AN: This is written for The Golden Snitch!
Event: Diwali 2017-Write about Diwali being celebrated at Hogwarts, as put on by your house of choice.
Day One: Dhanteras-(word) moon, (object) gold, (character) Madame Pomphrey.
Halloween Costume Contest: Doctor-Write about Poppy Pomphrey before she was a Healer/Nurse.
Anniversary Event: Hogwarts and Gold
Ollivanders Wand Shop: Jackalope Antler [Created Wand]-Write a story set when Minerva McGonagall was a student at Hogwarts.
I'm in Hogwarts, Slytherin.
***Samaira Patil is an OC, she is the great-aunt of Parvati, and Padma Patil, while Reyansh is their grandfather. I made these two characters because the only insight to their family is Mr. And Mrs. Patil, their parents. Of course, these are on their paternal side.
Minerva McGonagall woke up on the first Hogsmeade weekend of her seventh year. Once she was awake and dressed for the day, the other girls that she shared a dorm with; Poppy Pomphrey, Samaira Patil, and Marian Peace, where also in various stages of being awake. While Poppy and Marian were both their normal selves, Samaira was bouncing around in excitement, rushing to get dressed in her new traditional Indian Robes, after her long soak in the tub, rather than in her casual clothes.
It wasn't until they were all seated at their Gryffindor table, and after Minerva noticed Samaira's bother, Reyansh, also dressed in traditional robes that Minerva asked what the special occasion was.
"Well, today is the first day of Diwali, Dhanteras. It is a very special Hindu holiday, or celebration, that happens during different parts of the year, depending on the Hemisphere's. Diwali spans over the course of five days, Dhanteras, today, Naraka Chaturdasi, Amavaysi, Godarvdhan Puja, and then, Bhai Duj. Here, I have this book here, that explains everything in detail.
"But, my brother and I have to go, today is a very special day to buy gold, and we want to get started early!" Samaira continued, "I'll see you guys later, bye!"
Skimming through the small book, Minerva got an idea. She may not be Hindu, but what better way to do something for both Samaira and Reyansh, on something that they celebrate, when they have to sit back and watch other people celebrate holidays from other Religions. After filling Poppy, Marian, and a few other Gryffindor's on their plans, Minerva and Poppy headed back to their common room, while the others went to by a few things from Hogsmeade.
After a few hours of some hard work, Minerva stood at the entranceway and admired their work. They had painted little white footprints out of rice flour and vermilion powder all over the common room, and all the way up to the dorms of both Samaira and Reyansh. They had also hung traditional motifs with Rangoli designs around all of the doors. Poppy had also made some clay diyas, for the event, placing wicks and oil, in each one, and placed around the room.
Poppy, had also wrangled the House Elves into making some traditional Indian food, that was laid out on most of the tables. With everyone settled, they waited for Sam and Rey to return and partake in everything that they had set up for them.
When Samaira stepped through the door, she and her brother looked around in astonishment, when they left earlier, they did not expect their friends and housemates to go through so much trouble for them.
After they both gave everyone their thanks, everyone settled into eating food and then playing games like exploding snap, wizard's chess, and lastly, lighting crackers.
Noticing that the moon was about to rise, Samaira bidded her goodnight, and headed off to bed, shortly followed by Reyansh. Satisfied with their days work, Minerva and Poppy made sure the house elves kept the diyas and lanterns lit for the night, and headed off to bed themselves.
I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope everyone who is not participating in the challenges above, learns something new! This was a challenge for me to write, since I'm not Hindu, but, it was entertaining and enjoyable! I definitely had to double and triple check I got everything right, BUT, if you do celebrate Diwali, and I did get anything wrong, please let me know and I'll fix it!