Event The Fall Ball (Costume Party) Closed

Arissa was not one who enjoy being in crowds, despite the fact that she attends tea parties hosted by her grandmother every weekend. She dislike it, yes, but that doesn't mean she can't act. Because of the tea parties, Arissa had already mastered her acting skills, and other diplomatic skills a madam of a Pureblood family must possess.

She had thought on skipping the events altogether, but the fact that only few people actually did that forced her to get out of her safe zone and attend. However, she purposely arrived late to the parties; to assess the number of people on each room, and opting to attend the least crowded party. The second reason is to avoid whatever mayhem that might happen.

She did assume that, but she didn't expect her assumption to be correct. It truly surprised her when her grey eyes were greeted in what can only be described as chaos, with chocolate frogs scattered around the room, odd hair fashion adorned by some occupants, and the headmaster opting such a.... dare she say it, a rather wonderful amount of hair compared to what the blonde girl was used to.

Arissa greeted the prefect in the entrance and took two chocolate frogs and sticky caramels from the bucket. Fortunately for her, the black dress she's wearing have its own pocket, so she merely put the treats inside it. Grabbing two nearby chocolate frogs, Arissa then strode towards the centerpiece tables.

Her eyes were glancing warily at the 'Tricky Treats' sign as it then wandered upon the treats on the table; wondering for a moment whether or not taking one of those treats would be a good idea. She then took a glass of chilled pumpkin juice and find a secluded place for herself, before drinking it. The spot that she stood in was pretty secluded, and a perfect place for her to observe other occupants of the room.

Moderation Post

The costume party was carrying steadily on now. Music crooned from the corner, the brief squabble was being intercepted, fewer frogs were left leaping around the room. Many had parted to join the Hunt, and those who stayed were- more or less- recovering from the effects of Tricky Treats. The butterbeer Breana drank and pumpkin juice Arissa imbibed both proved to be safe. Serena's cauldron cake, on the other hand, just may have improved upon her costume. The floating head's hair was growing at a rapid rate. It tumbled towards the floor, spurred on by a dose of Manegro potion, and soon her appearance was made all the more eerie. Wherever she drifted with body beneath the invisibility cloak, her hair long locks would seem to trail behind like dark tendrils.

Something far more sinister than silly tricks and rowdy visitors had wriggled its way into the room.

It moved beneath the faux fog, darted between bustled dresses, ignored as static motion among the hopping chocolate frogs. Bolting beneath a table, it stalked its target: the same target it had followed from the Masquerade. Breana. Bits of burlap and frightfully sturdy twine wrapped around her ankle. While the girl innocently watched the distracting ruckus in the pumpkin patch corner, she missed the thing reaching for her from beneath the tablecloth. It would not be noticed until it was too late. A great tug, a mighty pull, and the driven little monster hoisted her off of her feet, dragging her beneath the table. At least she had finally found her cape.

Witness to this were Sylvain and Serena, scanning the room, both by the beverage table. They would hear the thud and see the Ravenclaw disappear below, drink falling from her hand and sloshing out across the floor. Something was here, and it was no Halloween trick.

-This is a moderated event, please do not roll for yourself!

-Your OC can take some of the (18/30) Chocolate Frogs set loose by Remi and Sylvain

-If your character tries a tricky treat, please note it as an action. I will be rolling to let you know how it effects them next mod post. The same goes for wizard crackers, which give gifts (one time- opening additional crackers will yield only candy).

-Tricky Treats contain small amounts of potion and will last for 3 moderation rounds (except Manegro) unless removed. You can move to the Hunt or Masquerade with these effects if you're into that sort of thing, or feel free to say "Pericles' third-year helper" (NPC) cast Reparifors on them to have it removed (just tag me).

-The Ballroom Masquerade and the Rehearsal Room Costume Party (you are here) are on the fourth floor of Hogwarts, so going between the two doesn't take much time, but if leaving/arriving mention it as an action.

-The next moderation post will come on the 27^th.

@Breana Oliveire | @Arissa Wright | @Serena Towers | @Sylvain Indarys

Valentin grinned: Yefim had the right idea stuffing a chocolate frog down the prefect’s shirt, but before Valentin could help escalate the situation someone else did it first.

After a few pleasant moments of hearing Charles grandstanding in Russian, everything changed when the punk threw a sucker punch at Yefim. It was fine if he wanted to brawl, but picking a fight with Yef was sure to draw Valentin into a confrontation. Right when Valentin was about to retaliate on Yef’s behalf, however, some Hogwarts authority figure had to come provide backup to the prefect. It had all gotten too messy. Trying to maneuver back at Charles under these conditions would surely lead to more misfortune than redemption, but Quidditch had taught Valentin to be patient. The boy was clearly from Durmstrang, and they would settle it like men of Durmstrang– not under the thumb of some other institution. Their moment would have to wait, but until the score was settled Valentin would not soon be forgetting Charles’s blow.

Ignoring the prefect and his backup, Valentin bumped Yefim’s shoulder and gave him a look that clearly said “we’ll do this later.” Whatever it was that Robyn had said to Valentin, he couldn’t hear it. Valentin was already planning how they could settle things with Yef’s aggressor when they got back on home ground.

@Flash Holmwood @Henry Knight @Robyn Finley @Pericles Dralt

Were they seriously throwing punches, stuffing chocolate under shirts and simply causing chaos for the sake of doing so? Kids will be kids but there was no reason for it besides acting like a petulant little shit. The other staff members and Prefects should have it well in hand. There was the perennial issue of intervention versus pride. Intercede, ensure a victory at the consequence of the victim's dignity. Of course the question was save who?

The mouthy brat of a child [Charles]? The handsy troublemaker who was about to be on the painful side of a punch [Yefrim]? "Keep at it, I have no problem adding days of detention to your stay," Solomon announced seemingly half interested. After his protracted absence, the man returned but he was still rather distant. A shell of a man, whose form had deteriorated and whose mind was there. Yes, he had memories, but he lacked presence. "Afterall, who wants to socialize when an empty classroom and clapping erasers is so much more appealing," no creativity or spark. He just simply was... a body.

He took no more sweets. Made no small talk. Was it that he did not want to or that he could not? Perhaps a bit of both, the urge lacking. The spirit diminished. He was just a man going through the motions, living, breathing and if necessary beating. He just felt tired, empty and evacuated. As if he was missing something vital as he stood there, in a room full of people feeling absolutely alone. Thankfully he was a fine liar, besides his eyes that lacked that glimmer, he seemed fine, albeit hardly interested.

At last, the time of providence had come. No idea how she had managed to fumble before, the child was successfully snatched and hidden. There would be a struggle of course, but the important thing was that it was muffled by the cloak, as well as hidden under the sounds of some bopping 90s music. She loved music! Right? That was a thing Breanas liked, right? Well, probably.

Its supernatural strength was likely far more than a mere 12-year-old could combat, and since she had so beautifully isolated herself from others, this was the last anyone would ever see of the old fake. Whether or not Breana would currently be passed out, or would take another grappling check to deprive of enough oxygen, the next step was to collect the rest of what she needed.

A grubby hand would swipe for the make-up on fake!Breana's face to smear on her own, as well as a tuft of hair. Many tufts. Tufts abound. Though something adhensive was needed to keep it affixed to her own head. Blood was sticky! If she could smear her head with not!Breana's blood, the strands of hair would stay. This look would be both classic and foolproof. Breana was, after all, a trendsetter.

Open to Interactions | Mentions: @Sylvain Indarys and @Breana Oliveire

Serena's hair suddenly started to grow as she finished off the cauldron cake. It was already long on its own, it was almost unreasonably long now. Scooping it up, she tried to put it into one huge bun but half of it still fell out. Perhaps she would have done a better job the second attempt but something caught her eye. Whilst looking around, she spotted a girl suddenly disappear under a table near her. Liquid splashed as she fell.

In all honesty, she could not see what was happening, nor did she recognise the girl. For all she knew, the girl dived under the table but... why would anyone really do that? Perhaps they had a reason to hide - maybe they were up to something. She disliked it. Knowing that trouble lurked in Hogwarts, she disliked people acting suspiciously. Though, she had no idea if it was the girl being suspicious or someone else dragging her.

The mess made from the action made her think the second thing: a student was pranking her by making her trip or something. She could not see a hand or anything but she had not been looking all that close. All she saw was someone disappear under the table. Her eyes locked with another that she did not know. A boy with brown hair. He seemed to have noticed the same thing she did. Rushing towards the table, Serena decided to investigate. Either the girl was hiding for some reason or someone was pranking her... Or perhaps something far worse but her mind thought it was one of the first two.

She grabbed the tablecloth, trying to lift it enough to see what was going on, "Hey- are you alright-" She started as she moved to lift it and look underneath it.

Post Tracker: [1] [2] [3] [4]

ACTION: Lift the tablecloth to look under the table

Outfit: Floating Head with long hair (rest of body is covered in invisibility cloak)

Open to Interactions

Hexcode= #507091

Was he seeing things, or did Breana just violently disappear beneath the beverage table? Rubbing his eyes as if to remove sleepy eye-boogers still staining his vision, Sylvain's newly grown plumage was swept to the side before he did a double take. Surely someone else had seen that right? His eyes scanned the room looking for another who witnessed the phenomenon. Sylvain managed to lock eyes with the disembodied head of Serena.

He didn't know her but likely would have complimented the choice of costume in calmer circumstances, but the way her gaze lingered and mingled with his sent the clear message that he wasn't just seeing things. Or rather that he wasn't the only one seeing things. Well, asides from a disembodied head lifting the tablecloth where he'd just seen his housemate disappear to. Now he definitely needed to keep a better eye on things.

"Remi? Willow?" Sylvain called back to his friends hoping to draw their attention and perhaps back him up if needed. Where had they gotten off to, were they dancing? Crud. He had told them he would be right back, but his curiosity would hardly be sated until he saw what was going on beneath that table. He had stayed up for hours the previous nights researching all the possible offenders, those twisted little minions whom the hags employed. Was this the dark dealings of a hag? If so, which kind of monster was it? A hag doll perhaps? Hadn't Breana been attacked by them before? Doubt and paranoia went hand in hand, and seeing things was one way to believe them. Most likely this was just some sort of student playing a prank, but Sylvain wasn't about to take his chances and walk away. He needed to see this for himself.

Thinking it best to get a better look on the situation, Sylvain retrieved his wand from his pocket hastily. Thankfully his cactus costume had pockets on it, or he'd have had to search for the thing. A bead of nervous sweat dripped down the side of his face as he yet again pushed his flowing locks away from his vision. He'd not done well his first time tackling the the levitation charm so his nervousness was there, yet he quelled it, willing magic to flow through him and into his wand. With a flick of his wrist and a nervous rasp in his voice the lad canted the charm. "Wingardium Leviosa," he said as he pointed his wand to the beverage table in front of him. Whatever was beneath that table had best be prepared for trouble or worse. Syl certainly was.

Action: Attempting to cast Wingardium Leviosa on the beverage table Breana and not!Breana are beneath

Mentions: @Breana Oliveire @Serena Towers @Remi Yao @Willow Anderson @Flash Holmwood (you creepy murder doll you )

Interacting with: @Akari Kato and Andrew Lycan (@Rose Moon)
Open or Closed: Open to interactions!
Mentioning: @Pericles Dralt's third-year helper and @Katrina Walker
Post Tracker: 1 2 3 4

Jess raised an eyebrow as Akari fidgeted with her words, clearly trying to avoid answering Jess's earlier question, and her eyes took on a mischievous glint at the other's girl hurried warning. "Oh, I know," she said, grinning, but then her voice grew serious. "Hey, if you ever wanna talk about, you know, the Drew stuff... I'm here. Ah, hi Drew!"

At the aforementioned boy's words about switching to the masquerade ball, Jess frowned slightly. Katrina's warning was still fresh on her mind, and she wasn't too sure how she would react when it actually came time to either ignore Katrina or let Akari leave without her and be left at the costume party alone. She was spared from answering, however, by a sudden burst of laughter, and ended up not hearing Akari's reply. Hopefully, the other girl hadn't told Drew they could leave soon...

Okay, next question. Why had Jess laughed? She hadn't even realized at first that it had been herself who had laughed, since she hadn't meant to and there hadn't really been anything particularly funny about Drew's words. But, there it was again- a severe case of the giggles, making Jess double over as she clutched at her sides. Her momentary, though panicked, confusion was soon subsided, however, as she heard Drew start rambling besides her. Akari's hair, too, seemed to develop a mind of its own, and abruptly shot out of her scalp to sweep the floors of the room. At that, Jess laughed again, though on purpose this time. There was no way all three of their bodies had just randomly decided to betray them all at the same time, so this must be what the tricks of the treats were. Swell!

Stumbling a little as her violent and seemingly never-ending laughing continued, Jess followed Akari and Drew across the rehearsal room floor as they made their way towards an older-looking student. After the student removed the effects from her ball-mates, Jess stepped up as well and waited expectantly to regain control of her mouth again. She soon wished she had left the laughter as it was, however, as that would have kept her from having to think about- or respond to- Akari's question about moving to the other ball. She bit her lip as Drew helped Akari put her mask on, then turned to her best friend.

She opened her mouth to speak, then stopped. She wanted to go check out the other ball, she really did, but she just couldn't get Katrina's story from the summer out of her head. The older Gryffindor had told her that the last ball had ended with giant flying monster things attacking a bunch of students, and though Jess wasn't too sure how something like that could happen again now that the ball was indoors, included four different schools, and was supervised by a bunch of teachers, she still didn't want to take any chances. "I think I'm gonna hang around here for a bit more... if I switch I'll try to find you though!"

She tried to return the smile Akari gave her in response, but now the image of her best friend getting attacked by what she imagined as some sort of giant bee-bird mixed monstrosity wouldn't leave her head. There was no point telling Akari and Drew about some danger that probably wouldn't even come into play at this ball and scaring them away from having any fun, though, right? But still, Jess yelled out again as Akari neared the door and almost left earshot. "Just... stay safe, okay?"

Smiling slightly at her best friend's joking reply, Jess turned back towards the rest of the room and took a deep breath. She was sure- well, mostly sure, anyways, that there was nothing dangerous going on here, but it could never hurt to check, right? Narrowing her eyes slightly, she looked closely around the room to see if anything scarier or more suspicious than normal had come in while she had been busy chatting and eating.

Outfit:

Reducio

Action: Getting Pericles's third-year helper to remove her tricky treat effects, scanning the room for anything dangerous

After his stellar goof, the annoying guy kept talking and talking and talking. Yefim admittedly recognized a lot of what he was saying, but he was intentionally tuning out the parts he understood as well. He didn't need that kind of negativity in his life, he had wanted the guy to dance around with a frog in his clothes. Spoil sport. These Hogwarts kids had, like, zero sense of humor, and the girl who he was going to have a pumpkin fight with seemed to disappear. Why was it so hard to find people who wanted to play?

Sadly, most Durmstrang kids weren't much better, as Yefim got a fresh punch to the face. It was, in fact, the Durmstrang way of saying 'hello', though the kid with the fist seemed angry for some reason. At least he was speaking Russian, informing Yefim and his crew that he should be picking a fight with him. Reeling back with the blow, having had his face targeted, he couldn't even see who it was. Butterbeer, guts, and now a punch? What a bunch of SPOIL SPORTS! More people in the world needed to be like Mik and Niffy and PLAY ALONG! Did they all HATE FUN?

In Russian, the kid started yammering on and on about Quidditch and throwing what could, possibly, be described as insults. He must not have known Yefim well if he thought insults could hurt his feelings, he had endured enough othering in his childhood to learn how to let them slide off him like oil and water. He was so impossibly high above all these mortals that their words of derision were like gnat buzzing around a planet. He couldn't even comprehend how inconsequential he was compared to the mighty Yefim, so he couldn't even hold it against him that he was trying to take him down a peg. Jealousy, most likely.

Before he could really react to either the snotty rule-lover or the punchy durm-loser, Yefim opened his eyes to the sight of an adult. Was the fun all over, now? Right after Mik showed up? No way... there had to be a way to salvage it. She used her magic to heal up his face, then continued to ramble on about whatever. He wasn't about to start paying attention now. Finally able to get a glance at the puncher, he regretted to recognize one of the broom racers. He'd tit-for-tat later, when an adult wasn't looking. For the moment, he'd just shift all blame onto him instead of the three of them.

”His name Charles Alluring!” Yefim pointed, looking like a victim. ”I am... John McClane.”

He pointed to Mik. ”Jason Bourne,” and then Niffy, ”and William Wallace.”

There, that should sort it out. It wouldn't really matter anyway, since there was suddenly a commotion. [If Sylvain's spell succeeds] Suddenly, a table was being lifted into the air, with all the drinks and treats scattering and breaking all over the floor. With the loud noise came distraction, so Yefim would grab his compatriots by the hands and pull them away from the party poopers back to where the party was happening. At least someone had the right idea! Now where was his wand... oh, right, he left it in his luggage. Which was missing again. Oh well, someone will probably find it and return it to him. THEY BETTER!

Moderation Post

((Heads up! This moderation is being pushed back one more day.
If you want to post this round, you have an extra 24 hours to do so.))