The Masquerade Ball Event Closed

Andrew stood petrified, staring in alarm and disbelief as he saw Dan swing the high heel, plunging it into the half-giant's eye. It was something from a horror film as he watched the gruesome scene, unable to peel his gaze away from it.

Having been besties with Dan for so long, the thought never crossed Andrew's mind that Dan would do something as vicious as this without reason. If Dan had to resort to such extremes, it had to have been for righteous cause, only to stop the half-giant from hurting more people.

Then he saw the masked figure of a man approach Dan, and Andrew mentally sighed in relief. Surely the adults would fix things, help Dan, put an end to this nightmare. He noticed a subtle flash of green strike the half-giant. Whatever the spell was, Andrew didn't suspect the slightest that the masked man would have any other motive than to rescue Dan by subduing the half-giant.

Then came the piercing shout that somehow got Andrew's feet to move, starting towards Dan in concern.

"Get offa me ya weirdo!! I don't know you! You wanna see my what?! STRANGER DANGER!!"

If the man said something, it was too quiet for Andrew to overhear as he began dashing his way over, despite the amount of chaos and debris in the Ballroom that made it difficult for him to make a straight beeline towards them.

“Won’t work,” [the Headmaster] announced [to Dan] with an eerie calm. “You’re in a room full of witnesses that know that you are full of shit. They see me and what little I have done to you and they have also seen how much you have done.”

His gaze fell on the motionless bodies of the half-giants as he narrowed in closer. Were they…unconscious? …Dead?...

"Dan! You okay?" Andrew's heart pounded as he rushed over to his friend's side.

But Dan had already distanced himself just as quickly as Andrew drew near, confusing Andrew as he sided closer to the adult(s) nearby. After being through such a traumatic event, it calmed him with comfort and security to know that a professor was around.

Then why was Dan acting so… jumpy?

"Rictusempra!"

He only caught bits and pieces of the madness that was going on with [Galton Lansdale]. Plenty of students seemed to be entangled with that rabble; Andrew didn't want to cause more harm than good by overcrowding and butting himself into that situation (though if all else failed with the spells used to subdue Galton, he'd have picked up one of those silver hors d'oeuvres trays to whack Galton on the back of the head with it).

He saw the Headmaster raise his wand, without skipping a heartbeat, pointing it at Dan.

"Depulso."

Subconsciously, his brain registered that it must be the Ilvermorny headmaster. Boiling down to the details, everything about the man's tone of voice, accent, and overall composure didn't match any of the other Hogwarts professors.

"Hey! -Dan!" Andrew shot a bewildered stare at the masked Headmaster, uttering a shout in Dan's direction and preparing to give chase after him as Dan was swept away by an invisible force, towards the broken-down entrance of the Ballroom.

He didn't understand half of what was going on, but first things first, he had to make sure Dan was all right.

Action: Catch up to Dan, if possible.

Jürgen with his powerful, manly noodle arms would subjugate the part-giant Hugh Lowe. A demonstration of power that came one a decade. Nay once a generation. It was unlikely he would defeat the big guy a second time. He would lock his wrists together, gripping onto the Gryffindor tightly. He simply whispered and repeated the same thing over and over again. "Chill big dude, chill..." While he had seen Hugh around, he was like a landmark for most students. He had played with him once, but Hugh was not very good at playing super heroes (he really sucked actually). 

Galton was taken out. It was no shock, he was biting and licking people. He needed to stop but he did not need to die. The students here were nuts. Hugh was nuts. Someone was going to kill Galton just like the part giants if he did not do anything. Jürgen would let go of Hugh, not that he would have been able to hold on much longer even if he wanted to. "Dudedon'tkillme," Jürgen said as a single word with his palms facing the former Prefect. 

"I'm... just... going to" he stepped backwards towards Galton's motionless form. "Help..." He knelt down besides Galton and checked for a pulse. Assuming that he felt the beat of his friend and roommate's heart he would bend lower and attempt to lift Galton up. It would not be very romantic, no cradled boy in Jürgen's arms. No, Galton was like a preppy backpack slung over a shoulder.

If successful, Jürgen would teeter under the weight of his friend. Galton's unconscious body would bump into every table, chair and somehow even a wall as Jürgen tried to carry Galton to safety away from Hugh and Dan.

The armored, masked Headmaster just wanted the reckless, destructive youth far away before he made another mess, murdered another person, cried stranger danger as a dangerously suggestive ploy for attention. @Dan Palmer was being expelled from the ballroom, away from the Headmaster but he was not headed to anyplace in particular. Just expelled from the chaos, in a place where the other students can defend themselves in the presence of the boy's lunacy.

Not that the boy deserved to be saved.

@Andrew Vance would rush into the very ballroom that most of the students were vacating. He would ask Dan if he was OK, but Dan was sliding away from the youth. An invisible force was drawing him away. The Headmaster made no additional move towards Dan, there was no need. Dan could tell the truth, spin it any way he wanted. It really did not matter. No matter how wild his imagination was, he was unlikely to stumble onto the truth. He did not want the truth, The knowledge that -- 



Andrew would pursue the Slytherin. It was a constant game of catch up for the boy. Oddly enough several months earlier, he could have been ahead. He could have been the very peril that they were fighting. Andrew was closer to death than he ever knew or could appreciate, had fate not interceded months earlier. It was the Blossom Ball, an older bully was going to force him to dance. An older bully that was collecting 'new friends' to share with the crones. Not that said bully knew these part-giant menaces, but the crones dirty fingers were marking many fates these past few months. None ended well. 

@Saskia Nicholson would also follow the boy as he glided out the door. Hobbling behind both Dan and Andrew with her chair crutch that creaked and wobbles as she followed. Her head was throbbing, she could feel the blood rush between her ears. Her brain might feel a bit tight in her skull. There was a slowly emerging goose egg emerging on her head. Her lips were bloodied and raw, her violent first-kiss ended anticlimactically and her aggressive paramour @Galton Lansdale was now face-down on the floor. 

The Headmaster did not go anywhere, he simply stood there in awe of the havoc. The children and Professors were more dangerous than the dead part-giants. How? He mouthed to himself. Even if he had an evil plan, it was likely more effective to leave the children in a locked room for a few hours, in all likelihood they would cannibalize one another and set the room ablaze. there would only be charred bones in their wake.

@Thora Larkston would follow Saskia as the young girl hobbled after Dan. It was like moths flying into a flame. The two girls would follow the boy out of the room as he made his dramatic exit.

A pair of dead giants, an unconscious youth that now felled everyone could safely ignore. Novus would leave. As he did so, the headmaster would call out to him. "Boy, I was wrong. Stick with the Americans." Whatever he meant by that would have to wait for another time. 

The girls would continue to follow Dan out of the ballroom. Concern for the backwards kidnapping where the kidnapper wanted his victim away from him. @Lamik Fillestar tried to verbally quell their fears claiming it was 'Lear' taking the boy away. That would have been ideal, the Headmaster actually being there. Perhaps things would have went differently if there was a different man in this armor that was terribly unlike Headmaster Plott to don. At the very least, the girls did not intervene.

@Katrina Walker was simply breaking down as she made it into the hall. This was supposed to be a nice, safe, fun dance. Maybe she would meet a boy, get kissed. If not, she got to feel like a princess for an evening in a pretty dress and jewelry. Instead the dress encumbered her movement, was easy to catch fire and the clunky jewelry and mounds of hair were hazards. Many of Katrina's friends had already run off, some for medical attention, others just left and still others were tending to other injured students.  

That only left @Jürgen Hess, an unconscious Galton, an infuriated Hugh Lowe and a handful of students that milled around still. Jürgen would let go of @Hugh Lowe, since he did not post... Jürgen would not die of blunt force trauma to his... everything. Jürgen would find a pulse when he checked Galton but it was running like a hummingbird. It buzzed beneath his fingertips.

Jürgen would try and lift Galton up from the floor. For a small guy, Galton weighed a lot. 

Jürgen Hess attempts to lift Galton Lansdale.
Strength Check: 6 + 4

Jürgen would fail to lift his housemate from the floor. Galton was just too full of candy. How the boy just wrestled a part giant is unknown. It might be a relief to some, a concern for others as a pair of eyes set behind a mask met young man and nodded. Considering the events this evening it was likely intimidating to see an armored man in a mask approach. The sound of the armor moving resembled the march of ten rather than one. He would kneel down and lift the boy (passive strength is beyond the DC, no roll needed). "Show me the way to the Medical Wing." No flamboyant gestures, no dramatic exit. "And everyone else, get out of here!" He shouted, there was a roughness to his tone. The sort that a tired, exasperated man would express. Two dead kids, a fire and some fights. For the love of Merlin, how is this castle even standing?


Dan would be expelled into the hall and then down the hallway. He would find that he stopped moving in front of the girls bathroom. He would nearly be pushed in. If he chose to fall in, none would be the wiser but the small flock of girls (and Andrew) chasing the boy, he might get the beating of his life. His back would nudge the door and then the force that compelled him this far from the ball would cease. Dan was safe, alive and not kidnapped yet.

RPing as: Saskia Nicholson

Mentions: None | Interactions: @Thora Larkston

Health: Almost knocked out but still standing
Status: Bleeding lips, smashed head, blinded by green sparks

Saskia gave an appreciative smile to the girl. "Thanks. Now let's go save your Quidditch Captain," she said, surprisingly lightheartedly for someone who was still in great pain. There was nothing better than relieving the tense atmosphere with a carefree statement, after all. After Thora's approval, the Hufflepuff made an attempt to pull the Slytherin's arm close to hers in order to support herself. It might have been pretty awkward for the both of them, but they didn't have much choice left. It was the best they could do for now, at least until the pain stopped.

"I hope this is okay, she mumbled, following Thora's direction to where the exit was. It was hard to process what was going on around her, with the head pain she had. It was easy to hear Thora's voice when it was so near her, but everything else was incomprehensible noise. Someone would have had to shout really loudly at her to get her attention- otherwise, it was difficult for her to notice them. She sincerely hoped there was no one else who wanted her attention, however. The two girls had something to do, and they needed to do it quick. Besides, it would have been hard for someone who was nearly concussed to do anything else at the moment. Her best bet would have been to focus on what needed to be done.

Actions: Exiting the ballroom with Thora to find Dan

Outfit: Dress | Mask | Shoes

Dan wasn't sure what happened. One minute he was going to interrogate Galton, the next minute, the gremlin child was unconscious, and the armored old man creeper named Headmaster Plott used some spell he never heard of to send him dragging out of the ballroom.
He'd kept going and going, and everything was happening so quickly he wasn't able to stop himself.

Panic started to rise in Dan. Where was that freak taking him? Images of a scary boy torture prison dungeon room flashed into his mind, and the panic increased. He tried to stop himself with his feet, but they just effortlessly slid along the smooth stone. He kept his arms off of his sides, so that if a rope trap were to spring, it would just wrap around his torso instead of his arms.

But, none came. To his great relief, there were no traps. However, he knew where he was. He knew the hall where he was still being dragged. When the spell stopped dragging him, he knew where he was, and the biggest panic of all struck him.

No no no no no no no no NO!!!!

He was at the entrance to the girls' bathroom. The Forbidden Zone. There was no WAY he could go in there. If he went into that evil, unholy place, the boy therapy required to recover from the trauma would be intense. Video games, Batman and Marvel comics, nachos, and watching gaming content on Youtube for DAYS would be required.
No way in hell.

Dan dug his toes as hard as he could on the floor, and tried to force himself to away from the doorway. He would not cross that threshold under any circumstances.

Action: Falling away from the doorway to the room forbidden for boys to enter.

Interactions: @Christopher Madson and @Serena Davies
Meantions: @Galton Lansdale

In spite of her best efforts, her possession of her bracelet was short lived as the mad little Gryffindor managed to pry it from her wrist, leaving little evidence that she'd even worn it aside from a couple makes from the object breaking free of her wrist and the slimy slobber of the boy who tore it off her like an animal. Perhaps if the situation were less dire, she'd feel the need to fight the boy over it, but now was hardly the time or place for something so trivial. If all she lost tonight was a silly piece of jewelry, then she'd count herself among the lucky.

Taking her place back at Serena's side to help Chris take her from the chaos, Illowy wrapped the other girl's arm around her shoulder, "Lets get out of this mad house. People are completely batshite mad." she spoke, taking a glance around them to try to pinpoint the best means of escape. She'd had quite enough of tonight. Her lungs were burning with a familiar sting, she desperately wanted a shower and even more desperately did she want to forget the gruesome things she had seen tonight; she was more then positive she would never look at a high heeled shoe the same way again.

In the deepest parts of her, she secretly hoped this whole night was simply some sort of deranged nightmare that she would soon wake from and promptly forget ever happened, even if she realistically knew this was nothing less that real life.

Reducio

Wardrobe: (sans mask, gloves and bracelet)

Andrew's ball attire (minus the mask)

"Dan!" Andrew's voice echoed in the hallway as he bolted through, skidding over to where @Dan Palmer was. "You alright?" Realizing where the both of them were situated, right in front of the Girls' Lavatory, Andrew didn't care if anyone saw them, considering that he and Dan could've had much worser fates than being shrieked at by a bunch of immature girls.

His concern was fixated on Dan. More specifically—"How's your feet? Nothing wrong with 'em?" He rattled off, maintaining all seriousness as he switched into doctor examination mode. "Pain? Bruises? No bones broken?" With the amount of broken glass and other debris scattered around the Ballroom, it would be a miracle if Dan's toes weren't cut or at least scuffed, even when gliding across the cobblestone hallway.

Then the anger would surface… The kind of anger that stems from hurt, whenever someone you care about puts themselves in dangerous situations, intentionally or not….

"What were you thinking?!" Andrew exclaimed in reprimand. He wasn't sure whether to feel awe or terror at Dan's heroism with the half-giant. How close Dan had brushed up with death, numerous times… No different than the fear that gripped him for Dan's safety during Quidditch games. "You could've got yourself killed!" It was pointless to be upset at Dan, now that the fight was over, but he couldn't help it, as the reality of what could've happened to himself, Dan – everyone – suddenly caved in on him. The fire, the half-giants… They could've all died in that room, if that fire hadn't been put out.. If the door hadn't been broken down…

Emotions he didn't know threatened to seep out as tears. Letting out a few shaky breaths, Andrew had to squeeze his misty eyes shut for the welling panic inside him to go away.

"Good thing that professor was there," he'd finally muster with relief, once his emotions were calmed down. After everything that had happened, Andrew was surprised his feet could still stand him upright without shaking. "Doubt you'd still be alive, if he didn't help you. But uh… Why the exit?" He'd raise a curious eyebrow at Dan.

Permission to godmod @Alan Noble granted
Mention @Ruthie Greer @Thora Larkston @Jorah Moussa

Status: Depth perception off (licked in eye), blinded by Green Sparks Spell.
Health: Full

Alan's Green Spark spell was able to be effective, however, it was too effective to the point that it caused many people near them got blinded by his spell. On the "bright side", Gris was not longer the only person who was totally blinded by this point but on the "down side", most people would have a harder time to find their exit to leave the ballroom.

"Alan! Are you ok? Can you hear me!?", Gris shouted as loud as she could and she felt someone's warm palm placed on her right shoulder, "Y-yes! I can hear you, Gris...I-I'm...", when his spell caused so many others blind including the person he tried to protect also got affected, Alan felt as if he failed her and was very dissapointed with himself. "I'm so sorry that I-", before he could continue to apologize, Gris immediately stopped him, "Alan, what you did was really brave and no one should blame you for the outcome, now come on! I think we should leave the ballroom right now!", Griseldis reached out to grab her Ravenclaw friend's hand and tried her best to rely on her hearing once again. Even though she really wanted to make sure Ruthie, Thora and Jorah were fine but at this point they had no time to waste. All she could do was to pray for their safety and hoped they already left the ballroom. What happened afterwards was not Griseldis's responsibility anymore, all she cared was to leave with her friend. Despite him also being blind at the moment, he trusted his Gryffindor friend without a single dount in his heart. Alan simply noded and responded her with a gentle squeeze of her hand. No words were needed anymore, only trust. Luckily, they were not that far away from the exit so based on hearing the direction of people's running footsteps she took Alan's hand and guided him to follow her to the doors.

Honestly, this was Griseldis's first time joining a ball in Hogwarts but the Masquerade party ended in a disaster. There wasn't a single moment of any fun but dread and panic. However, that didn't completely ruined Griseldis's mood, she turned to Alan and said, "Hey, Alan...once my eye is healed let's go to our usual spot at the lake and dance together?" Alan was surprised of what Griseldis just told him, he could feel his cheeks heaten up and was sure it turned red, now he was glad that they were blind so she couldn't see him blushing. "O-of course! We will save our dance for that day to come." he quickly replied with a smile.

Action: Griseldis took Alan with her to leave the ballroom

Eri lay still on the broken table. All the chaos was unknown to her. She was probably forgotten by everyone since getting rid of the fire and the Giants was more of a concern at that moment. There was a little bit of blood dripping from a cut on the back of her head, but other than that she would live. Hopefully her brothers were looking for her.

Ethan windstone had been at the masquerade ball when everything happened. Though being a 5th year he was quite used to everything going wrong. Last year's dance was a huge fire and once again another fire, but this time there were two half Giants blocking the door so nobody could leave.  Ethan knew that eventually the door would be broken and the Giants would be taken care of so he needed to find his younger sister, who had either had a panick attack and passed out or was trying to take on the Giants. 

After searching for a while Ethan found the small form of his little sister unconscious on a broken table. From what he could tell she had a few cuts and scrapes and a cut on the back of her head from the fall, but she looked fine. He just needed to get her out of there. So he carefully picked up the small girl and hurried out of the ball room and towards the hospital wing.

Eri and Ethan left the thread