Alexandra Potter
Chapter Eight: Hogsmeade
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It didn't take long for Alex to adapt to life at Hogwarts. She quickly established herself at the top of every class, and spent most of her free time satisfying her vociferous appetite for books. If baffled her, sometimes, how her classmates struggled so much with magic. It didn't help that they barely tried - hardly anyone had read their books, and very few read anything extra. Perhaps it made sense for the Purebloods - they were used to magic. But the Muggleborns? Alex thought they'd all be like her: eager to learn everything. By the time October rolled around, she'd read seven books - soon to be eight - and the list of books she wanted to read was growing faster than she could keep up.
Of course, not all of her classmates had problems with magic. Susan was pretty clever, and Astrid Lestrange - always quiet, always at the back of the class - did well. But it was Hermione Granger who nipped at Alex's heels, always in second place. At first Alex had been content to ignore her, but the Gryffindor girl had quickly become very annoying. Every time Hermione answered a question correctly, every time she received a teacher's praise or won points, she would turn to look at Alex with a look of smug success.
It was infuriating.
And so Alex gave as good as she got. She cast her spells faster, with more detail, with greater precision, with ever-increasing control. A few lessons ago, when they were studying the Levitation Charm, she'd even tried her hand at Spell Extension and adjusted the spell to take multiple objects. And where before Alex had been happy to work on her own, near the back, experimenting and trying to perfect her spellwork, now she sat near the front - always near Hermione - and made sure the teachers saw everything she did.
And then she'd return Hermione's smug look. Sometimes, after she had successfully cast a spell, she would find some excuse to walk past Hermione's desk, and make some disparaging comment about the other girl's work. "Is that a cat?" she might ask, cocking her head as she looked at what was clearly Hermione's attempt to shape her wood into a dog. Another time, when they were practicing forming a single object from several: "I didn't know we were meant to be working that small," she'd said, looking pointedly between Hermione's work and her own, larger and more detailed, model.
Such interactions always brought Alex a thrill of pleasure, especially as Hermione continued to act as if there was genuine competition between them - despite Alex's continued victories. As if they were equals.
Her relationship with Daphne, however, was considerably less satisfying. The Slytherin girl continued to harass Alex, finding every excuse to lay on some new abuse. The "Muggle-lover" insults hadn't stopped, and Alex now had to endure hearing it from almost the whole year. But now, at least, her attackers didn't escape unscathed.
It was in a Herbology class early in October that Alex discovered a new way to avoid Daphne.
"Now, does everyone have their flasks of bull semen?" asked Professor Sprout, standing at the head of the large wooden bench which dominated the greenhouse.
"Yes, Professor," mumbled the students, who were standing in pairs around the bench. They were studying Masochistic Marigold - a colourful yellow-orange flower with lots of ruffles and a bushy green undergrowth.
Their Marigolds, though, were looking distinctly unhealthy: the flowers were shriveled, and the stems droopy. It was their job to revive them - using a selection of glass flasks containing the most disgusting substances known to Professor Sprout: pig's blood, bull semen, troll mucus, and a number of similar fluids. The Masochistic Marigold's health, beauty, and potency in Potions depended on a regular diet of the foulest ingredients; the focus of the day's lesson was to find the best - or worst - combination of feed. Vincent the Vile was famous for perfecting the formula, and his marigolds were sought the world over.
"Shall we try the pig's blood first?" said Alex to her partner, choosing the least nauseating option.
"All right," said Malfoy, flipping his book open. "It says here blood should be body temperature for the best effect. Is it?"
Alex held her hand to the glass.
"Nope," she said, pulling out her wand. "But let's see..." She drew a circle around the flask, before jabbing at it. "Calortendo," she said, and the blood warmed up to exactly 98 Fahrenheit.
Malfoy looked at her in surprise. And, if Alex wasn't mistaken, admiration.
"Your Charms class must be ahead of mine," he said, feeling the now-warm glass. It wasn't, of course: Alex had found the spell in 10 Essential Charms for the Stranded Witch or Wizard. She decided not to make an issue of it.
"Does the book say anything about how much to give it?" she said as she uncorked the flask. Malfoy flicked through a few pages.
"I don't think so. It says it should be dripped onto the flower from a height, though." He read a few more lines. "As if from an actual bleeding person. Brilliant."
Alex scrunched up her nose, at both Malfoy and the pungent tang of blood.
"Okay, pass me a pipette," she said, her voice sounding rather nasal as she tried to breathe only through her mouth. He followed her command, and passed her a thin glass tube with a screw top, like a fountain pen reservoir. She dipped it in the blood, then allowed a few drops of blood to fall on the flower from above. The flower perked up immediately - not fully healthy by any means, but it seemed to stand a bit straighter, and the colour of the petals grew stronger.
Alex wrote down some notes in her table. Malfoy didn't bother.
"Okay," she said. "Now you do the bull... you know." Alex blushed, pushing the flask of white liquid towards Malfoy with a single disgusted finger.
"You know, I've been meaning to talk with you," said Malfoy with forced casualness as he worked. "I told you I'd talk with you about the Muggleborn Issue. I've got some books in my bag, if you want."
"Hang on, why're you using a spoon?" Alex interrupted, changing the topic to buy time. It was true, she was rather ignorant about the whole issue of Muggles and Purebloods. It was one of the many things Daphne lorded over her. But did she actually want to become like Daphne?
"What else would I use?" said Malfoy. His lip was curled in disgust as he looked at the spoon.
"Well," Alex said, her cheeks burning. "If the blood was meant to be like a person bleeding, shouldn't this be more like..." she trailed off, trying to find the right words. "...squirty?"
"Oh," said Malfoy, joining Alex in embarrassment. "OH. Okay. I'll, um, get a, er..."
"I think a syringe would work," mumbled Alex. Why did I say anything?
"So, do you want the books?" said Malfoy as he used a syringe to shoot lines of bull semen over the leaves of the flower. He was studiously not looking anywhere near Alex. "They're very good. Did you know that after Grindelwald's War, there was a fifty per cent increase in Muggleborn births for ten years?"
"No, I didn't," said Alex, not exactly sure how that was useful information.
"Don't you see?" said Malfoy, getting more excited now. His squirting got more enthusiastic, and the flower seemed to grow before them. Alex edged away slightly. "The two are connected - the fall in Pureblood numbers and the increase in Muggleborns. According to Oswald, it means there's only a certain amount of magic in the world. Every time a Muggleborn appears, it means less magic for Pureblood children. More squibs, or fewer births."
Alex could think of a couple of problems with that idea, but decided to say nothing. Maybe they were discussed in the books.
"All right, I'll look at the books," she said, mentally rearranging her reading plan. She'd have to put off reading The Arithmancer's Atlas. Arithmancy wasn't studied at Hogwarts until third year, but a lot of her reading was talking about it, and she wasn't really understanding those bits. Iron Will, for example, had talked about the arithmetical stability of substances. Alex had no idea what that meant - and she needed to, if she wanted her Transformations to last.
"Okay, let's give the dung a go," Malfoy said when the syringe ran out.
Oddly enough, the dung had very little effect on the plant. If anything, it seemed to wither it.
"I wonder if it's because it's a fertiliser..." Alex said as she took notes, mostly to herself. It was because she was so busy writing that she failed to notice Daphne's approach. Malfoy, however, was more observant.
"Daphne, how good of you to visit us," he said loudly. Alex spun around, just quick enough to see Daphne hiding something behind her back.
"Draco," said Daphne, her voice neutral. She looked annoyed.
"What've you got there, Daphne?" he replied, craning his neck as if to look around her.
"Nothing!" she replied rather quickly. Caught red-handed.
Malfoy smirked. "I knew your family had fallen on hard times... but really? Stealing from the greenhouses? Perhaps you should ask Weasley for tips."
A few eavesdroppers laughed and Daphne's face twisted in anger.
"Of course, if you'd like a job, I'm sure my father can find something for you on our estate," he drawled. "Something appropriate to your talents."
The laughter grew, then, though Alex didn't understand why. She'd have to ask Susan later. Daphne, though, looked like she knew exactly what he was talking about. She spun around and practically ran out of the greenhouse.
"Miss Greengrass!" called Professor Sprout from the other side of the class, shocked, but Daphne was gone. Sprout turned back to the class. "If, when I return, you aren't all working hard, it'll be detention for anyone messing around. Understand?"
"Yes, Professor," the class mumbled, and with a nod Sprout went after Daphne.
Alex turned to Draco.
"That was brilliant," she said. "I've never seen anyone deal with her like that."
Draco smirked. "That?" he said, clearly pleased with how everything had gone. "That was nothing."
"Still, thank you," Alex said. Maybe she should hang around Draco more. He wasn't so bad, no matter what the Gryffindors said.
"You know," said Draco, and there was an odd tone to his voice. "There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up in a few days. If you wanted, we could, um, well, that is... we could go... together?"
Alex went to say something, but then her brain caught up with what he had said. She shut her mouth in surprise. He was asking her out? She was so surprised she spoke without thinking.
"I'm already going with Susan," she blurted out, and Draco's hopeful face fell.
"Of course," he said stiffly.
"But... maybe next time," Alex added. That gave her time to think. Did she want to go out with Malfoy?
"I'd like that," said Draco, and they turned back to their work quickly when Professor Sprout walked back in, Daphne in tow. It looked like she'd been crying, Alex thought with glee.
"Back to work, everyone!" barked Sprout when she saw they were all just standing around talking. "You have to write this up for homework, and if you have no data it'll be your own fault!"
Alex and Draco shared a grin when they looked at Malfoy's rather blank notes.
"Here," said Alex, pushing hers over. "Copy mine."