Chapter 7 Meetings with the Headmaster and plans for the future
"Potter." Snape spat as if the word itself was venomous. "The headmaster would like a word."
Alexandra loudly groaned. Dumbledore was already back at his games. She wasn't ready for it just yet.
"Already? What did I do?" she asked innocently, very well knowing what the old scrooge might want, none any good.
"Other than being born and wasting my precious time?" he huffed and shot a nasty sneer at the first years going into the common room before turning back to Alexandra. "Let's go. Now."
Daphne gave her a sincere look but Alexandra merely winked and left with Snape.
They silently made their way towards the headmaster's office, neither saying a word. Snape's foul mood soured the air around them and even the portraits retreated out of the way.
"Caramel pops." Snape said once they arrived at the Gargoyle statue which guarded Dumbledore's office.
"Up you go Potter, I have better things to do than escorting you around." with that, he left, his black cape billowing behind him.
As usual, the doors to Dumbledore's office opened on their own just as Alexandra raised her hands to knock. The fool probably took great pleasure in his childish games.
"Ah Alexandra, come in, have a seat." The old man's eyes were twinkling and analyzing every detail about her.
"Lemon drops?" he asked with a grandfatherly smile.
"No thank you."
"Of course," he began with an unwavering smile. If he took offense before, he did not show it. "you are wondering why I called for you so soon after the feast. Not to worry my dear, you aren't in any trouble, yet." he chuckled and stroked his long beard.
"You flatter me headmaster. I don't go looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me." Surely, he didn't know about Sirius or the Dursleys?
"Quite." he smiled and leaned back in his chair. "I was extremely surprised when an elf belonging to a Mr Oscar Alexander appeared in my office with a form in his hand. I believe Mr Alexander owns a rather nice little furniture shop in Diagon Alley. Naturally I inquired regarding this curious visit. It turned out that he was here to get my written permission to deliver a certain piece of furniture into the school."
Alexandra raised an eyebrow. Is this really why she was called up here? She had to withhold her laugh.
"Naturally, I first suspected one of my staff members, but was shocked to find that it was a student instead."
"Naturally…"
"Care to explain this?" Dumbledore wasted no time and went straight to the jugular.
"I wasn't under the impression that there is a rule forbidding furniture to be brought into Hogwarts by a student. Sir." Alexandra said trough gritted teeth. This man's interest in her life went far and beyond of what she suspected.
"You would be correct in that assumption, but it does not mean the Headmaster cannot inquire about said furniture. After all, we don't want any dark objects brought into the school now do we?"
The irony was palpable here and Alexandra couldn't help but smirk.
"No, I suppose we don't want another chamber incident."
Dumbledore frowned and carefully put his glasses on the table.
"I'll be frank Miss Potter: I'm very disappointed that you are spending the hard-earned money of your late parents like this."
"Like how?" she snapped.
"There are many other useful things a person can buy rather than expensive golden bath tubs."
"So what? Their money became mine the moment they died and I can spend it on whatever I want."
"The Dursleys-"
"-are muggles. They abhor magic and our world. It is not their business, neither it is yours or anyone else's sir."
"Alas it has also become my business when it entered school property."
"You had no right to decline -"
"I did not decline anything." he waved his hand, the grandfatherly smile suddenly gone and Alexandra could swear the temperature in the room dropped several degrees. "You'll find your… bath, in your new dormitory, all in one piece."
"Then I don't understand."
Dumbledore shook his head in disappointment.
"Miss Potter, is it really wise? To flaunt your wealth around like this in front of other less fortunate students?"
"Pardon?" she asked, dumbstruck.
Dumbledore let out a loud sigh, staring into Alexandra's eyes. She felt a sudden sharp tingle in the back of her head, and she quickly diverted her gaze. Dumbledore frowned but said nothing about it.
"Students like the Weasleys and those whose families and businesses were destroyed in the war. Do you really not care about them?" he went on as if nothing had happened.
No, I do not. When have they cared about me? Where were they before? Why should I suddenly start caring about them when they brought me nothing but misery. Alexandra's hands twitched in anger at the pathetic but rather effective attempt to try and guilt trip her. She felt no pity for them, yet she was supposed to.
"Sir, trust me when I say that I have no intention of flaunting my wealth around the school like Malfoy. The last thing I want is more attention and more rumors about me."
"Then why, Alexandra, did you feel the need to do this? Your parents would greatly disapprove."
"How would you know that, sir?" she asked harshly. "I never met them after all, thanks to a certain friend of my father betraying them to Voldemort."
Dumbledore looked shocked and momentarily gone white at the sudden revelation of her knowing that they were betrayed. Did she reveal too much? No, it must have been common knowledge at this point.
Common enough that she wasn't supposed to know and common enough that nobody had any idea just which friend it was.
"I suppose I give you too much credit sometimes." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled again.
You think it's funny, do you? Locking up an innocent man in Azkaban for 12 years. She could barely hold her Slytherin mask together and scream at the man.
"Was there anything else Headmaster?"
"Yes, in fact there is one more thing I wanted to talk to you about." Alexandra raised her eyebrows and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I was told you wouldn't be taking Divination this year."
"Or next year. Or the year after." she said.
"Would you mind telling me as to why?"
"It's a waste of time. Either you are a seer or you aren't. I know I'm not, therefore I'm not bothering with useless classes."
"Divination is far from a useless class; it's much more than just having the sight."
"Oh? Do tell."
"It involves many things and can expand your horizon and view of the magical world."
"Everyone treats it as a joke and only takes it for the easy grade."
"Be that as it may, I think you should take it, it would do you good."
"No."
"Miss Potter-"
"I'm sorry headmaster but I am not going to take Divination and that's final. Not now, not ever. I've discussed it with Professor Snape and he agreed with me."
Dumbledore looked like he had just swallowed an extremely sour lemon drop. Clearly, he wasn't used to being told no. He leaned forward, tapping his fingers on the table, deep in thought.
Why the hell did he want me to take something as stupid as Divination? Most likely he doesn't want me to learn anything useful.
"Tell me, Miss Potter, do you believe in prophecies?"
Now what the hell brought that on?
"No sir and I think people who do so are fools. Was there anything else sir? I am getting a bit tired after the journey." she muffled a fake yawn for good measure.
"No, Miss Potter, I believe you may go. Let me give you a written note first, I'm sure you don't want to start the year by losing house points before lessons even began." he chuckled, his grandfatherly persona in full force.
Alexandra all but stomped out of the room, barely able to control her magic and stop it from unleashing itself at Dumbledore's office. It would not be wise to make enemy out of the man just yet, she was still too young and inexperienced. It seemed like nothing went by in this school without him knowing about it, and this greatly worried Alexandra. She felt like as if she was constantly under surveillance by the castle itself. She'd have to be more careful in hiding her tracks from now on.
And that weird tingle at the back of her head… It must have been a small legilimency attack. Very subtle, very small, certainly unnoticed by anyone with a weak, unorganized mind. Clearly Dumbledore did not expect her to notice and it looks like he did not dare to full on attack her mind.
She snorted and imagined the headline "The leader of the light attacks the girl who lived!", in the Daily Prophet.
Wizarding hero indeed…
Leader of the light my arse.
There was no light or dark; there was power and there were those who were afraid of power. Alexandra wasn't sure which group she belonged in. She saw what power and the dark arts did to Voldemort, corrupting him into a monster and reducing him to a mere spirit. If power came at such cost, she wondered if it was worth it and if there were other ways.
She would have to take it slow and careful.
When she reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room, she found her next obstacle of the night: she didn't know the password. Snape must have taken delight in forgetting to tell her.
This was annoying.
"Let me in! I come from Dumbledore's office."
The door did not move. Alexandra's anger began to rise.
"I have a written note from him. Dammit!"
Nothing happened, the enormous snake on embodied on door just stared at her, unimpressed. An idea came to her head. Making sure she was alone; she closed her eyes and concentrated.
": Open:" she hissed in Parseltongue.
Lo and behold, the door slowly roared to life and she climbed trough. Looks like dear Salazar thought of everything.
The common room was just as she remembered it: luxurious and rich in decoration. Ancient artefacts and other magical objects lay on the expensive oak tables. Green flames danced in the fireplace, oozing of ancient magic.
A few people were still awake, chatting away on the sofas. Among them was Daphne, Blaise and Tracey.
Blaise was the first one to spot Alexandra enter:
"Alex! What happened? What did Dumbledore want?"
She plopped down next to Blaise.
"He lectured me about my spending habits and asked me why I'm not taking Divination this year."
"Divination is stupid. I'm glad you are taking Arithmancy with me, unlike some." Daphne shot an angry look at Tracey who was reading a Quidditch magazine.
"Why did he lecture you about your spending? What did you do?" Blaise asked.
"Nothing. I simply bought a piece of expensive furniture for my new dorm, but Dumbledore felt the need to get involved."
Daphne raised a curious eyebrow.
"Bath? What bath?" Tracey joined in.
"Come, I'll show you."
Blaise raised an eyebrow and followed Alexandra to the dorms.
"Where is Theo by the way?" Alexandra asked.
"He went to sleep immediately after the feast."
"Can't blame him. He looked terrible." Daphne shook her head.
Alexandra couldn't help but smile when she reached the door to her new private room.
Alexandra R. Potter
Read the golden plaque.
She opened in, immediately taken aback by the sight.
The room itself wasn't overly large by any means, the furniture wasn't anything special either, a desk for studying, a bookcase, a small bed in the corner and a large brown wardrobe next to it. It was the elegant, luxurious golden tub sitting in the middle of the room that caught everyone's attention.
"Oh my god." Tracey shrieked.
Alexandra calmly walked over to the all too familiar bath and smirked. It felt weird to think that she actually owned it now. How many teenagers of her age could tell that they owned something so magnificent?
"Wow, this is… I've never seen anything like it. It must have cost a small fortune." Blaise said, inspecting the taps.
"6500 Galleons to be precise."
"WHAT?! YOU COULD HAVE BOUGHT SEVERAL FIREBOLTS FOR THAT MONEY!" Tracey was livid, tearing at her hair, unable to comprehend that someone didn't care for flying or quidditch.
"Ah yeah I suppose I could have." she said thoughtfully "Maybe I'll get you one for Christmas if you behave."
"YOU, I-w-what?" Tracey stammered.
"What do you think Daphne?" Alexandra ignored her and turned to the ice queen, the only one who remained silent.
"It's really beautiful. I think it's goblin made."
"Maybe I'll let you have a bath in it sometime." Alexandra winked causing Daphne to go scarlet.
"No wonder Dumbledore was interested. This is something else. My mother would skin me alive if I spent 6500 galleons on something like this. I doubt even the Malfoys could really afford that." Blaise said.
Alexandra paid them no mind, and climbed into the empty bath.
"It's a good thing I have no parents then, just some muggle relatives who want nothing to do with me, and a mass murdering godfather currently on the run, eh?"
"I didn't mean-"
"I know, don't worry." she waved the apologetic boy off. "I felt like I needed to make an impression if I want to be the future queen of Slytherin house."
"You want to what?!" Daphne yelled. Tracey's eyeballs were popping out of their socket as she gaped at Alexandra with an open mouth.
"Alex that's crazy that's-"
"Exactly what I'm going to do. Don't worry Blaisey" she laughed at the horrified expression on his face "It's going to take time, I might not become queen this year, or next year, but I will rule Slytherin by the time I graduate, I promise you that."
"What about Malfoy? He will be no doubt after the same thing."
"He can be my king if he wishes to be."
"You don't mean to-" Daphne began, but Alexandra cut her off.
"He is betrothed to Astoria, isn't he?"
"H-how do you know that?"
"Please, it was extremely obvious." Alexandra waved her away.
"I told her to keep it down, but she wouldn't listen." Daphne sighed in defeat. "No doubt Malfoy is encouraging her and enjoying showing her off. I just hope she is happy."
"It matters little to me that they are betrothed, in fact it's all the better since she is your sister."
"So what?"
"So, we can manipulate Malfoy through her and turn him to our side. Separate him from his daddy."
"Astoria doesn't listen to anybody except maybe father."
"She is still your sister, that has to count right?"
"I- I suppose so." Daphne shrugged.
"What do you mean our side Alex? What are you planning?"
"I'm planning a lot of things my dear Blaise, but first I'm going to slowly take over Slytherin, and for that-" she shot a look at her three close friends. "I'm going to need your help."
Tracey's eyes had a mischievous naughty gleam to them, Daphne looked thoughtful and Blaise was shaking his head.
"Oh merlin, and I was hoping for a quiet school year." he said.
"I'm game." Tracey said excitedly.
"There will be others of course, but for now, you three and hopefully Theo will be my inner circle. And this-" she glanced around the room. "Will be our headquarters. It will need to be expanded and modified, but it'll have to do for now."
"We'll start with our year first, and move our way down. By the end of the year, the first and second years will be under our thumb. Next year, we'll work on the fifth years and the newest first years, then we strike at the 6th and 7th years."
"You seem to have it all planned out." Daphne said, scratching her chin.
"What do you think I've been doing all summer? We move on the loners and those who aren't affiliated with Malfoy, give them a chance, either they join us, or we make their lives miserable."
"Just like that? You think it will work?"
Alexandra shrugged.
"No, I don't know, but what I do know is that protection against Gryffindor bullies, the twins, and other houses go a long way. Right now, Slytherin is fractured, we need a united front. Malfoy might be the prince, but he is only interested in himself. Me on the other hand… I'm interested in Slytherin as a whole."
"Woah woah slow down, I don't think my poor brain can take any more of this tonight." Tracey said. "You can count on me Alex, but only from tomorrow."
"I agree with Tracey. Your goals are admirable, but we should come back to it in a few days once we get settled in. I need to get to sleep if I want to wake up tomorrow." Blaise added.
"I understand."
The two of them said goodnight to Alexandra, promising to help and apologizing for the sudden departure.
Only Daphne remained, her closest ally.
"Well? What do you think princess?" Alexandra mocked her.
Daphne had to admit, Alexandra was stunning. She oozed of confidence, elegance and ambition. The way she sat there in that luxurious tub, all high and mighty, treating them like they were mere servants… Her body shuddered in pleasure thinking about it. Not that Alexandra actually considered them servants, but something clicked in Daphne's mind, and she was suddenly more attracted to Alexandra than ever before. She was everything she ever wanted from her future partner. Whatever happened to the shy girl she had met on the train; she was beyond happy that it was finally gone. Her eyes wandered on her slender legs and-
"Are you in there? Hello?" Alexandra spoke again.
Daphne immediately snapped out of her trance, quickly finding interest in the nearby, empty bookshelf as she felt her face getting hot.
"Y-yes. Sorry I was just thinking. It's a lot to take in at once."
"Of course, I understand. I admit I didn't plan on bombarding you with all this now." Alexandra stepped out of the bath and went to her wardrobe and opened it. Inside, all her clothes were neatly folded and hanged by the elves. She inspected them one by one, making sure they were all there.
"But I can count on you right?"
"Of course! Whatever you want me to do, I'm yours."
"Oh, Daphne, you aren't my servant." Daphne blushed again. Of course, she wasn't. She was a Greengrass, one of the scared Twenty-Eight, bowing down to someone like this was unprecedented.
"Though, speaking of servants, I think it's befitting for a queen to have one."
"I can write to Mother, I'm sure she could point you in the right direction to buy a house elf." Daphne piped up.
Alexandra laughed.
"If I wanted a house elf, I'd already have one. They are ugly creatures and it's no fun when they have no choice but to serve you, lest they die."
Daphne raised an eyebrow.
"No, I want someone to be my servant out of their own free will. Take them under my wing, or so to speak."
"You mean a student?" Daphne asked carefully.
"Yes, someone who wants to serve, someone of lower standing than us."
Daphne's lips formed a small smile.
"One of the mudbloods."
"Perhaps. I do not know yet. Just keep an eye out for a potential candidate, would you?"
"Mhmm. You are one wicked witch, Alexandra Potter."