Cassia's POV

Our first class today was Herbology. When we got into the greenhouse, everyone started chattering away...until Professor Sprout tapped a flower pot with her wand to get our attention. "Good morning, everyone!" she said loudly.

"Good morning, Professor Sprout," we returned the greeting.

"Welcome to Greenhouse 3, second years. Now gather round, everyone," Professor Sprout told us. We all obeyed. "Today, we're going to repot Mandrakes. Can anyone tell me the properties of the Mandrake root?" Professor Sprout asked.

To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was first into the air.

"Yes, Miss Granger?" Professor Sprout called on her.

"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been Petrified to their original state," Hermione explained.

I raised my hand next.

"Yes, Miss Potter?" Professor Sprout called on me.

"Mandrakes are the backbone to a majority of antidotes, but they are very dangerous to handle, because the Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it," I said.

"Excellent. 10 points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout, "Now, as our Mandrakes are still only seedlings, their cries won't kill you yet, but they could knock you out for several hours, which is why I have given each of you a pair of earmuffs, for auditory protection. So would you please put them on right away? Quickly -- flaps tight down!" We obeyed. "And watch me closely. You grasp your Mandrake firmly-" she grabbed one of the Mandrakes, "-- you pull it out of the pot --" she pulled it out and the Mandrake gave a horrid cry. It looked like a baby with leaves for hair. We all put our hands over our ear-muffed ears. "-and set it down in the other pot, and add a little sprinkling of soil to keep him warm," Professor Sprout continued as she transferred the Mandrake to another pot and covered it in soil. Neville fainted just as the Mandrake stopped crying.

Professor Sprout sighed. "Longbottom's been neglecting his earmuffs," she muttered, disappointed.

"No, ma'am. He's just fainted," Seamus corrected her.

"Yes, well, just leave him there. Right, on we go, then. plenty of pots to go around. Grasp your Mandrake and pull it out," Professor Sprout instructed.

We did as she said. It was bad enough hearing one Mandrake crying, even with the earmuffs, but multiple Mandrakes crying at the same time is a whole new ballgame. Malfoy thought it'd be funny to poke the Mandrake, but it bit his finger. I laughed my head off at that. Why wouldn't I? I mean, the git had it coming!

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After Herbology -- which just so happened to be a double period -- we got a break from classes for about an hour. I decided to spend that free time outside, so I sat down on a bench in the courtyard. It wasn't even cold out, it was actually somewhere between 60 and 70 degrees. The trees changing color were so beautiful- this is why autumn is my favorite season.

"Hey, Cassia," someone called my name from behind. I turned around to see Cedric running towards me.

"Hi, Cedric," I greeted him.

He bent down and gave me a huge hug once he reached me. "Why didn't you write me? I've been dying to hear from you! And how come I didn't see you on the platform or at the start-of-term feast?" he asked.

"Uh..." I struggled to come up with a reply, but then I just gave up. "It's a long story. And I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."

"Go on. I'm all ears," he encouraged me.

I patted the spot next to me on the bench, and he gladly sat down. Then I launched into the story about how Dobby sealed off the barrier and stopped mine and Harry's mail from being delivered so that we couldn't come back to Hogwarts, leading us to take Mr. Weasley's flying car...and crashing into the Whomping Willow.

"Whoa!" Cedric exclaimed, once I'd finished. "Were you guys hurt?"

I shook my head. "No, but the car is totaled." He nodded. "We're lucky we weren't expelled," I added.

"Lucky is right," Cedric agreed, "I don't know what I'd do if you were. I'd miss talking to you."

I nodded. "Same..."

"I know it's pretty late to say this, but since you didn't get the card I sent you in the mail, happy birthday," he told me.

"Aww, thanks!" I said, throwing my arms around him.

"You're welcome, Cass," he said back, returning the hug.

"So how was your summer?" I asked.

"Pretty uneventful, actually. When I told Dad I met you, he wouldn't shut up about how 'his boy met one of the Potter twins'," he responded.

"That must've been annoying," I commented.

Cedric chuckled. "Oh, it was. I doubt you could imagine it..." The bell rang, signaling that the next class was about to start. "I've got to go, Cass. Nice talking to you. Hopefully we can do this again sometime," he told me.

"Yeah, that'd be great!" I agreed.

We hugged each other once more, and then went our separate ways.

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Later on, at lunch, I sat with Ron, Harry, and Hermione (of course). Ron was trying to use Spell-o-tape to fix his broken wand. Hermione had given all three of us a lecture about stealing the car -- which we kind of deserved -- and we promised we wouldn't do it again. She let it go after that.

"Say it...I'm doomed," Ron moped, throwing down his wand.

"You're doomed," Harry and I said -- not surprisingly -- in sync.

"Hi, Harry, Cassia!" a boy's voice said behind us.

Harry and I turned around, only to be temporarily blinded by a camera flashing. I rubbed my eyes, trying to regain my vision.

"I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor, too," the boy introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you, Colin," I said, shaking hands with him.

"Ron, is that your owl?" another boy asked, interrupting us. It was Dean Thomas. I knew him because he and Seamus were good friends.

Everyone looked up to see Errol flying towards us, with a letter in his beak. He came in for a landing, only to crash into a bowl of chips.

"Bloody bird's a menace," Ron complained. Errol dropped the envelope he'd been carrying in front of us. That's when I saw it was bright red.

"Oh, boy..." I muttered. I've never received a Howler before -- thank goodness -- but I've heard it's pretty bad.

Ron must've been thinking the same thing, because all the color on his face drained away. "Oh, no," he said, clearly frightened.

"Look, everyone, Weasley's got himself a Howler," Seamus blurted out. Everyone except me, Hermione, and Harry started laughing.

Neville was encouraging Ron to open it. "Go on, Ron," he advised him, "I ignored one from my Gran once. It was horrible."

Ron opened the envelope with very shaky hands, but the second he did, we heard Mrs. Weasley shout "RONALD WEASLEY!" at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed throughout the entire Great Hall. The letter flew up, forming a pair of lips, facing Ron. "HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER IS NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK, AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE, WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked. The letter then turned to Ginny and -- in a very calm voice -- added, "Oh, and Ginny, dear, congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud." Then it stuck its tongue out at Ron and ripped itself into shreds. It kind of goes without saying that Harry, Ron, Hermione and I were traumatized by Mrs. Weasley's yelling after that.

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Our next class, after lunch, was D.A.D.A, with Lockhart. At least half the girls in the school are smitten with him, but I'm not. I just think he's a big phony. Anyway, we all headed into the classroom and took our seats.

Lockhart came out of his office, staring at us from the balcony overlooking the classroom. "Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Me," he said. He came down the stairs. "Gilderoy Lockhart. Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League --" he smiled at a portrait of himself, "-- and five-times winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile award. But I don't talk about that; I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at him." He chuckled, flashing a smile at us.

Most of the girls, including Hermione, just smiled dreamily at him. I rolled my eyes. What do they see in him? He's just a wizard with a massive ego!

He crossed over to a covered object on his desk at the front of the room. "Now, be warned. It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizard kind. Know only that no harm can befall you while I am here. I must ask you not to scream. It might provoke them!" he warned us, pretty much yelling the last two words as he yanked off the cover to reveal a cage full of pixies.

"What?" I muttered to myself.

Seamus started cracking up. "Cornish pixies?" he questioned.

"Freshly caught Cornish pixies," Lockhart corrected, only earning more laughter from Seamus. "Laugh if you will, Mr. Finnegan, but pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them." He opened the cage.

It was pandemonium. The pixies shot in every direction like rockets. Two of them seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air. Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the class was sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the iron chandelier in the ceiling.

"Please, get me down!" he begged.

"Come on! Round them up, round them up! They're only pixies!" Lockhart encouraged us.

"Get off me!" Hermione snapped, since a pair of pixies were pulling her hair.

"Stop, stop! Hold still!" Harry shouted. He took a book and whacked the pixies off.

Lockhart rolled up his sleeve, brandished his wand, and shouted, "Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"

It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies snatched his wand and threw it out the window, too.

"I'm pretty sure that's not even a spell!" I said, firing spells at the pixies left and right. Trouble is, they wouldn't stand still.

Lockhart tried to stop another pixie from taking one of his self-portraits (no surprise there) and failed. Then he looked down at us from the stairs he was on. "I'll ask you four to just nip the rest of them back into their cage..." He raced into his office, leaving us to fight the pixies.

"What'll we do now?" Ron moaned, trying to swat the pixies with his book.

Hermione whipped out her wand and pointed it to the ceiling. "Immobulus!" she yelled. Instantly, all the pixies froze where they were. The whole room went quiet.

"Why is it always me?" Neville asked out of the blue.