As the announcement of the gold medalist for the Hogwarts Drawing Competition drew nearer, Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all felt a confident sense of anticipation. The Circle of Eighteen already had the silver medal and the bronze medal. They all had great gut feelings about getting the gold medal as well.
While they were waiting for the announcement of the gold medalist, something occurred to Samantha.
"I had planned on keeping the Honeydukes chocolate prize for myself, " said Samantha thoughtfully, "But it just occurred to me that Todd, Gary, and Miles. being muggles and having fewer opportunities to meet with us, would like the chance to taste the Honeydukes chocolate and would have far fewer opportunities to do so than the rest of us. I will therefore share the Honeydukes chocolate with Todd, Gary, and Miles."
Samantha, her mind made up, broke the Honeydukes chocolate slab and into four equal parts. Samantha threw one part each to Todd, Miles, and Gary while still keeping a part for herself.
Todd, Gary, and Miles, and Samantha all ate the Honeydukes chocolate parts and it was very tasty as always.
"That was very decent of you to share the Honeydukes chocolate with us, Samantha, " said Miles appreciatively, "It's far better chocolate than the muggle products like Hershey's, Nestle, and Reese's."
"Very decent and very thoughtful, " added Gary gratefully, "It was very thoughtful of Samantha to recognize that we would not have that many chances to taste Honeydukes chocolate and to share her prize with us. It's the type of thing Lily would have done. And yeah, Honeydukes over Hershey's any day."
"Thanks, Samantha, " said Todd simply, "It was delicious."
"I'm glad Todd, Gary, and Miles got that chance tonight, " said Devon, smiling at his oldest friends and then at Samantha.
"Good for you, Samantha, " said Lily proudly, "Todd, Miles, and Gary won't have as many opportunities to have Honeydukes chocolate as the rest of or circle so I'm really glad you thought of that and really proud of you for sharing.
"My pleasure, " smiled Samantha.
Finally, Professor McGonagall picked up her megaphone again and was ready to make the big announcement
"The moment you've all been waiting for has arrived!" called out McGonagall with a genuine smile, "The gold medal for the Hogwarts Drawing Competition is awarded to Ainsley Cochlain! Ainsley Cochlain, please come up here!"
"M-me?" said Ainsley weakly, "Did I r-really win the Hogwarts Drawing Competition?"
"You sure did, " said Samantha warmly, "You shouldn't be surprised, Ainsley, I think it was obvious to all of us last Saturday that the drawing you ultimately chose to enter into the Hogwarts Drawing Competition was BY FAR the best drawing any of us showed each other day."
"No question about that, " agreed Lily glowingly, "That's EXACTLY one of the reasons that Ainsley made the absolute right decision to enter her preferred drawing into the Drawing Competition and why I made sure to steer her that way."
"Anyone with working eyes could easily tell Ainsley's eventual entry was the best drawing, " said James with certainty in his voice.
"The Circle of Eighteen has swept the medals!" said Lily proudly.
"That's so cool!" piped up Samantha.
"It's a wonderful moment for Ainsley, " said Devon sincerely, "It's really nice for Ainsley to be able to have this moment for herself tonight considering that she's leaving Hogwarts at the end of the semester."
"That's a great point, Devon, " said Lily glowingly, "Knowing that Ainsley's days as a Hogwarts student are now limited, it's really nice to see her be able to enjoy a triumph like this. Now that I think of it that way, there's no one else I'd rather have won. That's our Ainsley."
Ainsley slowly rose from her seat and slowly and happily walked up to the gold medal podium with a broad smile across her face. Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all began singing, not chanting but actually singing, "THAT'S OUR AINSLEY! THAT'S OUR AINSLEY! THAT'S OUR AINSLEY!"
Ainsley took her time with her walk up to the gold medal podium. She was happy and content and had the brightest possible smile on her face, but she wanted to take some time to take this moment in and savor it. This was a triumph Ainsley would remember her entire life. This was a truly sweet victory so Ainsley made it a point to take it in as much as she possibly could. Ainsley felt as though the rays of the sun were shining directly into her heart as she savored her own victory and the fact that her victory had clinched a medal sweep for the Circle of Eighteen. The brightness of these feelings glowed warmer and warmer as Ainsley heard her friends voices singing out in support of her.
Finally, Ainsley reached the gold medal podium and Professor McGonagall waved her wand and caused the gold medal to drape itself around Ainsley's neck.
"Congratulations, Ainsley, " said McGonagall softly.
Ainsley looked fondly down at her gold medal for a minute and a nanosecond before addressing the hall, "First and foremost, " said Ainsley in a crystal clear voice, "I have to take a moment to thank the GOAT of friendship, miss Lily Luna Potter, for setting this moment up for me. When the Hogwarts Drawing Competition was first announced, Lily gathered up the Circle of Eighteen and devised a plan that all eighteen of us would enter the Hogwarts Drawing Competition with a goal of sweeping the medals. So, to my friends in the Circle of Eighteen, this triumph belongs to all of us."
Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all applauded from their seats.
"Now, " said Ainsley, giving Lily a meaningful look, "Last Saturday the Circle of Eighteen showed each other our entries for the Hogwarts Drawing Competition. I showed off a second drawing I had done just for my own satisfaction. Well, it was clear to everybody present that this second drawing was not only superior to my intended entry, but the best drawing we'd seen that day. I really wanted to enter this drawing but vowed not to break my promise to Lily to submit the entry I had promised her I would submit."
"That shouldn't have mattered" piped up Samantha, "A promise is not a contract!"
"More like a plan!" added James and Devon together.
"Lily could tell had badly I wanted to enter the second drawing, " explained Ainsley, "And encouraged me to do so. Lily told me point blank to make the decision for myself and not for her."
"The kindness of Hufflepuff and the wisdom of Ravenclaw from a Gryffindor!" smiled McGonagall.
"It was important that Ainsley represent the best of herself and stay true to herself, " said Lily firmly, "And if she hadn't submitted the second drawing as her entry, she would have regretted it later."
"True," confirmed Ainsley. "I think it's time for me to actually show the gold medal winning drawing!"
So, McGonagall raised her wand again and waved it again and Ainsley's beach drawing flew into her hands.
Proudly holding up the beach drawing, Ainsley heard all the oohs and awes from the hall.
Everyone was looking at Ainsley's beach drawing in quiet admiration. Everyone was looking up at Ainsley's drawing and losing themselves in it in a relaxed way
The members of the Circle of Eighteen were dreamily imaging themselves walking naked and barefoot through Ainsley's white sand while watching the palm trees in the distance.
Some people. like Jill Kirke and Susan Bones Jr, were imagining surfing on Ainsley's sparkling light blue water while others such as Megan Nash and Roger Romo were fantasizing about flying in the small clouds of Ainsley's mostly blue sky.
The Great Hall was quiet, but it was welcoming quiet that gave off an aura of life in nature.
The feeling Hogwarts got from looking at Ainsley's beech drawing was pure gold.
After a while, a small cheer began that grew and grew and grew. Eventually, the clapping gave way to chants of "Gold! Gold! Gold!"
"Thank you, everyone, " said Ainsley genuinely, "To have this triumph happen to me, I feel as though I've been plunged into a fabulous dream."
"That's how we all feel looking at your drawing, " said Gordon warmly.
"Looking at Ainsley's drawing really does make you feel like you're actually at the beach, " said Lily admiringly.
"We all felt that vibe, " said James matter of factly.
"That's exactly why I was so confident in Ainsley winning gold, " said Samantha in an awestruck voice, "Ainsley's drawing literally transports you to where and what she has drawn. Any judge who didn't vote Ainsley as the gold medalist-"
"It was unanimous, " confirmed McGonagall.
"Good," chorused Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily.
"So, " smiled McGonagall, "We can have a beach party! Everyone stand up!"
McGonagall waved her wand once to remove the house tables and then a second time to create a beach setting in the Great Hall. Everyone in the hall took off his or her clothes and they all prepared to have a naked beach party.
It was as though Ainsley's drawing had come to life. A breathtaking sparkling light blue water, vivid white sand, lush green palm trees, and a mostly blue sunny sky with a few small white clouds had sprung into being.
People smiled at each other before Lily said smoothly, "Let's go!"
The Circle of Eighteen went straight for the sand. They walked at a leisurely pace, their bare feet rejoicing as the warm sand hit their toes.
"This is paradise!" exclaimed Gordon radiantly, "We'll just walk in the sand for a few minutes and then I have an idea."
"How about five minutes of walking in the sand and then we'll hear your idea, Gordon?" suggested Ainsley cheerfully.
"That's fair, " agreed Gordon.
"I'm sure your idea will add more enjoyment to our night, " Lily told Gordon encouragingly.
The Circle of Eighteen spent the next five minutes just silently walking in the sand, their bare feet glorying in its warmth.
When the five minutes of walking were up, Gordon piped up, "I want to build sandcastles!"
"That sounds fun!" said Ainsley eagerly.
"I'd love for us to build sandcastles!" said Hugo brightly.
"I'm all for it!" said Lily excitedly.
"Since we have to stay six feet apart from each other anyways, we'll each plenty of room to work with, " said Albus happily.
"The warmth of this sand is symbolic of the warmth between the Circle of Eighteen, " said Gordon warmly "It's a nice feeling having my idea be agreed to."
Every member of the Circle of Eighteen built his or her own sandcastle. They were all pretty basic sandcastles as the spur of the moment nature of Gordon's idea didn't give them time to think of creative ideas. What it was through was good clean noncompetitive fun. When they had all completed their sandcastles, they all looked admiringly at each other's work. There was no comparing or competing. They all just enjoyed taking in each other's work.
"OOH!" piped up Lily suddenly, "I've just had a wonderful idea. With all of your permission, I would like to place Hardening Charms on all of these sandcastles. I think they could be nice keepsakes for each of us from this night, serving as a pleasant reminder of both Ainsley's championship and Gordon's idea!"
Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all shouted "YES!" at the exact same nanosecond.
"Fantastic idea, Lily!" said Ainsley gratefully, "This sandcastle will be a treasured trinket of mine for years to come!"
"Same, " smiled Gordon, "I should have thought of that myself. Your idea one upped mine, Lily."
"If you hadn't had the idea to make the sandcastles in the first place then I could never have had the idea to preserve them, " said Lily kindly, "I didn't one up your idea, I just added to it. We can share the credit."
"Thanks, Lily, " said Gordon brightly, "This is turning into a splendid evening."
Everybody nodded in agreement at this.
Lily went and retrieved her wand from the right hand pocket of her shorts and quickly returned to the Circle of Eighteen in the sand.
Lily performed Hardening Charms on all of the sandcastles and then returned her wand to her shorts pocket.
"Professor McGonagall?" asked Lily, "May we take these sandcastles to our rooms and then return?"
"Of course!" approved McGonagall.
So, the Circle of Eighteen took their hardened sandcastles back to their rooms and then returned to the Great Hall.
"I'd like to go into the water! " said Ainsley excitedly.
"You're the gold medalist here, Ainsley, " said Samantha sincerely, "If you want to go into the water, then we're going into the water!"
"Well said, Samantha, " said James crisply, "As the muggles say, to the victor goes the spoils!"
"This is Ainsley's night!" said Lily proudly, "She deserves to savor every ounce of it to the fullest."
"We'll swim for a few minutes and then I'll conjure some surfboards for us!" said Ainsley excitedly.
The Circle of Eighteen all rapidly ran into the water. Like the sand, the water was pleasantly warm without being hot. The water washed the remaining sand out from between their toes and fingers, a fact that was now much welcomed by all of them. They took a five minute swim and then Ainsley conjured eighteen plain white surfboards for them to ride.
"These surfboards I've conjured here aren't permanent, " explained Ainsley, "They'll vanish after a while, "But they'll last long enough for us to have some fun!"
Ainsley then proceeded to conjure some waves for them to ride. For the most part they just rode the waves and didn't try anything too daring. In the main the three best surfers amongst the Circle of Eighteen were James, Gordon, and Ainsley. But, after a few minutes and a few nanoseconds, Lily jumped from her surfboard, rose high enough to briefly disappeared from sight, did a PERFECT figure eight on the way back down, and landed cleanly on her surfboard.
"Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily herself all screamed "WOW!" in what response to what Lily had done. It was too spectacular to analyze. All they could do was "WOW! at it and admire it.
They a few more minutes of surfing time before Ainsley announced, "These surfboards only have a few minutes left. Let's get out of here and go sit under the palm trees for a bit.
Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily threw the surfboards down and walked over to the palm trees.
The Circle of Eighteen now settled under the palm trees six feet apart from each other and Ainsley conjured a nice, warm, controlled campfire for them to sit by. They just sat talking and enjoying each other's company for a while.
Noticing what the Circle of Eighteen was doing, Professor McGonagall kindly summoned a cooler full of ice with eighteen bottles of Hawaiian punch and took it over to where the Circle of Eighteen was sitting under the palm trees. McGonagall quietly set the cooler down by them and left without a syllable. A minute and a nanosecond later, the Circle of Eighteen noticed the cooler.
Lily opened the cooler and realized immediately, "There are exactly eighteen bottles of Hawaiian punch in here!"
Instantly, Devon rose and helped himself to the first bottle of Hawaiian punch from the cooler, quickly opening it and taking his first sip.
"Mmmm, this stuff is great!" said Devon happily, "It's cold, flavorful, and refreshing!"
So, in order, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all went up to cooler one at time, each taking one bottle of Hawaiian punch. Lily insisted on making sure everyone else had taken his or her first sip before she would take hers.
When they had all started drinking the Hawaiian punch, a nice happy relaxed feeling arose in every member of the Circle of Eighteen. There was an enjoyable pleasant calmness about sitting under palm trees in a beach setting sipping Hawaiian punch with family and friends.
Once the Hawaiian punch was gone, Ainsley dumped the remaining ice onto the campfire to extinguish it and said, "Let's finish the medal ceremony,"
"Yes, " agreed McGonagall, "Everyone please put your clothes back on."
They all did, and McGonagall returned the Great Hall to its normal state.
Ainsley cheerfully walked back up to the gold medal podium and held out the gold medal once again hanging around her neck.
"Under pre pandemic conditions, " said Ainsley clearly, "I'd ask every member of the Circle of Eighteen to come up and touch my gold medal. Unfortunately, the need for social distancing during COVID-19 will not allow for that tonight. But I would like ask every member of the Circle of Eighteen to put out his or her right hand and reach in the direction of my gold medal so as to touch it virtually."
Devon, James, Hugo, Gary, Todd, Miles, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Rachel, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all obliged.
"If this fucking pandemic ever ends, " promised Ainsley, "I'll let each of you take a turn wearing my gold medal for a few minutes. This triumph belongs to the Circle of Eighteen just as much as it does to me."
The Great Hall erupted into cheers, with the friendship of the Circle of Eighteen spreading inspiration through the hall.
"Since I know James loves Old faithful Bars, I'll split this Old Faithful Bar with him, " said Ainsley kindly. Ainsley opened the Old Faithful Bar, broke it in half, and tossed half of it to James, who smiled, gave Ainsley a thumbs up, and said, Thank you, Ainsley."
Both James and Ainsley finished the Old Faithful Bar slowly, savoring the chocolate, peanut clusters, and marshmallow.
Ainsley then announced, "Here's what I plan to do with my prize money. I plan to give one hundred of the galleons to mom for use in the medical profession in the Wizarding World. I plan to exchange the other one hundred galleons into muggle dollars and give the dollars to Gordon to give to his mother, a muggle doctor, for use in the muggle medical profession."
"Wow!" said McGonagall, "What a wonderful and thoughtful way to use the prize money. "
"That would really help, " said Gordon with the deepest tone of gratitude in his voice.
"Ainsley, you may go back to your seat, " called McGonagall as she began to put the podiums away.
As Ainsley returned to the Gryffindor table, she said contently, "Gold medalist of the Hogwarts Drawing Competition. What a beautiful honor to receive in my later Hogwarts days. That beauty was only enhanced by being able to share this night with my friends. It was totally awesome baby!"
Everybody just smiled. They were so happy that Ainsley got to have this triumph before she moved on to the Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing in September. The fact it became a night they all shared made it that much better. The Circle of Eighteen would NEVER forget tonight.
The gold medal chapter was really enjoyable to write. I wanted Lily to play a role in the medals without medaling herself and I thought Lily convincing Ainsley to enter the beach drawing would be a nice Lily-Ainsley friendship movement. So, the Hogwarts Drawing Competition is done, but regular updates shall still be posted.
