The Holidays at Ilvermorny: Christmas
Dearest Mommy and Daddy,
Thank you so much for the care package! I know you’re worried about my first holidays away from home, but you don’t need to worry! Christmas is really important here! We’ve got a lot of events happening. Besides the huge Thanksgiving Feast that already happened, we’re having a huge tree hunt this afternoon! It dates back to the first year after the lift of the Puritan ban on Christmas, which was like in the 1830s! The whole school goes out to find the giant evergreen tree that’s been growing for the past year in the forest surrounding the grounds. We’re gonna chop it down and bring it back to the school for the Great Hall. Isabel even says that they plant a baby evergreen tree where the current tree is so that it’ll grow all year for next Christmas. I think they add magical fertilizer to the ground. Trees don’t grow that fast!
Then the whole school spends the rest of the afternoon and evening decorating the tree with ornaments made back when it was still a small school! Our Magical History teacher said to keep an eye out for ornaments that are meant to show important events from the school’s history. She said that there are even wooden ornaments carved by the founders! I saw some of the teachers carrying huge boxes into the Great Hall a few hours ago. I can’t wait to see what the ornaments are. Do you think there are some glass balls from the 1920’s there? I remember what Great-Grandmama’s ornaments used to look like. They’d look really pretty on the branches. I hear that dinner’s going to be served as little handheld pies and sandwiches, so we can have one hand free for hanging ornaments!
I almost forgot one of the most exciting things! They’re going to light up the castle tomorrow night! My friends who come from wizarding families haven’t stopped talking about it for weeks. They say that it’s a huge ceremony for Ilvermorny. All of us go outside and watch as the teachers magically line the castle, walkways, statues, and trees on the grounds with thousands and thousands of Christmas lights! That sparked a debate in Charms class about whether or not they’d be electrical lights or magical lights. I’m voting for electrical lights that are powered by magic! Isabel says it’ll look even better than Cinderella’s castle at Christmas. I doubt that Cinderella’s castle can match real magic! I’m looking forward to sharing the Christmas cookies that you sent with my friends while the lights go up!
My Magical History teacher says that we’re going to learn about the different holidays like Hanukkah and Kwanzaa and how they’re celebrated here at Ilvermorny in the next couple of weeks. My friend Benjamin is really excited about learning the Hanukkah part. He’s doing a presentation about what his Hanukkah is like. I’m really curious!
I love you guys and thank you again for the Christmas cookies! See you guys when the winter break starts!
Love,
Hannah
P.S. Don’t put the star on the tree without me! You can do the rest of the ornaments, but the star’s mine!
