Samantha slowly and carefully guided everyone into the building and gave them a slow tour of the building three times over to make sure everyone was comfortable and could remember where every room and everything was.
After this thorough tour was complete, Samantha guided everyone back to the living room, the room they would be spending the most time in.
Smantha's artificial Christmas tree was located in the northeast corner of the living room. It was plugged in and had very pretty LED lights in five colors: red, green, yellow, blue, and orange.
The tree had been mostly but not entirely decorated. These decorations included several unique decorations that included a blue glittering reindeer, a ball declaring baby's first Christmas with the number 2007, representing Samantha's birth year, and a hot pink snowman that Penny and Lily both smiled at when they saw it, as hot pink was both Penny's and Lily's favorite color.
Samantha's sports fandom was also represented. Lily felt herself getting goosebumps when she saw that Samantha had hung the Arizona Cardinals keychain she had given Samantha on the night Samantha had won the silver medal in the Hogwarts Drawing Competition on her Christmas tree.
"That Arizona Cardinals keychain hanging on the tree," cooed Lily, "Is the one I gave Samantha on the night her Arizona themed drawing took silver in the Hogwarts drawing competition. I feel very touched."
"I'm not strictly using it as a Christmas ornament, " explained Samantha, "But I wanted to represent my Arizona Cardinals fandom on my Christmas tree and this keychain, being small and hangable, was the perfect thing to use to do that. Lily, I DID think you would recognize that keychain as the one you gave me."
Lily's eyes glowed as she smiled widely and brightly at the keychain on the tree.
There were a few more traditional decorations on the tree such as candy canes and Santas.
However, there was a gaping hole on the front side of the tree with no decorations on it yet.
"As you can all see," beamed Samantha, "There is room for six more ornaments on my Christmas tree. This will be the place where the Christmas balls that James and Ainsley conjured will be hung."
The ornaments in question were sitting on the white Ashley Furniture sofa just south of tree.
"So," offered Samantha, "I know I said I'd hang these ornaments on the tree, but I have a better idea. James, Ainsley, I would like to offer the two of you the opportunity to place the Christmas balls you conjured on the tree."
James and Ainsley both beamed at Samantha at that.
"Thank you, Samantha," smiled Ainsley, "That will be nice. James, let's rotate turns placing our Christmas balls on Samantha's Christmas tree. You may go first."
"Good plan," said James approvingly, walking over to the couch.
James picked up the white Christmas ball with the engraved snowflake he had made and carefully placed it upon an available spot on Samantha's Christmas tree. He then stepped back and smiled at his creation.
"Well, " said Ainsley thoughtfully, "I think it would make sense for my snowman ball to hang next to James's snowflake ball."
"Hard agree," piped up Devon, "This is what I meant about James's and Ainsley's ornaments complimenting each other."
So, Ainsley fetched her white Christmas ball with the engraved snowman and hung it right next to James's snowflake ball.
"Aw, they're so pretty," cooed Jennifer.
"Thank you, Jennifer," replied James and Ainsley, smiling warmly at her.
This process continued with James hanging his red Santa ball in an empty spot followed by Ainsley hanging her silver reindeer ball next to that.
"That's fitting for the Santa ball and the reindeer ball to go next to each other, since reindeer pull Santa's sleigh," grinned Gordon.
"Another feather in the complimentary bucket," exclaimed Julia.
James then found a place for his green Christmas tree ball, and Ainsley finished the job by hanging her gold stocking ball next to that.
When that was done, Ainsley looked Samantha eye to eye and said very sincerely, "Thank you very much, Samantha, for allowing James and me to have our creations hung on your Christmas tree. This opportunity means a lot to me and I'm sure it means a lot to James as well."
"I second all of that," said James in a genuine voice, "You are a very warm and welcoming host Samantha."
"Samantha," declared Devon, "Is definitely warmer and friendlier nowadays than when we first met her."
"That," acknowledged Samantha, "Started out as a slow process, like rust or oxidization. However, there is a clear cut line of demarcation where I can honestly say that I became warmer, friendlier, and more welcoming. When I started at Hogwarts, I was pretty cold and distant. I was also very serious and high strung. Now, I credit Ainsley with helping me to lighten up and develop a sense of humor and be a little more lighthearted. I had definitely loosened up a bit by the end of first year. However, even when I had some of you over at my muggle house to attend the Quidditch United States Cup, I was still in my cold and distant phase, though less extremely than when I started Hogwarts. But a key turning point for me was seeing and hearing everyone's reactions to my Arizona themed drawing that netted me a much deserved silver medal in the Hogwarts Drawing Competition. And it wasn't the drawing itself. I knew I'd done a great job and that drawing, and I knew how awesome it was. But when everyone reacted with such a welcoming response to that Arizona themed party we had, I think the warmth and welcoming I felt in that nanosecond rubbed off on me. I still maintain my belief in avoiding becoming emotionally attached to other people because it will only lead to grief and sadness on the other end, but I definitely became fonder of all of you after that."
"AWW," cooed Lily suddenly, noticing the pictures that Samantha had placed up on the north wall, "Those are the pictures I took of people's Christmas decorations in the neighborhood around Potter Manor last Christmas Eve."
"Yes," confirmed Samantha, "It was very thoughtful of you to take those pictures for me."
"That's typical Lily behavior," piped up Hugo proudly.
"It means a lot to me to see those pictures displayed on the wall in here," said Lily sincerely, "I am confident that James, Albus, dad, and mom all feel the same way."
James, Albus, Harry, and Ginny all nodded in agreement.
"It's like having a taste of our home neighborhood here," said Harry contently.
"If you will turn your attention to the west wall," interjected Samantha, "You will see some Christmas themed drawings that Stephaine made for this occasion."
On the west wall, there were several hand drawn pictures. These included three beautiful drawings of meticulously crafted red and green snowflakes, one each in crayons, colored pencils, and markers.
"Wow, Stephanie, " said Hugo breathlessly, "I love the red and green snowflakes."
"Those were the drawings I put the most effort into," said Stephanie bluntly, "I really enjoyed making that drawing three times with a different tool each time."
"The difference in utensils," observed Albus, "Gives each of them their own flavor while being similar enough to each other to feel like a set."
"That is exactly what I was aiming for," cooed Stephanie contently.
Another such set of pictures on the wall featured red and green checkerboards with a red penny on each green square and a green penny on each red square.
"Ah, the penny filled checkerboards in red and green," piped up Penny, "I adore those drawings."
"I thought you'd like those," grinned Stephanie, "Yes, I was thinking of you when I drew those."
"Thank you, Stephanie," replied Penny sincerely, "That was very nice of you."
"My pleasure, Penny," said Stephanie warmly.
Yet another set of drawings on the wall featured bows in every color you could think of.
"I love the complete color mix of those bow drawings," grinned Gordon, "I don't think they are as high quality from an artistic perspective as the snowflake drawings, but I just find them really fun and festive."
"That was the idea," smiled Stephanie, "I didn't put that much effort into those bow drawings. Honestly, the little flaws in some of the bows somehow make those drawings more awesome."
The west wall also included stockings. The stockings had white backgrounds with red tops and green trim just below that. On the white backgrounds were Santas holding gray cats.
"Meow," piped up Ainsley, pointing at the stockings, "I love cats. MEOW!"
"We won't be using the stockings," explained Samantha, "Our gifts will all be piled under the tree. However, all of us Savers agreed that including stockings among the decorations was a must."
"Can't have a set of Christmas decorations without including stockings," declared Samuel Saver, Samantha's father.
"Let's turn our attention to the east wall now," instructed Samantha, "There are a number of pictures painted by Courtney hung on that wall."
One picture really stood out on this wall: This picture featured an exceptionally crafted painting of a sleigh on a pile of freshly fallen snow on the ground with a very fat Santa as the driver and eight tiny reindeer pulling it.
"Wow," said Jessica, "Ten out of ten for the sleigh painting."
"Hard agree," nodded Julia, "The attention to detail in this picture is stunning."
There were various paintings on the wall, including some breathtaking snowmen and serene wreath paintings.
But everyone agreed that the sleigh painting was the most outstanding painting on this wall.
"I'm delighted by how much everyone appreciates my sleigh painting," said Courtney cheerfully, "I put my heart and soul into that painting and I'm grateful for how well received it has been."
The group spent the rest of the day in the living room enjoying the festive atmosphere.
At one point, Samantha had told everyone she needed to leave the room for a few minutes and a few nanoseconds to attend to something.
That something became clear later that night when they had gathered in the dining room for dinner.
There was an ENORMOUS rectangular table covered by a festive red tablecloth with mini green Christmas trees and scattered white snowdrops. The length and width of this table was HUGE so it could seat everyone. The chairs alternated between red and green. The plates had white backgrounds with images of Christmas trees on them. They would be using silver forks and knives and drinking from gold goblets.
"So," explained Samantha, "I've had one of my house elves, Chef, prepare a very specific dinner for us tonight. CHEF!"
At that, everyone's goblets filled themselves with Coca Cola Classic and everyone's plates filled themselves with piping hot spaghetti with meatballs and tomato sauce. The sauce had been placed at the far right sides of the plates to allow everyone to decide individually how much sauce he or she wanted to use. The meatballs had been placed at the far left sides of the plates for the same reason. The spaghetti covered the majority of the plates.
Two crystal platters also suddenly appeared. One was filled with a combination of crusty Italian bread, plain breadsticks, breadsticks topped with butter, breadsticks topped with garlic, and breadsticks topped with both butter and garlic. These would be their sides. The other platter was filled with gooey chocolate fudge brownies that would be their dessert.
Seeing the food around them, Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia all smiled at each other and then at Samantha.
"We told Samantha when we arrived here," Jennifer told the room at large, pointing between herself, Jessica, and Julia, "That our favorite dinner is spaghetti and meatballs with a side of crusty Italian bread. "
"She then inquired about our favorite dessert," recalled Jessica, "And we told her we loved fudge brownies."
"Samantha clearly had Chef prepare this meal with us in mind," said Julia warmly.
"Yes," confirmed Samantha, "I thought having our first dinner together be the J Club girls' favorite meal would be a nice way of making them feel wanted, welcomed, and included. I included breadsticks of various preparations because breadsticks are typically eaten with Spaghetti meals. Everyone can choose whatever type of bread side he or she wants. I told Chef to put the sauce and meatballs on the side so everyone can decide individually how much they want to use."
"Thank you, Samantha," said Jennifer warmly, "Trust us, your thoughtful gesture in having our favorite meal served tonight to make us feel welcomed and included as the newest members of the Circle of Twenty Three is both noticed and appreciated."
"Samantha also deserves credit," added Jessica, "For being thoughtful enough to set this meal up to allow some individual choice."
"Sometimes," smiled Julia, "A favorite meal can bring more feeling of warmth and welcoming than anything."
"That was part of my thought process," confirmed Samantha.
The food was piping hot, and the quality of the food was exceptional.
"This," glowed Jennifer a few minutes into the meal with her face lit up, "Is the best spaghetti meal I've ever had!"
"House elves," explained Samantha, "Can cook better than any person. The best human chef in the world would be a middle of the line chef compared to the cooking of house elves who are skilled in food preparation."
"It's amazing how good this meal actually is," beamed Jessica.
"Everything has extra flavor without being overpowering," noted Julia, "And the food is piping hot without being scolding."
Everyone, but especially Jennifer, Jessica, and Julia thoroughly enjoyed this meal, with comments continuing to be interjected about both Samantha's thoughtfulness towards the J Club girls and the stunningly great quality of the food, especially for those who weren't used to house elf cooking.
The meal passed pleasantly, with some mild chit chat. When it was over, Samantha said, "Backyard again, we need to go see those awesome inflatable light up decorations at night!"
Next nanosecond, everyone rose from his or her seat and followed Samantha back to the backyard.
Samantha then pointed out each inflatable light up decorated that was present in her backyard.
The Rudolph, Frosty, Santa, Christmas tree with lights, and red and white candy cane were all lit up beautifully and glowing brightly.
"They definitely look better at night," cooed Courtney, "The sun was definitely inhibiting our view of them earlier."
The group took some time to enjoy the inflatable decorations' awesome visual appeal in the nighttime setting.
"Rudolph's red nose really does glow!" saw Devon excitedly.
"That's not all it does," added Samantha eagerly, running up to the Rudolph decoration and hitting the red nose that was also a play button.
The catchy, up tempo, instrumental version of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer filled the night air, and they stood admiring the glow from Rudolph's red nose as the song played.
"These are awesome decorations, Samantha, " declared Debra.
"Hey, Samantha, " asked Todd, "I love snow, cold, white, all of that. May I hit Frosty's button nose?"
But of course," answered Samantha kindly, "You probably already know what will happen when you do."
Todd marched up to the Frosty decoration and pressed the button nose that was his play button.
The catchy, up tempo, instrumental version of Frosty the Snowman filled the air, and they began to dance around, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
"I love plant life," Hugo reminded Samantha.
Taking the hint, Samantha informed Hugo, "The lights are the play buttons."
Hugo slowly and quietly walked up to the Christmas tree decoration and hit one of the green lights, causing the playing of an up tempo instrumental version of O Christmas Tree.
They stood quietly as they took in this song. This was a moment of peaceful warmth.
Without thinking much about it, Lily then proceeded to approach the Santa decoration and tickle his beard. The Santa decoration then burst into a catchy, up tempo, instrumental version of Santa Claus is Coming to Town. As this song played, they all had their faces light up at the vibrant red tent of this Santa.
"The candy cane," explained Samantha, "Plays a song we should all sing along with."
Samantha activated this one herself. They all sang along as it played its catchy, up tempo version of Holly Jolly Christmas.
"Wow, " said Lily when this session was over and they were getting ready to go back inside, "These decorations look spectacular lit up at night, and the songs are very spirited. "
"I knew everyone would love these decorations at night," smiled Samantha. "
…
Next day, Samantha took them all on an outing.
She had made arrangements for them to attend a spectacular Christmas event in Magical Arizona.
There was a stadium in Magical Arizona called Arizona's Amazing Adventures that was hosting a Christmas event that day and Samantha had managed to get tickets for all of them.
It was an outdoor venue similar to an NFL stadium or Quidditch pitch.
Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Todd, Miles, Gary, Gordon, Aaron, Rachel, Roxanne, Rose, Pamela, Penny, Jennifer, Julia, Jessica, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, Ainsley, and Lily along with the parents who had joined them noticed when they found their seats that the chairs had five color checkerboard designs in red, green, white, silver, and gold.
"That's an interesting effect," said Penny, "A five color checkerboard works nicely, and it incorporates all the Christmas colors."
It was a mild seventy three degree day. The sun was shining brightly, the sky was clear, and Camelback Mountain was visible in the distance.
"Hey, everyone!" piped up Samantha eagerly, pointing at the mountain in the distance, "That is the real Camelback Mountain."
Everyone smiled at Samantha at that, and she smiled back at them.
This was one of the reasons that spending Christmas Vacation in Arizona was so wonderful for all of them: they got to see Samantha's homeland up close. Not just in a drawing or through a model, but the actual real thing.
No words were exchanged in this moment. There didn't need to be. Everyone knew that everyone was happy and content to see Arizona up close.
A few minutes and a few nanoseconds passed before anyone spoke again.
"Now," brimmed Samantha with anticipation in her voice, "There will be no people performing here today. This is a Christmas themed show run by magic that has been set up beforehand."
The nanosecond those words were out of her mouth, little bubbles seemed to form of their own accord in the lawn.
Slowly but surely, those bubbles grew in size until they were large round circles. Then, the bubbles changed colors from clear to red, green, white, silver, and gold.
And it didn't stop there.
Next thing they knew, these bubbles were forming cohesive groups with each other until several Christmas themed shapes were present.
The most impressive of these bubble formations was a real life sized golden sleigh that was now driving itself all over the lawn.
"My, the bubble sleigh is life sized," said Ainsley adoringly.
"And it's driving itself, " pointed out Pamela, "It looks as though you could ride in it."
"Seeing Christmas themed bubble creations is something new and different," said Fred fondly, "Agree, sis?"
"Yes," said Roxanne softly, "The thing is, I didn't have any expectations beforehand for what this show would entail."
"Neither did I," admitted Samantha, "The promos just said it would be a Christmas themed show dictated by magic and that patrons would see what it was for themselves when they attended the show."
"'That's what makes this show interesting," observed Rose, "We don't have any expectations from a script or syllabus. We enjoy what we get when we get it."
"Seeing a life sized gold sleigh made out of bubbles is quite the sight," grinned Gordon.
By that time, they could hear chimes.
A bit above the ground, at the height the top of a child's swing set would be, were two silver bells made out of bubbles.
At this, Samantha burst into an impromptu singing of Silver Bells, replacing the word city with the word Arizona.
The green bubbles had fused to each other to make giant oversized wreaths.
Meanwhile, the red and white bubbles had made themselves enormous, oversized candy canes.
"Largest candy canes ever?" wondered James eagerly.
"Well," said Lily matter of factly, "They are almost certainly the largest candy canes ever made out of bubbles."
The bubbles stayed the way they were for a few minutes and a few nanoseconds to allow everyone to enjoy them.
Then, the candy canes collapsed as the white bubbles ran away and hit the ground.
Upon their contact with the lawn, they popped and before anyone knew what had happened, the lawn was covered in white, giving off a look as though it had snowed.
"Well," piped up Parvati, "The lawn really does look as though it's covered in accumulated snow."
"It's awestricking," agreed Hermione.
The wreaths now collapsed as well, and all of the red and green bubbles started disengaging from each other while staying close to each other. They were now like molecules that were no longer touching each other but were not that spread out either.
The red and green bubbles skyrocketed. As they did, the sun and sky suddenly disappeared, and it was totally dark above them.
The red and green bubbles proceeded to turn into fireworks.
The red ones formed Santa shaped fireworks whereas the green ones formed tree shaped fireworks.
"First bubbles, now fireworks," smiled Sarah, "I wonder what could happen next."
"Maybe they'll form a red and green abstract and then go off, and then turn into something else," predicted Samuel.
Samantha's father was proven right. The fireworks broke apart, and then all joined with each other to form a stunning display of red and green.
"I know fireworks aren't associated with Christmas," said Debra, "But that is a spectacular display."
"I want to hear them explode," exclaimed Dudley.
And they did. The fireworks went off, and, as they did, red and green marbles formed.
These marbles decreased in size and softened themselves.
They then formed Arizona shaped trinkets the size of cookie cutters in red, green, and all combinations of those two colors you could think of.
To everyone's delight, these red and green Arizona shaped marble trinkets distributed themselves to the attendees of the show so that everyone got one.
This was an awesome moment for all of them, especially for Samantha, who was beaming at her all red Arizona marble trinket. This truly was an Arizona Christmas, and it was one they would remember forever. These marble trinkets would be an outstanding keepsake of such.
And that wasn't quite it.
The words, "Ho, Ho, Ho!" suddenly echoed from the sky from an invisible voice and it started to rain M&Ms.
This mix included only a mix of red and green M&Ms to make it feel Christmasy.
"This is the end of the show," called the voice, and now the M&Ms were followed by clear, resealable bags. The M&Ms eventually shut themselves into the bags, and everyone in attendance had a bag of these M&Ms settle into his or her hands.
Then, it started raining red and green candy canes. These were all red and green combo candy canes with the colors alternating every line.
These candy canes fell faster than the M&Ms had.
This gave them all a thrilling feeling. They all felt a rush of excitement as the candy canes free fell into their hands.
"The cookie cutters, bags of M&Ms, and candy canes make a really nice set," smiled Samantha happily.
They would enjoy the M&Ms later. They would figure out how to use the candy canes later.
For now, they just happily held them enjoying the feeling of Christmas.
It was an Arizona Christmas to savor.
As this will be the last update to Lily Luna Potter and the New Era of Hogwarts in 2024, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas 🎄 and Happy New Year!
To the readers, favorers, and followers of Lily Luna Potter and the New Era of Hogwarts, I'll see you all in 2025!
Much love from Arizona for all the support. Love you all-Michael. :) ❤️