An American at Hogwarts: Book Two

Chapter Forty-Four

As soon as breakfast came to an end, I stood up on the table and smiled at everyone in the room.

"Merry Christmas and happy holidays everybody!" I said, spreading my arms out wide. "Our muggle Christmas movie marathon starts as soon as we get these tables cleared away, so follow Angelina and Myrah's leads and we'll be ready to go in no time!"

Some people left, but most people started helping with the tables. Cedric and I used magic to levitate the movie screen sheet into place over the doors. We walked back to where the teacher's table sat and I set up the projector. There wasn't much for Cedric to do to help, but he stood with me anyway. Moral support, if nothing else.

"Alright guys, get comfortable!" I called to the assembled room. My friends had conjured up a ton of blankets, pillows, and beanbags, and nobody wasted any time following my suggestion. "In case you didn't read the schedule, the first movie is an animated Christmas classic! Hope you all enjoy!"

The room smiled at me as I started the movie, then walked with Cedric to a spot with the rest of our friends. Cedric and I sank into the same beanbag chair, and I curled into his chest as the cartoon got started.

"Psst. Stark." I looked across Cedric and a few of our other friends to see Jackson hissing at me, his arm around Adrian. "You really think The Grinch is a good movie to start off with."

"Hey, it's a heartwarming classic, and it's a little too early in the morning to break out some of the other movies. You want a different line-up, you host the next one."

Jackson held up one hand in surrender, turning away to watch the movie as the Grinch came into sight for the first time. I relaxed back against Cedric, but when I glanced over at Jackson later in the movie I caught him smiling with Adrian.

Once the first movie ended, I wasted no time getting up to start the next one. Cedric stayed put to keep our beanbag chair warm.

"Alright, muggleborns will recognize this next one because it's truly iconic. Macaulay Culkin anyone?"

A few people cheered, but everyone else just looked a little confused. Oh well, they'd get it soon enough.

We took a break for lunch after Home Alone, and I couldn't be sure, but it seemed like more people stayed for the movies this time as we cleared the tables away again.

We watched The Santa Clause next, which was one of my personal favorites. We got through a few more movies before dinner, and I think the whole school stayed to watch the after-dinner movies.

This was the part of the night I was most excited for.

I saved my absolute favorites until the end of the night, and after watching the Santa Clause 3, it was time to start the first one: Elf.

"Alright muggleborns, I know this movie might make a lot of you wanna say the quotes along with the movie, and I certainly am not going to stop you. Just try not to say the lines too loudly so the first-time watchers can enjoy it like we do. Oh, and just to get a feel for who's seen this before..." I cleared my throat. "I passed through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gumdrops, and then?"

"I WALKED THROUGH THE LINCOLN TUNNEL!" A few kids around the room called out. There weren't that many, but their enthusiasm more than made up for their numbers.

I grinned, then started the movie. Every eye was glued to the screen, and I was about to go sit back down with Cedric when I noticed someone sneaking in the back door.

Percy!

"Hey Perce!" I whispered happily, walking over to him instead. "I'm glad you could make it!"