An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Now now, don't worry. You'll still have plenty of time to hurl spells at each other before the end of the lesson."

True to his word, Lupin got through all the instructions as quickly as possible. When he was sure we were all going to listen and obey (like 99%, anyway), he let us get into pairs to start practicing.

"Okay Lee, you ready for this?" I asked, squaring up like Lupin had shown us.

"Oh please, bring it on," he scoffed. We bowed to each other, since apparently all wizard duels started with a bow, and then started firing spells as fast as we could.

Lee had an advantage, since he was more comfortable with all the spells we were using. I, on the other hand, had a lot of practice with one-on-one combat and a slightly-bloodthirsty Asgardian cheerleader.

"Come on Stark! Hit him where it hurts!" Loki yelled from the sidelines, where he, Peter, and Shuri we're watching me.

I did my best to ignore them and focus on the fight at hand.

Lee and I went back and forth for a while, but finally I managed to get a shot past him. We both let our wands fall back to our sides, breathing heavily.

"Nice work Lex," he panted, giving me a proud smile.

"Thanks Lee." I smiled back before being engulfed in a tight shoulder squeeze by Loki.

"Excellent work Alexa!" he said. "I knew all our weapons training would come in handy some day."

"Yeah..." I shrugged him off, trying to get enough space to catch my breath. "Oh shoot, actually don't mention that to anybody, okay? My dad still doesn't know we did that."

Loki just smirked, walking back over to Peter and Shuri. Once Lee and I had taken some deep breaths, we turned to the rest of our friends.

"Alright," I said, grinning at Fred and George. "Who's next?"

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

The rest of the class passed just like the beginning. I dueled everyone in the room twice, and I actually won most of my matches. I think Loki's intense cheering actually helped me gain the upper hand a few times, if only because nobody here was used to his crazy yet.

Thankfully, Lupin didn't consider a bunch of yelling in an already loud room "too distracting". He actually seemed to enjoy having the three visitors hanging out in class, loud and weird as they were.

Finally, class ended, and it was time to race back up to the corridor where all of us were meeting Strange.

"Okay, Fred and George, let's go get my dad. Everybody else, we'll see you at dinner."

Loki, Peter, and Shuri said a few quick goodbyes to my Hogwarts friends and then we were racing through corridors with the twins to get my dad from his top-secret secluded work space. We had to hurry a little, since Strange was coming back at 5:30 and we left class around 4:45. Forty-five minutes sounded like a long time, until you actually had to travel this massive school.

The twins kept leading us down crazier and more convoluted paths until I wasn't even sure where we were anymore. Their insane knowledge of the castle really came in handy sometimes.

After a long, long walk through so many corridors I lost count, we found my dad tucked away in a cozy little room, tearing his hair out over the computer in front of him.

"Shit!" he yelled, jumping back when some sparks shot off the arc reactor next to him.

"Dad? How's it going?" I asked, carefully coming into the room. Everyone else stayed way back by the doorway, which was honestly a better call.

"Good, I'm almost done," he said, not looking up. I knew him well enough by now that I just waited, subtly looking over his shoulder and trying to learn something from his speed-coding. After a few more minutes, the sparks and whirring stopped, and the code stopped racing across the screen so quickly.

"Was he stunned by one of those shocks?" asked Loki from the doorway.

"I think he actually managed to fix it..." Peter corrected in awe.

"Not bad." I didn't have to turn around to see the grin on Shuri's face.

"Thank you all for your praise and faith. It's deserved," Dad said, shutting my laptop with a snap and standing. "I fixed it."

He put his hands on his hips and grinned at us all like he'd just saved the world. Which, technically, he had. Just not right now.

"Now, let's get going," he said, handing me my laptop and grabbing the arc reactor. "Strange gets cranky when people are late."

"Hire Beyoncé for a private concert," I suggested as we started walking. "He could never be mad at you again."

Instead of laughing, my dad looked like he was actually considering it.

We didn't run through the corridors this time, but we did set a pretty quick pace. My dad wasn't kidding about Strange getting cranky, and with him being our only transportation in and out of Hogwarts right now, I didn't want to make him mad.

We got to the meeting place literally seconds before Strange. We were just starting to catch our breath when his golden circle of light appeared and he stepped back into the corridor.

"You three,"  he said, glaring at Loki, Peter, and Shuri. "Back home. Now."

Peter smiled sheepishly, said goodbye to the twins, and gave me a hug goodbye. Shuri grinned, waved to the twins, and also hugged me. Loki was less inclined to follow orders.

Slowly, he morphed back into Snape, looking at Fred and George.

"Weasleys... your prankster spirit is admirable and I feel at peace knowing there are souls such as you in the world. Any time you wish to consult me or plan something with me, Alexa will help you get in touch." The twins were grinning as he continued. "Now, about this poltergeist someone mentioned-"

That was as far as he got before Strange opened a sling portal under his feet and he disappeared.

"How long is he going to be falling for?" I asked.

"Long enough." Strange answered simply. "Now wrap it up Tony. I have a universe to defend."

My dad mostly ignored Strange too, coming over to me with a triumphant grin and the reactor in hand.

"Here you go, Alexa." He reverently held out his hand, and I carefully took the reactor. This was a dream come true. "I can't think of anyone I would trust with it more."

"Thanks Dad." I surged forward and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug, trying to hold back tears. It really was good to see him again. Overprotective was better than indifferent by a mile.

"Of course, sweet heart. I'll see you soon, alright?" He kissed the top of my head and I nodded, then he pulled away.

"Tell everybody hi from me!" I called, waving as he stepped back through the portal.

"Will do!"

"Maybe I'll start teaching you the Mystic Arts over Christmas break instead..." grumbled Strange, following my dad through the portal.

"Stop being such a grump, Strange!" I yelled after him. "I know you love visiting me!"

He rolled his eyes as he closed the portal, but I caught him smiling as he turned away.

"Your friends from New York are incredible," said George, a massive grin on his face.

"I wish we had more time to spend with them," agreed Fred.

"Especially Loki," they chorused.

"Oh boy. The world is not ready for that team-up," I said, shaking my head.

"Well, are you ready to head to dinner now Lex?" asked Fred, turning to head back down the corridor.

"You guys go ahead," I said, looking down at the arc reactor—my arc reactor—still sitting in my palm. "I have something I need to do first."