Disclaimer: Is the Wizarding World an extremely conservative society that also appears to be entirely atheist?
If so, I don't own the Harry Potter franchise; it belongs to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic Press, Warner Bros., and whoever else she sold the rights to.
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What in the world are they doing?, Jen wondered as she walked down the stairs to the kitchen.
She had been working on her winter assignments in the library when she noticed Cissy, Andi, and Dora trimming the lamps and setting up a number of candles.
She attempted to subtly read their minds to satisfy her curiosity, but her aunts had taken to keeping mental shields up whenever she was in the house – to be fair, it could just as easily be that they had their defenses raised at all times – and her cousin was equally as clueless as she.
That left only one other route to discover what was going on: join them and ask her question directly.
She opened the door in time to hear Dora's voice. "So, will you two eventually get around to telling me what in Merlin's name we're doing, or should I just start making assumptions?"
"You don't know?" Cissy asked, clearly surprised. "Ah, Jen, we were about to come get you. Andi, did you just decide one day to teach your daughter nothing at all about our culture?"
"You know I've never been the biggest fan of Solstice traditions. Besides, Ted and Dora both prefer Christmas because of his Muggle roots."
Jen cleared her throat. "And the difference between Solstice and Christmas celebrations is…?" When she trailed off, Cissy turned expectantly to her sister.
"Well, there are quite a few, the timing being a relatively minor one. Solstice isn't as much of gift-giving holiday, so rather than a multitude of small presents, an entire family gives a single item to each member, generally something useful or expensive."
"Which is why we purchased only a few things when we were shopping, Jen," Cissy cut in. "We may be opening them on Christmas rather than today, but I convinced Sirius to let you have a taste of the Old Ways at least once."
"Quite. May I continue now, sister? There is also a Ministry ball that all Heads of Houses must attend, hence why Sirius is not here. Beyond that, each family has its own practices, such as the one we are about to begin.
"You see, the winter solstice is the day when the Dark Powers are at their strongest, allowing them to reach out from their twilight realms and influence our world. Doing so weakens the Veil, and though the divide is not as thin as it is at Halloween, the dead can still hear our messages on this day. Our family's custom is for the women of the House to light candles for our deceased friends and family if we could not do so earlier in the year and wish them peace and good fortune in the afterlife."
"Quick question, Mum," Dora interjected. "What are you talking about, 'Dark Powers'? It sounds almost like you believe in gods of some kind."
Andi paused for a moment before answering.
"I do not personally consider them gods, per se, but I recognize there exist entities with far greater abilities than any human has ever possessed. The leader of the Wild Hunt, Nyarlathotep, the Unseelie Queen, Tiamat the Grand Wyrm… beings that pop up here and again throughout history, rarely to the benefit of the person they interact with. According to the Old Ways, our world cycles back and forth throughout the year between their grasp and that of the Light Powers."
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B.Q. Book One: Princess of the Blacks
FanficFirst in the Black Queen series. Sirius searches for his goddaughter and finds her in one of the least expected and worst possible locations and lifestyles. How was he to know just how many problems bringing her home would cause? DARK and NOT for ch...
