Status: Complete
Remember Me
"I Never Knew..."
Harry sat on the floor, gazing up at Dumbledore with relief. He needed to know, needed to know why Voldemort needed Cassandra’s name. Cassandra stood up more slowly, hesitantly, and gently brushed her fingers through Harry’s jet-black hair – a butterfly touch.
The four of them followed Dumbledore to his office in single file, Ron and Hermione exchanging worried looks. Dumbledore entered his office, sat down in the Headmasters chair and gestured them to four seats opposite him.
“You were asking Cassandra, I believe,” he said to Harry, putting the tips of his long fingers together and peering over the edge of his half-moon glasses. “Why you saw her when your mind was temporarily possessed by Voldemort.”
Harry nodded.
“May I ask why?” said Dumbledore, his voice calm and polite. “Why you did not tell me that Voldemort is still using Legilimency against you?”
Harry could feel Hermione agreeing with the Headmaster beside him, and his heart sank. “I didn’t think…” he muttered, unable to come up with a suitable excuse. “Sorry.”
Dumbledore nodded once. “Next time, Harry, I want you to tell me straight away. And I want you to continue trying to use Occulmency please. If you cannot close your mind to Voldemort, I will start giving you Occulmency lessons myself. Not, perhaps, with Professor Snape-“
“Good,” said Harry quickly and Dumbledore chuckled.
“Harry, in your recent…ah, for want of a better word, vision, I believe Lord Voldemort saw Cassandra James and recognised her.”
“Yeah,” said Harry immediately. “He was really surprised to see her…he wanted to know who she was.”
Dumbledore’s icy blue eyes suddenly took on an almost frenzied look. “And did you tell him who she was, Harry?”
Harry fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. “Well, I…I didn’t mean…I said her name…” he trailed off, looking at his knees rather than Dumbledore’s face.
“Ahh.”
Dumbledore’s soft sigh filled the room as if it had been a cannon blast.
“Is that bad?” asked Cassandra. “I don’t get it. I mean, it’s not like I’m important. I’m not Harry or anything.” Dumbledore still didn’t speak. “It’s not like he wants to kill me!”
“On the contrary,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Voldemort would like that very much indeed.”
The portraits on the walls gasped and exclaimed loudly. A spindly silver instrument in the office ticked. Fawkes moved on his perch.
“Why does he want to kill me?”
Harry was surprised, for Cassandra did not look scared, which was how he felt at the moment. She was leaning forwards, a slight frown on her forehead as if she was struggling with a particularly difficult spell in Charms.
“You are the last remaining member of a family he has wanted to destroy for many years.”
Harry glanced at Cassandra, who was rolling her eyes and wearing a get-to-the-point-and-stop-all-the-damn-tension look.
“And they were?”
“The Gryffindor’s.”
Cassandra’s eyes widened, but her frown deepened. The Gryffindor’s…Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders. She glanced up at the dirty, bedraggled Sorting Hat, and the words it had spoken to her ran across her mind. I remember you.
“That was why, Cassandra, when you were three your parents were murdered by a Death Eater on Voldemort’s orders. They destroyed the house and in the destruction your family died. You, however, managed to survive. Mr and Mrs McGibbon took you in at their own risk. For your protection, the family was hidden from the Death Eaters by the Fidelius Charm, which is why you had a very sheltered childhood.”
“So why am I here? Why was I allowed to come to Hogwarts?”
“You were meant to come to Hogwarts; your name was written down when you were born. However, I thought you would be safer with Debbie and John rather than here at school. But you had to come here in your sixth-year,” said Dumbledore, his sapphire eyes x-raying the girl sitting in front of him. “The Secret-Keeper of the Fidelius Charm betrayed your family to the Death Eaters. Sturgis Podmore was placed under the Imperius Curse and, under Lucius Malfoy’s control told him where to find you. I therefore said that you must come to Hogwarts, where Lord Voldemort would not find you. Of course, my efforts were rather wasted now…”
Cassandra gave an encouraging smile to Harry, who looked ashamed. “So what does that mean? Will I be able to stay here?”
“Nothing will harm you under my protection.”
Cassandra nodded, and crossed the room to where Godric Gryffindor’s sword lay in its glass cage. A small smile crept over her lips. Last living descendant of Godric Gryffindor. Last living descendant of the bravest wizard in history, of one of the most famous and influential wizards…
She spun round to look at Dumbledore. “Does it mean I have any special powers or anything?”
He looked bemused. “No, I am afraid not.”
“Oh.” Still, she was related to Godric Gryffindor. The worries and the danger of having that connection had washed over her like water. She hardly noticed.
And what Debbie and John had done for her. Taken her in and raised her, even though she was not their child, even though she put them in anger, inhibited their life, made it necessary for them to be kept in hiding. She had never known their sacrifice for her.
“Cassandra?” said Dumbledore, and once again she turned to face him. “I have a request for you.”
“Oh?”
“Lord Voldemort wants to destroy the Gryffindor’s to repay Godric for the argument he had, all those years ago with Salazar Slytherin. Voldemort is the last living descendant of Slytherin.” He looked very serious now. “What I must ask of you, Cassandra, is this. Heal the rift between the two. The troubled times we live in today would not have happened if Slytherin and Gryffindor had stayed friends throughout their lives. Heal the rift. Heal the rift, and perhaps we can extend a hand a friendship between the two. And then, we will not have to worry about an upcoming war.”
Cassandra looked at the Headmaster and suddenly saw in his eyes a tired, weary old man. And she understood what Dumbledore was truly saying to her at last. Her eyes flickered to Harry.
But the hatred between Slytherins and Gryffindors had gone on for so long now.
“I’ll try,” she said doubtfully and Dumbledore nodded in approval.
“Trying always works,” he said, and with a smile, waved them out of his office.
The four of them followed Dumbledore to his office in single file, Ron and Hermione exchanging worried looks. Dumbledore entered his office, sat down in the Headmasters chair and gestured them to four seats opposite him.
“You were asking Cassandra, I believe,” he said to Harry, putting the tips of his long fingers together and peering over the edge of his half-moon glasses. “Why you saw her when your mind was temporarily possessed by Voldemort.”
Harry nodded.
“May I ask why?” said Dumbledore, his voice calm and polite. “Why you did not tell me that Voldemort is still using Legilimency against you?”
Harry could feel Hermione agreeing with the Headmaster beside him, and his heart sank. “I didn’t think…” he muttered, unable to come up with a suitable excuse. “Sorry.”
Dumbledore nodded once. “Next time, Harry, I want you to tell me straight away. And I want you to continue trying to use Occulmency please. If you cannot close your mind to Voldemort, I will start giving you Occulmency lessons myself. Not, perhaps, with Professor Snape-“
“Good,” said Harry quickly and Dumbledore chuckled.
“Harry, in your recent…ah, for want of a better word, vision, I believe Lord Voldemort saw Cassandra James and recognised her.”
“Yeah,” said Harry immediately. “He was really surprised to see her…he wanted to know who she was.”
Dumbledore’s icy blue eyes suddenly took on an almost frenzied look. “And did you tell him who she was, Harry?”
Harry fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. “Well, I…I didn’t mean…I said her name…” he trailed off, looking at his knees rather than Dumbledore’s face.
“Ahh.”
Dumbledore’s soft sigh filled the room as if it had been a cannon blast.
“Is that bad?” asked Cassandra. “I don’t get it. I mean, it’s not like I’m important. I’m not Harry or anything.” Dumbledore still didn’t speak. “It’s not like he wants to kill me!”
“On the contrary,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Voldemort would like that very much indeed.”
The portraits on the walls gasped and exclaimed loudly. A spindly silver instrument in the office ticked. Fawkes moved on his perch.
“Why does he want to kill me?”
Harry was surprised, for Cassandra did not look scared, which was how he felt at the moment. She was leaning forwards, a slight frown on her forehead as if she was struggling with a particularly difficult spell in Charms.
“You are the last remaining member of a family he has wanted to destroy for many years.”
Harry glanced at Cassandra, who was rolling her eyes and wearing a get-to-the-point-and-stop-all-the-damn-tension look.
“And they were?”
“The Gryffindor’s.”
Cassandra’s eyes widened, but her frown deepened. The Gryffindor’s…Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders. She glanced up at the dirty, bedraggled Sorting Hat, and the words it had spoken to her ran across her mind. I remember you.
“That was why, Cassandra, when you were three your parents were murdered by a Death Eater on Voldemort’s orders. They destroyed the house and in the destruction your family died. You, however, managed to survive. Mr and Mrs McGibbon took you in at their own risk. For your protection, the family was hidden from the Death Eaters by the Fidelius Charm, which is why you had a very sheltered childhood.”
“So why am I here? Why was I allowed to come to Hogwarts?”
“You were meant to come to Hogwarts; your name was written down when you were born. However, I thought you would be safer with Debbie and John rather than here at school. But you had to come here in your sixth-year,” said Dumbledore, his sapphire eyes x-raying the girl sitting in front of him. “The Secret-Keeper of the Fidelius Charm betrayed your family to the Death Eaters. Sturgis Podmore was placed under the Imperius Curse and, under Lucius Malfoy’s control told him where to find you. I therefore said that you must come to Hogwarts, where Lord Voldemort would not find you. Of course, my efforts were rather wasted now…”
Cassandra gave an encouraging smile to Harry, who looked ashamed. “So what does that mean? Will I be able to stay here?”
“Nothing will harm you under my protection.”
Cassandra nodded, and crossed the room to where Godric Gryffindor’s sword lay in its glass cage. A small smile crept over her lips. Last living descendant of Godric Gryffindor. Last living descendant of the bravest wizard in history, of one of the most famous and influential wizards…
She spun round to look at Dumbledore. “Does it mean I have any special powers or anything?”
He looked bemused. “No, I am afraid not.”
“Oh.” Still, she was related to Godric Gryffindor. The worries and the danger of having that connection had washed over her like water. She hardly noticed.
And what Debbie and John had done for her. Taken her in and raised her, even though she was not their child, even though she put them in anger, inhibited their life, made it necessary for them to be kept in hiding. She had never known their sacrifice for her.
“Cassandra?” said Dumbledore, and once again she turned to face him. “I have a request for you.”
“Oh?”
“Lord Voldemort wants to destroy the Gryffindor’s to repay Godric for the argument he had, all those years ago with Salazar Slytherin. Voldemort is the last living descendant of Slytherin.” He looked very serious now. “What I must ask of you, Cassandra, is this. Heal the rift between the two. The troubled times we live in today would not have happened if Slytherin and Gryffindor had stayed friends throughout their lives. Heal the rift. Heal the rift, and perhaps we can extend a hand a friendship between the two. And then, we will not have to worry about an upcoming war.”
Cassandra looked at the Headmaster and suddenly saw in his eyes a tired, weary old man. And she understood what Dumbledore was truly saying to her at last. Her eyes flickered to Harry.
But the hatred between Slytherins and Gryffindors had gone on for so long now.
“I’ll try,” she said doubtfully and Dumbledore nodded in approval.
“Trying always works,” he said, and with a smile, waved them out of his office.