"You Sir," said Alexandra raising her cup in direction of the Head Table, "had to choose between war and dishonour. You chose dishonour. You will have war."
Her words were of course ignored in the storm of cheers, applauds, shouts and contestations, but in her opinion, this quote from Winston Churchill she had read in the library of her school seemed oddly appropriate. In a single evening, Dumbledore had managed to destroy a lot of support he might have had in Ravenclaw House. It was not France and England offering Czechoslovakia to Hitler, or Saruman allying with Sauron, but it was a close analogy. Too close.
At least in Alexandra's mind it proved the man was completely senile and good for the asylum. Two teachers and about half the school for certain disgusted by this preferential treatment. Talk about a bad gambit.
It was one of the worst evenings ever in Ravenclaw House after that. Even winning the Quidditch cup (while she was lying in the infirmary, Ravenclaw had annihilated Gryffindor 420 to 80) was not enough to erase the gloom most of the Ravenclaw alumni. Alexandra herself shared some of this frustration. After all, what sort of system was it if you respected the rules and prepared perfect homework all year, only on the last day to be informed it didn't matter? Alexandra had no friendship with her housemates, but she had to admit the situation was terribly unfair. After fighting baby dragons, mountain trolls and evil professors, the Potter Heiress had not expected that. A mistake she would try to not make again.
May 29 1992, Hogwarts, Scotland
Alexandra had almost forgotten the exams results were still to come after that stunning development during the End of the Year Feast. Still, it did not stop them from coming. The morning after Gryffindor had emerged against all odds (and thanks to Dumbledore intervention) triumphant and the House Cup in the bag, the first-year rankings were published in a room next the Great Hall. Unlike the fifth years for their OWLS and the seventh years for their NEWTS, the grades of each student were published here at school before being sent to their house by school owl. No doubt as a safety measure to ensure the children didn't 'forget' to tell their parents they had failed a class or two. Not that it bothered Alexandra very much: the probability that the Dursleys would care about her performance in Transfiguration or Herbology was ranging from the very low to the non-existent, assuming of course that Vernon or Petunia would bother opening a letter coming from the wizarding world. To her satisfaction, she had done very well in the exams. On the roll of parchment, the rankings were published with all the grades and gave this:
Overall, she had taken the second place behind Hermione (who had been completely untouchable ) and obtained O's in Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts and Herbology, an E+ in Astronomy and an E- in History of Magic. Pretty good for someone who had only a few clues magic existed a year ago. That History of Magic was her worst grade was not a surprise: she had not access to anyone's archive, thanks to her isolation with her housemates, and if there was a thing she had learnt this year, it was Binns and Tiroflan's lessons were the perfect time to catch up some sleep or read an interesting book. Not study History. Hermione had been the best, and Nigel had managed to compensate the 'Dreadful' he had received in Potions and History with 'Exceeds Expectations' in Charms and Herbology. Concerning the global rankings, Alexandra was forced to note her own House had literally crushed the competition in the academic field. Of the top ten students, seven were Ravenclaws. None of the Ravens were beyond the sixteenth place. Only the presence of Hermione (who had managed seven Outstanding) had deprived the Ravens from an overwhelming victory. By comparison, Slytherin and Gryffindor were outright disastrous with some elements tending towards the catastrophic. At the bottom of the list, Weasley, Finnigan, Crabbe and Goyle were living proof it was impossible to fail the first year of schooling at Hogwarts.
After that, everything passed in an instant. The afternoon passed in an instant as their affairs were taken from the wardrobes and packed in the trunks, Nigel's toad was found for the eighty-eight time lurking in some abandoned classroom (Hermione and Alexandra advised their friend he should have left it there) and notes were handed out to all the students, warning the children not to use magic over the holidays. By the signs of laughter coming from groups of Slytherin when they read it, Alexandra had the bad feeling this interdiction wasn't applicable to everybody in the wizarding world.
Not that it really mattered for her either. She had managed the previous year to do magic without a wand, and she had not received any owl to inform her that her presence was required at a magical trial. By the hints Flitwick had given her, as long as she did not used her wand to do magic and remained discreet about it, there was no reason the Ministry of Magic would suspect a thing. Judging by the complaints of the Weasley twins, some Gryffindors had not been informed of this, which perhaps was a wise move of their parents.
The next morning, all the first-years followed Hagrid, who was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake. Soon enough, under a clear sky they were boarding the Hogwarts Express. Alexandra took a compartment with Hermione and Neville, and their trio was not bothered as long as the travel lasted. They ate many wizarding sweets, discussed their project for the holidays and wondered what they would learn in their second year at school.
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