Lily was about to make the announcement for what the second event of the Having Fun at Lily's Expense Party was going to be, but a nanosecond before she could speak, a boy who Lily didn't recognize trotted up to Lily.
This boy was of an average size and height for his age and had brown eyes, very light brown hair, and a deep tan.
"Hi, Lily," piped up the boy unprompted, "I'm Roger Romo. I'm a third year Hufflepuff. I want to shake your hand."
Lily noticed the genuineness in the boy's voice and observed, "You don't seem like a Harry Potter fan who wants to greet his daughter and nor do you sound like someone who just wants to shake hands with the prettiest and most popular girl at Hogwarts. There seems to be something more about you wanting to shake my hand."
Next nanosecond, Lily offered her right hand to Roger, who shook it with his right hand.- Manage Stories
"You're right, Lily, there is a very meaningful reason that you earned a handshake from me. I owe you a thank you as well. You see, I am one of the earliest beneficiaries of Worthy Wands."
Lily stood frozen for a minute and a nanosecond and then she made eye contact with Roger.
"Roger, would you be willing to share your story and tell us how Worthy Wands has made a difference in your life?"
"Partially," replied Roger, "In my first two years at Hogwarts, I was using a secondhand wand. I do not wish to share why I was using a second wand nor whose wand it originally was as both topics deal with deeply personal and very sensitive stuff and I don't feel ready to talk about it all just yet."
"I totally understand, Roger," said Lily gently, "I don't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
"I am, however, more than happy to share the story of how I have benefited from Worthy Wands. You see, all of my family has been in Hufflepuff for centuries and they've always been superb at both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, being perpetual O students in those subjects. Well in my first two years at Hogwarts, I was an A student in those subjects. But the bigger picture is that I was getting Os on my written exams but Ds in my practical exams so that it balanced out."
"And" guessed Lily with a smile, "Once you got a new wand thanks to Worthy Wands your practical work has come up to the level of your written work."
"Quite," answered Roger brightly.
"Could you explain that in a little more detail?" requested Lily.
"I can show you," said Roger briskly.
Next nanosecond, Roger had pulled wands out of both of his pockets.
The wand he had lobbed out of his left pocket was beat up. It was eight inches, cherry, and unicorn hair, but there were scratches all over the surface and the wand was frayed to the point that a bit of the unicorn hair core had actually become visible. This was clearly the secondhand wand. The wand he had retrieved from his right pocket was much shinier and more pristine. It was twelve inches and made of holly.
"The Holly wand is clearly the new one," realized Lily instantly.
"Yep," confirmed Roger, "It's core is fwooper feather. Fwooper feather has historically not been used in Wandmaking. Mr. Olivander made a small handful of fwooper feather core wands before his death and it remains to be seen whether they are viable. This one has worked great for me though and I was only able to acquire it because of the money I got from Worthy Wands. I would like to demonstrate the difference that my new wand has made. Does anyone having anything on hand that they can spare to be destroyed?"
"You want to display the Reductor Curse?" guessed Lily.
Roger nodded.
In response, Lily dug her hands into the prize bag and extracted a yellow balloon. Lily blow up the balloon and let go of it. The balloon floated in the air and Roger pointed his cherry wand at it.
"Reducto!" cried Roger but nothing happened. The balloon just kept on floating in the air. Roger next pointed his holly wand at the balloon and cried "Reducto!"
Next nanosecond, everyone present had suddenly covered his or her ears as the balloon suddenly and insanely exploded with a loud POP! and next thing they all knew the ground was full of itsy bitsy balloon pieces.
Ainsley started picking some of these up and sticking them in people's hair. Amongst her "victims" were Devon, Hugo, James, and Albus. once they realized what was going on, several of Ainsley's "victims" decided to get her back and next thing she knew, Ainsley had more balloon bits in her hair than anyone else. It was all in good clean fun and they were all having a good old time.
Lily, meanwhile, had a much more serious feeling of pride welling up in her chest as she could now see firsthand the difference Worthy Wands was making.
"Hey, Lily," requested Roger, "Could you put the megaphone on the ground?'
Knowing what Roger wanted to show, Lily did just that.
Roger pointed his cherry wand at the megaphone and called out "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The megaphone lifted two inches off the ground before falling to grass again.
Roger now pointed his holly wand at the megaphone and called "Wingardium Leviosa!"
At once, the megaphone rose and rose into the air and when it reached Lily's height, she caught it in her left hand.
"There can no denying the difference," smiled Lily.
"That's why I wanted to show rather than tell. And I have a last treat for everyone," said Roger cheerfully.
Roger raised his cherry wand into the air and shouted "Expecto Patronum!"
A few very weak silvery puffs emitted from Roger's cherry wand before quickly vanishing again.
Now, with an eager look of anticipation upon his face, Roger raised his holly wand and yelled, "Expecto Patronum."
Next nanosecond, a large silver cat was emanating from Roger's holly wand.
The Patronus cat lasted several minutes and drew applause from every corner. Ainsley, the biggest cat and animal lover present, had a wide grin on her face while everyone just whooped and hollered. In fact, people were so impressed with Roger's Patronus that they had temporarily forgotten why he had performed the spell in the first place.
"Wow," beamed Lily, and it was her voice that brought everyone back to reality.
"So, your Patronus is a cat?"
"Cats are my favorite animals," cooed Roger, "But a cat Patronus is also personally appropriate for me as I'm both a loner and very independent. Certainty traits that most cats possess. A clear distinction from dogs, who are pack animals. "
"A very impressive Patronus, regardless of the form it took," acknowledged Lily.
"Lily, it's all thanks to you," said Roger emotionally as his eyes started to tear up, "Lily, thank you, thank you for starting Worthy Wands and providing underprivileged and less fortunate wizards and witches the opportunity to obtain good new wands that have chosen them. Thank you for your continued commitment to Worthy Wands. I'm living proof of the difference your charity has made. I'm also glad that I got a good firsthand a few years before my O.W.L.S so I'll have a few years to get used to it and learn it before my high stakes exams."
"Roger," said Lily, her own eyes watering now, "Thank you for acknowledging me and Worthy Wands and an even bigger thanks for sharing that part of your story and actually showing us the difference, your new wand has made. If anyone here doubted the value or significance of Worthy Wands, they've now seen proof of the actual difference this charity is making in the lives of young witches and wizards."
Everyone nodded and Lily took a moment to privately reflect.
When Lily started Worthy Wands, her aim was to get young witches and wizards who could otherwise not afford new wands the funds they needed to ensure they had the best for them of the most important wizarding tool.
To see an actual example, to see the difference Worthy Wands had actually made in Roger's life, was highly meaningful to Lily. It brought her a level of satisfaction few things in her life ever had.
But it also increased her determination.
Seeing that Worthy Wands was actually making a difference, Lily was more hellbent than ever on continuing to do fundraisers for Worthy Wands.
Hearing Roger's story about the difference Worthy Wands had made in his life had given Lily goosebumps and filled her heart with warmth. But with the emotion of the moment being as high as it was, Lily wasn't quite ready to dive back into another event.
So, Lily was glad when McGonagall made an appearance on the Harry Potter Quidditch Pitch carrying an envelope.
"Miss Potter, " said McGonagall kindly, "I have counted all the money. I know I said I'd announce how much money was raised for Worthy Wands today at the end of the Having Fun at Lily's Expense Party, but it then it occurred to me that you might like to make the announcement yourself."
"I would, " confirmed Lily.
"This envelope contains a piece of parchment with the names of the three biggest donors to Worthy Wands today. At the bottom of the parchment is a note stating how much money was raised in total. I'll leave you to read the results to everyone here and there be a piece about it in the Daily Prophet tomorrow morning, " explained McGonagall.
McGonagall left and Lily eagerly tore open the envelope.
Lily pulled out a piece of parchment with writing in dark green lettering. Lily took a moment to read what was written and then grabbed the megaphone to announce the results.
"Coming in third with a donation of three hundred galleons is sixth year Ravenclaw Patricia Provide. Will Miss Patricia Provide please come forward?"
A tall but skinny girl in a purple dress and purple high heels with brunette hair and purple eyes strode up to where Lily was standing.
"Hi, there, Patricia, " said Lily warmly, "And a big thank you for your extremely generous donation to Worthy Wands."
"The Provides are an old pure blood family that has accumulated an almost implausible amount of wealth over the years, " revealed Patricia.
"Do you know anyone who is using a second wand?" Lily asked Patricia.
"Personally, no, " answered Patricia, "I chose to make a major donation to Worthy Wands not because I personally know anyone who needs the charity, but, because I holistically believe in the cause. There's the fundamental human aspect that everyone deserves a fair chance and there's also the fact that the Wizarding World needs as many young witches and wizards to develop successfully to thrive in the future."
"It says a lot about your character that you would make such a generous donation when you aren't personally vested in my charity. Amy provided medals for the top three donors and you are the bronze medalist, " said Lily proudly.
"It's only fitting that a Ravenclaw would be the bronze medalist, as bronze is one of Ravenclaw's house colors, " said Patricia cheerfully.
Lily dug her right hand into the prize bag and retrieved the bronze medal Amy had provided for the event and promptly placed it around Patricia's neck.
Patricia looked down at her bronze medal as pride engulfed every inch of her face.
"I know people don't like this phrase because it was Grindewald's pet phrase, " said Patricia matter of factly, "But sometimes, for the greater good really does apply."
"So true, " agreed Lily instantly, "And now on to our silver medalist. Coming in second place with a donation of three hundred fifty galleons is first year Gryffindor Gordon Give. Would Gordon Give please present himself?"
A naked boy who was of average size and height for his age with black hair and green eyes made his way up to where Lily was standing with Patricia.
"Greetings, Gordon," grinned Lily, "Now I read in the Daily Prophet awhile back that a muggleborn boy named Gordon Give had won this year's Daily Galleon draw."
"That's right, " said Gordon glowingly, "I hadn't even started at Hogwarts yet, but I had been informed that I was a wizard and I was getting the Daily Prophet to keep up with what was going on in the Wizarding World. I entered the galleon draw for fun with no expectation of winning. When I did win, I decided the nanosecond I knew I had won that I was giving half the money to charity. I was waiting for the right opportunity to come up. There are many worthy charities in existence, but I just somehow felt a kinship with this charity. It's almost like I could feel the value and importance of this charity within my heart even if I couldn't explain it."
"Not many eleven year olds would make such an unselfish decision, " observed Lily, "Most kids under fourteen would've spend the whole lot on themselves."
"Most is an overstatement, " corrected Gordon, "Though many would. I think in my case, even though I'm pretty well off myself, I think I feel a kinship with this charity because I am muggleborn. I think I can sympathize with the idea of being told I was magical only to not have the proper tools to develop it. I'm truly fortunate that I had the financial resources to get all the supplies I needed for Hogwarts firsthand. But many others are not as fortunate as me but deserve the same opportunity. I know there are purebloods who are benefiting from this charity as well, but I'm just saying how my status as a muggleborn makes me see things."
"You are the silver medalist, " beamed Lily, and she ejected the silver medal from the prize bag and placed it around Gordon's neck.
"I'm honored to be the silver medalist. But I think we're all eager to know who the biggest donor was."
"The biggest donor and our first prize winner is second year Gryffindor Samantha Saver with a donation of five hundred galleons, " announced Lily.
"YES! screamed Samantha, "I'M A GOLD MEDALIST! YOU LIKE THAT! YOU LIKE THAT!"
Samantha, wearing her favorite Arizona Cardinals shirt with her usual black shorts, black socks, and black velcro tennis shoes, strode up to where Lily was standing with Patricia and Gordon without being summoned.
"OH, "realized Lily, "Gold is a Gryffindor color and a Gryffindor color. How neat. Well let's not delay any longer."
As Lily quickly pulled the gold medal out of the prize bag and placed it around Samantha's neck, Samantha said clearly, "The truth of the matter is, this charity should have existed when Hogwarts first opened. It's actually unbelievable no one thought of it before Lily."
"I can't BELIEVE students were ever even ALLOWED to use secondhand wands, " said Lily indignantly, "A wand is such of vital piece of equipment for all witches and wizards."
"That vitalness is the key point, " said Samantha firmly, "That's why I made such a large donation to this particular charity. If you have to live with secondhand books, well as long as they're in decent condition it's not the end of the world. But with wands, especially because of what we know about how the wand chooses the wizard, it's a whole different ballgame. All witches and wizards NEED to have firsthand wands that have chosen them"
"That's why I am extremely pleased, " smiled Lily, "To announce that our total fundraising today amounted to a total of four thousand galleons, two thousand sickles, and a thousand knuts. "
Next nanosecond, every person on the pitch burst into a huge round of applause as Lily looked on at all of them with a smile on her face and satisfaction in her heart.
