An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Twenty-Four

A/N: So Harley Keener shows up again in this chapter, and just a reminder he's a kid from Iron Man 3 that helps Tony out. He's basically one of Tony's adopted kids, like Peter Parker, and he's like an older brother to Alexa. He showed up in the first book too, but I thought I'd just write a little clarifying note to make sure nobody gets confused 😄

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The rest of the week was pretty relaxed. I even had time to watch some muggle TV with a little help from Ana on Friday, since I managed to get quite a bit of homework done on Wednesday. I woke up for another run on Saturday, and I barely even flinched at the idea of waking up early on the weekend anymore. My schedule was working great, and it hadn't even taken me that long to adjust to it.

Cedric ran with me again, like he had every day that week. I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy spending so much time with him, even if my friends had taken their teasing up a notch.

I was just managing to change the subject away from me and Cedric as I piled scrambled eggs onto my plate when the owl post arrived. Everyone had relaxed a little about scanning for Howlers, since it had been so long since the last one, but everyone in the Hall perked up as Jimmy Tallon swooped in, carrying a bright red letter in his claws.

I grinned, sitting up straighter as Jimmy touched down gracefully next to my plate and dropped the Howler in front of me.

"Hi Jimmy! It's good to see you," I said, smiling at the owl and passing him a little owl treat. I never knew when Jimmy would show up, so I kept a few on me just in case.

"Open it!" Fred exclaimed excitedly, practically bouncing up and down in his seat. The rest of the Hall was looking at me with the same excitement, which just made me laugh. I was so used to my family and their crazy that it was normal for me. It was fun seeing other people's reactions to them, especially when most of these people didn't realize my family was a bunch of famous superheroes.

"Alright, alright. Here we go."

I was thinking ahead this time, and I had Ana record the message as I opened the Howler.

"ALEXA!" To my surprise, it was Harley's voice that came ringing out of the Howler this time, and not my dad's. "WHAT'S UP? DAMN, YOUR DAD WAS RIGHT, THIS LETTER THING IS CRAZY."

"HI, ALEXA." My dad's voice joined Harley's now as he explained. "THOR'S NOT GOING TO BE OFF WORLD FOR A WHILE, SO I DECIDED TO PAY A VISIT TO HARLEY AT MIT. POINT BREAK'S NOT GONNA JUST SHOW UP IN HIS DORM ROOM, SO WE CAN ACTUALLY SEND A LETTER IN PEACE— STOP TOUCHING THAT!"

"HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO FIND OUT HOW IT WORKS?"

"YOU'RE NOT, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING ME SEND A LETTER TO ALEXA."

"FINE. ALEXA, BRING HOME MORE OF THOSE BITING TEACUPS. I HAVE AN IDEA FOR THEM."

I could practically see my dad face-palming, instantly regretting involving Harley in this.

"DON'T YOU HAVE CLASS TO GO TO RIGHT NOW?"

Harley scoffed. "LIKE I'M GONNA MISS THIS. SO THIS YELLS OUR MESSAGE TO YOUR WHOLE SCHOOL? ALEXA ALMOST BLEW HERSELF UP TRYING TO OVERCOMPLICATE A BAKING SODA VOLCANO WHEN SHE WAS FOURTEEN!"

My eyes went wide, and I tried to grab the Howler to stop it from yelling, but it moved out of my reach. I was going to kill Harley!

"ALRIGHT, ENOUGH. GO TO CLASS." Based on Harley's scoff, I assumed he just kicked back in a beanbag chair or something to watch my dad record the rest of his message. "WE'RE DOING GOOD AT THE TOWER. DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE TEACUP, NONE OF US ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO LET REINDEER GAMES GET HIS HANDS ON IT. THOR'S BEEN TRYING TO GET STRANGE TO HELP HIM GIVE YOU A SURPRISE VISIT, SO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THAT. AND TRY NOT TO BLOW YOURSELF UP LIKE YOU DID WITH THE VOLCANO.