24 Just Another Chapter

- Well, then, it's decided. I officially announce the formation of a new party," Peverell Senior announced in a solemn voice, and then, to everyone's surprise, a bright white glow enveloped the three lords.

- What was that? - Alex asked in surprise, as soon as the glow was gone.

- I don't know, I've never seen anything like it," said an equally surprised Malfoy.

- Darius, do you know what it is? - Alex asked, looking at the keeper.

- 'No, I don't know,' replied Peverell with a thoughtful face, in response, the lords looked at him with a shocked look.

- What," Darius asked with a raised left eyebrow as soon as he noticed he was the centre of attention.

- Nothing, it's just that you're a keeper, I thought you knew everything," Alex muttered, coming out of shock.

- Even the wisest can't know everything," was the only thing the man said in reply.

- We'll have time to think about it, let's decide what we're going to do next," Malfoy, who had been silent, suggested.

- 'I won't be of much use for the next few years as I'll be at school,' Alex said with a guilty face.

- No, you'll take care of the purebloods' offspring at Hogwarts," the boy's face took on a thoughtful expression, then brightened. - You and I, lords, will negotiate with the neutral families," Darius continued, glancing at Malfoy and Black.

- There should be no problem with the dark and neutral families, but not with the light families," Orion said.

- Why? - The young lord wondered in response, looking at Black.

- 'As if to say, relations between the dark and neutral families are a bit strained, while with the light families, they are strained. The Malfoys and the Blacks, and even more so the Peverells, are considered, and are dark families, so there's no way to even meet them because they don't like dark magic and anyone who uses it. So we need to get the support of an influential light family," Malfoy answered instead of Orion.

- In that case, I suggest we start with the Potters," Black suggested.

- Of course, the wife of the current head of the Potter family, Doreah Potter, maiden name Black. I think it would work," Malfoy said.

- Yes it will, even if the women of the Black family go to another clan, they are still loyal to the Blacks and Aunt Doreah is no exception," Orion agreed.

- The Potters could also be used to reach their closest allies, the Longbottoms," Malfoy voiced his thoughts.

- Yes, the current head of the Longbottom family passed away two years ago, and the family is run by his wife Augusta Longbottom. She has a son, Frank, who is on the same course as you at Gryffindor," said Darius, who had been silent.

- Great, if we can get the support of those two families, the rest of the Light Families will join us," Black nodded.

- There is one problem, - said Alex, who was silent. 

- What problem? - Peverell senior immediately reacted.

- Well, the Potters and the Longbottoms support Dumbledore, they're going to say no right away, aren't they," Darius breathed a sigh of relief in response.

- Alliances are made and broken, they agreed to support Dumbledore, but they didn't swear to it and they can refuse," Malfoy shrugged and enlightened the boy.

- 'Well, let's end it there then. We'll get into action once the Christmas holidays are over. The Potters and Longbottoms should be dealt with first," Orion summarised, and everyone agreed.

After that, Abraxas Malfoy and Orion Black went to their rooms, Darius went to Severus', and Alex went to his office to take care of the family business.

Alex's Christmas holidays had gone quite, quite well. He had time to visit Black Manor, then Malfoy Manor.

***

At the end of the Christmas holidays, Peverell, the Black sisters, and Malfoy were standing on the platform. To see them off came Darius along with Narcissa and Severus, the Black sisters' parents and uncle, and to everyone's surprise, Lucius' parents. After saying goodbye, the company boarded the train and took one of the empty compartments, Bellatrix sat by the window next to Alex as usual and then fell asleep, resting her head on her fiancé's shoulder. Alex didn't react in any way, just put his arm around her shoulders. Lucius, along with Andromeda, sat opposite and discussed something in the spell book. Half an hour went by at this pace when the door to the compartment opened and Rudolphus Lestrange stood there with someone else.

- Can we join you? - Then, without waiting for consent, he went inside and sat down next to Bellatrix. Behind him, the others entered the compartment as well. To Alex's displeasure, among them, besides Lestrange senior, were his brother and Umbridge and Fudge. Besides them, Nott and Gump also entered the compartment. The compartment immediately became crowded and noisy.

- Why has it become so noisy, have we arrived already? - Bellatrix raised her head and looked around sleepily.

- No, we haven't arrived yet, sorry for waking her up, - Alex answered, looking at his wife, she just waved her hand in response, then took out a potions book and started to study it.

The train reached Hogsmeade by evening. The weather was usual for this time of year because it was snowing. Alex got off the train extremely annoyed and struggled to keep his right hand, which was reaching for his wand. A slight sense of unease was present though. The Lestrange had begun to impose their company on him, and along with them Fudge and Umbridge as well. And while Alex didn't care for their company, the looks Lestrange senior was throwing at Bellatrix made him wish for someone else's blood.

Bellatrix saw the state of her fiancé, though she was not in the best of health herself. So she took his right hand and stroked Alex's cheek soothingly, then smiled as she noticed that Peverell had calmed down and was no longer reaching for the hilt of his wand. After calming down the couple Lucius and Andromeda followed them went to the carriages.

Lucius and Andromeda were not at their best either. The former was furious and the latter was annoyed. And the reason for this was again Lestrange, only it was not the older but the younger - Rabastan Lestrange. He was paying excessive attention to Andromeda in the compartment, but unlike his older brother, he was more sensible.

To make matters worse, Fudge and Umbridge were here, causing a great deal of irritation.

- I'm sick of them," Bellatrix said as soon as everyone was seated in the empty carriage and it started to move.

- You're not the only one," Andromeda kept up with her older sister.

The group reached the school quickly and then headed for the great hall. Almost all of Hogwarts was already gathered in the great hall. All the faculties were noisily discussing how they spent the weekend. Alex and the others entered the great hall and then went to the Slytherin table, where they sat together as usual.

- Bellatrix, you've changed," suddenly sounded from the left. Looking to the left, everyone saw Katarina Barrett, a third-year Slytherin student. Katarina was a girl of fourteen with waist-length black hair and brown eyes.

- What do you mean changed? - Tilting her head to the right, Bella asked. Instead of answering, Barret held out her hand and showed Bellatrix her strand of hair, which was white in colour and no different from Alex's.

- You are also the same height as your fiancé, though you were half a head shorter than him before," the girl added, looking at the couple.

- You will be my wife in the future and you will become a member of my clan, it happens when you become a full member of the clan. You become a member of a clan and get the clan's characteristics, - Bella was enlightened by her fiancé.

- Cissy has changed, too," Andromeda said. - Her previously blonde hair has also turned completely white," the girl explained as soon as everyone looked at her.

- Why didn't I notice that? - Alex asked, blushing faintly with shame.

- You were with us the whole time, so you didn't notice," Bellatrix replied with a shrug.

- There's nothing wrong with that," Malfoy remarked, and then everyone went back to their interrupted business.

- Dear students, I'm glad you're back," Dumbledore said, spreading his arms and wearing a purple robe with a pattern of golden stars for the occasion. A complacent smile wandered across his face, and his eyes sparkled behind his half-rimmed glasses.

- 'We're so pleased,' remarked Malfoy in a snide voice, who was looking at Dumbledore with disdain. There were a couple of chuckles from the faculty in response.

- I won't bore you with long speeches," the Headmaster continued.

- We'd appreciate it," Bella's voice was no less acerbic than Malfoy's.

- Eat up! - He waved his hand spectacularly and all four tables were filled with food. Alex only hummed at that, appreciating the Headmaster's trick of simply moving all the food from the kitchen.

After the festive dinner on the occasion of the beginning of studies, tired and sleepy students headed by headmasters went to the living rooms, and Alex and Bella went to their chambers, where they hugged each other and fell asleep.

Studying at Hogwarts went as usual, breakfast, classes, lunch, classes, sitting with friends, homework, dinner, sleep, and everything from the beginning. Alex according to the plan, together with Malfoy began to quietly establish contact with representatives of other families. To his surprise, by the end of the year, almost all the purebloods in Slytherin were listening to them, except for the Lestrange brothers, Joshua Travers, August Rookwood, and Evan Rosier. And with those results, Alex was more than pleased, though he was surprised by such an outcome.

Flashback

- You're Peverell, and for that, everyone is ready to follow you, and the fact that you have shown yourself to be clever, cunning, ambitious, and strong magically, and the fact that you being a sophomore are considered the best duelist in the school, among students, who can compete with McGonagall or Flitwick on an equal footing, - Malfoy answered, having heard Alex's words. Peverell looked at his friend with a very surprised look in response.

- The school's best duelist among the students? I don't recall anyone holding something like that," Alex said thoughtfully.

- It's unofficial, you probably don't know it, but Grym and Flitwick have a journal, where everyone who took part in duels recorded, their losses and victories, and you are in the first place with three dozen victories, among which there are several senior students, and the most interesting thing is that you haven't had a single defeat, - Alex was even more surprised in response because he didn't know such a thing. Seeing his gaze, Malfoy asked in a suspicious tone. - Don't tell me you just learned about it.

- For the first time," Alex answered honestly, and Lucius looked at him with a shocked look. - Besides, I defeat my enemies not by the number of spells, but by speed, and even though I can duel with McGonagall, it's not certain that I can win. There's nothing to say about Flitwick," Alex didn't finish. In duels, he used spells from the Hogwarts program and not beyond the fifth year, though if he started using spells from the Dark and Blood Magic section, he would be able to beat McGonagall, but he would be like walking from Earth to Mars to Filius. Hearing the answer, Malfoy hummed and looked at Alex with approval. He was pleased that his friend wasn't getting cocky and was soberly assessing his strength.

- Let's call it a night," Alex suggested, and his companion nodded in agreement.

End of Flashback

Although the Slytherin case was going well, things were not going well with the Light Families. The main problem was how to arrange the conversation without arousing suspicion since almost all of the Light Families were at Gryffindor. Alex was beginning to despair, but such an opportunity came up in Potion's class.

Potions room. 

- Attention everyone, we will now begin to prepare slightly more complex potions, so you will be working in pairs," Slughorn announced in his office, where the second years of Gryffindor and Slytherin were gathered. - The Headmaster is a little concerned about the situation between the faculties, especially between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and so Dumbledore has decided that pair work will help to build friendships," Slughorn replied with a coherent groan of doom from the red and gold faculty. Slytherin remained indifferent, though they were tempted to do the same to their future colleagues. - To keep the balance, the pairs will be made on the principle of the best with the worst," Alex sensed something wrong when he heard that. - So, the first pair - Mr Peverell and Mr Longbottom, - after the professor's words, Frank looked at Peverell with a slightly wary look. Alex himself remained indifferent on the outside, and inside he wanted to beat himself against the wall with a doomed groan, but the other representatives of the two faculties looked at Alex with sympathy.

- "What unanimity," Peverell's mind slipped into his own. - 'After this lesson in the library don't be late,' Alex said in a still sepulchral silence, in a cold, impassive voice to Longbottom.

- 'Second pair, Miss Black and Mr Carmichael,' the professor voiced, looking at the magazine. Bella breathed a sigh of relief, for she was paired with the quietest Gryffindor, and the heir to the young, pure-blooded Carmichael family. But the boy was not relieved and looked at his partner with apprehension, and at her fiancé with undisguised fear.

- The third couple, Mr Malfoy and Mr Jones," Slughorn announced. Malfoy remained unperturbed, only the arrogant smile that appeared on his lips made everyone hurriedly turn away from him. 

Next, the pairing distribution Alex listened to. He was frantically thinking about how to survive after that. In two years of studying together, Alex had realized that Neville was such a terrible Potions teacher.

- 'Professor, give us a couple of extra cauldrons just in case,' Alex asked as soon as the pair allocation was over.

- Why? - Slughorn played dumb.

- I assume that regardless of my actions the first couple of cauldrons will be exploded, dissolved, and melted, - explained Peverell patiently.

- Good," Slughorn replied with a little chuckle.

After that, the professor handed out to everyone the potions they should prepare for the end-of-year exam. To Alex's surprise, he and Frank got the Bodropper Potion at the beginning of the fourth year. Slughorn responded to Alex's surprised face:

- You have until the end of the year. Besides, you're quite welcome to ask for help from your seniors, but a written report of everything you've done to make the potion is required by me:

- Can I turn it in early? - Alex asked, and the professor nodded silently.

When the class was over, Alex and Frank, who had two new cauldrons in his hands, went to the library.