It had been Alexandra's best Christmas day ever.
December 31st 1991, Hogwarts, Scotland
Once Christmas was over, silence and calm returned to Hogwarts. In the six days which followed, the snow fell three times, making Alexandra wonder what sort of enchantments the Hogwarts Express must have to brave the snow and the ice which accumulated on the railroad.
Alexandra quickly became bored: she had finished her homework, and bombarding the Weasleys twins with snowballs could only last so long. Duelling and playing chess was fun, but Professor Flitwick had many obligations as Senior Teacher of Charms and Head of Ravenclaw House; he couldn't pass all his time with a first-year, or for that matter any student in particular.
It was on December 28 that a stunning opportunity presented itself to Alexandra, as the Headmaster left the school to go to a New Year Congress in Egypt. With Dumbledore present in the castle, she had been extremely wary of going anywhere near the forbidden corridor of the third floor. Without him, the risk became manageable: with less than two dozen students in the castle, most of the professors didn't bother make their rounds, the only exception being Snape and Flitwick.
In good Ravenclaw fashion, Alexandra had decided the chance was unlikely to present itself again and as a result put precautions in place to ensure she would not fail. The first was to consult the old plans of Hogwarts in the library, which revealed that the forbidden wing consisted of seven rooms on two levels. Alexandra had no idea why the Headmaster had been so stupid to let the plans in a library everyone in the castle could access to, but she was grateful for any help she could get. It was unlikely Dumbledore had left the stairs intact in this wing, so a broom was definitely needed. She would have to "borrow" one from the broom lockets in the Quidditch Pitch.
Alexandra had also studied the patrols of Snape and Filch, which were surprisingly predictable. By her analysis, she would have eight and a half hours before someone, undoubtedly Flitwick, remarked her disappearance and alerted the other professors. This would be the time she was granted to pass through the obstacles defending the Philosopher's Stone. She had verified in the book A History of Alchemy (noting by the way that this was a heavily censored version of a French-traduced book), and there were only two wizards named Flamel today, the six hundred plus year old alchemist and his wife Perenelle. The only thing belonging to the famous alchemist, who according to the book was an old partner of Dumbledore, was the Philosopher Stone granting immortality and gold to its wielder.
That said, Alexandra had had deranging questions after reading this book. First, the elixir of Long Life had to be given every month or so for its wielder to not age. As the Stone was no doubt at Hogwarts since at least September, there were two options; either Nicolas Flamel had made another Stone, a far from impossible feat given his long life and his talent in alchemy (the man had invented the discipline after all!). Or the man was already dead. A Philosopher's Stone was an incredible and rare creation, even for wizards and witches. Alexandra did not think she would give even to her best friend's care an artefact of such incredible power, not if it could lead to her doom. Besides, Flamel was so old the lack of the Elixir of Long life would instantly kill him. The Potter Heiress had avoided thinking about this, because the implications were frightening. In her opinion, Headmaster Dumbledore was a senile old man who never should have been given the care of one child, never mind an entire school. But if the man had really murdered or get rid of one of his friends to place the Stone at Hogwarts, well...
In the end, the main flaw in her plan to rob the Headmaster was her ignorance of the nature of the traps waiting for her in the forbidden corridor. Alexandra had managed to discover Professors Snape, Quirell, Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall had participated in the defences, but given how many enchantments were possible with magic, that didn't narrow the field of possibilities at all. Hagrid had by his own admission with Longbottom furnished a "dog". The Headmaster had certainly also established his own protections.
Ultimately on December 31 evening, she decided to go. Inspired by one of the many action films Dudley had seen, Alexandra decided it to call the attempt Operation Grand Chelem, a name she found appropriate for her objective. There was absolutely zero chance for the professors to give her the information she needed, the knowledge of their defences would not be found in the library, and she had no idea how much time the Headmaster would stay away from Hogwarts after New Year before coming back.
Casting spells to make her the next best thing to silent in the corridors, Alexandra left the Ravenclaw common room at eleven o'clock, a broom taken from the Quidditch Pitch under her right arm and a pack of steaks from lunch in a bag.
With Snape and Filch busy patrolling at this hour near the Gryffindor common room, this part of the castle was deserted in the winter holidays , and she managed to arrive in front the forbidden corridor without incident. She tried to open the door but, predictably, it was locked.
"Well, let's try this!" Alexandra whispered."Alohomara!"