Saturday morning, after breakfast, Alexander walked Cho towards the Ravenclaw corridor but stopped halfway.
"I'll be busy this morning," he said. "Planning some things. I can't go to the library with you today."
Cho nodded and said.
"Okay. Don't overwork yourself."
He smirked. "No promises."
They split paths.
Alexander returned to his dorm and sat at his desk, pulling out parchment, ink, and his textbooks.
One week of classes had already passed.
By now, he fully understood the syllabus for every subject.
He leaned back, reviewing mentally.
Charms — Easy. Already ahead.
Defense Against the Dark Arts — Laughable.
Herbology — Manageable.
Astronomy — Useless but passable.
History of Magic — Nap time.
Only one subject required real attention.
Transfiguration.
He clicked his tongue.
"I focused too much on Protego this summer…"
Still, it wasn't difficult.
It just meant more practice.
He flipped to his Potions textbook.
Then notice something about his Potions class.
"Only one?"
He smirked.
"Snape's avoiding me."
Honestly, it made sense.
Others might suffer his temper, but Alexander wouldn't.
Especially not after publicly calling him racist.
If class time was limited, he'd just brew on his own.
He pulled out a reinforced briefcase and opened it.
Inside—
A complete portable potion setup:
A couple of cauldrons
Ingredient vials
Stirring rods
Measuring tools
Heat stones
And if he lacked anything?
The Room of Requirement could supply it.
Potions: handled.
Now came the real planning.
Alexander tapped his quill against the desk.
"Next year…"
The Basilisk.
He didn't want Harry to kill it.
He wanted to capture it alive.
A magical creature like that was too valuable to waste.
To do that, he needed counters and safeguards.
First thought—
A Phoenix.
He frowned.
"Not possible."
Mr. Scamander had already told him: Phoenixes rarely bonded outside a specific lineage — and most were connected to the Dumbledore family.
So that option was out.
This meant there was only one natural counter left for him.
Roosters.
Alexander's eyes lit up slowly.
"…An army of chickens."
The more he thought about it, the more brilliant it sounded.
Roosters' crow could petrify or repel Basilisks.
If he raised enough?
He could control the battlefield entirely.
He started writing supply notes immediately.
Next problem:
Petrification victims.
If anything went wrong, he'd need a cure ready.
Mandrake Restorative Draught.
Which meant Mandrakes.
Also meant he needed seeds.
He paused, then thought out loud.
"If I'm planting mandrakes… might as well plant everything."
Soon, his parchment was filled with plans for a full magical greenhouse:
Mandrakes
Fluxweed
Bubotuber
Gillyweed
Venomous Tentacula
Flutterby Bush expansions
Also, many random magical plants he might need in the future.
A private magical garden.
One that would make Professor Sprout jealous.
There was only one issue.
"I don't want to take care of them."
He leaned back, thinking.
Solution?
House-elves.
If he could get one or two, then maintenance wouldn't be a problem.
Another added it to his notes.
Alexander pulled fresh parchment.
Time to request support.
He wrote a letter to his parents:
Mandrake seeds
Assorted magical plant seeds
Rooster and hen breeding pairs
Enchanted coop equipment
Greenhouse expansion kits
Potion ingredients in bulk
House-elves prefer a male and female couple.
Then another letter—
A purchase order.
A broom.
Not for him.
For Cho.
Nimbus 2000.
She had officially become Ravenclaw's Seeker — earlier than canon, but Alexander didn't care about "minor timeline details."
If she were flying, she'd fly the best.
He sealed all letters, stamped them, and sent them off via owl.
By the time he finished, it was already lunchtime.
He hurried down to the Great Hall and slid into the seat beside Cho.
"Done?" she asked.
"For now," he replied.
She narrowed her eyes.
"That sounds dangerous."
He just smiled.
The rest of the day, they spent inside the Room of Requirement again.
Cho practiced:
Shield reinforcement
Spell chaining
Levitation targeting
Reaction casting
Alexander supervised, corrected, and occasionally demonstrated advanced spell control.
She improved faster than she expected.
Alexander would always give her a big hug and kiss on the cheek or forehead for a job well done.
By dinner, Cho was exhausted but satisfied.
As they left the hidden room, Cho glanced at him.
"You've been planning something big, haven't you?"
Alexander smirked faintly.
"Just preparing for the future."
She didn't fully understand what he meant—
But she trusted that whatever Alexander was planning.
Cho figured it was going to create more chaos at Hogwarts when the time came.