On the morning of Thursday, January 7th, 1993, after the students and staff of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery had just finished demolishing their excellent breakfast of blueberry waffles, bacon strips, and Sunny Delight to wash it down with, Heather rose to her feet at the staff table and lifted her megaphone.
Smiling at each other at the Yellow Quartet's table, Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all remembered the fundraiser for St. Mungo's that was about to be opened.
"So," said Heather seriously, "It is time to open our fundraiser for this semester. This semester we will be engaging in a fundraiser to benefit St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. This fundraiser shall be open until 7 P.M. on Sunday night. At 10 P.M. on Sunday night, we will all convene in the Eating and Meeting Hall to go over the results. "
Next nanosecond, Heather retrieved her wand from her right hand pocket with her right hand and performed a series of nonverbal spells. These nonverbal spells caused a yellow collecting tin and three yellow baskets to appear at the front of the Eating and Meeting Hall.
"Monetary donations shall be placed into the collecting tin and nonmonetary donations shall be placed into the baskets," instructed Heather.
"Headmistress Abbott?" piped up Parvati Patil, "I would like to contribute to this fundraiser, but I am uncertain about what items it would best to donate to St Mungo's. Do you have any suggestions on the types of things we should be donating to this particular fundraiser?"
"An excellent question, Miss Patil," smiled Heather, "I visited St. Mungo's yesterday while you lot were all in class to investigate how the hospital could most benefit from this fundraiser. Very fortuitously, the current owner of St. Mungo's, Brennan Boham, who is descended from St. Mungo's founder Mungo Boham, had dropped in. I was able to speak with him one on one and he provided me with a detailed explanation of what the hospital could most use at this nanosecond and what it could most use in general."
"Good for you, mom, " said Hannah approvingly, "That's called doing your homework for optimum results. Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
"I'll start off by talking about Potions," said Heather in a businesslike voice, "Can any of you guess which potions are needed the most often at St. Mungo's?"
"Dreamless Sleep Potion?" suggested Susan.
"Indeed," confirmed Heather, "There are various scenarios under which St. Mungo's gives patients Dreamless Sleep Potion. Sometimes it is given to recovering patients who are fatigued, sore, in pain, or some combination thereof. In other cases, it is given to patients ahead of procedures, operations, or treatments either to ensure that the patient is relaxed or to ensure the patient has had enough sleep to be fresh and alert, depending on the procedure, operation, or treatment in question. Sometimes patients will also request Dreamless Sleep Potion."
"I'm guessing," added Amy, "That Draught of Peace is another commonly used potion at St. Mungo's."
"Definitely," replied Heather, "If a patient is very obviously antsy, anxious. nervous, frightened, or stressed out, he or she will be fed Draught of Peace. If such a patient is going undergo a procedure, operation, or treatment that will require calm and relaxation, he or she may be given BOTH Draught of Peace AND Dreamless Sleep Potion, which have no side effects from interacting with each other."
"Having been prescribed it myself about a year and a third ago," said Harry in a slow and thoughtful voice, "I am certain that Nutrient Potion is another big one."
"True," said Heather matter of factly, "Though this potion is used more judiciously. Healers and nurses are very selective about prescribing Nutrient Potion. It is only prescribed if it is very obviously necessary, and the daily doses are kept low. Overdosing on Nutrient Potion can lead to obesity. That said, if a patient has had an illness or condition that has caused him or her to lose a significant amount of weight, then he or she may be prescribed Nutrient Potion. I'll add that another useful potion is Cooling Potion. Cooling Potion can provide immediate relief if a person has spilled hot liquid on himself or herself or touched or come into contact with something that is scoldingly hot."
"If I may interject here," called Cedric, "I'm thinking that Scar Removal Cream would be of value to this fundraiser?"
"No doubt," confirmed Heather, "Now, for most medical tools, St. Mungo's prefers to choose and purchase them itself. For this reason, monetary donations are of the utmost value here. Students are strongly encouraged to provide monetary support to this fundraiser."
"Are there any other items we can supply?" asked Ernie seriously.
"Pillows, pillowcases, blankets, and bedsheets are good options," answered Heather a nanosecond later, "St. Mungo's replaces bedding frequently to keep it fresh. Pillows and pillowcases are especially welcome as certain patients use extra pillows to keep their heads elevated while they sleep."
"Would the same apply to things like combs, razors, and toothbrushes?" inquired Luna.
"Miss Lovegood," responded Heather approvingly, "That is an outstanding observation. Yes, hygiene products are absolutely something we wish to collect during this fundraiser. Bandages and ointments conclude the list of necessities here. However, there are some luxury items I am going recommend for donation."
"OHHHHHHHHHHHH!" piped up Colin, "Let me guess, you are going ask for reading materials such as books and comics. I am muggleborn and I know that in the muggle world, we have things like TV and muggle hospitals have TVs that their patients can watch to pass the time. However, electricity, which powers TVs, does not work in the Magical World due to magic interfering with it. As such, reading materials would be invaluable to the patients of a magical hospital like St. Mungo's."
"Clued in Colin," grinned Heather, "I'd suggest long books or series of books. Comics are of more value here if they are large collections. "
"What about art supplies?" suggested an average sized average heighted girl with medium brown hair and brown eyes named Chelsea Color, who was a member of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery's Art Club.
"Crayons, colored pencils, markers, and paper are fine," replied Heather happily, "But please no paint. Painting is frowned upon as an activity for St. Mungo's patients because of how messy it came get. St. Mungo's doesn't have time to clean its floors very often, so it can't afford a lot of spills and paint is definitely something that can be spilled. "
"That's fair," acknowledged Chelsea.
"I think we have a good feel for what to donate," declared Heather, "I'll see you all in here at 10 P.M. on Sunday Night to discuss the results."
Over the next few days, the student body of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery rose to the occasion magnificently.
Many students and staff, including Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, Sirius, Remus, Ameila, and Heather herself, made substantial monetary donations to the fundraiser for St. Mungo's.
Susan felt deeply moved when she saw that every one of her Sand Club clubmates had donated to the fundraiser. She was sure that her clubmates remembered that her late parents had been frequent donors to St. Mungo's and that this fundraiser had been announced on the anniversary of their deaths. Susan was certain that her clubmates knew exactly how much this fundraiser meant to her.
Seamus and Dean had both donated art supplies with Seamus donating paper and Dean donating markers, crayons, and colored pencils.
Lee and Gabe had contributed books full of crossword puzzles, sudoku puzzles, and riddle games to allow St. Mungo's patients to engage in brain stimulating exercises.
Sofia and Xiu provided bedding materials. Sofia chipped in with white pillows and pillowcases while Xiu chipped in with white bedsheets and multi shade blue blankets.
Very thoughtfully, Luna, along with her two best friends Colin and Ginny, had all given collections of stuffed animals to the fundraiser. This had been Luna's idea as she realized that stuffed animals could provide mental comfort and support to patients experiencing a lot of discomfort and distress. These stuffed animals included the all-time classic teddy bear but also included stuffed animals including magical creatures such as crups, kneazles, fwoopers, hippogriffs, phoenixes, unicorns, and dragons.
Meanwhile, fittingly, Amy's Potions Club clubmates Ernie, Mason, and Brett had all donated one vial each of Dreamless Sleep Potion, Draught of Peace, Nutrient Potion, and Cooling Potion.
Hannah's Water Club clubmates Justin, Fiona, Crystal, and Amanda all pitched in with toothbrushes and combs in every color you could think of that had been bought for the specific purpose of being donated to the fundraiser and so were new and in perfect condition.
Harry's Broom Club clubmates Cedric, Scott, Anthony, Katsumi, and Heidi all donated Scar Removal Cream. Harry had told them of how he had personally benefited from Scar Removal Cream upon his reentrance into the Magical World and he was sure they had remembered his story when choosing to make this their donation.
Parvati, along with her twin sister Padma and bestie Lavender had all provided a large collection of reading materials to donate to the fundraiser. This included novels such as the Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Dune, A Wrinkle in Time, the Chronicles of Narnia series, and C.S. Lewis's less well known Space Trilogy series. It also included comics that included Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Yogi Bear, and Garfield.
Betsy Barbie offered up a large collection of dolls.
Daphne Greengrass and one of her best friends, Tracey Davis, had both added Razors.
One of their other best friends, Lily Moon, a muggleborn who was not well off financially, did give the fundraiser a box of band aids.
Daphne's younger sister, who was also close with Tracey and Lily, wouldn't be starting at Skyward School of Practical Sorcery until the 1994-95 school year, however, Daphne had informed her of the fundraiser via letter and she had sent several bottles of ointments that Daphne dropped into one of the baskets.
One of the biggest donors to this fundraiser was Neville, who donated one hundred galleons to St. Mungo's.
As had been the case with fundraiser for Nurture's Orphanage, the overwhelming majority of the students and staff of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery had made some kind of donation to the fundraiser for St. Mungo's.
...
On Sunday, January 10th, 1993, the students and staff of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery gathered in the Eating and Meeting Hall to go over the results of the fundraiser for St Mungo's.
Heather was standing up at the staff table and was holding her megaphone to her mouth.
"So," piped up Heather proudly, "I am pleased to say that Skyward School of Practical Sorcery has once again shown its generosity and compassion. Our fundraiser for St Mungo's has raised three thousand galleons in money and items. I will be delivering the donated items to St Mungo's tomorrow morning. I believe Susan would like to speak. "
Next nanosecond, Susan rose from her seat at the Yellow Quartet's table and gracefully walked up to the staff table where Heather gently handed Susan her megaphone.
"Knowing how much this cause meant to my late parents, I am deeply moved by the overwhelming amount of support that this fundraiser has received. Mom and dad always felt great compassion for the sick and the injured," said Susan with a few tears flowing down her face from her watery eyes, "It meant something deep to me that this fundraiser was announced on the anniversary of my parents' deaths. I am both proud of and grateful for the extraordinary support Skyward School of Practical Sorcery has shown here. I would also like to thank Aunt Amelia both for suggesting this specific fundraiser as well as for her idea of having Skyward School of Practical Sorcery hold fundraisers near the start of every semester. I also want to thank Heather for implementing this idea. The patients of St. Mungo's will greatly benefit from your incredible compassion and generosity. Thank you, everyone. "
Susan handed Heather her megaphone back and went back to her seat.
"Well said, Susan," said Heather proudly, "After our successful fundraiser for Nurture's Orphanage in September, I was sure that you'd all step up to help St. Mungo's and I couldn't be prouder of Skyward School of Practical Sorcery!"
So, I wasn't on much in late December or early January. I had planned to take some time away from here around Christmas and then I got sick late at night on December 26th from a stomach virius going around my area and spent most of the 27th in the hospital. I didn't feel too great until New Year's and decided to take it easy for a few more days after that. I also had a batch routine yearly labwork/bloodwork done on the 13th and went over the results with my PCP on the 20th. Most of it looked really good. The one thing my PCP was a little concerned about was that I have an elevated TSH level of 4.25. My T4 value was in the normal range and I'm not experiencing any symptoms of underactive thyroid. However, my PCP said she was less concerned about underactive thyroid and more concerned about the possibility of thyroid cancer. She gave my thyroid area a good look and feel and did not see or feel any large spots or growths that don't belong. She's having me redo that lab test in July and if it is still elevated, she's going to have me do an ultrasound to determine if thyroid cancer is present. I started the year here by updating my one shots threads. This is the third of my six "true" fics to get an update in 2025. Harry Potter and the Yellow Quartet is still steadily gaining favorers and followers so thank to everyone who is supporting this thread in any way.
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:
Abigail Guerrero
anonymous69362585
Aslan1980
BorisCresnov
christine87
diegodantas42
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Jabberwocken
Paolo Dominico Del Mundo
Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :) ❤️