The Enchanted Maze Spring Ball '23

Writing as approved Durmstrang iNPC Vyacheslav Aleksandrovich Preobrazhensky
Interacting with: Valentin Schnell (@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood), Maila Aurora Laine (@Beatrice Dupont), and Ginyami Midorimori (@Jack Burnett)
Mentioning: Johannes Sauer (@Astrea Soleil Neptune)
Open to interactions

Slava was feeling wonderful. Now, he wasn’t one for dressing up in uncomfortable, overly fancy attire, and his clothes would reflect that—simplistic and moveable, in contrast to some of those he saw around him as he approached the area this ball was meant to be held in—but he had still made some effort, wanting to join the theme and festivities. He wore a thick belt wrapped around his waist over a medieval-looking white tunic, loose-fitting dark brown trousers leading to boots quite unlike the style of shoe he normally wore. Black nail polish contrasted with the pale skin of his fingers and the gold of the shining rings he wore upon them. A long red cloak covered part of his outfit and offered him a slightly regal look (if such a thing could ever be applied to him), and a gold crown was perched upon his dark curls, completing the basic kingly outfit. But one of the reasons he was feeling so good was that he was trying something very new and it felt incredible.

He had finally got too jealous of Johannes’s makeup looks and had persuaded his friend to do some of it for him, although staying still for long enough had been a fleeting yet irritating issue. Nevertheless, Johannes had kindly persevered, and Slava had ended up with thin eyeliner added to his look—making this the first time he had properly worn makeup. And he was excited about it. While his friend would not be joining him at the ball today (at least to his knowledge), Slava would be sure to wear the other’s work like a badge of honor and would definitely be showing it off. It seemed he would soon have a chance to, as the faint music got louder as he drew nearer, where he was greeted by the sight of huge hedges as walls for what seemed to be a maze. He wasn’t the best at those, but he had enough energy that he could just run in every direction until he found the right one. Trial and error, right?!

Energy levels rising with the buzzing excitement of the partygoers, Slava ran over to near the entrance, dark eyes scanning for a friend in the crowd. Barely a second passed before he found one—the unmistakeable, striking sight of one Valentin Schnell. “VALYA!” he yelled, running over to him, building up momentum for a great tacklehug, his arms spread wide as he went leaping into his well-dressed friend. A small cloud of red glitter would fly out around them, revealing that some had been nestled in his hair (he had put it there, he liked the way it looked) and that his pouches hidden in his pockets were not entirely sealed, thus leaving a thin layer of glitter on his cloak, which would now partially spread to Valentin. Nevertheless, the Durmstrang champion would be wrapped into a warm, enthusiastic hug, whether he liked it or not (and luckily he seemed to, judging by the smile and the return of his embrace).

Slava reached up to adjust the crown, which had slid to the side upon impact. With so much to take in, though, fixing its position was really just haphazardly shoving it approximately back into place, where it remained slightly crooked. He would then finally give Valentin a proper look. “So fancyyyy,” he commented admiringly, nudging him before turning to take in the others present who he had probably rudely interrupted. He was sticking to English as it seemed to be the common language while at Hogwarts, and he didn’t like to exclude people. “Care to introduce me to your lovely-looking friends?” he prompted with a wide grin. “I have a little extra glitter if you need an addition to your outfits,” he teased.

He quickly turned to face Valentin, and it would be clear that he had forgotten to mention something. “Look look look. Hanya did this for me,” he explained, pointing to his eye makeup with a sustained grin. Bubbly as ever, he cared little for whether Valentin’s companions would like him or find him annoying. He believed in being himself, and he had his family and plenty of friends to love him if others did not, so why bother worrying about if others cared? New friends were always a bonus, and if other people didn’t like him, well, that was their problem. He didn’t worry much about his place in the world—he knew it was with his friends and family, and that was all that mattered to him. “Soooo… when were you going into the maze?” He stood on his tiptoes, trying to see further in from here. “Looks pretty cool…” Eyes flicked back and forth between the maze and the students in this little gathering, wondering if they were already heading in now or if he would have to try harder to tempt them.

Statistics: STA 8 | EVA 9 | STR 13 | WIS 6 | ARC 5 | ACC 18
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers I & II, Broken Broomshaft, Charmer (Allies: members of the Durmstrang Quidditch team and Maksim Preobrazhensky (if he joins), so opponents everyone else), Paragon of Health (Allies: Valentin Schnell and Amina Petrovic)
Action: Entering the thread
Free Actions: Chatting with people, tacklehugging Valentin and getting some glitter on him.
Note: Godmodding of Johannes Sauer and Valentin Schnell approved by the respective authors.

Maze: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4
Banquet: 1

When she walked over to Bubba, his smile grew, indicating he liked her outfit. Even though she could already tell he thought she looked great, his words melted her heart. "Thank you," she replied with a wide smile. The long time she spend getting ready was worth it. "I hope you haven't been waiting for too long," she told him as she took a good look at him. His outfit was almost a prefect match with hers and his hair looked flawless. And of course, his eyes. His beautiful brown eyes that were now focused on her, like she was the only thing he cared about. "I am very glad to have such a handsome date," she told the boy, "you look amazing."

When his lips touched hers, the butterflies in her stomach went crazy. They had been together for multiple months now but every kiss still made her blush. Her lips curled up in a dreamy smile as she listened to her boyfriend talking. He had brought her a cloak! That was so much better than a flower or a box of chocolate, though the young girl wouldn't mind getting chocolates. But the greatest thing of all was that she didn't have to carry the coat.

The idea of dancing with Bubba sounded lovely to the young girl. "We will dance the stars from the sky," she grinned. "You can show some of the moves I taught you." Samantha wasn't the best dancer but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy it. Honestly, she couldn't care about what other people thought as long as she was having fun. On top of that, if she could dance with her boyfriend she would always take that chance.

After Bubba pulled her close, she could feel herself becoming calmer. His words help to reassure her and she gave him a small smile. "Thank you," she whispered. Not wanting to take any risks, she quickly opened her bag and got her wand out of it. "Just to be sure," she explained, hoping not to seem silly. Bubba probably didn't mind, she had told him all about the spider attack from her first year and the horrible maze from the last ball. He was one of the few who knew about her extreme fears of the dark and spiders, which both had appeared in her first year.

A few deep breaths in order to control the fear that dominated her thoughts. A squeeze in Bubba's hand to make sure he was there and her wand clutched in her right hand. "Let's go," she said as she moved toward the maze. The maze seemed like a never-ending chaos of mysterious twists and turns. The green hedges surrounded the pair as they walked in and after the first turn, the entrance wasn't visible anymore.

Banner Credit: Kim Sato

Main attire

Hunter was a bit surprised by how dashing Bea had actually looked, yet to call her cute would be at the bottom of his list of words past obnoxious and childish. He would still admit she looked better than usual if asked, after all one could certainly see the difference cute difference between an innocent rat and a dead possum. He decided to not give any more comments, but gave a slight bow as courtesy to her own greeting. As such though, he walked ahead towards the maze. Not offering a hand or bothering to stick close to her. "This isn't a date," the boy had to remind himself. He could feel Bea's lurching eyes following him, he bloody couldn't stand it. He was already paranoid all the time, thinking everyone was watching him, but to actually know that someone is just made him feel awful, potentially exhausted already.

Hunter's mind was possibly too worried about the crowds to really focus on the scenery as he traveled across the maze with Bea. There was her, he could have sworn he saw @Bubba McGarry for a swift second while his eyes had darted near the start of the maze. All that was left was for @Hanako Tone to appear as well and then Hunter would be certain he was placed in a trap. The idea and thought of this all being a trap wouldn't leave the poor boys mind. The shadows of the maze crept closely, and thus he didn't pay extreme attention to the scented bushes or the overwhelming roots. Even stumbling on one, almost having fallen... how humiliating it would have been if he had. His fears were getting the best of him, and as they kept walking they only grew with each ticking second.

The boy took out his pocket watch again, as if he were the white rabbit that had once led a girl to a land of wonder. Although in this case there was no chance of him being late, and there was no land of wonder past this tedious maze. Each tick of the watch growing every increasingly loud in his head, just how much time had they already spent walking through this maze? Closing his watch, Hunter again attempted to put on a facade to hide the true feelings he was harboring.

The tension between the two could be felt. Honestly it probably be less painful for the two of them to act despicable than have to act politely in each others vicinity. The worst part was the lack of talking. Hunter was already a loner at best, keeping conversations short and to the point. Rarely did he speak elusively when his hairs were on end. Yet the growing tension and awkwardness was starting to get to him as well. He couldn't help but at least try and start a bit of talk with the girl. Better yet, if he recalls she had quite a short-temper. Hunter was honestly tempted to see how far he could go, till he could make Bea snap. Was now the best time, or would later in the evening be best? Well, only time could tell. In fact, could he somehow take advantage of that short temper? He looked down at his satchel for a second, wondering what could trickery could he take advantage of from such a thought. "Care to share where you found that dress and tiara? You look more like a sophisticated lady than your usual warden self, Ms. Langstreth. Or would you prefer to be called Queen Langstreth through the night?" A chuckle escaped the boy, he had to keep up the act a bit more. How cruel for such a lovely night to be wasted like this.

@Beatrice Langstreth
Open to Interactions
Action: Enters the maze with Beatrice Langstreth and heads towards the main ball area.

Roleplaying as Nate Smirnow from Koldovstoretz
@Katherine Labrouder

Outfit

There weren't many reasons why Nate enjoyed his time at Hogwarts. In fact, there was only one reason - Katherine. He was glad to finally see the once casual acquaintance again. Since New Year's at the latest, she had not disappeared from his mind. In the meantime, he could only communicate with her through owls, so he was all the happier to finally see her beautiful being in person again. As soon as he had arrived, he had asked the beautiful brown-haired girl if she would do him the honour of accompanying him to this Spring Ball. And she did.

Nate had tried to be somewhat in keeping with the theme while staying true to his style. So here he was, all in black. Black trousers, black shirt and a black jacket. On it was an old silver rung and his outfit was spiced up a bit by some silver chains. He wore a couple of silver rings on his hands, his curly black hair falling on his forehead as usual.

The two had agreed to meet at the venue and there he would wait for his date. But instead of finding a beautifully blooming place, with dancing students, the Russian was faced with a, maze. Of course, when would a ball be just a ball at Hogwarts? Probably never. But he didn't care, as long as Katherine was by his side. And with that cue, he caught sight of the beauty he had been waiting for. "You look beautiful." He greeted her and held out his hand. He would gently pull her to him and look her up and down one more time. "Beautiful." He repeated and really meant it.

Nate brought her hand to his mouth and gave her a kiss on the back of her hand before leaning down a little and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "M'lady, are you ready?" he asked now, holding his arm out for her to hook onto. Whenever Katherine would be ready to walk the Maze with him, he would go off and walk the path to the actual ball in this little adventure, hoping they wouldn't get lost.

Action: Entering the Royal Banquet through the Maze

DATE ┊ April 21st, 2023 -----RESPONSES DURING EVENT ┊ 1-----MENTIONS ┊ @Harlan Montgomery
-----WC ┊ 410/200-----ENGLISH ┊ "words"-----FRENCH ┊ "words"-----ARABIC ┊ "words"

-----The evening of the Spring Court was anticipated with increasing excitement. Caoimhe had been to a ball before, but this was the first occasion she had a date. Not some impromptu dance partner or friend she'd meet and socialize with, but an actual date to share the evening with. A strange feeling had come over her, but she would never confess it. She would not know what would await her for the night, but she'd be both antsy and nervous. 

Caoimhe, who ordinarily went about helping her friends get ready for dances before herself, took her time and care preparing for this particular one. She wasn't as helpful as usual because she was too busy experimenting with different hairstyles, clothing, and makeup before settling on one she liked. Thankfully, her friends could empathize and didn't appear to mind; they even enjoyed the pre-party antics as they all got dressed up. Their dormitories were alive with chatter and gossip as their eager anticipation for the evening's festivities grew. When Caoimhe and her friends were finally outfitted, they devoted an equal amount of time to snapping photographs with their bewitched camera.

Arms interlocked, the girls would fill empty corridors with laughter as they made their way to the Grounds towards the Enchanted Maze. Caoimhe would bid farewell to those of her friend group that entered the maze while others would disperse to talk or meet their dates. She waited for Harlan patiently at the entrance of the Maze, pulling out a pocket mirror to look over her appearance. Caoimhe put on an elegant orange dress that had formerly belonged to her mother when she was the same age, and she felt rather good about herself. Not feeling the urge to go all out, she opted for minimal, natural looking makeup aside from sharper eyeliner and darker toned eyeshadow.

Her thoughts often wandered to what Harlan would be wearing and when he may arrive, and she frequently questioned if she had scared him away. They had shared a bit of time practicing potions and spending time in the library studying, and while Caoimhe enjoyed his company, she frequently feared that it was a plot or scheme. For what or why - Caoimhe couldn't fathom, but it was just a silly fear she developed especially when it came to boys. Because Harlan was truthful and honest even to a fault, Caoimhe clung to the hope that he would make an appearance sooner rather than later.

Action: Arriving with friends, waiting for Harlan at entrance of maze alone
Stats: sta 5 • eva 9 • str 0 • wis 8+1 • arc 5 • acc 8+1
Abilities: Statistically Relevant
Inventory: Wand, shawl, small pocket mirror

English: #008000 Parsel: #008080

@Cassandra Ironwoods as Verona
Outfit

The redheaded Gryffindor strode in her blue pompous dress to the meeting point with none other than Verona aka Ronnie aka Ron aka her handsome boyfriend. On the way there she had butterflies in her stomach, she was so happy that she could finally see him in person again. After he had totally surprised her with his arrival, the two lovebirds were finally able to embrace each other again. It was an emotional moment for both of them and a tear or two may have been shed here and there. But since his arrival, the girl just walked around with a grin.

Surprisingly, Haley did not wear a green dress in her favourite colour, even her grandmother was surprised when she decided against it. Haley loved green, but too often now she had worn the colour to balls and so she opted for blue. Also because of the fact that she wore a blue dress on her first date with Ronnie. She thought this connection was beautiful and so her decision was made. Her grandmother had given the best performance again and sent her granddaughter one of the most beautiful dresses Haley had ever seen. It matched the theme, it fit her like a glove and it would definitely be eye-catching too.

When Haley arrived at the Maze, the handsome boy was already waiting for her. It was unusual to see him again with longer and darker hair. Back to his roots. But he looked amazing as always and Haley loved his curls. In his outfit he looked like the daredevil knight who would go into battle for her in a heartbeat and she grinned sheepishly as she looked at him and he greeted her with a wow.

"Wow yourself." She giggled and it felt like the first time between them. In love, she looked at her knight. "My Knight of the Night." She called him and took his hand to intertwine her fingers with his. She had missed it so much - his voice, his dimples, his kisses. Everything. The two of them ran off laughing, Haley lifting her dress with her free hand so they wouldn't trip. "With you, it doesn't matter if we get lost or not." She replied, laughing. She really didn't care as long as she had her friend by her side.

But of course, the two of them found the right path. They were Ronnie and Haley. Soon they heard the music, the voices of the students who had already made it through the Maze, and soon they caught sight of the beautiful surroundings of Spring Ball. "I can't wait!" Haley giggled and strode with her knight to the ball.

She returned his bow and made a distinguished curtsy before taking his hand again. She was ready to spend the night with him, having fun, dancing and laughing. She hoped this evening would never end.

Action: Entering the Royal Banquet

Interacting with: @Duvessa Ember & @Ava Winchet

Parseltongue
English
Thoughts

Outfit

"THAT'S THE MURDERER GIRL!!!"
Ava Winchet had tried stabbing some boy in the Slytherin dorms. It didn't happen in Nico's dorm, but he had heard that the whole staff had come. (Not really, but it was believable)
He was shocked, Duvessa's best friend was... well had she been an adult she could've ended up in Azkaban. "Say something... You're not scared of this girl, who had and maybe still does have access to a knife. Okay, yeah, only a little scared..."
He could tell his face showed shock, and maybe a little bit of fear, but she did try to kill someone, so he was taking it pretty well.
Nico, who is very abrasive and straight to the point, said, "So... You're the girl who tried to kill that kid in the dorm next to mine, right? Did all the staff really show up? or was it just Lear and Jensen?"
Usually, Nico wouldn't be talking about an attempted murder, but how was he to know that his date was besties with Ava Winchet?
"Well, she never told me that she was friends with her! What am I meant to say now?! Just pretend the image of this girl holding a bloody knife isn't flashing in my mind??"
As silence passed between the three, Nico glanced at Ava. She didn't look like a murderer.
"It's because she isn't a murderer. She almost was."
Nico looked at Duvessa, she was very pretty. Her hair was done up neatly, and her dress contrasted with her hair so perfectly.
Nico realized he was staring and looked up at the sky, it was mostly clear besides from a few clouds here and there.
"So," he finally said, "Are we to go in, or am I third-wheeling on something?"

DATE ┊ April 21, 2023-----OUTFIT ┊ click here-----HAIR ┊ click here-----INTERACTIONS ┊ open-----
STATUS ┊ open-----WC ┊ 202/200-----ENGLISH ┊ "words"-----DUTCH ┊ "words"-----THOUGHTS ┊ "words"

-----Stormy was a bit hesitant about the maze at first he was afraid he was gonna get lost. He held his breath and gripped his wand as he entered the maze. "ALARIC" he called out "WHERE ARE YOU". He looked around but all he could see was tall walls of leaves. There were some flowers on the bushes. Usually he would stop and smell them but he didn't want to be alone. So he set off after walking for quite a while, he came across two figures he couldn't quite make out "Alaric?" he questioned. He approached the boys only to find that it wasn't Alaric. One of the boys had similar features of Alaric but still wasn't him. "Oh sorry, I thought you were someone else" he muttered before walking away suddenly a bit self conscious of his outfit. After all it wasn't everyday you saw a guy in a dress. He continued his search for Alaric, more walking and more dead ends. He sat down and curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth and whimpering quietly to himself. Hopefully Alaric would eventually find him here. He would definitely be pretty shaken up by the time Alaric found him.

INVENTORY: A wand in his hand and a special stuffed animal his mother gave him now turned into a makeshift backpack
STATS:| 4 | STA | 5 | EVA | 4 | STR | 6 | WIS | 9 | ARC | 7 | ACC

Song for Thread:

@Lucian Mornstern | @Ashley Montez

Reducio

Outfit:

Galahad had almost been prepared to enter the dark maze. Twenty years of chasing the scum of the earth over hill and over vale had left him with a healthy respect of dark places. He much preferred the light, the light had a disinfectant quality about it that cleaned up everything in and around it. That's not to say that he was afraid of the dark, because he certainly wasn't, his years of experience simply made him wary. Still, it was a ball, not a hunt for a dark wizard. He needed to man up, light the way, and move in.

And as he was about to do so, someone evidently walked right into him, which was quite an achievement in his opinion, as his outfit was very loud. Then a voice he couldn't quite place said something that he couldn't understand, though it sounded like it might've been in Hebrew. He chuckled at her teasing inquiry about his possible fear of the dark. "Twenty years spent chasing the scum of the earth hither and yon hasn't left me with a fear of the dark, just a very healthy respect for it." He said, gesturing towards the gleaming Auror badge pinned to his lapel. It was clearly a point of pride for him, as evidenced by the fact that his twenty year old badge looked brand new. Looking down at his wand and back to her, he continued, "No, in this case the light is just practical. Look at this fine suit, I'd hate to trip over a vine or something and foul it," he said with a smile.

She introduced herself as the Muggle Studies Professor, Maya Galim. He'd yet to meet her but her reputation as a diligent professor and a warm person preceded her. He returned his wand to his pocket and introduced himself, "You deduced correctly, Maya," he said with a warm smile, "I am indeed the new Head of Gryffindor." He began to extend his hand, "Galahad Browne, it's very nice to meet you."

His hand, however, would never reach its intended target. The handsome, eager figure of Orion Lécuyer intercepted it as he greeted both of them. Galahad's heart leapt as soon as he saw Orion. His mind immediately returned to memories of late nights of warm fire whiskey, cookies, and... other things. He'd been waiting for this moment since he'd returned to Hogwarts and was disappointed that it had taken this long, but not overly so. As Orion greeted him and kissed his hand, he felt warmth radiate out from the spot, all over his body. It was like the feeling of sitting down in front of a roaring fire.

As Orion stood back up Galahad was lost for words for a moment. He was like a schoolboy once more, looking upon his crush in awe and not knowing what to say. He put a hand on each of Orion's shoulders, softly running them up and down his arms as he looked him up and down with fire in his eyes. "Orion... as handsome and dashing as ever... it's been too long."

Interacting: @Orion Lécuyer, @Maya Galim Mentioning: N/A