Chapter - 15.2
Days passed by, and soon Alex had been at Hogwarts for more than two months now. It was already the time for Halloween.
Something meant to celebrate the end of harvest and the beginning of the new year was reduced to nothing but wearing weird-ass costumes and dressing up like anything but human. But in front of the delicious food, who could care about anything else?
And so, on Halloween morning, everyone woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. A tasty start to the beginning of the day was what everyone needed.
But that was not all. After months of working on their wrist movement, it was another joyous and exciting announcement for the first years. Professor Flitwick, the charms teacher, finally thought it was time for the students to start making objects fly. And to no one's surprise, this announcement was something everyone was looking forward to. Ever since they saw the Professor make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom, most of the first years were dying to try it out.
But what was Neville's toad doing in the class? It's all because he lost his toad on the train. Since then, Neville has been carrying it around wherever he goes.
Soon, Professor Flitwick showed them one more time how to make objects fly before putting the class into pairs to practice. The pairing couldn't be any more random.
Potter was partnered with Seamus, the same guy who picked up the fight with Alex. Ron was with Hermione, Nicole with someone named Dean Thomas. But the most bizarre of them all was Alex. He was paired with Malfoy.
Everyone partnered together had different thoughts running through their mind. Seamus was jealous, Ron was annoyed, Dean was Happy, and Malfoy was flabbergasted. Malfoy just could not believe his luck.
Ron and Hermione were not even facing each other. God knows who was angrier with the pairing.
On the other hand, Dean was trying his best to strike a conversation with Nicole and keep it going. And unlike Hermione, Nicole had no issues keeping up with the conversation.
Meanwhile, Seamus almost chewed his fingers, looking at his buddy happily chatting with Nicole. He wanted to run up to them and hurl Dean away from his Bella.
While all these emotions were floating around the class, it was relatively peaceful on Alex's side. Malfoy sat with his back straight and did not even try to look anywhere else but at Professor Flitwick. In front of Alex, he was not so arrogant anymore.
Seeing Malfoy act so stiff around him, Alex could only shake his head. After that little episode with Malfoy, Alex felt that he indeed went a little overboard. He could have tried to keep a low profile and handled it sensibly, but because of Nicole, he lost his reasoning at that very moment.
"You can relax, you know. He is not going to eat you," Daphne, who sat beside Alex teased Malfoy. Daphne was partnered with a girl from Slytherin.
"Who said I am not relaxed? I am completely fine," Malfoy looked at Daphne, and his chest swelled up when he said so. He was not going to admit that he was nervous as hell at this moment.
"Liar... Look at your legs shaking," Daphne smirked. As soon as Malfoy heard her, he looked down. But Malfoy soon realised that Daphne was messing with him. When he looked up at her, Daphne was already looking away.
As for Alex, he did not pay much heed to the banter between Daphne and Malfoy. It was pointless. Regarding Malfoy, Alex did not have much of an opinion. As far as Alex could understand, Malfoy's behaviour could only be regarded as naive. His behaviour was all due to the environment he was raised in. Malfoys were easily at the top of the hierarchy in the wizarding world. They held high-profile portfolios in the Ministry and were filthy rich.
With everything going your way, it's hard for people to see others the same way. You stop considering others at the same level as you, even at the moral level. Alex could bet that since his childhood, Malfoy has seen his family only bully others, punching down those weaker than them. And if that is the case, Alex felt that there was a slight possibility that if someone helped him look at things from a different perspective, Malfoy might turn a new leaf. But all of this is nothing but a mere possibility. And Alex had no desire to become that someone.
And while everyone was organizing their thoughts, Professor Flitwick spoke again, bringing everyone's attention to himself.
"Now, I hope all of you are settled on your seats," Professor Flitwick spoke, "Before we begin. Don't Forget that nice wrist movement we've been practising," Professor Flitwick spoke, standing on the top of his pile of books.
"... In front of you is a feather. Since you all are new to this, we've decided to go with something light."
"Now remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important too. Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest." Professor Flitwick joked, "Now, all of you know the spell already. Spread your wings and fly."
While Professor Flitwick made it sound easy, for most of the students, it was not.
But for Alex, it was like a walk in the park. As soon as Professor Flitwick stopped speaking, he pulled out his wand and whispered something. And in no time, the feather on his desk rose and flew around the class.
"Very well done, Mr Ashbridge," Professor Flitwick squeaked with joy when he saw Alex do it right away. But Alex was hardly pleased with himself. He put his wand away and leaned back, letting the feather drop on its own.
Meanwhile, everyone else was not having the best time of their life. No matter how much they tried, the feather won't budge.
On Harry's side,
Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay motionless in front of them. It was so irritating after some time that when an impatient Seamus tried to prod it with his wand, 'BOOM,' the feather exploded. When the smoke finally dispersed, Harry and Seamus were in front of everyone with their faces covered in black.
Finally, it took some time, but even Nicole succeeded in making her feather float. And it was a chance for Dean, who went on a spree to praise Nicole non-stop.
"The Ashbridge siblings are something else," Professor Flitwick commented. He was very happy with the brother and sister.
"Che... Show off," Ron clicked his tongue when he saw Professor Flitwick praise Nicole and Alex. Since there was only one feather for each group, he was the one trying it first. But there was not much luck.
"Wingadium Leviosa!" Ron shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.
Looking at Ron, Alex turned towards Malfoy, who sat still doing nothing. The feather had already landed in front of them again, but Malfoy was still to try.
"Do you want some help?" Alex suddenly asked Malfoy.
"Huh...?" Malfoy was taken aback by the sudden question. With his eyes wide open, Malfoy leaned away from Alex and looked at him with suspicion, "No, I don..."
"You're saying it wrong," But before Malfoy could reject Alex, Hermione finally snapped at Ron.
"... It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa. It's not ga, but gar. Say it nice and clear," Hermione spelt it out for Ron.
"Listen to her... She is good when it comes to such stuff," Alex whispered to Malfoy without looking at him.
"You...?" Malfoy was confused about why Alex was trying to help him.
'Did he forget all about the stuff from that day? Is he regretting it? Or is this some trap?' Malfoy was vigilant.
"You want me to learn from a mud..." Malfoy was about to curse Hermione, but then he remembered what happened the last time.
But Alex heard what he had to. He looked at Malfoy and, shaking his head in disappointment, laid back, closing his eyes. There was nothing more to say.
Malfoy thought Alex would rebuke him and maybe get physical, but Alex just shook his head and went silent. And for some odd reason, that shake of the head made it even worse for Malfoy. Malfoy wanted Alex to say something, but the latter did not.
But Malfoy also could not get himself to say anything to him. Unwilling, Malfoy suddenly found himself listening to the conversation between the red-head and Hermione.
"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled, hearing Hermione impart her knowledge.
Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"
Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.
"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping, "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's has done it too!"
Hearing Professor Flitwick, Malfoy felt his cheeks burning with shame while a smile appeared on the face of the sleeping Alex.
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Obrigado pelo capítulo.