Third Year

NOTE: PLEASE READ THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER IF YOU HAVE NOT DONE SO. I UPLOADED A CHAPTER IN PLACE OF MY ANNOUNCEMENT THERE TO KEEP THE CHAPTER NUMBERS IN ORDER. IF IT IS NOT UPDATING FOR YOU, TRY REMOVING THE BOOK FROM YOUR LIBRARY AND ADDING IT AGAIN.

08 - Third Year

Alex reunited with his friends when he returned to Hogwarts. While he was in school, Mr Baxter was using his name to communicate with the Association by mail.

During the sorting of new students, he watched Charlie Weasley get sorted in Gryffindor just like his older brother. Another student he recognised was the young Nymphadora Tonks who was sorted in Hufflepuff. He still remembered seeing Tonks lying dead in the Great Hall in his previous life.

From what he could remember, Tonks was a metamorphmagus and she had a hard time controlling her ability when she was young. She would sneeze at times and her hair colour would change. She was also very clumsy, a side-effect of having a malleable body mass. It was like she could not get used to her own body. And because of that, she was made fun of quite harshly.

When he got the chance, Alex would ask Clay and the gang to look after Tonks.

Going back to his studies, he realized now that the magic spells that they were learning in Hogwarts were very limited. Spell creation was more fluid than he thought. Now he knew that the only spells that could be found in books were the most commonly known in their world.

Wizards and witches were not the most forthcoming when it comes to sharing their discoveries. This trend could be traced back to the time when wizards still lived isolated in their towers. They protected their knowledge with extraordinary means. That kind of culture would not just disappear.

Some people might be willing to share their spells to receive some acknowledgement from their peers, but they would keep their most valuable discoveries for themselves or their families. Most pure-blood families would have a collection of these spells, recipes, or rituals that they called 'Family Magic.'

If Alex wanted to be known as a powerful wizard, he would need to have some magic of his creation under his name.

On the other hand, knowledge about runes would be useful if he would continue his studies in enchanting and he might be able to create his warding schemes in time. Although goblin wards were formidable, he still wanted to add his own protections to their home.

So for his third-year electives, he chose 'Study of Ancient Runes' and 'Arithmancy'. The first one was useful in making wards and the other was useful in creating new magic spells.

Alex also wanted to take 'Divination' because it was the subject in Hogwarts that resembled 'Rituals' the most. However, he didn't want to be known as a student with an unhealthy obsession with Divination. The art was commonly regarded as a very imprecise branch of magic.

He also suspected that Headmaster Dumbledore or someone close to him was an expert in divination. Thinking back, the whole thing between Harry Potter and the Dark Lord screamed prophecy to him. He suspected that that was what Bill and his group were counting on. In general, pure-bloods had more faith in prophecies than muggle-born.

However, Alex's existence was the anti-thesis to divination. Contradictory to what the prophecy foretold, Harry Potter died when he faced Voldemort. So he knew that he could not depend on any of it. The future was never set because he knew that he had already changed some things.

However, that would not change the fact that there were a lot of people that believed in prophecies. It was still a part of the culture of any magical society. For now, he would just study divination in the library until he had solid theoretical knowledge in the art.

***

During a weekend in October, Alex and Clay were in the Three Broomsticks drinking butterbeer. As third-years, they were finally able to go to Hogsmeade on the weekends starting this school year.

They were having an animated conversation just like the other groups of students in the tavern. The drinks were going quickly with the presence of many Hogwarts students eager for a break from the school. This was one of the few moments in a Hogwarts student's life that they didn't have to worry about their professors.

Even Alex was glad to be able to take a break from studying once in a while. He still had more research to do, but it could get monotonous sometimes. Besides, he could use their Hogsmeade weekends to meet with Mr Baxter should he need to.

"And then Snape deducted five points from him just for coughing. I tell you, he is biased against anyone not from Slytherin," said Clay before taking a sip of his drink.

"That's not anything new," said Alex.

"So you say! You're one of the best in Potions in our year. But even you have never earned any points from him. Besides, he doesn't even teach! He just shows us the recipes and let us figure them out on our own. The books had more details about the potions anyway, so writing the recipes on the board is completely redundant!"

"When it comes to potions, your habits are very important. And habits are learned only through practice. That is probably why Snape doesn't feel like explaining everything. Besides, when others make mistakes and he goes off like a kettle, that's when we actually learn something from him. You just need to listen to his corrections and ignore the tone of his voice."

Clay laughed and said, "With his way of speaking, everything he says sounds sarcastic. He can greet you 'good morning' and you will immediately think that something is wrong."

"Snape will never say 'good morning' to us."

"That's true. But I still can't believe that the Headmaster have someone like him in the faculty," said Clay.

How the Headmaster selected his teachers was a mystery to anyone. Snape was not the only one that was problematic. There were also Binns and Trelawney.

Alex sipped his butterbeer thinking about the collection of ill-suited teachers in the best magical school in the world, supposedly.

The reason why Clay felt like complaining about Snape was that they were trying to win the House Cup for that year. With the help of Clay's gang, they encouraged members of their house to be more proactive during class. It also meant avoiding getting into trouble as much as possible.

Snape, however, was making it difficult. The potions master seemed to think that he could just deduct points from the non-Slytherins anytime he wanted.

Then, they were interrupted by someone they would rather forget.

"Well, if it isn't the Duffers Duo," said Angus Travers who made an appearance along with three other Slytherin fourth-years. "Where are the rest of the badgers?"

Alex was just thinking about annoying Slytherins, then came the most annoying of all.

"What is it to you, Travers?" Clay responded with disdain. "Just leave us alone and crawl back into the hole where you come from."

Clay had certainly become more domineering after becoming the leader of his Hufflepuff gang.

As the Slytherins began to crowd them, Alex looked at the other students in the tavern. They were just watching the show, having a drink, and eating their snacks. No one was going to help them out, he realized.

These miserable sods, Alex thought. Hogwarts students had very few sources of entertainment that they would just watch the drama unfold without getting involved.

No doubt, Travers had noticed the lack of other Hufflepuffs in the room.

"You should watch how you speak to me, Rosewood," Travers said with a sneer. "Without your pathetic group around, you ought to be careful. We are not inside the castle in case you haven't realized. You can easily trip on the ground if you're not careful and no one is going to care."

"You're a slimy snake!" Clay fired back. "I don't have the time to deal with someone like you!"

Travers' grin turned into a scowl. It seemed that he didn't like being disregarded.

"You are such a disgrace!" Travers said with poison in his words. "Look at you… hanging out with mud-bloods. Don't you care at all about your reputation?"

"You shut your mouth!" Clay yelled. He stepped closer to Travers, showing that he was not going to back down.

The Slytherin could not help but step back. His expression turned dark and Alex could already guess what was going to happen next.

"Get them!" shouted Travers.

All the thugs with Travers took out their wands and launched spells at the Hufflepuff duo. Clay was caught unprepared and was hit by a 'Knockback Jinx'. He yelped as he was sent back where he hit a wall.

On the other hand, Alex was quick enough to dive out of the way of the spells. He pushed the table towards the Slytherins, forcing a break in their assault.

"Stupefy!" exclaimed Alex pointing his wand to the attacker on the right.

The 'Stunning Spell' hit true. One of Travers' thugs was knocked unconscious.

Alex stood there with a wand in his hand to face down the Slytherins. What should have been just a simple exchange of words had turned into a duel. And they were just talking about trying to avoid getting into trouble a minute ago.

"Nicely done, mud-blood," said Travers. Alex could pick up some nervousness in the Slytherin, even if the boy was trying his best to sound amused.

"Walk away now and end this," warned Alex. He did not react to the word 'mud-blood', no matter how many times Travers had said it. That only seemed to anger his opponent more.

"You—your kind shouldn't even be—" Travers did not finish what he wanted to say when he got hit by a 'Knockback Jinx'.

After seeing what happened, the remaining Slytherins fired their spells at Alex. But the Hufflepuff was able to deflect their attacks with a 'Shield Charm'.

Alex's defence was too good for a student. With each flick of his wand, the spells coming his way were deflected. His attackers and the other students there were stunned at what they just witnessed.

Taking his chance, Alex fired a couple of Stupefy's. With the two Slytherins down, he finally had time to consider his situation.

He had just used duelling spells on the other students. There would be repercussions to what he had done. Travers would surely go to the head of his house and, no doubt, his story would be something different.

First, he checked up on Clay who was still on the floor. He was hurt when he hit the wall behind him.

"D—did we win?" asked Clay still managing to smile.

Alex sighed. "What am I going to do with you?" he said.

Then, he turned to some of the students there, Gryffindors by the looks of it, and said, "You and you, take Clay to the infirmary."

It was a command, no question about it.

"Yes, we'll do that!" answered one.

"What? Why?" asked the other.

"Don't argue! Let's just go," said the first one, the smarter of the two.

They helped Clay up and held him by the shoulder as they exited the Three Broomsticks. Then, Alex turned to Travers.

He looked down on the Slytherin and said, "I'm beginning to think that there is something really wrong with you."

Travers was looking at him fearfully. "I'll have you expelled for this!"

Things were looking bad, Alex thought. Although it was self-defence, it would be troublesome if the teachers got involved.

He needed to somehow turn this into something more innocent rather than an outright duel. He had to make it look like a prank, he thought. Something funny for the other students to see. And something too humiliating for Travers to report to Snape.

Alex grinned mischievously as he looked at the boy on the floor.

"Wh – what are you going to do?" asked Travers nervously.

"This is your doing," Alex said. "Remember, your things will be in the fountain."

Travers was about to ask him what he meant, but with a quick spell from Alex and he was unconscious.

Sometime later, Travers and his gang woke up behind the Three Broomsticks and found themselves surrounded by giggling students. The cold feeling on their backs made them quickly realized that they were lying on the ground, naked.

They looked around for their clothes or their wands, but they were not there. Then, Travers remembered what Alex said last. However, the only fountain that he could think of was the one located at the Hogwarts courtyard. They could have asked another student to help them, but they were too embarrassed to stay a second longer. All they could do was run as quickly as they could with their hands covering their privates.

***

Alex managed to avoid getting in trouble. After Clay had recovered, he told his gang that it was open season in pranking Travers and his possé.

Whisperings were going around about what Alex had done. But nothing too serious, the incident was already lost with the other pranks that followed it.

Alex also heard a student said that Snape was complaining to the Headmaster about the Hufflepuff pranksters, but the Headmaster just said that the students were just having a little bit of fun.

For now, Alex was in the clear.

That winter, he decided to take the Hogwarts Express home, unlike due ng the previous years when he stayed in the castle during the Christmas break.

Well, he did not really go back home. Instead, he was picked up by Mr Baxter from the train station in London. From there, they travelled by Floo to their residence in Norwich.

The house was properly registered in the Ministry as the Baxter Residence, just as Alex instructed. That was also their 'Floo' address. The goblins had applied a 'Muggle Repelling', a 'Magic Containment', and 'Protection' wards that covered the entire property. Alex could now perform magic there without worrying about the 'Trace'.

When they arrived, Mr Baxter showed him the improvements that were done to the house. Inside, it was entirely a different house from what Alex could remember. The kitchen and the dining room were completely remodelled. The living room was refurnished like a high-class lounge. Upstairs, there were two bedrooms, one for him and another for Mr Baxter, and a study where Selene, the owl, had her perch. All of the rooms were enlarged as needed with magic.

On the exterior, the brickwork and the roof had been restored. The doors and the windows had been replaced. The yards looked well-maintained and Mr Baxter even had a small vegetable garden in the back.

The cellar of the house was pretty empty except for a stone that looked like a podium in the middle of the space. That was the main anchor where the wards around the property were controlled. In the future, they would place walls around the ward stone to make it inaccessible. Then, the rest of the cellar can be divided into other useful rooms.

The ownership of the wards was transferred to Alex. He was planning on adding more protections around the house, but he was still researching the ward combination that he wanted to use.

In the meantime, Alex decided to officially introduce Mr Baxter to the Association. The man still had very rough Occlumency defences, but it should be enough for the moment.

To the other people in the Association, Mr Baxter was just a wealthy sponsor to their cause who had made good use of an inheritance from a distant relative. Some of their older members recognized Mr Baxter and they congratulated the man on his newfound fortune. They didn't know Alex's relationship with him.

Alex had set limited funding for Mr Baxter to use. The organization was only focused on recruiting more members at the moment, so there was not any reason to invest more in it at the time.

The Leaky Cauldron had become some sort of a secret jobcentre. There was a message board in the Association's room with information about available jobs. Some of the more enterprising of the lot had taken the initiative on creating a system of sharing their resources. It was still a rough organization, depending mostly on volunteers, but if they were working out the quirks of their group.

***

After returning to Hogwarts, he went back to his usual routine. He was always in the library during his free time. Anyone who knew him would describe him as a dedicated student with no interest in things outside of school or quidditch.

They did not have any trouble with Travers and his Slytherin friends. Alex was sure that the boy wouldn't forget what he did any time soon.

On their last Quidditch match for the year, the Hufflepuffs was playing against the Gryffindors. Bill had gotten into the team for his house as one of the Chasers. He was a pretty good flyer, but the Hufflepuffs had the strongest that year.

They had the same members from last year, so everyone had plenty of experience. Captain Ernest was glad to be graduating as a Quidditch champion. He was full of hopes about being a professional player in the future. Alex wished him the best.

With the leadership that he had shown, he was chosen to be the team captain for the next season. No one protested the decision even though Alex would only be a fourth-year next term.

Of course, Alex had accepted it. He was already thinking about the changes that he would do as captain.

On other developments, Tonks had become a member of the Badger's gang. They made use of her ability in their so-called 'missions'. Although only a first-year, she had some vindictive streaks in her. She fit in quite well with the more volatile members of their gang.

At the End-of-Terms Feast, the Headmaster announced that the Gryffindors had won the House Cup. The Hufflepuffs were disappointed For sure. But considering all the pranking they were doing that year, it should not be a surprise to them. At the very least, they had prevented the Slytherins from winning the cup. That was enough of a reason to celebrate in their common rooms in their last night in Hogwarts before the summer break.

What surprised Alex the most was the rivalries between houses had changed during the term. Now, the Hufflepuffs were the main rivals of the Slytherins. This war between the two houses would not end anytime soon. And the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors were having their own thing when some members of the Ravenclaw House were looking down on the Gryffindors' stupidity. Of course, the Gryffindors were quick to argue that some of the top students of their year, like Bill Weasley, were from their house.

One could only wonder why the professors would not stop these developments.