Closed Fall Ball 2023 Candle-Lit Banquet

Ｐａｉｇｅ ★ Ｍａｌｌａｒｙ
𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 ║ 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰
➷ Fall Ball 2023➶

˚ ༘ ೀ⋆｡˚˚｡⋆ ೀ ༘˚

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝: 364
𝙿𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚎 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐: #320ced

𝐏aige didn't usually socialise with people, let alone people she had probably never interacted with in her life. However, she had never been to a ball either, so she was both excited and nervous. Who knows how this could end? She could trip during her way down the hill. Or it could actually go well and she could enjoy herself.

Her dress sat on her bed, waiting for Paige to change into it. It was evenly decorated with silver Edelweiss's around the waist-piece and the crimson fabric flowed on top of a sheet of silver silk. Paige slipped it on and stared at herself in the mirror, turning ever so slightly. She let off a loud sigh before picking up the crystal hairbrush that lay on her bedside table. To finish the divine look, she popped a pair of shiny pearl earrings into the holes in her ears. Her parents would be proud of her; she looked so grown up in this gown. She slipped on her glass slippers and began her journey. As she began strolling towards the door, she remembered a small silver necklace she had been gifted by her grandmother last year. With a quick turn on her heels, she darted towards her jewellery box and clicked the necklace on. Now she was definitely ready!

The castle was decorated with pumpkins and leaves. They were really getting into the fall aesthetic. Hundreds of students were chattering away, filling their mouths with scrumptious food, decorating lanterns, or taking a ride in the small boats. All of these things Paige hoped to do. The lake was gleaming from the reflection of the lanterns that gently lined the paths.

"I'm so excited for the ball," she heard a student say to their friends. Paige looked around at the couples. Everyone seemed to have a partner. Everyone but her. A ball. Of course; a ball was a dance! How could she have forgotten? She was too busy focusing on her appearance than finding a date. She banged her head, mentally, before finding a log covered in flaky moss to sit down on. This was going to be a long night, a very long night indeed...

06/10/23 | English | Arabic | Spanish |

The day had finally come. Reuben couldn't possibly be more excited for the Fall Ball. He was going to go with a friend, or a pen pal perhaps who he had met just a few months ago at a Spin the Bottle game during Summer Camp. He did not know her well, but she seemed kind, and honestly, she was also kind of pretty.

It was one of the rare occasions when Reuben had decided to actually wear something formal. He was wearing a white shirt with a shimmery blue bow tie and similar blazer. He wasn't sure whether it matched the theme, but to him, it seemed close enough.

He smiled and looked around. As bad as the portkey was, it was actually worth it. He enjoyed coming to Hogwarts and meeting new people in a weather that was so much better than the weather at Uagadou. Not that he did not like his own school, he just did not like the weather. Everything else was awesome. He wondered whether he should go and say hi to people, but after a bit of thinking, he decided to find Lorelai first.

When they first met, he had not really expected to become friends, or even write letters to each other. He just talked to her like he talked to so many others. And now, here they were, going to the ball together.

Mentioning:

Lorelai [@Hannah Blossom] :Interacting With

STA : 6 | EVA : 10 | WIS : 8 | ACC : 10 | ARC : 2 | STR : 4 |
Calming Presence | Evasive Maneuvers

Reducio

OOC: Calming presence in effect

The Entrance ~ Lookout ~ Expedition ~ Gondolier ~ Seahawk
Capsized ~ Gambit ~ Instinct ~ Landfall ~ Lashback ~ Envenomed

@Marietta Griffis, Open to Interactions

Calming Presence in Effect;
All Student Entrees & Beast Master Familiars Affected

Cloak of Hyumming

This time the kid wasn't in charge of this ball destined to go wrong. Good. That meant that he could cause all the trouble that he wanted. Of course, he didn't mean trouble like ruining a festival that obviously had been the labor of love by its designers--he wasn't that rude--but he did mean causing trouble as in being a lovely little pest to just about any and everyone that he could possibly run across during his time here. This was the month of trickery, after all, so why not give throw everyone into the loop and give them a trick as opposed to their so highly coveted treats?

Perhaps this had something to do with the fact that the boy was feeling like there was something off in the way that his current state of life was going. Something just strange and odd that he couldn't put his finger on. Sure, strange things had been happening this year (simply recall the time he had a dream of being trapped in a mirror with that strange Watcher, or the existence of those kooky weeds), but while this year had been so far full of victories and daring, Piérre was feeling strangely unfulfilled. He couldn't quite guess why... but surely that had to mean something. Something crazy always happened when the storm seemed the most quiet; something was destined to change, to happen, when one least expected it. Something that would totally upend the way they understood their world, something that completely destroyed everything that they had thought they had known. Suffice to say, Piérre was quite the individual to take a brick to the head and then thank the thrower for it; he needed that reminder just as much as anyone else, and he took it quite seriously when it did so happen to overcome him at any particular moment.

The white feathered mantle of the Cloak of Ravven that Piérre had altered by the use of Multicolorfors ruffled a bit as the boy snugged it over his shoulders. Now it was a shimmering, iridescent collection of blue, pink, and green feathers with a white collar; an appearance that strangely reflected the boy's other form when he felt the whim to take it upon himself. He still was not confident in his abilities to keep his clothing when he transformed into his feathered shape... but he was experimenting with something new here; perhaps if his clothes appeared or felt more like his form, it would be easier to incorporate it into the form and therefore easier to recall it when he returned to humanoid shape. It was worth a shot, anyways, even if it didn't get him anywhere far in the end.

With him tonight, like with many other days and nights, was his beloved feline Figaro. Figaro was rarely far from him unless in a situation in which Piérre felt that significant bodily danger was a possibility for his feline... but even then he had to admit that his cat was shockingly good at staying out of trouble and safe and sound when he absolutely had to.

He had no agenda for the night, no plans. His brother was probably sulking somewhere. He had at least told Piérre about the little adventure he had taken up to Norway for a week of August, what he had seen and whom he had met; and while that intrigued Piérre just as much as any other, he couldn't really say that he was too deeply intrigued. There was more to discover, more to uncover. If these things that he had discovered had any truth to them whatsoever... surely there had to be a way to confirm those truths. Perhaps an idea was already brewing in the mind of the nonsensical fifth year, the whimsical boy that was perhaps about as substantial as a ghost when it came to being tracked down or interviewed. A nasty habit of nimbly evading the spotlight had he when he wanted to, even as much as it called his name and demanded that he show himself in it.

So as he strode in with the first gaggle of guests into the already thriving banquet, he issued a command to his familiar as he always did. It was good to have a lookout when it came to these events, especially when you had no idea what could be waiting just around the corner... "Figaro; Osservare. Observe/Scout" The boy indicated to the entirety of the surroundings. With a lazy blink of green eyes, Figaro turned away and trotted into the mess of partygoers, eager to go about his master's task. Piérre wanted him to scout, to look around, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

Glancing around for himself, Piérre fixed a stray feather on his cloak once more, humming to himself as his green eyes fixated themselves at the skies for a moment. Like many good balls, this one happened when night was already here... and while the food was tempting, the boy felt that he knew better than to try anything that came to one of these events. Were it not for other rumors as well, well... perhaps he would have been more at-ease. But Hogwarts was rarely as it seemed, just as the boy himself was one not to always be taken at face value. Good for those who tried, anyways... but Piérre was less than hopeful when it came to trying to discover just about everything about everything just short of sticking one's nose into any mischief one could find.

Oh... but then again, he did tend to do that now, didn't he...

Oh well.

And now what did we have here? A young girl sitting alone with her cat. No friends around that he could tell... perfectly lonesome.

And a perfect target to be picked off if something just so happened to have a sudden desire to do so. Say by a... hag doll, for example? Hmph.

Covered by the sounds of others and their footsteps, their conversations, their bickering, Piérre himself made silent treads towards where she sit, circling around so that he was advancing from behind until he was just behind her. Tipping his head in quiet observation of her, he put his hands behind his back and watched as she fawned over what the boy assumed to be her pet. A small smile graced his features the longer he observed, silent, curious. Perhaps he could spook her, give her a trick for the first trick of the night. There had to be more exciting places to go after this, but this was the place he would start for the time being.

A brightly-dressed boy in that feathered cloak stood like a statue behind the young girl perhaps totally unaware of his looming presence. If one didn't know any better, this image could be considered a cause for concern... but the strange warmth in the upperclassman's eyes mixed with that twinkle of mischief, the unaggressive way that he stood, one could almost misconstrue him as some sort of guardian angel. At the very least, he didn't appear to mean her any harm... perhaps this particular expression of body language and holding of self was because she was currently lacking in company?

Piérre Enters the Candle-Lit Banquet & Sneaks up on Marietta Griffis
Attempting to use Ability 's Grace

Beast Master Piérre's Familiar Abilities: 's Grace | Claws and Bite Action: Entering Banquet With Piérre Figaro Uses 's Grace to Attempt Stealth Status: Calming Presence (Piérre)

Figaro the Silver Bengal: 200/200

______________________

______________________

Bailey was not always the biggest fan of the balls. Sure, she enjoyed them, but they often grew too chaotic for her liking. And she had too many big memories there - first James, and then her ones with Kim. The previous year was when Kim had started acting.... off, and she was decently sure something had gone down at the 2022 Ball.
Whilst getting ready, Bailey tried to keep her thoughts off of Kim, which was her never-ending battle. Worrying about Kim, imagining what could be, and then back to worrying. For the ball, bailey was going for an elegant fairytale vibe, with a loose white dress, lace up gladiator style sandals with little flowers, her hair down with a flower crown, and then matching daisy and white flower earrings and necklace. Her ring - for today she only wore one - was probably her favorite piece of jewelry she owned. Made by a childhood friend, one she no longer knew well, but it held so much meaning, and simply reminded her of her childhood - one that she was fast leaving, a thought that saddened her.
Once she was dressed, Bailey made her way - alone - down to the ball, down to the lake. She spotted rows of tables, dressed in hanging lights and elegant tapered candles. Bailey made her way to those tables, deciding to get a bite to eat before she made a lantern. She was hoping... both consciously and unconsciously, that Kim would show up before then.
is it too much to wish for a fairy tale evening...... for someone to sweep me off my feet..? bailey thought. Then she decided to put all this boy nonsense out of her head, and to enjoy herself!! Smiling, bailey looked around. She saw many a first year around, a few second years, and a pair of fifth years, but no one of her own year, or of her close acquaintance.
Despite not having anyone to talk to, Bailey got herself a plate of food, a glass of punch, and sat down at a table. No one was too close, but surely someone would sit near her - maybe someone new, a potential new friend!

For the first time, Hera loved talking without thinking. She made eye contact with her brother Alex for a moment. I guess he heard her loudly offer to dance because she was staring at him in disbelief. She turned back to Kat. When Kat held her hand and walked to the dance floor, it felt like she was in a dream.

Kat had her arms wrapped around Hera's midsection. A chill ran down Hera's neck. She loved the feeling. In response, Hera wrapped her arms around Kat's neck. She had never danced so she tried to fit in with Kat. 'I hope Kat is trying to do this.'

"You know, it's my first time dancing like this and it's so nice to dance it for the first time with such a sweet girl."

She began to speak only with the voice of her heart, that his mind was no longer working. The butterflies in his stomach were now flying very quickly. As she looked at the girl in pink, he thought of the Muggle fairy tales her mother had told her. In fairy tales, princesses would dress in pink and have blonde hair. Bad characters mostly wore black or gray and aimed to kill the princess, but in this story, the bad girl fell in love with the princess.

When the song ended and a more upbeat song played, she pulled away from Kat and smiled when she heard Kat's voice challenging her and joking at the same time.

"Challenge accepted Miss Vladimir"

She looked at the dancers and tried to do like them, and she took Kat's hand and started dancing a little more comfortably.

@Yekaterina Vladimir

H E L E N A

R O S E

*ੈ✩‧₊˚- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶♡˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Date 00/00/00

Helena's Dialogue #aa8b00

Tags @Madison Bennett@Landon Matthews@Alyssea Brown@Rodney Hughes

*ੈ✩‧₊˚- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶♡˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -*ੈ✩‧₊˚

⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅

Helena semed to shy away a bit, the young girl was not used to many compliments and it seemed to overwhelm the golden haired girl slightly.

Even though the young girl should have been used to a scenario like this in all honesty it still overwhelmed her just slightly. But she also knew socializing was a good thing for a young person like herself.

Dusting her dress slightly the young girl looked down smoothing out her golden yellow ruffles glancing up slightly listening to everyones introductions. The young girl noted how everyone spoke and held themselves. Rodney seemed to be straight forward which was not a bad straight. Helena figured he must be pretty outgoing or just a straightforward person. Madison on the other seemed rather kind and had an air around her that the girl felt comfortable around which was oddly estranged to Helena.

The golden haired girl must have been a tad bit focused on analyzing everyone that she did not notice right away until a gentle tap brought the golden haired girl back to reality. Sea blue eyes staring over at the taller Blonde haired girl. Helena sheepishly smiled as Madison asked the girl to join her to get some punch. Knowing it would be rude to decline her offer Helena figured a punch would be rather nice after all.

“Oh sure. I um I’ll come along.”

Helena quietly accepted her offer to join Madi the young girl glanced back towards Landon feeling bad leaving her shy buddy behind. Helena mentally told herself it would be a fairly quick trip and she’ll be back with her buddy after all Landon understood Heleana’s pain with crowds so it made the girl feel comfortable to have a buddy like him to help her out in situations like these ones after all.

Following carefully behind Madison Helena tread lightly as her heels seemed to graze the ground beneath her. The golden haired girl kept her head held up properly gazing around the ball. Though it seemed still quiet it was slowly getting a bit more crowded. Many students seemed to appear, even those from other schools. Helena could not help but feel utterly nervous. The young girl moved a tad faster to stand in Madison’s shadow using the taller girl to shield herself from the other student body; she rather not interact with anyone unless it was necessary after all.

Once the girls got towards the punch bowl she stood fairly close to Madison glancing around nervously, her sea blue eyes darting back and forth as if the girl was preparing for some sort of disaster.

Turning her gaze back towards Madison the golden haired girl noted the older girl handing her a cup of punch. Taking the cup gently Helena took a small sip still on alert. After all, with large gatherings anything can happen. Helena felt like it was proper to stay on guard after all.

Helena’s ear perked a bit when she heard Madison asked her a question about how she was liking Hogwarts so far and her favorite subjects.

“I suppose Potions would be my favorite subject. I do seem to enjoy Hogwarts so far I suppose.

Helena responded quietly towards Madison as the golden haired girl still examined her surroundings though she had no idea what to think about every student in one open space, which seemed like a cry for disaster honestly.

Helena gently sipped her drink listening to Madison respond back to her. When the older girl questioned about Helena’s family the girl choked slightly. Trying hard not to drop her drink. Coughing slightly the younger girl composed herself before glancing up at the older girl.

Helena’s family always seemed to be a touchy subject as of late. Maybe it was because they have not written to her yet nor heard a word from anyone in her family. The young girl seemed to pale slightly as she composed herself quickly forcing a small smile upon her pale face. Blue eyes glistening with hidden pain. Wondering what to say or respond, the young girl felt best to answer quickly.

“I come from the Rose family. Father is busy running a Potions company while my mother tends to stay home. Suppose we should head back to the others they may miss us after all.”

Helena spoke rather rashly as the young girl threw her cup away in a trash can nearby. The young golden haired girl looked over her shoulder awaiting for Madison to accompany her back to their small group of friends after all. Helena would feel bad leaving Landon alone with the two members of the group that were actually on a date.

Dialogue: #03733b

@Landon Matthews

@Madison Bennett

@Alyssea Brown

@Helena Rose

Friday, October the 6th, 2023

In the span of the next minute, Madison thanked Landon and I for our compliments, saying that she’d been to a few balls before so she had a few dresses up her sleeve. She then continued by saying “I think everyone looks great, let’s just hope the music’s good so that we all get to dance.” “Thanks.” I said before Madison went away to get a drink, taking Helena with her. Then, Alyssea went on to compliment me, saying “The suit looks good on you.” before also complimenting Landon by saying “Your choice of a suit is also nice.” “Thank you Alyssea.” I said with a smile on my face.

But that compliment did more than just bring a smile to my face, it gave a me whole truckload of things to say. On the inside, I was very excited, partly because I was just complimented about my suit, but mainly because of the many things I had to say about it. In fact, I was so excited that I had to remind myself that it wasn’t a good idea to excessively brag about oneself. That single thought immediately shrank the amount of things I had to say to about the size of a trash can, which was a good thing because now I didn’t have as big a pile to pick from.

I decided to start off by addressing how I felt about what Alyssea said. “I completely agree with you, the suit looks very good on me. However, in my humble opinion, the suit isn’t even the best part of my attire. That would be this watch that I got a few years back. It’s really beautiful, and it still works just like it did on the day I bought it.” I could go on and on about the watch that was currently on my writer, which wasn’t too surprising considering that it was more or less my most prized possession at this point, but I decided to stop there. “Now when I said that I completely agreed with you Alyssea, I was also talking about the compliment you gave Landon, because your choice of suit is indeed nice.”

As I finished talking, I remembered the arts crafts tables and decided that now was a good time to ask about it. “Listen Alyssea, I’ve been meaning to ask you this for quite some time now, but with everything going on around us, I just couldn’t find the right time to do it. But we’re basically alone and we’re not really doing anything except talking to Landon, so I think that this is a good time to ask you what that arts and crafts table right there is for. I mean, what specifically? Because if it’s something really cool then we could go over there and make it together, along with Landon if he chooses to come.” Turning my attention to Landon, I said “You would like to come, right?”

October 6th, 2023

Interactions: @Fang Yun-Xin

The word ball sounded foreign the first time Pyxis heard it. He’d been to parties and get-togethers with his parents and their well-to-do friends, but never balls. As far as he was concerned, those types of gatherings were reserved for fairy tales and epic medieval novels. Though, he supposed he was living something akin to a fantasy movie by attending Hogwarts, so going to a ball shouldn’t have thrown him off as much as it did. But the young boy was still rather shocked at how quickly the school’s population switched from work mode to festive mode, and even his fellow first years were getting used to the mood. Unwilling to be left behind in that attitude, Pyxis decided he would follow suit and owl home for some appropriate clothing.

He felt strangely adult as he pulled on the warm browns of his outfit and laced up a new pair of Derby shoes. Of course, his parents had picked out the ensemble without any input from him, but having to throw it all on himself and then leave the castle without them flanking his sides was a new experience. And Pyxis definitely liked it. He no longer felt the need to keep his chin up and walk with the poise of an old gentleman, nor did he care to snack lightly and daintily. As he stepped through the castle entrance closest to the lake, the boy sauntered with a rhythm to his shoulders, vowing to eat as much as he wanted that night. The house elves were brilliant cooks and he wasn’t going to let their food go to waste.

As Pyxis entered the orange arena of overhanging lights, he took in a deep breath, appreciating the scent of autumn and immediately being drawn over to the food tables. Making his way there, the boy couldn’t help but notice the amount of duos that seemed to be attending the ball together. Obviously he expected some of the older students to couple up because at that age, catching cooties stopped being a concern (Pyxis would never stop caring about catching cooties), but he was so surprised to see the ones around his age blushing oddly around each other. Maybe I should have taken my dormmates more seriously about getting a date.

But Pyxis didn’t mind being there solo. He didn’t feel close enough to anyone to consider asking them out on a date. Sure, he had a few female friends - Yun-Xin came to mind as the person he bumped into the most, and there was obviously Robin and Ayla - however, he believed that the night would be wasted if he were to just spend the whole thing with one person. Mingling is the name of the game. Just as he began to look around for someone to interact with, a loud “Boo!” caught his attention.

“Ahh!” he shouted, clutching his chest as Yun-Xin’s scare was successful. “Oh, it’s you,” he smiled, quickly swallowing the brownie bite he’d been chewing on. “Well, seems like the whole school is here, so it was either this or chill in my dorm alone. I think you can guess which one is more fun, heh.” He paused then, truly taking in the sight before him. “You look awesome. What’s the name of this? I mean, this traditional garb. It’s really beautiful,” he continued, resisting the urge to fiddle with the gold embroidery on her pale red shawl.

Outfit
Action: Entering the banquet.
STA: 8 | EVA: 5 | STR: 1 | WIS: 7 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 7
Prodigal DADA Learner