𝕭𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝕾𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖘 || Fred Weasley

64

Spending eight years inside Hogwarts, Cassie learned that news spread fast within these walls. In class, everyone seemed to be whispering to each other, discussing something Cassie never knew about.

As Cassie was assisting one of her students, there was suddenly a loud explosion coming from the other end of the room. Cassie looked at the student, a Ravenclaw girl. She walked over to the table and with a wave of her wand, the spilled liquid disappeared and the broken cauldron was fixed.

"You're fortunate magic exists, otherwise you'd be cleaning this all up yourself," Cassie told her.

"Don't send me to the Carrows," said the girl, a tremble in her voice. "Please... "

Cassie sighed. "I'm not sending you to the Carrows. You've done nothing wrong. Gather your ingredients and start over."

Rumors about Cassie Malfoy spread about the school. One: she had the Death Eaters mark. Two: she wasn't bad and had gone soft. However, hardly anyone believed the second one. Cassie Malfoy going soft? People would scoff at that. But for those who believed it, they could see she wasn't like the Carrows; she wasn't so angry and aggressive.

And what happened one night proved it. News of Harry Potter being sighted had spread. Cassie knew what that meant. It gave hope to the students and hope during the time wasn't good.

"Harry Potter's still alive!" a student announced gleefully. "He broke into the Ministry!"

The Ravenclaw repeated this, yelling in the Great Hall. The students around clapped and cheered, but few stayed silent and it wasn't just the Slytherins. Padma Patil and Michael Corner had tried shutting him up, but it was no use. Silence by force was needed.

"You!" Amycus shouted. He used the Cruciatus Curse. The Great Hall was filled with his pained screams. "Anyone who talks about Potter will share the same fate as this boy!"

The torture continued. Cassie glanced at Draco's pale, scared expression. She glanced to Addy's who was worried, thinking of what to do as she was looking at McGonagall. Cassie looked at Snape who looked like his normal self. Cassie couldn't stand it any longer. She stood from the staff table, then disarmed Amycus and caught his wand. The screaming stopped and it was silent.

"He learned his lesson. That's enough," she told him calmly.

Alecto glared at her. "Seems Malfoy has gone soft, eh?"

Cassie glanced at the others around her, then said, "No one has to die yet." She threw his wand back to him so hard that when it hit his head, he had fallen back.

Cassie walked out from the Great Hall and went to her office for the remainder of the night. To the Order and some of the students, this meant something. It meant there was still hope for Cassie. It meant she hadn't chosen her side.

Addy walked into McGonagall's office. She had one job to do and that job was vital. Addy had to convince Cassie to chose the right side and ensure her family's safety. Something Dumbledore had failed to do.

"What if I fail, Professor?" Addy asked, worried. "You know, Cassie can be pretty stubborn."

"I'm afraid you are the only one she will listen to and I mean really listen to," McGonagall responded. "Use her weaknesses against her."

"Her weaknesses?" Addy questioned. "Why should I use her weaknesses? Cassie's a person, she's not a toy or a — a puppet."

"How else will she listen?" McGonagall asked.

"She'll listen to me," Addy said confidently. "I'm sure of it. But if I had to use her weakness... I need Fred Weasley."

McGonagall and Addy stood there, looking at each other. How would it play out? Cassie Malfoy and Fred Weasley in the same room. Addy knew it wouldn't be fun. In fact, it would be quite the opposite. She could envision it now.

Addy didn't have time. With Potter running from the dark forces and on a mission no one knew about, Cassie was never in a mood to talk. She wasn't like before — fun and happy. She always looked scared when she was by herself and when she was in front of an audience, she was trying to look like she had it all planned out — that she was fine.

In no time, graffiti was on the walls each morning they woke up. It was only the beginning of the rebellion. On the walls, it read: 𝐃𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲, 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Cassie knew much about them and when asked about it by the Carrows, they didn't let her go easily. Even the Carrows knew Cassie wasn't fully under the Dark Lord's alliance.

As the bell to the next period rang, the students that had gotten to the Potions classroom couldn't get in. Upon hearing screams in the dungeons, they searched for the source, wands out. The Carrows were known to give severe punishments to misbehaved students. They made Umbridge look tame.

Ginny and Neville had arrived in front of the crowded door that didn't budge open. They feared the worst. A first-year being tortured, a friend being tortured for standing up against Alecto once she spoke about Muggles or had refused to cast a curse on their fellow classmates.

Ginny blasted the door open. Shocked expressions were on everyone's face. Cassie laid on the floor as Alecto stood above her. She looked at the students and a few of them had run away from the sight in fear.

Draco Malfoy had pushed through the students after hearing the few girls and boys discussing the event. He rushed beside Cassie and watched as one cut in her arm slowly began to heal.

"Back to your classes!" Alecto ordered. "All of you before you serve your own detention with me!"

They all dispersed. Draco had taken Cassie to the hospital wing. If Cassie had been injured in some other way, the students would have been ecstatic that there would be no potion lessons for the next few days, but the leaders of the rebels (Ginny, Luna, and Neville) wondered how Cassie had ended up there in the first place.

"What if she talked back?" Ginny said quietly. "I mean, she argues a lot."

"But to torture her that far... " Neville trailed off.

"They're Death Eaters," Ginny reminded him. "Torture is what they do best."

Neville sighed and said, "Maybe she was forced to do something and she refused."

"Yes, but what would she have refused?" Ginny wondered. "Think! She's a Slytherin... "

"I don't think her house determines anything," said Luna. "She stood up for Soren in the Great Hall."

Ginny rested her chin on her hand. "Should we visit her and ask?"

"I doubt she wants to talk to us," Neville told her.

"I'll send a letter to Fred," Ginny said. "He'd want to know."

"He still likes her?" Luna asked. "After all she's done? Cheating and betraying us?"

Ginny shrugged. "Honestly, I can't tell. He doesn't like talking about her, but he asked me to keep tabs on her."

"We don't need to focus on her now," Neville interrupted. "We need to plan for tomorrow night. The sword was supposed to be given to Harry, wasn't it? Instead, it's hung up in Snape's office. We get in and get out."

"Easier said than done," Ginny sighed.

"Well, who said any of this was easy," Neville remarked, glancing at the paint cans beside them.