Magical Masquerade: The entrance

@Kaito Foxglove + open to interactions

Outfit | Mask

Shocked out of his stupor by a familiar voice calling his name, Pyxis looked up to find Kaito Foxglove approaching him. Beyond their first train ride to Hogwarts, both boys hadn’t really interacted outside of class but Pyxis always remembered his first impression of Kaito and how well he handled the interesting characters in their train compartment@Costanza Jewelweed @Ula Takahashi. Still, he was quite surprised that a kid as cool as Kaito would be coming up to talk to him. Surely he has a whole big friend group by now. As Kaito joined him in looking on at the scavenger hunters, Pyxis decided that he wouldn’t squander this opportunity to make a new friend.

“The Fall Ball wasn’t a scavenger hunt. It was just a normal party and honestly, I thought it was pretty boring. But that’s mainly because I didn’t really have anyone to hang out with,” his voice trailed off at the end, suddenly embarrassed by what he was saying. “Uh… the decorations and food were really nice though. Oh! And I heard some people nearly drowned in the lake. Not sure what that was about.” As he finished speaking, Pyxis noted Kaito’s uncomfortable body language and then watched on, confused by his sudden drop to a nearby rose bush. “Well, I suppose that’s one way to speed things up.”

Straight away, Pyxis found himself becoming uncomfortable too. Bit weird having him search right there while I’m just… standing. He had no problems watching the rest of the crowd do their thing, but when it was Kaito and happening right next to him, the snake felt forced to act too. When the third clue revealed itself via howler, Pyxis listened intently. He understood that the last bit was referring to pearls, but putting a name or visual to the required flower bush was practically impossible with his elementary level knowledge of flora. So he let his eye wander a bit, waiting to see what the others would do.

“I guess I should help too,” he whistled nonchalantly, kneeling next to a bush of classic white flowers. Yep, these are definitely the ones that most people are going at. “Do these seem right?” he asked Kaito while brushing the leaves and stems away to locate the next part of the puzzle.

Action: Joining the plebs in searching the pearlbush.
STA: 8 | EVA: 5 | STR: 1 | WIS: 7 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 7
Prodigal DADA

Chronology
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Posts | 1

Dee took a deep breath as she finally neared the Quidditch pitch, where this year's ball was taking place. The scent of flowers in the air was strong, almost overpowering, quite nearly intense enough to make her sneeze, but she had to admit the visual impression was enchanting, arched trees and fairy lights.

Her way down to the pitch, however, had been... an adventure. She should have arranged for her and Alec to meet up at the castle, but alas, in her arrogance she had assumed that the fact that she had survived a night in these heels half a year ago would mean she would have no issues trudging across the grounds with them tonight... She'd noticed very quickly that she'd been wrong. Hence, when she approached to the entrance of the ball - still locked, oddly, was she somehow early? That would be unusual indeed - she was carrying the shoes in one hand, feet bare on the grass.

Pausing a few meters away from the crowd, which seemed to be busy rummaging through the bushes like they were nifflers hunting for something shiny, she bent down to slip back into the straps of her shoes, then smoothed down her dress nervously as she straightened up. She was wearing the dress that had been meant for the fall ball half a year ago, the one Xailah had designed for her, which she had even been wearing, primped and ready, when she had chickened out of actually attending the event in the last minute. Out of character for her, Dee was usually anything but timid, but... well, there had been extenuating factors. Multiple, if one first and foremost.

The feeling of dread had eased over the past half year, perhaps time really did heal all wounds, or she'd just grown numb to it. Still, she likely wouldn't have attended today if not for Alec. And the dress, of course. It would have been a shame to not wear it to a ball; it was a dress that had to be seen, meant to draw eyes and be admired. All she'd been missing had been a matching mask, which was now partially covering her face, golden metal pressing into her skin, and it was perfect for this ball as well.

Speaking of Alec, where was he? She turned, her eyes trailing up the path back to the castle, not bothering to search the present crowd (and hence, conveniently, missing a certain pair getting ready to waltz). He would have waited for her; she doubted he'd have been very motivated to join... whatever it was the kids were doing in the bushes. Just as she wouldn't have come if not for him, Alec also would not be at this ball if he wasn't accompanying her. They both needed this. So... where was he?

Action | Waiting for @Alec Mason. Not yet spotting @Jack Warren.

4/13/24
Open to interactions + @Pyxis Hellebore
Outfit / Mask

“I wonder why this one’s so different then. Probably just because the organizers want to shake things up, right?” Kaito offered, knowing he was more than likely correct about that. “Pretty sure it was boring because I wasn’t there,” he joked, “But I’m around today, so I’ll be partaking in every erroneous activity.” It was mostly a jest, but if the night really did turn out boring for him, then perhaps he could spike the punch with… flowers, seeing as they were the only thing readily available. “Wait, did you say something about people drowning? How did I miss that? Are they okay,” he did a double-take after a few beats of silence between him and Pyxis.

In a disappointing moment, a loud voice revealed the next clue. “Agh, does that mean someone found the rose clue?” He stood up and thought about the clue. An oyster’s treasure, strung into a necklace… It was definitely referring to pearls. But he didn’t know any plants that were associated with pearls. It seemed like the white hydrangeas were arranged in a pearl-like shape along with one other plant that he couldn’t name. Or… that’s it! He should have been focusing on the first part of the clue. His mother loved to decorate her garden with some kind of white flowers. Whenever he asked about them, she said that they served no purpose other than to make the veggies she was growing look pretty. And those flowers looked like—

They looked exactly like the ones Pyxis was looking through. Ah, Pyxis had joined him. He was happy at that. “I think so. They look pretty basic but when you use them as decoration, they’re gorgeous,” he recalled, finding another plant that looked like the one Pyxis was searching. “I don’t know the name, but I reckon it’s got something to do with pearls.”

— STA 7 — EVA 5 — STR 1 — WIS 7 — ARC 5 — ACC 5 —
Part-Veela — Alluring
Action: Searching the pearlbush

English | Parseltongue

Mateo had been at Hogwarts for over a year now, but had not been able to find the time to make his way to any of the big events that Hogwarts found itself hosting. His duties as Librarian had kept him otherwise occupied during the evenings of the grand balls, but today would be different. He'd instructed the house-elves on what to do, and dug out a suit that seemed thematically appropriate for the Masquerade Ball.

He'd always imagined he'd be going to his first Hogwarts' Ball with Emery - platonically of course. But they'd had to leave Hogwarts, and whilst that wasn't their fault in any way, Mateo was a little sad that his friend wouldn't be there with him. He still wrote to her, of course, but it wasn't the same as having them around the castle.

"I will be back soon," Mateo nodded at one of the house-elves, shrugging on his dark teal suit jacket and straightening his bow tie. Carefully, he lowered his snake friend Buddy onto his shoulders, before heading out.

As he slipped on his woodland themed mask, he made his way down to the Quidditch Pitch where he knew the Ball was to take place. He suspected that he wouldn't be the only staff member in attendance tonight, but he wasn't quite sure who he would bump into. There had been a fair amount turnover on the staff roster, and he had yet to have a good chance to meet all the newbies.

Many students were already at the Quidditch Pitch when Mateo arrived. His eyes scanned quickly over the figures until he spotted what he recognised was the new Nurse and Divination Professor mid-conversation.

"Hello there!" he strolled over, hands in his pockets with a grin on his face. "Professor Clairmont and Nurse Sabo, right? You both look incredible." His eyes landed on the snake coiled around Nurse Sabo's shoulders. "And your snake looks like it's having a good time as well."

WC: 329| Interaction: @Dusana Sabo @Sereia Clairmont

Reducio

Action: Walking up and talking to Dusana and Sereia	Items: Wand, pet snake (around his shoulders)
Stats: Sta-12 . Eva-13 . Str-10 . Wis-13 . Arc-0 . Acc-12	Abilities: Parseltongue adept | Comprehend languages (Gobbledegook) | Pet snake | Comprehend languages (Giant) | Pet snake attacks | Non-verbal magic | Dark heritage | Wandless magic

ROLEPLAYING AS BEAUXBATONS iNPC AURÉLIE DUVAL

@EmmaLee LeDames Kaya Rose Bennett (@Linda Ramirez) Amber Frost Hart (@Reyna Evergreen)

sta 6 | eva 5 | str 6 | wis 6 | arc 5 | acc 7 fearless

french | english | thoughts | others

action. looking through a pearlbush with her eyes

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Aurélie smiled at Amber's friends, ready for their introductions. That was what these Hogwarts balls were for, weren't they? To meet up with and make friends with students with other schools? And here she was, meeting Amber, a friend from Ilvermorny, Kaya, another student from Ilvermorny, and EmmaLee, a Hogwarts student. It was incredible to know that she could talk to people from such a wide variety of places in the world.

Aurélie nodded in answer to EmmaLee's question. She didn't want to seem too earnest in her response, but she wanted to convey how excited and happy that she was to be here. "Nice to meet you too, EmmaLee. I'm having a great time so far." She grinned, then hesitantly asked a question that had nagged at her after hearing EmmaLee's voice. "Do you, by chance, speak French as well? Your accent sounds quite like mine."

Then Aurélie turned to Amber's other friend, the one she seemed closer with. The one that had been mentioned in the original letter that had gone wrong. Kaya, however, seemed extremely into analysing the next clue. "Hi, Kaya." She said back politely. She knew what it was like to be interrupted when she was doing something that she was interested in.

The Beauxbatons girl realised that she was the only first year in the group, and easily the smallest in height. She wondered if the other girls thought of her as a small child, or if they didn't care about such things. She hoped that they didn't judge her based on her size, since way too many people did that in the beginning and regretted it later.

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OUTFIT

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speech • #427c9a thoughts • italics others • #ffffff

april 13th, 2024 • date quidditch training pitch • location spring ball • thread

Ophelia nodded her agreement to Quinn. Even if she wasn't supposed to be butterfly themed, the dress was gorgeous, and it looked great on her friend. She couldn't wait to see what Topaz would be wearing when she showed up. Everyone at the ball looked great, but she really enjoyed seeing the different creative ideas people came up with.

She rolled her eyes playfully as Quinn didn't give her a straight answer about what she should look in. "Come on, Quinn! Tell me, please?" But it seemed that someone had found the correct answer before Ophelia because the next clue- why is there another one?- rang out in the Quidditch Training Pitch. Everyone started scrambling once more to find the next one and she took a moment to process it.

"This one is a... pearlbush?" Ophelia answered her friend reluctantly. She moved a little bit to get close to one and crouched to search through it. "You know, I didn't even know pearlbushes existed before tonight. They're pretty though." She didn't really have to talk as she searched, but since Quinn already knew the answers to the riddles, she wanted to keep her friend entertained.

When she got back up, Ophelia answered Quinn's last question. "Yeah, mine is peacock themed. It was really hard to find everything in matching colours, but peacocks are my favourite animal, so I had to try. What are your favourite animals?"

interactions • @Quinn Brook + open! mentions • @Topaz November stats • sta 6 | eva 5 | str 6 | wis 7 | arc 6 | acc 5

236 • word count xxx • outfit perfectionist • abilities

action • looking through a pearlbush

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