The Drowned Palace Group 9

Door nine looked just as ominous as all the others in the small hall but it had been made clear that only it would allow his group inside. Group he mocked shallowly to himself, the so called group was made up mostly of SNOG members who undoubtedly shared his lack of thrill for the confined space. Then there was Siobhan, a welcome sight at any point in his life, but when paired with her lapdog lackies he would be gaining no favour by interacting with her.

How he wished that Alphonse had joined him, he understood the lions need to be with his beaux, well actually he didn't, at least not fully, but he tried to. Seemingly everyone these days was cracking on with romantic notions while he still only sought such comforts in the classic books of literary genius. Still, at least if Alphonse had been here they could have jibed at Sio for her taste in suitors, without him, he was sure to receive quite the nasty hex. No Matthew had naively agreed to go to fill out the numbers, but he didn't realise quite how venomous the group would turn out.

The only relative stranger of the group was Sio's primary 'date', of course they had discussed him in private but he had never actually been acquainted. Matt fidgetting uncomfortable decided he should keep his distance, he had ruined far too much in Sio's life already, better not to make a habit. Pressing forward as the first to enter the room Matthew waited for the others until the door would slam and the room fill with a sea verdant light. The algae itself was beautiful and reminded him of the seaweed he would encounter on his swimming trips to Loch Lomond. The boy had always been more familiar with the water than with conversation. The way it robbed you of all noise but itself, quieting every damning thought.

Well, at least the whole night might not be so bad after all then. Watching the algae writhe in formation he spoke softly, "lumos" and approached what looked to be words. Seeing the pattern it looked to him something akin to sheet music or poetry. Then when a delicate voice began to sing he listened carefully searching the lyrics for riddle or clue. As a silence fell over the room Matthew looked back towards the algae and with the words swirling in his head he meekly spoke up not wanting to draw attention to himself but unable to resist a good escape room. "I think we need to continue the song, there may be words in the algae or we may have to make our own. Either way we're being led to the dungeons."

His final intonation was the definition of despair as discomfort laced around the word. Matthew had no good memories associated with the place, from mysterious clues leading him down into the dark to duels with a pureblood the place was not a welcome invitation. Plus something about them had always felt off, like more than just cobwebs trailed the walls down there, which certainly hadn't helped when Gideon had laid a trap for him. Regardless it was clear that the boy was unenthused and any hopes that the evening may turn out fun were quickly dashed.

Free Action: Announcing my theory to the group
Moderated Action: Investigating the algae sequence using lumos for better light
_________________________________________________
Inventory: Wand | Antidote to Uncommon Poisons | Revive Potion | Locksmith's Knife
Stats: STA: 8 | EVA: 10 | STR: 1 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 9 | ACC: 10
Abilities: Calming Presence | Prodigal DADA | Healing Sage
Group: @Prat Pass, @Remedy Norden-Alptraum, @Siobhan McCarty, @Odilon Wilde & @Atlas Anderson

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FEARLESS | LOVELY CREATURE | EVASIVE MANUEVERS

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Door Nine.

Even before stepping in, Prat could sense how unpleasant this one was going to be. Ominous, perhaps even cursed judging by the sheer vibe and aura the door gave off. A bad omen wrapped in a facade. or perhaps the chaos emanated from the company.

His life recently was already quiet the downhill, what made this day effectively worse, however, wasn't the door or the stifling quiet sounds. It was the list of names on the board outside.

His group. Remedy, Matthew, Atlas, Odilon and....Siobhan.

Of all people.

He didn't know what vile acts he'd committed in past lives to deserve this exact combination of chaos and discomfort, but fate clearly had a twisted sense of humor as it tugged at the strings of his life. Remedy was fine, actually quite great to be around for the brief company they'd enjoyed. He could deal with her. Odilon was tolerable, once considered a friendly face, now needed more introspection on where they stood.

But Siobhan? What it was with her, was different. Raw, unfinished business. One he wasn't sure if he had the gall to finish said business at all or desert his standing and find greener pastures.

Whatever fragile connection he'd been building with her had dissolved by now. The apology attempt, the staged duel, the attempt to hold a conversation with her. Every move he'd made only seemed to push her further away. She hadn't forgiven him yet, perhaps he hadn't tried hard enough yet. He doubted she ever would. Yet, the sting of her silence whenever they ended up in the same room, same class, still burrowed deep within.

And here they were again, the irony of their predicament hadn't escaped him.

He glanced towards the rest of the group, Matt, Atlas, Odi. Giving them a curt nod. There was a brief sense of relief at seeing the familiar faces of the two vipers, even if Prat hadn't been the best of a friend to either of them and had lacked in keeping up with either of them properly in days. Too many obligations, too little time. The boy was stretched thin between clubs, duelling, Quidditch, and the upcoming things he was required to plan.

Atleast he had a date.

The Remedy Norden-Alptraum. Durmstrang's own brand of sharpness, beauty and menace all now roped into one. He remembered how she carried herself with poise back during her slytherin days. He found it oddly compelling. Asking her to the ball had been a spur-of- the moment decision for the captain. Equal parts self preservation and escapism. He'd spotted her across the field during a sporting event and believed it best to shoot his shot.

Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't about jealousy, not really. Siobhan couldn't even see him or anyone he brought there even if she wanted to. But there was something strangely satisfying about the thought that it might reach her hear later. The way gossip traveled between houses and students was unreal. A petty thought, maybe?

The sound of the door sliding shut snapped Prat back to attention, back to the present. Darkness swallowed the surroundings. For a moment, his hand twitched towards his wand, but he waited, adjusting his eyes to the new setting. A greenish glow began to pulse faintly from walls, algae, of all things; spelling out half formed words he wasn't quite sure about.

Then followed the humming, low at first, like the vibration of a bass note. A voice joined in, slow, haunting melody that seemed to crawl beneath their skin if he wasn't him. It was eerie, but more so it felt invasive, like it would search his brain inside for something if he'd allow.

Following Matt's lead, Prat raised is wand and muttered the same charm.

"Lumos"

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[ sta ] 06 [ eva ] 09 [ str ] 06 [ wis ] 07 [ arc ] 07 [ acc ] 10 | Casting Lumos at Algae + In Trunk [Fire Breathing Potion, Revive Potion & Black Fire Potion]

@Remedy Norden-Alptraum, @Siobhan McCarty, @Odilon Wilde @Atlas Anderson

4th of October 2025 | The Drowned Palace, Fall Ball
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The duration of the Norden heiress' return to Hogwarts after her abrupt transition to Trier, Germany had actually gone rather swimmingly much to the girl's surprise, and strangely it was a welcome reprieve to be back in familiar waters.

Initially, Remedy had expected old wounds to reopen upon revisiting her brooding cousin, Avery Leveret, and friends of the former, but the trip had been devoid of anguish. Perhaps the gentle coddling of her adoptive mother Xailah was to thank for Remedy's newfound ability to keep her head above churning waters—or maybe it was the rekindling of friendship between Prat and the Durmstrang girl that provided a welcome distraction.

Following the little sporting skirmish where the Viper had kindly invited Remedy as a date a few days before the Enchanted Depths Ball, the former-Vipress' mind and time had been occupied by the Captain as they made up what was lost time. Their interactions and engagements were unfortunately rather slim predating Remedy's abrupt transfer to Durmstrang Institute, but Prat had always been regarded highly in her esteem nevertheless. Only a fool would deny he was an accomplished student, of good stock, and daresay charming in his own way. Despite his occasional wandering gaze, Remedy couldn't help but be lured by Prat's nonchalant demeanor, and a seed of hope lingered that they'd connect further before her inevitable departure from Scotland.

Then, there was Atlas, Matthew, Siobhan, and Odilon.

Besides her former Quidditch mate, Atlas Anderson, none of the following individuals truly piqued the former-Vipress' attention. Matthew, her former fellow Slytherin, was among the rest of Hogwarts' student body that Remedy didn't engage beyond some drunken Slytherin House shenanigans. There was Siobhan—a blind Gryffindor whom the Alptraum girl recalled only ever seeing in hysterically crying for reasons beyond Remedy's knowledge, though the white-haired boy named Odilon who accompanied Siobhan at the ball would remain completely unfamiliar.

While the Alptraum girl had no true inkling of the strange tides churning between her and her group, the blood—metaphorically speaking, for now anyway—in the water was hard to ignore. Rogue waters made for prime feeding grounds for drama, but as luck would have it, Remedy was a fairly decent swimmer.

Behind the now-closed Door Nine, the tumultuous energy hung even thicker now upon the black shroud, eerie humming, echoing song, and green-hued glow. Instinctively, Remedy found herself sticking by Prat's side from fear of the dark, but moved away once the light from both Prat and Matthew’s wands illuminated the darkness and her insatiable curiosity lulled her elsewhere and explore.

Ahead were outlines of various furniture, and her own wand would illuminate with Bluebell flames after casting a swift "Caeruleus Inflamarae" to examine the crevices for anything useful.
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@Prat Pass, @Siobhan McCarty, @Odilon Wilde, @Matthew Campbell, & @Atlas Anderson
[ stats ] sta 8 | eva 13 | str 0 | wis 10 | arc 8 | acc 12
[ abilities ] statistically relevant
[ actions ] casting Bluebell flames, searching furniture

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Stats: sta 6 ⊹ eva 8 ⊹ str 7 ⊹ wis 7 ⊹ arc 7 ⊹ acc 7 | Time: An Enchanted Evening| CC:#2E8B57
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Siobhan had been enjoying the ball thus far and was intrigued to see what the escape room had to offer. She’d done one in the muggle setting for a birthday party, long ago but had yet to see how they worked in the wizarding world.

Odi had been a splendid date to the event so far and of course they were paired together. Matthew was joinig them and so was a Durmstrang girl whom Siobhan had met once before but never really interacted with, Remedy Norden-Alptraum. The former Slytherin girl did not seem enthusiastic to see her and Siobhan knew it was likely just because they hadn’t been close when Remedy had been enrolled at Hogwarts.

The thorn in Siobhan’s side however, was Remedy’s date. Prat had somehow found himself as a member of their escape group but it sounded and felt like he was uncomfortable as they moved into the first of the rooms together as a group. Her hand was intertwined with Odi’s, feeling secure and safe among her lion escort for the night.


Of all people truly… The way he’d attempted an apology for the way he had treated her in the astronomy tower was a choice- He’d staged a duel between them to “talk” but lied about how he wanted to talk to her which led to more fighting. She was sick of it honestly-

she just wanted her friend back.


But besides the point they had a game to play. The eerie sound of a lake dweller’s voice crooned to them with a riddle, and from the words spoken amongst her teammates to keep the whole group updated, there seemed to be writing on one of the walls that was concealed behind… something.

Siobhan’s hand grazed lightly against the wall as she finally let go of Odi’s hand and rummaged for her wand. She heard the soft casting of several spells, with a bright illumination from two wands, Matt and Prat, and the sound of Remedy casting a spell for bluebell flames simply for light.

The heat in the room was borderline unberable.

Siobhan went a different route. With her wand she spone towards her group.


”I’d like to try a revealing charm. Its possible the missing words are hidden behind this muck on the wall. If someone would redirect me-“ Siobhan spoke in her own enchanted lilt as she was turned in the direction of the words. With her wand a short “Revelio” Siobhan waited with bated breath to hear whether her words had done something for her team.


[quote]Inventory:
- Several flowers
-Wand
- Burn Healing Paste

Action:
Using Revelio to try and reveal the words behind the Algae

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The door sealed behind him with a finality that made Atlas pause mid-step. The darkness that followed after the shut door wasn't just dim, it felt extremely heavy, as if it was meant to be alive. He stood quietly, waiting for his eyes to adjust, and the present scent felt like something earthy, which was either moss or lake weed. A soft green glow flickered from the walls and as it pulsed, it cast a shifting shadow that moved and mimicked the movement of breathing. The young boy exhaled slowly, his posture straightened as he stepped further into the room—the algae filaments along the walls writhed gently, perhaps forming something similar to a shape or another cryptic shape that the figures present in the room did not know of.

"Lumos!"

A ray of hope appeared... followed by another, which both voices aren't any form of illusion to him. It was Matthew and Prat! Trouble seems to always find him with Prat specifically and when he enunciated the spell, Atlas rolled his eyes because he knew better than to trust that chaos would not unfold on this day, especially with him around. With extra light being conjured, he also met the person he embarrassed himself with and spoke an unknown language due to his drink being spiked (?) he could not remember the contents at all. Siobhan stood apart, she was very grounded, and she cast Revelio.

The former prefect offered a nod as a form of agreement and acknowledgement; he didn't utter any word because these chaotic students he encountered before seem to like silence and less chattering, except for Matt. And then there was a sound that sent chills through his spine. It felt like something that was best left asleep.

The song began

The low, strange, and almost mournful sound began. The voices curled around like whispers of a mist that threaded the algae's glow and the hum vibrated and the former prefect felt it in his chest, the resonance that made him almost struggle to catch his breath. He stepped towards one of the walls and narrowed his eyes.

"Hm, let's see. I better not die with any of you, especially him..." He signaled at Prat while raising his 27.9 cm willow wood and snallygaster heartstring wand and softly enunciated, "Accio: Clues!" He waited, hoping the spell he had cast was helpful and would aid in finding the clues to this mystery they had to uncover.

Action: Casting Accio and summoning any clue within the room
STATISTICS
sta • 10 | eva • 11| str • 0 | wis • 8 | arc • 7 | acc • 11
ABILITY
— Evasive Maneuvers
— Prodigal Charms
INVENTORY
— Antidote to Common Poisons, Cure for Boils, Bruise Removal Paste, Burn Healing Paste
& Wand.
MENTIONS
— @Remedy Norden-Alptraum, @Siobhan McCarty, @Odilon Wilde, @Prat Pass, @Matthew Campbell

. . .

❦ ❦ ❦

. . .

Trailing his fingers along the board that bore the group names on it, Odi’s index digit found his name along with the others among his party under ‘Group 9’. He tapped the board gently and raised his eyebrows at the rest of his troupe as they soldiered onto their door.

Before setting off, something of a compulsion came over him, and stealing a glance behind him, he considered trying one of the other groups' doors just for posterity. The doors were most likely enchanted, but perhaps it would be worth a shot. Just then however, he felt the warmth of Siobbhan’s hand in his. Best behaviour. He said to himself in his head. Don’t mess this up Odi.

It was a little sobering to be in a group that was half made up of strangers. It was a relief to have Prat alongside him as… Well, not moral support, but a familiar face at least. If anything that was preferable. Siobbhan’s gentle encouragement since Odi had met her was already making him somewhat disquieted. It was almost like he had constructed a mask with a kindly smile upon it, and all he could do was pray that she wouldn’t see the ugliness underneath.
He shook off the thought and looked at Prat’s date. She was pretty. Pureblood like Prat from the vaguely haughty look on her countenance, with long black hair that fell past her shoulder. He hadn’t heard much of her yet, but he knew the family name. Alptraum. They were a well-to-do brood from Germany, if his memory served him right. Odi instinctively put a hand to his hair, praying she wouldn’t put two and two together and think less of him for his own background.

His eyes glossed over Atlas Anderson, another Slytherin boy who was yet a mystery to him, but Odi found his gaze was caught by the last of their number. Fidgeting in the corner as though he were in distress, Matthew Campbell seemed to have glanced across at just the right time for Odi to meet his stare. Odi’s eyes narrowed infinitesimally. He didn’t know this one, and in truth he wasn’t sure that he’d like to. Nonetheless, the dark pools of his eyes drank in the discomforted boy with suspicion. I see you. He thought, as though trying to communicate the message telepathically.

But there were more pressing matters at hand. Stepping into the dusk of room 9, Odi instantly pricked up his ears at the sound of song drifting through the quarters. It was a soothing lull that turned Odi’s senses to putty for a brief moment till it stopped. His eyes narrowed again. Siren song perhaps? No, the waters around here were too chilly for that. Merfolk? Odi let out a soft hum in unison with the disembodied voice- Just quietly at first while he got used to the structure of the melody.
“Do you lot hear that?”

Prat and Matt seemed to have found themselves a worthy distraction. Lighting their wands, they were advancing towards the algae blooms which littered the wall. Even in the dim light, it was clear that their interest had merit. The patterns on the other wall couldn’t be coincidental. They were almost uniform, almost…

It seemed Siobbhan had come to the same conclusion, since she turned to the group and announced her intention to cast a revealing charm on the stone. “Here, let me help.”Odi said gently, guiding her hand so that the tip of her wand lightly grazed the stone. “Just ahead of you here.”
All of a sudden, there was an audible sigh, and the singing continued again. It was strange, there was almost something missing from the song, as though the verse hadn’t quite finished. From the breast pocket of his robes, Odi saw Glubgus poke his little green head out curiously, his orb-like eyes blinking in the gloom.

Odi pointed his wand at the little amphibian, focusing on the song he had heard moments ago. “Sorry bud, you’re a better singer than me. Cantis!”

Action: Casting Cantis on Glubgus to have him sing along with the disembodied voice
Free action: Guiding Siobhan and talking
Inventory: Glubgus the Toad, Locksmith's knife, Herbicide potion
Stats: Stamina: 5 |Evasion: 6 | Strength: 8 | Wisdom: 5 | ArcPower: 8 | Accuracy: 8
Part Veela | Broken Broomshaft

@Atlas Anderson @Siobbhan McCarty @Remedy Norden-Alptraum @Prat Pass @Matthew Campbell

MOD POST - GROUP 9

The room was lit up in light. Three separate lights, an unnecessarily large amount of light for the small room they were all crammed into. One light would have done just fine. Nonetheless, @Matthew Campbell would find his wand lighting up brightly, and @Prat Pass' wand would do the same. @Remedy Norden-Alptraum would spawn some pretty blue flames that, while fitting nicely with the atmosphere, would help them very little, though it allowed them to see the door that they had entered through, faded and hidden in the wall. The door was not locked - there was no door. None of the crew would be leaving for the dungeons, nor would they be leaving whatsoever, it was an escape room, after all.

While the light enlightened them to the door, the algae seemed to shrink from it, sliding back and blending into the foliage of the wall. The words, barely visible before, were now altogether unnoticeable. No, this algae thrived in darkness.



@Siobhan McCarty would cast a well-timed and well-cast revelio, and the algae seemed to grow brighter and sharper, allowing him to read the words - sort of. The algae seemed confused, whether to hide from the light or come out to the revelio, and each word seemed to make up its own mind, half of them choosing to rebel from the light, half choosing to spark under the revelio.

and xxxxxxxxxxxxx search, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx through xxxxxx is xxxxxxxxxxx so xxx timexxx you

Her own blindvision allowed her to understand the rest of the words, although the rest of her crew shared no such luck

Only Siobhan can see these words.


Moments after casting Accio, @Atlas Anderson would find a old red leather-bound book flying off the shelves toward him. "Whispers of the Shells" by Coral Ocean. Strange book. Stranger name. Who would name their child "Coral Ocean." A date is written on the right corner, the first letter glowing strangely: 1934. The book feels worn and has clearly been read many, many times.

@Odilon Wilde's frog certainly wasn't appreciative of its owner choosing to attempt to make him sing, but thankfully for the poor frog, the spell never made it out of his wand, and the frog was safe once more.

The algae continued to give off the same eerie light, and the song kept on playing, on repeat, as if tempting them to find a way to either continue this "riddle" and figure out the next steps, or plainly taunting them to make it stop at some point, since it was getting quite draining to hear it over and over again.

Rolls
Do tell me if I messed up! Moderating is hard!

From darkness to blinding light, the group were clearly counter intuitive to each others success. As Matthews wand began to glow so to did Prats washing the room in searing white light that only seemed to scare the algae as it cowered back deeper into the stone like mossy tendrils slipping back into the dark. Clearly the bright ideas they had hoped had failed and like most things in Hogwarts this solution would require them to toe the line of the dark. A place Matthew would most certainly not wish to be when surrounded by 3 snakes, albeit one defanged, and the lovers duo. No Matt could not truly think of literally anywhere else he wouldn't prefer.

Still, the game was now afoot and the quicker it got moving the quicker he could flee back to the more comforting companionship of Isa. A place where he wasn't pinned in judgemental stare by Prince Odilion. Given Matt's thus far failure to help he found himself quietly incanting "nox" with even less enthusiasm than he had mustered before. Certainly he was the odd one out, other than Siobhan he couldn't exactly believe any of these people to be friends and she was busy. Pompous date or not, she deserved to enjoy herself and he would be damned if he robbed her of anything else.

Having distinguished his light he sent a warning glance to Prat but, no doubt, found him to have been already doing the same. Prat wasn't exactly an enemy, he was a teammate, he was not unkind and he seemed to try to care. But the Slytherin rooming charts hadn't only dismayed him by being trapped with Aamon, the new Prat/Archer duo room gave him just as much trouble. So as unfortunate as it was to group them together, Matt would find no comfort from his presence, assuming that in the tireless battle of Matthew Campbell versus Archer Duncan, he was firmly in the opposing camp. Averting his curt gaze quickly to avoid it being seen by Prat, and spurring up unnecessary retaliation, he moved his pensive eyes to the algae.

Watching in the dark as it thrives once more he moved as close as possible and tried once more to make sense of it's cryptic clue.

Free Action: Investigation the algae more intently.
Moderated Action: Extinguishing the lumos using Nox
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Inventory: Wand | Antidote to Uncommon Poisons | Revive Potion | Locksmith's Knife
Stats: STA: 8 | EVA: 10 | STR: 1 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 9 | ACC: 10
Abilities: Calming Presence | Prodigal DADA | Healing Sage
Group: @Prat Pass, @Remedy Norden-Alptraum, @Siobhan McCarty, @Odilon Wilde & @Atlas Anderson

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Stats: sta 6 ⊹ eva 8 ⊹ str 7 ⊹ wis 7 ⊹ arc 7 ⊹ acc 7 | Time: An Enchanted Evening| CC:#2E8B57
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Even Siobhan's eyes were struggling with the light casted by her friends as the blurry mess of algae moved around in twistable ways. It seemed that like herself, the poor plant was also struggling with the light and very much wanted to get away from it. She moved her wand and its spell followed with it, as the algae began to reveal itself to her.

"Does anyone see this?" She asked excitedly. Ironic because she couldn't see what was revealing itself but she could try to help. The algae didn't seem harmful, so she felt comfortable placing her fingers against it.

There were far more words this time then there had been a few minutes ago. She could feel it. Surprisingly she was able to read them and she gently used her finger to trace some of the letters. The words were prescribing some kind of treasure hunt that needed to be completed of some sort. Siobhan's face then broke into a focused grin as she finished at the end of the new words and moved back to the beginning. It was amazing to feel as though she was contributing as much as the other kids in the room with her.

"Everyone shhh- Listen, the algae has new information over here! We have to find our way out of this room soon or else. It's listening words." Siobhan stated firmly as she pulled her teammates into a focus. If they didn't stop goofing off with the Lumos spells, the algae was going to receed completely before she could read it.

The words I can make out are... 'your', 'treasure', 'Fail,' 'stays' 'so' 'do' and 'The'" Siobhan mentioned. She hoped someone had been paying attention. The words were hardly there and she was struggling to find the algae with her fingers.

"Did anyone else find a clue that might help us? We should be looking for anything that might contain the words that are in or around these walls. What else is in the room?" Siobhan asked as she turned her back towards the room.

As Siobhan's teammates continued to think, she turned back to the algae.

"Have you given us all your secrets? Revelio..." Siobhan asked one more time, just to see if anything would reveal itself to her.

[quote]Inventory:
- Several flowers
-Wand
- Burn Healing Paste

Action:
Using Revelio to try and reveal the words behind the Algae once again.

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