An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I fell into a routine for the week leading up to Christmas. The first half of my day was spent training until I dropped with Nat, Clint, Steve, and Bucky. The second half was spent with Strange, trying to learn the bizarre form of magic known as the Mystic Arts. Any free time I had was spent working with my dad or hanging out with everybody that I didn't see throughout the course of my lessons.

It was nice to have a routine, but I also wished this break could be more of a break. I hardly ever found myself alone, since everyone wanted to spend time with me before I went back to London (or left for my NASA trip right after Christmas), and Hogwarts was starting to seem quiet and relaxed by comparison.

Although, I couldn't really complain. There were worse problems to have than a bunch of people caring about you, as annoying as they could get sometimes.

My training went well, and every day I lasted longer. It helped that this was mostly a refresher course, since I stayed in good shape at Hogwarts and trained with my family for years before this. Nat and Bucky taught me a few new moves, and by the end of the week I could passably execute them to take down Steve.

Surprisingly enough, I picked up the Mystic Arts pretty quickly too. Strange actually wasn't a bad teacher, and since I didn't have any other information to focus on I got close to producing a sling portal all on my own within the week.

"I think it's time we tried an exercise that I used in my own training to really make sure you've got this," suggested Strange at the end of our training on Friday night. It was Christmas Eve, so we were wrapping up early.

"No way in hell," I said, taking a giant step back. "You told me the story of how your teacher dropped you on top of a mountain and left you to succeed or die. I'll take the more traditional path of practice, thank you very much."

"You really think I would leave you on a cold mountain top to die?" he asked, looking genuinely wounded.

"No, but come on. You'd definitely leave me there until I damn near became a popsicle."

Strange shrugged. "High-stress situations are some of the best ways to learn."

"Shut up. It's Christmas Eve, let's go eat dinner."

Strange shook his head, but he followed me out to the dining table anyway.

Christmas Eve dinner was amazing, and as soon as it was over my dad quickly rushed Peter, Wanda, Pietro, and I to bed. None of us really believed in Santa anymore (except maybe Peter), but my dad didn't let that stop him from insisting that he was coming and wouldn't leave us any presents if we were still awake in a few hours.

Exhaustive physical training every morning had one great effect: it was always easy to go to sleep at night.

I woke up the next morning to the most perfect Christmas I could've asked for. After being with wizards for four months, in a world where they sincerely said Happy Christmas like a bunch of lunatics, it was nice to be home with my family, following the traditions I'd grown up with. It felt more magical to be back.

Of course, the usual Christmas proceedings got some spice added when everyone opened my magical gifts. The candies were the biggest hit, and everyone was bouncing off the ceiling (sometimes literally) from trying every different type I brought home.

I decided not to put the teacup in the presents; that would make it too easy for Loki to get his hands on it. Instead, I was going to save it for Uncle Clint the next morning after training. My plan was perfect, since the day after I would be leaving for my NASA trip. No chance for Clint to get revenge by making me work harder or fight Nat more often.