Chapter 9
DAPHNE GREENGRASS
Cassius Malfoy was strange. It was what she had first thought when she met him. And her thoughts had not changed much over the years. He was a contradiction, and he had always had been.
He was born into the Malfoys, a family that firmly believed in Blood supremacy, yet he cared nothing for it. Despite spending all his time in the wizarding world, he knew far too much about the muggle world—more than any other pure blood she had known.
Jolly, outspoken, and apparently carefree. Yet his brilliance, spoke an entirely different tale. He was preceptive, his actions only ever made sense years later, only to those who paid any attention to them.
Even now, she wondered just how much she herself had changed because of his influence. Movies, cinema, theatre, novels, TVs, Cars, she wondered if any of them would know if it all without him.
His parents knew it as well, and their distaste was visible. More so for Lucius Malfoy than Narcissa Malfoy, but they still loved their son. Initially, they had ignored it all as the folly of youth, but she wondered just how long such a thing would last.
It was obvious to anyone that Cassius did not share their beliefs, and though he rarely argued with them, with every passing year, his own beliefs were cemented, and it was not the one they had thought.
His beliefs were strong enough that they could not beat them out of him, though she doubted it would come to that.
There were far more lethal weapons to be used against discourteous children amongst the old Magical families, and she wondered if they would really use them on him.
Cassius must know about them. He must. For one could call Cassius Malfoy many things, but an idiot would never be one of them. He was smart, intelligent, and observant.
He must know what would happen if he continued on this path. It was inevitable.
As her eyes landed on the girl standing and cheering on her own House team, clad in the red and yellow of the fabled House Gryffindor, she feared that such a time was coming sooner rather than later.
For there was no way that Lucius Malfoy would ever accept a Blood traitor in his family.
"AND THE MATCH IS SET TO BEGIN! AND NOW ENTERING THE GRYFFINORS!" Lee Jordan's voice spread all over the school grounds as the Gryffindor quidditch team entered the arena to deafening cheers and screams.
Today was the first match of the season, and it was one between the bitter rivals of Gryffindor and Slytherin. The matches were always a spectacle, even though she did not really care for them much, not being much of a fan of Quidditch.
"AND NOW WE HAVE THE REIGNING CHAMPIONS! SLYTHERINS!" and then entered the Slytherin, and despite being in a different house, Cassius cheered as his brother entered the arena. She did not miss the confident smirk on the blonde's face.
"What makes you so certain of Draco's victory today?" she asked Cassius, who had sat down after a short cheer, and he smirked.
"Let's just say he has a surprise," and soon enough, Lee Jordan was finished with his introductions as Madam Hooch rose into the sky, and by then suddenly, a hush fell over the entire stands as suddenly Lee Jorden's voice rang out.
"IT'S A FIREBOLT!" and even she, for as little as she knew about Quidditch and brooms, knew what the Firebolt was and jumped to her feet.
"DRACO MALFOY HAS A FIREBOLT!" Lee Jordan added, and there was a massive cheer from the Slytherin stands, and she saw the Gryffindors still for a second before some began to boo.
"SLYTHERIN TEAM'S SEEKER HAS GOTTEN HIS HANDS ON THE FASTEST BROOOM EVER MADE! A BROOM THAT IS USED BY PROFESSIONALS! WHILE SOME OF THE GRYFFINDOR ARE STILL ROCKING A COMET TWO-SIXTY!" and that was the twins.
"THE NEWEST BROOM..." and he began to fawn over the said broom as Madam Hoock took to the skies and blew her whistle.
The match started, and Draco Malfoy was a blur as he moved through the arena, whizzing past everyone as the Slytherin cheered and the Gryffindors watched in half amazement and half dread, the best broom on the market in the hands of their most feared competitor.
But a firebolt was not just expensive. It was very expensive. She doubted that as much as Lucius Malfoy loved his son, he would ever spend that much money on a broom.
And Draco did not have enough gold to buy such a thing.
That left only one person, and she looked to the side at Cassius, who was cheering his brother on as he suddenly went into a dive.
"You knew..." and this must be the reason he had asked her to attend the match.
He must have bought the broom, but why? And it all took a second to click together as her eyes moved to the stand opposite to their own, and landed on the girl that was becoming a rather permanent fixture in their group.
Granger. Hermione Granger knew that she had come to Cassius to seek his help for that horrid Care of Magical professor.
And that meant this broom was a bribe from Cassius to Draco.
"He is done it! DRACO MALFOY HAS THE SNITCH!" and the announcement tore the stands, as the Slytherin celebrated like mad people.
The air shook as the Gryffindors landed on the ground dejected at the loss, and the Slytherin team celebrated their victory.
"HARRY'S LOST A SNITCH FOR THE FIRST TIME! BUT IT WAS NO FAULT OF HIS OWN!" Lee continued.
"WITH THAT FIREBOLT IN HIS HANDS. IT WILL TAKE A MIRACLE TO DEFEAT THIS GRYFFINDOR TEAM!"
And she felt a hand on her shoulders and saw Cassius pointing towards the sky.
"It might rain soon, we should get out," and she nodded, always eager to get out of the ruckus, as they both slid through the stands and rushed towards the dorms, as suddenly, and they were but halfway there until heavy rain began to pour down.
Soon enough, it was time for lunch, and the celebrations were still going on. To avoid the rucks, she found herself sitting with Cassius on the Ravenclaw table. Tracye, unlike them both, was a hard Quidditch fan. She was still singing and dancing to their House song along with the rest of the Slytherin as they celebrated their victory over their bitter rivals.
And despite her worries, she could not keep it to herself.
"You were the one who bought Draco that broom," she asked heatedly and Cassius seemed surprised by her words yet answered with a nod.
"Yes, I did. I also advised him to keep it a secret until the last second. Thankfully, the idiot listened, and now he has won," and she did not really care about that.
"Are you mad!" she balked, knowing that her voice would hardly matter much in the sheer noise that was already in the Hall.
"Buying him a firebolt, wasting your money like this! And for what," and at that, her eyes landed on the brown-haired Gryffindor, sitting infront of her, sitting beside a dejected and devastated Harry Potter.
"Her!" she asked, and there was a slight narrowing of his eyes.
"Why?" she asked.
"It was not entirely for her," he answered.
"Then why would you waste so much money? I know you have savings and so forth, but you cannot waste them like this, not when you could be kicked... " she stopped herself from saying the words.
"Kicked out of my home?" he asked, not missing a beat, and as she had thought. Cassius was not blind to what the future held for him if he stayed on his path.
"Yes," she added, and while she liked him a lot, she knew that none in their circle would dare to help him just to avoid destroying their relationship with Lucius Malfoy.
"You know your father better than I, of what he was, of where his allegiances laid," she added, and his lips thinned at her words as he put down the fork and looked into her eyes.
"He will not accept this," and again, she pointed at the brown haired Gryffindor girl a few yards away.
"He will not accept her," and if he continued to be brash and reckless, then the man will have no choice. Not just because of how unacceptable it would be for him but to protect himself among his peers.
"And now you go and buy your brother a firebolt just to impress that muggle-born girl," and he raised a hand.
"It was not entirely for her. I needed something as well, and through this series of transactions, I was able to get my hands on it," and she scoffed.
"What? Tell me what could be so valuable that you used up your savings to buy a damned Fire Bolt!" she asked, trying to call him out on his bluff when suddenly he took out a piece of parchment and put it down on the table.
"This..." he said, and she frowned at seeing the empty folded piece of paper.
"And what is this...."
"This, my dear, is the weapon that will help me stop a war," and she scoffed at those words yet realized that he was serious.
"You are serious?" she asked, not believing his words, and immediately his lips turned up.
"Well, actually, one could say that I am trying not to be 'Sirius'," he chuckled as she kicked him in the shin making him shriek out in pain,
"Ouch! What's gotten into you?" he asked, as he jumped away in pain as Daphne eyed him, unimpressed by his jokes as he sighed and continued.
"You won't get it," he said as he waved away before continuing in a softer tone.
"I know that you are concerned about me, Daphne," he said, trying to soothe her.
"And it warms my heart to see you as such, but I know what I am doing," he assured her, and she really hoped that such was the case.
"Just be careful, Cassius," she added, as she looked him in the eye, hoping that he knew what he was doing, and he nodded.
"I always am," and then he jumped out, pocketing the piece of paper, before he suddenly pinched her arm, before running away.
"Ouch," she rubbed her arm, and thought to chase after him, but gave up quickly as she saw him running away with a cheeky smile on his face.
"I won't be coming to the library today. I have something else to do. Goodbye," and then he ran out of the Hall as Tracey plopped beside her.
"Where did Cassius go?" she asked, and Daphne could only sigh as she replied truthfully.
"I don't know...."
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CASSIUS MALFOY
Cassius was not exactly blind to Daphne's concerns, nor were they entirely unfounded. Even if the Dark Lord were to return, he still found himself questioning and wondering what he would do if such a day came.
And that was why he was finally making his move.
For that reason, the map was necessary for more than one reason. While yes, it would help him track and capture Peter Pettigrew, but it would also help him do one more thing.
The Room of Requirement was the greatest asset available to him, to both improve his skills as a wizard and to be ready for the dangers that may wait for him in the future.
But without the map, Cassius could only use it openly, for despite a concealment charm, it was always a bit risky to wander through the Halls, for if the teachers or the prefects caught him, it would raise a lot of eyes.
But, now, with the Marauders map in his hand, that fear was gone. After the Quidditch match, Cassius found himself on the Seventh floor staring at a wall, opposite to the Picture of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls to dance.
He pocketed the map as he walked back and forth three times until the wall behind him changed. He walked through the doors into an elaborate room, one with a massive duelling area in the center and a desk at the side.
A stack of books, mostly related to duelling and spell craft, was placed there in the corner, and it was his usual place to work on himself.
He ignored the dummies and walked towards the table, and in the middle of it lay another book, one that he had placed there with his own hands last year after Ginny Weasley had tried to flush it down the drain.
During the Summer, he was away in France because of prior commitments and could not prevent his father from dropping into Ginny's cart, and only when the year started, and the attacks began did he realize his mistake and made to rectify it as quickly as he could.
But Tom was cautious, and despite his various attempts, he was unable to take it off Ginny's hands. Until the girl tried to get rid of it herself and tried to flush it down the toilets.
He had seen her, and after some liberal use of a Confundus charm, he was able to replace the Horcrux with a similar-looking diary, and both he and Ginny were better for it.
He cleared his mind as he walked up to it, removing every emotion from his consciousness as he reached for the quill beside it.
Horcruxes were magic most vile, and dealing with one in a semi-conscious state as the diary was a hassle, and Cassius could afford no mistake. That was why he had avoided dealing with it until he had a certain level of Mastery over his own mind and Occlumency.
He had only attained that near the end of the last year, and even then, he had not taken the book out of Hogwarts, trying to minimize his contact with it.
He opened the empty page and quietly scribbled in.
"So, have you changed your mind?" he wrote, and the answer came after a few seconds.
"I have told you already. It is impossible," it answered, and Cassius smiled.
"Nothing is impossible. We all know Herpo was the first Parselmouth, that means he learned the language somehow, and I believe you know how," he wrote, and he could feel the Horcrux's tug on his mind, trying to break through his shields, but he could feel it and push it out.
"I could do what you need. Just tell me what you need done, and I shall do it for you," Tom answered eagerly.
"I want to do this myself. So, you are still being stubborn," and he drew a small emoji beside it, and could feel it is setting.
"I have said it before. It is impossible to teach someone the language of the snakes," Tom answered and Cassius looked up and saw that around one and a half minute had passed.
"Well then, I hope you have changed your mind by the next time we can talk," and immediately, the answers came.
"Wait! Just tell me what you need! I will hep..." but he ignored them all and closed the diary and jumped back.
And he jumped back, and rechecked the time, making sure that no more time than what he had allocated had gone by.
To maintain his own sanity, he limited each interaction to nothing more than two to three minutes. He had extracted most of the knowledge from it already, and the only thing that remained was Parseltongue.
And the ability to talk to snakes interested him quite a lot, because of what it would entail. And despite the popular belief that the ability was hereditary, Cassius believed that the thing could be taught or that there was a way to learn it.
"Well, with that done, I think it's time to get started..." he took out his wand and walked to the center of the room, and closed his eyes as three training dummies joined in, ready for him.
And then, suddenly, a spell whizzed past his ear as Cassius tilted his head and moved to the side to avoid another before he brought down his wand, and a golden shield appeared behind him, reflecting back the spell of the dummy towards it.
Yet the dummy seemed to avoid it. As he opened his eyes, he slashed it at the one infront of him, before flicking it slightly to make the ground around it rise up trapping it, in its place as his slash tore through one of the dummies.
By then, a ball of fire was rushing towards him from behind, and he twisted his body and pushed it towards the massive torrent of fire, wrestled its control away from the dummy, and then, with a swing, directed it towards the second dummy slashing at him.
He flicked it up, and a wall of dirt emerged right infront of him in an instant as the dummies slashed, hit it rather than him before he tore it all down as he faced the final training dummy and waved his wand and all the pieces flew towards it, breaking it down.
And then he stood in the center of the room with three destroyed dummies, with a little sweat on his brows.
He cracked his neck as the three dummies were soon replaced by five, and he whispered to the air.
"Well then, I am warmed up..."
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