CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN;

REGRETFUL MINISTRY INVOLVEMENT

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Lots and lots of shaking took place in her dream. Maybe she wasn't dreaming, actually – that would explain why Hermione's voice had been blaring into her ears for the past two minutes.

"Come on, Cassie!" she shouted, shaking the girl's shoulder. "Mrs. Weasley's gone ballistic, we're so behind schedule!"

Cassie scrambled out of her bed to a chorus of feminine shouting from downstairs; from what she could hear, Fred and George had bewitched their trunks to fly down the stairs at top speed and it had accidentally hit Ginny, much to the displeasure of Molly, who then awoke Walpurga Black's portrait.

"–COULD HAVE DONE HER SERIOUS INJURY, YOU IDIOTS–"

"–FILTHY HALF-BREEDS, BESMIRCHING THE HOUSE OF MY FATHERS–"

After another minute in which Cassie pulled on her jeans, sweater, and shoes, Mrs. Weasley's voice rang out through the house again.

"WILL YOU LOT GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, PLEASE?"

As the plan was, Harry was to leave for King's Cross with Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and apparently Sirius had tagged along with his godson in his Animagus form.

Adelaide gave Cassie a kiss on the head and hugged her before sending her daughter off – Cass and the rest of the teenagers were to leave with Mr. Weasley.

On their way, Cassie pulled back with Mr. Weasley awkwardly. She cleared her throat.

"Um, Mr. Weasley?" she said, and he paused for a moment to give her his full attention. "I just wanted to... apologize for the comment about Percy," she said, fidgeting with her fingers. "It was really rude. I'm sorry."

"Don't sweat it, Cass, you've had a stressful summer, yeah?" said Mr. Weasley politely, clapping her gently on the shoulder. "Now c'mon, your cousin's somewhere up here..."

"...We'll see you soon, I expect," finished Tonks as Cassie and Mr. Weasley approached. The elder witch turned and hugged Cassie, before Mrs. Weasley was pulling her off and prodding Cassie toward the train.

"Be good, kids!" the mother called, waving to her children, Hermione, Harry, and Cassie as the train took off with a large lurch.

   "Well," said Fred brightly, clapping his hands together. "Can't stand around all day, we've got business to discuss with Lee. See you later," and he and George disappeared down the corridor to the right.

   "Shall we go find a compartment, then?" Harry asked his three friends. Hermione and Ron exchanged an obvious look.

   "Er.." said Ron awkwardly.

   "Well.. Ron and I are supposed to go into the prefect carriage," Hermione said, scratching the back of her neck.

   "Oh," said Harry. "Right. Fine."

   "I don't think we'll be staying all journey," said Hermione quickly. "Our letters said we just get instructions from Head Boy and Head Girl and then patrol the corridors from time to time."

   "Fine," Harry repeated. "Well, we'll see you later then."

   "Come on," said Cassie, "if we get a move on we'll be able to save them places."

   Harry nodded and picked up Hedwig's cage in one hand and the handle of his trunk in the other – Cassie, the same, but with Cupid's cage. They struggled off down the corridor, peering into the glass doors of compartments they passed, all of which were already full.

   In the very last carriage they met Neville Longbottom, his face shining with the effort of pulling his trunk and maintaining a one-handed grip on his struggling toad.

   "Here, Neville," offered Cassie, taking the toad from his hands. "Have a good summer?" She asked as he pulled his trunk into the compartment.

   "Fine," he replied, grunting with the effort of lifting his heavy trunk and placing it above the seats. It was only then that Cassie realized the compartment had already been claimed;

   "Hello, Luna," she said with a smile, sitting in the seat across from the blonde. "Good holiday?"

  "Yes," she said, though her eyes were on Harry. "Yes, it was quite enjoyable, you know. Hello, Harry."

   "Hello," he said politely, though Cassie noticed he did not make eye contact with her. She gave him a subtle kick to the shin.

   The train ride wasn't entirely uneventful – yet what was, these days? The order of events were as such;

   Neville's mimbulus mimbletonia exploded pus and goo all over the compartment. It reeked of rancid manure and didn't look very much more appealing.

    Cho Chang popped in to greet Harry and, surprisingly, Cassie felt no pang of jealousy.

   Hermione and Ron returned after lunch, reporting hastily that the Slytherin prefects were none other than Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson, earning a collective groan from all in the compartment but Luna.

"So.." said Neville near the end of the journey, in a tone that suggested he had been waiting to talk about this for a while. "Cass, we saw the... the news.. from the beginning of the summer."

"Oh," she said, her spirits falling. In all that had happened, she'd nearly forgotten that the Ministry had been alerted to who her real father was and, in turn, Rita Skeeter published an article on her. Cassie did not read said article, though she was sure it turned her into the villain in every way possible.

   That was the end of the conversation, though, as Neville only sent her a reassuring smile and Luna beamed dazedly at her. Suddenly, Cassie felt a lot better about her secret being out.

   They arrived at the platform, alighted the train, luggage in hand, and made for the horseless coaches – the only thing out of the ordinary being the fact that they were no longer horseless.

   "Do you see them too?" she muttered to Harry, keeping her eyes on the skeletal horses under the impression that if she looked away, they might disappear. To her relief, Harry nodded.

"What are they?" he asked her.

Hesitantly, Cassie reached out a hand to the bony creature. As it didn't duck away from her touch, she began to stroke its thin snout. It reminded her of an undead horse.

"Cass, what are you doing?" said Hermione, watching Cassie and Harry warily. "There's nothing there."

"You can't see them?" Harry asked, his brow furrowed in confusion. A dreamy voice piped up from behind them.

"Don't worry. I can see them too," said Luna over her edition of the Quibbler, gazing down on the four with her glassy blue eyes. Atticus sat in the coach next to her, dozed off on her shoulder. "You're just as sane as I am."

   Unlike Harry, Cassie was quite content with this reassurance as the teenagers climbed into Luna's coach. The ride was neutral, nothing too bumpy or too uncomfortable, though Cassie could not rip her eyes away from the things drawing their carriage.

   "Did everyone see that Grubblyplank woman?" said Ginny after a while. "What's she doing back here? Hagrid can't have left, can he?"

   "I'll be quite glad if he has," said Luna. "He isn't a very good teacher, is he?"

"He is!" protested Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Hermione and Cass shared a short glance, then averted their gazes to out the windows. Harry glared at both of them, and Hermione cleared her throat.

"Erm.. yes, he's very good," she said, not all that reassuringly.

"Well, we think he's a bit of a joke in Ravenclaw," said Luna, unfazed. Atticus, who had only just awoken from his small nap, sputtered a small sound of disagreement.

"I don't think so," he said tiredly, tilting his head a bit as he looked at Luna. "I think he's got an interesting style of teaching. Not bad, just.. different."

Harry and Ron looked at Atticus in a new light.

"And anyway, he goes off every year, but comes back eventually," Atticus continued, rubbing his eyes. "Right?"

There were low mumbles of agreement. Cassie knit her brow together as she watched Atticus's tired demeanor. When they caught eyes, she tilted her head slightly to the side and raised an eyebrow. He shook his head, and that was the end of that.

   The carriages slowed to a halt near the stone steps leading up to the oak doors and Harry exited the carriage first. Cassie followed, though she nearly bumped into his back as he stopped abruptly, still staring at the winged horse-creatures.

   She tugged on his sleeve. "You alright?"

   "Fine," he replied in a quiet voice, gazing at the creatures with an emotionless expression. "They're freaky, aren't they..."

"You can say that again," said Cassie, looking at them in disdain. She slipped her arm into the crook of his elbow and tugged, "C'mon, the feast is going to begin soon."

Luna and Atticus drifted away together, toward the Ravenclaw table. The moment they reached the Gryffindor's, Ginny was pulled off by some fellow fourth years and left to sit with them; Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Cass found some seats together near the middle of the table between Nearly Headless Nick and Parvarti Patil and Lavender Brown.

"He's not there," Harry muttered to his friends, nodding his head toward the staff table.

"He can't've left," said Ron, sounding slightly anxious.

   "He hasn't," said Harry firmly as each Gryffindor swung their legs over the benches and took their seats. "I know he hasn't."

   Hermione's eyes nervously scanned the staff table again and Cassie watched as her brown gaze stopped abruptly and Hermione's expression switched from worried to confused. "Who is that?" she asked, pointing to the end of the staff table. Harry, Ron, and Cass all swiveled their heads around to see.

   She wore the brightest set of pink robes Cassie had ever seen in her life. Her hair was brown, greying visibly at the roots, and atop it was a small, pink bow. Her face seemed squashed and toadlike. Harry gasped, earning the three others' attentions.

   "It's that Umbridge woman!" he hissed, leaning in.

   "Who?" said Hermione, glancing over at the pink woman again.

   "She was at my hearing, she works for Fudge!"

   "She works for Fudge?" Hermione repeated over Cassie and Ron's snickers (Ron had made a snide comment about Umbridge's atrocious pink cardigan, causing the two to lapse into quiet laughter). "What on earth's she doing here?"

   "Suppose we're about to find out," said Cassie, nodding at Dumbledore, who had stood from his seat and was making his way to his speech podium.

   "I beg for your attention," said Dumbledore quietly, though the school fell silent very quickly, "for the usual start-of-term notices. First-years should note that the forest on the edge of grounds is off-limits and out of bounds to students – though a few of our older students should remember that, too." Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Cassie shared an amused look. "Mr. Filch, our caretaker, has asked me to remind you all that magic is not permitted between classes, nor are a number of other things, all of which can be checked on the extensive list now fastened to Mr. Filch's office door.

   "We have had two changes in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubblyplank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." There was a spattering of polite and fairly unenthusiastic applause. "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on– the–"

   He faltered, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. She had stood from her seat at the end of the table and released an obnoxious, "Hem, hem," and it became clear that she intended to make a speech. Dumbledore seemed taken aback for only a moment, then took to his seat and swept his arms open for Umbridge to take the podium.

   "Thank you, Headmaster," said Umbridge, "for those kind words of welcome." She gave another throat-cough-laugh, then continued, "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"

   Nobody around Cassie was happy – repulsed, maybe, but not smiling.

   "I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" said Umbridge in a honeyed and girlish voice that cause Cassie's hair to stand on end. Umbridge cleared her throat again. "The Ministry of Magic–"

   "Oh, great," Cassie muttered over her next few words, dropping her head onto the table. She did not focus on Umbridge's speech one bit, honestly; the only thoughts in her brain were something along the lines of "Kill me" and "Kill her".

   Finally, when Cassie zoned back in, Umbridge seemed to be finishing.

   "...pruning whatever practices we find that ought to be prohibited," said Umbridge with another 'Hem, hem'. She clasped her hands together in front of herself and smiled sweetly at the crowd before her.

   She sat. Dumbledore clapped first, followed quickly by the rest of the staff, then a few students joined in for the short while before Dumbledore stood again.

   "Thank you, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now – as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held.."

   "Yes, it certainly was illuminating," said Hermione in a low voice.

   "Don't tell me you enjoyed it?" Ron hissed. "That was about the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy!"

   "I said illuminating, not enjoyable," said Hermione. "It explained a lot."

   "Did it?" said Harry, surprised. "Sounded like a load of waffle to me."

   "There was some important stuff hidden in that waffle," said Hermione grimly. She glanced to Cassie. "Surely you noticed it, Cass?"

   "Hermione, you're my best friend," said Cassie in a muffled voice as her head was still on the table, "so I won't lie to you; I did not hear a single thing that mental woman said."

   "Well," said Hermione sharply, glaring at the top of Cassie's head, "how about 'progress for progress's sake must be discouraged'? How about 'pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited–'?"

   "Hey, I heard that part!" said Cassie proudly, pulling her head up. Harry sent her an amused simper, then turned back to Hermione, serious once again.

   "What does it mean?" he asked.

   "It means," said Hermione in a tight voice, "that the Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts."

There was a loud clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore must have released everyone, as they began toward the doors. Hermione jumped to her feet, flustered. "Ron, we're supposed to direct the first-years!"

"Oh, yeah," said Ron, who had obviously forgotten. He stood as well. "Hey – hey, you lot! Midgets!"

Hermione hissed something indignantly, though Harry and Cass had to hide their snickers behind their fists.

The two prefects took off, Hermione in the lead, Ron trailing behind her, leaving Harry and Cassie alone again.

They exited the Great Hall, doing everything they both could to avoid the whispering, staring, and pointing as they passed. A few words could be caught from the muttering, the most prominent being, "Sirius Black's daughter!" hissed under one's breath. Cassie ignored this.

"D'you think it'll stop?" she whispered to Harry on their way to the Gryffindor Tower, glancing around feverishly. "The stares."

"Dunno," said Harry bluntly, weaving his way through a crowd of first-years and into the portrait hole. Cass followed him.

"I'm sure they'll get bored of it," she said, mostly to herself. Reassuring herself, more like. "They won't care by tomorrow, I promise."