History Fanfic / AlexandraQuick

* AlmightyJanitor: House Elves ([[spoiler: and their extraplanar cousins]]) have a much larger role in this story and the dangerous power of their magic, especially relative to untrained students is emphasized several times.

* CallingTheOldManOut: Alexandra calls out [[spoiler:her aunt, Diana] in ''Wizarding War'' for all the bullshit that happened because of how hostile most of the adults in her life were.

* GreaterScopeVillain:[[spoiler: ''...And The World Away'' pretty much establishes the Governor-General and the more corrupt members of the Confederation as this. Especially the end when its revealed that on-top of the Deathly Regiment with its HumanSacrifice of a pure-blood child every 7 years but the additionally they've been kidnapping {{Muggle}} children and sacrificing one '''everyday''' to maintain their control over the country since the foundation of the Confederation.]]

** Alexandra and [[spoiler:Hela confront Franklin Percival Brown, an Accountant who abducted children to sacrifice to keep the wizard world going. Both of them despise him, and for Alexandra it's personal because he took Bonnie Seabury, but neither of them have it in them to kill an unarmed, defenceless man, even one as despicable as Brown.]]

** Larry, in terms of dueling. Across several books, he and Alex duel many times and despite rigorous training, he is the one person she's never quite been able to beat. In ''World Away'', where both he and Alex compete in a national junior wizard's decathlon, Larry is the runaway winner and it's not even close. [[spoiler: Or rather, he would have been had not the final event concluded with an attack by the Thorn Circle, requested by Alex as a distraction for means of her own.]]

* AdultsAreUseless: Zig-zagged. The adults do attempt to help, but many refuse to believe Alex when she warns them or tells them what's happening, and often she ends up taking action because she can't see any sign that the adults ''aren't'' being useless.

* AloneWithThePsycho: [[spoiler: Alex is captured by Manuelito at the climax of book 4.]]
* AnimalMotifs: Alex and Thorn in particular, with their raven familiars.

* BadassTeacher: Dean Grimm and Ms. Shirtliffe

* BrickJoke: At the beginning of ''Lands Below'', David and Alexandra hatch a plot to get Angelique to notice David, but they break it off when it seems as if Angelique doesn't care. But at the end of the book, there's a throwaway line from Angelique to Alex, saying "I really do like David, you know", while blushing.

* ChekhovsGunman: Troublesome, an Ozarker legend about a girl who's annoying, causes trouble for everyone and is extremely unlikeable, but who can also be very kind and is very brave. [[spoiler: Constance and Forbearance start out calling Alex 'Troublesome' as a nickname, but eventually that becomes her capital-N Name, which they use to call down the Stars Above.]]

* FantasticRacism: Much like the stories they are based on, wizards in the AQ-universe tend to look down on Muggles, Muggle-borns, House-Elves and non-humans. They are, however, genuinely shocked, appalled and/or confused when David and Alex try to explain mundane racism and sexism to them.

* FatalFlaw: Alex's is HonorBeforeReason, along with a pumped-up sense of her own morality- in essence, she often ignores potential consequences or side effects and goes for the main goal, but when people inevitably get hurt because of her, she often won't acknowledge that it was her fault and resorts to 'I never meant to do it' or 'It happened for a good cause'.
* FiveTokenBand: Justified and mildly deconstructed. Alex's core group of friends is formed from those in her class who, for whatever reason, do not fit in with the mainstream school culture. The deconstruction comes when the diverse cultural backgrounds of the group, and the intra-group conflicts they sometimes cause, are explored rather than ignored as is typical for this trope.

* GenerationXerox: Alex apparently really resembles her mother, [[spoiler: Hecate Grimm. Too bad we can't see the resemblance, since Hecate is a cat, and when she's human, she has no memory whatsoever.]]

* GoodIsNotNice: Lilith Grimm seems to have a major in this trope. She's a cold hearted lying bitch, but she does truly care about Alex.
** Alex as well, she's hostile, arrogant, rude and manipulative, but she's ultimately a good person.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Abraham Thorn and [[spoiler: his daughter Alexandra]] have an almost supernatural ability to inspire others' loyalty. It's how Thorn's children still think well of him despite his deeds, and how [[spoiler: Alex]] still has friends.
** It's also very easily abused. In the first book, Dean Grimm stops Alex's mischief-making by telling her flatly that she will not be punished for any further transgressions... it's her ''friends'' who'll be punished. Alex is horrified and promptly starts being good.
* HonorBeforeReason: This is Alex's entire schtick. It borders on stupidity at times, most notably when [[spoiler: after learning that Darla has taken Innocence to the Lands Below]], Alex rushes off to save them both without actually packing supplies or making a plan. To be fair, though, she had exactly zero time to waste.
** Alex's other big problem is that she often believes that whatever she does, no matter how bad, should be excused if it was done with good intentions, or if it was an accident that occurred during an attempt to do something good. During the first three books, she doesn't get expelled because [[spoiler: her aunt, Dean Grimm, is protecting her]], but in the end of the fourth book, [[spoiler: Grimm tells her that her actions were too dangerous and she has no choice but to expel Alex.]]
* HopeSpot: At the climax of ''Deathly Regiment'', [[spoiler: Darla, having learned that her sister is to be sacrificed, has taken Innocence to the Lands Below to sacrifice her instead. At first, Alex manages to freeze them both and cuts a deal with the Generous Ones: She owes them her life for having accidentally killed their old leader, but they will collect in seven years, as opposed to right then. It looks like Alex will be able to rescue all of them, but when she tries to get Darla out, Darla fights her off and tries to sacrifice Innocence. Alex rescues Innocence, and Darla sacrifices herself.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: It's an open secret among the Elite families of the Confederation that they must [[spoiler: sacrifice a child from among their number every seven years to the Deathly Regiment in order to maintain their power.]] It's how they justify their high place in society and keep other families and groups from reaching their heights when they don't have to make the same sacrifices. [[spoiler:The conspiracy blows up when Alex, after raiding a secret Confederation archive, finds a register that shows that those seven year sacrifices are just the icing on the cake; the cake itself, the creamy filling, the ''apertif'', and the whole three course meal before it comes from the '''daily''' sacrifice of children going back centuries, without regard to their background or family status. In fact, most of those chosen are kidnapped Muggles: Why pick one of your own and get noticed when there are millions of children outside your society who will never be missed by anyone you know and whose lives don't matter as much as yours?]]

** When Alex finds out about the above, she points out to the Generous Ones that they didn't have to accept what the Confederacy offered. In return, they pointedly ask her why they should value [[spoiler: the lives of the sacrificed children]], since the Confederacy don't. Alex doesn't have an answer for that.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Alex. Self-centered, obsessive, rude and manipulative? ''check''. Brave, loyal and noble to the point of self-sacrifice? ''Oh good lord,'' '''''check!'''''

* [[NobleDemon Noble Jerkass]] / [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Jerks Have Standards]]: Larry Albo is shown to be this by book four: While he continues to antagonise Alex, [[spoiler: he shows a strong sense of honor when Alex is forced to forfeit a duel against him, he refuses to accept the stipulation that the loser (Alex) will have to be his slave for a year, knowing that Alex didn't lose fairly.]]
** [[spoiler: And when he is attacked by a giant snake while talking to Alex (Which is her familiar but he doesn't know it), he apparates away but almost immediately apparates back, probably because he realized he left her alone with a giant snake. When he realizes she's in no danger, he claims he came back to watch her get eaten.]]
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: When Alex tries to confort Mary Dearborn over [[spoiler: the death of her sister]], she is chewed out for it by Ms Shirtliffe, one of the few teachers that Alex actually likes and respects.
** Similarly, when Anna gets in a fight with Tomo and Alex tries to break it up, she gets yelled at for involving herself in the fight.

* NotWhatItLooksLike: In the ''Lands Below'', Anna gets furious at Alexandra for continually going out, late at night, with Max, who is significantly older than her, and returning hours later exhausted and covered in bruises. [[spoiler: Max is Alex's brother, and he's teaching her new spells.]]

** AllTrollsAreDifferent: Ours work in tollbooths.

* ShaggyDogStory: In ''Deathly Regiment'', Alex discovers that there is a possible way to [[spoiler: go back in time and save Max's life]]: a Time-Turner. As it turns out, [[spoiler: her sister Valeria]] is a Historicist who owns one, and both she and Alex go to Roanoke during the holidays. Alex steals the Time-Turner, gets back to Charmbridge and goes down into the basement... [[spoiler: and gets knocked out by [[EpilepticTrees someone with a wand]]. When she's found, the Time-Turner is confiscated, Valeria gets in a huge amount of trouble and Alex never gets her chance, though it's pointed out that if she'd succeeded, she would have had to find a way to live undetected for six months, so it's probably better that she didn't.]]

** In ''World Away'', Alexandra is repeatedly targeted by a girl whose father and uncle died on the Roanoke Underhill. Even when Alex points out that she didn't have anything to do with the Roanoke Underhill, the girl rebuts that killing Alex will hurt Abraham Thorn.

** Diana Grimm seems like this at first, she is arrogant, condescending, manipulative, pretends to be Alex's friend just to use her against her father and has a tendency to [[VillainousBreakdown freak out whenever things don't go her way]]. [[spoiler: However, ''The Stars Above'' show that she may genuinely care about stopping Thorn to avenge her sister. Or alternatively to use him as a scapegoat, since it's not currently revealed whether it was herself or Thorn who broke Hecate's mind.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: By book four, Alex has become much more adept at thinking before she acts, making her a much more effective hero.

* TrueCompanions: Alex and Anna. Both grew up as only children, and despite Alex later learning she has more sisters than she knows what to do with, to each other they are the sisters they ''chose''... despite a truly colossal amount of arguing. [[spoiler: If anything, ''strengthened'' by Anna's declaration of love in ''World Away''. Most friends would be at least uncomfortable in the situation of a best friend expressing romantic interest, but Alex is heartbroken that she can't feel the same way. In her own words, Alex loves Anna more than any friend, as much as any family, as much as she loves or ever will love anyone... but it's not ''romantic'' love. She goes so far as to offer to take a LovePotion or [[IfItsYouItsOkay take Anna back to her room]], just to give her even a part of what she wants, rather than hurt her. Anna declines, as it wouldn't be real or permanent, so they are not a couple, but their friendship is stronger than ever.]]
* TheUnmasquedWorld: At the end of ''World Away'', [[spoiler:a dragon flies through Times Square. A furious politician winds up screaming at Hucksteen that no, they cannot Obliviate the entire internet, and that ''millions'' of people have seen the footage.]]
** [[spoiler:Alex gets a reporter's magical cameras to observe and broadcast a conversation with her father where she reveals that not only are the Confederacy sacrificing a pure-blood child every seven years, they're sacrificing a Muggle child ''every day''.]]

* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [[spoiler: After spending the entire school year trying to kill Alex, Ben Journey finally gets her alone, tied up and helpless, with a broken ankle and no wand... but he can't bring himself to kill a helpless child, and when he finally tries, he is killed in turn.]]

* WouldHurtAChild: [[spoiler:''Deathly Regiment'' reveals that the Confederation sacrifice a child of the Elite every seven years. ''World Away'' takes it further by revealing that actually, they've been sacrificing a child ''every day'', but they use Muggle children because wizards don't care about Muggles.]]
* YouDidntSeeThat: At the end of ''Deathly Regiment'', [[spoiler: after rescuing Innocence, Innocence tells Diana Grimm everything, including Alexandra being forced to use ''Crucio'' on her to snap her out of her trance.]] Grimm's response is to tell Innocence that she was obviously mistaken, since using that spell would result in Alexandra being expelled, even if it was out of necessity. Innocence agrees that she obviously remembered it wrong.
* YouKilledMyFather: [[spoiler: In the ''Stars Above'', Darla's little sister Mary comes after Alexandra because she was fed false information by someone claiming to be John so that she'd try to kill Alexandra. Alex talks her out of it, thankfully.]]

Titles in the series are Alexandra Quick and ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3964606/1/Alexandra_Quick_and_the_Thorn_Circle the Thorn Circle]]'', ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4684861/1/Alexandra_Quick_and_the_Lands_Below the Lands Below]]'', ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5784632/1/Alexandra_Quick_and_the_Deathly_Regiment the Deathly Regiment]]'', ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7689884/1/ the Stars Above]]'', ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13353323/1/ the World Away]]'', and ''the Wizard War''.

* ArrangedMarriage: [[spoiler: Constance and Forbearance are 'bespoke'- essentially, they're not ''technically'' engaged yet, but their prospective grooms, Benjamin and Mordecai Rash, will ask them to marry them after they've graduated, and it's expected that they'll say yes. They ''can'' say no, but it would upset a lot of people, not just their families, because to the Ozarkers, twins marrying twins is one of a number of powerful combinations.]]

* CriticalResearchFailure: In-universe example -- when Alex first acquires Nigel, she believes that he's a harmless brown snake. [[spoiler: He's actually a very deadly Australian snake, and Dean Grimm has to have him removed because he could have killed someone.]]