Chapter 2
ALDER EVANS
It had now been five years since Alder had received his letter from Hogwarts and had come to the school to learn witchcraft and wizardry. And with every passing year, he found himself regretting his choice of not pushing his family more and more into moving to France for his and Lily's education.
Hogwarts was beyond his expectations, and the world of magic was just as riveting as it was complex. He had never felt more excited than this in his life, yet it was all marred by the cold war that now engulfed the Wizarding World of Britain.
Unlike Grindelwald's war, which had engulfed all of Europe, this was a conflict still contained within these borders, but that did not make it any less severe. They refused to call it a war yet, but those with an astute enough eye could see it for what it was.
War—one that was being fought in the shadows still, but it was a war nonetheless.
Attacks on Muggle-borns and so-called blood traitors were on the rise, and the enemy which had once been obscure was now beginning to show its true nature, and the name Voldemort was beginning to spread beyond just whispers and tales.
The war had come to these Halls as well, and Alder had witnessed its effects himself, as the divide between the Houses grew deeper and deeper, and the rift between followers of the blood purity doctrine and the rest of the school continued to widen, until it had now turned into absolute hatred.
Even he had found himself making a few friends amongst the pure-bloods in his first year, with the list including the unlikely name of one Lucius Malfoy. But soon enough, politics and bigotry had pushed them apart, as they found themselves on opposite sides in the war.
Voldemort's shadow had begun to reach these Halls as well, and as much as Dumbledore may try to pretend otherwise, they were at war now. While the Headmaster was happy to let his students enjoy the naivety of security that these Halls provided, he was different.
Friends, he may have been with Lucius and the rest for a time, but Alder was not blind to the bigotry and the hatred that now stemmed in the heart of nearly each and every pureblood for him and the rest of the Muggle-borns.
Already, the Prophet would have the news about one or another Muggle-born witch or wizard getting killed every other day, and he would watch as those sitting behind him would laugh and jape at the news, while others would simply ignore it all, deluding themselves into thinking that these were all just isolated incidents.
"Damn this badge," and Alder had argued much against being made a Prefect, yet the Headboy and the Headmaster had refused to consider his protests, and so he found himself with a prefect badge on his chest, as he dutifully patrolled the Halls of Hogwarts to rid them of any unsanctioned and unlawful activity.
Unlike the rest of his peers, he was not fond of interfering in intimate snogging sessions of his seniors, or something beyond that, as long as it was consensual. So, he found himself ignoring much of the bustle that occupied the Halls at night, for he had little desire to extol his authority over his peers.
"This is the final part," and it was a rule that Prefects of other Houses patrolled the area around each House's dorms, and so he found himself walking past the Halls that led to the Slytherin dungeons, and was reminded of his sorting and how he had almost become a member of the House.
The Sorting Hat had been rather adamant in sorting him to the House of Salazar Slytherin, but he had known how much trouble it would cause him. Moreover, his only reason for coming to this school was to be with his twin, and so he had forced it to sort him into the House of Godric Gryffindor, though he also regretted that choice now.
But for different reasons.
"Well, seems like I am done," he whispered as he yawned from the lack of sleep and turned back once more, as he headed towards the Gryffindor dorms, and yet just as he was about to leave the dungeons, a sound of footsteps and whispers caught his ears as his feet slowed.
"Stop!" he heard, the whisper as he turned to face the corner.
"I said stop!" the voice grew louder, and the sound of footsteps turned louder and louder as he found himself frowning at the familiarity of the voice.
"No," and this was a girl's voice, which made him immediately draw out his wand as he prepared himself to intervene as he walked towards the corner himself.
And incidents of violence were not uncommon at school, as the pure-bloods grew more and more bolder by the day because of Voldemort's fear and presence, and Alder thought this to be one such case as he turned to the corner and found himself hitting a girl.
He stumbled a bit but was able to steady himself as he grabbed the girl's back and stopped her from falling as well.
"I am sorry," he apologised, as he looked at her face and saw her face, filled with tears and a giant red mark on it, yet what caught him by surprise was the emblem of her cloak and how it was shaped into the form of a green snake, and green ribbons covered her cloak as well.
He helped the girl to her feet as the person chasing after her finally caught up, and as he looked up, he found himself staring at a rather familiar face. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and he wore a similar badge to his own as he ground his teeth at his sight.
"Let go of her mudblood," and it was none other than Lucius Malfoy who stood in front of him, which meant only one thing: the girl in his arms was none other than the youngest of the Black Sisters, Narcissa Black.
Whether it was because of fear or embarrassment, the half-blonde girl found herself frozen in his arms as Lucius's patience ran thin, as he drew his wand and threatened her openly.
"What do you think you are doing, Narcissa!" he screamed, and he felt her flinch at his words, and he finally noticed the slurring of his words and the redness of his eyes, and gained somewhat of an idea about what exactly had just transpired here.
"Come to me at once," he shouted as if speaking to an animal, as a spell rushed out of his wand, and Alder pushed the girl behind him as he swatted away the white orb with a single twist of his wand, which seemed to only irk the blonde even more.
"I need you to calm down, Lucius," he began, trying to diffuse the situation.
"You are not in the right mind. So, why don't you put away your wand and we can tal..."
"I have nothing to say to you, you mudblood!" and Alder's lips thinned at the insult, yet he held himself back as the blonde continued to brandish his wand like a maniac.
"Is it him!" he suddenly went off.
"This mudblood!" he asked with a half scoff and a half laugh.
"You are promised to me! You belong to me! Don't you dare think about running away!" he went off, and Alder's patience was beginning to run out now.
The pure blood traditions around marriage and betrothals were rather archaic, but not as archaic as he was making them out to be. It was no secret that the Malfoys and the Blacks were engaged in a negotiation for a match between Narcissa and Lucius, but that did not give him the right to hit her.
"Enough!" Alder intervened a bit forcefully, as Lucius's ire focused on him.
"You! You dare speak to me like that, you mudblood!" and his wand once moved once more, and this time the blonde chanted the name of the spell.
"Bombarda!" and a giant purple orb rushed out of his wand, as Alder found himself unable to dodge or defend, given that Narcissa stood just behind him.
The best way to deal with such a spell was to dodge, given that a bombarda usually carried enough force to destroy most of the simpler shields, yet that was not an option so Alder simply pushed magic into his wand just as the spell was about to hit him, he brought it down, and the orb was split into two.
"Watch out!" Narcissa's warning came too late as the purple orb was split apart, and hit the wall behind him, causing a rather loud explosion and soon enough a teacher would be here.
But Alder did not need a teacher to take care of the boy in front of him, as he twisted his wand and launched a spell of his own at the blonde, who, despite the shock dodged it, as he launched a barrage of stunners at him but Lucius was no slouch.
The blonde was older than him by a year and was rather skilled as a duellist as he brought up a shield and blocked his spells, and his skill wouldn't have mattered much if Alder was not duelling him while trying to protect the apoplectic blonde girl behind him.
Lucius had caught onto his dilemma and was aiming his spells at her on purpose as Alder simply swatted them away, as he engaged the blonde in a duel before he aimed his wand at the wall to his side, and moved it to the side and a brick rushed out of the wall and hit the blonde on the head, making him grunt.
"AGHH!" and that was the weakness for shield charms, and the opening was enough for him to disarm him, as Malfoy's wand fell to the ground.
CLANK!
"Stay down," he warned the blonde as he heard the sound of footsteps from behind, probably from an incoming Professor.
"You dare!" he heard him grunt out, as he glared at him.
"You damn mudblood!" he threatened, and tried to reach for his wand once more, but he was faster than the blonde.
"Stupefy!" and the red orb hit the blonde, who turned still, as the Professor finally arrived.
"What in Merlin's name is going on here?" and the skittish voice was ever recognisable as he turned around and saw the Slytherin Head of House standing there, and he pointed towards the blonde.
"I believe I would like to know as well..."
.
.
.
And what followed afterwards was a series of questions by the Slytherin Head of House, and it was obvious to him that the man was just as uninterested in the truth as the girl sitting beside him.
"It was all a prank," she lied to protect the Malfoy heir, even as the redness from her cheek was yet to fade.
"He turned seventeen a few days ago, and they arranged a part for him in the dorms, and you know," and the man nodded, and whether he believed it or not did not matter, for Horace Slughorn was a man hungry for power, with little regard for consequences.
"And that mark on your face?" But even he could not ignore violence like that.
"It's from a fall," she answered, and then the question turned to him, as he felt those blue eyes bore into him, pleading to him to lie for her.
In the end, he lied, or instead, hid the truth as the Professor rose from his chair.
"Well, Mr Malfoy will be spending the night at the Hospital Wing, and I will be having a word with him and his friends later tomorrow," and the two of them rose with him, as he gave them a nod.
"Now, both of you off to bed," and Alder followed after the girl, and just as they were about to part ways, he couldn't help but ask.
"Why did you lie for him?" he asked, as Narcissa Black stopped and turned to face him.
"Why does it matter to you?" and gone was the weak and scared girl, and now he found himself facing the infamous cold Black sister.
"He hit you," he answered, pointing to her cheek as she tried to cover it up, and he knew, for he had seen such marks before back in Spinner's End.
"It was a mistake," she defended Lucius, and he could see the conflict in her eyes as she said those words.
"Was it really?" he asked, softly, and saw her grit her teeth as she was confronted with the frailty of her argument.
"Or was it simply his true self?" and those eyes burned as she retorted angrily.
"I don't think you have the luxury to worry about me," she threatened.
"Lucius will remember the humiliation. He will come for you," and it was both a warning and a threat, as he laughed and turned away from her.
"He is welcome to try..."