Virtanen Yule Ball 2022 PV Guest List

As a pureblood family, the Mentons had been to a few pureblood parties even though they were actually not that proud of their blood status, but this one was slightly different as Andy told his parents, Bruce and Alice, that it was him instead of his parents, that was invited to this party, and maybe some of his friends would also participate in the party. Actually, Andy was not sure if his friends, Amelia and Annika, would participate in the party. He knew Annika was a pureblood, but he was not sure about Amelia`s blood status. Anyway, Andy`s parents always knew their son as the introverted and shy boy, so they were happy to see their son becoming more independent and actually making a few friends at school. According to Andy, the Christmas party took place in Finland, which was quite far from their family in Los Angeles, America and they had to travel for quite a long time, even on brooms, so the family decided to pick up their belongings two days before the party actually began, and leave their house one day prior to the party, that was Dec 23rd, to leave plenty of traveling time.

So, on Dec 23rd, the Mentons family of three left their small house in US and flew on their brooms to Finland to attend the pureblood Christmas party. After exactly one day of flying on their brooms, they finally arrived at Finland on time. Now, they had to walk to the room where the Christmas party took place. By the way, both Andy and his father Bruce was wearing suits, and his mother Alice was wearing a evening dress, since they knew it was an official event.

After walking for quite a while, the tired Mentons finally arrived at the party that evening. Luckily, Andy quickly found out his friend Amelia was already there, along with three adults. "Two of them, I suppose, are Amelia`s parents, the other one, I am not very sure. Anyway, let me introduce my parents to them." The Thunderbird thought, before dragging his parents to meet Amelia`s family.

"Good evening, Amelia, fancy seeing you here! And pleased to meet your family." The Thunderbird introduced his parents to Amelia`s family, "Amelia, please meet my mum and dad, Bruce and Alice Menton. Mum and dad, this is my friend in Ilvermorny, Amelia Miller."

"Good evening, the Millers," Andy`s father Bruce said while holding out his hand waiting for the Millers to shake hands with him, "Bruce Menton, pleased to meet you. This gorgeous woman is my wife Alice Menton. And this lad is our son, Andy Menton. We are honored to attend this Christmas dinner party."
Interacting with: @Opeila Winters @Lily Blaze as iNPC Amelia Miller bringing her family

Open to interaction.

Andy and the rest of the Mentons family was just talking to the Millers when Andy noticed another person whom he was familiar with went into the room. Andy looked around, and found out it was Miles Thatcher, the Hexwizard Champion of their school. Andy was actually not super close to Miles, but it must be okay to just come close to him and just say hi. "The only thing I am worried about is that Miles seems not to be in a good mood, but I think just a little friendly greeting won`t hurt. Let me just walk close to Miles and say hi." The Second Year Thunderbird thought, before he moved closer to Miles quickly before his parents could notice him. His parents were just trying to talk to the Millers, so Andy believed his parents would not notice that he was not by their side as long as he moved quickly.

"Good evening, Miles. Fancy seeing you here. You seem to be a bit blue, and I understand your feeling even though I don`t exactly know what happened to you. It`s OK, you still got some friends on your side. You got me, and I think Amelia and your other friends would also support you. You will be alright." Andy waved to Miles and gently pat Miles on the shoulder, hoping that would at least made the poor Ilvermorny Champion feel a bit better. It was a Christmas party, and it was supposed to be fun, so seeing his friend not in a good mood also made Andy feel bad. Anyway, after trying comfort the older Thunderbird, Andy quickly moved back and stood beside his parents. Luckily, his parents were still talking to the Millers and probably had not noticing him walking away from them, at least that was what Andy thought.
Interacting with: @Simon Kincaid as iNPC Miles Thatcher
Mentoning: @Lily Blaze as iNPC Amelia Miller

Thanks @Kim Sato for my cool banner!

Reducio

Dora's Dress:

Dora has never been to Finland before. She would almost be excited, if not for the fact that she is only in this new country to attend one in a slew of important holiday balls. She'd scarcely had time to unpack before her grandmother had her preparing for the Virtanen's December 24th dinner party.

"I hope you haven't forgotten your manners while you've been away."

No, the etiquette has been thoroughly drilled into her. Dora let her grandmother choose a suitable dress, and took care not to eat too much the day of. Hours before the ball, Dora and her family (save her grandfather) piled into the flying carriage and settled in for an hours long flight. Her uncle passed the time by reading, her grandmother by knitting, and her cousin by discreetly kicking at her throughout the journey. It was a relief when they finally arrived, only for Dora to face a new anxiety: the social gathering itself.

The Virtanen Manor is stunning, of course, and must look even more so on the inside. Dora steps out of the carriage with her family, trailing behind quietly as they approach the boy and girl at the front door. The older girl is dressed in a beautiful gown that sparkles like diamonds. Dora regards her with shy awe.

"Good Evening." Dora's grandmother greets, the matriarch of the Everridge household. "You must be Opeila and Lysander. Thank you for the invitation. I trust one of your house elves can look after our carriage." She gestures at where the black, seemingly horseless carriage sits. "The thestrals should be no trouble at all."

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Ramona Bethany Everridge, of the London Everridge's. This is my son, Harrison, his boy, Bradley, and this is Isadora."

It's a cunning way to introduce her, as most people will just assume Dora to be her uncle's daughter. It leads to less curious questions. When she's named, Dora curtsies and trains her eyes on the ground.

"Nice to meet you." Uncle Harris says to them with a polite smile, and Bradley follows suit. Dora does the same, though the words come out as more of a mumble.

Blue in English, Red in Korean

Finally, the three Hunts deemed their appearance perfect enough to venture into the event's location. Eun-ji still didn't feel like she belonged among these people but she made sure to pretend to fit in. At this point, she was great at pretending. Looking around, the girl wondered whether Kim already arrived. She still wasn't sure whether she should be happy that he was going to be here or whether she should avoid him. “Pay attention will you?” Mrs. Hunt hissed in her direction. “You'd better make some useful connections before we leave, do you understand?” The witch nodded begrudgingly. Would she be able to do so though? How did one make connections this quickly? They wouldn't even stay for the whole event.

“Hello, Opeila.” The girl smiled politely upon seeing her classmate. As far as she knew, their situations were pretty similar but they didn’t have an opportunity to have a proper conversation yet. It was a shame really. Especially since they were both Flash's friends. “These are my grandparents. Mr. Anwir Hunt and Mrs. Anemone Hunt.” She made sure to introduce her company properly. “I believe you have seen them at their ball last summer.” As she said so, her maternal grandparents already reached out to shake Opeila's hand. “It's so lovely to meet you. You look stunning.” Anemone said in a sweet tone. She was so fake; it made Eun-ji sick. Unfortunately, others wouldn't be able to tell. The Hunts were masters of pretence. “We’ll go say hello to the other hosts as well. Let’s talk more later if you have time.” The Ravenclaw excused herself gracefully, not wanting to hog her classmate for too long. She was bound to be busy.

After shaking a few more hands and making some small talk, the trio finally found their spot at the table. Anemone frowned, looking slightly disappointed. “I see. Our seat is next to the young Sato. Well there is no need to stick with him. You are going to his party afterwards. Make some new friends here.” She said it as if it was the easiest thing to do. Well perhaps for her it was. “But...how do I get to know someone so fast?” Eun-ji whispered uncertainly. “Well…you like to dance, don’t you. Ask somebody to dance with you then.” Mr. Hunt said in low voice. “But pull the stunt like you did last time and you are going to regret it, do you understand me child?” The young witch gulped and nodded, not trusting herself to speak immediately. Instead, she eyed the name tag next to hers. “I should still at least say hello to Kim though.” She suggested eventually. She was stalling of course but it was not an unreasonable suggestion. Anemone sighed, looking entirely too fed up with her already. It was all too familiar reaction. “Yes, I suppose that would be a polite thing to do. Let’s wait a bit then…but not too long.” A bit was fine. Eun-ji could work with that.

Interacting with: @Opeila Winters , Mentioning: @Kim Sato

@Lily Blaze @Rita Su @Simon Kincaid @Cynthia Beaufort @Isadora Everridge @Eun-ji Lee Hunt

The first guests who arrived were entirely unfamiliar to Opeila. A young girl, a woman and a man who introduced themselves as Robert Miller, Elizabeth Parker and Amelia. It was Lysander who stepped forward to greet the newly arrived, who were soon joined by another family- did they say their name was Menton? Opeila watched as her adopted brother showed the guests their seats, grateful that she had a few more moments without any guests to talk to, but that only lasted a few more seconds.

Then the doors were opened again and the Thatchers entered. Of all people. Opeila caught Lysander's gaze shifting her way, finding the Thatchers as well and subtly nodding his head in their direction, a clear message. Go and greet them.
And Opeila would. With a reserved smile she would take a few steps toward the family. "Welcome Lord and Lady Thatcher, hello Miles." Only short the green eyes would turn to the boy, then to the ground and finally back to his parents. "I hope you had a comfortable journey to Finland. If you will follow me into the dining hall, I can show you your seats."

If they allowed her, Opeila would guide them to the table that was usually reserved for the family only, but not today. She wondered if Miles would feel as weird about this as she did.

Opeila couldn't stay with who seemed to be the guests of honor tonight, the next arriving family required her attention. The Slytherin immediately recognized the first year girl who had made a ridiculous fuss over her dropping a book. Opeila could still not quite get over it, she was still wondering if the girl felt embarrassed for it at all.

Then there was another family, and another one, all unfamiliar faces that Opeila still greeted with a smile. Actually no, one of them was her classmate! Opeila hadn't really had a chance to talk to her much, but at least she knew her name, that was something.

She would lead all of them into the dining hall, where Lysander helped her leading the guests to their seats. As all the guests slowly arrived, the two of them would find their own seats as well and wait for Lord Virtanen to declare the banquet opened.
They didn't have to wait for long, soon chatter would die out and Lord Virtanen would rise from his chair. "Dear guests, we are overjoyed to welcome you to our home. A merry christmas to all of you!"

The usually so quiet man raised his glass now. "I want to make a toast. My family has a lot to be grateful for this year. For one there is the graduation of our son Lysander from the Durmstrang Institute" He turned to Lysander who respectfully nodded his head. Opeila could see that he was happy about the announcement. He didn't mind this kind of attention at all, he welcomed it, but then, Opeila guessed that if an achievement of her was announced, so would she.

"... but we are also happy to announce the union of the Thatcher family with the Virtanens. We have come to an agreement to promise our children Miles and Opeila to one another, to strengthen the bond of two honorable and old names." With that he raised his glass a little higher, inviting the guests to drink with him to what surely was a joyful cause to them.

Opeila had turned pale. The polite smile she was to wear all night felt like it was carved into her face, she didn't dare to let her shock shine through. Yes, the arrangement was nothing new to her, but what she hadn't known was that this night it would be announced. Betrayal. Maybe it was silly but Opeila felt betrayed by Lady Virtanen. Lord Virtanen rarely ever talked to her, but Hilja Virtanen did all the time. She really took her task to raise the unexpected daughter they got with Opeila properly. So couldn't she have prepared her for this?

The covers were taken off the plates and bowls of food and soon a delicious smell filled the room. For maybe half an hour, the focus was on the food, until the magical band arrived that Lady Virtanen had organized. All guests were free to help themselves to more food, enter the dance floor or maybe even go for a walk through the wonderful garden surrounding the manor. Magical lamps were hanging from trees, illuminating a path, so no one would trip over a branch. Well, which branch, the house elves had spent a long time to clean the house as well as the garden of anything that may appear as untidy.

I have sped things up a little so you guys can rp freely. You may help yourself to food or hit the dancefloor
To all those who didn't join yet- you still can. Feel free to mention that Lysander or Opeila showed you your seats before the banquet was opened.