Panic in the Lake Mahoutokoro Arrival Thread

Japanese ~ English

Reducio

Word Count: 295

Mention: All Mahou Students

Date: April 16th 2023

Chiaki wasn't particularly fond of ships, but it had been the only way to arrive at Hogwarts, so she'd had to stomach it. She'd felt incredibly bad retching in front of her friends every few minutes, so all she could do was run and hide in an empty cabin, surrounded by nobody but supplies and her thoughts as she hoped she wouldn't end the journey throwing up.

Head hung low, knees pulled up to her chest, Chiaki was only hoping for the best when she felt the ship jolt and stop. Her head raised up quickly, figuring the ship had made it and finally she could stop throwing up. Carefully, she tried to stand, balancing with her hand against the wall to keep herself steady. However, it didn't take long for her to realise that her feet were growing cold as water seeped into the lower levels of the ship.

This wasn't normal. Unless this was some sort of prank (which she shouldn't be surprised if it was), this was a severely large problem. After scanning her surroundings and seeing nobody nearby, she determined that this couldn't be just a prank. If it was, she was going to be very annoyed with whoever the culprit was.

Sloshing through the water, she hurried her way to higher decks of the ship, knocking on doors and telling anybody she ran into about the rising water below the deck of the ship, until she arrived on the top level of the ship.

"Guys," she announced to everyone there, colour in her cheeks from running across the ship but also with the attention now on her. "There's water rising in the bottom of the ship. Fast. It may have even risen further since then. I think something's wrong."

Reducio

Stats:
Sta-9 Eva-8 Str-4 Wis-6 Arc-7 Acc-8

Abilities:
Calming presence (allies are everyone present) and 's grace

Banner by Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood

Roleplaying as Ginyami Midorimori from Mahoutokoro
"English | Japanese"

Extremely eager to get back on land and meet the other students from various other schools, Ginyami had been awake and ready to disembark with all his belongings packed. It was when the water began to seep into his room that he sensed something was wrong. He flung open the door, his bag at his side, as he looked around, wondering what might have been the cause and who else had noticed.

The water was rushing in fast. "Hiro? Hiro, where are you?" he called loudly in the hopes the other boy could hear him. If he was already under water, though, perhaps it was too late. Ginyami knew he would have to conserve his own breath soon as he began to tread in the water that had already filled the ship. "HIRO!"

Were the younger students going to be okay? Ginyami considered taking out his broom and seeing if he could fly out of the water, but he didn't trust it to carry many more students than himself and he couldn't just abandon his schoolmates there. Especially not Hiro. Where was he?

Soon, Chiaki's voice carried down the corridor as she began to warn the others. Ginyami began to swim toward it, guessing she was on an upper level of the ship where the water hadn't reached nearly as high yet. "Hiroi-san! Have you seen Hiro? I can't find him!"

Interacting with: Chiaki Hiroi (@Pax Zhang) & Hiro Bakugo (@Kim Sato)

Christopher was always in awe of the magical ship that sailed them from Mahoutokoro to Hogwarts. He always conjured funny ways of thinking about it working. Was it like pulling the stopper out of a drain? Did the force that sucked their ship down then just kind of flip around and propelled them back up to the Great Lake? Or maybe the ship was in some way a giant portkey that, at the appropriate time someone just touched and it transported them? That seemed unrealistic since it they rose up through the waves rather than materializing on the surface. Perhaps the whole damn ship just apparated from one side of the world to the other. He had never really cared, he'd just been thankful because it was a very easy way of getting there and he didn't have to worry about losing his stuff or coming out at the wrong fireplace.

This trip, however, felt different somehow. He'd felt the moment of transition when they'd left home and appeared in the lake. But... something seemed wrong. He felt a sudden lurch, as if a pocket of air had released under or around them. Then he heard it before he saw it. He heard water rushing into the corridor. He was unsure if the hull had been breached or something in the magical enchantment that made the ship watertight had broken. He suspected the latter as he figured he would've felt or heard something more severe if the ship itself were damaged. Then the water began to come through his door and it was coming in quickly. He was already fully dressed, getting ready to go on deck and see the Hogwarts grounds once again.

He felt the water start to enter his shoes, it was icy, but he knew he'd have to brave it if he wanted to get out. He struggled with the door to his cabin. The water rushing in was pressing the door back into place. He gave up on the nob and grabbed his wand, he stepped back and pointed it at the door, "Aberto!" The door to his cabin swung open and more water started to rush in. He stepped out into the quickly filling corridor. He quickly oriented himself and thought of a possible way out. There were windows on the next floor up. He could get out that way. He started walking down the corridor, repeating the opening spell on all the unlocked door to try and get his fellow students out. "This way!" He shouted as he headed towards the stairs, "There's a window on the next floor we can get out of!"

As he walked towards the staircase he raised his wand again, "Lumos!" The onrushing water had put out the lamps in the corridor by now but he was able to see his way to the stairs. More water was pouring down them and he had to pull himself up by the railing. With great effort, he made it to the upper floor and used the opening charm again to get into the dining room. There were a couple of windows on the wall. The water was up to his stomach now and he waded over to the window. He was unsure if anyone was behind him but he talked in case there was, "I'm going to transfigure the window on three. Take a deep breath on two and then we'll have to try to swim to the surface."

As the water approached his neck he raised his wand once more, "One... two..." He took a deep breath, "THREE! Quarzicum!" The window he was pointing at melted into grains of sand and water started rushing in. He immediately dove into the frigid water. He started swimming towards the light as best he could. The water was so terribly cold.

He had one last idea. He pointed his want to the surface and felt the water rush into his mouth as he did his best to say, "Periculum". He closed his mouth once again but felt the water enter his lungs, his spell had come at a cost. Red sparks flew up and broke the surface. He only hoped someone saw them. He felt himself start to grow weak with each stroke. He was so close. 10 feet. Five feet. He lost consciousness as he broke the surface.

‿︵‿୨✿୧‿︵‿

Winnie Harper stood at the shore of the Great Lake, a neon-pink Bristol board cleaned in her carefully manicured fingers. Across the board she had used glitter paint and write out the words, 'WELCOME HOME, MATTIE'. Hogwarts hadn't been Mathias Pride's home for over a year now, but that wasn't how the Ravenclaw saw it. She foolishly believed that it was just a matter of time before the former Slytherin's parents saw the error in their ways and returned her beloved boyfriend to his rightful school. Until then, she would wait for him and welcome him with open arms every time his school came to visit.

She could hardly control her excitement when she saw the surface of the water start to bubble. Pushing herself onto her tip toes, she tried to peer over any other students that might have gathered to welcome the students of Mahoutokoro. "Excuse me..." She said, pushing past a few of them to get to the water's surface as the anticipation started to get to her.

But the surface never broke to make way for the rising ship.

Furrowing her brows, Winnie's eyes flickered towards the bubbles as her stomach twisted itself into a knot. Something wasn't right... That was when she saw it, a flash of red sparks bursting through the water and scattering like a muggle flare. Periculum. That had to mean danger, right? There was no time to waste, Matt might be in trouble! She was already jumping into the icy lake before she could stop herself, her plum pink dress flowing as she dove beneath the surface. Luckily she had worn bike shorts.

The water was dark, but she made out a figure of someone... A tall, thin boy. She reached forward to grab the collar of his clothing and yank him towards the surface, her adrenaline rush fueling a new found strength.

"Matt?" Her stomach sank when she saw damp brown hair instead of ginger locks. Still, the guy looked out of it so she wasn't going to let him sink back under the surface. She hauled the student to the shoreline, her long tresses likely tangled around the boy's arms. "Hey... HEY! Wake up!" Her voice cracked as she broke into her usual pterodactyl pitch. She shook his shoulders, as if that would somehow fix his current state. "Are you okay?"

Valentin was sitting on the lakeshore at midday beside his broom, watching a pair of red-throated divers shepherding their fluffy spring chicks towards one another across the chilly surface. The two adults called to each other with haunting cries from across a watery expanse before meeting up in the middle: apparently the larger bird was returning one of the gray poof balls to the group after it had strayed too far. Valentin crossed his arms over his bent knees and sank his weight down through them into the sand bank, but he couldn’t let himself be sad. Even if his father was gone forever, Ginyami had still come for him when Valya would have been lost in his own home’s dark waters. Even Romeo was there. How much of a home is it anymore, though? he asked himself with a sigh.

A faint sprinkling of rain made the white seeker look up right as a churning farther into the lake shot the boy to his feet. Valentin, a student of Durmstrang, was well-acquainted with the passing of ships into and out of lakes, and he was already expecting the arrival of two more ships that day. He wondered if this wasn’t a sign of trouble, even if the bubbling might have been explainable as a monstrously proportioned kelpie or some other blasted creature intent on dragging curious victims down, but Valentin couldn’t stand not making sure. Although he had very nearly drowned only three months ago, his fearlessness proved still stronger than his trauma. Grasping his Silver Arrow, Durmstrang’s quidditch captain was in the air without hesitation and rocketing like a shooting star towards the aberration.

Once he arrived near the bubbling anomaly, Valentin peered into the depths as he sat on his broom just above the lake’s surface. The star seeker was known for his keen vision, but even for him the dark, murky waters posed a challenge, so Valentin drew his wand and dipped its wooden tip into the lake.

“Lumos Maxima,” spoke the pale boy carefully as he squinted, hoping to get a better look at what was going on.

post edited for consistency due to Hiro's action; please see next post for moderatable action

Statistics: STA 8 - EVA 15 - STR 3 - WIS 15 - ARC 1 - ACC 15
Abilities: Keen Eye - Charmer - Evasive Maneuvers - Fearless
Action: Attempt Lumos Maxima while his wand is sticking into the water (in order to see into the lake’s depths)
Inventory: Silver Arrow, light cloak and other garments, wand, a knife on his belt

Stats: Stamina: 7 | Evasion: 9 | Strength: 1 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 1 | Accuracy: 9
Abilities: Charmer

To say Akihiko was excited to go to Hogwarts again would be an understatement. Maybe last time he hadn’t been very excited, given he had spent the whole trip with his nose in a book, but this time he had vowed that he would make a few friends.

Akihiko was in his room with a stack of schoolwork on his bed. Usually he would be doing the school work, but right now he was allowing his thoughts to drift, much like he imagined the vessel he was on was doing.

Akihiko didn’t know ship mechanics, but it didn’t take a genius to know something was wrong. He was jarred away from his thoughts by a chill that had entered the room, soon followed by a rush of icy waters. Soon—too soon—it was up to his ankles.

Why was it filling so fast?

Akihiko looked around in panic. Was this supposed to happen? He bit his lip. Should he stay in the shop and wait for further instruction. No, he would be stupid to do that. The only thing he could do was rescue himself. He did a cursory check of the room, trying to decide what to grab. He hadn’t brought much, just clothes and school supplies, but everything was packed away in a heavy trunk. He couldn’t bring that with him, he wouldn’t be able to swim with it. He couldn’t bring anything, really, unless he wanted to steal the bedsheets. Everything was simply too heavy. The water was up to his knees now, and he leapt to grab his wand and slip it into his pocket.

Yes, dress pants and a white polo were not the clothes to be wearing when going for a swim. Sadly, Akihiko didn’t have the time to change.

Although… Akihiko probably wouldn’t be making it out of his room. Unfortunately, he had spent so much time reacting, and now the halls were filling with water. Any attempt to open the door would be met with resistance. He grabbed the door handle first and tried to simply turn it and push it out. That obviously didn’t work. He took a few steps back and ran towards the door ramming his shoulder into the door. That might’ve worked, if the water wasn’t past his waist, making his run more of a slow slosh. He realized he only had one thing left to do. “くそ！助けて!”¹

Reducio

1) Shit! Help me!

hogwarts. She missed it, its been a while. She kept thinking about how she had nearly ended up on the team, but she was glad that in the end she was safe. She happily cheered her classmates on (despite the obvious fact that they barely knew she existed) and felt satisfied with being on the sidelines. When she realized how close they were, she ran all the way to her room and closed the door she fix her hair and took out her crystals and sat down, getting the bad omens and energy all out. She wanted nothing but positivity.

Time passed. Not much time, but domething was wrong. She opened her eyes and felt a painfully cold sensation on her face. She had fallen asleep during her meditation. She quickly sat up and saw her entire outfit was soaking wet, she was shivering and confused. Her crystals and items were floating around and her door was shut. The water was rushing in under her door and she began to panic.

This wouldnt have happened if she had fallen asleep. She had done it wring and the bad energy had cursed the ship. They kust have been sinking. She began to cry and dropped to her knees to find her wand in the painful water. She felt sharp stabs of icy cold pain, and soon she had her chin held up so high so she could stay crouched and still be able to breathe. She couldnt find her wand. She ran through the now thigh high water and banged on the door, sobbing. "help me! Somebody help me please!" she couldnt open the door. Was she going to die? She wasn't even much of a swimmer. She lifted up the hems of her dress and ran to the window. She felt the edges, looking for a way to open it, maybe she could swim to the surface. She grabbed her trunk and began smashing it against the window with all her strength. Smash, smash smash. If she could not open it, she would hope someone would hear her when looking for the students.

Her last thought was to run to her door again and scream the names of anybody who would possibly care enough to come back. "HIRO!!! " that was the only name she could think of in this moment. She screamed over and over.

mentioning @kim sato