19th February

As the room filled with different colored lanterns, students were encouraged to use them to decorate their own rooms, place them somewhere in the school, or gift them to their friends or staff. Glitter sparkled everywhere, adding its own magic. It was time to make a wish, embracing kindness, hope, light, and gratitude. It was believed that those who made a wish with a sincere heart could feel the glow becoming warmer. Perhaps it was just another trick of the mind, but some claimed their lanterns suddenly felt warmer.

Those who wanted to embrace the full atmosphere of happiness could write a note and give it to their friends, staff, or those celebrating Ramadan. A wide variety of paper and covers were laid out on the table along with quills and colored pens. Spreading kindness, hope, and happiness was the main purpose of this day. If someone did not want to give the note personally, they could leave it on the table near the attending staff. Later, it would be delivered to the recipient anonymously. For some, it was part of their life, but for others, it was an entirely new tradition. Yet here, in this glowing light, differences did not matter. Everyone was united in this moment of time. Hope and happiness were glowing together with the lanterns that day.

Link to sign-ups: Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan

With the first lantern he made glowing, he liked how it looked. It's amazing. "I'll make some more." He told Harumi and left their table to gather more materials. Only this time, he picked different colors to have different varieties of lanterns later. Still part of the same set, only with a different color combination. He worked carefully, cutting, folding, and sticking cellophane over the windows. After trying it once, he worked faster and more comfortably than before on the next several lanterns he created. He liked seeing the shapes come together and the light shine through each design. When he finished, he lined them up on the table, smiling at the soft glow each lantern gave off. "Not bad, these will look good in the halls."

They were encouraged to decorate their rooms or around the school, or even give them as gifts to their friends. Turning to Harumi, "If you have time today, do you want to help decorate the school with these. That way, we can explore Koldovstoretz, and the corridors could use some of this color. Plus, it’s going to be fun.” He couldn't hide his excitement as he shared an idea he really wanted her to join in on.

He picked up a few lanterns and led the way. "Where do you think it's best to put these? Window sills? Doorways? I think some would be great along the walls." The glow of the lanterns would spread there beautifully. Arriving at the stairwells, he placed the bright orange and purple lantern on a ledge and watched the light reflect on the stone walls. "I wish we could do this at Hogwarts too, my dorm would look amazing with one of these." He told his companion.

They went from corridor to corridor, lining them up so that each area has warmth and colour. "This is really nice. People will like walking through here." After decorating most of the accessible areas, he turned to Harumi when an idea struck him. “How about we give some of the lanterns to our friends in the yurt, too. They said share the celebration anyway, not just making the place look pretty.” Once they used all their lanterns, they returned to the room to create some more for their friends. After grabbing more materials and taking a cup of tamarind drink, he sat down, glad to be relaxing again. "That was nice, wasn't it? Have you done this before, Harumi?"

Reducio

Harumi quickly followed him to gather more materials as well. "I guess I'll make more too then, three is a small number for decorating such a big place anyway." She looks at the materials, should she make more copies of the ones she already did? Or try different colors?

----In the end, Harumi decided to make more but in different colours and perhaps even use the mosaic paper. She also decided to make a couple of 2d ones just to have tried making everything she thought of, besides the 2d ones should be easy, right?

----Well maybe she was a little wrong, because cutting them proved to be its own problem, she was able to make them in the end, but it took her a few trials and errors. At least the 3d ones were easy, she made alot of them.

----"I'm free! Let's go and decorate this place!" Harumi had researched all about Ramadan in the little time after learning about the activity, she didn't know everything but at least now she knows the basics, and that made her excited about everything.

----Harumi follows Zephyr while holding into even more lanterns. "Let's decorate everything we see!" She said as she put one of the lanterns next to a window, its glowing would look beautiful during night.

----Hearing Zephyr mention he would like to decorate his dorm she turned to him. "We could save some to take back to Hogwarts with us! Ramadan lasts for a month so we'll be back before it ends! Or we could make more when we're at Hogwarts anyway, it doesn't need to be part of an activity!" Harumi mentioned, she also wanted to decorate Hogwarts after all.

----Harumi inspected their work, it was awesome, everywhere had a soft glow from the lanterns, it would look even more beautiful at night.

She turned to Zephyr. "Yeah it looks awesome!" She beamed. "Yep let's make some more for them!" She answered, when Zephy mentioned giving some lanterns to their friends in the yurt.

----Again back at the activity place, Harumi picked some biscuits to snack on, walking around made her hungry. "Yeah it was really awesome" She agreed "Yeah, I kinda did before, not with the whole Ramadan thing though." She answered. "Back home I have a muggle friend, she's so sweet! We made decorations for Christmas together before. This year I wasn't there for Christmas, but I told my mom to give her some of the decorations I made during the summer." Harumi smiled at the thought of Isela.

The lanterns:

Reducio

Harumi made a good point when she suggested saving some lanterns or making more once they returned to Hogwarts if he really wanted to put one in his dorm room or give some to his friends. "You're right, we can definitely do that, like you said, Ramadan lasts a month.” Now that they're back in the room where they created the lanterns, he grabbed a drink and a few snacks for himself before sitting down again to take a rest. He enjoyed decorating the school and once that's done, he had not realized how hungry he was until he started eating. The food was great, so he tried a bit of everything on the table.

He asked Harumi if she had done the same before, and she shared that she did something similar while making Christmas decorations with her muggle friend. "Actually, same here. My sister and I like making Christmas decorations, too. I learned wood carving from my dad and Uncle, and we usually create our own small wooden ornaments and hang them on the Christmas tree.” It's always the same every year, he and his sister would manage the decorations while his mom would cook their favorite food, and his dad would prepare their gifts.

After finishing his snack, Zephyr cleaned his hands and focused on working on new lanterns again. For this second batch, he picked different colors and designs for a change. While working, he noticed the table with paper and quills where students could write messages. They were informed at the start of this activity that they could also write to their friends if they wanted to experience this to the fullest. And for him, it's not really a bad idea. The tradition itself is new to him. Even though he doesn’t celebrate Ramadan, he liked the idea of giving something nice and kind to his friends.

Before dealing with the messages, he finished his lanterns first and made sure there was one for each of his friends. It was easier and faster to do the lantern now that he had done it several times that day. Just seeing the lantern take shape was an accomplishment already. How can a small craft like this give him some sort of pride? He carefully placed the last lantern on the table and lined them up. He could light them properly one by one to test them out. Then, he took a step back to admire each. "Not so bad, huh?"

Once he finished creating the lanterns, he went to get parchment and a quill, and worked in silence again. It took him some time to finish his letters because he's not really good with words. He would rather show what he feels than say it out loud or write it in letters. But for the spirit of Ramadan, he did his part and folded the parchment afterwards. With everything in hand, he checked on Harumi, "Done with yours?" He smiled and gave her the message he wrote, along with the lantern he had made for her. This one's a bit different from the ones he made, just to show her his appreciation for coming with him to this activity. "These are for you. I hope you like it." Is there some kind of greeting he needed to say, or were the ones he said enough? "Uh..Happy Ramadan? Sorry, I'm not sure if that's how you greet someone."

Reducio

As Zephyr shared his traditions during Christmas, Harumi listened carefully, wood carving seemed like a fun activity, she ought to try it some time, perhaps she'll be good at it, besides the idea of having personalised Christmas tree ornaments was awesome, she could make gingerbread men shaped ones and share them with Isela back home.

----"This seems like fun! I could try wood carving with Isela during summer, Isela is like a sister to me." She shared while smiling cheerfully, the thought of trying something new is always fun to her.

----Now that she started working again, she decided to try a new way, hopefully it'll look better than the other ones because she's giving this one to her friend.

----She started by drawing the net shape of the lantern on golden paper, and cutting it, then decorating it while still in 2d form. She made a few hexagonal cut outs on each face, a honeycomb supposedly, as well as a cut out in the shape of, well hopefully it actually looks like it, a bee. Yes, she wanted it to be honey themed for some reason, she just likes making it harder for herself, doesn't she?

----After securing the first one in 3d shape, she went ahead and made a few more, following the same concept but with different patterns, geometric patterns this time cause it's easier, instead of honeycombs and bees. After finishing them she lined them up to light them one by one.

----After she finished lighting the lanterns she inspected them, they looked good enough considering she's supposed to be bad at arts and crafts, but perhaps she's getting better after so many DIY activities, the pile of paper scraps wouldn't agree with that though, well, it was worth all those fails in her opinion anyway.

----Now came the time to write letters, which proved to be alot more difficult than DIY, she was always bad at putting her thoughts into words that others can understand, whether on paper or verbally. It always felt like she talked a totally different language in her mind, and when she tries to put it on paper she doesn't know how to translate it, so she ends up with poorly written letters and paragraphs devoid of emotion, although her teachers praised her creative writing back at muggle school, but creativity didn't necessarily mean thoughtfulness.

----She wrote the letter with her best effort and hoped for the best, it's the thought that counts, right? Well, that's if the thought showed anyway, which looking at letter, perhaps she actually did well this time. She folded the paper and put it with the lantern.

----"Yep, I'm done, hopefully it's good." She answered Zephyr, before turning to him. She sees the lantern he made for her, Harumi couldn't help but smile, she liked the colors and design very much, it suited her personality well, she's definitely going to keep it forever, perhaps she'll put it in her dorm or room back home. Her lanterns paled in comparison, but there's no going back now. She looked at the letter and opened it carefully, she smiled at it, it's awesome having friends like him, she hoped he thought the same about her.

----"And this is for you." She pushed the honey themed lantern towards him along with the letter, She made that lantern specificly for him, for some reason he reminded her of honey, so she wasn't purposefully making her hard for herself after all, she was just being thoughtful.

----She observed his reaction carfully, in her mind she was screaming, she wanted to just disappear into nothingness, it felt as if everything she made was nothing all of a sudden, but she calmed herself as much as possible. "I hope you like it." She smiled, her face not showing her inner turmoil in the slightest. "I think it's Ramadan Mubarak! Means blessd Ramadan I think. So Ramadan Mubarak!" She murmured thoughtfully.

Zephyr's lantern:

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Zephyr's letter:

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Zephyr,

It's a bit late for that, but I hope your year is filled with happiness and new adventures, and for many more years to come! You're a great friend, thank you for being in my life, I'll always be here if you need me too.

—Harumi :)

Reducio

Zephyr,

It's a bit late for that, but I hope your year is filled with happiness and new adventures, and for many more years to come! You're a great friend, thank you for being in my life, I'll always be here if you need me too.

—Harumi :)