Hi, everyone! Today, Sunday, March 17th, 2024, is the 8 year anniversary of the publication of chapter 1 of Lily Luna Potter and the New Era of Hogwarts on FFN! :) I am very purposefully and very intentionally choosing to make today an update day for this story. Hard to believe 2 full college classes have come through since I started this thread. I have also now combined the last 2 chapters into 1 chapter.
The next two people to arrive in Samantha's backyard were Rose and Pamela.
Rose was carrying a tropical poinsettia with beautiful Christmasy red foliage.
"Samantha," said Rose warmly, "I have brought this beautiful Christmas poinsettia to share with our entire circle. I'd like it to be placed in the center of the table we will all be eating at in the dining room."
"It's lovely, Rose," replied Samantha brightly, "Where did you get this?"
"I used a Daily Prophet Order Form," responded Rose, "This is specifically a magical poinsettia. A secret magic ingredient has been added to it that will not do any damage to it but that enhances and vivifies the color. This secret magic ingredient is a trade secret, so I don't know what it is. "
"Rose, it is very decent of you to bring this lovely poinsettia for everyone to enjoy. I really appreciate this and I'm sure all of my other guests will as well, " acknowledged Samantha.
"Can I take this into the living room and place it on the table?" asked Rose.
"I don't want anyone entering the building just yet because it's so vast and I don't want anyone getting lost. I will have to guide you all a bit. SETTER!"
The house elf appeared once again.
"Mistress Samantha needs Setter to take something else inside?" guessed Setter.
"Setter, please take the poinsettia in Rose's hands and go place it on the living room table in the center of the table," instructed Samantha.
"Setter will take care of it," promised Setter.
"Thank you, Setter," said Samantha gratefully, "I know I've been keeping you busy today, Setter, so thank you for all your hard work."
"It is Setter's pleasure to serve Mistress Samantha," beamed Setter as she relieved Rose of the poinsettia and disappeared.
"As my name is Rose, I've got to take a red chair," grinned Rose as she sat down, "You know, Roses are red."
"I can't count how many variations of "Roses are red, Violets are blue," I've heard," smirked Samantha.
"Do you have any other house elves besides Setter?" inquired Rose.
"Yes, but she is one the two busiest," answered Samantha matter of factly, "Along with a male house elf named Chef who does most of the cooking here."
"Do you pay your house elves, Samantha?" grilled Rose.
"No," said Samantha firmly, "Most house elves would consider it an insult if you tried to pay them. It's in their nature to look after humans and they like to work. House elves consider it as an honor to serve their masters and mistresses and would see being paid as a slap in the face. Setter, Chef, and the rest of my house elves are allowed to live here in exchange for their service and that's all they want."
"That's slavery," complained Rose.
"Rose," said Samantha sharply, "I know perfectly well that you are Hermione's daughter. But I'm going to keep it 100 with you. When it comes to house elves, Hermione was wrong, and Hagrid was right. Spew was hot garbage. Hermione was also too self-righteous in taking the attitude that the house elves should want freedom and pay because it was what she wanted for them. Hagrid was right about how all of that did them a great unkindness."
"Dobby-" began Rose.
"Was abused by his horrible master," interjected Samantha, "Of course he wasn't happy serving Lucius Malfoy."
"Mom has enacted new laws that make it easier for house elves to abandon abusive masters and mistresses," piped up Hugo, "But a non-abused house elf will not want to be freed. House elves should be treated with respect and owners who abuse them should lose them. By and large though, most house elves are happy to serve their masters and mistresses."
"Hugo is right," said Samantha seriously, "How house elves are treated is important, but we should accept that most of them don't want freedom or payment. "
"I think it's pretty clear that Samantha does treat her house elves with respect," added Hugo to Rose.
Samantha, meanwhile, turned to Pamela and said, "Pamela, I know I've been ignoring you for a few minutes and a few nanoseconds, but welcome to Arizona."
"I'll take a green seat between Albus and Rose," smiled Pamela, "Samantha, by the way, I'd like to take this moment to thank you for all the time and effort you've put into making this meeting of our entire circle in Arizona for Christmas Vacation a reality. I know there's a lot more that goes into hosting something like this than just inviting people. I know you've put a lot of work into making this happen and I want to take this moment to acknowledge you for that."
"Thank you for the acknowledgement, Pamela, " replied Samantha, "But to be honest about it, the majority of the work was done by my parents, sisters. and house elves and that will become clear once we're inside and you've all seen everything. That acknowledged, it was I who chose, purchased, and set up the inflatable Christmas decorations you see in the yard now. Setter set up the chairs here and I used Simple Color Change Charms to turn them red and green for Christmas. You know how great my Simple Color Change Charms are and I did an awesome job with these chairs. YOU LIKE THAT! YOU LIKE THAT!"
"Yes, I do, " grinned Pamela, "This is going to be a fantastic Christmas Vacation! That response was an interesting mix of self-praise and honesty though."
"I'm very proud when I accomplish something, " said Samantha bluntly, "But I'm not a plagiarist and I'm not a credit thief. "
"Albus and Rose visited me and mom yesterday," piped up Pamela happily, "It was very pleasant and enjoyable."
"So?" inquired Samantha, "What is the relationship between Albus, and you and Rose like at this point? I know he's grown apart from you two at Hogwarts except for in the classroom and the library and he's been part of my main group at Hogwarts for a while now, but how do the three of you see the relationship between the three of you at this nanosecond?"
"Mom was actually concerned about that, " explained Pamela, "She understands why Albus has grown apart from Rose and me at Hogwarts outside the classroom and the library and vice versa. But, well..."
"She thinks the pendulum has swung too far the other way?" guessed Samantha.
"She was concerned that it would, and she was proactive in seeing to it that Albus and Rose came over to visit yesterday and that the three of us spent some time together. The three of us were a trio for many years and mom wants us to remember our friendship. "
"It almost felt like old times yesterday, " cooed Rose, "Hopefully the three of us can have another day together at Pamela's house over Spring Break."
"I would like that," agreed Albus, "Yesterday we went ice skating on a rink at Pamela's house and it was really fun. We had a few races against each other and the three of us then just ice skated as fast as we safely could together just for fun. After that we all jumped together on Pamela's trampoline. We kept trying to out jump each other, not in a competitive way, but just in a having a good old time kind of way."
"That's perfect," smiled Gary, "Things like that are a perfect way for the three of you to still spend some time together."
"It sounds as though Albus may have rebonded with Rose and Pamela yesterday," mused Miles.
"I'd say it's more accurate to say that yesterday's meeting kept me bonded with them," reasoned Albus, "Things will never go back to the way they had previously been and that's okay. But we're still going to keep sight of our friendship if you will."
"That makes sense," said Todd simply.
Samantha caught Rose and Pamela up on everything that had happened so far and had them exchange introductions with Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia.
Things kept rolling right along and a minute and a nanosecond after Rose and Pamela had exchanged introductions with the J Club girls, two more people had arrived.
These next two people were Gordon and Penny, who immediately helped themselves to seats with Gordon taking a green chair and Penny taking a red chair next to him.
"How's it's going, Samantha?" asked Gordon cheerfully.
"I'm doing great, Gordon" answered Samantha happily, "I'm delighted to be hosting our entire circle in my homeland of Arizona over Christmas Vacation."
"I just spent the weekend visiting Penny in her homeland of Pennsylvania," grinned Gordon.
"Gordon really liked my house," smiled Penny, "Because it's so much bigger than his house. He told me before we left this morning that he had really enjoyed staying in such a big house. I responded by telling him that he'd probably enjoy coming here and he said he hoped it would be huge."
"You've come to the right place then, Gordon," smiled Samantha, "In fact, I'm not permitting anyone to go inside until I give the go ahead because the interior of the building is so vast, and I'll have to guide you all the first time so that no one gets lost."
"That's exactly what I want to hear," said Gordon eagerly.
"It was nice to spend a few days in my own home and Gordon and I had some very fun snowball fights," piped up Penny joyously, "But I'm happy to be here now. I'm very pleased to have our entire circle together in one place for Christmas Vacation."
"How's your adjustment to Hogwarts going now, Penny?" asked Samantha kindly, "I know you've had a better time of it at Hogwarts than you did at Beauxbatons, but how are you feeling about life at Hogwarts now?"
"I'm still a bit insecure, but I'm feeling more comfortable as each day passes," replied Penny honestly, "After that year at Beauxbatons where I never made any friends except for my translator, part of me still expects to be unwanted. Being part of the Circle of Twenty Three helps, but my friendship with Gordon is the most important thing is my friendship with Gordon. Having a friend in my own year was critical for me."
"That's helped me out as well," nodded Gordon, "I was part of the then Circle of Eighteen last year without having a friend in my own year. I really appreciated being part of the group, but it's a big deal to have a best friend in my own year that I share classes with."
"Hey, Gordon, Penny?" interjected Jennifer, "Was it cold enough in Pennsylvania to be worried about frostbite?"
"It wasn't really THAT cold," explained Penny, "And besides, witches and wizards are a lot less prone to frostbite than muggles."
"For witches and wizards, " explained Ainsley, "Our magic helps protect us from frostbite. For a witch or wizard to get frostbite is extremely rare and if a witch or wizard DOES get frostbite then his or her magic will usually heal it almost instantly "
"I seem to remember," said James in amusement, "My sister continuing to wear flip flops during her first ever Quidditch match despite the EXTREME cold on that day."
"It was literally colder at Hogwarts that day than it was during the Ice Bowl or the Freezer Bowl," remembered Samantha.
"Witches and wizards may not have to worry about frostbite," said Rachel, shaking her head, "But, I still say that Lily was mad to wear flip flops in that kind of cold."
"Lily never wears any footwear other than flip flops or slippers because she just doesn't like to wear socks or shoes," said Hugo matter of factly.
"Yes," agreed Albus, "Lily does Lily and that's how it is."
"Part of Lily being Lily," said Samantha respectfully, "Is her politeness and patience. She specifically requested to come here last."
"The opposite of me," cooed Devon fondly, "If Lily were part of a turn taking activity or situation with thirty people, she would volunteer to take her turn thirty first."
"I knew that when I set this up," said Samantha matter of factly, "Even before Lily made that request, I set it up for Lily to come last because I knew she would insist on being last. But, well, that's Lily being Lily in a nutshell. Always putting others before herself both figuratively and literally."
"By the way," said Penny, looking back at Jennifer, "I know you must be one of the J Club girls, but I don't know which of you is which."
"I'm Jennifer," said Jennifer warmly.
Indicating Jessica, Jennifer told Gordon and Penny, "This is Jessica."
Now pointing at Julia, Jennifer informed Gordon and Penny, "This is Julia."
"I'm very pleased to meet you three and I'm sure Gordon is as well," piped up Penny kindly as Gordon nodded.
"The feeling is mutual," replied Julia as Jennifer and Jessica nodded.
"Samantha?" asked Penny, sounding a bit nervous as she spoke up, "I know you have a very strict no yelling policy. Apart from following that guideline, what do I have to do to ensure that you will welcome me back for potential future events."
"Penny," said Samantha gently, "I understand why you are feeling nervous. You are still insecure about being wanted and welcomed. "
"Yes," confirmed Penny, "I can feel some of that insecurity bubbling up."
"Penny," said Samantha softly, trying to sound reassuring, "I'm not proactively looking to get rid of anyone. You have to give me a reason not to want you. Yelling would be the biggest possible reason. Is there something specific you've been worrying about?"
"Nothing in particular," said Penny slowly, "I think the issue isn't that I don't trust you, but that I don't trust myself."
"The best piece of advice I can give you," Samantha told Penny seriously, "Is to have common courtesy and decency and to not to do anything while staying at my place that you wouldn't want a guest at your place doing. So long as you obey the no yelling policy you should be in pretty good shape. I expect you will feel more comfortable and confident as you settle in here."
That was exactly what Penny needed to hear and she gave Samantha a genuine smile.
"Thank you, Samantha." smiled Penny as she loosened up a bit.
Trying to lighten the mood even more, Samantha dug her left hand into her left hand pocket and pulled out a penny.
"Penny, catch!" said Samantha, giggling, as she tossed the penny to Penny.
"Jackpot!" said Penny as caught the penny in her left hand and held it up in the air, now giggling herself.
So, there will be anywhere from 2-4 Christmas Vacation at Samantha's chapters with 1 or 2 more chapters with people arriving and 1 or 2 chapters of some of what they do while they are there. After that, there are going to be some chapters that boldly go where no chapters have ever gone before: You see, in the future, I intend to include some chapters set at the Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing. Some of these chapters will be from Ainsley's perspective and some of them will be from Rachel's perspective.
It's hard to believe today is the 8 year anniversary of the publication of Lily Luna Potter and the New Era of Hogwarts on FFN. Thank you to everyone who is still reading and/or favoring and/or following this story after all these years.
Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all -Michael. :)
