Fall Ball 2021 Samhain Festival

Things were hard at the moment. While Haley had finally told Simon about the things that had happened when she was with her grandfather in the summer, it still didn't make things any easier. Having it out in the open, which was long overdue, was hard. All the processing of this trauma would take time and while Haley had good days, she also had days that were worse than they had been in months. The whole thing had put a strain not only on her but also on her relationship with Simon, and it was now up to her to make amends, she knew that. What she didn't know, however, was whether she could. But the last thing she wanted was not to have Simon by her side anymore and so she took care of the last finishing touches on her dress before she would go to the ball.

Her eyes fell one last time on the note she had received from Simon. A faint smile formed on her lips, of course she would still want to go with him. She would never pass up a dance with Simon Ezra Kincaid.

Preparing for the ball was not easy, but at the same time it helped her distract herself. Her body was also grateful that for once she didn't use sport to distract herself from her thoughts. At the same time, her newfound hobby brought changes to her body. She had become more defined and she had had to have her original dress adjusted a little, as it would otherwise have been too big for her. But now it fit like a glove again and with a satisfied look she examined herself in the mirror one last time.

It was crazy, she had been to so many dances with Simon, they had even married at the last one, but this was like a first time. She was more excited than she had been in a long time and hoped with every step that the evening would be positive. That she would finally be able to have fun, laugh like she used to and spend time with Simon.

Haley entered the entrance of the ball and her focus was only on spotting Simon, luckily for her it didn't take long but just as her eyes met him she saw him take the hand of another girl and walk with her through the entrance to the ball.

The knot in the pit of her stomach couldn't be helped and she lowered her gaze. But today she would not back down, she straightened her shoulders, lifted her dress slightly at the front and walked confidently to the entrance through which Simon and the unknown girl had just passed.

Action: Entering the Fall Ball

Mentioning: @Simon Kincaid @Emily R. Brewer

♡

MAGGIE HAWKINS

♡

interacting with: mentioning: @Matthew Gray

October 29, 2021

XXXXThe Fall Ball was the talk of the town. The talk of Hogwarts, really, and the excitement of the opportunity had the students, Hogwarts and otherwise, buzzing with anticipation. Maggie had even heard students from the visiting schools express excitement and enthusiasm for the event. All in all, the Fall Ball was the event of the year, for certain. With the Hogwarts events calendar kicking off, Autumn was sure to be a jam-packed season. Surprisingly, Maggie wasn't going stag to this event. She'd been asked by Matthew Gray, a fellow Slytherin student, and study buddy. Just as friends, as neither of them saw the other as anything other than platonic, but having a date, platonic or not, was no small feat in the eyes of Maggie. Unsure of what her other friends were doing, Maggie assumed she'd encounter them at some point. The courtyard, so normally immaculately kept and beautiful, was a picture of Autumn at its best. The Samhain Festival, entrance to the Fall Ball itself. Mud was slick around the grounds and something writhed below, under the shallow puddles of dark mud. Little blue fires burned and blazed around the courtyard, drawing the eye to their bright pinpricks of light. Maggie shifted in her position, bounced up and down in an attempt to get warm. The chill was setting in, seeping into her bones through the cloak she had thrown on to warm herself. If she were smarter, Maggie would have just gone to warm herself beside those little fires, but Maggie Hawkins wasn't really known for her brilliant test scores and wonderful eloquence in way of smarts. That wasn't her. Instead, she stood in the cold, allowing the nipping and biting wind to nibble at her fingertips and the tip of her nose. Waiting for Matthew to arrive. Absently, silently, Maggie wondered whether or not this had been a good idea in the first place. How pathetic, standing here in the cold waiting for some boy to show up.

Ability Calming Presence Interaction Closed to interaction, or owl with ideas! Action Entering the Fall Ball

Allies @Hui Ming | @Liana Kerr | @Matthew Gray @Avery Chen | @Vale Ashwood | @Hildegard Schneider Outfit X X X X Dressed as Carrie White from Carrie

Roleplaying: iNPC Lena Martins Interacting with: @Gabriella Haworth as Celeste Leblanc & @Gideon Athanatos French in #438B67, English in #4A6F79

=outfit: Reducio

Celeste was icy, as per usual, but this didn't particularly bother the other girl. There was something quite comfortable about the bizarre relationship the two shared; different backgrounds, different personalities, but an understanding that, due to their own dispositions, this was the type of friendship they were suited to. To Lena, at least, it was a companionship that she enjoyed, but that was secondary to her own wants and needs, which was why she didn't even bat an eye at Celeste's obvious discomfort when she approached the boy. There were always plenty of opportunities for them to chat, anyway...

This child in particular was a suspicious character, Lena thought, handing out sweets at a party unprompted... or just a very friendly weirdo. Either way, extracting sweets from a stranger seemed like a good way to ease into party mode. Once done speaking, she held out her hands, looking at him expectantly. Unfortunately, the language barrier between them was creating some... misunderstandings.

"I am sorry but I am not accepting any additional dates, you both look very lovely I am certain I am the one to be missing out. The deadline for applications was last week."

What a pleasant rejection from such a young human being. Maybe he was like Celeste - another pure-blood boy - magical people did like to keep it in the family, after all (often, Lena wondered whether she was one). There was no need to attempt to correct him in her poor(-er than Celeste's) English, however, as the boy offered up his treats without the need for further prompting, pouring a generous amount into Lena's waiting hands. Celeste was less ready to accept, however:

"Date!"

Clearly, she was outraged by the notion. Lena couldn't see why: Gideon seemed like an exxentric but overall well-intentioned eleven year old, although she had admittedly only caught the tail end of his 'reign of terror' on the older student from before. As her friend tore into the boy for what must have been a minute of so, Lena made no attempt to put a stop to it, quietly sucking on her candy.

"Only a tiny bit mean. He is funny, no?" Lena held out one of the wrapped sweets to Celeste with raised brows, wondering if the girl was more likely to accept it coming from her. She was not having the best start to her evening. To make it up to her, Lena would gladly follow her wherever she wanted for the rest of the night. "What do they say? ...Hatred is closer to love than indifference." She was teasing, although in her monotonous voice it might have been difficult to tell. She returned her eyes to Gideon. "Only a joke. Thank you for the sweets, English boy. Where is your date now?"

He'd implied that he was overrun with 'applications', although Lena wasn't so sure he had one. Unless...

"Was it the girl running away from you before?"

Action: Eating Gideon's sweets, offering one to Celeste, questioning him about his date

Stamina 8 • Evasion 9 • Strength 8 • Wisdom 5 • Arcane Power 2 • Accuracy 8
Abilities: Impartial • Fearless

Jürgen Hess, you silly, silly boy. Galton was supposed to be the one who lost his mind an attacked his friends for no apparent reason. Had all the time Jürgen spent around Galton rubbed off on the poor lad? Being surrounded by crazy enough would do that to someone. But it had been so long! Over a year had past since Galton had returned to the land of candy and lost his mind. Hope remained that he would not be returning there tonight. Surely, Hess would not venture there

As Galton watched in horror, his friend raised his wand towards his other friend. He had not wanted to take action against his friend. He hadn't wanted his first spell to be aimed at someone so dear to him. "We can still save her!" He would scream at his friend, a rage filling his voice he hadn't known was there. "If you do this she will die. You will kill her! You, Jürgen." He spit forward.

With that he raised his wand and began an ever familiar movement. "Expelliarmus!" A duelist's classic. A real staple. They couldn't cast without a wand. This way Galton would hopefully not need to injure his dear friend. It would pain him if he needed to do such a thing. This way, hopefully, no one would get hurt.

Outfit: Robes (seasonal colors)
Inventory: Wand, repellent for slugs, 2x jelly slugs, sherbet lemon.
Stats/Abilities:

Reducio

STAMINA: 11
EVASION: 12
STRENGTH: 3
WISDOM: 11
ARCANE POWER: 5
ACCURACY: 10

Abilities:
Evasive maneuvers
Spell Spread
Evasive Maneuvers II
Blindvision

Action: Casting Expelliarmus at Jürgen Hess
Interacts with: @Hugh Lowe, @Erin Ryan, and @Jürgen Hess

Interacting: @Maggie Hawkins | Open to @Liana Kerr

Waking up a little later than he meant to was nothing new to Matt, but when he shot a glance at the sky out the window to see how late it was he nearly fell out of bed in shock. Whoops, no real time to focus on looking sharp, he had to go now since Maggie was presumably already waiting for him. As slothful and blunt as he was, he still hated to be late to meetups and so he dressed double-time in the suit his father had sent him and decided to slick back the messiest parts of his hair with gel so he looked at least somewhat presentable.

Then it was a mad jog to the grounds, which were done up completely differently than usual for the event. He'd been expecting to go right into the Ball but apparently you got to walk through a bunch of décor before that happened, and he took a quick second to appreciate it before searching out his date. Well... 'date' in the sense that they were going to a Ball together, it was more of a friendly meetup since he had no interest in romance at his age and he doubted Maggie did either. He'd asked her mostly because she seemed outgoing and cool, so he figured hanging out in party-type environment with someone who saw more to life than studying would be fun.

"Maggs," he panted when he finally found her, doubling over with his hands on his knees to catch his breath. Physical activity was definitely not a strong suit. "Sorry I'm late, I took a nap that turned out longer than I thought. You look cold, want to head in?" When he straightened he found it really was chilly out here - the suit his father had sent him only covered three quarters of his arms (there was a clear joke about him not stealing trinkets from the other kids and stuffing them in his sleeves in there) and goosebumps were already crawling up from his wrists to his neck. Getting in and getting moving seemed the prudent action at this time.

ACTION: N/A

Mentions @Liana Kerr (Tarja) | Interacting: None
Action: N/A (waiting)

Crossing his arms, he faded into a shadow as best he could in the old gray suit his mother had sent over. She'd been adamant about getting him one even though they had no money, which meant he'd gotten his uncle's hand-me-down that was two sizes too big and still smelled like dust even after he'd scrubbed it in Hogwarts's Great Lake. His robes would probably work better but the thought of turning down a gift his mother had gotten for him was cruel - as absentminded as it was, he appreciated her attempt and the love behind the gesture.

He hoped Tarja Akimovna wouldn't find his outfit unappealing to be seen with, but to make up for it he'd picked her wildflowers he'd found along the shores of the Great Lake. They were a sad-looking bouquet now in the cold, all straggled and starting to wilt, however it was too late to change his mind and throwing them away would be wasteful after he went through the trouble of picking them. So he waited, not overly bothered by the temperature, appearing as unfriendly as humanly possible.

Banner from Winnie Harper!

Roleplaying as iNPC Henrietta Montagne
@Winnie Harper as Felix Kolbeck & @Willow Anderson as Everett Brooks | Interactions
yellow plaid dress, Felix's gifted necklace | Outfit

Henrietta was a sweet girl. Sure, allured by gossip and occasionally known to talk nonsense from the side of her mouth, but an ill intention would wilt as soon as it touched her, soaking the pollen from her skin and in its place, a charitable deed would grow. The southern belle protected this reputation with everything she was, took immense pride in the long generous history of her surname, and swore each day to be kinder than she was the last. Every passing dawn and dusk was a rewarding day of carving excellent karma into stone. This, she believed, thoroughly cancelled out the petty (yet, undeniably hilarious) trick she was playing on her date, Felix Kolbeck.

While Ret did not know her counterpart, Everett Brooks, terribly well, his surname had crossed the tables of the Montagne home several times in the past. Personal conversations between them were often politely brief, but the opportunity to utilize their uncanny similarities was too enticing for Ret—or rather Rett—to deny. Upon meeting Felix’s striking self, Rett had launched into their clever ploy that the two were, in fact, the same person exercising a born talent as a Metamorphmagus. It worked all too well; both budding teenagers having been raised in traditionally southern lifestyles, with matching nicknames and deep drawls, it was incredibly easy for the blonde kids to merge their identities into one on a basic level.

Despite what he’d be willing to admit, Felix had a romantic side. Ret wore it around her neck this evening, a winsome sunflower pendant which bloomed when you twisted the charm. It embodied what she was inside, what she aspired to be, someone that leaned toward the light and, whenever that sunshine may coyly hide behind the clouds, would lean toward her peers and share what was left of her with them. Mindlessly, her right hand would periodically raise to touch it, as though ensuring it and all the affections it contained were securely clasped around her neck still. While it matched flawlessly with her plaid golden dress, the girl would be taking it off with a kiss goodbye shortly, handing it off to Rett so he could play his part in their precious scheme. She’d even loaned him a fake septum ring to tie a neat bow around the look.

Besides, she’d get it—and Felix—back. Surely the white-haired boy would find this just as entertaining as Ret and Rett when all was said and done.

Upon arriving at the festival, it’d been easy to pick Felix from the flurry of students gushing in and out of the various entryways, not unlike pointing at the moon as the sky was rinsed from east to west with constellations. His head poked from the top of the herd, having gained a lot of height over the time they spent apart, and the glimmer of leather reflecting through the crowd was familiar to her. Aside from that, it was unsurprising that he was one of the very few sporting a ghostly hair color that shined through the eve. The shorter girl would ease through the flood of partygoers, muttering countless apologies and excusals before gently tapping his shoulder to turn him around.

“Felix, honey,” She’d utter breathless, a wide grin appearing on her lips. “You look handsome! Though you were supposed to wear…” Her gaze flickered to the tie, a perfect match to her dress, alongside the pin on his chest, “…well, I suppose you are wearing yellow.”

Had they been seeing each other long enough for her to reach for his hand? Ret wasn’t entirely sure, but she was far from the bashful type, and a small part of her heart was concerned he was not wearing enough yellow for people to know he was her date. Thus, for a brief moment, she’d make a confident effort to interlock their fingers, childish fireworks erupting behind her eyes but bringing a reddish heat to her face, a side effect she’d not expected. Immediately, the girl released it again, and turned quickly to him before fleeing into the thick sea of bodies.

“I’ll be… right back.”

With this, she ran as his Cinderella into the void, messily unclasping her necklace as she scanned the crowd for her other half. Once Rett came into sight, she’d look visibly relieved to be able to gather her thoughts and would quickly offer him the accessory. “Knock him dead. But not too dead, he’s mine you know.”

Action Entering, playing a prank on Felix
Stats Sta: 7 | Eva: 7 | Str: 1 | Wis: 9 | AP: 9 | Acc: 8
Abilities Perfectionist, Advanced Casting

☀

☠

★

▪ ENCY ▪ ▪ FELIX ▪ KOLBECK ▪ ▪ DURMSTRANG iNPC ▪ THIRD YEAR ▪

★

☠

☾

OUTFIT: Reducio

MENTIONING: Alec, Hanako, Arjan, Cody, and Rafa

INTERACTIONS: Rett and Ret | OPEN

Serena had managed to evade the candy touting blonde boy by ducking into a new area, good on her. Felix didn't want to have to move, not that he wouldn't for Serena; it was just that he was still waiting for his date. Hopefully no one else bothered him before he arrived-

"AHEM. What's with the jacket?" A certain annoyance would ask the Swede.

UGH. Why did Merlin himself have to hate Felix so much? It was almost like attending an event with hundreds of other teens meant that he had to socialize or something. How dare someone talk to him!

Worse yet, it was the weirdo from the day he had entered the school. Collin or something was his name. The kid had randomly known his name without having any possible way of knowing. He was clearly some sort of tiny little stalker. The Swede gave one of his signature eye rolls when he was approached. "It's called style, which is more than I can say for you. Did they not have toddler sized bow ties? You had to settle for an adult one?" He stared all the way down at the tiny American. At 5'7", Felix was almost two feet taller than the boy. "Why would I waste my time on you? I actually have a reason to be here."

Unfortunately for Felix, it would seem he couldn't escape the people he disliked so easily. First there had been Alec, then the blonde runt, now he saw that crazy chick from the Quidditch game entering the ball. He couldn't remember her name despite her having screamed it at him. He only knew her as Cherryhead. Well, it looked like she was more of a Lemonhead tonight. She certainly left a sour taste in his mouth, so it was a fitting nickname. It seemed she had selected a new target to torment for the night, which was fine with him. Her date looked like a pretty chill dude, however. He wondered how well he knew the screeching terror.

Worst of all, Arjan had decided to make an appearance. He grit his teeth at the mere sight of the older boy. His entrance was as arrogant as usual, complete with a hand brushing through that perfectly coiffed hair. He wished he could mess it up again, or do something worse to the boy, but he couldn't start the ball off by throwing spells at people. Unlike some of the people who were in attendance. Regardless, should Arjan happen to glance in his direction, he would find the Swede was glaring daggers at him.

Only the appearance of a personified sunflower would cause Felix's heart to thaw. She would arrive on the wings of the wind, a creature--no-- goddess of beauty. Ret radiated warmth as she shone her sunlight onto him, erasing every lingering shadow and stealing a heartbeat from his chest. Her sun-kissed skin seemed to shine between the glow of the festival, her features delicate, as if they had been sculpted to resemble the beauty of a flower itself. Her fake piercing was such a stark contrast, but it only made the Swede like her more.

Felix was not equipped to deal with the feelings that Ret gave him. He was but a boy of 13, and had only just felt the confusion grip of romance. It had dragged him along, kicking and screaming, until he had finally accepted his feelings for her after summer's end. It didn't mean he had to like what she did to him. He did, but he hated it all the same. It was quite a confusing time for him.

"Ret... You look..." What was he supposed to say? What the hell did they say in movies? "Nice." He concluded, mentally kicking himself afterwards. Nice? NICE? She looked more than nice!

He glanced down at his tie and then back at Ret with a quirk of his brow. "What? This is yellow." He gestured towards it, as if she had missed it. A small grin curved onto his lips. "Would you have rather I shown up in a bright yellow suit? I thought you liked my style."

His smile widened when he saw she was wearing the necklace he had given her. A hand carefully picked up the pendent. "... Thank you for wearing it... I'm uh, not good at shit like this so I wasn't sure if it was a good choice." He dropped the metal sunflower when her fingers entwined with his own, his pale features heating up. She was holding his hand. Holy shit! Why was he being so uncool about it? He had to stop blushing, gain the upper hand.

He cleared his throat, shoving his free hand into his leather jacket. Yes, that was right, act casual. There was no need to show her what this was doing to him, or how his heart was speeding up. "... I was wondering if we could go some place private and talk." His hand felt weird in his pocket. What was he supposed to do with it then? He pulled it out and raised it, suddenly tucking a stray strand of the blonde's hair behind her ear. He paused to brush his thumb across her cheek affectionately . "I have something to ask you--..."

His Cinderella ran off before he could finish, failing to leave behind a glass slipper. His eyes watched those curly tresses bounce until she had disappeared from sight, taking a piece of his heart with her and leaving him to stew in his shadowy loneliness once more. It was back to glaring at Arjan, it seemed.

Ayuma Kobayashi Japanese | English

Interacting: Charles Alluring @Henry Knight, Cassie McGregor-Martin@Lucia Fox Mentioning: Andrew Lycan@Rose Moon, Rosella Sokolov@Logan Baird

Ayu followed the four older students as they walked across the grounds towards the ball. The five had made the stupendous decision of showing up to the ball, a formal ball in which everyone would be wearing fancy long dresses and elegant suits with ties, as power rangers. Power rangers.

Honestly, Ayu didn't mind it. The idea of a group of power rangers amongst an array of formally dressed students was pretty funny, but at least they were unique. Plus, she enjoyed matching with her friends. They hadn't known each other for very long, but they made her feel like she belonged. Even though they were all two years older than her.

The whole thing was Cassie's idea. Ayu wasn't that familiar with the show, she believed they were created in America, but there had been a few similar shows in Japan and she believed that the original show that it had been based on was made in Japan. Her friends had assigned Ayu the pink one, but she was glad to take it. It was one of her favorite colors after all. Plus, she thought the helmet design was probably the coolest.

Ayu left the cardboard mask to rest on top of her head, leaving her face exposed. She didn't really like the idea of the mask squishing down on her face, but perhaps she'd put it on later. She pulled her hair back, which was neatly pulled into a loose ponytail.

As they approached the entrance, Cassie called out asking if they had their water bottles. "Erm," she felt around the fanny pack she had fastened to her belt. "Yep!" The bag held her wand and a couple of extra things such as chapstick and such.

Suddenly, Charles called to her. "Bet," Ayu smirked, hopping onto the older boy's back as she took the bag he had handed her. The two raced towards the entrance, eventually beating the others. "Wooo!" She cheered, pumping her fist in the air, her other arm still wrapped around Charles' neck.

"Hmmm, no, I think that was fair. Sometimes you just need to accept defeat," Ayu smirked at Cassie. All said teasingly, of course. Ayu's attention was diverted when she pointed out the activity of eel-catching.

Eel-catching? Ayu found a bit strange. Didn't they like, sting? Something like that. She shrugged. It still sounded fun. In fact, the dangerous-er, the better. "Oooh, yeah, that looks fun," Ayu looked into the distance. "And muddy. Surely it's safe though, right? Like, don't they sting? Sorry, I myself have personally never gone eel-catching," Ayu inquired.