Alexandra Potter
Chapter Thirteen
Scene 5/6
A Girl Who Is
Exclusive Interview with Alexandra Potter
By Natalie Poett
The first time I see Alexandra Potter she is wearing white. Hovering nervously in a white cell, wearing a white dress and even white socks, she is everything you'd expect the savior of the wizarding world to look like - almost. Her hair should be blonde. That absurd thought is the first to enter my mind when I look at her. Her hair should be blonde, but it is black. And with that observation, the artificial image of the Girl Who Lived, so carefully created and maintained by this very paper, shatters. But what is left behind?
"I've read your articles," she says to me, when we are introduced, and I can't help but feel a flush of pleasure that she knows who I am. It's an amazing effect: I am the adult and she is the child - and a prisoner besides. And yet even locked within a cell, the legend of the Girl Who Lived endures.
When we sit down I ask her of the crimes she is accused of. She does not deny them. In what is clearly a well-repeated tale, she describes to me that awful night on which Daphne Greengrass almost died. The generalities should be familiar to our readers: that Miss Potter and Miss Greengrass had feuded with each other for almost a year, each one drawing blood from the other, ending with a final night of Dark Magic when Alexandra Potter went too far.
Yet the details are new.
"I used a branch of magic called[redacted], which allows you to enter into another person's dreams and manipulate them." Such exotic magic is rare - few have heard of it, and fewer still are experienced in its practice. When I contact the Auror Office to find out more, they send me to the Department of Mysteries.
"[Redacted]is not necessarily Dark Magic," an Unspeakable tells me from behind his obscured hood. "However, it is certainly an obscure art, with much potential for misuse. It is also fiendishly tricky - it's most impressive that Miss Potter has managed to become proficient in its use."
This is not the only tale we have of Alexandra Potter's talent. When I ask her about Hermione Granger, she confirms the rumour: Alexandra successfully cast a Doppelganger Transformation. For our many readers who discarded Transfiguration as soon as legally permitted, the Doppelganger Transformation is considered the pinnacle of Human Transfiguration. There are only a handful of adults in Europe who could cast it with a single, silent wave of their wand.
As I sit there, her intelligence stares me in the face. I write during the interview using a form of shorthand taught to everyone at the Herald, which allows me to take notes quickly and keeps them confidential. I can see young Alex's eyes following my quill as I write. I have no doubt that, given time, she could break the cipher. Even as I'm asking her questions, I can see the cogs turning. A small smile graces her lips - I'm sure, at that moment, she has figured out the vowels.
This narrative is familiar. The Girl Who Lived: talented, confident, adventurous, spiraling out of control. But surely there is more to the girl before me than these soundbites.
More details emerge. They paint a picture which should be familiar to all parents. Daphne Greengrass had taken an item of Alex's - a cloak, of all things. How many parents have witnessed their two daughters arguing over a dress, or a pair of shoes? Alex encouraged a rumour about Daphne's activities with her boyfriend. How many times have I heard my sister's children come running to her with tall tales of what the other has done? And Daphne had pranked Alex with a potion in her food. Just last week this paper reported on the 6-year-old Bertie Bott's fanatic who sent Minister Fudge a painstakingly selected packet of only vomit flavoured beans.
Miss Potter's feud with Daphne Greengrass is not unique. As she tells me of her enchanter's duel with Hermione Granger, she hesitates. "We were always at the top of the class," she says, but it's clear to me what reconsidered words her mouth was about to form: "I was always better than her." If it sounds like a childish boast, that's exactly what it is.
All the tales we have heard of Alexandra Potter's talent have only been half the picture. Yes, she is clever, and capable of using dangerous magic. But she is also, crucially, a child. She has a child's anger: quick to light, quick to extinguish. She has a child's desire for praise and attention. And she has a child's selfishness and possessiveness. It is the combination of those two things - talent and immaturity - that led to Daphne Greengrass' injuries. And so it should be that we are aware of both when we judge her. Our children make mistakes. Do we really wish to enter into the business of sending them to Azkaban?
It turns out, if you have access to the Governors' records, that Alexandra Potter is not the first talented child to walk through Hogwarts' halls. In 1971 a student duel got out of hand and one Fabian Prewett removed his brother's arm. Both brothers went on to become heroes of the war. In 1941 a first year by the name of Tom Riddle was overzealous in defending himself and seriously injured three other boys. He later became Head Boy. In 1928 Head Boy Bartemius Crouch got in trouble for handing out extreme punishments to those accused of using Dark Magic. Mr Crouch is widely credited with holding the Ministry of Magic together during the war.
What is important is that Alexandra Potter is repentant. "It's my fault," she told me. "I had a choice. I could have ignored her, but I let it get worse." Such a statement of contrition from a child is a rare thing.
And, when the Girl Who Lived is gone, that is who remains. A child who is sorry. I went into that cell looking to interview a celebrity. But the pretty black-haired girl sitting opposite me was not a savior, or a hero. She was not a symbol or an idol. She was not the embodiment of our hopes and dreams for a better world. She is an eleven-year-old girl.