4 Oct 2021, 06:43
Pumpkin Chase!
Della had a break between classes, and she was meandering her way to the courtyard with the vague idea of sketching in the sunlight. She was lost in thought, thinking about the Fall Ball. She had never experienced a school dance before. This year would have been the first one for her muggle school as well. With all the new magical experiences, Della hadn't fully considered that there'd be normal school events, too. Of course, wizards and witches danced, too. Though who knows what extra mayhem would be added on top?@Hui Ming
On her way to the courtyard, Della passed the Great Hall. At first glance, it looked like Halloween was in full swing. She saw dancing pumpkins everywhere in the hall ahead of her. Then she realized that they were moving erratically; it wasn't really dancing per se. The pumpkins were careening through the hall and into the courtyard—and they were laughing. Della saw some students running away from the pumpkins. Did Hogwarts just take Halloween scares this seriously?
No, judging by everyone else's reactions, it seemed like the geese all over again. What was up with Hogwarts and sinister magical creations always getting loose?
Della followed the pumpkins with some misguided sense of duty to set the school right again. They were just large squashes, how hard would it be to catch one? She followed them to the courtyard where the lot of them rushed outside, flying in every direction. They were manically laughing at their new freedom.
A few of the pumpkins had chosen a target. Della realized it was Ming, and he didn't seem to be in the holiday spirit.
Word Count: 273
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
5 Oct 2021, 08:15
Pumpkin Chase!
Interacting: @Della Barfield
English | Mandarin | French | Quotes
Word Count: 231
Ming had never really been much of a fan of Halloween. Not least because it coincided with his birthday. He would have been content being left to himself on his birthday, to explore some worlds in the latest story book, or just lose himself in his thoughts. Instead, his birthday had always been an occasion. And it was always a spooky occasion, never mind that he had no stomach for such things, and the treats given were always sugar-laced candy over his preferred lemon drops or sorbets.
Suffice to say, Ming really disliked the harvest festival.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the magical school found a way to take it and make it all the worse.
On his way back from a pleasant time by the lake, the First-year Slytherin was set upon by pumpkins who seemed to pool upon him as if he had some manner of invisible beacon upon his head. But these were no ordinary pumpkins, no. Sure they had the size and general shape of pumpkins, vine-like limbs; sinister faces lit up in unearthly malice as they ran and danced around him.
The boy attempted to sidestep the plants but to no avail.
“Of course.” The boy muttered darkly. He really needed to get the time to master some spells so he could deal with this nonsense as and when it showed up.
The curtains fell. And the silence was deafening
6 Oct 2021, 05:43
Pumpkin Chase!
The malicious orange minions were now cackling, and they were attempting to entangle Ming in their vines. Della frantically looked around—it seemed other students had vacated this area—probably also on the run from other demented pumpkins. Ming was trying to get out of their reach, but they started to dance around him, cornering him on all sides.@Hui Ming
Della grabbed her wand from her robe pocket and rushed over. "Here, let me help!" The pumpkins, still reeling with laughter, were so concentrated on their target that they had not yet seen her. She looked at the pumpkins and then at her wand, and then at the pumpkins, and then back at her wand again. She realized she hadn't learned any good spells yet to combat enchanted and malicious squash. She stashed it back in her robes. Just like with the geese, Della would need to figure out how to stop the madness the good ole muggle way again. She rolled up her robe sleeves. Is magic pumpkin catching the same as geese handling?
Della eyed the largest and loudest pumpkin as its vine-tendriled hands were aiming for Ming. She reached and attempted to grab its stem in one hand and wrapping its body with her other arm. She was going to try to crush it—maybe defeating the ringleader would scare off the others.
Action: catching the pumpkin!
Word Count: 223
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
8 Oct 2021, 04:05
Pumpkin Chase!
Mod Post
1d100 Dice Roll: 84 - Successful
A rouge pumpkin streaked out into the courtyard- ah fresh air! It just so happened an unlucky boy was in the path of the pumpkins, ready to be trampled or vice versa. But here came a girl to the rescue, in a slow-motion almost action scene she leaped, hand grasping the pumpkin's stem and the pumpkin couldn't escape her grasp. Instead it cackled one last time and made itself heavy, dropping to the ground with a thump, girl following suit and hitting the ground as she had a tight grip on it's stem. Ouch..
ReducioYour pumpkin was successful captured, thank you for your help. You may continue your thread if you'd like
♡ Life is just a trip, don't let it trip you up - Cash Campbell
23 Oct 2021, 04:47
Pumpkin Chase!
Interacting: @Della Barfield
Mentioning: -
English | Mandarin | French | Quotes
Word Count: 209
Hui Ming blinked in surprise as the large pumpkin promptly dropped onto the ground as if it had suddenly gained a good 10 kilograms in the hands of his saviour. The Chinese boy could not help but flinch at the sound.
That white hair was familiar to him. “Miss Barfield?” his tone was soft, surprised. They had had interactions, yes. But apart from her showing up in the dueling event a couple of days ago, their interactions had been very largely cursory. “Why, I-“
“I’m not quite certain what you did there, Miss Barfield. But I thank you for coming to my aid all the same.” He managed to finish, somewhat awkwardly. The girl, so proficient in casting spells in the Dueling Arena, seemed much more akin to solving problems outside without magic.
Not that he could blame the Gryffindor girl, the thought of drawing his wand in such situations was not his first instinct either. Not yet.
A small pause, as he approached her somewhat warily. No telling when the pumpkin resumed its….mischief.
When it failed to spontaneously reanimate and harangue him, however, he turned his eyes back to the white-haired girl. The little lioness, he’d mentally dubbed her in the duels.
“Are you quite alright though, Miss?”
The curtains fell. And the silence was deafening
5 Nov 2021, 04:32
Pumpkin Chase!
@Hui Ming
Della spotted the largest pumpkin. She lept towards it, catching it in the air. The other pumpkins saw her coming, and once they realized that Della was going to grab their head honcho, they scattered from the courtyard.
Della expected that the pumpkin would lift her in the air with it, and she was preparing for a tussle. But as soon as she made contact with the enchanted squash, it seemed like the magic lept right out of it. And gravity forced them both to the ground. The pumpkin splattered open, spilling its guts, and of course, Della landed right in the splash zone.
She lay there, defeated in her success, and then she heard Ming's voice. Oh right, there was a witness to all this. He asked if she was alright in his formal, courteous way of speaking. She continued to lie on the ground for a few moments, contemplating just how to respond and how embarrassing this would be.
Della got up and attempted to smile at Ming, "I'm alright, thanks! You just looked like you could use some help." She took the sleeve of her robe and attempted to wipe the pumpkin guts from her face and hair. Play it cool, Della. She hoped the mess didn't look too idiotic. "I might have taken the threat too seriously, though." She gestured towards the broken and now-completely-average-looking pumpkin on the ground.
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné
4 Jan 2022, 06:11
Pumpkin Chase!
Interacting: @Della Barfield
Mentioning: -
English | Mandarin | French | Quotes
The bespectacled first-year raised an eyebrow in amusement at the reaction of the first year Gryffindor. For all that they had had very limited direct engagement over the year so far, every time he had interacted with Miss Barfield, she had impressed him in some manner.
The first of those had been the first day with the boats. He remembered how she had dived into the water in an attempt to help – even if the help was directed to Schneider of all people. Next, the Gryffindor had performed more than admirably in the first of his Duelling Events, taking on several of his Housemates at once, and quite successfully at that. And now, she had thoughtlessly flung herself into his defence. It was thoughtless of her and reckless. But it was also very….noble.
Hui Ming started, having realized that he had gone off into his own head; and appraised the white-haired Gryffindor who, it seemed, had been covered in the contents of the renegade pumpkin in her enthusiasm to help.
“Well,” he said carefully. It would not do to air his discomfort with (lack of) general safety in the magical world. “Better to overestimate the danger and look a fool than to underestimate it and regret it, I suppose.”
“Thank you for coming to my rescue.” A small pause, where the boy managed to give Della a smile for the smallest of moment before his look is serious one again. “Perhaps we should try and get you cleaned up, first though.”
The curtains fell. And the silence was deafening
20 Jan 2022, 16:11
Pumpkin Chase!
Della looked to Ming, anxiously awaiting the Slytherin boy's response. The pumpkin guts were starting to seep through her robes and she could feel her arms starting to become cold and wet. It was an exceptionally large pumpkin.@Hui Ming
Ming still had not responded. It was like he was looking at something in the distance—Della turned to look as well, but nothing was there, just the roof of the castle's courtyard. She was glad it wasn't another pumpkin, but panic was growing in the pit of her stomach. Ming thought she was an idiot. Sure he had asked if she was alright, but it must have been a sarcastic joke. Now he was looking for exit strategy to get away from her. It was so hard to tell with his formality what he was actually thinking and clearly he was looking down on her, even with her height advantage, which he probably also found grotesque, he was looking down on her and she shouldn't have made such a fool of herself—
Then Ming spoke. He seemed to jerk back to life.
With the first thing he said, Della could hardly parse what he was saying, her panic having bloomed to a cold sweat over the long few seconds of awkward silence. Her ears did pick up "fool" and she nearly fainted. She was right. He hated her.
But then Ming did something Della hadn't really seen before. As he thanked her again for the rescue, his usual serious facade melted into a warm smile. It was a short-lived smile—blink and you'd miss it. Yet Della saw it and something told her it was genuine. Her panic receded, but something replaced it in the pit of her stomach. Butterflies?
Flustered, she managed to respond, "It was nothing. Really. Any time. Well, I hope this is the last time a murderous pumpkin comes your way, but at this school, I'm worried this won't be the last time." She smiled back, and added, "Yeah, unless you know any cleaning spells, I guess I should head back to my dorm and get some new robes." She wasn't exactly sure that's what she wanted to do—stop this conversation that had really turned itself around—but she also didn't want to continue talking covered in cold, wet pumpkin juice.
sta 8 - eva 16 - str 5 - wis 11 - arc 5 - accuracy 13 |||| Parselmouth - Evasive Maneuvers - Beast Master
also Ruckus Weems | Quentin Gagné