The castle loomed over the carriages as they creaked to a halt, lanterns swaying in the cold evening breeze.
Thestrals pawed at the ground, their skeletal wings twitching, sensing the tension that clung to the Scottish air like mist.
Cassius stepped down first, offering a hand to each of the girls—not out of gentlemanly obligation, but habit.
The six girls reunited followed behind Cassius like a fanclub.
He moved with purpose.
They followed with trust.
As students streamed into the Entrance Hall, the whispers began—rumours of dementors clawing through train windows, of Harry Potter fainting, of a glowing doe, of Lily Evans-Potter blasting wraiths like a vengeful saint.
Cassius ignored every word as he and his girls sat at their own private house table, as all around them hundreds of students lined the other house tables, the noise from within the great hall rising to deafening levels.
The Great Hall doors swung open.
Light spilled outward.
Warmth.
Noise.
Hogwarts welcomed its own chaos.
The ceiling mirrored the night sky, stars glittering over the long tables.
Candles floated gently above them all, flickering with soft, enchanted gold.
As the noise from within quieted down as a new host of first year students walked down the aisles heading for the Dais at the front of the hall, where the simple stool and grungy hat awaited to bless them all with its new year rendition of it's welcoming song, along with the placement of each and every young witch and wizard into their new houses.
~
Professor McGonagall marched in with the first-years.
As always, they looked terrified—though Cassius noted none of them seemed interesting enough to bother remembering.
The hat sang.
Students were placed.
None went to Draconis, naturally.
A few entered Gryffindor cheered as though they'd personally won a war.
Ravenclaws clapped politely.
Hufflepuffs welcomed every trembling soul with compassion.
Slytherins hissed approval whenever someone with a recognizable last name joined them, but just as years prior Slythering had become a minority, though not as minor as Draconis, the sheer weight of numbers granted to the other houses left the purebloods shaking in their seats as they realized any actions taken now could have serious repurcussions behind them.
Where before messing with a mudblood was fine since their status protected them, but now... if they acted out, hundreds of students were sure to rise up against them, status be damned they were muggle-born united!
Cassius watched with mild disinterest.
"Anyone worth noting?" Ginny asked, chin propped on her hand.
"No," Cassius replied.
Astoria didn't bother looking up. "Perhaps we should look at the other schools to scout out talent instead?. The talent pool here gets thinner every year."
Luna blinked slowly at the ceiling. "The wrackspurts agree—they're quite bored."
Cassius smirked.
The conversation at his table was quite different from the others.
His girls were practically born of his own thoughts now, seeking to expand House Draconis through any means nessessary but only with promising talent, since when they'd previously suggested he just accept those who were their friends from other houses Lady Draconis herself denied them.
The six girls present now, was the limit that he could obtain from hogwarts itself, simply because Cassius was drawn to these six from the media of his future, while he had come to agree with Lady Draconis on some things.
He wasnt yet set on the idea of a harem, but making him choose betweent the current six to only have one... that also wasnt something he could currently do for fear of hurting the others feelings.
~
As the last terrified eleven-year-old sat down, the hall dimmed with anticipation.
Dumbledore rose.
Even the ghosts quieted.
The old wizard spread his arms wide, his eyes twinkling with their usual mix of grandfatherly warmth and dangerous calculation.
"Welcome… to another year at Hogwarts!"
A ripple of applause followed.
Cassius didn't clap.
He simply watched.
Dumbledore continued, "Before we begin our feast, allow me to introduce several of our new professors."
New professors. Plural.
Gasps, whispers, and curious glances.
Cassius already knew.
The hall, however, did not.
"Professor Lupin."
A tall man with sharp eyes and pristine grey robes rose from the end of the table.
A tired smile, soft and self-effacing, crossed his face as polite applause echoed through the hall.
"Remus Lupin will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts."
The draconis girls clapped happily, they had heard of Lupin through Cassius and if Cassius admired the man, they would as well.
As Cassius was lost in thought about the possible change in DADA lesson plans due to Lupin no longer suffering from his condition.
"Professor Black."
The hall froze.
Half the students inhaled sharply.
The other half didn't breathe at all.
Sirius Black stood, offered a jaunty salute, grinned like a rogue who enjoyed the attention, and took a dramatic bow.
If the whispers had been loud before, they now became a storm.
"Isn't he a fugitive—?"
"Didn't he kill—?"
"No, he was cleared—"
"He's teaching?!"
Cassius watched the reactions with amusement.
The Gryffindor table erupted in cheers.
The Slytherin table looked personally offended.
The Ravenclaws wrote notes.
The Hufflepuffs whispered nervously.
Dumbledore smiled benignly.
"Professor Black will be co-instructing Defense Against the Dark Arts—given our unusually large enrollment this year."
Only the teachers sighed at this statement, it mattered little to the students how many of them there was.
As for Sirius his eyes were scanning the great hall looking directly at Harry Potter for a while stunned as he saw nothing more than the figure of his now deceased best friend reborn anew.
And then at Cassius.
Cassius raised a brow in return, followed by a mischevious smirk.
Teacher and student.
There had been a barrier between them for ages, and with the prank war between the two still ongoing it was sure to be brought into hogwarts as well, with Cassius gaining reinforcements as his house members along with fellow pranksters would but up a very stiff fight against the Friend pair of Mauraders who returned to Hogwarts.
"Professor Hagrid."
"Hagrid," Dumbledore continued warmly, "will now serve as our full-time Professor of Care of Magical Creatures."
The hall applauded—loudly this time.
The half-giant turned a shade of red that clashed horribly with his beard.
"Professor Grubblyplank has retired to spend quality time with his remaining limbs," Dumbledore added cheerfully.
A few students snorted.
Cassius didn't.
He was too busy asking himself…
With Serepha in the forest, would Buckbeak still be around, or would Hagrid choose an even more dangerous and yet fun creature for their first class?
He'd need to warn the girls in advance to be prepared for anything.
With the new staff changes announced and done with Dumbledore raised his hands calling for silence once more.
The hall quieted.
Dumbledore's voice lost its warmth.
"Now… to address a grave matter."
Silence fell like a heavy curtain.
Cassius felt every student stiffen.
"The Ministry has informed us that a number of dangerous individuals have escaped from Azkaban."
Frightened murmurs.
Wide eyes.
More whispers.
"Until they are recaptured, Hogwarts must host a contingent of Azkaban dementors along its borders."
A terrified shudder ran across the hall.
Every student remembered the train.
The cold.
The screams.
The suffocation.
Dumbledore raised a calming hand.
"They will not enter the castle except in dire emergency. They will not interact with students. And I ask that none of you give them cause to do so."
Cassius almost rolled his eyes.
As if dementors need cause.
The headmaster finished, "Now—let us not dwell on shadows. Tuck in!"
With a clap, golden platters appeared brimming with food, steam rising into the candlelit air.
The hall exploded into conversation.
But for Cassius this was just another feast, the girls all happily dug into the feast before them, and thankfully as their food was provided by the Draconis house elves rather than the Hogwarts house elves, their feast was considerably different from the others.
Rather than a British feast, what appeared before the girls and cassius was more a buffet of choices one might see at an all you can eat buffet in america.
Tastes and sights only seen in far away places of the world, Curries, Soups, Ricebowls.
Recipes learned by the house elf staff after Cassius gifted to them a number of Muggle cookbooks.
Their own dinners now rivalling five-star Michelin restaurants rather than the common fare the other students consumed in the greathall.