After the Hogwarts Planning Club had adjourned for the night, a paper airplane memo zoomed into the History of Magic classroom and flew directly into Lily's hands.
Lily opened the memo at once and read it out loud.
"Dear Devon, Hugo, James, and Lily-
Please remain in the History of Magic classroom. Someone will meet you there in a few minutes with some important news. This news is good news, but it will be best if you four first hear it amongst yourselves before anyone else at Hogwarts finds out about it."
Devon, Hugo, James, and Lily all silently nodded their heads and stayed put.
Fred, Albus, and Roxanne walked towards the door and Roxanne pulled the door open and held it for Fed and Albus as they left.
Roxanne continued to hold the door open as she saw Healer Cochlain walking towards the room carrying a newspaper in her hands.
Healer Cochlain entered the room and Roxanne left.
"Devon, Hugo, James, and Lily," said Healer Cochlain seriously, "As I indicated in my memo, there is some particularly good news that you four should learn about yourselves before the rest of Hogwarts finds out."
"What is it, Amy?" asked Lily urgently.
"You're on a first name basis with Healer Cochlain?" Hugo asked Lily.
"I have previously told the Potters that they may call me Amy," explained Healer Cochlain, "Hugo and Devon, you two may now call me Amy as well if you'd like."
"Thank you, Amy," smiled Hugo as Devon nodded, "But what is this good news we need to know about?"
"In my hand is a copy of tonight's Evening Prophet, I believe the big headline will be repeated in tomorrow's Daily Prophet and many Hogwarts students read the Daily Prophet," said Amy matter of factly, "James and Lily, this news will be of interest to you two because of both of your interests in Wandlore. Hugo and Devon, this is very significant news for both of you because it is very personal for both of you."
Amy unfurled the newspaper and laid it out on a desk so that Devon, Hugo, James, and Lily could all see the boldfaced headline:
Yew Tide Turns
"Amy, would please read the article out loud?" requested James.
"Of course, I will," said Amy with a smile.
And Amy read aloud:
Since the Daily Prophet's report in September explaining how Hogwarts student Hugo Weasley's life was saved by his close friend Devon Dursley's yew wand, the tide has turned dramatically in the court of public opinion with regard to yew wands. After the first rise of Lord Voldemort, yew got a horrible reputation in the magical community and Olivander had been forced to stop making yew wands for years after Voldemort died. In fact, the yew wand that Olivander sold to Devon Dursley was the first yew wand that Olivander had made since before Voldemort first rose to power and he intentionally only tried it on muggleborns. (Though Devon had far more knowledge of wizarding history when he purchased the yew wand then Olivander had realized.) In his earliest days at Hogwarts, Devon himself had feared that his yew wand would cause him to go bad as he was fully aware that Lord Voldemort had used a yew wand. While Devon's friends made sincere efforts to reassure him that he himself was in control of what kind of person he would become, Devon continued to feel very uneasy about using a yew wand until that moment when his yew wand had saved Hugo's life. The circumstances of his yew wand saving a close friend's life naturally altered Devon's view to see the good that powerful wands, including yew wands, could do. In James Potter's first wandlore lesson with Olivander back on August 31st, Olivander had explained to James how beneficial yew wands could be for the Healing industry but how he was under pressure not to make them because of how yew was associated with Voldemort. A few days later, James succeeded in convincing a reluctant Devon and Hugo to go public with the story of how Devon's yew wand had saved Hugo's life. Devon and Hugo had been reluctant to allow something so personal to become public knowledge, but James was able to convince them to go public for the public good. This decision has proven invaluable to the Wizarding World as innumerable witches and wizards gained a new perspective on yew wands from the story of how Devon's yew wand had saved Hugo's life. Daily Prophet readers' comments went something like this:
"Ever since Voldemort's rise to power in the 1970s, I have been adamantly opposed to yew wands and the production thereof, especially since I lost several family members to Voldemort," said Auror Mellissa Nash, the mother of Hogwarts student Megan Nash, "But ever since I read about Devon's yew wand saving Hugo's life, I have been forced to admit that yew wands are too valuable in Healing not to have them."
"I've never been a fan of yew wands," acknowledged hippogriff breeder Peter Kirke, the father of Hogwarts student Jill Kirke, "But the story of Hugo and Devon has made me change my tune. While admittedly dangerous in the wrong hands, if yew wands can save lives, then we need yew wands."
"Before, I'd always been 100% anti yew wands," said recent Hogwarts graduate Rachel Robins, 'But reading about what Devon's yew wand did for Hugo really caused me to step back and think. I'd never really thought about how powerful wands can be used for good too. Ultimately, if yew wands can be valuable to Healers, then I support the production and existence of yew wands."
This turn in tide in the court of public opinion for yew wands has liberated Olivander, who told the Evening Prophet late Monday afternoon that he is now beginning production on a whole new line of yew wands. He is limiting this line only to unicorn hair wands as unicorn hair wands will only chose pure hearted witches and wizards and hopes to get some of these yew wands into circulation in time for the 2021 back to school shopping season.
The reintroduction of yew wands into the magical community will ultimately benefit the Healing Profession and the by extension the Wizarding World for generations to come.
At the end of the day, Hugo's, and Devon's choice to go public has done immeasurable public good.
"Hugo, Devon," said Amy meaningfully as she dropped the newspaper to the floor and stuck out her right hand, "I want to shake both of your hands. As a Healer with a daughter who aspires to become a Healer herself, I have a special appreciation for what the reintroduction of yew wands into the magical community will mean for our profession."
Amy gave Devon and Hugo hearty handshakes.
"I'm glad our decision to take our story public has paid off," said Devon emotionally, "We didn't want to do it but we realized what could come from it and we did what we had to do."
"Spot on, " agreed Hugo, "I would rather have kept that private. But this article proves we did the right thing in going public."
"Hugo and Devon, I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of you," said Lily genuinely, "I know how hard it was for both of you to allow your story to go public. At the end of the day you did what was right rather than what was easy and in the long run so many witches and wizards will be better off for it."
"I didn't actually believe that Hugo and Devon would be willing to go public with their story, but they proved me wrong and showed their true character," said James proudly."
Next nanosecond Hugo and Devon had their hands shaken by James and Lily as well.
Everyone was so proud of Devon and Hugo for having the onions to make a difficult decision that they did not want to make.
In their hearts of hearts, Hugo and Devon were now sure that they had done the right thing.
The loss of privacy was nothing compared to the gain of an important tool for the most important industry in their world.
Now that they knew that the tide of yew had turned, Devon and Hugo were fully at peace with their decision and James and Lily couldn't be prouder of them.
Sometimes the greatest gains had to come from the most difficult circumstances.
In this nanosecond, Hugo's and Devon's hearts filled with pride in themselves and James, Lily, and Amy were all feeling as proud as Hugo and Devon as anyone could of anyone.
Going public had been a huge positive change for the public good.