On Saturday, November 27th, 2021, the Circle of Twenty met up on the sloping lawns.

Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Todd, Miles, Gary, Gordon, Aaron, Rachel, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Penny, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily were sitting in their usual lawn chairs with their usual folding tables in front of them for this meeting of the Circle of Twenty.

Except that they weren't.

You see, just as the meeting started, Lily picked up her wand off her folding table and performed Color Change Charms on both their lawn chairs and their folding tables to make the chairs red and the tables green.

There were bottles of Coca Cola and doughnuts with chocolate frosting and red and green rainbow sprinkles atop each table.

"OHH, Christmas colors," cooed Devon, Ainsley, and Samantha together as everyone started on their doughnuts and Coca Cola.

"That's right," said Lily cheerfully, "I did that on purpose. I believe we were going to discuss our plans for spending Christmas in Arizona at this meeting. So, what are thinking, Samantha?"

"Before we get started," said Samantha seriously, "I need to ask you all a couple of questions. First, is there any chance of our circle expanding before Christmas?"

At this, Samantha noticed Todd, Miles, and Gary exchanging looks.

"Samantha?" asked Miles uncertainly, "Is there any chance you would be willing to let us invite Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia to join us for Christmas?"

"The J Club girls?" asked Samantha.

"Yes," confirmed Todd, "We ran into them at that haunted house and have since started developing a friendship with them."

"Just yesterday, the six of us, meaning myself, Todd, Miles, Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia all met up at my house to play some three on three basketball just for fun. In fact, we didn't even keep score, we just played and had fun," explained Gary.

"It may interest you to know," revealed Samantha, "That the piece of property that I will be hosting all of us for Christmas in Arizona is actually a magical property. That means it can be expanded to hold more people if needed. I see no reason why the J club girls can't join us. If we all get along with them, we can become the Circle of Twenty Three. "

"Have any of you told the J Club girls that it was I who sent them those letters and tickets?" inquired Lily.

"No," said Miles honestly, "We've been waiting for the right time to reveal that and now it looks like you may be able to tell them yourself."

"On the other end of the spectrum," wondered Samantha, "Is there any chance of any of you not making it that you know of at this nanosecond?"

Everyone present shook his or her head.

"So," explained Samantha, "What I'd like to do is have us all meet up at my magical Arizona property around 10 A.M. Arizona time on Monday, December 20th."

Everyone nodded in agreement at this.

"That seems reasonable," said Lily cheerfully, "What will life be like there?"

"The last day of Hogwarts is Thursday, December 16th and the Hogwarts Express will take us home the next day. I plan to immediately go to this new property of mine and with the help of my parents and sisters I intend to spend Friday evening and Saturday decorating this new property for Christmas," replied Samantha brightly.

"So, Stephanie and Courtney are going to help with the decorations?" grinned Gordon.

"In more ways than you realize," cooed Samantha, "Stephanie will be drawing some Christmas themed drawings that will be hung up around the property and Courtney will painting some Christmas themed paintings that will be hung up around the property."

"Cool," piped up Penny.

"They aren't going to tell exactly what they are drawing and painting. They want you all to see them for yourselves without prior knowledge of their content and I agree with this approach," added Samantha matter of factly.

"What role are your parents playing in the decorating?" wondered James.

"Putting up the trees and decorating them. We have two artifical trees that we reuse year after year with the lights prestrung but mom and dad decorate them a little differently each year. "They will also hang up the stockings and set out various other decorations on the tables and counters, " responded Samantha.

"And what about you?" Hugo grilled Samantha.

Samantha grinned from ear to ear and belted out, "I'm going to purchase some inflatable Christmas decorations for the outdoor areas of my new property. They're going to be massive. I'm also planning on recording a second Christmas album with mostly original Christmas songs that I've written myself and a few covers of more niche Christmas songs. I'm going to play the album for you while we are all there so you lot will be the first to hear it. If any of you really like my new album, I will offer you a free copy. There is no limit on how many free copies I'm willing to dole out to the Circle of Twenty. "

Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Todd, Miles, Gary, Gordon, Aaron, Rachel, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Penny, Courtney, Stephanie, Ainsley, and Lily all looked quite delighted at this news as big grins came across their mouths and their eyes glowed. They'd all loved Samantha's first Christmas album and loved the idea of Samantha writing her own Christmas songs.

"How confident are you in this new album, Samantha?" asked Albus.

"Very," piped up Samantha a nanosecond later, "I'm absolutely ready to write and sing my own original Christmas songs. Since we're doing Christmas in Arizona this year, it's the perfect time for me to do this."

"How are going to get there?" asked Fred curiously.

"Ahh," grinned Samantha, reaching under her table and pulling up twenty mini plastic Santas and then tossing one each to everyone present while keeping one for herself.

"These Santas are all yours to keep, but they are also Portkeys. I have programmed them to all go off around 10 A.M. Arizona time on December 20th, " explained Samantha in a crystal clear voice. Now, Arizona is quirky because we don't observe Daylight Saving Time. The long and the short of that is that we are in the Pacific Time Zone when Daylight Saving Time is in progress but in our natural Mountain Time when it is not. So, for the day in question, 10 A.M. Arizona time is 5 P.M. British time. I strongly encourage you all to be holding the portkeys five minutes before the scheduled arrival time so as to take absolutely no chances. I should also note that the ban on yelling at my house applies to this new property as well. "

"What will we be doing while we are there?" Rose requested to know.

"My thinking is we'll spend that first day at the property. We will do some outings that Tuesday through Thursday. We will only leave the property on Christmas Eve to go tour the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. And we'll of course open our presents on Christmas morning and have a big ham and turkey dinner for Christmas dinner," answered Samantha.

"How long will we stay there?" pondered Pamela.

"At least one week," answered Samantha, "At least through December 26th. After that we can all decide as a group, parents included, if we want to spend December 27th through the end of Christmas Vacation there as well or if everyone would rather go home to their own houses for a week and a nanosecond. "

"Is that it?" asked Aaron.

"That's all I have to say," said Samantha cheerfully, "But I have one last pre-Christmas gift for us all."

Samantha now dived under her table again and this time came up with twenty classic red and white peppermint candy canes and tossed one to everyone while keeping one for herself.

"Let's enjoy a little Christmas flavor early today," smiled Samantha.

A shout out to the following members who have added Lily Luna Potter and the New Era of Hogwarts to their favorites and/or follows lists since the last update:

dbug27

lupin512

Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :)