Closed Fall Ball 2023 Lanterns and Boat Rides

IC Date: October 6, 2023
Time: evening
Interacting with @Renelle Dalton
Astra speaking: #136323
Renelle speaking: #00002b
Thoughts: Italics
Others: Bold

Her eyes squeezed shut and her chest immediately trapped any air she had in there. Maybe it was good to have crazy relatives who likes swimming in rivers and other cold bodies of water.

But damn it was cold! Astra would have loved it if balance could save her when the boat tipped, but alas, no amount of balance can save you when a boat is determined to go upside down. She began swimming up, her fingers already cold and numb-ish. She had never swam in a full on dress before, and the soaked fabric kept tangling around her legs and weighing her down. Her small strength was not enough to make her progress fast, let alone any progress at all.

Bony, spindly, and most importantly strong fingers wrapped around her ankle, causing Astra to cry out in surprise. Water poured into her mouth as air left. Astra didn't dare swallow for fear of breathing in more, slowly pushing the mouthful of murky lake out of her mouth in a weak stream.

So this is the end.

Aw, heck no, I'm NOT dying at eleven.

Astra contorted her body to where she could feel whatever grabbed her, and found its beady eyes with her fingers. She poked, hard, and started kicking and thrashing.

A hand on her shoulder, a human hand. Astra could only hope it was Renelle. Then she could only hope that Renelle wouldn't land in the same predicament as herself. We're going to have a lot to process when this is over. If I escape.

Moderated Action: Fighting the Grindylow

H E L E N A

R O S E

*ੈ✩‧₊˚- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶♡˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -*ੈ✩‧₊˚

Date 10/06/23

Helena's Dialogue #aa8b00

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

*ੈ✩‧₊˚- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶♡˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -*ੈ✩‧₊˚

•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•——————✧◦♚◦✧——————⋆•❅──────✧❅✦❅✧──────❅•

Helena had to admit the ball was a bit more interesting than she expected and it was even better around her friends and new friends at that.

As the group of friends had gotten aboard the boat and sat comfortably together the best the group of five could, Helena sat in between Landon and Madison. The young girl felt pretty comfortable around the older duo. Landon was similar to her in aspects of being shy and quiet while Madison was a bit more outgoing and sisterly in the way. Which was something extremely new to the young girl.

Holding her lantern in her hands quietly Helena glanced down as she heard Landon offer to light the small wick of the candle for the young girl which she gladly took that offer to heart after all she did not quite perfect any spells that would be useful to help light the candle.

Helena stayed quiet watching the boats set off. The young girl was definitely nervous especially after the first year experience of the boats going off course and well many things that ensued. Helena sat closely between Madison and Landon trying to keep her mind calm and clear as she watched the still water ripple as the boats glided across the vast still lake's water.

Helena felt her nerves start racking quickly as she glanced back and forth rather quickly her mind seemed to spin slightly. But her nerves seemed to die down when Alyssea started to count down releasing her lantern towards the sky. The golden haired girl's soft sea blue eyes watched in amazement. Glancing down at her lantern she slowly lifted it up in the sky watching the lanterns from their friend group slowly float higher and higher into the dawning sky.

The sense of peace and serenity seemed to envelope Helena as she thought quietly to herself watching the lanterns float around.

Helena’s thoughts went to a certain dark haired Slytherin girl, Helena always found herself thinking about Remedy Norden. Why exactly was she not sure? The girl was someone she grew up with, someone she admired and cared about, someone that Helena respected more than anything. Remedy was someone Helena wished to keep in her life for as long as she could. But even Helena feared that would be difficult after all the Slytherin girl and the Hufflepuff girl were total opposites though they grew up in the same world they were completely different. Helena knew that but even then she still wished that maybe just maybe there would be a bright future of an unbreakable friendship with Remedy Norden, the one person Helena truly valued more than she would like to admit.

Breaking out of her thoughts Helena continued to gaze softly at the floating lanterns her mind seemed to still linger back and forth from her friends that she was around with and a certain Slytherin girl that seemed to live rent free inside of the golden haired girl's mind.

Once again the golden haired girl was just lost in her own little world until a certain voice coming from Alyssea had spoken up breaking the peaceful silence that had shrouded the group quietly. Glancing towards Alyssea, Helena smiled softly, ready to respond to Alysseas question until a few splashes drew the young girl's attention away from her friends.

Three students had fallen into the water while one seemed to resurface and two other students did not. Helena held her breath, fear creeping inside of her. The young girl quickly moved her hand grabbing a hold of whoever was close to her, unfortunately for that person it was Landon's arm.

Helena felt the fear bubble inside of her as she watched the scenery in front of her. The young girl had no idea what to do or how to respond. She didn't really know many spells nor paid enough attention to do anything to help not only that she was a dreaded swimmer, so going into the icy cold water would be a terrible idea.

Helena felt her heart pounding for the young students that found themselves in the frigid icy cold depths of the water. Helena continued to grip Landon’s arm, shaking slightly due to fear swallowing her. Helena was regretting getting upon this death trap that was nowhere near the shore line.

The golden haired girl stared at her friends fear swimming deeply inside of the pool of blue hue in her eyes. Her ivory pale skin grew paler than a ghost during a full moon's night.

Helena seemed a bit lost in the chaos that seemed to ensue; she did not notice when Alyssea shot red sparks from her wand. The golden haired girl did not even notice Madison at first until the older girl's words broke through to the younger one.

Seeing Madison give Helena a reassuring smile, the young girl seemed to calm down slightly, still keeping a small grip on Landons arm. Helena would be lying if she said she was not terrified; the girl was beyond terrified what else lurked in the waters of this vast lake.

Is this night just going to get worse? What could happen and not only that, how could this night get worse? There were already two students who seemed to be in danger and no adult or older student seemed to be close by and if they were Helena seemed to be too lost in her thoughts and own fear as she seemed to cling to Landon.

After all, what could possibly go wrong right? Helena knew that the lake was unpredictable and the boats had a mind of their own and because of that she seemed to be drawing in uncertainty and fear.

Blue in English, Red in Korean

Eun-ji sighed again. It felt like she did that quite a lot this evening. She didn't have any energy left to persuade Hiro to leave her alone though. At first, she stayed quiet, working on the finishing touches of her own lantern but eventually glanced at the Japanese student next to her. When she saw him struggling with a vital part of his lantern, the witch finally decided to have mercy on the boy. She was a Ravenclaw after all. If there was an opportunity to teach someone something, she just had to do it.

“No, it’s my first time making one myself but I have seen other people do it many times.” Thankfully, it wasn’t as difficult as it may have seemed initially, so she managed to figure it out relatively quickly. The witch was a quick learner especially when it came to crafting and art in general. “Here, this is what you do…” Eun-ji explained the process step by step. She still wasn’t too happy with Hiro’s presence but it was easier to accept it now, that he was busy and talking a bit less.

As the Ravenclaw supervised Hiro’s work, she occasionally glanced at the boats on the lake. The scene was beautiful but also suspiciously peaceful. I have a bad feeling about this. Her brain just couldn’t seem to settle down. Usually, at this point the evening would be ruined by some kind of disaster. Was it possible that this ball would finally break that terrible tradition?

“Oh well…apparently not.” Eun-ji muttered under her breath in clear disappointment as the chaos finally kicked off. Whoever thought it would be romantic to send students on a boat ride at the lake swarming with Grindylows? “Jenjang!” God dammit! The witch cursed in Korean, watching the two young girls fall into the freezing water. That alone was bad enough but one of them was soon pulled into the depts of the dark waters as well. “You stay here, you hear me?! I mean it!” Eun-ji warned her lantern making companion. Her voice was strict and it was very obvious, she’d be incredibly pissed if he didn’t listen to her. He was still quite young, it would be best if he stayed here, where he was safe. “Or go and find some adult to help.” She didn’t really trust adults but perhaps, he’d manage to find at least one capable of help.

Looking around, Eun-ji spotted her fellow Ravenclaw and duellist Peri, standing at the dock. Clearly, he was thinking the same as her and was planning to help. Eun-ji did not hesitate to rush towards him, already pulling out her wand as she did so. “Peri! Let me help if that’s what you are going to do. The students are young and probably don’t know the Revulsion Jinx yet. If more fall in, it will be a terrible mess.” It would also be good to somehow pull the rest of the boats back to the shore but she wasn't quite sure how to achieve that one.

Action: Crafting a lantern with Hiro then rushing to Peri, intending to help the students in the lake

Stats: STA: 9 ✦ EVA: 10 ✦ STR: 4 ✦ WIS: 12 ✦ ARC: 11 ✦ ACC: 13
Abilities: Healing Sage I & II ✦ Perfectionist ✦ Death Defiance ✦ Spell Spread
Interacting with: @Kim Sato as Hiro Bakugo and @Pericles Dralt
Mentioning: @Renelle Dalton and @Astra Norrick

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

@Marietta Griffis, @Pericles Dralt & @Eun-ji Lee Hunt
Open to Interactions

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

Cloak of Hyumming

The boy's nose wrinkled ever so slightly at the girl's attempt to mimic his accent. Of course it was fun to mimic his accent, it was similarly fun for him to mock the way that others spoke, especially when they spoke so highly of themselves or with such pompousness that insinuated that it was within their rights to turn their noses up at others they believed to be beneath them. What was 'beneath', after all? When all was relative, or when others claimed that all was relative, why would 'placement' when compared to another truly be of particular obsession to anyone? "Yep! Florentine, born and raised! Well, until we moved to London..." He cheerfully hummed, considering the stick in his hand before he withdrew his yew wand (which sported its typical leafy greens as it was untrimmed) and then incanted at the branch: "Engorgio!" He was, of course, hoping to enlarge the stick mostly in regards to thickness and slight length so that he could 'row' the boat around ever so slightly. It would make a perfect gondolier's stick!

"Mhm! The legendary SS Hyummer!" He reiterated. "Yeah, my cat probably wouldn't be too happy to be in the boat over the water like this, even if he really loves me a lot. He's being a good boy and hanging out at the main banquet right now like I instructed him to. He's very smart; I think he might be part-kneazle." Said so matter-of-factly, as if every cat was so well-behaved and trained to excel in almost cooperative efforts of the sort. "Hehe... yeah! Let's go find Herman! OH HERMANNNN!" The boy cupped a hand to his mouth and shouted out over the broad lake as they began to float out. "HEY HERMAAAAAAAN! COME OUT AND SAY HELLO TO US?!" His voice would echo and echo in the cool night air.

After a moment and relishing the cool air, his green eyes flicked back to the girl and he sat down in the bow of the boat again. He nodded to the lanterns. "I got lucky snagging those in time... aaaaaand I don't really know how to put them together, to be honest..." He trailed off, tipping his head in consideration for a moment before shrugging. "Oh well! We'll figure it out, I have no doubts!" He said cheerfully, picking up a paper lantern and then messing with it for a few seconds before putting it down before he somehow managed to completely shred the poor inanimate object of interest. His pointed ears piqued unconsciously, for some reason attuning to the environment without even thinking about it. He brushed flyaway hairs behind his ears, trying to focus on one of the many things that were serving as very distracting distractions at the moment: where he was, what he was doing, what he wanted to do, who he was with, and what he was planning on doing while here were all spinning incoherently through his mind at once. They were vying for priority in his cluttered mind and he wasn't really able to decipher which one he wanted to try to attempt comprehending first.

So, he did the only natural thing and zoned out for a few seconds with a small crease in his brow as he tried to remember what he was going to say or do next. "Riiiiiiiiiiight..." He trailed off with a small tip of his head. "So... I'm sorry about yanking you out like that." He finally said softly. "Ha! I haven't even asked your name! Man I'm just as rude as they get." He grinned again. "I'm Pierluigi, nice to meetcha."

It was only a lie if one found out. What was never known would never hurt, and if it was discovered what a small white lie it was after all... perhaps something that would be for the better when it came to the safety of both of their wellbeings. "I'm sorry but not sorry, I suppose. You looked like you needed some cheering up, and unfortunately that's my specialty." He elected to leave out the part that was essentially "And being alone at a Hogwarts Ball entails nothing but trouble and potentially hazard to bodily health of all kinds...", which was likely to be a mercy on the mind of the younger student. It tended to be pleasant to not think about the potential of an early death, after all...

His eyes drifted to a point over the shoulder of the girl in his boat, watching as a large and pale bird transmogrified into a familiarly pale and lanky human. Peri! The Jester's eyes widened a touch as he realized that his old friend must have also managed to successfully become an animagus as well, but he was more interested in the posture of the pale Ravenclaw. This was further compounded when another girl ran over to where he stood as well. With a small point over the girl's shoulder to indicate the location of his interests, Piérre remarked nonchalantly. "I wonder what's got them so intrigued." They seemed to be obsessing over the lake for some reason. Odd? There were certainly some ripples in the water, as well as a few empty boats that were floating... around?

Empty?

There was a flash of a mind trying to put together pieces to be found in the boy's eye for a few seconds; he wasn't really great at putting two and two together sometimes, but he was trying to remember or think if such a small detail as this was really important or if it was something that was merely circumstance... If it was something that would entail causing him to raise his guard, especially with the younger student under his wing as was the case right now.

Carefully getting to his feet on the bow again, Piérre hollered back to the shore towards Pericles and the girl. "HALLOOO! PERI! WHAT'S GOING ON, FRIEND?!"

Casting Engorgio on the Branch, Watching Pericles & Eun-ji Lee Hunt

6 October 2023
Fall Ball

With an awkward shove at the shoreline, the boat carrying Harmony and Flynn was off, sailing smoothly over the gently rippling Great Lake. Up ahead, a few students had already released their lanterns, and a gentle glow illuminated the area. There were people all around but the little boat still felt private enough for beautiful ball-happenings … and a talk.

The two First Years had only cleared up the confusion around their names on shore, but there was still an entire month’s worth of miscommunication to be spoken about. Not only that, but Harmony felt the slightest bit guilty. Why did she feel uncomfortable and try to distance herself from an enthusiastic peer? Why didn’t she confirm his intentions? If she wanted to make the most out of her time at Hogwarts, she was going to have to get her head out of the frilly plotlines and have the open mind she’d always been so proud of.

“Hey,” she quietly began after a moment of silent courage-gathering, “I think you know that we didn’t know each other’s names, and that’s not the greatest way to meet someone.” She fiddled with the top edges of the lanterns, still clutched in her grasp. “But when we met, I was … feeling very bad? And I jumped to conclusions about you.” Her heart pounded. Why were difficult conversations so difficult to have? “I tried to not assume afterwards but the first conclusion I made never really left and I don’t think I was very welcoming when you were trying to make friends-”

A commotion caught her attention. Glancing at the panicked eyelines of a boat of fellow Puffs had Harmony scanning the lake to find an empty boat bobbing nearby and disturbances in the surface of the lake. There was a flash of fabric and a previously unseen student briefly came into view as she dove in the direction of the water disturbances and disappeared as well.

Harmony’s eyes widened and all thoughts of her heartfelt discussion evaporated from her mind. “What?” She exclaimed, glancing back to see if Flynn was seeing this as well, before immediately turning to scan around the empty boat again. Her mouth opened and closed as the intention to say more came to her, but without an actual selection of words to say, she stayed in shocked silence. She hadn’t mastered the red sparks spell yet, either, and was therefore unable to contribute anything other than a bewildered stare.
She hoped an adult was being alerted, she hoped the capsized students would be ok, and she hoped no other boats would tip- especially not her boat!

Interacting with: @Flynn Montgomery
Summary: Trying to have a Talk, noticing the capsize

As Flynn got into the boat and the pair pushed off into the lake slowly drifting across the serene stillness of the water. As the two of them sat silently in the boat they drifted further from shore admiring the lanterns released by the early birds as Flynn was tantalised by the sky becoming dotted with sparkling lights, despite looking around and seeing themselves surrounded by their peers Flynn couldn't help but feel a calming isolation within the boat, the air seemed a little warmer despite the lakes usual cold touch. Flynn looked up to see Harmony had taken a slightly absent look across her face, Flynn would have thought she'd been encapsulated by the surrounding beauty like he had been, however, her gaze was restricted to the confines of the boat they shared not even a glance outside, what had been causing such fixation in a time where getting lost in the scenery felt so easy? deciding her thoughts weren't for his prying mind Flynn turned to the side of the boat where he let a finger drift along the top of the lake leaving a small wake behind it as it softly cut through the water as they drifted.

"Hey,"

Flynns attention jolted to his sole partner in the boat. seeing her thoughts had been processed and she decided to grace him with some softly spoken sentences. As she continues to explain her actions through their initial interactions over their first few months of knowing of each other Flynn can't help but realise the true meaning behind all of her actions, and here Flynn thought it was all just miscommunication and coincidences, regardless, the actions had been amended and Flynn had felt no hard feelings, not that he ever had any, however he felt like she needed some closure and reassurance from Flynns end.

"Oh? I hadn't realised, I'm sorry for such a first impression" Flynn shifting slightly trying to fully show his sincerity "for what it's worth I've just been trying to friendly towards you but I understand if it's been a bit much" Flynn was interrupted trying to finish off his explanation "but I love to get to know you properly..."

Oh my goodness. The near silence amongst the students on the lake had been shattered by a boat just a ways away from Flynn and Harmony dramatically dumping its occupants into the frigid waters below. "What- how- what do we do?" Flynn had to ponder to himself as he saw the two in the water, surely it was ok right? the water can't be that dangerous right? looking around all the other boats seemed ok and most importantly Harmony was sitting upright in their boat, ok, hopefully it's just a one off incident that can be resolved so they can continue their conversation.

Interacting with @Harmony Hollins

Even as the furrow in Valentin’s brow creased deeper, he seemed to glow a bit brighter once Maila joined him at the lakeside. Cursing himself for not accompanying Alexander on his way, Valentin wracked his brain for explanations of what might have happened to his date. He couldn’t imagine being simply stood up – something must have gone wrong, but perhaps it was just a matter of petty delay and nothing to storm over.

“Yes, let’s absolutely catch up sometime. He isn’t from Durmstrang – he’s from here, a Hufflepuff… I’ve been waiting for, well, a little while now…” Although a sweetness filled his timbre, Valentin was soon biting his lip again. The darling little Hufflepuff – shouldn’t Val have been at his side more, protecting him from… from what? It wasn’t as if the murderer of Valentin’s parents would get Alexander, too, right? What kind of motive…? In a hard sigh, the seeker tried to blow the invasive thoughts away. No, Alexander was safe here at Hogwarts, one of the best warded places in Europe. He had to be okay… right? Maila was saying there hadn’t been any commotion, even…

“Yes, it’s quite nice to be back indeed. As for what I’ve been up to, and about going out on the lake–” Cut off by the sounds of commotion and the [presumed] flare of a periculum, it was simple for eagle-eyed Valentin to see the girls being grabbed by grindylows, as he had been continuously staring at the lake for quite a while. Well, whatever was delaying Alexander, it probably was not as pressing as the imminent drowning that threatened the students in the distance.

“Maila, do you remember before, when I said you have the spirit of a Horntail? Seems this is a great time to put it to good use! Let’s go!”

Whipping out his wand, Valentin dove into the lake and attempted a cast of the bubblehead charm on himself before swimming at maximum speed at the imperiled students, aiming for Estelle first.

Open to interaction
STA 8 ✧ EVA 20 ✧ STR 3 ✧ WIS 16 [18] ✧ ARC 1 ✧ ACC 15
Keen Eye ✦ Charmer ✦ Evasive Manoeuvres ✦ Fearless ✦ Comprehend Parseltongue
Inventory: a new wand, a very old Turkish dagger

Action: Attempting to cast bubblehead charm on himself and diving into the lake to swim towards the students being attacked by grindylows, particularly @Estelle Nyx
Free Action: Encouraging Maila @Beatrice Dupont to join him

date: 6th october time: 7pm location: great lake

mentions: Reducio @Delilah Chapman

languages english: #490085 spanish: #0b0085 thoughts: italics

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

Estelle and Del had gotten into one of the boats. It set off, gliding across the calm water. Estelle grinned. She absolutely loved this idea, it was perhaps her favourite part of the whole event. Es held tightly to her lantern, lest it blow away before she was ready. She had had so much fun making it and had been having such a great time with Del. It was nice to just have a fun, calm event with little calamity or chaos. Little did she know, it wasn't to last... As Estelle stood to release her lantern, the boat wobbled. She tried to sit back down, but her high heel twisted and she fell off the side of the boat. She managed to take a deep breath, just before she hit the water's surface. The frigid water hit her, freezing down to her bones. Something yanked her ankle, pulling her down. She was about to scream but stopped herself - she would have released the breath she was holding. The water was murky and she couldn't see her assailant, only feeling the hands on her leg. She didn't know what or who it was, only knowing that she had to break free. She kicked out with her other leg, hoping it would hit whatever had grabbed her. Action: Trying to break free of the Grindylow's grasp Permission to say that Del is also in the boat was given.

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯

★ ☆ ✦ ✩ ✫ ✬ ✭ ✮ ✯ ✮ ✭ ✬ ✫ ✩ ✦ ☆ ★

october 6th 2023
the great lake
19:00

Due to the choas of people standing in their boats to get a glimpse of what was going on, the water in the lake was no longer as calm as before. It had become choppy as the boats moved, creating chaotic currents around the boats.

Spells:
@Alyssea Brown casts Periculum [d20 : 12] + 8 = 20, success
@Piérre Marchonné casting Engorgio [d20 : 13] + 12 = 25, success
@Aida Mòrsgor-Ama Ellwood as Valentin Schnell casting Bubblehead charm [d20 : 6] + 18 = 24, success

Boat Rolls:
@Piérre Marchonné [d10: 3]
@Marietta Griffis [d10: 6]
@Alyssea Brown [d10: 5]
@Rodney Hughes [d10: 2]
@Helena Rose [d10: 9]
@Landon Matthews [d10: 8]
@Madison Bennett [d10: 5]
@Flynn Montgomery [d10: 5]
@Harmony Hollins [d10: 7]

Result:
@Piérre Marchonné, @Marietta Griffis, @Alyssea Brown, @Rodney Hughes, @Helena Rose, @Landon Matthews, @Madison Bennett fall into the water.

@Alyssea Brown cast periculum, causing bright red sparks to fly into the air, visible to both those on the lake and those at the shore. However, as she cast it, the boat began to rock and with five people in one boat, it wasn't a surprise when someone fell in. That someone happened to be @Rodney Hughes. His fall tipped the boat, causing all those in it to fall into the water.

Rodney wasn't the only person to tip a boat, as when @Piérre Marchonné successfully cast his engorgement charm, the size of the branch he was holding tipped the balance of the boat, causing both him and @Marietta Griffis to fall into the water.

Strength checks vs Grindylows
For Alyssea, Helena, Landon, and Madison:
Grindylow str [4d20 : 13,15,18,13] +4 to each, totals are 17, 19, 22, and 17
Alyssea str [d20 : 6] + 6 = 12, Alyssea is grabbed
Helena str [d20 : 20] + 3 = 23, Helena isn't grabbed
Landon str [d20 : 1] + 6 = 7, Landon is grabbed
Madison str [d20 : 4] + 6 = 10, Madison is grabbed

Piérre, Marietta, Rodney str checks to see if they get dragged down
g: d20(16) + 4 = 20
p: d20(13) + 5 = 18, Pi is grabbed
g: d20(17) + 4 = 21
m: d20(4) + 3 = 7 Marietta is grabbed
g: d20(15) + 4 = 19
r: d20(9) + 5 = 14, Rodney is grabbed

Result:
@Piérre Marchonné, @Marietta Griffis, @Alyssea Brown, @Rodney Hughes, @Landon Matthews, @Madison Bennett are all grabbed by Grindylows and pulled 2m down.

Attempts to break free of the Grindylows
@Estelle Nyx and @Astra Norrick attempt to break free:
g: d20(4) + 4 = 8
e: d20(7) + 5 = 12, Estelle breaks free
g: d20(2) + 4 = 6
a: d20(16) + 5 = 21, Astra breaks free

Are they grabbed again?
g acc: d20(15) + 4 = 19
e eva: d20(14) + 7 = 21, Estelle swims away
g acc: d20(2) + 4 = 6
a eva: d20(7) + 5 = 12, Astra swims away

@Renelle Dalton doesn't need to pull Astra away from the Grindylow

After the chaos of so many people falling in, it would be expected to see many heads resurfacing from the water. But it was not to be. Only @Helena Rose resurfaced.

Under the water, chaos was occurring as students were pulled down left, right and centre. Many couldn't break free of the Grindylows' grasp, but the two girls - @Estelle Nyx and @Astra Norrick - who had fallen in and been pulled down originally had succeeded. They both broke free, swimming away from the Grindylows and resurfacing. @Renelle Dalton, who had been trying to help Astra found she had no need to pull Astra up, as she had broken free of the Grindylows' grasp.

All in all, the chaos of the moment was unprecidented and extraordinary, the complete opposite of what the lake had been like a minute earlier.

OOC Information
Welcome to the lake! Before you enter, please read the following:

Reducio

1. Your character must be indexed. If you are not yet indexed, please register here
2. There are two activities you can partake in this area — lantern-making and the boat ride
3. Moderation will occur once a week on Saturdays. Clarification is below
4. Your character is allowed one moderated action per round. Please specify these actions in your post
   
   Reducio

   A moderated action is anything requiring rolls e.g. casting a spell (at someone), punching someone. If the action is only between PCs and is consensual, it will not require rolls e.g. asking someone to dance.
5. If your PC is moving between the banquet and the boat rides, please specify your movement in your post
6. Please follow all normal H.io site rules while participating in the ball.

ALERT
• @Piérre Marchonné, @Marietta Griffis, @Alyssea Brown, @Rodney Hughes, @Landon Matthews, @Madison Bennett have fallen out of the boats and have been grabbed by Grindylows
• Every round, they will be dragged 2m underwater and will slowly lose health
• The Grindylows have 600 HP

Note: please don't describe anything extra that hasn't been stated in the mod. If you're dragged under, your actions must be moderated.