Alexandra Potter

Chapter 6

Part 2/3

Alex, hurt, looked at Susan in confusion. She'd liked Daphne. She thought they were going to be friends. What had made her so angry?

"What just happened?" asked Alex.

Susan looked distinctly uncomfortable. "It's complicated," she said to her lap. "And the fact that you even have to ask is, I guess, part of it. Lots of the old families really don't like Muggles, or Muggleborns."

"Muggleborn being someone with Muggle parents?" asked Alex.

"Right. Daphne, Sophie, and, well, me... we're what's called Purebloods: people with magical parents and grandparents and so on. People with Muggle parents are Muggleborns. And people who are a combination of both - with both magical and Muggle ancestors - are Half Bloods."

Alex frowned.

"Is there any difference?" she asked, concerned. It sounded like she was a Half Blood. It made her sound inferior. "I mean, are Purebloods more powerful, or something?"

"Well, no, not really. I don't think so, at least. I mean, Purebloods tend to be better at magic... but there are plenty of powerful Muggleborns."

It was a political thing, then, Alex thought with relief. That suited Alex fine - magic was what was really important. She'd show them exactly what a Half Blood could do.

"So what made Daphne angry? I'm not a Muggleborn," said Alex, still a bit confused.

"Not in blood," said Susan, and there was a reproving tone to her voice. "But... well, honestly? You act like one. Saying Muggles are just wizards without magic: that's something Muggleborns are famous for thinking, when they arrive. When you said you were raised by Muggles, I bet Daphne asked you it deliberately, to see what you'd say."

Alex opened her mouth to reply, but closed it again before she'd say something she regretted. Speaking too quickly was what had sent Daphne off - she didn't want to offend Susan too. Daphne's scheming surprised her - she hadn't given Alex time to think. That sneaky bitch! She set me up! The moment she'd heard that Alex was raised by Muggles, she'd assumed the worst - and Alex had said exactly what Daphne wanted.

Alex quickly decided that friends like Daphne weren't worth having. She refused to get upset about it - clearly they'd never have got on, if Daphne was such a bitch. If it wasn't this, it would've been something else. An important issue remained, though.

"So, what is the difference between wizards and Muggles, other than magic?" she asked, curious. "I know wizards live longer, but..."

"That's 'cause of magic, too," said Susan. "Most of the physical differences like that are really magic, I think. Dad says that the real difference between wizards and Muggles is our society. The way we think, stuff like that."

Alex remembered undressing in Madam Malkin's in front of Malfoy. It was different, sure, but it wasn't that different. It sounded like Susan was exaggerating - what did she know about Muggles, anyway? If she was like Sophie, she probably hadn't ever met one.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to wait before deciding. Maybe there really was some big difference she hadn't seen yet.

"So what house do you think you'll be in?" asked Susan - an obvious attempt at changing the subject. The Houses of Hogwarts - Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff - were pretty big deals, as far as Alex could tell from A History of Magic. Whenever a famous historical figure was introduced, their House was mentioned: Dumbledore was a Gryffindor, Harold Porter had been a Ravenclaw, Brandon Swann a Slytherin.

"I don't know," Alex said. She really had no idea - she didn't even know how it was decided. "I don't know much about the system - only the names, really."

"Oh, it's quite simple!" said Susan, and then she was off, describing each of the Houses. She started with her favourite, Hufflepuff - the house of loyalty and hard work. Maybe I'll be a Ravenclaw, Alex thought when she heard the description. Or a Slytherin.

They continued to talk about the Houses - taking guesses at how they would be decided - until they were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the boy from Madam Malkin's - Malfoy. Susan beckoned him in.

"Hi!" said Susan, standing up as he came in. And then she curtsied. An actual curtsey. A proper one too, not just a little bob. Alex stood up, but she sure as hell wasn't going to curtsey to some kid.

Malfoy smiled.

"Draco Malfoy," he said, greeting Alex first, and he leaned over to her. She kissed the air next to him, and felt his lips brush her cheek - more than was necessary, she thought.

"Alexandra Potter," she replied, not exactly sure why she suddenly chose to use her full name. They were all acting so formal, she guessed it just felt right.

"I remember," he said, turning to Susan and offering her a kiss too. "You should have told me who you were," he continued, apparently not really upset she hadn't. "You made quite the fool of me, I'd say."

Despite herself, Alex blushed. She hadn't meant any such thing, but Malfoy seemed to almost enjoy that she had.

"So what brings you to our compartment?" asked Susan, sitting back down. Alex joined her, and Malfoy took the seat opposite, lounging with an arm along the top of the seat - taking up as much space as possible.

"Oh, you know, just doing the rounds," he said airily, then looked sharply towards Alex. "I just had the most interesting chat with Daphne."

Alex's temper flared - what rumours was Daphne spreading about her?

"Whatever she said, it was a lie," Alex said, feeling her face burning against her will.

"Good," said Malfoy, "it would be a disaster, if the Girl Who Lived was a Muggle lover." He paused to examine his nails. "I suppose you do agree? That Muggles and Muggleborns are inferior?"

Alex knew what he wanted her to say. What she should say, if she wanted to fit in. That Muggles were inferior to wizards, and Muggleborns less than Purebloods. But she couldn't. Her mother had been a Muggleborn - something that Malfoy seemed willing to pretend wasn't so. She wouldn't betray her parents like that.

"Well," she began, trying to be diplomatic, "Muggles don't have magic, of course, so being a Muggle is definitely worse than being a witch."

Malfoy let out a long-suffering sigh. Drama queen.

"I see I have work to do," he said, standing up. "I'm not willing to give up on you, Alexandra." He gave her a pitying look, as if he was doing her a huge favour. Alex felt another twinge of anger. No one looked down at her like that. No one. "Give me a week or two. I've got some things to show you. Books and stuff. The Muggleborn Mystery, and so on. I'll have my father mail them to me."

He moved to leave. "Susan," he said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek, and then one for Alex too. "I'll talk to you soon, Alexandra."

As soon as he was gone, Alex let out a long breath.

"God, everything is such a mess already," she said. Perhaps this was one of the differences Susan was hinting at - the way people behaved. She'd never had to deal with any of this sort of stuff in the Muggle world. And Malfoy - he wasn't at all like he'd been at Madam Malkin's. He was so... serious. "Is Malfoy a bit, well..."

"Weird?" completed Susan, smiling. "Yeah. I've met him a few times before. He's always trying to act so grown-up, like he's years older than us."

"How come you curtsied?" Alex asked. She'd never seen anyone curtsey except on TV.

"His father's an Earl, you know. The Earl of Salisbury."

"Oh," said Alex. It wasn't really a wizard thing, then. Though she wasn't sure if people still curtsied to Earls in the Muggle world - it's not like you came across an Earl every day. "Should I curtsey too, next time?"

"You only really do it the first time you see someone, I think," said Susan. "I mean, obviously I've met Malfoy before, but this was the first time in a while, so... I guess the rules are complicated. But now you've been introduced, you don't have to. And anyway, you only curtsey to your superiors."

The implication was that Alex wouldn't need to curtsey. But that would mean... she was his equal.

"What're you saying?" Alex said, almost holding her breath.

Susan looked surprised.

"But surely you must know?" she said, absolutely stunned.

"Know what?"

"When King Edward executed the last of the Peverells in the Welsh rebellion, the Earldom of Shrewsbury passed to Alfred Potter... and has remained unbroken ever since."

Alex gaped. She was a... what was the female form of an Earl, anyway? Wait 'til I tell Vernon, she thought, grinning. He'd probably have a heart attack. She could see it now: "People like you? An Earl? This country is going to the dogs!". I wonder if I can make Dudley bow to me?

"How do you know all this?" she asked, still thinking about her new status. It was unnerving that Susan knew more about her family than she did.

"School, of course!" Susan said. "We learnt all about the old families."

Alex hadn't even known there were wizarding primary schools, but she supposed it made sense. What would magical children do all the time, if they weren't at school?

"So... I'm a what? An Earl-ess?"

Susan giggled. "An ear-less!" she said, laughing. Alex laughed too, realising that Susan could be quite clever. She would never have thought of a joke like that.

"Anyway," said Susan, "you're a Countess, not an Ear-less. Only, it's really just a courtesy title until you properly inherit the dignity at seventeen. Really, don't you learn this at Muggle school?"

"Not really," said Alex. Countess Potter. I like the sound of that. "We did some stuff on Kings and Queens, but history is more stuff like the Romans and Greeks and Egyptians and stuff like that."

"Oh, well, I guess that's interesting too," said Susan, sounding mollified.

"Could you tell me more?" said Alex. If she was meant to be a Countess, she should know what it meant.

Susan scrunched up her nose.

"History was never my best subject, you know. Someone like Malfoy or Daphne would be better," - Alex pulled a face - "but I guess I can see what I can remember."

What followed was a long conversation about everything A History of Magic considered "impure history": about how wizards once lived right alongside Muggles and mixed with them freely. Of those wizards, some were favoured by the King of the day, and, like Muggles, were gifted with titles and land.

All noble titles held by wizards were from before the Statute of Secrecy, Alex learned, and there would be no more: when the Statute of Secrecy came into effect, King William III had been Obliviated of knowledge of the magical world, and had forgotten all about the dignities held by wizards. On a few occasions since, they had even been recreated and given to Muggles - the Malfoys' Earldom included. The Ministry of Magic had responded by passing a law establishing the idea of dual dignity, where it was possible for a wizard and a Muggle to separately hold the same title.

"So what are the Bones'?" asked Alex. She remembered Daphne talking about how the Bones family was an old family, which she guessed meant noble in some way.

"Oh, we don't have a title!" she said, a bit too quickly. Oops. Something to be a bit more careful with in future, Alex thought. "Not many do, really, even within the old families."

Someone knocked on the door. It was an older boy with long, sandy-blonde hair. He looked very tall to Alex, and he had a shiny badge clipped to his robes.

"We're approaching Hogsmede," he said, just poking his head around the door. "You should change into your school robes soon."

And then he left, moving down to the next compartment, presumably to give the same information.

Susan stood up on the seat and opened her trunk, reaching for her robes. Alex did the same, with a bit more trouble, as she hadn't thought she'd need to access her clothes on the train. It looked like Susan had known, as she'd packed them right at the top.

With the casualness displayed at Madam Malkin's, Susan began to change, not even bothering with the privacy screen. Alex shrugged and joined in - it wasn't as if she was taking her underwear off or anything.

When she was changed, Alex replaced her Muggle clothes in her trunk, and pulled out her wand. At last, she'd be able to carry it! She found the loop on the inside of her robe easily, and slipped the wand through it, the loop catching the handle.

They had barely finished dressing when the train began to slow, pulling into a small station. It wasn't even a station, Alex thought as she looked out the window. It was just a platform in the middle of nowhere.

The sun was beginning to set as they exited the train, leaving their stuff behind. The cool air was refreshing after so long inside, and for a moment Alex just enjoyed it - the Dursleys rarely went to the country. She'd never been this far from home.

"Firs' years, this way!" someone shouted, and they walked towards it to find the biggest man Alex had ever seen. He was easily eight feet tall and wider than Vernon by far.

He nodded to himself as a crowd of first years began to gather around him - many looking up at him with something like fear. Alex looked back to see the older years walking down a cobbled path and getting into carriages without horses. Apparently first years had some other means of getting to the school.

"Alrigh', looks like every'uns 'ere," the huge man said, holding up a lantern. "Follow me."

They walked off into the trees, the hush of excited whispering filling the air. There was a strange atmosphere to the place, and Alex found herself whispering too.

"Is he human?" she asked Susan. She hadn't known people could get that big.

"No clue," Susan replied, copying her whisper. "He's unnaturally big, that's for sure. But I've never seen anyone like it."

They emerged from the trees to a rocky and muddy shore, a small cove on what looked like a truly massive lake. A line of small boats were bobbing on the water, within reach of the edge of the water.

"Come on then, four to a boat!" the man said, getting into one all to himself. He looked ridiculous in it, hunched with his knees up, but Alex quickly moved to follow, trying not to get too wet. Susan followed her, and they got into a boat with two other girls.

The big man raised a pink umbrella.

"Forward!" he shouted, and the boats began moving of their own accord, sailing out into deeper water. It was when they turned out of the cove that Alex got her first sight of Hogwarts.

She gasped along with all the others, looking up at the glittering lights. It was magnificent. A huge, pristine castle stood atop a large outcrop to their right, an eclectic mix of towers, ramparts and keeps. Facing them was a long, tall hall with huge arched windows, glowing from within with warm light.

Their boats headed towards the castle, and Alex craned her neck to keep looking at it as they got closer - it was quite high up. They eventually passed through a arch carved into the rock into a small indoor dock. Little jetties lined the stone shore, and a flight of steps led to a large wooden door. They got out of the boats and followed their guide up the stairs, where he knocked on the door with his massive fist.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

The door opened to reveal Professor McGonagall.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said, not unkindly. "I'll take them from here. Follow me, everyone."

McGonagall led them into the castle, where their long ascent began. Alex tried not to be too obvious about gaping at everything, but it was hard. The castle was obviously magical. The large, airy halls were full of moving portraits, and sometimes she could see a staircase moving of its own accord. McGonagall spoke to them as they walked.

"In just a moment, you will be sorted into a Hogwarts House: Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff. Your House will be a family to you while you are here, and it is expected that you will do your utmost to further the prestige and success of your House."

They passed into a long corridor and walked its full length before turning a corner, passing through a door into a large antechamber. Here McGonagall stopped in front of another door, and turned to face them.

"Every House," she continued, "has a long and rich history, and our sorting process is quite rigorous - people are rarely disappointed with their sorting. I must impress upon you, however: there are no resortings. To ask for one is not just pointless, it is also a great insult to your House. If you find yourself dissatisfied, give it time. I'm sure you will learn to love your House, soon enough."

And with that she opened the door and beckoned them through. They were led into a large hall, cathedral-like, lit by hundreds of floating candles. A large semicircular table was to their right, at which the teachers sat, with the centre seat occupied by an old man with a long white beard. Dumbledore, Alex thought. The rest of the student body was to her left, sitting at four long tables, each of which ran the length of the hall.

"The first years, Professor Dumbledore," said McGonagall, stopping to stand next to a stool with a hat on. Whatever it was, it was centre stage.

"Then let the sorting begin!" Dumbledore replied, his voice carrying a strength which belied his apparent age.

All eyes turned to the hat. This is nothing like any of our guesses, Alex thought. What on earth was a hat going to do?

As if hearing her question, the hat opened along the brim like a mouth, and began to sing.

A thousand years or more ago,

Four friends did meet in this chateau.

The greatest of the age, they were,

To no others did they defer.

They sought to make a magic school,

For tired were they of inept rule.

The best and brightest, they called forth,

For their knowledge, all travelled North.

From the start, the four selected

those who they themselves reflected.

They left behind their fam'ly name,

While here, they shared a Founder's fame.

Gryffindor was a mighty man,

he prefered those who never ran.

Slytherin, now, he valued wiles:

the right plan can take you miles.

Ravenclaw loved to learn new things.

To knowledge, a Ravenclaw clings.

For Hufflepuff, maligned but true,

Betrayal was the most taboo.

So put me on, I'll tell you where

you belong, what colours to bare.

The hall erupted into applause and the hat bent over several times, as if bowing. Eventually, McGonagall raised her hand and the clapping stopped.

"When I call your name," she said, turning to the first years, "come forward and place the hat on your head." She flicked her wand and a long sheaf of parchment appeared from nowhere. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A slightly plump blonde haired girl stepped forward and was promptly sorted into Hufflepuff, which applauded wildly for her. The moment she took the hat off, Alex saw that her robes had taken on the colours of her House. With a little prompting from McGonagall, Hannah rushed over to her new House table, where a new place popped into existence.

"Bones, Susan!" called McGonagall, and Alex gave her a smile.

Susan took a bit longer than Hannah, but it wasn't long before the hat shouted "Hufflepuff!" and Susan was rushing over to join Hannah, a grin on her face.

And so it went. Some people were very quick, some were much longer, but Alex knew none of them and watched only with detached interest. But then, after a girl called Hermione took forever, a name she recognised was called.

"Greengrass, Daphne!"

Alex tried to glare holes into the girl's back as she went to be sorted, but she had yet to manifest laser eyes, so she satisfied herself with hoping the hat would tell Daphne to go home. But it was not to be.

"Slytherin!" shouted the hat, and Daphne went to join the students wearing green and silver.

A few more students went through, before McGonagall paused, apparently surprised by something. But she recovered almost immediately.

"Lestrange, Astrid!" she called, and whispering erupted over the hall. A pretty girl with long black hair and pale skin walked out from the dwindling crowd of unsorted. She held her chin high, and appeared to not care at all about the whispers.

She put the hat on, and they waited. And waited. At last -

"Ravenclaw!" shouted the hat, and Lestrange joined her new house to muted applause.

I wonder what that was all about?

"Malfoy, Draco," joined the Slytherins before the hat had even touched his head, and soon it was Alex's turn.

"Potter, Alexandra!" McGonagall called, and whispers filled the hall, even louder than for Lestrange. People were pointing. A camera flashed, and then the hat was on her head. It was so large it covered her eyes, but she could still hear the murmuring hall beyond.

"Hmm... interesting," a voice said, whispering right by her right ear. "Very interesting. Talent the likes of which I see rarely. My goodness, yes. And a certain thirst for knowledge to match it. A healthy natural curiosity. And ambition in spades. A desire to prove yourself, and be seen doing so. Oh, you'd do well in any house... so where shall we put you?"

Alex wasn't sure if she was meant to reply, so kept quiet. After all, she had no particular preference.

"Slytherin, perhaps?" the hat continued. She thought of Daphne and suddenly felt angry once more. She was spreading rumours about her, Alex knew it.

"Hmm... not healthy, that. There's another side to you, Miss Potter. I see it all here. You're capable of great things... but you must learn the value of people. You rely too much on yourself, I think." Alex's thoughts returned to Anna. "Exactly, Miss Potter. Magic isn't everything, you know. You'll learn that in HUFFLEPUFF!"