Rroaned inwardly. "A dist? He just robbed Travers and calls it a dist?" But all he could do was nod in agreement.

  "Good," Alex said, satisfied with Rozier’s response. "Cooperate, and I won’t treat you unfairly. Got any juifo now? Anything from inside or outside the school—as long as it’s valuable, I’m a fair guy."

  He stepped closer, pg his hand on Rozier’s shoulder again, pressing just hard enough to remind him who was in charge.

  Rozier winced, blurting out uhe pressure, "Uh, okay, okay! I did overhear something. A third-year student, Quick Wilkes, was bragging at a party. He said his uncle’s pnning to cause trouble for the Order of the Phoenix around Christmas. But, you know, it could just be a rumor."

  Alex’s expression darkened as he absorbed the information, his eyes sharpening. "Are you sure?"

  Rozier, shaken by Alex’s sudden iy, stammered, "Y-yes, I swear! Wilkes is always bragging about his uncle w for the Dark Lord. He tells us stories about their attauggles. Some of it even matched what’s been in the news!"

  Alex’s thoughts raced. "Christmas? Could this be ected to Lily and the others?" He wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t willing to risk it.

  Letting go of Rozier, Alex watched as the boy colpsed to the ground, his legs giving out from fear. "This news is actually useful. You get a free pass on your prote fee month. And here, take this as a reward."

  Alex tossed Rozier a small bottle of euphoria. Still trembling, Rozier accepted the potion, un how casually Alex produced it. "Don’t worry," Alex said, amused by Rozier’s nervousness. "It’s just euphoria. Try it—it might help you calm down."

  Rozier hesitated, unc the bottle, the rich, sweet st of the potion filling the air. Cautiously, he took a small sip, feeling a wave of warmth wash over him as the potion’s calming effects took hold.

  As Rozier do this Alex asked, "By the way, isn’t your family involved with the Death Eaters? You seem awfully eager to spill their secrets."

  Rave a bitter ugh. "Not everyone’s loyal to the Dark Lord, you know. My cousin, Evan Rozier, is the heir and a die-hard Death Eater. He’s strong, and he bullies the rest of the family into line. Most of us don’t care about his crusade. My family wao stay ral, but Evan dragged us into supp the Dark Lord. I was just hoping to stay out of trouble at Hogwarts, but now…"

  R the unscious Travers and shook his head. "Now, I’ve got nothing but bad luck thanks to this idiot."

  Alex found it mildly amusing that even pure-blood families had their internal flicts. He patted Rozier on the shoulder again, this time mently, and said, "Well, thanks for the info. Just do what I told you, and you’ll be fine. When Travers wakes up, tell him you were knocked out too. It’s fine if you bme me—I don’t care. Yell about it if you have to."

  With that, Alex pocketed the money bag and walked back toward the castle, leaving Rozier to deal with the aftermath.

  Once Alex was out of sight, Rozier let out a long sigh of relief. He looked at Travers with a mix of disgust and hatred. "If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be stu this mess," he muttered.

  Frustrated, he kicked Travers a few times, then slumped onto the grass, overwhelmed. "This Alex is terrifying," Rozier whispered to himself. "His eyes—they’re like a bck hole, ready to swallow me whole. How did I get mixed up with someone like him? Stupid Travers! All I wanted was a quiet time at Hogwarts, and now this…"

  With a sigh of defeat, Rozier let his body sink into the cold grass, his mind rag over his new situation. Before long, despite the chill in the air, exhaustioook him, and he drifted off into a troubled sleep.

  ______________

  "Rozier! Hey, Rozier!" The voice startled him awake.

  Groggily, Rozier opened his eyes to see Travers standing over him, sneering. "Finally, you're awake. That Mudblood really did a number on us, huh? But don’t worry—I’m going to make sure he pays for this." Travers rubbed his sore body, still ag from the fight.

  Rozier looked around and realized it was already night. The temperature had dropped, and he felt numb from the cold. "Let’s just get back to the castle. It’s freezing out here, and I don’t want to stay out any longer."

  Despite his tough talk, Travers quickly agreed. The cold was biting, and their bodies ached from the enter. Together, they trudged back toward Hogwarts, stiff and sore.

  Travers kept ranting as they walked, yelling about how he’d make the "Mudblood" pay. Rozier, walking beside him, nodded but felt disgusted inside. All he wanted was to avoid more trouble, but now he was caught up in Travers' mess.

  As they ehe castle, Professor Slughorn happeo pass by and, seeing their sorry state, immediately sent them off to the hout a word.

  Meanwhile, the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was still dragging on. The score had climbed to 290 for Slytherin and 41ryffindor. The game had gone on so long that most pyers were too exhausted to keep flying. Both teams refused to give up, despite Professonagall and Madam Hooch’s repeated suggestions to call it quits. The Slytherin Seeker, Welen Higgs, was so tired he had literally sat down on the grass, uo keep looking for the Snitch.

  Most of the crowd had left by now, with only a few die-hard fans or students enjoying the spectacle remaining.

  Meanwhile, Alex was rexing in his room, flipping through the test issue of tury Charms. Occasionally, he wondered if the Quidditch match had finally ended, but he wasn’t ied enough to check.

  The m at breakfast, Viviaedly reted the end of the match to Alex. " you believe it? The game sted until te st night!" she excimed, practically boung in her seat.