Title: A Stupid Party (Part II)
Characters: OCs
Forum/Challenge: The Golden Snitch 'Light It Up Like the Fourth' competition (Mahoutokoro, House Mizu)
Prompt: How do students at Ilvermorny celebrate Independence Day?
Opt-Prompt: (setting) Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Word Count: 708
Janie went to the stupid party. She even brought cornbread.
There were only about fifteen students. She and Jameson were the youngest, but they were both in Horned Serpent and they'd already heard the good-natured jabs about nerdy bookworms.
She had to admit, generally the part way fun. If she divorced it from the actual day, she could envision a simple summer barbecue for the professors and summer students. Here, she could ask Professor Li questions about fifth year curriculum; she could ask Professor Matthews-Li about her experiences with Animagus training and whether third year was too young to start the process.
She could take Professor Beauchamp aside and talk more about Voodoo. She found the practice fascinating, as she had been practicing hoodoo since she was young. She absently patted her mojo-bag on the inside of her hip, tucked away and out of sight.
She and Professor Beauchamp had bemoaned Ilvermorny's narrow concept of magic and magical practices. Privately, Professor Beauchamp had bemoaned that Ilvermorny considered such practices "dark magic."
Because anything they didn't understand was automatically "dark magic."
Janie thought to the Great Blood War of Britain that had taken place only two decades earlier, where anything considered "dark magic," like blood magic, had been outlawed by a reactionary government. There was increasing pressure from Britain's Ministry to make such policies international. Their Magical Customs and Traditions professor said the ICW would convene this summer to further discuss those policies.
Janie rolled her eyes at the thought. One of the reasons her mojo bag was so powerful was because it was imbued with the blood of her first menses. It's one of the reasons she guarded her mojo bag so fiercely—if she killed the hand, she'd never regain a bag of that power.
She shook her head and focused back on the people around her. Jameson was talking to Chris Fletcher about Quodpot, and two fifth years were flirting with next year's Head Boy, Matthew Peters.
"All right, all right!" Professor Li called from across the field, amplifying his voice with a Sonorous. "Ladies and gentlemen—witches and wizards—please grab your final drink or piece of pie and join me for this year's annual fireworks display!"
A few minutes later, the students and professors were laid out on conjured blankets and chairs, staring off the mountain edge.
"I call this year's display: Death to Imperialism!" he announced brightly.
Not a few of the audience members groaned when John Williams's 'Imperial March' began playing from somewhere.
"I should've never taken him to see those movies," bemoaned Professor Matthews-Li. "He's obsessed. What's embarrassing is that his favorite character is Jar Jar Binks."
Janie stared at the display. The explosions feature names and flags of Pacific Islands that she didn't recognize—places called Tonga and Nauru—before transitioning to more familiar countries like Fiji and New Zealand. Murmurs spread through the audience that all of the featured countries had once been part of the British Empire.
There were kangaroos that hopped around for Australia, and there was a great dragon snaked in their air for China. The larger the occupied territory, the more elaborate the display was.
The grand finale, of course, was the American colonies. Professor Li had enchanted the fireworks to feature important parts of the Revolutionary War, including the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere's ride.
It was impressive Charms work, Janie admitted, and enthusiastically applauded at the end of the display.
Despite her earlier conversation with Jameson, no one made a speech about American exceptionalism or to the freedoms gained because of the revolution. Janie was grateful.
As she laid in her bed that night, she wondered whether her frustrations with the Fourth of July were similar to her frustrations with magical practices. She thought back to what Professor Beauchamp told her when she asked why the school didn't teach hoodoo or Vodun or Native American shamanistic practices.
"Bless their hearts, it's all black and white for 'em," the Potions Professor said wearily. "They ain't got the ability to talk shades of grey."
That night, The Devil from Janie's Tarot chased her through the halls of Ilvermorny, stealing dream-Janie's mojo bag and offering her cornbread and fireworks instead.