Chapter two: good intentions

Every time something funny or weird happened during the day Alicia felt a little sad. Something like seeing a first-year get lost and ask her for directions, a portrait that suddenly yelled at her or a staircase that moved without her wanting to. Those things were typically Hogwarts. And soon enough she would leave the ancient school and all the odd things it had to offer. Over the years she had grown very attached to her life here. Alicia wasn't a straight Outstanding grades kind of Ravenclaw. In the beginning she even wondered why she was picked for the so-called smart house, but over the years she came to realise that people misunderstood what Ravenclaw stands for. Instead of learning for her exams she would get lost in some lore about wand making. Instead of listening to her teachers she would write down possible ingredients for her own experimental potions. For her, Ravenclaw wasn't about 'get good grades and follow the rules' but more like 'get clever in the ways you want'. But maybe that was just her.

Finally she arrived at the Great Hall to catch up with her friends during lunch. She walked down the long tables to find her three best friends sitting there. 'Oh how sweet. You waited for me to start lunch,' she said sarcastically, seeing two half-full plates and one already finished. Michelle rolled her eyes and continued to write down some homework lines. Sophia and Elena looked up at her with expectant expressions.

'So? What did he want? Did you get detention after all?' Elena asked. Alicia merely shrugged. 'Nope. He just wanted to know why I was late. That's it.' Michelle did look up at this point. 'Yes, I would like to know that too. Where were you? I heard some people say something about a turtle in the dungeons. You had anything to do with that?'

Alicia scooped some mashed potatoes on her plate. 'Fire crab. Much more unpredictable than turtles. Yeah, someone had to deal with it.' Sophia giggled at that. 'I heard you got some Slytherin admirers because of that.' Elena giggled too, but Michelle rolled her eyes again. 'One of these days you will overestimate yourself and something is going wrong.' Alicia huffed. 'Why always so negative Mich? I handled it just fine!'

'You didn't even realise you were on fire!' she protested. Michelle sighed and returned to her task. 'It's your life and all that, but I'm just trying to warn you.' Alicia reached across the table to touch her arm. 'I know. Thank you for your concern. But even if I make a mistake one day, I will just have to live through it. Don't worry about me.' Michelle seemed ready to comment on that but decided to keep her mouth shut.

'So how was it to be alone with Professor Lupin?' Elena asked while wiggling her eyebrows. Alicia laughed, partly because it looked funny and partly because the question made her nervous. 'It was magical. Thrilling. Exciting. Like a dream of another world!' she exclaimed with dramatic hand gestures. Elena looked less excited now but she still laughed. Alicia shook her head. 'What do you expect me to say? He just asked why I was late, and after a while he believed me. It was a difficult story to believe, definitely if you don't know me, you know.' The girls giggled and dropped the subject after that. Alicia didn't think it was a good idea to tell them anything more. About their shared love for books, about him complimenting her multiple times or how she felt her heart beating faster and her cheeks flushing the entire time. I was just nervous he would punish me. Yeah, that must be it. Alicia stopped thinking about her new teacher after that for nearly a week.

It was strange to have all the dementors flying around the castle. Alicia was used to trips to Hagrid, walks along the lake and adventures in the woods. Her love for magical creatures had been the reason she bonded with Hagrid so quickly. They had many tea parties and took care of creatures together. In her second year Hagrid had asked her if she wanted to meet the centaur colony in the Forbidden Forest. She had gone gladly and was one of the rare exceptions the centaurs allowed in their camp. Alicia had brought precious gifts for them. They in return told her a lot about star constellations. It was the main reason Alicia was good at Astronomy. After her connection with them she often wandered through the woods by herself, knowing that she was safe.

Now however that was becoming rather hard to do. The dementors seemed to follow her once she got off the paths. Even though she didn't have any interaction with them she definitely didn't want one of those flying dirty sheets to follow her. So trips to Hagrid's place were as far as she dared to go.

'It's a weird situation this,' Hagrid said solemnly, staring out the window. Alicia was placed in a huge chair with a mug big enough for five cups of tea at a time. She had curled her legs beneath her and had gotten a blanket to cover her cold feet. 'They really think that Sirius Black is coming for Hogwarts, aren't they? I received a letter from my mother yesterday. She says not even Gringotts is protected the way Hogwarts is.' Hagrid looked up at the small girl. 'I reckon the same. He better not come here. With those dementors and Dumbledore to deal with. But Black might even be stupid enough to try.'

This caused Alicia to raise her eyebrows. 'Sounds like you knew him.' Hagrid puffed and protested a couple of times before he relented and told her what was on his mind. 'I knew him when he was a student here. Not very well, he wasn't the type to come here for a cup of tea. He was a real troublemaker. I heard that he was responsible for bringing another student in mortal danger. Pff. No wonder he turned out like that.'

Alicia cast her eyes downward. 'One of those typical pureblood types with delusions of grandeur it sounds like.'

Hagrid shrugged. 'I suppose. There was hope when he wasn't sorted into Slytherin. The entire family of Black have always been Slytherins, except for Sirius. He was a Gryffindor.' Alicia made a small noise of surprise. 'Curious. But honestly, sometimes I think Gryffindors are way more dangerous than Slytherins. They have this hero complex don't they. They think everything they do is good because they are sorted in the "good house".'

Hagrid laughed a bit at that. 'Not all of them are like that. Look at little Harry for example. He and his friends are full of good intentions!' Hagrid seemed to beam whenever he spoke of Harry. Alicia knew he saw himself as a father figure for the orphaned boy, but she wondered if the Boy Who Lived felt the same. 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions,' she said quietly.

Hagrid didn't seem to agree or willing to argue, so he changed the subject. 'I'm planning on going to the Three Broomsticks later. I heard some travellers are in town. They might just have some interesting stories to tell. Do you want to come along?' Alicia agreed and soon they were on their way to Hogsmeade.

'Don't do it.'

'I swear I can do it.'

'I didn't say you couldn't. I'm saying you shouldn't. You'll get yourself in trouble.'

'It would be worth it. Just think of that little-,'

'I know what you are trying to do but I'm not going to let you do something irrational and dangerous as that! You should know better.'

'I do know better. But there is a life at stake here! Hagrid, you of all people should understand!'

To Alicia it felt like their discussion had already been going on for an hour, but in reality It had been minutes. The Ravenclaw sat on the tip of her chair, waiting for the opportune moment to jump out of it. But she knew Hagrid could and would stop her.

Hagrid sighed. 'You are not pulling me along in this. Alicia, those men are dangerous.' She huffed. 'You wanted to talk with them in the first place! Interesting travellers, right?' She gave him a smile, hoping to convince him.

'I wanted to talk to them, you want to gamble and cheat them! No way Alicia. Drink your butterbeer and then we will be heading back,' Hagrid spoke like a true guardian. There goes my chance of persuading him. Alicia fell back against her chair and crossed her arms like a moody teenager. She knew she was too old for this behaviour but she also really wanted it to go her way. After Hagrid and herself had entered the bar they had quickly spotted the newcomers. There was a small crowd gathered around them. One man was bragging about his latest self-invented spells while another, shady-looking man seemed to have many valuable objects hidden in his coat. As he opened it to show an interested wizard his collection, Alicia recognized a small silver egg in his pocket. It was an Occamy egg, very rare in Europe and very valuable because of the silver. Alicia also immediately realised that that poor little Occamy was never going to hatch alive if it stayed in the shady man his pocket, or if he traded it with anyone.

So after a while the men seemed interested in a game of exploding snap and were gambling away their goods with the locals. Alicia had set her mind to playing and winning that egg, but she had trusted Hagrid with her plan and now he stood in her way.

However, two third-year students walked up to Hagrid because they had an urgent question, and Alicia saw her chance to slip away. She reached the table with the shady men and slammed a hand filled with sickles down.

'So, who wants to play?'