There was a girl who stood out among the first-year students at Hogwarts that year. The reason she attracted so much attention wasn’t because of her white hair or her green eyes that seemed to pierce right through you, but because she appeared much too large to be a first-year student. Moreover, she was watching the candles on the ceiling, as if she wasn’t aware that everyone was looking at her. Moments later, Professor McGonagall stood up for the Sorting Ceremony, placed the Sorting Hat on the stool, and began reading the names. “Abercrombie, Euan,” a small and very excited first-year hurriedly sat on the stool. “Gryffindor!” “Zeller, Rose,” “Hufflepuff!” Finally, it was the turn of the girl with white hair. “Alex,” McGonagall said, not reading the last name, causing murmurs throughout the Great Hall. The Sorting Hat touched Alex, and it cried, “Slytherin!” Alex stood up and calmly walked to her table. At the other end of the hall, Ron rolled his eyes at Harry and Hermione. “If she’s in Slytherin, she can’t be as interesting as they say,” he muttered. However, Hermione curiously looked toward the Slytherin table. When the Sorting Ceremony was over, Dumbledore stood up to speak. “If I could have your attention for a few minutes for the usual start-of-term announcements,” he said, smiling, “First, a warm welcome to all the first-years.” He smiled again. “This year, the new students joining us are not just first-years, but also our new fifth-year student, Alex.” The Great Hall filled with whispers. “Now, as for the Quidditch tryouts for the houses…” Harry turned curiously to Hermione. “Can you start school in fifth year?” he asked, glancing at Alex. Hermione replied, “No, that’s never happened before,” her voice uncertain. “She looks strangely familiar.” At the Slytherin table, Alex was eating, ignoring the stares of everyone around her. Draco Malfoy, with his gray eyes narrowed, looked at her while scanning the other tables as if nothing was happening. Finally, he looked up and stared directly at her. “So, you’re the new fifth-year,” Draco said slowly. “I’m Malfoy, Draco Malfoy,” he said, extending his hand. After studying her for a moment, he murmured, “Alex,” as he shook her hand, but his green eyes were cold. Draco opened his mouth to say something else, but the students stood up to head for their common rooms, interrupting him. Alex calmly stood up and walked towards the Slytherin common room, adorned with green. When she entered, a very thin girl with long black hair and green eyes, as well as a large, stocky girl, turned their curious gazes toward her. Feeling uneasy under their stares, Alex slowly walked toward her trunk. “You must be the new one, Alex, right?” asked the green-eyed girl. “I’m Pansy, Pansy Parkinson, and this is Millicent Bulstrode. Welcome to Hogwarts.” Alex raised her head and looked at them. “Yes, Alex… thanks,” she said hesitantly, eyeing Pansy. Then, she bent down to take her pajamas out of her trunk. Before Pansy and Millicent left the room, they turned toward her. “We’re going down to the common room, if you need anything, just let us know.” Alex nodded and smiled slightly. “Okay, thanks.” After giving her one last look, Pansy left.
Alex lay down in her pajamas but then changed her mind and headed for the door. She quietly moved to avoid being caught by Filch and Mrs. Norris and left the castle. As she walked toward the Forbidden Forest, she stopped when she saw a silver-feathered creature digging at the ground in front of Hagrid’s wooden hut. Slowly, she took a few steps toward the hippogriff and, without breaking eye contact, bent her knee and bowed in greeting. After a moment, the hippogriff bent forward as well. Alex smiled and straightened up, reaching out to stroke its beak. “What are you doing here?” Alex calmly turned toward the person calling her name, gripping her wand with one hand. A boy, around her age, with messy black hair and green eyes, wearing round glasses, was staring at her in surprise from a few steps away. “Get away from Buckbeack!” Harry Potter called as he approached them. Turning her back on Harry, Alex continued to pet Buckbeak. “So, your name is Buckbeak? Nice to meet you,” she said fondly. “Get away, I said!” Harry shouted, but Alex replied without looking at him, “I heard you the first time,” then wrapped her arms around Buckbeak’s neck, quickly lifting herself onto his back. Looking at Harry, who stood frozen in shock, she raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to stand there all day, or are you planning to come?” Still stunned, Harry approached Buckbeak, and Alex grabbed his arm, helping him climb on. “I guess you don’t know the rules of courtesy. Hello, I’m Alex, nice to meet you,” she said with a slight mocking tone. “By the way, you’d better hold on tight,” she added with a brief warning, and then wrapped her arms around Buckbeak’s neck as the hippogriff spread its silvery wings and took off. Harry, panicking because he didn’t know where to hold, had his arms grabbed by Alex, who wrapped them around his waist. “I don’t have a contagious disease, don’t worry,” she said in a teasing voice. As Harry blushed, Buckbeak suddenly descended. As Alex looked at Harry and then let herself fall, she began to plummet toward the lake. Before her body hit the freezing water, she saw Harry’s horrified face, swearing and jumping after her, and she grinned. When she surfaced to take a breath, she noticed Harry swimming right beside her. “You. Lost. Your. Mind?” Harry gasped, out of breath. “What on earth made you jump?” Alex shrugged, grabbing her wand, and grabbed Harry’s arm, Apparating them back to the castle entrance. Ignoring Harry’s stunned gaze, she walked toward the common room and waved her hand without answering him. As she climbed the stairs to her dormitory, she disappeared from view.
The next morning, when Alex went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry was telling Ron and Hermione, who looked shocked, about the previous night. “And then she waved her wand and Apparated us to the castle entrance!” Harry said, still in disbelief. “She can’t do that,” Hermione immediately said. “She’s not even seventeen yet, and you can’t Apparate on Hogwarts grounds.” Ron rolled his eyes, and Harry said, “Well, I don’t know how she did it, but she definitely Apparated.” Hermione opened her mouth to protest again, but Ron interrupted. “If she can do that, she must be pretty strong.” Harry looked thoughtfully at the Slytherin table. “Yeah, she must be.”