The Masquerade Ball Event Closed

Played as Simon Belanger

Reducio

@Alexx Séverin

Finishing up his dance routine, Simon let out a loud whoosh of a breath and took his hat off to run a hand through his hair. Whew. Dancing was tiring - there was his cardio workout for the next six months. Flapping his hands in front of his face in a mimicry of a fan, his jaw dropped when a girl who was also wearing a plague doctor mask walked up to him looking all graceful and elegant and shit. The confident way she moved and immediately spoke to him reminded him a lot of the way his older sisters acted; this girl, whoever she was, was probably a popular girl. He had to do a surreptitious glance around - large beak swinging left and right and nearly taking some kid out - to make sure no one was watching this like some sort of prank.

"Uhh," he said intelligently when she said 'again' as if they'd met before. Was she from Hogwarts or Ilvermorny? You'd think he'd know all the girls from his school but he was known for being a little unobservant when it came to most things. She clearly wasn't the brunette from the gate, yet her blonde hair was too short to be Alexx, the one with the hundreds of titles. "I'm, I'm, uh, yes, of course I know who you are. You're - " There was a significant pause as his face crinkled under his mask before brown eyes flew open wide beneath sunglasses. "Haircut! Uh-huh, uh-huh, I'm feeling it. You're Alexx, except you've got a haircut."

He simultaneously felt like the biggest idiot and the smartest person in the room. Ah well, he'd only met her once. If he'd been impressed with her during their first interaction, now he was beyond that since she was also in a plague doctor mask. Sure, he respected the fact that she ran the entire school newspaper while also being a Quidditch player and former prefect, but nothing could hold a candle to the fact that she, too, had an oversized beak sticking off her face.

"You look fantastic! Digging the costume, you could totally be my plague doctor wife who does the babies and looks after women while I look after men and issues involving junk." Either way it was extremely satisfying, and he would've continued along that line had Alexx not asked a question that stopped him in his tracks. Arching an eyebrow (which she couldn't see), he flipped his hat along his arm and knocked it back onto his head with an elbow, a neat little party trick he'd learned before he realized he was a real wizard and had had an obsession with muggle 'magic tricks.'

"Wow, okay, let me think..." It didn't take him very long to come up with an answer as he crossed his arms triumphantly over his chest. "Neither. To crash an entire party is selfish and definitely not Canadian. But being just a party-goer is boring. So obviously the correct answer is that I'm a party-pranker. The right pranks can not only provide entertainment for me, they can make the party better for everyone going to it. I don't know anyone here enough to prank them, but with you by my side I'm sure we can pick a suitable victim. So, my dear plague doctor wife, who are we pranking tonight?"

It was brazen and bold, but Simon didn't care. The best of his friends were all back at Ilvermorny counting on him to pull something legendary off so he could come back with stories that would put their small pranks to shame. The popular Ilvermorny crew was probably off somewhere plotting something else, but he had no desire to hang out with them currently since he'd seen them be so rude that one girl and he wasn't into being rude. Nah, he figured that if Alexx agreed, the two of them could do something really crazy. Then when he went back, he could even tell his friends he'd gotten a popular girl involved (not that they'd believe him, since they were constantly telling him he was a solid five and wouldn't get a girl higher than a four to glance his way).

▷ OPEN TO INTERACTION

Interacting with @Adlai Rod | Open to more interactions

Serena nodded in response, as Adlai agreed to go to the buffet table with her. She glanced around, trying to see past all of the people and find the food. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned to see Adlai trying to get her attention. The girl mentioned seeing it, pointing over to the other side, "Brilliant, let's go!" She agreed, as made her way through the sea of people. Serena followed Adlai, careful not to lose her in the mass.

They reached the other side, pushing past people and ducking under their elbows to go in between them. Serena was greeted by the sight of a buffet table. A grin fell onto her face as she eyed it up. There was a lot of food, mostly those very small appetiser things that you got at parties (hors d'oeurves). She could not remember the official name of them but Serena recalled seeing similar things at the boring parties that her family dragged her to. Looking through the choices, she picked up the odd one or two that looked tasty and gave it a try. "Hm, not bad actually..." She admitted, after eating a small biscuit with some sort of cream and vegetables on it.

There  was also a dessert table, where she could see an enormous amount of cookies. She would have to try a few of those afterwards too. "Oh this one's really good!" She exclaimed after she ate small stuffed pastry.

Seeing the food completely had her distracted from her present company, which was a bit rude. Turning back to Adlai, she apologised, "Sorry, I saw food and got hungry..." She admitted, "Have you found anything to drink?" She asked looking around. She spotted rows of individual glasses, already filled with some sort of punch in it. It appeared to be the only choice, which was a little strange but she went with it. She had no idea it was enchanted to be different for everyone, which would make a lot more sense to her if she knew.

Serena's outfit

Interactions: @Max Avery (Simon Belanger)
Mentions: @Caradoc Browne, @Zahid al-Benghazi ibn Masoud, @Elliot Price, and the Kaegen cleanup crew which I am NOT tagging

"Flash of mauve,
splash of puce
Fool and king,
ghoul and goose"

A sly, evil smile slid across the face of the girl. Causing absolute chaos when she was meant to be showing off how great the legendary Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was? Absolutely, she was all in. While Alexx had, admittedly, never pranked anyone (Vivienne and Raoul would have eaten her alive, thanks), her legal guardian was, for all she knew, a 20-year-old named Mikey. Until those circumstances changed, she had nothing to fear. If anything, Mikey would send her an award, much less a howler.

Her green eyes scanned the room, looking for any helpless soul who could take her merciless attitude. If only Erin Ryan were here; someone who deserved to get the stick removed from their ass. There were more gullible people, of course, such as Rosie Parker, but she might get eaten alive for messing with a sweet Hufflepuff. While Alexx had a hard time grasping the concept of morals, she understood the social cues of Hogwarts; that was one that she had understood since her first year.

What was that word that Max had described her as again? Ballsy, was it? "We could prank a professor. You see that one there?" She asked, pointing to Professor Price. She would have aimed her finger at the new Astronomy professor, one who she would come to despise as much as she did Professor Vernatis, and for exactly the same reason, but there was a weird-Ravenclaw boy fiasco going down from what she could tell, and Alexx wanted no part in that. Not only that, but Professor Price was old and... Well, convenient. "That is our potions professor. Professor Price. He replaced the brilliant Anton Nagal, though I'm not entirely sure why... Anyway, he hasn't been here long. We could consider this a... How do you call it? A hazing?" She tapped her chin thoughtfully, wondering if that was the right word. "Between my mask and haircut, and you being from America, he would have no idea who we are. Buuuut, if you're chicken shit and don't want to make a target out of an old man, there's plenty of first years to pick from."

Really, she couldn't blame him if he declined the offer of targeting a professor. That was a dangerous act within itself, and if he didn't want to take his chances, she understood. "I know these people; I've been knowing them for a while. You tell me the plan, I'll help make it happen." She nodded her head, thinking about how to execute this efficiently if he agreed to pranking Professor Price. From what she knew, he tried to be down with the kids. It was pathetic, and most people might have found him awkward. She couldn't blame them.

Eyes scanning again, she noticed then that he was talking to two other men. The Taco Bell guy and Professor Masoud. Her finger pointed towards them. "That's the Hufflepuff Head of House," She started, her finger pointing to the Taco Bell guy. "I can't remember his name, so I've been calling him 'Taco Bell guy'. It's like... Bowing, Bowen, Beatle... Something with a B, I think." She trailed off furrowing her eyebrows. Her finger then shifted to Professor Masoud. "That there is Professor Masoud, but I just call him Professor Zahid. His name is far too long to figure out which one we should call him by. Anyway, he teaches History of Magic. Took over for Professor Risa, who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. His class is painfully boring." She concluded, nodding to agree with herself. "Anyway, point being, we could prank all three simply by association. All of them are fairly new too, within the last year or so. Hogwarts has an incredible turnover rate."

She smiled from behind the mask. How had the two accidentally matched? She didn't know. "So, dear husband, are you chicken shit or not?" There was a dangerous twinkle in the eyes of the French girl, and one that he could not see. While Alexx had no idea what the prank would be, she knew that it would have to be good.

"Green and black,
queen and priest
Trace of rouge,
face of beast,
faces"

the dress
the mask
the shoes
the hair
the locket

Interacting with @Kyle DeRook 
Mentioning: The Kaegen group (not tagging) @Griseldis Edelhardt @Alan Noble @Quinn Healy
Open to interactions

§

Mentions @Alaric Equinox and @Eris Fawley

[font=Abadi MT Condensed Light]Elena looked at Alaric like he was an obstacle, because that was currently his role here, an obstacle. He was standing between Elena and helping someone with so many mental health issues that a sane dhampir wouldn't be able to help him.

"I'm afraid it does concern me, since that's my friend you're wheeling away there, and I'd very much appreciate if you knew that he believes most if not all professors to be working with evil monstrous creatures and that the professors are also evil. The circle of people he feels he can trust is limited to that redhead the flying professor pried him off. You may think you know how to handle this, but like all things with Kaegen, that is a mindset that'll get you or him injured. And fast!" Elena yelled after them then gritted her teeth and mumbled to herself, "Idiots, the lot of you."

Elena stormed back the other direction, away from the ball, who wants to hang out with Elena anyone, anybody that did was always off doing something else. Some kind of homework or just simply hadn't shown up at the castle, Elena didn't have any friends anyway, she hadn't just stretched the truth then, she'd outright lied.

Who needs anyone anyway... who would ever need Elena Jones.[/font]

Actions: Leaving the thread.

  

Interacting with @Maya Galim & Novus [@Lamik Fillestar]
Mentions: Caradoc Browne | Olphie Bercegeay, Alaric Equinox & Kaegen situation.

Hjørdis stood near her aunt as she glanced around the room. Being taller than most of the students made it a little easier to spot people - that and the addition of four inch heels always helped. Though she was sure that would not last long. They were reaching the age of growth spurts and she, for one, was not looking forward to it. These years were already the source of much drama and tension. And everyone always said that teenage years were said to be the problem years... Things would only get worse, if that was the case. She had been here a year now and Hjørdis had still not gotten used to dealing with children and their unnecessary need for drama. It was tiresome, if nothing else. 

She spotted a man in a badger mask, who greeted them with a nod and a dramatic bow. Although he could not see it from the distance, Hjørdis rolled her eyes under the mask, as a smirk tugged on her lips. He was always one for flares. She would never admit it but it was rather entertaining to see. She returned Caradoc's greeting with a simple nod of her head, hiding her emotions much more easily behind the mask. 

The music continued on, making Hjørdis want to jab her wand directly into her ears. It was horrific. This could not be the Headmaster's choice, that was for sure. If her ears could cry, they would. Sadly, she had little to drown the noise out with. Perhaps she ought to have stuffed cotton wool into her ears before attending the event. Barely audible over the noise, her attention was caught by a boy screaming. Hjørdis turned quickly, her attention gripped, in search of the noise. She found the source after a few moments of scanning. A boy screamed out about someone treating someone else like an animal... She spotted Kaegen near him easily. His appearance always made him stand out but without a mask, it was even more noticeable now than usual. A feeling of sickness hit her stomach. Whatever was going on needed to be stopped.

Her eyes narrowed on the scene, taking a step forward before stopping abruptly. She spotted the incredibly strange flying professor near him. Hjørdis rolled her eyes, kind of expecting that Bercegeay was there and likely making the situation worse - she was probably unsure of what was even happening. She did not trust her to make it better. But her concerns were calmed a little as she noticed Professor Equinox.  Hjørdis had not had the chance to interact with him properly but he seemed much more equip to handle a couple of kids than Bercegeay was. Then again, most people were. She sighed softly, recomposing herself as she saw the Astronomy professor. There was a crowd gathering over there and she did not need to make things worse by going over. She would leave him to handle it.

Her attention was grabbed by a voice, not too far from her. A boy waved at her, approaching her. He spoke with an American accent, giving him away before he even finished introducing himself, "I am. Professor Jensen, Head of Slytherin, what can I do for you?" She asked Novus, giving her own name and position in return at the same time. Hjørdis kept an eye on the situation in the far distance but allowed her attention to turn to Novus for the time being. Silently, she just hoped that he did not wish to report another incident. One was enough for the time being. 

Clicking her fingers twice by her side, Hjørdis went to grab Jeger's attention. He was still hovering beside her, blissfully unaware of everything going on around him. The music was likely scaring him into not venturing too far from her. She clicked her fingers to get his attention. When he looked back at her, she swooped down and lifted him in her arms. The kitten immediately snuggled into her arms. Once she had recomposed herself to standing up straight, Jeger started to move, pawing lightly to try and climb up onto her shoulders. She lifted up him, helping him to get into position. At least if he stayed there, she could protect him from whatever happened at the ball. A part of her silently wished that he stayed in her room. He seemed keen to follow though. Jeger was adventurous, if nothing else. 

Spotting a lady with a red dress arrive in the corner of her eye, she turned towards her. The woman was wearing a mask that appeared somewhat similar to the Headmaster's. "Galim," She replied, returning the greeting. Hjørdis wondered if Maya was purposefully ignoring the events taking place in the room or simply had not noticed it as she posed a question of how it was going. Shooting a glance towards the astronomy professor and the crowd, she noticed that it looked like it was under control. Whatever happened seemed to have been successfully diffused. That put her mind at ease, a little.

"It's going better than expected, quite frankly. Nothing out of the ordinary yet," Hjørdis replied honestly. If at least one student did not do something stupid, this would not be a Hogwarts event. She had yet to go to an event where a child did not make a mountain out of a molehill. It was normal for most schools. It was just worse when everyone had the ability to do magic, start fires and hurt each other to an extent far worse than a fist fight. This really was the usual, as far as events seemed to go. In fact, so far, this was actually going much better than Hjørdis had anticipated. 

Jeger | Outfit of the day

Mentioning @Kaegen Deathmote, @Alaric Equinox and @Olphie Bercegeay

Once more, everything happened fast. A girl saw the right idea by holding Kae. Her intentions were at the right spot but they ended up causing more harm than good. Maybe... it wasn't the best idea after all... The motion she pulled Kae away, didn't help making the dhampir lose his grip. Instead it ripped the skin and hurt the Astronomy professor. Spooked by the hiss of the professor who she knew was gentle, she set a few steps back, letting go of his jacket. Did she... intervene? Was she in the way? The panic mixed with the quickness this all happened, made her lose her steadiness. Her hands seemed to look for grip, reassurance. This only rarely happened. What to do..? Where to go?

Noticing the cold rage Professor Equinox was in, she didn't dare to approach him. Her face aimed to the floor, she tried to recollect herself. What even happened right now? Was this ... some sort of assault? Nico once felt sorry for Aurelia, but she started to doubt.

Alaric made his leave with Olphie, taking Kae with them. That was the end of that.

This whole event triggered something in her. She now... was the only dhampir left, as far as she knew. Her shakey hands gripped the fluffy sjawl over her elbows tightly. The soft texture calmed her down slightly. It reminded her of the incident of the Blossom Ball. Except, there was no Prince to comfort her. Don't panic. Don't panic. Keep your cool. Focus.

As everyone went their way, leaving her pretty much in the open, Nico moved over to a corner of the room. No one needed to see a Prefect with an anxiety attack. People needed her, not the other way around.

Her shakiness prevented her from looking around. Her eyes stayed looking at the floor. Trying not to cry. Trying not to pull attention. This corner was fine.

Was it really? Even though she pulled herself out of the sight of prying eyes, she felt isolated.

Atleast, ... no one really got hurt. Right? Except.. the Astronomy professor.

With a shakey sigh, Nico slid down against the wall, lightly hugging her knees. She just... had to stay calm.

Reducio

Interactions: @Piérre Marchonné, @Elena Jones, @Hjørdis Jensen
Mentions: Maya, Kaegen, Nico, Alaric, and Olphie

Eris froze, turning to stare at Elena with a very confused expression. “You.” She muttered, the heel held in her hand falling to the floor. “Why?” Eris questioned, the train of thought making no sense. She just stared at Elena in baffled confusion. Such was her confusion that Eris hardly noticed herself being pushed away from Kaegen. Dazedly, she bent down to put her shoes back on. Edging away from Elena, wanting to get further away from the reminder of her past, Eris was hardly aware she was backing away from Kaegen when Elena was walking towards Kaegen.

Once she was away from Elena, Eris was able to think again. As Kaegen was pulled away, Eris was left with two options. She could go after him, or go look for whoever the white-haired professor was. Even though Kaegan had stated explicitly to go look for the white-haired professor, she felt discouraged by the male professor. Eris made no attempt to follow as Kaegen was pulled away, far too shocked by the severity upon Olphie’s face. She hadn’t met the new professor, had never interacted with her outside from quidditch.

Olphie had always seemed stupid to Eris, but grudging respect could be found in the finality of the professor’s words. She seemed to have things under control, and Eris had to look for the white-haired professor. If Kaegen trusted the white-haired professor, then she would be able to fix whatever was going on. Besides, Eris didn’t want to be kicked out of the ball for following after the professor whose arm was hurt badly partially because of her. Pulling Kaegen back might not have been the best idea in the moment, but it had worked.

There was something off about the dark-haired Astronomy professor. Something eerily reminiscent of whatever was off about Kaegen in the first place. Eris didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Although, perhaps his strangeness correlated with Kaegen’s. Eris shivered, decidedly inferring that professors would be able to help Kaegen more than her. He trusted them. Maybe adults were good for something if they could help her friend. For once. Still, she didn’t want to be anywhere near the adults of the room. They might have liked Kaegen, but there was no way they’d be happy with Eris tagging along. Not when she had cussed out quite a few professors and was extremely distrustful of anyone over the age of 17. But, Kaegan would be fine. It seemed like professors liked vampires more than human students.

Fucking typical. A professor wouldn’t want to help anyone who was normal. They liked their tricks, their oddities. Anything that made them seem cooler. The little people didn’t matter. (No pun intended, considering Eris’s height.)

She then turned to Pierre, who was whispering in her ear. Eris blinked once, shoving him away from her. There was such a thing as personal space, and she had no idea who the boy was. Jamming her wand in his face, the tiny girl scrunched up her nose. “Who the fuck are you? Don’t touch me!” Adrenaline and nerves having taken over, the sight of someone in a mask tapping her shoulder had nearly sent Eris in a frenzy. “Why do you know who I am?”

As he talked, Eris realized he was one of the strange vigilante first years who thought they could accomplish anything by themselves. She had been the same her first year. Grudgingly, Eris pocketed her wand and returned the nod. “Sorry.” She set the cup down on the floor though, having no usage for a drink. Kaegen certainly wouldn't want to drink whatever was in the goblet either.

As Peirre warned Eris to go after Elena, her cheeks heated. “She’s not my friend.” Eris muttered, but Pierre was already sprinting away. Turning to scan the ballroom for the white-haired professor, her eyes caught upon the girl who had been clinging onto the Astronomy professor’s robes. She was wandering away, looking miserable.

Watching the girl slide against the wall, Eris made a mental note to come back and see what was up with her. After she found the white-haired lady. Searching the room, she saw Professor Galim talking to a woman with white hair. Groaning loudly at having to talk to Professor Galim, Eris stomped over to where the two stood talking.

She coughed loudly to garner the attention of the two professors, not bothering to seem polite. “White-haired lady.” Eris looked at Nora, vaguely registering that she was the head of the Slytherin house. “Kaegen Deathmote says he needs your help. He’s kinda being uh, tugged away by the Astronomy dude but… he told me to tell you that he needed your help.” Even though Eris was faintly confused by her own words, she managed to keep a defiant tone with each word.

It was easier to trust Kaegen in the hands of two new professors, who hadn’t been there while Eris was being hurt. But, seeing these two professors, who had been at Hogwarts throughout all her years and had done nothing to help Eris when she was burnt triggered the usual distrust and anger in her. But, if Kaegen trusted the Slytherin Head of House…

Eris shook her head and looked at the ground, finding it hard to make eye contact with the two taller professors. The sooner this was over with, the sooner she could go back to having a good night with Adam.

Interacting with @Illowy Magnard
Mentioning @Kaegen Deathmote and the crew involved

Chris stared intently at the scene going down in front of him, his icy glare staring at the participants involved. The Deathmote kid seemed to be running away from something, as if in mortal fear of being injured or maybe injuring someone else. Suddenly, a girl who appeared to be older than him came into view. She moved with intent and looked like the type of person who you didn't want to bother on a bad day, this was clearly the hunter chasing its pray. He could barely hear the shouting that was being said over the blasting music, but what ever she was saying it didn't sound good. He could tell by the look of the students faces around her, they didn't seem impressed by her actions or the fact that they were spoiling the special evening. Some kid next to the estranged Ravenclaw seemed to be trying to stick up for the kid too, his face full of rage and anger as he shouted back to the girl. But why? what was she doing to cause such uprawr? her bloodied hand was probably the answer. She must of used something sharp to cut her hand, this was on purpose though, a cold and calculated move that would surely end in chaos "That girl is bloody crazy, exposing blood like that will cause Deathmote to go into a frenzy!" he shouted in disgust. It was pretty obvious she wanted to make a scene for Deathmote, who was sure to respond with his true instincts.

Chris was tempted to grab a hold of his wand and keep it ready, but instead, he slowly folded his arms in front of him and continued to coldly stare down the scene. From out of the blue, Deathmote went into a blind rage after the girl that caused the whole event was asked to leave. He rushed straight for the astronomy professor and bit down on his arm like a dog to a bone, but to his surprise, the teacher seem to be barely fazed by the attack. Another student came in from behind and dragged him away along with the professor , their presence soon spilling to the outside of the ball area.

Chris stared silently at the ballroom entrance for a few seconds, as if in deep thought about what just went down in front them. With a low sigh he turned back to Illowy with a motionless face, something that any person would find hard to read "That girl almost caused another ballroom disaster, imagine if their wasn't any professors in the room like last event" he explained, a look of frustration finally appearing on his face "She knew what was going on, it was a cold and calculated to expose Deathmotes true instincts. Yet, she failed to realise the safety of her fellow students around her and the stupidity of her actions" Chris said as he looked back to the group of people on the dance floor, knowing how lucky everyone was not to not get hurt.

Mentions: the kae situation, random people, @Nico Shymane
Interactions: Open to other iteractions, interacted with @Nico Shymane 

Outfit:

Reducio

What in the bloody hell? pun intended they thought after watching the whole scene start to calm down a bit... They actually kinda wished they were right where the stuff was happening so that they could get a ‘close up’, but they knew very well it was the right choice to stand by the entrance and wait for Nico to hopefully show up and accept their offer.

At this point quite a bit has happened already so they decided to go on... it would be no surprise for Nico to reject them, besides it wasn’t exactly a big surprise for someone to think ‘ew what a weirdo’ after reading a letter from a ‘secret admirer’. Jay bit their lip, what if Nico really really hated the letter and was grossed out by it? How would they live and act normal knowing that and her not knowing that it was them? Jay took a deep breath, “I’m overthinking stuff... she’s too nice to really hate someone that much... right?” They muttered to themself. 

Jay then went ahead and sat by the tables in disappointment, they looked around and realized there were quite a bit of redheads. One thing that they found pretty easy to tell the difference of were the Ilvermorny students and the Hogwarts students, well... most of them anyways. They seemed to each have a different ‘aura’ around them, though what would of been really cool was if they could tell who was who, sadly they haven’t to talked to much people enough to tell who they were, Jay even struggled with names!

Jay then saw another redhead who seemed to be left by the drama crowd quite alone, she even walked away with a certain emotion of her face that didn’t exactly seem positive... it was hard to tell because of the mask. Welp. Jay decided to try something new... and that was try to comfort her. Jay had never done this but today was their birthday and they were going to try something new. They then went ahead and found her in a corner of the place, oh god don’t think I’m a stalker. 

“Um hey.... this masquerade is quite crazy eh’? I don’t see why you’re so sad... I mean-”they started awkwardly, hopefully this was going to work.
”It’s my birthday, I got rejected by my crush who probably thinks I’m a weirdo *cough* I’m not *cough*, aaand- my shoes are too tight. This is the first ball that I’ve gone to on my birthday with people actually my age, so there’s that! And I’m planning to try to have fun and dance no matter what, ”Jay then said, they were actually surprised at themself for saying these things.
”I’m, like, the most pessimistic person in the world heh heh... So. Wanna dance and forget about your worries?”they said holding out their hand at her with what seemed like the most saddest attempt at a cheerful smile on their face. To add on to their own worries, they worried that the girl would get annoyed by them.

‘We’re all sad kids telling other not to be’  they thought in the back of their mind...