With proper precautions in place, life at Hogwarts had become relatively easy for Scarlet.
The Basilisk from the Chamber of Secrets - or more accurately, the castle’s underground chambers - was safely removed with the combined efforts of Mr. Newt Scamander and Professor Kettleburn. It was now securely kept in a location accessibly only to authorised individuals. Scarlet even managed to obtain an autograph from the renowned Magizoologist after a brief discussion with him in the Headmaster’s office.
Through the capture of the basilisk, Hagrid was exonerated of the alleged crime his pet had been accused of decades earlier – a crime that had resulted in a student’s death and left a ghost nicknamed Moaning Myrtle to haunt the girls’ bathroom. Scarlet had offered to help Myrtle move on to the Shadowy Land, but Myrtle had refused, choosing instead to remain at Hogwarts and continue startling students.
“If it weren’t for...” Dumbledore paused thoughtfully, “the Seer, I would never have suspected Tom Riddle of committing such a crime at such a young age. A student’s death was overlooked, and he truth lay hidden for so long.”
“Hogwarts is in dire need of improvements when it comes to moral education,” Scarlet replied, her dissatisfaction with school’s system evident. “I was shocked to discover there’s neither a discipline teacher or counsellor to address bullying or student welfare. It’s imperative that Hogwarts pays more attention to mental health. Students need professional guidance when they face emotional challenges. With the current staff numbers, I doubt it’s sufficient to handle these issues adequately.”
Dumbledore accepted her suggestion humbly, though finding a suitable candidate to serve as a counsellor would take time. Additionally, he needed to block the Ministry of Magic’s increasing attempts to interfere with Hogwarts’s curriculum. Oddly, while the Malfoys maintained a front of public aggression, they seemed to be far more passive behind the scenes, at least as far as Dumbledore was concerned. Meanwhile, other pureblood families, whom Dumbledore had long suspected of ties to Voldemort, were acting with bolder intentions. It seemed likely that either Pettigrew or the last piece of soul fragment hidden in the vault had stirred something. For now, there was no immediate danger, but the situation warranted careful management.
The protagonist trio, however, had something to celebrate. They were thrilled that Hagrid’s name had been cleared. The half-giant could now own a wand, making him an even more effective assistant to Professor Kettleburn in Care of Magical Creatures.
Meanwhile, Scarlet’s owl, Faye, along with several other owls she had sponsored, had taken on a dual role: delivering main and patrolling the castle grounds. Their new mission was to hunt down any unregistered rats, ensuring Peter Pettigrew couldn’t move unnoticed.
With Hogwarts enjoying an unprecedented period of safety and calm, it seemed almost certain that no dark artefacts had been smuggled into the school. Even if something slipped through, the watchful eyes of Mr. Shacklebolt and Ms. Tonks would notice it immediately. Scarlet was relieved to cross that worry off her list.
Her primary headache now was Lockhart. The flamboyant, utterly useless professor had been following her carefully crafted syllabus – most of the time. Whenever he attempted to veer off course, opting instead to perform dramatic readings from his books, Scarlet made it a point to swiftly redirect him back to the curriculum.
Lockhart might be an incompetent teacher, but at least the classes were structured according to Scarlet’s revised syllabus. Crafted through interviews with her seniors, the lessons were engaging despite Lockhart’s lack of expertise. Even when he simply read aloud from the text without explaining a word – a task Scarlet doubted he was capable of – the content of the course still provided value to the students.
She had managed to handle Lockhart for all of September, so effectively that Alexis had even praised her for keeping him in check for such a long stretch. Then, in mid-October, Alexis had casually brought up an important reminder, “The first Quidditch match is, like, early November, right? In the original storyline, Dobby was jinxing the Bludger, Harry got hurt, and that brilliant Lockhart made Harry’s arm bones disappear. And even then, Hermione was still all, ‘Oh, he’s amazing, just a little mistake!’ Like, seriously? Talk about delusional fangirling.”
This conversation was happening in Alexis’s dancing room while the Weasley twins were busy managing a flood of orders for their hair-dye candies. Fred and George had created a new type of candy that temporarily dyed hair strands in a range of colours. The effect only lasted a day, but the more candy you ate, the more colourful your hair became. Starting from early October, this “Colour-Up” trend had swept through Hogwarts, with some students dyeing their hair in every colour available.
This craze had pushed Professor McGonagall to her limits, and she finally stepped in to put a cap on it, limiting students to no more than three colours at a time as the overwhelming vibrancy had been too distracting. However, Mr. Tonks had fully embraced the chaos, gleefully changing her hair colour daily to join in the fun - though Fred and George swore they’d never sold her a single candy, adamantly claiming that the shades she used weren’t part of their palette.
“Now that Dobby’s not pulling anything at the match, I can’t guess what’ll happen that day,” Alexis remarked, pausing mid-sentence to catch her breath. She was practicing basic dance moves after an hour on her magical makeshift treadmill. Her goal was to build her stamina to an amateur level – at the very least – to avoid embarrassing her Sensei’s reputation in front of Kyle’s artist with poor dancing or singing.
Scarlet considered this. “Well, Draco’s been on his best behaviour, so I doubt he’ll pick a fight with Harry. Probably just a normal match...though injuries are bound to happen, and that would still give Lockhart the opportunity to pull some idiotic stunt.”
“I’m keeping both eyes on him that entire day,” Alexis declared, her eyes burning with determination as she repeated the dance moves, her breathing laboured.
Scarlet arched a brow. “You seem to have a surprisingly strong dislike for him. Any particular reason?”
“Oh, yeah, totally,” Alexis said between breaths. “Remember when I told you I was a game developer in my previous life? My DEI department manager back then looked exactly like Lockhart – like, seriously, same vibe. Constantly posting on Twitter and Insta about his fabulous ‘work-life balance’, showing off as an LGBT icon with impeccable taste. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all supporting everyone’s choice in choosing partners and all, but he was different. He acted like everyone was, like, falling all over themselves for his oh-so-amazing natural looks and charm, but, ugh, the layers of makeup that man caked on, layers! And don’t even get me started on how he kept sabotaging my designs, just to make himself look good, fitting in with those so-called DEI policies. Even thinking about it still gets under my skin. So, yeah, seeing Lockhart strutting around, reminding me of him? Total nerve-prick.”
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Scarlet raised her eyebrows again. “You realise, by your own timeline, that was at least five years ago – and in an entirely different world?” She gave Alexis a sceptical look. “He must’ve really upset you if you still fuming about him even after reincarnating here.”
“Because - even though everybody in our company knew he was a total bitch,” Alexis stopped dancing, rolling her eyes with exaggerated frustration, “he had this perfect online persona and, like, millions of subscribers! If we ever isolated him or tried anything, he’d just post some sob video about being bullied or whatever! And to keep our company image intact, we had to, you know, play nice. It’s like how we can’t get rid of Lockhart because of his flawless public face and his, ugh, influence over his fanbase – which mostly housewives that could probably command their kids here at Hogwarts! Seriously, it’s maddening!”
“Uh-huh,” Scarlet nodded, an amused grin tugged at the corners of her lips. Yup, very intense and determined Are-chan, she mused.
Scarlet watched as Alexis took a deep, steadying breath, visibly trying to calm the surge of irritation dredged up by her memories of that ex-manager from some obscure department Scarlet had no knowledge of. After a moment, an idea began to form.
“Say,” Scarlet said thoughtfully, “I don’t think I’ve ever noticed a proper medical or first-aid station during matched. Do the injured players just rush off to the hospital wing right after they leave the field? Or is there any sort of emergency action in place?”
“Now that you mentioned it, no,” Alexis frowned as she combed through her memories. “I don’t think there’s ever been a first-aid team on standby during the matches – not in the original story or from what I’ve seen here. Like, dang, no medical aid for such an aggressive game? Even football matches – I mean, the oval ball, not the round one - have a medical team ready! I mean, okay, I get it, it’s a children’s book, so maybe I shouldn’t overthink it...but, seriously, dang!”
“Then let’s propose it,” Scarlet said with a shrug. “Madame Pomfrey could oversee a program where students who want to be healers get hands-on experience assisting during matches. It’d be a practical training opportunity and would benefit the school.”
Without hesitation, Scarlet pulled out her quill – the custom-made one from the Weasley-twins, which she’d been using ever since she got it - and notebook. Her quill, attuned to her writing habit, started drafting the proposal based on her verbal input: a plan for healer interns to gain practical experience under Madame Pomfrey’s supervision, alongside the establishment of medical booths for all large-scale events.
“I’ll admit, I don’t know Madame Pomfrey very well,” Scarlet said after reviewing the draft. “I can imagine Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape would approve – they like complete documentation - Professor McGonagall and Professor Sprout probably wouldn’t mind it either. But Madame Pomfrey...I’m not sure how she’d take to being pitched an idea.”
“Oh, don’t even worry about it! I’ve got this!” Alexis declared confidently. “I’ll bring it up with her when she’s got some time.”
“And you’ll handle the follow-ups?” Scarlet asked with an arched brow.
“No problem!” Alexis clenched her fist in determination. “I’ll make sure Lockhart doesn’t get a single moment to strut his useless stuff at a Quidditch match!”
Scarlet chuckled, passing the proposal to Alexis. She didn’t follow up too closely afterwards, as Alexis kept her updated regularly, and the blonde girl clearly had everything well in hand. Also, judging by the group of fourth-year Slytherins who later approached her for autographs - she’d gained a significant fanbase among them since the pixie incident – the proposal must have taken off.
Apparently, several students with an interest in becoming healers had undergone trials in the Hospital Wing, and a few had earned positions as healer interns, working alongside Madame Pomfrey to assist with injured students.
Their first major challenge soon arrived: setting up a medical booth by the Quidditch field to treat injured players on the spot. The healer interns were thrilled at the prospect. One of them, a Slytherin who had previously sought her autograph, approached her once again. This time, the student seemed timid yet determined as he spoke.
“I, um, I know it must’ve been you who suggested Madame Pomfrey take on interns,” he said, his tone awkward but earnest. “There’s just no way that wacky Gryffindor--” Scarlet guessed he meant Alexis, “--could have come up with something so brilliant. So, uh, thanks.”
“You’re most welcome, and best of luck with your first challenge during the match.” Scarlet offered a polite smile as she handed the Slytherin student his copy of the third book in the Akahime’s Diary series.
The first Quidditch match of the year arrived promptly in early November. Everything was in place, and Scarlet, having ticked off all the immediate tasked on her to-do list, found herself deeply engrossed in her studies at the library. Back in mid-September, after presenting a detailed proposal outlining her experimental procedures, she had successfully obtained Professor Dumbledore’s permission to access the Restricted Section. Her focus? Researching the Killing Curse and, if possible, devising a counterspell.
“Please do not overexert yourself in this endeavour,” Professor Dumbledore had cautioned when handing her the authorisation letter. “The Killing Curse is one of the most powerful and dreadful spells. Many brilliant wizards throughout history have tried to neutralise it, yet none have succeeded.”
“Don’t worry, Professor, I’ll manage,” Scarlet had reassured him with a confident nod.
She had been diving headfirst into her research ever since, all while keeping up with her novel synopsis drafting and business matters, of course. Yet, by the time the Quidditch match began, Scarlet was no closer to finding a tangible solution to counter the curse. Do I really need to cloak myself with an ant to combat it? She mused wryly as she entered her private room for more focused contemplation.
Just as she began scribbling, Alexis burst in, her grin as wide as her enthusiasm. “Lockhart looked so pissed he couldn’t get anywhere near Harry or show off any of his miraculous treatment!”
“A success?” Scarlet raised an eyebrow, her spear slicing through the air in a fluid arc.
“A huge success!” Alexis planted her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest proudly. “You should’ve seen his glare! His eyes practically popped out when I blocked him from getting to Harry and let the medical interns handle his broken ankle instead. Oh, he smiled – awkwardly – and pretended to be helpful to other injured students, but I stopped him every single time! Honestly, you’d have loved how forced and cringy his smile was!”
“Nah,” Scarlet waved a dismissive hand, not pausing her scribbling. “I don’t have much interest in his face.”
With that, Alexis laughed and retreated to her own room to practice her singing and dancing, leaving Scarlet to her thoughts.
November rolled on, and so did the steadily eroding fame of Gilderoy Lockhart. His inability to answer even the simplest first-year questions slowly began to crack his pristine image, and even Hermione’s admiration for him started to waver.
Still, as Alexis had predicted, a man like Lockhart wouldn’t quietly fade away. Instead, he made his next move, just as he had in the original storyline - organising a Duelling Club. To everyone’s great surprise – excluding Scarlet and Alexis – he enlisted Professor Snape as his reluctant assistant and eagerly announced the event with his signature grandiosity.