For the remaining month of September, nothing happened.
No explosions.
No scandals.
No hats were harmed.
It was peaceful.
Alexander was already ahead in all his classes.
But that wasn't surprising.
Being pure-blood—and having highly capable parents—made a significant difference.
More than half the first-years had never even known magic existed until a few weeks ago. They were still struggling with wand grip, pronunciation, and not setting their own sleeves on fire.
Alexander, on the other hand, had lived in the magical world since birth.
Spells, etiquette, theory, history—he'd been exposed to it all long before Hogwarts.
Being ahead wasn't the challenge.
Staying ahead was.
And good grades had benefits.
Mainly, it kept his parents off his back, earned him the professor's tolerance, and gave him the freedom to have fun.
Which he valued greatly.
Snape, for instance, had done exactly what Alexander predicted.
He left him alone.
No sabotage.
No verbal attacks.
Just… death glares.
Cold.
Sharp.
Lingering a second too long whenever Alexander answered correctly.
But that was all.
Honestly, it was a little disappointing.
His parents' reply arrived.
Short.
Direct.
Reassuring.
According to them, Professor Blackwood was clean.
No confirmed Death Eater ties.
No suspicious Ministry records.
No known affiliations.
But…
They did add one line:
Stay safe. Suspicion alone often has roots.
Alexander read that line three times.
So they weren't dismissing him completely.
Good.
That meant he could continue.
And continue he did.
For the rest of September, Alexander made it a personal mission to annoy Professor Adrian Blackwood.
Nothing blatant.
Nothing detention-worthy.
Just constant, precise irritation.
He asked about hyper-specific Dark Magic theory questions mid-lecture, staring too long whenever Blackwood turned his back, casually mentioning Azkaban statistics, and requesting demonstrations of curses "purely for academic curiosity".
Yet…
Blackwood never reacted.
No point deductions.
No detentions.
No anger.
He either avoided the questions or calmly and patiently answered them.
Alexander was certain.
He'll crack eventually.
Detention, however, became more interesting near the end of the month.
Because he gained company.
The Weasley twins.
Fred and George arrived one evening looking entirely too pleased with themselves.
Filch shoved polishing supplies into their arms.
"What'd you two do?" Alexander asked.
They grinned in perfect sync.
"Accused Snape of being racist," Fred said.
"On account of our red hair," George added.
Alexander blinked once.
"…And?"
"Detention," Fred said proudly.
"But no house points deducted," George finished.
All three boys looked at each other.
Then nodded in mutual understanding.
A new method had been discovered.
After detention, the twins followed Alexander out into the corridors.
"Where're you off to?" Fred asked.
"Night walk," Alexander said.
"Filch'll catch you," George said.
"Only if you're slow," Alexander replied.
That was how they ended up joining him.
It quickly evolved into a nightly game of playing solo into a trio.
Hide-and-seek.
Participants: Alexander Chen. Fred Weasley. George Weasley
Hunters: Argus Filch. Mrs. Norris
The first time the twins saw Alexander cast Silencio on Mrs. Norris mid-chase, they froze in awe as the cat let out a completely silent hiss.
Then Alexander ran.
The twins stared… then bolted after him, laughing so hard they nearly got caught.
After that, they started copying him.
Badly at first.
Then impressively well.
Filch's nightly patrols became far more stressful.
Alexander did find one thing strange, though.
For the first few weeks of school…
He'd never once run into the twins during his night adventures.
Not once.
Which was odd.
Considering how naturally they fit into the chaos now.
But he dismissed the thought quickly.
Oh well.
No point thinking about it.
After all…
September had been quiet.
But October was coming.
And Hogwarts was never quiet for long.