Quidditch Stands || Secret Blossom Ball Event

Interacting with @Pericles Dralt, @Piérre Marchonné
Mentioning @Ruby Cazares
Action: Arrived from Main Area

Margo mounted the stairs slowly, tripping every once in a while due to her lack of sight. Every time she stumbled, she felt a small item shift in her boot, reprimanding her for not being as bold about gift giving as she was about everything else. She should have given Ruby her bracelet as soon as she saw her, just like the boys gave their dates corsages as soon as they arrived. But Margo was not a Gryffindor, and whilst she aimed to be brazen, she was prone to overthinking simple gestures. Just like she was unafraid to admit her wariness of the darkness. How could hundreds of candles encased in bubbles suddenly die? No student had the capability to do so, and no member of staff would wish to cause unnecessary panic and miss a chance at reprimanding them all. No, this was not the intentional work of a Hogwartian, and Margo only hoped that it was just an organiser’s magic gone wrong.

Finally picking out some figures in the stands by the stairs, Margo allowed herself a small smile of relief. She was not alone. Unfortunately, the buzzing in her ears had not gone, and her teeth worried at her lip, anxious for her sanity. Darkness wasn’t supposed to make you hear strange noises, especially since she prided herself on having good hearing. Thankfully, Margo was distracted from her worries by a voice from above.

Practically jumping out of her skin, she grabbed an arm that felt like Ruby’s and turned her gaze skyward. But wait. She knew that voice. It was Pierre, and he was either extremely adept at wandless magic or flying on a broomstick. “Oi, you scared the life out of me. I’ve had enough of sounds in the dark for one day.” She called out to him. However, Pierre’s words reassured her in a way that his presence did not. She hadn’t thought of the extinguished candles being planned. Maybe they were just preparing for a firework display or something.

Pericles, ever the knowledgable one, was quick to contradict this theory. He wanted them to fly in the dark all the way back to the castle. Margo was pretty certain she was being logical when she thought it seemed more dangerous to leave than stay where they were. And she was quick to say so. “Personally, I wouldn’t want to fly with all the candles and who knows what else above. We wouldn’t be able to see where we’re going and therefore couldn’t help anyone who fell.”

She tried not to let any fear seep into her words. She was being perfectly logical - being scared of heights had nothing to do with it. Besides, a little darkness never hurt anybody... right?

Reducio

Margo’s outfit

The lioness hoped that silver serpent, @Illowy Magnard would join the group in the stands. But it would appear that Illowy felt that she should stay on the ground. "I see. Take care Illowy." Xailah respected Illowys decision, and left her with an authoritative nod, before following after the fellowship of students. Hopefully that would not be the last time the two fledgling detectives saw each other. The little metamorph bobbed alongside the group, with a small absentminded pep in her step. Everything looked so different from above. Xailah murmured a small, yet amused "Ah, Pretty!", as a small smile began to form. It was much nicer up in the stands, there were less people, which meant the chances of awkwardly bumping into someone, were low. Well, it was nice if you could block out the little, fat kid that was running around, screaming the name Erin. The stands were a free place. And upon further inspection, they were probably the safest place. Her smile quickly faded.

The Quidditch Pitch was not a pitch. It was something far worse. The lioness would come to the realization, only a few seconds before the candles died out. "Its a goddamn cage. A bowl." A uncomfortable sound left the girls lips, its was something caught between a groan and a squeak. There looked to be only two exits, not counting the stairs that lead up to the Quidditch Stands. If those two exits became blocked- which they most certainly would, everyone in the pitch could very well perish. Thoughts of the Masquerade Ball came racing back. People got trapped inside. Some didn't make it out alive. And just like the ball, the space in which the group occupied, would become dark. As would the rest of the Quidditch Pitch. Only this darkness, was not the result of a cloud of smoke.

Lights out. The candle wicks extinguished themselves. The one major source of light, died. Goodbye nightlights. Hello monsters. Xailah froze, her dark locks squirmed as if they were trying to sense something in the nothingness. Her slender fingers twitched, her wrist flexed. Once. Twice. Thrice. Third time was the charm, for it was the third motion that had loosened the string that was keeping her metal claws retracted. Little blades, no bigger than that of an X-ACTO Knife; pushed their way through the thinned fabric on the tips of her gloves. It didn't take long for her eyes to adjust to the blackness. Xailah was a creature that thrived in the dark, she was nocturnal- if you will. She had lived in it without a light to guide her, for far too long. Those large golden eyes of hers weren't there for nothing. Her slotted pupils grew, until little slivers of gold were the only things left of her irises.

She could see well in the dark. Well enough to identify basic shapes, but not enough to make out details. The light of a nearby Lumos reflected off of her partially developed tapetum lucidum; alighting her inky black pools with an eerie, iridescent sheen. The buzzing overhead grabbed her attention quickly. Had she gone complete mad? She brought a hand to her ear. The buzzing stopped. She took it off. The buzzing started back up again. That was a relief to some degree- it meant that she hadn't gone completely insane. But now she was faced with the fact that something was making the noises. "You must take me for a fool Pericles. I told you in that letter that I was not going to leave anyone with a bunch of hooligans. Let alone leave my new acquaintances with children, that have dressed to endanger themselves." One needn't explain who that was directed to, considering the only people present in the group that were nicely dressed were, Pericles, Ruby, Margo, and herself. Even though Xailah wasn't too sure what Margo was wearing. But she did know that whatever it was, it was stylish. "I'm ssstaying here. With you and with them." She nodded to Ruby and Margo.

"You sssaid I was your friend Pericles. I don't have very many of those, so I'm going to ssstay with the few that I do have." She nodded sternly. "But, I am going to take a broom, and I'm going to go see what making that buzzing sssound." She wandered forward a little bit, running a hand across the railing of the stands, until she found something smooth, and cylindrical. "Hm. I'll be back in two ssshakes of a mooncalfs tail." Little ventures like this were what Gryffindors were made for. This wasn't her first rodeo. "And if not two, then four I sssuppose." She stood motionless for a moment, debating on whether or not that made any sense. She then nodded, figuring that as long as it made sense to her, then that was all that mattered, really. Mounting the broom she would call up to @Piérre Marchonné, before taking off. "I'm going up. Piérre, what all can you see from where you're at?"

Entering from the pitch. Went to the stands before moderation was posted. Was caught in limbo.
Ability: Cats Grace activated for the +2 stealth.

Reducio

Cats Grace: Xailah can enter threads hidden from other users. There is a 25% chance of this being successful. This can be countered by those with Sixth Sense where if she enters the topic successfully hidden, they get a roll to see if they detect her anyways. She would no longer be considered hidden if she attempts to communicate or interact with the environment in any ways (such as trying to steal something or hit someone). On any stealth checks, she has a +2 to her stealth.

Raine felt arms around her as she continued to fall and closed her eyes, waiting for impact. Sure enough, the soft, yet slightly hard body of Arc was what she fell into and they both tumbled down onto the floor of the stands. Thankfully, they were both on the bottom area of the stands so they didn't end up falling down the stairs as well. Her friend didn't seem hurt even though he was entirely too skinny these days and her whole body weight was on top of him. His laughter reassured her that he truly wasn't injured in the fall and she joined Arc in his joy as she replied,

"No, I'm just fine. I'm hoping that I didn't squish you though. You're skin and bones, as usual." Picking herself up, she steadied herself against the railing of the stands to look at the boy before her fully. She has missed him. He had sequestered himself in the library for months and while Raine was busying herself with studying Charms for months on end to master them, she did miss his presence. And it was Arc's aura that Raine thought she was feeling when the hairs on her arms and neck prickled. 'That's strange,' she thought as she looked in Arc's eyes, 'His aura has never affected me before. Only other people. Why am I reacting to it now?

It was only then that she heard it. Over Arc's laughter and over the low murmurings of the other students around them. Some...buzzing sound. She raised a hand to quiet her friend. "Arc, shh. Listen... do you hear that?" she asked as she turned around to face the Quidditch Pitch. She noticed a scuffle happening out in the field and was grateful that she wasn't down there. But maybe they should be down there? The buzzing was getting louder...and suddenly the lights on the pitch went out. One by one the little baubles of light that lit up the field were going out and the buzzing sound was growing louder.

"Arc, get up. We may have to start moving soon,"Raine stated as she took the bag off of her shoulder and kicked off the heels on her feet. She quickly slipped on the socks and sneakers that were in her bag and left the bag where the heels were at. "I knew I should have worn jeans, but luckily, I still came prepared," she murmured. She contorted her arm to the back of her dress and started to unzipper it, letting the back fall open. If she were thinking straight, Raine would have been embarrassed that she was practically undressing in front of her best friend. But she was smart and under her dress was a black, long-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts. Raine wasn't playing games this time around. Every single time Hogwarts throws a party of sorts, something goes wrong, and this time, she wanted to be prepared to either fight off whatever was about to come...or run from it. And she would rather be comfortable doing so.

The lights around the students in the stands started their turn in going out and Raine could vaguely see some figures moving out on the field if she squinted hard enough. Whatever those things were, she knew it wasn't going to end well for them. Turning back to her friend and with the buzzing sound growing louder, Raine said, "Arc, I don't know what's going on, but as you can see, we're in complete darkness. There's some shit moving around strangely out in the field and if the rumors around the school about Hags invading Hogwarts is to be believed, then we need to get the hell out of here, now! I doubt two second-year students will be able to fight off a horde of evil children eating wenches."

The...shadows were moving in a weird motion and Raine didn't know for sure if they were hags or not but she damn sure wasn't trying to stand around to find out. Taking out her wand, Raine held it at the ready with a spell formed at her lips. She heard someone call out Lumos and another called out Periculum, but who the hell knew if they would work? And if they did, she was sure that something would pop out of the shadows like some B-rated horror movie and Raine was damn sure not about to end up like the stupid girls who die from tripping over air. She was going to be prepared. She would have just burned whoever was brave enough to pop up in her face, but then she figured it could be another student and didn't want to give them burns on their face.

Blinding them temporarily will have to do. At least if it's an enemy, they would still be able to maybe get away while they're fixing their eyesight.

Action: Casts Lumos at whatever is approaching the stands and comes in her vicinity

dress: Reducio

shoes: Reducio hehe none

| sta: 6 | eva: 7 | str: 6 | wis: 8 | arcp: 4 | acc: 10 |
race: metamorphmagus iiii abilities: sixth sense

mentions: N/A | interacting with: @Celynne Gray @Dmitri Jones

Cecily waited as Celynne snatched a red velvet cupcake off of the plate and the other boy waved a hand in dismissal while introducing himself as Dmitri Jones. She had strained to look casual as she clutched the cupcake delicately in her fingers, but as she nodded in response to the boy's query she eagerly tucked in. A delicate balance of light, fluffy frosting paired with the tangy lemon cake on her tongue as she decided that it was everything she had dreamed and more. Yes, she could die happy now. Except for the fact that, well, part of that phrase hit a little close to home while she was attending one of the fabled Hogwarts balls. Her smile wavered, yet held on, as she took a second bite of the cupcake. Statistically, everything would probably take a sharp turn downhill in the next few minutes, but she could dream that it would all be dandy.

"Look, I--" Cecily rolled her eyes as Celynne introduced the pair as Ravenclaws. Somehow, the other girl had already managed to make a not-so-subtle jab at her dress, although Cecily was pretty sure it was in good humor. "The dress wasn't my idea, okay?" She was about as uncomfortable in it as it might seem. An invisible girl in a dress that screamed for attention-- it certainly seemed like an arranged pairing, as it was. For, unfortunately, there were select figures in her life that wouldn't let her show up to a formal event in jeans and a t-shirt, as practical as such an outfit seemed to the young Ravenclaw. What was she to do in a dress if she were to be attacked by demons? Or, god forbid, heels? Well, they could force her into a frilly gown, but her act of rebellion had left her shoe-less for the night. Slightly less impractical than heels, although upon reflection she was simply more open to wounds of other kinds: on the soles of her feet as opposed to her ankles.

But just as she was ramping up to explain all of this in an uncharacteristically long vent to Celynne, the other girl was spared by a commotion arising from below the railings. Shouts erupted, followed by flashes of spells. And as the orchestra nervously halted their music and lights flickered out one by one, gently laying the pitch into darkness of the Scottish night; and as indistinct shapes began to converge on the horizon, bearing with them an unnerving buzz that rose the hair on the back of her neck, Cecily heard a voice from the blonde boy beside her epitomising every thought running through her mind in that moment:

"The fuck‽"

It had begun. Disaster was upon them. Everything Cecily had feared for this ball was coming to fruition. They were all going to die. But then, they were always going to die. They were going to die at every ball they went to, and yet somehow, they had all made it out alive yet. But of course, Cecily hadn't been at those balls, and who was to say that she wouldn't have been the outlier? And, by extension, who was to say that she might have the astounding fortune to keep her life at this one?

Calm down, deep breaths. Celynne and Dmitri had surely survived their ways through other balls, right? They were third years-- they must have gone to at least one. There wasn't a single person in her grade she knew that didn't attend their first-year Blossom Ball. And that was the first one to end in disaster. Yes, of course. These two had experience keeping their lives. Cecily would be a dead-weight, but she was sort of okay with that, as long as they all made it out alive. And they would. Of course they would. Right?

The Ravenclaw carefully placed the cupcakes down on a seat before stepping forward as Cel beckoned her to the railing. Cecily's priorities, it seemed, were painfully clear. As she approached the steel bar, she gripped it tight with both hands and leaned over. She couldn't help herself-- she looked down first, searching the crowd. As much as she detested Adam at this moment for forcing her here, she desperately hoped that he was okay. After all, if he died, who would she come back to haunt? But with darkness quickly settling down as it was, the girl could barely make out figures on the pitch below, never mind details. Adam could handle himself though, she was sure. He'd be fine.

But, focusing on the more pressing matter at hand, Cecily raised her eyes from the scene (or lack thereof) down below to gaze over the horizon. With a bit of luck, they might be able to see what was coming for them. And yet, even with the pale, ghostly glow emanating from the tip of Dmitri's wand, "It's too dark," she announced to her companions. "I can't make anything out." Dammit, was it too much to ask that they knew what was attacking them before it hit? She would give anything for just a few moments to make a plan.

action: none, yet

Interacting with @Cecily Quinn @Celynne Gray

Upon further thought, Dmitri mentally kicked himself in the bum. For someone who was so adamant about trying to get to the bottom of these incidents so he can have a hand in stopping them, he sure as hell did not pay much attention. He just realized this now as he strode to the railing beside the other two girls.

In the glow of his pale yellow light, the Slytherin could see them in quiet contemplation, of what, he didn't know. "What? Did you guys see anything before the lights went out?" Shit, he thought to himself. He was so bored of watching the ball for any signs of a catastrophe that he just couldn't help trying to amuse himself by talking to that one kid a while back and burying his nose in his book afterward. I won't get very far as an investigator. He should've paid closer attention to the main area and focused all his willpower on enduring even though things were dull (Honestly, who would want to see kids making a fool of themselves for an extended period of time?). Only now, he was stuck here with the two Ravenclaw girls, bumbling in the dark with just his Lumos to go off of. That's a good thing, at least. His book-reading distraction had some kind of a positive outcome. Whether that outweighed the lapse that he has committed by diverting his attentions, he sure as hell was not certain.

He decided, after discovering what the hell was up, he'll book it out of here to find the source of this commotion. That way, Dmitri'll be able to snip this crap off at the root.

Already, the buzzing sound was consistently growing ever more intense, almost drowning out the sounds of distress echoing from the grounds below.

For him to be able to see what they're up against, they needed some kind of greater illumination. Someone--or something--extinguished these lights for a reason. And the Slytherin will find them. None of any of the students' wavering single Lumoses will ever suffice for anything other than discovering who they were clinging next to in their fright. Nothing more than being able to see the mutually-terrified expressions of the kids a few feet near them.

For this, Dmitri needed something a lot stronger.

"You know what?" Dmitri started as he hefted his messenger bag up higher on his shoulder. "Let me try to light this shit up. Tell me what you both will see that I won't."

Pointing his wand in the general area of the loud buzzing noise, his Lumos flickering out as he did so, Dmitri enunciated clearly: Caeruleus Inflamarae!

The Slytherin spellcaster aimed to illuminate the air above that space with twin jets of intense, stark blue magical fire. He figured bright--yet cold and harmless--flames would do just the trick. It was easy, it was basic--heck it was just a Second Year spell.

Besides, it can be directed wherever the caster wants it to, and can even return to its original position.

He didn't intend to let it hit anything, but fuck whomever it burns if it misses.

STATS AND ABILITIES

Reducio

ACTIONS
Cast large, twin jets of Caeruleus Inflamarae at the air above the general area where the buzzing was coming from to illuminate it. <Spell Spread activated>

-

interacting | @Dmitri Jones, @Cecily Quinn

mentioning | N/A

Cel took another bite. Mmm, sweet red velvet. And no, she wasn't going to drop her cupcake just because she was probably about to die! It was a cupcake. "Sure it wasn't Cecily," she teased, just as she licked off a small part of the white chocolate frosting. These things were valuable.

But all good things must come to an end, and hey, it appeared that the end was right now. "Looks like we're all going to die," she sing-sang under her breath, surprisingly chipper for the situation at hand. Her posture reflected something different, though: wand out and stance at the ready to bolt at any second she needed to. And, yeah... as much as she loved Cecily, Cel was just better at casting than she was. Maybe if something physical, involving strength, came around then Cecily would be great.

She was also going to applaud Cecily's eyesight, but unfortunately, the night put one past them all. "Dammit," she muttered, about to look for a solution—but that was all right, the new guy—Dmitri—already found one. She moved to the side to allow him to step up and cast next to the railing, on the other side of Cecily, and pulled out her own wand—just in case he failed, or missed.

For a second his reading light flickered out, leaving them in complete darkness, and then she caught the incantation of the spell he was using—Bluebell Flames, a second year spell from Defense Against the Dark Arts. Good to know that spells they learned from class were actually useful... especially when the teachers weren't here to help. The choice of spell was a wise one—if the fire fell or burnt anything by accident, it wouldn't be able to do any actual damage other than to plant-based objects like cotton or linen. At any rate, it wouldn't burn any people.

"Don't miss it," she asked of Cecily, and then closed one eye to target where she wanted to hit the best she could. He didn't look like the type to fail a spell easily, but backup was always appreciated. "Lumos Maxima," she incanted carefully, flicking her wand towards the side of the railing—the closer the light was to the things, the more clearly they'd be able to see them. And if Dmitri's spell wore out or didn't work, this should sustain them some light for several minutes, if what Professor Vernatis said during class was correct. "Don't look directly at that, you'll flash blind yourself."

Hopefully she wouldn't regret this decision. It was a third year spell, after all, not too hard for her to cast though not too easy either, but in the event that it did backfire or something... hopefully Cecily or this Dmitri had her back—the first was likely, the second was less so—so that she didn't actually die. But if it did work, for both of them, they'd have light illuminating whatever it was from several angles. Hopefully Cecily's eyes were feeling up to the task.

STAMINA 5
EVASION 8
STRENGTH 2
WISDOM 11
ARCPOWER 10

ACCURACY 9
ABILITIES Prodigial DADA and Perfectionist I awaiting approval.

ACTIONS attempt to cast Lumos Maxima tossed to the edge of the railing to illuminate shapes

-

Mod Note

This thread will modded tomorrow, Sunday May 10th. There is no defined time but the rumor is in about 12 hours and this thread will not be locked. If you are performing an action please try to remember to state it at the bottom of your posts in a quote to help our mods.

Happy RPing and Goodluck!

dress: Reducio

shoes: Reducio none

| sta: 6 | eva: 7 | str: 6 | wis: 8 | arcp: 4 | acc: 10 |
race: metamorphmagus iiii abilities: sixth sense

mentions: N/A | interacting with: @Celynne Gray @Dmitri Jones

The buzzing was growing incessantly and undeniably louder as Cecily grew more desperate and panicked. Nothing had even attacked them yet, but just the thought of everything about to go to hell was making the girl's pulse quicken. But instead of pulling out her wand, like perhaps a normal magical student would do, Cecily's hands instead chose to grip tighter onto the railing, her knuckles turning white. Not that it really mattered if she had her wand out or not-- she knew for a fact that Celynne was a better caster than she, and by her, well, poor attempts in the past, she assumed Dmitri was as well. But maybe she could be at least a little bit of use. Like, if there was something they needed to punch. Or...something. She wasn't feeling particularly confident in her usefulness in this current situation.

As the darkness seemed to grow heavier, deeper, Dmitri held out his wand, poised to shoot a spell of some sort. She hoped he had something more powerful in mind that could help illuminate the shapes, other than the wimpy Lumos still glowing on the tip of his wand. On her other side, she noticed Celynne raise her wand in the same manner. In succession, both students spoke an incantation, and aimed their wands towards the horizon. As her brain registered what they spoke, Cecily had to applaud Dmitri's quick-thinking-- the bright blue flame conjured by the spell he chose would be harmless in the off-chance that the approaching objects were friendly (although there was a particularly low chance of that), but would also give off a bright light that might be just enough for Cecily to make out details on the shapes. Plus, he was making good use of a spell that Cecily had, until now, thought of as frankly useless. Cold fire? What was the point? Other than a parlor trick, apparently, light was a particularly welcome side-effect at this moment.

Cecily glued her eyes to the horizon while the two finished their casts, forcing herself not to blink in fear that she might miss the crucial moment of illumination. Even just a little bit of an idea about their attackers-- for instance, what was making that horrendous buzzing sound-- may very well be the thing that would give the three of them an upper hand in the upcoming fight. And with two bursts of bright flame angled near the objects, she desperately hoped that what she saw would be enough. Eyes, don't fail me now.

action: looking at the shapes-- perception check with sixth sense and bluebell flame light (if successful)

Interacting with: @Nico Shymane | Mentions: @Marissa North & @Saskia Nicholson

Serena furrowed her eyebrows in thought as Nico spoke, trying to work out who this Hufflepuff was. That was until he mentioned he was tall. The tallest. Quinn. It had to be, surely! Who else was the easiest to spot in the Hufflepuff line up? "Ohh, he is. Vice captain, beater, yes, he is," She replied, her grin teasing her. Nico looked a little shy perhaps speaking about him. Blushing, perhaps. It was rather cute. Quinn was a friend of Serena's. One of the few of them. She knew him pretty well, though she was unaware of this blossoming relationship between the pair.

Nodding, Serena looked around. She could not see him and he was pretty easy to spot, "I'm sure he'll be here soon. If he doesn't appear, I'll beat him up for you!" She threatening held up her tiny clutched fist as though she would hit him if he stood her up. But they both knew that Serena's punches would do absolutely nothing to that giant boy. He could easily tank anything she threw at him with her noodle arms. But she would fight him anyway if he hurt her friend.

She spotted Saskia. Her eyes narrowed a little. Was she okay? Serena wondered if she should call her over. Her friend looked a little lost, or lonely. It was a feeling that Serena acknowledged and recognised well. Perhaps Saskia was just looking for someone, she had no idea. But she wanted to make sure that the beater was fine. Wait, what-

Narrowing her eyes she squinted a little as she saw a flock of owls possibly? Floating lanterns in the sky? She had no idea, to be honest. They were very far away. This seeker might be able to find the golden snitch but this was beyond her abilities. Blinking, did things just get darker? Her eyes widened as she noticed a candle flicker, disappearing. "What the-" She started, "Is the lights going off?" She asked her company, though she was talking more to herself, "Sh-".

The darkness. Her greatest fear. It was not happening again. It could not. She clutched her broom in her left hand and quickly pulled out her wand. She refused to allow the darkness to hit her. Not again. Her bag contained essentials, like a magical candle. But the small candle would not be enough in the quickly diminishing light, "LUMOS!" She called out, gripping her wand tightly.

She had to protect them. If there was darkness, there could be shadows. And if there was shadows... they would all die. Serena knew this well, far too well. She had learned the lesson the hard way and she would not allow herself to fall weak again. Knowing she had to do something and she had to do it quickly, she cast the spell as fast as she could. Stepping closer to Nico and Marissa, she sought to protect them. Her eyes scanned the room. There were so many others around. Friends of hers. Maybe, just maybe, nothing would happen.

But the darkness caused a sinking fear in her. She was afraid of the dark for a reason. And her biggest fear was that the reason was coming.

ACTION: Cast Lumos!

Interactions: @Serena Towers || @Nico Shymane || @Marissa North
Mentions: @Annie Morgan

Health: Full (900/900)
Status: Vision obscured by darkness
Abilities: Fearless

Saskia was still staring over the field, her gaze sweeping from corner to corner for any sign of Annie. Anything, really. It could have been the long, peach dress she was wearing, or the flower crown on her dark hair. But there was nothing. Anywhere she looked, it was all a dead end, no matter how hard she tried.

She really did leave, did she? She had to accept that she didn't want anything to do with her for the rest of the night, unless she miraculously came back somehow and changed her mind. But that wasn't happening anytime soon at this rate. Saskia truly was alone now. Her first actual date at the ball ditched her. How sad was that? First, her friend date who she took to the Masked Ball disappeared and was never to be seen again after the disaster that happened, and now her date to the Blossom Ball had left her right after their first dance. What was the takeaway from all of this? Were all her dates supposed to be disastrous? It was a funny thought. If all the balls in Hogwarts ended in disaster, this was probably just the cherry on top to make things even more unpleasant for her.

But was she really supposed to be hung up over this? It's true that she was technically supposed to stay with Annie, as they were both going together for the event, but there wasn't anything stopping her from leaving. As far as she knew, there was nothing major going on between her and Annie, and Saskia did say that she would do whatever she could to make sure Annie's first ball was a great experience. And if Annie leaving would have been better for her, could she really argue about it? She could have been having more fun without her, and she would have to accept that because it wasn't like she was there to stop her in the first place.

Well, that was that. Maybe she could chase her down the next day and ask her what happened. Maybe she really did have an explanation, and maybe they could make amends and laugh about it later or something. Or if she couldn't find her, or if something did go wrong, then maybe it was just best for her to tag along with some friends in future balls. That was, assuming they didn't end in disaster as they always did.

And speaking of disasters, something was off. As she continued look forward towards the night sky, she could see something approaching. To be exact, there were several shadowy figures flying over the grass. The problem was that she had no idea what they could have been. They could have been some part of the decorations the organizers came up with for all she knew. She could have convinced herself that maybe they weren't harmful, if it wasn't for how uneasy she was feeling right now.

Soon, the lights from the floating candles flickered one by one until the entire stadium was engulfed in darkness. Something was definitely wrong now.

Her first thought was to pull out her wand and cast Lumos. It would have been the reasonable option, although there was another problem. If there really was a threat in the ball, she wouldn't have been able to cast any other spells if there was a ball of light floating on the tip of her wand. But she didn't want to be completely defenseless if she didn't know what she was up against either.

That gave her an idea. She knew where Serena and the rest of the group she was talking to were. She could go over to them, and maybe they could have worked together to handle whatever was happening. One of them could have already been casting Lumos and the rest could use other spells to fend off whatever threats were coming their way. Besides, two (or four in this case) brains were better than one.

Saskia made her way over to the group of girls. If Serena's spell had been successful, she would have had a much easier time locating where they were. If it didn't, she would have tried to remember where they were based on where she had last seen them while hoping that her senses didn't fail her.

Regardless, she would have tried to reach the group. If Serena's source of light wasn't there to help them see, she would have had whispered instead, hoping not to alarm them in case they haven't seen her. Otherwise, she would have spoken in her normal voice in order to get their attention."Do you guys have any idea what's happening?"

Action: Walking over to Serena, Nico, and Marissa

Outfit: Dress | Shoes | Bracelet