Prompt: 'It's Tradition'

[Prof. Sky Alton]

Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

It’s bonfire/Guy Fawkes night here in the UK in a few days. While nowadays we just treat this as a chance to indulge in spectacular fireworks displays, it actually commemorates a day in history that had very little to do with Wildfire Wiz-bangs.

This month, I’d like you to write me a story (200 words or more) about an odd or unlikely fictional tradition. This might be on a national or even just a personal/family level. You’ll earn 20 beans for completing this prompt as well as it counting towards the chance to snag our shiny Quill and Ink award.

There is no deadline as such for these prompts but if you’d like it to count towards your chance of earning the award for a specific year, we’ll need it by the end of that school year. If you’re comfortable sharing, then post below. If not, email your story to us via hol.bookclub @ gmail.com (without the spaces). Oh and remember it’s a good idea to check through your piece carefully for spelling and grammatical errors as they make it harder for people to properly enjoy your work.

[Bull J. Johnson]

Lord Voldemort's Birthday Party (Part 1)

Every year my family celebrates Lord Voldemort's birthday. What we do is all go to Lord Voldemort's house and have a big birthday party with him. On one of his birthdays all of the Death Eaters came together to threw Lord Voldemort a surprise party. We had green balloons with white snakes on them, a big cake shaped like Voldemort's snake Nagini, and many presents all for our master.

Lucius Malfoy put a big present on top of the present table and then went to the living room to talk to Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Hi Bellatrix I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?"

"I been good Lucius but I have a secret. I'm pregnant and about to have a family of my own."

Lucius took a step back and looked at Bellatrix's stomach then replied, "And who is the father may I ask?"

"The father is Alfred a man I met in Puddlemere."

Lucius had a smile on his face and was very happy for Bellatrix. However, he wondered why anyone would want to go out with this crazy person, luckily he didn't say that out loud.

"Yes he and me been seeing each other for awhile now."

[Shiloh Adlar]

In The Shire there is a particular day that Hobbits celebrate every year called Hobbit Fasting Day where all the hobbits of the Shire refrain from eating any food until the sun has set. As you can imagine, it is not a day that is very easy for our favorite hobbits seeing as they love their food and drink. This year however, one young hobbit has decided to find a way to entertain his fellow shire inhabitants with song and poetry to keep their minds off of the fact that they still have at least 12 hours before they end their fast and wine and dine again.

The Shire folk gathered around our young hobbit in eagerness to see what he had come up with. He began, "This is a song that I wrote about one of my favorite things!" He then proceeded to sing:

"Oh lavender sweet and lemon devine
In muffins you are, so rightly mine
I'll eat you each day, no two times, no thrice
I'll never tire of your lovely delight!"

The Shire folk cheered for his song when it was through but noticed that it did nothing to ease their hunger, so they eventually groaned when our young hobbit began a song about taters. Not long after, all the Hobbits who had attended the gathering dispersed much hungrier than they would have been had they not attended and the traditional Hobbit Fasting Day was broken for the first time as the Hobbits broke out their wine and cakes and dined through the night.