An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter One

A/N: WE'RE BACK!!!!! It's still technically March 31st for me and probably quite a few other people, but I know the time difference means that it's already April 1st for a fair number of my readers and I'm INSANELY excited to get back to this story, so I decided to post the update now 😂 Just a heads up for the future, I'm writing and posting from the US, so updates will be coming every four days from my time zone. Sorry for any inconvenience, but hopefully this doesn't mess with people too much! Anyway, I love you guys loads for all your patience and support, and I hope you love this next phase in Alexa's story as much as I do. We have lots in store! Lots of love!! Hope everyone's staying happy, healthy, and safe ❤️❤️

Also y'all should be thanking rae-iin because their comment about staying up for this update on the SEQUEL chapter of the first book was the last nudge I needed to convince me to publish now 😉❤️❤️

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"Now remember, you have to concentrate."

I sighed heavily and opened my eyes, contrary to my Uncle's instruction.

"Strange. I've got this. I've been able to do sling portals since Christmas break. I don't need more practice with them, and I definitely don't need coaching," I said, glaring at him.

"This is the last test of your abilities before you go spend the rest of the summer with your friends in another country. I just want to make sure that you know what the hell you're doing so I don't have to leave my important duties to come get you because you can't remember how to make a portal."

I rolled my eyes. "Important duties" mostly meant doing nothing with Wong in the Sanctum, but Strange and I had lived this debate enough times over the summer that I knew saying so would get me nowhere. Instead, I took a more logical approach.

"Okay then, if you want to make sure I understand what I'm doing, then you should really lay off the back-seat casting. Let me succeed or fail on my own since you won't be there to help me for the next nine months."

Strange huffed and crossed his arms, but he leaned back on his desk and didn't say anything else. I closed my eyes and refocused on my sling portal, pausing to see if he was going to chime in again. He didn't.

Mission accomplished.

I went through the motions with my sling portal, opening up a magical shortcut to locations all over the world. I'd gotten really good at this over break, and now opening a portal to the Himalayas was almost as natural as breathing.

See, last year at Hogwarts, I'd had an... interesting situation come up with some out of control magic and the child of the head of A.I.M. Everything turned out okay, but there were more than a few times last year that I could've died, or gotten everyone around me killed. When I got back to New York for the summer in June, I had to explain everything to my family. I couldn't keep them in the dark forever, and I was actually pretty proud of how I'd handled the whole thing.

My family, on the other hand, was not.

They let me get through my entire story without interrupting, but I honestly think it was because they were just too shocked to say anything. I got almost half an hour of stunned silence once I'd finished, and then the next two weeks were filled with anxious and disbelieving questions. My family also chewed me out for not looping them in on anything; they were superheroes, they said. They dealt with this kind of thing all the time, they could've helped me.

While I appreciated the sentiment, I wanted to roll my eyes at everything they were saying. Yes, they could've helped me, and yes, they would've dropped everything to do so if I asked, but it's not like any of them were regular PTA types helping their kid with a school bully. They were the Avengers, for crying out loud. Earth's best and only defense against the worst problems and biggest threats to Earth. At the end of the day, I had to consider what they'd be giving up if I asked them to help me.