An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Fifty-Seven

"Really? Shit, how was I so out of it?"

"You had the same mind-numbing laser focus as everyone else," said Angelina. "It was just focused on the storm instead of O.W.L.s."

I leaned back on the bench and thought about it, but I honestly couldn't remember anything besides a few specific moments since my AP tests started at the beginning of May.

Damn, I guess I had been pretty insanely busy this term.

I sighed and refocused on my friends. Their expressions were glum, and they were all staring at books or randomly off into space. Time to do something for them (and for all of our sanity) to make up for how out of it I'd been recently.

"Okay, snap out of your stress funk for a minute and focus on me. I have an idea that I think you're all gonna like."

It took a second, but everyone turned to look at me.

"We have two weeks—fifteen days—before our tests start. That means fifteen days left to study. Not a single one of us is going to survive that, let alone pass our tests, if we keep doing things the way we've been doing them. So, starting now, no more endless hours of reading and rereading books and notes. It's time to learn how to study the muggle way."

My friends looked slightly more awake, leaning forward in their seats to see what I would say next.

"In American schools, we have a few ways to study that are a little more fun than the usual methods. Starting tomorrow, we're going to employ the use of three tools: Jeopardy, Quizlet Live, and Kahoot," I said, numbering them off on my fingers. "I'll tell you right now, the more competitive you are the better these things will work for you. After dinner tomorrow, we'll just stay in the Great Hall. Once everyone else leaves dinner, we're turning it into the study space of the century."

My friends looked a little more hopeful as they nodded along, and I resolved to make the best group study session the world had ever seen.

I glanced around the room trying to get ideas for tomorrow when my gaze landed on Percy and Oliver, sitting together for the first time I'd ever seen and both staring holes through the books in front of them.

I stood up and walked over, but neither boy seemed to even notice when I sat down next to Percy and across from Oliver.

"Nothing you're saying makes any sense Weasley," growled Oliver.

"You're just not listening to what I'm saying Wood," Percy snapped back. Neither boy took their eyes off their books as they argued, and I had to clear my throat three times before they tore their attention away from studying to look at me.

"Alexa," they chorused, both sounding pleasantly surprised. They quickly turned to glare at each other when they realized they'd spoken at the same time.

"Hey guys," I said, trying to distract them from their frustration with each other. "So I know N.E.W.T.s are coming up for you guys around the same time as O.W.L.s for us. I noticed everybody going a little crazy trying to study, so I'm organizing a study session that's meant to be a little more fun and less likely to get us all committed to a mental asylum. If you're interested, I could make a version of what we're doing for N.E.W.T. level tests too and the seventh years could study with the fifth years after dinner tomorrow in the Great Hall."

Percy and Oliver both looked skeptical, so I continued.

"There's a couple of muggle techniques that work really well for me and my friends when we have big tests coming up. Percy, if you're in you could help me compile information for the N.E.W.T. versions so we don't miss anything. And Oliver, trust me, this stuff will be perfect for you. The more competitive you are, the more you learn from this stuff."