Alexandra Potter

Chapter Thirteen

Scene 4/6

Alex's interview was the next day. Dressed in white once more, Alex waited in her cell for the others to arrive.Waiting, she thought,is all I ever do here. She was convinced that the worst thing about Azkaban would be the sheer boredom. She could have killed for a book. It made her crazy, to think about her classmates at Hogwarts learning new things while she was stuck behind bars.

So she didn't think about it. She tried to occupy her time with thoughts about magical theory. She thought about interesting applications of the Sealing Charm, she pondered the limits of the Cutting Charm, she amused herself wondering what her animagus form was. But her thoughts were scattered, and kept turning back to the impending interview. What if the article was negative? What if she answered something badly?

Her thoughts were interrupted by voices coming down the corridor.

"I can only give you thirty minutes," said Geoffrey the guard. "You know I'm strictly not supposed to allow reporters -"

"We understand, Geoff," came a woman's voice. It reminded Alex a bit of McGonagall: clipped, proper, professional. "Thirty minutes shall be more than enough, I think."

"Only thirty?" That was Hugh. "I was hoping for a fairly substantial piece. I'm sure your readership will be keen-"

"You'll get your article," replied the woman. "You have friends in interesting places, Hugh."

"I'm sure I don't understand what you mean," said Hugh with a smile in his voice, just as they came into view. There were four of them: Hugh and Geoffrey, and the reporter Natalie Poett. Though she was younger than Alex had expected, she fit the voice: her brown hair was up in a tight bun and the fit of her robes reminded Alex of a Muggle pencil skirt. It was the fourth member of their group who surprised her.

"Professor Sprout!" she said, jumping up to meet them. The older woman appeared as she ever did: a robust woman, with rosy cheeks and slightly scruffy robes. It was a sharp contrast to the professionalism of Poett. Still, Alex was glad to see her: while they weren't close, Professor Sprout had never failed to treat Alex kindly.

"Good morning, Alex," said Sprout. Alex hadn't seen her since her last day at Hogwarts. She wondered, as she often did about others, what Sprout now thought of her. So many people around her had a duty of care towards her, but how many secretly condemned her behind closed doors?

"I didn't know you were going to be here," said Alex, glancing at Hugh. Why hadn't he mentioned it?

"I went to see your relatives yesterday, as they should be here," said Sprout, giving Alex a meaningful look. "They were… reluctant to come. So I'm here in loco parentis, as your head of house."

"Oh," said Alex. It didn't surprise her at all that the Dursleys hadn't come. The idea of Vernon stomping around in the heart of wizardom was just wrong. "Thank you for coming."

Geoffrey coughed politely. "Well, I'll be in the office. Remember: thirty minutes." He walked away and Professor Sprout conjured more chairs so they could all sit. Alex contained her surprise: how was it that Sprout was allowed a wand? She remembered that Hugh wasn't.

"I suppose an introduction is in order," said Hugh before sitting. "Alexandra, this is Natalie Poett, who works for the Hogsmeade Herald. Natalie, meet Alexandra."

"A pleasure," said Natalie, leaning down to kiss Alex's cheek.

"I've read your articles," said Alex, sitting down with the others. "It's strange that I'm going to be in one."

Natalie seemed to find that funny. "It's not the first, or the last," she said. "Shall we?"

And so the interview started. Natalie Poett was direct and to the point, wasting little time in waffle and quite happy to interrupt Alex with further questions. They started simply, with Alex telling the story of what happened much like she did for Dumbledore and the Aurors. She mentioned no invisibility cloak, nor did she dwell for long on Draco's role.

After that, however, things got more interesting.

"This somniamancy," said Natalie, scribbling away with her quill, "how did you learn it? I've never heard of it before. Is it dark magic?"

"I taught it to myself," Alex said, fidgeting a bit. She hoped to avoid bringing Astrid into things. "I found a book in the library and it looked interesting."

"Yes, but why?" repeated Natalie, "I mean, clearly it's quite dangerous."

Alex frowned, stumped. She'd said it was interesting. Wasn't that enough reason? "Well, it's very different from normal magic, isn't it?" she said, trying to explain why she found it interesting. "Kinda more… deep? I don't know. It's hard to explain."

But Natalie was nodding and scribbling away in some form of shorthand. It was a very quick way of writing. Alex watched her, trying to figure out the code. "You like learning magic, don't you?" Natalie said after a moment. "You like learning magic just for the sake of knowing things."

"Of course," said Alex. "Who doesn't?"

Professor Sprout snorted in amusement and Natalie smiled. "Can I quote you on that, Professor?" she said, and it occurred to Alex that probably Natalie had been taught by Professor Sprout too.

"You may not," Spout said sternly, but there was a smile in her eyes. "I'm sure all my students work to their maximum potential."

Natalie laughed and turned back to Alex. "Well, next question: what happened with Hermione Granger?"

The unexpected question gave Alex pause. She hadn't practiced that one with Hugh the day before. She glanced at him. "I'm not sure if that's an appropriate topic," he said, leaning forward.

"Okay," said Natalie, apparently willing to accept Hugh's limits, but Sprout interrupted.

"I'd like to hear this, actually," she said. Alex looked at Hugh again; he shrugged.

"We had a bit of a rivalry, I suppose," said Alex, looking down at her lap as she began the story. "I was always-" she paused, noticing Hugh giving a slight shake of his head. "-I mean, we were always at the top of the class. We didn't get on and one day, during study period, we ended up having an enchanter's duel. It was-"

"One moment," interrupted Natalie. "It was an enchanter's duel? Not a warlock's duel, as reported by the Daily Prophet?"

"That's right," said Alex, and she thought Natalie's eyes glowed in something like triumph. "Anyway, I… I did something a bit reckless for the third round, and Hermione copied me and got hurt."

"So it was Miss Granger's fault?"

There it was: an escape. An opening. The temptation to say "yes" was enormous. A week ago she would have agreed without a moment's hesitation.

"No," she said, her heart beating hard as she confessed. It felt strangely freeing. "It was my fault. I goaded her into it. I had a choice: I could have ignored her, but I let it get worse until we ended up duelling. And I chose to humiliate her."

Alex looked up. Hugh was frowning but Professor Sprout was beaming at her. Alex knew, in that moment, that she'd made an ally.

Natalie was giving nothing away though. "And how did you humiliate her, as you say? The rumours…"

"The rumours are true," said Alex, and at this Natalie raised a finely plucked eyebrow.

"You're telling me that you're capable of human transfiguration?" she asked, clearly sceptical. "At eleven?"

"Like you said, I like to study," said Alex. "I would show you, but I don't have a wand…"

"Very well," said Natalie. "Could you use Professor Sprout's?"

Alex's eyes widened - she hadn't expected that. But the thought of holding a wand again - even if it was someone else's wand - filled her with a kind of aching hunger. "I guess I could," she began, but:

"Absolutely not," said Sprout. "It is illegal for Alex to use a wand until the charges are lifted."

"I have to agree," said Hugh. "We can't afford for Miss Potter to break even the smallest of rules at this point."

Natalie gave a thin smile. "Just a suggestion," she said. "Fine. Next question, then. If you could send yourself a message, a week back in time, what would you say?"

Alex bit her lip. If only she could send such a message. If only she could change the past. "Don't do it," she choked out. "Don't do it, and let everything go. Talk to a teacher."

A door slammed and the sound of footsteps came towards them.

"Sounds like our time is up," said Natalie, and she began packing away her things.

"You have everything you need?" said Hugh. He sounded worried. It had been quite short.

"More than enough," said Natalie. "The article will be front page tomorrow."

Geoffrey stopped just short of the cell, allowing them the illusion of privacy. Alex knew he could see and hear everything from the office at the end of the hall. They kissed goodbye and went to leave, but at the last moment Alex called for Sprout to wait.

"What is it, Alex?" she asked, turning but not sitting back down.

"I was wondering… well, it's just that I haven't heard from Professor Dumbledore at all, and…"

"... and you want to know that he hasn't forgotten you," Professor Sprout said, and now she did sit down, right next to Alex on the bed. She put an arm around Alex's shoulder and brought her in for a hug. It was meant to be motherly and comforting, but it was just a bit awkward. Alex had never had a mother, and as far as she knew, Sprout had never had kids. But the Professor's words were more comforting than any hug.

"You have not been forgotten," Sprout said, speaking in a fierce whisper, and a tingle went down Alex's spine. "It's obvious to all the staff that Headmaster Dumbledore cares for you greatly."

Alex sniffed. "Really?" she said, and she was glad it didn't come out as a sob. Professor Sprout looked at her in surprise.

"But surely you know," she said. Her eyes met Alex's own and her gaze was deadly serious. "Albus Dumbledore would go to war for you."