Hogwarts shifted remarkably fast.
Yesterday: panic, chaos, dragon roars, rumors strong enough to topple towers.
Today:The steady, familiar hum of exam season.
By noon the tragedy of Ginny Weasley had melted into whispers.
By evening the story had evolved into a school-wide legend.
And by the next morning—
Cassius Snape's name was carved into the air like a heraldic banner.
The boy who saved the Chamber.
The arcane prodigy.
The duelist who defeated Harry Potter in ten seconds.
The entire castle reacted accordingly.
House Draconis, was empowered by the latest bout of goodnews.
Even rejoicing once Ginny recovered and found her robes had changed making her a new addition to Cassius's house which she happily joined seeing him as her savior after hearing all the stories.
The girls doubled-down on their studying under the effect of the Diadem's altered effect, as they strove to not let Cassius down.
And it showed in the exam results.
By the end of the first testing week:
1st on the leaderboard: Cassius Snape | Cho Chang | Astoria Greengrass
The three were 1st in their years, while second through fourth were the other girls in his year, Ginny claimed 2nd for the first years.
Meanwhile the other places in the top ten for the first three years aside from them were all sponsored muggleborns created thanks to Cassius's experiments.
The trend was undeniable:
Muggleborn brilliance, Draconis discipline, and the arcane-aligned outstripping every traditional pure-blood.
Pure-blood families were livid.
Pure-blood students were humiliated, even further than they already had been.
It was now five straight years that muggle borns topped the charts.
The only break in the trend was the emergence of the Draconis house, and its growing members but to the pureblood families this house was an even greater afront, a legecy they had never been invited to join, and feeling spurned in turn instead.
The sacred twenty-eight familes the core of wizarding britain were shaken.
At lunch, Draco slumped at the Slytherin table as exam results magically appeared on the walls.
"Pureblood traditions," he muttered under his breath, "are dead."
Pansy patted his arm. "Maybe next year—"
"No. No, it's over. The muggleborns aren't supposed to be stronger than us."
Across the hall, one of the muggleborn top scorers—Alicia Wade—patted Draco patronizingly on the shoulder as she passed.
"You'll get 'em next year, Malfoy."
The look on Draco's face was legendary.
But the Draconis table?
Triumphant.
Even serene.
Cho, Daphne, and Cassius sat at the head like an effortless ruling trio—though of course only one of them had actually ridden a dragon recently.
Cho leaned over her plate of cucumber sandwiches.
"Well, Cassius," she said with academic smugness, "another year, another top score."
Daphne smirked. "And another year everyone else tries—and fails—to keep up."
Cassius quietly sipped his tea, unmoved by their amusement. "It was inevitable."
"Oh please," Cho said, elbowing him lightly, "you literally slept through half your Charms exam and still got a perfect score."
"I was meditating," Cassius corrected.
"You were drooling," Daphne added dryly.
"I was—resting my eyes."
"Uh-huh," both girls said in unison.
He didn't argue further.
He didn't need to.
Even the professors had started treating him as though he were some sort of half-mythic figure.
Professor Flitwick was beyond giddy when handing back Cassius's Charms final.
Professor McGonagall walked around him as though he were a loaded wand.
Snape had said absolutely nothing—yet his eyes shone with something Cassius had never seen before.
Could it be pride, acceptance, maybe recognition?
Cassius couldn't really say, Severus was still adjusting to the fact he had become a father, and was adapting to the fact that the wonderkin that Cassius was in fact that same son.
~
Exams ended with a collective groan of exhausted students shuffling out into the courtyard.
A warm summer breeze swept over the stones as small clusters broke off—friends comparing answers, Ravenclaws panic-reviewing questions they no longer needed to think about, Hufflepuffs passing out homemade cookies.
Cassius walked with the girls along the shaded path beside the lake.
"So," Cho said lightly, "big hero, dragon-lord, dual-top-scorer… what are you doing this summer?"
Cassius shrugged. "Training."
Daphne narrowed her eyes. "That's not an answer."
"It is for me."
"No it isn't," Cho said. "You always train. What for this time?"
Cassius paused.
"Possibly a dueling tournament," he admitted.
Cho's eyes lit up. "A national one?"
"International," Daphne guessed.
Cassius didn't deny it.
Cho grabbed his robe sleeve excitedly. "That's amazing! You're going to crush everyone—"
A silver flash swooped down.
Cassius glanced up as a Ministry owl spiralled toward him carrying an envelope stamped with the British Department of Magical Athletics and sealed with Ministerial crimson wax.
The owl landed on Cassius's shoulder as though greeting an old friend even though this was the first time he'd ever met this particular owl.
Cassius removed the letter.
Daphne raised an eyebrow. "From the Ministry?"
Cho tilted her head. "What would they want with you?"
Cassius opened it.
Read it.
And immediately stopped walking.
The girls halted instantly.
"Well?" Daphne demanded.
Cassius exhaled slowly—uncharacteristically stunned.
"They want me."
"For what?" Cho asked, leaning close.
Cassius held out the letter.
He had been formally invited to join the British National Quidditch Team.
As Seeker.
Effective immediately.
Cho made a strangled noise that was somewhere between a squeak and a scream.
Daphne gasped, hand flying to her mouth.
"You—THE national team—Cassius—"
Cassius read the letter again as if ensuring it wasn't a prank.
It wasn't.
Cho grabbed his arm.
"Cassius, do you have any idea what this means?! You'd be the youngest player in British history!"
Daphne shoved her way in front of him, eyes gleaming.
"You HAVE to accept. Do you understand? You'll be in international magazines. Scouts will hound you. Sponsors will line up. You'll be an icon. You'll be—"
Cassius lowered the parchment.
One corner of his mouth lifted.
"I suppose," he said, "this means my summer just became… busy."
Cho let out a delighted laugh.
Daphne smirked with wicked pride.
While the other girls all piled in for a group hug to celebrate his promotion from School seeker to national seeker.