Thanksgiving had passed, and the air around Hogwarts Castle was slowly turning colder as Christmas approached.
But before Christmas arrived, one event had already captured the attention of the entire school.
With the approval of Headmaster Dumbledore and the professors, Alexander had officially announced it.
The Hogwarts Snow War.
The moment the announcement spread, students across every house became excited.
This year would be bigger than the last.
Alexander had even convinced several professors to help prepare the battlefield. Large snow fortresses were built across the courtyard grounds, turning the open space into a massive snowy arena.
Students immediately began planning.
Alliances formed.
Strategies were whispered.
Everyone waited for the day of the Christmas dinner, when the war would begin.
As the self-declared Commander of Ravenclaw, Alexander spent time preparing strategies for the battle.
But he hadn't forgotten about his other priority.
Every night, he continued extracting knowledge from Tom Riddle.
At the same time, Alexander was secretly preparing several magical surprises for the upcoming Christmas dinner.
The morning before the war, however, the castle was filled with uneasy whispers.
Students crowded together in the hallways.
"Did you hear?"
"Someone was attacked again."
The rumor spread quickly.
Justin Finch-Fletchley had been found petrified.
And even worse—
The ghost Nearly Headless Nick had been petrified as well.
Some students claimed Harry Potter had been seen nearby when Filch discovered the scene.
Fear spread through the halls again.
During breakfast, many Ravenclaw students looked uncertain.
Alexander suddenly stood up.
"RAVENCLAW!"
The entire table looked up.
Alexander's voice rang through the hall.
"We will win this war!"
Students froze.
"If you're scared, then don't come!"
He pointed toward the doors.
"I will lead us to victory!"
His voice grew louder.
"This war is not for the weak!"
Even louder—
"Even if I stand alone!"
"I will defend our flag until the end!"
Alexander calmly left and walked toward the courtyard.
A moment later, Cho quickly followed him.
Across the hall, Fred and George Weasley suddenly jumped onto the Gryffindor table.
"We will win this war!"
"For GRYFFINDOR!"
They sprinted toward the courtyard.
Lee followed behind them.
Soon, students from every house stopped whispering about the attacks and started running outside while shouting their house names.
The courtyard quickly filled with students.
Snow fortresses stood across the battlefield.
Alexander stood calmly on the walls, watching and waiting.
Slowly, Ravenclaw students went into the fortress and manned their positions.
Then more came and more.
Once everyone stood ready.
Alexander nodded and looked at the other snow fortresses.
He raised his wand and fired a bright red flare into the sky.
The other houses responded with their own red flare.
The Snow War had begun.
Immediately chaos erupted.
Alexander stood on a raised position watching the battlefield unfold.
Gryffindor launched the first charge straight toward Slytherin.
Meanwhile, Ravenclaw began its assault against Hufflepuff.
This year was very different from the previous one.
Several professors acted as referees, watching the battlefield carefully to make sure no one got seriously hurt.
Since students had weeks to prepare, the strategies were far more advanced.
Gryffindor revealed enormous snowball catapults.
Large snowballs launched through the air and rained down on Slytherin positions.
Students charged across the snow while shouting:
"FOR GRYFFINDOR!"
Some students even rolled massive, giant snowballs down the battlefield toward the Slytherin fortress.
Others used Wingardium Leviosa to launch snowballs rapidly.
Many students carried frozen shields created using Glacius.
Alexander watched with interest.
Very interesting concept.
Hopefully, they don't start hitting each other with those.
Slytherin responded with clever tactics.
They had built hidden trenches and ambush positions.
Small teams launched hit-and-run attacks that slowed Gryffindor's charge.
Some Gryffindor students suddenly disappeared into hidden snow pits.
Other Slytherins cast Glacius across the battlefield, freezing patches of ground.
Gryffindor students slipped and slid uncontrollably toward the Slytherin fortress.
Meanwhile, snowballs flew everywhere through constant levitation spells.
The battlefield was pure chaos.
On the other side, Ravenclaw's strategy was far more controlled.
Thanks to Alexander's earlier designs, their fortress was extremely sturdy.
Instead of randomly throwing snowballs, Ravenclaw students carefully sniped advancing enemies.
Students who charged forward were quickly buried under precise snowball attacks.
They had also prepared snow pits in advance.
Meanwhile Hufflepuff fought in a completely different way.
Their teamwork was impressive.
They had created a snowball assembly line.
As Hufflepuff advanced, students constantly made snowballs while others launched them rapidly.
When one student became tired, another immediately took their place.
Alexander watched thoughtfully.
"Hufflepuff is really trying hard this year."
Then he turned toward the Ravenclaw students behind him.
"Ten more minutes."
His voice carried through the fortress.
"Keep attacking for now."
He smiled slightly.
"After that… we begin our real assault."
Ravenclaw students cheered loudly.
Alexander looked across the battlefield with excitement.
The real battle had only just begun.