A Winter Meeting SHC Open

Aspen smiles at Katrina, she seems sweet and notices something else that is sweet out of the corner of her eye. She goes to grab the Chocolate Rocher and then walks over to the hot chocolate counter, pouring herself a small mug of the drink. Inspecting the Chocolate Rocher, Aspen notices a small, gold sticker on it- maybe a clue?

Aspen, with sparkling mischief in her eyes, walks around the classroom slowly, searching through each area with care, looking for any clues. She smiles softly at any other students she may pass by and sips her hot cocoa thoughtfully. Eventually, Aspen decides to try to go talk to some people, maybe make some friends.

Aspen walks up to one of the smaller members of the group, maybe a fellow first year, and with one final sip of her hot cocoa for strength, goes to introduce herself. "Hi, I'm Aspen, how are you?" The girl has long, brown hair and a kind-looking face, something Aspen always looks for in friends. "Are you a first-year too?" Is the next question out of the Hufflepuffs mouth. The girl then looks down and begins to fidget with her sweater-sleeve, waiting for a response from this other girl, and keeping her eyes peeled for some clue.

Michael Miller
1st year
Slytherin

"Inside I'm black and white, but on the outside I can be many different colors. What am I?" Michael said quietly as he pocketed the other thing. He looked across the room, his mind looking for anything that poked out at him.

He decided to look across the classroom more. He slowly started to walk, his hand trailing over things in his wake. Black and white. Thr chalk board? But. . . different colors? Hmm. . .

He looked around the room once more, looking for anything that was very colorful. The thing that caught his eye? The books. He smiled as he walked over, bumping into someone on his way. He was in a hurry, as he went to the books.

He grabbed it and flicked through it, frowning more as he didn't see anything. What, that can't be. This was the answer, had to be. He let out a frustrated sigh, and flipped through it again. Hopefully he found something this time.

He didn't know why but this game was starting to make him want to win. He wanted to be the one who could boast. He wanted something worth talking about.

WC: 204

Sapphire's eyes picked up on the gold glittering, tracing it back to a slip of paper on one of the desks. Her lips curved into a thoughtful kind of frown, holding her tea in one hand carefully and walking towards it to pick up the sheet. If she was right in her assumptions, it was a clue. (Usually, if one found a mysterious slip of paper at these sorts of functions, it was.

To grab it, she set the tea down on her desk and carefully pried it out. She winced when the paper ripped slightly, hating the noise it made as well as the damage to the paper. But she pushed aside her paper-mourning in favour of reading the message on it.

I wear my jacket all the time. I stand with my back to you, showing my spine.

Already, her mind automatically headed towards a book. She'd spent many days sitting around in her room, reading to her heart's content. Growing up, books had been her family when she'd felt alone in the house. She knew them well. She also knew that only a crazy person would place a book on the shelf with its spine to the wall.

Quickly, she scanned the room for a bookshelf. She hadn't pinpointed its location earlier, but there had to be one somewhere. Or at least books, if not a whole shelf.

As soon as she found it, she picked her tea up and strode over to the literature, taking a sip as she looked over them. She was aiming to find another clue, or perhaps something else... whatever. She just hoped she'd guessed right with the books.

Grabbing clue || Looking for yet another clue
(Curiosity killed the cat.)

[font=century gothic]

OPEN TO INTERACTION

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[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Michael Miller[/font]

[font=century gothic]MENTIONING n/a[/font]

Fingertips worked diligently to rifle through the stack of homework. The more pages that turned up blank without any sign of reward, the greater the doubt that crept in. Perhaps she'd been wrong after all. Perhaps it was actually a textbook. And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was on to something. With one stack resulting in a futile effort, she went to the next and found a bump! Slipping a digit between the parted pages, she deftly plied the assignments apart to reveal the chocolate frog that rewarded her deduction. Lips curled at the edges in self-satisfaction. All the more so when she spied the familiar golden token next to it.

Pocketing the golden token, she wasted no time in relieving the chocolate frog of its paper confines. Before she lifted the lid, however, she put her wand at the ready. "Immobulus," she whispered, the spell firing through the narrow opening of the container. Having become something of a collector of the frog cards over the previous year due to the unexpectedly useful tidbits of information contained there-in, she'd accustomed to the frog's typical attempts to hop away. Not any longer! The freezing spell had been one recently learned; and the ease with which she cast it gave credence to just how quickly it had established its practical usefulness in her everyday life.

With the chocolate frog quite still, Evelynn tucked her wand back away into her boot and flipped open the lid. Giving the card a once-over before it, too, disappeared into her satchel in the wake of the token, she snapped off a leg and slipped it daintily between her lips. The lingering flavour of the candy cane melded with the savory depth of chocolate in a way she found quite appealing, and she carried on with her hunt enjoying the gustatory experience.

And paused just seconds later when something out of place caught and held her attention. The chalkboard was crooked. Or..was it? Head tilting as she regarded it more closely, she reoriented herself to face it squarely and compare it to the angular lines of floor and wall. Yes. Yes, it was certainly crooked. Footsteps were already carrying her forward, the decision made to fix it already firmly playing out in action before she had made any conscious decision to do so. Disorderliness bothered her. It was a trait she had acquired from her mother.

Setting her frog down on a desk, she moved to attempt to straighten the chalkboard. But then it occurred to her: perhaps this was intentional. Or...perhaps not intentional, but a byproduct of having shifted the board in order to hide a clue? Curiosity rising once again, she ran her fingers along the length underneath the frame. If nothing presented itself there, she would pull the frame just enough away from the wall to allow herself to peak behind it. Regardless of whether or not a discovery was made, she would straighten the board once her search was concluded, smile, and step back to affirm her handiwork.

Only to find herself jostled moments later by something—or rather, someone. Head snapping around, she shot the retreating boy a stern look. "Excuse you," she chastised after him, her tone leveled in a quietly authoritative manner. "It's polite to say you're sorry when you walk into someone."

[font=century gothic]ACTION: Examining and straightening the chalkboard, then chastising Miller
ABILITIES: Keen Eye | Fearless[/font]

Intro
Katrina watched as more and more people clued into the fact that there was more in the school decorated side of the hunt. A small smile played across her lips. It was about time to officially introduce everything.
“Hello members of the Scavenger Hunt Club! I am glad to see you all were able to make it. So, as some of you may have noticed, there is more to the school decorated side as it seems,” Katrina stood up from her stool, careful not to knock over her empty hot coco cup. She went over to one of the desks and pried a chocolate frog from under it that was purposely hidden better from view for dramatics, “This is a chocolate frog, I sure hope you all recognize it. As you can see, there is a golden sticker on the top here. There are an assortment of candies, nearly every one you can find from Hogsmeade hidden on this side of the room, each with the golden sticker so you know it’s a part of the hunt. There are also small golden tokens that will be of use later. As well as slips of paper with riddles on them. The riddles all end with a candy and a token,” Katrina raised up a hand as if to whisper but instead talked a level quieter, “But if you work with a friend, I’ll give you both a token for your work,” Katrina strolled back over to her stool and hopped up. “Now, there is only a bit of time left that I dedicated to the hunt, then we’ll transition over to some other small games with prizes. So if you are interested in candy and treats, a urge you to be quick!”
Katrina smiled in anticipation. It seemed this was one of her best hunts yet. Much interest. A lot going on. It was perfect.

@Lucia Fox
Katrina watched with mild curiosity as one of the girls Katrina didn’t quite know the name of brought a small round blob of fur from her pocket. No, it wasn’t just a blob, it was a Pygmy Puff, and a cute one at that. A smile played at Katrina’s lips as the little thing, River, if Katrina had caught it’s name right, munched on a marshmallow. River… she knew that name. Not just River Dewlight, but her secret penpal. Katrina shook her head, no, that was just a coincidence.
“Oh, no problem! River is too cute to be sent away,” Katrina smiled and watched as Lucia continued with the hunt. Sadly, nothing quite caught Lucia or River’s eyes.

@Aspen Summers
Aspen seemed to just being enjoying the entertainment. She observed the treat she’d found and settled with some hot coco before approaching another girl [Paige Chase].
Something would catch her eye, a little spark of gold from, somehow inside a chalkboard eraser? The fluffy part that you use to wipe off chalk marks seemed to have a small hole in it. If Aspen were to mess with the eraser, a golden token would fall right out of it and onto her hand, along with some chalk dust. How lovely.

@Michael Miller
One of the attendees today seemed to have a smidge more luck than the rest. True to past experiences, it wasn’t ready to run out yet. Despite the fact he ran into Evelynn, he was still able to find more and more clues.
As he looked around the room and approached the teacher’s desk, he would notice one book seemed, different, fake almost. If he were to move the book at all, perhaps slide it towards himself, he would find that it was light… too light. It was hollow! As he opened the cover, he would find on the inside was a golden token and a small bag of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans. A sweet treat.
But that wasn’t all. As he put the slid the book back into place, he would find a chocolate frog behind the stack of homework. Somehow, Evelynn’s keen eye had missed that! Like the rest of his finds, it had a bright golden sticker on it. Would his luck ever run out?

@Sapphire Riddle
Sapphire had a riddle as well. As she walked towards the shelf with a few books atop it, she would take a sip of her hot coco. Delicious. Something would catch her eye though. On the ground under the shelf, set between the baseboards and the carpet, a golden token. It wasn’t the answer to the clue, but it was something indeed.
Somehow, she had missed the treasure for the riddle, but her guess hadn’t been wrong, she’d simply gotten distracted. Perhaps she should try again.

@Evelynn Decipio
Evelynn quickly indulged in the loot of her finds. She opened the chocolate frog container as one who knew was laid within. She drew out her wand and cast Immobulus. The frog would be frozen, poised to jump. She had been right on time, the chocolate would taste the sweeter for the effort.
Instead of search for more clues, the chalkboard’s crookedness would eat at her so much that she simply had to fix it. As she headed that way, however, she would be bumped into. After chastising the bumpee [Mic] she would adjust the chalkboard, easing her mind and allowing her search for more treats to dominate her thoughts.

Conclusion
With only so much time still ticking, the members of the club would have a bit of a boost with their searching. As if being notified of the hunt wasn’t nearly enough.
Katrina strolled over to the table of food and grabbed herself a few slices of meats and cheeses and a few grapes before returning to her seat. As she enjoyed the food, she would smile, occasionally meeting another’s gaze with a warm expression and all around enjoying her labor being put to good use. Another mellow evening turned fun.

OOC Must Read to Post

Reducio

Note
Just a reminder, you must write an exit post in order to get your candy. Feel free to stay as long or as many rounds as you'd like, but just keep in mind that if you do not write an exit post, you won't get your candy.

Note: The next modpost will be the last one solely regarding the Treasure Hunt.

Total Treat Count
Too lazy to do ATM, will update with the next modpost.

@Paige Chase @Lucia Fox @Ophelia Drexton @Aspen Summers @Michael Miller @Sapphire Riddle @Evelynn Decipio @Thora Larkston

Rather than the clue she'd hoped for, Sapphire spotted something different. A slightly familiar glint of gold, the barest glimpse of a golden token sitting on the ground. Based on past hunts, there were others hidden around the place. She half-smirked to herself, both frustrated and glad. Frustrated she hadn't found the clue she'd been trying for, but glad she'd found something. And there was also a bit of unrest. She was sure she hadn't gotten the clue wrong. Had she not looked hard enough?

The feeling was nagging at her, telling her not to give up. No one was paying attention to her - well, not that she knew of - but she still felt like she needed to find it. Like it was expected of her and if she didn't locate the object, she would be criticized for it. The feeling, ever so familiar, almost made her shudder.

In favour of her goal, she shoved the thoughts away. Then she crouched down and picked up the token, fingering it in her hands. It was indeed the same as those she'd found at previous events, the same texture and probably the same materials as well. She stored it away with the chocolate frog she'd found earlier, deeming it to be unimportant for the time being.

Straightening up, she cast her gaze onto the shelf again. Her eyes were narrowed in a slightly threatening way - not that the books cared. They were books, after all. Unless they were sentient, but she doubted that. Sentient books were not something you found just anywhere unless Kat had put them there. Most of the hunt was orchestrated by her and Sapph wouldn't be all that surprised, but she still wasn't really sure the girl would do that.

In a mildly robotic way, she set back to trying to find a clue. Gods, I probably look like an idiot.

continuing to search || experiencing extreme self-doubt

A Mince Pie? Paige vividly remembered those- in her younger years as a child. She was English, so she would have had them. Her mum was a baker and so was she. She held it in her hand, quite pleased that she found something. Maybe she could try and send it home to her mum as a gift- or she could just eat it later. Yeah, that's what she would do.

She looked up as a girl with dark, pretty, hair walked up and introduced herself as Aspen. "Um, hello, Aspen. I'm Paige. Yeah, I'm a first-year, too."

She smiled to the girl, answering both of her questions. This girl had a kind face- Paige liked that. "I think Aspen is a very pretty name." Paige said, truthfully."
She gestured to the mince pie. "Did you find anything yet? I did- Mince pie. Didn't expect to find something this fast, to be honest. I thought I would find more clues first." Oh well. Paige would wait for Aspen to respond before adding, "I really don't remember what mince pie tastes like- have you tried it?" She quickly grabbed a hot cocoa before stepping back over to continue talking.

Action: Talking to Aspen Summers

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OPEN TO INTERACTION

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[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH n/a[/font]

[font=century gothic]MENTIONING @Katrina Walker[/font]

With the chalkboard satisfactorily straightened, she stepped back and turned her sights back on to the hunt. Or would have, had Walker not spoken up. Instead, Evelynn turned to the hostess to listen. Really, there wasn't much that was said that hadn't already been evident. Except for the part about a token being reward to both members if a clue was worked out together. Shame, then. Had she known that sooner, she'd have recruited someone else to join her just so that they, too, could have gotten a token. Naturally, her gaze dipped around to the other hunters in an attempt to see if any of them were currently working on a slip of paper.

When nobody stood out to her, however, she let herself wander again. Another frog leg snapped off easily from the rest and slipped between her lips. Nothing around seemed to have been left undisturbed, however. Homework, map, books, shelf, teacher's desk… they had all been rifled through. If what Walker said was true, however, there should still be a number of hidden items. Perhaps she simply needed to keep her eyes peeled for them. Which she did, taking meticulous care to scan her environment back and forth with every step for any sign of something out of place. One thing that did draw her attention, however, was the grey lumpy knit blanket on the window ledge.

Per the introductory description, however, it was just out of reach. Good thing Evelynn wasn't one to rely solely upon her hands to do her hunting. Wand already drawn, she pointed it towards the blanket. It seemed like it could be a fine hiding place for a little stash of goodies. A flick and a swish later, and, "Wingardium Leviosa," she commanded almost lazily. If anything was in the blanket, surely it would topple out.

[font=century gothic]ACTION: Hunting for clues, casting the levitation charm on the lumpy grey blanket to see if anything is hidden inside
ABILITIES: Keen Eye | Fearless[/font]

Michael felt lucky, very much so, as he held the things he had found, even the riddles. He wanted to keep them, as they made a great reminder of what he had accomplished.

He walked to the host, a smile on his face. "This was a lot of fun" he said. He looked down, at this full hands, "Found a couple things" he joked.

He turned and watched the others as they looked around. He wondered how much they had found. He watched one still looking around and hummed, how much was hidden?

He sighed and shook his head, turning to the host. "Bye, i had lots of fun, love your club" he said, then made his leave. He smiled as he walked to his dorm.

He wondered if he could help the club, maybe he could give some of his extra frogs to the host? He nodded, yes I'm going to do that. He quickly ran to his room and grabbed the frogs, running back to the room with the others, some gone, some still looking. He dumped the chocolate frogs on a nearby desk, his smile bright. "Here, i wanna help the club" he said. He looked towards the clock and then his eyes widened, "I gotta go. Keep the frogs" he said before running out again.

Intro
The rush to find the remaining treats began. Katrina leaned back in her seat and munched on the snacks she'd grabbed. There was a frantic flurry of moment around the room. People going from one side of the room to the other, all in search of sweat treats and mysterious golden tokens. By now, most students would notice bulges in pockets or the glint of gold they so looked for in another member's hand.

Meanwhile, Katrina prepped her next mini speech in her head. Descriptions had to be precise. Just enough words to get the intent across without being lengthy.

@Sapphire Riddle
Although Sapphire had missed the prize to her riddle last time, she didn't this time. As she glared at the bookshelf, Katrina found find her eyes on Sapphire, silently sparkling with amusement. Though, if Sapphire were to turn, Katrina would promptly look away, avoiding the awkward moment. Though, as Sapphire would attempt to search again, she would notice that behind the books, squashed between the wall and the back of the books was indeed the treasure of the riddle. A chocolate bar on its end and a token sat perfectly hidden from view. Now found, they were a delightful treat.

Now that there was more movement. There was more to see, attention torn from one thing to the next, but amongst that, the gold almost shone out more. Sapphire was one of the few that had the exceptional luck of spotting multiple things in a short amount of time. Two glints of gold would catch Sapphire's eye. The first was taped to the leg of one of the many desks, just out of view unless one was on the far side of the room, which Sapphire was. The second was a few more desks down, slid in a small crevice between the desk top and side. Both treats were chocolate frogs, each with a matching golden sticker.

@Paige Chase
Paige was among the few that decided to make use of the social event. She had been able to enjoy the snacks as well as interact with a few fellow Scavenger Hunt Club members. The perfect example of what Katrina had imagined for the meet.

As she returned from grabbing some hot coco, a glint of gold would catch her eye down by the floorboard. Just the tip of a chocolate frog container, covered in the signature golden sticker, peeked out from between the wall and the carpet. A treat for the clever eye. Perhaps a better one than the mince pie.

@Evelynn Decipio
Usually, there is a reason things are out of reach. But seeing as this was turning into a Scavenger Hunt, it did make sense for one to assume that something out of reach was supposed to be a part of the hunt. Though, Katrina had intentionally put the blanket out of reach because it wasn't regarding the event for now. When Evelynn attempted to get the blanket down, Katrina instantly noticed somehow managed to roll a crit success so.... Thankfully, Katrina didn't have to say anything because, the blanket did hover about a foot off the ground, but she wasn't able to sustain the spell long enough to get the blanket off the ledge. The blanket fell to the ledge, falling silently (there was nothing in the blanket).

After this all occurred, Evelynn also noticed two golden things on the shelf, just within reach. The first was yet another chocolate frog, sitting behind the harmless blue-fire lit candles. It had the signature sticker and promised yet another adventure inside the event, unless Evelynn immobilized it in time again. The second was small tightly wrapped sherbert lemon (one of Katrina's favorites) it has a golden sticker that matched the golden yellow of the candy. This treat was inside the candle. Again, the candle is harmless. It will not hurt you. It isn't even warm. I don't want to deal with fire Katrina had carefully placed the lemon candy there in the hopes that no one would find it so she could eat it at the end, however, it seemed she would have to eat one of her stash instead.

@Michael Miller
Michael had experienced some of the most incredible series of lucky events in his time participating. As he approached Katrina, she would turn from her gaze on Evelynn and smile at him. "I'm glad you enjoyed it! It was really fun setting it all up," He looked around the room, possibly recalling the events, maybe searching for something more, Katrina would give him a knowing smile.

"Well, enjoy your evening. And the treats," As Michael would leave the room, Katrina would lean back into her seat. Gaze on the few participants that hadn't done much as of yet. Wondering if they were going to participate soon or keep looking for clues.

Michael would come back in again later and Katrina would look over, curious if he had returned for more. The small games perhaps? Instead, he would unload a bundle of chocolate frogs on a nearby desk. "Oh- You don't have to-" Katrina, unsure of how to properly respond, sat with a slightly ajar mouth. As he darted back out of the room, Katrina turned back to the frogs with a peculiar look in her eye. How had he managed to get those anyway? All from the train? With Mic gone, Katrina was left to her own confusion.

Conclusion
After quite the eventful five minutes gone by, Katrina stood up from the stool. Wincing as her legs had both fallen asleep in her stillness. She sat her empty mug on the empty end of the table of treats and stood around the middle of all of the action.

"Attention everyone! Sorry to bring you from your enjoyable scavenger hunting, I see many of you have found prizes and treats so far, but there is more to the event! As I believe I said in the invitations, we have some games to play as well. Just a few small things, but once we are done, you will be released back to more treat finding or off to the rest of your evenings,"

"Now, as you know, this is a meet and greet type of event, so I can't let you all leave without at least making some effort to force you to meet each other. If you come up to me before the next round of small games and stuff gets introduced (by next modpost), and tell me as many people you know who are here right now, you could win an extra prize. Basically, I want to know how many people you met before or during the event. Just tell me their names and point them out to me,"

Katrina realized as the words came out of her mouth that she may have been confusing. Oh well, too late to take back the words now, "But come one at a time please," She hastily added to the end of her proclamation.

She waited a few moments for everyone to process what she said and drew out a rolled up piece of parchment from her pocket. In a big showy manner, she drew out her wand and quietly murmured, "Aer Calidus," swishing her wand and pointing it at the parchment. A small steady stream of warm air came out the tip of her wand. Before everyone's eyes, the blank parchment became slightly less blank. Words were appearing, seemingly out of thin air.

"A funny thing about lemon juice. When applied to parchment and dried, it is clear. You can write completely invisible words using lemon juice in an empty calligraphy pen. Then when heated up with hot air or just heat in general. This happens,"

Katrina set the parchment, with a newly revealed message, on a nearby desktop.

1:
What is full of holes but still holds water?

When does today come before yesterday?

What gets bigger the more you take away?

What has a head and a tail but no body?

2:
The first of the second, and of the third. But of the first, the last.
And of the last, the third.

3:
There is something in common between the answer and a game,
Much like a hunt, but not quite the same,
Answer this riddle, and you win the test,
Say it to me to prove you're the best,
If you just helped, there's no need to worry,
You'll get a prize too, but don't wait, instead hurry,

Katrina would return to her stool, hop on up, and smile. Waiting for the first person to approach her and tell her names. And to see her members get to work on her carefully calculated multistep riddle.

OOC Must Read to Post

Reducio

Note
Just a reminder, you must write an exit post in order to get your candy. Feel free to stay as long or as many rounds as you'd like, but just keep in mind that if you do not write an exit post, you won't get your candy.

If there is anything confusing about the names thing or the riddle, just let me know and I would be glad to answer it for you. Also, I sincerely apologize for the absurd lateness of this.

Also, please complete the riddle as a group. You can post as many times as you would like between modposts. Feel free to both work on the riddle and tell Kat names. Please keep in mind the names that your character IC knows, not what you know OOC.

Total Treat Count
Too lazy to do ATM, will update eventually.

@Paige Chase @Lucia Fox @Ophelia Drexton @Aspen Summers @Michael Miller @Sapphire Riddle @Evelynn Decipio @Thora Larkston