Alexandra was rather impressed by the size of the Weasley family. The biggest one she had ever met before today had been two parents and four children who lived half a mile away from the Dursleys' house in Privet Drive. Nevertheless, while having so many kids was admirable, it was certainly a drain in terms of tuitions and school supplies.
"But I didn't present myself. I am Zabini. Blaise Zabini. Heir to the Most Noble House of Zabini." He declared in a rather noble tone, flashing his family ring on the middle finger of his left hand.
"Alexandra Potter," she replied. "Heiress to the Most Ancient House of Potter." And she flashed her Heiress ring in the same way he had.
For a moment, the dark-skinned boy in front of her stayed completely still with wide eyes and an open jaw. Then he retook his cold, calm appearance.
"You know, rumours affirmed you were dead." And his voice didn't show any sign he was joking.
"I'm feeling really alive, thanks," she replied.
Alexandra had thought the conversation would continue after that, but Blaise Zabini seemed to believe he had talked enough with her, although he continued to stare at her for twenty seconds or so before opening his trunk to read a magazine. Zabini didn't utter one more word for the rest of the trip.
Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"
Alexandra had had a very light breakfast, and so she stood, noticing the boy in front of her did not, instead unravelling some food he had brought with him.
Not knowing the food of the wizarding world and suddenly having a lot of money in her life, she bought two sandwiches and then a bit of every sweet that was available. New names, as the woman had never heard about Mars bars or their equivalent, having instead Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands and a number of other strange things she had never dreamed could be real in the realm of sweets. She paid the woman fifteen Sickles and seven Knuts for her food purchases.
"Hungry, are you?" said Blaise, seeing her return with a mountain of food in the compartment.
"What gave it away?" she replied, beginning to eat her first sandwich without losing time.
Once she had eaten the sandwiches, she started with the Chocolate Frogs, which the name of appeared to be taken literally: the first she opened slipped out of the packet and she wasn't able to catch it before it escaped out the compartment window. This sweet gave the possibility of collecting cards of famous wizards and witches along the way and she got the cards of Agrippa, Dumbledore, Morgana, Circe, Paracelsus, Helga Hufflepuff and Merlin. Said pictures didn't stay put in photos, which was a shock to say the least.
She had not so much a good time eating the Every-Flavour Beans. Apparently, her bad luck had returned in strength and she got things as horrible as vampire's blood, worm, grass, burned bread, and turned milk.
While she ate, she noticed there weren't any houses or any type of human constructs in the countryside any more. If anything, it convinced Alexandra she was entering a new world, where plantations, harvested fields, and towns had no place. The only things now which could be seen were rivers, woods and hills. Seeing nothing spectacular, she took back her book and started to read again.
There was a knock on the door of their compartment and a young brown-haired boy came in. He looked tearful.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
When both Zabini and she shook their heads negatively, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"He'll turn up," said Alexandra.
"Yes," said the boy, who in her opinion looked pathetic like that. "Well, if you see him …"
He left.
"Don't know why he's crying," said Blaise, snickering. "Toads went out of fashion two centuries ago."
She had had just read one more page of her book when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had brought a girl with him. She was already wearing her Hogwarts robes, which looked to be the same model as Alexandra's.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Nigel's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Alexandra, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the book in Alexandra's hands.
"That book isn't on Hogwarts list for first years," she said. "Where did you..."
Alexandra cut her off mid sentence. Rarely had she seen anyone so ready to comply with rules and edicts, but that didn't mean she had not seen the type at Saint Gregory's.
"I bought it with my own money. It's mine. And this is not a banned book. So can you please close the door so I can continue my reading?"
The girl looked taken aback, as if all the people she had met before them in the train had authorised her to barge into a compartment and carry out judgment on her fellows.
"Err – all right." The bushy haired cleared her voice. She cleared her throat.
"Anyway, we'd better go and look for Nigel's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."
And she left, taking the toad-less boy with her.
"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Alexandra, sighing, putting back her wand back into her pocket. That girl looked like the kind of person who was a total teacher's pet, but every other student would not stand a single minute of before committing a crime.