Which certainly wouldn't include the Dursleys, if Alexandra had a word to say in it.
"No more revision," approved Nigel."Not that you or Hermione needed them!"
Alexandra groaned. Saying these words in presence of Hermione Granger was not going to end well. Three. Two . One.
"Not revising? Are you mad? Have you an idea of how much books I read to prepare this History exam?"
Closing her eyes and trying to ignore the despaired look on Nigel's face, Alexandra cleared her mind and profited from the sun. After a few minutes, Hermione's rant stopped and she opened her eyes again. Nigel's face was frightened, and Hermione's had a certain similarity to Professor McGonagall. Evidently choosing to change the conversation for another subject, Nigel cleared his throat and spoke in his shy voice.
"What do you think Neville and the others are doing, running to Hagrid's hut like that?"
Alexandra turned her head, and effectively, saw the Boy-Who-Lived, followed by Leo Black, Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan, racing to the house of the Keeper of Keys. As they were the only five boys and girls not profiting from the pleasant summer conditions on the grass, their movements were not exactly subtle.
"No idea." Alexandra said. "Don't worry Nigel. Longbottom and his sidekicks have learnt with their pet dragon how a bad idea it was to break the rules. I really doubt they want to gain more detentions or lose more points, not with the Quidditch match against Ravenclaw in three days."
"Easy for you to say," grumbled the auburn-haired pureblood. "It's not your House which loses points by the hundreds when the Golden Trio decides the rules of Hogwarts are not for them."
"Not my fault they were sorted in Gryffindor, isn't it?" quipped Alexandra.
"No," sighed Nigel. "Though I would like to ask what the Sorting Hat what he was thinking when he sorted them in our House."
"Once you've eliminated all the choices but one, what's left must obviously be the truth." declared Alexandra. Seeing Hermione raising her eyebrows, she had caught the reference.
"What's Sherlock Homes doing right here, Alex?" questioned the bushy-haired Gryffindor.
"We all assume the Sorting Hat is choosing the House where each boy and girl will thrive best in his or her seven years at Hogwarts" reasoned Alexandra. "But what if it isn't the case? What if the Hat first proceeds by elimination and only take the House left at the end?"
Hermione puffed indignantly.
"That's pure speculation!"
"But it would explain certain things, isn't it?" said pensively Nigel. At Hermione questioning look, he added. "Crabbe, Goyle, Weasley..."
"All persons who are truly lacking the qualities of their House. And all the other Founders prized qualities for that matter."
"And Neville?"
"I suppose it was Gryffindor or Slytherin for him." Alexandra said with black humour. "As no teacher wanted to have the Boy-Who-Lived murdered on his first day, they put him with the Lions."
"You're exaggerating again!" said Hermione in an aggravated tone.
"You're right." Conceded Alexandra.
Personally, Alexandra was sure Longbottom had been destined for Slytherin. Neville was courageous and noble...when it suited him, that much had become clear in all the months passed at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, he was also arrogant to believe nobody would call him when he disregarded the rules. A feeling more than justified at the light of the last events. And when it came to prank someone, there was no nobility in his acts. Humiliating the students who were not in measure to retaliate was not exactly a chivalrous quality. The Boy-Who-Lived had however a certain cunning and the ambition to rule Gryffindor. It was not hard to see the similitude between him and the valued qualities of Slytherin House.
"Look!" Said Nigel. "They're coming back!"
Black and Longbottom running ahead, the group of five Gryffindor were effectively rushing in the direction of the castle doors from the hut of the Keeper of the Keys. Longbottom was speaking passionately about something to Black, with Seamus Finnegan and Lavender brown harbouring sombre expressions and Ron Weasley looking lost. Passing near their position, Alexandra was able to hear the words "Fluffy", "Forbidden Corridor", "music" and "dragon". Seeing Hermione and Nigel becoming livid, they had also heard enough to connect the dots.
"I retract my previous statement, Nigel." Alexandra tried without much success to sound calm. "Neville and his sidekicks are stupid enough to lose even more House points before the end of the year."
"Do you think...?"
"That they're going to explore the Forbidden Corridor this evening? There's a good chance they will."
"They are going to get killed!" Shrieked Hermione. "Or expelled!"
Alexandra face-palmed at that and seeing Nigel, she wasn't the only one. Sometimes she was forced to recognise Hermione's priorities were largely out of bounds.
"I don't think we will be so lucky, Hermione."
"It's not a joking matter, Alexandra!"
"No, it's not." she admitted. "But unless, I'm far off the mark, the Forbidden Corridor is not that really dangerous."
"What do you mean?"
Seemingly ignoring Hermione's question, Alexandra turned her head to look Nigel in the eyes.
"You're the one who knows the most about magical beasts, Nigel. If Dumbledore wanted really to kill someone, would he have used a Cerberus to guard the corridor?"
"No," replied Nigel, passing his hand in his hair with a frown. "A Cerberus will only attack if you're coming near the thing he protects. And unlike dragons or dementors, they're supposed to be really easy to tame when they are young." Nigel stopped at that, the two girls in front of him seeing the thoughts passing in his eyes. "Wait a minute, you're thinking this a test?"
"A trap or a test." Said Alexandra, sitting against the tree one foot away from her previous position on the grass. Not knowing the exact intricacies of what the Headmaster and the other Professors had realised their obstacles and the contingencies going on with them, all they could do was speculate.
"What should we do?" Asked Nigel. "Warn the professors?"
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