Seven months just flew by!
Thanks again to ChuckTheElf for beta-reading this for me.
Chapter 10: Changes
The summer started as it usually did. Holly had gone to London to take her Muggle exams a few days after she returned to Privet Drive. Her trunk was locked away by Vernon and subsequently retrieved, Dudley's birthday had come and gone, and Holly settled in for a long, uneventful break.
Well, not completely uneventful. She and Ron had exchanged phone numbers and had agreed to call each other in addition to letters. Hermione, Justin, and Colin had also been part of the exchange, so she wouldn't be completely isolated this time around. Her Muggle exams had gone fairly well, too, and she was waiting on the results so that she could finalise her class selection for next year. It had been rough, juggling everything with only three classes, so she purposefully chose fewer subjects at both Hogwarts and iGSCEs so that she could fit everything in.
Holly sighed. Third year's definitely going to be a pain in the—
"You alright? You've been sighing a lot," said Alex, kneeling as he sorted through his bedroom closet. A pile of clothes was steadily growing larger as he cleared out all the items that didn't fit him anymore for donation.
Shifting on the beanbag chair, Holly considered her answer. "Yeah," she replied. "Just thinking about next year. I hope it's more like First Year than last year." Back then, Holly, Ron, and Hermione's biggest concerns were finding ways to restore the one-hundred and fifty house points they'd lost for helping Hagrid with his dragon, and keeping an eye on Snape. To this day they still didn't know what happened to the Stone, but Hermione was probably right that Snape had nothing to do with it (unfortunately).
"Me too." He stood up, holding a black T-shirt with a galaxy print on the front to the light critically for a moment before tossing it into the pile. "How'd it go, by the way? Did the teachers catch who did it?"
"Yeah, it was Lockhart. He kidnapped Ron, the teachers found him in the Chamber and defeated him. Turns out there was this book full of Dark spells he was using to Petrify students," she said, giving him a different version of events.
A pair of jeans joined the shirt. "I always knew something wasn't right with that man. The timelines of his books didn't correlate in the slightest."
"Yeah," she said as she stared out the window.
Keeping the true events of the Chamber from Alex wasn't something she was proud of, but she was still reeling from everything that had happened and had no desire to relive it. The nightmares were enough. Alex would only psychoanalyse all her actions, beginning with why she hadn't had the sense to keep her Invisibility cloak on. Or, even worse—he'd ask her to talk to his mother. Doctor Barbara Kann was a popular therapist and saw as many as twelve patients a day, but the last thing she needed was her best friend's mum picking apart her thoughts, feelings, and actions like she was an insect under a microscope.
Holly shook away the unpleasant thoughts and turned her attention to the rising mound. "You're sure you don't want any of these anymore?"
Alex shrugged as he hung up one of his grammar school uniform jumper. "It's not as if they'll fit."
"For Merlin's sake, Al, you grew three inches, not a foot!"
"Three-and-a-half," he corrected proudly, his back against the closet door frame, and Holly rolled her eyes. "And you're just jealous you're still five-one."
Twirling her finger, Holly Levitated a shirt from the pile and threw it at him.
Alex caught it easily. "Nice try."
"One day, Kann, one day." Holly started magically sorting the trousers and shirts, hovering them in mid-air. "When'd you buy this one?"
"Oh, probably two or three years ago, now," he replied. "Why? Do you want it?"
The trousers in question wavered as she did a so-so motion with her hand. "Maybe." It went on the bed. "This jumper looks nice, too…"
Before long Holly had amassed quite a few items of clothing she liked.
"That's more than a few," said Alex as she laid the last jumper on the bed.
Holly shrugged. "They don't fit you, they fit me, and I save some money." Although she had a fortune underground in London, magical money was much more valuable than Muggle money and she had no desire to squander it. Plus, Alex's old clothes were comfortable, well-kept, and mostly unisex, unlike Dudley's oversized monstrosities. They were almost like wearing robes.
"Suit yourself."
Once he finished, Alex helped her arrange the clothes into a cloth bag and set it aside in the corner of his bed. Sitting at his desk, he turned on his new desktop - a thirteenth birthday gift - and motioned for her to join him.
"Business time."
Holly stood up and stood next to him as he signed in. "Alright then. So what do you have so far?"
"First, our bottle design," he said, clicking through a few links. "This is what dad and I decided on."
She looked at the image of an amber glass bottle with scepticism. "That's it?"
"Yeah. It's pretty standard in the cosmetics industry. It has UV protection so the contents won't degrade, and it's mostly recyclable. There are just a few things we wanted to make adjustments with: first, a child-proof lock, and second, embossing on the bottom with our logo. We want to be unique, but not stand out too much."
Holly nodded. "What about the outside?"
"One hundred percent cardboard," he said. "Easy to recycle, and it degrades fast, too. We're trying to use as little plastic as possible. That way, if Eternal Elixirs becomes popular, people will be more willing to buy from us."
They also discussed adding another potion to their next line-up. Mane-Gro and Beautification were already decided on, but they were having trouble finding a third. Part of the problem had to do with the properties of potions. Sometimes they were like recipes, other times they were like pharmaceuticals. There were dozens of magical soaps, lotions, fragrances, creams and more that could work well on one person but be a disaster for another, just like their Muggle counterparts. Plus, said magical cosmetics were filled with additives that made the main ingredient less effective. Not knowing how selling licensed products would work across the divide—and since several additives were harmful or downright toxic to Muggles—Holly was forced to make the costlier undiluted versions and have them watered down later.
Re-naming the potions was another thing they had to worry about to avoid suspicion from wizards and intrigue from their Muggle clientele. Boil Cure became Acne-Buster, Essence of Dittany became WoundRepair, and Burn Healing became ThirdDegree.
"They might not make it past dad," said Alex, uncharacteristically trying not to laugh at her unimpressed look, "but it's a good place to start."
As for ingredients, there was no exact list for obvious reasons. They could get away with a few of the more obviously magical components by claiming they were 'proprietary blends and mixes', but for the rest, they simply put chemical names and substitutions.
Then came the fun part: creating slogans and taglines for Eternal Elixirs. This, however, proved harder than Holly thought.
"Tell me again why we can't just rip off Maybelline or L'Oréal's older slogans?"
"Copyright." said Alex simply.
In the end, they came up with four possible taglines. Holly felt they were a bit lacklustre, but Alex waved her off. "Company taglines change all the time. We just need something decent."
"If you say so," she said, looking out the darkening window. Holly flicked her fingers in the direction of the light switch, lighting the room.
"Thanks," he said and shut off his computer. "Are you staying for dinner? Dad's making spaghetti."
Holly grinned. Last she saw, Mr Kann was getting out the pasta press to make it by hand. "My favourite."
"Let's go then."
A thought came to mind. "Wait a mo', Alex," she said, stopping him mid-step. "Is everything okay?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Yes? Why do you ask?"
"You sounded weird when we talked last and then you didn't respond for weeks," she said. Holly affected a Hermione-like stance. "It seemed like you got bad news." In between dealing with the awkwardness with Ron and Hermione's return, she had glossed over Alex's unusual mood when she'd given him his birthday gift — a magical astrolabe — at the end of May. As she thought back on it however, her first friend seemed rather melancholy despite the occasion.
"Oh, that," said Alex, and waved a hand dismissively. "I'm fine now, don't worry about it."
Holly sighed. She was rubbish at expressing herself, but she had to try. "Alex," she began softly, putting her hand on his shoulder, "you know that you can tell me anything and I'll do my best to help you. You're my best friend." She looked at him earnestly. "I do care about you, you know."
He flushed brilliantly. "I know," he muttered, looking down. "And I do want to, but I can't. Not right now." He gently took her hand off his shoulder and held it in his. "But everything is fine now. I've gotten used to what's happened and mum and dad are helping me."
"Alright," she said reluctantly. She hadn't truly expected him to tell her, anyway.
"Come here." He pulled her into a gentle hug. "Thank you."
Holly hmmed noncommittally.
Someone knocked on the door, and a moment later it opened, revealing Alex's mum in her business casual work attire. She patted her bun as she looked around the room. "Supper's ready, dears." Her eyes hovered over them. "Don't forget what we talked about before. Doors open when you have guests."
Alex groaned as he broke their embrace. "But mum, Holly's practically family. And the door was open."
Holly stared at her feet, feeling herself redden at the unexpected compliment.
"No buts, and don't get cheeky with me young man." She departed, purposefully leaving the door wide enough that they could see the hallway.
Alex rolled his eyes. "We'd better get going before she thinks something else is going on."
"Right," she said, now red for a completely different reason.
Ever since Alex turned thirteen, his parents were reluctant to have her stay over as often as she used to. Before, she'd spend upwards of three nights a week sleeping over; now it was one at best. Holly wasn't stupid. She knew about puberty and hormones and all that. But Alex was just her friend. She didn't like him in that way. Holly even told Mrs Kann this, but she only smirked and had said, "Sometimes feelings change faster than you expect."
It was irritating. Hadn't they deserved a bit of trust? They were running a business, for Merlin's sake! She couldn't even go upstairs without hearing, "Doors open!" all the bloody time!
Alex clearly wasn't thrilled with it either. The few times his mother walked by his door when she wasn't busy had him rolling his eyes and returning to whatever they were doing.
Eventually, they'll see there's nothing to worry about, Holly thought as she followed Alex downstairs, and things will return to normal.
~•~
Holly yawned as she flipped through A History of Magic. Despite starting over an hour ago, she barely had anything down for her essay.
"Witch Burning in the Fourteenth Century Was Completely Pointless — discuss," she muttered once more, tapping her pen against the parchment. "Hmm…" She flipped again. A promising paragraph caught her eye:
Non-magic people (more commonly known as Muggles) were particularly afraid of magic in mediaeval times, but not particularly good at recognizing it. On the rare occasion that they did catch a real witch or wizard, burning had no effect whatsoever. The witch or wizard would perform a basic Flame Freezing Charm and then pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. Indeed, Wendelin the Weird enjoyed being burned so much that she allowed herself to be caught no less than forty-seven times in various disguises.
Weird sounds about right, she snorted. Wendelin was nutters, as Ron would've said. Shaking her head, Holly used the excerpt as a base for her essay. As she read on, she realised that more often than not witches were the victims of the hunts, and underage ones at that. Elderly witches were a close second. There was the odd wizard here or there that was executed — the Fat Friar, Hufflepuff's ghost, came to mind — but they weren't killed without proof. For women however, just the whisper of being a witch was more than enough.
She was writing how this treatment tied into fewer witch-Muggle relationships and marriages when her device pinged, vibrating on her desk.
Holly looked at the number. Ron's calling?
"Hey Ron, it's Holly," she answered. "How's your summer?"
"HELLO? HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? I — WANT — TO — TALK — TO — HOLLY — POTTER!"
Holly nearly fell out of her chair. "There's no need to shout! I can hear you just fine!"
"Oh, sorry about that. Dad said it was important to speak clearly and all that, but he never did say how loud we were supposed to be," said Ron sheepishly at a less ear throbbing volume.
Trying to ignore her headache, Holly accepted the apology and set the PDA down, putting it on speaker. She tucked a knee under her chin. "How's your summer? Fred and George aren't giving you a hard time, are they?"
"Well, they and Ginny made a few comments, but mum's put a stop to most of it for once, even though she still looks at me funny. They still rag on me for reading though, especially the twins."
"For reading?"
"Yeah, saying rubbish like, 'Oi, be careful that this one doesn't have Dark Lords in it'," said Ron in a mimicry of the twins. "Bloody pillocks."
Holly could understand his frustration, having been a witness to several Kann sibling disagreements. "Don't let them get to you," she said, setting down her pen. "So what are you reading?"
Ron shifted on the other end. "Well, Bill stopped by to check me over, just in case, and I told him I was going to take Runes, so he gave me his old books filled with his notes from when he was in school. He's even been giving me pointers on what to do," he said excitedly. "It's right interesting. I reckon if I get good enough, he'll let us have our grandparents' old notes."
She blinked, staring at her desk in disbelief. Who are you and what have you done with Ron? "Your grandparents?"
"My dad's parents. They used to run an enchanting business, but they retired after the war. Grindelwald's war."
"Oh," she said, stunned at the fact that Ron not only knew history, but his family history as well.
"I wasn't keen on taking three electives, but I might do all right in Runes and Creatures," said Ron.
"Then why take Divination as well?"
Holly could hear the shrug in his voice as he said, "It's an easy O."
"Okay." She turned her attention back to her half-written essay. "Have you started your history work yet? I—"
BANG!
"Blimey!" shouted Ron. "What was that?"
Holly glared at the door. "My cousin. Just ignore him."
Unfortunately, that proved easier said than done. Before Ron could respond, another bang came, then another.
"Ugh. Sorry Ron, I'll have to call you back. Seems like Dudley's throwing a fit again."
"Alright," he said reluctantly before ending the call.
Annoyed, Holly stalked over to her door and opened it with a jerk. There Dudley was, sitting with his arms crossed in the middle of the hallway, his flinty blue eyes gazing at the ceiling.
"Trouble in paradise again?" she snarked as she leaned against the door frame. Spending more time with the Dursleys wasn't ideal, but it did give her a front row seat to see the newly-developed friction between Dudley and his parents.
He started, much to her visible amusement, before shooting her a glare. "Shut up."
"That's a yes. What is it now?"
Dudley huffed and pulled up the hoody he was wearing. "Mum won't let me go to a party."
Holly shrugged. She failed to see the problem. "Ask Vernon then."
"He already said no, said there's too many undesirables hanging about. Say," he said after a moment, "Do you have any tricks from that school of yours that might work? I'll pay you."
Holly held back her desire to roll her eyes. "No. Though I don't know why you couldn't just sneak out."
Dudley blinked, as if the thought hadn't occurred to him. Though, Holly thought, it makes sense. Dudley's never had to sneak away from home before. Vernon and Petunia always dote over him.
"I guess that might work," grumbled Dudley at last, forcing her attention back to him.
Holly held out her hand.
"What?"
As he stood, she pointed at the deep holes in the drywall. "My fee."
Dudley groaned but complied, reaching into his jeans and giving her a ten-pound note. The money would only net her seven sickles, but it was better than nothing.
Just when he turned to go, however, a flash caught her eye. "Woah."
"What is it now?" said Dudley. He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You want to come with?"
Holly shook her head quickly. "No, it's…your necklace," she said, eyeing the silver curb chain with fire lorry red gems that looked surprisingly real. Petunia had gotten it for his birthday the previous week and he hadn't taken it off since.
"What about it?"
"I—" thought it was glowing. "Nothing, just a trick of light, I suppose."
With a grunt, Dudley turned and entered his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Holly eyed the cracked wall before Repairing it.
~•~
Dear Holly,
Happy early birthday! I hope the Muggles aren't giving you a hard time. That Dudley's a real duffer, isn't he?
Bill's taken us around all the tombs and you wouldn't believe the runes and curses those old Egyptian wizards put on them. Some of the Runes are so ancient even Bill's co-workers don't know what they are. Well, the ones that are still around, at least. He showed us how runes look once they've been broken on the tombs, and how the intact ones look. A few of them were unlocked, but most of them were still glowing. There was even a tomb that took decades to open, and no one can be near it for long. Dad said it's like a Muggle-repelling charm on our kind—Mum kept us far away from that one! She wouldn't say, but it freaked her out. Mum also wouldn't let Ginny come in the last one. All the runes were slashed up, and there were all these mutant skeletons in there, of Muggles who'd broken in and grown extra heads and stuff. You would have loved to see it. I couldn't believe it when Dad won the Daily Prophet Draw. Seven hundred galleons! Most of it gone on this trip, but they're going to buy us some new robes for next year, since Dumbledore's covering our books.
We'll be back about a week before term starts and we'll be going up to London to get our new books. Any chance of meeting you there? Don't let the Muggles get you down!
Try and come to London,
Ron
PS. Percy's Head Boy. He got the letter last week.
Leaning back against the trunk of the tree, Holly reread the letter and the accompanying newspaper clipping with a grin. It was so refreshing to talk with someone who was willing to be open and honest with her.
Unlike some people.
She shook her head. Adjusting herself to sit criss-cross on the branch, Holly tucked the letter and clipping back into her bag before withdrawing a pen and paper to reply.
Dear Ron,
Congratulations on the win! Glad you're enjoying Egypt and all the runes. Hermione and I will be sure to pick your head later. Aren't you happy we're all taking Runes next year?
Don't mind Dudley, he's always a prat. Other than him, the Dursleys aren't too bad this year. I—
"Holly!"
Her writing stopped momentarily. Just ignore him. She resumed:
I stay out of their way and they stay out of mine for the most part. Have you heard from Hermione or Justin yet? They'll be done with summer school by mid-August—do you reckon they'd like to join us?
"HOLLY!" Alex called again, this time closer than before.
She groaned, knocking her head against the trunk as she closed her eyes. Might as well see what he wants. He isn't going away. Holly let out a sigh and looked down. "What?"
Her estranged friend made his appearance at the base of the tree some twenty feet away from her, the midday sun glinting off his hair. "Why are you up there?"
"Why do you think?" she snarked back.
Holly saw him shake his head briefly before making his way up.
"What do you want?" she asked again once he was within earshot.
Alex steadied himself on a branch across from her. "To apologise," he said. "I didn't mean to blow you off."
Holly snorted. "That's what most of this summer has been." The first few weeks were normal enough, but soon things took an odd turn.
He had been much less available to hang out now. The one time they did spend time together—potion-brewing, Indian food, and a game of Uno, their usual—they were interrupted by the arrival of two of Alex's 'out of town' friends, who convinced him to cut the evening short to play football.
"Football? Since when do you play football?' she asked, glancing between Alex and the newcomers, who seemed to appear right when she was using the restroom. One had golden-olive skin, black hair, and an eager smile, and the other looked much more subdued and serious, his black eyes eying the dining room contemplatively.
The eager boy began, "I do not understand either. Were we not going to help friend Alex with—"
"Football," stressed the second boy as he covered the first boy's mouth. "Right, Thylann?"
'Thylann' removed his hand and rolled his eyes. "Yes, Ander."
Holly gave Alex a questioning look.
"I started last year." His gaze turned to the ceiling. "Something to do, you know?"
"Uh-huh."
But before she could question him further, 'Ander' eyed the grey bracelet on his wrist with impatience. "Are we done here?"
All eyes turned to her. Knowing she was outnumbered, Holly picked up her bag—which had already been packed and set over a chair—slung it over her shoulder, and left.
And that wasn't even the worst part.
He hit her. Holly was no stranger to roughhousing, but it was over a book of all things.
"I don't know how I can spin it in a way that doesn't come off as suspicious to Justin's parents," said Holly as she ran a hand on top of a plasma globe on Alex's desk, watching the light change from pink to red to green. "They weren't too thrilled with him needing to spend most of the summer at Hogwarts."
"We can work though Dad, but he'll probably make us write a proposal."
"You think?"
Alex nodded, his full attention on his laptop as he typed on his bed.
"Hmm." Bored, she looked over his tidy room, eying the ever-present collection of rocks on the wall before spotting something interesting on his desk. "What's this?" she asked, pulling at a thick, blue book with metallic grey pages.
Shoving his laptop aside, Alex leapt out of bed. "DON'T!" He snatched it out of her hand before she could open it.
Holly looked at him incredulously. "What's the matter with you? It's just a book!"
"Nothing! It's just something my dad wanted me to read!" Then, before she could take another glance, Alex tossed the book underneath his bed. "Don't worry about it."
Holly narrowed her eyes and waved a glowing hand. "Let me see."
He slapped her hand down. "Stop it!"
"OW! What the hell?!"
A flash of panic went through Alex's eyes. "Sorry! I didn't mean to!" He reached out to her, likely to inspect the injury, but Holly stepped back.
"Must be some book," she muttered. A bruise was forming on her right hand. "Seriously Alex, what's wrong with you?"
Guilt and regret quickly replaced panic, and Holly knew she wouldn't get a straight answer. She huffed. "Never mind."
"Holly—"
"Are you going to tell me what that was about? Honestly tell me what that was about?" She added once Alex poised to speak.
He stared at the floor.
Holly scoffed. "Yeah, I thought so."
She left without a second glance.
Alex frowned but didn't deny the point. "I know. I'm sorry. But I'll make it up to you!"
She turned back to her letter. "Don't you have packing to do?"
"It can wait—"
"Or meet up with your 'out-of-town' friends to play 'football'?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Wouldn't want to interrupt that."
Silence fell. Alex let out a sigh. "No, none of that. I'm serious. How about tomorrow we spend the entire day together, just us two? A film marathon from dusk till dawn, your pick?"
When she didn't respond, Alex added, "I'll make breakfast." Holly shot him an incredulous look. "Okay, Mum will make it before they go. And we can order takeout for lunch and dinner, whatever you want."
The offer was tempting. "What about your parents and the twins?"
"Mum and Dad are taking them shopping for..." he trailed off uncertainly, but Holly rolled her eyes.
"Ah yes, the mysterious annual holiday to an unknown location."
"Holly—" he began.
"I'm joking."
Alex didn't seem to believe her, but he let the matter drop. "So what do you say?"
Holly thought for several long moments. She was still upset, but the offer of food and one-on-one time was almost too good to pass up. Still, she wasn't about to make it easy for him. "I don't know…"
"Please? We can get as much food as you want, I promise."
"Hmm…"
Alex climbed over to her branch. Once he was steady, he clasped his hands together, tilted his head and pouted.
She covered her eyes. "Not the pout!" Holly hadn't expected it's return after so long. After a moment she chanced a peek, hoping that he had stopped.
But Alex simply continued to stare at her, widening his eyes for increased effect.
"Alright, alright!"
He beamed. "Yes!"
Holly rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the funny feeling in her insides. "I'm holding you to that unlimited food promise," she warned.
But Alex's smile didn't waver. "I'm alright with that."
~•~
The next morning, Holly arrived at seven am—not quite dawn, but five was far too early for her. Alex answered the door the moment she knocked, proving he was serious about making amends. His mother was already hard at work in the kitchen preparing breakfast. They were soon treated to sweetened drop scones, bacon and eggs, buttered bread, and sausage sandwiches. Once they had their fill and the rest of the Kanns left, Holly joined Alex in the living room. Part of Holly wondered how Alex convinced his parents to let them spend unsupervised time together, but she figured they'd come to some sort of agreement.
"What do you want to watch first?" asked Alex as he opened a brown bag of crisps. Perhaps oddly, it was brandless, as about half of the Kanns' groceries were.
Holly thought back at the films she remembered seeing adverts for. "Monsters vs Aliens," she decided.
He gave her an odd look but agreed, setting the movie up.
That kicked off the marathon. At noon they ordered pizza during Knowing, and both were in stitches during The Onion Movie, but by Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging Alex was bored silly.
"You alright?" she asked in between bites of leftover crust.
He blinked with a start as he lifted his head from a couch pillow. "Huh? Oh, yeah. It's…interesting."
Holly laughed at the bad lie. "Iron Man or Men in Black?"
But before he could say anything, the telly cut to a breaking news announcement.
"The public is again warned that the escaped convict, Sirius Black is armed and extremely dangerous. A special hot line has been set up, and any sighting of Black should be reported immediately."
Alex rolled his eyes at the interruption. "That's been playing for the last week," he said. "They don't give any other info except his name and picture."
Said information was displayed on the screen. The man's dirty, gaunt face was surrounded by a matted, elbow-length tangle of hair. His shadowed eyes were the only part of his appearance that seemed even remotely alive.
"How often do people even escape from prison nowadays? And how'd he even get a hold of a gun?" The only time she'd seen a gun was when Vernon took one to the cabin they rented to hide from Hagrid. Holly suspected it was illegally acquired, but had no way to know for sure.
Alex frowned in thought. "Now that you mention it, it's strange they didn't mention anything else about him. No date of birth, what he's in for, where he escaped from, things like that. And there's hardly any mention of it online."
"You don't think he's a wizard, do you?" Black wasn't an uncommon surname, but the only time she had heard of the name 'Sirius' was through Alex's space obsession.
"I'll ask Mum once she gets back," he said. "But I think it's pretty likely."
Holly felt her hope for a normal school year fade away. "Oh."
Alex patted her on the back. "Don't worry, Holly, I'm sure they wouldn't let Black run around without sending some guards or something."
She sighed. "That's what I'm afraid of. I mean, between the—Lockhart's Dark magic, and Malfoy getting dismissed, and the Muggle Protection Act, it's been difficult to—"
"Muggle Protection Act?" interrupted Alex.
Holly briefly explained the gist of the law Ron's father had created.
"What?" she asked when Alex made a face. "What's wrong with the Act?"
Alex glanced between the telly and her before deciding to answer. "Well…doesn't it seem a bit heavy-handed?"
"How so?"
"Well, isn't it already illegal to enchant items that hurt Muggles? Why make a whole new law for it?"
"Because it lets the Misuse Office better prosecute people who break it!" said Holly. How could he not see how important it was to the Statute?
Alex shrugged. "It's the way you said it was worded that bothers me. It makes it illegal to enchant any Muggle item that behaves in a way that it's not supposed to. If you wanted to make something run on magic instead of electricity, that's illegal. So are broomsticks, for that matter. Technically they're meant to sweep, not fly."
"But—"
"And there's the fact that it would give the office much more power. They'd be judge, jury, and executioner, basically. Why do that when there are already entire departments that already overlook that stuff, and could do a better job at it?"
Holly frowned. Now that she thought about it, the law did seem a bit power-hungry… "But Ron's dad wouldn't abuse the law like that!"
Turning down the film's volume, Alex raised a brow. "Didn't he go after Malfoy with it?"
"It's Malfoy, Alex! He had a cursed book!"
"And haven't you considered that some Squibs live in Muggle areas, too? What if they need to blend in and can't because of that law? What about immigrants? What about Muggle-made imports? The law would allow him to decide all of that, and there would be no stopping him from throwing anyone he finds in violation into prison on some 'dark magic' charge."
"Are you serious?"
"And you said that he has an enchanted car that flies!" Alex scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Talk about hypocritical!"
Holly gritted her teeth. Telling Alex about the Weasley's enchanted car was coming back to bite her. "You don't understand."
"Why, because I'm a Muggle?" snapped Alex. Then he blinked. "Wait a moment, cursed book? Why would Malfoy and a cursed book have anything to do with the Weasleys? Didn't you say Lockhart was behind everything?"
Annoyance turned to shock in an instant. "Um…"
"Unless Lockhart wasn't behind it, was he?" Alex's eyes widened in realisation. "Malfoy gave a cursed book to one of the Weasleys, didn't he? To discount the Muggle Protection Act? That explains everything!"
"Who said anything about a cursed book?" asked Holly, trying to sidestep the questions. Why had she mentioned the book? "Look, we're missing the film—"
"No no no, you're the one that brought up a cursed book that the Malfoys had." Alex turned off the telly and turned to face her. "Somehow I don't think I got the full story."
Holly folded her arms, staring him straight in the eye. "It's not really my story to tell, Al."
"But—"
"Look Alex, there are just some things I can't talk about right now. Other people were involved and it wouldn't be fair to them." The last thing she was going to do was betray Ron's trust.
There was silence for a long moment before Alex finally let out a sigh. "Alright."
"Good," she said, and turned the telly back on.
