Well, at the end of this chapter all current members of the now Circle of Twenty Three will have arrived at Samantha's magical property in Arizona for Christmas Vacation. I wanted to get the arrival chapters written and posted by the end of March and albeit barely, I did :)
A minute and a nanosecond later, Fred and Roxanne appeared and Fred helped himself to a red chair while Roxanne sat in the green chair on his right.
"Hi, Samantha," cooed Roxanne softly.
"It's awesome to be in Arizona, Samantha!" piped up Fred in a much livelier voice.
"It's wonderful to have both of you be a part of this Christmas Vacation in Arizona," replied Samantha in a warm and welcoming type voice, "What have you two been up to recently?"
"We spent the past weekend at home and had some really good brother sister time," smiled Fred cheerfully, "We played some one on one Quidditch against each other, sometimes both trying to catch a snitch, and sometimes with one of us trying to score goals while the other defended them."
"It was fun," said Roxanne quietly.
"It sounds like it," smiled Samantha, "Which of you is the better Seeker?"
"We were evenly matched against each other," said Fred fairly.
"We did a best of eleven," explained Roxanne, "And we were tied at five after ten rounds. I was able to win the eleventh round for a six games to five series win, but I have no problem with Fred calling us evenly matched after the way it played out."
"I have to imagine," reasoned Samantha, "That Roxanne dominated the one on one Chaser vs Keeper games as she actually plays Chaser for Gryffindor. "
"You might think that," said Roxanne matter of factly, "But Fred is actually a decent Keeper, and a better Keeper than me for sure, so, that evened things out."
"In fact," revealed Fred, "That was another six games to five series win for Roxanne. She did beat me fair and square in both cases, but I'm not going to say she was better than me based on the way the games played out."
"We," piped up Jennifer, indicating herself, Jessica, and Julia, "Feel the exact same way about having lost that three on three Basketball Tournament Championship Game to Todd, Gary, and Miles on Miles's three quarters court buzzer beater over the heads of our triple team. We acknowledge that the Buzzer Boys beat us fair and square, but we still see ourselves as their equals."
"Rightfully so," agreed Miles as Todd and Gary nodded.
"You three must be the J Club girls," realized Fred, "Could you tell us which of you is which?"
"Jennifer Johnson," piped up Jennifer.
"Julia Jackson," beamed Julia.
"Jessica Jones," smiled Jessica.
"It's nice to meet all three of you," offered Fred kindly.
"Same," added Roxanne in a lower voice.
"It's our pleasure to meet both of you," returned Jessica.
"This group is awesome!" declared Julia.
"It's totally awesome baby!" exclaimed Jennifer.
"How is Quidditch going at Hogwarts this year?" asked Ainsley curiously.
"Hugo has taken your Chaser spot and he's a good one, " replied James eagerly, "Hugo, Devon, and Roxanne make a good team of Chasers and Rachel was an excellent Chaser when she played. Still, Ainsley, you are the best Chaser I've seen play live at a Hogwarts match."
"Hard agree," said Samantha respectfully, "I'm the greatest Keeper in Hogwarts history, thirty times better than Oliver Wood, and Ainsley is the only Chaser who has ever been able to beat me. None of my opponents have ever scored a goal against me and no other Gryffindor besides Ainsley has ever gotten the quaffle past me in practice."
"It was always fun watching the two of you go one on one when you did in those practices," reminisced Rachel "But, Ainsley, do you miss Quidditch?"
"I honestly don't," admitted Ainsley, "I did enjoy playing Chaser and I was great at it. But it was honestly one of the easiest things for me to leave in the rear view mirror when I transferred from Hogwarts to The Ultimate University of Wizarding Healing. I loved playing Chaser for Gryffindor when I was a Hogwarts student, but I don't have any real itch to play again. My last year as a Hogwarts student ended perfectly between my gold medal in the Hogwarts Drawing Competition and Gryffindor winning the Quidditch Cup. I'll cherish those memories for a lifetime. But I'm happy with where I'm at now, although I would appreciate it if the Circle of whatever the hell number it is at any point in time could have weekly meetings."
"We can discuss that possibility when everyone is here," said Samantha matter of factly.
Next nanosecond, Courtney and Stephanie had arrived, and Samantha's sisters sat down in the green chairs on either side of her.
"Courtney, Stephanie, you two have come it at a good time. We're having a bit of a Quidditch discussion," smiled Samantha as Courtney and Stephanie smiled.
Samantha got Courtney and Stephanie caught up on everything that had happened so far that day.
"To add to the Quidditch chatter," cooed Courtney, "Back on November 6th, I called my first match as the new Quidditch commentator. Gryffindor defeated Slytherin 250-0. It was an absolute joy to be able to call a match my sisters were playing in."
"Hey, Courtney, Stephanie, " beamed Jennifer, "I'm Jennifer Johnson. I'm one of the J Club girls. What is your honest opinion of how your sisters performed in that match bearing in mind that I have no knowledge of the match?"
"I was blown away by just how great of a Keeper Samantha really is, " said Courtney in an awestruck voice, "She had told me how great she was, and I'd watched a lot of her practices and been highly impressed with them, but to see her play the way she did in the match was surreal. And I love Samantha's self-confidence."
"I'm going to be a pro Quidditch Keeper and someday sports fans in the Wizarding World will revere the name Samantha Saver in the way muggle sports fans revere the names Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and Babe Ruth," oozed Samantha in an extremely confident voice.
"Well, " grinned Jennifer, "Samantha certainly doesn't have a problem making herself heard."
"Most of us are pretty outgoing," piped up Pamela, "I'd say Roxanne is the shiest of us all."
"I'd prefer to be thought of as quiet, soft, and humble rather than shy," spoke Roxanne gently.
"Fair enough," agreed Pamela.
"Courtney, I'm Julia Jackson," interjected Julia, "Yes I'm another J Club girl. How did your other sister Stephanie do in the match?"
"She performed well, but everyone noticed that the bludgers were unusually docile during that match. Fred and Stephanie didn't get as many opportunities to shine because they didn't get as many attempts as usual."
"I don't think I've ever seen a Quidditch match with less active bludgers," mused Gordon.
"I'm the last J Club girl, Jessica Jones, " said Jessica cheerfully, "How did the rest of the team perform?"
"The scoring was balanced with Roxanne scoring four goals and Hugo and Devon scoring three each," replied Courtney pleasantly, "Lily had no problem with the snitch either as she caught it less than a minute after she first saw it. Though it should be noted that it took a while for the snitch to appear. It was hiding in the super high sky for a while before it came out and played."
"It was a really fun match to watch," cooed Penny.
"More fun to call," added Courtney.
"I actually enjoyed no longer being the Quidditch commentator and just being able to sit with Albus in the stands cheering on my sister, cousins, and friends, and especially my sister," grinned James glowingly, "I resigned as Quidditch commentator to focus all my energies on my job as Wandmaking teacher and to give someone else a chance to call the matches. I hand-picked Courtney to succeed me as Quidditch commentator because I knew she would appreciate the opportunity to call her sisters' matches."
"It all worked out well," smiled Hugo.
Next nanosecond, everyone felt himself or herself get a jolt of shock when Aaron appeared.
He was no longer a partial dog animagus. In fact, he was now 100% human."
"MIRACLE!" yelled Aaron as he plopped himself into a green seat.
Samantha looked directly at Aaron, hardly daring to believe it.
"Y-you found a cure? Or at least a solution?" spoke Samantha weakly, "I'd hoped someone, Madam Pomfrey, Amy Cochlain, Ainsley Cochlain, Rachel Robbins, anyone, could find a cure for you. It seems like you've discovered a solution yourself. What did you find that cured you?"
"Actually," admitted Aaron, "A few days ago, I became suddenly angry for no apparent reason at all. And when I had calmed down, I suddenly saw and realized that I was no longer part dog."
"Accidental Magic," realized Samantha, "It sounds like a desirable piece of Accidental Magic undid an undesirable piece of Accidental Magic! Aaron, I'm so happy for you!"
"Thank you, Samantha," said Aaron crisply, "But I have my own perspective on what has happened, and I know you are not going to agree with it."
"What's your take on it all then?" Samantha asked Aaron.
"So," explained Aaron, "Samantha, I know you're a firm and fierce atheist."
"Yes," confirmed Samantha, "Lily and I are both firm and fierce atheists. In sharp contrast, Albus, Courtney, and Stephanie are all very religious."
"Well, " said Aaron matter of factly, "I am very religious myself and I see this as all part of God's plan for me. I believe that becoming a partial animagus without being able to undue it and the discomforts that came with it was God's way of punishing me for being irresponsible as well as his way of sending me a message about the importance of learning to be more responsible. I believe God has lifted the punishment because he feels I have now learned my lesson."
"This past semester," remembered Samantha suddenly, "Third years learned what their animagus forms would be. When I become an animagus, I will become an albino cat, although I should make clear that under no circumstances will I ever attempt to become an animagus prior to the age of sixteen. Furthermore, I will only begin the process of being an animagus after I have extensively studied it."
"You are far more reasonable about the concept that I was Samantha," acknowledged Aaron, "Don't do it too young, don't do it too rashly, don't do it unprepared. I should not have been messing around with this concept at my idea, especially given my limited knowledge of it."
"Sometimes," said Ainsley thoughtfully, "Being responsible is simply not messing around with things that are not age appropriate for you."
"That's what I had to learn the hard way," admitted Aaron, "And before anyone asks, yes I am still interested in becoming a dog animagus, but I will wait to try again until I am at least sixteen and have done more research on becoming an animagus."
"Good," replied James clearly, "You've learned your lesson well."
Samantha caught Aaron up on everything that had happened so far that day and he exchanged quick introductions with Jennifer, Julia, and Jessica.
And finally, Lily arrived.
"Lily, everyone is here," Samantha informed her.
"Good," said Lily happily as she took a red chair, "Samantha, I really want to thank you for bringing us all to your homeland of Arizona for Christmas Vacation. I'm sure this is going to be a wonderful experience for all of us and it lets all of us spend the holidays together while still enabling our parents to see us."
"That's the idea," smiled Samantha, "I thought buying this property was a very good use of the money I won for being the silver medalist of the Hogwarts Drawing Competition. I'm also open to using this place for large meetings more often in the future as long as people respect and obey my no yelling policy."
"Samantha," said Lily warmly, "I've brought an extremely large supply of Christmas cookies for us to share throughout the next few weeks. They are in my trunk, which was sent along in advance like everyone else's. I think everyone will love them when the time comes."
"Thank you for the contribution, Lily," said Samantha crisply, "Lily, look at Aaron."
"A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!" cried out Lily, "Congratulations, Aaron, I'm so happy for you to actually be yourself again.
"Thank you, Lily," said Aaron warmly, "And, Lily, I am forever grateful to you for being the person who introduced me into this friendship circle. "
"My pleasure, Aaron, " said Lily glowingly, "I expect our circle to grow a little more in the years to come."
"This place can always be made bigger," Samantha reminded them.
"Samantha, please catch me up on everything that has happened here so far today," requested Lily.
"Will do this nanosecond," smiled Samantha.
Samantha brought Lily up to speed on everything that had happened so far that day and then:
"The J Club girls may be interested to know,"' cooed Lily, "That it was I who sent them the letters and tickets to that haunted house. Which of you is Jennifer?"
"Me," beamed Jennifer, "Devon, Todd, Gary, and Miles all seemed to know the truth but they kept telling us we'd know who sent us those tickets when the time came."
"It's Jessica here," said Jessica glowingly, "I'm glad they didn't tell us and that you were able to tell us yourself."
"Same," nodded Jennifer.
"Julia here," piped up Julia, "And I feel the same way. Lily, thank you for arranging that for us."
"Yes," agreed Jennifer, "We really do appreciate that."
"We would have gone anyway, but you providing the tickets for us was jolly decent of you, Lily," smiled Jessica.
"It was my pleasure you three," beamed Lily.
"Classic Lily," said Hugo sincerely, "Always doing things for people."
Lily smiled.
After that, the now Circle of Twenty Three just sat in the now red and green lawn chairs in Samantha's backyard and happily chatted away until the parents all came, at which point the friendly chit chat continued with them included until it was time to go inside.
It was going to be an awesome Christmas Vacation.