The Grey-eyed Serpent

Chapter 22: October

A letter had been the only reason how Alix found out about her mother's injuries and a small trip to St. Mungo's. To say she was shocked and terrified was the understatement of the century. She wanted to go home the moment she saw that her mother had been injured, and her familiar, Alain having dislocated his shoulder. It was the letter that had also stopped Alix from barging into the headmaster's office and demanding to use his floo to go to St. Mungo's. Her father had stated in the letter that she did not need to worry, as her mother had already been sent home after the bones on her arms had suffered from her own magic.

Magical drawbacks. Alix knew what it was, of course, her father had nearly drilled the lesson into her about not abusing the Clementine gift if she does not wish to be permanently paralyzed and stay at St. Mungo's her entire life. Alix could still hear his voice telling her about the story of one of his uncles who tried to force a wild dragon to submit to his will and end up dead afterwards. Hearing that at a young age was enough for Alix to swear that she would never do such a thing, nor even attempt it.

"Listen, Alix, the goddess gave us this magic to protect and be able to speak for magical creatures who can't. Forcing a majestic beast to submit to our will is going to hurt them and us. Of course, sometimes we cannot help it and we have no other choice but you have to remember to know your limits. That is if you do not want to end up like my Uncle, yes?"

Alix closed her eyes and lets out a deep and meaningful breath.

She closes the letter in her hands and puts it in her bag before turning back to her friends. They sat together in the Slytherin table at the great hall, already done with eating their first meal for the day and were browsing through the letter their own parents had sent.

"Merlin, that sigh sounded like it came from the depths of the underworld" Anthony chuckled as he placed his letter back on its envelope.

"Alright there, Alix?" Theo asked.

Alix nodded but did not say anything what the letter had told her. They would see the news soon enough, she expects the Minister to want to inform the public immediately now that the Wendigo was gone. She did not imagine, however, that he would join the hunt himself. Alix thinks this is the first time a Minister had ever wanted to involve himself in dangerous work. If she remembers from her father's rage-filled rants to her mother, Cornelius Fudge had been intent on distancing himself from anything dangerous, choosing to save his own skin no matter what. William had been surprised as well, from what he had stated in the letter. He had been astonished to see Minister Slytherin, along with Oskar Campbell's team in Delphina's room, and even more so when the Minister explained to him about what happened.

Alix knew her father had high expectations for Minister Slytherin. She only wonders now what he thinks of the Slytherin Lord.

"Why are you so interested in him, Alix?" she shakes her head and subtly pinched her arm to remove the memory from her mind. Why was she so interested in him?

Alix was pulled from her thoughts when she hears snickers in front of her. She looks up from the table to see the three Slytherins laughing at something behind her. Her back was faced from the rest of the great hall so she couldn't see what they were seeing. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Look behind you, Alix, there are pigs squealing on the Ravenclaw table" Blaise had a certain sneer on his face that made him look like he was thrilled at what he is seeing.

Alix raises an eyebrow and looks behind her and sees the first year Ravenclaws who had bullied Luna. She gives a sneer identical to Blaise after seeing their noses and ears replaced by those of a pig'. "Oh my," she said, snorting. She had been snorting an awful lot lately. Her friends were bad influences when it comes to proper manners. Mina purrs loudly, catching the eyes of some people, but for the Clementine's ears, she was laughing quite manically.