Hogsmeade Attack

Cassandra rested her elbow on the table, propped her chin on her hand, and stared at Harry in a daze.

"Actually, I never imagined that things would develop like this between us," she said, unconsciously stirring her teacup with the small silver spoon in her hand, making a clinking sound. "Whether it was Grindelwald, that philandering cat, or that accident that took you back a hundred years, if it weren't for that accident, I suppose—"

At this point, she suddenly couldn't continue.

"I'm sorry," Harry said apologetically.

"You don't need to apologize, Potter," Cassandra interrupted him. "Why should you apologize? Because these girls have sacrificed so much for you, that's why you... Ha, saint Potter!"

Harry smacked his lips.

He always felt that this line shouldn't have come out of Cassandra's mouth—at least not from this particular Malfoy.

"Of course, I'm partly to blame," Cassandra said again. "I was too awkward, which allowed Grindelwald to take advantage of me. If I had been able to face my own feelings honestly, perhaps the outcome would have been different."

Are you able to honestly confront your own inner self?

Harry couldn't help but want to laugh, but he held it in.

He didn't want to provoke Cassandra to the point of explosion.

"But it's too late to say all this now, Harry." Cassandra put down the little silver spoon and drank the tea in her cup in one gulp. "You're in sixth year now, aren't you? The last time we were in sixth year, Dad mentioned to me at home that after you graduated from Hogwarts, we should get married and you could take over part of the family business."

"Mr. Septimus didn't mention any of this to me," Harry said, somewhat surprised.

"Because you're gone, and because of you, I abandoned my father and brother." Cassandra sighed. "Think about it, why would your father ever bring it up again? Even though he's now just a portrait—."

Harry thought about it and realized it made some sense.

"So," Cassandra asked again, "Now that Dad and brother are both gone, I'm the only one who can bring this up. After you graduate, do you plan to marry me?"

"Of course!" Harry puffed out his chest and answered without hesitation.

"With Grindelwald? And Sweeting, and Saru?" A hint of mockery flashed in Cassandra's eyes.

"With you," Harry said seriously. "I've thought about this before, Cassandra, but I've always—well—do you remember the Mirror of Erised?"

"The Mirror of Erised?" Cassandra asked. "I know this thing. It's the mirror Grindelwald brought back, right? The mirror that reflects the desires in a person's heart."

"I saw you in the mirror," Harry said honestly, but omitted the other person he saw.

"Is that so?" The mockery in Cassandra's eyes faded.

"Yes," Harry said earnestly. "I saw you both the first time I saw that mirror and the time in first year—except the time in first year I saw my mom and dad too."

Cassandra nodded as if she understood.

When Harry was attending Hogwarts in the last century, he didn't know who his parents were, so it's normal that they weren't visible in the Mirror of Erised.

This also proves that Harry wasn't lying to her. "And what about Grindelwald?" Cassandra asked again. "She's the Minister for Greater German Ministry of Magic now."

"Well, it'll be the European Ministry of Magic soon," Harry said with a shrug. "She'll understand—"

"Ha." Cassandra shook her head with a chuckle. "Don't dream about it, Harry —if she knew about this, she'd probably set all of London on fire. Never underestimate that woman's jealousy—do you remember Patricia Crouch?"

"I remember," Harry nodded. "In fifth grade—I should say, that was the first love letter I ever received, but I returned it."

"That poor Miss Crouch was forced by your Grindelwald to eat her love letter." Cassandra's mockery was obvious. "Do you know? In front of all the Slytherin students, poor Miss Crouch, with tears in her eyes, still had to endure the humiliation and eat that love letter."

Harry shuddered.

He was certain, almost without a doubt, that this was something Veratia had done.

error?

Why would you think that way?

After all, Veratia was a ruthless and hardcore person who wiped out the Grindylow in the Britain, so it's not surprising that she did something like that.

"So you're planning to make me eat the wedding dress in front of you?" Cassandra asked, tilting her head.

"Don't worry, she won't," Harry said with a forced smile. "Why would she do something like that? After all, you're her good friend."

Cassandra smiled, covering her lips with the back of her hand, but said nothing more.

"But."

After a moment, she spoke again, "I'm not trying to force you to separate from Grindelwald and the others. Having lived again, I've come to terms with many things—it's just—"

At this point, her voice suddenly lowered.

"But I don't want to share you with someone else at the most important moment of my life."

Harry's heart skipped a beat.

This was the first time he had ever seen Cassandra like this.

"Don't worry, Cass," Harry said softly, hugging her. "I completely respect your opinion—any opinion." Cassandra's expression softened a little after receiving Harry's assurance.

"Remember your words, Potter," she said earnestly.

"Well, I'll be going to the Malfoy Manor sometime to see Mr. Septimus," Harry said. "It's such a big deal, I have to tell the old man about it."

"You'd better not go," Cassandra, playfully punching Harry's leg with her little fist. "That old man has always had a lot of opinions about you."

It was indeed huge. The little cabbage that I had worked so hard to raise was not only eaten by that pig Harry, but he also dug it up by the roots.

That's outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!

"Alright," Cassandra said. "Now that we've reached an agreement, you can leave."

She added, "By the way, if you have time next weekend, come with me to the Malfoy Manor."

"Okay," Harry nodded.

After leaving the cubicle, Harry and Cassandra went downstairs together. Ron immediately stood up and asked, "How are you, Harry?"

"It's nothing," he said with a smile.

"We're planning to go to the Three Broomsticks together, are you coming?" Ron asked with a smile.

"You just want to get the Three Broomsticks?" Harry asked jokingly.

He knew that this good brother of his had rather peculiar tastes.

As everyone knows, Madam Rosmerta, the owner of the Three Broomsticks, is very beautiful, a woman who is still charming even in her middle age, and Ron happens to have a particular fondness for her.

Ron's face flushed red. He started talking about how he didn't go to the Three Broomsticks at all because of the Madam Rosmerta, but just because he really liked the Butterbeer there. He also said that he would definitely try the Firewhisky when he grew up. For a moment, the air around him was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

It must be said that on such a cold day, having a hot cup of Butterbeer is truly a delightful thing.

He didn't forget to bring Cassandra along, and the two of them sat on a bench, while Ron and the others sat on the other side.

"Seven Butterbeer." Ron came back with a bunch of Butterbeer and placed one in front of each person. "Neville and I will have two, and the rest of you can each have one."

After saying that, he sat there silently, slowly drinking his Butterbeer, clearly thinking that he was very noble and profound.

Even in his deepest thoughts, his eyes kept drifting towards Madam Rosmerta, the proprietress.

"Hey, what are you looking at? Your eyes are practically glued to the screen!" Harry waved his hand and asked.

"It's nothing," Ron said absentmindedly, sipping his Butterbeer.

Seamus glanced at the still-attractive proprietress and said with a grin, "Looks like that 'nothing special' lady is mixing drinks for a customer, isn't she, Ron?"

Ron remained silent.

After finishing their Butterbeer, they pulled a still-wanting Ron away from the Three Broomsticks.

At the gate, the Malfoy family's carriage was already waiting outside. Cassandra reached out, pinched Harry's cheek, pulled him close, and kissed him on the face.

"See you next weekend." She let go of his hand and got into the carriage without looking back.

"That's really domineering," Seamus said with admiration. "Harry, you're really something—to have won the favor of such a young lady."

Harry smiled, but refrained from telling Seamus that if he had encountered a young lady like that when he was a child, he would definitely not have been able to tolerate her.

Just then, Katie Bell and a friend also walked out of the bar.

"Hey, Harry," Katie greeted Harry.

"Hey." Harry nodded, as a greeting.

Two girls walked past them and went ahead.

"Let's go," Harry said to his three brothers.

They trudged along the frozen, hard snow and mud towards Hogwarts.

As Harry left, he was still thinking about what Cassandra had told him earlier that day.

"What's wrong with them?" Neville asked in a low voice.

It was only then that Harry realized that the voices of Katie Bell and her friend, which were being blown into his ears by the wind, were becoming louder and shrewder.

Harry squinted at their blurry figures; they were arguing about what Katie was holding.

"This has nothing to do with you, Lini!" Harry heard Katie say.

They turned a corner on the path, and the rain and snow fell even harder and more heavily, blurring Harry's glasses.

He took out his wand and tapped it on his glasses, and they cleared up. Just then, Lini suddenly reached out to snatch the bag from Katie's hand.

Katie pulled hard back, and the package fell to the ground.

Suddenly, Katie was lifted into the air. Unlike Neville, who was ridiculously hooked up by the ankles and hung upside down, she was very graceful, with her arms outstretched, as if she were about to fly.

However, there was something strange about her, something was off—her hair was being blown about by the fierce wind, but her eyes were closed and her face was expressionless.

Harry, Ron, Seamus, Neville, and Lini all stopped in their tracks and stared at her in disbelief.

Then, six feet above the ground, Katie suddenly let out a terrifying scream.

Her eyes snapped open, and what she could see or feel clearly caused her terrible pain. She screamed repeatedly.

Lini also cried out, grabbing Katie's ankle and desperately trying to drag her back to the ground.

"Finite Incantatem!"

Harry chanted the spell, Katie's movements suddenly froze, before she slowly landed on the ground.

Her vision was blank; she seemed not to have realized what had happened.

"It's the Imperius Curse!" Harry looked around warily. "Revealing Charm!"

Suddenly, a crimson light flashed in Katie's arms.

It is a hostile presence!

"Katie!" Harry suddenly shouted, "Throw away what you're holding!"

Katie flung the object out of her arms as if she'd been electrocuted, and Harry then noticed that it looked like a black gemstone.

A green Charms suddenly appeared, striking the black gem and turning the surrounding white world into an incredibly emerald green.

A mournful cry rang out from the gemstone, and a cloud of black mist rose up.

Harry stepped forward and recited the Revealing Charm Charms. This time, the crimson on the gem disappeared, replaced by nothingness.

Clearly, whatever the gem was before, it is now dead beyond any doubt.

Harry picked up the gem, put it in his pocket, and planned to have it examined by Dumbledore when he returned to school.

Then he walked over to Katie.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with concern.

"I'm alright," Katie said, panting. "Thank you, Harry, you saved me—"

"What just happened?" Harry asked.

"Just now—someone found me, gave me a black gem, and told me to put it somewhere. After that, I didn't know what happened until you just dispelled that Charms —I was under the Imperius Curse, right?"

Katie spoke very quickly, like a machine gun, and her face showed relief at surviving a close call.

"What kind of person is he?" Harry pressed.

"I couldn't see his face clearly," Katie said, racking her brains to remember, then added uncertainly, "He didn't seem very tall, and he was wearing a black cloak—now it seems he must be a Dark Wizard."

"Isn't that just stating the obvious?" Ron said, rolling his eyes.

Indeed, if Imperius Curse is used on a student, Dark Wizard could he be but a white one?