Event Blossom Ball - Spring Festival

Open to Interactions!
Interacting with: @Eden Gardener
Mentioning: @Winnie Harper | @Jack Burnett | @Ruka Burnett-Tân

Upon entering the Spring Festival, Amelia and Eden went their separate ways from Winnie, Jack and Ruka. She was planning on meeting up with Winnie later, but right now she wanted to spend more time with her new friend and Winnie looked perfectly content following Ruka and Jack around. She couldn't say the same for Ruka, though. They walked into the festival, arms linked, and Amelia marveled at the sight. The atmosphere was much brighter and livelier than the Underworld, and the cherry blossoms were a beautiful touch to the scene. It was definitely more like springtime in this part of the ball, and the music was definitely better music suited for dancing.

She stopped walking and turned to Eden, "Do you by any chance know what's up with Jack? I kind of just get the vibe that he doesn't really like me much, and I don't know what I did. He doesn't seem to like you either. Or maybe he just likes to tease everyone." She chewed on her lower lip, she couldn't recall ever saying anything slightly offensive to Jack, but maybe she did with all her rambling and she didn't even notice. "Anyway," she visibly shook herself, as if ridding herself of the negative thoughts swirling around her mind. "What do you wanna do?" she asked Eden. "We could dance, or we could even go eat!" She looked towards the direction of the tables that were lined with food and she had to turn away before she started drooling all over herself, "I really don't mind."

The ball had only really just started, and despite the night still being young she had already met new people, and had even found herself someone to dance with for the night (if Eden was up for it). She felt slightly bad for leaving Winnie so soon, but she knew that Winnie would be fine. It's not like she needed someone to take care of her, and they were still in the same area so there was a high chance they'd cross paths again during the night. Plus, from what Amelia had gathered, Jack and Ruka were older than them, so they probably knew all the unusual things that could happen at these balls. Winnie was more than okay and Amelia was currently happy talking to her newfound friend.

Action: Entering the Spring Festival, talking to Eden.
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 6 | ArcPower: 5 | Accuracy: 8
Post Tracker: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Banner by Winnie Harper

Jack raised his brows when a familiar boy with honey-colored hair came up to them holding a winged dog plushie.

"How come you're a goat?" Jake had asked.

“I like your costume, Jake. Jack’s not just any goat. He’s the most famous goat in Ancient Greece.” Kazuo said.

At that, the Welsh boy laughed. "I'm more than a goat, you ass," he told the Japanese Hufflepuff, shaking his head before turning back to Jake. "Good to see you here, Morris! Nice costume. As for me, I'm actually the half-goat god, Pan; god of nature and pastures. That's why only half of me is that of a goat, you see?" He raised a hoof and brought it down with a clack for emphasis. "Clever what you did with Freddie, there. But how are you enjoying the ball? Are you here with anyone else? Henry or Warren, perhaps?"

As the Gryffindor, Nicholas, Jack had attempted to talk to hadn't responded - perhaps due to being overwhelmed by the number of people who had soon crowded around him - the Slytherin decided to leave him be. There were plenty of other people who seemed to require his attention at the moment anyway.

"Have fun at the trials, Aphrodite," he called to Dealla in farewell as she left. She may not have been speaking to him, but he wanted to make himself known to her nevertheless as he wasn't one to take being ignored lightly.

Ruka, Winnie, and Mathias all seemed to be having something of their own party as Jack and the others nearby watched and listened to their exchanges. Jack took a deep breath, rubbing his temples at every new word that fled from Mathias' mouth. Fortunately, Ruka and Winnie seemed to have their own ways of attempting to retaliate. It sadly didn't seem to make Mathias any quieter, however, as he seemed to have a retort for every comment and insult hurled his way.

"How about this, a dance to keep me warm and perhaps change my bad-boy ways. Fix me. That is."

Eventually, Jack walked right up to the other boy with a blank expression.

"Fix you?" he repeated. "Please - allow me."

He pulled out his wand from within his vest, held it up next to Mathias' face, and then knocked the end of it against the younger redhead's bruise on his jaw where he'd been punched by Nikita earlier that night. The 'tap' was probably a little harder than necessary, but as it impacted, Jack spoke a single word.

"Ferula."

The hope was that, with the guise of bandaging his dorm mate's face, he could simultaneously shut the first year up. The magical bandages that were known to wrap themselves around the tapped injury when the proper spell was successfully cast would hopefully encircle and bind up Mathias' jaw, perhaps even sealing up his mouth in the process.

Whatever the result, Jack put away his wand when he was finished and turned back to Winnie, extending an arm.

"I think it's high time we start some activity on that dance floor, don't you? It would be a waste to have worn that gown of yours if you couldn't have a twirl or two in it, I'd say."

Wearing:

Reducio

Interacting with: @Mathias Pride, @Winnie Harper, @Jake Morris, & @Kazuo Shimada
Mentioning: @Ruka Burnett-Tân, @Nicholas McCowan, & @Dealla Prince
Action: Attempting to use the Bandaging Charm to bandage Mathias' mouth shut before asking Winnie to dance
Abilities: Prodigal Charms Learner; Binding Mark
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 10 | ArcPower: 7 | Accuracy: 7
Inventory: Pan pipes & wand
Post Tracker: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

It was less of a reaction to seeing what Mathias claimed was 'chiseled perfection' and more so that she was not used to strangers stripping down to their knickers. Especially boys. "Perfection? Perfection would be if you put back on your clothing." Why was it that no one else seemed as bothered about this as she was? Surely they could see the half-nude Slytherin standing in front of them! Wasn't there chaperones at this ball? A professor or someone to make sure things like this didn't happen? "I am not staring!" She claimed in a firm tone, even though she most obviously was. More so out of shock than anything else.

"... I... I'm not a doll. I'm a girl." Obviously she hadn't thought this through. She was too flustered and shocked. It seemed Mathias had received the reaction he wanted. That comment about her being attractive didn't help either. Why would he say that? To mess with her, of course. It was working. She clenched her fists at the 'self-respect' comment. She straightened her shoulders and frowned. "I am also not a service girl, nor am I some sort of trained puppy. I was simply doing Ruka a favour, I owe him my life."

She was contemplating just doing the damn boy's laundry, if only to escape this awkward confrontation. It was bad enough to begin with, but Jack was witnessing it... It wasn't like Ruka was going to wait for her to tell him no. He had already made his mind up. She didn't want to get burned along with the clothing. She wasn't really going to toss his clothing into the lake, it was an empty threat she had made to force him to put his clothing back on.

Out of their league? There he went, teasing her again. It was painfully obvious to Winnie that anyone looking at Jack (or Ruka since they looked similar) would see how utterly perfect he was. The Slytherin boy was messing with her and it became clear that she was his new target for the time being. Perhaps it served her right for spilling her drink on him, but she also wasn't entirely a meek, helpless creature.

"... Jealous of what exactly? Being forcefully kissed? No thank you. My first kiss will be consensual." Poor Levi. Thankfully, this wasn't some sort of shoujo manga, so he would likely be fine. His offer shocked her. He wanted to dance? But why? To mess with her, of course, or, if he really thought Winnie was his date, perhaps to piss off Jack. "... Fix you? Am I expected to swoon at that request and express my affection for you? Does that line actually work on girls?" Like in those romance novels she sometimes read out of pure bored and definitely not because she was curious. "I will not be keeping you warm, don't be gross. If I dance with you, will you leave Jack and Ru--..."

Before Winnie could finish her offer, Jack stepped forward and had cast a spell on his fellow Slytherin. The Irish girl found herself blinking in surprise and she didn't even notice if the spell worked. Had he just... Defended her? Her face was turning red again, and she felt a burst of sudden affection towards the Slytherin boy. If she wasn't certain that Jack was perfect before, she was now. Before today, only Ruka had ever defended her (from a grindylow, but Mathias was pretty much on the same level), and now Jack had as well. She could have kissed him on the spot. "Jack..." She smiled and accepted that arm, which was much nicer than Mathias', because it had Jack attached to it. "I would love to dance with you." She told him, mentally screaming at herself to remember all the moves she had been practicing. She could not step on those adorable hooves. "Thank you." She rest her head against Jack's shoulder and smiled up at him, definitely not subtly smelling him. Who was she kidding? Yes she was, she even caught the scent of books and sighed softly. "You smell really good, like the pages of a book." Maybe it was a weird thing to say, but Merlin, he was perfect.

Action: Standing up for herself, getting cozy with Jack, sniffing him.
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 5
Abilities: Healing Sage
Inventory: Purse/Clutch | Wand

English = 337085

Open to interactions!

Lavinia was a very friendly person but she was not sure what to do during this ball. It had taken all her courage to come and she didn’t want to intrude on other people’s conversations. She knew that she should talk to people at some point because that was how she was going to successfully grow.

She was feeling too nervous that something might go wrong at the ball that she didn’t want to start a conversation. She would be open to talking just she didn’t have it in her to go up to someone and converse. As everyone mingled, Lavinia moved to sit at a table by herself. It was decorated nicely and had lots of delicious looking foods on it.

She knew that she couldn’t just sit there and do nothing so she super hesitantly grabbed a pitcher of a drink. Lavinia wasn’t sure what it was and had a feeling that it could be something bad. After all, every ball that she had heard of ended in disaster and maybe the food could have bad effects. It was a school sponsored event though, it couldn’t be that bad.

Internal debate was something Lavinia’s mind had gone through a lot recently and this drink was one of the cases. Her mind was going a million miles a minute and after a few minutes she decided to finally take a sip.

For Moderation:

Reducio

Action: Hesitantly trying one of the drinks I have no idea if these have any effect in this part of the ball but why not give it a go!
Stats: STA: 8 | EVA: 8 | STR: 7 | WIS: 6 | ARCP: 6 | ACC: 11
Abilities: Foulplay and Interception (These are quidditch related abilities and will most likely not do anything in this ball)
Heath points: 800/800

Post Tracker: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Nicholas allowed himself to quieten, more intent on taking in the uproarious scenes than playing a direct role in their unfolding. It seemed that more and more people had begun to join their little coven of students, the activity level growing considerably and the chaos growing more exponentially as it did so. The boy truly hadn't expected such, and he couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. Nicholas was not a social creature, more comfortable in a dingy library or in the courtyard in quieter times, he was entirely out of his element, and the colourful costumes that so many of the other attendees had opted to wear had only further driven that point home. He found himself someone zoned out, content to simply be in the situation, rather than an active participant. His posture seemed to reflect such, his shoulders hunched rather defensively.

Still, it seemed that the boy in the visage of Pan had taken to making Nicholas comfortable, accepting his greeting and offering one in turn. Similarly, the boy who looked so familiar to the goat did as well, and Nicholas found himself having to do a double take as to who was who. Were they brothers perhaps? The resemblance was uncanny. The Japanese first year also gave greeting, a fellow duelist, Shimada from memory. He'd missed his match, Nicholas's nerves and subsequent injury in his own duel had meant that he hadn't had much time to focus on anything except for the Slyutherin girls who had bested him. Yet, he had seen to studying the names of the other team rosters, in the event that he was to face them next year.

Unfortunately, in spite of the greetings, the first year lion had other things on his mind, and the words were lost for a moment. There were scenes unfurling before him that he could not take his eyes off of. The result was rather rude on Nicholas's part, an odd silence fell over the boy, as if he was distracted or overwhelmed, in spite of the welcomes.

The Japanese organiser seemed to have yelled at an older girl, clad only in a bedsheet, as she suplexed a lantern post. Meanwhile, it seemed that there own circle had taken its fair share of drama, one of the girls having spilled her drink rather obviously deliberately upon the boy who emanated so much smugness that it was impossible to tell where his ego began, and the rest of him ended. A fight over romance seemed to have spurred it, but Nicholas could barely claim to have being paying attention, let alone could he claim to care in the slightest about the lovers' quarrels that may have been ongoing.

Yet, it seemed that the quarrels were escalating, one of the brothers, Jack he believed he'd caught the name, stepping as if to block Nicholas's view whilst he confronted the boy who was now in much less clothing. It was only as then, as Nicholas realised that he had forgotten to actually respond to the earlier question posed by Pan, and his cheeks flushed red. God, he was simply terrible at this socialising thing.

As if finally out of a stupor, he answered, rather abruptly, "Oh, sorry, everything is just slightly overwhelming, what with the-" He gestured absently toward the arguing pair, "Sights. Pleasure to meet you though, Pan. Never been to a ball before, personally, so figured why not come and experience it first hand." It was a lie, of course, but a far less embarrassing one than revealing that he was only there out of some almost certainly misplaced sense of obligation.

Still, it seemed that the small group was now heading in a direction that he had not anticipated, and he supposed it was probably for the best if he made himself sparse lest he be caught in the crossfire, "Was lovely meeting you all, I might see about getting a drink."

It felt somewhat like he was cutting and running, he'd barely made an impact on the conversation after all, and for all intents and purposes that was exactly what he was doing. The boy nodded his head ever-so-slightly and all but backed out of the conversation, daring not be caught in whatever drama may unfold. Instead he drew toward the table of refreshments, perhaps he would grab a quick drink and go. He'd introduced himself to people after all, and that served as proof of his attendance.

The boy wandered over to one of the brightly coloured pitchers, pouring himself a glass of what appeared to be liquid gold. Absent-mindedly he sipped at the drink, much more comfortable away from the action and witnessing the scenes at a distance.

Action: Drinking one of the drinks (a yellow one)
Interacting with @Kazuo Shimada, @Jack Burnett and @Ruka Burnett-Tân
Ahh, got caught up with finals and this all moved very quickly! Apologies for missing replies and thank you for your patience!

Interacting| -
Mentions| @Dealla Prince | @Nicholas McCowan
Attire - Medusa
Action| Entering the Trials

Full scale drama had not seemed to break out just yet, and the more that Santario walked along the sidelines, the more she thought about the trials that the organizers had put together. She had yet to see anyone she wanted to approach, and she did like a challenge. The title of queen of the ball or whatever it was she did not really care about at all, more just a curiosity if she could do them at all and do them well.

Her eyes landed on the small group of people that she would have to pass to gain entrance, sighing softly; perhaps if she were swift enough and just ignored their existence, they would do her the kindness in return. Santario made her way over towards the entrance to the trials realizing that she was not far behind from someone she recognized, Dee. It was no surprise to her that one of the Ravenclaw duelling captains had also decided to test herself in the trials.

She would take one last look behind her, surveying the ball participants, noting at least one person, not that she realized they were there, that San planned on speaking to if he remained there when she returned. The boy had done very well in their duel regardless of losing, and she wanted to make sure he knew that, though she was not sure how amicable he would be to speaking to her, she would have to find out later. Finally, Santario turned away from the ball attendants and continued walking down the path to the trials.

|Interacting|
@Mathias Pride @Winnie Harper @Jack Burnett @Kazuo Shimada @Dealla Prince
|Mentioning|
@Jake Morris
|Open for Interaction|

Ruka hadn't expected Pride to be particularly bothered by his burning clothes - He'd already discarded them without seeming like he was in a rush to put them back on, so putting them on fire obviously wasn't much punishment. Still. Ruka revelled in the way the fabric burned and sizzled, slightly fading out where the punch had made it wet. It settled a sort of calm in him that made him look back up at Mathias with a smile and a slight tilt of his head. Winnie, next to Dealla, seemed much more bothered by the bare skin than she really had any reason to be, but Ruka decided not to pay her any attention for the moment - Instead he nodded in Dealla's direction with a faint smirk playing on his lips. "This was just an introductory light show," he said in a tone that sounded like he wanted to reassure her that there would be more to come later on. Deciding he wasn't going to need it, Ruka placed his drink on the nearest available surface before returning to the group.

Turning his attention back to Mathias, Ruka took a deep breath. "I'm not disgustingly rich enough to have house elves of my own," he said with a mournful expression as if that would have been his preferred alternative. "Fortunately I have people who like me enough to voluntarily do me favours. I can tell by your charm that you wouldn't know what that's like." He shrugged his shoulders, then raised his eyebrows questioningly at the Slytherin's announcement that Winnie was closer to his own league than his and Jack's. It elicited a small laugh from him. "Your league?" he asked, lifting a hand to stifle his laughter in it. "Do you really expect her to dance with you after you've insulted her like this?"

For a moment, Ruka let his attention drift away from the scene, eyes focusing on Dealla who was getting ready to leave, to check out the Trials, apparently. He felt the need to go after her, maybe join her in the challenge, but she was leaving too quickly, barely sparing a glance at him as she turned away. "Dee!" he said, though his voice had most likely gotten lost among the chatter and music. His expression turned sour for a short moment, but he collected himself again quickly. The evening had just begun and there was still plenty of time to ask Dealla for a dance once she had returned.

The momentary distraction, it seemed, was enough for things to have taken a turn for the worse once again. With Jack having actually drawn his wand to cast a spell at his dorm mate, Winnie was now hanging on his arm, hearts in her eyes as she appeared to... smell him? Ruka's eyes widened, expression turning into a mix of disbelief and disgust. Could Jack really be an idiot enough to ask the girl who had just confessed her love to him moments ago to dance with him? Granted, though he had extended his arm to her, he hadn't actually specifically asked her to dance with him, though clearly Winnie had jumped at the opportunity right away.

No, this wasn't going to fly. Ruka had had enough, and if his brother decided to be oblivious then it was time to change his approach. With a far too sweet smile, Ruka pressed himself between Winnie and Jack, gently shouldering the girl further to the side. "Actually," he said pointedly, furrowing his brows as he looked at Jack. "I need to talk to you first. Alone." He sighed and turned back to face Winnie while wrapping his free hand around Jack's wrist as if to make sure he wasn't just going to be dragged away by some other obsessively in love girl he hadn't known of yet while Ruka wasn't looking. "Winnie would you... Just... Keep Kaz some company for a moment? He looks awfully lonely now that his date's left." He turned slightly to stare at Kazuo with pleading eyes. Just for a moment, his expression begged. "And Jake, too." He smiled at the young badger and his makeshift Pegasus. "I only need a moment with my brother, we'll be back in a bit, just... Just stay here a moment." The smile on his face was forced, his eyes begging the girl to stay with his friends for the time being. They could probably keep her safe from Mathias, and maybe they'd even have fun.

Ruka himself, though, had other things to worry about, so he turned to face his brother with a stern expression and slowly pulled him away from their little dissolving group until he was certain they were out of earshot. Once achieved, Ruka extended his torch to Jack with a challenging look, offering for the other boy to take a hold of it too so they could twirl it between their hands while circling each other the way they had practiced together multiple times before. Whether Jack accepted the invitation to this particular kind of dance or not, Ruka would fix him with a disappointed glare.

"Do you enjoy playing Fake Boyfriend?" he asked gravely, lips pursed. "Is that some kind of new hobby I haven't picked up on yet?" He would step closer, regardless of whether it was part of their dance if Jack had engaged in it, or a simple movement to close some distance between them. "It didn't exactly go great last time you did it, so why are you so eager for a repeat? You do a lot of dumb shit, Jack, but you have to be smarter than this." A vague sadness crossed his disappointed expression. "You have to have more of a heart than that."

|Action|
- Dragging Jack away to dance talk
Permission to make Jack follow given

|Stats and Abilities|
Stamina - 7 || Evasion - 9 || Strength - 4 || Wisdom - 12 || Arcane Power - 6 || Accuracy - 7

The Muggle Condition || Advanced Casting || Perfectionist

Lil Outfit Doodle

|Post Tracker|
1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6 || 7

Outfit:

Reducio

While she was gazing around in the search of the refreshments table, a slick figure wearing the darkness (as usual; all coincidental references to the main villain in our school is indeed coincidental), was flowing through the crowdy place towards Meenauh. The person was greeted with a smile first, then a grin once the person questioned her name.

Interacting with @Xailah Alptraum

"What? It's just me visiting a ball in fine feather," she paused, "As usual," she added, grinned even wider and exploded into loud laughter, both because the situation had a really low probability to happen in the first place and because Xailah didn't expect it like at all.

Once the laughter calmed down, she wiped her eyes, full of joyous tears and complimented Xailah's dress: "You look fantastic, darling. I can't enjoy your style enough."

She noticed Erin in the background behind Xailah's shoulder and the lamp, and the next seconds, Vladimir joining her for a chat or something. What he usually did, yes. A regular chat. They should start the countdown before some darkness starts to drain the night's juices and ruin the fun dance. And she really wanted to dance. At least once.

"What has happened in there?" she asked Xailah, who seemed to have walked from the mentioned area, "How is Vlad still here in the first place?"

She remembered everything that happened in January as if it was yesterday. Owlery encounter, where Xailah was present and witnessed more than she needed. It seemed as if Vlad was more unconscious since the beginning of the year rather than conscious.

A strange thought has crawled into her brain: was it Vlad after all?

She swept away the nonsense. What business did he have at Hogwarts? It seemed he only made enemies and was hurt more and more and more.

Action: Conversing with Xailah Alptraum, noticing @Vladimir Athanatos and @Erin Ryan

Interacts with: @Marion Davenport (sort of) @Mathias Pride
Mentions:@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood @Erin Ryan@Vladimir Athanatos

Alexander's outfit

(Based on Claude from Fire emblem, edited by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood)

(Just some nice background music for Alexander)

In the Underworld:

Alexander's body was tense as he thought of Vladimir and the previous implications that he might hurt Marion more often. But this tense stance was loosened as Marion spoke once more and gave some more interesting information.
"If they cannot remember the actual madness, I doubt most will remember the accusation,"

Mhm, did that mean that there was actual madness in the past? A madness that she might have witnessed herself? Maybe, maybe not, it was hard to tell. But the sentence that followed put Alexander more at ease. "Besides nobody will care if you're a psychopath dressed like that," Again, Marion seemed to have a certain way of dispelling his anger and tension.

The sentences that followed then served to truly pull Alex's attention away from Vladimir. "Are you super-sure? House Slytherin needs to live up to the clichés." As she spoke, Alex could not help but let out a small snicker. "Alas, whilst I do like a nice old-fashioned cliché, I can't claim the honour of laying claim to that one."

Then his expression turned a bit more serious as the next sentence was uttered.
"yes I see potential mayhem. Most surely,""
Alexander gave a small shrug. "There is a potential for anything in anyone. Everyone is capable of kindness and cruelty. Of good and evil." He then looked a little into the distance. Lost in thought for a single second. "I like to think what defines a person is not their potential, instead I like to think that one is defined by their actions. As a wise...... thing.... once said 'What is better – To be born good, or to overcome your evil nature though great effort?'"

There was a small curling of Alex's lips as he remembered that game character. "I wouldn't say it truly applies to this situation. But the actions that one commits is what defines them. In this instance, acting good even if one's inner nature might be bad."

Then Alex shook his head again.
"And here I go all dramatic again"

Then after his whole poetic rant, which in hindsight was a bit embarrassing, he got an interesting response from Marion. One that was more so physical than verbal. But was both.

"you- I- You're so different,"
Mhm, and even as she said that her head seemed to be becoming a shade similar to her dress. It was funny to see Marion so nerve-wracked after his weird poetic fugue. His ever-changing smile now transformed into one that was one third smug (he could not help himself) one third amused (How could he not be amused at Marion's flustered antics ?) and one third just............ joyful.

It had been a while since Alexander had felt the latter emotion so clearly.

Then Marion reacted to his offer to leave.
"Ah ye-yeah, we super-should,"
He got a wide smile as Marion began to hold onto his arm with both of hers. Instinctively Alexander got a shiver along his body as her cold arms went around his. He had partially expected it, but it was something else to feel it in such a way. But Alex chose to try and ignore it for 'the greater good' or for Marion herself. This even he himself did not know. But what he did know was that he imagined Marion's arms as the cold of winter. As the joy felt when playing outside and throwing snowballs. Those thoughts kept the true bite of the cold away.

Thus Marion and Alexander left the underworld. Heading to another section of the grand ball.
As they left, Alexander did not notice the figure of Ares (more commonly known as Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood) stalk after him and watch him from a distance.

In Spring:

As he entered the new scenery of Spring, Alexander immediately noticed three things. The first thing that he noticed was that the atmosphere was far brighter here. Rather than the shadowy environment of the underworld, where long shadows were cast and darkness reigned, there was a lot of illumination from a large number of lamps. To complement the atmosphere there were Cherry blossom petals drifting downwards. With his free hand Alexander let one of the pink petals land on his hand, he observed it more closely. He observed the petal closely, before getting a soft smile as he recognized its origin, the cherry blossom tree. Something which he had intimate knowledge of due to his wand. As he thought about the temperamental thing, Alexander confidently patted the pocket in his pants where his cherry wand was located.

The second noticeable effect was the music that was present at the ball itself. Especially that it was somewhat...... unique certainly not bad but not what he had expected. He had entered the new area expecting more slow romantic music. Instead what was present was fast-paced pop songs. It was... a strange experience. But he had to admit, the music combined with the falling cherry petals made a fun and interesting effect. So he supposed that worked out well, though Alex could not stop a momentary frown. Which was not due to the music itself, but more due to the origin. Which was the muggle world. Something that ALexander did not like to think about, due to a variety of reasons. Foremost amongst them being the faces of his parents whenever he saw them. The fake smiles and looks of concern and fear that they constantly sent at him. An image that undoubtedly came up whenever he thought of muggles.

The last thing that could be noticed from the Spring area, was that Alexander had lied to Marion. For once the lie was done unintentionally and was born out of ignorance rather than malice. He had lied because he had wanted to head to the Spring area because it would be less chaotic. Instead, the chaos seemed to only grow exponentially when they entered the spring area. With the immediate beacon for attention being the form of one dark-haired, first-year Slytherin. Specifically the fact that most of his bare form was quite visible to all who entered the new area.

As he saw the sigh, Alexander stood still for a moment. Partly in shock as he blinked twice, trying to process the information that was quickly being sent to his brain. Then his brain went back to working as his date loudly exclaimed right next to Alex's ear. "Gawd Matt - did you have to?"

Alexander now cocked his right eyebrow at the figure of Matt and said mostly to Marion, "Well, if I remember right the greeks weren't so humble about their body in public either. Though that would not have been my personal choice of what I would emulate from them."

Alexander's gaze then swept throughout the rest of this section of the ball. Something which quickly resulted in him detecting both Erin Ryan and Vladimir Athanatos. With the both of them seeming to be talking to each other. Next to what seemed to be a...................... was that a broken lamp? Yes, that was a broken lamp, huh, odd.

But what might be odder was these two enigmatic figures interacting. He might have to keep an eye on them in the future. It could be a danger for Athanatos to have an agent in Slytherin who might be more likely to physically attack him. Something to keep in mind if he ever saw Ryan in the common room again.

Alexander felt a dry sensation at the back of his throat when he saw a series of drinks set up on the tables. Yet he ignored the sensation. It would be anything but wise to grab drinks from such a public event. Now more than ever, beyond the House Elves others might now easily poison the drinks. Instead, he ignored the sensation and turned to his date.

"So what would you like to do ? Do a dance, talk to this........ Matt right ? or sit at one of the tables and just enjoy the music. I admit I do not have much experience with these kinds of balls. Haven't really had a date before, so I don't know what one would usually do at this kind of thing." Alex let out a laugh that was somewhat nervous. He then scratched the back of his head with his left hand, as his right arm was claimed by Marion's icy grip.

Action: Interacting with Marion

Stats:

Reducio

Stamina: 7
Evasion: 9
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 8
Arc Power: 6
Accuracy: 8
Total: 41
(+1 from duel win)

Abilities:

Reducio

Monster Hunter Non-Human Enthusiast
• If a player successfully casts a spell at a part-Human opponent, they get +1 Accuracy if they attack and +1 Evasion if they're being attacked. This doesn't give any IC knowledge of the opponent's race or talent unless found out in advance or revealed during the duel.

Evasive Maneuvers:
• When a spell was successfully cast at a player with Evasive Manoeuvres, a 1d10 roll is performed prior to Accuracy vs Evasion roll to determine whether the spell will be auto-dodged (roll 10). The Accuracy vs Evasion roll will not be needed in case of success.
• The auto-dodge chance can stack only to 20% from any number of sources and in this case 9 or 10 would be considered a success.

Post tracker: [1] [Error, anomaly detected. Shutting down.][3][4]

It wasn't much longer in the ball and yet here they were. It seemed the side that was meant to be lively was picking up its pace. The muggle music perfect for some dancing and partying drawing anyone and everyone in. What would the night look like as it went further along? Would there be more to worry about? As it seemed the ball was going fun thus far, time should be spent enjoying it.

Come all to dance and let loose for a night of fun, games, and heroic trials. The break was here. Perhaps the students would finally have a nice ball to remember. The fallen soldier(lantern) could be forgotten in quick due time. It seemed there were more important things to worry about.

As the seconds came nearer and nearer one, closer one by one. The action obviously missing. Who well would provide it but Mr.Pride himself? If you were to look all around the spring area, it may have been the thing that stuck out most. @Mathias Pride stripping into nothing but his skivvies. Had nobody had told him they were not dressing up as actual greek statues today? The attire wasn't exactly school appropriate.

Nonetheless, life would go on as all his clothing was handed over @Winnie Harper's way. Did she need something to drink? She was looking rather red. The clothes would find their way to the ground eventually. Lit aflame by @Ruka Burnett-Tân's torch. Who let him in with that?

The drama didn't stop there, it never did. It could only leave one to wonder how many professors had to be there to be able to catch it and stop it. Maybe, just maybe @Jack Burnett's attempt at his spell reasonably seemed well deserved. Casting Ferula, a healing spell...

Jack casts Ferula at Mathias ||Wisdom DC: 11
Wisdom Check: [1d20: 19] + 10 = 29 > 11 → Success
No active evasion = no evasion roll

As it has turned out, a healing spell can be used against someone! Jack used Ferula and was able to cast a bandage tight over Mathias's mouth. Looks like Mathias will have a hard time speaking tonight(unless removed). It seems as if he's had his fair share of speaking. The bandages will protect his lips(Insert joke about Levi), Jack may have been doing him a favor.

As @Erin Ryan finished up burying the broken pieces of a once humble lantern. Erin would find herself in a rather interesting conversation with Vladimir Athanatos.

By this time Xailah Alptraum, Marion Davenport, Percival Gray, Thomas Baines, and Alexander Varellion had arrived. The space was becoming lively as the number of people grew. While all that was happening it seemed some people needed drinks to cool down.

Invigoration Draught

@Serena Towers as she took a sip of her drink would suddenly feel a burst of energy throughout her. It was exciting, wasn't it? Being part of such a ball. With all this energy there was nothing to keep her from being happy. Even as this was going on it seems as if she was the only one who decided to take a drink from that fountain so far.

You are suddenly filled with energy. You will have an advantage on any physical action(anything done with your hands) this round.

Amortentia

@Lavinia Cloven reached for a drink from a fountain with a bit of amortentia mixed in. The fountain must've seemed promising for her to grab it. Smelling a mix of her favorite things and what attracts her.

The effects of the Amortentia would reach her by an obsession with whoever she eyed first after drinking the punch. This person is now the only thing you can focus on(Kaz has agreed to be the default person if needed). You have a disadvantage at performing any actions that do not involve the person this round. Lucky for Lavinia this effect wouldn't last too long.

Normal Punch

@Nicholas McCowan would take a sip of his drink and feel as normal as ever. It was great! It was a normal sweet-tasting punch. Something normal at a ball for once. Not a part of the crazy scheme. Perhaps now some confusion would lie in how everyone else acted after sipping their drinks.

Maybe his effects are just late bloomers?

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