On Wednesday, June 30th, 2021, Devon, James, Albus, Hugo, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily were all walking down to the Leaving Feast when they passed the Quidditch Pitch.

As they were passing the pitch, Ainsley felt a very painful pang in her heart and her eyes began to well up with tears. These weren't run of the mill tears either. These tears had a burning sensation in them, and Ainsley could really feel them.

As Lily noticed Ainsley's tears flowing down her face, she said gently, "Really feeling the emotion of this being your last night as a Hogwarts student, Ainsley?"

"Yes, " admitted Ainsley, "As we passed the Quidditch pitch, it sunk in on my heart like a stone that I will never play another match for Gryffindor, that I will never score another goal, that I will never win another Quidditch Cup. "

"You're going to experience a lot more of those kinds of emotions tonight and tomorrow morning, " Devon told Ainsley in a gentle but warning type of voice, "On my last day of fifth grade at my old elementary school, I found myself looking at various things and places throughout the school and having it totally hit me in the gut that they would no longer be a part of my life after that day."

Ainsley gave Devon a weak smile. She knew Devon understood exactly how she was feeling in this nanosecond because he had been there himself.

"Moving on is never easy, " nodded Lily in understanding, "The best thing you can do is let your emotions flow naturally."

Devon, James, Albus, Hugo, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily were all rather quiet as they reached the Gryffindor table and took their favorite seats.

"Good evening, " said Professor McGonagall from the staff table, "As you all know, tonight's Leaving Feast is the last event I am scheduled to preside over as Hogwarts Headmistress. While my retirement won't become official until midnight on September 1st, and while I will take responsibility this summer for tasks such as sending out next year's Hogwarts letter to allow our new headmistress some time off between her graduation from Hogwarts as a student and her taking up the headmistress's responsibilities come September 1st, I do want to have a ceremonial transfer from myself to our new headmistress tonight. Jill Kirke, please come up here."

Jill rose from the Ravenclaw table and calmly walked up to the staff table.

McGonagall told Jill, "I will wave my wand and make the food appear. But I want you to make the declaration."

"I understand, " said Jill simply.

McGonagall passed the famous purple megaphone on to Jill and then retrieved her wand from her right hand pocket with her right hand.

McGonagall waved her wand and made the food appear on the golden plates while Jill declared, "Let the Leaving Feast begin!"

The typical fare for Hogwarts Welcoming Feasts and Leaving Feasts appeared: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops, lamb chops, sausage, bacon, steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, fried, gravy, ketchup, mustard, and hot sauce. (The peppermint humbugs had disappeared from Hogwarts feasts after Dumbledore had died.) Tonight's beverage was Coca Cola Classic.

Devon, James, Albus, Hugo, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all filled their plates with a little bit of everything without taking too much of anything, their typical approach to the Welcoming Feast and the Leaving Feast.

They were able to forget about the sadder aspects of the night as all of them lost themselves in the excellent feast.

The feast was followed by desserts of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, jello, and rice pudding.

The desserts were just as tasty as the Leaving Feast itself and Devon, James, Albus, Hugo, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily continued to just quietly enjoy some good eating with worrying or thinking about anything else.

Once the desserts were gone, the magnitude of the night came back to the whole Great Hall as Jill now spoke into the purple megaphone.

"First, " said Jill classily, "I would like to congratulate Professor McGonagall on twenty two excellent years of service to Hogwarts as headmistress. Let's all give Professor McGonagall a round of applause for her twenty two years of successful service in the role of headmistress of Hogwarts. "

There was a round of polite applause. Everyone, including Jill herself, clapped a few times in recognition of McGonagall's tenure as the headmistress of Hogwarts.

"Professor McGonagall?" asked Jill politely, "Is there anything you would like to say to our student body?"

McGonagall took the purple megaphone from Jill and said, "It has been my honor to have served Hogwarts in the position of headmistress since the 1998-99 school year, the first school year after the Battle of Hogwarts. However, I was no spring chicken when I took the position, and I am now in the home stretch of my life. It is my wish to enjoy a relaxed life in whatever remaining years I am lucky enough to have left. And while I still love Hogwarts will all of my heart and will continue to make Hogwarts my home, it is time for some young blood to lead Hogwarts. Sometimes, the time for a change is just the right time. Thus, I ask that you join me in wishing Miss Jill Kirke good luck in her role as the new headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

The student body now gave Jill a round of applause as well. it wasn't over the top, but a very respectful applause that indicated that the student body was giving Jill the good luck that McGonagall had asked for.

Jill took the purple megaphone back from McGonagall and said, "Thank you for the warm welcome. McGonagall has agreed to take care of the headmistress duties over the summer so I can have some time off after graduating from being a student. I will officially become Headmistress Kirke at midnight on September 1st. I will have more to say to you all on that night. As for now, I'm sure you'd all rather spend this last night chatting with friends than listening to me run my yap. So, goodbye for now."

Jill retreated to the Ravenclaw table while McGonagall walked out of the Great Hall.

There was no sadness in McGonagall. Only peace. She was content with what her tenure as headmistress had been. She knew the decision she wanted to make now, and she knew it was the right time to make it. As McGonagall made it to her room, she felt not only peaceful, but relived. Relived to look forward to a quiet and relaxed home stretch of her life. She had made her contributions. It was time to enjoy the rest of her life for herself.

Most of the students hung around the Great Hall for a bit longer and chatted with their friends. As Devon, James, Albus, Hugo, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily finally got up from their seats to leave, Ainsley looked at the chair she had sat in more times than she cared to count and burst into sudden tears.

"I c-can't believe I'll n-never attend another Welcoming Feast o-or Leaving Feast a-at H-Hogwarts, " sobbed Ainsley, "It r-rips my h-heart to k-know I won't be sitting in that c-chair everyday anymore. "

Devon and Lily silently nodded at Ainsley in understanding. Ainsley nodded back at them. Ainsley understood that this was exactly what Devon had warned her about earlier and Devon recognized Ainsley's emotions from his own experiences. Lily just understood everything there was to understand about human emotion.

As Devon, James, Albus, Hugo, Fred, Gordon, Pamela, Rose, Roxanne, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily entered the Gryffindor Common Room, there was a definite feel of melancholyness.

Everyone had to go down their own path in life. But Ainsley knew her life wouldn't be the same without Hogwarts and the others all knew Hogwarts wouldn't be the same without her.

They were all enormously proud of Ainsley for taking up her position as a student at The Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing and they were all happy for her to have that opportunity. But there was no question she would be missed at Hogwarts.

Ainsley was still forever a part of the Circle of Eighteen of course, and there would be ample opportunities for her to still be a part of their lives and she of theirs, but there was a definite feeling of eeriness and emptiness knowing that Ainsley would no longer be part of the day to day crowd when the next Hogwarts semester started.

As they all went to their rooms, Ainsley felt as though her very soul had been hit by a brick wall as she looked around her room and realized that after tomorrow morning, this would no longer be her room.

Now in only her own company, Ainsley's tears flowed freely until she ran out of tears to cry.

Somehow, someway, crying in her own space seemed to at least give Ainsley a bit of peace and closure. She still felt sad, but after letting her emotions flow freely, she felt like could now have peace and a sound mind about it all. There was a price to pay for it, but Ainsley knew she was making the correct decision in taking up her place at The Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing. Painful as it was sometimes, it truly was a truism of life that opportunity was more important than friendship.

Besides, as Ainsley reminded herself, she wasn't really giving up her friendships from Hogwarts. Her friends had made sure of that for her.

This road had closed. But it was time to turn onto another.

So that marks the end of Lily's second year at Hogwarts. This was actually a very hard chapter to write. I've actually found myself in positions like Ainsley's before. not so much the hard choices part, but the struggling with having to move on part. I can actually relate to this chapter and the emptions of it in a way I can't relate to some of the more tragic parts of my stories. In many ways, both Oliver Wood's reaction to having to leave Hogwarts behind in A Different Path and Ainsley's reactions to having to leave Hogwarts behind in this chapter are based on personal experience.