On Monday, July 6th, 2020, The Potters received both some very good and some very sad news.
The happy news came in the form of an official letter that James received.
Not too long after Harry, Ginny, James, Albus, and Lily had finished their breakfast of two pancakes, two sausage links, and one glass of Sunny Delight each, a black owl appeared outside their window. The owl had an official looking paper in its beak.
"That paper must be my O.W.L. results!" squealed James in a voice that sounded half excited and half nervous.
James eagerly went to open the window and sure enough the owl dropped his O.W.L. results in his lap.
The owl quickly went off again and James glanced at his results.
Ordinary Wizarding Level Results.
James Sirius Potter has achieved:
Ancient Runes: E
Care of Magical Creatures: E
Charms: O
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Herbology: E
Potions: E
Transfiguration: O+
History of Magic: T
James passed his results around to Harry, Ginny, Albus, and finally Lily and had a broad smile on his face as Lily handed him his results back.
"Great job, James," said Harry in a serious but proud voice, "Three Os including an O+ in Transfiguration, which is only the most difficult course that Hogwarts offers. This is wonderful work, James."
"It's great to see that you got Os in the three most important subjects," said Ginny warmly.
"Coagulations, baby bro!" squealed Lily in a voice that oozed both happiness and pride, "You obviously put a lot of effort into your exams to get such great marks. three Os with an O+ in Transfiguration is stellar work and I couldn't be prouder of you!"
"Thanks, big sis," said James with a smile, "Defense Against the Dark Arts is THE most important subject for all witches and wizards. We Potters, especially dad, know that all too well. But I suspect Charms and Transfiguration are also the most important subjects for me. My instincts tell me that Charms and Transfiguration are the most important subjects for wandmakers. "
"That makes sense," agreed Lily, "Dad, mom, do you two know about James being offered a teaching position at Hogwarts starting in the 2021-2022 school year as a Wandmaking professor?"
"We do!" chorused Harry and Ginny.
Harry went up to his bedroom and quickly returned with several Daily Prophet clippings.
The first had a big large all caps headline:
POTTER SIBLINGS TIE FOR GOLD!
A subheadline read:
Wonderful wand ideas net win for James and Lily Potter.
Below the subheadline was a moving picture of James and Lily with their arms around each other as they walked up to the winner's podium.
A second daily Prophet headline read:
JAMES POTTER TO BECOME WANDMAKING TEACHER AT HOGWARTS in 2021-2022!
A subheadline below this read:
James to receive personal training from Olivander in 2020-2021.
After putting the newspaper clippings back in his room, Harry returned and addressed James and Lily.
"James, Lily, May I be totally honest with you two about something?" asked Harry cautiously.
"Yes," chorused James and Lily simply,
"Personally, "said Harry, "I feel that James was more deserving of being the gold medal winner than Lily. While Lily's idea of starting a fund to ensure all Hogwarts students can arrive at school with first hand wands was a fantastic idea that will help out a number of Hogwarts students, James's idea to introduce Wandmaking courses will have a great positive long term effect on the entire Wizarding World. Not only does James's idea ensure that British witches and wizards will still be able to get wands after Olivander dies, but because it should create a number of Wandmakers in the long run, there will be more competition in the marketplace, prices will go down, and choices will become more diverse. Don't misunderstand, Lily, I am very proud of you for your idea. I just think James deserved the win more because his idea is more far reaching and also because it was bolder."
"I'm glad the judges ruled the way they did," said James fiercely, "Being able to share that triumph with Lily made it so much more special for me and remember that the ideas being related was a factor in that decision."
"I agree with you dad, " admitted Lily, "James did have the bolder idea. I'm so proud of James that he's actually going to be a Wandmaking teacher. That said, I feel no guilt about sharing first place with James given that our ideas turned out to be related."
"I'm not against the decision the judges made. The tie was a reasonable ruling. I'm just giving my own personal opinion that I think James had the best idea," clarified Harry.
"Dad, please be honest, "asked Lily, "If you had been on the panel of judges, would you have gone along with the tie or vouched for James to be the sole gold medalist?"
"If I had been on that panel and the tie was clearly something the other judges were all in agreement about, then I would have gone along with it. Had I been the sole judge of the Hogwarts Writing Competition, I would have awarded James gold, you silver, and Samantha and Megan a tie for bronze. I do legitimately think the tie you and James had for gold was a fair and reasonable ruling. I personally have a slightly different opinion. I'm really proud of both you and James."
"Everything happens to those two," butted in Albus in a bitter voice.
"Come again?' Harry asked Albus in a confused voice.
"Nothing ever happens for me!" said Albus resentfully, "James gets to be Quidditch Commentator, Lily gets to be Seeker for Gryffindor, James and Lily tie for gold in the Hogwarts Writing Competition!"
"James and Lily earned those things," said Harry calmly, "You could try being happy for your brother and sister."
'WHY SHOULD I BE HAPPY FOR THEM WHEN NOTHING EVER HAPPENS FOR ME!" shouted Albus in a very angry voice as he started to lose his temper, "LILY WAS GIVEN THE SEEKER POSITION WITHOUT HAVING TO TRY OUT!"
"That's because of how well she showed she could fly during her first flying lesson," James defended Lily, "Wesley didn't just blindly hand her the spot out of thin air."
"Well said, James," said Harry approvingly.
"THAT'S HARDLY THE WORST OF IT EITHER! Yelled Albus, "JAMES AND LILY HAD EVERYONE FAWNING ALL OVER THEM OVER THE HOGWARTS WRITING COMPETITION WHEN MY BRILLINAT IDEA WASN'T EVEN GIVEN AN HONORABLE MENTION!"
"What was your idea?" Lily asked Albus, feeling curious.
'TO HAVE THE WORTHLESS HOUSE OF SLYTHERIN ELIMINATED FROM HOGWARTS! roared Albus, "I SUBMITTED A PAPER SUGGESTING THAT ANY STUDENT SORTED INTO SLYTHERIN BE AUTOMATICALLY EXPELLED FROM HOGWARTS UNLESS THE SORTING HAT DECLARES THEY ARE ALSO FIT FOR ANOTHER HOUSE SO THAT THE HOUSE OF BELLATRIX LESTRANGE AND LORD VOLDEMORT COULD BE REMOVED FROM HOGWARTS! I STILL DON'T GET HOW LILY DOESN'T GRASP HOW EVIL SLYTHERIN HOUSE IS AFTER WHAT PHILLIP EDGECOMBE TRIED TO DO TO HER IN HER FIRST QUIDDITCH MATCH! BUT, NO, MY IDEA GETS OVERLOOKED WHILE EVERYONE FAWNS OVER JAMES AND LILY!"
"There are good Slytherins!" insisted James for what seemed like the billionth time, "I have several Slytherin friends at Hogwarts. Megan Nash of Slytherin is a particularly good friend of mine."
"And Megan went out of her way to comfort me and make sure I was okay after the incident involving Phillip Edgecombe even though she and I don't know each other very well. And the Slytherin captain, Ernie MacMillan Jr was very classy to me."
Harry smiled at James and Lily, glad that they had this opened minded view of all the houses.
"DAMN!" vented Albus, 'IT'S ALWAYS JAMES THIS, LILY THAT, LILY THIS, JAMES THAT. AND I'M THE IGNORED ONE! NOTHING EVER HAPPENS TO ME OR FOR ME! WELL, THIS IS WHAT I THINK OF THAT!"
Albus first punched both James and Lily on the back as hard as he could, then he spit in both of their faces, and finally, he grabbed both James and Lily by their necks and threw them across the room in the hopes they would land hard on the hard floor. Luckily, Harry was in a position to catch them and he caught Lily in his left hand and James in his right hand. Harry then gently put both James and Lily down.
"James, Lily are you okay?' asked Ginny in a concerned voice.
"My back is really sore where Albus hit me," said James matter of factly.
Harry removed James's shirt and gasped when he saw a very nasty bruise on James's back.
"That's really nasty," said a worried sounding Harry.
"We'll be able to take care of him," said Ginny reassuringly, "I always make sure we have bruise removing cream in the house."
"Then we'll apply some of that to James's back," said Harry in a relived voice.
Without another word, Harry yanked off Lily's shirt and yelped as he saw she had an even worse bruise.
Ginny went into a bathroom and retrieved a tube of generic bruise remover from a medicine cabinet.
"Harry," said Ginny calmly, "I feel more comfortable being the one to apply the cream."
"I trust you on this," replied Harry.
"Take care of James first," Lily asked Ginny.
Ginny applied the bruise removal cream to James's back, and he felt it go to work almost instantly. Once James was fully healed, Ginny took care of Lily.
Once Harry and Ginny were sure that James and Lily were okay, Harry shot Albus a piercing look. His voice stayed calm, but his eyes were blazing.
"Albus," said Harry matter of factly, "As punishment for hurting James and Lily, you are grounded and only allowed out of your room for meals."
"For how long?" asked Albus nervously.
"Until you apologize to James and Lily for what you just did to them!" said Harry firmly.
The next day, James's owl suddenly disappeared. This didn't worry James as he assumed his owl wanted to hunt.
However, on the morning of Wednesday, July 8th, 2020, they received some very sad news that put all that on back burner.
Harry was reading his Daily Prophet and caught a paragraph that contained some very sad news that he knew would be heartbreaking for his children, especially Lily.
On page two, Harry saw a headline which read:
Hogwarts student loses family, house, in fire.
Harry read the article and said, "James, Albus, Lily, there is something you three need to know about. Albus, you are no longer grounded as there are now bigger fish to fry. I warn you this is very sad, and it involves one of your friends."
James, Albus, and Lily all felt their hearts sink to their feet.
Then they read:
Late Monday night, a massive fire swept through a house in a muggle neighborhood in Surrey. The fire gutted the house, which is a total loss. three inhabitants of the house, a muggle couple named Austin and Morgan Baylac, as well as their ten year old daughter, Courtney, all died. The couple's twelve year old daughter, Stephanie Baylac, escaped, presumably because her magic allowed her a quick getaway. Stephanie was the only Baylac to possess magic. On Tuesday morning, Stephanie was placed in a wizarding orphanage in England. However, on Tuesday night, Stephanie was taken in by a family in, of all places, Arizona. All that is known about the family is that they consist of a muggle mother and father with a witch daughter. Apparently, the witch daughter read of Stephanie's fate in Tuesday's Evening Prophet. The daughter asked her parents if they could take Stephanie in so that she wouldn't have to spend the summer in an orphanage. After talking with Stephanie, the orphanage agreed to let the Arizonan family adopt Stephanie.
By the time they had finished reading, Lily was tear stricken while James and Albus were shaking.
"St- Stephanie!" choked up Lily, her voice stuck in her throat, "She's lost everything and everyone!"
"I'm worried about her too," said James, his voice shaking, "Particularly, I'm very uneasy hearing that she not only has left Great Britain but is all the way in Arizona. And how is this family in Arizona treating her. I'd feel more comfortable if she had been kept in the orphanage. "
"That part about Stephanie being in Arizona is very worrying," agreed Albus, "It sounds to me as though this "witch daughter" took pity on Stephanie but how are the adults in that house treating her?"
"I'm worried about this "witch daughter" too," said Lily shakily, "Maybe she wanted to lure Stephanie into her house when she was weak so that she could do something horrible to her."
"What has to make us so nervous is that there is no reason for Stephanie to be all the way in Arizona," said James hysterically.
"That's what is freaking me out so much," said Lily nervously, "The idea of a family, even a mostly muggle family, taking Stephanie in so that she doesn't have to stay in an orphanage would be far more palatable if the family was somewhere closer. I could easily see Devon doing what this "witch daughter" apparently did to help a friend in a tough and tragic time. That Stephanie went all the way to the southwest U.S. , that scares me."
"It's terrible that she had to lose her family and her home, especially at such a young age," said James sadly, "And I fear being all the way in Arizona will lead to her losing her life. It's just so odd that someone all the way in Arizona would be interested in taking her in.
"I do fear something sinister here," said Lily worriedly, "I wonder if we could contact her."
At that nanosecond, James's owl suddenly reappeared.
There was a letter addressed to the Potters and it was from Stephanie. James, Albus, and Lily all leaned close together to read Stephanie's letter. Stephanie had written in scarlet ink upon golden parchment.
Dear James, Albus, and Lily:
Hi. It's Stephanie here. By now you have probably heard about what happened to my family and house on Monday night and that I am currently in Arizona with a mostly muggle family with a witch daughter. I am doing as well as can be hoped for under the circumstances. To be quite candid about it, I found the loss of my home far more devastating than the loss of my family. There are a few reasons for this. First of all, my house in Surrey had been my house for literally my whole life from the day of my birth. Apart from this past year away at Hogwarts, I have never lived anywhere else other than my old home in Surrey. To live in the same house all my life and then then - BAM - in one night it's suddenly, completely, and permanently gone, well, it's devastating. I feel like a part of me was lost when my house burned down. A part of who I was is now gone forever. Second of all, the Baylacs were never a very close knit family to begin with and it's just a fact that I'm not the type of person who becomes strongly bonded with other people. This tendency of mine to become no more than loosely attached to other people is really paying dividends for me right now. The fact that the Baylacs were never close knit combined with my own nature of not becoming too attached to other people has limited the grief and sadness I feel for the loss of my family. As it so happens, this "witch daughter" whose idea it was for her family to take me in is a passionate believer in not valuing love and affection and in not becoming too close to other people. It has always been her belief that becoming close with other people is setting one's self up for grief and sadness and she has always made it a point to never get close to other people. This has never been a "belief" of mine. The fact that I've never been or felt strongly bonded to another person is just naturally the way my life has gone. But, now, being put into the position I've been put in this week and seeing first hand how the fact that my family was not close knit is now helping me by keeping my grief and sadness at a lower level, I am now in league with this girl's belief in not becoming attached to other people. Third, I am a girl of faith. I believe the loss of my home and family and winding up in Arizona is part of god's plan for me and my life. I believe everything happens for a reason and that I was meant to end up in Arizona with my new family. Furthermore, I have faith that I will see my biological parents and sister again one day. This is a point in which the "witch" daughter whose idea it was to take me in, and I are in disagreement. This "witch daughter" is an atheist. This is something I know you Potters know all about with Albus being a fairly religious person and Lily being an atheist. So, who is this "witch daughter"? Well the "witch daughter" who saved me from the orphanage is none other than Samantha Saver. That's right, that Samantha Saver. The albino girl who played Keeper for Gryffindor this past year and didn't allow a single goal all season. Samantha knew that having to stay at an orphanage would be a very glum life and she didn't want me to have to live that life. While Samantha has great sympathy for the loss of my home, the thing that upset her the most when she read about what had happened was that I was stuck in an orphanage and she was proactive in seeing that my life was not going to continue that way. I am forever grateful to Samantha for saving me from that damn orphanage. I must also give a lot of credit to Samuel and Sarah for agreeing to take me in. Samantha has been wonderful in helping me through it all. In fact, one of the first things Samantha told me upon my arrival at the Savers was that if I wanted to be left alone, she would leave me alone and if I wanted company, she would be there for me. You never really know how you're going to react to tough times. Right now, I'm finding I want company and Samantha is proving great at being there for me. It so happened that the Savers had two extra bedrooms and one of them is now my room. The Savers are going to legally adopt me, so Samantha and I are now sisters and Samuel and Sarah are now dad and mom to me. That leads me to my next point. The Savers have given me the option of either keeping Baylac as my last name or changing my last name to Saver. For two reasons, I have elected to take the last name of Saver. First, I am taking the last name of Saver as a show of appreciation for what the Savers have done for me in taking me in and giving me a proper home to live in. Living in an orphanage would be dreadful and the Savers have saved me from that. Second, I feel like that keeping the last name of Baylac after being adopted would be akin to hanging on to the past when I need to put my old home and family behind me and get on with my life. I feel that taking on the last name of Saver, the name of my adoptive family, it represents a fresh start and moving on with my life. So, Stephanie Baylac is no more. I am now Stephanie Saver. James, when you call Gryffindor Quidditch matches next year, please make sure to call me Saver rather Baylac when using me last name. Speaking of Quidditch, it is still Samantha's intent to have friends over for the Quidditch United States Cup in August. James and Lily, you can expect our official invitations with instructions on how to get to our house a few days before the semifinals. James, Albus, Lily, I want you all to know that I am doing fairly well and expect to settle into my new life quickly. Samantha and I are both looking forward to seeing all three of you at Potter Manor later this month. I am sending letters such as this to all of my friends, so they know that I am in a good situation with the Savers. The only really notable house rule the Savers have is no yelling at any time. See you later
- Stephanie Saver.
Once they'd finished reading Stephanie's letter, James, Albus, and Lily all breathed huge sighs of relief.
"So, Stephanie is now living with Samantha," said Lily in a soothed voice, "That makes me feel much better."
"How retarded can we be?" said James sheepishly, "It should have been obvious that the "witch daughter" was Samantha. I mean, we know Samantha lives in Arizona. We should have realized that the reason Stephanie wound up in Arizona is because Samantha's family took her in."
"I'm just glad Stephanie is okay and in a good situation," said Lily quietly, "But you're right, we should have been able to put two and two together here."
""It's probably the best solution Stephanie could have gotten, to be living with Samantha," said James clearly.
"I totally agree with that," said Lily with a smile.
"The Savers sound like decent people," said Albus, "I'm comfortable now that Stephanie will be okay."
"Stephanie seems to be holding up well," said Lily calmly, "And I respect that she's making a real effort to move on with her life instead wallowing in sorrow and pity."
"And I totally agree with her choice to take the name of Saver," said James firmly, "That tells me that Stephanie isn't hanging onto any false dreams or false hopes. She has accepted what has happened to her and her eyes are on the road ahead and not in the rear view mirror."
"Having Samantha help her through things is a big plus," said Lily matter of factly, "Samantha and Stephanie have always gotten on quite well."
"Samantha is a great person," said James sincerely, "There was a time when I saw her as this cocky, arrogant, cold, unloving, unaffectionate girl. But I know now what type of person she is beneath that exterior. On the inside Samantha is an appreciative, generous, and caring girl and only those of us who really know her grasp that."
"Well said, James," said Lily with equal sincerity in her voice, "What Samantha did for Stephanie here is totally consistent with the Samantha those of us who are privileged to be her friend know."
"Well, I look forward to meeting both the Savers girls in a few weeks," said Harry warmly.
As it so happened, the arrival of guests at Potter Manor was to be staggered with the first arriving on Monday, July 20th and the last arriving on Sunday, July 26th. Sunday, August 2nd would be everyone's last day and they would all go home mid afternoon that day.
On Monday, July 20th, at 10 A.M. Potter Manor time, the first arrival occurred.