The first week flew by, Alice enjoying all of her classes, well, exept for History of Magic, as the teacher was a ghost who droned on, making it very hard to concentrate on what he was saying, almost causing Alice to fall asleep. She decided that she would learn more about that subject in her spare time, and use the lesson to work on her homework, which wasn't that much since she went through it easily, not finding it hard at all.
She would enjoy the potion class more, finding the subject very interesting, if it wasn't for Professor Snape. She knew that he was a double agent, spying on the bad side for the good side, but that didn't mean that she had to like him. She found it very unnecessary that he was mean towards the Gryffindor students, taking points away for no reason, and favoured the Slytherin students.
In her spare time she worked ahead in her classes, and spent time with Harry and Ron and also the twins and their friends, who were starting to become her friends too.
She was talking to Harry and Ron when they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room that made Harry and Ron groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday – and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.
"Typical." Harry said darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."
"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," Ron said. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."
OxO
It was Thursday, and Alice was sitting with Ron, Harry, and Neville, who's just gotten a small package. He opened it excitedly and showed them all a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of smoke.
"It's a Remembrall!" He explained. Alice thought the thing was a bit worthless, it would show you that you've forgotten something, but not what you've forgotten. "Gran knows I forget things – this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red – oh…" His face fell as the Remembrall suddenly glowed scarlet.
"You've forgotten something." Alice remarked.
Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of Neville's hand. Harry and Ron jumped to their feet, which Alice still found pointless, but McGonagall was there in a flash.
"What's going on?" She asked.
"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor." Neville said.
Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the ball back on the table. "Just looking." He said, and with a nod towards Alice, sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.
That afternoon, after their other classes had ended, the Gryffindor first years hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn. The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty-one broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Alice had heard Fred and George complain often about the school brooms, and she wasn't looking forward to using them. She turned towards their teacher, Madam Hooch, who had just arrived.
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" She barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up." Alice went to stand next to one and looked down at it, wrinkling her nose in distaste as she saw how poorly it had been treated. "Stick your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front. "And say 'UP!'"
"UP!" Everyone shouted. The broom jumped straight into Alice's hand, and out of the corner of her eyes she saw that Harry's did too, as a few others.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips, complementing Alice as she passed.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard." Said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle – three – two –" But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" She shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle. Alice, thinking fast, pushed up into the air and flew towards the nervous boy. "You too, girl!" Madam Hooch shouted after her, but Alice ignored her.
"Neville, listen to me." She started in a calm voice as he kept rising. Neville looked at her, his eyes wide with fear. "You need to lean forward, that will lower the broom and bring you back to the ground." Neville was flying higher by the second. "Can you do that?" Neville nodded, shaking from head to toe. He leaned forward but gave too much pressure, causing him to crash into the ground, twisting his ankle. Alice landed safely, and hurried over to him, as did Madam Hooch.
"Twisted ankle," She muttered. "Come on, boy – it's alright, up you get." Madam Hooch helped him up. She turned to Alice. "Five points to Gryffindor for helping him." Then she turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say ' Quidditch.' Come on, dear." Neville, his face tear-streaked, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.
When they were out of earshot, Malfoy burst into laughter. "Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins joined in.
"Shut up, Malfoy." Parvati Patil, a girl in Alice's year, who she didn't like that much, snapped.
"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin with a face like a pug, taunted. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry-babies, Parvati."
Alice locked eyes with Draco, sending him a slightly disappointed look, from which he quickly averted, his eyes falling on the Remembrall Neville must've dropped. "Look!" He said, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him." The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.
Alice just looked at him and shook her head, deciding that she didn't give a damn about the flying lesson anymore, she already knew how it would turn out. Draco would fly off with the ball, Harry would follow him, catch the ball when Draco would throw it, be seen by McGonagall, and be made seeker for the Quidditch team. So she turned around and walked back towards the castle, deciding that she could use the time to explore it.
When she was inside, she stumbled over her shoelace, which had come undone, and tripped into a bare piece off wall. Instead of crashing against it, however, she heard a 'click' and felt the wall moving with her body weight. It swung open into a dark hallway with a wooden door at the end, and the seal of Ravenclaw carved into it.
This must be the secret Ravenclaw library, she thought as she walked towards the door. She had read about it in the journals her ancestor left behind.
When she put her hand on the door to push it open, a blue light engulfed her for a few seconds, the magic cast upon the room checking to see if she was a Ravenclaw heir or not. As she was one, the door opened, and a grin formed on Alice's face as she looked around at the walls covered with books. There stood a table in the middle of the room, and upon it lay a note. Alice walked over and picked it up.
If you have stumbled upon this room, it must be because you are a descendant of Rowena Ravenclaw, one of the four founders of Hogwarts, school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
May this library provide you with the knowledge you seek.
My only request is that you leave this note for others to find.
You need only ask.
"Cool." Alice breathed as she laid down the note and looked around, trying to think of a question to ask the room but not a single one coming to mind.
Walking along one of the bookcases, she spotted a book with a silver cover, 'Powers of the Founder's Heirs' written along the spine. She picked it up and looked around, spotting a navy coloured chair and walking over to it. As she sat down she opened the book, and started reading about that the castle would listen to her, change its hallways to accommodate her. She also read that it was possible for her to fire the current Headmaster and appoint a new one, and that she didn't need a password to enter the common rooms of the houses of which she was a descendant.
Two hours passed and she heard her stomach growling, demanding food. Alice took out her wand and cast the spell that would let her see what time it was, and realised that it was time for dinner. She put the book down on the table, watching it fly back to the shelf as soon as she let go of it, and rushed towards the exit, halting in her steps as she saw the four doors that had appeared in the dark hallway of which she entered. She read the plaques and discovered that one of them was back the way she entered, another one was the Ravenclaw common room, the third was the Gryffindor common room – the castle must have sensed that she was an heir of both – and the last one was a door to the Headmaster's office. She went through the door which led to the way she had entered, and stepped out into the Entrance Hall, immediately walking towards the giant doors which led to the Great Hall.
She sat down next to Ron, who had a piece of kidney pie halfway to his mouth.
"Seeker?" He said to Harry, who was sitting across from them. "But first years never – you must be the youngest house player in about a –"
"A century." Harry said, shovelling pie into his mouth. "Wood told me. I start training next week. Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."
"I'm officially jealous." Alice said, chewing on a piece of steak. "I'd love to try out for the Quidditch team.
Alice saw Fred and George come into the hall, hurrying over to them. They sat down on both sides of Alice, kissing her on both cheeks as they did, their usual greeting.
"Well done," George said in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too – Beaters."
"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."
"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."
"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."
Fred and George had hardly disappeared when Draco, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle, showed up.
"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"
"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. Alice figured he must be talking about what transpired after she left the flying class.
"I'd take you on anytime on my own." Said Draco. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only – no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?"
Ron cut in. "Of course he has. I'm his second, who's yours?"
Draco looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up. "Crabbe. Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."
When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other. "What is a wizard's duel?" Harry asked. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"
"Well, a second's there to take over if you die." Ron said casually.
Alice saw the look on Harry's face. "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Draco'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he won't even show up tonight, though."
"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" Harry asked.
"Throw it away and punch him on the nose." Ron shrugged. "Excuse me." The three of them looked up and saw Hermione Granger standing behind them. "Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" Ron said, Alice agreed with him, it was the third time they've been interrupted.
Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry. "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying –"
"Bet you could." Ron muttered.
" – and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."
"And it's none of your business." Harry sassed.
"Good-bye." Alice mockingly waved at the girl, and she huffed and stomped off.
That night, when Alice stepped into bed after finishing her homework for the day, she noticed that Hermione's bed was empty, and sighed, making a quick decision that she wasn't gonna go after them, and snuggled into bed, closing her eyes and falling asleep.
OxO
It was the morning of Halloween, and Professor Flitwick announced in charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly. Professor Flitwick put the class in pairs to practice, Alice's partner was Harry. Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger, which they both weren't happy about.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" Squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too – never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."
Alice, who had been practicing the spell in her spare time, succeeded on the first try, earning her ten points, and spent the rest of the class trying to help Harry, who swished and flicked, but the feather just lay on the desktop.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted at the next table over, waving his long arms like a windmill.
"You're saying it wrong." Hermione snapped. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, making the 'gar' nice and long."
"You do it, then, if you're so clever." Ron snarled.
Hermione then tried and succeeded.
Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry and Alice as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."
Someone knocked into Harry and Alice as they hurried past them. It was Hermione. Alice saw that she was in tears, but couldn't find it in herself to care much.
"I think she heard you." Harry said.
"So?" Ron said, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."
Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. Alice decided that as a small apology on her part for being mean to her, she would take notes of the classes Hermione missed, which she would leave on the girl's bed after classes.
At dinnertime, Alice stepped into the Great Hall and was amazed by all the Halloween decorations, thousands of live bats fluttering from the walls and ceilings, and giant pumpkins standing in the corners. Alice sat down between the twins, and helped herself to the most delicious looking food, joining in on the conversation about Quidditch.
Professor Quirrell then came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Everyone stared as he reached Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped. "Troll – in the dungeons – thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.
As the hall exploded with noise and chaos, Alice glared at the Headmaster. She had felt a disturbance in the wards half an hour ago, and she knew damn well that Dumbledore did too. She decided that she was going to have a little talk with him after the troll had been knocked out by Ron.
"Prefects," Dumbledore rumbled after he set of sparks to bring silence. "Lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"
Percy jumped up. "Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders – " Fred and George snorted at this. " – Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"
Alice was wedged in-between the twins as they made their way to the common room. Alice knew they wouldn't let her out of their sight when the troll was still in the castle – Alice normally found it very endearing that they were protective over her, but this was one of those times where she didn't like it.
When they entered the common room, Fred and George each grabbed one of her hands and pulled her over to a two seated couch against the wall, wedging her between them.
"How do you think a troll was able to get into the castle?" George asked, Alice could see him and his twin looking kind of nervous.
"Well," Alice started, "someone must have let him in, don't you think? The castle's heavily protected against intruders."
Fred and George thought about what she had said.
"Who do you think did it, then?" Fred pondered. "I bet it was Snape."
"I don't think it was him. He was sitting at the table and looked shocked when Quirrell burst in and shouted about the troll." Alice saw an opening to try and tell them the truth. "I recon it was Quirrell himself."
"Why?" Fred asked.
"Well, he wasn't at the feast, and he was the one who told everyone."
Fred and George thought over her words as they all stood up and grabbed a plate of food that had been sent up to the common room
When Harry, Ron, and Hermione came into the common room, Alice set down her plate and excused herself, going up to the first year's dorm room and pressing against an empty space of wall. She felt it move under her hand and stepped into the hallway, which was lit up by torches, unlike last time. She entered the door on her left, the door to the Headmaster's office.
When she stepped into the office, she took a quick look around at all of the trinkets laying everywhere, and noted that it was empty. Alice then made her way over to the desk standing in the middle of the room, and took place on the small chair in front of it.
It didn't take long before Dumbledore arrived, Alice seeing the old man hesitate as he stepped in, a quick look of surprise flashing over his face before it smoothed out. The ever present twinkle in his eyes was not there, though. He didn't say a word as he walked over to his desk and sat down behind it, laying his arms on the wooden surface.
"Good evening, Professor." Alice greeted him, crossing her legs and making herself comfortable in her chair.
"Good evening, Miss Jones." Dumbledore looked her in the eyes, Alice looking right back. She knew that Dumbledore was a skilled Legilimens, but she had been brushing up on Occlumency herself. She wasn't able to close off her entire mind, but she was able to shield off her past lives, so that no one could find it. It had taken her years to get this close. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Well," Alice started, sending Dumbledore a quick, fake smile as she felt him skid along her memories, feeling him halting as he stumbled across her heritage. "I actually wanted to talk to you about tonight's accident."
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked, exiting her mind.
"About half an hour before Professor Quirrell stumbled into the Great Hall, speaking about a troll being in the dungeons, I felt a slight disturbance in the wards, and I was wondering if you felt it too."
Dumbledore hesitated. "I did feel it, but made a decision to enjoy the feast, having other things on my mind. One of them sitting right in front of me."
"I'm flattered that I was on your mind, sir. May I ask for what reason?" I'll let him play his games. Alice thought. It could turn out to be fun.
"I was actually wondering how it could be that an heir of two founders entered my school without me knowing." Alice heard the enunciation, and smiled, as she knew technically the school belonged to her, no matter who was headmaster. That did mean that Dumbledore didn't know that the school was passed down among generations.
"My mother never went to Hogwarts, and she changed her last name as soon as she married my father, who was a Jones. I was given his last name as I was born. I also don't like to talk about my ancestors."
"Ah, I see." Dumbledore looked down in thought.
"I was wondering, however, about the reason behind you choosing Quirrell for Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher." Alice said. "I mean, you must've known that Voldemort's residing on the back of his head, don't you?"
Dumbledore's eyes snapped at her, and Alice saw the shock written on his face. "How do you know that?"
"I have my ways." Alice gave a vague answer, not wanting Dumbledore to know that she had read the books in her past lives. "I was also wondering why you let Harry stay with those Muggles, knowing damn well that he's being abused over there, them shoving Harry in a cupboard and not feeding him well."
"I did that because – "
Anger flared inside of Alice. "Also why you dumped him on their doorstep in the middle of a cold autumn night."
"I don't have to explain my actions to you, little girl." Dumbledore snapped, Alice could see him losing his cool.
"I am not a little girl." Alice growled, reaching for her wand and grabbing it tight, the magic stick shooting small sparks as she did.
"Yes, you are. You're a first year who knows nothing about the world and I should expel you for talking to your Headmaster, who has allowed you to be at this school, this way." A nasty smile settled on Dumbledore's face.
"You don't have the power." Alice snarled. "And I'm anything but a little girl who doesn't know anything about the world."
"You underestimate me." Dumbledore grabbed his wand.
"No," Alice let out a short, harsh, laugh. "You underestimate me." She jumped up and sent a spell at the desk, shooting it backwards and trapping Dumbledore between his desk and the wall. The paintings of the previous Headmasters gasped. Dumbledore pushed away the desk and sent a red spell at her, which she avoided by taking a step to the side.
Alice then sent three spells at him in quick succession. Alice didn't even know many spells, and she didn't even know which ones she just sent off, but it seemed like her wand did know.
The wand that she tightly held in her hand was one that had lain in a glass cabinet in her mother's house. Once, when she was around four years old, she opened the cabinet and picked up the red and gold wand, a warm feeling engulfing her arm and sparks flying out of the end of it as soon as she touched it. Her mother had told her it was Godric Gryffindor's wand.
Dumbledore threw up a shield, but the spells went right through it, and he fell to the floor, stunned.
Alice allowed herself to look at her wand in wonder and appreciation for a short moment, before she shot into action. She levitated Dumbledore to the small chair she had sat in, and tied him to it. She then used a spell to place everything back to the way it was, and took place in the chair behind the desk, laying Dumbledore's wand, the Elder Wand, in front of her, so that he could see it. She threw her feet up on the desk and pondered about what to do.
She could fire him and appoint a new Headmaster. Or she could let him keep his job but make sure that he would run everything he did by her, and fulfil any demand that she had about the school. She knew that, in her plan to help Harry destroy Voldemort, that she was going to need the support of as many people that she could get, and she knew that by firing Dumbledore she would be hated my many, as Dumbledore was seen as some kind of hero in the Wizarding World. That was enough to make the decision as to keep him as a Headmaster.
Alice conjured a cup of chamomile tea as she thought about how she was going to prove to Dumbledore that she was the legal owner of Hogwarts and that it was in her rights to fire him as Headmaster. Right in front of her, on the desk, a piece of parchment appeared. She picked it up and looked it over, seeing it stated that the heirs were the legal owners, and they could fire him if the majority voted for it. It was signed by Rowena Ravenclaw, Godric Gryffindor, and Helga Hufflepuff, the three of the founders that didn't give up their rights to the school.
That does it. Alice thought, and at that moment Dumbledore woke up.
"How?" He gasped. There were bags under his eyes and more wrinkles than there had been before, Alice wondered why it seemed like his powers had left him.
"I have the blood of two founders, two of the most powerful wizards and wizards, running through my veins. It should be no wonder that I was able to overthrow you." Alice took a sip of her tea as she thought about what she was going to say next. "I have made a decision." She pushed the piece of parchment towards him, enjoying the way he looked shocked as he read over it.
"I'm going to let you keep your position as Headmaster." Alice said, Dumbledore looked at her. "It's just for appearances. I demand that before you make any decision concerning the school and its students, you run them by me, and I will tell you if I approve or not." Dumbledore closed his eyes in defeat. As Alice spoke, another piece of parchment appeared, and every demand she made was written upon it by some invisible quill. "You also won't be able to quit, the only way that you won't be Headmaster anymore is if I fire you or you die." Alice couldn't think of anymore demands that she had. "If you sign this magical contract, you agree to the terms I just stated, you also agree to secrecy, you won't be able to tell anyone of the events that just happened. But most important of all, you agree to follow my every demand."
Alice softly pressed the tip of her wand against the parchment, and her name appeared on one of the lines. She then pushed the parchment over to Dumbledore, together with his wand. She was sure that he wasn't going to attack her, as she had just shown that he wasn't a match for her.
When she untied him with a flick of her wand, Dumbledore picked up his wand and also touched it down on the parchment, signing his name and his status over to Alice. Alice picked up the parchment and rolled it up, willing it to go to the Ravenclaw library, which it did.
"As for my first demand, I don't want you to tell anyone about my heritage." Alice said, Dumbledore nodded. With that, Alice stood up and walked out of the office, arriving back into the hallway of the Ravenclaw library. Just before she closed the door, she heard Dumbledore throw his chair into the wall. He knew just as well as Alice did that Dumbledore had just signed over his power that he had in the Wizarding World, seeing as he now only was the Headmaster by name.