Over the next few days the rest of James's, Albus's, and Lily's family and friends who were coming to Potter Manor started arriving.
Tuesday morning brought the arrival of Fred, Hugo, Roxanne, and Rose. On Wednesday morning came Todd, Miles, and Gary. Thursday morning Pamela joined the fray. The last of their guests arrived on Friday with Samantha, Stephanie, and Ainsley entering the mix.
On Monday, July 27th, 2020, those kids who attended Hogwarts, which was every child and adolescent present except Todd, Gary, and Miles, received their yearly Hogwarts letters. On top of the pile of letters was a short note.
The note read: Make sure James Sirius Potter opens his letter first. James's letter will be very different than a normal Hogwarts letter due to the circumstance of James being taught Wandmaking lessons by Olivander this coming year in preparation for becoming the Hogwarts Wandmaking teacher next year. His letter will be very different from most sixth year letters.
James opened his letter and read:
Dear Mr. Potter:
In the case of a typical sixth year, you would meet with your head of house after breakfast on the first day of term to discuss which subjects you wished to apply to take at N.E.W.T. level and he or she would inform you of whether you had qualified for each subject you had applied for, occasionally suggesting reasonable alternatives if one of your choices was not a viable option. However, your case is unique. Mr. Olivander has mapped out a course schedule for you that emphasizes those core subjects that are used in Wandmaking so that your sixth year N.E.W.T. classes can complement his private lessons with you. Your O.W.L. results leave no doubt these subjects would be good choices for you anyway. The courses you will be taking are Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and your private Wandlore and Wandmaking lessons with Mr. Olivander. Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms are the two most important subjects in magical education to begin with and Charms happens to be the key core subject that is applicable to Wandmaking. Potions and Transfiguration are also disciplines that come into play in Wandmaking. The Wandlore part of your private class with Olivander is meant to familiarize you with the different types of woods used in Wandmaking and how the combinations of wood, core, and length have to come together just right in order to make a good wand. You will also learn which types of wands are best suited to various things. You should also be aware right up front that Mr. Olivander will be a very demanding teacher. No, Mr. Olivander will not yell at you during lessons. But you should be aware that Mr. Olivander does not care about tact or sensitivity and he will be very blunt with you. Furthermore, and it is very important that you understand and accept this from the word go, Mr. Olivander will be looking for any flaws in your performance and will be far more critical than complimentary. For example. if you perform a task 95% correctly, Mr. Olivander will focus on the 5% you got wrong. There are several reasons for this. First, and very importantly, is the fact that you will be training to become a teacher. Being a quality teacher requires a mastery of the subject that one is going to teach and the whole point of Olivander's private lessons with you is to train you to become a Wandmaking teacher. It is also crucial to understand that Wandmaking is a very fiddly discipline. If you think Potions is a tricky subject, well, Potions is a piece of cake compared to Wandmaking. The difficulty and fiddlyness of the subject make a though mastery of the material critical for a wizard wishing to teach it to others. A final paramount point is that Wandmaking is dangerous. Wandmaking is a dangerous subject in and of itself. Additionally, should Wandmaking be performed incorrectly, it can lead to flawed wands being on the market that have the potential to be dangerous to their owners. It is our hope that you will follow Mr. Olivander's lead in being a very demanding teacher when you are ready to take up the post of Wandmaking teacher at Hogwarts next year. You will be required to demonstrate a mastery of the individual skills involved in the Wandmaking process before you are allowed to actually make a wand. Your Wandlore and Wandmaking classes will occur in the History of Magic classroom on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 11 P.M. Hogwarts time and will be taught by Mr. Olivander. Basically, you and Olivander will meet on Mondays and Wednesdays days in the History of Magic classroom at 11 P.M. Hogwarts time. As far as your more typical subjects, sixth year Transfiguration will be at 9 A.M. Hogwarts time on Monday and Wednesday mornings, sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts will be at 1 P.M. Hogwarts time on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, sixth year Charms will be at 9 A.M. Hogwarts time on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and sixth year Potions will be at 1 P.M. Hogwarts time on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Remember that mandatory library time will be held on Fridays from 10 A.M. to noon will an additional optional hour alavailble before that and another additional optional hour available after lunch. You are still Quidditch commentator and we know how great a job you do with that. Great luck Mr. Potter. Hogwarts is pulling for and so is the Wizarding World.
Sincerely.
Hogwarts Headmistress. Minerva McGonagall.
"Hmm," said Devon uncertainly, "I wonder why Potions would be an important subject for Wandmakers. That doesn't make any sense, Potions is wandless magic."
"My guess," piped up Ainsley with a smile, "Is that during certain parts of the Wandmaking process, wands or parts thereof must be stored in or treated with potions to achieve a certain texture, temperature, temperament, or consistency."
"I bet you're right, Ainsley, " said James suddenly, "It makes all the sense in the world that wands would be treated with potions to achieve certain characteristics."
"Always trust Ainsley's brain," said Lily with a smile.
"Charms is the obvious one," supplied Samantha, "It's easy to imagine what some of the Charms needed might be."
"Agreed," said Lily, "Especially Severing Charms and Attaching Charms."
"Defense Against the Dark Arts is more uncertain," said Fred, "But it's such an important subject in and of itself."
"From his letter, I get the impression that that is why James has to take Defense Against the Dark Arts and that it may not have much to do with Wandmaking," said Roxanne reasonably.
"That could go either way," said Rose simply.
"Transfiguration makes sense intuitively," said Stephanie briskly, "But it's hard to explain."
"It's almost surreal that James is going to be taught by Olivander himself," said Pamela with awe in her voice. This was the first she had heard about James becoming a Wandmaking teacher or about Olivander working with him one on one. It felt surreal to her.
"Of course," said Albus with obvious bitterness in his voice, "Everything always happens to Lily and/or James and nothing ever happens to me. Figures."
"Albus," Pamela told her close friend firmly, "You should be happy for your brother. Let me warn you; Petty jealousy is a great vehicle for ruining relationships. Don't let that happen between you and your siblings because you really do have great siblings."
"Well said, Pamela," said Miles firmly, "I have no magical powers myself, but I couldn't be happier for Devon that he has a place in the magical community."
"Hear hear," agreed Gary and Todd.
"Follow Lily's lead," Hugo encouraged Albus, "Be happy for James's success and opportunity."
"Easy for her to be happy for him when so much happens for her too," spat Albus unhappily, "NOTHING EVER HAPPENS FOR ME!"
"James?" asked Roxanne, "Are you comfortable with being subjected to the level of criticism your letter implies you will be facing?"
"Absolutely," said James calmly, "It is quite necessary in a subject such as Wandmaking."
"James has never had a sensitivity problem," said Lily matter of factly, "In fact, he's always believed in honesty, matter of factness, and straight forwardness over tact and sensitivity at all times and in all circumstances."
"That should serve him well going forward," said Hugo simply.
"James will be a great Wandmaking student and then he will become a great Wandmaking teacher," said Lily confidently, "I couldn't be prouder of him."
"If only something would happen for me," interjected Albus.
But for the next three minutes and three nanoseconds, Devon, Hugo Fred, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, Harry, Ginny, and even the three muggles, Todd, Gary, and Miles were looking at James in awe. There was a sense of bigness radiating from James, but in a positive way
As for James himself, he felt more curious than anything else. That day when he would begin learning about Wandlore and Wandmaking couldn't come soon enough.