An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Two

When I talked to my family and the Weasleys about a time for me to go back to London, I decided I wanted to go back as early as possible. That way, I could spend the day catching up with everybody, and waste absolutely no time getting back up to speed on everything I'd missed.

I immediately regretted that decision when my alarm went off at 5:30 that morning.

It didn't help that my family and I had stayed up around the dinner table until midnight. Then, instead of going straight to sleep, Harley, Peter, Shuri, Wanda, Pietro, and I had a mini-sleepover in my room to celebrate the last kids' night before we all went back to school. I'd barely gotten three hours of sleep before I was being dragged awake again.

Still, I couldn't be in too bad of a mood as I dragged myself out of bed. Everyone else was still in the room, so they all got woken up with me, and Harley's scowl illuminated by the light from the bathroom was a surefire way to put a smile on my face.

By the time I'd changed and brushed my teeth in the bathroom, everyone was passed back out again in my bedroom. I debated slamming the door on my way out, just to mess with them, but I decided against it. As much as some of them might deserve it, Peter definitely didn't, so I held back for his sake.

I managed not to pass out as I walked downstairs to meet my parents, and my angel of a father was waiting for me with a hot cup of coffee once I made it into the kitchen. I took a few sips, and slowly I started to wake up.

"Are you ready to head back, sweetheart?" asked my dad once he saw enough awareness in my eyes to know I wasn't asleep anymore. "You got everything you need?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I packed it all yesterday while I was still conscious."

My parents chuckled, and we moved into the living room where my trunk was waiting. We all knew better than to try and wrestle a wizard trunk downstairs at six in the morning, even with magic at my disposal, so we'd hauled it down here last night. Jimmy, as was our new tradition, was staying with my dad for now, so he could be responsible for the first Howler of the year.

"You know the plan to meet up with somebody once you get over there?" asked my mom, absently fixing my hair as I finished off my coffee.

"Yup. Coordination for meeting up today is one of the only straight answers I got from a letter this summer," I said, unable to hold back an eyeroll. I'd been nagging everyone in the wizarding world for updates on whatever was going on, but I hadn't gotten a single decent answer.

The twins wouldn't give me anything about the serious stuff, Jackson and Adrian hadn't seen anything unusual, and Percy was completely ignoring my letters. Charlie was too far from the action in Romania to know anything, and Professor Lupin just gave me a bunch of non-answers and vague responses. Out of everyone, Bill was doing the best. He'd gotten a desk job in London to help deal with the new threats in the wizarding world, and he at least bothered to explain why he wasn't giving me any of the information he had. Apparently it was all in the interest of protecting stuff from being intercepted (and Mrs. Weasley wanted to keep the Hogwarts students out of things), but even though I got it I still didn't like being out of the loop.

The only real news I'd gotten came a few weeks ago from the twins. Apparently, Harry had almost been expelled from Hogwarts, and the Ministry of Magic had done everything they could to give him an unfair trial. Dumbledore had come to the rescue, so everything was fine for now, but with Voldemort and the Ministry both out to cause us problems, I was more anxious to get back than ever.

"Alright, well, if you've got everything and you're ready to go, then... I guess we'll see you in a few months," said my dad. I set my cup down on the nearest counter and wrapped my dad in a tight hug. I turned to my mom next and did the same, and she gave me a big smile.