Ron were already acquainted, but I came in later."

"And you automatically knew that you three would be great friends?"

She grinned. "Honestly, I thought that I'd become enemies with both of them. Mainly Ron. And, you know, we still quarrel every so often."

"Hmmm."

She was quiet for a few seconds, but then she piped up. "Harry seems to fancy you."

Where'd that come from? "What? Why do you say that?"

She smiled slyly. "Well, I've never seen him look at another person, a girl, like he has been at you."

"Hermione, that's..." I was going to say "ridiculous" but I was interrupted by Harry and Ron thumping down the stairs.

"Morning all." Ron said rather sleepily. He yawned and slumped down in a chair. I looked at Hermione and raised my eyebrows. Harry came in behind him and stood behind my chair and leaned on it.

Hermione looked at me as if to say, "See?" I shook my head and smiled.

"Morning you guys." I sat forward in my chair and put my forearms on my thighs.

The thought of the green light had completely escaped my mind. Now, sitting in the chair in the Common Room, I felt protected. As students started to file down the staircase, I felt protected. I felt like nothing could get to me.

But, I thought. Nothing's trying to get to you anyway. Not that you know of

But it was preposterous. So Voldemort has risen, he's not coming after me.

Apparently I had been led out of the Common Room. I had a habit of thinking so deep that I could talk to someone and have no idea what he or she was saying. So, I had obviously agreed to go down to breakfast.

<*>

In the Great Hall, breakfast was sitting on the plates. I had eaten some pretty decent food at home, but here...Ann's cooking just couldn't beat that of a house elf's.

I had set my bag down on the floor underneath my feet. Professor McGonagall was passing out schedules for the year.

As she passed me after she had given one to Ron, she said, "McGerald, you won't be needing one. Just follow Ms. Granger to her classes."

Hermione received her schedule and put it between us. We had Herbology with the Ravenclaws first.

"Oh they're not so bad." Hermione said. "What have you two got?"

"Same as you." Ron said as he looked over my shoulder.

Hermione stood up and grabbed her bag. "Well, shall we head out then?"

The other three of us grabbed our things, (Ron took another 5 gulps of his juice) and headed out toward the greenhouses.