"Let's get down to business, " said Lily cheerfully, "Hugo, why don't you go next?"
Hugo turned over his picture to reveal a drawing of a storm. There were several super bright strikes of purple lightning exanimating from the sky, which was dark and gray and filled with clouds. Rain was pouring from those clouds.
Devon, James, Hugo. Albus, Miles, Todd, Gary, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily looked at Hugo's drawing with awestruck looks on their faces.
Samantha. who had a strong fear of lightning and hated storms, actually screamed and everybody else turned to look at her.
"Sorry, " said Samantha quickly, "I didn't mean to scream, but I have a great fear of lightning. I grew up in Arizona amidst summer monsoon storms. The thought of being outside during lightning always terrified me. "
"And it should, " said Lily clearly, "Lightning is very dangerous."
"For a split second, I actually thought that there was a storm and that we had lightning in the area," explained Samantha, who had now calmed down.
"That's the best compliment I could be given, " said Hugo contently, "It means my work came across as authentic."
"I told you you could do it!" said Lily proudly.
"Lily did me a big favor here, " revealed Hugo, "I originally had a hard time coming up with an idea that I wanted to use for the Hogwarts Drawing Competition. I asked Lily if she choose an idea for me. She did me a big favor by refusing this request.
"The Hogwarts Drawing Competition is supposed to be about expressing one's self, " said Lily fiercely, "It would have been disingenuous for me to have chosen Hugo's idea for him even at his request. Besides, I KNEW Hugo would come up with an idea that he could make an elite drawing from!"
"Lily's confidence in me meant everything to me, " said Hugo radiantly, "I informed her later that same day that I was going to do a storm picture and her response was to tell me that she was sure I could make a storm drawing realistic enough to scare the wits out people who fear storms."
"I was right, " grinned Lily.
"I admire the realism Hugo put into his drawing, " acknowledged Samantha, "But, and this goes for all of you, I'm going to ask you not to tease, rib, or raze me about my initial reaction to Hugo's picture."
"We won't, " promised Devon, James, Hugo. Albus, Miles, Todd, Gary, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Ainsley, and Lily.
"Oh, thank you, " said a relived sounding Samantha, "I know that teasing, ribbing, and razing can sometimes be a thing in our circle. But my fear of storms and lightning is one of those things that I don't find funny and don't want to be made light of."
"What kind of friends would we be if we didn't respect that?" said Lily fiercely, "If you don't to be teased, ribbed, or razed about your initial reaction to Hugo's drawing, then we won't tease, rib, or raze you about it. It's that simple."
"Thanks, " said Samantha gratefully.
"You know, " said Hugo thoughtfully, "No one would ever want to be caught outside during lightning in real life. But it offers the potential for some pretty spectacular artwork."
"You've just proven that " said Lily admiringly.
"it's legitimately one of the most realistic entries anyone in our group has done, " piped up Gordon.
It is just so authentic, " said Stephanie fondly, "There's no other word for it."
"Yes, " agreed Devon, "Hugo's comment that Samantha's scream was the best compliment he could have been given summed it up perfectly."
"Thanks, everyone, and especially thanks to Lily for believing in me, " finished Hugo.
"Pamela, why don't you go next?" suggested Lily.
Pamela slowly and quietly flipped over her picture and it turned out to be a simple but beautiful drawing of a full moon.
Devon, James, Hugo. Albus, Miles, Todd, Gary, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily all looked at Pamela's drawing with a feeling of peaceful happiness.
"I know there isn't as much to my drawing as there is to some of the others, but to be blunt about it, I just wanted to draw a full moon. It's what I wanted to draw, " said Pamela quietly.
"It's beautiful, Pamela, " said Lily approvingly, "Sometimes there is beauty in simplicity."
"I think the mixture of the types of drawings our circle made is wonderful, " said Stephanie warmly, "As someone who loves drawing, I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate the different types of pictures we've seen here."
"That's why I asked what everyone's was beforehand, " said Lily clearly, "I wanted to avoid duplicates."
"The thing is, " said Pamela crisply, "My full moon isn't meant to represent anything. It's literally just what I felt like doing."
"If you are satisfied with your own work, then that is the true prize, " said Lily kindly, " How about Rose goes next, "
Rose's drawing turned out to be a take on the old phrase "It's raining cats and dogs."
Rose's drawing featured several different breeds of cats and dogs. The cat breeds featured in Rose's drawing included Persian, Siamese, Bengal, and Domestic Shorthair. The dog breeds included Black Labs, Golden Retrievers, and Poodles. They all seemed to be falling from the sky.
"It's raining cats and dogs!" chroused Devon, James, Hugo. Albus, Miles, Todd, Gary, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily.
"Yep, " grinned Rose, "That's the theme I was basing my drawing on. I chose seven total breeds of animal because seven is the most powerfully magical number."
"Cool!" said Ainsley happily, "Nice way of combining two thoughts and making a fantastic drawing out of it."
"It's one of the wilder feeling entries we have, which is exactly what I love about it, " said James briskly.
"And it's so neat, " observed Stephanie, "The hairs, ears, eyes, whiskers, etc. are all exactly where they should be."
"I don't mean this boastfully, " said Rose, "But I put a lot of time and effort into making this drawing, "
"It shows, " said Lily proudly, "And if I may say so, you did one of the hardest drawings of anyone in our circle. You didn't have the benefit of knowing things went in a specific place or went in a specific order. It was an abstract decision for you where to place each animal in your picture."
"That's a great point, Lily, and absolutely true, " agreed Stephanie, "It makes Rose's work all the more impressive."
"I figured one person in our group would use an animal theme, " said Ainsley fondly.
"Rose's work is certainly superior to mine-" began Pamela.
"Your work is just as good as hers, " said Lily sharply, "You just did different kinds of drawings. You both did fantastic work and you both can be enormously proud of the work you did on your drawings. "
Pamela quietly smiled and nodded at Lily.
"How did you choose the breeds of animals you used, Rose?" asked Albus curiously.
"I just used the breeds that came into my mind first, " answered Rose, "There was no need to be fussy about which specific breeds I used so long as I got a good variety."
"One thing we haven't seen yet is a Quidditch themed drawing, " said Lily proddingly.
Taking the hint, Stephanie showed them her drawing.
To everyone's surprise, it wasn't an in progress match, but a match that had just ended.
Hoops could be seen on either side of Stephanie's drawing and there were players scattered about on their brooms in both scarlet and gold robes and green and silver robes.
In the middle of the picture was a small girl in red and gold robes wearing hot pink flip flops and carrying a golden snitch in her match.
"That's from my first Quidditch match!" said Lily excitedly.
"I wanted to do a Quidditch themed drawing without making it too crowed or busy, " explained Stephanie, "Portraying Lily with the snitch still in her mouth as her first match ended was a perfect way to showcase Quidditch using an actual event while still keeping the drawing clean and focused. I know you are a midget, Lily,, so I made sure to depict you as the midget that you are."
Privately, Lily HATED being called "midget". She had long since accepted that she would always be small and short, but it stung her to be called "midget". Unfortunately for Lily, Samantha, Courtney, and Stephanie were all fond of calling Lily "midget" and Lily was too decent a person and friend to complain about it. Still, Lily her insides squeam every time every time she got called "midget", usually by the Saver sisters.
Those people who had been present, be it as teammates or spectators, for Lily's first Quidditch match found themselves fondly reminiscing back on that glorious day.
"I'll never forget how Lily caught that snitch, " said James fondly, "Being a Quidditch junkie who had the opportunity call my beloved sister's very first match, well, it couldn't have turned out any better."
"The fact that I won my very first match in the same way dad won his very first match is still so special, " said Lily emotionally, "In that moment, I literally lived out, "Like father like daughter,"
"We still have that snitch in our trophy room at Potter Manor, " said James proudly, "It's hanging right next to dad's."
"That day wasn't all good though, " remembered Rachel, "It was 26 degrees below 0 with a wind chill of 58 below 0. I still can't believe that Lily actually wore flip flops in that weather."
"Like I told you that day, " Lily reminded Rachel, "I never wear any footwear other than flip flops or slippers because I just don't like wearing socks or shoes. it is simply my personal preference."
Rachel shook her head, still having a hard time processing what she had seen on that day.
"I don't think my drawing of you is as good as Gordon's, " Stephanie told Lily honestly.
I'm very satisfied with how you've depicted me, Stephanie, " said Lily encouragingly, "I do think Gordon's is better, but, in fairness to you, to use me the way you needed to for your drawing, I had to be in my Quidditch robes. Gordon had the advantage of drawing me with my standard clothes. That said, if I really needed or wanted myself drawn for any reason, I would be comfortable entrusting either of you to do so from what I see on both of your drawings."
Both Stephanie and Gordon felt unexplainable feelings of happiness and satisfaction at those words.
Stephanie went on, "I wanted to get everything right, but getting Lily right was paramount. I know there are probably some inconsistencies with the actual match day in terms of where all the players were positioned on the pitch in that moment, but I knew I had to get that snapshot of Lily right for this to work so I focused on it.:
"It's wonderful, " cooed Lily, "I couldn't have asked for a truer snapshot of that moment. But I think the last Saver should reveal her picture now."
Samantha eagerly turned her picture over to display a drawing with a distinct flavor of Arizona.
Several saguaro cactuses adorned Samantha's drawing from left to right. A small Arizona state flag could be seen in the lower right hand corner while the Arizona Cardinals team logo appeared in the lower left hand corner. Birds were prevalent in a bright sunny sky that gave off an aura of hot weather with Camelback Mountain visible in the background.
"This is an Arizona themed drawing, " said Samantha proudly, "You know how proud I am of my Arizona heritage. "
Devon, James, Hugo. Albus, Miles, Todd, Gary, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Ainsley, and Lily all nodded.
"So, " went on Samantha, "The saguaro cactus is one of the most commonly found plants in Arizona, Camelback Mountain is a famous mountain in Phoenix, birds are common in Arizona, which sees extremely hot summers. The flag in the bottom right hand corner is the state of Arizona, and well, you know how much I love my NFL team."
"This is almost certainly going to be the most uniquely personal entry in the Hogwarts Drawing Competition, " said Lily glowingly, "I'm so proud of you Samantha. I love how proud you are of where you came from."
"I'm an Arizona girl through and through, " said Samantha, puffing out her chest, "I may spend much of my time at Hogwarts now and happily so at that, but you can never take the Arizona out of Samantha Saver. "
"After the Savers adopted me, I really came to see just how strong Samantha's Arizona roots really are, " smiled Stephanie.
"Ditto, " added Courtney, "Samantha loves her home and isn't afraid to show it."
"This drawing is the pinnacle of using the Hogwarts Drawing Competition for personal expression, " said Lily warmly, "It's a lovely picture with a lovely meaning behind it."
"Thanks, Lily, " said Samantha in a satisfied voice, "I knew I could pull it off."
Lily now reached under her seat and picked up a furled red something.
Lily handed this furled up red something to Samantha and told her, "I ordered this for you recently because I know it's something you'll love to have."
Samantha quickly and eagerly unfurled the red thing, which was revealed to be a replica red Arizona Cardinals jersey with the number 1 and the name Murray.
"A KYLER MURRAY JERSEY!" shouted Samantha.
Samantha pulled on the replica Kyler Murray jersey and said, "This is awesome. I really hope the Cardinals win a Super Bowl in the Kyler Murray era. Kyler Murray will be the face of the franchise for years to come. Having my own Kyler Murray jersey makes me so happy! Thanks a lot, Lily."
"I'm glad you like it so much, " piped up Lily in a satisfied voice. Seeing the look Samantha had on her face when she received the Kyler Murray jersey and seeing how happy it made her when she put it on totally made Lily's day and both Lily and Samantha now had their insides glowing.
"That was awesome, " beamed Lily, "But there are three more of us to go!"
Welcome to 2021 everyone! Stay safe. I hope you're all doing well. Have a great year everyone. May you all stay happy and healthy. Next chapter will reveal the three Potter's entries and the chapter after that will reveal the medalists.
