Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
The arrival of Ramadan can be noticed even by those who are unfamiliar with this month. Streets and buildings are decorated with colorful lanterns - Fanous - and lights are glowing the entire night. It resembles the hope and light, guiding hearts through nights of gratitude. This year, the school staff decided to invite students to experience this wonderful celebration.
The Great Hall was hard to recognize. Tables filled with different supplies replaced the usual atmosphere. The enchanted sky was showing the Moon. Students could bring their wands, as they would need them to light their newly created lanterns. One table held glitter, markers, stamps, and other decorative elements. Another offered different types of paper in every possible color. There was even mosaic-style paper for those who didn't want to spend time on decoration.
Since creating and decoration might take quite some time, a table with drinks - coffee, tea, lemonades - as well as snacks like biscuits, was prepared for those who felt hungry. However, three things stood out on this table. First, there was nothing that contains alcohol. Second, there were dates, that are traditionally eaten throughout the entire month. And third, a sweet dark drink made from the tamarind fruit, Tamarind drink. This was done in honor of Ramadan, offering something unique.
To fill their newly created lanterns with a glowing light, students were welcome to use their wands to cast Lumos. Those who do not know this spell could ask other students for help, or approach a staff member, who will be glad to help. Perhaps it was a trick of the mind, but it seemed as though the glitter sparkled brighter whenever someone smiled. A few curious glances were exchanged, wondering whether the decorations had been charmed, or Hogwarts itself was feeding on their joy.
Link to sign-ups: Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan
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Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
Ophelia had been looking forward to Ramadan. At home, she used to fast with her parents ever since she turned nine, and she always enjoyed every moment of it.
In the Great Hall, she looked around at the two tables, one filled with biscuits and beverages, the other with decorative elements. As Ophelia made her way toward the latter and sat down, grabbing an amber-colored paper and staring at it for some minutes.
Which design should I even do?
This activity was new to her, she'd admit that, and she had no clue where to start. Of course, she had seen a few videos at home of people making paper lanters at home, and she had thought it were an easy thing to do. It probably was an easy thing to do, but right now, she'd gotten a black out and couldn't even remember her own name. Making lanterns wasn't what they usually did at home; they'd just wake up, eat something small but satiating, go back to sleep, and have a normal rest of the day.
At first she'd thought joining this activity would be fun, she could probably also improve her drawing skills. Now, she still thinks that, but has now idea where to start. Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes and tries to remember what she'd seen in all those videos.
Her hands move automatically and she folds the paper and cuts through the folded part, stopped before reaching the margin. Ophelia then glued the edges together and sighed in relief, seeing the lantern in front of her. She grabbed a grey marker and drew a small moon on one side of the paper. Then, grabbing a white crayon, she dotted around that side and blended the 'stars' with her finger, while waiting for the moon to properly dry. When it did, she used the same white crayon to paint white spots on it and blended them the same way with her fingers.
Feeling proud that her first ever lantern had turned out like this, she grabbed another paper; this time a blue one, and repeated the same steps as before. Thinking about how she wanted to decorate this one, she stood up and walked over to the other table. She took a cup of tea and dates, enjoying the small treat as she thought about her blue lantern.
When she went back to continue decorating it, she grabbed a white pencil and drew lines on the blue paper. She drew curved and straight lines, connecting them together, and even though they looked quite wobbly, they still gave a simple yet traditional vibe to her. Maybe not a lot of people understood of this pattern, Ophelia herself had seen it loads of times in her home country, it was a pattern hidden in some rugs she'd seen, not all, and it had stuck in her mind.
She didn't know she'd ever be in a position to decide to use those, but she was glad she did, because the blue lantern with the white and silver design looked elegant and beautiful.
Reducioblue lantern design:
Last edited by Ophelia Vanderbilt on 13 Apr 2026, 15:49, edited 3 times in total.
Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
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Reducio
ReducioCuriosity always leads somewhere.
ReducioFeel free to interact with Diana and/or help her out!☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
When Diana reached the Great Hall, she paused and peered inside. The Great Hall she once knew did not look like itself. The house tables were covered with supplies, for what, Diana did not know. The enchanted ceiling was enchanted to show a deep night sky, where the Moon was suspended high above, pale and watchful. As Diana looked more closely at the tables when she stepped inside the Great Hall, she noticed that there was glitter and colored paper and that someone else was already making something, and that's when she realized there were some lanterns that were already made, already hung, and already glowing.
Diana wasn't always one for arts and crafts, but she didn't have anything to do on this chilly February, plus, the lanterns could be used for multiple uses, not just for Ramadan. And, Diana had also been in the mood to create a lantern for the Chinese New Year, which was a day or two ago. And, Diana had always wanted to learn how to make lanterns from scratch.
Now fully inside the Great Hall, Diana found an empty spot at a table — well, there weren't that many people inside the Great Hall yet — and she examined the supplies in front of her. Diana's hand hovered over numerous colored papers before it landed on a deep shade of blue paper, which reminded her of winter evenings, the kind where the sky darkened early, and everything felt still and peaceful. To go with the deep blue paper, Diana chose thin pieces of silver mosaic paper.
Diana carefully folded the paper, making sure to smooth the flat edges with her fingertips. Her movements were slow, since she didn't want to rush and ruin her lantern. When it was time to cut the slits, she paused to adjust the spacing slightly, for the lantern to expand better. It just felt better this way, but she couldn't quite place why it did. Diana picked up a silver marker and began to draw small crescents along the blue surface of her lantern. Between the crescents, tiny stars were added, and following the stars was a dusting of fine glitter, which caught in the enchanted moonlight above. When her lantern was complete, Diana gently expanded her lantern into shape and set it in front of her, where it stood steady. Diana looked at it; she knew she had to cast the Lumos spell to light it up, but she didn't quite know the spell at the moment.
Suddenly, the tea and dates caught her eye, and she took a couple of dates and placed them onto a napkin before taking a cup of tea. When she finished her mini snack, she saw someone who was close to her and decided to ask them to help her light her lantern. She wasn't sure if they were in the same year as her or older, but she asked them anyway, "Um, excuse me," Diana started. "Could you help me?" She finished softly as she held out her lantern to the person, hoping they'd help her by casting the spell on both their lantern and her own. And who knows, maybe this person could become a study buddy, mentor, or potential friend later on.
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Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
Roland was savouring a rare flavour of joy today. For nearly half a year's turning, being a Muggle-born, the boy had been compelled to wander an unfamiliar realm, unravelling some strange marvel with almost every dawn. Today, however, the customary order was delightfully inverted. Hogwarts was throwing an event for Ramadan, and for the very first time, Roland actually knew more about what was going on than these clueless wand-wavers! Hah! Perhaps revenge was not necessarily a dish best served cold, he mused; when served warm, it tasted remarkably sweet, too.
By the blood of his father, Roland was of the Balkan lands, which gave him a foundational awareness of Islam since it was a faith deeply woven into the region's history. Although his father's own city of Split held few who prayed in such a manner, his mother's homeland, too, the giddy France, wherein his father had also resided for a considerable number of years, possessed a substantial Muslim population. Plus, there was a small mosque in Dover, where the Marin boy grew up (at least into this). Actually, a few years back, in the aftermath of a most deplorable attack perpetrated by a deranged Muggle against the Muslim community, his father had taken the boy aside. With grave words, he taught Roland that no man should be judged by the name of his god or the borders of his kin. Ramadan, therefore, was far from a novel concept to Roland, long preceding the school's current festivities.
Roland arrived at the Great Hall driven by a dual purpose: a dearth of more pressing engagements and a distinct desire to exhibit his comprehension of Ramadan to wizarding demographics he suspected to be largely unacquainted with this religious month's traditions. Good heavens or Merlin! It had only taken a few months for him to realise that the people at Hogwarts were completely obsessed with decorating stuff. They set finery upon all things, great and small. A small chuckle escaped him at the thought that, stripped of its magical curriculum, the castle could seamlessly operate as an evening school for decorative arts. Assuming a somewhat weary countenance fell mainly upon his brow, he was acutely reminded of his own lamentable ineptness in manual dexterity. Having surveyed the decoration materials from a prudent distance, he realised that Artie was nowhere in sight, either. Where in the wide world did that energetic lion cub roam, he wondered. Adopting an air of light nonchalance, Roland leaned his back on the wall, bowed his head to watch the shiny toes of his boots, and commenced a soft whistle.
Then, he observed the other students casting Lumos to put the finishing touches on their displays. This observation proved a source of ample vexation to the boy, who happened to be Croatian-French thanks to a pretty rare genetic crossover, for mainly two reasons. The lesser of these was a hidden shame he bore for his own wand. It was embarrassingly short! Spanning exactly twenty centimetres, Roland's wand, whilst aesthetically pleasing, was easily the tiniest magical instrument he had ever seen. Whenever he had to whip it out in Charms or DADA, he could not help but feel a twinge of jealousy looking at the massive, imposing wands other kids had. Yet, the primary source of his annoyance was far more practical: Roland's grasp of the Wand-Lighting Charm was entirely theoretical, having never turned it to deed. He had found the charm far too ordinary to warrant practical application. Besides, coming from the Muggledom, he just thought it was rather pointless. Seriously, in a world where you could just flip a light switch, who actually spends their precious time casting a spell just to see in the dark? Lame.
Yet, and yet, even as those long forgotten may in the end turn the tide of a great tale, and as bitter hours may be remembered with fondness when reviewed through the mists of time to come, so too can the lowliest of charms prove sudden in their need. As Lumos was conspicuously absent from his magical inventory, Roland's best bet was to just ask someone to help him. In such matters, he reasoned, witches were infinitely superior since he observed that they were the architects of the most neatly organised class notes. The boys, on the contrary, gosh, were an absolute mess! Roland could scarcely decipher their scrawls, bordered on the runic, while others simply took no notes at all. Thus, he leapt swiftly into the path of the first witch to cross the threshold, paying no mind to the fact that his stance rather resembled that of a common highwayman. "Hi," he said, putting on a slightly coy look. "What they're doing over there definitely needs a solid Lumos." Glancing around the hall, he lowered his voice, a forced, shy smile tugging at his thin lips. "Which, I am afraid, is not my forte. Could you help me out? In return... well... I don't know... I have a few really nice books. I might suffer you to borrow them." In Roland's world, letting someone borrow a book was a monumental favour. The singular privilege of permitting another to handle his cherished volumes... God, he thought to himself, I just hope she is not going to haggle with me.
Interacting with @Maisie Gemmell
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Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
Truth be told, Maisie did not know very much about Ramadan. She was technically raised in the Church of Scotland, but the family didn't especially have much of a foothold in it. Still, that meant that her knowledge of other holidays was basically nil. But there was always a good opportunity to learn—and do something creative!
That was why she would journey with her peers to the Great Hall. Rumor had it that students would have the opportunity to make, decorate, and light a traditional lantern. In the back of her head, Maisie knew that her choice material, fabric, and lanterns did not go together. That was only a partnership for one thing: fire. And after the common room had accidently gone ablaze last Christmas, she had exactly zero interest in repeating that. But decoration came in many forms, and she was excited to see what this might look like in a world she knew very little about.
As she came into the Great Hall, she made sure to swing by the tables with food. You couldn't very well make art on an empty stomach, now could you? Some of the offerings were commonplace like lemonade and biscuits, but others were more exotic. So, she scooped up some dates and poured a glass of the tamarind juice, curious. Next, she would pick up some artistic items to aid in the actual task of decorating. Narrowing her eyes, she tried to envision what she wanted to create—that was half the battle—before picking up some paper, glitter and glue.
And with that, Maisie made a space for her on one of the tables, taking, as usual, perhaps slightly more room than the average student. But she liked being able to spread out all her creative tools. It allowed her to envision exactly what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it. After some deliberation, she decided she wanted to mimic a stained glass window effect with the different panels seemingly bleeding across different colors of light. She was in the middle of cutting and assembling papers into a design, when a nearby student approached her. "Hi," she replied to him with a wave as he spoke. She had the feeling she had seen him before, but she didn't immediately place him. In any case, it seemed he needed help with a spell. Blinking, she guessed he had to be a first year—that was was the only way he could not know he was approaching Ravenclaw's worst duellist for help with spellcasting. "Sure, I'll help. I mean, I can try," she said. Try not to light it on fire. Try not fail at casting. Try...something.
So, because of this whole trying not to make a mess, she didn't really consider the quid pro quo in any serious way. But books always caught her attention. "What kind of books? What do you like to read?" she asked, curious. Maybe it would be something really neat like an adventure. She'd spent too much time in books that were supposed to help with duelling, but hadn't. Brushing that one side, she decided to introduce herself as she made some room in case he wanted to sit with her, "I'm Maisie. How's your lantern coming along then?"
Interacting with @Roland Domagoj Marin
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Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
Roland felt a thrum of satisfaction at the young witch's politeness, exactly what you'd hope for when meeting someone for the first time. He sensed a subtle pride that his prior observations had not been wrong, for he had ever deemed the girls to be of cooler mind and steadfast grace. "Great, thank you!" he said, a genuine spark catching in his eyes. He assumed the seat Maisie had gently vacated for him, but his stomach dropped a little upon noticing the considerable pile of supplies sitting in front of her. And oh, how lamentably ill-equipped he himself was! Having swiftly rallied his spirit, though, "I am Roland," he said, "Nice to meet you, Maisie."
Then unbidden, his eyes narrowed in wonder. There was a subtle, yet haunting familiarity to her features, evoking the hazy contours of a childhood tale he had long since relegated to oblivion. "I've got tons of books," he said, shaking off the thought. "Some boring, some definitely not. My personal favourites are plays. You know, since you don't have to suffer through ten pages of someone describing the exact shade of green on a leaf." He let out a soft, small chuckle. "No offence if you love them!"
"I have a crescent-shaped design in my mind," the Marin boy replied, "and I want to draw some stars upon it, like a small gate opening into heavens." He propped his elbows on the table. "You know, to keep it on theme with Ramadan. Muslims use the crescent a lot. What about you? You have solid material over there." His focus, however, was easily drawn away from the world of glue and paper. He subjected Maisie's face to yet another scrutinising gaze. "Hey," he said, squinting a little, "have you ever been to Dover? Or anywhere around Kent? I'd bet my boots I've seen you before."
Interacting with @Maisie Gemmell
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Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
The Glittering Lights (solo)
WC: 476Skylar walks into the Great Hall, staring in awe at the beautiful sight that greets her. Colorful lanterns and lights glow around her, making the Great Hall feel even more magical. She looks up at the enchanted sky and sees the bright, full moon. Tables were filled with different supplies such as glitter, markers, stamps, and other decorative elements. Papers of different colors and patterns are stacked everywhere.
She weaves through the tables and watches how some students were making their Fanous. She cannot help but track the glittering lights of the lanterns, enamored by their beauty and intricate tables. Finally deciding on a design she wishes to do, Skylar moves around gracefully to pick her supplies.
She first takes a beautiful turquoise paper for her lantern. The turquoise paper almost seems as if it was shimmering, changing color based on the angle of the light. Skylar has an ambitious idea for her lantern, and she wants to make it right. She grabs a gold marker for her design and a thin blade to cut out intricate patterns. She eventually settles down at an empty seat and begins to work.
Her blade makes a satisfying sound as it cuts cleanly through the paper. She cuts out small, detailed designs and frames for her lantern. She was going to have six sides for her lantern, and each side will have an opening shaped as the sun, allowing the fire in the center to be seen. Beautiful borders of curves and flowers surround the opening, giving it an even more detailed look. For the top of her lantern, Skylar designs a dome also with six sides, each side sporting smaller openings in the shape of a tiny, four-pointed star. Finally, she takes the gold marker and draws the trims of the lantern along the edge, even outlining some of her cut out designs and making it pop. After crafting a little handle and attaching it, Skylar stares proudly at her creation. The clean details and cohesive colors truly make the Fanous elegant and beautiful.
Carefully, she picks up the lantern and carries it to a professor. Unfortunately, Skylar has not yet learned the spell Lumos, so she asks one of the many professors around the room for assistance. Skylar stares intently at the lantern as it was lit, letting out a quiet gasp at its beauty. Light filters through her intricate cut-outs and creates this enchanted effect of scattered light. The gold trim she colored glitters in the warm glow, making the lantern even brighter.
Gently setting down the lantern, Skylar cleans up her workspace and eats some snacks. She does not know how long she spent making her Fanous, but she was really hungry. With that all completed, Skylar happily holds her lantern, ready to hang up her Fanous.
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Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
Someone had told her about the lantern-making event. They'd used more words and had done everything they could to explain it, but Poppy hadn't been able to hear over her own existential dread.
Word Count: 688 Outfit: School Robes Errand: Lantern making
To say her family was closed off would have been a gross understatement. Her parents were tight with what beliefs they let into the house and hadn't seen the point in exposing their children to anything outside of their own faith and culture. It left the little girl ignorant and anxious at the thought of attending such an event, but also...curious. Since entering Hogwarts, Poppy had been exposed to a great many things that would've had her parents foaming if they found out.
Something told her that this was one such thing. It would be added to an ever-growing list of things she couldn't write home about, another thing that filled her dreams with terrifying scenarios of her parents finding out anyway.
Somehow, they always seemed to know. That wasn't helped at all by her nervous compulsion to vomit her sins the moment her mother shot her that look.
But this didn't look harmful at all. It didn't look dangerous, or abhorrent, or any other word her parents may have used to describe any activity that was outside their faith. There were snacks and glitter, and friends sitting at tables chattering and laughing while they expressed their creativity. It lacked the malice her mother liked to warn her of, the malice that seemed to be present in every facet of the world that they didn't approve of.
Persephone awkwardly sank into an empty seat at the end of the Gryffindor table, next to her housemate who'd invited her.
Looking around, she felt the faintest degree of ease seeping in. Rather than nefarious tools, they were all things she was familiar with. There were markers, coloured paper and even stamps. It reminded her of Friday arts and crafts with her siblings. Much like the snacks presented in the Great Hall, her mother sometimes let them have a little snack while they worked.
This...this couldn't have been so different.
Abandoning her spot for the moment, she went to collect some supplies. Plenty of glitter, like she knew Sera liked, pink, salmon and yellow coloured paper, a few markers... When she found everything she'd been looking for, Poppy returned to her seat to begin.
It would surprise no one to know that she didn't have the first clue how to make a lantern. Thankfully, her housemate did. She followed the other girl's lead closely, nimble fingers folding and shaping in tandem with what she saw.
She rolled the yellow inner paper into a pole-like structure before turning her attention to the pink. She folded that one a total of six times, cutting little slits in the seams. When instructed to, she wrapped it around the yellow, glueing it in place a bit scrunched so the sides would flare. Then she added the glitter, plenty of glitter. The small girl swirled the glue into small patterns before sprinkling the glitter on top.
By the time she got to cutting and adding the handle, she had forgotten to be anxious about where she was and what she was doing. Poppy fell into her concentration and the light conversations that carried around her until gradually her muscles loosened and the lilac at her roots receded, giving way to her natural blonde.
She leaned back to have a better look at her lantern when it was done, daring to sport the smallest smiles of pride at what she'd managed to create.
"If you're done, I can help you with the spell," her housemate offered.
Poppy flushed immediately. It was no secret that, outside of classes, the girl hesitated to raise her wand. There were too many things she hadn't yet been able to reconcile. Truth be told, it left her a little more than 'hesitant', but she was glad it wasn't something that would be challenged today. The First Year gratefully slid her lantern over, smiling a little wider when it got lit.
She couldn't wait to make another one.
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Fanous and Enchanted Ramadan: Creating Fanous
His cousin had already made a lantern. In fact, it seemed like everyone involved had been enjoying themselves in making them. There wasn't much that Emil knew about Ramadan nor that eventhe decorations had a place in the castle, but it had been many years since he knew anything from when his mom attended the school.
The Great Hall was littered with people making their own lanterns. 'A fanous?' He hoped that he wasn't butchering the pronounciation of that in his head. If he thought about them as a lantern, he understood it a little better. However, from what he could see there was quite a variety of people crafting and they definitely had the skill to make a decoration worth displaying in the Great Hall. The most that Emil had ever done, artistic-wise, was draw a seires of stick figures in varying positions. That was where his talent began and ended.
But the encouraging words of a senior student convinced him that his talent wasn't the important part when it came to this fanous. It was a spirit thing. A feelings thing. You put your all into making it and it gives you clarity in what this holiday was about.
At least, that's what the older student told him.
But as the senior lion walked back to his spot, Emil looked at the lantern in front of him and decided that, even though he couldn't decorate or draw worth a damn, he'd try his best in making something that he thought was worthy of the spirit of the holiday. And so scattered in front of him were all the supplies that one would possibly want to decorate it. The glitter that so many students had already used was a good start. Scattering various handfulls over, the glitter spilled over on his lap and stuck hard onto his robe.
"Oof, that's an... issue..."
He hadn't learned the spell to clean his robes yet and still had an incomplete lantern buried in glitter. "One problem at a time..." he thought, as he picked up the lantern and continued to decorate it slowly and attentively, trying his best not to mind the glitter slowly spilling from his lap onto the floor. He kept looking over to his left and his right to see what the other students had some, not to steal but to "inspire" himself to better decorate it.
There was only so much he could do, but in the end the obnoxiously sparkling lantern was as ready as it was ever going to get. He decied not to look around too much. Nothing good ever came from comparing his talent.
The Great Hall was littered with people making their own lanterns. 'A fanous?' He hoped that he wasn't butchering the pronounciation of that in his head. If he thought about them as a lantern, he understood it a little better. However, from what he could see there was quite a variety of people crafting and they definitely had the skill to make a decoration worth displaying in the Great Hall. The most that Emil had ever done, artistic-wise, was draw a seires of stick figures in varying positions. That was where his talent began and ended.
But the encouraging words of a senior student convinced him that his talent wasn't the important part when it came to this fanous. It was a spirit thing. A feelings thing. You put your all into making it and it gives you clarity in what this holiday was about.
At least, that's what the older student told him.
But as the senior lion walked back to his spot, Emil looked at the lantern in front of him and decided that, even though he couldn't decorate or draw worth a damn, he'd try his best in making something that he thought was worthy of the spirit of the holiday. And so scattered in front of him were all the supplies that one would possibly want to decorate it. The glitter that so many students had already used was a good start. Scattering various handfulls over, the glitter spilled over on his lap and stuck hard onto his robe.
"Oof, that's an... issue..."
He hadn't learned the spell to clean his robes yet and still had an incomplete lantern buried in glitter. "One problem at a time..." he thought, as he picked up the lantern and continued to decorate it slowly and attentively, trying his best not to mind the glitter slowly spilling from his lap onto the floor. He kept looking over to his left and his right to see what the other students had some, not to steal but to "inspire" himself to better decorate it.
There was only so much he could do, but in the end the obnoxiously sparkling lantern was as ready as it was ever going to get. He decied not to look around too much. Nothing good ever came from comparing his talent.