As Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie. Courtney, and Lily all looked on, a Hogwarts barn owl flew slowly towards them, carrying a letter in its beak.
The owl's deliberate movement gave off an aura of melancholyness.
The owl dropped the letter pokily into James's hands, dropped a tear on the letter, and sluggishly took off again.
James read through the letter slowly and quietly. He reread the letter a couple of times and by the time he had finished, tears were flowing down his cheeks and he had a very somber look on his face that was most unusual from him.
"James, what's wrong?" asked Lily gently, giving her brother a pat on the back.
James read the letter aloud.
"Dear Mr. Potter.
The Wizarding World has just received some heartbreaking news and it will be particularly personal for you. Mr. Potter, it is my gut wrenching duty to inform you that, last night, Mr. Garrick Olivander died in his sleep at the age of 423. While Mr. Olivander has been ill this past week, there had been no expectation that he would die. Fortunately, there are still thousands of unsold wands stacked in Olivander's shop. Mr. Olivander has also been making more new wands recently and new wands that he completed will be added to his shop's stockpile. As such, the need for new Wandmakers is not urgent. However, Mr. Olivander's death does emphasize the need to train new Wandmakers. The reports I got from Mr. Olivander were that your Wandmaking lessons with him had gone exceptionally well. It is still the plan for you to start teaching Wandmaking at Hogwarts next year. I strongly encourage you to continue practicing Wandmaking on your own using the same times that Olivander had been teaching you. It is imperative that you keep your own Wandmaking skills sharp leading up to the taking of your teaching post. My deepest condolences on the loss of your teacher, mentor, and friend, Garrick Olivander. If you feel the need to talk about what has happened, let me kindly remind you that I have an open door policy. That said, I know you have family and friends who can comfort you far better than I can, and I wholeheartedly expect them to be there you to support you in this heartbreaking time. I know Mr. Olivander was honored to have you as his pupil and that the feeling was mutual. One day, I hope your students can follow in his footsteps. Once you have finished reading this letter, please observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Garrick Olivander.
Sincerely-
Hogwarts headmistress Minerva McGonagall."
"Let's please do observe a moment of silence in remembrance of Garrick Olivander," requested James.
Everyone fell silent for a minute and a nanosecond.
"Thank you," said James quietly, "To me. Mr. Olivander was more than a mythical Wandmaker, he was a mentor and a friend, and my-
James stopped talking suddenly and burst into uncontrollable tears.
"This is why you should never allow yourself to become emotionally attached to other people," said Samantha critically, "If only you wouldn't have been foolish enough to allow yourself to become emotionally attached to other people in the first place, you wouldn't have to feel the grief and heartbreak you feel right now."
Both Stephanie and Courtney nodded quietly at this.
Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily, however, took a few steps towards James and Lily gave him a comforting pat on the back.
"James, I know it's hard, losing people is the hardest part of life," said Lily in understanding,
"But those bonds and those relationships are the very thing that gives life its meaning and makes life worth living," said James fiercely, "Is the love and joy that comes with those relationships worth the eventual heartbreak on the other end?"
"NO!" chorused Stephanie, Courtney, and Samantha with Samantha's voice being particularly firm.
"YES!" chorused James, Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily.
"As neither group is going to change the other group's mind on that topic, let's not waste time arguing about it right now," said Ainsley wisely, "James, how do you feel about going forward practicing Wandmaking on your own?"
"I'm confident in my physical ability to make wands but I have a huge emotional challenge ahead of me, " admitted James, " The fact that my time making wands in the History of Magic classroom will now be spent alone is going to be hard. I'll probably look across the desk and half expect to see Olivander on the other side for a few weeks. It's going to eerie or at least empty for a while."
"James," vowed Lily, "You won't have handle this all alone. If you wish, I would like to offer to come along to your Wandmaking sessions on Monday and Wednesday nights. I sense that it may be easier for you to get through these sessions the rest of the school year if you have company during them.'
"It would give me a lot more strength to push through if I were to have company during these sessions," said James hopefully, "It would be much appreciated if you would come into the History of Magic classroom with me during these sessions."
"I will," promised Lily fiercely, "James, no matter what I'll always be there you when you need someone."
James and Lily embraced for a few nanoseconds.
"I'm the luckiest boy in the world to have Lily for a sister," choked up James.
"Not to be disrespectful to the personal loss that James has suffered," said Ainsley quietly, "But the death of Mr. Olivander is an enormous loss for the Wizarding World. He was one of the greatest wizards of the twentieth century.'
"I think we all feel a bit stung by this news," said Hugo sadly.
"In my opinion," said Devon respectfully, "Garrick Olivander was one of the five greatest wizards of the twentieth century. My top five in no particular order are Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Garrick Olivander."
"Gellet Grindewald? Lord Voldemort?" asked Hugo.
"He said greatest, not most powerful," said Ainsley smartly, "Grindewald and Voldemort were nothing more than power hungry murders."
"Exactly," said Lily clearly, "Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, and Garrick Olivander used their power, positions, and magic for good. Grindewald and Voldemort on the other hand..."
"Dumbledore and Snape were both very flawed," admitted James, "But without them, Voldemort is not defeated."
"Hey, James, "asked Lily, "I am going to ask you a question but please feel free to decline to answer if the question is too sensitive for you at this time. What did you find Olivander like as a person?"
"Stern and serious on the outside, soft and caring on the inside," answered James, "When I had my first lesson with Olivander, he gave off an aura of seriousness. But as we got into our lessons, I could tell how caring he was. He understood why I chose to make the replica wands I did and what my relationships with those people who I made them for meant to me. I could also tell he cared about me as a person. He wanted me to succeed not because I was his pupil but because he wanted me to do well for myself and because he understood how important it was to the Wizarding World as a whole."
"How are you feeling, James?" asked Ainsley seriously.
"Incomplete," said James sadly.
"That's exactly it," nodded Hugo in understanding, "When you lose someone, be it family, friend, mentor, or some combination thereof, you are never whole again. I learned that in the most painful way possible when my father died of a tragic potions accident the summer before I started Hogwarts."
"I know that all too well from when Grandma Petunia died from that fall after I barely started Hogwarts," acknowledged Devon.
"This was also an unexpected death," said Lily in a low voice, "Even as old as he was, he was expected to recover from his illness. That aspect adds another layer of difficulty to both James's and the Wizarding World's loss."
"His death has affected us all whether we knew him well or not," said Devon sincerely, "There are few people in Wizarding Britain who won't be heartbroken by this."
"Our world is a far far far far far worse place for the loss of Mr. Olivander," said Lily in a somber voice.
Next nanosecond James, Devon, Hugo, Ainsley, and Lily all had tears in their eyes. James tears had a burning sensation in them.
James raised his wand and said, "Mr. Olivander this is for you."
James used a nonverbal spell and soon a large white capital letter O could be seen towering over the skies of Hogsmeade. James raised his wand a second time and did another nonverbal spell. At that, a line in the shape of a wand cut down vertically through the center if the O.
Devon, Hugo, James, Ainsley, Samantha, Stephanie. Courtney, and Lily all looked at the O that James had made in the sky.
The sense of both greatness and of loss was palpable and the O James had made in the sky was hugely symbolic of both.
"Goodbye and thank you," said James emotionally as he stared up at the O.