Chapter 101: Sensational
Time: 11:25 AM.
Location: Second-floor staircase at Hogwarts.
Harry ran into Dudley again. Alexander Smith watched this scene with a mischievous smirk and a touch of dark amusement.
These two cousins, raised under the same roof, instinctively took a small step back upon seeing each other.
"Hey, you're Dudley," said a tall boy with fiery red hair as he stepped in front of Harry—it was Ron Weasley.
"Yeah, I'm here to see Harry." Dudley regained his focus at the sight of Ron.
Harry looked surprised. Ever since Dudley learned he was a wizard—and ever since Hagrid gave him that pig's tail—Dudley had been too scared to speak to Harry directly. It had gotten to the point where Harry had to cough loudly every time he came downstairs just to give Dudley time to run away.
"Oh? You've got the guts to talk to me now?" Harry muttered under his breath. To Ron, Harry recounted the old story of Dudley—the way he used to look like a frightened house-elf—and now, he joked, Dudley resembled some bloated cartoon villain.
Dudley, on the other hand, now behaved more like a timid Luke Skywalker facing Darth Vader, nervously saying, "Professor Snape... do you know Professor Snape?"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Are you daft, Dudley? I have Potions with him this Friday."
"Mum said... Mum said if anything ever happened to us at Hogwarts, we should go to him. She said he's a friend—a friend she's known since childhood. And she said... your mum was very close to him too." Dudley stammered, then bolted off toward the Great Hall like he'd just completed a grueling task and urgently needed food.
"Mate," Ron said, stunned, "was that really your cousin? He looked like he'd seen a ghost!"
"Don't worry about it," Harry muttered. "I just never expected my aunt to have a wizard friend—and one who was also my mum's friend."
"But Snape? He always looks like he wants to hex you," Ron said with a frown.
"Yeah, no kidding," Harry replied. "Let's just go to the Great Hall before dinner starts."
But things didn't stay quiet for long.
By the time Harry and his friends reached the Great Hall, whispers and stares followed them. It seemed the entire staircase conversation had spread like wildfire. All the students were now pointing fingers at Harry.
At that moment, Harry seriously considered pulling out his wand and casting an Obliviate Charm on everyone nearby.
He might've gotten away with ignoring the whispers—except the Gryffindor students at the next table, like the Weasley twins and Seamus, started crowding around to ask for details. Harry sighed and stuffed sausages into his mouth just to avoid talking.
What Harry didn't know was that the mastermind behind this chaos was none other than Alexander Smith.
Alexander had not only made Dudley a wizard, but also given him the courage to finally confront Harry and Aunt Petunia. Dudley thought it was his own bravery—but in reality, it was all Smith's subtle influence.
At that moment, Alexander sat in the corner, grinning mischievously, already planning how to stir up more excitement at school.
"Alexander?" came a soft voice near his ear. A warm presence leaned close to him—one that didn't trigger his usual reflexive guard. It was Kate.
"Kate, didn't we agree to pretend we didn't know each other at school?" Alexander sighed, turning on his concealment charm to full strength. "And besides, aren't we technically around each other all day anyway?"
"You always have a workaround," Kate teased. "Besides, I found out your secret—about Hermione. I don't think she's noticed you yet…"
"Also, every time I see you brushing her hand—" she leaned in even closer, her breath tickling his ear. "Should I tell Penelope about it?"
Alexander paused, then grinned. "So… what do you want?"
Without warning, he phased behind her and lifted her lightly off the ground.
"I want to go to Atlantis this weekend," Kate said telepathically, knowing he'd hear it.
"Perfect," Alexander smirked. "I haven't been there in a while."
"Oh—and for the afternoon game, which faction are you choosing? Still sticking with Emei?"
Time passed swiftly like a shooting star.
Around 1:10 PM, with afternoon classes approaching, Harry and Ron reluctantly left the Ravenclaw common room to head to History of Magic.
This time, Harry was smart. He brought along the latest Skywalker comic—Doraemon: Kingdom of the Dinosaurs—gifted by the Weasley twins. He and Ron read it together in class.
Other Ravenclaws had also brought similar extracurricular reading—most of them Doraemon comics too.
Hermione was furious. She huffed and glared at everyone but couldn't say anything because even she struggled to stay awake in Binns' class.
During class, Hermione pulled Alexander aside. "How do you always take better notes than me? I don't get it."
Alexander smiled. Truth be told, he used to sleep through the class too—he even brought a pillow once. The truth was that the notes were generated by a magical device he'd crafted. It recorded speech and turned it into text automatically—a tool built purely for laziness.
The Smith family, after all, had a long history of nodding off during History of Magic. With Binns' monotone voice, Alexander never stood a chance unless he used tech. Otherwise, he'd be out like a light.
"Hermione, I have a spell for you," Alexander said quickly, improvising. "It'll help you stay focused and clear your mind."
After wiping the imaginary sweat from his brow, Alexander quietly pulled his hand away from Hermione's and dialed down his presence once again.
Thanks to Alexander's guidance, Hermione remained unusually alert for the rest of class. She ended up taking the best notes in the entire group—meticulous and detailed.
Meanwhile, Alexander, curled in the corner, fell asleep again and started debugging a new martial arts game inside his mind.
Two hours later, the class finally ended. The students filed out carefully, watching their step so they didn't trip over the rotating stairs.
"Harry, what a shame—Skywalker comics have audio now."
"Yeah, we could only read them in class. I wanted to hear the theme song," Ron grumbled.
"Do you know who voices Mara Jade?" he asked. "Is her voice as beautiful as in the comics?"
Harry changed the subject. "Ron, I have a question. These Skywalker comics are full of animation and sound like magical paintings—and they only cost 2 Galleons. But other books are so expensive. Why?"
Ron explained, "It depends on the publisher. Like Little Red Book publishes A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot. Obscurus Books does Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander. Those are super pricey."
"But Skywalker is an alchemical genius. He created this tech himself. And rumor has it, Obscurus Books is planning to team up with him to publish an audio version of Fantastic Beasts."
"That way, students can hear danger warnings about magical creatures before facing them," Ron added proudly.
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