A Measure of Courage or Foolishness

After hearing some students talk about an awesome party going on in the Potions room, she knew something was up. She had been busy with catching up on homework and had some time to spare. It had been awhile.

Since she wasn't really into parties, at all, this one caught her attention. She became abit braver after meeting new people at the Halloween party. She hopped to her dorm room and sat down on her bed. Not sure if she should change into something abit more fancy or to just go in her schooluniform. After some reconsideration, she decided to stick to her uniform. It was safe and comfortable. In a way. She took a deep breath and made sure she looked at her best. No need to walk around with bedhair. One more thing she didn't want to forget, was her scarf. Around her neck it stayed faithfully whenever she'd go out. Tonight was no difference.

Who else would go there? How many students would actually be there...? She didn't completely trust it... Should she ask someone to come with her? Nah, she always wandered by herself. She would be fine.

She put her wand in her pocket and left to the Potion Room. Her bright red hair waved with every step she took. On her way there she noticed quite alot of students, sneaking off towards the party. It was going to be a busy night. Arriving at the door, she carefully entered, her eyes scanning her surroundings. There was a buffet, with snacks and drinks. Some students ofcourse and... Ghosts? Why were they here? They usually just... flew about, minding their own business. But here they actually had decent conversations with the young wizards and witches. Odd.

Nico walked further in, observing the potions, stalled on the cabinets. She had a bad feeling about this place and it would only be a matter of time before her gutfeeling got proven wrong or right...

The ghosts were whispering, and the students were too.

This was certainly not normal. Parties NOT being thrown by staff were also not normal. But rumors were normal, and rumors spread quickly. It wasn't long until Thea heard of the 'small student gathering'. At least that was what the students informed about it called it. But I mean, if you've seen the number of students whispering (or almost shouting) about the party, ALONG with the ghosts... yeah, it was clear to everyone it wasn't going to be too small.

Obviously, Thea wasn't prepared for this, at all. She was never prepared, as a matter of fact. But this was different, much different - this wasn't the Halloween ball she attended before, certainly not. This was clearly not organized by staff and came out of pretty much nowhere without any special occasion. But she still felt obligated to figure something out, clothes-wise, and so the creation of some of her more formal wear came together.

And so she was wearing a space-themed layered dress along with her sneakers from the Halloween ball. Unlike the ball though, her hair was braided in quite the fancy and time-wasting way which her sister insisted on teaching the older girl. At least now it was paying off. There was also a necklace hanging down. Space themed like her dress, the only thing that made it pop out was the moon and a planet in the middle. She didn't quite remember when she received the piece of jewelry, but it came in handy now.

Thea snuck down to the potions room seeing a bunch of other students around there, along with some ghosts. She looked at some of the potions in the cabinets and realized this wasn't a good idea.

At all.

the colors are a mess, but bare with me here.

Ogla of course was suspicious, but she had never been to a party before, unless you counted the first-year's one, or anything having to do with the school. But she didn't think this had anything to do with professors.

She had overheard some students talking about heading to the Potions class for the gathering, and almost didn't go but she decided that it couldn't hurt. She had other things to do like study or really anything else but her curiousity took a hold of her, telling her to follow the group of students. She kept her head down, blending in well the mix of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs.

She wore all black underneath her red and black robes, nothing to extreme. Her hair that was buzzed on one side was pulled into a mess bun on top of her head, bobby pins sticking out her and there. She wore a black choker around her neck and tiny black earrings shaped like stars. She wore worn Converses on her feet.

While walking Ogla hoped many things, mainly that she wouldn't be bored the entire time and that they'd have food she'd eat. As long as they had Doritos she was fine, but Hogwarts didn't seem like the type of place to have regular muggle food so she wouldn't keep her fingers crossed.

When they rounded a corner Ogla and the others saw students and ghosts alike talking amongst each other as they entered the Potion classroom. She could hear music and people talking loudly. She wondered who'd put this all together, and how they attracted so many people. Maybe people really didn't have that much entertainment, or not even just people, but ghost too. She raised her eyebrows, and entered the classroom.

Ogla stood near the walls with her arms crossed, more anxious than bored. She didn't know what to do here, and she'd always been wondering about that, how she'd react at a party. She could just go over to the food or try to talk to others but she didn't feel like forcing herself into a good conversation.

Rolling her eyes, Ogla sighed and walked over to the buffet, fixing herself with a plate of crackers and cheese. At least there were some appetizing things. She grinned, heading to the closest unoccupied table and sitting down, crunching on her food, not a care in the world. Maybe parties weren't that bad after all.

A party? Alright, having a party was really normal, even though here was Hogwarts. The problem is, who is the one that starts this party? Luna wondered while entering the Potion class. She was quite surprised since she had not heard any information from the prefects or professors of this party. The most suspicious thing was that this party, this mysterious one, was allowed to organize in this place. Professor Nagal was quite strict, which was why she really doubted that he allowed the student to organize this party. Usually, she would not join a party like this, it might bring her in troubles, which she didn't like at all and she would never, once again, never. However, as a prefect, she had to join, they might break rules... Alright, she joined because Luna hoped that she could at least meet a friend of her here since she had already done all her homework for today and spending time alone was... a bit bored. But she won't say that she wanted to meet her friends. What she would say was: It was quite late, and they could break the rules anytime.

Luna would be happy if she could wear the Slytherin uniform, but she might not be able to enter, so the Slytherin decided to wear the type of clothes that she usually had to when the girl joined a party with her family. It would be better if she chose another type of necklaces, but Luna really liked the necklace that her parents gave her as a gift...

There were some ghosts here, surprisingly. She had never thought that the ghosts would join this "small party" too. As she thought, there were some students here, but she couldn't find any familiar faces. The music might be the only thing that she liked...

Rolling her eyes, the Slytherin girl decided to stand somewhere that not many people could notice but could still clearly see the others...

Breathing as quietly as she could, the girl walked silently through the corridors with a cloak over her body. It covered her entirely, making her invisible. The invisibility cloak was her most prized possession, a family heirloom that her grandmother had passed down straight to her. It actually amused her a little that she had one and her older brother did not. But she was clearly her grandmother's favourite, which was great for her. Especially given that her brother was everyone else's favourite. Well, at least, if you were a fan of the rude, snobbish, muggle hating pureblood type, her brother would be your favourite.

Luckily for Serena, he did not bother to go to a school that 'associated themselves with mudbloods'. This left Serena free to roam around Hogwarts by herself. It was strange but when she joined, at the young age of eleven, Serena was really excited about the school. It all quickly went downhill when she met the now Headmaster, Solomon Lear. There were a number of people quickly adding on her very short list of enemies. Before recently, that list was not existent. Now, there was a list.

All of the recent events had led her to this moment in time. Walking around the school, hiding from everyone. She walked quietly through the Dungeons. Her footsteps walked with determination, as though she knew exactly where she had to be and what she had to do. Her every move had purpose.

That was until she caught a glimpse of a couple of ghosts lurking in the corridor. Serena blinked as she stopped in her tracks and watched them. They entered the wall not too far away from her. The Hufflepuff tiptoed a little closer, stopping near the door - mostly because she could not see through the walls like they did. Peeking her head around the corner, the Hufflepuff's eyes widened. There were a number of students and ghosts in the Potions classroom, definitely where they should not be.

The former Head Girl blinked. She had the instinct to tell them off. Perhaps out of habit from her prefect days. However, she did not need to anymore. There was food, banners... clear evidence of a party. Quirking an eyebrow as her gaze fell onto two people that she had a strong suspicion were Prefects now... She may have resigned from the role but she definitely paid attention to the announcements when it came to the new ones. They did not seem to be telling anyone off... Was she wrong? Were they not Prefects? Serena stared at them, before slipping off her invisibility cloak, stuffing it into her bag and entering the room, "I'm struggling to work out if you guys are brave or foolish? You're breaking curfew for a party? Really?" She asked the room, quirking her eyebrow as she wondered if these students had absolutely no idea what sort of dangers lay in Hogwarts.

She was breaking curfew for a very important reason. She was fully aware of the dangers, her actions could cost her her life. However, it had to be done. For the betterment of others, it needed to be done. These students seemed to have other plans in mind, however.

In they came one buy one, like moths to a flame. It had been something he'd anticipated. The greater numbers that came & more boisterous the participants got. The more the curiosity of others would be ignited. It had proven quite the idea for gathering information on the subjects in his school. Others arrived as they were in robes & eagerly participating. While others had taken the time to dress for the occasion. After excusing himself from a rather interesting conversation on the past events from one of the ghosts he moved to mingle with some of his fellow students.

He moved among them stopping at the buffet table to grab himself a glass of tea. Many students had even brought snacks or treats from their personal stashes to add to the party. Much to his surprise it seemed very few of his fellow students had any regard for the approaching time & curfew. His lips would form a smirk for the briefest of moments just before he took a sip of his tea. Hopefully concealing the reflexive reaction to his thoughts.

Students kept pouring in through the doors of the Potions room. One Gryffindor walking passed him to take a seat at one of the nearby tables. He gave her a nod of his head as she snacked on the food by herself. However before he could approach her he noticed two of the students looking at the cabinets of potions with concern. Walking over to them both he'd stand between them, speaking in that charmingly well spoken manner of his.

"I believe you two are perhaps the first to consider the risks of these actions...well at least enough so that you'd let it distract you from all of this." he gave a small gesture to the party taking place around them with a smile. In the reflection of the cabinet he noticed a student who'd positioned herself away from the participants but in a position to observe the attendees. Those sapphire eyes held her only briefly in his gaze as he wondered whether or not she was a Prefect. He had no doubt there would be one in attendance. Perhaps more, maybe names were being jotted down or they were looking for the host.

Though he could bet that it was just the same reason as everyone else no matter what they told themselves. They needed to feel connected with the others or perhaps it was the risk of getting in trouble for some. That was when he heard it. Someone was asking the exact question to the study he'd intended to run. Using the reflection off the cabinet before him he eyed the Hufflepuff with a thin smile upon his face. Taking a sip of his tea he would turn & look to the corner of the room. Few people had been paying attention to the stack of backed goods that was seemingly vanishing by itself.

Geoffrey had bribed a certain poltergeist to cause a distraction after he'd had his fill of baked goods or not. Whether or not the Poltergeist did so was another thing. But this to did not concern him as there was always the back up plan. "Excuse me." he'd say to the two girls before turning to face the newcomer. His eyes fixed upon her he'd speak "Is it courage or foolishness that makes you risk punishment yourself by being here? he would ask her genuinely wondering the answer. His eyes slid to her back pack, there had been no classes this late. It was possible she was studying but then he'd have doubted her coming all the way here to lecture the party & it's participants.

Geoffrey took a sip from his tea before a thin smile would appear upon his face. "As a Hufflepuff are you not happy to see your peers enjoying themselves together?" he would say with a calm smile before gesturing to the group around them. A great deal of those participating had turned their attention to the two conversing & he could hear whispers ensuing. 'Ah so it seems the gossip games have already begun. Let's see what outcome I can get from this.' he thought to himself taking another sip of his tea & waiting for the girls reply.

Surprisingly he'd not seen his sister yet. But then again she always did like to make the most of opportunities. He had no doubt that she would be scheming or after at least one of the participants. After all that was what Erin did, this, this was what he did. He'd crafted a situation that had given him multiple sources of study material & a great selection of stimuli to place his subjects under.

Someone approached her. She carefully looked over her shoulder as a somewhat shady, slimey Slytherin boy started to talk to her. She didn't like how some people creeped up on her. Definitley not those kind of kids. They reeked of bad luck. He tried to distract her, back to the party, but she had no intentions of letting her guard down. Her years of anxiety have trained her that much to always be careful. It seemed he didn't think of her to be a Prefect. Maybe that's a good thing. Since she got that title, she has always been humble about it or barely spoke of it. She's just like the other students, except she had a responsibility.

Suddenly, a voice popped up above the chitter chatter of the other students. She folded her arms and kept a close eye on him as he excused himself. Nico quickly forgot the potions when she recognised the girl that spoke up. Standing in the entrance of the potions room, a Huffelpuff. As the Slytherin boy made his way towards her, Nico carefully followed his path, at a certain distance. Peeking over some Gryffindors shoulder, she saw the face of the loud Huffelpuff. Nico's eyes widened. Imagining that voice, coming out of a floating head, with some silly fake blood around her neck,... 'S-Serena?..' She said under her breath. Trying not to pull the attention of the Slytherin Host, Nico carefully sneaked closer, making a way passed some groups of chatting students. She stopped not far from the doorway, close enough to understand what was being said between Serena and the slick nick. She felt as if she were some sort of undercover agent, yet this wasn't a play. This was pretty .. real.

One thing Geoffrey knew how to do was attract the girls. The estrogen in the room was stifling but she would not miss her brother's debut. Her brother was a unique creature in a lot of ways not unlike her. One difference between them was the fact that he did not share in her ailment, yet he had a similar ambition to her own as he wished to inquire about the nature of others. 

Erin would enter late, she was not dressed as well as some of the girls who had already arrived. Some looked as if they were dressed for a ball rather than a shy gathering that might get all of them detention for the foreseeable future and possibly beyond. Yet Erin was not in her school clothes either, rather she wore what she often wore when she was not donning the regalia of this academic institution. A long, dark embroidered skirt with a simple white, high-collared button-down blouse that was tucked into the high waistband of her skirt. Erin was a pureblood and she dressed like it, hardly the casual attire one would find in a Macy's or a Lord & Taylor store but something that seemed to be outside of time. The large sea-colored broach she donned on her neck and the hair that was simply slicked back and left to hang down to the small of her back. She looked taller, but that was because she was wearing heels. Heels were not as much a fashion statement for the young woman as they were a defensive measure her brother more than knew about. The metal heeled stiletto was not only fashionable but it was a weapon few considered.

"Geoffrey," Erin commented from the doorway. "Always popular with the ladies it seems," she exhaled as she entered. She was still recovering from the injuries she had sustained in her latest project -- Thomas and Howard. Delightful youths truly, the progress she was making with the both of them was astounding. "Have you found a favorite yet?" She was not hiding the conversation she was having with her brother, she did not mind if the others overheard, she wanted them to. 

The click of her heels would announce her movements as she entered the room, unabashed by the possibility of consequence for their revelry. She recognized some of the faces there, nobody of distinct significance in particular except for perhaps Towers. "Geoffrey!" Erin called out as her eyes set on Serena, "I think this one might be a pureblood." That was the thing with purebloods, you might lower yourself to the mixed breeds when necessary. Have a good time. Move on. But there was something long-lasting that ought to be established between purebloods. "She might make a tolerable mate." Passive, overly emotional, likely easy to manipulate and in possession of essential genetic material. An excellent match for her brother.

Speaking of mates, she almost forgot hers.

"That reminds me," Erin added as she ignored Serena's protest, reaction or potential catatonia. "I have found a mate as well," she added as she looked back at the door. Where was he? Oh wait, he did not walk here did he. Paracelsus was unfortunately kidnapped. Well, very gently kidnapped. He had fallen asleep someplace, fretting about cribs and formula for whatever maddened reason. So Erin did what any reasonable sociopath would, she made him a blanket burrito and then dragged him to the party so he would not miss out. He might have remembered a very brief stay in the Slytherin girls dorm when she got herself ready, but if so he was feigning slumber.  

Had he remained sleeping or had he roused, hard to say she was not paying attention or he was an excellent actor. She abandoned him at the door when she saw her significantly more handsome younger brother. Parce could of course worm his way in once he woke, following the sounds of chattering or potentially Serena yelling.

"I have decided to mate with Parsley Myth," she announced in front of Serena to her brother. She could not remember all the letters of Paracelsus' name nor could she pronounce it if she knew all of the letters, but she was close enough. 

"I left his body somewhere," she could have picked a better phrase of course as she looked back to where she thought she might have left him. 

With that she would wander off unless Paracelsus had already made a spectacle of himself. "Honey? Where are you?" Erin would start to walk off in search of her alleged paramour. Hopefully he did not escape.