An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Forty

A/N: Thank you guys so much for 100k reads!!!! Oh my gosh you guys are so awesome, I couldn't ask for better readers. I love you guys so much, thank you for all your support! ❤️❤️❤️

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I tried to stay up all night teaching myself to do a sling portal, but unfortunately I had to sleep before I was successful. Turns out, sleep deprivation messes with your ability to concentrate. I finally went to bed around one in the morning after I went from actually making sling portals to barely being able to produce golden sparks.

Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated when I finally stopped. Imagine everything I could accomplish if I didn't need sleep!

Alana woke me up the next morning for breakfast with the boys before we got to loop back to some of Alana's favorite spots. Jackson, Dale, and I decided to let her take the lead since she was almost definitely going to be the NASA kid out of the four of us.

"You and Dale need to start pulling your weight," I said to Jackson as the four of us left NASA headquarters and started heading for the airport.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means Alana and I already know exactly where we're going with our futures, we're gonna be total badasses that bring glory and fame to our winning group. You and Dale need to figure out what the hell you're gonna do."

"I know what I'm going to do," Jackson countered. "My mom's been teaching me a bunch of biochem stuff since I could speak. I'm going into the family business, just like you."

"Wait, what? How has this never come up?" I asked.

Jackson just shrugged. "You never asked."

"What's her company? Who does she work with? If you're biochem then we have almost all our bases covered with engineering and space from me and Alana!"

"Ah, the name's something weird, I don't really remember what it's called. She doesn't like to talk about work very much," he said. The car stopped as he spoke, and we all got out now that we were finally at the airport. Jackson walked around and grabbed my bag with his own.

"You don't have to do that," I said, trying to take it back from him.

"It's fine. Help Alana with her carry-on, she's gonna need it after all the new stuff she got from NASA."

I turned around to see Alana struggling under the weight of all the new t-shirts, stickers, water bottles, and everything else NASA she got on our trip.

"Thanks, Jackson," I said, stifling a laugh and going to help Alana. I gently took the new NASA swag bag from her hands, and I actually struggled to put it on my shoulder without dropping it. "Good Lord Alana, how much new shit did you put in this?"

"Oh, you have no idea." She was grinning like a little kid, and I couldn't make myself do much more than playfully roll my eyes. It was hard to be frustrated with somebody so giddy and excited.

Once we got our bags checked, made it through security, got some snacks, and arrived at our gate, it was time to board. One of the perks of this whole trip being a prize given to us by a bunch of smart, successful people was that we got to sit in first class.

"This is the best trip ever," Alana declared, sinking into an isle seat next to Dale. The grin hadn't left her face since we woke up this morning.

"I want the isle," I said, trying to get Jackson to pass me and sit at the window.

"Why?" he demanded, shoving our carry-ons into the overhead bin.

"Because, I do. You go first. The window's a cool seat and you have plenty of space, it shouldn't matter."