Title: A Stupid Party (Part I)
Characters: OCs
Forum/Challenge: The Golden Snitch 'Light It Up Like the Fourth' challenge (Mahoutokoro, House Mizu)
Prompt: (setting) Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Word Count: 382

"But why?" asked Janie Beauchamp.

Jameson Adams shrugged. "Dunno. That's the way it's always been."

Janie crossed her arms. "That's stupid."

The two first years quickly walked through the halls of Ilvermorny School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, rushing to make it to Charms on time. The two had been promised that if they did well in their summer enrichment class that they could take third year charms the coming year, instead of staying with their second year class.

"I don't see what the big deal is Janie. It's just a party."

"But it's not. Don't you see? The idea is that we're celebrating freedom from an oppressive government. But the only people who profited from that freedom where while landowners. Male white landowners."

Jameson shrugged. "Sure, then. But it's better now. Everyone is free."

Janie thought about that for a moment. Sure, she guessed, technically it was a free country. But there were a lot of things certain people couldn't do. She knew Amara didn't wear her hijab all the time when she was home from school. "People don't see me," she told Janie one night in their dorm. "They see my headscarf, and all of a sudden I'm not a person."

She also knew her cousin, Aiden, didn't hold hands with his boyfriend when they were out in public. "It'd be different if we were in New York, or Chicago, or even Atlanta," he told her. "But Baton Rouge? Nah, suga, I ain't gonna borrow trouble."

Jamson eyed her. "So you don't celebrate the Fourth of July?"

She shrugged. It wasn't as if she didn't know about the Fourth of July—she'd been to Muggle primary, she knew about the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere and all that jazz—but her family didn't have their summer cookout then.

"Nah, not really. My family does Juneteenth."

"What is Juneteenth?"

"You know, the day slaves were emancipated?"

Jameson furrowed his brow. "But…"

Janie rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll come to the stupid party Jameson. I'd be the only summer student who wouldn't be there. All I'm saying is y'all ain't really celebrating the freedom. At least, not everybody's freedom."

She pushed her way into the Charms class, only barely taking her seat before Professor Li started explaining the theory behind Arresto Momentum.