Dance for Royalty open! pls join

4/13/26
@Cassie Jiang

As a way to avoid doing literally anything at Hogwarts, it had become routine for Kaito to pay a visit to the Rehearsal Room a few times per week. Ballet was a long gone aspiration for him, but he still liked to warm himself up with familiar moves from time to time. He could no longer dream of himself on stage at the Royal like when he was younger, but that wasn't exclusive to dance. He couldn't dream of any kind of future for himself. So, for some days every week, he would live in the past, practicing the moves that used to be muscle memory for him just so that he could gain some small insight into what it could be like in another timeline, where he had the talent to make it.

On one such routine walk to the Rehearsal Room, he paused at the entrance to the Ballroom where music that was undoubtedly balletic emanated from within. He was in no mood to talk to anyone. When was he ever? Hell, he even passed on using the Rehearsal Room if anyone was already in there. But today, something drew him towards the music. It could have been the desire to see someone dancing in the grandeur of the Ballroom as opposed to the practice-like space of his usual haunt. Or it could have been his desire for connection after spending the past year mostly on his own.

There was a girl in there, en pointe. He recognized her as his classmate who had recently returned to Hogwarts. She was wearing an intricate outfit that looked like it belonged on stage. He suddenly felt his lack of wealth, shifting in his basic tee and pants, and hiding one ripped ballet slipper behind the other. But his focus on his clothing didn't last as he watched his classmate glide across the floor. Clearly she'd been practicing even after attending Hogwarts, like him. But he didn't think he was anywhere near her level. He thought that he should leave her in peace and go practice on his own, but her grand jetés got rid of that thought. He waited until she took a break - he wasn't going to interrupt her in the middle of her performance! - to release an impressed whistle.

"Impressive." His voice cut across the music as he leaned back against a wall and crossed his arms. "You look like you're preparing for a big performance. Is there some kind of recital coming up that I don't know about?" he asked earnestly. Keeping up with the Hogwarts social calendar wasn't a part of his routine. He pressed his lips together in consideration, trying to recall the girl's name. It wasn't hard to, seeing as they were in the same year and shared the same classes. "Jiang, right?"

Edit: Changed date

The music flows smoothly. Cassie dances every move to her best to show the most grace. She knows that only by such means can she impress the audiences. She finally reaches her favourite part of the dance-- the pirouttes. She spins faster and faster on the marble floor, occasionally doing some double pirouttes. She is at first nervous about making a mistake, but as she keeps dancing to the music, she spins as perfectly as she imagines. The music becomes louder and faster, and comes to an end. After doing the ending pose, Cassie stands up and tries to catch her breath.

She suddenly realizes that she is not the only one in the ballroom, like last time, she has got an audience! She hears a light whistle, and sees a third year boy, a Gryffindor, to be precise. She knows he is a third year because she saw him in classes, but since she rarely pays any attention to her classmates, she cannot recall his name. She is a bit surprised when she hears that the boy doesn't know what it going on. 'Hi! I am Cassie Jiang, and you are....' she is a bit ashamed of not being able to call the boy's name. 'The Spring Ball is coming! I am going to participate in the Spring Royalty activity, 'fighting' for the titles.'

She knows that the more audience she has, the closer she is to achieving her goal. 'Thanks for watching me practise! I really want to show everyone the best I can do!' She reaches in her bag for some chocolate and hands it to the boy. 'Have some snacks! I am going to do another dance!'

@Kaito Foxglove

Finally Mira gets to come to Hogwarts for the Spring Ball. She skipped every ball before, and doesn't want to miss this one, not only because the activities seem fun, but also because she wants to meet Cassie, her new and best friend. They met last summer in a beautiful botanical garden and soon became friends. Together, they visited many places and shared their dreams and ambitions.

On the first day of her arrival, Mira wants to walk around and have a look at the Hogwarts castle. It has been quite a long time since she last entered this gorgeous castle. She wanders from the first floor to the next, and finally reaches the ballroom, the most fancy room in the whole castle. She can hear beautiful music coming from inside the doors. Then the music stops. Curiously, she opens the door.

How excited she is to see Cassie inside! She is talking to another boy who seems the same age as her. Mira runs towards Cassie after they finish talking and gives her a giant hug. 'I miss you so much Cassie!' she exclaims. Then she notices the special dress and shoes Cassie is wearing. 'Oh my god! Are you preparing for the ball? Your dress is BEAUTIFUL! I want to see you dance!' Mira knows last summer that Cassie can dance Ballet, but she has never seen it for herself. She smiles and looks at Cassie. She really misses her badly.

Then she turns to the boy. 'Hi! I am Mira Hawkins from Ilvermorny. Umm, perhaps Cassie's bestie.'

@Cassie Jiang @Kaito Foxglove

Without realizing what has happened, Cassie is hugged by her best friend, Mira Hawkins from Ilvermorny. 'Mira!' Cassie lets out an excited yell. 'I am so glad to see you!' it has been over half a year since they last met. Though they keep in contact via owls, she still misses her badly. 'How did you find me here! By the way,' Cassie calms down a little, 'I am practising for the spring royal activity here, you know, I have learnt how to dance Ballet for over a decade. I am still thinking of how to make a wonderful performance, got to add some magic inside.' She smiles to her friend. 'Here', she hands over a bar of chocolate, 'have some chocolate. I will do another dance.'

'What about a variation from Swan Lake?' She murmurs to herself. 'I need to change my dress' colour though.' Earlier this school year, she discovered her new ability-- she can perform wandless magic! This is a special ability that part-goblins usually obtains. She concentrates hard, and says, 'Multicorfors!' In an instant, her dress' color changed into pure white, with golden threads as decorations.

She adjusts the radio to play the music of the white swan variation. And, matching the beat of the music, she starts dancing again...

Interacting with: @Mira Hawkins
Mentions: @Kaito Foxglove @Lily Clarke @Laasya Manjunath

Denise doesn't exactly recall going to the ballroom. Sometimes, she takes long walks and just daydreams, thinking about life. Denise has never danced professionally or received professional training; well, she grew up rather poor with her grandmother raising her.

On this sunny day, as she passed the ballroom, she heard beautiful music. She stood outside the door, feeling like she was intruding and being disruptive. Hesitating, she opened the door slowly to see quite a lot of people. Two girls, one girl in her pointe shoes and another whom she did not recognize from Hogwarts, were hugging, as well as a boy. All three looked older, while a first-year student in the distance was performing some ballet routine separately.

Denise is in a dancing club, The Turnout Dance Club, where she does mostly lyrical dances since it's the most beginner-friendly, where her expressions can factor into its overall quality as well, since her overall technique is rather average. Denise liked to dance, but she was self-taught, which made it difficult to learn, so she preferred to watch dances instead. Dancing has an elegance and beauty that Denise feels like not everyone equally appreciates.

Denise walked towards the two girls and smiled. "Hello, my name is Denise Yarbrough." She turned to one of the girls, who was clearly dancing previously based on her outfit, "Are you doing ballet?"

It looked like the girl had a bit of an audience, and Denise smiled, "What are you dancing to?"

STA [7] | EVA [5] | STR [5] | WIS [7] | ARC [5] | ACC [6]

Mentions:

Reducio

@Cassie Jiang
@Mira Hawkins
@Lily Clarke
@Laasya Manjunath
@Elise Hernandez
@Kaito Foxglove

Without realizing what has happened, Cassie is hugged by her best friend, Mira Hawkins from Ilvermorny. 'Mira!' Cassie lets out an excited yell. 'I am so glad to see you!' it has been over half a year since their last meet. Though they keep in contact via owls, she still misses her badly. 'How did you find me here! By the way,' Cassie calms down a little, 'I am practising for the spring royal activity here, you know, I have learnt how to dance Ballet for over a decade. I am still thinking of how to make a wonderful performance, got to add some magic inside.' She smiles to her friend. 'Here', she hands over a bar of chocolate, 'have some chocolate. I will do another dance.'

Just as she is about to turn on her radio and stand on pointe again, she sees another girl coming in. A Hufflepuff, she can tell from the girl's school uniform, then she recalls that the girl is also in her Hogwarts Volunteer club. 'Hi Denise,' Cassie says with a warm smile after the girl introduces herself, 'Yes, I am doing Ballet, practising for the Spring Royal activity. Wanna stay for a few minutes and watch me dance?' she asks, 'Take some chocolate too, and read this booklet.' After looking in her bag for a while, she finds a Hufflepuff-coloured booklet she made for her dance. 'Thank you!'

@Mira Hawkins @Denise Yarbrough @Kaito Foxglove

Booklet Cover:

4/13/26
@Cassie Jiang @Mira Hawkins @Denise Yarbrough

Surprised by the offer of chocolate, Kaito took it from the girl. It was a hesitant movement but he shrugged it off, not one to say no to free snacks. Peeling a bit of it open to nibble on, he listened as Cassie informed him of the Spring Ball. Right, he'd been to one of those dances in the past. The company was nice but he found the whole thing rather boring. If he had more friends, perhaps it would have been worth it to attend, but he decided in that moment to once again skip the festivities and focus on... sleeping? Lazing around? He didn't have much going for himself, really.

Another girl entered the ballroom and hugged Cassie. She was unrecognizable, maybe one of the international students who usually came over around this time of year. He nodded at her greeting and watched as Cassie performed a spell without a wand. Damn, he thought, people are really advanced here. A second girl approached their group, and he wondered how enticing the music was that it kept drawing people into the ballroom.

"I'm Kaito," he said at last to all three girls and took a step aside. He didn't think of himself as uncomfortable in social situations but after almost a year of keeping to himself, he found that speaking up took some getting used to. "Go on then, dance for us some more," he motioned to Cassie who kept getting interrupted by new arrivals. "I'll sit for a while." He pushed off from the wall he was leaning on and sat against the adjacent wall, content to watch ballet this time instead of performing it for no one.