An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Fifty-Nine

We continued the muggle study session every single night leading up to our O.W.L.s.

It ended up being a good thing that I had Ana prepare enough answer devices for everyone in the school, because by the end of the first week every single fifth and seventh year student was participating, Slytherins included.

Some of the Slytherins were still jerks, and Oliver regularly screamed at Flint during their competitions, but the usual higher levels of hatred were put aside for the time being. We had a new common enemy (ridiculously hard tests) to distract us from being enemies with each other.

The muggle study methods were definitely helping, and I actually started to feel like I might be able to pass these stupid tests. By the time I got to dinner on Sunday the day before exams started, I felt like I was as prepared as I could possibly be.

"Are we doing another study session tonight Alexa?" asked Angelina, sagging in her seat with exhaustion as she looked over to me.

"Yeah, I think we better. I'm going to do my best to get people to bed early and do a little pep talk, too," I said. My brain was numb, and all I wanted to do was slump forward on the table and take a nap until exams were over, but that wasn't an option. I needed to stay awake and keep the energy up as much as I could, for everybody else's sake as much as mine.

Somehow, I'd become an official team leader for O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, even though I was definitely the least experienced person in the school. But, since people decided to rally around me, I needed to do everything I could to encourage them and give them one last shot of energy before tests started.

Dinner wound down early as all the teachers and other students went to bed. The fifth and seventh years didn't budge from their seats, slouching at their tables and staring holes through the walls, barely aware of what was going on around them.

Once the last non-O.W.L.-and-N.E.W.T. stragglers had cleared out of the room, I took a deep breath. I felt exactly the same way everyone else in the room looked, but I couldn't let it show. I had stepped up to lead this thing, and now I needed to see it through and help the people that put their trust in me when I told them stupid muggle games were going to help them pass the most important tests of their lives.

"Alright guys, listen up," I called, stepping up to stand on the table like I had for that first study session. "Tests start tomorrow. I know we're all exhausted and panicked, but we've been killing ourselves working all year. We're smart, we've worked hard, and we've got this in the bag."

I paused and looked around the room, trying to make eye contact with everyone so they really believed my words.

"Since this is the last night, we're all going to play one round of Kahoot in each of the subjects we have tests on tomorrow, and then we're going to go to bed. We've studied all we can, so now it's time to trust ourselves and get some good rest so we can ace this shit tomorrow."

Everyone nodded, but they still looked pretty deflated. I didn't expect anything else, and I stepped off the table to help everyone move the tables into place for our Kahoots. For the fifth years, we had a Charms test in the morning and then some of us had an Ancient Runes test in the afternoon. Overall not bad, and with just one round of Kahoot people should be able to get good rest.

Kahoot managed to inject a little more life into the deflated Hogwarts students, and people looked more awake and aware by the time we put all the tables back and wrapped up.

"Alright guys, huddle up one last time before you head out," I called, motioning for everyone to make a circle around me. "Okay, first thing's first, awesome job tonight. You're all killing it, and I know the test is going to be no different. If you can handle the high pressure do-or-die environment of Kahoot, you can handle any test this school can throw at you."