The Masquerade Ball Event Closed

Interacting with @Alaric Equinox, @Kaegen Deathmote. Refers to @Aurelia Notrésvace

Of course, it wasn't easy to.. recognise anyone within this party... How Nico could've figured out so quick that this... rudeness came from the former Prefect Aurelia, wasn't clear to her... It was more like a wild guess, or did her mind put something together that quick? Maybe pure luck.

The little dhampir was saddened that this girl went this far to basicly ... bait someone, a dhampir, into lunging at her. Disgusting.

Not long before Nico had interfered, more help came rushing towards the duo. She felt the most relief when Professor Equinox stepped in. When he stepped between her and Aurelia, Nico felt more secure. Maybe because this Professor knew what this must've felt like. Being cornered and sort of baited into ... a dhampirs old nature. It almost made Nico cry.

Why was she overwhelmed with emotions? Was it because this reminded her of her past? The times she got shoved around in a shed back at a muggle primary school? Or maybe it was because she felt... somehow less alone with an elder, more experienced Dhampir like the astronomy professor.

As she stood behind him, she couldn't help but gently hold onto the back flap of his blazer. Her slender pale fingers held it lightly, but firm enough to not slide off.

'Professor..' She whimpered quietly. A few tears rolled down her cheeks, glistering as they showed themselves from underneath her mask. The Ocean theme she picked for her outfit was now complete.

In the midst of her rather emotional breakdown, she realised she hadn't checked on Kae yet. Nico was afraid to see him but she had to... He was treated poorly, in a cheating way. As she wanted to look over her shoulder, something gripped onto the Professors side.

'Wh-'

It was a boy. A scared... hopeless boy.

The Slytherin dhampir felt sorrow and worry. Sure, this boy was dangerous ... but he wasn't all bad.

Still holding onto the Professors blazer, Nico watched the Ravenclaw. Rather puzzeld about his actions... but very understanding too...

'Kaegen...'

interactions | @Adam Harringtom, @Marissa North, @Reid Kovacs, @Dorothy Shafiq, @Kaegen Deathmote

Eris’s face flushed, even if it seemed near impossible for her face to darken even more in colouration. She felt like a princess, honestly. A princess who was going to have a good night, without much emotional chaos. Princesses always had happy endings. Eris was always fascinated by happy endings and lived in the futile hope that there would be a happy ending in her own life. Or, at least, she had once lived in hope so exaggerated and dumbfounded that Eris had been nearly positive her own life would be fanciful. Although, a bit of that hope had vanished, at the moment it was extremely easy to envision a happy ending.

“A Princess! Being the Princess of Hogwarts would be rather amazing.” Eris retorted. It was true though. She knew enough about Hogwarts to be a Princess of it, ruling over the corridors herself. As Eris daydreamed about being a real-life princess, she dazedly noticed the funny expression upon Dorothy’s face. Cheeks blazing even more at the exaggerated expression on Dorothy’s face, Eris snapped out of her thoughts of ruling over Hogwarts. Being female and being a pureblood meant learning a lot about the art of silent communication. At the start of her time at Hogwarts, Eris had not understood silent cues in conversation but over the course of two years, she’d picked up enough to know Dorothy was staring at Adam and questioning something. Questioning if he was Eris’s date? Something or another.

Blinking, Eris jerked her head upwards in a confused nod to Dorothy. She was going to the ball with Adam, yes. That was the question, Eris assumed. Still, it filled her with a giddy sense of reassurance to be able to tell other people she was going to the ball with Adam Harringtom. Eris couldn’t help the way that the corners of her mouth tilted upwards into one of the silliest smiles ever imaginable. It was a comical smile, but added to the evident joy that was so defined upon Eris’s face.

Even though the music currently blaring was nothing short of god awful, Eris still really wanted to dance. It was that selfish need to dance with Adam, as a continuation of their short lived dance before the chaos of the Blossom Ball last year that would later fuel a breakdown. But, in the moment, Eris knew nothing of the nefarious activities Kaegen and her roommate were engaging in.

For the moment, Eris giggled at Dorothy’s words. An actual tutor in the art of dancing seemed quite fanciful, although Eris’s grandmother and grandfather had certainly taught her dancing. But, being as they were family and not paid to do so, Eris wouldn’t technically label their laborious ministrations as tutoring. Her smile then faded, due to the reminder of last year’s food fiasco. It returned though, as Eris reminded herself of the all important vow not to remember last year.

“A dancing tutor? Was he cuuuuteee?” Eris drew out the last word, making it obscenely long. Batting her eyelashes playfully, she was then reduced to another fit of giggles. Guys were a strange subject for Eris, even if she found herself quite boy crazy. Or, at least, Eris had gotten over her obsession with cooties. That was a veritable success in that she no longer seemed like a fool to those who were older.

As Dorothy and Reid bonded over their shoes, Eris scowled comically, making a scene out of exaggeratedly pouting to showcase her distaste over her lack of height. However, even if her expressions and gestures were comical and seemed fake, Eris truly hated being short. Lately all of her thoughts had been rather detrimental towards herself. But that! That was an issue for a time when Eris could hear herself think. It was hard enough to hear her friends over the repulsive screaming. How anyone thought that monstrosity was music? It was beyond her. The conversation had moved onwards though, and now Dorothy was stating her own expectations for the night.

“VERLA!” She suddenly shrieked, remembering the name of the crazy gown girl. Blinking, suddenly aware of another person having joined their group, Eris nodded cordially towards the blonde hufflepuff. “Oh, hello. That was the name of the crazy girl. Verla.” She supplied, not exactly helpful. Hearing that Reid had said something about going deaf, Eris risked a sheepish smile in his direction, cleared her throat, and barrelled forward as if she hadn’t just screamed a name randomly in the midst of conversation.

“Going deaf, Korvacs?! That’s what you get for LIKING THOR.” Eris screamed again, but this time just to tease Reid. Hopping up to yell in his ear (as close as she could get to his ear, which wasn’t all that close). Grinning, Eris turned to look around the ballroom, still talking. “Thor is so s-st-.....what…” Eris rubbed at her eyes, a disgruntled expression upon her face. The expression wasn't there because of her lack of knowledge about Thor (although she hardly remembered anything about marvel movies), but rather because of whatever she saw in the ballroom.

She squinted her eyes, looking over at a corner. A corner where Kaegen was fighting people. “Do you all-” Eris cut off, seeing two professors and her roomate around Kaegen. Eris couldn’t tell if they were trying to defuse or escalate the situation, but they were ruining it! They were ruining the ball! Her face heated, this time not out of embarrassment, but out of a mix of anger and fried nerves. Eris reached for the wand hidden in her dress, pulling it out. Opening her mouth to scream, stamp on the floor, or do something potentially terrible, she halted. It then looked like she was a fish out of water, gagging on oxygen. She then remembered that she had vowed to help Kaegen, which seemed more important than the ball. Just a tad bit. Plus, if she was able to halt Kaegen from doing whatever he was.. Doing… the ball could continue on!

“Right, then. I’m going to go handle that. I’ll be right back! Hopefully the music is better when I get back.” Eris waved at the group, and then sprinted off into the crowd like a speeding bullet. Feeling a bit like Harry Potter, or another wizarding hero, Eris barrelled through people. Throwing off her shoes while she ran, Eris now held two heels in one hand and a wand in the other. Bare feet slapping against the floor, she kept running.

Seeing Kaegen attacking a professor, Eris raised an eyebrow and decided nothing of it. Throwing herself into harm's way was essentially a reflex at this point. So, Eris jumped behind Kaegen. “Don’t panic, it’s me!” She greeted, before promptly wrapping her arms around him, the side of her heels slapping against his chest. She managed to also level her wand so that it didn’t poke him in the chest. Trying to encase Kaegen in a hug (not only to stop him from charging forward, but to calm him down), Eris looked around at the messy scene.

“Step awwayy from the unhinged vampire boy! I have...heels!” Eris dropped one of them with a thudding noise, and then held up the other one in front of Kaegen’s face, brandishing it like a weapon towards the gathered crowd. “A heel.” Eris amended. “And! I’m not afraid to use it.” She declared brazenly, mind already jumping to the conclusion that the professors were doing something horrible to Kaegen. Aurelia had been a prefect, she must have been on their side. She hadn’t been fired like Eris had been. They needed to leave so the ball could commence and Kaegen could go back to.. Slightly normal-ish!

actions| tries to 'capture' kaegen in a hug ! :^)

interacting w/ @Leah Isbell

Even though his attention was directed at the fiasco in front of him, a Familiar voice caught his ear. It asked if he had tried the tiny snacks. Turning to look he saw the owner of the voice. "Oh- Hi. No, I haven't. It's kind of a chore because of the mask I chose. Probably shouldn't have picked out a full-face mask. They do look pretty good though, don't they?" He let out a little laugh, as she asked her next question. "I'm not sure, and I'm actually here without a date." He responded, every now and then flicking towards the growing crowd. However, this girl did seem familiar...They must have met at some point... Suddenly it clicked, and he pointed a finger at her "Oh! You're-uh-Leah? Right? Potatoes. At the sorting ceremony, right?" The thought of the ceremony was enough to bring a smirk to his face. Those potatoes were so delicious! Even thinking about them at that moment made his mouth start to water slightly. "I'm Jack. We talked for a bit at the table, I think." The boy lifted up his mask to show his smirking face. He decided that it might be best to push the girl in the silver to the back of his mind, but he wouldn't forget about her. He nodded to himself to make sure and keep an eye out.

Interactions: Open!
Actions: Walks in to the event and stands by the entrance, watching and waiting

This was probably the least chaotic ball they’ve been to, there was the blossom fest in which they never went to but heard rumors and the such about it, there were the countless balls that her guardian and mostly Lady Angelique planned, those were very chaotic. In almost every single one someone just decided to be a git and duel another person, six times out of ten someone would die! Once, Jay nearly got kidnapped, this was the first event they had been to, apparently this one was very exclusive but Lady Angelique encouraged Sir Victoria to let Jay go so that they would learn about how things are done. In the end, someone thought they weren't supposed to be there and the lady pulled them away, her long nails digging into their skin, luckily Sir Victoria was outside so he saved Jay and made the lady disappear...

 At the moment Jay was standing near the entrance, they wished Lily was here... But she is the past and Jay now had to move on, hopefully @Nico Shymane accepted the invitation and was looking for a green haired person with black horns on... Jay wondered if she even remembered the letter, dark sudden thoughts filled their mind-

No. Stop being so mad! Jay thought to themself. They continued to stand there in silence watching the students do their thing. They even saw @Kaegen Deathmote the interestingly odd third year, Jay has in fact- seen a dhampir devour someone and become the true monster a lot of them are on the inside.  The only reason they knew it was him was because... well... it was a bit obvious... Jay barely had any idea of who was who but there was for sure a lot of drama going on.

Perhaps you could call them a Christmas demon or something like that, Halloween and Christmas were their favorite holidays. Today was Jays birthday (turning 12) and Christmas is just a fun day, sometimes.

”happy birthday to me... happy birthday to me...” Jay muttered to themself.

Interacting with @Caradoc Browne
Mentions the Kaegen Deathmote, Olphie Bercegeay, Alaric Equinox, Aurelia Notrésvace & Nico Shymane Situation

Looking around, it seemed the first trouble was already brewing. Repressing a sigh – of course there was some trouble – Zahid was relieved to note that two of his colleagues were already stepping in to handle the situation. It looked quite tense, but he doubted the interference of even more people would help, so he turned away from the group. He trusted the Flying and Astronomy professors to deal with whatever was happening there.

Most of the people were really dressed to the nines (although, was that a pumpkin outfit?), something he found surprising considering that they were at a school and quite a few of the students already in attendance belonged to the lower years – a lot of older students would probably arrive fashionably late or something to that affectation... Why that was a thing he would never understand. Arriving late was often considered impolite after all and so it made more sense to arrive normally and leave early if one did not want to stay for long because was not interesting in an event or party, in his opinion.

As Caradoc approached him, Zahid greeted the Head of House with a smile. “Good evening.” He was glad for the company, maybe he would feel less out of place now. “That is true, I suppose.” Forcing himself not to fidget or shuffle his feet in embarrasment – after all, he was fourty-seven years old, and therefore too old to still feel embarrassed about his... it wasn't unease but a certain awkwardness around people. It was just who he was – he gave Caradoc a shrug and an amused tilt of the head. “Books are far less... confounding than people. There are far less senseless rules involved in reading books than in interacting with people.”

Shaking his head with a slight smile, Zahid raised a brow though it was probably concealed by his mask. “An old man, huh? I'm not even that old for non-magical people, my friend. Still, I thank you for the compliment. I commend you on your outfit, it matches you.” Matches..? Having said that, Zahid wasn't sure if that was the right word. It seemed very Caradoc to keep to the Hufflepuff theme and the outfit fit him well, but...

Once again, he was reminded why he preferred books to people. There was no need to second guess intereactions with a book. But with people there were always so many layers and it was often quite easy to accidentally cause offence (or accidentally flirt with someone or accidentally do both at the same time) and it never got easier. Oh, he was less prone to either completely miss that it had happened or panic over it when he noticed, but he doubted that small talk and the like was something he'd ever get any better at.

Mask | Suit

This is a double post for Thora Larkston and dNPC Karilyna Kawahara

Interacting as Thora Larkston ||Interactions: @Bridget Collins || Mentions: @@Katrina Walker; the Kaegan--Aurelia situation

Thora glanced around. Where was anyone she knew? Growing more and more apprehensive by the second, the young Slytherin fidgeted with the soft fabric of her dress. To her relief, not five minutes later, Bridget came and plopped down in the chair next to her. "Hey Bridget," Thora said with a broad grin, "'Like your outfit too." Mistrustful eyes still darting around, Thora spotted many people she knew. And people she didn't know--probably Americans. 

And then she saw her. Thora shuddered slightly as she caught a glance of the Gryffindor brunette. Katrina. Nobody knew the story, not even Bridget or anyone, but Katrina had basically attacked her in the library, using Flipendo. It was a wonder she didn't get detention for it. Weren't you not supposed to duel? It being only a few days before, she wasn't exactly excited for this friend business, as she thought Katrina was a friend. After all, they had met possibly more times than Thora had seen Bridget (okay, maybe not) and been in the same Summer Camp Cabin. All for the other girl to betray her. 

But this was Bridget. She couldn't judge Bridget because of Katrina. She could be cautious but the other Slytherin didn't deserve whatever she wanted to dish out to Katrina. This was going to be awkward, but Thora just wanted to be Bridget's friend. Now, how was she supposed to do this... "So, um, what do you want to do? We could get a drink or something... Even though drinks normally don't end up great. I don't know, honestly." Thora said. It was at least good that she was comfortable talking to Bridget.

And then she saw it. Kaegen Deathmote, the creepy Ravenclaw dhampir, and Aurelia, the equally creepy former prefect. Kaegan seemed to be attacking someone? Thora gulped as she jumped out of her chair. "Let's move over there," she whispered to Bridget. At least they would be a little farther from trouble at the other end of the ballroom. Being mere feet away from the bloodthirsty, lunging third year did not help.

Interacting as dNPC Karilyna Kawahara || Interactions: @Teiki Laurent (Astrid Kovacs) and @Bridget Collins (Phylicia Stanwood) || Mentions: Kaegan and the situation

Karilyna had just finished her "stealing stuff rant" with a glint in her eye when Astrid walked up. Wait, was that even Astrid? Her shiny brown hair and American accent told her it was probably her, but you never know right? Karilyna snorted slightly as Astrid voiced her thoughts about the masks. "Yeah, I agree," said Karilyna, "They are cool though, and nobody will know who you are..." Honestly, Karilyna didn't find it hard to hide her own identity and wasn't deterred by the idea of wearing a mask, but in all honesty, it was kind of scary to walk into a huge room with a bunch of students she didn't know. In masks. It was literally asking for people to mess things up and pretend they didn't do it. But then, this was Hogwarts, and besides, what did she know about British culture?

"Nah, no problem," the Thunderbird responded to Astrid's next comment. "We were just talking about what we should do, 'cause it's pretty boring right now. I mean I don't want to die, but you know what I mean?" Although she was great at stating her thoughts out loud, Karilyna decided it was probably better to just be quiet at this point--as in being dead and whatnot. 

Clicking her heels on the floor, she glanced around apprehensively. This was unlike her, as she was rarely scared--normally she was proud. Or she just hid herself under a veneer or supposed arrogance. She flinched as she watched a boy launch himself at... Was that a professor? Honestly, she had no idea what these Hogwarts kids were up to, but that did not seem like an Ilvermorny kid. She would've guessed it was one of those annoying 4th years, but the boy was too short. What was he doing? Obviously, he was out for blood, but Karilyna had no idea why. Wondering if her friends had caught her eyes flickering, she tore her glance away. "Um, what is happening over there?" she asked.

Interacting with @Max Avery (Simon Belanger)

"Masquerade!
Paper faces on parade
Masquerade!
Hide your face so the world will never find you."

Alexx was something else. Maybe "stunning" was the word. Maybe "elegant". She didn't exactly know what to call herself. While she was definitely narcissistic in knowing that she showed up looking great, she didn't feel any shame for that. Instead, what Alexx felt was utter confidence.

And then there was that fool. Simon. The king of Canada, or wherever. The French girl wasn't afraid to admit that the guy who she was mildly crushing on looked like a complete idiot. On the one hand, it was adorable and hilarious. On the other, she questioned how old he was. But none of her questionings would stop her from walking up to him. The one good thing about Alexx? She didn't have a lot of outright shame. Her tolerance was extremely high in some cases.

The younger student did not bother to lift the plague doctor mask from her face when she approached him, assuming he might recognize her unique, French accent anywhere. It didn't show when Alexx spoke in English, but if one were to listen to her French carefully, they might recognize the hints that drew out the fact that she was from southern France. Though she doubted that Simon would know any of that, and especially doubted that he had ever even been to France at all, it was something that was unique to people who understood how languages worked. Dialects could easily rule out other places in certain parts of the world. Like how Americans could have midwestern or southern accents, and you would, therefore, know that they weren't from certain places like the west coast or upper east coast (Alexx learned this during her time in America). It was the same as how she could tell that Simon was actually Canadian, and not from the states. His voice told her so. Or, perhaps she was just too observant of the matter.

"We meet again." She stated the obvious, smiling behind the mask. What was ironic and certainly unplanned was that Simon was wearing the same mask as her. She thought, deep down inside, that she was being quirky or unique with her choice. Everyone would pick up the very basic mask, and then here was Alexx, looking like rats were infecting the cities. No, this was just her unique sense of fashion. This told her one thing: Simon was likeminded to herself. Compatible to her.

Clad in a long, black dress, she looked fit to be a gothic princess of sorts. While she wasn't intending on outdressing people, she had a sheer habit of drawing attention to herself. Around her neck was her beloved locket from Reid Kovacs, the one which hummed a melody that would forever stick with her. It felt mildly inappropriate to wear, on account of the fact that Alexx was being a terrible friend. It felt so easy to talk to Simon with Uncle Jean's bargain on the table, for if it became her reality, Simon would be someone she could see every day. But Alexx did not want to leave Reid, and this was the problem.

Her now-chin length blonde hair was tucked neatly behind her ear, and she felt herself continuously readjusting this factor. Perhaps it was nerves. Why was she nervous when she spoke to Simon, anyway? He was so calming, in a bit of a strange way, considering that his aura was clearly a disturbance. While Simon was a rambunctious boy from what she had gathered, he was also so easy to get along with. At least... For Alexx, anyway. She couldn't guarantee that some of her other friends might like him. Poor Scott would probably cry on the spot upon meeting the Canadian boy.

Fingers twiddling with the locket, she kept her eyes on him. "Tell me, Simon, are you more of a party-goer or a party-crasher?" Alexx asked, eyes glistening behind the red mask. She wouldn't object to a public disturbance. It would be something that people would want to read about. This wasn't to say that she was using Simon to generate stories for the Headliner, because there was always something happening at Hogwarts. Especially when Professor Lear was leading it. Simon, and all of his Ilvermorny friends, were merely convenient.

Friends. Why did Simon appear to be so alone? Where was everyone? Perhaps the same could be asked about Alexx, who had a bunch of friends, and wasn't miles away from home. While she wasn't here to throw any sort of pity party for him, it didn't make her feel very great that the boy who she more-or-less had a crush on was all on his own.

"Masquerade!
Every face a different shade
Masquerade!
Look around—there's another mask behind you!"

the dress
the mask
the shoes
the hair
the locket

§

Interacting with @Nico Shymane , @Pierre Garfield , @Eris Fawley , and @Alaric Equinox.

[font=Abadi MT Condensed Light]Shadows cast across the walls of the masquerade, and it only took a few seconds for Elena to sight the cause.

Someone had set off the ticking time bomb, she'd seen him in here of course but why on earth would you interfere, too many people would make any interaction turn exceptionally bad. Although given that Aurelia was close, too close, to him that may not be what happened.

Elena kicked off her dancing shoes and sprinted over to the group. Less people was the start, the bitter start of a situation that would get better or worse based entirely on exactly what everyone started doing right now. Eris was making a good start, half remembered facts and moments let her know that Kaegen should be okay if she was on his side.

"Clear off! Let the professional handle it. If you try to bring back more professors and overcomplicate this MESS then I will fill all your shoes with frogspawn soap do you understand? Doesn't matter what house you're in I have ways." Elena announced, acting both threatening and as if the other students were simply obstacles to whatever was going on, "Nico, given that you're meant to be a prefect in this damn school I'll give you ten seconds to tell me what just happened. Go, and make sure it's the truth."

Elena looked like she wasn't going to be moved or messed about with. Some strange protective nature moving through her veins, "Keep up the good work Eris."

Elena hadn't even stopped to wonder if Eris remembered her, but then again, a common goal goes a long way.

"And you, kid, try to clear a path to somewhere quiet so we can take the kid out too? Thank you."[/font]

Reducio

A Short Description of Elly and Eris' Powers Combined!

Interacting with @Oswald Vanigton