Potter's Girl / Butterfly Effect.

72. Like Father, Like Son

CHAPTER SEVENTY-TWO;

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

"I'm never attending another one," said Cassie furiously, tugging her hair free of its braid and shaking it out furiously. She ripped a Quidditch sweater over her head to cover her short dress and wiped her lip gloss off with a rag. Turning back to Hermione – in her normal clothing, thank you very much – she continued, "It was horrible. Don't even try to convince yourself otherwise. I can't believe that– that– Ugh!"

"I know," said Hermione consolingly, frowning at her distressed friend. "Mclaggen's a git, but even I've got to admit–"

   "You admit nothing!" cried Cassie, pointing an accusing finger at Hermione. "I was in the right, Hermione. He called me–"

   "I heard what he called you," said Hermione, wincing, "but it gave you no right to hex him so horribly."

   "Now I've lost ten points to Gryffindor," said Cassie, throwing her hands in the air. "It was totally worth it, though," she added with a scoff, picking up her wand and stomping down the stairs to the common room. Harry and Ron looked up as she descended, instantly nodding very aggressively toward the stairs to their own dormitory, before hastily climbing the steps themselves. Cassie gave Hermione an exasperated look before following the boys.

The former stormed into the room, nearly slamming the door on a sighing latter. Cassie threw herself down onto Harry's bed, face-down, while the two boys stared at her as though she were insane. Hermione only rolled her eyes and turned to Harry. "What is it you wanted to see us for?" she asked.

"I've just returned from my lesson with Professor Dumbledore," he said, "and–"

"Oh, yes, we know," said Cassie sardonically, sitting up and supporting herself with her palms. "The oh-so important lesson that you just had to miss Slughorn's bloody party for."

"You missed quite a bit," Hermione mumbled to him as he turned to face her with an incredulous look on his own face. He nodded, still bemused, before shaking his head and returning to his recap of what he'd witnessed this time.

It was the story of Dumbledore visiting the orphanage Tom Riddle had grown up in and inviting the wizard himself to Hogwarts. From how Harry had told the tale, Tom Riddle was an odd child, even more so than a regular wizard. He said he could speak to snakes, which Cassie was quickly informed by the three teenagers surrounding her was something inherited by Salazar Slytherin himself, and Tom Riddle was, in fact, a descendant of the infamous wizard.

   Harry finished by informing his friends that Professor Dumbledore believed this was the most important of the memories he had indulged Harry with in their lessons. "But how?" asked Cassie a few moments later, her face riddled with befuddlement and relieved of its earlier anger. "How is that important? That Voldemort grew up an orphan?"

   "I've no idea," Harry admitted in a quiet voice, picking at his thumb to keep his hands from sitting still. As Hermione began speaking, Cassie subtly reached over and pulled Harry's hands apart to keep him from ripping the skin from his finger in anxiety. He gazed at her while Hermione rambled on.

   "I'm sure it'll all connect together in the end," Hermione was saying reassuringly, waving a hand. "Besides, Dumbledore wouldn't show you something without it being of vital importance, I'd swear it."

   "Yeah," said Cassie encouragingly. "Just keep at the lessons and we can puzzle-piece it into place when we've got more information."

   "Puzzle piece?" repeated Ron, tilting his head to the side curiously. The three others shared an amused look before Cassie cleared her throat.