Alex's hat

"A better future?" Alex turned to Susan with obvious doubt on his face. 

Susan looked at Alex and with her hands behind her back said, "In your early years you should only know who your real friends are, don't worry about anything else." 

When Susan said this, Alex slowly lost interest in her words. It wasn't that she didn't agree with her, but she doesn't get it after all. While delving deeper into magic, he felt very calm and happy to innovate with spells. 

He was an orphan after all, his only likes were to dabble in specific subjects and not let go before knowing the whole truth. When he discovered his latent magical power and because of this caused many magical anomalies in the orphanage, he suppressed with all his desires those magical abilities that at that time he did not know what they were about. 

It was not that he was disinterested in magic, on the contrary, it was true to say that he felt interested in investigating more about those certain abilities that he could not find an explanation for, but he did not have the opportunity to give time to things that would only lead him to an abyss of no return. 

If Alex is totally honest, he didn't want to be someone different from the other kids. He wanted to feel accepted, integrated with others but it was impossible for him because he felt people's feelings. He didn't know a place where he could feel at ease, even in the orphanage he felt left out.

When he met Hermione, Harry, Ron and Neville, he knew that his feelings were innocent, a product of the immaturity and childhood he was supposed to have too. 

But everything changed when he met Susan, he could not feel anything coming from her. This at first worried him a lot, what is this person hiding? That thing like a sense of privacy Alex considered it something common to see, but then he understood that it was nothing more than something normal that should happen with all people. 

There is someone who could evade Alex's ability, even if he was alert, he liked that feeling of bewilderment by not knowing exactly what Susan weighed.

"You say not to focus on anything else, you may be right.... But there are many things you don't know about that I appreciate very much. Magic is an amazing thing, a power that can manifest in different shapes, forms and matter. I see the books you brought me mention fire magic, very simple but extremely interesting spells." 

"I heard you had a large family, does your sister you spoke of study at Hogwarts?" Alex asked as he opened the book where the spell to produce fire was explained, a profound explanation coming from an unknown wizard. 

But unbeknownst to Alex, when Susan heard someone else talking about her sister, something inside her froze. She was definitely taken by surprise, but she recovered in no time and after a big smile walked towards Alex. 

She looked at Alex concentrating on the book she had carefully chosen, and felt a strange calmness coming from the surroundings as if there was a strange sweetness emanating in the surroundings. But this is the Room of Requirement, where was that coming from that she was feeling? 

But when she realized something, she looked down at Alex and her gaze intensified, showing a strange coldness. She slowly reached into her pocket and touched her wand, her thoughts were being directed to an imaginary but desired outcome. 

And just as she was about to lose herself completely in that desire, she heard Alex's words, "Magic wasn't structured to make use of it just like others, our connection to that energy was made to innovate with spells..." 

"I feel that the magicians were expelled from their freedom, they did not let them innovate or evolve more and more with magic..." Alex looked at Susan and then pulled out his wand, "I've never had a problem with magic, and it's something I really enjoy researching..." 

Alex was stoic, his eyes roamed Susan's gaze and finally asked, "Do you know me?" 

When Susan heard this question, her body trembled a little, but quickly a confused expression appeared on her face and she said, "Know you? Yes, we met in the trophy room..." 

"Recently someone called me a bastard, I didn't even know who that person was, but apparently they did know who I was." Alex stopped looking at Susan and said, "If you know me or know my family, I have nothing to do with the past, but if the past is looking for me, I will have to answer to it in the future."

After saying that, Alex raised his wand and when he fixed a target, he muttered, "Incendio..." 

As if Alex's voice had authority, a jet of orange flames shot out from the tip of his wand and advanced furiously towards a dummy. The powerful spell cast by Alex had more power, control and accuracy than any other second to third year Hogwarts boy. 

Under Susan's stunned gaze, Hermione and the others' eyes went wide when they saw that burst of flame shoot out of Alex's wand like fire from a dragon's throat. 

Holding his right wrist with the palm of his left hand, Alex kept conjuring the spell and the power of the orange flames grew ever stronger and more violent. 

Alex was venting his pent-up anger in his chest, the helplessness of not knowing more about his history and family slowly tormenting him more and more, causing him a lot of discomfort that he could only release with such a striking spell. 

When Susan saw this, she frowned and warned, "Alex, stop!" 

"Alex, if you keep increasing the power of the flames you would lose control!" Seeing that he didn't heed her words, she was about to warn him again when she saw Alex's gaze moving toward hers. She could see those golden eyelids, those pupils that made her want to drop to her knees. As if she were in the presence of the emperor of the universe, Susan trembled and felt that if she said a word now, something magical would happen. 

Soon after, Alex stopped conjuring the Incendio spell and slowly lowered his wand. Sweat was trickling down her forehead, but now she felt much better and said, "If you are not approaching me with evil intentions, then we can be great friends Susan." 

Susan said nothing when she saw Alex's sincere smile, she was quite surprised to see the magical prowess of a first year at Hogwarts. That control of magic no one could have, at least in the first few months when coming into contact with magic and the wizard or witch is more familiar with his or her wand. 

"He's a monster..." 

Without Alex being able to hear that sentence, he watched as Harry and Ron came running up. They were interested in what Alex had just done and couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "Good grief, Alex! What kind of spell was that you cast?" 

"I want to learn that powerful spell!" 

"Me too!" 

But as Alex was about to hand the book to Ron, a scowling Hermione exclaimed, "No, no, we can't learn something so dangerous. Alex, how could you unleash a spell where extreme control of magic is needed?" 

"Come on Hermione, you want to learn the spell too." 

"Me? No..." 

"Hahahaha!" 

Alex and his friends couldn't help but laugh as they watched their strict friend get caught in one of her numerous scoldings, so angry was she that she ended up kicking everyone in the Room of Requirement. 

"Looks like you found your real friends already..." Susan muttered with an honest smile, walking towards the corner of the room while curiously observing this whole place. 

... 

Christmas is coming. 

One mid-December morning Hogwarts was discovered covered in six feet of snow. The lake was frozen solid and the Weasley twins were punished for hexing several snowballs to follow Quirrell and hit him in the back of his turban. 

The few owls that had been able to get through the stormy skies to drop off the mail had to be left  in Hagrid's care until they recovered, before flying off again. 

Everyone was impatient for the vacations to begin. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had fireplaces burning, the drafty corridors had turned frosty, and a cruel wind was battering the classroom windows.

Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes, down in the dungeons, where the breath came up like fog and made them stay as close as possible to their hot cauldrons. 

"I feel so sorry for ..." Draco Malfoy said, in one of the Potions classes. "All those people who will have to stay and spend Christmas at Hogwarts, because they don't want them in their houses." 

As Malfoy spoke, he looked in Alex's direction and sneered at his friends. 

After the quidditch match, Malfoy had become nastier than ever. Disgusted by Slytherin's defeat, he had tried to get everyone to laugh by saying that a toad with a big mouth could replace Harry as seeker.  But then he realized that no one found it funny, because they were so impressed by the way Harry had held onto his broom. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had once again teased Harry for not having a proper family. 

Alex when he heard those taunts said nothing, it was true that he would be spending Christmas in this place as he had no family to celebrate Christmas with. Even before he came to Hogwarts, there were no special days that excited him like normal children his age. 

... 

After potions class. 

"I'd say we should build an indoor Quidditch pitch." Ron sneezed as they crossed the lawn. "It's so cold here... Hermione, can you do the flames like before? I'm freezing." 

The girl at his side quietly pulled out her wand, which conjured a bright blue flame. Alex had taught her this simple spell that he had modified based on the fire, with these modifications it became easier to control and the heat could spread through her hands and eventually all over her body. 

"That's wonderful. Hermione, your erudition is so cute if it always shows after class. Hey, don't you think about helping me with the rest of the Charms report? I'm ten inches away from finishing. It's so miserable catching up on homework after the Quidditch game, and it's so easy for you..." 

"Forget it!" Hermione shot him a look of arrogance. 

"You can finish it however you want and let Hermione look it over." Alex walked between them as he pulled his scarf up towards his nose. 

"No... no, that's a problem." Ron hesitated for a moment, but agreed. 

"Then you'll get a perfect article with the right answers to all the questions." Alex said, and Ron laughed. 

"That's right! Hermione, you promised me a moment ago, I'll borrow a quill and write it down now, remember I'll be able to help you with charms while you help me in Astrology and History of Magic..." Alex said as he nodded and Ron agreed. 

Hermione kicked the pile of snow on the side of the road angrily. 

"Harry practicing in this cold today? Alex and the others started up the stairs, he was breathing and then some sort of white smoke was coming out of his mouth and the rabbit fur hat on top of his head covered his eyes, almost blocking his view, making him look extraordinarily large. 

"I should do that..." Ron looked at him with a strange expression on his face. "Alex... You do seem to like that gift that we all refused, Hagrid should be very happy to know that you wear that hat. You really don't have to force yourself to wear it if you don't like it, we won't say anything." 

Alex looked at Ron, as he slowly shook his head which was mostly covered by the huge hat Hadrid presented him with, showing that he didn't care. 

"Really it's an ugly hat, I wouldn't wear something like that even if it kept me out of the cold..." 

"Hagrid sent me this gift when I didn't go with you guys to your hut, it's really warm and my ears don't get cold." Alex said as he returned his gaze to the front.

Hermione couldn't contain herself and burst out laughing. She took a step forward, opened the door to the Gryffindor common room and Alex, who had crashed into the wall due to his limited eyesight, walked in with embarrassment as he heard the fat lady's sneer.