Event Blossom Ball - Spring Festival

Regular Text - English | Bolded Text - French | Bolded Black Text - Japanese
Interacting: Cassanora Browne (@Hugh Lowe), @Serena Towers
Mentioning: Erin Ryan, Percival Gray, Vladimir Athanatos, Santario Martin

TL;DR: talking to Cassanora and Serena, observing the crowning
Stats: Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 10 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 7 | Arcane Power: 7 | Accuracy: 7
Ability: Charmer (opponent defined as anyone who is not Casssanora Browne, Maria Dee, Cosmo Keith, or Vladimir Athanatos)

Interacting with: Cassanora (@Hugh Lowe's iNPC) and Maddie @(Aaron Jones' iNPC)

Serena nodded with a breath of relief as the girl said she was fine and then proceeded to introduce herself, and her friend. "Serena. Serena Towers," She introduced herself in return absentmindedly, still staring at those amidst the fight. Half-distracted, she did not pick up that the girl shared the same surname and some similar features to Serena's head of house but it was a fairly common surname, admittedly.

The response escaped from her lips without hesitation, before she even really had a chance to think about what was happening, "Or, ku musrems mav sram?" "Oh, so nothing new then?" in Gobbledegook Wait- did she just- Serena's head turned to face Cassanora, just blinking at her for a moment, "You speak Gobbledegook too?" There was a small look of surprise on her face, as she obviously did not actually expect that. Not many people spoke it here. Her tone was soft and clearly surprised. She stared at Cassanora, glancing at her ears - if they were on display - and taking into account that the girl who looked a bit younger was still quite a bit taller than her. It was clear she was trying to work out if there was a possibility that the girl also had a goblin ancestor, though it might be more distant than her own.

Ah shoot! Serena mentally facepalmed, recalling the fact that she was meant to have kept her heritage quiet and she might have just given it away. The girls seemed relatively nice though, so hopefully, it would be alright... Maybe she could pretend that she had just learned the language from someone at Gringotts or something?! Ahh, she would think about it later!

Sighing softly as she listened to the girl introduced as Madeline, "Yeah, hopefully, it's over now," She responded, her composure noticeably relaxing slightly, "I am really glad to hear you're both okay though!" She added, pleased that it had not escalated to something worse. A news report on Beauxbatons students being attacked on their visit to Hogwarts was definitely not a good look for the school. She did not know all of the students in the fight but she spotted Erin Ryan leaving the huddle not too long before, and could imagine it was not great based on that alone. Her only experiences with Ryan usually resulted in her crying! "Well, I wouldn't call myself 'normal', are any of us really?" She joked a little, trying to lighten the mood. It was definitely a bit awkward but she was trying.

Turning her attention to the voice calling for it, she listened to the announcement about the trial winners. Ah yes, the trials. How did she manage to get through most of them, she had no idea. But a part of her was very pleased in herself for doing so. She was not overly familiar with any of the winners, so she did not cheer loudly for them but she did clap politely as she was pleased that they had won in the first place. They had obviously done well! Those challenges were pretty hard, "You know... just one ball where people could actually dance would be kind of nice..." Serena muttered to herself, recalling the last time she had danced at once of these. It was the one where there was a moshpit formed and that was really fun. Well, until there was fire and smoke everywhere. It had been some years since then. Her plan had been to dance at this one after the trials but it looked like the others had a different plan for her.

Speaking of dancing, where for the love of Bodrig was her date? She had not seen him in a while. A frown crossed her eyebrows as she looked around a little, trying to make sure he had not gotten hurt by getting mixed up in the fight either. She could not see him though, so she turned her attention back to the Beauxbatons girls, "Sorry for my impoliteness earlier," She apologised for being half-distracted whilst she introduced herself not too long before, "I'm Serena Towers of Hufflepuff here," She introduced herself properly, offering her hand up for a shake and a broad smile on her lips.

ACTION: Just chatting

Stamina: 10 | Evasion: 10 | Strength: 1 | Wisdom: 13 | Arcane Power: 5 | Accuracy: 10
Abilities: Part-Goblin [Gobbledegook and Wandless] and Evasive Maneuvers
Status: Concerned | Health: Full

Post Tracker: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Outfit of the day: [1][2][3][4]

Π ε ρ ι κ λ ῆ ς
Outfit

Pericles wandered from the Underworld to Spring only to find himself at the end of @Xailah Alptraum's gleaming claw. He halted on the spot, expression leaping to something between surprise and a smile, shock mostly spurred on by the supreme decadence of her dress. Had she tailored that...? Then the look leaned more towards the smile as her words sank in, grin growing. "I was having trouble keeping up with you is all," he justified his lateness, balming her fake ire with a roundabout compliment, as this is an essential tactic to Xailah handling. When her gold gaze flicked towards Aly, his contentedness extended to the fellow bird, an open palm held towards her in presentation. "I don't know about little. This is @Aly Salinger, one of the Ravenclaw Quidditch players. We are in the same school-year. I was considering taking a nap in the 'Underworld' over there, but Aly implied that might not have been one of my soundest ideas." Pericles folded his hands loosely, content as he peered between them both. "Aly, this is Xailah Alptraum, fourth-year Gryffindor and a dear friend. I-" An announcement cut his words short. He silenced, as was polite to the organizers, only to fall quiet for an altogether different reason. The names of the trial champions had been announced.

"That is us?-"
The young wizard was flabbergasted by the fact; not only had he won, but so had two of his favorite people in the school. (Two of the top five, easily.) Xailah confirmed that they were, in fact, hearing their own names. She rolled the titles around in her native tongue like a cat investigating a new toy, eliciting an excited smirk, and Peri proposed quietly "I suppose in this case, it would be vasiliás and vasílisses- Greek, for king and queens." Xailah was adept at donning a sweet front before saying something snide, getting one's guard down. He knew to brace for it, but still found her chirrup and head tilts endearing. That siad, it would come as no surprise when the cattling then declared she would not be addressing him as Highness. Before he could banter back, she was off, and he was left heaving his rueful sigh at Aly instead. Aside from that, he only smiled her way before proceeding, apparently presuming that she did not mind being dragged around the event. She had stopped to help a sleepy boy on the sidelines, but perhaps it was all the ruse of an extrovert, now keeping her in his covertly social clutches. How tragic for her.

The tips of Pericles' ears had taken on a modest pink shade while he proceeded through the crowd, following Xailah, presumably with Aly in tow. As they approached, he made a point of sidling over to Dee, eyes shining with the thrill of fate which put them both in the spotlight. "I'm not at all surprised to see you up here," he breathed near a whisper, voice warm with companionable respect. Another introduction for the fellow bird in tow. Peri spoke to Aly at his side. "This is @Dealla Prince- Dee, preferably- my duelling partner, and one of the most driven students at our school." But their meeting was hasty, kept short as they neared the organizers. The crown was an awkward encounter, as Pericles was already wearing a golden leafy lauret, so he accepted it in his hands with a word of sincere gratitude. The organizers were given a grateful brief bow of the head before he beamed proudly towards his two companions, perfectly pleased as he murmured "Congratulations, you two."

Though there was one person in the crowd not quite so happy for them, or at least, not for Pericles. What had set the boy apart from his fellow winners was unclear. All that mattered was @Dan Palmer somehow believed Pericles had snatched a win from him. "Hey Peri! You totally stole the win from me! Good job! Have fun, ya jammy boy, ye!"
The Ravenclaw remained stock still, humble hues and gentle commendations turned to stunned silence as Dan honked his nose. He crinkled its bridge, blinking, baffled. But before the Slytherin could scamper into the crowd, he reached back, trying to snag a shoulder to halt the potion-induced bounciness. "I don't doubt you put up an admirable endeavor, Captain Palmer." With that, he placed the king's crown on Dan's head, let go and freed him to frolic away across the party. The Quidditch Captain might have missed the awkward opportunity to stand in front of the school, but at least he could have a shiny memento of his own.

Introducing Aly to Xailah, collecting crown, greeting Dee, thanking the organizers, giving Dan his crown. Generally open to interaction

Arrival | Hades | Hecate | Orpheus | Hermes | Persephone | Apollo
I | II | III | IV

Open to interactions.
Interacting with| @Kazuo Shimada | @Pericles Dralt | @Xailah Alptraum

After having ignored the brawl long enough, it had thankfully dispersed without requiring her to step in, and without major injuries from what she had seen. People were leaving, her apple was eaten, her plans had fallen through. She'd never caught a glimpse of Ileen, and Kazuo wasn't around anymore, anyway. It seemed a decent time to follow the others' example and abandon the ball.

Already turning to leave, Dee paused, surprised, when the music paused and Kazuo's voice cut through the chatter. Curiosity had driven her to take part in the trial, she hadn't done so with the intention to win. Although, of course, she had ended up giving it her best all the same. The spirit of competition demanded it, she could not do things halfheartedly if there was a prize to be won. Even if it was a crown when she already had one. Still, between her blunder at the Hermes trial and the fact that she had ended up reciting recipes for Apollo, she hadn't really expected to win. She was still amazed she had managed to pick the correct flowers.

Dee easily changed direction to head towards Kazuo, a bounce in her step and a bright smile on her face, just a hint of smugness visible in her eyes, although she'd wrinkled her nose slightly at the use of her full name. Fine, quite possibly she enjoyed winning just a little too much. The other two names he had announced were familiar, too, and her smile widened when she heard Pericles be named. Two Ravenclaw duelling captains winning, she would take this as an auspicious sign for next year's tournament.

As she reached Kazuo, Dee returned his excited grin with her own bright, almost exuberant one. "You guys did a great job organising those trials," she said genuinely. Credit where credit was due. "They were super fun." Except perhaps the dark maze, she could have done without that one.

A glance into the crowd had her spotting Pericles and Xailah, also headed to receive their crowns, and reacted to their approach with a cheerful, not very queenly wave. "I'll take that as a compliment," she replied to the boy's comment, blue eyes sparkling with amusement. Truthfully, she was excited to share this moment with him. "We have to represent our house properly, don't we?" Widening her attention to include Xailah, she added, "Congratulations to you two, too!"

The introduction to Aly was met with a bit of amusement. The two had met, more than once, if fleetingly. Not only had they shared a dorm for two years, but Aly had been among the students in the common room during the spider attack, and had earned Dee's attention (and respect) for casting Lumos at a crucial moment. "We know each other," she remarked, grinning at Aly. "Aly has good timing with light spells."

After a moment of hesitation, she reached up to carefully remove Ruka's flower crown from her head, so Kazuo could place the gold laurel crown on her hair instead. While not more precious to her by any means, it seemed like the right thing to do, although she'd likely switch them back again soon after, the flowers seeming more frail and therefore more risky to carry around in her hands. Tilting her head forward slightly, she accepted the crown, then straightened up to watch the rest of the ceremony.

Peri ended up giving up his crown just moments later, and a bright burst of laughter escaped Dee at the exchange. "Not keen on being royalty for a night?" she asked, something near a giggle still present in her voice. Had this been the effect of another potion, she wondered idly, or was the Slytherin Quidditch captain just naturally so bouncy?

1 2 3 4 H H O H P A 5 6 7 8 9 10

Action | Receiving her crown

Sta 5 | Eva 9 | Str 3 | Wis 10 | Arc 6 | Acc 8
Evasive Maneuvers | Charmer

Reducio

Charmer Allies: All Hogwarts students/staff except Ileen Knight, Percival Rainwood, Thomas Lestrange, Henry Knight, [Isaac W. Pincus ,] Vladimir Athanatos.

Permission to Dance

@Xailah Alptraum, @Dealla Prince and @Pericles Dralt received their rewards though it seemed not everyone was pleased by the outcome. A rather energetic @Dan Palmer would tweak Pericles’ nose in retaliation for winning. It seemed for a moment that Pericles did not know how to react to Dan but in an act of kindness, gave up his crown to the Barefoot Irishman.

Meanwhile, Scarlett’s adventures in Amortentia had come to an end in confusion and disappointment. Poor @Samantha Salwis had been wooed only for @Scarlett Aden to come to her senses, confused by her own exclamations of love. She had sought out the experience of obsessive love and the fates had graced her with the luck to get her wish. Would the experience live up to her expectations? And what would she do about poor Samantha?

@Percival Gray had decided to remain despite his injuries, the only one in the entire Ryan disaster to actually address @Opeila Winters with kindness for her attempt to help. A few brief words of thanks for her plea that cooler heads prevail.

@Thomas Lestrange would continue to harass @Marion Davenport and @Alexander Varellion while @Flash Holmwood continued to play some sort of peacemaker despite having arrived in Thomas’ obviously troublesome company. Alexander would continue to play Marion’s Knight, attempting to encourage Dante to move on to the next layer of hell.

Finally with the drama gone and the announcement over, it seemed Cassanora (@Hugh Lowe), Madeline (@Aaron Jones) and @Serena Towers might finally get their wish for a relatively normal ball. The music had returned and the dance floor was practically begging for dancers to fill it. Though they’d had a rocky start, perhaps they could make better memories now.

Yefim had torn out of Spring and up the path to the Underworld as if he were revisiting the Trial of Hermes and Erin was his pomegranate. With equal interest in pursuing the Ryan parade though for completely different reasons, Kazuo had also chosen to abandon the Spring area - and his date - in order to chase the mystery. He’d done his best - well, not really - to convince @Jack Burnett to come along but didn’t wait for a response before he was heading up the path into trouble.

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

Amortentia
The effects of the Amortentia would fill the drinker with an obsession for whoever they 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, also your reflection is a valid option I'm looking at you Arjan). You have a disadvantage at performing any actions that do not involve the person this round. Please note that Amortentia does not cause memory loss in any way. You are still you, you still know what you are doing and you still remember the things you did once the potion has worn off. The potion causes a fixation and fake love only.

Elixir to Induce Euphoria
You are filled with a sense of inexplicable, irrational happiness.This potion induces sudden euphoria in the drinker - excessive singing and nose-tweaking are possible side-effects. You are distracted and will be at a disadvantage on all awareness or evasion based actions this round.

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Interacting With | @Henry Knight as Charles Alluring
Mentioning | @Scarlett Aden | @Lucia Fox as Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin
Apologies for the wait and short post!

Drew had seemed to have lost his friends in the crowd. He had gone to the bathroom right after the last trial (the trial of Apollo), in which him and Charles had done an amazing performance and won a single point. A little bit insulting, but Drew could live with it. Anyway! He really had to go after they finished their dance and song, but he hadn't noticed until it was over. He had gone to the bathroom, gotten a little lost, and now he was back in the Spring Festival. He scanned the crowd for his friends.

There! Charles was quite big, so he could spot him. He came up behind him, tapped him on one shoulder, and moved to the other side of his friend, wrapping his arm around Charles' shoulders once he was noticed. "Hey, bro! Sorry I got lost, I went to the bathroom and got a little lost, you know how Hogwarts is-" He paused, with a quick glance around him. "Uhh..." He spied Scarlett over by a younger girl, looking confused.

Everybody around him did not look happy. They didn't look happy at all. Drew knew the reputation of the semi-annual Hogwarts Balls. But he didn't- until now, I guess- realize that the reputation was sometimes true. Back at the Fall Ball, the drinks had potions in them, but not anything serious. Just a laughing potion, a hair-growing potion, and Babbling Beverage, to name a few. Nothing that couldn't be solved with a simple General Counter-Curse from somebody on the side. But... something seemed so wrong. None of his friends looked like they were having a good time at all.

He turned to Charles, put both hands on his friend's shoulders, and looked him in the eye. "What happened?"

For Moderation
More Information about Drew is here
Action: Entering Spring Festival from Hero trials, coming up to Charles, being confused

[1] | [2] | Hades Trial | Hecate Trial | Orpheus Trial | Hermes Trial | Persephone Trial | Apollo Trial | [3]

A great time maybe, well not maybe hopefully. Wearing the same things she wore at the Underworld she couldn't be bothered to get changed, just wore the same clothes.

Maybe someone would ask her to dance, it was difficult for Selina to decide what to do, maybe she should ask someone what to do. Or maybe have a dance with someone, if someone asked to, she was too shy to ask someone herself, it would be embarrassing for herself. But maybe she should go out of her comfort zone.

Why wouldn't she just go up to a boy, or a girl for that matter and ask if they wanted to dance with her? She was just too scared but didn't want to spend the ball alone.


"Umm, hello would you like to dance with me, I'm Selina." Selina ran through her brain in case she did ask someone. She paced up and down, walking on her high heels her dress flying in the wind, with her hair flying as well.

It took Selina ages if she would wear this dress, and ages to do her hairstyle, but not so much her shoes as they were from her Aunt Lucy.
She found a place to sit down while pacing everywhere, and sat down in the nearest chair, as you can guess by no one, it was very lonely for Selina. But if she wanted to have fun, then she need to ask someone to dance, the simple reason read a book or wait for someone to ask her to dance. She decided to do two of them, read a book and wait for someone to ask her to dance. Selina grabbed a book and turned it's pages and read it, waiting for someone to ask her to dance quietly.

OC: Was waiting on Thomas and Flash but they appear to be otherwise occupied.

Action: Attempting to leave Spring for Hades.

Closing Time

Night would fall, slowly, inevitably, the soft glow of evening eventually replaced by the encroaching darkness as the sun sank below the horizon. The warm glow of the deathwitch lanterns would keep the dance floor lit for those who would enjoy it. The contents of the tables would dwindle as students indulged until nothing was left but the flowers. Many of the students had already begun to make their way back up the long, dark path, to seek out bed or other entertainment.

The Heroes had been crowned and rewarded, the hosts had taken their leave, all that was left were those few who lingered to dance and chat until they would inevitably be shooed back to their dorms come curfew. It had been an event that would no doubt create new memories for those who attended, some good and some bad. Somehow, despite the many fears that had been whispered in the halls leading up to the event, the Ball had remained untouched by darkness. Though spells, punches, and shoes might have been thrown, little harm had come to any but a small handful of students and certainly nothing a quick visit to the hospital wing couldn’t fix.

For how long would the students be allowed to cherish this relative normalcy before they once again found themselves caught up in danger? Barely a couple months What would the next Hogwarts Ball have in store for them? More spiked drinks? Would Vlad forever be blamed for everything that went wrong at Hogwarts? Undoubtedly.

NOTE

This marks the end of moderation for the Blossom Ball. Feel free to properly close any interactions you're in, but there will be no further moderation posts. Thank you for participating!

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