Cassandra: Are You Ready? I'm About to Begin!

Since James and Lily left, life has gradually returned to normal.

The next few days were spent waiting for School Opening to start.

Veratia did not return to Hogwarts; instead, she chose to continue her studies in the Muggle world to complete her remaining courses.

In her words, it was to prepare for working at the Ministry of Magic after graduation.

"I'm just a weak and helpless little woman," Veratia said. "How can I fight those old foxes in the Ministry of Magic if I don't arm myself with knowledge?"

Holiday Syndrome is a problem that every student experiences. After all, apart from the Academic Bully, no one likes going to school; most people just want to play happily at home.

The School Opening not only means going to school and losing freedom, but also means that the papers that Professor Snape assigned before the holidays need to be rushed to completion.

So, the first thing the students did after returning to school was to catch up on their homework in their dorm rooms.

The Gryffindor students, especially Fred and George, even formed a work group in the Common Room to brainstorm ideas for Professor Snape's various papers.

Since Pabbie disappeared during her sixth year, Dumbledore held a separate Sorting Ceremony for her after the start of the School Opening.

The students at Hogwarts were used to it, after all, two transfer students came every year, and they were both beautiful girls.

"I'd bet a Galleon," Fred said, sitting on the Gryffindor long bench. "She's still a Slytherin— perhaps all transfer students favor this house, or perhaps all transfer students possess the qualities of Slytherin?"

"I'm going with her," George said cheerfully. "I don't think she'll be a Slytherin —look, Fred, two transfer students went to Slytherin last year. I don't think the Sorting Hat will sort her Slytherin as well."

His timing wasn't wrong, because Veratia joined Harry's school after the Christmas break in his second year, in 1993; while Cassandra joined in the first semester of her third year, also in 1993.

"Yes, if they were all assigned to Slytherin, it would seem like something was done behind closed doors," Lee Jordan said, showing his big teeth.

His dark skin made his teeth shine brightly.

Without a doubt, if he fell into the coal pile, all it would take to call out "Ya" would be enough to find him.

"So you've finished your papers?" Angelina asked in a low voice, sitting between Lee Jordan and another black wizard, her pale skin standing out starkly among them.

"Finished." Fred gave a thumbs up. "Trust my abilities; after all, it's just a little Potions Class assignment..."

His thumb gesture was transformed into a gesture that would be absolutely forbidden in Korea.

"Handling it in," George added.

Angelina shook her head helplessly; she knew the next sentence—

"So," George said, grinning, "Angelina, could we take a look at your assignment? Don't worry—we just want to compare it and see where our paper has any flaws."

"I just can't do anything with you." Angelina shook her head helplessly. "I'll show you after the banquet."

George turned around and gave Fred sign.

Fred rolled his eyes and gave George the middle finger.

"Hufflepuff!"

The Sorting Hat's voice was high-pitched and sounded genuinely happy.

A moment of silence fell over the long table in Hufflepuff, then the whole table erupted in cheers.

Especially in the Faculty Table, even Professor Scamander, who is usually socially awkward, looked up, stared at Pabbie, and kept clapping.

His own aunt was assigned to Hufflepuff, so if he didn't clap, who would?

As Hufflepuff's senior, he should be considered a junior in front of his aunt, and should therefore show some maturity.

The Hufflepuff students were even happier when Dumbledore announced that Pabbie Sweeting was actually school board member of the Board of Trustees.

Of course, the students weren't stupid; they made the connection to the Unicorn named Pabbie.

"Are you Miss Pabbie?"

At the long table in Hufflepuff, Hannah Abbott, the Iron-Hat Queen, asked timidly.

"I mean, the Unicorn Lady' at school a while ago—she's also school board member, and she's also named Pabbie —I'm thinking about the two of you... um—"

"Yes, I am her." Pabbie smiled gently at Hannah. "But I had some problems practicing Animagus back then, but I'm much better now."

"So that's how it is!" Hannah's eyes lit up, and she kept asking Pabbie all sorts of questions, showing no sign of stopping.

Cedric, who was standing next to him, hesitated several times before finally giving up on trying to dissuade his gossipy classmates.

Fine, ask away. At least Miss Sweeting didn't object, did she?

The atmosphere in Hufflepuff is much better than in Slytherin, perhaps far better.

At least it won't be like when Veratia first arrived at the Slytherin dorms, and a bunch of clueless guys came out to cause trouble.

but-

Hufflepuff tradition is to take the newlyweds to the dining hall for a meal.

"What I should tell you, Miss Sweeting, is that if we want to get into the Kitchen, we just need to—"

Before Megan could finish speaking, Pabbie's hand was already expertly scratching the pear.

The pear chuckled twice and turned into a doorknob.

"Is that so?" Pabbie asked Megan with a charming smile.

"Yes." Megan then remembered that the Miss Sweeting in front of her had to drop out of school because of a mistake while practicing magical Margus, and was not a fresh-faced newcomer.

Miss Sweeting was probably more familiar with Hogwarts Castle than her mother was.

As Pabbie stood at the door, he was still marveling at how many years it had been since he had walked into the Hogwarts Kitchen like this.

I remember when Harry was in first grade, he was hungry in the middle of the night, and she took him to the Hogwarts Kitchens for dinner.

"Look how thin he is—"

At that time, Pipei, the head of the House Elf, kept wiping away tears and kept adding food to Harry's plate.

So many years have passed, House Elf have all changed.

Most of the House Elf from back in school have passed away, and those that are still alive are enjoying their retirement.

Now, it is their younger generation who are busy in the Kitchen.

So they didn't know Pabbie; they just moved around in the Kitchen preparing meals for the next day.

While Pabbie was happily eating in the Hogwarts dining hall, the Gryffindor students were frantically catching up on their homework.

Even Harry couldn't escape the nightmare of having to do his homework.

Who knows what kind of trouble Snape might cause?

As he expected, they had Potions Class on Friday, and Professor Snape's face was even more gloomy than usual.

Nobody knows why, but he was definitely in a terrible mood.

Now that the school board member Pabbie is no longer protecting them, Gryffindor has naturally suffered heavy point deductions. According to incomplete statistics...

Gryffindor's score dropped by more than 110 points in the first four days of the week.

"That old Snivellus!" Sirius angrily slammed his book on the table. "He's infuriating!"

"What else?" Lupin sipped his tea slowly. "Could you teach him a lesson with Charms? In fact, even if you did, he wouldn't show Gryffindor mercy; he might even escalate his actions. What do you think?"

"What can we do then?" Sirius still couldn't swallow his anger. "Are we just going to let it go like this? Let him continue to be so arrogant?! Sigh, if only James hadn't left. He has the most tricks up his sleeve; he always manages to make that old Snivellus."

"Even if you threw that old Snivellus off the Seventh Floor, it probably wouldn't have the same effect as a single word from Lily." Lupin rubbed his Jingming Acupoint. "That old Snivellus could do that because he has no morals whatsoever—if we followed his example, we'd lose—forget it, let's just ignore it."

"Perhaps it's because he saw James during the holidays, but couldn't vent his anger."

So he took his anger out on Gryffindor.

Sirius felt increasingly that the system was closed, and he also felt that he should do something about it.

We can't just stand by and watch that old Snivellus bully Gryffindor, can we?

As it turns out, Snape really didn't care much about worldly opinions.

In short, he would do everything in his power to cause trouble for Gryffindor —especially during Friday Potions Class.

He deducted twenty points from the Gryffindors, and Harry took thirteen of those points.

I should have my dad hang you up properly, old Snivellus!

Harry was thinking fiercely to himself, but before he knew it, he looked up and met Snape's gaze.

As a result, he was labeled a professor in the field of psychology and had another point deducted.

You deserve to be single your whole life, old Snivellus!

"I also think he went a bit too far."

During the meal, Pabbie commented, "I think he's just petty—he really doesn't know what it means to be human, does he?"

"I·-."

Before Ron could speak, Harry covered his mouth with his hand, delivering a Langlock (physical).

He dared not let Ron say those words aloud, otherwise Snape would surely appear behind him and deduct points from Gryffindor's score.

Whether or not points are deducted isn't that bad, but being scolded by him is the worst thing.

"You'd better shut up, Ron," Hermione said, looking at Ron with the kind of pity one might have for someone mentally challenged. "Everyone knows you're the perfect tool to summon Professor Snape! As long as you speak ill of him behind his back, he'll inevitably appear behind you—"

As she said this, Hermione glanced back.

However, Snape was sitting in the Faculty Table area, seemingly talking quietly with Dumbledore.

"Just watch, Dumbledore is definitely warning him." Hermione turned her head with a smug look.

"Even Dumbledore can't interfere too much," Harry said, shrugging. "You should know that..."

Actually, his deductions weren't entirely nitpicking. In fact, he had sufficient grounds to deduct points; at least each deduction was based on a reasonable and compliant reason.

"We can't expect to leave no openings, so he can't find a way to attack us, can we?" Ron asked, frowning.

Harry shrugged and decided to stop thinking about it.

Just focus on doing your best and don't give Snape any openings.

That evening, when Harry arrived at the door of the Common Room, he saw Cassandra standing there.

It seems they are waiting for someone.

"Look, Miss Malfoy."

Ron whispered to Hermione.

"I saw it," Hermione replied in a low voice, her eyes shining as she looked at Cassandra and Harry, clearly gossipy.

Seeing Harry approaching, Cassandra walked over with light steps and looked down at Harry, saying, "Potter, come with me for a moment."

"Okay." Harry turned back to Ron, giving him a "I'll be right back" gesture, then turned back again and asked:

"Where are we going?"

"Come with me." Cassandra said expressionlessly, striding ahead with her long legs.

Harry followed closely behind, and from behind, Cassandra actually had a really good figure.

The two of them walked up the stairs to an empty classroom on the fourth floor.

"You should remember we talked about practicing Occlumency together," Cassandra said in a businesslike tone. "Voldemort can influence your mind in some unknown way, so I think you should practice it properly—so, are you ready?"

"No, wait."

Harry quickly stopped Cassandra: "Why didn't you tell me beforehand so I could have some preparation?"

3

"What else do I need to prepare for practicing this Charms?" Cassandra lowered her eyes. "Or are you so arrogant that you think you don't need to practice this Charms? If that's the case, I can leave now and never bother with you again."

"Of course not, Cassandra," Harry quickly said. "It's just a bit sudden. I didn't expect you to come here to practice Occlumency with me all of a sudden. But I'd still be happy to practice with you, Cass."

A fleeting look of satisfaction flashed across Cassandra's eyes, but Harry caught it precisely.

Harry now understands a bit how to handle Cassandra. As long as he keeps saying nice things, nothing will go wrong.

"Since that's the case..."

Cassandra began explaining Occlumency to Harry, "I should briefly tell you that Occlumency is a prerequisite for defeating Legilimency's lie-detection abilities, which involves using suspicious methods such as avoiding face-to-face or eye contact. Basic Occlumency involves clearing the mind of thoughts and emotions so that the Legilimency cannot find any emotional connection to the memories the subject is trying to conceal. Simple resistance to Legilimency attacks requires skills similar to those used against the Imperius Curse."

"In a more advanced form, Occlumency allows its users to suppress certain emotions and memories that are exactly the opposite of what the Occlumency user wants the Legilimency to believe, thus allowing the Occlumency practitioner to lie while avoiding self-exposure."

Having said that, she waited for Harry to finish processing what she had just said.

When Harry looked up, she pulled her wand from her bosom.

"Ready?" she said emotionlessly. "I'm about to begin!"

(I spent the whole day revising the outline; I'll revise the earlier parts tomorrow.)

(One comment actually makes a good point: I really don't have the ability to write all that random stuff; I'd rather write about my daily life.)