Alexandra Potter
Chapter Nine: Watch Your Mouth
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"... from this, can anyone think of a reason why the Currency Crisis of 1701 is considered the goblins' last rebellion, even though no battles were fought?"
The class was silent. Alex looked around - almost everyone was inspecting the graffiti on the desks. Mr Trent sighed, and turned back to the blackboard. He waved his wand, and the words COMMON FEATURES OF GOBLIN REBELLIONS underlined themselves several times.
"Alex, how about you?" he asked. Predictable. When no one wanted to answer his questions, he always asked her.
"They wanted to reclaim rights from the Ministry," she said, almost as bored as her classmates - though for different reasons. She'd read this months ago. "All goblin rebellions involve a demand for more freedoms."
"Exactly!" said Mr Trent, excited. "Now, in this case they weren't going for wands. No, they played things smarter. They were less ambitious. Terry, what did they want?"
Terry Boot looked up, surprised to be addressed. "Er... wands?"
A true Ravenclaw, that one.
"Please listen, Mr Boot," said Trent, annoyed. But he never gave out detention, so you could do whatever you liked. "No. Not wands. They wanted..." He looked around, hoping someone would finish his sentence for him. Alex kept quiet - she didn't want to be called a teacher's pet, like Hermione. "... they wanted independence! They wanted Gringotts to be considered not just a bank, but a nation. Like an embassy, Gringotts is now sovereign territory."
Astrid - sitting at the back - raised her hand.
"Yes, Astrid?"
"But if it's independent, why can't they do whatever they want? Like use wands."
"Good question!" said Mr Trent. He was always so happy when people actually spoke in class. "The thing is, no nation exists in a vacuum. It's a balance. Since the Ministry's currency collapsed, the goblins have hung a counter over us. They hold all the gold. But at the same time, they know there are some things the Ministry would go to war for, even if it cost them gold. Wands are one of those things." He paused, and looked at his watch. It was almost lunch. "Quickly now: two more reasons why the Currency Crisis counts as a Goblin Rebellion."
Alex wanted to go to lunch, so she put up her hand. Mr Trent looked for other hands, but there were none.
"Go ahead," he said, sitting on his desk.
"It was started by the goblins, unlike the Wand Wood War of 1643 - though they still deny minting thousands of fake Rounds, it's pretty much proven."
"Good, good," said Trent, nodding. "Another?"
"The conflict was unequal. The goblins didn't have a chance of winning, if it came to full war. They do just enough to make life difficult, to make people worried. Then they say they'll stop in exchange for -"
Dong. One o'clock - the lunch bell.
The class was out of their seats before the bell had finished ringing.
"Homework!" Mr Trent shouted over the noise of people packing bags. "Six inches on why the Currency Crisis was a goblin rebellion!"
"Thank God!" said Susan as they left the class. "I swear, my watch started going backwards at the end there!"
"It wasn't that bad," said Alex. She'd spent most of the class reading The Arithmancer Atlas, before Trent had started asking questions.
"It's a fucking shambles, that's what it is," said Lily, joining them. "All we do is talk. All lesson."
It was a fair criticism. If the rumours were true, the Hufflepuffs who had Professor Worthing used all sorts of stuff from the Winchester Archives: original documents, paintings, portraits. One time they'd even used Hogwarts' Retinarium to view a memory. While Alex's class was talking about the Proclamation of Separation, the others got to witness Brandon Swann read it out from the Tower of London.
"I hope we have Worthing next year," said Alex, "that'd be cool."
Susan laughed. "Well, it certainly wouldn't be hot!" she said. Alex suppressed a twinge of annoyance. The other girls liked to make fun of her Muggle slang. She was trying to use it less, but sometimes she forgot.
Lily laughed. "Cool," she mimicked. "Muggles are weird. Megan, what was that one you said the other day?"
"Radical?" said Megan.
"Yes! That's it! Radical." Lily laughed again. "Do people actually say this stuff?"
Alex decided not to voice her opinion over how ridiculous 'zounds' sounded. She got called a Muggle-lover enough as it was, thank-you-very-much.
"God, I'm starving," said Susan, "I hope there's pie today - we haven't had pie in weeks."
"Just soup for me," said Hannah, "again."
"Really?" said Susan. "I'm sure that can't be healthy..."
As it had tended to for several weeks now, Alex's mind turned to her upcoming meeting with Remus Lupin as the girls asked Hannah about her newest diet. After so much waiting, it was now just a few hours away. Her stomach flipped uncomfortably. What would he be like? What if he didn't like her? What if she didn't like him?
She'd tried to find out about him in the library, but there was very little in the way of publicly accessible student records. All she could find was his name, that he had enrolled in 1970 and graduated in 1977.
"... Alex is having lunch with Dumbledore. Aren't you?" said Susan.
"Not sure," said Alex, "he said they'd be food, but I don't know if it's a proper lunch. I think I'll have something now, just in case."
"All right for some!" said Lily. It sounded casual, but Alex could hear what lay underneath: Lily wasn't happy. When her entire family is murdered by a Dark wizard she can feel free to complain.
"Have any of you ever heard of Remus Lupin?" Alex asked. She'd only mentioned him to Susan so far. "He's going to be at the meeting. A friend of my parents, I think."
"Nope," said Hannah, and the others shook their heads too.
"Me neither," said Lily. "You don't know anything about him?"
"Not really," said Alex.
"But you'll be able to ask him all sorts of things about your parents," said Susan, "things the Muggles couldn't tell you."
"Yeah!" said Alex, perking up. Of course the Dursleys had barely told her anything. "Like what they did. What they looked like."
"Hang on," said Lily. "You don't even know what your parents looked like? You've never seen a-"
"-a photo?" said Alex. "No. The Dursleys didn't have any."
"That's terrible!" said Hannah. "I'm sure there must be people out there with photos. Maybe this Lupin guy can help you get-"
"Alex! Wait up!"
They turned to see Sophie Roper hurrying to catch up with them.
"What do you want?" said Lily.
"Just to speak to Alex," said Sophie, glancing around nervously.
"Well, you can't," said Susan, and Alex noticed she and Lily had formed some kind of human wall between her and Sophie. "Whatever you have to say, you can say to all of us."
Sophie bit her lip, and glanced around again.
"Daphne's really angry," she said. "You need to be careful."
A threat, then. Alex was surprised though - this was the first time Sophie had got involved.
"Well, you can tell Daphne that-" she began, but Sophie interrupted.
"Oh no!" she said. "I didn't mean it like-"
"We know exactly what you mean," said Lily, stepping closer to Sophie. It was almost funny: Sophie and Lily were the shortest girls in their year. But Alex knew she wouldn't want to get on Lily's bad side. Sophie stepped back.
"Fine!" she said. "Don't say I didn't warn you!"
"When is she going to give it up?" said Susan after Sophie was gone. "Daphne, I mean."
"I dunno," said Alex. Something wasn't right - this was different, somehow. Was it a threat? Or a warning?
Lunch was in full swing by the time they reached the Great Hall. They found an empty section of the Hufflepuff table and began to eat.
"How's the book coming along?" asked Susan, taking a small portion of pie. Unable to keep it a secret, Alex had shown Ravenclaw's book to the girls the very evening she'd 'borrowed' it. They'd all been suitably impressed by her possession of a Founder's object - Lily especially, when Alex mentioned she didn't really have it legally - but beyond that they weren't very interested. 'Insane' was the exact word Lily used, when Alex had told them of her plan to learn Old English. Of course, that was easier said than done.
"Not well," said Alex. "I found some books on Old English in the library, but they're more for reference than learning. All very... grammatical."
Susan shuddered. "Latin's enough for me, thanks," she said. "More than enough, really."
"Without Latin I'd be completely lost," said Alex. It wasn't her favourite class, but ever since she'd discovered an interest in Old English she was enjoying it more. It seemed less dead, now. She could see the links. "You know, they're actually quite similar, Latin and Old English. At least the grammar is similar. Not so much the words."
"So you have learned something, then," said Susan.
"Not as much as I'd like. I'm hoping I'll be able to ask Dumbledore about it later, actually..."
Megan cleared her throat pointedly and Alex stopped talking - just in time. Flora Darlington, a girl from the other dorm, sat down right next to them.
"Hey Flora," Alex said politely, somewhat nonplussed. Flora normally sat with Edith and Matilda. Had they argued?
"Hey," she replied, before turning to her food. Alex glanced at the girls. Lily shrugged.
"Have any of you been to a Quidditch match before?" asked Alex, filling the sudden quiet. The first Quidditch game of the year, Gryffindor versus Slytherin, was taking place that afternoon and Alex was looking forward to it. Not least because it meant that Potions was cancelled.
"A few," said Lily, "all Wimbledon Wasps games - they're the local team. My father takes me, Lizzie and Wilbur to a game a year."
"And? What's it like?" said Alex, moving to take a drink before she realised she didn't have one. "Flora, could you pass the juice please?"
Alex poured her juice as Lily spoke.
"Well, it's a lot more than just the Quidditch, you know? It has to be, 'cause sometimes the match only lasts ten minutes, if the Seeker's good. So before the main game there's the Youth Squad game, and normally some kind of music too, between the two matches. And lots of food!"
"That sounds really good," said Alex, taking another sip of her drink. "But I suppose the Hogwarts ones aren't the same."
Lily's eyes widened and Susan gasped. Flora looked at her in surprise.
"What?" said Alex, confused. They were looking at her like she was insane. What had she said this time?
"Are you feeling okay?" said Susan, looking concerned.
"Of course I am!" said Alex, and a few nearby Hufflepuffs, now listening in, burst into laughter. "What're you laughing at? Tell me!" More laughter, wider spread now. People at the Ravenclaw table were pointing at her.
"Alex, shut up!" hissed Susan.
"Hang on," said Lily, "where's Daphne?"
Alex looked around. She wasn't there. Why wasn't Daphne at lunch?
"I saw her speaking with Professor McGonagall," offered Tiberius. "Hey Potter, what's the time?"
Alex looked at her watch.
"Don't-" said Susan.
"Half one," Alex said, and this time half the Great Hall - waiting expectantly - burst into uproarious laughter. The Weasley twins were slapping their thighs, and Pansy looked like she might pass out from lack of air. Against her will, Alex felt her face go red. Why were they all laughing at her?
"What's going on here?" said a voice. Cedric Diggory - tall, handsome, he was striding down the table towards them.
"Oh no!" said Hannah.
"I've got no idea," said Alex, and Cedric stared at her in surprise. Alex spun to look at Susan, her irritation growing. "Explain. Now."
"Alex... don't you realise what you're saying?" asked Susan, as the Hall continued to point and laugh. Alex frowned.
"Absolutely nothing funny!" said Alex, but this time she thought she heard it. Something wasn't right. She wasn't saying what she wanted to say. She tried again, focusing on listening, this time. "I like to smell my farts," she said to Cedric, and her hands shot up to clamp over her mouth when she realised what she'd said. If she was red before, it was nothing on now. Her face was so hot she knew she must look like a tomato.
She looked around. The whole school was looking at her. Listening to her speak. What had she been saying? Alex felt her stomach drop out, and tears formed in her eyes.
Daphne.
She ran from the Hall.