It turned out that Harry and Ron came to school via her father's flying car. Alexandra watched Ginny get sorted, her face dropping as she realised Ron wasn't there to watch. Alexandra made a mental note to thank Hermione for being so welcoming and comforting to Ginny as the young girl sat at the Gryffindor table.
Alexandra's first class was Herbology with the Gryffindors. Professor Sprout looked a little banged up, with bandages covering her arms.
"Welcome back, students. I hope you had a lovely break." There were some muttering around the class. "Fantastic. Today we'll be repotting mandrakes. Now, who can tell me the properties of the mandrake." Alexandra and Hermione looked at each other before both of their hands shot up. "Miss Granger."
"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative. It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state." Hermione answered.
"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor. The mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also, however, dangerous. Who can tell me why." Hermione and Alexandra both raised their hands again in sync. "Miss Weasley."
"The cry of the mandrake, with the exception of infant mandrakes, is fatal to anyone who hears it. An immature mandrake's cry will knock a person out for hours."
"Well done. Ten points to Hufflepuff. The mandrakes we have here are very young." She pointed to the plants in front of the class. The class shuffled around for a closer look. "Everyone, take a pair of earmuffs." She said and the class moved to snatch some pairs. "When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely covered. When it is safe to remove them, I will give you the thumbs up. Right, earmuffs on."
"Oh, this is exciting!" Hermione's eyes were shining. Alexandra hid her smile and put on her earmuffs.
"Sorry. I can't hear you." She said and Hermione rolled her eyes before putting on her own. Soon the entire class had covered their ears. Professor Sprout grabbed the top of the plant and pulled. Where there should've been roots or a bulb, there was a small, strange creature. Professor Sprout pulled a plant plot from beneath the desk and forced the plant into it, covering mandrake infant underneath so that only the leaves of the plant were visible. She gave them a thumbs up and removed her own earmuffs. The class followed suit.
"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings their cries won't kill yet. As Miss Weasley pointed out, they will knock you out for several hours, and I am sure none of you want to miss your first day back so make sure your earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your attention when it's time to pack up." She pointed as she gave out instructions. "Four to a tray, there is a large supply of pots here. Compost in the sacks over there, and be careful of the venomous tentacula. It's teething."
"You should probably stick with the boys, or they'll end up knocking themselves out." Alexandra said.
"And you? There's room for one more."
"I'm going to stick with my house. They're more capable than those buffoons."
"They're not buff-" Hermione cut herself off as she saw Harry break his pair of earmuffs. "You have a point."
"Earmuff-us reparo." Harry tried. Alexandra stifled a giggle and walked away, leaving Hermione to stop him before he injured himself.
Alexandra ended up joining Ernie, a boy named Zacharias and another girl named Leanne. They worked in silence, not that there was much opportunity to talk, and Alexandra thought it was the most peaceful class she'd had yet.
After Herbology, she had potions, which she was absolutely looking forward to. Snape gave them mostly theory work to try, giving quizzes on last year's syllabus. After class was lunch, and Alexandra waited behind to talk to him.
"Pleasant break?" He asked.
"Harry stayed with us for a while."
"That sounds like fun." He drawled sarcastically.
"More like torture." She huffed. "Thank you for the mirrors. Hermione and I made good use of them over the summer. It's the only thing that kept me sane."
"I'm glad you survived." He said, looking amused. "Aren't you hungry?"
"No." She took out a piece of parchment and a book. "I need your help."
"Yes?"
"I know Hogwarts is one of the safest places in the world, but after last year I just feel a little on edge."
"Yes?"
"I was in the library yesterday, and I found this spell." She opened the book and showed it to him. "It'll show me my relatives. I thought we could use it on this map of Hogwarts."
"There's a map of Hogwarts?"
"Vague map. It doesn't show all the nooks and crannies, but if someone related to me by blood is in this castle, the spell will show me who they are."
"You think maybe you can use it to find you know who?"
"If he's here. I know he probably isn't and that he'll need time to recuperate from what happened before the summer. But just in case?"
"Okay, let me see this spell." He skimmed through the page and nodded. "It looks simple enough." Alexandra took out her wand before waving it in a sideways loop, the infinity sign.
"Cognatem revelio." She said, continuing the loop, before moving her wand to the map. An image began to form, showing the way throughout the castle before slowing down to focus on professor Snape and Alexandra. It zoomed in to Snape, and stopped before dissipating. "That- that had to be a mistake right?"
"You followed the instructions perfectly, I'm not sure how it could be."
"But- but you're not Voldemort."
"No."
"And you're not related to Voldemort."
"No."
"So how could we-?" She ran out of the classroom.
