The Masquerade Ball Event Closed

Interacting w/ @Aurelia Notrésvace & @Kaegen Deathmote

Jack's curiosity had most definitely been piqued. He had some inkling that this masquerade seemed to have a stigma around them, but this girl's attitude towards it gave him pause. However, he had decided to not linger on the subject. Instead, he just smiled at her returning a compliment. "Thank you as well. I was pretty excited about this. Thankfully I was lucky enough to have it be delivered on time for the ball tonight." Realizing that she couldn't see his face, Jack made sure to nod his head.

At the lulling of conversation, Jack followed Aurelia's eyes over to the maskless student standing by another table not terribly far away from them. Surprised, Jack wasn't expecting to find a student that was not dressed up or masked. For a moment Jack wondered if the guy was sick or something. Suddenly it hit him. There were quite a few rumors going around about him. What was his name again?

"No, I don't mind at al-" The end of his sentence was cut off, as he felt himself being pulled towards the unmasked boy. Quickly recovering, Jack stood as tall as he could and pressed out his chest. He tried his best to look imposing.

Interacting with @Santario Martin, @Serena Bowen and @Illowy Magnard

Chris scanned the ball area as he continued to take in everyones dresses, the pupils had worn their best tonight as each one seemed to be better than the last. His cup of juice was still in his hand, half finished at this point. For some reason, they didn't have punch which was a standard for a ball like this, maybe it was something to do with last times disaster. The Slytherin turned his gaze straight ahead, where it was met by a pair of green sapphire eyes. She slowly made her way over to him, a pleasant smile spread across her lips “I love your mask! The leaf design is absolutely stunning.” she praised over to him, her eyes once again starting to scan the ballroom in wonder. Her clothing was mostly a dark-red mixture, something which could catch the eye of anyone in the room. However, the mask was probably the best part of the whole costume. It had the shape of a wolf or cat, something of which Chris liked more than most "Thanks, same goes to you too" replies the boy in his distinct accent, a serious yet normal tone being added as usual.

The music seemed to be getting almost deafening at this point, making it hard for him to listen for anyone speaking. A Hufflepuff girl next to him had come to the side of him, her destination being the drinks that Chris was blocking. At first, he didn't even know she was there, even though the girl was asking him to move. However, the music was masking most of the noise and prevented him from hearing the poor girl "So, what do you think of the ball so far?" he asked the first year in front of him, curious as to what others thought of this big event. For the moment, it seemed to be going as planned with no disruptions for now, all he could hope was that he didn't just jinx the whole thing.

His mask seemed to be proving popular among his peers, something which surprised Chris. It could of been the unique factor of the mask that covered most peoples attention, since it had a complex pattern and shape, or maybe because of how cool it looked on him. It almost seemed to suit him and his clothing like a glove though, and that was the only thing that mattered for now. When he had just thrown his question over to the girl in front of him, another girl had come into view. This one looked familiar though, as if he had seen her not so long ago. She had a green-pink dress that suited her well, along with a traditional gold mask that covered her identity, there was no doubt she did her best for this event "I love your mask." commented the girl, who stared him in the eyes with a pale stare "Cheers, nice dress by the way" he nodded back over to her, the voice seemingly making her even more memorable at this point "Enjoying the party?" the girl asks again "Yea, for now. No one has started a fire at least" says Chris in a jokey tone as he looks between the two girls, trying to give both of them equal attention.

Someone with a mask approached kae, already reason enough for him to move to the defensive. And move there he did, moving back, crouching slightly but keeping his arms barely bent by his sides, tips of his dull claws peeking out from the fraying edges. He didn't know who this person was, which wasn't helped any by the fact that he probably wouldn't have known who that person was regardless of the mask. Kaegen didn't put much stock in faces that didn't mean anything, there were so many faces around Hogwarts, why would he care to distinguish them from each other?

"My world is not yours. Go back to your own realm, to homework and grades, ignorance and false friendships."

A shadow started to shift underneath the little ravenclaw. Not very much, it was just a little unnatural flickering of darkness that shouldn't have flickered. Maybe it was a trick of the light, but in the end it didn't much matter what had caused it. Most who saw it would simply dismiss the movement, assume it had been caused by something they hadn't noticed. Kaegen didn't like this random masked person, and it was starting to show.

Why did they think they had the right to ask what he was going to do? How did they know he was the sort of person who might do that? Well no, that last one was probably a combined factor of the newspaper's incessant reporting and the vast rumormill. But why would they come right up and ask about it? It seemed weird, oddly brazen and bold of the masked individual. And those who are brazen are usually either stupid or stupidly strong. Either way Kaegen was anxious.

Not only that but there was someone with them. Someone in a mask that looked decidedly antagonistic. So was he the muscle, then? A plan began forming in Kaegen's mind, a way to escape over the top of the ball and still manage to kill at least one of the pair. It shouldn't be too hard, except for the hail of spells that would probably start to rain up at him. Still, if he could dodge that, then he'd be home safe.

Reaching a hand behind him to make sure he didn't stumble, he took a decided step backwards.

With @Lamik Fillestar. Open to other interactions.

"Fancy seeing you here," Aideen responded with an equally long and ornate curtsy. "And your mask? Simply divine, my lord."

She grinned at him, then raised an eyebrow, adding "Though I must say your whole outfit is pretty nice. I didn't know this was going to happen, so I had to owl my parents and ask them to send me something nice-ish. We're not exactly swimming in gold. Yours is much better, if I do say so myself. "

She was a tiny bit self-conscious about the dress, which looked nice with the mask but not her hair and had a few smudges on it, Aideen not being very... organized. Everybody else seemed to have planned months ahead for this, making her wonder if she had missed something.

Suddenly, something bright in a massive window caught her eye, and her heart went into overtime. The moon. After a few seconds of panic, (in which she completely forgot Lamik) she realized that no, it was only large, not full.

Gazing around embarrassedly, her aura of confidence evaporated and her gaze dropped to her feet, as it usually did when she made a fool of herself. "I- er, sorry about that," she muttered. Maybe she should go. Hide in a corner or find a way to sneak out of the hall altogether. She began to back away, her eyes scanning the area for closest exits and/or empty spaces.

Xailah had not noticed the small- what looked to be a first year, approaching her. She was too focused on her cat, and trying to drown out the horrible music that was being played. The kid spooked her to say the least. At first she didn't even realize that someone was trying to talk with her. She turned around abruptly, when she felt the other childs presence nearing closer to her; nearly running into the girl. "Oop- Hallo."

Schrödinger scrambled up onto Xailahs shoulder, and let out a soft, waow. His large grey form, sat rather awkwardly on her frail shoulders. Both, owner and cat stared at the first year, that was donning a mask embedded with diamonds. Yellow eyes shifted from behind a seemingly sinister, grinning cat mask. "You do? Well, thank you. I like your costume too." While Xailah often enjoyed the extravagent things in life, she also enjoyed the simpler ones. The girl had a very pretty costume. "Are you one of the Ilvermorny kids?" It was a challenge to pinpoint who was who exactly- really the only way she could identify the Ilvermorny students, was by their lack of an accent. But to be fair some Hogwarts students lacked accents as well, and vice versa. "I'm Xailah Alptraum by the way, and this is Schrödinger. It is his birthday today."

The child reminded her of a girl that she knew- well, she didn't know her personally, but she was familiar with her. Rosie Turner. The naive ginger from the Blossom Ball, who had ignored the warnings of her peers, who had gone into a secluded area with a half giant. The events that took place were sad. The saddest part though, was the fact that everything could have been prevented if Rosie had taken the words whispered by her peers, to heart. Where was Rosie now? The world may never know.

"Would you like to pet him?" She knew that the girl wanted to pet her cat. He was the only reason why people even came up to her in the first place. They were not interested in the usual mindless, boring, getting-to-know-you chit-chat. Oh no- they wanted to pet the fat grey cat of course. Xailah plucked the 20 pounds of fat, and fur from her shoulders; cradling him in her arms once again. "Go ahead."

She turned her attention from the girl for a moment. Someone else that she knew was here. She couldn't see said person, but she could feel them. It wasn't the creeping sensation of dread that the person usually carried, no- it was just a dark and mucky aura. Yes, that was the best way to describe it. "Excuse me for a moment I-...have to go powder my nose..." It was a silly excuse, but it often worked, well for her great aunt Tabitha. Usually when Tabitha said that she was going to powder her nose, it meant that she didn't want to talk anymore. This was not the case with Xailah, she would be back to talk with the younger student. But for now, she was curious as to why the boy Kaegen Deathmote was here.

She slithered her way through the crowd of students. Any of them could have been him, but they weren't. Kaegen wasn't hard to find, for he was the only one not wearing a mask. That was confusing. Masks were fun to wear, were they not? Especially if you were not blessed with a pretty face, masks could cover up all the flaws. Maybe Kaegen didn't want to be pretty? Maybe he was already pretty. Was Kaegen pretty? She did a double take. No. Nope. Definitely not. But the two people with him were probably pretty, but there was no way of telling because of the masks. Something was wrong, they looked to be irritating the boy. While she was passing through the crowd, Schrödinger had returned to his usual spot on Xailahs shoulder. She came up behind the two students, and stood directly behind the girl. "Excuse me, can I help you?" She had no idea who the girl was, but Schrödinger most certainly did; because as soon as she had said that, Schrödinger stuck out his neck, and grabbed for a wad of the girls hair with his frosting-covered mouth. Schrödinger was not happy with this girl. This was the girl who had taken his bed, that he used to sleep on.

Just breathe. The air seemed to swirl around in her lungs longer than normal as he inspected her outfit. It was simple, the whole look, in a room and and event that was sure to be over-the-top. She was uncomfortable in it only as far as the economics went. She'd never spoken to Jorah about money, but he'd never struck her as arrogant or caring about that kind of thing. In fact, that was one of things she liked about him. Still, she wanted to look nice since they were, after all, about to spend the majority of the evening together.

She pushed her lips together, uncertain, as she heard him inform her she was 'britty,' which quickly disintegrated into 'pretty good' and 'not bad.' Well, great. Her really simple, really obvious idea of attending with her best friend was starting off so well. The hand-sewn dress probably didn't help, even if it was made with love. Still she'd make the best of it. "Thanks," she said, smiling softly. She couldn't feeling like she was being unusually quiet with Jorah, but somehow her exuberant self seemed overwhelmed.

"Right, yeah, of course," she replied when he pointed out her mask was still in her hand. She'd fumbled with it upstairs, but it kept slipping off her face or getting knotted in her curls. Needless to say, she'd much rather deal with untangling fishing line. Ribbon was much less forgiving. She was about to ask him for help when he punched her in the shoulder awkwardly and made a crack about detention. He'd been making a lot of cracks recently ever since she'd mentioned the ball really. But this all had to stop. Whatever was going on all this worry she felt and his candor, she didn't like it. She wanted the old Jorah back. So, she hit him right back, playfully on the shoulder adding, "At least I don't go looking for trouble like some people." Her allusion to his sometimes outlandish ideas she hoped would break whatever this awkward tension was.

She stood still while he slid behind her to fasten her mask, except that it was hard to stand completely still. She kept wondering what was going with him, something seemed off. Plus, standing in these shoes was proving a lot more difficult than she'd imagined. How the older girls wore these she had no idea. It was in moments like this she longed for the rocky Scottish coastline where shoes like these were utterly inappropriate. "It's okay. I was having trouble too earlier," she admitted when he said was struggling with her hair. In many ways she loved her hair, but curls and waves were definitely not the easiest thing to maintain.

When he was done, he came around to face her and she smiled. In the moment, she looked back over his outfit. He really did look nice, very different than he had done on the pitch when she saved him from almost certain injury. She grabbed onto his arm eagerly, saying, "We probably should." And so, arm-in-arm they entered the hall, which was beautifully decorated in autumnal flowers and greenery. There were some tables along the dance floor and a buffet table with individual beverages glasses. As she took it in, she guided him away from the main door so as not to get in anyone's way. "Food first?" she asked him, nodding towards the buffet table. Maybe it was kind of sad that at a dance, she didn't necessarily want to dance right away, but Ruthie always had a healthy appetite even if it would never come near what Jorah was able to eat in a single breakfast. Besides, there was always time for dancing, but cookies...cookies were likely to run out. As she waited for his suggestions, she considered how nice it was truly to have him here. While she was sure she would run into people she might know, it was great to have someone ready-made to talk to. Perhaps her original hypothesis was correct after all.

Tag: @Jorah Moussa.

Mentions: @Solomon Lear, @Elaine Pendrast, @Hjørdis Jensen

Interacts with: @Zahid al-Benghazi ibn Masoud

The Hufflepuff Head of House was actually looking forward to spending some more time with his colleagues and students. He had found himself in a mood for socializing and maybe a fancy drink or two. Not to mention the fact the American school would be there too. Turning away the opportunity to meet anyone from the overseas school would seem like a waste and admittedly, rude. Not that he had been a fan of the school in particular, but as long as they knew how to smile and be respectful he wouldn't mind a few more rascals. Nevertheless he had previously been discussing his distrust in the situation and had not been keen on showing up. Others had expressed they'd be present however, the ultimate final push in getting him to suit up.

He fastened the final button of his leather doublet and hung his mustard colored, elongated waistcoat on top of it. A masquerade asked for a more intricate attire. Passing his usual tweed suit or any other shirt involved costume for a more traditional outfit seemed fitting for the occasion. But a masquerade would not be celebrated without a mask. In tribute to his own house, he had chosen to honor his house's crest for tonight. The badger-shaped mask would cover half his face while it's white feathery design shone bright in the candle light.

Slowly he made his way towards the ballroom. Luckily it wasn't situated anywhere high up in the castle, the steps always got to him in the end. He used to curse those particular steps that had a habit of disappearing.

He entered the ballroom like any other would, no song, no special entrée. He slowly paced along the wall. Scanning who was present. The armour was easy, Solomon had arrived. The man of the hour really. And kudos to him for organizing all this. He saluted the headmaster in passing.

The students were a mixed bunch, he couldn't tell most of them apart. He could have sworn he saw little Jake in a pumpkin suit for a second. It took him a while to place Elaine in the oufit she wore, but eventually he got there. The silver cat next to her could not have been anyone else but Nora. He nodded his head to both of them, adding a slight dramatic bow to it. These events always had a historical touch to them he felt, so traditional was nice for fun. At last he found the silver fox he was looking for tonight.

If anyone asked him now, he'd claim Zahid would be his friend. In reality a nice and welcome colleague but recently they had found some time to actually acknowledge themselves on a first name basis. Though frankly, he had always called the man Zahid now that he thought more in depth on the matter. Caradoc waved away the cluster of thoughts in his head and simply headed out for the Libyan.

"Not a mere two minutes inside and I find you already lost without your books." Caradoc smiled from under his mask. "You seem to clean up well for an old man." He jabbed with a wink, hardly noticeable with the mask.

Santario would offer him another kind smile. “Thank you, I love foxes. We’re sly little creatures.” When the other girl moved to grab a drink Santario would offer her a smile as well. “The music is not what I would expect for a party like this but to each their own.” Her eyes scanned the room again, not really scanning as they landed directly on their intended target. Rook who looked quite uncomfortable and that instantly made her decision for her.

When Illowy approached she thought she recognized the eyes but wasn’t completely certain if she was correct. A polite smile would be given to her as well before she looked back at the boy. “Forgive me, I see the person I came here to meet. I see you are going to be in more than capable company.” With that she would snatch another glass of everything drink holding both, the new glass and hers, in one hand. A nod offered to them all as she slipped into the crowd.

With the path that she took, she made quite sure that he would see her as she approached trying to make eye contact with him even waving above her head, but only if necessary. Once reaching him she would stand next to him facing the girl but looking up at him. Slipping her arm around his if he allowed her to she would offer him the fresh glass of drink. “I need some fresh air would the gentleman care to accompany me?” A sly smile played with the corners of her lips as she found herself most humorous. It was then that she looked towards the face of the girl that had been speaking to him. In her mind, the look of agitation must have been brought on by the girl in the first place, but the moment those sharp sapphire eyes landed on the girl she remembered.

A day at the lake flashed in her mind something that had been so light-hearted and fun soon spoiled. She didn’t blame the girl for the spoiling of the fun, no, she blamed this girl for being a downright liar. A terrible liar at that. Although Santario would not stop the girl from following them if they did decide to make their way out of the ballroom and into the hallway she had a feeling the conversation would not remain as polite if she did.

Interaction with@Xailah Alptraum
Still open for interaction!

Something about Xailah and her cat staring at Leah made her do a double take and narrow her eyes behind her mask. Maybe it was the mask, but they seemed to have an uncanny similarity. Whatever it was, she was quickly distracted by the older student talking to her.

"Thanks!" she said. "And I'm from Hogwarts. I'm kind of new though, first year, so you probably haven't seen me around. My name is Leah. Happy birthday," she added to the great cat.

With permssion to pet Schrödinger, Leah beamed before stroking the soft cat gently. It was really quite fluffy - even more so than she had expected. But the experience was short lived, as Xailah left with Schrödinger in tow, saying something about powdering her nose - which was odd, as her face was almost entirely concealed by her mask.

As Leah watched, Xailah did not, in fact, head out of the room, but instead straight to a group of people who were quite far away.

"So I guess she doesn't want to talk too," she murmured. How had this happened twice in one night? Maybe she should stop going up to people she didn't know - but then again, with all of these masks, she barely recognised anyone.

Sitting down at a nearby chair, she picked up a stack of cookies and got to work, eating different flavours and ranking them by taste. Maybe she couldn't talk as much as she'd hoped, but nothing could stop her appetite.

Interacting with: @Grayson Ackley @Aphrodite Bloom @Gem Stuart @Brielle Gray

Mentions: @Lark Flaer @Elzabeth Gillan


James looked up from his drink as the boy approached, thankful for the sudden rescue from his maelstrom of uncomfortable small talk.

“I think I saw Maggie with the dude in the Pumpkin costume... I’m- ah- James by the way. I’m not sure if we’ve met before.”

James felt a sheen of sweat start to bead on his forehead. With his friends messing around in the common room or hanging out on his birthday, he felt completely comfortable to be himself, but here in the thrum of strangers, underdressed and all alone James felt the deep ache of loneliness and distress hit him. Girlfriends and fancy dinners seemed to him to be suited for a later stage of life. He felt with all his other friends attending the ball with dates, he was already being left behind

James gritted his teeth and he looked over once again at Lark and Elz. He desperately wanted to run to them and ask them to leave with him, to get out of this sea of people. But they appeared to be happy, enjoying each other and their dates.

James turned back to Gem and asked his question again.

“Charlotte... is she ok?”