An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Thirty-Two

A/N: I mention a college from the Marvel Universe called Empire State University in this chapter. It's where a bunch of Marvel characters went to school, but it doesn't exist in the real world. Just in case anybody was wondering 😄

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I went out to the Quidditch pitch early Saturday morning, same as last weekend. The weather was slightly better, although it was still cold and wet. Hufflepuff was playing Ravenclaw, and I wanted to get everything in order just in case something went wrong during the match.

The best difference: this time I got to start my morning with coffee. I was practically floating on a cloud I was so happy.

Once I got to the stands, I started by checking that my AED would work despite the magic and rain. I fixed it as well as I could last night, but it couldn't hurt to check again this morning.

As soon as I finished with that (everything worked perfectly, thank God), I decided to go through a few drills to make sure I was ready to act in case of emergency. I put on my Stark glasses and had Ana give me scenarios to react to. I practiced and practiced until my longest time between a situation and starting CPR was twenty seconds.

I felt ready. Hopefully that meant I really was.

By the time I'd finished, the teams were coming onto the pitch to get ready. The students coming down from breakfast were sure to follow in a few minutes, and I just hoped this match would be calmer than the last one.

The rain kept coming down as the stands filled up, although it was still nowhere near the storm from last match. A few minutes later, I was joined by my group of friends (minus Lee, who was doing the commentary for the match).

"Why are you always down here so early?" asked Angelina as she settled into her seat beside me.

"I have stuff to do before the match," I said simply. I never talked to my friends about what happened after the first match, or how I felt about it. Maybe I would some day, but I didn't want to right now.

"Maybe if you'd been with us at breakfast you could've turned Wood down," said Fred. He left a space between himself and me in the front row, which made me curious.

"What are you talking about?"

Before I could get an answer, Oliver was joining us in the stands, taking a seat right between me and Fred.

"Alright team, this is a make or break moment for us," he said, staring at the pitch for a long time before looking at the people around him. He looked like a nervous wreck. "Where are Katie and Harry?"

"Uh... probably sitting with their friends..." I said, trying to figure out why Oliver was still going crazy. We lost a full week ago!

"Why would they do that?" he demanded, looking genuinely confused. "If Ravenclaw beats Hufflepuff, we may still have a shot at the Quidditch Cup. This is a team event!"

He started getting up like he was going to turn around and go find Katie and Harry, so I decided to intercept him.

"Hey, Oliver, don't worry," I said, gently grabbing his shoulder and easing him back into his seat. "I'm sure they're watching closely from wherever they're sitting. Besides, it could be good if we're a little split up. Katie or Harry might get a different angle on an important play that could help us later."

Oliver looked thoughtful for a minute, then turned his attention back to the pitch.

"I suppose you're right, Alexa," he said. Then, proudly and just loud enough for me to hear, "Smart thinking."