On the night of July 1st, 2021, James, Albus, and Lily were all home from Hogwarts for the summer and had joined Harry and Ginny at the dinner table.
Harry and Ginny had already set the table with five sets of plates, forks, and knives.
"I've put out an order to get meals delivered for us tonight, " explained Harry to James, Albus, and Lily, "While you three were away at Hogwarts, a new restaurant opened in our area. On April 2nd, Hogwarts graduate Mandy Brocklehurst, who was a Ravenclaw in my year, though I never had much to do with her, opened a new restaurant called Mandy' s Masterful Meatloaf."
"Harry and I ate at Mandy's Masterful Meatloaf the night it opened, and the food was so good that Harry and I agreed that we would order delivery from Mandy's Masterful Meatloaf on the night you three arrived home, " said Ginny warmly.
"Prepayment is required for delivery services from Mandy's Masterful Meatloaf so a team of owls should arrive soon to deliver our meal and quickly take off again, " said Harry eagerly.
Next nanosecond, ten screech owls entered the dining room, five of them carrying boxes of food and the other five of them carrying drinks. The owls teamed up so they placed one box of food and one drink at each Potter's place setting. The boxes were blue in color and had the words Mandy's Masterful Meatloaf stamped on them in bronze lettering. The owls quickly departed again.
Harry, James, Albus, Ginny, and Lily all opened the boxes to fantastic smells.
Each box contained a long thick slice of ground beef meatloaf, packs of ketchup and hot sauce to add to the meatloaf if desired, a baked potato, a husk of corn on the cob, a dinner roll, and a chocolate fudge brownie for dessert. The drinks were Coca Cola Classic.
Harry, James, Albus, Ginny, and Lily each took his or her food out of his or her box and put it on his or her plate and cut up his or meatloaf and baked potato.
All five Potters took their first bite of meatloaf at the exact same nanosecond, and five cries of "YUM!" echoed through the house.
"This is really high quality meat, " said James instantly.
"So juicy too, " added Albus.
"And piping hot, " piped up Lily.
"Told you so!" grinned Harry and Ginny together.
All of the food proved to be of the same high quality and the five Potters went back and forth between dipping their meatloaf in the ketchup and the hot sauce.
"So?" asked Harry as they ate, "You three all had good years at Hogwarts?"
"Yes, " chorused James, Albus, and Lily.
"James, " grinned Harry, "Let Ginny and I be the two latest people to tell you-"
"CONGRATULATIONS PROFESSOR POTTER!" yelled Harry and Ginny in delight.
"Thank you very much, mom and dad, " said James warmly, "I know that becoming a Wandmaking teacher will be both a challenging and a rewarding experience."
"Ginny and I were so proud when we heard, " said Harry glowingly, "You've accomplished so much already."
"You know, " said James thoughtfully, "One really positive thing that's come out of my journey to becoming a Wandmaking teacher is that I've become a lot more interested in Potions that I've ever been before."
"That's wonderful, " said Ginny happily.
"Even though Wandmakers don't actually have to make potions or know how to, the fact that potion treatments are such an important part of Wandmaking has caused my interest in Potions to skyrocket because I want to know everything there is to know about every aspect of Wandmaking, " said James proudly, "In fact, I know for a fact that Cooling Potion, Temperament Potion, and Strengthening Potion are all part of the seventh year Potions curriculum and I'm really looking forward to learning about how they are made. "
"Even though I'm still several years from being a seventh year, my own interest in Wandmaking has also led me to take a greater in Potions than before. James was always a good Potions student and I was always a great Potions student but neither of us were very interested in the subject before and now we are, " said Lily warmly.
"That's great to hear, " said Harry approvingly, "James, Ginny and I were really pleased when we got your report card for this past school year and saw you had achieved an O in Potions for the first time in your Hogwarts career."
"My increased interest in the subject naturally improved me as a Potions student, " said James glowingly, "Transfiguration remains my favorite core subject though."
"James, " asked Lily, "May I make a request?"
""Let me guess, " said James in understanding, "Despite our previous agreement on the matter, you are not comfortable with me calling you or addressing you as "Miss Potter," when you are a student in my Wandmaking classes and would prefer me to just call you Lily?"
"So, you're an Legilimens now, James?" smirked Lily.
Her tone was teasing and lighthearted, but her words did indicate that to James that his guess been correct.
"I wish, " laughed James, "In all seriousness, if you are not comfortable with me addressing you as Miss Potter, I can easily just call you Lily. I mean, Hagrid calls us by our first names in our Care of Magical Creatures classes and it's no big deal so I don't see why I can't call my Wandmaking students by their first names as long as I do it for all of them."
"If anything, " suggested Harry, "In a subject where the mentor-pupil relationship is particularly important, it's actually better for you to be on a first name basis with your students."
"I agree with that, " added Ginny.
"I would just find it too awkward to have my brother address me as "Miss Potter," admitted Lily, "I love the idea of calling James Professor Potter though."
James grinned. Every time he heard the words "Professor Potter." his hearted warmed a bit.
"As for me, " piped up Albus, "I'll be taking my O.W.L.s next year."
"Look, Albus, " said Harry seriously, "O.W.L. year is an especially important year, and I knew you're a great student who is passionate about academics. But it is very important that you don't put too much stress or pressure on yourself. Prepare and focus but don't overexert yourself or put too much pressure on yourself."
"It will be my N.E.W.T. year as well, " said James matter of factly, "Having already been through my own O.W.L. year successfully, I can offer Albus some advice on how to approach it."
"I would appreciate any advice I can get, and you've been through it somewhat recently so you would have your finger on the situation, " said Albus in a businesslike voice.
"The big thing, " said James clearly, "Is don't think about the stakes of the O.W.L.s. Approach your classes and your studying with an approach that focuses only on learning the material you need to learn and enter your O.W.L.s with a calm focus on applying what you've learned. Don't think about what's on the line. Focus instead on what you have to do and what you need to learn. That's how I approached it."
Albus had a thoughtful look on his face as he took this all in.
"Thanks, James, " said Albus quietly after a minute and a nanosecond, "I know how well your O.W.L.S turned out for you so I know that I can trust any advice you can give me on how to handle the year."
"Always remember as well, " said Ginny crisply, "That you have two very loving and supportive siblings at Hogwarts. If for some reason you are struggling to deal with something, always remember that you can talk with either James or Lily about your concerns at any time."
"Absolutely, " confirmed James and Lily warmly.
"I know they have my best interests at heart, " smiled Albus, "But if I had what I thought were O.W.L related concerns, I'd be more likely to go to James because he has the experience of having been through that year."
"This is wise, " said Harry firmly, "Listen to the person who has been there."
"As a third year, I'm starting Ancient Runes, " said Lily happily.
"I never took that, " said Harry simply.
"I did, " put in Ginny, "It's a very enjoyable subject."
"Also, " added Lily, "I've decided that every time we get to go to Hogsmeade next year, I'm going to buy some extra candy from Honeydukes. I will then send this extra candy to Todd, Miles, and Gary. Being muggles, those three, even as part of the Circle of Eighteen, don't have as many opportunities to join us as the rest of the circle. "
"That sounds great in theory, " said Harry matter of factly, "But should you really be sending muggles magical candy?"
"I only mean slabs of Honeydukes chocolate, " clarified Lily.
"Oh, " said Harry in understanding, "That's okay then. I'm pleased and proud to have such a kind and thoughtful girl for a daughter."
"As much as I love Hogwarts, I'm quite glad to be home for the summer, " said Lily sincerely, "I'm ready for the break."
"I am too, I need it, " added James.
"Summer vacation is coming at right time for us, " agreed Albus.
"I'm so happy to see mom and dad again, " said Lily in a warm hearted voice.
"I'm sure they're delighted to see us again too, " said James.
"Yes!" chroused Harry and Ginny.
The rest of the meal passed with a combination of chitchat and savoring the declivous meal that Harry had procured from Mandy's Masterful Meatloaf.
There was a feeling of contentment in the air. The Potter family was back together again for the summer and all five of them were ready for that.I
