An American at Hogwarts

Chapter Fifty-One

Apparently, I wasn't going to be stopping for a long time.

I read through everything, skimming topics I barely understood, from aconite to mandrake and from obscurial to Zonko's. None of it was any help.

On the bright side, I did learn pretty much everything possible about the wizarding world. Nothing particularly useful, just a bunch of things I hadn't bothered to learn until now.

I took a break from my endless reading after a few days to celebrate the twins' birthday. It was on April Fool's Day, because when else could Fred and George Weasley ever have been born?

I decided they needed a little muggle pranking in their life, and that it would be greatly appreciated for their birthday, so I made sure to get down to breakfast before the rest of my friends to set up my first prank.

Now, my idea would definitely fall under the "stupid muggle prank" category, but it was a classic in my family and I thought the twins would appreciate it. When I got down to breakfast I poured each of the twins a bowl of their favorite cereal with milk, and then I did a quick spell to freeze it. It would look like a normal bowl of cereal but when they went to take a bite their spoons would just bounce right off!

Yeah, I know, stupid muggle prank. Still, I was confident the twins would love it. It was perfectly in the spirit of April Fool's Day and their birthdays.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY GUYS!" I screamed at the top of my lungs when the boys walked into the Great Hall. I got dirty looks from pretty much everybody in the room (people were still half asleep and didn't enjoy yelling to start their morning), but I ignored them.

"Thanks Alexa." George grinned as he and Fred sat across from me.

"I poured you each a bowl of your favorite cereal as the first part of your all-day celebration," I said, grinning and gesturing to the bowls. I'd had enough practice at Avengers Tower that I managed to avoid suspicion, and both boys eagerly dug in.

It was a little childish, but I started cackling like a maniac the minute their spoons bounced off. They both looked at me in confusion, probably more for my crazy laugh than the actual prank.

"Happy birthday twins! You've just fallen victim to a classic muggle prank," I said, grinning from ear to ear.

They looked at each other, down at their cereal, and then back to me with matching smiles.

"Best start to a birthday ever," they said in sync. They each gave me a high-five, then calmly pulled out their wands and did the same freezing spell I'd used on their cereal to the cereal bowl in front of me. "April Fools!"

I laughed and shook my head. "I love you guys. Now, take that pranking energy and direct it somewhere else. April Fool's Day and the Weasley Twins' Birthday happening on the same day is an incredible cosmic occurrence, and we have to take full advantage of the day. So pick a target and get your pranking game on. By the end of the day, everyone in this school will know your true prancing powers."

***************

Waging a prank war against the entire school was exactly the break I needed. I'd been so bogged down in work and research lately that I'd damn near forgotten how to have fun. The problem was quickly remedied when the twins and I (with the help of Lee, Angelina, and Alicia) went off on the rest of the school.

No one was safe. We pulled pranks left and right, and by the end of the day every student was nervously looking over their shoulder, just hoping none of us suddenly popped out from behind a tapestry and turned their hair pink (credit to Dumbledore for the inspiration of that prank). We got at least ten people from every house, and I couldn't wait to tell Loki about our marathon of pranks. He would be so proud.