Trial by Fear: Audience Spectators

Mentioning Xailah, Piérre, Dealla, Alan, Aida, Elena, Katrina
Interacting with Figaro, otherwise open

When Xailah first told Meenauh and Pericles that she had been roped into the vague event, the lad's passive curiosity had quickly turned to protective dubiousness. It may have been bias speaking, even residual fear from the near loss of his friends in that traumatic train wreck both, really. He murmured uncertainly, saying something about the need for uplifting events that would help heal students, not something which only added to their terror. What would a "trial by fear" benefit, he asked them. Had they not faced enough real horrors? Only, he couldn't tell her not to go, and this time, it wasn't just because Pericles had difficulty telling people what they should or shouldn't do. Had he poured effort into his schoolwork during March instead of torching through February, he would have also received an invitation, and knew his curiosity would have replaced the sense of vicarious caution he now experienced. He would have gone. He was worried, but he was not a hypocrite.

The eaglette would waste no time idling in the pit. Open food bars always left him leery, and he was more keen on securing a quick vantage from which to watch. Pericles was already ascending the stairs to select a seat at no particular stand, wherever he could situate himself in a front row. He would not be alone for long. The sweet chirrup of a little Bengal caught his ear and lured his attention, silver eyes gone round when they met familiar emeralds. "Figaro? Where is...." He scanned and saw, in little time, the kitten's keeper out on the field. The nervous tickle at the back of his mind worsened. Too many familiar faces diving into an unfamiliar situation. Dealla Prince, his duelling partner. Alan Vanes and Piérre Marchonné, two people he had ultimately decided safe to call friends. Xailah Alptraum, his best friend. There were several lesser-known but of interest all the same: Aida (a peculiar housemate), Elena (snowstorm errand ally), Katrina (duelist and superb singer).

Heaving a slow sigh from his nose, Peri turned his head from the gathering, regarding the kitten with a tired attempt at his usual warmth. "My friend, I mean no offense when I say, you are much too small to be underfoot. Will you watch with me?" He crouched to his heels, opened his arms, and if Figaro humored him, carefully scooped the kitten to cradle in his hands, close to his chest like a wee babe. An empty stretch of seating was selected, where Peri perched on the edge of the bench, fixated on the bearers of multicolored torches below.

Collecting Piérre's kitten Figaro, then sitting alone in a front row, looking tense.

Open to interactions (mainly for @Percival Rainwood | @Hanako Tone | @Kazuo Shimada)
Please owl me first if you are not listed above

Ileen gave the boy a raised eyebrow and a half smirk as a response to his sassy insult. “Oh, don’t worry. You are not missing out. I only save this special charm for lovely people like you. Generally, I am stopping the suffering of people. You get a special treatment, since you treated me with so much respect. That’s only fair.” She batted her eyelashes in an exaggeratedly coquettish manner and shook her head. Something about that boy made her furious. His wannabe arrogant behaviour really got on her nerves. Cheeky first grader. Well, two could play that game.

As he ‘questioned’ her concern that this event was about to make people suffer, it was her turn to snort arrogantly and look down on the other, mocking disbelief written all over her face. “If I think this event’s goal… Excuse me, under which stone did you live the past couple of months?” For a moment, the young slytherin seriously doubted the Hufflepuff's sanity. Had he never been to a school event before? It was Hogwarts! Even if everything was perfectly planned and not designed to burst into flames, it always happened sooner or later! Even the last ball had ended up that way. “Oh please. Naive fresh year. Every school event is doomed. And this one is planned by Lestrange. Of course, it’s designed to make people suffer. That’s not even a question!”

Her mockery turned into real seriousness during her little speech. Images of the fight club flashed through her mind and the familiar horror spread through her. A shadow flitted across her face, but fortunately it seemed to be getting serious down at the stadium at that moment, and grateful for the interruption, she turned to listen to what was waiting for her friends. If he had been paying attention, Kazuo might have seen the shadow that had flitted across her face at the last words. She had been serious. She was afraid for her friends.

As soon as the first task had been explained she was somewhat relieved. That didn’t seem too hard, right? They all were clever enough to accomplish that before the others did. Ileen wanted to make sure though and was not shy to give some helpful advice. She glared at the Hufflepuff, before she formed her hands into a funnel and roared down: “You can do it! Extingue the fire! Cast accio!” Oh, shoot, she hadn’t taught that spell to Aida or Dee. Whatever. “Uhm.. Sacrifice someone to the fire god! Take Henry! Or Shimada!”

Post tracker | x | x

Interacting with | @Dealla Prince | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood | @Alan Vanes | @Alexander Varellion | @Kazuo Shimada
Mentions | @Thomas Lestrange | @Henry Knight

Percival felt like a caged animal ever since the Easter break. The two weeks back at home felt more like two whole months. Slow trodding as the dust that saturated the air saturated the ground below it. Things had felt like they were moving in slow motion. It felt as if things were behind an unmoving glass as if they were stuck in time. Things were not the same after his grandfather’s death. That much he could tell. A sort of tension rid the air, backhanded glares, and scornful sneers. All in all, Percival could not be more than happy when it was time to go back to Hogwarts.

Though, ever since he returned to Hogwarts he hadn’t been able to sate the spreading itch in his chest. It felt as if his heart was trying to dig its way out of his chest. Scraping its claws against the flesh that made up his chest cavity. Maybe that was why he had decided on going to the trial. The thought of watching a handful of his classmates fail spectacularly was far too good to pass up.

The boy looked up towards the bleeding sun with a frown. He was later than he had hoped they would be. Though, with any luck, the actual trial wouldn’t have started just yet. Percival glanced back towards Hanako with a small smile. “Come on if we hurry we might get good seats.” he said as he hurried up his pace. The boy walked towards the Quidditch stands. Looking about for a seat his gaze caught on Ileen. A smile grew on his face as he walked over. ”Hey Ileen. Kazou, nice to see you again. Do you mind if we sat with you?” he asked with a small gesture towards Hanako.

Interacting with: @Ileen Knight, @Hanako Tone, @Kazuo Shimada

Kazuo arched a brow of his own at Ileen’s eyelash batting ways. “So generous of you. Please don’t strain yourself on my account. Though I wonder, how do you define respect? We may have different ideas of what that word means.” He offered his rejoinder in a tone that could easily have been pleasant if not for the smirk. He cocked his head slightly as she continued speaking, considering her words. Though she was obviously talking down to him, he could tell her concern was real. He didn’t respond at first, returning his gaze to the stage as the competitors received their instructions from Paine and Lestrange. As he had expected, though not entirely the same, he had been correct about the trial being about individual challenges. Thomas made it clear that interfering with each other or using anything other than your wand would quickly get you disqualified.

“I watched monsters tear apart the floor of my common room and try to drag students away. I watched students with too little training and too much fear do very foolish things. I saw my Head of House arrive far too late to help.” Kazuo’s voice was flat as he responded to Ileen. “Lestrange, I’ve heard enough rumours about to be cautious of but Paine is one of the few adults I’ve met in this place who genuinely seems concerned for the students. I think there is enough suffering going around that the staff don’t need to arrange more. But feel free to feed your paranoia. Sounds like a healthy coping mechanism.”

He paused to remove one of his glowsticks from his pocket and crack it, watching as it began to glow a fervent blue in the darkening evening. As Dealla took her place at the first trial he waved it in the air. “Gooooo Deeeeee!”

He glanced up as Percival and Hanako appeared, giving the Snakes a grin. “Hello Percival~ Depends on who you’re cheering for. Ohayo Hana-senpai~ You missed the introduction but the first trial is just beginning. Basically, they need to get that token from that flaming table. Presumably with magic and without burning themselves.”

Reducio

Outfit

@Ileen Knight @Percival Rainwood @Hanako Tone

Interacting| @Bridget Collins
Mentioning| -
Open to interactions

Interacting with@Ileen Knight
Mentioning @Kazuo Shimada, @Dealla Prince, @Thomas Lestrange
|Open for Interaction|

There wasn't really anything drawing Ruka to spend his evening out on the Quidditch Pitch, straining his eyes in the dark to watch students fumbling around with whatever vague tasks were thrown at them. There was no real point to it, in his eyes; They were probably barely going to be able to see what was going on on the pitch anyway with how high up the stands were and the way the twilight was already covering their surroundings in greying orange, so why would he rather do that over just going back to his dorm and catching up on some homework?

Well, there was one reason. A reason big enough that Ruka had found himself feeling uncharacteristically stressed when he realised that he was actually a bit late for the start of the Trials. He had barely had the time to haphazardly throw together an outfit consisting of a grey scarf, blue shirt and grey jeans before he rushed down the staircases and out onto the Grounds. With the time of day in mind he couldn't help feeling weird about being outside when he still remembered how strict the curfew had been before he left for Christmas. What was it with Hogwarts and bending their own rules whenever it was convenient with a complete disregard for its students' safety?

Shaking that thought, Ruka followed where the spectators were led onto the stands to find some familiar and some not so familiar faces already gathered together to watch whatever was happening on the pitch. In his rush, Ruka had only barely noticed the fire but now that he had reached his destination he took a moment to let his gaze drift across the happenings. More familiar faces were vaguely visible but there was only one he was really looking for.

His eyes lingered on the silhouette of one Thomas Lestrange for a moment with a spark of curiosity about what exactly the Slytherin's role in this event was considering he didn't seem like he was involved in whatever trial the twelve selected students were currently facing. A shout of Dealla's nickname to his right pulled Ruka from his thoughts and he turned to see Kazuo, waving what seemed to be a glow stick around with enthusiastic support.

Following Kazuo's gaze, Ruka finally found who he was looking for and he could feel himself relaxing almost immediately at the sight of Dealla, her wand drawn and aiming towards the flames. He wondered what it was exactly she had to do, but he wasn't particularly concerned. After all, she had spectacularly made her way through the fire trials he himself had put her through, so there was no way some flames could possibly pose a real challenge for her.

Another familiar voice cut through the air close to him, causing Ruka to tear his attention from Dealla long enough to cast a glance at her friend Ileen, the girl who had been the most helpful nurse Ruka had ever had the fortune of meeting. She was clearly yelling advice at Dealla, though Ruka was unsure exactly how helpful her call for a human sacrifice would really prove to be.

Still, Ruka took it as an invitation to make his presence known to her, and he slid toward the free seat that was closest to Ileen, setting the jar he had placed some Bluebell Flames in on his lap to show his Ravenclaw support to everyone who would cast a look in his direction. "Fire God?" he asked loud enough for Ileen to hear him. "You talking about me?" Grinning cheekily, Ruka lifted his jar in her direction to emphasise his affinity for fire as well as his support for her friend. "What do they have to do and how does sacrificing people to the flames help them get there?"

Open to interactions for @Percival Rainwood | @Hanako Tone | @Kazuo Shimada | @Ruka Burnett-Tân

Ileen was very aware of the sarcastic intention of the young Hufflepuff and answered to his smirk with an amused and crocked smile. She waved his ‘concern’ away and shook her head in an overly patronizing manner. “Respect? Yeah, I understand why you are struggling with this term.” She gave him a pitying look and pushed her lower lip forward. "But don't worry, you'll learn. A first step would be to stop grinning so insolently. Oh wait." She tilted her head and her grin grew a touch meaner. "Sorry, you probably just can't help it. My bad."
The young Slytherin found herself increasingly enjoying bantering with the boy, even if she would never admit it. Stubbornly intent on continuing to find him obnoxious, she ignored the fact that she had fun with the bickering. It felt good to take her temper out on someone.

However, the situation did not develop according to her expectations. Her dark mood was picked up by the young boy and she frowned as he described the cruelties that had already befallen him in his short time here. Her expression was harsh and any mockery was gone from her voice as she replied. "Then you know how it goes here. At the end of my first year, we were all branded and forced to fight each other, and one of our classmates died." She gritted her teeth and fought down the images that rose in her mind. The trepidation grew and she actively fought it.
Angry at herself, she gritted her teeth and dug her nails into her thigh, trying to focus back on reality through the pain. Hopefully, he hadn't noticed her discomfort. A bit distracted, she nodded to his comment regarding Paine. Probably it was a good thing that teachers were present, but she would still enjoy everything that happened here with anticipation.

When the Hufflepuff pulled out the blue glow sticks, a look of surprise flitted across her face. To her annoyance, she felt a mixture of sympathy and jealousy. He was cheering Dee on - but why? And was she friends with this guy, after knowing how much Ileen dispised him?!
But before she could think about it further, another familiar figure entered the stands.
Ileen returned Percival's smile and grimaced at Kazuo. "Sure, feel free to join us. Preferably between us." She'd take all the buffer she could get.
And Percival, meanwhile, was a person she liked to have as company. Even though their relationship was weird, they stuck together and somehow a kind of friendship had developed between them. Ironically, Dee would not approve of this friendship any more than Ileen would approve of the one between Dee and Kazuo. But she conveniently overlooked that.

Her cheers and advices for her participating friends were obviously not only heard by the competitors. A familiar voice she hadn't heard in a long time reached her ears, and with a wide grin on her face, she turned and beamed at Ruka.
"Ruka! Of course, when it comes to fire, one is always well advised to turn to you, huh?" She stuck her tongue out at him and her dark brown eyes glittered. "And how does a sacrifice work? Hmm, I don't know. Wouldn't you like it if I lit that cute little Hufflepuff on fire for your amusement?" She gestured to Kazuo and wiggled her eyebrows meaningfully.

But then finally the action in the pitch started and Ileen turned back to watch her friends getting in line with all the other students she didn’t care about. Okay, she hadn’t neutral feelings for all of them. As the judgy and resentful girl she was she wished some of them all the luck on this world, some, she didn’t care about and then there were some she wanted to fail.

And her wish was soon granted. When @Thomas Lestrange tried to fix the first participant's table, she laughed loudly and mockingly. "Well, it's a good thing he's not a participant himself. But I'm not surprised, his aim is really pathetic. I guess when you're overwhelmed with tasks yourself, organizer might not be the worst choice, huh?"
The only person who would laugh with her about that was Dee, so Ileen shouted her assessment down audibly. She didn't care that the first participant had been successful.
Her amusement increased when Henry failed to pull his token out of the fire. Maybe he should have joined the organizing team?

Her pleasure turned to tension and apprehension when it was the turn of the first of the people she cared about. @Alexander Varellion. Unfortunately, she could not see that he had tried to turn the token into a bird, but cheered in relieve as he levitated the token out of the fire. “Good job Alexander! Woohooo!”
Forgetting that there was someone in her company she didn’t like she looked back at the small group that had formed around her. Her cheeks were flushed n excitement and her brown hair fluttered like a flag around her head as she turned it so abruptly. “That was smart! Oh, this is so exiting. How would you have done it?”

When it was @Dealla Prince’s turn, Ileen leaned over the railing and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Show them it's not a problem for you, Dee! It's a piece of cake!"
Even though she was a little sorry that no one wanted to set Henry on fire, she really wasn't worried that her best friend would accomplish the task with ease and elegance. And that's exactly how it was. "I knew you could do it! Go, Dee!"
Following an impulse, she would turn to Kazuo and try to snatch one of the blue glowsticks he brought. Why hadn't she thought of that herself?

Reducio

Ileen tries to snatch glowsticks from Kazuo

Ileen accuracy: 23
Kazuo evasion: 8 --> success
How many does she snatch: 1

With a quick movement, she leaned past Percival and snatched one of the blue glow sticks from the young man's hand, only to wave it wildly through the air herself shortly after.

When it was @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood’s turn, Ileen still waved through the air, cheering for her other close friend. The white knight took the most obvious approach and extinguished the fire. ““Aidaaaaa! Gooooo! YOU ARE SO SMART!” She was proud of her friends. Both had managed to get the token with one action. Of course, they would win the tournament.

When it was @Alan Vanes’s turn, Ileen stopped waving with the blue glowstick and squinted her eyes as his spell totally backfired. “ALAN! What are you doing?!” She leaned over the railing once more, carried away by her emotions. “Don’t hex yourself! If you are not aiming properly, try to hit Lestrange at least! ” She didn’t care about the weird looks others might give her for that announcement. There were many bad things one could say about Ileen, but not that she was a liar. She totally meant it.
But he managed to accomplish the quest in the end, so Ileen fell back on her seat, stroking the hair from her eyes, exhausted from all the excitement and cheering.
She looked at Percival and Ruka and gave both a grin. “Well, that didn’t go too bad. Who do you think will win?” She still was concerned that they might get hurt during the event, but the first round let them mostly unscratched and that eased her up a little bit. Still, she needed to actively fight down that concern.

As the second quest was announced, Ileen frowned. Why didn’t they sort Aida and Dee in one team? Like this, it was hard to pick a favorite. But still, Ileen was not shy to give advice once more. “If you are running out of torches, just lit up Henry! Maybe that might count!” With a smirk she leaned back and crossed her arms in front of er body, the glow sticks in her hand, ready to wave with them as soon as the battle began.

Post tracker | x | x | x

Interacting with | @Dealla Prince | @Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood | @Alan Vanes | @Alexander Varellion | @Kazuo Shimada | @Ruka Burnett-Tân | @Percival Rainwood
Mentions | @Thomas Lestrange | @Henry Knight

Mentioning Piérre, Alan, Dealla, Xailah
Interacting with Figaro and @Meenauh Silmataurea

Pericles' intense scrutiny of the field below was broken by the arrival of a familiar face. He brightened the instant he heard her, troubled expression dashed by relief, voice a sigh of solace as he greeted "Hello Meena-" Cut off by a magnificent mass of cat. "-and Schrö!" Two of his favorite personalities in Hogwarts. Scooting slightly to the side, Peri managed to summon a small smile for them both. Although Xailah was essentially the eldest in their trio, Meenauh was the one who radiated Big Sister vibes. She possessed an intelligence that could cut like winter wind, cool and practical, with an ability to weaponize her cleverness if irked. Yet there was a kinder, sillier side to her he was fortunate enough to witness, alongside a weird sense of humor and a fierce loyalty to those she cared for. No doubt, her sisterly senses were on fire as Xailah took to the field. Though there was nothing they could do to help her now, the Ravenclaw drew a modicum of comfort from her company. Then there was the ever-loyal Schrödinger, who Peri reached to pet with a pitying hum. "You can't fault the fellow," he murmured with faux protective undertones. "No doubt he sensed something was up, too.... It looks as though we've both been picked as catsitters." When asked about the kitten, whom he had kept one protective arm around, Peri sat up straight and shook his head. "This is Figaro. He belongs to Piérre, but as you can see, his boy is," a languid, weary gesture towards the stage below, "occupied."

There were a number of causes for concern going into this event. "Ahh... I didn't bring my Omnioculars this time," Peri lamented softly, contrite, and so they were forced to scour the gathering with their bare eyes. Thankfully, so long as he wasn't forced to read without glasses, his were Keen. "There: the second red torch from the front. That's her!" Thus the event began. Piérre's fire was enormous, sprouting up like the beanstalk from that old story. Its mad light reflected in the stares of spectators. Pericles covered Figaro's eyes. Yet in spite of the monster flame, he claimed his coin without trouble, and the Ravenclaw allowed his shoulders to relax once more. Then came the endearing Alan, whose Tarantallegra backfired, causing Pericles to briefly chew his lower lip. The idea had been beautifully abstract, certainly interesting, the chance of causing a table to dance the coin from its surface. It seemed that he was in trouble, yet he managed to waltz his way over to the table and pluck up his prize all the same. Dee followed. Pericles leaned forward some in his seat, inadvertently holding his breath, only to loose it with a sigh once she effortlessly levitated the target. A small curve of pride formed for his duelling partner and captain's success. To say that she had trained hard to improve her spellwork would be an understatement.

Finally, Xailah's turn. Pericles radiated a restless energy. He thought about calling out, cheering her on as many of the other spectators hollered for their favorite participants, but yelling wasn't his strong suit. Would she have heard him from here anyways? Would it disrupt her concentration? Maybe Meena could do the shouting. His gaze was locked. "What did she try to cast?" he whispered, more so to himself, as surely Meena wouldn't have known. Then... oh, no... she wasn't readying her wand a second time. This moment felt a great deal like the time when a centipede had skittered in Athena's sights. Peri could see the cat fixate upon it, watched her muscles bunch in preparation, darting off to eat the nasty little thing before he had a chance to stop her. Only this time, the centipede was on fire and the cat was his best friend. What began as a valiant charge towards the flames ended in disaster. The second-year visibly cringed, lips twisting in vicarious pain, drawing a short and sharp breath through his nose with a wince. Though the tension left his body once she was guided back to the starting point, his heart was still thrumming. Softly to the side, just audible above the crowd if Meena leaned in, Pericles mumbled "Well, it isn't as though we could have prevented this. You know how she is. I think telling her she shouldn't do something, only makes her want to do it more."

Open to interactions (please do )

Carolyn wasn't even sure why she was here. She was already feeling plenty drained by her disastrous Easter holiday and this was probably not the type of event that would cheer her up. Still, it seemed important and she knew some people that would be participating. To be perfectly honest the young Ravenclaw felt somewhat sorry for the 12 chosen ones. They did their best at their studies and after school activities and this was their reward? Perhaps some of them were the kind of brave and competitive students that would enjoy the thrill but the rest? Apparently, it didn't even matter what their age was.

This whole affair seemed so odd to Carolyn. For all the talk about the possible dangers lurking at Hogwarts, the staff sure didn't seem to act accordingly. They set a bunch of rules in order to keep the students safe yet at the same time this is what they come up with? Sure, she understood the intent. It was a test, a trial to see how prepared they were for those dangers and perhaps a chance to learn a thing or two. What if someone got hurt though? Was it still worth it then? The witch supposed that was more of a question for the contestants than anybody else. Although even their opinions might wary. She probably wouldn't be thrilled if she had to take part in it but that didn't mean others felt the same.

While waiting for the event to start, Carolyn looked at the empty seat next to her, painfully aware of how bad she was at making friends. A sudden wave of loneliness washed over her and for a moment, she regretted not taking Mordred with her. Then again it's probably safer that he isn't here... both for him and any students involved, her brain supplied immediately. After that, she finally refocused her attention to the pitch. Despite all the scepticism about the event, she had to admit she was curious. Perhaps it wouldn't be that bad. “A trial of fire, unity, and fear...” Or perhaps it will. They raven haired girl grimaced at the word fire. Haven’t that element caused enough troubles at Hogwarts already? And fear? She saw couple of students that had to deal with PTSD and her best friend even left the school because of it. The more she heard, the more she didn’t like this. Soon the school nurse was introduced an Carolyn lost all hope. Sure, it was good that she was ready to help but the Ravenclaw didn’t like the implication of her presence here. “Your task is simple…” the spectator started to explain the first mission. “Sure it is…” Carolyn muttered under her nose. At this point, it was a well known fact that students did not do well around the fire. Still, she had to have faith in them; they were the best twelve after all.

Thankfully, it seemed all students had a good idea of what to do with the flames even if it was being more difficult than the regular fire. “Oh no, Henry…” she whispered when her friend failed at both attempts. Well, at least he didn’t get hurt. The same couldn’t be said about the Gryffindor student that came a bit later but even she seemed to be relatively okay and Carolyn was glad to see any backfiring spells were taken care off by Thomas or the school’s caretaker who were standing nearby. The only other student she knew personally was Dee. She had spoken with Alan once but wasn’t sure if he even remembered her. His try was a bit worrying yet somewhat amusing as well and he DID succeed in getting the token. Dee on the other hand executed her spell perfectly. Although to be perfectly honest, Carolyn did not expect anything less from her. In the end both Ravenclaw students succeeded on their first try, making the raven-haired girl clap proudly for them. Hopefully they will do well in the next ones as well.

Mentions | @Dealla Prince | @Xailah Alptraum| @Alan Vanes | @Henry Knight | @Thomas Lestrange