An American at Hogwarts

Bonus Chapter-New York

I paused, and grudgingly the noise in the room came to a stop. Everyone was looking at me.

"Good. So, you've all been wondering where Alexa went. I've avoided you and that question until now, so here's the truth: she's at a magical boarding school for wizards in England because she is one."

I stopped, and no one said anything.

"A wizard, that is. She is a wizard."

If anything, the room looked more shocked. I thought about asking Jarvis to take a picture, since it was the first time I'd seen genuine surprise and shock on the Black Widow's face, but I decided she would kill me if I tried.

"Tony. Do you seriously expect us to believe all this?" asked Steve, giving me that parenting look he sometimes gave Alexa.

"I don't really care if you believe it, as long as you don't keep asking me questions about where she went. I told you the truth, and it's up to you what you want to do with that information." I paused, then spoke again before anyone else could. "Actually, that's not true, you can't tell anyone outside this room about the wizard thing. They have some law about it, some Statute of Secrecy nonsense."

"I know this sounds like his usual bs, but he's actually telling the truth," said Rhodey, stepping in.

"It's true, I've been to the school," Strange agreed, pushing off from where he was leaning to the side of the room. Stepping in, late as usual. "She had a robe and a wand and everything."

"Didn't you also say you saw Gandalf?" asked Rhodey.

"Yes. I did."

"Okay, well, I got one question answered and now I have about a thousand more," said Bruce, shifting in his seat.

"Like the most important one: where is this school so that I may visit?" Thor interrupted, adjusting his grip on his hammer.

"Or more important: why haven't I heard of these people?" Loki added.

"Okay, look, if this is going to turn into a full-on press conference I need to be more comfortable than I am right now. Jarvis! Can we pull up my swivel chair from the lab?"

****************

We didn't finish with questions until almost twelve hours later. Surprisingly, it didn't take long for everyone to believe the story. I guess in a world of crazy aliens and magic, hidden wizards didn't seem that much crazier. The rest of my day was spent answering questions about the school, and about when Alexa would be home again.

Almost an hour was spent solely on convincing Thor that he couldn't go visit her, no matter what he wanted to try.

Finally, I answered all the questions and we got to sit down and eat some dinner.

We didn't all get together often, but whenever we did team-bonding dinners were basically mandatory. Alexa had started the trend a few years ago, and none of us had the heart to say no to her.

"I can't wait until Alexa gets back!" said Peter excitedly, pulling out a chair at the table next to Shuri. The two had become good friends since T'Challa and I introduced them, and I was starting to regret the choice just a little bit. "She's gonna be able to do actual magic!"

"Imagine everything we're going to be able to do with that!" agreed Shuri. They high-fived, and I made a mental note to have Jarvis on high alert for anything out of the ordinary as soon as Alexa came home.

"Imagine..." agreed Loki, staring off into the distance like he was lost imagining the possibilities. Much to my dismay, he'd become good friends with Alexa, Peter, and Shuri. Whenever I tried to say anything, the three of them just yelled at me or defended him.

On the bright side, I had no doubt that he really would murder anyone who messed with my kids.

"Alright, let's keep the mischief to a minimum," I said. "Alexa's not allowed to use her magic outside of the school until she's older."

Peter, Shuri, and Loki all looked disappointed.

"What constitutes older?" asked Wanda, reaching for a bread roll.

"Seventeen. Apparently that's the cutoff for a legal adult in the wizarding world."

"Good. It will be nice to have another type of magic user around." She smiled, using her powers to butter her bread and shooting a sly smile at Strange. I just shook my head. I'd dealt with enough stress so far today without thinking about all the trouble Alexa could suddenly be dragged into.

I was going to have to keep a close eye on her as soon as she got home.

We got about halfway through dinner without anything too weird happening. I was just starting to think about desert when an owl landed in front of me on the table.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." I reached out to take the letter from its claws, ignoring the storm of noise and incredulity around me and instead starting to read.

Dear Mr. Stark

        We are writing to inform you of a recent event that has happened at the school. There was a break-in by a man named Sirius Black, who has not yet been caught. Rest assured we have heightened security to better protect your child, and everyone at Hogwarts is safe. We are confident Black is no longer in the castle, and it is unfathomable that he will manage to get on the grounds again without being caught immediately.

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore

"What the hell?" I reread the letter twice before Clint reached across the table and ripped it out of my hands to read for himself.

"Who the hell is this Sirius Black guy?" asked Clint.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out. Strange, let's go. Make your little portal. You're going back to that magic school and you're taking me with you," I decided, standing up from the table.

"We're coming too," decided Natasha, standing up with Clint, Thor, Steve, and Rhodey.

"She's going to kill all of us on the spot," announced Strange, getting his sling portal ready.

"Wait. We're not going to visit Alexa first. I'm going with Strange, and nobody else, to talk to that headmaster and find out exactly what the hell is going on. He said the school was safe, and I'm getting the feeling that was a bald-faced lie. I'm going to deal with that first, and then we'll all talk to Alexa."

Everyone around the table nodded and reluctantly sat back down.

"Alright, but hurry up. It's been too long since I last saw her," said Clint. I ignored him.

Unless Sirius Black was some professional tester of security systems, I was going to rip that headmaster apart for lying to me about the safety of my daughter.