Importance, and lack thereof.

Nowadays there was little business that Alistair needed to attend in Knockturn Alley. He was hardly a symbol of safety, love and all the jazz that Grindlewald liked to profess his faction to be. The Order was supposedly the faction lacking human compassion now. Alistair didn’t realise how naive the world could be until he saw how easy it had been for Grindlewald to brainwash the masses. Of course there were a few that weren’t fooled; working quietly behind the scenes in order to upset the system of Government that was currently trending in wizarding affairs. Alistair thought their strife to be admirable at best but he had no time for such foolishness now. He was quick to warn idiot shopkeepers to hold their tongues rather than to start talking to him about matters of state.

Of course there was one subject that he did let them witter about to their hearts content while he scanned the shelves: their children; or rather, the children. He couldn’t pretend to care but at the same time he couldn’t pretend not to. He merely remained indifferent as the shopkeepers and even, on occasion, people perusing the shelves with him recognised him and began to inquire as to the health and happiness of their little swot.

Evidently no one thought to make use of their owls anymore, or a quill and a sheet of parchment. Alistair had little sympathy for the parents or their swots and after being bombarded by them in Diagon Alley, he had little choice but to retreat into Knockturn where he was sure he wouldn’t find similar people that would plague him as the last ones did.

In Knockturn Alley he was allowed to fall into his thoughts and brood as he scanned the many shelves that Borgin and Burkes seemed to possess; certainly more than the size of the shop on the outside would have suggested. Alistair wasn’t a fan of Borgin and Burkes as a rule but something in the window had caught his eye. A rare gem that was rarely seen any window, let alone that of a shop holding stores of Dark Magic. He was not quick to inquire about it but Borgin was not a man as naive as those back in the ‘light’ side of wizarding London. Borgin knew what Alistair had wanted from the moment the younger man had entered the shop. The elder man had known the younger since he was a boy and knew the mischievous twinkle better in Alistair’s eyes than he did in his own son’s. Borgin had it wrapped before Alistair even reached for his wallet and once he’d paid, the younger man swiped the box off of the desk and left the shop, Disapperating on its very doorstep once out in the cool.

The wards around Hogwarts accepted Alistair immediately and he appeared with a crack and a whoosh of black smog on a grassy embankment near the lake. Straightening his robes someone, Alistair twisted round and began the long stride up towards the covered bridge. He walked purposefully across the planks, stopping not even to admire the view of the travelling river below. He entered the courtyard with little flourish or fanfare, he merely strode through, upsetting a game of Gobstones as he did so. Alistair pursed his lips at the sight of the castle entrance, finding his presence at the castle as unsettling as usual. He could feel the disdain the students felt for him. They knew who he was, who he worked for and, most importantly, what he represented. Alistair had certainly let them down if he ever did take his job to protect them. He knew he hadn’t but even so, he did feel a twinge of guilt but he blamed it simply on the wide-eyed, fearful looks the First Years gave him.

Alistair sighed sufferingly and pushed open the large oak doors, stepping over the threshold and entering the Entrance Hall where he was relieved to find there were significantly less students. For a moment he was allowed to gather his thoughts but as per usual, said thoughts were interrupted.

Sometimes Miseria wondered what it’s like to be a Death Eater. What was it like to be feared by the weak and sometimes by the strong witches and wizards? She couldn’t imagine herself walking down the streets, wearing Death Eater’s mask and pointing her wand at the poor muggles and torturing them with cruciatus curse, and ending their lives ruthlessly.
She thought that maybe if she’d be sorted into Slytherin, she would go down on that track and never look back; maybe she’d become like Bellatrix – crazy, yet loyal, and with no regret. Secretly, she even idolized that woman. Bellatrix was so... into everything. And she only followed her ’true’ leader, Lord Voldemort. But then again Miseria knew that if she’d have a leader, she wouldn’t follow his orders.

Her thoughts dazed off when someone touched Miseria’s shoulder and she looked at her housemate, Lilian, who raised her eyebrows:“Deep in thought again?“
Miseria shrugged her shoulders. That happened a lot. “Anyways,“ Lilian rolled her eyes when she removed her arm from Mis’ shoulder:“I was thinking about getting a snack, want to come?“ When Miseria heard the mention of ’food’, she felt how her stomach almost like clenched into a fist from hunger, and she replied with a short nod. Both girls got up from the sofa and they walked out from the dormotry.

All their way Miseria had to listen Lilian’s talk about how great time she was having in Hogwarts and how she missed her muggle friends. She only nodded when she felt it was necessary, but most of her talk was forgotten in a moment. When they reached the first floor, Miseria looked around, surprised to see that there weren’t many students around. Mostly younger ones who just hanged around in their large groups. At their age Miseria spent most of her time in Hufflepuff’s common room, trying to read and concentrate on her studies to please her parents with great marks. However, not everything went as good as she imagined, but everything payed off in the future.

“Hey, who’s that?“ She asked Lilian suddenly when she noticed a young man standing in the Entrance Hall. Knowing every student’s face, it was soon clear to her that he wasn’t a student nor was he a teacher. Lilian, however, didn’t even bother to look at him; she babbled something about pretty guys in one muggle band and Miseria rolled her eyes and looked back at the young man; she noticed how some students stared at him, yet she was unable to tell who he was. Damn.
One way to find out.

“Newbie?“ Miseria asked soon when she stood close to him; she leaned her head to the right and looked curiously at the newcomer. He obviously wasn’t frightening enough to scare her away from him.

At the sound of a voice, Alistair’s eyes snapped open, revealing the pools of chocolate that seemed to reflect the jet of emerald that he had seen far too much of in his short twenty-four years alive. His grip tightened momentarily on the box underneath his arm but slackened once more to a comfortable hold when he realised it was still there. Alistair’s eyes moved slowly in the sockets and his gaze fell upon a pale, dark-haired girl that wore the custard-trimmed robes with what looked like begrudging pride. A smirk teased at the side of Alistair’s lips and his pallor, bitten red by the wind, seemed to warm to a healthier colour with the heat that the castle supplied to him. He yearned to disappear up to the South Tower where he knew his House Elf would be waiting to address his needs. Yet he knew until then, he’d have to engage in mundane conversation with the Hufflepuff before him and her slightly less intelligent-looking friend who seemed to still be wittering on about Muggles or something; and at that Alistair’s lip curled upwards in distaste.

The man’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly at the girl’s suggestion. He scoffed and straightened up a little, squaring his shoulders and inclining his head indignantly, giving the illusion of him looking down on her. She was a rather uninteresting specimen. Dark uneven curls with what looked like, if he squinted enough, split ends. She was uninterestingly average in height, perhaps a little too thin and seemed to be as pale as the snow that still coated the ground, thinner now yet still threatening more fall. She was nothing spectacular and Alistair had little time to engage in more trysts with students. He’d already made short work of Rise, deeming her too irritating not to put back in her place. She was a plucky little creature, now hopefully broken and left in shards that others could cut themselves on. He didn’t have enough time or patience to wear down another one. In fact, he barely had enough patience to talk to this Hufflepuff.

Alistair sighed sufferingly and turned his body towards them, hoping to be somewhat welcoming instead of giving off the vibe that they were really just inconveniencing him. Actually, scratch that. His whole body, from the expression of his face to the way he leaned slightly to the left, betrayed his desire to be rid of the girls, the one that had spoken in particular.

“If you paid attention to the world around you then you would know otherwise,” Alistair responded coolly. “What do you want?”

It took quite some time for the young man to give her an answer. But while looking at him in silence, she made her own conclusions about this man.
First of all, he was former Slytherin. The way he stood and looked at the other things and human beings betrayed his old house and his blood status.
Second; he was surely one of those who called themselves Death Eaters. Again, his positioning betrayed his opinion about her, she could see in his eyes that he was already annpoyed by her company and he wanted her to get lost or he just wanted to walk away himself. Scar on his cheek told her that he had a fight few years ago, maybe even less and that his opponent was strong enough to keep him away, maybe? Maybe not.

She noticed how he clenched his fingers onto something and she couldn’t hide a smile on her pale pink, almost white lips. He was hiding something from them. Why did he enter the school, then? He probably knew that there were curious students around. Like her, for example.
When he turned himself at them, Lilian’s mouth was shut in one instance. Miseria was holding herself back from thanking the young death eater for his behaviour, but instead she continued with her conclusions about him and maybe even his habits?

She looked quickly up. Lilian didn’t probably notice the box in his hands; good. Suddenly, she started giggling, earning shocked look from her friend, who probably was aware of who was this young man. “True,“ she replied happily. “But then again it is so boring to know All the things that are happening in this world. Sometimes it’s even better to stay in your head where it’s safe and sound.“

He striked her with another question and Miseria laughed quietly; oh my, the death eaters always made her act this way. They were all so funny with their attitude! “Actually nothing. I was just interested in who you are, but I already know everything that I interested me,“ she said. Then she looked at her housemate, Lilian, who was paler than usual. “Oh my... maybe you should head to the hospital wing instead of the great hall? Do you want me to escort you?“ Miseria proposed.
Lilian only shook her head and murmuring to her that she’s not hungry anymore, she backed off and instead of going to the great hall the girl wandered back to the dungeons.

Something that Alistair had always adored about Hogwarts was its architecture. It was grand but it didn’t boast the luxury that the Slytherin dungeons did. He suspected that was because Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff had preferred the simplicity of it. He was sure that had Slytherin had his way then there would have been great big sculptures carved from gold and sumptuous fabrics that cost the earth twice over. There was something undoubtedly grand about the castle but it wasn’t showy and over the top as perhaps some of the Purebloods used to luxury would have wanted. It did have its own little hints of splendour though. It was splendorous, there was no doubt about that, but it was in its own simple understated way. However, despite the simplicity, there was still something that struck people dumb about Hogwarts and understandably so. It wasn’t Beauxbatons’ crystal and it certainly didn’t bear the furs that Durmstrang possessed but there was still something about it. Perhaps it was the intoxicating smell of magic or the feeling that, no matter who you were, you were home. Alistair would’ve said it was the latter but he couldn’t help but greedily inhale the smell and feel the taste of the magic on his tongue. Heaven.

Alistair brought his lips together, his teeth clenching and his jaw growing hard, pulling his skin taught over the bones. In doing so he made the pink scar tissue across his cheekbone all the more noticeable, though he paid little attention to it. He allowed the students to make up their own tales as to how he received the scar. He daren’t let slip that the cause had been the frightened flinging of hands and fingernails as he clawed at the clothes of the woman he kept in his bruising grip. It had been years since he’d thought about that night, the night when he’d turned from an intellectual, perhaps, into the Death Eater he was today. Admittedly, Alistair was far calmer now of all times but he still felt the need to take his wand to some of them - though Patricia had merely been thrown down a flight of stairs. As much as he had enjoyed the simplicity of it afterwards and the subsequent Daily Prophet articles about her death, Alistair preferred his wand. He preferred to inflict pain that didn’t mean he had to get his hands dirty. Then of course the Killing Curse was a kind way to finish them off, whoever it was. He was vaguely pleased to report he hadn’t killed anyone many since he had left Azkaban - no one really important at all, just people that wouldn’t be missed.

There was a change in the air; Alistair had noticed quite visibly that change. The students seemed a lot more optimistic, teasing almost. He had put a number in detentions with him for the evening ahead before leaving for London that morning and by the looks of the smirking faces lingering in the doorway of the Great Hall, he was definitely considering adding more to the list. Unlike Barker, he was quite a bit cleaner. They were children, they couldn’t be helped really but they did need their punishment. He had no intention of torturing them unless they got particularly mouthy. Alistair was content just to make them clean the dungeons and he was considering adding the pair of Hufflepuffs before him to the list simply because they were irritating.

Emerging from his thoughts, Alistair looked at the girl, his face betraying his disinterest. “Then perhaps you should run home to your mother and father, child.” He responded dully. “If you think ignorance is going to keep you safe from harm then truly, you are the most at risk. Naivety is not best suited upon anyone, let alone young women who have so much to be taken from them.” Alistair dragged his eyes across the girl’s form and drank her in once more before letting a small smirk tread across his lips. “But you’ve already lost all there is to be had, haven’t you? Your friend however seems to be a lot more innocent in the ways of the world, preferred perhaps to those who wish to teach her the way politics works; the way life works. You’re both terribly naive and at true risk. You’re just lucky that no one seems particularly interested in a bunch of duffers from Hufflepuff. Aren’t you lucky?”

Alistair watched the smaller of the two disappear back up the steps to the grand staircase and watched her make her descent to the Hufflepuff dungeons until she disappeared from view. His grip tightened and slackened once more on the box before he squared his shoulders and looked at the girl, finding no difficulty in displaying his contempt for her. “Now is there anything else or will you leave to play Gobstones or Wizard’s Chess like the good little girl you are?”

They were all just the same, and sometimes it even maddened her. Why can’t Death Eaters impress her with something? She’d seen them killing people, torturing them, she’d also seen death eaters with ’softer’ heart and helpful, but then again – she had never seen a death eater who would actually make some cupcakes and give them to children who were aware of what was going on in this world, yet who needed some hope that there were people who actually cared.
Miseria sighed quietly; she turned her head to the left and watched as the younger students came from the outside. They were all covered in snow and their pink faces had wide smiles. Usually, thinking about other’s happiness, was the last thing on Miseria’s mind. Everyone was in danger and thinking about the sad and bad things that would happen or what are happening right now wouldn’t help her nor the others.

Miseria’s smile faded away when she looked at the young death eater. “No,“ she reüöoed in a quiet voice, almost in a whisper, yet she listened to what he had to say. It wasn’t true. Miseria had lost nothing unlike the other students. Sometimes she wondered why she was favored this way.
When he was finished, Miseria looked away, her lips pressed together. Not from anger. No, instead, she was holding back her laughter which soon escaped from her mouth, echoing from the hallways. Students looked at her with surprised expressions and that made her laugh even more. “Oh good lord, You are so funny! In fact, all of your... friends are funny!“

She had already forgot about Lilian who was probably in the dungeons, afraid to move up again. Miseria looked back at the death eater, holding hands before her mouth so that she wouldn’t start laughing loudly again. “Sounds like a plan... Only the sad thing is that I guess you won’t be joining me so I’ll have to find myself another partner... An invisible friend maybe. Or a ghost!“ Miseria started laughing again and turned herself around. “Oh, and by the way – I think that pocket is more safer place for your... gift?“ she raised her eyebrows before walking off. She nodded at the box and then, wishing him good day, she walked slowly towards the Great hall.