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The voices were quiet, and there were other sounds muffling the conversation, but Alex understood enough.

After listening for a few more minutes, Alex canceled the spell. The strain had already made him dizzy, but he had heard enough to piece things together. There were about five or six people inside. One of the voices belonged to Travers, a familiar face, though Alex couldn\'t identify the others. From what he gathered, they were plotting something—likely against Charles or someone from Gryffindor.

\'Are they planning to start trouble at Hogwarts? With the headmaster out of the school so often, maybe they think it\'s a good time to stir things up.\'

He didn\'t have the power to intervene directly in inter-house feuds, but since Charles was his friend, he decided he would warn him.

With that thought, Alex hurried on to the Great Hall.

When he arrived, dinner had already begun. He sat down at the Slytherin table and scanned the room. He noticed that several key members of the pure-blood families weren\'t present, which only confirmed his suspicions. Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, Alex saw Charles laughing with his friends.

After a short while, Alex noticed some of the missing Slytherins return to the hall, sitting down to eat as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Charles and his friends were finishing their meals and preparing to leave. Seizing the opportunity, Alex quickly packed his things and left the hall ahead of them, positioning himself near the exit.

As expected, Charles and his group soon came out.

"Charles!" Alex called quietly.

When Charles saw him, he waved goodbye to his friends and walked over to Alex.

"What\'s up, Alex? Why all the hush?" Charles asked, clearly puzzled as Alex pulled him into a corner.

"I need to ask—do you have any plans for tomorrow night?" Alex whispered, watching Charles closely.

Charles hesitated, then replied, "Yeah, actually. It\'s one of our prefect\'s birthdays, so we\'re planning an adventure to the Astronomy Tower. Why?"

Alex\'s suspicions were confirmed. Travers and his group were likely planning to cause trouble for the Gryffindors during their celebration.

"Listen," Alex said urgently. "I overheard something—there might be trouble tomorrow night. I\'d advise you to cancel your plans or at least warn your friends to be careful."

Charles stared at Alex, trying to process what he was hearing. He trusted Alex enough to take him seriously but wasn\'t sure how to react.

"Are you sure?"

Alex nodded. "Don\'t tell anyone you heard it from me, but just be careful."

With that, Alex turned and left before Charles could ask any more questions. He had done what he could. Whether Charles listened or not was up to him. After all, this was Hogwarts; Alex doubted anyone would actually be in life-threatening danger. If Gryffindor got themselves into trouble, they\'d have to deal with the consequences.

Charles stood in the hallway for a moment, thinking hard about what Alex had said. He trusted Alex enough to know he wouldn\'t lie about something like this. With that in mind, he walked off to reconsider the next day\'s plans.

Meanwhile, Alex headed back to his dorm room, not bothering himself with the brewing inter-house conflicts. After his last class of the day, a dull History of Magic lesson, he sat down with the latest issue of The Daily Prophet to catch up on the outside world.

"It seems like the new Minister, Millicent Bagnold, is taking a strong stance," Alex murmured to himself as he read the front page. The Minister had made a public speech, vowing to fight against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. More controversially, he had granted Aurors permission to use Unforgivable Curses on Death Eaters.

\'Looks like things are getting serious.\'

Hogwarts might be peaceful for now, but the world outside was changing rapidly. The ongoing conflict between the Ministry of Magic and the Death Eaters was bound to escalate—Alex could sense it.

After closing The Daily Prophet, he leaned back in his chair, thinking. \'But for now, those troubles don\'t concern me. Without enough strength, all I can do is watch from the sidelines.\'

After a few moments, Alex put the newspaper aside, ready to dive back into his spell research. But first, there was something else he needed to take care of—replying to Lily and Sirius. He had received their letters days ago but had been too absorbed in his spell practice to respond.

He started with Sirius\' letter, unfolding it with a sigh as he braced himself for whatever teasing remarks awaited him.

"Hahaha, Alex, mate, I can\'t believe you got sorted into Slytherin! Bad luck, if you ask me. If I remember right, you\'re Muggle-born, and those pure-blood Slytherin types will want to eat you alive. Back in my day, I played all sorts of tricks on those Slytherin jerks. You better watch out—they might hit you with a curse when you\'re not looking and leave you naked in front of the girls\' bathroom!

If you want my advice, show them you\'re not someone to mess with. Slytherins respect strength. Stand your ground, and they\'ll back off. As for the professors, well, Flitwick is too busy being a bookworm to keep an eye on you all the time. Slughorn\'s a decent bloke, but he doesn\'t really get involved much. McGonagall might help if you\'re in serious trouble, but be prepared for a lot of detentions if you go to her.

Oh, by the way, I\'m Harry\'s godfather now! You have to meet him—he\'s the cutest little baby you\'ll ever see.

Lily and I were talking, and we\'d love to have you over after Christmas. I can show you a few tricks to keep those Slytherins in line!

Take care of yourself, mate. The Death Eaters are getting nastier, and they\'ve been targeting Muggles. Stay safe.

Your faithful friend,

Sirius Black."

After finishing the letter, Alex couldn\'t help but chuckle. Sirius had the same brash attitude in his letters as he did in person. Though most of the advice boiled down to picking fights, it did remind Alex how different his situation was in Slytherin.

He grabbed a piece of parchment and started writing his reply:

"Sirius, you\'re as reckless as ever. I\'m not planning to run headfirst into fights with half the school just to prove a point, but I\'ll stand my ground if anyone gives me trouble. By the way, Slytherin isn\'t so bad—there are a few decent people here, though making friends isn\'t exactly easy.

About Christmas, I\'d love to visit and meet Harry. Just let me know what you want as a present, and I\'ll bring it along.

Take care, and try not to get yourself hexed,

Alex."