Merlin knew that deep down, Alina was glad she had no siblings. Another mouth to feed, someone to compete with to get an education. At least as an only chilf she could do everything she could to make a convincing case that she should remain in school for as long as possible.

At least the student hadn't made a fuss. Choosing to leave and clean up instead. What more could Alina ask for? Perhaps some peace and quiet, which was something that she desperately wished for when a Gryffindor sat in front of her and started yapping between mouthfuls of soup.

Rather than make some sort of remark to make him shoo, she decided that it wouldn't do any harm for her to at least listen to him yap for a while. "I saw him prank a seventh year. Turned the girl purple. She could only speak backwards. At least, I think she was talking backwards." She decided to respond. Humor the boy before her. Who knows, perhaps he would turn out to be useful.