The next morning, Lily got up at 7 A. M. She took a shower and brushed her teeth with her hot pink toothbrush before dressing and going down to the common room.
By 7:30 am Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, Stephanie, and Samantha had all come down from their rooms.
Lily noticed a badge on James's chest.
"James, you've been named a prefect?" asked Lily excitedly.
"Yes," said James proudly, "Of course the staff didn't have much choice as I'm the only Gryffindor in fifth year this year. In fact, there is one less prefect than usual this year because there are no Gryffindor girls in fifth year this year. Still had there been competition for the fifth-year boy prefect from Gryffindor this year, I would have won it and that's a fact."
"Congratulations, baby bro!" smiled Lily.
"Thanks, big sis," grinned James.
"I don't understand the prefect system." said Stephanie.
"Every year," explained James, "Hogwarts selects one fifth year boy and one fifth year girl from each house as that year's new perfects. All prefects remain prefects for their final three years at Hogwarts unless they have the privilege of being a prefect revoked. Also, one seventh year boy and one seventh year girl are selected as Head Boy and Head Girl of Hogwarts for that year. Prefects have various responsibilities and must attend prefect meetings regularly. In fact, I've got to go to my first prefects meeting at 8 A.M. this morning."
"And miss breakfast?" asked Devon.
"Breakfast will be served to the prefects at this meeting," explained James, "We aren't discussing anything serious at this first meeting. This first meeting is basically an opportunity for the new prefects such as me and the existing prefects to have a meet and greet. It's opportunity to meet each other and talk to each other and get to know each other over breakfast. "
""That's a good idea," said Lily approvingly, "I think the prefects will be able to work better together by getting to know each other better. In the old days the first prefects meeting of the year was held on the Hogwarts Express."
"That seems like it would have been pretty hectic," said Devon as he remembered reading about this as he educated himself on Wizarding History before coming to Hogwarts.
"I'm with you two on that," agreed James.
"It'd be pretty cool if we were to start our Hogwarts careers with one of the accelerated subjects, wouldn't it Lily?" said Hugo excitedly.
"Yeah it would," replied Lily in a voice that was full of anticipation. "I'm most looking forward to Defense Against the Dark Arts so I would love it if we had that first."
"I'm just happy to be starting at Hogwarts, period," said Devon as Ainsley, Stephanie. And Samantha nodded.
Devon? "asked Lily cautiously, "May I ask you a personal question?"
"I don't promise that I'll answer it, but you won't offend me by asking," answered Devon calmly.
"In taking up your place at Hogwarts, do you miss your friends from the muggle world?" Lily asked Devon in a soft voice.
"I don't so much miss them so much as I feel sad that I'll never see them again, "answered Devon, sounding quite sad, "Since First Grade I had been great friends with three boys named Miles Munson, Gary Coates, and Todd Murray. Had I had not come to Hogwarts, I'd be with them at Smeltings."
"Friends come into and go out of life, that's just part of life," said Samantha dismissively.
"Giving up those friendships was a price that was well worth paying to accept my invite to Hogwarts, but I can't pretend it wasn't a sacrifice, "said Devon matter of factly.
"I like how you put that," said Hugo respectfully. "You acknowledge the price of your decision while clearly being at peace with that decision."
"And it's not like I'll ever be lonely at Hogwarts, you six are wonderful friends," said Devon brightly.
"I too had to sacrifice friendships from the muggle world in order to take advantage of the opportunity to become a witch but I'm more philosophical about it," said Stephanie matter of factly, "Sacrificing friendships to take advantage of the opportunity to become a wizard was clearly a very emotional decision for Devon."
"It really was," acknowledged Devon, who was now fighting back tears, 'The loss of my friendships with Miles, Gary, and Todd stings me to the core and it hurts to even talk about it. But if I had declined my place in the Wizarding World and at Hogwarts, I would have regretted it forever. The opportunity cost of giving up my friendships with Miles, Gary, and Todd was a painful opportunity cost indeed but it was one that it was well worth paying to come to Hogwarts and become a wizard."
"See, I had a very strong bond with my muggle friends while those friendships were in progress ," explained Stephanie, "But once I got the opportunity to come to Hogwarts and become a witch it was easy for me to leave them behind because I saw it as entering another phase of my life and because of this reality; if you turn down opportunities to protect friendships, then you are turning down opportunities for the wrong reasons. You must shut out and shut off emotion and make the choice that is right for you and your life. The bottom line is that it's a truism of life that opportunity is more important than friendship."
"It ABSOLUTELY IS a truism of life that opportunity is more important than friendship," agreed Samantha in a fierce voice, nodding her head vigorously, "Truer words have never been spoken."
"Would it be a fair statement to say that you're the type of person who doesn't become attached to other people in the first place?" James asked Samantha.
"That's more than a fair statement. That is an outright fact," said Samantha proudly, puffing out her chest, "The fact that I am literally completely immune from becoming emotionally attached to other people is and has always been my greatest strength as a person."
"What makes you say that, Samantha?" asked Ainsley curiously.
"People who become emotionally attached to other people are setting themselves up for grief or sadness," said Samantha bluntly, "Because, well, people die, people move away, people change schools/jobs, situations like Devon's occur etc. The fact that people become emotionally attached to other people is the greatest weakness of the human species and Devon's situation is an example of why. If only Devon hadn't been emotionally attached to Miles, Gary, and Todd in the first place, then he wouldn't have to feel the sadness and hurt that he feels now."
"I take the opposite view," said Lily crisply, "To me the love and affection that comes from close relationships is the most important thing in life."
"That love and affection and the joy and satisfaction that comes with it is the very thing that makes life worth living." said Hugo firmly.
"BINGO, HUGO! "cried Lily, "Love, affection, and relationships are the very things that give life meaning and value."
"I'm in league with Lily and Hugo here," said James clearly, "Samantha, would you say that you make a conscience effort to avoid becoming close to other people?"
"I would if I had to," said Samantha decisively, "It's just not the worth the eventual grief and sadness on the other end."
"That sounds like going out of your way to avoid putting yourself in position for bad/hard times," observed James, "But if you go too far with avoiding the bad, the good will pass you by."
"BRAVO, JAMES, "cried Lily, "Nothing is more precious than love, affection, and relationships. Not saying that Devon, Samantha, or Stephanie made the wrong decision to come to Hogwarts. But I do think we should all strive to cultivate strong bonds with each other now that we are here."
"I'm a middle grounder on friendship," piped up Ainsley, "My view is that friendship should be valued but not cherished. Friendship is a beautiful thing in its own way but other things such as opportunity, health/safety, and life itself are far more important than friendship, love, or affection."
"It's funny, me being a wizard," said Devon in a kind of Luna Lovegood like dreamy voice.
"And how did Dudley react when you got and accepted your invite to Hogwarts?" Lily asked Devon.
""He is very supportive of my entry into the magical world, "said Devon happily. "My dad as an adult is not like he was as a child. As an adult, dad is a good man. Dad said no matter what I'd always be his son and he'd always be proud of me. Of course, my mom was quite glad I accepted my invite to Hogwarts. I have always attended all-boys schools and Smeltings is also an all-boys school. Mom is NOT a fan of gender segregation. "
"What is your mom's name?" Lily asked Devon curiously.
"Debra," replied Devon simply.
"I have to go to my prefects meeting now," said James matter of factly, "See you guys again at lunch."
James left for his prefects meeting while Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily went down to breakfast.
Once at breakfast, Devon piled his plate with forty pancakes, twenty waffles, ten pieces of toast, thirty sausage links, and thirty strips of bacon, washing it down with six jugs of Sunny Delight. Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily each consumed one pancake, one waffle, one piece of toast, two sausage links, and two strips of bacon and gulped down one glass of Sunny Delight each.
At that nanosecond, Professor Longbottom, now head of Gryffindor, came around and handed out timetables.
"You're in luck, Lily," said Stephanie as she looked down at her schedule, "Our first class this morning is Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor McMillian."
"Excellent," said Hugo and Lily together.
"Professor McMillian was in my year at Hogwarts, but in Hufflepuff, "said Professor Longbottom. "My wife is his best friend."
"Is he a good teacher?" Lily asked Professor Longbottom.
"Absolutely," replied Professor Longbottom. "Professor McMillian is highly knowledgeable about Defense the Dark Arts, has a special aptitude for the subject, and is passionate about what he does. Accelerating the classes this year will present him with a new challenge, but I'm sure he'll handle it well."
At 5 till 9, Hugo, Devon, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily headed off for the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Arriving precisely at 9 A.M. , Professor McMillian gave them a serious talk as they sat down.
"As you know, Defense Against the Dark Arts is the most important subject taught at Hogwarts. This is one of the reasons you don't share this class with another house. Small class size will allow time for one on one instruction. The importance of this subject is also the reason why we are starting accelerated classes this year. By teaching you more through your first five years, we'll also be able to take you through more advanced concepts in years six and seven."
"Professor McMillian?" asked Lily, "Professor McGonagall said we would be doing things this year that our parents didn't do until third year. "
"Correct, Miss Potter," said Professor McMillian matter of factly. "Today we are going to tackle Boggarts."
Professor McMillian pointed his wand at the wardrobe in the back of the room, and a Boggart came out.
The Boggart shot straight at Devon and when it reached him it took a most shocking form.
There was a Devon in the Boggart and a Lily in the Boggart. The Devon in the Boggart pointed his wand directly at the Lily in the Boggart and cried "Avada Kedavra!"
The Lily in the Boggart crumpled and fell to the ground, instantly dead.
The real Devon screamed and burst into tears as his face reddened.
"M-my w-wand," said the real Devon shakily. "Is m-made of y-yew. That's the wood that was in Lord Voldemort's wand. I'm terrified I'll g-go b-bad."
Next nanosecond, Devon crumpled to the floor, still sobbing.
There were a couple of minutes of uncomfortable silence after that.
The fear regarding his wand that Devon had expressed on the Hogwarts Express had seemed real enough. But only now that they saw his Boggart did his friends fully realize how deep this fear truly ran.
"This means, "said Lily quietly after a few minutes, "That Devon's worst fear is the fear of going bad."
"Yes," confirmed Devon with his voice trembling.
"In a way, "observed Ainsley, "It's an admirable Boggart. You must respect someone who cares enough about wanting to be a good person that his worst fear is the fear of becoming a bad person. At the same time, I really hope Devon will come to understand that it's totally in his control to be a good person. It all comes down to making the right choices."
"I didn't get to choose the wand I owned. The yew wand chose me," said Devon fretfully.
"But you can choose how to use that yew wand," said Ainsley briskly, "You can use that wand for good you know.""
"True," agreed Stephanie, "We've all got both light and dark inside. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are."
"But what if my wand chose me with the intent of turning me to the Dark Side?" suggested Devon in a worried voice. "We're talking about the wood that chose Lord Voldemort.'"
"But good wizards have owned yew wands as well," said Hugo clearly. "Voldemort gave yew a bad name. I predict your yew wand will one day save the life of someone you care about or a family member thereof. "
"Yeah, powerful wands can be used for good too," pointed out Samantha, "Hugo may be right, there may come a time where you will say that owning that yew wand is the best thing that could have happened to you."
It was Lily who ultimately what to say to calm Devon down.
"Devon," said Lily supportively, "We all love you and we're all behind you 100%. I know you're a good person and I know you'll turn out alright. If you ever need someone to talk it to you can always come to me. I'll act as a sounding board for you if you want to get something off your chest, but I also will be a non-interfering friend."
Something about both Lily's voice and her faith in Devon seemed to soothe Devon and he seemed to settle down a bit.
"Lily?" requested Devon, "Will you please help me up?"
"Of course, I will," said Lily gently.
Lily reached down and offered Devon her right hand in his right hand. Devon's right hand took Lily's and Lily pulled Devon back to his feet.
"Thank you all for your support, "said Devon with deep meaning in his voice. "I especially want to thank you Lily, you really know how to be a great supportive and loyal friend. I have two very loving and supportive parents. But you must remember that I'm an only child. I have no siblings and as both mom and dad are only children themselves, I have no cousins either. As great of parents as mom and dad are, sometimes it's just nice to be able to talk things out with someone my own age and as an only child, this makes me my friendships very important to me. I am especially lucky to have such a truly wonderful friend as you, Lily."
Lily smiled, feeling proud of having her friendship qualities praised. And she swore to herself then and there to live up to that praise.
Devon was a good person, but it was clear how much he needed the support of his friends and Lily was determined to always be the best friend she possibly could.