Winter finally began to pass, and the snow soon melted, creating a much more amiable environment for the students; spring was well on its way. Of course, this presented another problem for students, for how were they supposed to study when the sun was shining outside for the first time in months?
"Why'd Binns have to go and give us all this work?" Fred complained loudly one afternoon. Him, Alanna and Alexandra were sitting in the library, starting on a fifteen-inch essay that was due at the end of the week.
"We could do it outside," Alexandra offered. "It would probably do us some good to get fresh air."
"Madam Pince would explode if we brought a library book outside," Fred pointed out. "And there's no way we can do this essay without one."
"Shame," Alanna said, flipping through the pages of her open book. "Hey did either of you get to the part with that man who was the first prisoner locked up in Azkaban? I forgot what his name was."
"Algred Dunfot," Alexandra responded quickly, without even looking up from her own paper. "He was placed there for the brutal killing of six ministry officials and the torture of over one hundred muggles."
"What, did you memorize the book or something?" Fred demanded, looking stunned.
"I-I just remember Professor Binns talking about him in class," Alexandra said quickly.
"Well thanks, Alexandra," Alanna said, scribbling down the information. "Oh, I think I'm still five inches short…"
Alexandra busied herself with her essay. In actuality, she knew of Algred Dunfot from The Era's Darkest Wizards and their Downfall. She hadn't shown neither Fred nor Alanna the book, and she didn't plan on it. She was nearly done with the book, which was nearly 900 pages long.
Fred looked at his watch. "Eh, we still have tomorrow to do this," he said, closing his book. "I say we go watch the Quidditch team practice; I might learn some new moves for next year."
"Sounds good to me," Alanna agreed, also closing her book. "You coming Alexandra?"
"Yah," Alexandra nodded. "Why not?"
She was just starting to roll up her parchment when a loud, booming voice called out, "Alexandra Dursley!"
Looking up, Alexandra was surprised to see Professor Slughorn bouncing happily over to their table.
"Oh no," Fred muttered under his breath as Slughorn approached. "This can't be good."
"Ms. Dursley!" Slughorn said, coming to a stop at the head of the table, slightly out-of-breath. "Thought I wouldn't find out, did you?"
"Find out what, Professor," Alexandra questioned, confused.
Slughorn's face broke out into a giant grin. "Always the modest on, aren't you? Yes, of course you would be! After all, you are a relative of Harry Potter!"
"Oh, yes-yes I-"
"Simply cannot believe I overlooked you," Slughorn went on, still grinning from ear to ear. "Such a shame, too; if I had only known I would have defiantly sent you an invitation to my little gathering back in January."
"That's okay," Alexandra said quickly.
"It most certainly is not!" Slughorn exclaimed. "It just wont do! If only I could throw another party… But, unfortunately, Professor McGonagall would have my head if I did anything of the sort; it takes a fair amount of badgering to persuade her to allow my Christmas parties every year."
"Honestly, Professor Slughorn I-"
"I know!" Slughorn interrupted. "I've just gotten a fresh crate of crystallized pineapple, how about you come with me to my office for a bite?"
"Well I have a lot of homework I need to-"
"Oh, I won't keep you for more than a half-hour," Slughorn persisted. "I promise, you'll still have plenty of time to get your work done."
Alexandra didn't see any way out of this. "Well, okay then."
"Wonderful!" he cried. "Let's be on our way. I'll see you in class tomorrow, Mr. Weasley."
Fred and Alanna gave Alexandra sympathetic looks as she followed Slughorn out of the library.
"It was such a pleasant surprise when I found out about your relation to the Great Harry Potter," Slughorn said as he led Alexandra to his office. "And to think, if I hadn't overheard Professor Hagrid talking to Professor Longbottom in the teacher's lounge… Ah, here we are." They came to a stop outside the only door in the entire corridor. Slughorn drew his wand from his pocket and tapped it to the doorknob, immediately unlocking the door. As soon as she entered the office, Alexandra was greeted by a variety of sweet smelling fumes coming from a group of cauldrons slowly simmering on a fire.
"Take a seat," Slughorn gestured to a large armchair. "Now where did I… Oh yes, here we are!" He picked up a large bowl from his cluttered desk and held it out to Alexandra. "Try some, my dear, it's simply delectable!"
Alexandra picked up what looked to be a large chunk of a sliver pineapple and reluctantly placed it in her mouth. It was all she could do to keep from gagging, for the taste was much to sweet for her liking.
"Excellent, no?" Slughorn asked, retrieving a fat chunk for himself.
"Yes, thank you," she lied.
"So," Slughorn said, leaning back in his chair, finishing off his piece. "Yet another relative of the famous Harry Potter; and a blood one at that! Not that I don't simply enjoy his nieces and nephews, and Mr. Lupin, of course, but they don't actually have his blood running through his veins!"
"Well, I'm not very closely related," Alexandra explained. "He's my father's cousin, so I think that would make him my second cousin or-"
"Blood is blood," Slughorn said dismissively. "So tell me, do you see him often?"
"Once in a while," Alexandra replied. "During the holidays and such; and whenever I need to go anywhere in the Wizarding World. See, my dad works full time, so we can only drive over to Godric's Hallow when he has off of work."
"No matter," Slughorn went on. "Bet you know all about his story, don't you? How he defeated the Dark Lord?"
"I don't know too much about that," she said. "Just the basic facts, I haven't asked him anything about it."
"What? My dear, you have been denied a real treat! Millions of people would gladly give their lifesavings to have the opportunity to hear Harry Potter's story from the man himself!"
"I-"
"You just ask him next time you see him," Slughorn went on. "During the Easter Break in a couple months; you tell him Ol' Slughorn insisted that you hear it!"
"Um, okay."
"A remarkable story, really. I play a great part in it myself, but I won't go spoiling it for you! Can't tell you how many past students tried to contact me after the whole ordeal, asking me how I managed to do everything that I did, and a great deal of my past students are very predominant witches and wizards. Come, I'll show you!"
He beckoned for Alexandra to follow him over to his fireplace; above which hung about five-dozen photos.
"There's Linus McFran," he pointed to a photo of a rugged-looking wizard at the very bottom. "Graduated just last year; got a spot playing Beater on England right away. He's offered me box seats for any home games I can come to. Oh, and Dorthy Quin," he nodded at a picture of a young witch. "She went on to become one of the best Healers of her generation! Rumor has it she's in the mist of discovering the cure to a Basilisk bite! And then there's-"
"Hey, what about this one?" Alexandra had spotted a frame that had been crammed under a pile of books on the fireplace's mantle, but the picture still showed. It was a black-and-white picture of a very young, attractive lady. Alexandra recognized it instantly as the unknown witch in her book, only much more presentable.
"Oh, that's nothing," Slughorn said quickly, grabbing the frame and shoving it in his desk drawer.
"Who is she?" Alexandra repeated, curiosity bubbling inside of her.
"Just another former student," Slughorn said. "That's all. I ran out of room on my mantle… Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut our little chat short; I just remembered I'm very behind on my grading, we'll have to do this again, though."
Slughorn hurried across the room and opened to door for Alexandra.
Accepting the fact that no more was going to be said on the matter, Alexandra thanked Slughorn for the pineapple, and exited his office. She made her way back up to the common room, where Fred and Alanna were waiting for her.
"Wow, didn't expect you back so fast," Fred commented as she climbed through the portrait hole. "How'd you manage to escape?"
"Oh, he remembered he had some papers to grade," Alexandra said.
"I wonder how he figured out that you're related to Harry," Fred said.
"Oh, he overheard Professor Longbottom and Hagrid talking," she shrugged. "I guess it came up."
"That's really rotten luck," Alanna said. "I'm actually kind of thankful my family's all muggles; he won't be after me."
"How nice for you," Fred said sarcastically. "Anyway, shall we head out to the pitch now? I think there Gryffindor team's still got some time out there"
"Just give me a minute," said Alexandra. "I need to get something upstairs."
"All right, but hurry, you know how long it takes to get past that one staircase that keeps changing directions."
Alexandra darted up to her dormitory, the image of the mysterious witch still in her head. She retrieved The Era's Darkest Wizards and their Downfall from her trunk, and turned right to the page with the witch. She had spent countless nights staring at this page, trying to decipher who this horrible woman was. She still couldn't make out a name through the inkblot. Suddenly, she recalled hearing Tiffany telling Grace that her parents had sent he something called a Revealer in the mail that morning at breakfast. She had held it up, and Alexandra had seen that it looked exactly like a large eraser. Though she had no prior knowledge of the object, Alexandra guessed that based on the name, it was supposed to clear up unreadable things. After a quick glance at the door, Alexandra crossed the room and opened Tiffany's bedside drawer, and sure enough, there was the Revealer. Alexandra grabbed it, and raced back over to her open book. She figured that one was supposed to use the object like a regular eraser, so she softly rubbed it on the ink stain. The stain began to clear at once, and Alexandra's heart raced as the name became clear. Finally, the name was fully legible. Alexandra anxiously read the name, and let out an audible gasp. She knew the name; and she couldn't believe who this woman apparently was.