Fall Ball 2021 Fall Ball

#274782 Blue in English, #a62b2b Red in Korean

Upon hearing her question, Aaron simply smiled at her and Eun-ji assumed he wouldn’t give her an answer. She recognized that type of smile, it was a defensive mechanism and she used it often herself. She would not pressure him if he didn’t want to talk about it. To her surprise however, her friend seemed to change his mind a moment after. Perhaps he recognized her sincerity or he just really needed to get this off his chest. Either way, she was glad he did. “I see…I thought as much to be but I don’t like to just...assume things. My best friend from the first year was at the ball too. She told me what happened and it was clear how much it affected her. I won’t pretend to understand what you are going through but if you ever want to talk about it, I’m here to listen.” She said with a gentle smile on her face. The witch then looked at the tent they were approaching. “Well I honestly don’t know about the time heal all wounds type of thing but if I learned something as a painter it’s that when you can’t erase something, you just need to cover it with something better,” she said pointing towards their destination. “I say let’s go make some new memories here, hmm?” This time, Aaron’s smile seemed more genuine, which was a good sign. She really wanted him to have fun tonight.

Oh no… Eun-ji looked away for a moment as they were entering the Ball area. Cassandra was standing by the entrance and the Ravenclaw had no intention to interact with them today. Given the fact that they had a date with them though, she assumed for once they would both mutually agree to ignore each other. Why do I keep bumping into them? It’s almost like every time I recall an incident involving them, they appear out of nowhere. She barely stopped herself from sighing. Thank god, she didn’t mention their name to Aaron in the previously otherwise she would have felt really awkward about it now. No…never mind them. The girl reprimanded herself. She was here to enjoy the event and there were plenty people here. Surely it was possible to avoid this one for the evening?

Finally inside, Eun-ji took a moment to appreciate the decorations. She expected nothing less. It was just a captivating combination of gloomy and beautiful. She especially loved the lights and the sky. Soon enough, her eyes also wandered towards the wooden dance floor and she wondered whether she would get the chance to use it. She hoped she would but she could deal with it if that didn't happen. There was still plenty to do and appreciate even without dancing. "Oh, look…" Speaking of appreciation, the witch turned to where her friend was pointing. “Wow…” The frog choir was simply spectacular. She was so glad they decided to come here even if they didn’t get to see it all. She recognised Pericles and Henry immediately and even though they never really talked she knew most of the others as well.

Ah…that’s Cassandra’s friend. She recalled the blonde from the unexpected pumpkin chase. Eun-ji was fairly sure that girl didn’t like her but she also had no reason to confront her so she wasn’t too worried. Besides, she was a really good singer . “Yes, they are amazing. I can’t believe I’ve never seen them before.” As a performer herself, Eun-ji could truly appreciate their craft and clapped sincerely as the song ended. Aaron also seemed to feel much better after watching them so that was a big plus. “I got to perform on a big stage this summer too. It was a surreal experience….scary but definitely unforgettable,” she shared her memory with the Hufflepuff. Sure, it ended up with some small injuries but it was a success nonetheless and she would forever remember it fondly.

ACTION:Entering the Fall Ball (watching the frog choir with Aaron)
Stats: STA: 7 | EVA: 8 | STR: 4 | WIS: 10 | ARCP: 8 | ACC: 8
Abilities: *Healing Sage *Perfectionist *Death Defiance
Inventory: Wand, tissues, plasters

OUTFIT: Reducio

MENTIONING: @Tuesday Jeremiah Irons | @Santario Martin

INTERACTIONS: @Nigel Read OPEN

The night ticked on and Orion still had yet to see any sign of his date. Well, perhaps date was the wrong word for his planned company that evening, but he had agreed to meet Tuesday at the ball and there was still no sign of the American. Perhaps Mardi was opting to be fashionably late now that he had the appropriate attire.

It seemed fate would not leave him without company, however, as moment caught his eye and he turned to catch sight of Nigel Read. As a fellow Hogwarts professor and member of the Slytherin staff team, Orion had seen the American around the castle quite a few times, but he had unfortunately never interacted with him. That would all change tonight. Nigel was, frankly, easy on the eyes, and Orion did not plan to stand still that evening. It was a ball, after all, he had to dance at least once.

That wave was enough confirmation for Orion, and he crossed over the dance floor to approach his fellow Professor. "I didn’t expect to see you this evening, Professor Read, but it’s a pleasant surprise. Did you enjoy the show?" He asked, his lips curving into a smile before glancing back towards the stage. "This is the first time I’ve seen the frog choir, I’m quite impressed. Wonderful work on Kelsey’s end as well." His blue eyes drifted back towards the Professor of Astronomy. "I’m also looking forward to dancing tonight. Would you do me the honour of joining me for a dance--“

Before the Frenchman could finish his request, a gown-clad Santario ran past him at a rather alarming speed. ”Santario!" He called out in surprise. What had gotten in to her? Was she that excited to join her date in the festival? "Ah... To be young and in love." Orion deduced with a small sigh. He would have to check on the girl later mostly because I’m late posting and can’t do an action to ensure she was okay.

The musical performance of the frog choir came to an end, their serene tones, seasonal lyrics and dazzling displays of magic drawing a round of applause from many of the gathered witches and wizards. The marriage of amphibian croaks and human voices created something more than the sum of its parts, cold and warm blooded creatures joining him harmony, songs intertwining into a production that those who were lucky enough to witness it would not soon miss. Of course, the ending was rather curt, perhaps Kelsey Brumby did not have the firmest grip on his charges, for a number of the students darted off from the stage immediately following the performance, footsteps carrying them out of the tent. Santario Martin took off, with Henry Knight and Xailah Alptraum not soon after, the three of them each making their way to the festival.

Yet, music aside, there was still time for dancing and general socialising. Young love was on the air, and naturally when that air found its way into a ball, so too would be Simon Kincaid and Haley Rose, the couple taking to the dancefloor. They were soon thereafter followed by other couples, be they romantic or merely platonic, as students took to enjoying the sway of the rhythm and one another's company. As some raced off to the chaos of the Festival, yet more began their escape to the comparative calm of the Ball proper, the space between the realms of life and death providing a sort of respite from the chaos of the outside world. Numerous stories were unfolding, and yet more were beginning to take route, as the scenes of youth took place within the grand tent. Eat, drink, dance and be merry, for the night was still young.

The distant sounds of shouting and spell-flinging could scarce be heard over the music, as enchanted instruments began to play, their tune pleasant but somewhat hollow when compared to that of the frog choir which had preceded them. Nor could the roll of thunder, far off in the distance, the boom overshadowed by the ball itself.

━━━━ THE UNTESTED BOY ━━━━

Open to Interactions

Interactions: -

Outfit: Formals Mask

The Chinese first year entered the ball perhaps a little later than intended, as it appeared that the performance by the frog choir had only just ended. It was unfortunate, perhaps that he had missed out on the noise and the fireworks of the opening ceremony of the ball itself, but he could not find it in himself to be terribly worked up about it.

In his dark suit and bone-like avian mask, Hui Ming had even dispensed of his glasses in favor of contacts, something he did not normally do. But then spectacles would quite ruin the effect of the mask, and if there was ONE day he was going to dress up, it would be today.

Not a classic plague doctor look. Not quite. But almost; the nods to all the right elements were there.

He blinked at several figures all but rushing from the central stage – it appeared that something had clearly happened there for no less than three people to rush outside. With an odd sense of detachedness, the first year made his way over to the stage. He was supposed to be looking for his date, Della Barfield anyway, and any mild curiosity he was expected to have could be sated by asking around about what had happened.

Action: Entering the ball; searching for @Della Barfield neaer the central platform

Rain still looked upon them as he made his way down the path from the Grounds toward the Quidditch Pitch of his visiting school. The breeze blew, sending leaves to scatter across the landscape and made the lanterns lighting the way dance in a flicker here and there. It was all very festive for a Fall Ball and by the time Miles got there, he was quite ready to enjoy the evening.

He looked up at one of the old wooden posts of the Quidditch Pitch stands as he walked by and smiled. Maybe he would get to play there while he was at Hogwarts as he was a beater for the Ilvermorny Thunderbird house. He had loved the sport ever since he could remember. The Pitch there at Hogwarts may have been old but it was well taken care of and he could tell that the school seemed to love the sport too.

The punch bowl.

In letters, he told his quill pal Lani Beckett that he would meet her at the punch bowl. While it was quite an American cliche, he was pretty sure that every school dance, no matter where one was, had a refreshment table and so it was as good of a meeting spot as any. He took himself over to it and looked around. The only few people gathered there were couples and he didn't spot any blonde yet. Perhaps she decided it best to go with someone else. Perhaps he had bored her through his letters.

Still, he would wait. The evening was young and there were still several students, from Hogwarts and the other schools, still filtering into the Quidditch Pitch for the Fall Ball.

Miles looked down at the red rose in his hand, the one that he carried with him. It would reveal his identity to his unknown penpal. He glanced back up and gave a small smirk to one of his Illvermorny friends who had just spilled punch on themselves.

"Hello, My name is Lani. Lani Beckett. Are you, Miles Thatcher, by any chance?" he heard. The name caught his attention and he looked over his shoulder to see a blonde standing there. She was beautiful and her accent alone captivated him. "I am Miles Thatcher, by chance," he said, realizing rather quickly how awkward he was making this. "Pleasure to finally meet you, Miss..." but he paused, remembering she didn't want formalities. "I mean, hey girl, what'sup?"

His smile widened. He was only being playful with her and truly was genuinely glad to finally meet her. "Miles Thatcher, nice to finally meet you Lani," he properly now introduced himself in a more 'Miles' sort of way, as he extended out the rose to give to her.

Tuesday, sadly, had an abysmal sense of time. Whenever something was on his mind, he would participate and finish it. Unfortunately, however, that meant that today he would end up being 'fashionably late' as some would put it. As the man stood in his conservatory, clipping the leaves of some mundane plant, the man blinked, only to realize that he was indeed late for something rather important. Oh goodness, Orion was going to kill him.

The herbology professor made an all too hasty jaunt towards the ball with a hurried step, which was probably in full swing already. Go figure that he would zone out and forget about the first ball as a professor. What's even worse is that the charming suit that Rion had picked out for him had a bit of dirt on the knees and cuffs of the jacket. Hopefully, it wasn't too noticeable. The deep oranges and browns that laced across the suit might be enough to prevent any onlookers from picking out his rush. However, with each step closer to the quidditch pitch, Tuesday could the anxiousness start to rise from his stomach and into his chest. Could it be that he was nervous about being at a social gathering? He had never been the most sociable person, but Professor Irons could never be called a complete shut-in.

Tuesday finally made himself appear, adjusting the tie around his neck and the length of his button-up shirt under the very autumn-themed jacket. At least he wasn't entirely too late. Puffing his chest out, the man scanned the crowd for his date, fellow professor, and best friend. It wasn't exactly difficult to find the ostentatious man amidst the sea of children. "Rion!" Thank god, if he were just left looking around like a fool, the man would have felt dreadfully stupid. Raising his arm in the air, Tuesday casually waved towards his friend in hopes of grabbing the man's attention. Now with the reassurance of friend being in attendance, he would jauntily stroll up to the two professors. "Hello," He would say in his normal relaxed and melodic tone of voice. "Fancy seein' y'all here." Maybe if he acted like he wasn't late, they wouldn't say anything.

Showing up late, and greeting @Nigel Read & @Orion Lécuyer

The dirt covered outfit in question:

Reducio

Opeila was relieved when Flash agreed to walk away from the chaos instead of getting involved, just this once. They could have a nice, peaceful ball, right? Just this once? Instead they moved to the Quidditch Pitch where the more traditional ball celebrations seemed to be going on. Immediately Opeila felt thrown back to her first year, her first blossom ball that they had organized on the Quidditch Pitch as well. It had been nice, until they suddenly got attacked by creatures from the forest.

Today, hopefully there would be no mosps. And even if, this time there were teachers. The ball was not a secret one anymore. Some other students seemed to have picked no drama as well or rather went to the more special activities, so it wasn't too crowded in the tent. She followed Flash, who led her to the dance floor, already feeling the small cloud of worry that had appeared upon seeing Bridget casting spells fade away.

And when her friend turned to her, offering her a hand and asking her to dance, Opeila felt warm and happy, glad that she had decided to go to the ball after all. Smiling, she took Flash's hand. "I'd love nothing more!" This was how the first ball had been supposed to be. Well and the second and third probably as well...

✭ "If you're like the leaves of fall, then I'll be the force of gravity." ✫

Outfit: [x] [x] [x] [x] | Date: 10/29/2021

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

She loved the way Miles voice sounded. It was playful, yet polite and it gave her butterflies in her stomach. Lani giggled. "You just said hello to me in three different ways. Don't worry, you don't have to speak casually if you don't want to. I like polite boys." She took the flower from his hand and smiled warmly, "Plus, I want to get to know you more, so just be yourself."

Lani slipped the flower into her hair, then took his hands. "Where do you want to go? Do you want to just stay here and talk? There's also the dance floor and the festival outside, but it's raining so I don't think that's such a good idea..." The light rain in the quidditch pitch had become harder, making the flags flap intensely in the wind. "Yeah... we should maybe stay inside." Lani looked down and realized how long she had been holding his hands. She blushed and let go. "Sorry about that." Subject change time. "So, wanna just talk? How was your tour of Hogwarts? I hope they showed you all of the good places, like the courtyard and stuff. Um, I could take you to the places you really want to see if you like."

Had she made it awkward? Hopefully, he wouldn't feel uncomfortable around her. Miles was honestly a cool guy and she wanted to have fun with him for the rest of his time at Hogwarts. Lani couldn't mess this up just yet.

Mentions/Interactions: Miles Thatcher@Simon Kincaid | Action: Chatting with Miles

There were mixed sentiments, not that Mathias Pride would admit that even to himself. There was something about Winnie Harper that appealed to him. it was more than her long crimson tresses or the strawberry scent he had grown accustomed to. It was not her fashion sense, the frills or the feminine palate she often donned. Those were things that could be bought, created, replicated or made... it was something else he could not define and even if he could he would never admit it, not honestly in any case. He had claimed interest and desire for months, but this came from the mouth of a liar, a manipulator and someone who was always in control.

In truth, he did care in the limited way he could. Their relationship was ultimately toxic and it was his fault. He had no desire to change it, the past or the manipulations that got him where he was. The past was his salvation, his safety net. Knowledge that nothing was real in spite of whatever he might have thought he felt, in the end it was destined for destruction. The futility was what made it work.

He had sent that message to House Ravenclaw, knowing that stubborn curiosity would draw the eagles to the forest edge. He did it to hurt the heir apparent, his goal hardly subtle -- he wanted to drive his cousin out of the school. Vladimir was dangerous, reckless, the source of what was wrong and he needed to leave. He could not trust his peers, they would never abide his pleas and
his efforts were ultimately hollow and would be eternally fruitless. Victor, that facsimile of a boy was still here, in his dorm. An insult to the life and legacy of the former in Vladimir's eyes, he destroyed the boy over and over again. Eventually one would get past him and ths September one had. His efforts, the ire he earned was all for naught. He was a failure utterly and completely. How could he go on?

Yet, he tossed out Winnie's invitation. She was never intended to be there. He did not want her to get hurt, to see that, to suffer by any hand but his.

He had not made a conceited attempt on Erin's life in spite of sharing a dorm with her. He was conveniently incapacitated the day and hour Hess had come for their cousin. He was bed-ridden by that beating Jack Warren had inflicted upon him. Today she would turn, people might die and he failed yet again. That was his legacy - failure, ineptitude.

Yet here he was not watching the devastating failure first hand, he was pulling Winnie away from the mad girl or the touched boy. His hand would slip into hers.

"What?"

He took her literally, "he does not have heterochromia," he repeated.

"He had heterochromia when I met him back in September... I mean, I met him before that but I didn't remember that meeting."

"He does not have heterochromia," he repeated again.

"How... Could it not be him?"

"Lot's of reasons -- we are wizards," Mathias reminded her. He did not know that it was the work of Marion, had he, he would have a field day with Vladimir.

"Polyjuice potion...?"

"Unlikely," he answered. "Then he always had heterochromis," the potion would have been accurate. "Someone made a mistake," he theorized. He was of course wrong but squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"If that's not Flash... Who is it?"

"No clue," he admitted. It was not their problem, let fake Flash work himself into a corner. Let fake Flash get destroyed while he was at a safe distance.

"Matt. It's difficult to forget our troubles when you've just told me that my friend isn't who he says he is."

He would stop, the dancefloor was here. The atmosphere was everything that she could have hoped for. She was unhappy, admittedly he did not care because she was safe from every threat less him. When she turned to face him, he would lean down and attempt to give her a peck on her strawberry lips. He was not going to dignify her complaint with an answer, she would just yell at him.

Mathias knew how to dance. A simple waltz, something everyone knew.

"But we can talk and dance at the same time."

"Whatever you want dear," he replied as he pulled her closer than the dance called for. She was so short her face would meet the cloth of his shirt. "Flash is something wrong. Erin is a hag. People are going to fight, I blame Flash somehow and someone that is not you is probably going to get hurt. Spin." He would attempt to give her a spin, possibly ducking any stray elbows or slaps to the face before resuming the dance. Another attempted kiss on the top of the head.

Just leave them to die and have a nice evening Winnie.

Outfit: Pink Plaid Suit

Inventory: Wand, small lockpicking knife, wizard tight, corsage (for Winnie).

Action: To the ball with Winnie, telling Winnie about Flash

Interacts with: @Winnie Harper

Mentions: @Flash Holmwood & @Vladimir Athanatos