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"Parkinson and the Carrow twins, they've been mocking those petrified in the attacks since Halloween. If she has time, any Slytherin girl who has a Death Eater relative and is not imprisoned at Azkaban." Leo added the second part of the sentence as an afterthought. Frankly, the chances of the three named girls being the mastermind of the petrifying attacks was remote, but it was not like they knew the older students at all. Most of them had not been shouting pure-blood slogan and insults like Malfoy and his gorillas anyway.
"Any candidate for the fifth dose?"
"Potter." Snarled venomously Ron, and Neville simply gave a sign of assent. The popularity of the Potter Heiress in Gryffindor tower had reached new lows after she had intervened in the little ambush where Neville had planned to give the Snakes a memorable lesson. The fact the second-year girl had held her own and defeated many older students against what would qualify as overwhelming numerical superiority had been a very sobering point for the Lions. During the entirety of their first-year, it had been the Ravenclaws who had propagated the rumours of Alexandra Potter being a Dark Lady. The Gryffindors had followed because it had been amusing, well that and James Potter had betrayed House Longbottom after all. Now after getting their heads handed to them by two second-year girls, the rumours were not sounding as ridiculous as they had before.
"Okay." Sighed Leo. "Who is going to talk to her and under what look?"
"Potter is always with MacDougal, Granger and Wolpert." Grunted Ron. "MacDougal is a Ravenclaw, so her quarters are off limits but we can easily grab some hair of Granger and Wolpert in the dormitories."
"And who will do it?" Neville demanded. "Malfoy is easy, he provokes us every day. But we never speak with Potter or anyone of the Exiled." The nickname of this group of four had become official by November at Hogwarts, though there were some variations. The Outcasts for example.
"I will do it!" Proclaimed Ron. "I will take Wolpert place, Potter will never see it coming!" Neville Longbottom and Leo Black exchanged deep stares. Ron Weasley was their friend, but there was no point to pretend subtlety and cunning weren't foreign qualities to him. Giving him a task to deceive a Ravenclaw - one who was acknowledged as far more intelligent and dangerous than Draco Malfoy would ever be - was the first step on a disastrous path. Not they were going to say it out loud, of course.
"No offence, Ron, but Potter will see that you're not Nigel Wolpert the moment you open the mouth. You don't have the same accent, the same background or the same mannerisms. You are also complete opposite in behaviour." Nigel Wolpert was timid and shy in public; Ron Weasley was loud and vocal. No way it was going to work in a thousand years. "No, we need a girl for this to work."
"Lavender again?" Sniggered the son of Sirius Black. "We are going to owe her a lot of favours..."
"As long as she doesn't decide to transfer them in Marriage Contracts..." Told the Boy-Who-Lived with a frown marring his face and ignoring the laughter coming from his two friends. "But I was thinking about Parvati for this one."
"The more people we involve in this search..." Reminded him his black-haired friend, taking a more comfortable posture on the train seat.
"I know...I know!" Repeated Neville. "But Parvati is resourceful enough to pass as Granger for an hour, I think. And she is a girl, so I suppose they can discuss...girl things if Potter does not talk about the Heir."
"Can Parvati ask what she did to torment Chudley? He's still trembling as soon as we go near this horrible orange creature..."
"Oh, come on Ron! Chudley is a rat and cats eat rats! Nothing more complicated to understand." The voice of Neville had taken an amused tone. A feeling absolutely not shared by the youngest of the Weasleys boys.
"I tell you mate. This thing... I don't know what it is, but it's not a cat. It knows when we're speaking about it!"
"Now you're getting really ridiculous." Chided Leo. "Next time, you will tell us the cat is playing chess with the Ravenclaws in their Common Room!"
On the other side of Hogwarts Express and at that very moment, a huge ginger cat took a satisfied expression and purred loudly on the trunk where he was perched, attracting the attention of the three girls and the boy sitting in the compartment.
"Hermione, your cat is purring again." Remarked Morag.
"Maybe Crookshanks wants to help you play chess, Alex." Said absently Hermione, turning a page from the large and heavy Transfiguration book she had begun to read at King's Cross Station. "You seem to need the help."
"Nonsense." Replied the Potter Heiress, with a wave of her hand in her black hair. "What could possibly give you that idea?"
"Common sense." Said soberly the bushy-haired Gryffindor. "Common sense and knowledge of the rules."
Alexandra couldn't stop a grimace from appearing on her face. Throwing a look at the exchequer, her four black pieces were still in the same position they had been ten seconds before. One king, one knight, one queen and one rook, all in midnight colour, were facing twice their number of white opponents. And her king was looking more and more exposed to the moves of the opposing white knight.
"Okay it is not going well," admitted Alexandra. "But now the games are far longer than they were when I began to play against Morag in December. I am learning."
This was not a self laudation: when she had started to play with her year-mate the chess engagements were ending with her defeat in less than twenty moves. Now it was taking three times that length.
"Speaking of learning..." Intervened Nigel with bits of lettuce in his hands he was gifting through the bars of the cage to Smokey his Firecrab hybrid. "Has someone managed to gain information on the Chamber of Secrets?"
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