Magical Masquerade: The entrance

OUTFIT Reducio This cool mask is made by Alyssea Brown

INVENTORY Reducio Bottle of Water Chocolate Bar HVS Papers Omniculars Potions: Reducio Antidote to Common Poisons Bruise Removal Paste Burn Healing Paste Murtlap Essennce Tyty (typewriter) Wizards Camera

Saturday, April 13. Zach was looking in the mirror after an evening shower. He was so ready to go to the Spring Ball. The theme this year was Masquerade Ball. So he will see many masks. Many of them!

He looked at the outfit that was hanging on the bunk bed. A white shirt with brown cravat, an orange suit that was paired with brown pants. His mom also bought a wand holder that had the same color as the tie and the pants. A dark brown cape covered the hanged suit. The costume came with the letter from his mom after he told her that he wouldn’t go home for Easter. It was stressful for him to write that letter but it turned out his mom was okay. She even sent him the costume for the Spring Ball.

On his bed, there were brown gloves, new boots and a mask. A fox mask. The mask came from Alyssea’s parents. Alyssea gave it to him after he tried countless times to drag her to the Masquerade Ball. Raizel also helped him to make Alyssea attend the Ball. “It will be fun. We can eat many foods there! Maybe they also provide a silky pudding!” He said it so many times to Alyssea, hoping she would change her mind. The main reason why he would want her to attend the ball so much was to cheer her up after a lot of things that happened to her. Then she gave up and wanted to go to the Ball with Raizel and Zach. Alyssea gave the mask to them so they would recognize each other.

Zach put on the costume quickly. He styled his hair again. Not as fancy as Fall Ball since his hair would be covered by the hoodie of the cape. “Crinus Muto” he cast. His hair turned from obsidian to blonde. “No one will recognize me,” he smirked. Then he wore the boots and the gloves. Lastly, he wore the mask. What about his glasses? He didn’t wear it again. He had a hard time wearing the glasses and the mask at the same time. So there he went, to the ball near-sighted.

He walked down from the Ravenclaw tower to the Quidditch Training Pitch. It was surprising for him once he got there. The Quidditch rough and barbaric vibe was now turned into a more gentle, flowery, and calm vibe. “It is spring indeed. The committee have done a great work,” Zach mumbled. He smiled all the way to the Ball entrance until he found a board hanging on the tree. “A riddle?” he gave a sudden disgusted expression at the board. He was too fed up with the riddle from his common room and now he had to solve this one? Ridiculous.

But his mind said differently. It made the lad look at the board again and tried to think of anything that came to his mind. Bored of just standing there, he walked around. His near-sighted eyes noticed the trumpet-shaped flower bush. “I don't think I should go there. Those plants… don’t look nice.” Zach kept a thing in his mind: don't go near any creature in this school. However, his thoughts keep saying that he should go check there.

He looked around to see if Raizel and Alyssea were already there but they weren't. Or maybe he just couldn't see them. Zach decided to go to the bush to see if the guess was right while waiting for his friends.

Series of Unfortunate Shenanigans Mentioning @Alyssea Brown, @Raizel Voltrouz Action: Checking the Honking Daffodils' bush Statistics: STA: 7 | EVA: 7 | STR: 3 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 10 Abilities: Prodigal Charms Learner | Blindvision

⋄ April 13th, 2024 | Quidditch Training Pitch ⋄
⋄ Interactions: None | Mentions: None ⋄

Mask	Outfit
Reducio	Reducio

𝓤sing the Quidditch Pitch - even if it was just the training pitch- for anything other than Quidditch felt abhorrently sacrilegious. Using it for a dance of all things was something that the planning committee should have to face the Wizengamot over.

Nevertheless, what's done was certainly done, and rather than the typical handful of stray broom riders that usually dotted the pitch on a Saturday night, the familiar and comforting landscape was instead slowly beginning to be overtaken by clusters of fancily dressed students, ranging from elegant to ostentatious to how in the world is that allowed at a school? Bex herself had opted to avoid what was sure to have been a headache inducing event for her father over break - especially as the two of them hadn't exactly been on speaking terms at the time - and had skipped the formal wear buying process all together.

It was a masquerade, after all. All about masks and disguises and being someone else, or whatever. She wasn't a poet. She was just a girl with a moth costume from the previous Halloween, who had ordered a matching mask off Etsy with her birthday money over Easter break. If you weren't supposed to wear Halloween costumes to these things, then they should really consider putting that in the flier going forward.

Really she was only here at all for the Headliner. She'd joined on a whim, the way she'd been doing most things this year. Anything to fill up her schedule so that she wouldn't have any time to think, or, more accurately, wouldn't have any time to panic. As one of the newest members of the newspaper's team, she felt the intrinsic need to prove herself keenly, and as such had dragged herself to a dance she would have otherwise felt no qualms about skipping, as she had with the Fall Ball. She'd pledged to write about events, and write about events she would. Even when they were super boring and everyone just stood around on what was a perfectly good Quidditch Pitch.

It wasn't bad enough that they'd commandeered the Training Pitch, though. No, they'd gone ahead and rubbed salt in the wound by forcing her to solve a riddle in order to actually get into the ball. She hated riddles.

However, she'd grown rather experienced with them over the past year. That was the only way into the Ravenclaw common room, after all. Here's your riddle, solve it or die. And by die, she meant sleep out in the corridors if you're not lucky enough to have some upperclassmen take pity on your tiny, miserable countenance. The riddle being Herbology based also made it easy enough, with that being one of her best subjects, second only to Flying.

"Toot-toot goes the car, and so does this flower. Oh, that's a Honking Daffodil." Eager to get inside the ball, she approached the nearest Honking Daffodil bush, and began to look for the key.

Action: Searching a Honking Daffodils bush. If this is booby-trapped, uh-oh.

OPEN to interactions with anyone I've interacted with IC before and/or official NPCs/event organizers. All others, please owl me first.

sta: 8 | eva: 3 | str: 7 | wis: 4 | arc: 6 | acc: 7
Abilities: Perfectionist

Speech: #DB7093

Walking with @Kiera Roseline. Open to any other interactions!

It was the sort of night that Viva knew something magical was bound to happen. She smiled happily as she carefully made her way down to the entrance with her best friend, Kiera. The girls had spent hours getting ready for this night, helping each other do their hair and makeup, and getting completely dressed. Both girls had really gone all out tonight. Viva felt like a princess, with her full-length pink gown and delicate jewelry. Her dress was really quite exquisite: it had layers upon layers of tulle that swirled around her legs, off the shoulder sleeves, and beautiful flowers embroidered all along the bottom. The deep pink complemented her skin tone perfectly. Kiera had helped do Viva's makeup for the special night, it was a simple but elegant look that left her looking quite lovely and radiant. Kie had also helped with her hair, a gorgeous updo that made Viva seem very mature. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle like gems and her cheeks were flushed with excitement.

She walked slowly, trying not to slip in her heels. "Oh, Kie, this is so exciting!" Viva murmured as the two came up to entrance of the quidditch pitch. It really was quite stunningly beautiful, the decorators had certainly outdone themselves. Viva blinked at the wooden sign as she felt her cool skirts swish around her ankles. She looked at Kie. "What in the world?" Viva was a little confused. "A riddle? Oh, dear." Viva didn't care much for riddles. They tended to make her brain hurt a great deal, and she always took forever to solve even the easiest of them. It was probably a good thing she wasn't in Ravenclaw. She looked at Kie, forehead scrunched up in concentration. "Wait..." She said pensively. "That seems too easy... is it a Honking Daffodil?" A smile darted across Viva's lips once more as she dived for the nearest bush, disregarding her clothes.

Action: Searching a bush.

Sta 5 | Eva 6 | Str 4 | Wis 7 | Arc 7 | Acc 6 | Lovely Creature

Outfit:

Reducio

Text:

Reducio

Italics:Thoughts
Normal text: Actions and general description of what is happening
#5doo8f: Talking in English
#1a8ca2: Talking in Norwegian (Translations under revelio)

Interacting with:

Reducio

Open to interactions from others River has interacted with IC, please owl me if you wish to interact with her but have not done so before

River sighed as she entered her dorm, just a few hours left to get ready for the Masquerade Ball that would be occurring on the Quidditch field later that day. She walked over to her trunk and pulled out her dress and accessories for the evening.

A floor-length ball gown was the first to be pulled out of the magically expanded trunk, material perfectly straightened as if it has just been pressed and ironed. She quickly put on the dress and admired the long, floor-length skirt and off-the-shoulder neckline. If one took a closer look, they would see various Norse runes stitched around the neck- and waistline of the dress as well as scattered throughout the skirt, resembling stars in the night sky with how small the silver stitching was. Next, she slipped on a pair of comfortable black flats, not caring too much about footwear since it would be hidden under her skirt. She attached the separate choker that went with her dress, the lacy fabric extending from her throat to just above the neckline of the dress. The lace itself also had runes hidden among the delicate designs, River was proud of her heritage and wanted to show that, even if she wasn't wearing the more traditional Norwegian outfits, she would still have the runes somewhere among her clothes. She used some makeup her mother had sent her to skillfully paint a large, but simple rune that went around the right side of her face, reaching from her temple to her jawline. It somewhat reminded her of war paint, but more elegant as the occasion called for.

River quickly brushed out her hair and tied half of it up into an elegant bun, leaving the rest to flow smoothly down her back. She slipped on the rings she had chosen for the occasion, two rings with Norse runes etched on them on each ring finger and two double-headed snake rings on her left index and right middle fingers. She added in some silver earrings as well. Finally, she placed her mask over her face. Her father had had it made by an artisan over in Romania, resembling a dragon's head with the horn-like protrusions that came from a metal plate extending from a black lace mask that covered her eyes. The mask had been spelled with a Feather-light Charm and a Sticking charm to ensure that it wouldn't fall off by the end of the night.

Satisfied with how she appeared in her mirror, she stepped out of her dorm and exited the Slytherin Common Room, admiring the other fancily dressed students that she passed. She eventually made her way to the entrance of the Quidditch pitch, admiring the many different flowers blooming all around her. It very much fit with the idea she had when told it was a 'Spring' Ball. She looked over to the wooden sign that hung over the locked entryway. "Hva i Odins navn er det som skjer? What in Odin's name is going on?" She said, bewildered.

"This clue is very easy,
Though the flowers might make you quite queasy.
Toot-toot goes the car,
And so does this flower."

As she read the words aloud, River instantly understood the small riddle. What else could it be other than Honking Daffodils? I'm not entirely sure what a car is but that's how the professor described it in class. She stepped over to the flowers, conscious of how she stood so that her dress would not get caught anywhere and began searching for the key to the entrance. She hoped that they were not spelled with something that would ruin her dress, she knew that many students at Hogwarts enjoyed pranking one another after witnessing it around the school and in the dorms.

Word count: 622

Action: Searching the Honking Daffodil bushes.

Sta: 5 | Eva: 5 | Str: 5 | Wis: 7 | Arc: 10 | Acc: 3

Abilities: None

Click HERE for Ency

Outfit:

Reducio

Were the rumors of Valentin’s fracturing sanity overblown? Certainly the press loved to spread dramatic stories about acclaimed quidditch and Hexiwizard stars like Valentin. As Durmstrang’s champion, especially, sensationalized statements about Val were all too commonplace, while indeed the boy’s life never lacked for drama. Speculation about who had killed his famous parents, the arson, and the theft attempts of his prodigious wealth flew far and wide despite the intentional remoteness of the family’s estates. How was it, though, that questions about the reliability of Valentin’s memory—no, his very grasp of reality—had become the tabloid treat du jour? Some papers claimed to have insider informants while others cited Valentin’s increasingly erratic public behavior as evidence. Now, at the very public gathering of wizarding schools for Hogwarts’s annual spring ball, the conspicuous White Seeker of Durmstrang made no secret of his arrival.

Valentin had always felt like he belonged in the sky. Vantage points of high elevation were always the most soothing to him, and tonight he would take advantage of his knowledge of what comforted him. He understood himself well enough to know: he needed every one of his mental tricks if he was going to make it through tonight without splitting completely down the middle. Thus, Valentin positioned himself strategically, but this time he did not arrive on high astride a broom. Mysteriously, his renowned lighting-cracked Silver Arrow had not been seen in months, and any passing fan could feel how strange it was for the seeker to not be seen with a broom at his back after years of being inseparable. Well, when it came to self-manipulation for controlling his unstable emotional state, Valentin had figured out something better. Tonight Valentin would enter the ball taller than quite possibly anyone else there, perched on the shoulders of a seven-foot-tall beater from Durmstrang, Romeo Marchonné.

The gesture of riding in on someone else’s shoulders was a tip of Valentin’s metaphorical hat to a previous entrance made by fellow quidditch player, Amina Petrovic, entering astride the great jabberwocky of Yefim Rumyantsev. You see, Valentin’s entrance was a tactical play against his own mind on three points. First, the elevation alone would calm him on a physiological and subconscious level, but another layer of protection was the added sentimentality of honoring the antics of his beloved team mates. The most powerful stabilizing factor, however, was rooting himself in close physical proximity with the team’s co-captain and martial powerhouse, Romeo. Some people were known to have a calming effect on others in their presence, like Romeo’s brother Piérre. For the seeker, however, Romeo had an extremely powerful tranquilizing effect that worked specifically on Valentin. Through this self-manipulating trifecta, Valentin arrived in quite a poised and jovial mood. There should be no reason for them not to all be perfectly happy on such a balmy night. After having put in considerable effort to help Mikael attend with a new ball outfit, even Valentin’s voidling of a metaphorical stuffed animal would presumably be near at hand. Surrounded by friends and stimulation and pleasant memories of the quidditch pitch, so long as Valentin kept a focused mind he should be able to keep away the thoughts that threatened to split him open from the inside out.

The event was again a masquerade, but Valentin did not have the heart to wear a mask anymore. At a previous Hogwarts masquerade Valentin had gone with Yefim, dressed in the innocent disguise of being a golden snitch. Rather, the best Valentin could manage as a baseline now was not such a playful gesture, but an attempt to represent himself more honestly than even his natural face could. It would be unclear to the casual observer whether Valentin was wearing a mask at all, or if he had simply placed an enchantment on his natural face. His face appeared riddled with unnaturally pitch black cracks, making his naturally porcelain-like pale skin look like shattered ceramic. An entire shard over his left eye appeared to have fallen off and gone missing, displaying a curious blue-black void splattered inside with a swirling, starry nebula. Certainly this was no effect achievable by muggle means and, with the hypnotic beauty of its animated effect, it had surely cost quite a sum of galleons.

Despite the surreal and possibly unnerving fragmentation of Valentin’s otherwise expected face, the snowy-haired boy was smiling. He seemed genuinely cheerful in a way that had not been seen since a funny little time in Hogsmeade almost exactly one year ago. With a crinkle at the corner of each eye, Valentin looked around hoping to see more of his friends and wanting to make sure that Mikael had put on his new outfit correctly. Valentin's own outfit was simple but elegant: a powdery blue-lavender robe cut from a creamy soft fabric one might expect more from a religious figure than from a wealthy superstar. Anyone who really knew him might have felt a nagging itch under the skin that told of the desperation behind Valentin’s gaze, but anyone who saw the alabaster boy’s antithesis of a mask could have likely also guessed that this was the look of a most fragile joy.

Durmstrang’s seeker, known popularly as the White Niffler, was famed for his keen eye and ability to find and nab shiny metal objects. After lazily reading the signage from his perch atop his Italian tower, the seeker proceeded to silently scan the honking daffodils for a key. He felt it was a pretty rudimentary riddle for him, so he didn’t think it even worth mentioning aloud. In fact, the boy had not even said a peep since arriving, as if opening his mouth might disturb the delicate balance of voids writhing across his face. It was okay, he self-justified, focusing on enjoying the scent of Romeo’s hair as it drifted up into his nose. It was not often that Val was able to be taller than the other, after all. No, I’m not taller, Valentin thought to himself. We are only so tall now because we are standing together.

Basic Stats: STA 8 - EVA 20 - STR 3 - WIS 16 [18] - ARC 1 - ACC 16
Abilities:
Keen Eye / Charmer / Evasive Maneuvers / Fearless / Comprehend Languages: Parseltongue
All dialogue in Russian unless specified otherwise.
Inventory (being worn): A golden locket, a silver earring from the Horntail Horde piercing excursion, and a golden ring from Yefim. The niffler is never seen without this bling.
Ency/Trunk: viewtopic.php?f=314&t=17006#p269554
Godmods of Valentin are consensual throughout this and other threads for Romeo, Mikael, and pretty much everyone who has a Durmstrang character. Light godmods of Romeo and Mik were granted OOC permission.
Action: Scanning the honking daffodils for a key with his keen eyes; his WIS is 18 after his comprehend languages buff
Mentioning: Romeo Marchonné (@Piérre Marchonné, Mikael Halldorson (@Percival Rainwood), Amina Petrovic @Ileen Knight, Yefim Rumyantsev @Flash Holmwood)

Open to Interaction

banner made by ernest baird

a series of unfortunate shenanigans
@Raizel Voltrouz • @Zach Zaphiere

A lot of things went wrong at Alyssea's first ball.

Okay, rewind a second. Not everything went wrong; she had a good time chatting with her friends and had a (somewhat) peaceful boat ride before everything capsized (literally) and flipped her world upside down (literally). For a while, she was drowning (literally) and just couldn't find the strength to break free (literally). It was only when a stranger [@Piérre Marchonné as Romeo Marchonné] came to save her that she saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Well, not tunnel, more like Raizel's very bright Lumos spell, she found once she made it to the shore.

When news came of a spring ball, Alyssea was adamant about not going. How could they host another one after so many people almost drowned that night in October? She was angry, sad, all sorts of negative emotions. Alyssea would not go.

Zach was very persistent, however, and Raizel soon joined the bandwagon. They practically pestered her until she hid in her common room. But even then, they would send their owls with letters telling her to go. An owl to her parents for their opinion was sent during the Easter break and they sent her some old masks from her theatre days. Dusty, they were, but she figured they might as well be put to use. Alyssea gave the fox mask to Zach and the wolf mask to Raizel. For herself, she used the bobcat mask.

Upon entering the ball and reading the first clue, Alyssea hummed. Zach was already heading towards a flower bush and Raizel was still on her way. Considering the amount of people that had arrived and set towards the same bush Zach was heading to, Alyssea opted to keep her distance but kept her eye on Zach.

outfit of the ball Reducio

action: being zach and rai's damage control stats: sta 6 | eva 7 | str 6 | wis 8 | arc 6 | acc 8 abilities: prod. transfiguration | evasive maneuvers (10% auto-dodge)

English | French Word Count: 487

Interacting with: @ | Open for Interactions Mentioning: @

It was exactly 4pm as Beatrice stepped out of the Castle and into the afternoon sun. The destination was clear, her steps confident while walking across the familiar path. The landscape surrounding her felt even more magical today, perhaps the reason was todays spring ball. She could very well remember the last ones but this time the dress code was a tad different. A masquerade ball, mystery promised in possibly not recognizing your peers. Each step carried her closer to what already looked magical from afar. Yet, there was always a sense of wonder that hung in the air, with every Ball. They promised drama and distress.

The Prefects dress flowed in the light wind, breath adjusting to the clear air. Her mask dangled in her left hand but she would soon secure it on her walk down to the Quidditch Training Pitch. Her wand was securely tugged into a pocket of her dress, a light pink one this time. Flowers were spread across the skirt around her waist, mirroring the ones on her mask. Even the pearls pulled from the top of the dress to her heart shaped earrings and necklace. Everything harmonized with one another. She used to never feel comfortable in such elegant dresses but as time went by, Beatrice found herself feeling more comfortable in the Ball attire. There was something about the dress flowing, her appearance as perfect as possible, that made her feel secure and confident.

She had not been asked to go by anyone, nor had she intended to say yes to anyone that would have asked. There was some kind of peace in going alone, walking down the path, entering the arched trees twinkling with fairy lights. Perhaps she would meet a friend or a companion along the way, or perhaps she would stay away from the crowds and enjoy the magical location in peace. Turning down the next path, into the trees, a wooden board caught Beatrice‘s sight, as well as Students walking along the sides of the path. There were several bushes of Flowers that filled the air with a sweet scent.

A gentle scoff escaped her lips, as she read what was written on the board.
This clue is very easy,
Though the flowers might make you quite queasy.
Toot-toot goes the car,
And so does this flower.
No wonder the Students were searching in the bushes. What surprised her though, was that no one had found this supposed key to the entrance yet. With a slight scowl, she turned on her heels and scanned over the bushes with her eyes, until she found honking daffodils. Those were the only flowers she could associate with the „toot-toot“ - what a silly riddle.. Stepping closer to one of the bushes, Beatrice bent down ever so slightly, scanning the ground beneath the bush and the lower branches for the key or something that it could be hidden in.

Actions: Entering
Moderated Actions: Scanning the ground/bush for the key.
Trunk
Stats & Abilities: stamina • 8 | evasion • 7 | strength • 6 | wisdom • 9 | arcane power • 5 | accuracy • 7 

Lovely Creature | Keen Eye
Inventory: Wand | Mask| Light Cloak | Lipstick | Silk Tissue | Elegancy and Beauty - Lovely Creature in effect, for those that wish to interact with the ability.

✯𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚢 𝙱𝚊𝚒𝚕𝚎𝚢✯

✯There is nothing scary about naturally talented people, hardworking people are the ones to be afraid of ✯

The day has finally arrived! It's time for the Spring Ball! And Tracey is really excited! Not only does she get to wear the dress her mother had sent her for the ball, but she also gets to go to a ball! She hasn't been to a ball before, so she's really excited for it and knows it'll be fun!

After she finished putting on her purple knee length dress and put on her purple heels as well as some purple and silver earrings, a headband, a silver necklace and bracelet, Tracey grabbed her mask and left the Ravenclaw common room, and headed for the Quidditch Training Pitch.

Tracey has a date, but she wasn't sure if she was supposed to come with him or not, so she arrived at the ball first. When she got to the entrance, she saw a board with a riddle on it, and had a big smile on her face. She knew what the answer was, so, she walked over to where the Honking Daffodils are, but she wasn't sure if she was supposed to do anything with the Daffodils, but before she had approached the entrance to the ball, she remembered to put on her silver mask with purple feathers, she hoped her date would be able to recognize her, her hair color is still light red, since she didn't feel like changing it.

𝑀𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: @Klynn Seacrown	𝒟𝒶𝓉𝑒: 04/13/24
𝔄𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫𝔰: Arriving at the ball enterance and walking over to the Honking Daffodil bush	𝒲𝒞: 231/200	𝔖𝔱𝔞𝔱𝔰: Sta: 6 |Eva: 3 | Str: 4 | Wis: 7 | Arc: 4 | Acc: 6	𝔄𝔟𝔦𝔩𝔦𝔱𝔦𝔢𝔰: Metamorphmagus

January 7th 2024

Dialogue
English: #e22400
Spanish: #fdc700

Stats: Sta 4 Eva 6 Str 3 Wis 8 Arc 6 Acc 8
Abilities: None yet
Trunk

I put on my dress robes and walked down from Gryffindor tower. It was a long slog down to the ground floor. Painful, with the moving staircases and stuff. My second ever ball in my life. I've never been to a formal wizarding ball before coming to Hogwarts. To be far, I didn't really do anything on my first ever ball. It was a disaster anyway as so many people nearly drowned that night. It was a night to remember, but not in a good way.

I made my way down to the quidditch training pitch. I was surprised to see a big wooden door there. On it was a big sign.

This clue is very easy,
Though the flowers might make you quite queasy.
Toot-toot goes the car,
And so does this flower.

So we had to solve a riddle to get in? That explains why students were looking around in the bushes. I personally didn't want to scrouge around some plants. Maybe the door was unlocked. No harm in trying right? I gave it a good push. It wouldn't budge. Back to the riddle I guess.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the box on Herbology but I know what a car is and I know what sound it makes. A car honks so maybe Honking Daffodils is the answer. There aren't many plants that makes noise anyways. I trudged over to the bushes and started searching.

Action: Searching the Bushes

WC: 239/200 Tags: Open to Interaction