Alice told Millicent to head to class and went looking for Pansy on her own.
She found her in the girls' bathroom on the fourth floor—the same one where Hermione had bawled her eyes out last time.
Alice's face scrunched up. Why do these people always pick the stinky bathroom to cry in? Does the smell make the tears flow better or something?
Pansy Parkinson was curled up on the floor, knees pulled to her chest, head buried, shoulders shaking with sobs.
"Get up, Parkinson. Look at me," Alice ordered.
Pansy jumped at the voice, then realized it was Alice and stood up, wiping her face awkwardly.
"Alice—uh, sorry, Norton," she choked out.
Alice ignored the slip-up, nodded to show she'd heard, and got straight to it.
"I know why you're asking to borrow money. You planning to just live off handouts?"
"It's not like there's a ton of stuff to buy at school, right?"
Pansy stared at the floor, silent.
"I'm not lending you cash," Alice said flat-out.
Pansy's head dropped lower. Alice noticed her ears turning red—she was mortified.
Alice turned to leave. Just as she hit the doorway, Pansy finally spoke.
"Alice, I'm really sorry for everything I did. I know saying sorry doesn't fix it, but I have to say it. Whether you listen is up to you."
"Anyway—sorry."
Alice's mouth twitched into a half-smile. "If you actually need money, go find Theodore Nott. Tell him I sent you."
Then she walked out.
?
Pansy blinked. Theodore Nott? What's that about?
Of course she knew who he was—a kid whose dad was locked up in Azkaban, showed real talent in Potions, Snape's favorite.
But when did Alice get tight with Nott? And from the way Alice said it, she was the one calling the shots.
Pansy thought back to yesterday in the Great Hall—Nott going toe-to-toe with third-year Dilixiat Bode.
It clicked. That's why Nott had torn into Bode.
Alice had been quietly building her own crew in Slytherin.
What's her endgame?
Pansy wasn't some clueless pure-blood princess. She'd been raised in a big family—she knew Alice wasn't as simple as she let on.
And now that her own family had cut her loose? She needed a plan. Following Alice might not be a bad move…
She wiped her face, left the bathroom, and headed to Charms. Couldn't be late.
…
"Alright, class—have we all mastered Wingardium Leviosa?"
Professor Flitwick's voice was full of energy, pulling every eye to the front.
He scanned the room. "I see a lot of you looking down. Clearly, not everyone's got it yet, right?"
A bunch of heads nodded—at least a third of the class, Alice figured.
Flitwick flicked his wand. Dozens of sheets of parchment zoomed onto every desk.
"No worries if you haven't. Thanks to Alice Norton's help, I've come up with a brand-new teaching method."
"The parchment in front of you is our shiny new tool. Just an experiment—no pressure."
Alice raised an eyebrow. News to me. After Halloween, she'd just written down her notes on learning Expelliarmus and Protego and handed them to Flitwick. She didn't know he'd turned it into a whole system.
The rest of the class? They were staring at her like she'd grown a second head.
A first-year helping a professor redesign lessons?
But then they remembered how she crushed every spell in class. Okay, maybe it made sense.
Just a little soul-crushing for the ego. No biggie, some of the cockier kids thought.
Alice glanced at her parchment and smirked. Now she got why Flitwick called it an "experiment."
It wasn't complicated—just a list of key points for the Levitation Charm, each followed by a blank checkbox.
Flitwick explained:
"You cast Wingardium Leviosa on the parchment. It'll grade your spell and put a check or an X next to each point."
"That way, you'll know exactly where you're weak and can practice targeted drills."
"Pretty cool, right? It's like having me right there coaching you 24/7."
The class buzzed. One impatient kid (a Ravenclaw) couldn't wait.
"Float a piece of paper? Easy—watch this!"
His face turned red the second he tried.
Alice clocked it—not embarrassment. The parchment was heavy.
She shot Flitwick a suspicious look. He mouthed, "Not that simple!" and winked.
Alice snorted. Who knew Flitwick had such a playful streak?
The kid still couldn't lift it. Flitwick grinned.
"Biber, did you really think my experiment would be easy? Too hasty."
Then he turned to the class with a downright evil smile.
"I charmed the parchment. The second it detects the spell, it gets super heavy. That's how you really train the charm."
"Perfect timing—Biber's results are in. Let's see how he scored."
Everyone leaned in. Some kids stood on their desks to peek.
Alice didn't need to look. She heard Malfoy's scoff.
"Tch. Everything's an X except 'belief in the incantation.'"
Slytherin snickered—Biber was Ravenclaw, after all.
Flitwick spun around. "Draco Malfoy—why don't you show us how it's done? Cast on your parchment."
Malfoy pointed at himself, saw Flitwick's no-nonsense face, and stood up with a huff.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
The parchment didn't budge. Results popped up—Slytherin went quiet. Ravenclaw roared with laughter.
Alice had to admit—Malfoy wasn't bad. Eight out of twelve checks.
But the little eagles weren't letting him off easy. Payback's a witch. Biber's laugh was the loudest.
Flitwick pointed at Alice. "Alice—you're up."
She really hadn't seen that coming…