On Thursday, November 25, 2021, the entire Circle of Twenty had gathered at Hogwarts to spend Thanksgiving together.
At 1 P.M. Hogwarts time, Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Aaron, Todd, Miles, Gary, Rose, Pamela, Roxanne, Rachel, Penny, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily were all sitting at the Gryffindor table six feet apart from each other awaiting both the Thanksgiving feast and the announcement of what the year's Hogwarts competition would entail.
Meanwhile, at the Slytherin table, Gina was smiling widely at the plates, knives, forks, and goblets they would be using on this day. Gina was from Vermont and the dishes they would be using on this Thanksgiving genuinely gave her the feeling that she was back at home in Vermont. They were white in background but depicted scenes of beautiful fall foliage in the prettiest shades of red, orange, and yellow. To add to the Fall Thanksgiving theme, brown tablecloths had been placed on all the house tables.
"AW!" cooed Gina contently, 'The fall foliage imagery on the plates, knives, forks, and goblets we are using today takes me back to my homeland of Vermont. They are gorgeous!"
"I'm really happy for you to be able to have that feeling, Gina," said Debbie sincerely.
"The credit for this idea," said Headmistress Kirke clearly, "Goes to Miss Lily Luna Potter of the Hogwarts Planning Club. She presented me with the suggestion of using Vermont Fall Foliage as a theme for this Thanksgiving because she knows that Miss Gina Giant is from Vermont and wanted to give her a feeling of home on this Thanksgiving."
"Oh, thank you, Lily," said Gina gratefully, "That was very thoughtful of you to remember that there is a Vermonter at Hogwarts and to make this suggestion."
"As Gina's bestie, I echo those sentiments," smiled Debbie.
"It's the type of thing Lily does," said Hugo proudly, "She's always thinking of others."
"Seeing the happiness, contentment, and satisfaction on Gina's face and hearing the happiness, contentment, and satisfaction in Gina's voice make me so happy," beamed Lily.
Next nanosecond, Headmistress Kirke clapped her hands over her head and the food appeared.
It would be a traditional Thanksgiving feast centered around boneless white meat turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, corn, green beans, cranberry sauce, dinner rolls, pumpkin pie, apple pie, and Coca Cola Classic to wash it down with.
It got very quiet when the food appeared and stayed way throughout the meal, which everybody ate slowly. Everything was extremely tasty, and they all wanted to take their time to savor the flavors.
When everyone had finally finished, Headmistress Kirke spoke into her purple megaphone and said in a businesslike voice, "The time has come to announce this year's Hogwarts Competition."
Everyone in Friendship Hall focused his or her eyes and ears upon Headmistress Kirke, eagerly anticipating the announcement of what this year's competition would be.
"It is my great pleasure to announce that this academic year, Hogwarts will be holding the Hogwarts Painting Competition!"
There was an outburst of applause as the student body of Hogwarts engaging in hand clapping and foot stomping.
"That is the perfect complement to last year's Hogwarts Drawing Competition," mused Miles.
'This is a remarkable opportunity for me," cooed Courtney, "I'm really talented at painting. I've got an excellent chance to medal in this competition. "
"You've always been a prolific painter," said Stephanie encouragingly, "If you bring your O game, you have as good a shot at gold and glory as anyone in this hall."
"It would be so sweet," said Samantha dreamily, "If we Saver sisters swept the medals in the Hogwarts Painting Competition."
"To be honest," admitted Stephanie, "I don't see that happening. Odds aside, the reality of the matter is that neither you nor I are as talented at painting as Courtney."
"It's not the most likely outcome in the world," acknowledged Samantha, "But let's go for it! Let's all three of us really strive to do the best painting work we've ever done!"
"All twenty of us should strive for that," grinned James, "And then at least our circle can sweep the medals again."
"No one can be perfect," admitted Aaron, "But we're going to chase the hell out of perfection and catch excellence in the process."
"I'm really rooting for Courtney to medal," said Devon sincerely, "After how close she came last year, I'm really hoping it happens for her this year."
"Thank you, Devon," smiled Courtney.
"If you're a better painter than you are a drawer, " said Hugo thoughtfully, "You WILL medal in the Hogwarts Painting Competition. I KNOW you will."
"I appreciate your confidence in me, Hugo," cooed Courtney gratefully, "I'm DEFINITELY better at painting than I am at drawing. "
"I LOVE your chances, Courtney," smiled Lily.
"It's so sweet to have everyone behind me and supporting me like this," said Courtney warmly.
"I have an idea," piped up Ainsley eagerly, "I know that during last year's Hogwarts Drawing Competition, all of us submitted drawing of things that were either very personally significant to us or represented some of our favorite things. That obviously gave us all a wonderful opportunity for self-expression and the results were a joy to behold for all of us."
"Let me guess," piped up Rachel, "You want us to go the other way this year."
"Indeed," confirmed Ainsley, "My suggestion is that all twenty of us produce a painting of something that isn't normally of much interest to us. "
"I love this idea," exclaimed Gary, "Because it adds an extra layer of challenge for us."
"I suspect that is exactly what Ainsley is thinking," pointed out Albus, "She wants us to push ourselves further this year."
"I do think that extra layer of challenge will make the end result that much more rewarding," acknowledged Ainsley, "But that is actually the secondary reason I am making this suggestion. My main objective here is for us all to expand our horizons by stepping outside of our comfort zones."
This resonated with Lily.
"I think that fits right in with the current year at Hogwarts," explained Lily.
"I'm no longer a Hogwarts student," said Ainsley simply, "But you've kept me well kept up on what's been happening here."
"Your idea plays well with the monthly Hogwarts Interhouse Teams," beamed Lily, "Not only do these teams help defuse house tensions and build interhouse unity, but they also enrich our Hogwarts experiences by allowing us to interact with new and different people so that besties don't become all of each other."
"This has a similar feeling," realized Roxanne, "It's also about exploration and discovery."
"This is having an awesome feeling of adventure to it," fantasized Fred.
As various friend groups around Friendship Hall were discussing their approaches to the Hogwarts Painting Competition, Headmistress Kirke yelled "ATTENTION!" into her purple megaphone and Friendship Hall fell silent.
"So'" continued Headmistress Kirke, "The rules for the Hogwarts Painting Competition are as follows: All entries for the Hogwarts Painting Competition must be turned into me by no later than before leaving breakfast on the Sunday before Easter. As per usual, the winners for the Hogwarts Painting Competition will be announced on the Friday before Easter during our big BBQ feast in Friendship Hall. The prize structure shall be the same as it was for the Hogwarts Drawing Competition last year. First place will receive a gold medal, an Old Faithful bar, and two hundred galleons. Second place will receive a silver medal, a box of Honeydukes chocolate, and one hundred and fifty galleons. Third place will receive a bronze medal, a bottle of Coca Cola Classic, and one hundred galleons. Students may use any kind of paint and may use any kind of painting techniques. Participants in the Hogwarts Painting Competition are expressly forbidden from using crayons, markers, pencils, pens, or anything that may be considered an instrument of drawing. Furthermore, the use of magic is also forbidden in these entries as the objective of the Hogwarts Painting Competition is to test students painting skills. Any use of magic and/or drawing utensils shall be considered cheating subject to disqualification."
"Pretty straightforward rules then," nodded Todd.
"Last year," remembered Rose, "We all gathered on the Sloping Lawns on the day before the entries were due to show each other our work. Do we want to do that again?"
Devon, Hugo, James, Albus, Fred, Gordon, Aaron, Todd, Miles, Gary, Rose, Pamela, Roxanne, Rachel, Penny, Ainsley, Courtney, Stephanie, Samantha, and Lily all yelped "YES!" at the exact same nanosecond.
"Personally, " piped up Pamela, "I think we should askew having someone collect and keep track of ideas like Lily did last year."
"I totally agree with," replied Lily a nanosecond later, "By NOT doing something like that again, if anyone changes his or her mind on what he or she wants to enter late in the game, we avoid awkward moments."
"I think," pondered Penny, "That the fact we are going to be painting things outside of our normal realms of meanings, experiences, and interests adds an aura of mystery to see what each other come up with."
"I totally agree, Penny," grinned Gordon, "I'm really looking to that meeting where we show each other our paintings."
Lily smiled.
Lily was very proud of Ainsley for coming up with the idea for this approach and she was really excited about the Hogwarts Painting Competition to come.
They all were.
There was no doubt in any their minds that the Hogwarts Painting Competition would be both a fun and valuable experience for them all.