Errand Add A Little Bit Of... Spice Completed

As Quinn was coloring when one of her friends walked up to her, Bailey Glade. “Hey Bailey! Good to see you!” She replied, “Im doing good, how are you?” she asked Bailey. A girl walked up, Quinn recognized her.

“I don’t mind if you sit over here, Do you?” She looked at Bailey, She thought that Bailey wouldn’t mind but she wanted to make sure.

Then again a girl Quinn knew walked up. Beatrice, Quinn had met her at the last errand. On the first. She came up and hugged Hilda. “Hello, Nice to see you to!” She said to the new girl with a smile.

Quinn looked back to her drawing, so far so good. She had five flags drawn so far, and she remembered where all the colors went! On her paper there was the pansexual flag first, Then the gay and lesbian flags, after those ones she drew the non binary flag. Ending with the bisexual flag. They where the ones Quinn had seen the most so she could easily draw them.

“So why did you all come down here?” Quinn asked it wasn’t a rude question. Quinn was just curious as she had stumbled onto the last two errands.

[quote]

Harper walked into the Great Hall for another event. She had previously gone to the religion event in the school year, and she really enjoyed that one! She hoped that this one would be just as fun or even more fun than that one. That previous event was fun because she met all kinds of witches and wizards from different religions and this time she was excited to meet all sorts of witches and wizards that identified with LGBTQ+. In fact, she herself was bi-curious and she thought this would be a great opportunity to explore her identity a bit more and get to know others who might be in the same boat as herself.

Harper noticed how many others seemed to be crafting beautiful rainbow flowers at some of the tables nearby. She wasn't usually someone that was good at crafts but she could follow instructions easily enough, and there were a few of those spread across the tables. It looked like there were instructions on how to make rainbow flowers and rainbow bouquets. She decided on doing a couple of rainbow flowers because she wasn't the craftiest witch around and felt she would mess up the bouquets and being the perfectionist she was, she decided that she couldn't have that.

She quietly grabbed all of the supplies that she needed to make the flowers, she made she grabbed paper representing each color of the rainbow. She also grabbed a few other materials she needed before she found a spot and began carefully reading the instructions quietly to herself before she began her work. She wanted to make sure she fully understood what she needed to do before she did the work, otherwise, it might not turn out right and she wanted it to be perfect, just like she wanted everything to be. If anyone wanted to come by to say hi, then she would definitely welcome them and any help they might offer.

WC: 326

Banner by: Liana Kerr

Great Hall, 4th June 2022, at dinner.
Mentioning @Faye Simmons
Interacting with @Kim Sato, @Farron Horne
Colour code - #831100
Outfit

𝕰ven though things had been no short of awkward between the pair of childhood friends after the spring break, Regina liked to think that her and Kim were still on good terms after both of them had established that they would put up an act whilst still maintaining their friendship. Thus was the reason Regina had come to her underclassman and requested him to accompany her to this errand their Professor of Astronomy had set up in the Great Hall.

The truth was, she still hadn't revealed anything about her little...crush situation to her friend. Even though Kim was aware of her closeness to the Ravenclaw first-year Faye Simmons, she never explicitly mentioned how she actually felt about the Muggleborn to Kim. She was still in the beginning of the journey to discover the truth about her attractions and the opportunity had, conveniently, presented itself in the form of Pride Month decorating organised by Professor Horne. Regina, in her typical prestigious scholar fashion, had spent the whole afternoon researching in advance about the meaning behind the event. She'd learned that it was a Muggle tradition starting from 1969 and was impressed by its fascinating history.

The old Regina, pretentious and sheltered, would have scoffed at anything Muggle-related. But she was no longer the same person from the beginning of her second year.

The raven-haired Gryffindor entered the Great Hall with her Housemate and immediately took note of the bustling atmosphere. This was a whole community gathered. Regina had never liked crowds, but she had a feeling it would be endurable as long as Kim remained close-by. Speaking of which, she turned her head from where she'd been admiring the proceedings when the boy nudged her gently and followed him as they approached Professor Horne.

"It looks awesome, professor."

"Indeed," Regina agreed. "It is my first time attending such a riveting event. The motivation and the tribute you are offering to these people is incredibly commendable, Professor."

"You want to decorate or eat first?"

She offered her Kim a small smile.

"I do not necessarily have a preference. However, it would be nice to have a look around to gauge which activity we shall be participating. We can discuss and make a decision as we eat."

WC: 372

When @Quinn Root said that she was doing well, Bailey smiled happily. Glad that she had let go of the fact that Quinn had pranked her, Bailey agreed when Quinn asked if it was ok if @ Beatrice Langstreth could join them.
Introducing herself to the younger Ravenclaw, Bailey smiled welcoming and said “Yes of course you can join us! My name is Bailey. Bailey Glade. We might have met a few times- I have seen you around the dorm. I am a fellow Ravenclaw!”
When the younger Ravenclaw got up and hugged a first year Hufflepuff, Bailey smiled and turned to the girl, yet again introducing herself. “My name is Bailey- Bailey Glade. It’s nice to meet you! Your name is @ Hilda Cavendish, correct? I think I have seen you around the castle; I do have a rather good memory for names and faces! And you have such a pretty face!”
As they all settled back into their seats, Quinn asked what brought them there.
Bailey smiled and started, saying “I love participating in the errands and eating house points. I also have a few friends and family members who a party of the community, so I came so I could educate myself a little more! My mum also sent me a package of heart sugar cookies to decorate, so I made them pride themed and brought them down here! What about you all? What brought you here?”

Word count: 240/ 800 = 685

Open to interactions!

June had finally arrived, and that meant PRIDE MONTH! Pax could not say how excited they had been for this upcoming month. It was like a massive LGBTQ+ celebration, and it lasted for a well- deserved month. Hearing that Professor Horne had organised yet another errand, and this time it was Pride themed, Pax felt was happily willing to attend and assist in rainbow-ifying the Great Hall.

They may have looked strange to some, wandering around with their demigirl flag tied around their neck and flowing behind them like a cape, but they were proud of who they were, and was going to let nobody judge them for it. Inadvertently, they had dressed in 'reverse' asexual, with their purple hair, white t-shirt, grey joggers and black trainers, and on their white shirt was the words- 'I'm not fully female and that's ok', as well as an another demigirl flag, but in badge form, pinned proudly to their chest.

When they arrived, they were happy to see the Hall relatively vibrant with students from across the houses and years. Instantly, they spotted their friend Kim across the hall, but he seemed to be engaged with another girl, also Gryffindor, so they decided to leave him be for now (and for once).

Instead, they beelined towards the Hufflepuff table, adorned with crafting supplies to create anything and everything their LGBTQ+ heart desired. Based on some conversations they'd had with several students (namely, one Sophia Nelson), they realised that there were more than several out there who were not as clued in on the community as they should be. So today's mission, create a butt-ton of flyers and leaflets that they would hand out across the month that educated people on different sexualities and genders.

First and foremost, however, they fashioned a little hat out of paper and scrawled on the pronouns 'they/she' on the top in bold colorful letters, before fitting it snugly on top of their already elaborate outfit. This way, everybody would know how to refer to them, if the grey- and- pink clad outfit hadn't already been a dead giveaway.

Settling down, they grabbed a large stack of paper and picked up a black marker. This was going to take a very long time, but it would be worth it. With a large grin on their face, they began drawing out a rectangle and writing GAY at the top of the paper, before grabbing a large set of colourful markers and scribbling in the colours for the flag (they meant no disrespect by this, it was just the fastest method). After adding any appropriate information to the outsides, they held it up, happy with their creation, before setting it to one side. One down, potentially hundreds to go.

Reducio

Word Count: 472

Mentions: @Kim Sato, @Regina Miller, @Sophia Nelson

Date: June 4th: After dinner

The Slytherin and Ravenclaw were okay with her sitting with them. Glad to be accepted, Hilda made to take a seat when a loud call of her name and sudden arms around her stopped her in her tracks. “Hi, hello, Bea.” Hilda replied and gave a wider smile at the shorter girl.

Now Hilda knew two people here, Bea whom was a friend and Quinn whom she’d seen around before. The other Ravenclaw was friendly enough and introduced herself as Bailey Glade, and even mentioned that Hilda had a pretty face. Heat rose to her checks at that. She’d never really cared much how she looked or if she was pretty or not. Was that something other girls her age thought about? “Thank… thank you.” She stammered in reply to Bailey, not quite sure what else to say.

Quinn asked what brought them down here. Hilda could not really say boredom, could she? Or a distraction from her homework? So, she gave an ear to what the other girls said first. From Bailey she learnt that she was at one of the Hogwarts Errands, something she had yet to attend this year as she had been busy with other things. And this one was pride themed?

“Well, if we are celebrating Pride, we sure picked the right table to sit at. Gryffindor are the proudest house, right?” She was unsure if her comment was right, especially since there was not a lot of Gryffindor colours around, it was all rainbow. Were rainbows also proud? Like Bailey’s dress? Finally Hilda took a seat and leaned over to grab some coloured pencils for herself and Bea.

@Beatrice Langstreth @Quinn Root @Bailey Glade

Nia had missed dinner.

Not intentionally, of course, she would never pass out on food on purpose. She had just, sort of… lost track of time.

She had been studying for her finals when she realised that her nail polish was chipped, and we can’t have that, can we? So she’d painted her nails, waited for them to dry, and gone back to her books, when she noticed she hadn’t done her skincare ritual yet! So of course, she took a small break to wash her face and put on a facemask before grabbing a snack and putting on some music because self-care, duh, and also, she had already forgotten the fact that she was supposed to be studying. She spent the rest of her evening reading magazines and planning her outfits for next week, textbooks forgotten on top of her desk (although “blatantly ignored” might have been a better description).

When she looked at the clock, dinner time had already passed and not even her snacks could save her from hunger. She cursed under her breath before ripping off the facemask that was already dry on her face, straightening her clothes, and proceeding to run to the Great Hall to see if she could maybe catch the last minutes of dinner. She’d happily settle on leftovers.

However, when she reached the large, heavy wooden doors that opened up to the Hall, what she saw was sort of… disorienting.

Instead of food, the Hufflepuff's and Gryffindor's tables were filled with endless amounts of rainbow colored materials and decorations, in what seemed to be some sort of arts and crafts station that students with uniforms from all houses were enjoying. The Ravenclaw table did seem to have food, but it too was coloured by the bright and cheerful chromatic progression, and the Slytherin table seemed to be where people sat down to eat, but it too had a table runner in rainbow colours.

Now, Nia had nothing against rainbows except her rule of not wearing more than 4 different colours in one outfit at the same time, but this was still baffling her. What on Earth could justify this sudden explosion of colour?

It took her just one more second to figure it out.

One second too long, if you’d ask her. How could she have been so clueless?!

When one looked closer at the decorations being made and put up by students, it was easy to spot that not only rainbow colour combinations filled the Great Hall: there were also light pinks and blues combined with white, gradients from oranges to hot pinks, purples and greys… All flags, all hanging up high and proud or decorating the walls and tables of the Hall in an incredible display of diversity and love. A smile found its place on her face when she saw her own flag, pink, purple and a deep, rich blue, waving right on top of her.

It was Pride Month. How could she have forgotten?

She wasn’t used to celebrating Pride, as she wasn’t out to her family yet, so that could have been her excuse, but she always made sure to celebrate in her own little ways. She would wear jewellery in the colours of the Bisexual flag, wear cuffed jeans as an inside joke with her muggle bisexual friends, paint her nails in blues and pinks…

She looked down at her freshly done manicure. Green! Why had she chosen green? Now she’d have to redo it!

Laughter bounced off the walls of the Great Hall, and Nia’s mind returned to her body. She looked around to see students from all houses and years having fun with each other, chatting and being creative and cooperative in a way that demonstrated unity, empathy and most of all, community. It was beautiful to watch, and she itched to become part of it.

However, did she really have a place there, amongst the happy faces that wore their colours proudly and unapologetically, when she hadn’t even had the guts to come out to her family yet? It wasn’t that she was ashamed of being bi, or even scared of her family’s reaction, since her parents had always been perfectly supportive of the LGBT+ community. She just… didn’t know how to do it. She had never wanted to make a big deal out of it, but it also didn’t feel right to just blurt it out like it was nothing during a mundane conversation. So she had been postponing it, trying to find the perfect time and the perfect words before taking the step, and that moment hadn’t come yet.

She wondered how many of these students were out, and how many were struggling. How many were not even sure what flag would apply to them. How many of them were safe outside of the snug and secure walls of the castle.

And as she thought of all of them, she approached the Hufflepuff table with her head held up high in pride, and a smile on her face that made up for all of her previous insecurities. If Pride Month was about anything, it was about acceptance, and about showing that there was room for everyone, her included. So she took a look at the centrepieces the students were working on, colourful paper flowers creating a myriad of arrangements in different coloured flags.

She sat down and asked to nobody in particular:

“Are there any pink, blue and purple coloured papers?”

WORD COUNT: 911/800

Attire: Usual weekend kit: Slytherin pride, neck ring, kilt, no shoes. Nothing fancy!

Reducio

Colin sat in the library reading. He'd finished his studying in the afternoon and felt comfortable with his exam prep so far. School was so much different than studying at home! Once he'd gotten the rhythm of it down, he'd done quite well. While he liked all his subjects, he tended to favour astronomy and history. But for now, he was just reading some fantasy for fun.

Dark was the vaulted room of gramarye,
To which the wizard led the gallant Knight,
Save that before a mirror, huge and high,
A hallow'd taper shed a glimmering light
On mystic implements of magic might;
On cross, and character, and talisman,
And almagest, and altar, nothing bright:
For fitful was the lustre, pale and wan
As watchlight by the bed
Of some departing man.

As he finished his reading, his mind slowly arose from the depths of the old poet's glamour and low voices nearby he began to hear. A couple of students were whispering about something going on in the Great Hall that evening after dinner. He recalled talking with Pax earlier in the day and she mentioned wanting him to come down then. Having no idea what it could be about, Colin packed up his book, put his socks and shoes back on and headed out of the library and down to the great hall.

Once he opened the doors to the hall, his eyes were assaulted with colour! "Whoa! It looks like Fortescue's Ice Cream Shop exploded here!" He took in the students that were there --- he saw Sophia and Quinn of course and Kim and Bailey! They were in little groups chattering away. He saw all the art supplies and snacks! Whatever else was going on, snacks and drawing always went well together!

As he passed by Quinn and Bailey and Bea, he waved at them. "Hey Quinn!" he said with an impish grin. He ruffled her hair fondly. He bowed to the others. "Hello girls! Bea, Bailey! Hello Hufflepuffikins! Sorry I don't know your name!" With another quick ruffle of Quinn's hair, he turned towards the snack table. This would require some investigation!

He found some cheese and bread and selected a few shorties, or shortbread biscuits and a pitcher of water. Looking for a place to sit, he caught sight of her --- Pax was sitting alone. Hmm! I shall rectify that situation forthwith! he cried to himself. And he went over to her place at the table, laid out his stuff on the table and sat down next to his friend.

Colin gave her a playful nudge in the ribs and said: "Hey Hunter! What's going on my dear demigirl?" He looked at the papers she'd already drawn and coloured. The one she was working on caught his attention. "Certainly is a gay festivity tonight, right? What's going on anyway?"

Interacting with: @Pax Zhang | @Quinn Root || Mentioning: @Bailey Glade | @Beatrice Langstreth | @Hilda Cavendish

As Bea released Hilda from her hug, Bea smiled at the other girls. "Nice te meet ye Bailey. 've seen ye around the dorms, just niver really said hi." As she took a seat, she grabbed some of the paper and other art supplies for her and Hilda. The other girl had taken a seat next to her, picking multiple coloured pencils for them both. She nodded her thanks at her friend. "A don't think that's the meanin' Hilda...Isna aboot who you like? 's in like like?" She really didn't understand it all herself. Her parents had explained to her that there were boys in the world who liked boys and girls who liked girls, but that was it really.

Both of the other girls, Quinn and Bailey seemed interested in what had brought Bea down to the Hall at this hour. To be honest, it definitely wasn't knowledge of this fun task..."Honestly, the talk of food. A was deain a jigsaw puzzle in the common room and heard sweets were here." She shrugged, unsure whether that would be taken well or not. Her sweet tooth was kind of well known, what with her Nan sending weekly packages of jars of rock candy. She had perked up a bit when Bailey mentioned sugar cookies, but not wanting to be rude, didn't ask about them (eating them). Really, she'd only truly met the girl, never mind that Bailey was a housemate.

As the conversation and colouring continued around the group, Bea picked up one of the finished pieces of work. It looked like a rainbow flower. How cool! She would do this and take one back to the dorm. Maybe she could fold it in a package and send it back home? She would find out later. As she let to cut out some of the coloured pieces of paper, she saw none other than the blond Slytherin Colin who bowed at their group of girls. She smiled impishly at the fellow Scot. "Hi Colin! Find any more Lich Kings about?" She giggled fondly at their meeting. Just as he came though, the blonde boy dashed to the sweets table and another friend. The boy knew so many people! She shrugged and continued preparing her rainbow flower. Perhaps she could make one for Hilda and the others in her friend group too.

Interacting with: @Hilda Cavendish @Quinn Root @Bailey Glade @Colin McCoire
Word count: 391/800

☁ Interacting ☁
@Elsian Cox

Willow had never celebrated pride for herself. She had been to pride parades because her mom was bisexual so they went to the big event in London, but she and her dad were always allies. Well, until this year.

She hadn't had some big realization or coming out. One summer she came home and told her mom that she had a crush on a girl in Hogwarts named Astrea. Wrote letters home about her when they were dating. It wasn't treated as a big deal, just something that was. That's the way Willow liked it. But, for her first year as an actualized bisexual, she wanted to celebrate.

The first step was getting a howler. She adored her friend Elsi, she really did. He was one of the first true friends she made at Hogwarts, one of the first people she trusted to witness her witchcraft. He also was chronically sleepy and instead of trying to convince him to stay up for the event to be set up, she just walked to the owlery after dinner and waited a reasonable amount of time because handing it off with Elsi as the victim, the receiver of her screaming at him to wake up.

After sending off the howler she started off in a full sprint back towards the location of the entrance to Gryffindor. If she wasn't there by the time he made his way out he would be pissed. Luckily, her clothes were pretty comfortable. She had used the color-changing charm to make her hair pink, purple, and blue like the bi flag and had done some fun-lined eyeliner like the flag as well. As far as a shirt she was wearing a pastel striped one tucked into some shorts and of course, some trusty sneakers to get her there.

When Elsi made his way out of the dorm she arrived moments later out of breath but with a bright grin. "Elsi!" He didn't look- uh- ready for the occasion. But she would take the fact that he had made his way out at all. He could've stayed in Gryffindor but he loved her enough to show up when requested, besides she knew there would be snacks. "I know you were sleeping. And the bird was nice to me, maybe you weren't very nice to it." She grasped his hands and pulled him up, getting thanks that involved a smack on the shoulder.

"Elsi! You've wounded me." She feigned pain as she grasped her arm. "How am I supposed to celebrate pride now? I guess that makes up for the howler, right? Eye for an eye or whatever." Her fingers comfortable laced into his which just gave him the opportunity to shake her arm. She didn't mind, she knew this was coming. She skipped at his pace, slightly dragging him to get him to go faster. "Come onnnnnn, it'll be fun. And next time I catch you napping in the Courtyard I won't even wake you up."

When they arrived there were already a fair few of students beginning crafts and grabbing snacks. Her heart swelled with- well, pride. The Professor of Astronomy really went all out for this. When he pointed at the food she scrunched up her nose. "We just ate, come on lets make a craft first." She tugged him towards the crafting table for dorm decorations, but would relent and go his way if he still wanted to go to the food table.

Word Count ☁ 577