The next day, a strange scene occurred during the breakfast service. A student who rarely appeared in the great hall at this time was now eating alongside other students. What was even more interesting were his clothes.

Unlike the rest of the crowd clad in robes, this young man was wearing a pair of loose fitting sweat pants. For his upper garment he wore a tank top and he had a black jersey matching his pants tied around his waist.

The time was 7 am and few students and some professors were at the great hall. 

Yesterday, Alexander was still drained from all the work he had done over the weekend but now he was able to return to his usual day. Before he would have simply did all his task and activities down in the Hogwarts dungeons. But now that he decided to be more open he changed his activities and had his workout outside.

He woke up at 5 am, did some light stretches as he looked over his schedule. After which he started to jog around the school grounds for 30 minutes followed by a quick 30 minute calisthenics workout. He used alchemy to create a temporary workout area in the courtyard. 

Of course his actions were noticed by a few students but he simply waved at them. After working out he used a drying spell coupled with his personally created deodorant spell to dry himself of sweat and remove any odors.

After which he removed his jacket, tied it on his waist and headed for the great hall.

When he arrived he found that, although there were not too many students, there were still a good number of them who were eating and talking in groups.

Looking at the tables, Alexander sighed, he found seat at the slytherin table, got a plate and filled it with bacon, eggs, toast, tomatoes and he used the levitation charm on a glass of milk before heading for the gryffindor table.

The golden trio were not present but the Weasley twins were, he sat beside them and when he did he was welcomed by the pair.

“If it isn’t our great sponsor!”

“Sir, our stocks have been running low”

“If we could ask for more~”

Alexander smiled as he replied to them, “Fine, I’ll give you the same amount later, but remember to monitor the demand. Currently our products are selling like hotcakes mainly due to being different. Later on it will surely drop but when it does make sure to take note of the average daily demand. I’ll procure the necessary products, through my channels”

Hearing the words said by Alexander the Weasley twins eye’s lit up as they began to tell Alex of the various events that occurred yesterday.

“We didn’t know you were a veteran!”

“A genius wizard who already has experience in combat!”

“Through the blood fields of Moscow-”

“He survived and lived to tell the tale!”

“Now he studies”

“With love waiting”

“On foreign-”

Listening to the two go off was a welcome event for Alex but when he heard their words he quickly asked.

“Where did love come from?”

He already knew that the students were reading the news articles from the night of blood. He even recalled some students looking at him with different gazes in yesterday’s classes. But he did not hear everything and as such he only thought that the students presumed he was a member of the mercenary heroes.

How could it not be obvious? A grand magic circle was in the headlines of the paper. Some professors may have had some doubts when he came to Hogwarts but students rarely read papers and those that do would have forgotten about the old news from years ago.

Especially after the events that happened last school year with Harry Potter, the news from 1990 would have long left their minds.

But after his act at the defense against the dark arts lesson, he knew that the students were bound to learn about it. If only he could, he would have burned all the newspapers in the library but if he did that he would have been stopped by Madam Pince.

That beings said, Alex could not recall any paper’s talking about romance or anything. If any, there were papers that had speculations but why would they related that to him?

“Mate, you didn’t know?”

“Everyone was talking about how you looked”

“While telling your tale you had this longing gaze”

“One that talked fondly of a person in a far off place”

“A vampire, you met and interacted with~”

“Whom you defended from Lockhart’s poisonous lips!”

The twins found it funny to make a sudden poem to use as a way to tell the story. The fact that they spoke in turns made the whole thing even more amazing. If Alex was not thinking about their words seriously he might have clapped to their amazing way of speaking.

My expression… defending? Ah! Crap- was it that obvious?

A blush appeared on his face as he recalled his stunt yesterday and when the twins noticed this they did not hesitate to make a scene.

“IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED!”

“THE VAMPIRE PRINCESS WHO IS DEAR ALEXANDERS BELOVED!”

" “SHE EXISTS AND HE CONTINUES TO LONG FOR HER TO THIS DAY!” "

The twins declared loudly together before they started to sing.

𝆕Oh dear Alexander𝆕

𝆕Wherever you may be𝆕

𝆕Please remember𝆕

𝆕The vampire princess waiting for thee𝆕

The twins sang an impromptu song which snapped Alexander out of his stupor. Normally people would try to stop the twins but when he heard the lyrics a smile appeared on the boy's face.

Elly… I hope you're having as much fun as we are having here. I wonder what would happen if the famous vampire princess does appear at Hogwarts someday?

The breakfast service was filled with fun and laughter, unfortunately unlike the rest Alex left the great hall quickly after eating to get ready. He returned to his room and took a bath before putting on the school uniform.

Classic private school uniform under common robes. Well wizards do need to learn to mix in with muggles to hide their identity. That said, its only now that I realize that these clothes are quite… stylish.

After he finished preparing Alexander made his way to the library, classes started at 9 and it was still a bit over 8 in the morning. Usually he would have spent this time in his room playing around with his gadgets and various alchemical experiments but this time he decided to use his free time to head for the library.

“Alexander?”

“Tracy? How have you been?”

On his way to the library he encountered Tracy who was also heading there. The two decided to walk together as they talked about the recent events.

“So, well, most of the school was talking about you defending vampires and the like but in Slytherin… well they talked about how you equated purebloods to evil vampires and… well they called you a names like vampirephile, bloodpack… a bunch of unpleasant names…though they did stop when they spotted me and avoided me but now, no ones trying to bully me.”

Hearing her talk about the happenings in the Slytherin common room, Alexander sighed as he thought of the brainwashing that was done to the children. 

Its normal for kids to be molded by their parents belief, a lot of those kids simply grew up believing what they were told… but well, I guess being a slytherin means that they have a certain level or pride and well probably ambition, which is why they believe in the pure blood ideology which gives them an easy way to stand above others…

Alex dissected the Slytherin thinking, though most are normal. Some cases, especially those from pureblood families were raised with a belief that they were superior.

Thinking along those lines Alexander looked at Tracy closely, the blonde girl was a slytherin. But she acted meek and without ambition. From the way she acted the closest act of a slytherin she had was her trying to hide away. 

Even now, she could have easily rose to the top of the first to third years with his help but she didn’t do it. 

I wonder~ where does your ambition lie?

Alexander can’t help but want to learn more about her. Through understanding Tracy, himself and a few other slytherins. Maybe he could crack the code on how the sorting hat sorts students to the different houses. What parameters does it uses?

But that would be quite a long project and Alexander kept those thoughts in the back of his mind as he entered the library with Tracy.

“Do you really exchange letters with that vampire princess of yours?”

In the library, Alexander and Tracy sat opposite each other. Alexander was reading a book on apparition while Tracy read a book on charms. Interestingly, their tables contrasted quite a bit as Alex was simply reading the book like it was a novel. Tracy on the other hand had piles of notes and other reference materials strewn all over her table.

“I don’t exchange letters with anyone aside from my mentor and family members. Moreover, the vampire princess thing is just a rumor, I do not have some secret affair with a mysterious vampire princess.”

Answering in a calm tone Alexander continued to read his book but his answer made Tracy stop her writing as she squinted her eyes and asked Alex.

“Really now? But I heard you had a look of longing plastered all over your face as you recalled your time in Russia. I don’t think you’d have such an expression if all you remember was the bloody night.”

Her words carried with them a certain emotion that Alexander could not quite understand. But he simply smiled as he responded.

“It was simply reminiscence, no matter how sad, dark or gruesome an experience is. When recalling the time you spend with special people. You’d also have such a look.”

Alexander’s words answered the question but his answer was quite open for interpretation and ended up leading Tracy to ask.

“So, is one of these special people, a female vampire? Maaaaybe of an age close to ours?”

The question that came from Tracy held a bit of a negative emotion, despite all his experience Alex suddenly got numb at this moment. He may know but refused to acknowledge the facts before him. His mind ended up in turmoil as he simply smiled in response.

Ultimately silence will lead to further misinterpretation but the way this conversation is going… I fear what it will lead to and I need to avoid it

With such thoughts, Alexander simply answered Tracy’s further inquiries with avoidance. His answers and words were all turning away from the question, changing the subject or just outright answering with plain ignorance.

Ultimately the two ended up spending their short morning free time before 9 talking. One spoke like an interrogator looking for answers while the other was like a criminal that did his best to avoid speaking out of line or revealing too much.