Well. Certainly been a while, huh? Sorry about that.
I've written a few books since the last update, published them, set up at craft fairs, and then suffered a violent car accident a few days ago... which totaled my car and effectively ruined all of my plans for the near future. So, here I am writing fanfiction again. I do miss this story, and I'm glad to make more of it... but hey, if anyone can help, I'd greatly appreciate support. This site vehemently despises us authors trying to share support for ourselves in any way, so... you'd just have to pop over to my profile page and see the "link" where you can support me.
Sorry to plug myself like that, but I've got precious little options anymore.
Still, I might find more time to work on fanfictions while I recover... so here's a big ol' chapter of Slytherpuff, and I do hope you enjoy. :)
On the day of their departure—everything unfolded fairly differently than it did during the start of any of the other school years.
Samuel was glad to escort Alice and Zander out of the O'Heiden Carnival on this day—and now, he sauntered about Platform 9 ¾ with his hands tucked in the pockets of his tattered black overcoat, Alice and Zander trailing along behind him, pushing their trunks and glancing around the crowds of Hogwarts students, searching for all the familiar faces they knew. They spotted Scorpius farther down the way, but none of their other friends so far.
"M'kay." Samuel slowed to a stop near the train, raising his brows up at the door, then turning to Alice and Zander. "Final stop before America."
"Right..." Alice mumbled, eyeing the train oddly before giving her father a questioning squint. "I forgot to ask... how exactly does this work? Once the train takes us to Hogwarts, what next?"
"Well... that's simple. It's not taking you to Hogwarts," Samuel replied with a smirk and a shrug. "It's taking you to your ride across the pond. That's when you and all your friends are gonna see new horizons and make way more friends beyond just us here at home."
Alice nodded mildly, tapping her fingers along the metal bar of her cart and glancing down at her school belongings, pondering deeply on this now. In all this time, she'd greatly anticipated the fateful tournament that would unfold on her final year of school—but now, a sudden growing anxiety was festering from deep inside. After all, she was here; she stood at the train, just about to board with all her school supplies for the final time, and she was heading off to the most difficult and adventurous year of school she would ever endure. It felt different now—now that she was actually at the threshold of it, actually about to step aboard the Hogwarts Express and head off to the thing she'd been looking forward to for years.
Samuel narrowed his eyes at her, meandering toward her and planting a hand on her trunk. He leaned on it, surveying her and gently tilting his head.
"Don't go getting cold feet, now," he told her softly, cracking another smirk. "Ilvermorny has some proud Irish heritage—and I reckon you being there oughta do that school some good."
"Ah-huh," Alice replied, flashing an unconvinced smile. "You're just saying that 'cause you're my dad..."
"No, Hothead—you're just disagreeing 'cause I'm your dad," Samuel corrected, tapping her once on the nose. "But that doesn't make it any less true."
Alice hesitated, sighing and resisting the urge to glimpse over at Zander. Truthfully, she wanted more than anything to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, despite how very nervous she felt about it—but she couldn't shake what had been bothering her about the ordeal all summer long. Zander was a better wizard than she was a witch, and between the two of them—not to mention everyone else from Hogwarts who might put their names in the Goblet of Fire—she doubted she stood a chance of being chosen. She almost felt as if Samuel might be disappointed in her if she tried and failed, and that proud little half-smile he gave her now made her only feel more certain of this uncomfortable suspicion.
"I dunno if things are gonna go the right way," Alice murmured sadly.
Samuel cocked his head, smiling once more and sighing. He ventured around the trunk and the cart, placing a hand on her shoulder and gazing deeply into her.
"Whatever happens," he said in a gentle, yet insistent tone, his eyes fixated on hers. "Everything is gonna go exactly the right way... and you oughta enjoy your year overseas while you can, because God knows how much fun and traveling you'll be able to do when school life is over. You've got a plan for your future, and contrary to what you might think, so do I. So... stop stressing on it. Stop worrying about the future. Focus on having fun. This is the time for you to have fun. Both of you."
Samuel's eyes shot over to Zander, then landed back on his daughter, raising his brows at her and giving her shoulder a light shake.
"Eh?" he said.
Alice nodded at him, releasing a breath and feeling a touch less pressured than before. Perhaps her father was right; stressing about everything she wanted to do would only dampen this incredibly exciting year. She and Zander did have a plan for their futures, so dwelling on it served no real purpose. And whatever happened with the Goblet of Fire—she and Zander would still be on a grand, amazing adventure all year long, and there was no reason at all she shouldn't simply enjoy that in spite of all else.
"Having fun is overrated," Zander spoke up, warranting odd glances from both of the O'Heidens. "That's what my father always said. But... after everything last year, especially conjuring the patronus... I've kinda learned that the opposite is true. Having fun is underrated. And it's important to life on a whole."
Alice and Samuel both smiled at this, nodding and facing each other again.
"Now see?" Samuel laughed, shaking her shoulder a second time and nodding sideways over at Zander. "If even he's saying that, then there oughta be something to it. Right?"
"I know," Alice snickered. "Love you, Dad."
"Love you too, kiddo," Samuel exhaled, grasping her head and planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. "You just stay safe, and stay close to each other."
Alice and Zander both nodded at him.
Samuel stepped back, sighing and running a hand down his face.
"Oh. And..." he added, raising a finger. "I'll be able to visit for the tournament tasks, and I should be able to stay for Christmas, provided the cold season keeps business away from the carnival. And it usually does, so... y'know... I'll be popping by whenever I can."
"M'kay," Alice smiled, feeling her eyes begin to water.
"Ahm..." Zander made an odd face. "How exactly are you gonna do that?"
"Oh... parents will be visiting VIA floo powder," Samuel informed. "Ilvermorny is setting up a special fireplace outside the school for that, and I think the Ivory Estate might be doing the same thing... so I'll be able to come by once they're finished preparing for us overseas visitors."
"Floo powder works cross-country like that?" Zander wondered.
"For events like this? I imagine they're gonna make it work," Samuel chuckled. "Hell... one of the schools participating is coming all the way from Japan. They've gotta be able to get all the parents from across the world there somehow."
They nodded again, and the three of them paused, glimpsing up at the train, which had filled with many of the students boarding now, the parents left standing on the platform and waving at their children, who returned their goodbye waves from the windows of the Hogwarts Express.
Samuel sighed heavily, giving his daughter another hesitant look.
Alice smirked at him. "You don't wanna say bye, do you?"
Samuel breathed out a laugh. "Ya' got me…"
"Nothing's gonna happen to me again," Alice assured him.
Samuel stared, his smile waning, a hint of pain visible amid his stare.
Zander watched them, knowing for certain that they were both thinking of the same unpleasant thing—when Alice was forced to endure a brief but hellish torture from Valefor O'Brien in the Chamber of Secrets last year.
"Neither of us will let it happen again," Zander stated firmly.
Samuel glanced over at him, nodding softly and managing a fainter smile.
"Aye… and we're all gonna be surrounded by aurors and tons of security this year, anyway," Alice reminded her father. "Not to mention, we've gotten loads better at our defensive magic. We'll be all right."
Samuel gazed into her, still seeming incredulous to step out of her path, despite that nearly all the other students were aboard the train now. After a moment, he stepped forward again, staring down at the glistening golden compass, the one he'd given her last year, which now hung from around her neck, visible from just beneath the edge of her Hufflepuff scarf.
He gently grasped the compass, held it upright, and gave it a shake as he met her eyes again.
"These will lead you to each other," Samuel told her. "And they can lead you to me, too. You remember that. Okay?"
"I know," Alice replied.
"Well… one more thing you oughta know," Samuel added, his voice hitting a note of seriousness. "It'll start burning up real hot if someone you love is in trouble. If that happens, you tell every teacher and auror around, and you lead 'em straight to whoever's in danger. Yeah?"
"Okay," Alice agreed.
"Don't dive in solo again."
"I know."
"You think you'll be safer with all that security—but that ain't gonna work unless you use it."
"I know."
"So don't run off trying to deal with everything alone again if—"
"I knooow," Alice cut him off, laughing and swatting the air. "Blimey—don't you think I woulda learned my lesson about that by now?"
Samuel cocked his head at her. "Knowing you? Pfha. No."
Alice giggled and slapped his arm.
Samuel smirked and draped his arm around her, giving her one last hug before finally stepping aside. Alice and Zander said their goodbyes to him before pushing their trunks over to the train, lifting them off the carts and carrying them into the doorway, Samuel standing alone on the platform and waving them off as they did.
Alice was in the lead in the narrow walkway of the train, Zander close behind her as the ambiance of students chattering and laughing echoed from each room they passed by. She paused at one of the windows, staring out at her father and giving him another wave just as the train began to move.
Once Platform 9 ¾ was no longer in view, she sighed and finally moved onward, dragging her trunk along as Zander followed her. The two of them peeked into each room they passed, seeing that most of them were full, and moments later, the room ahead of them slid open—and a familiar face leaned out of it, spotting them and beaming.
"Zere are my friends!" Tobias grinned, adjusting his glasses and happily waving them forward. "Come! Ve have room in here!"
"Heeey!" Alice yelled, shuffling closer and pulling him into a quick hug. "Good to seeya again! How's stuff?"
"Stuff? Stuff is good," Tobias smiled, backing away and motioning for them to enter. "Come discuss this stuff with all your friends."
Alice and Zander lumbered into the room, squeezing their trunks inside and peering around; James Potter and Lorcan Scamander sat on the bench to their right, both of them chatting about the upcoming year, Rose Weasley thumbing through a book on the bench across from them, and there was little room left on the overhead shelf.
"Let me see…" Tobias approached the overhead shelf, reaching up and planting his own trunk on top of James's, then turned and grabbed Zander's. "I can fit zem… I can make it work…"
"Heeey—hometown heroes!" James proclaimed, staring past Lorcan and raising his fist. "I didn't know if you guys were gonna ride the train or not! Seeing as how Samuel likes to take you on wild flights everywhere…"
"He took us on a wild flight to the train station," Zander mumbled.
"Naturally," Rose said with a laugh.
Tobias finished fitting the trunks all onto the shelf, then reclaimed his spot beside Rose, scooting over and leaving enough room for one other person on the bench. James and Lorcan both scooted down as well, and Zander and Alice sat on the edge of either bench, just across from each other.
Everything was silent for a moment, and it took Alice and Zander a moment to realize that the other four were simply staring at them, almost as if they expected to hear something from them now.
Zander blinked and shot them all a look. "What…?"
Rose and James traded glances, Lorcan biting his lip, and Tobias frowning.
"Well… we were just wondering how you guys are taking it," Rose uttered.
Alice and Zander glimpsed at each other.
"Taking what…?" Alice asked.
"Ah… ze bad news," Tobias said sheepishly, fidgeting with his glasses again.
"It's been all over the Daily Prophet," James added, squinting over at Zander. "Have you not heard, or…?"
"We haven't been listening to any news," Alice admitted. "Once the holiday started, we both really needed a break from all that, so…"
"So we just decided to cut off from everything and clear our heads while we could," Zander explained. "We dealt with enough last year. We needed our holiday to be peaceful."
The other four exchanged grave faces.
Zander surveyed them, now sensing that something was amiss.
"What?" he barked. "What happened…?"
"Um… Valefor's been… missing," Rose told them hesitantly.
Zander blinked. "Missing from Azkaban?"
"Yeah. Bloke broke out again," James said, tossing up a hand. "Ministry's starting to think that some of the people working in Azkaban might be part of the Shadow Hand, because that's the only explanation for how he keeps escaping a place that's supposed to be inescapable."
"A few of those people are under investigation now," Lorcan informed.
"And… that's… not all," Rose mumbled, wincing slightly. "Mary-Lynn's parents are in prison, too… while the investigation into her family goes on… but, um…"
"Mary-Sue-Lynn herself wasn't found guilty of anything," James growled.
Zander gave him a double-take. "She wasn't—what?"
"She claimed she was only doing what her parents wanted under the Imperius Curse," Rose told them. "And, since they can't legally dose her with a truth potion… they decided to give her the benefit of the doubt. Especially since most of the incriminating evidence came solely from her parents. She really was being coerced by them, whether she was actually cursed or not…"
"Oh… that is rubbish," Zander snarled, scrunching up his face. "Nobody in their right mind would believe she's just innocent of everything. She's been a right foul piece of work for as long as any of us have known her—"
"We know, mate," James assured him. "Trust me, we all know that better than anyone in the ministry. She can't even play a Quidditch game without maiming half the players on the other team. Being that cold and unfeeling is just in her nature. But… people who don't know her personally won't see that. And the ministry don't know her personally. So… here we are."
Zander opened his mouth a couple of times to respond, feeling utterly agitated and drawing a blank. Then, his eyes flickered between all of them questioningly, as another concerning thought just occurred to him.
"Where is she now?" he inquired.
"She hasn't been released yet," Rose answered. "She's not in actual prison, but she's in a special education program for students under investigation. They won't release her back into regular schooling until they're sure she's not a threat to anyone else."
"So she could still pop up in our lives again sometime this year," Zander tried to surmise.
Rose paused, then made a reluctant shrug and nod. "That's… that's possible, yeah…"
Zander plopped back fully against the bench, folding his arms and huffing out a breath. "Good. Brilliant. That is just fantastic…"
Everything fell silent for a moment.
Zander's eyes slowly wandered upward, landing on Alice, and everyone else studied her as well.
Alice merely stared forward, twiddling her thumbs atop her lap and appearing rather expressionless now.
Zander gently straightened up in his seat again, he and the others all examining her thoughtfully.
"Alice," Zander said, nodding once at her.
Alice raised her head, meeting her eyes and raising her brows at him. "Hm…?"
Zander tilted his head curiously at her. "Are you gonna react to this, or…?"
Alice hesitated, then glimpsed over at everyone else.
James was now staring at her with an uncharacteristically grim visage, and Lorcan wore a similar face, Rose frowning sadly and Tobias giving her a look of empathy, softly adjusting his glasses once more.
She stared at them all, then turned back to Zander, sighing and making a shrug.
"I don't really care," Alice said simply.
The others gazed into her intently, Zander's eyes narrowing bizarrely at her.
"How can you not care?" Zander breathed, totally baffled at her now.
Alice shrugged again. "Just don't."
There was another pause, Rose gingerly stroking along the top of her book with her thumb.
"Um…" Rose murmured, leaning slightly forward and giving Alice a concerned sort of stare. "Why don't you care, Alice?"
"I mean—yeah—it's kind of a big deal," James blurted, speaking far less delicately than his cousin. "This girl cracked a bludger into your skull and landed you in the hospital wing—and she brought that raving bloody lunatic into Hogwarts who casted the Cruciatus Curse on you."
"Not to mention she's been trying to steal Zander away from you," Lorcan added on.
"And she picked fights with us for no reason," Tobias mumbled.
"And she landed lots of other people in the hospital wing, too," Rose uttered.
"Yeah. She's a monster—and she's always been one to everyone around her. How can you not care that she might walk back into our lives now?" James asked bluntly, giving Alice a genuinely bewildered look.
Alice returned all their questioning stares, then glanced down, pondering on this and releasing a deep cloud of breath.
"It's honestly a bit hard to hate her," she conceded. "I feel kind of sorry for her."
Once more, everyone else ogled her as if they'd never seen anything quite like her before.
Zander in particular appeared truly vexed by her, eyeing her intensely, as if trying to read her every perplexing thought off of her face.
Alice sighed once more at the floor, fidgeting with the sleeves of her robes.
"She's just sad," she muttered. "She's sad, and lonely, and uncared for… and she's always lashing out at everyone because of it. I mean, honestly… think about it. If her parents really are pushing her to do every little thing they want, and it's all with some big scary agenda attached to it… then her parents probably care a lot more about pushing Xyler's agenda along than they do their own daughter. She probably doesn't even know what love feels like. The only way she knows to succeed is to do whatever her parents do… which I guess is just to lie, and connive, and hurt other people. I mean… I… I have a good father, and I was raised with a lot of love and support… but it makes me really sad to see people who never had that. I can't really blame them for turning out the way they do."
Another silence fell over the six of them, this one more somber than the last, and the others exchanged grave looks with each other in the moments to follow.
Zander slowly straightened up in his seat, still examining Alice, his expression seeming to soften now.
Alice looked up, meeting his gaze again and trying to smile.
"I mean… you know," she said, giving him a nod. "You felt sorry for her, too."
Zander gulped, gnawing his bottom lip and only just remembering how correct she was. Yes—last year, he remembered taking pity on Mary-Lynn, even trying to help her perfect her patronus after she lost the ability to conjure one. Perhaps the girl truly was a sad soul at heart, and it was something everyone simply felt when they faced her, something even Zander had observed, though he never spared it a thought until now.
But, even still—he never honestly forgave Mary-Lynn for all the pain and struggles she'd brought to all of them the previous year.
"How can you just forgive people like that…?" Zander muttered thoughtlessly, making a slight shake of the head at Alice.
James, Lorcan, Rose, and Tobias all turned to her, each of them just as eager to hear her answer.
Alice glanced between them all, then made another shrug.
"She's not the same as Valefor," she told them. "Valefor's a crazy bastard, and he likes torturing people… but Mary-Lynn's just doing something she thinks is the right thing to do. It kinda sounds like she's been brainwashed. It's not really her fault…"
"Whoa—hold on—time out on the field," James yelled, jutting up his hand and scooting to the edge of his bench, giving Alice a peculiar little squint. "She might've been brainwashed into following Xyler—but her following Xyler has nothing to do with her maiming people to win Quidditch matches. The problem isn't just her following Xyler—it's her generally just being a cruel and God-awful person."
"Exactly," Zander agreed wholeheartedly, giving the seat a loud slap.
"Yeah, but… did you guys listen to anything I just said?" Alice asked them. "She doesn't know how else to act. That's all she thinks success is. Her parents raised her and taught her… which means that's the kind of stuff they taught her. And I know she's starved of love, because she did all of that to try and win Zander over. Did you forget?"
The others traded glimpses with each other.
"She's desperate to be loved, but she has no idea how to go for that," Alice explained. "So she just did what she always did for success. She jumped straight to doing all the cruel things she was taught to do. That doesn't make me hate her—it just makes me pity her."
Everyone fell briefly silent again.
Tobias nodded down at his lap. "I understand. Zat is very sad when you think about it…"
"Oh my God…" James sighed, running hands down his face and giving Alice and Tobias both a snide look. "You bleeding-heart Hufflepuffs are gonna be the deaths of the rest of us. You do know that, right…?"
"Well… that's why Slytherins and Hufflepuffs work so well together," Rose remarked, flashing a smile over at Zander. "Good thing they have you. You're their protector."
Zander reeled slightly back, his mouth drifting agape, suddenly stunned to silence. His cheeks faded pink, and he instantly turned away, making the others chuckle.
"Well'p, on a lighter note—guess what?" James grinned, clasping his hands together. "I'm gonna put my name in the Goblet of Fire."
"Exactly how is that a lighter note?" Rose snarked at him. "Your mother told you all the reasons you shouldn't do that, yet you still—"
"Oy—my father was in that tournament, and he won with flying colors," James griped. "I think I've got a good shot."
"Um—Uncle Harry was coaxed through the whole tournament by someone who was manipulating the whole thing," Rose reminded him. "You've no idea if he would've won without all that interference—and people die in this tournament, James."
"Oh… pfff… nobody's died in it for a long time."
"Really? Cedric Diggory died in the last one."
"Cedric died because Lord Voldy-Warts was there—"
"Um. Hold on. Excuse me," Locran interjected, raising a finger and perking his brow interestingly over at Alice and Zander. "I was under the impression that Alice and Zander both intended to put their names in the Goblet of Fire."
Everyone went quiet, all eyes seeming to land on Alice and Zander again.
"Ohhh… man… really?" James exhaled, glimpsing between the two of them, his sudden confidence seeming to vanish instantly. "Well, there go all my hopes and dreams…"
"Why?" Zander asked him. "We can all put our names in. It's not a big deal."
"Tch… fat chance I'll get picked over either of you two," James grumped. "Alice is a prodigy with flying and elemental spells, and you're practically a legend, Zander. You're the only Slytherin in known history to ever call the Swords of Salazar. Really don't think I've got a shot if I'm going up against either one of you…"
Zander glanced down, flashing a faint, prideful smirk and quickly wiping it away.
Alice, however, frowned at James with a look of sympathy.
"The Goblet of Fire chooses people based on a lot of things nobody's ever been able to understand," she told him. "So… far as I can tell… you have just as much chance as anybody."
"Oh—don't try and make me feel better," James laughed. "Christ—you really are too damn nice for your own good, you know that? If you wanna be in the tournament, then you shouldn't try to encourage your competition, y'know."
"Well… there are a lot of other students in Hogwarts, too, and plenty of them want to try to enter as well," Rose pointed out.
She said something else, and James argued with her, but Zander was no longer listening. He gazed downward, dwelling deeply on the issue and silently resolving that he likely did have the best chance of being chosen out of everyone in this room. It wasn't a thought that spawned from pride—no, he simply valued his own skills, and he was, as James said, the only Slytherin in the world who had been honorable enough to call swords from the sorting hat. He certainly liked his odds of being chosen by the Goblet of Fire.
His eyes ventured upward, landing on Alice and observing her while she spoke with everyone else, laughing as she partook in their conversation now.
She didn't notice his lingering stare—but Zander was transfixed by her now, losing himself in her and feeling a rush of contentment inside, as he knew full well why he wanted to be the Hogwarts champion so badly, and he hoped dearly that it would come to fruition.
Alice would be far safer if he became the Hogwarts champion rather than her.
As he stared, he soon felt a pinch of guilt in the pit of his stomach, glimpsing down to the floor again and sighing. Truly, he knew how passionate she was about joining the tournament, and he didn't enjoy striving to take it away from her—but he knew he'd feel much more at ease if he was facing the danger of it for her.
Zander raised his head, staring past everyone else and watching as the rural Scotland countryside coasted past the window.
Even despite the moral grayness of the endeavors before him, he knew for certain he'd simply do what needed to be done—and protecting the people he cared about was a top priority. Perhaps it was simply a Slytherin's job to do so, regardless of whatever slight moral indiscretions that may have been attached to the matters at hand.
Before long—the others stopped talking, and they felt the train beginning to slow down.
Alice and Zander swapped odd looks, as did the rest of their friends, and they all turned to the door, squinting at the window and seeing that groups of students were already crowding the narrow hallway outside, preparing to exit the train.
"We can't be there yet," Rose muttered in confusion.
"Well… we're not going all the way to Hogwarts," James knew. "We're supposed to be going to some other place this time… right?"
"To vherever our ride to America is," Tobias nodded.
"What is our ride to America?" Lorcan wondered. "Anyone know…?"
The others shook their heads, and they began to stand, collecting their trunks from the overhead shelf and maneuvering carefully around each other in the cramped space. The low screeching outside began to ease, and the train came to a full stop, the crowds outside moving onward and clearing the hall. Then, Alice turned, taking a deep breath and sliding the door open before leading her friends out to the hallway.
They emerged from their room, pulling their trunks along and seeing that the groups of other students were farther down the walkway. So, they followed the others in a line, passing by the windows and glancing outside, seeing nothing but a vast open expanse of green fields, a large crowd forming outside as everyone exited the train.
Alice and her friends were the last to step off of the Hogwarts Express, all of them moving away from the railroad and joining the enormous crowd of all Hogwarts students, who stood along the edge of the endless green field, trading conversation and wondering why they had come to a stop here, of all places. Professors Longbottom and Crowley were visible at the front of the crowd, waving and instructing the students to follow, and in one great mob, all of the Hogwarts students began trekking across the open grass with their trunks and cages.
They walked on, distancing themselves further and further from the Hogwarts Express.
Then, they came to a stop—just when everyone in the crowd began to notice another person among them, someone standing farther across the open field, a familiar man with a hat, a cane, and a dark purple robe.
"Hello!" Arius grinned at them all, giving them a wave.
The enormous crowd of Hogwarts students all fell silent, simply staring back at him. Alice, Zander, and all of their friends soon nudged their way to the front of the crowd, giving the headmaster an odd sort of stare.
"Confused?" Arius chuckled. "Well, you won't be for long."
At that, the headmaster turned—raising his cane and giving it a swift flick across the air.
Suddenly—something appeared farther down the field, a vague, angular shape that flickered strangely before flourishing fully into view, a massive, sharply-designed airplane sitting in the middle of the open field, painted with various shades of red, white, and blue.
The students all traded gasps and murmurs of excitement.
Arius wheeled back around, planting his cane back to the ground and smirking at them all.
"Ladies and gentlemen… our ride to America," he announced. "Flight 1776!"