An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Thirty-Four

After a quick shower, I met my Gryffindor friends at our table for breakfast. The owl post swooped into the Hall before long, and I perked up when I saw Jimmy Tallon coming in hot with another bright red letter in his beak.

This far into the school year, Howlers from my family were normal enough that the Hogwarts students in the Hall weren't surprised anymore. If anything, they looked forward to the Howlers almost as much as me! Even if they didn't understand half of what my family was saying. But about two dozen students in the Hall were completely new, and had never seen this before.

Hopefully my family would put on a good show.

Jimmy landed, and I gently took the envelope from his claws. The foreign students in the Hall were whispering and looking over at me, and whenever I glanced at them I got to see the twins' mischievous faces grinning too, knowing the surprise the new arrivals were about to get. Some of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students were given explanations by Hogwarts kids, but others were about to get the full shock value.

"CONGRATULATIONS ON BEING A TRIWIZARD CHAMPION ALEXA!" came the screaming voices of most of my family. I smiled, and the smile only grew when I caught sight of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students looking seriously scared and confused.

"WE'RE ALL SO PROUD OF YOU! KICK SOME ASS AND SHOW 'EM HOW WE STARKS DO IT," came my dad's voice. "AND WE'RE GONNA FIND A WAY TO COME VISIT. IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME."

"YES! WE WILL MEET THESE WIZARDS AND SEE YOUR NEW SCHOOL!" Thor, again. The only difference between this and my first Howler was this time, my dad had asked him to participate.

"AND IT'S GONNA BE SO COOL TO SEE YOU AGAIN NOW THAT YOU CAN DO MAGIC!" came Peter's excited voice.

"STRANGE WILL NOT SHUT UP ABOUT ALL HIS MAGIC, SO YOU REALLY NEED TO COME BACK HERE AND PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE." Rhodey.

"HE'S NOT KIDDING!" Wanda jumped in, cutting off a scoff that almost definitely came from Strange. "THAT TOURNAMENT WE TALKED ABOUT IS MORE NEEDED THAN EVER. IF YOU, LOKI, AND I CAN ALL MAKE SURE HE'S AT THE BOTTOM THEN MAYBE HE'LL FINALLY STOP TALKING."

"I DOUBT THAT WOULD DO IT," Loki scoffed.

"YOU'RE ALL JUST BITTER THAT I'M THE MOST POWERFUL MAGIC USER ON THE TEAM," Strange jumped in. "AND YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DENY IT ANYMORE AFTER I DEFEAT YOU ALL WITHOUT WORKING UP A SWEAT."

"NORMALLY I WOULDN'T GET INVOLVED IN THIS, BUT ALEXA, YOU REALLY MIGHT HAVE TO STEP IN AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT STRANGE." This time it was Pepper's voice, and I could practically see the shocked and delighted expressions on the faces of my family. Pepper usually just shook her head, smiled, and kept us from setting anything on fire, so when she spoke up we listened. I couldn't help but laugh a little, even in the middle of the Great Hall.

"AND IF PEPPER'S STEPPING IN, YOU KNOW IT'S SERIOUS," my dad said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "WE CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU SOON SWEETHEART. KEEP US POSTED ON THE TOURNAMENT."

His statement was joined by a chorus of "yeah!"s and "goodbye"s, and then just before the letter ripped itself up my Uncle Clint chimed in.

"AND GET READY FOR SOME PAYBACK FOR THE TEACUP WHEN YOU GET HOME! PROTIP: WATCH THE VENTS!"

With that, the letter tore itself to shreds, and suddenly the grin wasn't on my face anymore. Uncle Clint was coming back at me with a vengence.

Shit.

Oh well, at least I still had some time before I had to deal with that. Maybe the twins could help give me some prank-avoidance tips or something. Or better yet, maybe one of the twins' siblings. Some of them had probably been dodging pranks as long as the twins and I had been alive.