"Before I start opening my presents, " said Harry smartly, "Bubble, would you please create a space for me to put my presents down in safely after I've opened each of them?"
Next nanosecond, a HUGE plastic basket appeared near the perimeter of the bubble, where all their clothes still sat as they were all still naked.
"Thank you, bubble, " said Harry gratefully, "Now it's time for me to open Lily's present."
Harry tore the wrapping paper off Lily's present to find a white box that he opened easily.
Inside the box was what looked to be an orange sweater.
But when Harry took the sweater out of the box, he saw that it wasn't a plain orange sweater, but an orange sweater with the Hogwarts crest in the middle.
"WOW!" said Harry happily, "This is a really nice sweater. "
"I'm glad you like it, " said Lily in a voice that oozed satisfaction, "I made it myself."
"You did a wonderful job on it, " Harry told Lily approvingly, "Have you been sewing for a long time?"
"My mom taught me to sew in the summer between Kindergarten and First Grade, " explained Lily, "I should also note that I intended that sweater to carry a message of interhouse unity. That's why I chose the Hogwarts Crest, because it features all four houses symbols. I chose orange as the background color because orange is a color that is NOT associated with any Hogwarts house and is therefore unbiased. I don't think any of us are thinking of sweaters today when it's almost a hundred degrees out. But I think that will be a nice sweater for you to wear come winter."
"I tell you what, Lily, " said Harry respectfully, "Out of respect for your work, I won't wear the sweater, but will keep it in my room. In that way I can ensure that your work doesn't get ruined or damaged."
"You are sweet and kind, Harry Potter, " replied Lily warmly, "But, I want you to actually wear the sweater. I'm not under any false delusions that it will last forever. Since you are just turning fourteen today and are still a growing boy, you will likely outgrow it in a few years anyway. Don't worry about ruining my work. I didn't put my time and effort into making this sweater for you for it to sit in a closet or dresser. I appreciate that you want to respect my work, but I made that sweater for you to wear it, not stash it. I also hope that having you wearing it in public places such as Hogsmeade and the Great Hall can help spread a message of inter house unity. And, by the way, if that sweater does get ruined or if you outgrow it, I will happily make you a replacement upon request."
"Thank you, Lily, " said Harry gratefully, "It's really cool that your mom passed her own loving of sewing on to you."
"It's one of the reasons I was always close with my mom, our shared love of sewing, " said Lily cheerfully, "But as I know you know now, when I was sad because I missed my parents on my first day at Hogwarts, two kindly girls also in Slytherin and in my year helped me out by befriending me. One of those girls is Tracey Davis, Tracey, you give Harry your present next."
So, Harry put the sweater in the basket and watched as Tracey walked up to him.
"Harry, " explained Tracey calmly, "I actually got the gift I'm going to give you for everyone here, plus a few others including those invited here who couldn't make it. Everyone else, including me, already has his or hers. Bubble, please send Harry's into his hands."
Next nanosecond, what looked like a simple mirror with white trim came zooming into Harry's hands with the speed of a cheetah chasing its prey.
"It's not just an ordinary mirror, " explained Tracey patiently, "But a multi way mirror. We can all use these mirrors to talk to and communicate with each other. If an owner of one of these mirrors says the name of another person into his or her mirror, the two people will appear in each other's mirrors and be able to talk via the mirrors. If two people are already using their mirrors, a third person could jump in by saying either of the first two people's names. If a sixth person wanted in, he or she would just have to say the name of any of the first five people and so forth. See how it works?"
"Yes, " said Harry brightly, "These mirrors are totally awesome baby! A gift to all of us to help keep all of us connected. That's wonderful, Tracey. "
"I think we're on the verge of being a very big circle and I want to encourage that, " said Tracey hopefully.
"You are sweet and kind, Tracey Davis, " piped up Lily Moon, "And so is Daphne Greengrass. Perhaps Daphne and her sister Astoria could go next."
Harry set the mirror in the basket and awaited the arrival of the Greengrass sisters.
Harry suddenly burst into song as Daphne and Astoria neared him.
"And the green grass grew all around all around and the green grass grew all around!" sang Harry.
Daphne and Astoria giggled.
"Couldn't resist, " smirked Harry.
"It's all good, " said Astoria fondly."
"We get that all time, " grinned Daphne, "Lily can't help but enjoying doing that. But, bubble, I need my gift to Harry now."
A long rectangular package wrapped in wrapping paper that looked like actual green grass zoomed into Daphne's hands.
Daphne handed the package to Harry, who could feel several items inside that all seemed to be somewhat light and long.
Harry ripped away the "Greengrass" wrapping paper and found three pairs of new fresh Hogwarts robes that would clearly fit him perfectly.
"This is nice, " said Harry brightly, "I had actually outgrown my old Hogwarts robes and needed new ones. Now that's one less thing I have to worry about."
"Even though we haven't met before today, I noticed by observation last year that your robes had started to look a bit tight on you so I thought replacing them would a birthday gift for you that would be both nice and practical."
"Thanks, a lot, Daphne, " said Harry kindly, "It's nice to have them replaced and not to have to worry about that during what's going to be a very busy August for me."
"You are sweet and kind, Daphne Greengrass, " smiled Lily Moon.
"So is Harry, " replied Daphne, "Harry, we, that is to say, Astoria, myself, and Lily, all owe you a big thank you. You certainly didn't have to invite us here today. Tracey was different since you'd met her before. But, as Astoria, I, and Lily are strangers to you, you certainly didn't have agree to invite us. You could have easily said "no strangers allowed" but you didn't."
"I'm not a big believer in the whole don't talk to strangers thing, " admitted Harry, "There are certain things you shouldn't do and certain cases in which caution should be exercised, but, if taken literally, don't talk to strangers would mean never making any friends at all. By the strictest definition, don't talk to strangers would mean never talk to anyone outside your family. Especially for kids, I cannot get behind this too much."
"Very well said, Harry, " said Lily approvingly.
"As for me, " said Astoria, "Well, bubble?"
And before he knew it, Harry had in his hands what seemed to be a Snickers bar.
The Snickers bar broke itself apart slowly one by one with the pieces landing in Harry's mouth.
"Yummy, " said Harry happily every time this happened.
When the Snickers bar was gone, Harry found himself holding a new quill.
The quill had a beautiful yellow feather.
"It's a fwooper feather quill, " said Astoria glowingly, "Daphne and I both have fwooper feather quills as well, though ours are pink."
"It's beauftul, Astoria, " said Harry appreciatively, "It comes at the perfect time too. Let's just say my old eagle feather quill has seen better days."
"I had no idea of that, " admitted Astoria, "I just know how beautiful fwooper feather quills are and wanted to share that with you. So, when I won this yellow fwooper feather quill as a prize in a Shuntbumps competition at a Wizarding Fair a few weeks ago, rather than be greedy and keep a second fwooper feather quill for myself, I chose to make it my gift to you for your birthday."
"You are sweet and kind, Astoria Greengrass, " interjected Lily Moon.
"Seeing four Slytherins here treating me this well and giving me such nice gifts is a watershed moment for me, " said Harry honestly, "Admittedly, largely thanks to the unfortunate influence of jerk face Ron Weasley, who I'm luckily shot of now, I was prejudiced against Slytherin for three years. My godfather, Sirius Black, aimed to break that stereotype for me by setting up my eye exam with Slytherin graduate Dr. Eye."
"Our eye doctor, " chroused Daphne, Astoria, Tracey, and Lily.
"Tracey recommended I switch to Dr. Eye once I joined the Wizarding World, " explained Lily.
"She was fantastic, " said Harry glowingly, "Sirius then set up a meeting between me and Tracey for multiple reasons, but he was going all in on giving people a chance no matter their house affiliation and I quickly found Tracey to be decent."
"It's good that the jerk of a jealous glory hound is seeing his influence on you fade away, " said Lily in a satisfied voice.
"Indeed, " agreed Harry, "The way you, Daphne, Astoria, and Tracey have treated me and responded to me has told me the truth. "
Harry just smiled. It was nice to have actual friends in all four houses now.