Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling.
Magic Break Can't Be Seen
To Alexander's immense disappointment, Mopsy's suggestion was a bust. No matter how he paced in front of the wall where Mopsy told him the room was located, a door failed to appear. Revealing spells likewise failed to reveal anything, and he stalked away angrily, scaring the first-year girl who had been standing there in mute horror the entire time.
Which meant he needed another way to get supplies. Alexander knew he required very little to get by, that his skill with magic and creative mind allowed him to overcome many of the hurdles living in the wilds created. But he couldn't help but feel like he let Daphne down and told her as much. To his surprise, she cuffed his head gently before pulling him into a kiss.
"We're witches, not damsels. I'd rather live it rough and be free than be trapped in a gilded cage."
Alexander couldn't help the swell of emotion that filled him at those words, and he pulled her close. One day they would be safe, she would be able to have anything she wanted, or at least the freedom to pursue what she wanted. He would guarantee it.
With a lighter heart and clearer head, he signed up with the other sixth year students for Apparation lessons. Why it was not merely called teleportation was beyond him, but Alexander wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Being able to move about with even greater freedom would only be a boon in the future, as the only public transportation in the Wizarding World was the Knight Bus. And the less said about that, the better, in Alexander's opinion.
Despite his skill with wandless magic, Alexander had trouble with Apparation. He could wrap himself in his magic without issue, but he would never succeed in moving anywhere. It was after several weeks of fruitless efforts that something happened, and it wasn't at all pleasant.
He splinched, leaving behind his thumbs. The shock of losing a digit paled to the crippling pain, his nerves screamed at him, telling him he was missing something vital. The professors immediately moved forward and reattached them, leaving behind a phantom pain of separation.
"Take a moment to rest, Mr. Dantes," Professor Flitwick advised. "And try to focus more clearly on moving to your destination next time."
Alexander gave the tiny professor a dark look but privately admitted that the first piece of advice seemed like a good idea. He moved off to the side of the Great Hall to contemplate the second.
He wanted to move, to pace, as he thought. But maybe that was the issue. Alexander had spent his summer and winter holidays repeatedly climbing a mountain. He trusted his body to move, had come to rely on it because if he didn't, he could have become seriously hurt. Even with his magic so willing and quick to leap to his aid, he still thought about movement like a non-magical.
Alexander focused intently on his former spot a few feet away. He stopped viewing it as a distance, and more of a step. He called upon his magic and lifted his foot...
And found himself setting it down at his original spot, a loud crack splitting the air.
"Well done!" the Ministry wizard said. "Join the others who've accomplished it and see if you can do it a few more times to make sure you have it down!"
As Alexander Apparated over to where the handful of sixth years were practicing, he contemplated the mystery that was magical transportation. Walking through fire, being squeezed through a tube, spinning like a top through portkeys. This could not possibly be the pinnacle of magical travel.
He Apparated, appearing behind Susan Bones, making her twitch and fall to the ground in a heap. Alexander barely noticed as he held out a hand to help her up, nor when she took it to pull herself up. He would refine it, he decided. He would make magical travel better. And Alexander knew just the mountain to do it at.
Magic Break Can't Be Seen
Sue Li had left Alexander alone after classes resumed. In the two classes they shared, Transfiguration and Charms, she sat as far away from him as possible, avoiding his gaze entirely. Alexander was happy for it, pleased that she hadn't decided to resume her unwanted attentions. He only wished he wasn't forbidden from the library still, as Madame Pince still seemed unwilling to forgive him for improving the protection spells on the books.
At least he had his own private library on his tablet. He was still refining it, finding the process endlessly fascinating. His latest attempt was trying to use a Protean Charm to change or update the runes on one tablet, by altering the runes on another. Alexander could do it with depowered runes, but anything with active magic on it explosively resisted the change. It was upsetting, but Alexander wasn't surprised it was proving difficult. Still, he relished the challenge.
What he needed was some sort of runic framework that would hold runes and spells, freezing the majority of them, while allowing him to tweak or change others. Such an idea was far too complex for any existing system of magic that Alexander had discovered thus far, but he didn't let that discourage him. If what he needed didn't exist, then he would figure out a way to do it himself. It would just take time.
Time was something he, unfortunately, had far too much of. Daphne was kept busy with protecting herself and Astoria in Slytherin, determined to remain neutral in a den of darkness. Their Pure-blood status meant little as they were not declared for the Dark Lord, despite their father's forced conscription. Thus they faced an ever-increasing pressure to conform to the whims of their parents, friends, and acquaintances. It was not pleasant for either of them.
The fact that Tracey Davis was no longer attending Hogwarts, or even among the living hadn't seemed to draw anyone's attention outside of Slytherin. Was wizarding society really this insular, even among itself? Or was there a nefarious intent upon keeping the information suppressed? As much as Alexander wished it were the latter, as it meant there was an actual foe, he feared it was the former.
Witches and wizards were obsessed with their blood, their lineage. Non-magicals were viewed as slightly better than animals, while Muggle-born were viewed with contempt. Half-bloods were only somewhat better off in the world but still disliked for their contaminated blood. Yet at the top stood the Pure-bloods, proud and sure of their superiority.
It annoyed Alexander. From his research, he knew that everyone had magic, just in varying amounts. More and more Muggle-born would be born in the future, eventually reaching a tipping point where those who could access magic would be the only ones to be born. It was the future of the human race.
But Pure-bloods didn't care. They wanted to lord the fact that they were descendants of the first magicals over everyone else, that it somehow made them better. Magic was almost a muscle, in that in order for it to grow more powerful, one had to use it. Very few Pure-bloods demonstrated magical power, as they relied almost solely on their family names and wealth.
Alexander's hands stilled, no longer tweaking the runes on his tablet. Perhaps that was it. Pure-bloods were magically weak. They had spent so many years, generations, living off the acclaim of their forefathers, that their magic atrophied. And then in came the Muggle-born. With their strong magic and foreign ideals. It does not matter that they're British, that they're magical, they had something the Pure-bloods covet.
So the Pure-bloods limited their growth. Give their own preferential treatment, even across political divides. It's almost impossible for a Muggle-born to become a department head in Magical Britain, let alone Minister of Magic in the modern era.
Alexander pushed his tablet away, his thoughts racing. Regardless of the why the what was still happening. Muggle-borns, and Half-bloods, were looked down on as second class citizens. Not all Pure-bloods were bad or even could be bad; they were merely participants in a system that favored them by chance. No, it wasn't the average Pure-blood that needed correcting; it was the ones who wanted to twist the world in their own crude image, a parody of real success.
Despite how simple it would make things, Alexander knew he couldn't just kill them. While it would be the most efficient way to remove the problem, it would create a vacuum that would quickly be filled with other witches and wizards who would lord over others. No, it would be better to make them leave him alone entirely, allow them to damn themselves while he remained safe.
Alexander began to play around with some ideas on how to force them to leave him alone. He could reveal he had the Philosopher's Stone, and demand they respect his accomplishment. But most likely they'd just kill him and take the stone for themselves. He was rather attached to living, so that one was out.
He could always use the stone to make gold and bribe them all into submission. It would involve a great deal of political work, something Alexander was sure Daphne would be happy to help him with. But this too, was reluctantly discarded as unfeasible. It would inevitably be questioned as to where the gold came from, and greedy opportunists would seek more.
There was always the option to do as the witches and wizards of ancient eras and to ward a cave or building to high Hell, and just wait for the danger to pass. Alexander could probably even get it to last for a few hundred years, more than long enough to ensure it survived the inevitable downfall of the wizards. He would just need to make it self-sufficient for himself, Daphne, and Astoria.
Alexander found himself getting excited by the idea, with the complexity of magic and logistics it offered. He pulled a blank piece of parchment toward him and began to plan.
Magic Break Can't Be Seen
Daphne wasn't convinced of the viability of his plan. And once she explained her reasoning, Alexander reluctantly agreed.
"It's impossible to hide that much magic," she said from her spot curled into his side. Alexander's many notes and rough sketches were in front of her. "Do you know how the Ministry of Magic keeps track of Portkeys?"
"No." Alexander frowned. He didn't like not knowing things.
"It's impossible to cover a country with a single ward. They're just too big. Small cities are possible, but only with massive ward stones and careful planning, and you can't change the layout of a city once it's created. It's why the Roman Empire lasted as long as it did, the cities were remarkable feats of warding," Daphne explained.
"So, how does the Ministry of Magic track Portkeys?"
Daphne sighed. "You can thank Potter's great-grandfather, Henry Potter."
Alexander blinked. "Harry Potter?
"No, Henry Potter. He petitioned the Wizengamot to help the muggles during their first World War, but the minister at the time decided wizards would not intervene. Henry Potter didn't agree with this, and began one of the most ambitious warding projects in history: He warded Great Britain."
"You just said it's impossible to ward a country," Alexander argued.
"It is. But Henry Potter didn't try to ward a country. He decided to ward city-sized chunks of it. There are thousands of ward stones that he and hundreds of other wizards created, placed, and empowered all over the country. It took them a decade, long past the war they were trying to help the muggles fight, but they finished it. It's why the Portkey Office is part of the Ministry of Magic," Daphne said.
"You see, the wards they put up weren't complex, they couldn't be as there weren't enough willing witches and wizards. So Henry Potter decided he'd take a simple detection ward, and boost it as much as possible so they could detect when something happened. But it didn't work out as they planned."
She sighed. "Potter's idiot great-grandfather choose a magical detection ward. It's simple, acts a bit like a Revealing Charm, but it lets the owner know when someone magical enters their property. It can be tied to a map even, which was why they choose it. But they tried to make it more powerful so it would cover more of an area."
Daphne suddenly threw out a hand angrily. "Well, it worked! Instead of hundreds of thousands of ward stones, they only had to do tens of thousands. But the wards didn't work out as planned. There is a room in the Ministry of Magic that is filled with constant pinging as millions of witches and wizards are setting off these wards. Apparently, the poor souls who work in that room have to wear earmuffs, like we had to for the mandrakes, so they aren't deafened. But it's that room why your plan won't work."
Alexander didn't have to think about it long. "Because the Ministry of Magic can see concentrations of wizards."
Daphne nodded. "And warded buildings. Any newly warded building larger than a small cottage gets an Auror investigation. Or any group of magicals greater than two dozen. Places like Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and Diagon Alley are marked on the map and are generally ignored, but everywhere else is tracked by the Ministry."
"Sounds like Big Brother," Alexander muttered. Daphne raised an eyebrow, and Alexander was quick to explain the concept to her. She nodded thoughtfully.
"Sounds accurate. But your plan," Daphne gestured toward the large compound he had drawn, "would draw their attention the moment you began tossing up wards. Even if you didn't throw up the wards, they'd eventually get curious why a few magicals were going to the same spot for an extended amount of time."
Alexander groaned, but wrapped his arm around her thankfully. He kissed the top of her head. "Thank you for explaining. How well staffed is the Portkey Office?"
Daphne snuggled into his arms. "Not that well. Probably only around a dozen workers at a time. Why?"
"So, while the plan wouldn't work long term, we could slip through the cracks if we kept mobile and used limited magic," he said. Daphne nodded.
"Probably. Now stop talking and kiss me."
Alexander smiled but obeyed. There was nothing else in the world he'd rather do.
Magic Break Can't Be Seen
Alexander still wasn't allowed back in the library. Madame Pince had even thrown a hex at him the last time he tried, the broken remains of a book before her. He beat a hasty retreat, uneager to allow her more opportunities to land a hit, and decided to make his way out onto the grounds to read in the Spring air under a tree.
In truth, he enjoyed being surrounded by books. His tablets were fantastic works of magical engineering, true marvels that allowed the user to read thousands of books. But there was something about being surrounded by books, being able to smell or touch them, that made the reading experience so much more enjoyable. It was irreplaceable.
Still, it was a nice day out, he had a piece of enchanted stone that held thousands of books, and he had no classes today. Well, he shouldn't as it was the Apparation Test day for the sixth years, as well as a Hogsmeade weekend. Unfortunately, he didn't qualify for the testing, as he wasn't seventeen yet. Thus, a day of pleasant, uninterrupted reading, was ahead of him.
"Hey, Alex. Can we talk?" a nervous voice asked. Alexander sighed, and looked up, somehow unsurprised to see Hermione Granger standing there.
"Granger," he said in reply. She winced but tried to give him a warm smile.
"You can call me Hermione, Alex," she said.
"And you can call me Dantes, Granger," he said in reply, causing her to wince. She opened her mouth to speak, but he quickly cut across her. "What do you want?"
She took in a deep breath before exhaling it. "Would you like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"
Alexander couldn't help but feel baffled. "Why would I want to do that?"
Hermione blushed red, in shame or anger, Alexander couldn't tell. "Well, I thought we could go on a date after the Apparation Test. I know you can Apparate as well, and I think it'd be nice?" she quickly said, her words coming out in a rush.
"I'm not doing the Apparation Test. I'm still sixteen." Which felt odd to say, as Alexander felt much older.
"Oh," she trailed off. "Would you still like to go to Hogsmeade with me?"
Alexander narrowed his eyes at her. She seemed awfully pushy about this, which seemed odd considering how the last time they talked, she accused him of being dark. Not to mention the last time they agreed to go to Hogsmeade together, it was interrupted by her-
It clicked. Everything was right in a world where logic made sense. Alexander looked up, coldly at Hermione's nervous face. "No, I would not like to go to Hogsmeade with you," he said as clearly as possible.
This seemed to shock Hermione. "Why not?" she demanded.
"I refuse to be used as a tool against Ronald Weasley of all people," Alexander said. Alexander waited for her to open her mouth to protest before continuing. "Not again."
"I never used you!"
"You accepted going to Hogsmeade with me in our third year only to toss me aside the moment you had the slightest chance to be with him again. You used me to get his attention."
"That's not what happened! I made a mistake, and I'm sorry for that," she said, her eyes pleading.
Alexander rolled his eyes. "I have no interest in going on a date with someone like you. Besides, the last time we talked, you accused me of going dark," he said scornfully.
Hermione's face was red with anger now. "You're a jerk, Dantes. I can't believe you." She stomped her foot angrily.
He shrugged. "Believe whatever you want, just not here. Run along to Hogsmeade, Granger. Who knows, by the time you get there, you'll most likely be friends with Weasley again."
Hermione Granger left. Alexander knew what he just did was cruel but comforted himself with the knowledge that he was only treating her like she treated him. Or at least that's what he told himself to distract from the way his stomach churned unpleasantly.
Magic Break Can't Be Seen
"Potter tried to kill Malfoy!"
For once, Alexander was paying attention to the whispers in the Great Hall, the gossip spreading through the student body like a wave. This wasn't the first time such rumors had started, as the students were prone to gossiping like hens and thus created all sorts of fantastical stories for their own amusement.
But Alexander had seen Professor Snape running through the halls of Hogwarts with a bloodied Draco Malfoy the previous day, the usually pale boy as white as a sheet.
A glance at the Gryffindor table confirmed that Harry Potter was still at Hogwarts. Alexander wasn't surprised by this; being the favored student of Headmaster Dumbledore must be useful for getting out of all sorts of trouble. Still, the rumors all agreed that Potter only received detention for the attack, which told Alexander it must not have been serious or that Dumbledore was sweeping it under the rug.
As he cut into his potatoes, Alexander contemplated what would happen if he were in Potter's place. If he, a lowly Muggle-born, had nearly murdered a Pure-blood in Hogwarts, he'd be thrown into Azkaban, if not outright executed, for his crime. He almost chuckled, with black humor, over the fact that he already had killed a number of Pure-bloods, in the form of Death Eaters and bullies, not that any court would accept that evidence.
His pocket warmed. A touch confirmed that Daphne was trying to call him on his stone tablet, and a glance at Slytherin table confirmed she wasn't in the Great Hall. Alexander quickly rose and left the crowded room, finding a semi-private spot in the Entrance Hall. He answered the tablet with a tap of a finger.
Immediately Daphne's face filled the tablet. "Everything okay?" Alexander asked. She looked furious but uninjured, and he wondered what put her in this state.
"I'm fine. But I just found out why Tracey was targeted, do you remember Nott and Zabini? From the Yule Ball?" she asked.
"Vaguely. The gay wizards using you both as a cover?" Alexander asked for clarification.
Daphne nodded. "Zabini wasn't as gay as Nott thought. Apparently, he and Tracey had secret rendezvous, and Nott found out. He complained to his father about Tracey being an upstart Half-blood. He killed her," she said, tears falling from her eyes, "Nott's father killed her!"
Alexander let her cry for a moment, but he had questions that needed to be asked. "How did you find this out?"
"My father, he wrote to me," Daphne said, sniffing. "It was part of his initiation. He had to kill another Half-blood, but he watched Nott kill Tracey. I finally got him to admit it."
"Do you blame him?"
"Who, my father? I love him, but he was never a strong man, magically or morally. My mother controlled him, and once the Dark Lord set his sight on my family..." she trailed off.
"I will get you and your sister out of Hogwarts," Alexander promised. Daphne gave him a sad smile.
"Thank you, Alex. But if you can't get both of us out, if you can only get one of us, I want you to save Astoria."
"No."
Alexander did not hesitate to deny Daphne's request; he would never leave Daphne to those monsters. Daphne's face grew pleading.
"Please," she begged. "I need to know she is with someone who will keep her safe."
"And she will be, with you."
"But if I'm not there, I need to know you will!"
"Daphne, if there is ever a time someone needs to stay behind to save the others, it won't be you or Astoria chosen. It will be me," Alexander said, his voice thick with emotion but clear. He was firm on this, Daphne and Astoria would not be separated, one would not be sacrificed to save the other. Even if he had to die to do it.
Daphne seemed to understand and looked as though she wanted to protest. But both knew that Alexander would force the issue, his skill with magic greater, and thus he would have a better chance at survival than her. So instead, she gave him a small, thankful nod.
Indecision filled Daphne's face as she looked at Alexander. "What's wrong, Daphne?" Alexander asked.
"I love you, Alex," she whispered.
Was the floor moving? No, it was steady, but Alexander wasn't. As he looked into Daphne's tear-stained face, he knew, without a doubt, that she was being completely open and honest with him, that his willingness to fight and die for her family allowed her to say those words.
It was only a second, but it felt like years to Alexander. He thought of his parents, how they would laugh and dance and kiss one another. Their playful jokes with one another and how excited they were to see one another at the end of a long day. He thought of his brothers, full of mischief and life, and how even when they fought, they were still friends. And he thought of Daphne, the comfort and security she brought him just by being close, a soothing balm to his troubled soul. He knew exactly what he needed to say.
"I love you too, Daphne."
Magic Break Can't Be Seen
AN: I hope you're enjoying the story!