Cassandra: You Still Remember Your Place, Potter?

What is Dumbledore carrying?

oh--·

Harry looked closely, but still couldn't figure out what it was.

Dumbledore didn't linger in the Great Hall. Instead, he carried the two objects straight through the Great Hall and went upstairs from the back.

"What exactly is he holding?" Ron asked in a low voice. "I have a feeling that it's not something legitimate."

"Keep your voice down, Ron." Hermione nudged Ron's ribs with her elbow. "Do you want to get into trouble again for talking bad about the professors? You think having Professor Snape watching you isn't enough, do you?"

Ron always listened to Hermione's wise words, and this time he didn't even try to argue back, choosing to remain silent.

That's very true. Offending Professor Snape can be resolved by losing points, but offending the Headmaster and still wanting to leave?

"Perhaps Professor Dumbledore is preparing for something," Neville guessed. "But that's not really our concern. What we need to worry about right now is the homework Professor Snape assigned."

"Yeah," Ron said with a sigh, "That old—old professor Snape, he actually gave us so much homework, really—"

At this point, Ron quickly changed his tune.

"They really care about our studies."

As he finished speaking, Ron cautiously raised his head and made eye contact with Snape.

He instinctively shivered, tightening his shirt to try and dispel the chill from meeting Professor Snape's gaze.

"What's wrong with you?" Hermione asked with concern.

"It's nothing, I just shivered," Ron replied quietly.

A short while later, Dumbledore came out again and announced the new year's House Cup champion.

Unsurprisingly, Gryffindor won the House Cup again this year, and even Professor Snape's inability to compete was futile.

Although the Gryffindors had become numb to the fact that they had won the House Cup for the second consecutive time, they still gave it a warm round of applause, especially the first-year Gryffindor students.

After one last night of revelry, they left the school and boarded the train home.

On the train home, they excitedly shared the latest news, such as Percy passing the highest level NEWTS, and George and Fred barely managing to collect all the 0. WLs certificates.

The Twins were also making sarcastic remarks to Percy, clearly implying that Percy's highest level of gold was not as valuable as theirs.

"How are you, Cedric?" Harry asked Cedric with concern.

"Oh, I did very well." Cedric smiled broadly. "My grades were about the same as George's and Fred's, so I passed the exam without any major mishaps."

"Give me a break!" one Twins, picking his nose, the other clutching his head. "You got a '0' on every single one of your tests! Do you know what that means?! Even our top student Percy, got a '0'!"

"But you have to get this straight," Ron said, scratching the back of his head, "I don't think Cedric's score should just be a '0'. He deserves better."

"Look at what you're saying—"

Ron's praise made Cedric a little embarrassed, but the twins didn't care and joined their brother in praising Cedric loudly, extolling him to the skies.

In short, if someone can mess with Percy, Gemini is more than happy to lend a hand.

Harry was delighted to see the group of lively children chatting away. When the witch with the tea cart arrived, he bought himself a large lunch, even though it didn't contain any chocolate.

"I still don't understand why you like chocolate-filled bread so much," Ron said loudly, chewing on his Super Drooble's Best Blowing Gum.

"Because chocolate is delicious," was the only answer Harry could give.

"Harry," Hermione suddenly said, looking back, "What's that outside your window?"

Harry turned to look outside, where a small gray thing was jumping and appearing and disappearing above the windowpane.

He tilted his glasses down slightly, trying to see what it was—it was a little owl carrying a letter that was too big for it.

The owl was so small that it kept somersaulting in the air, bumping back and forth in the airflow from the train.

"Quickly, open the window!" Hermione exclaimed anxiously. "What if it gets caught in the train?!"

Upon hearing this, Harry quickly pulled down the window, stretched out his arm, and skillfully caught the owl, as if he had caught a fluffy Golden Snitch.

The owl landed the letter on Harry's seat and then began to rise steeply in the carriage, clearly pleased with itself for having accomplished its mission.

Hedwig solemnly moved her beak, her large eyes narrowing to show her displeasure with the little messenger. The Parrot Jack did the same, its head swaying from side to side, its beak open as if trying to bite the owl.

Ron noticed this, grabbed the little owl, and held it in his hands to protect it from harm.

"Whose letter is this?" Ron asked curiously.

"It's from Veratia." Harry took the letter out of the envelope. "I don't know why she wouldn't let Phoenix deliver it, but insisted on bothering a little owl—."

"Oh." He read it aloud again and again, and amidst everyone's curious gazes, he said to them, "Veratia said in the letter that she has successfully joined the Austrian Ministry of Magic and will be coming to Britain with the Austrian Minister of Magic to watch the Quidditch World Cup." "Huh?" Hermione exclaimed excitedly, "Veratia joined the Ministry of Magic? That's wonderful news!"

I think I should write her a letter to congratulate her.

"Um,"

Harry reached into the envelope and pulled out a badge with Austria German writing on it, which he handed to Hermione.

"This is what Veratia prepared for you. Of course—it seems she only prepared a gift for you, and asked me to tell you that she sincerely invites you to work for the Austrian Ministry of Magic after graduation."

"Really? Wow!"

Hermione happily accepted the badge, held it in her hands and examined it carefully for a long time, then said with some regret, "I really want to work with Veratia, but unfortunately—I can't leave Britain, after all, my parents are still here in Britain."

"We'll talk about it after graduation; we're only third grade now," Ron said from the side.

"I'll be in fourth grade School Opening," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"The letter also said that Miss Farley from Slytherin went to Austria with Veratia and successfully got a job at the Austrian Ministry of Magic." Harry put down the letter and said to them with a smile, "That sounds great. At least Veratia has some acquaintances there, so she won't be bullied—"

Being bullied?

Hermione looked worried, but the others in the box looked like they'd seen a ghost.

No, do you think someone named Grindelwald would be bullied by the Austrian Ministry of Magic?

Refining oil? Thank goodness! I don't know when the Austrian Ministry of Magic became so capable.

"You should be more concerned about whether the people at the Austrian Ministry of Magic are being bullied by her," the Weasley twins said in a low voice.

Why is it spoken softly?

There's a boyfriend of Miss Grindelwald here, and a little fangirl of Miss Grindelwald. Who knows which of them will leak their conversation?

If Miss Grindelwald finds out, she'll really be in deep trouble.

Harry was completely oblivious to the conversation between the Twins; his mind was preoccupied with how to counter Vivi's invisible Legilimency when he finally saw Veratia.

"I must make her call me 'Master' properly!" Harry thought fiercely to himself.

"Speaking of which, have you arranged to meet at Black family home?" Fred suddenly asked. "I remember Ronnie little darling went to Black family home with you during the Christmas holidays, right? I heard it's a lot of fun there—so, could we come along?"

"Of course," Harry replied with a smile, not considering himself an outsider at Black family home at all.

That's a ridiculous statement. He is Sirius 'Black godson, so by all accounts, isn't Black family home also his home?

Of course, Harry never considered Black family home to be his.

"Cool!" The twins grinned expectantly. "Dad said he could get tickets to the Quidditch World Cup. He wrote to us bragging about knowing Ludo Bagman, and we think he might actually know him—we hope he can get a few more tickets."

"I'm really worried he won't get enough tickets," Ron said pessimistically. "If he doesn't get enough tickets, some of us might not be able to go to the Quidditch Match match—I think I'll be one of them."

"How could that be?" The Weasley twins chuckled and hooked their arms around Ron's shoulders. "I don't think you'll be the first. There are two of us ahead of you—of course, if we give you twenty Galleon, would that settle things?"

"Then I can pretend there was no Quidditch World Cup," Ron said righteously.

Twenty Galleon!

What Quidditch World Cup? I'm really not familiar with that, okay?

"But what Dad regrets the most is that you're no longer living with your aunt and uncle," Ron suddenly said. "You know, Dad is very interested in everything Muggle do, like televisions, telephones, and all sorts of electronic devices, refrigerators—I never understood what a refrigerator was."

"To be honest, I've never understood why they use such a word. It leaves people completely clueless about what it means." Harry spread his hands and said, "Of course, this thing is used to refrigerate food so it doesn't spoil. You should know that although Muggle don't have magic, their science is magic in a sense."

"Cool." Ron grinned.

"If your dad wants to learn about Muggle stuff, maybe he can come over to my house," Hermione offered. "My dad actually likes your dad quite a bit, and I think they should be able to have a lot in common."

"Speaking of your dad," Harry suddenly asked, "I remember they said they were going to buy a house in China, right?"

Now? What are we going to do now?

"Oh, he wrote to me before saying he was going to invest in something—I don't really remember," Hermione said with a shrug. "I don't really ask him anything, after all, I don't know much about economics."

"There are things that Miss Know-it-all doesn't know?" The twins looked interested.

"Even God isn't omniscient or omnipotent," Hermione said, slapping her thigh with her palm. This was a statement that Muggle would consider extremely blasphemous.

The train continued onward, and just as they were about to arrive at King's Cross Station, there was a sudden knock on the compartment door.

Hermione opened the door, and Cassandra was outside.

"Miss Malfoy," Hermione greeted politely.

"Hello, Miss Granger."

Cassandra gave an impeccable smile, then looked at Harry.

"Potter?" she said. "Come out with me for a bit, I have something I want to tell you."

After saying that, she turned and walked to the side.

As soon as Cassandra disappeared through the door and Harry stood up, a chorus of "yooooooo" erupted in the carriage.

"Potter, come out with me for a second~" Fred mimicked Cassandra's tone and mannerisms vividly.

I learned it—well, it does look somewhat similar.

However, Cassandra's inherent arrogance was something Fred could not imitate.

"Hey, don't be a copycat."

Harry glanced helplessly at the Twins who were laughing hysterically, then stepped outside.

Following the direction Cassandra had gone, Harry walked to the connecting area between the carriages and finally saw Cassandra standing there, gazing out the window in a daze.

"What's wrong, Cass?" Harry asked with concern.

"You're coming back to the Malfoy Manor with me," Cassandra said coldly. "It's an agreement we made, understand?"

"Ah, this."

Harry wanted to retort, but after seeing the barely perceptible expectation in Cassandra's eyes, he swallowed his words.

"Alright, I'll go back with you." He said decisively, "But before that, I need to inform the Godfather, since he's still waiting for me at the Black family home."

A hint of satisfaction flashed in Cassandra's eyes when she heard Harry agree.

"Hmm." She hummed in agreement. "It seems you haven't forgotten our agreement, my little follower. Well then, it's settled. When the train stops at the station, you'll come back with me."

This feeling is like going back to the old days.

Harry felt a pang of emotion and bowed in the same way he had done before.

"Understood, Miss Malfoy."

However, he did not hear Cassandra's reply, and waited for a long time without getting one.

He looked up and saw Cassandra looking at him with a complicated expression.

When their eyes met, Cassandra's lips suddenly curled into a smile.

"You actually still remember your identity, Potter?"