Blossom Ball Dancefloor Event Closed

“We can't worry about the fire. If Edwin and his group are ssssmart enough, they will use that fire as a opportunity to take Rosie out of thissss area. Now, I can't sssstop you if you feel the need to help out with the fire, but you ssssshould consider the fact that we are probably the only people who know ssssomething is up. How would you feel if ssssomething happened to that girl; knowing that you had the chance to help her, but didn't take that chance? That fire is the least of our problemssss, more people are willing to put out a fire; over helping a sssstranger. Choice is yourssss. Help them, or help her."

Raine had listened to her upperclassman give her friend an ultimatum and she agreed with the girl entirely. There were too many underaged and inexperienced first and second years dealing with that fire and she didn't think that adding two more firsties would help quell the inferno any further. Her main concern was, and still would be, Rosie and the seemingly foolish idea of being near this guy. Some third year who was scheming on innocent girls who had drank from the fountain of spiked punch. It was a good thing that she didn't drink from it. What would have happened to her if she had? She was glad that her mother had taught her about strangers and strange men, even if they were boys, before she left for Hogwarts. It was an awkward discussion, no doubt about that, but her mother had instilled a wisdom in her that would last for a lifetime. There was no way that a boy that age had any good intentions toward Rosie.

She turned her head to look at the girl on her mind and the tall boy holding her to his chest as she seemingly inched even closer than before to his giant form. Narrowing her eyes at the duo, she turned back to Arc, giving him a look as she waited for his reply to her request. She saw the look in his eyes, that unsure and wary look he always gave her when they were smaller. The same look he would give her whenever she came up with a plan that was sure to get them both in trouble with their parents. The same look that begged her not to be reckless.

And sure enough, the lanky boy's response to her request was,

”Sure. I could do that, but you can’t do this alone. Promise me not to do anything dangerous, Sage. Or stupid. Or both. I’ll be with you."

Raine smirked at her friend's words. Normally, she would punch him on his arm for the 'stupid' portion of that statement, but she knew he was right. She did tend to do reckless things that led to dangerous or stupid situations that could have been avoided if she had just thought things through.
She was about to reply when another girl stepped into the conversation, breaking the boy's concentration as he tried to finish his own sentence. She hardly listened to the girl's question and barely heard Arc's reply.

But she waited until he had finished his introductions and replied to his statement from earlier with,"I'll try, Arc, but I can't make that promise. I'm a Gryffindor,"she said with a grin that barely reached her eyes, "reckless and stupid tend to run hand in hand at times when we're playing hero."

The chaos from the fire continued, but Raine's only focus was on the boy and the girl. Having moved away from the two previous, she was no longer close enough to hear what was being said, but she could see their reactions, and the boy must have said something to Rosie because she took a step back and shook her head. Then Rosie nodded to the third year boy and started walking off the dance floor. Gasping, Raine grabbed Arc's wrist and tugged on him.

"Arc!" she said sharply, "We either need to act now with what I proposed, or we need to follow after them, but we need to do something. Right now!"

Rosie, you foolish girl. Whatever are you thinking following after some boy you never met?

Raine could say the same for herself, as she was not only following after a second and third year student she had never met before, but dragging her friend along for the ride. But she just couldn't help herself. Sitting back and waiting for something to happen...she just couldn't do that.

@Illowy Magnard

"Hey," he said, returning the gesture with a similar wave of his hand. Honestly, it was the understatement of the night, considering all that had happened, and he wished he could say more, but words failed him. How could a person exactly describe this event? Now that the adrenaline was ebbing away, his limbs felt like lead and his head felt foggy.

Looking at the sooty tottering form of Elizabeth in concern, he watched her stumble towards Morfran to touch the portkey. He would help her, but he had confidence that the welshman would get her to the infirmary as best as he could. Gazing out at the smoky ashes of the Blossom Ball, something suddenly struck his mind.

The cat-eyed girl. She's gone.

There was no sight of her to be seen, and he suddenly wondered where the feline Slytherin had slunk off to. Wracking his mind, he began to remember something that she had told him, Illowy and Dinara while the fire still raged.

"In the foressst near here there is a large rock sssshaped like a tortoise. It isn't hard to find. Meet me there in fifteen minutesss- that is of course if you're man enough."

He was shaking, and he knew that sooner or later, exhaustion would claim him too. But the thought of leaving for the infirmary felt like cowardice. In a second, he made his decision. He'd hunt out that Slytherin in the forest, find the rock, and meet her.

With a question in his grey eyes, he peered at Illowy. Her arms were clearly not in the best condition, but going out into the forest alone didn't seem like a good idea. As the wind blew, stirring the ashes on the tables, he stepped closer to her, not wanting Morfran or another teacher to overhear. "I think the girl who caused the fire went out into the forest. If you aren't up for it, it's fine, but I'm going to follow her."

Illowy's eyes followed his gaze behind her toward her friend. With a tired roll of her eyes, she caught the girl by the arm, "You silly girl, you brought this on yourself." she spoke, her tone firm but caring as she helped the girl stumble the last few steps and tipped her into the portkey. Illowy was unsure if the blonde could even hear her by that point, but there was little power Illowy had over the situation.

When she turned back to Ambrose, she took a moment to assess if he was okay as well. The lad was shaking, and the exhaustion was clear on his face as though it had been written in sharpie across his forehead. So when he stepped close, speaking softly of his intentions to find the girl in the forest.

Illowy furrowed her brow a bit. Frankly, a moonlight prance through the woods to find possibly the strangest girl currently enrolled at Hogwarts did not sound like her idea of a good time tonight. She was tired, her lungs hurt, her head pounded, arms throbbed and she wanted to wash the soot and smoke off herself so badly she could describe it; and she was sure Isaac wasn't far from feeling the same way, but there was a look about him that told her she wasn't going to be able to change his mind.

"You're mental, you know that?" she questioned, "But apparently I must be too because I certainly can't let you run off to get killed on your own." she pursed her lips a bit, subtly looking around herself to make sure no teachers were paying too close of attention to them, "We better go before we're noticed."

@Xailah Alptraum | @Ilowy Magnard

At Illowy's words, he felt a lopsided grin begin to spread over his face. I guess this is her version of caring. The Slytherin spoke in a similar way around Elizabeth all the time, but he wasn't blind to how she was the one who was the most concerned for her friend, the one always willing to help her whenever she did something crazy. Pushing away his thoughts to the back of his mind, he grew serious again.

Silently, he weaved past the milling students in the crowd, still stunned by the blaze or speaking amongst themselves. Like a shadow, he glided towards the forest, giving a small hand signal to Illowy. Before long, the long grass of the grounds changed into the thicker and stubbier brush of the wilderness, and trees loomed over his head. Leaves crunched and rustled beneath his feet. Somewhere far off, an owl hooted.

First-years aren't allowed in the Forbidden Forest, came the sudden reminder in his head, spoken in the voice of a teacher. He realized that by following the cat-eyed Slytherin, they were breaking the rules - but then again, sometimes the rules needed to be broken for the greater good.

Finally, a small clearing opened up in the stretch of woods. Shining in the moonlight was an etched rock that appeared like a turtle, sitting amidst a sea of grass. Curiously, he came closer to the rock and touched it. The surface was cool and slick with dew.

His pale eyes searched the darkness of the surrounding forest, but there was no trace of the girl. Was she truly there?

interacting with @Elizabeth Linscott Mentions: @Isaac Ambrose and @Illowy Magnard

The Slytherin was being insufferably stupid, saying she was okay to walk. What kind of sacrifice was that, what kind of bravado? It made sense to power through some kind of injury if you would be a burden on your rescuer otherwise, but there was literally no reason why he couldn't carry more to the hospital. It wasn't like he could feel their weight, it was magic. So why did the two brain cells she seemed to still possess decide, presumably over a couple of butterbeers, that waiting to see if she threw up from shock or a possible concussion was preferable to going with someone trying to help.

Insecure, he decided, when she shyly smiled at the little Gryffindor. She probably thought that he had run off to get help, which he unintentionally had. The professor decided to do Isaac a solid favor and not mention how the little boy had sprinted across the grounds to ask a man with the capability to extinguish the fire with a simple spell for a shovel. Yes, the boy had been looking for a shovel and had found a professor and was now in the process of getting himself an insecure little friend from Slytherin.

As this was going on, the hurt girl was staggering forward, finally reaching his pocket, but just barely. When she got close enough, he simply scooped her up and dumped her inside, not a problem. She was light, and skinny. Most of the kids here were skinny. The overall physical health of the students was alarmingly good, if he was being honest with himself. Even those with pale complexions, of which there were many, often had ninja reflexes and incredible speed. Maybe magic helped maintain the perfect body image? He would never know.

Griffith stared as the Gryffindor boy moved closer to the girl. Were they really, honestly and truly deciding to have a secret meeting directly in front of him? What kind of cone of silence-esque hijink even was this? Were they trying to prank him, trying to make him think that it would be easy to overhear and then laugh as he fell into whatever trap they had planned for him?

It didn't matter, they were right in front of him, they whispered and then started to head for the forest. He wanted to face palm, he wanted to slap himself in the face so horribly hard and then laugh. Yes, they were clearly eleven. Hadn't even bothered to walk away and reconvene somewhere to hold their secret meeting.

And yes, he walked straight towards the forest, weaving directly through the crowd like a pig heading straight for a truffle. A really young, really not very bright pig that clearly was new to the concept of stealth. But he did have the girl to worry about, the girl that really needed medical attention now. Well, she needed it soon. Honestly, the little blond haired girl was going to be fine, but by that same token he had no idea if the other two were going to be at all okay, and as much as he hated to admit it, he really didn't want them to get in harm's way.

But because of their careless, selfish act, their decision to not tell him, to go and deal with whatever was in the forest on their own, he would have to delay the care of someone who needed it, and that put Griffith in a very bad mood. To the list of students that would soon receive a strongly worded owl he added the Gryffindor boy, and the Slytherin girl.

He wasn't sure if he was going to follow them yet, but he did look at them through the corner of his eye, he marked where they went. They had made a beeline, it wouldn't be hard to find them. But he had to make sure not to spook off the cat eyed girl if he did show up. Setting his jaw, he started to head back to the castle. Moral decisions sucked.

Starts to head back to castle

"Let's try the bonfire, I think we would both prefer some contained flames. Or... we can.. There are some Cabins that are only used in the summer months, I can see that as a gathering place for people that don't want to be found."

Arc had to strain his ear to hear their conversation now, as they were some distance away. He sincerely hoped that Rosie would say no and just ran away from the boy, but it seemed more and more unlikely now. And there was something in the back of his brain that was scratching, gnawing, and telling him that something bad would happen if he let the girl go with the lumbering boy.

The name, Arc finally noticed. The name didn’t ring a bell at first. It was not a magical name. No, no, no, it was not magical at all, very mundane, very…muggle. But it sounded familiar. Edwin Aldrin. He was sure he had heard it before. Or maybe he had read it somewhere?

And then it hit him.

Edwin Aldrin. Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin. The second person to ever landed on the moon. He should have noticed way sooner, but the Veritaserum, dealing with girls, and all the commotions had dampened his reasoning. The man was using a fake name! Arc was a hundred-percent sure there was no student in Hogwarts with that name. The dark-haired boy had to take a look at the big boy as he tried to jog his brain. He had never seen the boy before, like ever and he had an impeccable memory. The man hadn’t existed before. Or at the very least he was not a student of Hogwarts. He was an intruder!

"Um.. I think I could handle the bonfire. Maybe Howie will be there. Yeah... the bonfire. Get me out of here, Edwin."

Oh, no. That was the worst possible outcome, Rosie going to the forest with the big kid willingly. The scrawny boy was struck with a dilemma. Was it better to save one person surely or have a chance to save many others? If they stopped Rosie and the boy here and now, Rosie would be saved, but they might alarm the intruders as he was sure that this three people were working on a bigger, more nefarious project, and they might never find out what was truly happening. But if they let them go and followed them to the forest to find out what was happening, then he was not sure they, bunch of precocious kids, would be able to save her. Heck, he was not sure he could protect himself. They needed adults. Powerful wizard adults. Arc tried to look around, but none was around. Professor Griffith had gone to take the students that were hurt in the fire and Professor Lear was god knew where.

"Arc! We either need to act now with what I proposed, or we need to follow after them, but we need to do something. Right now!"

Sage’s prodding woke Arc from his musing. He didn’t even realize that he had been biting his thumbnail all this time. She was right, though, this was not the time for a thorough planning. Sometimes life just didn’t grant you that. Sometimes, you just had to play by the ear and hoped for the best.

“Okay, Sage, we’ll go with your plan. But a few things first. That boy was an intruder. Edwin Aldrin is a fake name and he was never a student in Hogwarts. I have never seen him before, ever. And you know how my memory is." Arc didn't know how he said all that in one breath so quickly, but he had to take a breath before continuing. "For all intents and purposes, he might even be using Polyjuice potion to look that way, to look younger and blend in with us. And after I swing you to them, you have to be extra careful. From all of my observation, he was targeting a girl. And you are a girl. So, he might even take you, instead. Please, please, don’t play a hero, but I trust your judgement.”

Arc didn’t want to be separated from the girl and lost her from his sight for one second, not in this kind of situation, but there was one other thing he must do.

“And…I know that I said we shouldn’t break up the group even further, but the boy Xailah pointed is not moving and I have to ask him some questions. I’ll still be watching and follow you, though. As much as I can. You got everything?”

If Sage nodded and agreed with him, Arc would then proceed to swing her towards the couple and walked to the boy Xailah had hurt to ask him some questions.

“Hi, I'm Dime," Arc used a fake name. "What’s that lumbering guy real name and what are you guys planning to do?” He said with the nicest smile he could muster while putting both hands behind his back, his left hand grasping the wand hidden in his back pocket tightly.

@Isaac Ambrose c

Illowy started after him, not daring to look back to see if they were going to be caught or not as the pair weaved through the crowd towards the wood. He better know where we're going, she thought to herself, keeping the boy's mop of hair in sight until they broke through the crowd and into the trees.

She knew deep down they weren't suppose to be there, it they didn't have to travel too deep into the trees to understand why. The entire forest gave off a creepy vibe, especially in the dark, "Wait up." she called, trying to keep her voice down a bit still when she realized she was falling a bit behind the boy. She was instantly regretting her choice to agree to come.

Out here, away from the warmth of the crowded, burnt dancefloor, it was cold. It didn't help that she'd lost her sweater during the blaze and her singed, ruined dress didn't have much in the way of sleeves in the first place.

The first year Slytherin sped up nervously when she lost sight of him for a moment, "Isaac!" she called, looking around herself, everything looking the same for a moment. Nope, now she really didn't want to be there. An owl hooted somewhere in the canopy above her, nearly scaring the skin off her as she chose a direction and ran.

Illowy Magnard doesn't get scared, she'd think to herself, but there is nothing wrong with a healthy sense of self preservation. The girl broke through the tree line, into the clearing where she saw the Gryffindor boy near a large, strange rock. Illowy panted and wheezed, coughing while trying to catch her breath again, her lungs feeling like they were refusing to cooperate.

"I think I'm about over all this excitement now..." she muttered tiredly once she was able to get her cough back under control. Pale eyes looked around the clearing, finding no sight of the girl that caused the fire. But all she saw aside from foreboding trees was the odd rock, which she gladly helped herself to sit on, "Do you even know where we are?" she questioned, shaking some some dark waves of hair out of her eyes.

“Okay, Sage, we’ll go with your plan. But a few things first. That boy was an intruder. Edwin Aldrin is a fake name and he was never a student in Hogwarts. I have never seen him before, ever. And you know how my memory is.

Raine's eyes widened as she listened to her friend. Looking at the boy closely, she too wondered where he could have come from. Sure, she didn't know anything about the third years or anyone in the higher grades, but surely someone would have noticed and recognized this tall, brutish, and strange looking boy amongst the rest of the student body. Right?

Apparently not, and if what Arc said was true, which Raine could sense it was, then this...person-because he wasn't a student- was an imposter which made him dangerous. Leave it to Arc to recognize a mostly Muggle name out of the sea of names within the school.
she thought to herself as she turned back to her friend as he continued with his observations.

"For all intents and purposes, he might even be using Polyjuice potion to look that way, to look younger and blend in with us. And after I swing you to them, you have to be extra careful. From all of my observation, he was targeting a girl. And you are a girl. So, he might even take you, instead. Please, please, don’t play a hero..."

Raine bit her lip. She couldn't promise Arc that she wouldn't do anything reckless. Someone's life could possibly be in danger and it seemed as if no one else was going to do anything about it, so it was up to her and Arc. Nodding, Raine hugged the boy tightly before releasing him and holding him at arm's length. "I can't promise that I won't do anything dangerous, so I'll be waiting for the upcoming tongue lashing later. However, I can promise you that I won't allow myself to get caught. My plan is to get Rosie out of there. Since you said he's after girls, now I'll be getting us both out of there. I'll run back to you once I get her or, if I can't get to you, I'll try to get to a professor."

The look her friend gave her said that he trusted her judgement, and with grin at the boy, Raine allowed him to pull her to him and then he spun her out away from him toward Rosie and the imposter student. Her momentum began to slow a little ways before she reached the pair who were still walking off of the dancefloor. This was the moment. This was her chance and she had to decide if she was just going to jump this brute and put herself at risk, telling Rosie to run while she acted like a wild animal clawing at the boy's face, or go through her first plan and just distract the boy while the two girls made a run for it. Clenching her teeth, Raine made a decision and took it upon herself to leap and spin on her toes just enough to "fall over" in front of the duo, tripping the tall boy and making him face plant into the floor beneath them.

"Oops! Clumsy me. Must be my two left feet," the grey-eyed girl stated with a chuckle as she quickly picked herself up from the floor.

Ignoring the boy immediately, Raine grabbed Rosie's wrist and gave her an imploring and desperate expression as she quickly said, "Rosie, I know you don't know me and we can do pleasentries and other introductions later, but right now we need to go. My friend and I will explain later but we need to move away from this boy, immediately!"

Raine waited with baited breath for the Hufflepuff's answer, only looking toward the boy when she felt an ominous auror behind her and she gasped as she watched the tall third year stagger to his feet.

'Oh hell...'

Raine could only hope that Rosie would answer her soon. Should Rosie agree with the Gryffindor to run, the two would run away and hopefully find a teacher or a group of students that the lumbering brute wouldn't dare try to manhandle just to get to a single girl.

On edge. She was feeling a bit on edge since she had arrived at the ball- since she had arrived at Hogwarts really. But now she had a chance to calm down, and reflect on her recent decisions. She was convinced that she was running out of luck. Must be luck right? Thats why I didn't get caught when I lit a firecracker off in the bathroom, and injured a child. Thats why I was never caught whenever I snuck out after hours. That was all luck right? No, at least not entirely. Some professors were absolute gits. But now, now she thought her luck was running out, she was going to get caught this time, and she was going to be in trouble. Maybe- no, most definitely.

She checked the time; quickly flicking her pocket watch open. Fifteen minutes had come and gone. She rustled around in the cradling arms of the tree; getting ready to leave, but stopped when she heard a vaguely familiar voice below her.

"I think I'm about over all this excitement now..."

Two children from the party. The voice was that of one of the girls who was helping extinguish the fire. She realized that she didn't see the boy during the fire, and figured that he was the one that went and got a professor. "Hallo." She waved down to the two of them. "Good to know that at least ssssome ssssstudents aren't completely deaf. Though I am a bit disappointed, conssssidering I wasn't exactly waiting for either of you." It was true, the person who she was waiting for didn't show up, but that was why she had three other students stay at the party and question her target.

She began climbing down the tree, her back turned to them, as she clung to the trunk. Climbing down was a bit harder to do. She desperately clung to her skirt, in an attempt to keep it from hiking up. "Help me down will you?" She said with a huff, and shot the duo a side glare; yellow eyes glistening.

Interacting with @Erin Ryan.

Devils, Elijah decided to note, came in many shapes in forms, much like 白骨精 of the 西游记 stories. 白骨精 was a monster and demon who could shapeshift into whatever form she wished, constantly luring and tricking the traveling group into traps. However, Elijah was no hero- liars and cheaters were never considered to be heroes, no matter the story. So, if Erin was the devil, who was he? Her sidekick? Definitely not. Maybe he was the hero in this story, just for tonight. He supposed that he could live with a little bit of change every once in a while.

But what was that? The marks marring her skin, the flashes of silver that glinted in the dim light as she spun prettily across the floor. But where were they from? He, of course, knew a lot... but, he had no idea what Erin got into in her free time. While he knew that he should have probably known about their origin, he didn't know everything that happened within the corridors of Hogwarts. And to be honest, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to know what had happened- knowing Erin, it was something that was completely insane and most definitely illegal in some way, shape, or form.

He noticed with a small smile to himself that Erin seemed to be playing up to her role as the aberrant temptress, pushing herself closer to him as they danced. Although it wasn't what he wanted, he decided to wave it off- Elijah decided that he could deal with it, if it was just for tonight. It was just a masquerade, right? Wear a mask, take it off in the morning and pretend that last night never happened. Silently, he lamented the loss of some alone time to do his homework in peace and quiet, but at least he would get a story to tell his parents when this night was over.

He smiled coldly as Erin interpreted his comment as a compliment. Clearly, she embraced her 'otherness' as an advantage, not a disadvantage, and he sort of admired her for that. He shrugged, then shook her head as she asked if he was the hero- tonight? Yes, he supposed that he was the hero. But every other day, no. Hogwarts already had enough heroes, with all of these Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs running around, being all brave and loyal and whatnot. He didn't need to join in with all of them when he would do just fine standing on the side, unscathed and uninvolved.

However, glancing over at the fire, it seemed that they were too late to do something... destructive. A professor, Professor Griffith, had already put out the fire, and for once, Elijah was disappointed in the efficiency of the Hogwarts professors. Turning to Erin, he cocked an eyebrow. "I suppose we need to figure out what to do now... I'm guessing you don't have any Greek fire, though, so we need options. My fingers are itching for something to do, Miss, and hopefully, you can remedy that." It was only now that he realized that he didn't know her name, but he figured that if she wanted him to remember her, she would offer it up to him. Or not.

Everything was unpredictable with her, and he kind of liked that.

"We could stay here," Elijah said slowly, glancing at the professors lingering around the dance floor, "Or find opportunity elsewhere. Or, I suppose, return to the castle. It seems that my role as a hero here has been cut short."