Magical Masquerade: The entrance

Action: Ready to cast Vincio at Aly (using the ground below her as 'surface' for the spell), if she succeeds in any offensive action against Dealla

Interacting with @Dealla Prince and @Aly Salinger
Passing interaction with @Evelynn Decipio
Mentioning @Xailah Alptraum, @Jack Warren, @Pericles Dralt

Outfit: Reducio

Mask: Reducio

Interactions: Reducio @Elisa Shakestra

Ekachot let out an airy laugh seeing Elisa roll her eyes and complain about the treasure hunt. While he himself was not too fond of the game and found it rather stupid, he could not help but think Elisa was being funny, cutely though.
Just as he was about to speak up, he was suddenly dragged by the girl, no warnings given. It was so sudden, that he did not even have time to say something. He let himself get dragged, without telling off the shorter blonde just because she was still a new friend and Haru rarely made friends. The idea of exploring more about Hogwarts excited him.
The scene that played infront of him, however, was not expected. He stood there, his mouth left hung open as Elisa dragged him to the front of the crowd. It looked like the Slytherin herself did not expect that as she muttered something to him, shakily.
Ekachot could not make out what she said, he was overwhelmed by the scene infront of him already. He watched as Elisa ran towards a girl, scared.
Ekachot was brought out of his trance as Elisa started crying. He hurried forward to her, trying to calm her down. "It will be ok, it will be ok.", he said gently muttering, and patting her shoulder.
He looked over, as allegations were thrown around and as things got worse.

ACTIONS: getting dragged by Elisa
. Taking in what is happening around him and trying to calm Elisa down.

STATS AND ABILITIES: Sta::7 Eva::6 Str::6 Wis::6 Arc::5 Acc::5 ;; no abilities

OOC NOTES:

Reducio

IM SO SORRY OMG. i was sick the past whole week... I wanted to write something but found myself unable to... Finally got myself some good time to reply... I'm so sorry again!

Interacting with: Ekachot Haru @Violet Rohr, @Astra Norrick,@Rebecca Lark,@Ernest Baird

Mentioning: @Gideon Athanatos and @ Vladimir Athanatos

Elisa had never wished for something like this to happen in the ball, her mind filled with the possibilities of how she could have missed all this, if only she had rejected Ekachot's proposal to the Ball but the young girl knew that the past was the past and she had no choice but to bear the present, As the young blonde remained next to Astra, when she heard Astra tell her to go away somewhere safe as the ginger pushes Elisa away towards Ekachot muttered Elisa "I-I can't, I'm not a coward to hide from danger, I will happily take the bystanders away but I shall warn you that I will come back.", her voice sharp, the young blonde knew that what she had just told would come of like something a gryffindor would tell to Astra but Elisa was dead serious, there was no way she was going to run away to some safe place while people were being stabbed on the other side,

As Elisa was about to look around for bystanders, she heard the blonde boy accuse Astra as the killer, Elisa instantly didn't believe it, seeing Astra's situation, the blonde girl knew that there was no way she had the nerves to do something like that, she knew that Astra was reckless but not that much to go around stab people but deep in her mind was also doubt, As much as Elisa trusted Astra, she felt a bit of doubt on her, Afterall Astra's actions could sometimes cause harm like the time when Elisa had met Astra during Hogwarts, Elisa had barely escaped from being crashed by Astra and her broom, Before Elisa could get burries in her thoughts, she saw the other girl next to Astra go towards the blonde boy, Elisa widened her eyes as she exclaimed "Be careful over there !!", After a couple of minutes, she heard the girl tell both her and Astra to cast an periculum, a basic spell taught to all Hogwarts students in the first DADA classes, As Elisa put her hands onto a pocket where she had previously kept her wand , she felt nothing, her wand was missing, Her eyes widened in shock, Elisa swore she had taken it with her while leaving her dorm for the ball,

As Elisa was trying to remember where she had maybe dropped her wand, she felt someone pull her towards themself as she looked at the person, she saw Ernest, one of her friends whom she had met during the first couple odays of Hogwarts, The boy was about to ask Elisa of what happened when he suddenly stopped his words to look around the commotion of the elk falling into the ground before starting to advice to go somewhere safe, "No! How do you expect me to run away when something like this is happening and someone I know is being accused" said Elisa sharply as she stepped back from Ernest, her face serious "I don't need to be safe, I'm not coward to run away, You should get back to your ball partner" added Elisa as she got sight of a red headed girl who was slightly near them, she was in no plan to run away any sooner, her mind was much more worried about her double opinions on Astra and her wand which was no where to be seen, Elisa continued to look around for her wand as she muttered "Where the hell did my wand fall off?" Her voice lightly audible, Elisa was 100% sure that Ernest would have heard it but she didn't care of what he thought currently, she just wanted her wand back, the young girl continued to search while mentally cursing at herself for being careless, when she noticed Ekachot whom she had ignored all this time, Elisa walked towards him and muttered "I'm sorry for dragging you into all this, I'm extremely sorry, I-", as Elisa was about to say something, her eyes fell on a very older boy who pulled out a skull from the ground, Her eyes widened with fear, she couldn't understand what this new part in the drama meant as she spoke out loud and clear "Is that a skull?"

Training Pitch	Actions: Searches for her wand and later notices the skull which was pulled out
'Thoughts' "Speech"	Notes: -

Stamina: 5 |Evasion: 3 |Strength: 4 |Wisdom: 7 |ArcPower: 4 |Accuracy: 7

Abilities- None

Willow smiled nervously back, glad that the boy seemed so nice. She was excited to have the chance to meet him and was, in honesty, not thinking as much about the ball or the key as she was about how she would like to have a real conversation with her penpal.

"Yes, let's," She agreed and allowed him to lead her to the entrance to the ball. Someone must have found the key, and now people were swarming around and talking. It seemed all in good fun, until they got closer. Someone was hurt.

The redhead girl tightened her grip on her date's hand momentarily, all the air sucked out of her lungs. Oh, no, she thought, panic clouding her mind. What happened? This was as she had feared; something had gone wrong. The boy seemed to recognize someone and ran to a blonde girl's side, leaving Willow behind. He had every right to check on his friend, but it left her feeling even more anxious with nothing to hold onto. She seemed adrift in the chaos, her dress swishing around her shaking legs.

She shrieked, spotting the body of an injured boy. Willow forced herself to chase after her date, seeing him talk to the blonde girl. When the girl turned away, Willow ran her hands up and down her skirt, fingers scrambling at the fabric.

"What's happening? Who's hurt? I... I..." She trailed off, not sure what to say. What had started as a thrilling night had seemingly fallen into her worst nightmare.

April 13, 2024
WC: 255
Mentions: @Ernest Baird
Stats:
Stamina: 4
Evasion: 7
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 10
ArcPower: 4
Accuracy: 7
Action: Fighting off a panic attack
Open to interactions

⋄ April 13th, 2024 | Quidditch Training Pitch ⋄
⋄ Interactions: @Finnegan Connor | Mentions: @Gideon Athanatos and @Dusana Sabo (or, at least, her snake) ⋄

Mask	Outfit
Reducio	Reducio

𝓓espite her best attempts, her shaky hands proved ineffective at pulling the bear away from the two of them, and she felt herself struggling not to cry from the cruel combination of terror and frustration. Months of beater training, and she couldn't even move a stuffed bear.

When she finally gave up and pulled her hands back, they were wet with something warm and viscous, and she stared at them, uncomprehending as her panicked brain refused to reckon with the red substance now staining them. There was a ringing in her ears slowly growing in both volume and pitch, and she shook her head in an unsuccessful attempt to shake it off. Bex could hear the people around her speaking, some shouting and some whispering amongst themselves, but she couldn't understand the words as the cadence of her own heartbeat drowned out every less important sound. She wiped her hands as best she could on her cape, before reaching once more towards Finn. What she was planning to do, she didn't know. Try to move the bear again? Try to push the blond boy away, or force Finnegan to the ground so she could figure out what had happened?

She'd never know. The last thing Bex saw before she was blinded by a flash of red was a colossal snake lashing out in the direction of Finn and his friend. The unexpected flare startled her, casuing the ringing in her ears to increase to a fever pitch. It was a good ten seconds before she was able to see clearly again, and when she was finally able to focus back in on the embracing pair, a thick fog of smoke had rolled in, obscuring her view. The thought of what could have caused the flash and the smoke in the first place didn't even occur to her, was so far off of her radar that it might as well have happened on another planet. Rational, logical thought had left her somewhere around when Finnegan had first screamed, and wasn't likely to welcome her back into it's embrace again anytime soon.

She couldn't breathe, suddenly, and was reduced to trying to drag in heaving breaths through a chest so tight it felt like she was breathing through a straw. She thought she might be crying; either that, or this night had deigned to give them one more terrible thing and begun to rain. She attempted to wipe her eyes, but was mercilessly obstructed by her mask. Reaching up to try and undo the ties behind her head, she found that she just couldn't get her hands to work as they wouldn't hold still and just kept slipping off the strings; frazzled, she finally just ripped the awful thing off her head entirely, discarding it somewhere in the grass behind her.

Scanning the smoke, she desperately searched for where the two boys might be hidden inside of it, and managed to catch glimpse of Finn moving, lurching towards something she can't see. Blinded by both her tears and the magical darkness, she threw herself into the smoke after them, reaching out futilely to try and get ahold of her Gryffindor friend and pull him out.

Action: Having a panic attack. Attempting to pull Finn out of the smoke. This will obviously not work, but bless her, she's in a state.
I was intending to wait for Alec to reply before I did, and hopefully give Bex more to do, but due to some unfortunate irl events, it's now or never for posting. Alec, if you want to intervene and prevent her action in any way please feel free to dm or owl me, but also don't feel obligated to if you have something planned.

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

Outfit

Calming Presence in Effect;
Romeo Marchonné, Valentin Schnell, Greta Fransson & Figaro Affected

Strong Language in Post, This Will not Continue for Future Posts

There was too much happening at the moment to properly contain all that currently ran through the mind of the flighty Italian in words enough to read and not become bored by. "I promise, you can trust in me, Pericles. I--" There was too much he wanted to say, but not enough time nor the right time to say it in before he was fully swallowed up and away from Piérre entirely. He was being evacuated, and Piérre only watched. The powerful cherry and dragon heartstring wand with Pericles' blood besmeared upon it was safely stowed aside and within the Jester's bottomless bag of tricks. It would be returned eventually (hopefully), but not now. Not in this dire strait and with its current purpose as a weapon of maiming.

The one thing in all of this that was grounding enough to be fully real in the disaster zone of what was trying to convince Piérre as being reality was the presence of albino Valentin, soothing and healing balm Valentin, who seemed almost to float through the rest of the chaos like a cloud-carried healer to the side of the flowing Jester. Through his straining and through his taut emotional exhaustion, at least Valentin was here. And the words he spoke, that quiet comfort in the disaster and the buzzing nothingness in the boy's mind--oh how it cut through it all and seemed to make everything else worthwhile even if only for a moment. It was something that pierced his heart like an Apollonian arrow, something that sank deep and entrenched itself in the few pieces that it could successfully skewer enough to be felt.

Something that stung in such a beautiful way, that brought tears that themselves did not know the reason for their summoning. Something so simple and yet so powerful about those simple three words--something that he couldn't quite put a finger on but still deeply touched him anyways... Piérre's hand would gently perch on Valentin's shoulder, his eyes meeting Valentin's with shame for a moment before trying to summon his best and most convincing smile. "Y... yeah." He finally said softly. "I'm okay, but Pericles... my friend..." His throat closed up a bit. One stubborn tear fell behind the masque--better that way. Piérre tried to hide a sniffle, but failed horribly. "He's going to safety. You should... go too--stay with Romeo? He's big and scary, nobody'd be stupid enough to mess with him if they knew his track record."

He glanced around. "I-I don't... I don't know where to start... this..." The bugle of a boy turned elk caused piqued ears to pique as Piérre's eyes flashed with wonder at the sight of the now levitating elk. Animagus... and an impressive form at that. Snake in the grass around another boy... my God and now the elk was being sucked back into the ground thanks to the presence of the familiar Mad Nurse.

"Oh my God, that's how they vanish." Piérre couldn't prevent himself from blurting out in a horrified murmur the thought as soon as it crossed his mind as he tried to shrink further out of sight of It, solidified further by the fact that the tall and dark boy (Vladimir) now had in his hands a gleaming if dirt-covered--decidedly human--skull. "I... oh my God it all checks out." His hand tightened on Valentin's shoulder, as if in an anxious squeeze. "They get buried alive... or maybe they're dead and then buried this way... or... or..."

But beyond the horror of realizing how the skull in Vladimir's hands had likely come to be thanks to the newly revealed colors of the Mad Nurse, Piérre had much more pressing matters to attend to with the quickly blossoming potential catfight between an irritating duelist he had faced before and the girl he had met in Divination that Pericles had quite literally just put to him to safeguard.

Patience thoroughly worn through the thinnest threads, he spun to face the calamity now complete with a bugling elk of all things and abandoned Valentin to pursue now this asinine debacle. A long time coming, perhaps, it was no longer that of the unhinged maniacal Jester that spoke, but of a very real human--a very real and very put-out human who spoke with the voice of someone who was thoroughly exhausted with the circumstances, who now took control of the typically unassuming Piérre. "HEY. Aly! Madame Prince! Both of you, knock it off!" Piérre's voice was rarely that of genuine and very real unmaddened anger, but now was a good time for it to gleam through in flashing green eyes and violently red cheeks. His teeth were bared, to expose the slightly pointed canines that he had, and if looks could kill, both girls no matter how prideful or stalwart they were would be dead at his feet as if by the Unforgivable Killing Curse.

His finger first pointed to the curly-haired Ravenclaw he had met in Divination. "Aly, Pericles told me to keep you safe, and I'll be DAMNED if I F--- THAT UP. SHUT UP, Dealla!" He held up a hand before she would be able to speak--if she wanted to try to speak at all--and then pinched his fingers together. "I've had it just about up to HERE--" His hand was held at his eye level, shaking it there for emphasis once before continuing his tirade. "With just about EVERYTHING that has happened here tonight, and miracles of miracles not just you and the stick stuffed up your royal arse! I DON'T CARE," He gesticulated towards the enormous elk being swallowed up by the earth. "WHO the HELL he is or what he means to any of you, but he just STABBED my BEST FRIEND whom I LOVE MORE THAN MY OWN DAMN SELF in the GODDAMN EYE, and by the looks of it is SURE as F--- going to try it again if he's not HELPED RIGHT NOW. THAT'S the ONE thing we can agree on, thank God!"

Smoke began to run through the area, the smell of it only incensing the burning anger of Piérre further as it filled his nose with a roiling sensation of deep-seated nausea. His hands both curled into claws, shaking with rage. His eyes were wild. "DON'T be someone I need to DISABLE, because I PROMISE you as a firm believer in 'Equal Rights, Equal Fights' I am NOT A-F#&$ing-FRAID to hit a Goddamn woman! Do I make. Myself... PERFECTLY! ...Clear?" Came the last shout before a final whisper.

He didn't care to wait for an answer. "Good. Glad we had this chat."

He spun on his heel, fully prepared to be slapped or bashed as was the nature of someone offended with something hitting much too close to home for their pride to bear, watching the hopeful ascension of Pericles and Evelynn. His yew wand was slowly raised, and his eye was tracking about for any stray spells that had the potential of misfiring for the vulnerable duo. As his face once more fell into an expression of concern, his lips moved quietly as he whispered a pleading prayer to them. "Get him out of here, Evelynn... I'll be here to keep an eye out. Just get him out, keep him safe. I'm your eyes on the ground. I won't let anything happen..."

Just for a little while, he had to ignore the screams behind him. For this one moment he had to allow himself to focus on this one thing long enough to see it through. This was paramount, beyond anything else that he could do for the moment. Just this one victory. Just one. "Valentin, help me make sure that nobody prevents them from leaving. Or help make sure that I don't get distracted helping to make sure they aren't prevented from leaving. I don't know what'll happen at these sorts of things. Just as likely to get stabbed in the back as helped around here..."

Held Action: If Anyone Tries to Impair Pericles & Evelynn's Departure,
Piérre will cast Alarte Ascendare (Broom Racing Spell) at Evelynn's Broom before such Impairment Occurs (Respecting Initiative, of course)

Statistics: Stamina 7 | Strength 5 | Evasion 18 | Wisdom 12 | Accuracy 16 | ArcPower 5
Hummingbird: Stamina 1 | Strength 1 | Evasion 18 | Wisdom 1 | Accuracy 9

Abilities:
Keen Eye | Calming Presence | Beast Master [Cat] | Cat's Grace | Animagus [Hummingbird]
Hummingbird:
Flight | Observation (50% Chance [Flight/V. Small) | Stealth (25% Chance), +2 Stealth

Items:
Wand [10.2 inches Yew and Snallygaster Heartstring] | [Sharpened] Locksmith's Knife
[Red] Deck of 52 Playing Cards | Soda | Firebreathing Potion

Figaro the Silver Bengal Abilities: Cat's Grace | Claws and Bite Action: At the Main Ball Thread [With Greta] Status: Calming Presence (Piérre)

Beast Master Familiar: 200/200

Click HERE for Ency

Outfit:

Reducio

Valentin glanced around at all the commotion, but despite the violence and chaos, there was really only one thing that mattered: the closest thing he had remaining of “family.” Even though Piérre professed to be alright and certainly Pericles’s condition was physiologically worse, Valentin began to get the distinct impression that Piérre was not okay.

"He's going to safety. You should... go too--stay with Romeo? He's big and scary, nobody'd be stupid enough to mess with him if they knew his track record." Not only was the boy sniffling, but the gleam of a tear behind his mask caught Valentin’s keen eye, and he watched as it dripped from the jester’s chin.

“Don’t be a fool: you know I won’t abandon you like that.” Stepping forward, Val passed his hand through the other’s hair softly. As he peered into the other’s emerald eyes, a wave of pain overcame the champion, summoning a small sympathetic smile. It seemed things were worse for the littler Marchonné than he’d even suspected; it was harder before for Val to read emotions from a hummingbird than it would have been for a certain other albino.

"I-I don't... I don't know where to start... this..." Piérre glanced around at the bizarre state of the ball.

“Hey, listen…” Valentin began, but then the sight of a human skull caught Piérre’s eye, subsequently drawing Val’s as well. The captain narrowed his eyes, not liking the implications of having humanoid remains buried under a quidditch pitch, which was essentially sacred ground to one such as Valentin.

"Oh my God, that's how they vanish."

“Who? Who vanishes? Why?”

"I... oh my God it all checks out." Piérre’s hand tightened on Valentin's shoulder, drawing his violet eyes back to the Italian’s half-masked expression. "They get buried alive... or maybe they're dead and then buried this way... or... or..."

“I don’t understand. Who buries ‘them,’ and why do they die? Is there someone who gains from this?” A twinge of distaste coloured Valentin’s face as he began to suspect it was this kind of environment at Hogwarts that gave Piérre such a hard time. It must have been quite difficult to deal with such intrigue so far from his twin, and Valentin wondered in what capacity locals -- like the one he called Pericles -- were able to support Piérre as real friends.

“Piérre, listen,” started Valentin again, but before he could finish, the other boy was already speeding off to address a potential catfight. It made sense to Valentin, who was prone to dashing off in the wish to be everywhere at once, so it was only with a hint of sadness rather than resentment that the remains of his smile melted away. Looking over to Romeo, Valentin’s eyes did much of the speaking as his words were more of a formality.

“I don’t think your brother is doing well here. There’s something dire afflicting his spirit…”

Valentin trailed off as he watched Piérre unload with a tirade of f-bombs and shouting. So that boy whose eye got stabbed – he was Piérre’s best friend?

"Get him out of here, Evelynn... I'll be here to keep an eye out. Just get him out, keep him safe. I'm your eyes on the ground. I won't let anything happen… Valentin, help me make sure that nobody prevents them from leaving. Or help make sure that I don't get distracted helping to make sure they aren't prevented from leaving. I don't know what'll happen at these sorts of things. Just as likely to get stabbed in the back as helped around here... "

The corner of Valentin’s eye twitched at the other’s commanding tone, as he was touchy about being told what to do, but Valentin excused it as hasty communication in the heat of the moment. He did want to help the other seeker and Piérre’s wounded friend get to shelter anyway.

“Alright.”

Valentin’s eyes fell back on Romeo through the stoic marble face the seeker usually wore at quidditch matches. It felt different when the other brother shouted directives, but even when Romeo did it Valentin still wondered if it was alright. Moving as a selfless part of the quidditch team was the only realm where Valentin habitually took orders on faith, especially since reaction time was everything during the game, but when it came to slower matters… he didn’t know if he should surrender so easily. At the moment Valentin was happy to accept Piérre’s objective as his own, but he wondered if he would ever accept someone’s will without question outside of a quidditch game. Valya’s eyes traced the silhouette angles of Romeo’s face while subconsciously listening to and tracking what was happening with the two Hogwarts he was to guard.

A wild heart cannot be tamed with control… came the voice of Valentin’s mother through a fleeting memory. Find one pure of heart who is infinite and loyal – this brings the power and will to overcome all. Accept taming by this person. It was the augury Zinoviya had given him before she died…

Taming… hm. Hmph. Well… Flicking his eyes away, Valentin faced the skull that had just been dug out of the ground. Maybe, but not if I can’t be accepted and loved exactly as I am without shame.

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

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, Greta, Mikael, and everyone else playing a Durmstrang character.
Light godmods of Piérre received consent in advance.

Action: Intervene physically if someone tries to stop either Pericles or Evelynn from leaving, with priority on Evelynn
Free Action: Trying to get details about why a skull was just excavated from the quidditch pitch and considering his “problems with authority”

Mentioning: Romeo Marchonné (@Piérre Marchonné), @Pericles Dralt, @Evelynn Decipio

Open to Interaction

Posts | 1 2 3 4

There was not much time to think, only to react, so Dealla noticed Meenauh - looking stunning, regal in a crown - only vaguely, skimming the edge of her vision, any eye contact fleeting before she was casting and moving, reflex guiding her to where she needed to be.

Protecting Jack Warren was clearly far from the most rational thing Dee had ever done, and yet, as her best friend's spell ricocheted off her shield to find another hapless target, she couldnt find it in herself to regret it. After all, she'd have a hard time forcing an explanation out of Jack - and force it she would, if necessary - if he was frozen stiff and unable to move his mouth.

Her back to Jack in her rush to shield him, she flinched at the deafening bugle behind her, spinning to find an enormous elk where her ex-boyfriend had been, half buried in the ground. Her mouth falling open, Dee scrambled backwards, trying to understand... but instead found herself confronted by just under 160 cm of fuming Aly Salinger, who seemed not pleased at all at Dee's recent life decisions. Not that Dee could fault her.

But she'd dance back, away from both Aly and the elk, feet light and careful the way she'd stepped in a duel, levelling her wand at Aly if her friend tried to take it from her, but not reacting if Aly succeeded. "Don't," she said, teeth gritted. It would take someone knowing her well to read the tension in her shoulders, but her eyes and the pain in her voice spoke plainly. "Please." We'll talk later, I'll explain, went unspoken between the two simple words, but Aly would know her well enough to realise that Dee was not going to back down, not in this moment. While she would love to have her best friend near, backing her up, she'd do this on her own if she had to, and she wasn't going to fight Aly about it. She just wasn't.

But then, someone else might do it for her. Dee glanced up, surprised at the cool voice over her shoulder, warning Aly off of her, and felt a moment of disorientation. Her protecting her ex, and in turn being protected from her best friend? The world seemed upside down, and all Dee wanted to do was go back to yelling at Jack. "It's okay, I got this," she assured, although it wasnt entirely clear whether she was addressing the Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or herself. Not that she wasn't grateful for Meenauh watching her back, but Aly wasn't a threat. Not to Dee, at least.

There was someone else who presumed to have something to say about her and her decisions, and Dee blinked, only realising a few sentences into the monologue that she was being addressed. She turned, just slightly, an expression of disbelief spreading on her face.

It took a special kind of ego, she supposed, to take this situation and make it about oneself, but Piérre seemed practiced in doing exactly that. Why he thought he had the right to tell her - or Aly, for that matter - anything, she was not quite clear on, but she also couldn't muster the energy to care. Disgust replaced the surprise, and she turned away halfway through the proclamation that Pericles was Piérre's "best friend" - unlikely. Peri had better taste than that. "I don't have time for this," she muttered.

The rest of Piérre's rant went ignored, as Dee finally turned her attention back to... right. The elk. She stared, at a loss for a moment. Had one of the spells she'd missed turned Jack into an elk? She didn't have the start of an idea of how to reverse that. But no... staring at the huge animal, standing closer than was probably prudent considering what had just happened to Peri, she noticed the scar across the elk's face, one that looked suspiciously similar to Jack's scar - a scar she was intimately familiar with, having traced it with her fingertips so often that she likely could have drawn it blindly even now. They had talked about him wanting to be an animagus...

Without thinking about it, she stepped forward, starting to close the remaining distance between herself and the animal that still had its legs buried in the ground, but paused when she was still a metre and a half off. Not a safe distance by any means, considering the size of those antlers. "You did it, huh," she said softly, then warned, more fiercely, "If you try to stab me, too, I will stab you right back. With my shoes. Now turn back into a human and fucking explain yourself."

But then, there was yet more for her to pay attention to. Peri calling out to her, urgency in his voice - and it had to be important, considering his circumstances. Her gaze would wander, searchingly, across the ground around Jack, then finally land on someone she'd believed gone forever. Vladimir. It came as less of a shock than it might have, as his former friend had shown a similar dislike for staying dead... or at least, things had walked around wearing Victor's face. Was this the same? Another mystery to solve. But whether Vladimir had a few more legs than he was supposed to was a question for another time. Of more importance - what had Jack dug up?

Action | Trying to spot Jack's find
Interacting with @Aly Salinger, @Meenauh Silmataurea, @Jack Warren
Mentioning @Piérre Marchonné, @Pericles Dralt

An invitation to a Hogwarts ball was best ignored. Nearly six years at this school had been enough to leave Galton with a distinct feeling that he shouldn’t go to the chaotic social events less he get caught in their current. He may have forgotten some instances that fueled such a feeling, but they were still buried in his core. So strong that even promise of grand food and delights wasn’t enough to motivate him - outlandish as that sounds.

Thus, the plan had been for a quiet afternoon, turned evening in. Enjoy some confections from his own collection, cozy up for an early sleep, or even get a jump start on some studying. The world was his oyster as long as he avoided the quidditch pitch. And it was a solid plan. He really was firm on following it. But even if he had the wisdom to avoid the ball, he knew others (however clever he thought them to be) would go to the ball. The terrible feeling he got when thinking of attending started to shift as he sat and consumed his sugar of choice.

No amount of sweets could give him the growing stomach ache he tried best to ignore as he sat in his dorm. A relaxed mind slowly transformed into a worried one. An anxious one. Dread of attending the ball turning into dread of not attending. What could be happening to those he knew who went? What was, surely, happening to those who went? Imagination grew more and more gruesome as the clock ticked on. Glances from the window towards the field would grow in frequency, any type of reassurance about the safety of the event being sought.

But then it was too much. Spots of light from spells would become visible with the help of
omnioculars and shift the balance towards immediate action. Dress robes would be hastily thrown on. A long sock would have two holes poked into it as he tied a makeshift mask onto his face. Slug repellent would be fetched before he sprinted off.

Fear of being too late would help urge him forward faster and faster. The sock mask would fall lower and lower in his sprint, finally left tied around his neck, juxtaposed to the fancy robes. Navigating the school was something so second nature enough to young Lansdale that the training pitch would come into view in record speed. While no one could even say Galton was strong, they could certainly say he was fast.

The scene on the field was much of what Galton’s body had told him to avoid. So much so that it would be almost too much to take in (and harder yet to identify who all was involved). Voices were easier to recognize than anything else, and they drew him to two epicenters of action. A fleeing, bloodied boy, and a large elk half-buried in a hole. Oh and there was talk of a skull? The bleeding boy seemed to be properly handled. Guarded by a familiar sounding jester and escorted by a familiar quidditch player. Thus, his attention turned to the elk and possibly the most familiar person here.

Meenauh. His age-old dueling partner and co-captain was just the type of person he’d hope had avoided this cursed event. Some strong type of magic must have moved her to show up at such a place. But it meant that his gut feeling had been correct. Something had gone wrong, and there were people here he would like to leave as unscathed as possible.

He was far too new to the scene to have much context, and thus know truly how to position himself or what action to take. But he wouldn’t be much of a duelist if he couldn’t react fast. Meenauh’s side of the confrontation was normally a safe bet - prefects tended to be. With Dealla added into the mix the scales tipped favorably towards his co-captain. He wouldn’t want to be too hasty though. Things seemed to be at a breaking point and being the one to cause the fracture would make for quite the poor entrance. He was here to help, after all. So a defensive option would be best.

“Woah, woah, quite the party you all ‘re having. What a light show from afar.” Galton would make to move towards both Meenauh and Aly, with hands raised - an open palm on the left and his wand in the right. Slowly inching closer and closer he’d try to position himself in the way of Aly and Dealla. Peering into the hole he would let his wand hand fall and pronounce a quick “Salvio Hexia.” One less type of magic to worry about was a start. “Apologies for intruding. I hope it’s not too much trouble to ask if I should be more concerned about the elk or this skull I’m hearing about?” He would look to both Meenauh and Aly. Hoping that his sudden conversation would steer things away from violence.

Interacting with: @Aly Salinger, @Meenauh Silmataurea
Mentioning: @Piérre Marchonné, @Pericles Dralt, @Evelynn Decipio, @Dealla Prince, @Jack Warren

Action: Casting salvio hexia around are bordering the hole (should contain Meenauh inside it)

Reducio

Stats:
STAMINA: 11
EVASION: 16
STRENGTH: 3
WISDOM: 16
ARCANE POWER: 5
ACCURACY: 16

Abilities:
Evasive maneuvers
Spell Spread
Evasive Maneuvers II
Blindvision
Perfectionist
Perfectionist II

Inventory: Wand, slug repellant, various candies hidden in his robe