"Hey, Samantha?" asked Lily next, "Do you still plan on inviting our entire circle to Arizona for Christmas?"
"YES!" cooed Samantha eagerly, "I can't wait to share an Arizona Christmas with all of you! Remember that I used the money I won by virtue of my silver medal finish in the Hogwarts Drawing Competition to purchase a piece of property in Arizona large enough to accommodate our entire circle, everyone's parents included!"
"I remember you telling us that, but I wanted to double check," explained Lily.
"Due diligence is always a good thing," agreed Samantha, "I'll have a bit more information for you all on our Arizona Christmas at the November meeting of the Circle of Twenty."
"I'm really looking forward to it," beamed Ainsley.
Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Todd, Miles, Gary, Gordon, Aaron, Rachel, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Penny, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily all exchanged genuine smiles.
"By the way," added Samantha, "If our circle should expand before Christmas, I have plenty of room available for additional people."
Everyone else nodded.
"I've been far luckier at Hogwarts than Penny was at Beauxbatons," observed Samantha, "I may be a foreigner as an Arizonan at Hogwarts, but I've always felt warmly welcomed and accepted and Hogwarts embraced the Arizona themed party we had when my silver medal was announced. In contrast, Penny never even made any friends at Beauxbatons outside of her interpreter. The lack of magical schools in both Arizona and Pennsylvania forced both penny and me to attend magical schools outside of our native homelands. Hogwarts embraced me. Not such much for Penny at Beauxbatons."
"I myself have definitely felt more wanted and welcomed at Hogwarts than I ever did at Beauxbatons," acknowledged Penny, "But I wouldn't judge the students at Beauxbatons too harshly. The language barrier was a real issue. I have to point the finger at myself for choosing Beauxbatons over Hogwarts in the first place. I didn't give enough weight to the fact that I would be an English speaking girl at a French speaking school when I chose Beauxbatons."
""You know what though?" piped up Devon, "I give you all the credit in the world for having enough humility to admit to yourself that you had taken the wrong path and sought to get yourself on the right track by transferring to Hogwarts. It takes a lot of courage to own up to one's mistakes, ESPECIALLY to oneself."
"Either I could be proud and stubborn and condemn myself to six more long years or I could admit my mistake and give myself a fresh start," said Penny bluntly.
"Speaking of such decisions," interjected Hugo, "Ainsley, Lily told us that last time you wrote to her you said you were feeling a lot better and were in a lot better spirits. Do you feel good now about your decision to transfer to The Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing?"
"Very," said Ainsley with confidence, "The Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing is a uber serious environment and I'm a girl who needs humor, so I interjected humor into my own life at the start of every day with the joke of the day calendar and at the end of the day with comics. "
"Honest question," Stephanie asked Ainsley, "If you could go back int time and have a mulligan on the decision, would you still choose to transfer to The Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing or would you stay at Hogwarts?"
"Transfer to the Ultimate University of Wizarding," replied Ainsley a nanosecond later, "There is no better path for me to follow in mom's footsteps."
"Well," smiled James warmly, "Ainsley has clearly gained peace with her decision."
"Not just peace, but absolute confidence," added Ainsley, "There was an adjustment period at the beginning and that's to be expected. I also had to figure out for myself how to make it work. But I've settled in wonderfully now."
"I'm happy to hear that," nodded Lily.
"Hey, Lily?" asked Peny next, "I have a request. I know it's a selfish request but the worst that can happen is you say no."
"Let's hear it," answered Lily crisply.
"My birthday is October 30th and that is the next scheduled meeting of the Circle of Twenty. Is there any way to fit a birthday acknowledgement for me into that meeting?" asked Penny quietly.
"I think we can give you more than an acknowledgement," beamed Lily, "How about the next meeting of the Circle of Twenty becomes Penny's thirteenth birthday party?"
"Seriously?" said Penny, sounding eager but uncertain.
"Seriously," cooed Lily, "Have you ever had a birthday party before?"
"Yes," said Penny nostalgically, "When I was in elementary school, my parents hosted a birthday party for me at our house every year under the condition that I invited my entire class, both boys and girls. Parents who host boys only and girls only birthday parties are a major pet peeve of my parents and mine as well."
"Gender segregation is degusting," agreed Devon, 'There are no boys or girls, only people. The only difference between a boy and a girl is the pronouns used to refer to them."
"Gender should play literally zero role in both friendships and friendship formation and if it ever is. something is very seriously wrong," snarled Lily in the hardest voice any of them had ever heard her use.
Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Todd, Miles, Gary, Gordon, Aaron, Rachel, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Penny, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily herself all nodded vigorously at those words.
"Penny, is there any particular theme you would like to have for your birthday party?" asked Lily kindly.
"How about a colors themed birthday party," suggested Penny, "That would allow a lot of different activities based on the various colors that exist."
"I love the idea," grinned Lily, "I can think of lots of ideas for this."
"It's all good then," smiled Penny.
The rest of the meeting went passed with casual conversation about whatever topic might come up.
But close to the end of the meeting time, Ainsley raised her wand performed a nonverbal spell.
At this, hundreds of yellow water balloons came floating down from the sky and popped over their heads. They were all naked, so they didn't have to worry about their clothes getting wet, but all were caught by surprise except for Ainsley herself.
Ainsley giggled as the water balloons popped over their heads and yelled out, "PRANKED!"
"Ainsley the Prankster," piped up Lily joyfully, "Ainsley is herself again!"
Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Todd, Miles, Gary, Gordon, Aaron, Rachel, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Penny, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily all grinned and giggled in delight.
Everyone was glad to see Ainsley be her old self again.