An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Seventy-Nine

I let out a record-breaking sigh in the middle of the Astronomy Tower, completely alone. Why did everything have to happen all at once, in a matter of days, at the end of an already overly eventful schoolyear?

I had a whole new sympathy for Harry's ridiculous track record with end of year craziness.

For a second, I debated whether to walk all the way to Ravenclaw tower and attempt to answer the riddle from their stupid doorknocker, all to avoid revealing my sling portal ability. I'd worked hard to keep it a broad secret in the wizarding world so far, since keeping Umbridge and the other bad guys from knowing all the tricks I had up my sleeve seemed like a good strategy, but I was also fucking exhausted. And David was by no means the last person I needed to check in with today.

I raised my hands, picturing David, and conjured a sling portal without letting myself think twice about it. I instantly recognized the Ravenclaw Common Room from when I'd followed Cassidy in here in 5th year, and a moment later, I heard her call out from a set of couches to one side of the room.

"Alexa!"

She came rushing over to me, her friends Lillie and Calvin right behind her. I tried to give her a smile as I stepped through the portal and closed it behind me. I was not in a smiling mood, but that wasn't Cassidy's fault.

"Hey, Cassidy," I said. She skidded to a stop in front of me with wide eyes, and I noticed every other Ravenclaw in the room watching us from wherever they were or whatever else they were doing. I clocked David at a table out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't want to give Cassidy a complete brushoff, so he'd have to wait another second.

"We read the Prophet this morning- they admitted that you and Cedric and Harry were right!"

I nodded. "They did. About time, honestly."

Cassidy nodded intensely, and I saw her take another deep breath to ask a follow-up question, but I jumped back in before she could.

"Listen, Cassiday, I'm sorry, but I really need to go talk to David. And honestly... I might not be the best person to ask whatever questions you have. I don't know a lot about Voldemort and the history of the wizarding world in general, and honestly... I also have no idea what comes next."

Cassidy deflated a little, and I felt bad, but it was the truth. I got the feeling she had questions for me about what to expect now that the Ministry had admitted they were wrong, or what we were going to do now to fight back. And I just did not have answers for her, to any of it. Even if I could get the answers, my mind still wasn't in a place to think about that.

I stepped forward and pulled her in for a quick hug, then widened my reach to bring Calvin and Lillie into it, too.

"I'm sorry, you guys. Honestly, for those kinds of questions, Flitwick seems like he'd be a good bet. And I'll still be here for hugs and commisserating and making each other feel better, if you need that."

"Thanks, Alexa," said Cassidy, thankfully sounding a little better as she hugged me back. Calvin and Lillie echoed the sentiment, then after a few moments, we broke apart and they headed back to their seats with a few little smiles at me. I did my best to return the smiles again, then took a deep breath and turned to David.

He was already looking at me, a faint smile on his face. He looked significantly less frazzled and exhausted than the last time I'd seen him, which felt like a good sign, but I still hurried over to the high table to one side of the common room where he was sitting.

"David... I am so sorry I missed our meeting yesterday," I said, speaking as soon as I got close enough to him that we'd have a little bit of privacy from the rest of the common room. "I was... well. It doesn't matter. I no-showed you, and I'm so sorry. But I've got some time now, and I'll have much, much more after we graduate. Let's brainstorm some stuff and figure out a plan for you to go forward with your research-"