SECRET SANTA OPEN MASS THREAD

Angel had slipped over into the quiet corner of the library, seeking a quiet hour in the midst of the shelves, which smelled of paper, ink, and time. When I withdrew an old novel from the row, a strange, thin, delicate thing, dust-covered as it was, it fluttered and dropped to the floor. Curiosity made her descend to get it. It was a cream-colored letter, with a slight smattering of wear upon the edges, and bound by a folded flap. It was not written on it, but some part of it made it very inviting in a way that someone was meant to discover it. Angel, having taken a breath of relief, opened the envelope. It was a very clean and cursive handwritten letter that was full of love. The letter informed about some hidden Santa activity that was set to happen the following day in the afternoon and was beckoning the finder to join it. The author discussed how much it is so pleasant to give, how many surprises can be discovered in the present, and how easy it is to be happy even in the simplest way possible, just by putting a smile on some other person in the run-up to Christmas. It made her heart beat to read it; she had always loved the holidays with their sparkling lights and the fresh air and the glow that appeared to rest over people at this season. But most of all she liked the thought of making someone have a good day without any payback; the place was spelled out with a capital, and the date too, and there was a nice little note, too, which said, "In case you discovered this, perhaps you were supposed to. Her eyes brightened as she read the words. Angel, without even a thought, stowed the letter with the same gentleness into the envelope and put it in her pocket. Her heart palpitated with excitement, and she was going to leave the library very quickly and with a light footstep. What she would find there, who she would surprise—she did not know—but she knew she would like to be there. So, with her pretty thoughts, she ran into the place of the letter to bestow a little of the holiday bliss.

WC: 383

I leave potions class after a particularly hard lesson, I enjoyed it but I'd do anything to find a quiet spot to rest a little finally. I walk around the big castle looking for a quiet spot somewhere in the corridors or maybe an empty unused classroom, I didn't want to return to the common room just yet, I like it there but I would love someplace with less chatter for now. after a while walking, I find myself in an almost empty corridor, I find the nearest empty classroom and sit there, I take out a book about magical creatures I had borrowed earlier to read, time passes and I lose myself in the book, reading is my favourite hobby after all, I can learn anything and go anywhere just by gazing at some words, such a magical thing is reading, perhaps as magical as Hogwarts, I wonder if muggles like experiencing magic through books too, I'm sure they do, why else would they have a whole genre called fantasy, they would be baffled if they learn it actually exists. The sound of footsteps in the corridor send me back to reality, what time is it now? The footsteps seem to linger every few seconds, I wait for the sound to fade before leaving the classroom, I immediately see a ton of letter envelopes magically glued to the wall, I look at one of them and curiosity takes the best of me, as I reach to one of the envelopes, they were put with the intent of being read anyway, I open the envelope and read quietly "Secret santa?", that would be fun to do, boredom has been killing me lately, so what better thing to do than think about the prefect gift for someone, I walk the rest of my way thinking of what gifts will I give.

WC: 310

It was very cold that day, Zephyr pulled on his sweater and wrapped his scarf twice around his neck, before stepping out of the dorm with a sigh. The castle was freezing. He could see his breath right away, it was floating like smoke. Rubbing his hands together as he walked down the corridor, he thought December at Hogwarts really bites. For now, he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking, but then something on the wall caught his eye. A letter. Then another. Then another, dozens of them. Students were passing by, some ignoring them completely, while others slowed down to read the strange message written at the top. “What… is this?” He glanced down the hallway, half expecting someone to be watching, hiding, or laughing somewhere close by. He didn’t know what was going on…

Out of curiosity, he picked up one of the letters and turned it over in his hands. He unfolded it and read to himself, just to make sure he didn't misread it. Secret Santa? Mischief 2.0? “Okay…so… I get paired with someone, and I have to give them a gift.” It sounded fun, but also stressful. He's not exactly the most outgoing person. Giving gifts to people he didn’t know very well could be tricky. On the other hand, it was something small and simple. Nothing dangerous and scary. Maybe I can try?

He folded the letter back up carefully and slipped it into his pocket. "Let’s see then... hopefully this is going to be a good one.” He straightened up and started walking toward the noticeboard where the letters were posted. He didn’t know exactly what would happen next, but he was curious, and that was enough to push him forward.

Edith slunk to her next class, History of Magic. Despite that being her favorite class, nothing could lift her spirits. The mood was depressing. Even the coats of armor seemed sad. She still had seven minutes to be in class, and her classroom was only a corridor away. Edith yawned and took another step forward. And another.

Then she jumped up suddenly. There was water! Her now soggy foot had stepped into a great big puddle. Edith sighed. Would she have time to run to her dormitory and change her socks? It seemed doubtful. She stooped down to re-tire her laces even tighter so that she wouldn't feel the wetness.

Then, as she was crouching, Edith spotted a small bit of paper sticking out from the legs of one of the suits of armor. Leaving her shoelace untied, Edith crawled over and slit the paper out. It was slightly damp, but in all, fairly intact.

Only a bit was ripped off while Edith was trying to take it from the slit in the armor's leg. The writing was very slightly faded, though still readable. Hands fumbling, Edith opened the tiny scroll of paper made from rich, thick parchment.

It was an invitation to Secret Santa! Was this meant for her, she wondered, or did she find it by accident? Did someone leave it there? Edith turned the scroll around, and read the name printed in tiny letters. EDITH WALKERS. So it was hers.

I walked slowly along the corridor, trying to bury my hands in my (non existent) pockets on my uniform. Hogwarts was so cold in the winter, that, for the first time, I could say that non-magical life was better in one aspect - central heating systems.
At that moment, my bag fell off, the stuff in it going all over the floor. When I examined the strap of it, I saw that it had ripped. Usually, I would try to sew it up using colourful thread, but today I decided to use a spell, as what was the point in learning lots of interesting things, if I didn’t use them every so often.
I picked up the bag, before picking my wand up off the floor, and pointing it at my bag.
“Please don’t explode”, I whispered, doubting myself, before I drew a backwards G in the air with my wand, “reparo”
Thankfully, the spell worked first time, and, now that my bag was fixed, I picked up all of my stuff to put back in it.
Just as I leant over to pick up my precious notebook, I felt something lightly fall on my head. I reached up to grab it, and examined it.
It was a letter, which, when I opened it talked about a secret Santa at Hogwarts.
Secret Santa sounded like a particularly fun thing to do to enjoy December, providing, of course, the person getting me a gift wasn’t as horrible as Anja at my old school, who gifted me a dead mouse that she’d found on the street.
Finally, I stood up, and tucked the letter securely away in my bag - this was going to be a fun Christmas!

WC -287

It is now time for the owl's to be delivered.
The Mischief 2.0 were having a meeting and assigning people to people. @Lily Clarke had been watching everyone and so had our deputy spy @Joseph Sims.
They reported back to all about who took the bait and now they were deciding to pair people up and get this event started!
All the players got letters through owls delivered to them on the early morning of the 15th with the name of the person they have to gift. They found a note that they had to leave their presents in a classroom(the location of which was given, it was not a usual everyday classroom, it was their spot) by the 24th.
@Natasha Jones and @Cane Gordon delivered and inked these letters. While, Madeline, @Althea Grey and @Isabella Dín, looked over to make sure everything went as planned.

OOC NOTE:
All of the participants have recieved owl with the name of ppl they have to gift, make sure to read the instructions in the sign-up thread and PLEASE, do deliver the gifts!
Follow all rp rules and most of all!!
Have fun!

Participants:

Reducio

@Adora Fletching@Edith Walkers@Angel O'Connor@Harumi Everdane@Zephyr Deakin@Mirada Johnson

Harumi had finally finished preparing her gift, she had wrapped it and everything was ready, now onto the next part, leaving it in the classroom!

She woke up early that day, unlike her usual, she checked on the wrapped box twice while getting ready for the day ahead, she had decided to finish all her homework before the break to be able to spend the break freely, so she packed her satchel full with the books, she will go to the library after she delivers the gift, she wanted to put the gift box in her satchel as well but there was no way she could fit it inside without something breaking, whether the gifts in the box or the several fragile quills in her satchel. Finally, she decided against putting the gift box in her satchel and decided to hide it in one of her robes on the journey to the classroom, then stuff the robe into her satchel later, she might need to hold a few books in her arm that way, but that's a sacrifice she's willing to make.

After being ready, she hid the gift box using the robe, she tried her best to make it look normal, but that's as normal as it will get. She quickly slipped out from the dorms and to the common room, and finally to the corridors. it's 7:12, so breakfast should have already started, however Harumi doubts anyone is there yet, she hopes she doesn't encounter anyone on her way to the classroom, mainly because she looks like she's doing something suspicious however much she tried to look normal.

Finally at the classroom she carefully places the box on a desk, there was no one there, she also didn't encounter anyone on her way here, thankfully, before exiting the classroom she stuffs the robe into her satchel, she had to take out a few books to hold though, she didn't mind though, and finally she heads to breakfast while smiling.

Word count: 331

[quote]Zephyr woke up when something tapped softly against the window. At first, he thought it was just the wind, but then he heard the owl make an annoyed sound. He sat up quickly, almost tripping over his blanket, and went to open the window. The owl held out its leg with a letter tied to it.

He took the letter and sat on the edge of his bed. He knew what it was about, the Secret Santa thing. He joined without thinking too much, just because he was curious. He finally opened it and the name written there was familiar yet he didn’t know the person well. They’re classmates alright and same year level, regardless if he talked to them before or not, he always makes it a point to remember his classmates’ names.

He didn’t rush the gift because he didn’t want to get something random just to finish the task. He thought about what the person might actually like, did some research and decided on something simple and useful. Besides, he didn’t have much money, so the best way was to make something instead.

He got the gift with a little bit of help, it was the note that was the hard part. He didn’t want to say too much so he kept it short but thoughtful. On the day, he went to the place they were told to use, placed the box down and adjusted the ribbon.

He just hoped this is okay and that the person would like it. Then he left, not waiting to see what would happen.