Cassia's POV

Today was Sunday, which meant we didn't have classes. We decided to go see Hagrid and talk to him. He'd had his hearing for Buckbeak with the Disposal of Magical Creatures today, and we all wanted to know what the verdict had been. I was crossing my fingers that it'd gone well, but considering that Lucius Malfoy was there, I knew it was probably gonna be bad. He probably twisted the story so that Hagrid could get in trouble.

"Beautiful day" Hermione noted as we walked through the courtyard.

"Sure," Ron replied, "unless, of course, you've been ripped to pieces."

"Ripped to pieces?" Harry and I echoed. What the bloody hell was he on about?

Hermione sighed in annoyance. "Ronald has lost his rat."

"I haven't lost anything. Your cat killed him!" Ron snapped at Hermione.

"Rubbish," Hermione said, rolling her eyes at him.

I scoffed. "Oh, sure, put the blame one of your best friends, who just so happens to own a cat."

Ron looked at my brother. "Harry, you've seen the way those bloodthirsty beasts of theirs are always lurking about. Scabbers is gone!"

"Well, maybe you should learn to take better care of your pets!" Hermione snapped.

"Your cat killed him! And he probably gave Cricket the tail for dessert!" Ron insisted.

"Own up, Ron! You're the one who's always losing Scabbers, so don't go playing the blame game," I argued, "And for the record, Cricket hasn't gone near Scabbers since that day in the Leaky Cauldron."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Well, how do you explain the blood on my sheets? And the cat hairs?"

"How many times do I have to tell you, those cat hairs could've been there since the start of term! You guys never clean up your dorm!" Hermione scolded him. She was definitely fed up with him pointing fingers at our felines. That makes two of us.

"Just admit it, your cats killed him!" Ron pestered us.

"Did not," Hermione and I said in sync.

"Did."

"Didn't."

The argument went on and on. Ron just wouldn't own up to losing Scabbers.

<><><><><>

We found Hagrid by the Black Lake. He was up to his mid-calves in the water, skipping rocks.

"How did it go, Hagrid? The hearing?" Hermione asked.

"Well, first off, the committee members took turns saying why we were there," Hagrid replied, "And I got up, did my piece, said Buckbeak was a good Hippogriff, always cleaned his feathers."

"And then what happened?" I asked.

Hagrid huffed. "An' then, Lucius Malfoy got up, an' you can imagine, he said that Buckbeak was a 'deadly, dangerous creature who'd kill yeh as soon as look at yeh.'"

"And then?" Hermione questioned.

"Then he asked to the worst, did ol' Lucius," Hagrid answered, skipping another rock.

"They're not sacking you..." Ron assumed, shaking his head.

Hagrid shook his head. "No, I'm not sacked." I mentally sighed in relief at that. He skipped another stone, sniffling a bit. "Buckbeak's been sentenced to death!" he told us. He threw another rock, which landed in the water with a loud splash.

I slipped my shoes off and ran into the water. My feet were starting to numb from the cold, but I didn't care. I hugged my half-giant friend, trying to comfort him the best that I could. Before long, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came into the water and joined the hug, turning it into one big group hug.

<><><><><>

"Cass, Cassi, wake up!" someone whispered, waking me from my sleep. I opened my eyes to see Harry standing over me, with the Marauders' Map in one hand and his lit wand in his other hand.

"Any particular reason why you woke me up at...probably 2 in the morning?" I inquired, trying to sound mad but failing due to exhaustion.

Harry held up the map for me to see. "I was reading the map, and then I saw Peter Pettigrew appear."

I shook my head. "How is that possible? He can't appear on the map if he's dead."

"I thought the same thing. But the map says otherwise," he said. "Come on. Come with me." He pulled me out of bed.

"Why? Where are we going?" I asked.

Harry looked back at me for just a moment. "To look for Pettigrew."

I rolled my eyes, but put on my slippers and followed him anyway. We snuck out of the portrait hole and down one of the corridors, using only the map as a guide so we could see where Pettigrew was going. Or, at least, where he was.

"Put that light out," one of the paintings on the wall ordered when Harry accidentally pointed his wand in its direction.

"Sorry," Harry apologized, pointing his wand back at the map.

I glanced over his shoulder, to see that Pettigrew was coming towards us. But how? I couldn't see him in front of us, not in the dark corridor. The only sign indicating his presence was his footsteps appearing on the map. I panicked a little as he got closer and closer. We looked around to see where he was, only to get a little scare when we turned towards a mirror. Harry jumped, trying to hold back a scream, while I clung to his arm like it was a lifeline. With my free hand, I lit my wand, pointing it around the corridor.

"Watch it there, you two. We're trying to sleep here," another painting complained, making me point my wand elsewhere.

We both looked at the map again, and saw Pettigrew had disappeared, but something worse was coming our way. Professor Snape. Oh, no! He was probably patrolling the corridors tonight, which meant that if Harry and I were caught, we were so dead.

"Mischief Managed," Harry whispered, pointing his wand at the map. It became blank.

"Nox," we both whispered. The light emitted from our wands was extinguished, and we were surrounded in darkness...for all of two measly seconds.

"Potters. What are you doing, wandering the corridors at night?" Snape asked us, pointing his lit wand straight at us.

"I was sleepwalking," Harry lied.

"And you?" Snape questioned, making eye contact with me.

"He, uh, dragged me out here...when he was sleepwalking," I fibbed, fidgeting with my fingers.

"Extraordinarily like your father. He, too, was exceedingly arrogant, strutting about the castle," Snape remarked.

"Our dad didn't strut. And nor do we," Harry snapped.

"Now, if you don't mind, we would appreciate it if you could lower your wand," I added.

Snape complied, lowering his wand. The bulging pocket of Harry's hoodie caught his attention. "Turn out your pockets," he demanded.

Harry only looked at him like a deer in headlights.

"Turn out your pockets," he repeated.

Harry pulled out the map.

"What's this?" Snape asked, pointing his wand at the blank map.

"Bundle of parchment," Harry answered, playing dumb.

"Open it," Snape ordered.

Harry obeyed, and then Snape pointed his wand in the center of the parchment. "Reveal your secrets," he said in his monotone voice. Words started to appear on the parchment. "Read it," Snape ordered us.

"Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs...offer their compliments to Professor Snape, and..." I started.

"Go on," Snape sarcastically encouraged us.

"...and request that he keeps his abnormally large nose out of other people's business," Harry finished. I really had to fight to keep myself from laughing.

"Why, you insolent, little-" Snape snapped.

"Professor," someone cut him off.

Snape turned around to see it was Professor Lupin. "Well, well...Lupin. Out for a little walk...in the moonlight, are we?" he asked. He snatched the map from us and handed it to Professor Lupin. "I have just confiscated a rather curious artifact from Mr. and Miss Potter. Take a look. Supposed to be your area of expertise. Clearly, it's full of dark magic."

Professor Lupin examined at the parchment. "I seriously doubt it, Severus. Looks to me like it's merely a parchment designed to insult anyone who tries to read it," he said, chuckling. "I suspect it's a Zonko product. Nevertheless, I shall investigate any hidden qualities it may possess. After all, it is, as you say, my area of expertise. Harry, Cassia, would you come with me, please? Professor, good night." He took us to his classroom. "Come in." We did. "Now, Harry, I haven't the slightest idea how this map came into your possession, but I am astounded that you didn't hand it in," he said, "Did it ever occur to you that this, in the hands of Sirius Black, is a map to you?" He held up the map.

"No, sir," Harry replied.

I nodded in agreement. "It didn't."

"You know, your father never did set much store by the rules either, but he and your mother gave their lives to save yours. Both of you. And gambling their sacrifice by wandering around the castle, unprotected, with a killer on the loose, seems -- to me -- a pretty poor way to repay them," he berated us, "Now, I will not cover up for you again, you two. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Harry and I said at once.

"I want you to return to your dormitory and stay there," Professor Lupin told us. "And don't take any detours. If you do-" he held up the map. "-I shall know."

We nodded and started to leave, but turned back to face Professor Lupin.

"Professor, just so you know, I don't think that map always works. Earlier on, it showed someone. Someone I know to be dead," said Harry.

"Really? Who might that be?" Lupin asked.

"Peter Pettigrew," I answered.

Lupin looked shocked, to say the least. "That's not possible," he muttered, mostly to himself, but Harry and I heard it.

We practically sprinted back to Gryffindor Tower without another word.

<><><><><>

Broaden your minds. You must look beyond. The art of crystal gazing is in the clearing of the Inner Eye. Only then can you see," Trelawney droned on and on during Divination the next day. Ron had his head on the desk, snoring away.

"How do you put up with that every night?" I whispered to Harry, jabbing a thumb in Ron's direction.

Harry only shrugged in response before looking into the crystal once more.

"And what do we have here?" Trelawney asked, making us jump. It was enough to scare Ron awake, because he shot up straight in his chair.

"Do you mind me trying?" Hermione asked. In response, Trelawney made a gesture with her hand as if to say 'be my guest'. Hermione stared into the crystal for only a moment before guessing, "The Grim. Possibly."

A frown formed on our Divination professor's face. "My dear, from the first moment you stepped into my class, I sensed that you did not possess the proper spirit for the noble art of Divination," she said, taking Hermione's hand and reading her palm. "Ah, you may be young in years, but the heart that beats beneath your bosom is as shriveled as an old maid's, and your soul as dry as the pages of the books to which you so desperately cleave." She held her hand and gave her wrist a loving pat.

To say Hermione was angry was a serious understatement. She ripped her hand away from Trelawney's and deliberately knocked over the crystal ball before storming out of the room.

Professor Trelawney looked confused. "Have I said something?" she asked. We couldn't answer her, we were too shocked by Hermione's behavior.

<><><><><>

"She's gone mental, Hermione has. I mean, not that she wasn't always mental, but now it's out in the open for everyone to see!" Ron said as we walked down the stairs and back to the common room, being as Divination had been our last class of the day.

I put my hand up, stopping him from ranting any further. "We get it, Ron."

Harry suddenly came to a stop on the stairs, making Ron and I stop as well. He bent down and picked something up. It was the crystal ball Hermione had knocked over.

"We'd better bring this back," he said. I nodded in agreement. Trelawney would probably be upset if we didn't. Or even worse, she'd drive us -- and the whole class -- crazy with predicting terrible deaths on Monday.

"I'm not going back!" Ron exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes. "Oh come on, Ron! She's a professor, not a spider!" I followed Harry back up the stairs and into the Divination classroom. It didn't take long for Harry to find the single empty stand, and we put the crystal back where it belonged. We turned to go, but then we heard the crystal start to hiss.

"Uh...last I checked, crystals didn't hiss," I said.

Harry looked just as nervous as I was. "Why's it doing that?"

"I don't know," I replied. We advanced closer to the crystal and saw the fog inside turning a beige color. A face slowly appeared in the center and hissed both of our names. Harry and I looked at each other with both confusion and fear etched on our faces. Suddenly, I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder, scaring me. That same person grabbed Harry's shoulder as well, and we turned around to see-

"Professor Trelawney?!" Harry questioned, shocked.

"He will return tonight!" Trelawney exclaimed. She sounded way different than normal. It was almost as if she was...possessed.

"Pardon?" Harry said.

I blinked. "What?"

"Tonight, he who betrayed his friends, whose heart rots with murder shall break free! Innocent blood shall be spilt, and servant and master shall be reunited once more!" Trelawney said. Then she coughed a few times, like she was trying to get a bad taste out of her mouth. She looked at us, a bit dazed. "So sorry, dear children. Did you say something?" We shook our heads frantically.

"No," Harry replied.

"We didn't," I added. The two of us ran out of there as fast as we could. Is it just me or is Trelawney a little nutsy?