Throughout the following weeks—things felt differently than before.
Alice and Zander entertained all of their usual Hogwarts routines; Zander attended the dueling club, Alice attended Quidditch practice, and the two of them shared many classes together, occasionally making a mishap in Charms or falling asleep in Muggle Studies. Alice wrote her father—Samuel O'Heiden—fairly regularly, often visiting the owlery to do so, and the two ate their meals together and occasionally disappeared off to the Slytherpuff room like always.
But there was one key difference that made everything feel a bit off.
Tobias was by their side through many of their routines now.
Often times, when they were in classes or eating in the great hall, Tobias would join them, and Alice would welcome him without question. Even though Alice always snuck over to the Slytherin table—which was technically against the rules—it didn't seem to matter. Tobias began to sit at the edge of the Slytherin table every day as well, both of them keeping Zander company, though they mostly conversed with each other. Zander didn't speak much until Tobias was gone.
To be honest, he had nothing against the transfer student—in fact, Tobias seemed uncommonly polite, which was a nice change of pace compared to all the Slytherins usually surrounding Zander—but for some strange, unknown reason, it simply annoyed him to have the new student hovering nearby all the time.
It wasn't until the start of October that someone noticed two Hufflepuffs sitting at the edge of the Slytherin table in the great hall.
Crowley—sitting up at the teacher's table—eyed the Slytherin table with intrigue. He kept a close eye on it for a couple of days, noticing that Alice and Tobias always seemed to creep over to it, always sitting with Zander.
Eventually, he finally leaned over to the headmaster's chair, muttering to Arius in a hushed tone.
"You do know Alice and Tobias aren't supposed to sit there every day, right?" Crowley mumbled to him.
Arius blinked and raised his brows at the two Hufflepuffs across the room, twirling a fork between his fingers and flashing a whimsical half-smile. "Don't know what you're talking about, Trocar."
Crowley reeled slightly back, giving him an odd look. "You don't see the two bright yellow scarves in a sea of green over there—?"
"Nooo—'fraid I don't," Arius quickly responded, shaking his head and taking a bite of beans.
Crowley scoffed out a sigh and fell silent.
Meanwhile—down the Slytherin table—Zander ate in silence while Alice and Tobias sat across from him. Tobias was feasting slowly on a helping of mashed potatoes, and Alice had finished her dinner already, flipping through the latest Daily Prophet and seeming oddly invested in it.
Zander placed his spoon down, eyeing her from across the table. "I've never known you to be so vested in the news, Alice."
"Dad sent it to me," she mumbled distractedly, her eyes darting from word to printed word. "He told me to be careful… because of… some… guy. Oh, here it is."
Alice folded the rest of the magazine back, clearing her throat and reading off the article before her—one that was headlined with the phrase ESCAPED PRISONER FROM AZKABAN AT LARGE.
"Valefor O'Brien—rumored to have been initiated into the league of Death Eaters shortly before Voldemort's downfall, and known Shadow Hand of the Seal of Shadows, has just become the first man to escape from Azkaban in twenty years. An expert in dark magic, Valefor is notably insane and wildly unstable, and should be considered extremely dangerous. He was last seen in Glasgow, and his motives and his destinations are unknown—though the top auror on the case speculates that he is after something inside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Alice lowered the paper, looking to her friends for a reaction.
Tobias stared at her, lowering his spoon, and Zander's eyes narrowed at her thoughtfully.
"The top auror on the case," Zander uttered. "Who would that be?"
Alice skimmed over the paper again, then met his eyes.
"Harry Potter," she stated.
"Oh." Zander seemed dismissive suddenly, shrugging and taking another bite of food. "Well, he'll nip all the problems in the bud. God knows he's done it before."
"Ahm…" Tobias uttered, gently tapping Alice on the shoulder. "Vhat is the Seal of Shadows?"
"It's, uhm…" Alice muttered.
"It's a conglomeration of dark wizards," Zander answered for her. "Similar to Death Eaters, but they follow some dark wizard named Xyler. I've never heard of them doing anything as bad as Death Eaters, though. Far as I know, they've just done a bunch of random petty crimes, attacking random places and stealing random things. Nobody knows what their endgame is—but if Harry Potter is the one after them, then I'd say there's nothing to worry about."
"Well…" Alice murmured with a sideways nod. "Unless this Valefor bloke actually reaches Hogwarts before Potter can stop him."
"We don't know if he's actually even trying to come to Hogwarts," Zander said. "And it's got nothing to do with us, anyway. My father is an auror, too—and between him and Potter—"
"You seem to know an awful lot about the politics of dark wizards, Zander," a sneering voice chided from behind.
Zander turned his head, seeing Beckly and two of his followers standing just behind him.
"Well, duuuh—they're reading about it in the paper, stupid," another voice joined in—the voice of a shaggy-haired Gryffindor, appearing just behind Beckly and shoving him onward. "Of course they know about what they're reading about. Stop being so bloody obnoxious—that's embarrassing even for me."
"Get off me, James!" Beckly griped, yanking out of his grasp.
"Then go on, Beck—and stop harrassin' the snake people," James cackled, giving him another shove. "Oy—you're right, by the way."
Suddenly, James stopped at the Slytherin table and planted a hand on it, leaning over Zander's shoulder and giving him a nod of approval.
"There's nothing to worry about 'cause my dad's on top of it," James affirmed with a knowing smile. "And even if Valefor does come here—I'll jinx him until his ruddy toes pop off."
Beckly grabbed James and pushed him forward, and the Gryffindors all marched away.
Zander stared after them for a moment, then faced his Hufflepuff companions again.
"Who was that?" Tobias wondered.
"James Potter," Zander answered vacantly, returning his attention to his dinner. "And… it seems he agrees. Nothing to worry about."
Alice's eyes shifted between the two of them, not entirely convinced. Still, she chose to dismiss the issue and pushed the paper aside, hoping to change the subject to a lighter one.
"So. I'm ready to see the shrieking shack," she told them. "Either of you wanna join me?"
"Christ… when will this end with you?" Zander grumped, shooting her a look.
"When we go there," Alice replied. "I just wanna see it. My dad used to go there all the time, and I've never even seen it—"
"That's because the path to it is guarded by a violent tree," Zander snarked in response. "And I don't see why you need to visit a place just because your dad did. You've got your own little hangout spot here in the castle."
"Aye—right—and the Slytherpuff room is fantastic, but it's not the only place here," Alice argued. "We're only gonna be this age once. We're only gonna make memories at school one time in our lives—"
"Yes—and I'd rather not spend any of that time dead."
"What is the Slytherpuff room?" Tobias inquired.
Alice faced him. "It's—"
"It's nothing," Zander cut her off, his tone seeming to rise.
Alice and Tobias both stared at him.
Zander withdrew slightly, sighing and sliding the Daily Prophet toward himself. "Nothing important, anyway…"
He flipped it open and searched for something interesting to read, expecting to hear a griping retort from Alice, but he never did. Moments later, his eyes flickered up from the paper, gazing across the table and seeing that Alice was gone, having suddenly departed from the great hall and leaving Tobias sitting alone with him.
Tobias was staring across the room at the nearest corridor, looking troubled. He then faced Zander again, giving him a questioning stare.
"She seemed upset," Tobias remarked.
Zander made a loose shrug. "She'll get over it."
He continued to read an article about a newly discovered magical creature suspected to live in the Atlantic, not noticing Tobias's eyes lingering rather insistently on him.
"You seem to not vant me around," Tobias observed.
Zander barely spared him a glance. "I never said that."
"It seems that way, though," Tobias knew. "Did I do something to make you mad?"
"No, I jus—" Zander griped in frustration, pausing and flicking the paper away, leaning fully on the table now. "I just don't—I don't usually have people lingering around all the time."
"Really? You always have her around."
"Well, that—that's different."
"How?"
"Because, she—I don't know—she and I never managed to make friends here," Zander explained, feeling irritably spotlighted. "Neither of us seemed to belong anywhere—so we just ended up hanging out with each other. But that was when we were first years. We haven't really made friends since, and we never really do. So it's weird."
Tobias's eyes narrowed. "It's veird to make friends?"
"For us? Yes," Zander stated. "And in any case, most other people turn out to be either a pain or a bully—so I've just learned to avoid them altogether."
He tried to flip the paper open and return his attention to it, hoping to end the conversation then and there, but Tobias wasn't yet finished.
"I don't belong anywhere, either," Tobias said solemnly.
Zander lowered the paper, sighing heavily. "I know that. I'm just not used to it is all."
Tobias stared. "Does that mean you… don't mind me being around?"
"It means I don't trust people very easily, and it's hard to do," Zander told him. "But if I minded all that much, then I wouldn't be around you. Simple as that."
"Oooh. I see," Tobias replied with a nod. "Zat is understandable. But, I wonder… why is it hard for you to trust people?"
Zander returned his stare, his jaw giving a slight twitch. "You don't know much about our houses here, do you? Slytherins are all a certain way. Besides, my father taught me to always treat everyone else with wary caution, and I can't think he's wrong, at least in that regard."
"Vhy would he teach you that?"
"Because other people are all question marks. You never know when someone might try and use you, or steal from you, or betray you somehow."
"Ah…" Tobias paused, making a thoughtful sort of expression. "You don't seem to have that concern with her, though."
"Well…" Zander made a faint shrug, turning the page of the paper. "I know her better than most. I can at least trust people I know well, despite what my father…"
He trailed off, gazing to the side for a moment and releasing a cloud of breath.
Tobias observed him. "Your father does not like Alice?"
"No… he doesn't," Zander mumbled with disdain. "My father comes from quite a lot of money and success. My befriending the daughter of an Irish carnie has him concerned that I'll fall away from his expectations. God forbid…"
"What are his expectations of you?" Tobias asked curiously.
Zander opened his mouth, then paused, shooting him an odd stare. "What do you care?"
Tobias pondered for a second, then merely shrugged. "You said you can't trust people you don't know well. So… I think we can be friends if we get to know each other better."
Zander examined him, almost as if he was searching his face for any sign of untrustworthiness. Then, he sighed and leaned farther back in his chair, folding his arms and frowning.
"He wants me to become a success," Zander said simply. "Which means… I either associate with other successful people, or I don't associate with people at all. You can imagine which one I chose. Other Slytherins are… not mean, really… but cold. Not friendly. And I don't see the point in being friends with people who aren't friendly. So… save for Alice… I'm just not friends with anyone at all."
"Makes sense," Tobias replied. "But… there are other successful people aside from Slytherins, aren't there? I bet there are many in Ravenclaw."
"Well…" Zander nodded sideways. "Father says Slytherins are the only way to go."
Tobias gave him a look.
Zander caught his eye, gently shaking his head. "I didn't say I believe that. That's just what my father tends to believe."
"Zat is odd," Tobias commented. "My mother is a successful baker, and my father excels at managing the business for her, but neither of them have ever tried to make me a good cook or a good manager. They've never tried to control who my friends are, either, and I had plenty of them in Durmstrang—"
"That's because you actually have a normal family," Zander griped. "Not all of us in the rest world have that same luxury."
The two of them fell silent.
Zander glared at the paper for a moment, then scoffed out a breath, rolling his neck and facing Tobias again.
"Sorry," Zander uttered. "I told you—I'm not used to making friends."
Tobias blinked, cracking a hint of a smirk. "We are friends?"
Zander opened his mouth to reply, his words suddenly abandoning him.
Tobias eyed him, then turned and gazed into the nearest corridor again, his smile fading. "Is she not coming back?"
Zander glanced aside, then shook his head and turned the page again. "No, she's probably off pouting somewhere now."
"Vhy is that?"
"Because I said something she didn't like."
"Did you?"
"Apparently."
"Where would she run off to?"
"Dunno. She'll just sulk in the Slytherpuff room for a while, unless she has some other way she can kick up a fuss some… how…"
Zander's words suddenly wandered away from him, slowly lowering the paper as his heart gave a faint jolt.
"Like running off and doing something reckless out of spite," he breathed. "Damn it…"
Zander instantly shot up from the table, turning and marching off.
"What—what's wrong?" Tobias yelled after him, standing and adjusting his glasses. "Where did she go? I can help you get—"
"I don't need your help!" Zander hollered without stopping.
He vanished from the great hall at once.