Fall Ball 2021 Samhain Festival

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Outfit

Open to interactions!

Addie moved at a pretty slow pace as she meandered toward the Fall Ball. As she walked, she looked in every direction, taking in all of the decorations and the beautiful colors of the fall leaves that littered the ground. She hadn’t spent as much time as she would have liked outside lately, what with dueling practice and homework and BOOM shenanigans. She breathed the crisp air deeply. This sort of weather invigorated her, the vibe a very specific sort that cleared her head and gave her new life.

She didn’t have any particular plans tonight, which she was very excited about. There were all sorts of activities to take part in if she wanted to, and if she didn’t, she was also perfectly happy to find a comfortable place to sit and watch people argue with their dates.

As she walked, Adeline tugged a little at the bottom of her dress. She wasn’t sure if she had grown or if she just wasn’t accustomed to wearing this sort of attire, but she felt uncomfortable and vulnerable. This plaid pinafore was fancy enough for an event such as this without actually being formal, and that suited her perfectly. Though she had been forced to wear extravagant ball gowns in the past for different events that her family attended, they had always been far too cumbersome for her taste. With her particular interests and hobbies, she much preferred clothing that she could move around in.

Spotting a sign that read “Matchmaker Booth,” Addie immediately steered herself in the opposite direction. In her short time at Hogwarts, she had witnessed a lot of people in relationships, and all the different ways people who were in them acted. There was no way that she was going to become a drooling idiot like the rest of them. She had more important things to do, thank you very much.

Addie’s thoughts turned to the Frog Choir performance that she knew would be starting soon and picked up the pace a little. If her memory was correct, a couple of her friends were part of the choir, and she had yet to see them perform, so this was an event she definitely wanted to attend. If her friends did well, she’d be sure to tell them that, and if they crashed and burned, she would also be sure to let them know.

With her usual half-cocked grin spread across her face, Addie slipped her hands into the pockets of her dress to keep them warm, and made her way to the ball.

Action: Entering the ball alone

Reducio

Stats
Sta 7 | Ev 10 | Str 5 | Wis 6 | Arc 5 | Acc 7

Abilities
's Grace
Evasive Maneuvers

Mentions: @Erin Ryan, @Hugh Lowe, @Galton Lansdale
Open to Interactions

October. It was the time of year that everyone came together to do an annual dance. But was there only dancing involved? Most commonly not. Something was going to happen. Bloom knew to be on her feet when it came to these intense gatherings at Hogwarts. But tonight was a night to forget all about it. Nothing was going to be as intense. No, people learn from their mistakes and we have to think the positive.

Wearing a modest bold blue dress, Bloom walked into what was called the Samhain festival. She wasn't as extravagant as some of her peers, but she also wasn't underdressed. Her dress was a hand-me-down from her older sister who was now living life as an adult. As she continued to adult, she gave a lot of her older clothing to Bloom. As much as Bloom would rather have something new, she was content with more in her closet. Her brunette hair, usually tied up in a bun, was cascading down her shoulders. Bloom felt it was appropriate to have her hair down to keep her ears warm from the colder weather.

Walking into the festival, she saw that there were a couple choices that she could go to. Would she dare go and do activities or would she enter the fall ball? Bloom decided that the fall ball would probably be her thing. She might see more people there to connect with, as it is something she has been working on. So far, she had been successful. However, she did not want to jinx the thought.

But alas, it was jinxed. As Bloom entered, she made her way towards a lot of people where there was Erin Ryan. She remembered what Hugh had told her during their search for a mirror. It seemed that she had gotten into the mess of him protecting Erin. Who was it from? Galton?

Instead of outright asking what was happening, Bloom tried her hardest to observe the situation. She wanted to come in calm and collected and from a third person perspective while everyone was stuck in the drama. Though, this drama was a bit of a life or death situation, so perhaps drama was not the right word.

ACTION: Enter the Samhain Festival and head to the Fall Ball

The day of the Fall Ball had finally arrived. Liana had waited for what seemed like months and months, even though it was only six weeks ago that the Ball had been announced, and she had been invited to be one of the organizers. This day was bound to be great. Not only would she see her nearly-daily after-class efforts of making this event spectacular come to fruition, she would also spend the evening with the boy that had been intriguing her deeply ever since they first met. Purposefully appearing lazy and inept but turning out to be academically gifted, showing great prowess in spellcasting but seemingly worrying about anyone noticing his achievements. She would have wanted to get to knowing him earlier, but it had been nigh-impossible to locate him after he'd invited her to the ball, mostly because she was so busy with her extracurricular activities and he was claiming he slept at the oddest of times. Well, no matter. Today she would get to try and unravel this enigma, while he undoubtedly did his best do deceive. This would be a wonderful exercise for the both of them. She only hoped that he would also be able to dance, too, since she was looking forward to that part of the party as well. Dancing (without any magic forcing one's legs to do so) was a rather splendid and enjoyable pastime. And she would look so marvellous twirling in her moss-green ball gown. Yes, today would be her day. Both as a proud organizer and as an excited participant of the event.

As she neared the festive area, admiring the beautifully-coloured toadstools and other mushrooms decorating the grass, sounds of discontent reached her ears. She narrowed her eyes, seeking out their source. It was not difficult to locate, since the noise was emanating from a crowd of upperclassmen. Some with drawn wands. Some not even using wands, but rather resorting to the barbaric Muggle ways. Was... was there a bear there, too?

Nope. Nopenopenope. NOPE.

She would not pay that nonsense any mind. Today was about basking in the glory of a successfully arranged Ball. Today was about recreation and even frivolity. Today was not going to be about whatever drama or tragedy those horrible folk were cooking up over there. At least not for her. She wanted no part of it. The girl gave them a wide berth as she entered the Samhain area, her eyes seeking out her date. She had purposefully shown up slightly late, knowing that he might try to fall into his (hopefully) feigned habit of sleeping in and showing up late, to try and fool her into believing he was truly just a distracted nitwit barely averaging an E.

After scanning the field for a good while, she finally located the boy, mostly because he was running and the motion attracted her eyes. Liana raised her hand to wave at him, but Matt didn't pay her any mind, instead coming to a halt in front of... Maggie? For some reason, the redhead suddenly felt very worried. Her subconscious mind had realized the meaning of Gray's behaviour way before her conscious one did. Her conscious mind was refusing to accept the realization, hushing and suppressing it, as the girl made her way towards her two housemates. Now able to hear their conversation, she caught the apologetic words of the boy, and suddenly she was feeling sick with anxiety. This could not be happening.

''Hey, Maggie, Matt,'' she called when she was close enough to them, trying to sound cheerful although her voice sounded strained. The smile she attempted to put on her lips was a weak one as well. ''Matt, aren't we supposed to head in, together?'' Liana was doing her best to remain calm, although panic was starting to grasp her rather tightly. Could she have misunderstood something, or maybe misheard something? Was he perhaps suggesting that he and Maggie head inside to wait for their respective dates in the relative warmth of the tent? That did not seem to be the case, not with the way he was jogging towards her and apologizing for his tardiness, but the girl eagerly grasped at the hope anyway.

''I've been waiting to go to the ball with you for over a month, this is bound to be a fantastic day.'' It was looking more and more like the day would be quite terrible, in fact, but she ignored the part of her brain that claimed so. The rational part that was rarely ever wrong and that tended to interpret her hunches and suspicions correctly most of the time.

Action: None yet. Staying away from the rowdy folk.

Inventory: Purse; wand, small book, hairbrush, and pocket mirror inside said purse.

Dialogue: English - #1b087d | Russian - #8f0000 | Finnish - #00804f

Interacting with: Octavian (@Matthew Gray)
Mentioning: The bear, older students next to it.

On her way to the festival, Tarja couldn't help but overheard people complain about it being chilly. Oh, the southerners. Having grown up in the frigid parts of Russia, and visited Northern Finland during winter, she seemed to have gained an immunity for such light chill as this one. Her skin, covered only with a short-sleeved pumpkin-coloured dress, did not even have any goosebumps. This was a perfectly pleasant weather, and certainly not cold. There was a bit of wind now and then, and there seemed to be a mountain of dark clouds approaching, though. It could start raining. Well, a bit of water never killed anyone.

The girl made her way across the field, her eyes wandering. The area was so beautifully decorated! And there seemed to be a circus planned, too, because she spotted a massive bear entertaining a group of teenagers further away. A part of her wanted to go there and watch the spectacle, perhaps even pet the bear. She knew some of her countrymen had made companions of those massive animals that roamed their lands. Tarja would have liked to have a bear friend, too. However, she could not afford to linger. Already she was quite late, and her date would be waiting. Perhaps she could locate the bear after its performance.

Somewhat distracted by all the colours, noises and costumed people, she still managed to spot her partner, even though he seemed to be trying to hide at the dim edge of the festival area. A bright smile lit her lips as she approached him, skipping a little bit to move faster.

''Octavian Konstantinovich! I apologize for making you wait. Are you excited for the event?'' His suit seemed quite shabby, but she made no mention of it. A lot of students were on the poor side in Koldovstoretz. She herself came from a family that struggled to make ends meet, and the dress she wore had not been bought - it was sown by babushka Soini, her maternal grandmother who used to work as a seamstress. Tarja focused on the lovely thing she could easily find about him instead - the bouquet he was clutching in his fist. ''Are those for me? I love wildflowers! These are so beautiful. You're such a gentleman!'' True, they were slightly wilted, but she could probably salvage them by drying them; dried flowers had so much character, in her mind. Beauty that refused to go away even in death. Hopefully, these blooms would survive until the end of the evening.

''I hear there are plenty of activities here, should we head for one of those? There's this... how did they call it?'' she paused, trying to find the right words because she couldn't quite translate them into Russian, as she didn't grasp the full meaning of them in the first place. ''Match-making booth,'' the girl pronounced the odd words carefully, not confident in her English at all. ''Anyway, I wonder what that's about. We should go there first!'' Slipping her hand into the boys palm, she tugged him towards the Quidditch Pitch where the tent she'd spoken about could be found.

Action: Leaving for matchmaking booth, taking Tavi along (holding him by the hand).

Inventory: Wand, a 0.5l flask of water, a 100g bar of chocolate (all in the pockets of her specially-sown dress).

Action: Looking for Vale, encouraging the upperclassmen to have fun, greeting friends.
@Vale Ashwood @Maggie Hawkins @Matthew Gray @Liana Kerr

Left, right. Left. Right. What is that? Eck, nope. Vale was running all over the place trying to check everything out before deciding it was finally important to find her ball partner and the friends she assumed to have obtained during her time in Hogwarts. From all that quick running around, she finally was able to find Avery Chen in the midst of the chaos that was happening.

"Ah, Avery! There you are. This is terrible! They have no torture devices here! All they had was some animals roaming around and paid some hags to be here! Maybe if we check around the place..." Vale whined, rushing over until she listened in to Liana's outcry to two other familiar peers. She blinked in confusion as she stood next to Avery.

"Oh? Could it be? The betrayal of love and affection? Who knew love could turn so poisonous and deadly?" Vale rubbed her hands together, yet shaking her head at the same time. In fairness, Vale didn't know who was going with who. She invested in making it a surprise to herself, and a surprise she indeed had. For someone so young, it was hard for her to understand such relationship drama even as she had her own ball partner right next to her.

"Then we have no choice. Someone must kick the bucket to ensure dominance." Vale was so sure about the decision, sighing in bliss like she was reading a romantic book of her choice. If anyone knew Vale well, it was that something was rather off about her. Her whole family, actually. "We should all put a vote to it. Matthew Gray, you have my vote. Only because that would be most fun to watch."

Reducio

description of clothes which will be coming soon

[1]

[font=PT Sans] And so the fall ball arrived, but his date was nowhere to be seen. Was it a trend for his dates to leave him hanging at Halloween balls now? He really should’ve brought Cu Sith (pet snake). Perhaps she could motivate Alec to come a bit faster. But with Hogwarts history of having safe balls, Hana decided Cu Sith was way too young to be traumatised. Being left by Percival, by Katherine, by Alec. It didn’t do any good to his current mood. Just as he was about to turn back to his room to have a messy tantrum, before hearing a loud ‘Heyyyyy’. He stopped in his tracks as he watched his date run towards him with an apologetic face. An apologetic Hana wanted to punch. “ I suppose it’s better than standing me up” he sighed, feeling less frustrated, and even managing to give Alec the faintest of smiles.

“I was painting my nails.” Alec proudly showed his nails, leaving Hana slightly pressured to give him a compliment for some reason. “ Wow. I suppose they do brighten up your outfit. How long did it take?” Okay, perhaps there was still lingering annoyance that he was late, but Hana learned he wouldn’t be getting an answer as of now. Not when all the response he got was numerous unneeded noddings. Goodness, how in heavens would Hana be able to woo him by the end of this date?

“I have an idea.” Hana stepped back, slightly surprised at the sudden attention. “You can say no if you want. We have lots of time before the ball starts, and then if you decide you don't like it I can take it off. Besides, it's a lot of fun. Also, the stuff is right in my dorm so it's not that far away.”

Holy cow, that was a lot of eye contact. Other than that, he was given the opportunity for his nails to be painted if he was okay with being left alone again. He took a quick glance of his nails, then the sky as if he had enough wisdom to tell the time by the sky. “ I suppose it wouldn’t hurt “. Hey, it was getting him closer to wooing Alec easier, he’d do anything. Before Hanako could tell him a colour, he dashed away.

Holy shi- what is wrong with his date?! Who would be willing to go back to his dorm just to carry multiple nail polish back here?!? “ Ohhhmyy-” Hana needed to sit down. Was this the Gryffindor that Wyatt was so enamoured with?! Whatever, all he could do was wait here until he got back. He had never had his nails painted before. Why didn’t the idea ever cross his mind?

.·:·.☽✧ ✧☾.·:·.

Ah yes, the physical contact. That was why.

Hanako made the bold assumption that Alec would simply wave his wand and have the brush start working on his nails. Wasn’t that what most wizards do? Let magic do the hard work for them? But noooo. Apparently not this one. The Japanese boy couldn’t even focus on the white nail polish being painted on his hands. He was too busy looking anywhere else but Alec.

The moon. The eagle statues. The badges on Alec’s messenger bag. Just simply to tell himself that his hand isn’t being gently held by a cute boy. Because of that, Alec would find it hard to get a good glimpse of Hana’s face. Constantly being blocked by the black wavy locks or a big red headband due to the awkward head angles Hana put himself through just to hide his slightly red face. But it looked like Hana’s face wasn’t a focus in Alec’s eyes, as he was too immersed in nail painting. Thankfully.

“I'll do my best to not get it anywhere other than your nails, but you have to stay still or I'm going to have to go back and redo them.”. By instinct, Hanako took a full breath in and held his breath. As if hit by immobulus, he wouldn’t say much but would be as still as possible. No way was he going to last if Alec had to re-do them.

It was not that he was repulsed by physical contact. But when you’re deprived of affectionate gestures like hand-holding during your early years, you might end up craving it. Hanako had suppressed that craving for the longest time that it just ended up being something he avoided altogether. It’s only fine when he does it to others, considering he had only done them to get a spiteful reaction from someone. But when it was him on the receiving end, it was as fearful as it was comforting. And Alec was one of the last people Hanako should ever get comfortable with. For multiple reasons. He reminded himself via self-thoughts of all the reasons why he shouldn’t get attached, choosing to stay ignorant of his blushing face.

Hanako almost sang in joy when he was asked questions, accidentally looking a bit too eager to answer. “ Not much of a party person, I see. Haha, neither am I to be honest. I go because not enough people see how cute I am if I just stayed in my dorm.” If he wasn’t a blushing mess, he would've winked at him“ But there are way too many different reasons everyone has when they decide to go to balls. Food, friends, stalking people, ruining dates, make people uncomfortable for their own amusement “ Hanako paused realising he was listing what his prior reasons for going to balls “ Pranking~” he looked at Alec for the first time in a while to give a grin, hinting Alec’s prior plans before they became each others dates. “And, if you ask me, there’s quite a lot of people who come for the chaos as well. That’s my take on them. Haven’t really been to a lot before I joined Hogwarts, so I suppose my knowledge is limited.” Most muggles didn’t host friggin balls. And even if they did, Hanako wouldn’t be invited. “

And I suppose my reason right now, is to make you look like you fell for me. See? Very different reasons” after saying that crucial information, Hanako felt his shyness being washed away. What the hell was he doing? Getting flustered over some simple hand-holding from Mason? Absurd! He was Hanako Tone. People get flustered by him (*not from the reasons he was thinking). He came here with a mission. One that Alec even knows about. From then on, Alec could finally see Hana’s face as he stopped hiding. Though there were still tinges of red, Hana hoped Alec simply assumed it was simply make-up and nothing else.

“The fall ball last year was sort of okay. Did you go?”

“If you’re asking because you’re secretly worried about my ex-dates, then rest assured you have absolutely nothing to worry about.” 1st date got attacked by bees. 2nd date left him for another girl (through miscommunication that Hanako won’t acknowledge), 3rd date used him to get back at her friend (also due to miscommunication). But being honest with Alec about it might scare him away, so Hanako decided to leave it at that. Plus, last year's Halloween wasn’t the best for him.

The ghost cat. The betrayal. The thieves. The abandonment.

Memories he’d rather not unlock again. He wouldn’t look so open in talking about it. “ Had fun there last year? Went into any of those places the grim reaper on a horse told us to go? Saw some people heading for the exits for that” Including one of his dates as he recalled vividly. “ Didn’t go there. Had other business to attend to”. Like hide in a paper bag and bribe people with macarons to be his date due to immense shame. Long story short, he still ended up alone.

Just as Alec said he was done, Hanako felt like it was easier to breathe. Taking a look at his hands, he inspected the new white color. “Hmm..not bad, Mason” It really wasn’t! That being said, Hanako still wouldn’t let anyone else paint his nails. He won’t go through any physical contact again. “I'll redo it after I do your other hand. I probably shouldn't be making small talk”

“ Please dont-....think like that~” he corrected himself. How silly of him to forget that he had two hands. “ You might be entertained painting nails and all that, but I'd rather do something else than just sit here and look pretty, you know?” His small talk did snap Hana out of the flustered mess he was in earlier, so he wouldn’t mind more. Especially when there's another hand to be painted. Hana would love a distraction.

.·:·.☽✧ ✧☾.·:·.

“If you want it to dry faster you can blow on them or wave your hands around crazily. Do you like it? The color and how it looks? Or do you want me to get rid of it?”. Mason really likes to fire questions left and right, doesn’t he? “ Hey, it looks good. If you’re looking for professional feedback, I’m not the guy for that. But for my first nail paint, it looks pretty.” Despite his best efforts to keep Alec from leaving, he had to see him go back to his dorm again just to put back the nail polish. Hanako was beginning to think Alec used to run in circles for fun when he was younger. The messenger bag was big enough as it is. Why not just put them in there? Who brings a big messenger bag to balls anyway? Urgh, whatever. He just needs that A in wooing 101. Never needed to bother Alec anymore after that.

.·:·.☽✧ ✧☾.·:·.

Although he arrived early, it felt incredibly late for him. Perhaps the multiple earlier setbacks had something to do with it. But looking around, what they did with the place was certainly interesting. It’s amazing what they could do with the grounds, with all the different events and festivals they had in here. The toadstools stood out the most. Cu Sith would’ve loved to play around with those. But he wasn’t here to admire the decor. He had a missing date to find. Eventually, he would. He went over to greet him with the same tone he was greeted with at the courtyard. A soft apologetic "hheeeyyy".

“Right then, this is where our date officially begins. Let's not use it by standing idly, hm~? Kath would fail me on the spot if she sees us like this.” Hanako wouldn’t hold Alec’s hand, thinking they had enough physical contact back at the courtyard. Instead, he’d lightly tug the hems of Alec’s sleeves ( if there is any, if not- Hana would pat his shoulder gently ).

[/font]

Action: Leaving to ball

@Alec Mason

The Fall Ball at Hogwarts. Nate never expected to set foot on the grounds of Hogwarts again, let alone go to one of the balls. But now here he was, in his burgundy suit, his curly black hair done to rights and ready to meet his date. Nate was nervous not only because he was going to another ball and the last experience was still in his bones, but also because he had a real date for the ball. After Cash and he had gone for a walk after arriving, he had plucked up all his courage and asked them if they would like to be his date to the ball. No need to mention that Cash had agreed, otherwise he wouldn't be standing here now.

Although he had a date for the last ball at Hogwarts, she had stood him up, which in retrospect wasn't a bad thing. It was bad enough that outsiders had witnessed his panic attack and luckily he had his best friend by his side. But this time he was hoping Cash would actually show up. With them it was different, he really cared if them will show up or not.

But he had a good feeling, he wouldn't put it past Cash to treat him like that and if they did, then he had been hugely wrong about Cash. But he would not give it another thought. Proud as he was, he straightened his shoulders, his gaze straight ahead and expressionless.

Of course Hogwarts couldn't hold a normal ball, of course it would have been too easy to just enter the ball, no he had to go through another location until he got to the actual ball. He largely ignored the Samhain festival and went straight to the entrance for the Fall Ball where Cash and Nate had agreed in advance to meet.

Action: Entering the Fall Ball

Mentioning: @Cassandra Ironwoods

Roleplaying as iNPC Valentin Everbone - Ency
Beauxbatons | Second Year
English - French

'Who on earth plans for a ball to take place outside?!' Valentin thought to himself as he left the cabin that he and the other Beauxbaton students had been allocated as accommodation, 'at least it's a short walk,' he hoped at the very least the ground would be dry enough that it didn't make a mess of his polished shoes. As a boy, Valentin had always laughed at his father whenever he had put on posh shoes similar to the ones he was now wearing, he remembered calling them clown shoes because of how unnaturally long they made his feet look, now he considered them an essential part of his own style.

He decided to pair the shoes with a pair of smart black trousers and a plum coloured jacket, and of course a bow tie, in his opinion the underappreciated little brother of the classic tie. Of course the whole outfit had been planned out long before tonight, he chose it back when he was packing for the trip, which is why he had to think of an excuse as to why he was arriving later than most. Valentin would like the think he gives of the impression that he doesn't care what people think about him, which would be mostly correct, but sometimes he likes to make the switch from the one doing the judging of others to the one being judged - obviously he expects in a positive light.

At least the grounds didn't look as they normally did, almost every inch of it seemed to be decorated according to the theme of the festival, his eyes following a couple of the lit pumpkins hovering in above him. He then looked further in the distance to the various other things that had been set up for the evening, but only one was of interest to him. What he recognised to be the Quidditch pitch, now housed a giant tent, lights from inside making it a glowing beacon in the night. Back in the cabins he had told his friend Enzo to go ahead, he needed time to perfect his look, and the two had said they would meet later at the at the ball, so the ball is where he would go.

Interactions: None
Mentions: Enzo Delcroix (@Akari Kato)

Action: Heading straight for the Fall Ball
Stats: Stamina - 9 | Evasion - 10 | Strength - 7 | Wisdom - 4 | Arcane Power - 2 | Accuracy - 10
Abilities: Interception | Statistically Relevant

- Outfit -

Reducio

Interacting: @Liana Kerr (Tarja)
Action: Heading to the matchmaking booth with Tarja

Matchmaking booth? His English was actually relatively good since his family tended to use English when travelling through European countries that weren't Russia, and if the activity was anything like what its title made it sound, it would be painfully embarrassing and awkward. Did Tarja Akimovna understand what it really meant or was she just picking something at random?

"...I, ehm..." No chance to protest, before he could get a word in edgewise he was being practically dragged to the booth, and the back of his neck went a blotchy red at holding hands with another person. A bubbly, popular girl from his own year nonetheless - he could already hear the ribbing his aunts would give him if they ever heard about this. What would the other students think? Tarja Akimovna clearly didn't care, and for that he admired her. He was a little but terrified of her, but still... you had to admire a person who didn't worry about the opinion of others. Perhaps this night would be more eventful than he'd expected, and at this point he wasn't sure if that was a negative or positive thing.