Auditorium; Luna Nova campus
Wait...
What?
The head of the World Health Organization is called Doctor Bernadette Cavendish?
Cavendish, as in Diana Cavendish?!
Akko couldn't believe it. Maybe this is one of those cases where completely unrelated people just happened to have the same surname, but that was immediately debunked by the fact that Doctor Cavendish and Diana both have curly platinum blonde hair with green streaks.
And if the identical hair color and hairstyle wasn't enough, there is also the fact that Doctor Cavendish basically looked like Diana if she was in her 50s.
And it seems Akko isn't the only one wondering about it, as murmurs emerged from among the Luna Nova students soon after.
"Doctor Bernadette Cavendish?"
"As in Diana's family?"
"Could she be related to Diana?"
The murmurs died down when Doctor Cavendish tapped on the microphone, with the amplified sound of the tap reverberating all over the auditorium.
"Before I begin, I would like to thank Luna Nova Witchcraft Academy for the hospitality, and everything they have ever provided for their graduates." The head of the WHO, with a noticeable Scottish accent, began her speech.
Finneran nodded in approval at that.
Doctor Cavendish went on with her speech without missing a beat. "As we all know, magic has existed in the world since the ancient times. The Nine Olde Witches used magic to perform many good deeds such as healing illnesses and creating fertile lands. Their good deeds are the deeds that shouldn't be forgotten, and it is our duty as not just witches, but proper human beings to continue that legacy in the name of good. Unfortunately, many people has the belief that magic does not need improvement, and it is such a belief that allowed Muggle science and technology to improve to the point of outmatching magic, allowing Muggles to do things that were thought to be impossible by magic, such as the Americans' Apollo 11 mission in 1969."
Finneran immediately frowned upon hearing that fact, but kept her opinions to herself. Nelson, on the other hand, can't help herself but smirk at it.
"But thankfully, there are those within the wizarding community who realized that fact, and even found a way to improve magic further by means of combining magic with Muggle technology. This in turn allowed the divide between the Muggle world and the wizarding world to be bridged, bringing forth a peaceful unity of our two societies."
Doctor Cavendish's speech is soon followed by loud applause from nearly everyone in the auditorium, including the alumnus, Appleton students and surprisingly, Senator Paul Hanbridge himself.
"However, just because the bridge exists doesn't mean we should allow ourselves to grow complacent." The WHO director-general continued. "Everything can be used for both good and bad, and that includes magic. I need not direct anyone's attention to all the wars and conflicts that have ever happened in history to make my point about it. It is for that reason that we Cavendishes have dedicated our entire lineage to giving help to all those who needed it. My being the head of the World Health Organization is neither the start nor the end of it."
Yet another round of applause erupted from the audience.
Akko quickly noticed that Diana was the only Luna Nova student who didn't applaud Doctor Cavendish's speech. In fact, she seems to be scowling at it, uttering something that sounded like "Liar..." at the same time...
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Doctor Bernadette Cavendish, Director-General of the World Health Organization. Thank you for listening."
And just like that, Doctor Cavendish finished her speech, as she then walked away from the podium and let Headmistress Holbrooke take over again.
...
Storage Room
While the Luna Nova alumni are giving their speeches in the auditorium, at the same time in the storage room, the large crates labelled with the letters "FIG" that were put there days ago suddenly started rocking, as if the contents have suddenly came to life.
It wasn't very long before the lids of the crates popped open from the inside, revealing several pairs of glowing eyes as well as screeching noises emerging from them...
...
Auditorium
Once all of the Luna Nova alumni have given their speeches (almost all of which ended with a thinly-veiled insult to Robert Blackwell), the Banquet started without any hitches, aside from Blackwell complaining about all the insult, with Senator Hanbridge telling him that he had all of them coming. The auditorium quickly became filled with chatter from everyone who are striking up conversations with friends and relatives.
On one side, Hannah is attempting to strike up a conversation with her brother who was chatting with his friends from Appleton. It turns out Harry England was jealous that his sister can do magic while he can't, though that didn't stop the Englands from having a good relationship. The conversation ended with Hannah laughing uproariously when one of Harry's friends revealed himself to be Barbara's brother, who Barbara didn't want to talk about due to his name...
"Yes, I have a brother named Peter Parker..." Barbara said, exasperated at the embarrassing reveal. "But no, he is not Spider-Man!"
On another side, Professor Nelson is hanging out with some of her old classmates whom have went to join the various branches of the US Military after graduating Luna Nova. They used some US Military terminologies that most average people would never be able to understand, but it soon devolved into insults such as "Squid", "Jarhead", "Puddle Pirate", "Chair Force" (that one led to Nelson sarcastically asking what UAV pilots had to do with this), etc, being thrown around, albeit all in a friendly manner.
One of the US Military women then made a particularly sarcastic insult at the expense of the others by saying that they are "unable to shoot and f...", but that one was interrupted when General Eileen Bradley showed up and basically ordered everyone to stand down... before making one such insult herself by saying that the US Air Force at least isn't a bunch of "Uncle Sam's Misguided Children".
Meanwhile, Elfriede had her mouth literally zipped up by a spell after she pestered Mary-Ann Lait (who she somehow recognized despite the writer's effort at making sure she doesn't stick out) too much with her constant fangirling about meeting the author of Nightfall again, completely unaware that this Annabel Creme is, due to the Curse of Annabel Creme, not the same one she approached just last week.
At the same time, Amanda went off to tell off Louis Blackwell about all the Muggle supremacist rhetoric that his father has ever spouted, only to be surprised when Louis actually agreed with her, and even called his father an idiot that his mother can't wait to file a divorce against precisely because of the Muggle supremacist rhetoric.
While everyone are doing their own things in the auditorium, Akko took a bite out of a slice of cake she obtained from the snack table, as she watched Lotte trying to stop Sucy from spiking a punch bowl with laxatives.
The Japanese girl was kind of disappointed about the Banquet. She had expected Shiny Chariot to show up in some capacity alongside her fellow Luna Nova alumni, only for the famous French performer to be a no-show. Akko wondered if Chariot could be too busy with something to attend the Banquet...
"Hello, Akko. Enjoying yourself?" A voice greeted Akko from behind.
Akko turned around to find it was Professor Ursula who came to greet her. "Oh, Professor Ashura!" She greeted the professor, still unable to properly pronounce the name due to her Japanese accent. Akko quickly noticed what Ursula is holding in her hands. "Is that..."
"The... um... eu-mee-bow-shee, I think, that your parents took the trouble to mail to you." The blue-haired professor passed the item to Akko.
"Umeboshi?! From my parents?! Yay!" Akko said excitedly, as she snatched the jar over from Professor Ursula's hands, popped the lid open, and proceeded to pop a piece of umeboshi into her mouth.
Ursula could only look on with fascination at how excited Akko seems. "You really like this... snack, don't you?"
Akko swallowed the piece in her mouth before replying, "I love it!" She then popped another piece into her mouth.
"Your parents must really love you if they took the trouble of mailing this to you..." Ursula wondered out loud.
"They do." Akko responded to that. "Enough to insist that I eat a jar of it every day. Though they did add that I can only eat a jar per day."
Ursula took notice of what she just heard. "Why such specific requirements, though?" She then asked.
"I don't know. I never thought about it." Akko answered.
At the same time, Sucy, who just got persuaded by Lotte to not spike the punch bowl with laxatives, suddenly took interest in Akko's conversation with Ursula but refrained from interrupting them.
"And you never asked your parents?" Ursula brought up a point.
"Nope." Akko casually answered. "Maybe they don't want me to eat too much, I guess?"
"Maybe..." Ursula trailed off.
Akko then replaced the lid of the jar of umeboshi. "I don't want to keep you occupied, Professor Ashura. So why don't you go and, I don't know, do your own thing?"
"Ah, I will. But you can come find me if you need anything else, Akko." Ursula responded.
With that, the blue-haired professor turned and walked away.
Just as Akko is about to pop the lid of the jar open, Sucy suddenly walked up from behind her.
"Are you sure your parents don't have any motives regarding sending you... this?" The pale girl asked-interrogated with a finger pointed at the jar of umeboshi.
Akko seems offended by that question. "M-motive?! Why would you say that, Sucy?!"
"Probably because the effort they took seemed more than just love for a child..." Sucy stated with her usual deadpan tone.
"Oh, what do you know, Sucy? Has your parents ever loved you that much?" Akko verbally fired back.
"Ugh, please don't bring them up..." Sucy said, annoyed.
"Um, I guess not?" Akko wondered if what she just said to Sucy hits too close to home for her.
As the Japanese girl turned around to head off to another section of the snack table, she quickly found herself looking into a pair of sky blue eyes.
"Good evening... Akko, was it?" Diana greeted with what sounded like posh politeness but is obviously fill with anger.
"Oh." Akko reacted. She wasn't looking forward to seeing the ace student, especially not after her attempted theft of the Shiny Rod. "Won't you ever give up tryi-"
"I'm not here for the Claiomh Solais, Akko..." Diana interrupted.
The Japanese girl frowned. "Then what do you want?" She asked.
"Just to see how you are doing..." Diana answered.
The ace student paused as she suddenly felt difficult to breathe, an indication that her respiratory illness is acting up again. She quickly took out her inhaler and took a puff of it until she could breathe normally again.
As Diana put her inhaler away, she caught a glimpse of the jar of umeboshi that Akko is holding in her hands.
It looked just like the one she saw on the headmistress's desk in the previous night, complete with the note that is tied to it, which Akko seemingly either didn't notice or simply ignored.
Now that Diana has a clear look on the note, she could see that it reads "Please give to Atsuko. She needs it for her health. - Mr. and Mrs. Kagari"
This got Diana's attention. Akko's parents took the troubles of mailing the jar to Headmistress Holbrooke, with the instruction that it needs to be given to Akko because of her health. This implies that the energetic Shiny Chariot fangirl from Japan is not in perfect health...
"That'd be all..." Diana added before turning and walking away, dismissing herself from Akko's presence.
Akko is just left standing there, wondering what was with Diana.
...
After having excused herself from Akko's presence, Diana put herself in the center of the auditorium where she'll just be another face among hundreds.
The ace student closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She was somewhat disturbed by the implications of the jar that Akko is eating out of.
When Diana opened her eyes a moment later, she found herself looking at a face that looked exactly like her own... if she was 50 years old.
"It is so great to see you again, Diana..." Greeted the woman who approached Diana, who is none other than her own mother, Doctor Bernadette Cavendish.
Yeah, I am not kidding in the last chapter. Bernadette Cavendish really is still alive in this continuity, and she decides to have a family reunion with Diana. Though it seems that the mother and daughter's relationship could be different here...
What's that about Akko needing to eat umeboshi because of her health? Is she, like Diana, suffering from some kind of illness? But we haven't seen any signs of any illnesses on Akko. So far...
And what's with the FIG crates? Looks like something sinister is about to happen soon...
So many plot threads. So little time to resolve them all...
"Just remember: a believing heart is your magic..."
Afterword ends here.