Chapter 7
CASSIUS MALFOY
The next morning was much like the usual as Cassius entered the Hall for his breakfast, and as he did, he did not miss that the number of eyes following him had somehow doubled for some reason.
As always, he chose to ignore it all as he sat down on the table, his breakfast appearing infront of him within seconds of sitting down. Simple bread and omelet, with a side of black unsweetened coffee.
He was ever grateful to know the location of the kitchens and the eagerness of the house elves to cater to his specific needs. Daphne and Tracey were at the Slytherin table, they would sometimes join him, but mostly, they would all eat on their own.
Luna, his usual partner, was absent, probably busy searching for her wrack spurts. She was not a morning person, nor was he really, especially after he had spent the last two days searching for one singular spell.
He had already sent a letter back home and was now waiting for a response to know whether Draco had kept his promise, though he knew that his brother would. If there was one thing Draco cared for more than petty revenge, it was getting revenge over Harry Potter.
And the Firebolt would allow him to do just that.
And as he was eating, suddenly a piece of paper was slid infront of him, much to his surprise as he found himself surrounded by several people.
He looked up and found himself staring at the face of one of his beloved seniors and Prefects, Penelope Clearwater. The girl had helped him deal with, the few girls who were trying to bully Luna and was generally a good person to seek help from.
"Good Morning, Clearwater," he greeted her. She was in her sixth year, and he had no idea why she was there.
"Good morning, Cassius," she replied, even though her smile was anything as such as she pointed towards the piece of parchment she had just slid infront of him.
"That is your new schedule," she added, much to his surprise as he finally looked down, and as soon as he read the words on it, he shook his head.
"No, there is no way in hell that I am joining the Quidditch Team," for while he liked the sport and was decent at it, he had no desire to waste his already busy afternoons practicing like an idiot.
"I am afraid you do not have a choice," she added as she sat down infront of him.
"I am not even goo..."
"That is a lie," she quickly added as she picked up his cup and took a sip before making a face.
"What the hell is that?" she asked as she made a scrunched up face, as Cassius slid it back towards him.
"Coffee, and it's not," he replied, taking a sip of pumpkin juice and shaking her head.
"Your friends told me that you are a better Seeker than anyone else, And from what I have heard, there is a spot open for a new seeker," and he shook his head.
"I am not joining the team, thank you very much," he denied her request again.
"Don't you have any pride as a Ravenclaw? Don't you want our House to win?" she asked scandalously trying to invoke the House Spirit, and he again shook his head, busying himself in his breakfast.
"Hey!" he complained as she pulled the plate, much to his frustration as he groaned.
"Clearwater!" he turned to face the senior prefect, a bit frustrated by her behavior.
"I don't have the time. I cannot waste away all my evenings practicing like an idiot only to lose to either Slytherin or Gryffindor in the end," and she shook her head.
"We wouldn't lose if you were the seeker," she retorted, smiling devilishly, as he glared at the table behind him, at the blonde and brunette now giggling at his misfortune.
It was their doing. He was sure of it.
"I have heard Cho can play as a Seeker," he suggested an alternative.
"She is a better chaser, and we have an open Seeker spot, and you will be taking it," and he shook his head.
"I cann..."
"I will give you all my essays..." she added, making him look up and raise a brow.
"...my assignments and my old textbooks. It will save you quite a lot of time with your homework," and it was a tempting offer. Clearwater was a topper in her class, and her notes were pretty good.
And since Cassius often spent his entire year focusing on the more practical aspects of magic, he hated scoring through the books to cover any topic in detail.
"Plus, you still owe me for that thing with Luna," and he shook his head.
"That was your duty as a prefect," he corrected, but she shrugged.
"I have a lot of duties as a prefect," and he leaned back as he tried to think of a way to get out of it. And in the end could think of no way.
He could just ignore it all, but despite what it may seem like, he couldn't act like a Diva, it would make him look bad.
"As good as I am, I don't think I can beat Potter, or even my brother for that matter," he added, and the black-haired prefect shrugged.
"At least, we will have a chance," she added, and she was a Quidditch Head. He knew that.
"I don't have a broom," he added and she made a face, seeing through the ploy.
"You are loaded!" she answered easily.
"So just get one. A good one," she added, and it was a whole new headache he sighed as he saw the futility of his struggles and nodded, while reaching for the schedule.
"Tell Davis I will be there," he finished with a sigh as he pocketed the schedule, and Clearwater smiled.
"That is the spirit!" she cheered.
"I knew Itou would do it. Now go and win me the House Cup, Private," and he rolled his eyes as she lightly salpped him on the back.
"I am not your minion. And you owe me for this Clearwater," he added, nodding, as she towards Davies and the rest as his eyes turned towards Tracey and her blonde companion who were snickering while looking at his rather dejected face.
"Sure, just tell me what you want," she said. Looking at the time, he realized it was time for their first lesson, as did the rest of the Hall, given the rush to leave.
He did so as well, sliding along the two Slytherin girls of his group.
"Which one of you is behind this?" he asked, as they both refused to give up the culprit.
"Cheer up. We are just trying to make you more appealing," Tracey added, as he asked with a frown.
"And why would I need that?" and at this, both of them looked behind him as he followed their gaze and saw just who they were looking at.
Granger was rushing out of the Hall, bag on her shoulder, a slew of books tucked in her arms.
"You will thank us one day," Tracey added, jumping away as he made to pinch her shoulder.
"I will get you back for this. Both of you," he warned, as he went in the opposite direction for his Transfiguration class, as Tracey gave him a thumbs up.
"Good luck," and he put it in the back of his mind as he entered the classroom, and the students were all busy, talking with one another, celebrating the absence of their Transfiguration professor.
He plopped down beside Boot, his usual companion for these lessons.
"Hi," he greeted the quieter boy who nodded.
"I have heard you are our new seeker," and he was surprised how quickly that news travelled.
"How do you know that?" he asked.
"Davis was talking with Clearwater yesterday. I heard them in the common room," and he should have expected that as the bell rang, signaling the start of the class.
"Why are you opening the book? McGonagall's not here yet," he asked as Cassius's eyes landed on the cat sitting on the table.
"Yeah, she is...."
And then to their surprise, suddenly, the cat on the table jumped forward and transformed infront of them into their transfiguration Professor.
.
.
.
There was silence initially until a small clap broke out as the Professor preened and waved her wand as a word was spelled on the blackboard behind her.
"Animagi..." she began, and much to Terry's surprise, for the first time in a long time, Cassius began to listen to the lecture with rapt attention.
.
.
.
The lecture went as he had expected it to, and as he sat there with a rather well decorated cushion in his lap, the professor came to check on his work.
"Excellent work as always, Mr. Malfoy. Five points to Ravenclaw," the rest of the class was still trying to get their wooden rods to change form, as he raised his hand.
"Excuse me, Professor," he began as the Professor turned towards him.
"Yes," she preened as Cassius asked away what he could not find in the library.
"Could you please tell me if there is a spell that could turn an animagus back into their human form?" he asked, and she smiled.
"Well, there is a spell...." She began her little lecture, and Cassius listened, even going so far as to ask where he could read up on it.
And now he finally had what he was looking for.
The rest of the day was quite normal, and after a quick lunch, he made his way to the library, taking out the books McGonagall had pointed out as he began reaching up all he could on the subject, knowing that he would be needing it all rather soon.
Daphne and Tracey joined him soon enough, and he still had not forgotten about their betrayal. He was about to berate them when suddenly Granger joined them as well.
"Can I join you all again?" she asked politely, as Tracey was quick to answer.
"Of course, come sit," she said, and she sat down with the girl, who smiled. Cassius had not missed her swollen eyes as she busied herself in her work.
He saw her working on her runes essay, something he rather excelled at, and saw that she was making a lot more mistakes than usual.
"That is wrong," he pointed out, making her look up.
"What?" she asked as he put down his book and leaned forward.
"That," he pointed out her mistakes.
"You are mixing up Norse and Greek runes," he pointed out and corrected her mistakes as she realized.
"Thank you," she said, and he nodded before he again picked up his book. Then, her eyes continued to drift his way, and as they met, she gulped and asked a bit nervously.
"What are you reading?" and he showed her the title.
"The History and Magic of Animagi," she read with a frown.
"That is not on the syllabus," she added, and Daphne scoffed.
"That would matter if he cared," he rolled his eyes as Hermione frowned.
"What do you mean?" she asked, and it was Tracey.
"You have been with us for two days, and yet have you ever seen him doing homework," she asked, and Hermione shook her head.
"Yes, I have not. Even yesterday, you were reading another book," she asked, and he shrugged.
"It was about dueling," he answered honestly.
"But why?" she asked.
"Because I hate doing it," he answered honestly.
"And he usually finishes it all up during the classes," Daphne added as Granger frowned.
"But how, the lecture?"
"Are useless for him," Tracey added.
"Ok that is enough," he cut in, as he looked towards Granger.
"I can manage, and I am mostly interested in transfiguration and Spell crafting, so I focus on these two things. I get the work done during the classes so I can focus on my own interests during this time. I have a whole system," he replied.
"But don't you want to get the top marks?" he shrugged.
"As long as I pass, I don't care," he answered.
"But you should," she added, and Cassius saw her face heat up as he raised a brow.
"I mean, you should if you can," he sighed and took out his wand. The yew of the wood sent warmth through his hand as soon as he gripped it.
And then, without uttering a single word, he waved it as the book in her hand. She turned into a wooden horse and began to gallop on the table, and then another flick later, and a book was back in her hand again.
All of them were looking at him with wide eyes, and he simply shrugged and looked Granger in the eye.
"Now, tell me, should I really care about the grades?" he asked, and she was awestruck as she opened her mouth.
"That was an animation charm. And you did it without a chant," she gasped as he shrugged.
"You have been holding back?" she realized, and he shook his head.
"That was beautiful," Tracey gasped from the side, and even Daphne seemed surprised.
"I wouldn't say that. I have grown up with magic all my life. I know most of the theory already, and I cannot get myself to write long-winded assignments about a useless topic. So, I focus on the practical side and usually just revise the necessary stuff from the theory in the last month," he added. It was why he was fourth in their grade.
His practical marks were at the top of the class. However, his marks in the theoretical portion were not the best, lowering his rank.
"He is a freak," Daphne added, and he made a face at her as Hermione suddenly stood up and spoke rather strongly.
"Teach me...."
And he was a bit taken aback by her request, and so was she as she suddenly sat down.
"I am sorry, I know you wouldn't have the time..."
"No problem," he added as he pointed towards Tracey and Daphne.
"I help them out with the practical section every Sunday. You can join us if you want," Tracey added.
"Yes, you should. It is all pretty fun," and he raised a brow.
"Is that so?" he asked threateningly, and the brunette immediately shut his mouth.
"No. I mean..."
"Well, if those lessons are fun, then I am afraid I am not doing it right," Tracey's shoulders dropped.
"I will be there," Hermione added, and he nodded.
"We usually get together after breakfast," he said, and she nodded and began taking notes in her book.
And then it was time for him to leave. Thankfully, unlike the Gryffindors, Ravenclaw practices were not overtly long, and he stood up, to the surprise of the bushy-brown, haired Gryffindor.
"Where are you going?" she asked, looking at the clock.
"There is still time for dinn..."
"I am afraid I have Quidditch practice to get to," he answered.
"Quidditch?" she asked in surprise as he glared at two Slytherin snakes, literal snakes.
"Yes," he replied dejectedly.
"Well, I have to go. We will meet tomorrow," and he was about to walk away when suddenly he remembered the letter he had received from his mother earlier.
"Speaking of that, Granger...." he turned around and looked at the Gryffindor girl.
"It's done," he told her, and she frowned for a second before her eyes widened in realization.
"You will know for yourself in a few days...." and then he ran out of the library, asking Daphne and Tracey to return the books as he made his way to the castle grounds.
Davies was already there, along with the rest of the team.
He greeted them all. They were all fairly acquainted with one another.
"So you don't have a broom," Davies asked dejectedly.
"Don't worry about that. I will have one in a couple of days," he answered, and the captain nodded.
"Good. Do you have any idea which one it will be?" he asked.
"Yes, a Nimbus 2001, the same one as my brother," and he had written to his mother to send him his broom.
"Sheesh! That's a Malfoy for you!" there were a few whistles at that, and now that he was a part of the team, he sat down on the bench and watched them practice, even running a few drills with Davies.
And the team was good. Their brooms were atrocious, but the team was otherwise quite solid.
"Davies," he called out the captain while they were on break, and the brown-haired boy nodded and joined him.
"Yes," and after much deliberation, he opened his mouth.
"You see, I don't want to impose, but you see, I am not a regular Seeker," he added, making him frown.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Have you ever heard the term Active Seeker?" he shook his head.
"Well, now you have. And I think you are going to love it...." and so they delved into a whole new slew of formations and theory that had them train for twice as long, making them even miss their dinner.
But when they returned to their dorms, the Ravenclaw Quidditch team was all laughing and fired up for the year's Quidditch Cup.
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