Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily were all still in the hospital wing on Friday morning.
By Friday morning it had become clear that Madam Pomfrey's initial diagnosis of Samantha had been incorrect.
This proved to be both good news and bad news for Samantha.
The good news was that her hair had in fact grown back.
This was an immense relief to both Samantha and Stephanie.
"Madam Pomfrey?" asked Samantha, "Do you know why my hair grew back?"
"It's a simple explanation," answered Madam Pomfrey, "The Bixby burned off all your hair but apparently it didn't go to the roots. Because it didn't get into the roots, you were able to grow hair back."
"I'm relieved by that," admitted Samantha, "I tried to put my best face and my best spin on it, but I was actually very unhappy about losing my hair."
"I'm relived too," said Stephanie quietly, "It's a huge burden off of my conscience to know that my mistake did not cause any permeant damage to Samantha after all."
"To be honest, "admitted Samantha reluctantly, "By the time bedtime rolled around last night I had already started to regret turning down Devon's offer to make me a wig. In fact, thinking it over lying in bed last night, the nanosecond before I asleep, I resolved to ask Devon this morning if he was willing to put that offer back on the table."
"I would've been, "confirmed Devon a nanosecond later, "In fact, had your hair not grown back overnight, I was actually planning to make the offer to make a wig for you again this morning before breakfast. But how your burns feel?"
"My burns still hurt like hell and haven't shown any improvement yet, "said Samantha matter of factly, "I'd expected my burns to heal in a few days. To have seen no progress yet means that won't be the case."
"I initially thought your burns were shallower. It may be weeks or even months before your burns are fully healed," Madam Pomfrey informed Samantha, "It depends how deep they are and at this point that is unclear. "
"Well, I'll just have to deal with it until it heals. I'm a tough cookie. I can handle it," said Samantha in a dogged determined voice.
"I love your fighting spirit, Samantha, " said James proudly.
"How long does Samantha need to stay here?" Lily asked Madam Pomfrey.
"I can release her now," answered Madam Pomfrey, "She cannot gain anything by remaining in the hospital wing."
"So, I can go to Hogsmeade tomorrow and participate in Halloween tomorrow night?" asked Samantha hopefully.
"No reason you can't," smiled Madam Pomfrey, "You're just going to be in a lot of pain for a while."
Samantha nodded.
Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily all smiled and slowly left the hospital wing.
They were able to make it to breakfast in time to eat a breakfast of sausage biscuits, hash browns, and orange juice.
They then took the normal mandatory Friday library time breaking for a lunch of hot dogs (mustard, ketchup, and hot sauce were the condiments used) onion rings, and Coca Cola classic.
At two p.m. Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily all went for a walk around the perimeter of the Black Lake.
After everything that had happened that week, this was a good release for all of them to just walk around the lake without thinking about anything.
On Friday night, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily all went into Lily's room and watched Terminator 2 Judgement Day on Lily's DVR.
Saturday was Halloween and Hogwarts was holding a double day: Hogsmeade in the morning and afternoon and Scary Halloween at night.
Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily were all really excited about the trip into Hogsmeade and had decided to all go into Hogsmeade naked.
The septet had all come down to breakfast naked and with huge smiles on their faces with their eyes glowing.
As Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily ate a breakfast waffles with syrup and bacon strips, Samantha reminded them, "It's because of me that second years are allowed to go to Hogsmeade now."
"OHHHHH!" remembered Lily, "Although it was overshadowed by your ideas of a four day class schedule and mandatory library time on Fridays, your silver medal winning entry in the Hogwarts Writing Competition included an accepted provision allowing second years access to Hogsmeade trips."
"That's right, Lily, second years can thank me for today," said Samantha smugly, "It really is true that second years will appreciate Hogsmeade trips more than sixth and seventh years."
"I've heard it through the grapevine that most sixth and seventh years aren't planning to go to Hogsmeade today." admitted Lily.
"Some are probably burnt out on Hogsmeade after having gone a large number of times," said Hugo reasonably, "But I think it is also true that younger students in second and third year would appreciate the novelty of Hogsmeade visits more than older students."
"I don't think there's any argument against the idea that younger students would care far more for Hogsmeade visits than older students," added Ainsley.
"Even as sixth year who still likes Hogsmeade, the evidence is overwhelming that younger students are more interested in Hogsmeade visits than older students," acknowledged James.
"But note that sixth and seventh years are still allowed to go if they choose to," said Samantha, "Nothing is being taken away from anyone. An opportunity has been added for second years but at no one's cost."
After breakfast, with James carrying the Marauder's Map, Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily all trekked out the front doors into Hogsmeade.
It was a comfortable 72 degrees outside with clear skies and Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily were all enjoying being naked.
The nanosecond they stepped into Hogsmeade, Devon said, "Honeydukes first,"
James pointed out the location of Honeydukes to Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily using the Marauder's Map and they all practically galloped to the sweet shop.
To the delight of Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily, Honeydukes, as promised in the July 15th Daily Prophet, was offering new sweets on this day.
Anticipating heavy traffic from Hogwarts students on this day, Honeydukes had bewitched its door to remain open at all times so people could just walk in and out.
One cool thing about Honeydukes in the New Era of Hogwarts was that the employees were now ghosts.
As a Honeydukes ghost glided towards Devon, James, Hugo, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie, and Lily, he explained a piece of good fortune they had just hit on.
"Sirs and misses," smiled the ghost, "We have an unadvertised promotion today.
"And what is it?" asked Lily with anticipation in her voice.
"You see, the first group of EXACTLY seven people in the store today wins a free shopping spree in the back room. And the back room is where the new products are." explained the ghost.
"So," said Lily eagerly, "We get to try out new products for free?"
"Yes, Miss," beamed the ghost.
"What could be better than trying new candy for free?" asked Devon excitedly.
"NOTHING!" screeched James with a huge grin on his face.
"Seven is the most powerfully magical number!" smirked Ainsley.
"It is certainly is for us," smiled Samantha.
Looking around, Stephanie said, "There are shelves upon shelves of new sweets!"
Of course, Devon wanted to make the first pick and his eyes were drawn to…