Harry was allowed to leave St. Mungo's a week and a nanosecond after his surgery with instructions to take it easy for another week and another nanosecond.
Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Amelia, and Heather spent the initial period after returning to Abbott Manor in a mostly relaxed state.
They most of their time simply quietly talking to each other, reading to each other, and just quietly sitting in chairs quietly enjoying each other's company. Topsy continued to provide them with excellent meals.
On Thursday, November 28th, 1991, it was Thanksgiving, and they were ready to come out of their shells and become themselves again.
Since they were going to have such a big feast in the afternoon, they stuck to a small and simple breakfast of a slice of buttered toast each with small cups of Hawaiian punch to wash it down with. This was just to hold them over a bit. They wanted to make sure they were hungry when their Thanksgiving feast started.
Topsy, who fully appreciated how important this Thanksgiving was to Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Amelia, and Heather had gone all out to make it special for them.
When Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Amelia, and Heather arrived in the Dining Room at 1 P.M. Abbott Manor time, they saw that the table they would be eating at had been adorned with a vibrant orange tablecloth with images of turkeys, potatoes, corn husks, dinner rolls, and various pies. There were brown plates, forks, knives, and napkins at each place setting and there was a silver glass with an embroidered silver pumpkin at each place setting.
Each of their plates was filled with boneless white meat turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, and dinner rolls. Pumpkin pie and apple pie were present for dessert and their glasses were filled with Coca Cola Classic.
After she carved the turkey, Heather had an idea.
"So," piped up Heather warmly, "After everything he's been through recently, I want Harry to take the first bite of this meal today."
Harry smiled at Heather dug his fork into a piece of turkey and lifted the fork to his mouth.
"Yummy!" beamed Harry, "That was the most delicious bite of food I have ever had!"
Next nanosecond, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Amelia, and Heather all rose from their seats and gave Harry a standing ovation. They all clapped their hands as hard as they could while chanting, Harry! Harry! Harry!"
"Aw!" cooed Harry, "I am very touched by this gesture."
After a minute and a nanosecond, everyone sat back down again, and they all went into feasting mode.
Everything was very tasty. Topsy was clearly still on top of her game.
About halfway through the feast, after they all thrown many compliments at the outstanding food, Heather said, "So, on this Thanksgiving, let's all share what we are most thankful for. Harry, you go first."
"Easy one for me," said Harry in a very meaningful voice, "The thing that I am most thankful for this year is my newfound friendships with Amy, Susan, and Hannah. I literally went from having no friends at all to having the three best friends any eleven year could ever wish for. It should be acknowledged, and I don't mean this in a self-critical way because I understand that it is circumstantial, but Amy, Susan, and Hannah are far better friends to me than I am to them. Amy, Susan, and Hannah are givers to me, and I am a taker from them."
"I'd rather say that you are a receiver than a taker," said Amy respectfully, "A taker is someone who at worst, uses and takes advantage of people, and, at best, is helped out by people and takes that helped for granted without appreciating it. Neither of these applies to you. Susan, Hannah, and I all know how much you appreciate everything we have done for you and how thankful you are on a daily basis for our friendship. Like you said, us being better friends to you than you to us is circumstantial. "
"Well said, Amy," agreed Susan, "I have no doubt in saying that if the roles were reversed, Harry would be just as supportive of us as we have been of him."
"I'm also one thousand percent confident that if we ever need Harry to be there for us or take care of us in the future, he be there for us and take care of us," said Hannah fiercely.
"Thank you for saying that," smiled Harry, "I have to say that it really sticks with me that the first day you met me you were immediately concerned that something was wrong and were proactive in getting the help in needed. And, Amy, you have been a wonderful caretaker to me as well. If anyone deserves the title of mom friend, Amy Alworth does."
"Aw," cooed Amy as a few tears of emotion drifted down her cheeks, "I can't tell you how much it means to me to hear that, Harry. What I can tell you is that the thing I am most thankful for is to be out of Nurture's Orphanage even if Hogwarts didn't quite work out as expected. And it is obvious to me that things are only going to get better for me. The matrons and other kids at Nurture's Orphanage always treated me well enough, but I'm very grateful to have been the opportunity to move on and I'm very thankful for the bonds I now have with Harry, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Ameila, and Heather. Abbott Manor is such a wonderful place to live and such a loving and comfortable environment."
"Aw," cooed a beaming Heather, "Thank you for saying that, Amy."
"By far the thing I am most thankful for is my long standing bestie relationship with Hannah," said Susan seriously, "Not many people get the chance to be besties with someone from cradle to grave. Hannah and I have the opportunity in front of us and I don't take that for granted. "
"By far the thing I am most thankful for is my long standing bestie relationship with Susan," said Hannah seriously, "Not many people get the chance to be besties with someone from cradle to grave. Susan and I have the opportunity in front of us and I don't take that for granted. "
Harry, Amy, Sirius, Amelia, and Heather all smiled at Susan and Hannah. The almost carbon copy of each other's words was so fitting for Susan and Hannah, and Harry, Amy, Sirius, Ameila, and Heather all knew that.
"To me," said Heather observantly, "The thing most proves how strong, how meaningful, and how worthwhile the friendship between Susan and Hannah really is the fact that they've never a fight or a falling out."
"Hard agree," piped up Ameila instantly, showing her Ravenclaw side, "The lack of fights and falling outs is what makes a high quality friendship a high quality friendship."
"On the other hand," added Sirius seriously, "If a "friendship" is weak enough to have fights or falling outs, it isn't really a friendship. People who have fights and falling outs with each other are frenemies at best."
"Harry and Amy, especially Harry," interjected Heather, "Are just learning about friendship and it's very important for them to understand and appreciate that the true high quality friendships will always be free of fights and falling outs."
"Mine is obvious," said Sirius bluntly, "But the thing that I am most thankful for this year, is, by far, being out of Azkaban. With everything else that has happened, the best thing to have happened to me this year is simply to get out of that inhumane hellhole. Belinda Carlisle sang a famous song called Heaven Is a Place On Earth. Well, for those of us who have spent time in Azkaban, we know Azkaban proves that Hell Is a Place On Earth."
"Sirius," said Amelia softly, "I know we weren't close before you went to Azkaban, but I did know you and I feel really guilty about ever believing that you were guilty. The crimes you were falsely imprisoned for go against everything I previously knew about your character."
"I feel a lot of guilt about that as well," admitted Heather quietly, "Even if we weren't close, we knew Sirius well enough that we should have known that he wouldn't betray his friends."
"Ameila and Heather," said Sirius seriously, looking face to face between them, "You've both more than made any false beliefs you had about my guilt up to me by going out of your way to help me out when you realized that I was innocent. Ameila, you gave the advice I needed to be acquitted at my trial. If we hadn't had that conversation beforehand, I might have blown a gasket at my trial when either Dumbledore or Pettigrew was mentioned. You put me in the right mindset for my trial by putting me in a calm mood ahead of my trial and making sure beforehand that I would have a calm approach. As for you Heather, you have allowed me to have shelter here and made me feel at home. You both provided me with a place to stay and in doing so provided me with the opportunity to meet my godson and his friends, including my favorite albino girl."
Harry and Amy both grinned at Sirius.
"Dumbledore and Pettigrew did a perfect job of framing me," said Sirius bitterly, "It is completely understandable why people believed in my guilt. Ameila and Heather, you both did what you could to be there for me and help me once you knew I was innocent. Ameila and Heather, I owe both of you a large dose of gratitude for everything you've done for me since I first got out of Azkaban. I am very lucky to have you both being such a big part of my life now."
Ameila and Heather exchanged smiles with both each other and Sirius. The acknowledgement that Sirius had just given Ameila and Heather significantly relieved the feelings of guilt that had crept up in both of them."
"Sirius," praised Ameila, "I am very proud of how well you kept your composure at your trial. You were calm and mature when you needed to be, and it paid off for you. As for me, the thing I am most thankful for this year is simply having the companionship that living at Abbott Manor has provided me. I am truly indebted to Sirius for suggesting this and to Heather for allowing it."
"I should have made the suggestion myself," rued Heather, "But I'm glad Sirius did and I'm glad Ameila has found happiness here."
"I knew that she had to be lonely," said Sirius simply, "It was looking out for her combined with common sense.
"And don't be too self-critical, Heather," said Ameila clearly, "I could have asked, and you would have said yes."
"The thing I am most thankful for," said Heather matter of factly, "Is how wonderfully obedient Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah have been while I've been homeschooling them here this year. Although I chose not to continue this past this academic year, the Yellow Quartet have made teaching them a breeze by their work ethic, their attentiveness, their humility, and most importantly, their willingness to accept constructive criticism."
"Mom," said Hannah kindly, "It's easy to accept criticism from you because you never yell or raise your voice. You are a critic without being a berater and that's what has made you such an ideal teacher to the Yellow Quartet."
The rest of the meal passed in silence as they quieted down and slowed down towards the end of the meal to savor the last bites and sips of their excellent feast.
The nanosecond the feast was over, Heather retrieved her wand from her right hand pocket with her right hand.
She performed a few nonverbal Conjuring Spells so that the room was suddenly filled with brown, orange, and yellow ballons and darts and the ceiling was covered in brown, orange, and yellow confetti.
"Now," declared Heather, "We've had to be calm and quiet in recent weeks. Now, it's time to have some loud, messy, and mindless fun."
Next nanosecond, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Ameila, and Heather all picked up the darts and threw them at the balloons, creating a lively room full of sound as the bangs of balloons popping permeated the room.
Then Heather pointed her wand at the ceiling and cried, "Confettiicus Fallicus," and Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Ameila, and Heather were all showered with confetti. The falling confetti had created a spectacular show of fall colors.
When the ground was indicated with balloon bits and confetti, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Ameila, and Heather all playfully started playfully putting them in each other's hair and down each other's backs, all laughing and giggling at themselves and each other as they did so.
It was great fun and a great release.
It was pure moment of friends having fun as friends and as it played out, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Ameila, and Heather knew that they were themselves again.
The need for peace and quiet was over.
Now, it was just time to have fun.
A shout out to the following members who have added Harry Potter and the Yellow Quartet to their favorites and/or follows lists since the last update:
gibbydeamon
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Sleepy-Knight
As this will be the last update to Harry Potter and the Yellow Quartet before Thanksgiving, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Happy Thanksgiving. Be safe everyone!
Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :) ❤️