November 9th 1991, Hogwarts, Scotland
"Hurry Alexandra! We are going to be late to the match!"
Alexandra rolled her eyes at Hermione Granger next to her. The Gryffindor was literally skipping on her feet of enthusiasm.
"No we aren't. The match begins at eleven o'clock. Besides, is it not you who were supposed to hate Flying and everything related to Quidditch?"
Hermione emitted a groan of disappointment. Alexandra laughed.
"Where is Nigel, anyway? It's him we're waiting... oh never mind." Nigel Wolpert had just arrived, missing the last three steps of the stairs and gliding on his stomach in front of Hermione. Alexandra sighed. She had to admit the lack of self-confidence and the clumsiness of the boy had been funny in the firsts days of school, but Nigel's accidents had long since ceased to be amusing and were now simply sad and discomforting. Alexandra didn't know when the problem started and who was at the origin of it, but the shy Gryffindor had huge issues due to this emotional stunting.
Helping Nigel standing on his foot, she turned to Hermione.
"Now that everyone is here, we can go." She said in her best humorous tone.
Both girls providing support to Nigel who looked groggy from this last accident, their little group began a slow walk on the grounds of Hogwarts in the direction of the Quidditch pitch, following the tail of the crowd going to watch the match.
They were now nine days after that fateful Halloween evening, and the weather had turned terribly cold for Alexandra's taste. The mountains around the school were now grey, the Black Lake was showing signs of developing ice on its surface, and the ground was covered in frost. Winter had not completely supplanted Autumn, but it was only a matter of days. According to Professor Sinistra, the first snowfalls were waited in one week or two at Hogwarts. Marching outside the castle was less and less pleasant, forcing the trio to wear heavily-warmed robes and capes.
It was a weird feeling not to be alone for Alexandra. The ten years she had lived at the Dursleys had been a life of solitude and survival. She had never had any friends in the non-magical world, and truthfully after how the two first months had gone, Alexandra had been ready to accept the same scenario was going to repeat itself among their magical counterparts. With the notable exception of Professor Flitwick, who had given her a chance to shine in private duelling lessons, most of the students had been busy ignoring her, or hating the family she represented. The rest of the teaching staff had been a bit more involved, but none of the adults except her Head of House had been willing to break the glass existing between student and teacher for her. Especially not for her, last heiress of a family known as traitors in Magical England.
When she had entered the Great Hall, the morning after she vanquished, no, killed the troll; it had been the first day of school all over again: people looking at her like she was a nightmare, a Dark Lady about to go on rampage and conquering the world. To her great surprise, Albus Dumbledore had announced Alex Sykes had been seriously injured by the troll and been evacuated to the magical Hospital of Saint Mungo's for Magical Maladies and Injuries. This had been rather unbelievable for two reasons. First, Alexandra was pretty much sure no witch or wizard, no matter how powerful, could save the life of a person whose head had been crushed. Secondly, the vague allusions afterwards made by the Headmaster had absolutely not explained how long the recovery of the wounded boy was going to take. If she had to be honest, the black-haired Ravenclaw had to admit the event was particularly troubling from the common student's view. The troll was supposed to be in the dungeons, and yet an older boy was attacked far above the level of the ground? It was really disturbing, and Alexandra had good reasons to suspect the teaching staff had been ordered to give a censored version of the events to avoid draping the Great Hall in black banners of mourning. The angry gaze Flitwick and Snape had been sending all over the place indicated not everyone had agreed with this decision. Alexandra had considered releasing her version of the events. The black glares she continuously met had put an end to this plan.
Nevertheless, outlandish rumours were all over the place. One of the rare fact available to Hogwarts population had been the presence of Alexandra on the scene. As a result, boys and girls were running away when she approached. It was the whispers and the rumours from the start of the year all over again. For a day or two, she had taken the role of Sauron, Dark Lord of Middle Earth, and the Hogwarts students were the disorganised Hobbits in this comedy. Except Hermione Granger had refused to follow the rest of the students. The bushy-haired Gryffindor girl had defied custom and tradition to come sitting with her at the Ravenclaw table for breakfast and for all the next meals after. And after a day, Nigel Wolpert had followed.
In her cynical moments, and she had had plenty since she had set foot in the castle, Alexandra had thought Hermione was just taking advantage of an opportunity and grabbing a chance to leave the Gryffindor table. Ronald Weasley had, according to Hogwarts rumour mill, refused to go back on his Halloween insults, and Neville Longbottom had not made any move which showed Weasley was in the wrong. Seeing all the bridges being burnt in Gryffindor, it was somewhat logical the Muggle-born girl would try to follow her, to see if the grass was greener elsewhere.
🚀 I've just uploaded 40+ new chapters for my book on Patreon!
If you're enjoying the story and want to read ahead, you can jump in anytime and continue the adventure there. Your support honestly means the world to me.
👉 Patreon.com/Makimafic
Thank you so much for being part of this journey! And if you're having fun with the story, don't forget to drop a Power Stone to show your support ✨