Alexa woke, as usual, before her classmates. Still bleary, and not quite awake yet, she had opened her curtains only to stop short for a moment, confused by the room she was in. There were too many beds and too many trunks. She shook her head, she would need to get used to being in this Hogwarts. She dressed in silence, tying her hair in two french braids. She pursed her lips, looking in the mirror, her golden eyes staring back at her. She just looked too old. She skipped any sort of make up, even though she had noticed the other girls wearing it last night. It aged her.
The rush of nostalgia she had when she'd put on her uniform yesterday was gone. Now it was just annoying. At least, by some strange twist, girls had the option of trousers. Wizards in the 40s had as little an idea about muggle clothing as wizards in her time. They didn't quite understand that men and women muggles wore different things. The school uniforms were designed to resemble muggle school clothes in some ways, in order to make muggle borns more comfortable. She didn't care much about the confusion, she was just glad to wear trousers.
Her inner monologue on trousers was interrupted by Amelia's groaning voice.
"How are you already dressed…" she grumbled, pulling herself out of bed.
"I'm an early riser," Alexa shrugged.
"No," Amelia shook her head, "I'm an early riser. You're not human."
Alexa chuckled, absentmindedly rubbing her left arm. Amelia didn't realize the irony of her words.
Amelia got dressed, purposely slamming things harder than necessary to wake the other girls up. They were very bitter about it and expressed their complaints harshly. Alexa wasn't quite surprised by the vitriol, but she was surprised it all appeared to be friendly and joking.
"Maybe if your arse wasn't so fat, you wouldn't make so much noise," grumbled Black.
"Don't be jealous because you don't have a figure!" Amelia's tone was snide. Black rolled her eyes and kicked off the covers, setting about getting her hair in order.
Alexa slipped down to the common room, hoping it was quieter there. Coming down
the stairs, she saw only one person, and that was good enough for her. She curled in an armchair, enjoying the warmth from the dying embers of the fire.
"Early riser as well then?"
Alexa flinched, she apparently hadn't recognized the back of Tom Riddle's head.
"Yeah," she said easily, "I suppose so." Dealing with Voldemort before breakfast was not something she wanted to do.
Thankfully Alphard came sauntering down the stairs.
"Good morning," he drawled, grinning, "Who's ready for a full day of learning?"
"Not you," Riddle snorted.
"I'll have you know I'm great at learning," Alphard said, an affronted hand on his chest.
"Will we get our schedules at breakfast?" Alexa interjected. She had to admit, it was boring asking questions she already knew the answer to.
"Yes, Professor Slughorn will be passing them out. He's our head of house. It's good that you'll be meeting him. If there's any problem he's the professor you want to talk to." Riddle's voice was always so polite.
"Got it," Alexa nodded.
"Are you excited?" Alphard asked, plopping down at the end of the sofa nearest her.
"Yeah, especially for Defense against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration."
"So you like the spellwork then, huh? Charms is my favorite," Alphard's smile was contagious.
"Is it because you have none?" Abraxas asked, coming down the stairs.
"Shame there's not a manners class," Alphard shot back.
"Unless you want all the good food to be gone," Abraxas sniffed, "I suggest we go."
"Abraxas we're the first people up," Alphard snorted, but he rose anyway. "Are you coming, Alexa?" he asked.
"Yup!" she rose, stretching, and followed the three boys out of the common room.
"So," Alphard asked, falling into pace beside Alexa as Abraxas and Riddle held their own murmured conversation ahead, "Where did you go to school before this?"
"The Northern Californian Academy of Magic," Alexa replied, "Ilvernmourny is the main school in America, but all the states have a couple as well." Ilvernmourny, she had decided, was too big, too noticeable. She felt it would be safer to say she was from one of the smaller schools.
"I've never heard of that one," Alphard mused, "Had you ever been to England-or I guess we're in Scotland, either way- before this?"
"Yeah, once when I was too young to remember it. My father was originally English."
Abraxas turned and looked at her, "But you have an Italian surname," he wasn't exactly accusatory, but she knew how important a surname could be.
"His parents were Italian," she said, "They moved to England, so he was born and raised here until he moved to America."
Abraxas nodded, seeming satisfied with the answer. She was surprised he hadn't asked directly about her blood status. She couldn't imagine he was any less prejudiced than his son.
Alphard was giving the back of Abraxas's head an annoyed look, "Sorry about him," he murmured.
She raised an eyebrow, and noticed his pace had slowed so they were now lagging far enough behind that the other two entered the Great Hall before they did.
Alphard grabbed her arm to stop her from entering, "I wanted to warn you," he said very quietly, "Because I don't know how it is in America. In England, blood purity is still highly regarded by some. The Slytherin house is known for being full of purebloods."
"Like the Blacks," she asserted. It was never good to appear uninformed.
Alphard sighed, "Like the Blacks. Be careful around the rest of them."
"The Malfoys, The Blacks, the Greengrasses-They're all old families. The sacred twenty eight, correct?"
Alphard nodded, "I don't know your blood status," he said, raising his hands as she opened her mouth, "and it's not my business, but if you didn't know the Di Angelos are an old, old Italian pureblood family. People are probably assuming you're an American branch of them. You might want to keep it that way."
"Thank you," Alexa said, "For your concern. And your warning."
Alphard nodded tightly, and gestured for them to continue through the Great Hall. She was touched that Alphard was warning her. She liked Alphard, she really did. But she didn't trust him. His name was significant, she knew it, why was it-Oh!-she suddenly remembered. He had been Sirius Black's uncle. Harry had said he'd given Sirius his fortune when he died. He may know nothing about her, but at least she knew somebody who shared her ideals in Slytherin.
And apparently, Di Angelo was a wizarding name in Italy. Who knew?
She followed Alphard through the doors, and sat down beside him at the great table. It was still very empty, but it wasn't long before the table filled. Amelia plopped down next to her with a brief glare at Riddle, and began chatting adamantly with Alexa about something she could only half listen to. Alphard joined in, and the two had no problem talking right through her. It reminded her, in some small way, of Theo and Blaise. Riddle was silently eating. He was honestly pretty boring. Her leg bounced as time went on, and the hall filled to capacity. There were so many more people than she was used to.
"That's Slughorn," Riddle said suddenly, leaning back around Alphard to speak to her, "He's coming around with our schedules now."
Alexa nodded, looking to where Riddle was indicating. She was shocked to see her familiar professor several decades younger and several pounds thinner. He made eye contact with her and hustled over with a speed he would not be capable of in fifty years.
"Hello!" He said jovially, "You're my new student!" He beamed at her, "We're so happy to have you in our house, and I see you've become acquainted to some of my best students, hello Mr. Riddle, Mr. Black, Miss Greengrass." There was a chorus of hello in response. "I trust everyone has been welcoming?" He said, turning back to Alexa.
"Yes sir," she said smiling.
"Excellent, excellent," he shifted through the pile of schedules he was holding. "Ah, here you are," he handed a slip of paper to Alexa, "And Mr. Black...Mr. Riddle…and last but certainly not least, Miss Greengrass! Best of luck today!" And with that he scurried away.
"Alright who's got what?" Alphard said, slapping his schedule down on the table.
They all examined them closely, and Alexa was perplexed to find that they did not all have their core subjects at the same time. She supposed there were enough people that there had to be more than one rotation of fifth years.
"It looks like we have all the same classes," Riddle said, looking at her, "Except Divination."
"I have that one with Alphard, I think?" She said, looking over the other boys shoulder.
"The old bat that teaches is hilarious," Alphard said, snorting.
"Alphard, she's a renowned seer," Abraxas reproached.
The other boy rolled his eyes.
"We all have potions together," Alphard said, "And transfiguration and charms. Herbology…"
"I have that with Riddle, Alexa, and Amelia," Abraxas sniffed.
"We all have history of magic together," there was a collective groan from the three of them, and Alphard turned to Alexa to explain, "Binns is a ghost who just never stopped teaching. He died one night and got right up out of his body to go back to work."
Alexa had forgotten about professor Binns. The ghost would know immediately what she was. In her past time at Hogwarts Binns and the other Ghosts had been aware already. None of the specters had said anything so far, although currently the Bloody Baron was eyeing her from the other end of the table. Maybe Dumbledore had already told them? There was no time or reason to slip away to speak to him. Or perhaps some of them were afraid of her. That had certainly been the case with some of them before.
"But we all have Defense Against the Dark Arts together as well," Amelia informed them.
"We have a new charms professor," Abraxas piped up, "Father suspects he may be half goblin. He's trying to put in an inquiry at the ministry. We don't want those sorts here in Hogwarts."
"Quite right," Amelia said, "Halfbreeds shouldn't be allowed in society, let alone in our schools as teachers."
And there it was. A seemingly nice group of people suddenly made very very unpleasant.
"His name is Flitwick, I heard he was a dueling master," Alphard said. Alexa perked up, she liked Flitwick. Her distaste for Amelia and Abraxas increased immensely.
"That's not very likely if he's got dirty blood," Amelia chortled.
Alphard glanced at Alexa with pursed lips, and she rolled her eyes.
"Well, we'll find out what kind of a teacher he is today," was all she said.
"Indeed. You know Amelia, it's not befitting for a prefect to be so critical of a professor, dirty blood or not," Riddle's interjection was the whitest sort of menacing disapproval she had heard, and the other girl flushed immediately, scowling down at her plate.
The first bell rang for class then, and they all rose. Defense was first.
"This is going to be exciting," Alphard grinned, "Matheus always starts and ends fifth year with duels."
"Really? He just pairs us up and has us duel?" she raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! It's supposed to be really cool," Alphard grinned.
"Fifth year is when we begin the more practical spellwork," Riddle interjected, "He has us duel at the beginning of the year, and again at the end to mark our improvement."
"That's exciting," Alexa commented.
"Professor Matheus is the best, honestly," Amelia said, "he's a really great teacher."
It didn't take long for them to reach the defense classroom. The desks and chairs had been pushed around the edge of the room, and in the middle there was a long platform she recognized from her second year. Everyone else had dropped their bags and were sitting on the tables that edged the walls, so Alexa did the same. The other students were chattering excitedly, but Alexa shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
They had the class with Gryffindor, she noticed, as Adeline waved from down the line of people. She waved back, and the other girl pointed to the stage, then gave her an eager thumbs up. Alexa returned the gesture, trying to pretend she was equally excited
A man strode up onto the platform, a broad grin on his face. He was younger than thirty, with a carelessly styled honey-colored quiff atop his head, and bright green eyes. He was handsome, stylishly dressed, and reminded Alexa far too much of Lockhart.
"Hello, hello, hello!" he said, spreading his hands in greeting. "So good to see all your faces again, and of course, one new face, hello Miss Di Angelo." He gave her a special smile, and she tried to return the gesture.
"I'm sure the older students have ruined the surprise for you," he said, hopping down from the platform, "But I like to begin and end the year with some friendly duels. Fifth year is the first time when most of your coursework will consist of practical exercises-"
Sure, Alexa thought, unless you've got Umbridge.
"-and I find this is the best way to get a hand on your skill level. Now don't worry," he said, "I know this is the first time you've ever really been exposed to this, but keep in mind that everybody is in the same boat as you! We're all here to learn, and I promise by the end of the year you'll be shocked by how much you've improved." He paused, surveying them all, "Does anyone have any questions?" The room was silent, and he nodded to himself.
"Right then, I've paired you up randomly, first up, we have…" he pulled a piece of parchment from his pocket, "Alphard Black and Verona Montegue." He smiled pleasantly, gesturing for the two to mount the stage. Alexa tuned out his brief instruction on the formality of bowing and standing at the ready. He seemed nice enough, she decided. Well meaning at least, which was more than she could say for most of her previous teachers.
The room quieted as the two bowed, and took ten paces away from each other. They turned sharply.
"Ready!" called professor Matheus, "Go!"
Alphard and Verona each took up a defensive stance. Verona was the first to strike with a cry of expelliarmus. Alphard yelled protego and staggered backwards as the spell crinkled and dissipated over his shield."
"Good, good, those would have been spells you only learned last year, not bad."
Alexa frowned, she had learned those in second year-that was because of the basilisk, she had forgotten. She didn't know what she was and wasn't supposed to know. She turned her attention back to the duel. They moved so slowly. Alphard had left several openings that Verona had failed to take and vice versa. Finally it was Verona who won with a decisive petrificus totalus.
"Congratulations Miss Montegue! And Mr. Black, a valiant effort." He released Alphard from the hex. She didn't want to fight these children.
"Alright, next we have…" And so it went on in much the same way. She was getting twitchy, her leg bouncing up and down as more and more people finished. There were only four left now, Her, Riddle, Abraxas, and a Gryffindor boy she didn't know. Probably a Weasley, based on the hair.
"Mr. Weasley, Mr. Riddle, if you would?" Alexa relaxed marginally, watching them step onto the platform.
She watched carefully as Riddle took up a stance, eyes sharp and analytical as they swept over his opponent.
"And, go!" yelled Matheus.
"Serpensortia!" Tom hissed. A long black snake erupted from the tip of his wand. She raised her eyebrows, this was the first time things got interesting.
The snake began to slither towards Weasley, who only stared in horror.
"Come on Weasley!" Somebody shouted.
That shook Weasley from his reprieve, and the boy pointed his wand at the quickly approaching serpent and yelled "petrificus totalus". The snake stiffened into stone and with a swish and a flick Weasley hurled it right into Riddles incoming expelliarmus. The snake exploded into rubble, which showered the crowd. Alexa raised her wand and cast a shield over the class before Matheus could react, and the professor gave her a calculating look.
Riddle was gaining ground now, advancing closer and closer to Weasley, who was stumbling back, deflecting the other boys repeated attacks with a simple protego. Finally he reached the edge and stumbled, arms windmilling.
"Expelliarmus," Riddle's spell was almost lazy, and Weasley's wand flew from his hand to Riddle's and the audience cheered.
Riddle gave Weasley a kind smile and shook his hand, trading the wand back.
"Marvelous, marvelous! Well done Mr. Riddle, well done! And honorable effort Mr. Weasley, I have no doubt you'll far exceed your expectations by the end of the year!" Matheus seemed to be a well of positivity. Alexa couldn't decide if she liked it yet.
"And last but not least-Mr. Malfoy and Miss Di Angelo!"
Abraxas gave her a patronizing grin, "Don't worry, I'll go easy on you," he said, leading the way up the stairs to the platform. Annoyance fizzled in the back of her brain.
The two bowed, turned sharply, and took ten paces out.
"And ready…" Matheus said. Alexa gripped her wand tighter, ready to spring.
"Go!" he cried.
"Expelliarmus!" Abraxas yelled.
Alexa slid forward, swinging her wand to throw up a protego and in the same movement throwing her own disarming charm. Abraxas' wand flew through the air and landed in her hand. The boy stared at her mouth gaping.
"Well," Matheus was jovial, "It seems I have underestimated you! Nonverbal spells are quite advanced, I'm impressed. We haven't learned that. Let's try that one more time, please try to speak this round."
"Yes sir," she said, tossing Malfoy his wand back.
She had everyone's attention now, and most importantly Riddle's. He was watching her with a curious, calculating gaze that did, admittedly, make her skin crawl.
They stood in position once more, and Matheus cried "Go!"
Malfoy hissed "Stupefy," and Alexa's shield charm repelled it neatly. She shot spells rapid fire, first a stunner, then an expelliarmus, followed by a tickling charm. Abraxas fell to the floor shrieking with laughter, and she sent one final expelliarmus his way, catching his wand neatly in her hand.
Matheus ended the spell she had put on Abraxas, and he lurched to his face red faced and glaring. She raised an eyebrow as he stormed over to her, mouth twisted. She offered a polite smile and handed his wand back. He didn't say a word as he snatched it away and hopped down from the stage. Alexa calmly slipped down the steps as well, going back to her seat next to a grinning Alphard.
"That was brilliant!" he said.
Abraxas, on Alphard's other side, rolled his eyes, "Whatever."
Alphard snorted, and Alexa shrugged.
"Give yourself a hand everybody, that was spectacular!" Matheus exclaimed, "I know it might have been challenging today, but I promise by the end of the year this will be a much different exercise. But now," he clapped and rubbed his hands together, "I'd like to have one final match by the two people I feel are the most advanced. Miss Di Angelo, Mr. Riddle? One final match, if you don't mind."
Alexa rose, heart rate rising. Riddle led the way onto the stage, a smug smirk on his face when their eyes met. An unreasonable rage rose in her, and her grip on her wand turned white knuckled. She wished she could kill him, right there in that very room. She exhaled, she couldn't kill him. Or she shouldn't anyways. Or maim him. That might be frowned upon.
So she wouldn't hurt him. But she could wipe the floor with him.
They went through the routine, the bowing and the pacing ten spaces. And then Matheus yelled "Go!" and they were off.
She swung her wand in a wide arch, summoning a flock of birds that shot towards him with a demonic screech. Riddle's eyes went wide and he yelled something she couldn't make out, but the birds had turned to smoke and he was looking quite pleased with himself, clearly overwhelmed with confidence, and suddenly a beam of red was hurling towards her.
She blocked it with a simple swing of her wand, stance relaxed and casual. He shot a patrificus totalus and then a tarantellagra, a bat boogey hex that was really nothing compared to Ginny's. He was getting angry now, teeth grit as he threw spell after spell. She was only blocking, not attacking. He was getting sloppy. His eyes met hers, dark and angry and, when she gave him the smallest smile they went wide. He knew she was playing with him now. With one great yell a twenty foot snake burst from the tip of his wand, hurling in the air towards Alexa. She plucked it from the air and spun, sending it back as a great stream of fire.
He scrambled back to avoid the blaze, and she advanced, keeping it strong and making it swirl around him like a great burning serpent ready to constrict. He tried several spells, but finally he dissipated the fire, extinguishing it down to smoke with a victorious look on his face. But he had let his guard down and now she finally took her opening.
Expelliarmus, she thought. His wand was out of his hand before he knew what hit him. The same spell, ironically, that would be the one to kill him.
He stared at her for a moment, open mouthed. Before he shook his head, the ever polite smile back on his face.
"Fantastic!" Matheus exclaimed. The other students clapped, and Alphard could be heard whooping loudly.
"I've been beat," Riddle chuckled, walking over to her.
She offered him his wand, "So you have."
"Well, I haven't seen a match like that in quite a while! I'm quite looking forward to seeing you two progress," Matheus smiled, rubbing his hands together, "Thank you all for an exciting first day, class dismissed!"
"That was bloody brilliant," Alphard beamed, clapping her on the back as they all left.
She laughed, "Thanks. We did a lot of practical practice at my old school."
"Some of those were seventh year spells," Riddle was suddenly at her side and she barely avoided flinching back, "That's quite impressive. It looks like I might have some competition," he smiled with an easy sort of arrogance that was both charming and challenging.
"You just might," she laughed. There was a glint to his eyes that she didn't like at all. It reminded her of the snake he had summoned. She wished she could turn him to fire as well.
They were forced to part ways then, however, as she went off to divination and he went off to Arithmancy. It was a welcome break.
Divination was just as perfumed and smoke filled in the tower as she remembered it, but this time instead of the mystic Trelawny she was met with a very small woman with very big hair named Professor Anisa who took her subject with the same seriousness one might regard calculus. Adeline was as bored as she was, and as they sat on the floor on plump pink cushions she began crumpling up tiny pieces of parchment and flicking them into Anisa's hair. Alexa had been regarding it with a raised eyebrow when the other girl shot her a grin and slid a pile of tiny folded missiles towards her.
"Bet I can get more in," she whispered. From the other side of the room Alphard rated their scores on his fingers. By the end of the period the professor's violently red hair was filled with parchment, and Adeline was the decided winner. Her aim was unparalleled.
They left the class chatting amiably about their favorite places in New York. Alexa had time there as a child, and she had liked the city quite well. Her memories were fuzzy but Adeline was happy to fill in the blanks.
"I like your necklace by the way," Alexa said, "The beads are pretty." Adeline wore a peculiar necklace with a leather band and a handful of exquisitely painted beads. The strand started with a tiny sailboat on a turquoise background and ended with a golden arrow.
"Oh!" she smiled, "Thank you."
Transfiguration passed without incident. Dumbledore treated her like any other student, not acknowledging her advanced skills, although Riddle definitely noticed. He also didn't say anything but she saw the annoyed look he gave her transfigured tea pot when his still had a lovely tortoise shell pattern. Dumbledore also didn't acknowledge this, much to his frustration.
Flitwick was, of course, brilliant. He was so young she could barely believe it. With a shock of dark hair and a face devoid of wrinkles she was amazed. He couldn't be more than twenty five.
"Alright class!" his voice was still a bit squeaky, "Welcome to Charms. I am professor Flitwick, and I will be your new instructor." He smiled at everyone, and the Hufflepuffs smiled back. Alexa did as well, along with a few scattered Slytherins, but for the most part there seemed to be some sort of stare down going on. Flitwick regarded the glaring purebloods pleasantly, and turned back to the board.
She was sitting next to Riddle, and he was studiously taking notes. Today was merely an introduction, and she sat back, quill in hand, not particularly paying attention. Crabbe and Goyle were snickering together, and they were messing with something on their desk. She watched them folding pieces of paper into tiny missiles, and anger bubbled up in her chest.
She drew her wand, intending on burning the lot of them. Riddle looked down at her wand and followed her gaze, a single perfectly formed eyebrow raised. She gave him a cheeky smile and he sighed.
But Flitwick beat her to it. Without turning around he raised his wand, and the pile of paper was swung into the air, twisting and turning until it formed a beautiful dove, which soared around the room before dissolving into flowers that gently floated to the ground.
"I would appreciate it," he said, turning and smiling serenely, "If you paid attention in class. After all, we're here to learn magic...not play arts and crafts." The boys turned red while laughter resonated through the room.
"Oh, I like him," Alexa commented. Flitwick wasn't nearly as sassy in her day.
She supposed this was her day now.
The lesson continued without incident, and at the end Flitwick assigned them pages to read and told them all to answer the questions on page 45 by Wednesday. Alexa had just pulled her bag over her shoulder and was leaving when Flitwick called her back.
"Miss Di Angelo," he said, "May I have a word please?" he asked.
"Yes sir," she said, turning back, "Is something wrong?"
"No, not at all," he smiled, "I just wanted to welcome you to Hogwarts. It's my first year teaching, I know the school can be intimidating. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to ask." He smiled, and there seemed to be a specific meaning in his words. He was half goblin, she recalled, and she wondered if that half was enough for him to smell the god in her blood.
"Thank you, sir," she said, "I will." She smiled. She wasn't particularly nervous about Flitwick knowing. He was always very kind to her. There had been a time when they were working on rebuilding, and some ministry officials had started muttering about her "dangerous blood" and how they weren't sure she should be allowed. Flitwick had marched right over and gave them a rather snide and subtle telling off. She had thanked him afterwards and he had brushed it off, saying cheerfully that halflings had to stick together.
She left the room to find Riddle waiting in the hallway for her.
"I wanted to make sure you knew the way to potions," he said, by way of explanation.
"Thanks," she said, although the last thing she wanted was to spend any time alone with him.
"So what did you think of Flitwick?" he asked. For gods sake, she had to make small talk with Voldemort.
"He seemed nice, very talented wizard," she shrugged, "I think he's going to be brilliant. He seems ready enough to handle students."
"I agree," Riddle nodded, "It should be an interesting class, halfling or no."
She rolled her eyes, not responding.
"You don't like me calling him a halfling?" Riddle's eyes were suspect as he looked at her. He was testing her, she realized, trying to figure how much of an elitist Slytherin she was.
"Like you said before," she said, "It's rude to say that about a professor."
A small smile played on his face, "I suppose so."
She cringed at the expression. She would have to get over her aversion to him, but today was not that day. She was relieved when they reached Potions and the two seats left open were not together. She quickly put herself down next to Adeline, while Riddle went and sat next to Abraxas.
"Hey there," Adeline said in greeting, as she cleared a space on the desk for Alexa.
"How's it going?" Alexa replied, pulling out her text book.
"Good, good," Adaline said, "Have you met Slughorn yet?"
"Briefly-" She was cut off by an entrance from the man himself. He burst into the room looking like an attempt at suave, and launched into the typical OWLS speech. There were some scare tactics, some motivation. It wasn't as well put together as Dumbledore's had been, but it was still solid. She gave it a six. Nothing was ever going to be as terrifying as Snape's. Although McGonagall's had come close.
The lesson was pretty standard. She'd already had Slughorn, she knew what to expect. He hadn't seemed to have changed at all in fifty years. There was a pop quiz they did in pairs, mostly review from fourth year. She was pleased that she seemed to remember most of it.
But it was at the end of the lesson as they were packing up, that Slughorn came to talk to her. Riddle was already ready to go, waiting patiently at her desk. Since she had beaten him he seemed to have taken a genuine interest in her. She wasn't sure that was a good thing.
"Ah, Miss Di Angelo," he said cheerfully, "I heard you were quite impressive in Defense Against the Dark Arts today."
"I don't know about impressive-"
"She beat me without trouble," Riddle said, "It was like she was playing with me," he chuckled but there was a look in his eye that said she had not been forgiven for the incident.
"I would call that impressive," Slughorn said sternly, "Mr. Riddle is top of his year. I have little get-togethers sometimes, of students whom I think are excelling. It's gained the name of Slug Club," he chuckled, "The next meeting is in a few weeks, I hope you'll attend?"
Riddle's eye twitched. She swore to Mars she saw it.
"Absolutely," she grinned, "Thank you sir."
"Excellent, excellent," he gave her one last toothy grin and then was on his way.
"Well," Riddle said, "I think that's the fastest anyone has ever gotten in." She could feel the bitterness in his voice and she wondered what exactly he had had to do to get in, and how long it had taken him.
"Really? Huh," she shrugged, taking some small joy in the little cloud of rage that emanated from him.
In History of Magic Binns didn't so much as bat a ghostly eye at her. He had better things to do, it seemed. Like ramble on and on about the great pixie scandal of 1245. That was her last class of the day, thankfully. He was as boring as ever.
Dinner passed with the usual chatter. The day had been draining, more than it should have been. The routine of the student was one that had become unfamiliar to her. She tried to join in the conversation, but when it switched to the latest music she couldn't keep up. She barely knew the muggle singers at the time, let alone the magical ones. Riddle was also silent, but he seemed to be studying the topic intensely, like he was trying to memorize every word. There was a hunger in his eyes. He was desperate to fit into the wizarding world, and he was desperate that nobody discovered his origins.
