The results were already felt. From the classes of Charms Alexandra shared with Gryffindor, Neville Longbottom was still in the lead when it came to the practise of new spells, but him and his followers were lagging behind the Ravenclaws when it came to the theory. But with the next match of Quidditch, Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff approaching, there was little chance the Longbottom Heir was going to climb back in the ranks. At the same time, Potions and History continued to sink the average grade of the House of the brave and the courageous noticeably.
Professor Snape was on the warpath against the Lions and had since January declared his willingness and dedication to pursue a vigilant crusade against Longbottom and anybody who dared stand at his side.
Hermione and Nigel weren't bearing the full might of this conflict, but they too were consciously feeling the strain.
"Why do they try to antagonise him so much?" Raged Hermione with tears in her eyes on a Friday evening."Each time there is a Potions class, we lose at least twenty points! They aren't the ones who will have to gain them back!"
Alexandra was forced to recognise Hermione was in the right. Not that the Lions would ever admit it. While in Ravenclaw or in Hufflepuff the behaviour of the Golden Trio would have attracted heavy displeasure from the older students and the Head of House, it was virtually ignored in Gryffindor.
Alexandra won in average fifteen points for Ravenclaw per week, and was ignored for reasons out of her personal control. By her calculations, Neville Longbottom won probably the same number. Hermione won twice or three times that. Leo Black was awarded half of Alexandra's successes in points at the best of times, and Ron Weasley 'efforts' rarely deserved any point at all.
"McGonagall does nothing and lets the leaders do what they want." Hermione snarled in another of her rants. "It's a miracle the Gryffindor tower hasn't collapsed!"
Alexandra nodded silently. McGonagall had three jobs at Hogwarts: Deputy Headmistress, Senior Professor of Transfiguration and Head of House Gryffindor. The latter had according to Hermione taken a backseat compared to the others. It was the Prefects who were charged of the discipline and maintaining a minimum of order in Gryffindor Tower. A task they seemed to fail at by virtue of not even trying.
"McGonagall should never have chosen this one to be a Prefect!" Was a theme Alexandra was becoming very familiar with in the corridors.
While the 'Golden Trio' raised high the best and the worst the Lions had in their House, united under the same banner, the exact opposite happened in House Slytherin. Draco Malfoy came back from his home looking more arrogant than ever, Crabble and Goyle at his back. Theodore Nott was also on the warpath, followed by Vaisey, Flora and Hestia Carrow.
The power struggle had been unavoidable between the arrogant pompous blonde and the sadist black-haired boy. On the last Saturday of January, Draco Malfoy reached the Great hall to have breakfast when his hair turned a neon green colour. The Slytherin Civil War, as Alexandra nicknamed it in front of an amused Nigel and a semi- exasperated Hermione, had begun.
The power-play in question was brutal and over in less than a week. It very quickly descended into anarchy, had no cunning, and no discretion or any form of deviousness. Draco Malfoy contented himself to recruit three dozens of second, third and fourth-years with the money and influence his father owned, and to launch him at Nott and his supporters. The boys and girls in question were far from united and the students over fifth year chose to remain neutral, thinking it wasn't worth it to antagonise the Malfoy patriarch. Theodore Nott went to the Hospital Wing three times that week. His fellow first-years joined him at least that often.
By the end of the first week of February, Draco Malfoy had retaken his control and authority as the de facto leader of the Slytherin first-years. As Nigel had remarked more than once, being Alexandra's specialist in the subject of pureblood politics, using so many favours had not been a good move from a political perspective. To win what was essentially a first-year quarrel, Malfoy had just thrown away more influence and debts than a minor Lord of the Wizengamot did in a couple of years. Not very intelligent from any point of view.
Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father, could afford it, as the wealth and the influence he wielded were second to only Albus Dumbledore in Wizarding Britain. Still, it gave an advanced taste of what would happen should Draco continue on this path when he ascended to the Malfoy Lordship.
Then came the moment when the Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch match draw near in the first week of March. As there was few tensions between the Badgers and the Lions as a whole, normally there would have been no serious issues in the school for the Quidditch match. These weren't normal times.
For the first time in five years, Gryffindor had the occasion to take the lead in the Gryffindor Quidditch Cup. In the other match of November, Ravenclaw had massacred Hufflepuff 290 to 110, which put Alexandra's house in first position for the moment. If Gryffindor won this match, the Lions would pass from second place to first, putting the pressure on the Ravens and the Snakes who played against each other at the end of March.
Winning this match was critical for Gryffindor, as the Quidditch Cup was one of the only things left for them this year. Traditionally, only a minority of the supposed House reputed for its suicidal courage and their partying shone in the academic field. Thanks to the Boy-Who-Lived and the Weasley Twins, the House Cup was unreachable.
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