Classes, obviously.

Cassandra woke up with the other girls in her dormitory. Getting their clothes on and ready for breakfast, Cassandra went with her pack to the Slytherin table. She started chatting with Malfoy.

"That's weird." He observed. "Potter is missing, you'd think Dumbledore wouldn't let him out of his sight these days."

"Potter ... THE POTTER?" Cassandra inquired. "I haven't seen or met him before."

Draco snorted. "Dumbldy's favorite. Seems to think Potter and his enormous ego can do no wrong."

Draco spent the rest of the meal talking about Harry's fights with Draco. Cassandra mostly just agreed with him and ate quickly before rushing to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Snape. Half of the class, it appeared, had been taught by Harry in the DA.

“Inside” Snape snarled at Ron and Hermione as he walked in.

It appeared that Snape was imposing his will on the classroom already. The curtain’s were drawn and Umbridge’s cat posters had been replaced by posters depicting Dark Magic. These posters made the entire class incredibly uncomfortable.

“Sit” Snape ordered the class. “Ms. Granger, I have not asked you to take out your books. I wish for all of your full attention.”

“All of you have had five teachers on this subject. Naturally, these teachers had their own methods. Given this, I am surprised so many of you managed to attain an O.W.L. in this subject. I will be more surprised if all of you keep up the advanced N.E.W.T. level work.” Snape opened up with.

“The Dark Arts,” Snape said with a hint of ... love? “are many. They are ever-changing. They are eternal. Fighting them is like a many-headed monster, which, each time it is decapitated, sprouts an even fiercer head. You will be fighting an unfixed, mutating, indestructible enemy. Therefore, your defenses must be even more flexible and inventive.”

Snape gestured at the posters decorating the walls. “These pictures represent what happens to those who let their guard down and suffer it’s effects.” Snape pointed at each of them. “The Cruciatus Curse, the Dementor’s Kiss, Inferi, the Killing Curse.”

“Now, I believe you are novices in nonverbal spells. What are the advantages of a nonverbal spell?” Snape asked. He looked at the class before pointing at Hermione.

“Your adversary has no warning about what kind of magic you’re about to perform,” Hermione blurted out. “which gives you a split-second advantage.”

“An answer copied verbatim from The Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six,” Snape dismissed to sniggers from every Slytherin except Cassandra. “However, you are correct. Those that can preform such magic gain an element of surprise. It is a feat of concentration and mind power, which some-“ Snape glanced at Ron. “-lack.”

“You will now divide into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx each other, the other will attempt to repel it in silence.”

The class was lucky Harry had taught the shield charm in the DA last year. Many of them, however, were simply whispering the incantation. Cassandra achieved the first silent charm, to everyone’s surprise, achieving 30 points to Slytherin. Hermione repelled a jinx from Neville shortly after. Snape spent the rest of the lesson glowering over Neville and Ron’s seeming inability to achieve the same standard, ending the lesson with a reminder to practice.

Cassandra joined the pack of sixth years going to potions. “Hey, by the way .... congratulations on your nonverbal achievement.” Cassandra turned to see Hermione talking to her. “Thanks, you were brilliant too.” She responded awkwardly.

“Welcome, welcome, welcome.” Professor Slughorn told the class. The dungeon was strange smelling and cloudy. Four other Slytherins, four Ravenclaws, Ernie Macmillan, Hermione, and Cassandra were in the class. Cassandra took a table with Ernie, which held a cauldron of clear bubbling liquid. “Scales and potion kits out, and don’t forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making.” Slughorn joyfully began.

“Sir?” Cassandra said.

“Yes, miss..?” Slughorn replied.

“Cassandra Black. I haven’t got my book yet.” Cassandra explained.

Slughorn was surprised by the surname. “Ah, yes, I believe Flourish and Blott’s wasn’t expecting so many students to make this class. I think we have an extra book left over in the cabinet over there.”

Cassandra rushed over and grabbed the shabby, almost destroyed book.

“Now, I’ve prepared a few potions to look at. You should be able to brew these after your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of ‘em, even if you haven’t made them. Can anyone tell me what this is?” Slughorn asked in an friendly tone, hinting at the cauldron in from of Cassandra.

Hermione shot her hand up first. “It’s Veritaserum, it’s colorless, odorless, and forces the drinker to tell the truth.

Slughorn broke out in a grin “Very, very good. Now, about this one, it’s pretty well known. Featured in ministry leaflets lately. Who can-“

“Polyjuice” Hermione cut Slughorn off.

“Excellent, just excellent!” Slughorn was having a lot of fun with this. “And this?” He seemed to address only Hermione this time.

“Amortentia.”

“Indeed, foolish to ask in hindsight.” He commented. “and it’s effects?”

“It’s the most powerful love potion in the world. It has a pearly sheen, spiraling steam, and it smells like what attracts us. I smell parchment and ...” She cut herself off there.

“What’s your name, my dear?” Slughorn asked.

“Hermione Granger, sir.”

“Could you possibly be related to Hector Granger of the Society of Potioneers?” Slughorn inquired.

“No, sir, I’m Muggle-Born, you see.” Hermione explained. Malfoy made a rude remark to the Slytherins that Cassandra pretended to ignore.

Ron bounded down the stairs. “Sorry, professor, I didn’t know I got into this class.” He explained.

“Very well, you can borrow my book for now.” Slughorn welcomed him to the class. “As I was saying, Amortentia doesn’t create love, of course. It simply creates a powerful obession, and is by far the most dangerous potion in this room.” He turned to Cassandra's house-mates. “Don’t underestimate the power of obsessive love.”

"Now, we have wasted too much time. This last potion is one of the hardest potions to create, Felix Felicis is known as liquid luck. A funny potion, tricky to make, disastrous if you get it wrong. When created like this, your endeavors succeed .... until the effects wear off." Slughorn broke off questions. "A vial of liquid luck, good for 12 hours, is the prize for this lesson. Turn to page ten, and attempt to make the draught of living ****. The best attempt wins, good luck."

Cassandra flipped to page ten as everyone began focusing on the brewing. The book was scribbled through and covered, Cassandra was unable to read the original recipe and had to follow the revised recipe the previous owner had scribbled over it. Cassandra overheard Slughorn asking students about their famous ancestors, talking about how much he loved his famous students, and wondering when he could meet Harry Potter, to Malfoy's chagrin.

Crushing the beans, and stirring her potion as the mysterious owner described, Cassandra was surprised when it turned to a pink.

"Times .. up!" Slughorn shouted. He gave approving nods to most students, but came to be delighted as he looked at Cassandra's potion.

"A perfectly brewed draught of living ****." Slughorn boisterously told her. "I've only had two students with such talent. With such a clear winner, 20 points to Slytherin. Here you are - one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised, use it well!"

Hermione cast a jealous look and left the room as fast as possible. Malfoy appeared to think everyone in Slytherin was his friend and shared the same beliefs of blood purity.

"The know-it-all finally got her comeuppance, didn't she?" Malfoy laughed.

"I guess, she did, but she's pretty nice. Tell me, why do you hate everyone?" Cassandra defended Harry's best friend.

"She's constantly hating me, trust me, she had it coming." Malfoy looked slightly hurt despite his words. "The mudblood is an insufferable know-it-all."

As Cassandra was leaving, Snape found her. "Ms. Black, a word with you?" He asked.

Author's note: Thank you for reading this, if you could give me some feedback on the series to date, I would appreciate it.