The Enchanted Maze Spring Ball '23

Interacting with @Rhys Read, as Zendra Blanchet

Anxiety bubbled in Zendra's throat as she peered into the overgrown hedges. She'd heard a bit about it from her mother, but not much. She'd really only talked about the ball itself, and "how free her life was" before she met Zendra's dad. Well, mostly the second bit. Zendra loved her mom, but sometimes she could go on tangents about things that Zendra mostly wanted to stay out of. For example, she wished that her mom had told her more about the maze. She knew she was supposed to go through it to get in, but not much else. Was she supposed to head in alone?

Eyebrows creased, Zendra glanced back at the groups of students huddled outside the maze. It was mostly Hogwarts students, unsurprisingly, and she didn't recognize any of the few ones from Beauxbatons. She supposed she could go up to a group, but she didn't want to rush anyone who wasn't planning on going in yet. Okay, she murmured to herself, Guess I'm going in alone. After a second of hesitation, she picked up the end of her skirt, and tried to look confident as she headed into the sweet-scented branches.

Almost immediately, she started to feel lost. Zendra wasn't sure if it was just her, but the maze seemed to... move? But no, her mother hadn't said anything about that. Taking a left, she realized she was in the same spot she was a moment ago. With a huff, Zendra started off again, but it made no difference. She might as well have been spinning in circles for all the difference it would make. Point-blank, she was lost. Completely, utterly lost, and the maze itself didn't seem to be helping. In fact, it was almost like it was working against her.

Bemused and kind of frustrated, Zendra sat on a rock in the corner to rest her feet. Why did she choose to wear heels? She looked around, and took a double take when she noticed another student. She stumbled to her feet, and called out before the boy could go away.

"Wait!"

360 words. #44505f

Actions: Calling out to Achilles

Outfit Image:

Reducio

Once they started walking down the maze to find their way through, Raizel has her eyes on the path they are taking, trying to see if this place was somewhat familiar to her since she had been walking around for quite some time now and she's bound to at least recognize some places but heck, everything looks the same. While she was doing that, she was still listening to her companion, taking quick glances behind her and paused when she asked if she knew how to get out. "I think I have an idea…" there was something else in the maze that she had been seeing for quite some time now and it was the signs. At first, they don't seem trustworthy. 'This way, That way' vague signs but it's the only thing they can trust at the moment. She pointed over to where a sign is at. "Signs were posted. It might be a great idea to follow them. Could lead to dead ends but it's the only idea I got at the moment. As you said, getting lost is one of the points here." Raizel said with a smile before continuing down the path.

It was indeed a random question, what Mahlioz just asked her. Not like she minds though, just surprised as family talk was rarely brought up. "Yeah, I have a younger brother. He's currently 4 years old." She answered and just when she was about to ask if Mahlioz had siblings. The sudden yelp from Mahlioz surprised her, making her turn her head and letting out a snicker when the girl just tripped on a root. Well, this maze sure is tricky. "You okay there?" She asked, walking over to make sure she is okay.

They/She

"Well, here we are," Pax muttered under their breath. They had to be honest that ultimately, of all the people they could've attended this ball with, they were surprised it was Maggie. But they had no complaints about it, otherwise they wouldn't have agreed to go with them.

It had been Maggie's idea to go with a woodland faerie vibe, of course. If it were down to Pax, they would've gone as something more like a knight. However, the faerie theme, although not Pax's vibe from a first glance, didn't seem too odd in the end. But, the thing that had been Pax's idea was for the pair to come in their partner's house colours (well, they had suggested Maggie come in Gryffindor's colours, and it had only seemed fair for them to come in Slytherin's). Hence why they were dressed in shades of green.

The dress itself was a deeper forest green, with the occasional flower detailing in the skirt and similar flowers lining the waist. Upon Pax's head rested an ornate headdress, with two ivory antlers emerging from a nest of emerald ferns and flora. Furthermore, they had picked out some pieces of silver jewellery: a thin silver necklace with a leaf pendant, thin silver rings and some thin silver chains and pendants draped in the headdress. As a finishing touch, they had attempted to apply some silver glitter make-up. In case they wanted to pick up any souvenirs, they also had a small basket, woven together with twigs, that currently held their wand and a small gift for Maggie.

Yes, yes, giving gifts may seem like a big step, but Pax wasn't particularly fussed about that sort of thing. Besides, Maggie was now what they'd consider a friend. And it was only small, a simple corsage-style thing see first reducio for image. So, if Maggie had kept her end of the agreement, it should match perfectly with the Gryffindor colours.

Although, they hadn't actually agreed on where to meet (so much other planning for the event but this hadn't crossed their mind, very clever). But Pax knew they'd at least pass by the entrance to the maze. Thus, they'd chosen to wait there. Sure, they had arrived a little later, when some people had already entered the maze, but hopefully Maggie had yet to. Or, if the Slytherin had decided to just stand Pax up-

No. They weren't going to let that thought cross their mind, at least not just yet. It hadn't been long enough for that idea to form, just Pax being left alone with their thoughts a little too long. It was stupid to think of that when it had only been a few minutes... well... it had been nearly ten minutes now...

Sighing, Pax turned back to the entrance of the maze, contemplating whether or not to enter, and if Maggie may or may not be waiting on the other side for them.

Action: Waiting for Maggie

Reducio

Outfit:

Gift:

Reducio

Stats:
Sta-9 Eva-9 Str-6 Wis-3 Arc-6 Acc-9

Abilities:
Muggle Condition, Fearless

Reducio

Word Count: 490

Mention: @Maggie Hawkins

Date: April 21st 2023

Andy was glad that the red-haired Wampus girl Es agreed to go into the maze with him. The brown-haired Second Year Thunderbird had only read about the maze in some adventure books, and never went into a actual maze by himself in live action, so that enchanted maze definitely seemed endless and confusing on him, and that maze just seemed nearly impossible to get into. However, with Es claiming to be a "maze expert", going through that maze seemed to be somewhat easier. After all, Andy was longing to go through the maze as quickly as possible and enter the main banquet so that he could possibly meet up with his cousin Daphne and give that photo to her. The beautiful picture Daphne sent him the other day was also brought to the maze in his pocket in the suit, but it was said that the beauty of a part-Veela children could be admired the post if they were seen in real life, so the brown-haired Second Year Thunderbird obviously could not expect to meet his cousin in Hufflepuff.

"Thank you for your nice words, let`s go into the maze together! I have to say the enchanted maze seemed really long and confusing when I am trying to find a way out by myself, but I believe you can probably help me get through this confusing maze since you are a maze expert! Anyway, not more chatters, let`s go now and we`ll get through the maze as quickly as possible hopefully with your help!" Andy give Es a gentle pat on the back and decided to go through the the maze with the red-haired Wampus girl and enter the banquet as soon as possible to meet up with his cousin Daphne and give the photo to her. He wondered what feeling would Daphne had and what his cousin was doing right now, and just silently wished his Hufflepuff part-Veela cousin good luck finding his way out of the mind-blowing enchanted maze.

Action: Talking to Es and going through the maze with her
Open to other interactions!

Mentioning: @Daphne Sapphirus, @Kayla Realma as Es

Rita was glad that Daphne seemed to be OK and complimented the blacked-haired Second Year Hufflepuff beater for helping her younger house mate when in need. Daphne also asked Rita to go into the maze with her, and although the black-haired Hufflepuff first-string beater was going into the maze with her younger housemate Roro, going into the maze with one more person would not hurt too much. After all, the priority now was just going through the maze and finding a way out to enter the main banquet, so having two girls as ball partner was definitely not a bad thing, if not better since maybe her two housemates can work together with her to find a way out 0f the maze more quickly and maybe they could enter the main bouquet earlier that way.

"My pleasure! I just look around and find out you accidentally falling on the ground, so I just reach out to give you a hand. It`s not a big deal anyway." Rita finally replied to her young housemate with pretty curly light-colored hair with a friendly smile.

Then Daphne also mentioned herself having a cousin in Ilvermorny, the young fellow Hufflepuff with curly light-colored hair did not go into detail about that, but it definitely seemed to be quite interesting for the black-haired Second Year Hufflepuff beater. She wondered what her cousin would look like and whether he had came to the spring ball or not.

"Oh, you have a cousin in Ilvermorny, that`s quite interesting! I wonder if he will come to the spring ball today! And yay, congrats for being a Second-string Seeker, we can finally play Quidditch together! Rita continued to speak, "And we can totally go into the maze together! I am currently exploring this confusing maze with my friend Roro, but you can certainly join us if Roro also agrees! I think it may be easier to find a way out this endless maze if there is more people exploring the maze with me!" The black-haired Hufflepuff first-string beater then turned to her young housemate Roro and whispered to her politely, "Would you agree if my friend Daphne also go into the maze with us, I suppose that won`t hurt, what do you think?" Rita then smiled to the other two fellow Hufflepuff girls and waited for them to respond. The black-haired Second Year Hufflepuff beater just could not wait to go through the maze and enter the main banquet as quickly as possible since that was where the big fun and fascination of the spring ball located.

Action: Talking to Daphne and Roro
Open to other interactions

Mentioning:@Daphne Sapphirus @Aurora Griffith

Outfit

April 21, 2023 - The Spring Court Ball

He had just finished signing up for the Jousting Tournament and had set the quill down when he saw EmmaLee near the maze entry. There was no one standing near, wanting to sign up, so he continued to stand there for a moment, watching her from afar. His first instinct was to hurry over to greet her, but he honestly did not know if that would be wise.

His eyes broke away from her as he observed those close around her. He was trying to gauge whether she was with any of them or not, but it truly appeared she was not. His suspicions were confirmed when the others dispersed, together and separately, but EmmaLee went along with none of them. Was she hanging around the entrance waiting for her date? Did she have a date?

He took a deep breath and stepped back, falling into the deep shadows of the hedge, continuing to watch her, but not as scrupulously as before. Something had gone wrong somewhere, but he didn't know where. It did not seem to be like EmmaLee to spurn him in such a manner, but who knew, really? Maybe she really hadn't wanted to attend the Ball with anyone and by asking her to be his date, he just spoiled everything. Perhaps she felt it evidence that he did not value her wishes and simply tried to bully her into being his date.

Still, he had been here for 5 days and had only caught a few glimpses of her in that time. When he did see her, she was always running in the opposite direction. Was she avoiding him? Stephen looked down and kicked at a stone, frustrated with all of the second guessing and what ifs. Arriving at a plan of action, somewhere he should have landed many minutes earlier, he decided enough was enough. He would never get any answers just watching her from the shadows, like some 14th century stalker, so he straightened himself up and began the long walk towards her.

As he drew closer, he at last caught her eye, and he raised a hand to wave at her. Figuring it was wiser to give her the benefit of the doubt, he opted to be cheerful and then a horrific thought hit him and stopped him cold. What if the fault here, if there was any fault, was his? What if EmmaLee had not received his second letter and did not know he had asked her to the Ball? The owls were not infallible or completely impervious to dangers. Anything could have happened.

Smiling a little sheepishly at her, he decided to play the part of a courtly gentleman no matter what was going on between them. "Good evening, Lady EmmaLee. May I say you look absolutely stunning. You put even the stars to shame," and he smiled broadly before reaching for her hand to deliver a soft kiss to the back of her hand, hoping his boldness would not have her then deliver the back of her hand to his cheek.

Action: Happily, but cautiously, connects with EmmaLee LeDames

Ency: All there is to know

Stats: STA: 8 || EVA: 7 || STR: 8 || WIS: 8 || ARC: 5 || ACC: 6

Abilities: Perfectionist 1 || Evasive Maneuvers

ENGLISH || RUSSIAN

Mentions: @EmmaLee LeDames

Vladislav screamed. He saw a boy pull out his wand- and in response he did so too. "STAND BACK! I HAVE AN ELDER WAND WITH THESTRAL HAIR CORE. DON'T GET NEAR ME! I'LL ZAP YOU INTO OB- oh you're pretty cute." Vladislav couldn't believe he said that. How awful was that? Surely the boy who just put away his wand- wasn't a fan of him.

But then again, why wouldn't you be smart and just kiss someone at least once in your life.

He walked towards Gabriel, and gave him a hug before rapidly turning his back so fast it could've cracked. Perhaps its a good thing he was young. You aren't always young forever. Someone yelled the firemaking spell. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PUT YOUR DAMN WAND AWAY! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL US ALL! THERE IS NO ESCAPE FROM BEING SURRONDED BY FIRE!"

But he didn't face the perpetrator who verbally projected the spell. He turned towards Gabriel. "Perhaps we should... treasure our moments. Just answer my question. Do you think I'm cute? What i mean is- do you- want to be friends? I mean- I mean- since we're about to die- just kiss me already, I want to know if you like me."

Statistics: Sta- 10 | Eva- 10 | Str- 0 | Wis- 5 | Arc- 5 | Acc- 5
Character Encylopedia: My Liege
Character Abilities: Wandmaker (11 inches, thestral tail hair, elder wood, sturdy)
Action: Attempting to kiss Gabriel
Interactions: OWL to interact with me. Currently closed to @Avery Leveret, Clark Baird, and @Gabriel Palmer

Interacting with: @Duvessa Ember

Parseltongue
English
Thoughts

Outfit

Duvessa linked arms with Nico. He froze for a moment and then relaxed. Physical contact wasn't exactly Nico's favorite. But he was fine, seeing as it was the girl he'd fallen for back in November.
"You've changed so much... You have a few friends now, and a sorta, maybe, kinda-ish girlfriend. Mum would be proud you've managed to socialize with actual people, and not just snakes."
As the pair walked into the maze, the scent of flowers and plants became much stronger. The walls of green were tall, and every corner they came upon seemed to split off into several directions.
"Do you know where we are going? Or are we going to end up wandering around this maze, never finding the banquet?" He paused, and then said, "Either is fine. Personally, I wouldn't mind staying in the maze. I doubt we'll encounter more people in the maze. But I assume you would prefer the socializing scene. Seeing as you have many friends. On the other hand, I find it more difficult to find trustworthy and interesting people. Instead, several of my favorite companions are non-human beings."
Normally, Nico didn't talk that much, but when he met someone he felt comfortable around, he could tell his whole life story in a matter of minutes, without missing even the smallest detail.

Writing as Achille Lévesque-Auclair
see banner for outfit, abilities, and stats

"Wait!"

Achille halted as a girl's voice called out to him in English, a voice that sounded rather unobstructed by layers of hedge and shrubbery. He turned slowly to see a short girl in a blue dress standing in a nearby corner. Thank god, Achille thought briefly. Someone else. Moving quickly, he approached the girl, not wanting the maze to re-shape itself and separate them.

"Are you lost, too?" He asked in French, before realizing the girl might not understand him. He hadn't immediately recognized her, either as a Beauxbatons student, or one of the many students that surrounded Achille during his time visiting Hogwarts. Though if her blue dress and heels were any indication, she could very well be a student at Beauxbatons, like he was. He clumsily made a switch to English. "Er, sorry. Do you speak French?" He took a moment to look around. Already, the path he'd been taking mere moments ago was gone and replaced by a massive wall of green. Achille cursed softly under his breath, murmuring, "This maze makes no sense," before turning back to the girl.

Even with her heels, she stood a great deal shorter than Achille, and he had the familiar sense of being overly tall for someone his age. He was tempted to slump his posture to be a bit shorter. He hated towering over most of his first year peers. And he could only assume this girl was a first year. She was a bit stout, but upon a second look, Achille noted that her eyes stuck out to him the most. Gray-ish, with a hint of blue, and her dark hair shone with a certain glossiness. As someone who had to often deal with people fixating on his natural-born good looks, Achille often tried to find beauty in the appearances of other people, even if society may disagree. It helped him feel a bit more normal if he was able to note interesting features in his peers. Helped his peace of mind.

"I'm Achille," He introduced himself, outstretching a hand to the brunette. "And I am lost in this maze." A maze that, for some reason, had forced the two of them into a situation together.

For better or for worse, it was yet to be decided.

Action: meeting Zendra and having a language crisis
tags: @Nora De Carie
Open for Interactions

Interacting with: Nate Smirnow @Haley Rose@Hanako Tone

Kath's Ball Dress~Nails~Hair~Makeup~Silver Accessories including Family ring

Before the ball event, Kath had helped Hanako dumbass with his outfit. If she remembers correctly, she was sitting and busy completing her assignment, He had entered in some outfit. It was that bad she didn’t even remember what it looked like. She took one side glance at it then told him that a package would arrive in a maximum of 2 days and that’s what he would wear.

She couldn’t let him go to the ball in some cheap ugly outfit, On the other hand, tone enjoyed the crappy outfit arguing about how cosy it is even though it wasn't fashionable. Sure tone, come in your pyjamas next time. Kath obviously didn't even listen to any word that came out of his mouth. The package did arrive to Hanako, Katherine and he got ready together before the ball. She applied his makeup and helped him look at least humanly decent, Hanako was tense as he wore it since it wasn't what he would normally wear.

The outfit? It was made of high-quality material and actual expensive gems and gold. It probably cost more than anything he could ever afford, but Kath felt charitable and probably she couldn’t bare to see him embarrass himself in something displeasing. As soon as they were done they arrived at the ball together and separated since Hanako apparently saw a cute guy and decided to bother him instead of Kath.

The one thing she was looking forward to about this ball, was meeting Nate. Ever since New Year’s, she was looking forward to meeting him again. They had exchanged letters in the time were they weren’t together, and as soon as he arrived he had asked her out to the ball in person. An action that she respected in him, instead of asking her in an owl. She made sure she looked extra good for today, The theme wasn’t really her style and Kath wasn’t one to get out of the colours she was stuck to.

The Gryffindor entered and scanned the place, some weird maze and all, a ball can never be a normal ball in Hogwarts. She let out a soft sigh, Her eyes looking for Nate, Up until she found him, A devilish smirk was placed on her lips. Kath had walked up to him, which he took notice of. Katherine placed her soft hands into his “You look handsome yourself”, she didn’t lie. He did look incredibly handsome, Although, They both looked matching in a way with their silver accessories and black outfits.

“I guess we accidentally matched”, she let out a chuckle at how they both had similar styles. She watched as he pulled her forward, her icy eyes never left his blue ones. A soft smirk appeared as he complimented her again, She watched as he kissed the back of her hand then her cheek. A hint of pink blush appeared on her cheeks but still didn’t bother her.

She had hooked her arm into his and spoke “Yes, I am let’s hope we don’t get lost through this whole mess”, She gave off a soft scoff and then would walk with Nate till they would arrive to the royal banquet giving small talk every here and there. A Part of her missed Nate, from his handsome look to his unique personality. Kath was immediately hooked and interested in him.

The way he treated her, the care he showed her. The way he’d make her involved in his life, Kath liked him, he wasn’t like others. Nate had his own vibe and the way he’d deal with things, Kath was genuinely interested in him, she wasn’t going to play any games with him like that. She was sure she wouldn’t be able to find someone like him, maybe he was worth her time.

Action: Entering the Royal Banquet from the Maze

Permission To Godmod Hanako Was Given