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The first years had performed their first practical charm work of the year that afternoon, though it had been remarkably easy and the furthest thing from impressive. They had all been set to work on both the spell to summon light which Alaric had performed both of these without effort, as had Daphne, Rose, and Theodore.

The most exciting thing to happen that day had not been the Charms however, it was their night

It had started when Alaric and the others entered the Slytherin common room after dinner to find the first major notice of significance hung on the wall. It was drawing quite the commotion and crowds of people were herded around it.

Crabbe and Goyle had taken the lead in that regard, shoving through anybody who stood in front of them and letting their less bulky friends trail in their wake which made Draco look oddly smug about the whole thing. When Tracy finally glanced at the notice board, it was evident what had drawn everybody's attention— they would be having their first flying lesson of the year in exactly one week. It would take place out on the grounds with the first-year Gryffindors and the latter part of that statement made Alaric groan in resignation causing both Tracy and Daphne to giggle at his reaction.

The rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin was very intense. They all shot their group heated glances any time he drew near and a few of the older members of the House of Lions were even bold enough to fire minor jinxes at him when he walked by. But his entire group had learned quickly and had resorted to flanking each other any time they neared a group of Gryffindors, which had largely prevented any further incidents.

Alaric could not say he was overly thrilled to be spending more than an hour in their presence while riding a broom for the first time. Besides, the prospect of flying did not excite him as it should, instead he found himself oddly apathetic towards the whole thing— Why were these wizards and witches so happy when they had to rely on an enchanted object to touch the skies? Why were they pleased when the broom below them was a testament to a problem that they had not bridged with magic of their own?

"You'll be fine," Tracy reassured him, apparently mistaking the gleam in his eyes for apprehension. "Your father was brilliant on a broom, from what I've heard. He played for Ravenclaw, and I think he still holds some of the school's chaser records."

"Really?" asked Alaric, somewhat surprised to hear about his father here despite himself. He rarely had the chance to talk about his parents and it surprised him that Tracy seemed more knowledgeable about the subject than he was, "How do you know?"

Talks of his father had always been a rather taboo subject around his grandparents who tended to avoid the topic even on the best of days. This was actually the first time he had thought of his parents in this magical world.

"It's Quidditch," Tracy answered his question as if that explained everything, only elaborating when she noticed the bland looks Alaric and Daphne sent her way, "I'm sure I saw his name somewhere in the trophy room when I was looking at the past flying records made in Hogwarts"

Daphne shot her an amused look, unable to understand Tracy's unchallenged fervor for the sport to which the girl in question responded by blowing a raspberry at her blonde friend. Alaric simply watched them both from the corners of his eyes, internally resolved to find the trophy room during what were quickly turning out to be his routine early morning explorations.

It was the best perk of being awake long before all the others in his opinion— it granted him a peaceful space all to himself and enough time to explore the magical castle he was beginning to love so very much. He was even determined to learn every last secret of Hogwarts castle all by himself when he eventually graduated in seven years' time.

Alaric's mind soon returned to the more interesting thoughts about the deeper depths of the Hogwarts dungeons by the time Daphne and Tracy were done with their rather amusing bout. According to Hogwarts: A History, the dungeons apparently ran leagues beneath the castle grounds and the Slytherin dormitories only brushed the surface of it. The irony of housing the Slytherins deep inside a hole underground was not lost on Alaric, but he had no other qualms about it other than the lack of direct sunshine.

The common room itself was dark and its walls appeared to be hewn straight from ancient stone. Except for the centrally-located fire blazing merrily at what seemed to be all times of the day and night, the lone lights in the common room were bright green orbs that seemed to cast a pale, ghostly light over the room. It added to the haunting feel brought on by the dark view they had out into the lake outside as well as the long, deep shadows that the lights sent flickering across the walls.

On either side of the common room, dark tunnels lit by torches led off to the dorms and bathrooms. Each year had its own dorm section, and within each section were several rooms each housing a single student.

He did not know how his classmates felt about the whole thing but for Alaric, the castle not only meant the start of a magical journey that he would never have imagined before but it also meant his escape from the prison of sickness that had previously bound him in another life— one he had dreamed of escaping since he had first understood what dreams even were.

He was not actually sure which delighted him more. The thought of learning the awe-inspiring things he had spent most of his waking moments reading about or escaping a hellacious life that he had always believed to have been inescapable. The excited smile that spread across his face only lasted for a mere few seconds before he quickly noticed a palpable tension within the common room that could not be missed.

Accompanied by that sense of tension was a sense of danger because of which Alaric instinctively understood something was wrong. As his intense amethyst eyes scanned the common room at large, he quickly located the source of the tension and realized that the entire debacle was certainly going to be interesting.

Seated in the lounge area he had noticed previously was not the elusive blond Head Boy and his entourage. Instead, a very large and equally athletic-looking boy with sharp features and dark eyes sat in the dead center of the lounge as if it were a throne with only one of his friends willing to partake in this endeavor alongside him.

Nobody spoke on the seating arrangement and to most of the house's credit, they continued performing their normal activities as if nothing were happening at all. In spite of the play at normality, it was blatantly clear that everyone in the room was on edge except perhaps for the first-years who were busy talking about their flying lessons. It didn't appear that the blond Head Boy nor his group of friends were in the common room.

Curfew drew ever nearer by the second, so Alaric knew that would not be the case for a whole lot longer. His eyes roamed over the crowd once more, searching out his fellow first years.

Draco was sitting with the same group of older students Harry had seen him with twice that day, plus Crabbe, Goyle, and Theo. They were making quiet conversation, though Alaric noticed Draco's eyes moving toward the lounge area every few minutes. Pansy and Blaise were sitting together in silence, also seeming to be working on their prep. The dark-skinned boy managed to look completely indifferent, though Pancy managed nothing even remotely close to that feat

Turning around, he glanced back at Daphne who was quietly doing her prep alongside Tracy. She did not make herself as obvious as the Malfoy heir, though Alaric would bet every galleon he was entitled to via his heir status that she had every sense tuned into the situation.

The one thing that he knew about her beyond doubt was that she was undeniably sharp, but even she could not hide the trace of concern that was clouding her cerulean eyes today. The tension in the room only built as time progressed and just as Alaric thought it would not continue any longer, the wall separating the common room from the outside corridor moved aside allowing the blond Head Boy and several of his friends including the Prefect Rhea inside.

The older boy was speaking as they entered the common room, but his friends seemed to lose focus as they became aware of the atmosphere they were entering. To Rhea's credit, she regained it within a second but Alaric was most impressed with the blond boy whose name he had not caught before.

The boy did not so much as pause in his monologue, nor did he break stride as he casually strolled towards the lounge. The tension in the room rose to a fever pitch before the Head Boy finally came to a stop in front of the boys seated in the lounge who were now both doing their best to act as if they were absorbed in their books.

Alaric was a bit taken aback when the older teenager did not call them on it outright, instead clearing his throat in a perfectly polite and amiable tone. "Excuse me Flint, but I believe you're sitting in our seats."

The boy in the dead center— Flint, as the Head Boy had addressed him, slowly and deliberately closed his book with an unnecessarily loud snap and looked up at the blond. For those close enough to see Flint's face, there was clear defiance evident in his dark, narrow eyes.

"With all due respect, Cygnus, I think seats are open to anybody. I don't see what gives you the right to a particular place in the common room." It was obvious that he was trying to sound casual, but he was only partially succeeding. Alaric mentally noted down the elusive blond Head Boy's name and swore he saw his lips twitch in displeasure or anger for a moment but it happened so quickly that he couldn't be sure.

"Don't be melodramatic, Marcus," The blond chided, his face stayed completely neutral but the undertone of challenge in his voice was quite evident. "If you're so reluctant to move, I think both of us know exactly what that means."

There was a second pause before Marcus Flint's face split into a rather easy smile as he gestured for his friend to join him as he stood. "Not at all, you can have the seat if it means that much to you."

Marcus Flint and his friend strode off casually, with the other boy even going as far as to incline his head to Cygnus and his entourage. The Head Boy's friends all took their seats, though Rhea seemed to look at the blond before doing so. Cygnus stepped towards the sofa but Alaric instantly realized that neither of their seniors had any intention of deescalating peacefully this time.

"Lacero!"

"Confringo!"

Cygnus whirled around with enough speed that Alaric would have sworn he had slowed down time. He seemed to twirl around like a ballerina, wand already drawn as he faced the two spells flying his way.

But as fast as he had turned, Alaric was sure it wouldn't be fast enough. The first spell was inches away from his chest whereas the second was headed towards his right and a bit behind its predecessor. He would be struck with the first curse if he did not move in time and would be struck by the second if he stepped to the right. His left was impeded by the sofa, on which his entourage sat.

But the Head Body took neither option.

His arm moved so fast it was nearly blurred as he brought her wand up in front of his chest at the last possible second and right as the first spell was about to impact him, it was deflected sideways as if he had swatted the blast of magic away with his wand. If that was not impressive enough, the spell's new path had it on a quick collision course with its counterpart.

When the two spells met, there was a sound like a firecracker and a bright flash of red light as the spells both sparked out. Cygnus' wand snapped up, and without uttering a word, he quickly took advantage of the surprise of his two opponents. A contingent of watery arrows flowed from the tip of his wand and soared toward the two boys and as they neared their target, they suddenly turned more robust as if made of unnaturally sharp metal that shined in the dull light of the common room.

"Impervius Protego!" cried Marcus Flint as his friend simply dove for cover. The arrows collided with his shield, breaking it in a flare of magic even as his friend took advantage of this distraction, popping up to the side and taking aim at Cygnus.

"Excretio Renium!"

The crowd of onlookers gasped including Alaric, some of them had clearly recognized the magic as it flew towards the Head Boy whereas he had simply sensed the dark malevolence magic imbibed into it. Cygnus once again deflected the clearly dark curse but this time, he sent it straight towards Marcus himself who barely managed to dodge the spell but froze all of a sudden as his blond opponent silently waved his want.

There was a momentary blur around both the seventh-years who wanted to oppose the Head Body and then, as if the very air had grabbed them, they were jerked violently from their feet and immobilized in an unseen grip that none could see. Alaric saw them both thrashing uselessly against their invisible restraints, but it was to no avail.

A second later, they were both tossed through the air as if they were toys discarded carelessly by a child and slammed hard into the wall before slumping to the floor, where they rolled feebly, curling into a fetal position. Nobody dared stand to help them.

Slowly, Cygnus crept his way towards his fallen opponents, getting down to his level before he roughly shoved his hand underneath the other boy's chin and moved the wide-eyed boy's head up so that he was forced to meet his cerulean blue eyes.

"I am giving you a pass for your idiocy this time Marcus, and I would only do it this once. I don't know what convinced you to do this, but it wasn't worth it."

The message was clear.

Marcus nodded quickly, unable to hide the flash of fear that clouded his eyes when Cygnus patted the boy on the cheek in the way a proud mother may do her four or five-year-old son for counting to ten. Then, with a flick of his wand, the Head Boy removed the invisible restraints and both the boys were on their feet in an instant, making their way towards the tunnels that branched off of the common room and towards the dormitories.

Alaric watched them go quietly, mind focused on the clash of magic he had just witnessed as he realized without a moment's doubt that he had just witnessed the conclusion of a rivalry that had once shaped the infamous Slytherin House Politics into what it was today.

How very interesting indeed.

Thanks for reading, the House Politics here are inspired by the fanfiction Ashes of Chaos but Alaric himself would not actively partake in them anytime soon.