Chapter - 14.3

Soon, days passed by and despite the initial setback because of Professor Snape, the name and fame of Harry Potter spread among the students exponentially. Every time he walked past them, the naive first years across the board would jump around in excitement. But that was not all, it was the height of Potter's craze, and there was even a fan club of his. From the rumours circulating around, the fan club even held regular meetings, discussing conspiracy theories about Alex's life from defeating the dark lord till now.

On the other hand, for Alex, it was as he had expected. He was shunned away by the majority of the Slytherins except for Daphne. They feared repercussions if they pissed off Malfoy.

But there were a couple of things that did change. Every time Alex came across Potter, Alex could feel the disdain from the latter. Alex knew the feeling very well. Even in the orphanage, there were many who disdained him. Meanwhile, Ron took advantage of Potter's rising fame to clash with him more often now. Alex felt the boy was not far from rallying a crowd against him. Alex felt like a witch from medieval times, ready to be burned to ashes.

But not everything was negative. There were a couple of positives as well. For example, Malfoy. Although he was back to his usual haughty self, Malfoy tried to avoid Alex as much as possible.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sunday,

After a long week of tiring classes and unprovoked resentments from all around, Sunday was something Alex was looking forward to.

Alex was in the Great Hall with Daphne, having his breakfast, when owls came bearing letters and parcels. It was odd for so many of them to arrive together, but what can you say? Maybe all the parents missed their children altogether.

While the letters and parcels were something normal, what caught everyone's attention was the long, thin package carried by a couple of owls.

Like everyone else, even Alex's interest was piqued when he saw the large parcel. And he was even more amazed when the owls dropped it right in front of Ron and Potter, knocking the latter's bacon on the floor. They hardly had the time to guess who the parcel belonged to when another owl came flying and dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

"I think it's a broomstick," Daphne, who sat across from Alex, said, "For Harry?"  She guessed.

"Hmmm..." Alex agreed.

These days while most students avoided Alex, Daphne was the only one who tried to get close to him. So much so that even Alex was tired of chasing her away all the time. On top of that, he would also reply to her more often than not. They had a very amicable relationship for now.

"I heard Professor McGonagall was the one behind his induction to the Quidditch team," Daphne spoke as she looked at Potter, "She asked Professor Dumbledore to bend some rules for Harry's sake," Daphne added.

"I never thought she would do that," Alex sighed and straightened his back.

"What do you mean?" Daphne was curious.

"I thought she liked to follow the rules," Alex shrugged, "It's not like her to do something like this.

"You sound disappointed," Daphne teased.

"A little," Alex did not deny. He had read a lot about the deputy headmistress. And when Alex met Professor McGonagall at the orphanage, he felt that much of what was written about her was true.

So it was justified for him to feel a bit disappointed in her.

"You must respect..." Daphne could not complete it when her gaze drifted away from Alex. She almost choked on the muffin she was having.

When Alex saw Daphne look behind him and act weird, he turned around, only to find Professor McGonagall standing behind him.

Professor McGonagall was passing by when she saw Alex. It has been a while since she interacted with him. Among the siblings that she went to meet regarding their admission to Hogwarts, the brother was the one who resonated with her the most. She wanted him to join Gryffindor, but fate had something else decided for him. Instead, Alex joined Slytherin. But this did not decrease Alex's favourability in her eyes.

So, Professor McGonagall decided to check on him. But when she got close, she heard the conversation between Daphne and Alex. In the beginning, when she got Potter to join the Quidditch team, she was happy and hopeful. But listening to Alex, her heart could not help but feel down. She had never thought that her decision would have such an effect. If Alex was feeling this way, there must be others as well.

Professor McGonagall stood behind Alex for a while without saying a word. Finally, she averted her gaze from Alex and left without saying a word.

"Do you think she heard us?" After Professor McGonagall left, Daphne asked.

"In situations like these, the obvious answer is a Yes," Alex nodded.

Meanwhile, reading the letter, everyone got to know that the parcel was for Alex. The sender has not revealed who it was, but right now, no one cared about it. Everyone already had an idea of what it was. Only the confirmation was remaining.

As the surrounding Gryffindors helped harry unpack the parcel, none of them could control their squeal when the broomstick was finally in sight. The Gryffindors were so excited that they were shouting their lungs out. They wanted to show off in front of the other houses, especially Slytherin.

Finally, it worked. Malfoy could not take it anymore, and with some of his lackeys, he made his way towards the Gryffindor table.

"You'll be in for it this time, Potter," Malfoy could not resist when he saw the broomstick in Potter's hand, "First years aren't allowed to have them."

"It's not any old broomstick," before Potter could respond, his faithful wife jumped in, "It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Malfoy.

"... Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley? You couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

Now before the argument could escalate, Professor Flitwick joined the students. Malfoy tried to sell out Potter, but it did not work. Professor Flitwick mentioned the special circumstance involved, and after having a little chat with the boys, he went his way.

"Now, no one can stop Gryffindor from winning the Quidditch cup this year," Ron was the happiest of them all.

"And it's all thanks to Malfoy," with so many Gryffindors by his side, Potter was not afraid of mocking Malfoy.

When Malfoy heard Potter, his face twisted, "Why are you thanking me, Potter?" Malfoy asked.

"Well, you know..." Potter shrugged, and his lips curled into a smirk, "It's all thanks to whatever happened that day during the flying lesson. It was only because of you that Professor McGonagall noticed me. And one thing led to the other..." Potter waved his fingers in front of Malfoy.

"And here I am, the youngest seeker in history," Potter smirked, "And you..." Potter laughed mockingly.

"You..." Malfoy could not help but point his finger at Potter. He was angry, but he held himself back. This was not the place to cause a scene, "Humph... Let's go," Malfoy sulked at the remark and left with his lackeys.

Soon, Potter also left happily, along with other Gryffindors. Everyone wanted to see Potter's broomstick in action.

Alex also did not linger around for long in the Great Hall. Not long after, Alex left for the Slytherin dungeons while Daphne followed. But Alex had enough of Daphne for a day. Sunday was for Erebus. The little kneazle lay in the room all day and munched on his food. Though he still did not gain weight, it was bad for his health. So Alex had to make him exercise.

Alex took Erebus out in the field and made him fetch the ball like a dog. The kneazle was reluctant, but after getting a couple of kicks to his butt, he had no choice.

While Alex was tormenting Erebus, he saw Potter and another guy walk towards him from a distance.

"Why am I running into him more and more?" Alex frowned.

"Mate, do you mind if we do some practice here?" The boy who came along with Potter politely asked. He was possible a couple of years older than them, but there wasn't any hint of superiority Alex could feel.

"Go ahead," Alex nodded and moved away from there. Since the other party had asked so nicely, Alex had to give him a face. Erebus also followed Alex with the ball in his mouth.

"Thanks," the guy shouted from behind.

Maybe too eager to fly, as soon as Alex walked away, Potter mounted his broomstick and kicked it off the ground. Alex saw Potter swoop in and out of the goalposts and speed up and down the field.

'He is a natural,' Alex thought when he looked at Potter.

Soon Harry and the boy involved themselves in talking about the basics of the game. Alex was on the side and would look at the duo from time to time. Using his magic, Alex eavesdropped on them and heard everything they were talking about.

When the boy was explaining to Harry about the Bludgers, the big black ball rose high up in the sky before descending toward Harry. Harry was prepared with a short round bat in his hand and struck it hard, away from him. But unfortunately, the ball flew towards Alex at high speed.

This took everyone by surprise.

"Watch out," the boy screamed and tried to warn Alex.

But it was no help. Seeing the ball coming toward him, Alex impulsively tried to stop it with his hand. It was foolish, but it was a natural reaction. But as soon as the Bludger was about a couple of feet away from Alex, it was blasted into smithereens.

The scene left Potter dumbfounded, the boy in awe and Alex in thoughts. Everything happened so fast that none of them could clearly see what transpired in between.

Suddenly Alex had an epiphany or something, and without saying anything to the two culprits, he picked up Erebus and left.

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