"Slytherin actually won! The Snitch just flew right next to Welen Higgs, and all he had to do was reach out and grab it. The poor guy was so exhausted that he barely moved!"
"Really?" Alex raised an eyebrow, his curiosity piqued. "He won by sheer luck?"
"Yup!" Vivian grinned. "It was pure chance. Everyone was so tired, and the Snitch basically decided the game for them. I didn't stay until the end, though. I left when it started getting dark."
Alex nodded. He had expected the game to last a while, but he hadn't thought it would go on that long. "I'm surprised anyone was left standing."
As they ate, a loud cheer rose from the Slytherin table. Alex glanced over and saw Welen Higgs, the hero of the previous night's match, entering the Great Hall.
Higgs was a third-year student, with short black hair and a solid build. He smiled politely as he passed by, nodding at those who congratulated him. When his eyes met Alex's, he gave a small nod, which Alex returned with a smile.
It struck Alex that not every Slytherin fit the stereotype of being cruel or arrogant. Spending time in the house had helped him see the more complex qualities of Slytherins—ambition, shrewdness, and a strong sense of self-preservation.
He had read about Salazar Slytherin in one of his history books, noting how the founder valued resourcefulness, intelligence, and strong will, alongside a disregard for following rules blindly. In many ways, Alex had come to realize that he fit Slytherin's mold. The pure-blood supremacists annoyed him, but he understood that the house's values aligned with his own pragmatic approach to life.
Time flew by, and soon the Christmas holidays were approaching. By now, Alex had mastered the basic spells for each grade. He had even dabbled with more advanced magic like the Illusion Charm, though with less success. Some spells, like the Patronus Charm, Apparition, and Occlumency, were still elusive to him, but he made peace with the fact that mastery would come with time.
"Huh... I'll push those tougher spells to after Christmas," Alex muttered to himself, planning his next steps. He hadn't heard much from Rozier lately, but he figured the guy would pop up eventually.
Feeling restless, Alex decided to head outside and visit Hagrid. The common room was unusually busy that day, as students gathered to register with Professor Slughorn for staying on campus over the holidays.
Since Alex had already made plans to spend Christmas with Sirius, he quickly exchanged a few words with the professor and left.
As he walked through Clock Square, fine snowflakes started drifting down from the sky, covering the ground with a light dusting of white.
"It's snowing," Alex remarked with a small smile.
"Yeah, it is," a soft voice replied.
Alex turned to find a familiar-looking girl standing nearby. After a moment, he remembered who she was—Orianna, the girl who had crossed the lake with him on their first day at Hogwarts. She had been sorted into Ravenclaw.
"Orianna, right?" Alex asked.
She grinned, her breath visible in the cold air.
"I'm surprised the 'ghost of Slytherin' remembers my name."
"Ghost of Slytherin?" Alex repeated, confused. "You mean me? The ghost of Slytherin is the Bloody Baron, not me."
Orianna laughed. "Oh, that's just a nickname you've earned among the first-years. People hardly ever see you around. Some of us started wondering if you even existed, so we started calling you the 'ghost of Slytherin.'"
Alex blinked, surprised. "A ghost, huh? Guess I've been laying low for too long."
Orianna, watching him lost in thought, decided to break the silence. With a mischievous grin, she bent down, formed a snowball in her hands, and aimed it at Alex's head, thinking it would be a funny prank. But just as the snowball was about to hit him, it froze in mid-air. Alex turned his head slowly, glancing at the suspended snowball. With a small flick of his fingers, the snowball reversed course and flew straight at Orianna at twice the speed, smacking her squarely in the face.
The force of the hit knocked her off her feet, and she landed with a soft thud in the snow. For a moment, she sat there in stunned silence, blinking in disbelief at what had just happened.
"You're too weak," Alex said, his tone flat, before turning and leaving Clock Square without a second glance.
Orianna, still on the ground with a face full of snow, finally snapped out of her shock. Her face flushed red with a mix of embarrassment and frustration.
"Crazy!" she shouted after him, but Alex was already too far to hear her.
Alex, meanwhile, was entirely oblivious to how his straightforward, no-nonsense reaction had left Orianna speechless. He continued walking through the lightly falling snow, his mind drifting once more. As he walked, the snowflakes around him began to swirl in strange, hypnotic patterns, almost as if responding to his presence.
Without realizing it, Alex had entered a meditative state of heightened awareness. The snowflakes twirled around him like stars in a spiral galaxy, and he felt as though he could control them effortlessly. His control over his magic had grown without him realizing, and now, even the tiniest particles like snowflakes seemed to bend to his will.
When he came to, he found himself at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, snow still circling him like a personal nebula. He exhaled slowly, watching the snowflakes scatter and rise into the air.
"My Wingardium Leviosa... it feels different," Alex muttered to himself.
He realized that his control over the spell had evolved. Before, he had to concentrate to move objects, but now it felt like the magic naturally extended from him, affecting anything within a certain range—snowflakes, air, and even water droplets.
He raised his hand, testing his newfound abilities.
"If I can move snowflakes like this... can I lift myself?"
Focusing his magic, Alex felt a surge of energy, and his body began to float, slowly lifting off the ground.
"It worked..." he whispered, a grin spreading across his face. "I can fly without a broom."
Though the lift was slow and unsteady, Alex found himself hovering half a meter above the ground. It wasn't as fast or controlled as a broomstick, but the fact that he could levitate himself at all was a massive breakthrough. He spent a few minutes testing his control, floating up and down, enjoying the newfound freedom.
After a while, Alex lowered himself back to the ground.