An American at Hogwarts

Chapter One

"Dammit," I muttered to myself. I was trying to copy my dad's JARVIS program (yes, my dad is Tony Stark) and adapt it into my own version, but something went wrong. There were bugs all over the software, and everything was riddled with dead code. This was going to take a while to untangle.

I was in my own world, headphones in and hunched over my computer. As frustrating as it could get, this was my favorite thing to do. There was nothing more satisfying than beating a problem you'd been working on for hours.

I was so focused on my work, I didn't notice my dad come into the room. I only looked up when I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Hey," I said, pulling out my headphones and leaning back to look up at him.

"Hey. Don't you need to get going? The last day of the MIT pre-college program is today."

"Yeah, but not for another..." I glanced at the clock and, to my horror, it was about an hour later than I realized. "...twenty minutes. Crap! We're presenting our final projects today! I have to hurry! I have to change!"

"Good luck," my dad said, turning to head out of the room.

"Wait!" I put on my best 'pretty please' face. "Can I borrow one of the suits? Just to make sure I'm not late?"

"No. No way."

"C'mon Dad! Pretty please!" I bat my eyelashes and tried my best to look like a sweet, angelic daughter.

My dad rolled his eyes. "Fine. But this is the last time!"

"Yes! Thanks Dad!" I ran over and gave him a quick hug, then sprinted off to get ready. My commute was going to be shorter now, but I still had to get together all my final materials for my presentation.

The MIT pre-college program brought together a bunch of young tech-geniuses and set us loose to solve complex problems with code, engineering, and physics. Normally, the program was for seniors only, but I was being allowed to participate at fifteen.

The same age my dad had been admitted to and started college for real.

My dad was a teenage prodigy, and as cool as that was, it also kinda sucked. People would always compare me to my father, and honestly, I just wasn't at the same level as him.

It didn't help that my dad was constantly putting pressure on me. I knew he meant well, but with all the checking in on my projects and telling me I should start thinking about college, I was about ready to burst.

All the same, this pre-college program had been awesome. As crazy as it sounds to enjoy any kind of school in August, I was having a blast. I'd gotten some space from my dad's hovering, built some cool projects, and made some good friends.

And now I might be late to the final presentation.

I threw the last of my materials into a bag and raced down to the garage, where Dad kept all the suits. I sprinted over to the Mark 27 (ugliest paint job, most useful ability: chameleon camouflage) and took off as soon as JARVIS had booted up.

"Hello, Miss Stark," he said.

"Hey JARVIS. Could you engage camo mode for me?"

"Certainly."

The suit faded to match the city and sky. I was flying fast, but I realized too late that the bag I was carrying wouldn't be camo with me. Oh well. It wouldn't be the strangest thing the people of New York had seen.

I landed behind the stage on campus and stashed the suit in the bushes before sprinting to my team, who were clustered around our final project: an electric flying car.