Event The Fall Ball (The Hunt) Finished

Interactions:
@Robert Toukmond | @Quinn Smith | @Henry Knight
Mentions:
N/A
-Open to interactions-
Actions:
Arriving with her new and old friends, asking Henry about Charles, watching in shock at the portrait, questioning a nearby portrait, trying to think and making her head hurt

Moderation:

Reducio

Stats:
Stamina: 5 | Evasion: 6 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 7
Abilities:
Perfectionist

She followed her new and old acquaintance, dear Quinn, and, of course, Robert Toukmond. Which I now pronounce correctly, but not sure about Callista... Immediately, her eyes were caught by the portrait up ahead, which everyone seemed to be focusing on. "I agree," Callista said in agreement to Quinn's suggestion.

Callista almost broke her agreement when she spotted Henry. She wasn't quite satisfied with Charles' answer, and she felt like something wasn't quite right. "Hey, uh, I'll be right back. You can come if you want, I just want to talk to my friend about something for a little. Er, is that okay?" she checked hurriedly with her friends.

Callista headed over to the front of the group, quite unlike her, but her curiosity got the best of her."Hi Henry," she greeted with a smile. "I, uh, wanted to ask you something? I bumped into a boy named Charles, he said he was from Durmstrang? And, uh, his eyes looked just like yours, so I was wondering if you guys were related, but he said he didn't know anyone named Henry when I asked... but I feel like he wasn't really telling the truth, I don't know why, but I really want to know? Um, sorry for the, uh, all of the questions so suddenly..." Callista wasn't quite sure why she wanted to know so badly, but it was nagging her.

After they had their short conversation, Callista turned back to Quinn and Robert. "Sorry about that." As she was turning around, something caught her eye. The now-infamous-but-probably-previously-ordinary painting was what caught it, of course. She raised her hands to her mouth, surprised and confused. She wanted to investigate the painting, but there was already a small crowd of people. Most of them were asking questions, which Callista personally thought was quite rude. Would they interrogate a bleeding man if it was a real man and not a painting?

She backed away and turned to a nearby painting (assuming there is one) and asked, "Hi, um, d-do you know what happened to that man?" Her nervousness showed, more clearly than before, when she was more relaxed in the company of friends. Now, the large group of people seemed overwhelming, and she longed for the quiet peace of the library.

Think, Callista. Stop thinking about things that can't happen. Okay, so... she knew that the portraits were animated somehow, even though that shouldn't be possible, so they must have some mind of its own. But wait... how is that possible? This is not the time to be thinking about this. she chided herself. Later, she promised herself.

Could it have been another painting that had damaged it? But if that was so, then what would stop them from harming other portraits? Unless this painting wanted to bait them? Seeing as this was a puzzle, it would certainly make sense. But why would they do that? Was this staged by the professors? It had to be if the professors could tell what was going to happen. "Ugh, this is making my head hurt..." she groaned.

Okay, what if it wasn't a painting? Could normal people hurt paintings? Wait, back to the whole painting-hurt-another-painting theory... When the painters paint the wizards and witches, how do they capture the essence of them? For example, if the painter magically painted - how is that even possible anyway? - a serial killer, would the "serial killer" want to hurt people because of the way he was painted? Callista put her fingers on her forehead. "I give up," she groaned. This was already way too complicated, and she was making it worse by overthinking it.

"What do you guys think about... all this?" she asked Quinn and Robert.

Outfit:

Reducio

Soft ringlets

Elegant silver masquerade mask

White Cardigan

Simple silver Circlet

Silver leaves bracelet

Soft blush pink flats

Post Tracker:
Costume Party:
[X] | [X] | [X]
Hunt:
[X] | [X] | [X]

Interacting with @Quinn Smith and @Callista Lovis

Costume Reference

Reducio

Robert smiled in quiet triumph as he succeeded in convincing Quinn to join them on this Hunt. Although, as the other Ravenclaw immediately started throwing out different theories about the cat, Robert knew he'd been right in assuming that deep down, Quinn had actually wanted to go all along. The banana smiled at their use of fruit-related puns. "That's the spirit!" he exclaimed, and dove headfirst into the discussion. "Yeah, I think I remember reading about Patronuses. Patronusi? Nevermind. It's a really advanced spell, but if this is a planned event, it would make sense that a teacher could cast one. I don't think animals can be ghosts, right? The way I understand it, to become a ghost after death, you need to both be magical, and actively choose to stay behind. I'm not sure if animals are sophisticated enough to make that decision." The Eagle thought for a second, and then backtracted. "However, I guess if a cat were somehow magical, that might give them enough intelligence to make that decision? I don't know." Robert snorted as he realized that his tangent hadn't actually given them any more clues about what the cat could be.

However, it had served the purpose of passing the time until they caught up with the rest of the group. Robert stopped dead in his tracks as he realized they were gathered around a painting of a man bleeding out on the ground. After his immediate reaction of, Oh no, there's a man bleeding out on the ground! he began to think about the situation more. It isn't unheard of to have muggle paintings of people dying, apocalyptic landscapes, all that happy stuff. It does make it a bit more gruesome to have such a painting come to life, especially in a school, but it could still be plausible that this was a painting of a man who'd been slowly dying for the past couple hundred years.

However, if this painting was always like this, then why did all the other students seem so troubled by it? Robert had only been in the castle for a couple months, but the older students had spent years there. And so, once again, the young Ravenclaw had learning absolutely nothing from his thoughts. As Quinn spoke up, saying they should all stick together, no matter what, Robert immediately agreed. "Absolutely, there's safety in numbers, right?" Although Callista also agreed to this, she then promptly went back on the statement and broke off from their group. "That... works too I guess..." Robert mumbled quietly.

In her absence, Robert continued to ponder the painting. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how unlikely it was that none of the older students had ever noticed a painting of someone in that condition before, which meant it was probably a recent occurrence. However, who could hurt a painting? If a person tried to stab the canvas, it would just rip, not cause the inhabitant to start bleeding, which meant... Robert's face lit up with pride as he came up with an answer. "Whoever stabbed that man is probably another painting!" he exclaimed to Quinn.

As Callista came back, he started to say the same thing to her, but wasn't quite able to get it out before she walked away again. This time, he saw she was going to ask a nearby painting what had happened. With his recent epiphany still in mind, Robert's eyes widened as he realized his friend might be unknowingly questioning the very person who stabbed the first painting. "Wait, Callista!" he called after her, hurriedly following. He wasn't quite sure how a painting could hurt a non-painting, but he still didn't want to take the chance. Taking out his wand, he readied himself for whatever might come next.

Open to Interactions
Interacting with @Cassandra Ironwoods
Mentioning @Martyna Romero, @Henry Knight & @Dmitri Jones
Post Tracker
The Masquerade | X | X | X | X
The Hunt | X | X

It wasn't long until Starlee realized she had made a poor decision in standing near her fellow duelers. While she respected Dmitri, at times he really had... an off sort of presence. Perhaps he was just getting way too into the hunt? Or maybe there was something... wrong with him? Either way, this was all Starlee could think about, her focus entirely lost on the cause at hand. Even when Henry addressed her, she wasn't really able to pay much attention to him.

Her mind wasn't relieved from her concern and confusion over Dmitri until Cash appeared next to Starlee, finally waking her from her deep thoughts. "Fancy seeing you here, Star" they said, playfully nudging her. Star jumped a little at this, having totally forgotten that Cash said they were joining in on the hunt due to the nights earlier drama. "Looks like my advice did not come into fruition, no?" they said, glancing over at Tina. 'Ugh.' Lost in her thoughts about Dmitri, she had forgotten about Tina. Her determination rose. She would solve this.

"This is porquería (rubbish). It is like a wild goose chase. Why do you and all this people do it in the first place?... I hope this is worth to waste any valuable time of anyone." Star was a little taken aback by this. Granted, she didn't know any Spanish and had no idea what 'porquería' meant, but she could sense Cash was a little more on edge than usual. Cash had also thrown in some taunts at Tina, to which Starlee felt a little better about having someone on her side. Maybe Tina would even get jealous. Which, to be fair, wasn't hard for Tina to do, but Starlee wanted the Hufflepuff to feel bad for the night's events.

She trotted along after Cash, who seemed to have a rather fiery attitude, and she stood in their wake as they shoved through the group of people to get closer to the painting. Starlee gasped as she saw the bloodied figure in the painting. She contemplated talking to it, but it seemed Cash was more quick to notice something, as well as call out someone else for trying to talk to it... sooo... probably not the best course of action.

Starlee looked around the crowd, wondering what could possibly be going on here. She took out the candies that the cat had previously dropped on her entry into the corridors. Perhaps one of them would mean something? She plopped the Sherbert Lemon in her mouth, wondering if that would help at all, or if anyone would manage to find anything out from staring at the portrait.

Action: Distancing herself from the duelers (specifically Dmitri) and following Cassandra Ironwoods. Eating the Sherbert Lemon.
Stamina: 4 - Evasion: 5 - Strength: 6 - Wisdom: 8 - Arcane: 6 - Accuracy: 5
Abilities: Healing Sage

Interacting With: @Henry Knight
Mentioning: @Lindsey Springhall @Kara Capricorn @Alexa Mackenzie

A boy with dark hair and blue eyes turned and smiled at Piper. From behind her mask, she peered at him. " I have the same, I'm sorry I don't know your name? I'm Henry," he said, referring to her comment on the sweets. Interesting... wait, but saying her name in front of all these people would mean they'd know who she was in a silly outfit. "Erm. My name is, uh, Piper." she blurted, but keeping her voice so quiet she was unsure if he had even heard.

A long series of events happened. The girl in a pink dress that Piper had followed into the room cast Revelio on one of the sherbet lemons. Unfortunately, nothing happened. Piper pondered what the candy could mean. A girl in a round, bulbous moon costume joined in too, screaming random names in efforts to guess. Most likely from the other party. Piper smothered a giggle. If she had felt bad about her own costume before, she didn't any longer. It was very nice to feel good in comparison to someone else. Others were also attempting to guess the name of the mysterious hunter, but in a more respectable fashion.

At last, the spectral cat kept moving. Piper trailed after the growing crowd and gasped as the cat stopped and meowed in front of a large painting. A bloodied man laid on the ground of it. Several people were already attempting to talk to the portraits to find out what happened. One girl attempted to cast Reparo on the portrait. Piper still hadn't wrapped her head around the fact that the pictures here talked, even though she passed them every day. She also wished she knew more spells; who knew how handy they could come in?

Also, where in the world were the professors? Shouldn't staff be solving this problem? Why let students take care of it and let the party behind carry on if the professors hadn't set this up? Thoughts whirled around in Piper's head. Was this a distraction? Was something happening back at the ballroom? What was the point? Looking for some way to help, maybe Piper could learn more about this cat that everyone was following. Glancing about, however, she saw Kara already attempting to say hello to the cat. Not wanting to scare it, Piper stepped back and observed the cat's reaction to Kara.

Action: Observe the spectral cat and see its interaction.

STATS:

Reducio

|| Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 6 ||

The Viper Magnate

Interacting with and Mentioning @Opeila Winters, @Astrea Soleil Neptune, @Starlee Kennedy, and @Henry Knight

Twelwe - Ikigai

Roleplaying as Dmitri Kazimir Jones
Perfectionist | Perfectionist II | Spell Spread | Terrible Presence
Sta 7, Str 2, Eva 6, Wis 14, Arc 11, Acc 10

In his quest for answers, Dmitri managed to catch a glimpse of something the horseman owned. It was a fleeting moment, but the detail was stark in the boy's mind: an emblem.

It was a stylized symbol. Obscure though it may be, the older Slytherin knew he had encountered it once, but where? It wasn't something that was coming up pretty easily and it could quite possibly be because it had nothing to do with lessons. So far was Dmitri in his own mind, rummaging through his visual memories, that he was left trailing at the end of the small crowd of students.

The boy absently pocketed a few sweets he forgot he took before leaving the Masquerade as he decided to approach some of the Viridian Vipers also in the corridor. Shooting each of them a glance, Dmitri attempted to convey a message—more a command—to gather. Whoever came closer, he would give it to them straight.

"That damn headless horseman or whatever the heck that incorporeal being thinks he is, needs us to call out his name for him to help us." An eyebrow raise would display just how the Captain felt about this arrangement. "Anyone of you familiar with a symbol that involves a [redacted: owled related participants]? I saw an emblem on that pesky ghost just before he left us. Figured it might help."

Even when they were conversing, all of them would still be striding purposefully after the ghostly cat. The feline would end up leading them to a painting Dmitri had never encountered before. Considering the size of the Hogwarts Castle, it was highly possible he just didn't remember it from the four-hundred thousand or so moving portraits scattered around the numerous stone walls. It was weird, but from the way the cat was loitering around it, pointedly staring up at the piece of enchanted art, it was significant.

As he and his team would be discussing his previous inquiry on the emblem, he would glance at the bloody painting, absently wondering what it all meant.

———

Action: Inspecting the painting while conversing with the Viridian Vipers

outfit | brooch

Interacting with @Kara Capricorn, @Cassandra Ironwoods, @Scarlett Aden & @Henry Knight
Mentioning @Starlee Kennedy
HTML colour is 73781E
Post Tracker: [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x] [x]

Well, the short-haired leader girl was certainly in a rotten mood tonight. Tina couldn't help but jump up straight when Kara turned around to scold her, her voice booming through the dark and empty corridors. Clearly, she was very stressed out by this little thing that had been organised. She'd even managed to delude herself into thinking it was real. Tina grumbled at the use of 'moon girl', folding her arms and staring directly up at her with dark, narrowed eyes (Kara was almost unnaturally tall, it felt like, and it was quite intimidating, but she held her ground like a badass). She wouldn't be made to feel stupid by someone who didn't know how to have fun - no way.

Sadly, it wasn't just Kara who had a bone to pick with her. Cash, who she didn't even know but apparently was such a suck-up to Starlee that it didn't matter, had gone waltzing over to her 'friend' (making alliances with other snakes now, are you Starlee?) in all their colourful-haired glory, and proceeded to shout across from the other side of the corridor that Tina's, frankly, ingenious method wasn't going to work. Was picking on first years a hobby for these guys? Tina snapped her torso around, raising her arms up to her face to shout back:

"Yeah! Obviously it will work, duh!" she retorted, her cheeks glowing a hot red not with embarrassment, but frustration at how stupid everyone else was. It wasn't like they had any better leads on this mystery, and yet they had the audacity to laugh at her! "It's like, basic maths! Process of elimination, or whatever."

Perhaps wizards didn't do maths, she thought, attempting to roll her eyes (she wasn't the most coordinated with things like this). Thankfully, Scarlett was just as nice as she had been before. Tina could only be glad that the girl greeted her with as much brightness as she had done, copying her grin automatically.

"What do you mean not organised?" the Hufflepuff asked, slowly lowering her hands from her face. Okay, maybe the name guessing thing wasn't going so well, but it couldn't be too long before she got it. Still, even if Kara had said the same thing as Scarlett did, she believed that the Gryffindor was only joking, giving her a quizzical look. "Okay... Well, if it's not organised, answer me this!" Tina said slyly, retracting one hand inside the sleeve of her outrageous moon costume only to pull it out seconds later, this time with something clasped inside her palm. "If it's not the teachers, then why did I - and like, everyone else - coincidentally find sweets scattered all over the floor?"

Tina raised her eyebrows, humming as though she'd just explained Schrodinger's Quantum Mechanical Model in minute detail. Then, as though proud of her efforts, she popped the sherbet lemon in her mouth. As she did so, she looked over at Henry, continuing to suck on the sweet as he asked her if she knew... Lumos? What the hell was that?

"Mph. No-sorrmy," she managed, the sweet taking up most of the room in her mouth and rendering her unable to speak properly. "I jus' fimk the damcing one is funny." This was how Tina prioritised practicing her spells. Was the idea of it funny, and did it set things on fire? If yes, put to top of list. "Mhahhaha! You fimk I should try the dance one on th'cat- oh! We followin' i'?"

Tina finally swallowed, quickly tip-toeing after everyone else out of fear of being left behind. As she did so, she cast a glance over her shoulder, just checking to see if Starlee was still having a rubbish time.

Action: Eating sherbet lemon and following after the cat.

Stamina 4 • Evasion 7 • Strength 3 • Wisdom 6 • Arcane Power 8 • Accuracy 7
Ability: The Muggle Condition

Reducio

outfit of the day~

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──────

The brunette [KARA CAPRICORN] introduced herself, and Cassie gave her a nod and a smile, before carrying on with her completely improvised speech. She noticed the sly look Kara gave her and noted it for future reference - it didn't seem the sort of look the other girl usually made, but who knew?

Scarlett [SCARLETT ADEN] laughed about nicknames, neatly introducing Cassie to Kara in the process, and Cassie just grinned. "You know you like them really," she teased, poking her friend softly.

Alina [ALINA ROSIER], Alexa [ALEXA MACKENZIE], and the boy Cassie had seen Alina with earlier [AEMADALL ZARCOVICH] were a little further down the corridor, but the muggle-born made no move towards them except offer a wave. They could do what they liked. A laugh tumbled out of Cassie's mouth as she noticed a cat [ALAN VANE's] attempt to play with the ghost - though, of course, it only fell straight through.

An infectiously enthusiastic girl [MARTYNA ROMERO] (whom Cassie could only assume to be a first-year due to her happy innocence and - oh gosh - fantabulous costume) joined them and began fangirling over how she could make things dance. Cassie laughed. "I love that spell." Or, at least, when she was able to cast it correctly, anyway. "Nearly as much as I love your costume," she added without a hint of irony. "It's awesome! Did you make it yourself?"

As the Cassie Heather spoke her own spell, she suddenly felt nervous - nervous?! What was the world coming to - and faltered. It sounded more like "Revel... Leo," at this point, and (surprisingly enough) nothing happened, except for a tiny light, which floated from her wand before disappearing. Ah well. It wasn't as if she had ever been good at spells in any case. Stick with broom racing, girl. Luckily, she heard someone else [LINDSEY SPRINGHALL] speak the spell at around the same time, and looked around quickly. Nothing had happened - had that girl's spell failed as well, or were the sweets just... sweets?

Scarlett didn't seem to mind that her friend's spell hadn't worked, which was just as well. "Yeah," Cassie admitted, "I've always been trashy at spells anyway, so I guess it's nothing unusual."

Cassie hadn't really noticed the boy [HENRY KNIGHT], but when he spoke she looked up at him.
"Thank you," she said in French - a quick way of letting people know which school she came from - to him and Kara, who has expressed a similar opinion. "I just wish it had worked."

Then, the muggleborn frowned at him. "Do I... know you?" she asked, recognising that niggling feeling that she should recognise this boy. He looked a bit similar to Charles Alluring, but there were plenty of blondes out there. She squinted at him again, trying to remember his face. "Uh... Godric's Hollow? Beauxbatons? Though your accent's not French," she guessed, "I'm sure I've seen you somewhere before."
It didn't seem to matter though, because the boy turned to talk to other people for a few minutes.

Cassie's attention was stolen once more as another girl [HEATHER BLAIR MORETTI] rushed up to her own gradually growing group. The Beauxbatons student glanced at the girl's costume, complete with swinging earrings and delicate golden mask (Cassie herself had flat-out refused to wear or even bring one), and immediately wondered how the poor thing could walk in such a dress. This was why she preferred jeans.
The girl greeted everyone (not sounding very enthusiastic about Scarlett, but never mind) then introduced herself to Cassie. "Hey! I'm Cassie Heather," she said with a grin (it was always funny meeting someone with the same name as her), returning the favour, "But most people just call me Cassie." She couldn't be bothered to explain her whole two first names, two surnames situation. "'Corse you can. The more the merrier, right?"

The moon girl [MARTYNA ROMERO] said that the ghost had looked like a Charles. Cassie's mind flew back to the rehearsal room, but Charles Alluring had seemed fine when she'd left him. He had said he loved her like a sister. It was touching, really. And then he'd taken his mask off like a weight was lifted and gone to join in the Costume Party. Mission accomplished, in Cassie's mind.

But then Kara began lecturing the younger student, and Cassie stared at her. "Death?!" she said incredulously. "This is a school!" For a moment, the girl was reminded of the girl she had met on her first day in Scotland, [ERIN RYAN]. "Guess there's a whole lot of kids here with some sort of PTSD," she muttered to herself in French, ignoring Kara as she continued lecturing Tina. "Death. Honestly."

And then the moon girl - Tina, Scarlett had called her - started screaming random names along the corridor. Cassie laughed aloud - a friendly laugh, though, not a mean one. "Seriously doubt that'll work," she said, eyes twinkling. "He's probably left a clue somewhere. Although-" she added with a huff "-I don't get why he - or she, I guess - couldn't just tell us. Might'a saved time."

A purple-haired person [CASH IRONWOODS] appeared to be laughing at Tina's efforts as well, but this laughter was mocking and Cassie gave them a scornful glance. "Nice to see that you're doing something," she said sarcastically. She had often found that it was far more effective if you insult someone in a language they do not understand rather than one which they do. "If you don't have anything useful to say, be quiet or go somewhere else." Then she turned away before the person could say anything in reply. Leave 'em hanging.

The boy from earlier [HENRY KNIGHT] turned back to the group and asked if anyone recognised the ghost, and said something about a patronus. Cassie had no idea what a patronus was. Now was probably not the time to ask, however, so she just shrugged and made a mm-nn sort of noise. "I don't go here, remember?" she said.

However, it didn't seem to matter. As Cassie had been talking, she'd been walking as well - once a multitasker, always a multitasker. Because playing football 'while doing homework' was multitasking, right?
But the cat seemed to have other ideas and stopped. Barging her way to the front of the crowd (hm, so being small did have at advantages), she took in the painting Infront of them.
It was huge. A girl who went to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic would usually not be bothered about the size of a painting - there were plenty on campus - but what was Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin if not unusual? She'd always hated how the occupants of the larger paintings seemed to like lording it over the smaller ones, but one look at this gilt frame told her that its occupant wouldn't be lording it over anyone.

Because he looked near-dead.
"What the heck?!" Cassie immediately blurted, and reached out a hand to touch the painting, as if touch would help paint on canvas. "What happened to you?! Dude, you tell me who painted you and I'm gonna go kill them." Because that was all this could be, wasn't it? Some idiot painter who'd painted someone's dying breaths and then given it life without any thought for how the poor image would feel. It couldn't be... "Or was it one of the other paintings? I'll..." There were ways to hurt immortal paintings, right? "I'll rip them off the walls and... Throw them in the bin!" A bit of a rubbish threat, but the best that muggle-born Cassie could come up with.

Several other people were talking to the painting as well (Cassie Heather noticed, with a little rush of satisfaction, that Scarlett was also touching the painting as if for comfort), and Cassie hoped her words hadn't gone unnoticed. At least some people appeared to be trying to help the poor guy, though Cassie wasn't sure what she could do. Instead, she stared at the every inch of the painting, trying to see if there was anything important in it. There had to be a reason the cat had lead them here.

[HENRY KNIGHT] asked if anyone knew anything about moving portraits. Aha! Now, this was something Cassie really could help with. "We have a magical arts class at Beauxbatons! It's a bit pointless (well, okay, completely pointless) but we learnt a bit about portraits," she offered. "People use potions and enchantments sometimes to make them move and talk (though I don't get why photos don't talk but paintings do, it's wierd). And... and loads of people spend time with their portraits to teach them about themselves... and they can still be destroyed, kinda like killing a person... "

Kara also seemed to know something, and shared an observation of a symbol she had seen on the ghost's cloak. Immediately, Cassie gaped. "A wand and a bone?! You sure?!" When she had recieved some kind of confirmation, Cassie continued. "Oh heck no! The Beauxbatons symbol - that's two wands crossed! What if- What if-" she stopped, barley able to get the words out.

The muggleborn noticed the purple-haired person from earlier [CASH IRONWOODS] scoffing at Scarlett for talking to the portrait and spun around immediately. "I don't see you doing anything more useful!" she cried, immediately coming to her friend's defense. Then, she cast a scornful look at the person. "Maybe learn to pick your battles, huh?" she added in French, before saying shortly, "I think I have somewhere more important to be," and taking a few steps away, turning pointedly to the painting, and leaving [HENRY KNIGHT] to talk to Cash.

Then, a blonde [JAQUELINE LEVANT] who Cassie vaguely recognised approached her and greeted her. "Yes," Cassie confirmed. "Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin. Hi!" she said, quickly introducing herself (well, as quickly as she could with four names to speed through). "You know," she added with a jokingly conspiral grin, "I'm beginning to wonder whether Hogwarts really is a school, or just a breeding ground for PTSD!"

NOTE

• We have rolled Observation Checks for @Dmitri Jones, @Cassandra Ironwoods, @Elizabeth Isaacs, @Mars T'ien, Jaqueline Levant (@Allie Lewis), @Robert Toukmond, and @Sapphire Riddle.
• For successful rolls, clues have been sent via owl.
• Feel free to discuss these clues starting now.
• This was your action for this round. You do not get another action before the moderation post on November 14, but we wanted to give you the opportunity to use this information already.
• Happy hunting.

The Masquerade Ball
X § X § X § X

The Hunt
X § X § X § X § X

Open to Interactions; Casting Verdemillous
Mentioning: @Rafael D'Spacito as Hanzo & The Portrait Crowd

The ghostly cat was playing with a real cat, not unlike the one that my brother owns. Figaro, if I remember his little Bengal's name correctly. Almost more like a dog than a cat, that one. I smile as the two cats play for a short while, before following the trail of the feline into the rehearsal room. Glancing behind me, my face falls as I realize that Hanzo is no longer behind me. Had he been lost in the crowd? Or had my actions been a little too bold for his comfort? Whatever the reason for his staying behind (yes, I was aware that he was rather frightened of ghosts, so perhaps I should have expected such a response from my phasmophobic friend...), I was on my own in this endeavor... unless by some miracle he would appear and surprise me like he had initially. The thought of the encounter was enough to cause a smile to return, and I shook my head quietly, following the lovely silver creature.

It brought us to the foot of a portrait, a portrait that I had once seen during my only months at Hogwarts as a former Gryffindor... but I never remembered all the blood that was spread throughout the canvas, emanating from the man in the portrait. Was he dying? What in the world could have gotten to him within the safety of the embossed frame and the dried paints?

He looked to be dying, as a normal mortal person would, bleeding out and gasping out final breaths as he attempted to weakly staunch the culprit wound. Everyone flocked about the portrait quickly, almost immediately pushing me out of their circle. It wasn't that difficult, with myself only scarping 5'3" and hardly 115 lbs of lean muscle. I was completely inconspicuous, save for my rusty hair and ice blue eyes. Nobody would miss me, just another 'first year' inspecting the interactions of the greater and mightier upperclassmen.

Doing this would solve nothing. With a sigh, I lower my head and do my best to part the crowd, gently forcing my way through and get myself to the front to look at the portrait. Some people were already trying their best to find clues, some were trying to stop the bleeding of the portrait by several means, all of which would be futile, even if it could have been effective on a real person. I cannot stop thinking of the ghost, the paleness and the translucent look of it... And the silver of what could have once been mortal blood, upon its sleeves and clothing. I decide to keep the clue to myself for the time being. There was no reason to muddy the water with confusion, especially with the rapid actions going on around me right now.

Finally reaching the front, I quietly withdraw my wand from its sheathe, glancing about quietly and turning red for a second at the fact that I had just pushed through rudely without asking. "I'm sorry..." I murmur quietly, swishflicking my wand and remembering the spell I am trying to cast. With the nerve-wracking aura in the room and the panic of individuals around me, there is no place for slipups. "I don't think that we can do anything for him... Reparo could be the best option to offer comfort, but I worry about what could have been the reason for this." My words are quiet, possibly being lost in the noise.

A little louder, I offer a warning before casting. "Cover your eyes, I'm casting the green-sparks spell." After permitting a few moments for the group to react, I flick my wand towards the portrait. "Verdemillious."

Hopefully this could reveal something important and pertinent to the mystery.

Warning others of his Casting; Looking Intently at the Painting & Trying to Soothe the Victim

Statistics and Abilities
Stamina 7 | Strength 10 | Evasion 7
Wisdom 7 | Accuracy 10 | ArcPower 0

Obnoxiously Strong: +10% to any Strength Checks
Perfectionist: -1 Critical Failure Chance

Conditions:
- Under the Positive Effects of Piérre Marchonné's Calming Presence (10%Auto-Hit Rate)

Outfit:

Reducio

Mask


Outfit

Interacting with generally everyone, but also whoever answers her, Mentioning @Piérre Marchonné

THANK THE GODS, this time her observation efforts were not fruitless. She spotted something a bit off. Having taken art classes when she was still going to muggle school, she learned quite a bit about the principles of design. The first one she learned was balance and this painting was definitely not balanced. There was really only one detail that stuck out to her, being the man, and he was in the bottom right of the painting.

She turned towards the rest of the largish group, where there was a number of people, all talking and some having personal feuds. She sighed. Looked like she was going to have to raise her voice. "Hey!" she said, louder than a normal person's volume and abnormally loud for her in particular. "There's no point to arguing amongst yourselves if there's imminent danger, people!" She quieted her voice down to a normal person's level. It would be their choices to listen to her, but she was hopeful that at least one person would pay attention. "The painting is unbalanced. There's pretty much nothing of focus except the man and he's in a corner. Anyone else notice anything that could add onto that? It could be of use," she said.

She kept her voice level, but internally she was freaking out. She didn't like talking so loudly, especially to such a large group. It was so pressuring when coupled with her anxiety. She ran her free hand through her hair, tapping the tessen against her leg. She would simply wait until someone else gave their thoughts since she had no idea what else to say. When she also heard another voice, one she didn't recognize, tell her to look away, she did. She knew better to look into the light - that is, if it even appeared, but that was irrelevant. Still, she would listen diligently for any responses.

FOR MODERATION:
Stats: Stamina - 7, Evasion - 8, Strength - 7, Wisdom - 9, Arc. Power - 7, Accuracy - 7
Species: Fully human
Action: (Not an official action) Questioning the group and chastising those arguing amongst themselves.