Chapter 18: I’ve Got a Private Jet and a Full Crew - Hogwarts : Alice in Hogwarts

Alice couldn't help but feel a little excited about the flying lesson coming up.

Sure, she'd been in the sky plenty of times before—but always thanks to tech, on airplanes. She'd never once thought about flying with magic.

That was gonna be fun.

The lesson wasn't until a little after three in the afternoon, though, so Alice still had to grab lunch in the Great Hall and wait it out.

During lunch, a little drama went down. Neville's grandma—who's tall, kinda round-faced, and totally convinced Alice wouldn't get picked on in Slytherin—sent him a Remembrall.

According to Neville, the thing lights up red if the person holding it has forgotten something.

Alice thought that was wild. How does it even work? Does it read your subconscious or something?

Then Neville proved it. The second he grabbed the Remembrall, it turned bright red.

His face did too—like he was wearing the thing as a hat.

The whole scene cracked everyone up and caught Malfoy's eye. He snatched the Remembrall right out of Neville's hand—only for Professor McGonagall to swoop in and shut that down fast.

Honestly, McGonagall's like a lion watching the whole savanna. Nothing gets past her. Any little twitch among the students, and she's on it in seconds.

As for Dumbledore, happily munching away at the staff table—Alice glanced over, smirked, and thought, Yeah, let's not even go there.

Dumbledore caught her look and cheerfully held up a handful of candy like he was showing off a prize.

Magic's a crazy thing. Lets a guy over a hundred years old eat candy like a kid with no shame.

Three-thirty rolled around in a flash.

Alice stood off by herself while the rest of the Slytherins clustered together on the other side of the field.

Sure, her duel last night had shown everyone she was tough—but the dark cloud hanging over Slytherin was thick. Her strength wasn't enough to clear the fear and suspicion in their eyes.

Still, Ron Weasley—heading over with the Gryffindor crew—picked up on the weird vibe right away.

He lowered his voice and said to Harry and the others, "Don't you think something's off with the Slytherins?"

Harry, Hermione, and Neville all froze. Off how?

Malfoy was still his usual stuck-up, annoying self. Alice was still alone. Same old, same old. What was weird?

Ron got frustrated when nobody backed him up. "No, look closer! Yeah, they're still isolating Alice, but they keep sneaking glances at her. Some of them look… scared. Like they're afraid to meet her eyes."

Huh??

Hermione's face screamed confusion. Was Ron okay? Was he imagining things?

Harry hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Yeah… maybe."

Neville gave a tiny nod too.

Hermione stared at the three of them, totally lost. How were they seeing this? She sure wasn't.

So she asked, "Are you sure you're not just making this up in your head?"

"No way! You know how big my family is—I'm great at reading people. Something happened in Slytherin that we don't know about."

"Slytherin's always got secrets," Neville muttered.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Go play with your Remembrall, man. You know that's not what I mean!"

Harry shrugged. "Why don't we just ask?"

And with that, he led the group over to Alice.

Hermione happily looped her arm through Alice's. Alice stiffened—she wasn't used to people getting this close.

She also noticed Hermione was a little stiff too. This was clearly new for her.

"Alice," Hermione said, "Ron thinks something's up with the Slytherins—like something happened that we don't know about. Is that true?"

Alice raised an eyebrow. This Ron guy was sharp.

She hadn't pegged him as the observant type.

She nodded. "Yeah, something went down last night. But it's not something I can talk about. If you're really curious, figure it out yourselves."

Hermione picked up that Alice didn't want to spill, so she smoothly changed the subject to magical history.

The three boys quickly bailed on the conversation.

Ron smirked at Harry. "Told you—my people-reading skills are solid. Something definitely happened in Slytherin."

Harry nodded, now super curious.

But he didn't have long to wonder—Malfoy's voice cut through the air again.

He was back at it, bragging about flying on broomsticks. Flying solo, dodging Muggle helicopters, the whole deal. Acting like hot stuff.

Harry hated to admit it, but he couldn't really shut Malfoy down this time.

For one, he'd never touched a broomstick—had no clue what flying felt like.

Also, pretty much every wizard-raised kid was talking about brooms. Even Ron had stories about using his brother's old one.

So Malfoy's bragging didn't stand out as much as usual.

Still super annoying, though.

Harry watched Malfoy inch closer to Alice and eventually butt into her chat with Hermione.

"Norton," Malfoy sneered, "you've never flown, have you? Of course not—your Muggle parents couldn't exactly get you up in the air, could they?"

Harry's stomach twisted. That jab hit every Muggle-born kid hard. Even some of the pure-blood Gryffindors looked pissed.

Hermione stepped forward to snap at him, but Alice grabbed her arm.

She looked Malfoy dead in the eye. "My parents are dead."

Malfoy's smug grin froze. He hadn't known that. His mouth opened, then closed. No comeback.

Alice kept going. "Don't feel bad. I never expected you to have anything like remorse."

"But flying? Yeah, I've done that. I've got a private jet. And a full crew."

Ron leaned over to Harry. "Private jet—what's that?"

Harry explained, "It's a Muggle plane. Flies people around. Most are run by companies and carry a bunch of passengers. But Alice means she's got her own plane. Just for her. Flies wherever she wants, whenever she wants."

"Cool!" Ron said.

Their conversation carried—loud enough for Malfoy to hear. His face went from smug to mortified.

For once, Malfoy couldn't wait for the teacher to show up.

Thank God, Madam Hooch finally arrived.

Malfoy slunk away, tail between his legs.

Chapter 18 - Chapter 18: I’ve Got a Private Jet and a Full Crew