The Power of Love

On the Hogwarts Express

Then next morning Cassandra woke up in the same small room in the Leaky Cauldron. She looked around and she saw her packages and boxes from the day of shopping that she had yesterday with Albus in Diagon Alley and smiled knowing that today was the day. She had finally gotten away from her family and she was going to school. She stood up and got dressed, as soon as she was finished there was a knock at the door and Albus walked in.

"Good morning Cassandra," Professor Dumbledore said with a smile. He had a tray with tea, milk, toast, and jam. "I have breakfast for us, and as soon as we are done we can head off to the station to catch the train."

"Sounds wonderful." She helped herself to the toast and jam. Before she knew it, they were in a cab again and on their way to Kings Cross Station. They got to the station, climbed out of the cab, and the professor went to find her a cart. They loaded her trunk, some of her packages, and Jewel's case onto the cart and then Albus lead her towards Platform 9.

"Alright," Albus said stopping in front of the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10, "the Hogwarts Express is on Platform 9 3/4. To get to the platform you have to walk strait through that barrier between Platforms 9 and 10. So we are just going to walk up to it and slowly lean into the barrier and cross through so we don't attract attention. Ready?" he asked.

Cassandra just nodded as Professor Dumbledore started to push her cart towards the barrier. They both leaned against it and he pointed to a train pulling in at Platform 9 and slowly they began to slide into the barrier. As they went the entire way through the barrier they stood up and Cassandra saw an enormous red steam engine train bearing the name 'The Hogwarts Express.'

She couldn't help but smile at the sight before her. Children and parents were everywhere, and so were their pets. She nearly tripped over one particularly lazy cat that just lay on the ground. Families were all together smiling and hugging.

"I'm going to miss my ickle Petey-kins!" One rather plump witch said while hugging her son so tightly he was turning blue.

"Please be careful Remus. I expect to see you home for the Christmas holidays." Another witch said with a smile while looking fondly at her son.

"...And for the love of Merlin James, comb your hair!" Another mother yelled while trying to tame her son's unruly black hair.

"I had better not get one owl about you causing trouble at school Sirius Black!" The woman standing next to James' mother said with a threatening tone. Cassandra couldn't help but smile as she watched all the different families' interactions. Another owl flew above Cassandra's head as Albus motioned for her to follow him aboard the train.

"Let's go find you a compartment," Professor Dumbledore suggested as she followed him onto the train and they found a compartment near the end of the train and put her trunk in the luggage compartment. They then sat down, "Well, I must leave you now so I can get back to the school before I am missed too much. Just remember everything we have talked about and I shall see you when you get to Hogwarts."

"Ok," Cassandra said letting Jewel out of her case, "thank you for everything Professor."

"You did all the work Cassandra," he said with that twinkle in his eyes. "Have a nice trip." And he stood up and suddenly walked out of the compartment.

"Here we go," she said with a smile as Jewel jumped in her lap. "I wonder how long it will be until we get there." And just then she felt the train start to pull away from the platform. She smiled and watched out the window as houses and trees flew past while gently petting Jewel.

They seemed to be sitting there for almost an hour when the compartment door slowly slid open. Cassandra looked up to see a girl about her age with light auburn hair and startling emerald green eyes. She looked as if she had been cry and spoke with a very quiet and shaking voice.

"Excuse me," said the girl looking at Cassandra, "do you mind if I sit in here? All the other compartments are full." Cassandra looked at the girl and heard her think, *Please don't turn me away. The other kids were so cruel.* Cassandra looked at the girl and smiled.

"Not at all," she said smiling, "come on in and have a seat." The girl just flashed a smile of relief and walked in closing the door behind her.

"Thank you so much." She sat down across the compartment from her. Jewel had immediately jumped off Cassandra's lap and began to sniff the new girl with great interest. "This is my first year at Hogwarts and I'm a little scared," she said leaning down to pet a purring Jewel.

"I know how you feel. It's my first year at Hogwarts too. This is all a little new to me." The girl smiled at Cassandra and looked around the compartment for a second before standing and walking over to Cassandra and putting out a hand.

"I'm Lily," she said, "Lily Evans." She took Cassandra's hand and shook it then stood there looking at her as if expecting something. Then it came to her.

"Oh, right," Cassandra said realizing she might actually be making her first friend, "I'm Cassandra Salem." They laughed and Lily sat back down.

"This is all very interesting isn't it?" Lily was looking curiously out of the window. "I live in Surrey and I never knew all of this magic existed until a month ago."

"Really?" Cassandra instantly became fascinated by this knowledge. "Your parents are Muggles?"

"Muggles? What is that," Lily said looking confused and offended.

"What we call people with non-magical abilities. It's not an insult, that's just what they are," she explained.

"Oh," Lily said with a smile, "well then, yes, my parents are Muggles. So is the rest of my family. My parents were so surprised when I got my letter. Are your parents Muggles?"

"No," Cassandra said frowning at the thought of her parents, "my family's wizarding blood can be traced back to ancient times in Greece. Apparently our family was one of the first wizarding families in the world."

"Where do you live now," said Lily sounding very intrigued.

"Some of my more distant relatives live here in England and all around Europe. But I live in a small town in Massachusetts. Or at least that's where my family lives. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to go back home now that I've come here. We didn't part on the best of terms."

"That's horrible. But my sister would do the same thing to me if she could. She thinks the fact that I'm a witch is 'disgrace to our family's name,'" she said sticking her nose in the air in an impression of her sister. Cassandra couldn't help but laugh.

"You're sister sounds a lot like mine. Krista is horrible." Cassandra frowned once again at the thought of her family.

"It sounds like Petunia and Krista should get together sometime. They would probably become best friends," Lily joked. "So what is it like growing up in a family of witches and wizards?" Cassandra thought for a second of a good answer considering living with her family had never really been a pleasant experience.

"Well, interesting I guess. Most adults wear robes and always carry their wands with them," she said trying to give a good answer. "My older brother and sister liked to play jokes on me by turning my dolls and teddy bears into snakes, rats, and spiders."

"Really?!" This really intrigued Lily. "Did you ever do anything like that?" Cassandra began to think and then remembered Albus saying that she could 'dazzle' her friends with her transfiguration abilities. She smiled and then spoke.

"Well, I never really did anything like that to them," she said, "but, whenever the two of them would gang up on me I would turn into a very large animal and scare the living daylights out of them!"

"Turn into an animal!" Lily breathed. "How? Can you show me?" *I hope I don't have to do anything like that when we get there. I would be dreadfully behind.* Hearing all of this Cassandra smiled and stood up.

"What animal would you like to see?" she asked.

"How about a tiger?" Lily had an apprehensive smile as she watched Cassandra without blinking. Cassandra continued to smile as she transformed into a large snowy cat with black stripes and blue eyes. The tiger walked around the compartment and then jumped back into the seat Cassandra was sitting before. Even in an animal form she could still hear Lily thinking, *That was amazing!* and *How did she do that?* before changing back into herself.

"How on earth did you do that?" a shocked Lily asked.

"I'm not quite sure actually," Cassandra started, "I've just been able to do it since I was born. It's called an Animagus transfiguration, and is supposed to be very difficult to learn. And even then it is unbelievably rare to be able to transform into more than one animal."

"Wow." Lily found herself speechless as the compartment door slid open again to reveal a plump witch pushing a refreshment cart.

"Would you two young ladies care for anything off the trolley?" the witch asked moving the cart into view. Lily looked at the strange wizard's treats with wide eyes as Cassandra reached for the money her grandmother sent her. She walked over to the witch and bought enough snacks to last her and Lily for the rest of the trip. The witch left and the door slid shut again.

"Thank you," said Lily opening a Cauldron Cake and taking a bite. "What other kinds of magic can you do?" Cassandra looked at the ground as she thought about if she should tell Lily the other powers she had. Upon thinking about it, she felt that Lily was a person who she could trust not to blab her secrets to the rest of the school. She had the feeling she and Lily were going to be great friends.

"Well, I have a couple other unique ones," she started. "They are mainly the reasons I have come to Hogwarts. In addition to the normal wizarding lessons, I will be learning to control them. You see, I can hear people's thoughts. Normally when I get in groups of people I have these tremendous headaches and sometimes I can barely think due to the pain. Up until two days ago, I couldn't leave my house for very long without going into fits of pain, but the headmaster showed me how to start controlling it by concentrating."

"That's cool," she said looking amazed. "Can you hear my thoughts?" Cassandra just nodded.

"When I said I could turn into animals you were thinking if you had to be able to do that you would be very behind." Lily's mouth dropped.

"Wow!" she exclaimed when the door to their compartment came open to show four boys with dark hair. Lily shrunk back against the seat almost in fear at the sight of the boys in the doorway.

"Well look who we found again," the tallest boy with long greasy black hair said to Lily not seeing Cassandra was even there.

"Go away," Lily said through gritted teeth.

"Why look Severus, the ickle Mudblood found a friend," another boy said smugly.

"And what a beautiful friend she is," Severus said turning to Cassandra looking her up and down. "My name is Severus Snape," he said bowing, "and what my dear is yours?" He took her hand in his and made a move to kiss it when she quickly pulled her hand free.

"Cassandra Salem," she said cautiously backing away from Severus. This guy definitely looked to be her age, but spoke as though he was about ten years older and she didn't trust that.

"Well Cassandra, what is a beauty like you doing hanging around filth like this?" He motioned to Lily as his friends snickered.

Cassandra looked to Lily. *They are the ones that were so cruel to me earlier,* she heard Lily think. Cassandra remembered back to when Lily came into her compartment looking as if she had been crying; these must have been the boys that made her so upset.

"The only filth I see in here is you and your no good friends," she growled taking a step back from Severus and his goons.

"You will soon see, Cassie," Severus mocked, "that making friends with Mudblood trash like her will do nothing for you at Hogwarts. You should seriously reconsider who you take in company."

"I would be friends with a hundred Muggle-born witches before I would ever even dream of being in the company of people like you!" She took another step back but did not break eye contact with Severus.

"Foolish girl, you are on the wrong side. Let me show you how things should be." He reached into his robes and pulled out his wand and pointed at Lily who sat silently in the corner of the train compartment, Jewel protectively hissing in front of her.

"Get away from her!" Cassandra yelled as she transfigured herself into a wolf launching herself at Severus. His three friends screamed and ran out of the compartment as Severus slowly backed away from the pacing wolf.

"This is not over my dear," Severus said before retreating to his own compartment of the train. Cassandra resumed her normal form and shut the door to their compartment.

"Sorry about that," Cassandra said putting an arm around Lily and offering her a Chocolate Frog. "Not everyone is like that, I promise."

"Thank you," Lily said with a smile. She unwrapped the chocolate and slowly ate it. She was glad she had found a friend like Cassandra. "Thank you for standing up for me."

"It was nothing. I hate people like that." She looked down at the floor as she picked up a bottle of Pumpkin Juice to drink.

"Are most wizards like that?" she asked timidly.

"Not most, but there are a great deal of wizards who believe Muggles and Muggle-borns are beneath the rest of us who are pure-blooded. It's all rubbish if you ask me. Some of the best witches and wizards are half-blooded," Cassandra explained. "It just shows their ignorance in my opinion."

"What does Mudblood mean?" Lily asked innocently. "I could tell that it was an insult, but I don't know exactly what it meant."

"Mudblood is a horrible way of saying Muggle-born or half-blooded. The word basically is saying that you have dirty blood. It's a horrible thing to say." Cassandra shook her head as she took another sip of her drink. The two sat back and continued to talk until the train came to a stop.

"It looks like we're here, but I don't see the school," said Lily looking out the window. They got off the train and Lily saw all the other students and froze.

"Don't be nervous," Cassandra said reading her mind, "not everyone will be like those guys."

"Firs' years over 'ere!" a loud bellowing voice called. "Come on now! Firs' years don't be shy!" Very quietly all the first years walked over to the source of the voice, a man that seemed to be too large to be allowed. Cassandra and Lily walked over to the enormous man and stood with the other first years almost too scared to speak. "Alright now all yeh firs' years. We'll be goin' to the school by boat. They're just over there at the dock. Four to a boat please and try not to move around too much once yeh get in them, I don' wanna have to fish yeh away from the squid."

All of the students exchanged frightened looks and slowly stepped into the boats. Cassandra and Lily got in a boat with two other girls and sat down.

"Everybody in?" the large man asked. He looked around to all the boats filled with the sitting children and nodded. "Alright then, FORWARD!" he bellowed and with that one word the small boats began to slowly drift toward the school.

"Ooh, Cassandra look at that!" Lily was enthusiastically pointing to a castle perched upon a cliff.

"That must be the school. Albus said that it was an enormous castle." They both were amazed as they looked up at the cliff hearing the numerous ooh's and ahh's from there fellow classmates.

"Heads down everyone," said the giant man loudly as they approached a curtain of ivy that was hiding an underground tunnel. Everyone was looking around the tunnel when the boats all slowed to a stop. Very carefully everyone climbed out of the boats and onto the rocky floor of the tunnel. Following the lamp of the large man the group of students found themselves standing in the grass looking at the enormous oak doors of the castle which were opening very slowly to reveal a very stern looking woman.

"Hello Hagrid," she said to the giant man.

"Hallo Professor McGonagall," Hagrid said with a cheer, "I brought the new batch of firs' years 'ere for yeh. I'll be headin' inside now for the Sortin'."

"Thank you Hagrid." She turned to the students. She started walking into a small chamber off the side of the hall they were standing in. "Fallow me please. I would like to welcome all of you to Hogwarts. The Welcoming Feast will begin in just a little while, but before you may sit to eat you must be sorted into houses. At Hogwarts we have four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin and while you are here your house will be much like a family to you. Any good deeds you might do shall earn your house points towards winning the House Cup at the end of the term. However, any rule breaking shall be punishable by losing points from your house.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a short while in front of the entire student body and staff therefore I suggest you try and make yourselves look smart in the meantime. I will be back in a moment, please remain quiet." And with a swish of her cloak, Professor McGonagall left the small room. Cassandra suddenly turned to Lily looking quiet pale.

"Cassandra, what's the matter?" she asked quickly.

"In front of the whole school! Lily, what if I freak out in front of the whole school?" Cassandra was beginning to breathe rather quickly.

"It'll be fine Cassandra; you've made it this far right? What did Professor Dumbledore tell you? Just concentrate and you will be just fine." She put a comforting hand on Cassandra's shoulder. "But what about me? If I have to do magic...I don't know any!"

"And that's the way it should stay, Mudblood," a cold voice from behind the two girls sneered. Cassandra and Lily turned around to see Severus Snape and his friends from the train.

"Why they let trash like you into our school is beyond me," one of the boys that stood protectively next to Severus said.

"This is everyone's school thank you," Cassandra said moving in front of Lily. "But I'm quiet sure that the only trash in this room is you and your little posse."

"And you, my sweet," Severus said smiling slightly, "I knew that you were pretty, but I did not realize you were powerful when we first met. Perhaps you should rethink what I said about who you take in company, with power like that, we could rule this school."

"Let me think about that...no! You're a disgusting and filthy creep, why would I want to hang around you?" she growled.

"Now, now Cassie," Severus mocked grabbing her arm forcefully, "it's not polite to call people names."

"Perhaps you should take a bit of your own advice," a male voice challenged. Severus and Cassandra both looked up to see four boys standing in front of Lily. One was somewhat short with unruly black hair, brown eyes, and gold glasses. Standing to the right of that boy was another, slightly taller with longer black hair, and dark brown eyes. On the left of the first boy was a boy much taller than the first two with light brown hair and hazel eyes. Standing behind the boy with the longer black hair was a boy shorter than all the rest who was slightly chubby with blonde hair and watery blue eyes. The four boys stood there with anger flaring in their eyes except the small one, who had a faint look of fear on his face.

"Excuse me?" Severus drawled while Cassandra struggled under his tightened grip.

"I said," the boy with the glasses started, "perhaps you should take a bit of your own advice."

"And I suggest you let go of that nice girl, she doesn't seem to like you very much. Not that anyone could blame her, look at you, you're a greasy little git!" the boy with the long black hair sneered.

"I'm sorry, we're having a private conversation, do go away," Severus sneered turning back to Cassandra.

"I don't see that happening, now I don't think you would like us to come over there and help convince you to leave these girls alone," said the brown-haired boy.

"And what exactly do you think you can do to me?" Severus slowly reached for his wand.

"Curse," the boy with glasses said.

"Hex," suggested the boy with brown hair.

"Punch," the long haired boy added grinding his fist into his palm.

"Y-y-yeah," quipped the smallest one. Severus seemed distracted by these threats and Cassandra saw her chance. She stomped her foot into his toes and then kneed him in the stomach quickly moving towards the four boys. The one with the long hair reached out and pulled her behind him and the other boys.

"We'll finish this later, love," Severus growled.

"I don't think so," a female voice said. Severus turned around to see Professor McGonagall standing directly behind him. "Which ever house you are sorted into shall have ten points deducted from it. Now if you are through harassing your classmates, young man, the Sorting Ceremony is about to begin. Please follow me." Everyone took a collective deep breath and followed the professor out the door and into the Great Hall not knowing what to expect.