Secret Blossom Ball Event Finished

Starter | Mod One | Mod Two | Mod Three | Mod Four | Mod Five | Mod Six | Mod Seven | Conclusion

This is a Moderation Post

News of the Blossom Ball had clearly been spread far and wide across the castle, because the turnout was spectacular. There were over a hundred students in attendance, and it was wild to think that there were still more arriving. Each child who entered the pitch was surrounded by floral scents and a cool April night temperature. It wasn't very cold, but it certainly couldn't be considered a warm night. Nevertheless, the ball goers seemed to be having a grand time on the pitch, even if some of them did prefer to head up to the stands as the night went on. By now, the sun had completely set and the glow of the pitch was stunning.

The refreshments tables were quite the attraction, and Yoohoo was turning out to be the star of the night. The American drink had found its way into several people's hands, and aside from one person's intense aversion (@Mildred Wilson), it seemed to be gaining a lot of fans. Another popular drink - butterbeer - was mentioned, but maybe those students (@May Moonstar and @Blake Bayne) were a bit delusional. The first years who organized the event certainly weren't going to provide alcohol. Perhaps they had found a drink that tasted like the warming beverage? Another star of the show was the assortment of mini cupcakes, which found themselves in the hands of many sugar-craving children.

The dance floor was pretty popular as well. The black-and-white checkers were home to several couples (and apparently some pretend couples) trying to live out the true meaning of a ball: dancing! And what a sight it was: from the formal waltz of @Pericles Dralt and @Xailah Alptraum to the completely unscripted chicken dance of @Breana Oliveire and @Willow Anderson. The orchestra was doing a great job of keeping the dancers entertained and keeping the mood of the ball uplifting.

Then there were the tables. These round, clothed tables had been quite a pain for the organizers of the event to retrieve and setup without suspicion. But here they were, hosting several groups of students that preferred to chat with friends or people watch.

The photographer for the night, @Santario Martin, had moved on from photographing new entrants, now aiming her camera at the ball goers having fun. There were sure to be lots of cute candid moments on her film.

There was one person who had definitely put more attention to their makeup than most of the girls at the ball. @Ami Procoppio, henceforth referred to by the amazing name of Chad Preoccupied, had spent an entire hour getting his jawline just right. The mustache was a very nice touch (at least according to this moderator), and his outfit was nothing less than spectacular. The flashy gold jacket and shoes sparkled against the green of the pitch, and the top hat? Well, it was divine! The look as a whole captured several eyes as Chad entered the ball. He had a very specific mission tonight, and no one was going to stand in his way.

However, someone who had entered earlier caught all those same eyes (and possibly more!). Miss @Anastasia Beckett was absolutely stunning tonight in her pink princess gown, and she had a mission of her own tonight: telling her prince charming that he was the one for her! She had found @Scott Alexander moments before Chad, and they had already started tiptoeing around the subject at hand. It made ruining the moment that much easier as Chad arrived and planted himself firmly between the princess and her future prince.

After some well-said compliments, Scott tried to remind his friend to include Anastasia in the conversation. Chad begrudgingly stepped aside (after a rather rude comment), but it wasn't long before the drag king could bite his tongue no longer. Insults were thrown, betrayals were felt, and Anastasia was at the center of Chad's verbal abuse.

Feeling quite angry and embarrassed, the princess made a dramatic exit from the trio, seeking comfort on the other side of the field. She ended up seating herself at a table with her friend @Dale Kurt, who was decked in a particularly floral suit. Meanwhile, Scott turned to Chad and was blown away by the lack of respect. He stormed off with a few choice words, and was closely followed by the drag king.

Scott Alexander successfully leaves the ball
Chad Preoccupied successfully leaves the ball

It seemed that some of the students in attendance tonight had come under the strict instruction of Miss @Opeila Seilun. She had invited several students to help keep an eye on her rather sketchy date for the evening, Mr @Vladimir Athanatos, and two other attendees at the ball. Although the details of the plan were not common knowledge, everything seemed to be going fine. @Tyranni Whitethorn and @Thora Larkston were among the first arrivals who seemed to have their eyes peeled for specific people, and not just general mischief.

Vladimir's arrival with a heavy bag and a gift for Opeila did little to assuage the first year's feelings. She was overtly cautious and chose not to wear the beautiful gift on her wrist, prompting Vlad to become a bit cautious. "How many of your friends are watching us?" This question would be met with an acknowledgement that enough people were watching for him to not cause a scene.

And indeed, it seemed like there were several watchers. @Flash Holmwood and @Ruka Tân (although the latter wasn't necessarily in on it) were dancing on the floor and inching their way closer to the couple, intending to keep a close eye and ear on the situation. Gryffindor @Evelynn Decipio had been recruited last minute to help keep an eye out as well. @Bridget Collins had her broom in hand and a watchful eye, ready to launch into action if needed.

It seemed that in addition to the Martial Artist Club, this separate force had been recruited and placed among the students. They would be ready at a needle drop to come to the aid of Opeila should she need it. What exactly did she think was going to go wrong in the middle of a ball with a hundred students, though?

The glass, some sort of leaded crystal. The water, blue. Not a natural blue however as there was no blue celestial space to reflect from, the water was a turquoise blue. The roses, there were ninety-nine of them had [anyone] taken the time to count. All long stemmed roses, however the thorns had been cut off, close to the stem. All except for one on each long, slender stem. The leaves a deep and vibrant green. The petals appeared fresh, as if picked just that morning but that was not possible in such quantities and with such quality.

There was a vase - a heavy vase - of roses floating around the ball. What had been a lovely gift for a date had turned into a hot potato. @Victor Moore had brought the lovely roses for his date @Wren Caster. @Aaron Jones (the magnificent, wonderful, talented child running around saying hello to everyone) offered his services to put the vase of flowers somewhere secure so that Wren and her date could properly enjoy themselves. Upon acceptance, he placed the extremely heavy vase under one of the refreshments table when he thought no one was watching.

Alas, it turned out a lot of people were watching because Victor was one of three students under constant eye at this ball. In fact, a certain Quidditch Captain @Rafael D'Spacito - whose eyes really should've been on his date, the amazingly lovely @Lydia Cooper - followed Aaron's progress to the table and deduced that because the roses came from Victor, they were definitely suspicious! He and his date entered Victor's circle briefly before he left to go check out the roses. He made his way to the refreshment table, and quite conspicuously knelt down behind it, lifting the curtain and touching the flowers.

Rafael Investigation of Flowers
Wisdom Roll: 14

During his brief investigation of said roses, nothing new came to light aside from the obvious visual details. In fact, the roses turned from black to yellow right in front of his eyes. Despite finding nothing inherently evil (except perhaps the source of the gift?), Rafael deemed them suspicious and thrust them upon Anastasia Beckett, supposedly his best friend. And despite telling her to not prick herself, the princess did just that within moments of him leaving her. Nothing happened immediately, so perhaps the single thorn on each rose was just a decoration piece? Except no, Victor himself had admitted earlier to his date that they were magical. Why else would they be changing colors right now?

But Victor was not going to just let the attendees abuse his beloved's gift.

As Rafael returned to the group, he was dragging yet another new girl into the mix, Willow Anderson, and in turn, he ran off his own date. Lydia left, and Rafael was promptly called out by Victor for his actions with the flowers. Rafael feigned that he had no idea they belonged to Wren, and that Victor was more than welcome to get them from Anastasia (a lie, seeing as he told Anastasia to burn them should anyone try to take them). It wasn't a very well-thought-out story, but it was the one that he offered.

Both Vladimir Athanatos and Victor Moore carried some rather heavy bags with them into the ball. Under the eye of Rafael D'Spacito, this was rather suspicious. Rather than stick around for Victor's wrath, the young Quidditch Captain invited his newest escapade to a dance. Willow accepted, and over on the dance floor, Rafael asked for the little blonde's help with stealing the bag off of Vladimir. The upperclassmen was currently dancing with his date Opeila, and Rafael saw this as a perfect opportunity. Without leaving the poor Hufflepuff girl (Willow) much of a choice, Rafael took action.

"HEY, VLADIMIR!" The aforementioned turned, his attention successfully caught. "YEAH, YOU! THIS IS FOR POTTER!" With these words, Rafael ran at Vladimir and launched into the air.

Rafael Tackles Vladimir [FAIL]
Rafael Accuracy Roll: 21 vs Vladimir Evasion Roll: 29

Vladimir Attempts to Punch Rafael [SUCCESS]
Vladimir Accuracy Roll: 27 vs Rafael Evasion Roll: 8
250 Damage

Perhaps he had launched himself a little too late, though, because his face was at the perfect position for punching by the time he got within tackling distance of the Ravenclaw. Vladimir seemed quite pleased as his fist connected squarely with Rafael's handsome jaw - clearly it wasn't his first rodeo. A spell was heard to be cast, but it would've been hard to determine who did it in the crowd considering it ultimately missed its target and went whizzing harmlessly into the night air.

Ruka Attempts to Curse Rafael [FAIL]
Ruka Accuracy Roll: 12 vs Rafael Evasion Roll: 22

Well, back to Rafael's plan to take the bag. Willow had stumbled and pretended to fall onto the bag in her attempt at stealing it. But the poor thing had no way of lifting it with her (4) strength. Despite her inability to lift it, the young girl had done a perfect job of playing it off as merely tripping onto the bag. As a result, no one was able to pick up on her attempt at stealing the bag. If she chose to, she would be able to start dragging it away (although it would be increasingly noticeable if she tried to take it very far).

Willow Tries to Grab and Lift Bag
FAIL (Strength < 5)

Vlad Attempts to Notice [FAIL]
Willow Wisdom Roll: 25 vs Vladimir Wisdom Roll: 8

Opeila Attempts to Notice [FAIL]
Willow Wisdom Roll: 25 vs Opeila Wisdom Roll: 15

Marion Attempts to Notice [FAIL]
Willow Wisdom Roll: 25 vs Marion Wisdom Roll: 21

@Marion Davenport grew furious at Rafael's blatant attempt to attack Vlad, and she whipped out the wand she had hidden in her bosom. She pointed it straight at the recently-punched boy and cast a curse.

"Slugulus Eructo!"

Almost immediately, Rafael D'Spacito doubled over and spit up his first batch of slugs. There would be more to come in small increments, rendering him incapable of proper speech (and certainly no spell casting).

Marion Attempts to Curse Rafael [SUCCESS]
Marion Accuracy Roll: 24 vs Rafael Evasion Roll: 18

@Gem Stuart had been missing from the halls of Hogwarts for quite some time, and many people had taken notice. Especially those close to the Gryffindor Quidditch Captin, Rafael D'Spacito. According to rumors, there had been a romance between the two that ended on rather awful terms. Gem's appearance at the ball clearly stirred up some strong feelings in the captain's close friends. Mr Stuart had hardly been at the ball but for a few minutes when a pink-clad princess - Anastasia Beckett - appeared and questioned his identity. Before even being given the chance to confirm said identity, Gem found himself knocked onto the floor by a well-placed punch to the face.

Anastasia Punches Gem [SUCCESS]
125 Damage

Gem Stuart was left reeling on the ground and questioning her identity. Why had he suddenly been punched like that? A saving grace - Miss @Aurelia Notrésvace - appeared in his defense, shouting at the princess to halt her actions. Anastasia explained to Gem that what he had done to Rafael was sickening, and told Aurelia to mind her business. With all this said, as quickly as she had appeared, the sparkling princess dashed away and returned to the table with her companions Dale and @Astrea Soleil Neptune.

This left Aurelia to pick up the pieces of poor Gem. He had hardly gotten to his feet and had time to thank the girl who had come to his aid, when yet another girl in a dress and heels appeared. Wren Caster had come out of seemingly nowhere, hell bent on mimicking Anastasia's behavior. She swung her arm back and-

Wren Attempts to Punch Gem [FAIL]
Wren Accuracy Roll: 12 vs Gem Evasion Roll: 22

Gem was much more prepared the second time around, and he successfully flinched his head out of the way, taking a weakened punch to the shoulder instead. The monster hunter Aurelia was quick to act this time as well, and she pointed her wand at the new attacker.

"Petrificus Totalus!"

Aurelia Attempts to Curse Wren [SUCCESS]
Aurelia Accuracy Roll: 24 vs Wren Evasion Roll: 15

Wren was suddenly frozen in this position, her hand still outstretched in a punch. As such, she was not able to speak when her date Victor Moore suddenly appeared and tried to come to her rescue. Clearly believing that she was the victim in all of this, the upperclassmen aimed his wand at Gem Stuart, the boy who had merely come to the dance to do a bit of socializing. A flash of green light, and the boy was suddenly doubled over and puking up slugs. It would prevent him from trying to explain himself to Victor, and it would continue to appear that he was the one who had attacked Wren unless someone said otherwise. However, it was clear that Gem no longer wanted to be there and he stumbled his way to the exit, leaving a trail of disgusting slugs in his wake.

Victor Attempts to Curse Gem [SUCCESS]
Victor Accuracy Roll: 30 vs Gem Evasion Roll: 10

Gem Stuart successfully leaves the ball

There was a conspirator who wanted to release some bludgers and scare everyone away from the ball. @Jack Burnett ultimately failed in this attempt when he went to the boy's changing rooms to execute the plan, but he had successfully recruited a purple-haired beauty earlier in the stands. It was this beauty @Erin Ryan who now shoved Burnett into @Thomas Lestrange as they entered the pitch.

It seemed Jack was desperate to calm the girl down, but she would have none of it. And to top things off, they had bumped into a Slytherin whose first thing to do was insult the young witch. It was clear her mood was not helped by Thomas's words, and she attempted an assault on him that would've been epic had it succeeded. However, she was wearing a dress which didn't allow for the movement needed to perform such a move. She had successfully grabbed his unsuspecting arm, intending to use it as leverage so she could jump high enough to wrap her legs around his neck. But her grip was loose, and as she attempted to jump, Thomas shifted his shoulder in an attempt to shake her off. Erin did not get the height needed for the attack, and she landed back on her two bare feet, hands relinquishing Thomas after the failed attempt.

Erin Attempts to Fancy Attack Thomas [FAIL]
Thomas' Evasive Maneuvers Roll (90+ auto evade): 29
Erin's Accuracy Roll: 9 vs Thomas's Evasion Roll: 23

As the first punches of the night were thrown and spells were cast, the lights began to flicker. A glance up would reveal the candles had begun to go out. One-by-one, the candles would flicker into nothingness or dim to a point that made them useless for sight. Was there a pattern to the order they were going out? Or was it random? Regardless of the answer, the Quidditch Pitch was quickly being cast into darkness. The candles had been the only real source of light, and the lingering new moon cycle left nothing for the children to see by (although the starry night sky was a beautiful sight on its own). Even though the lights were going out, the candles stayed suspended in the air or lining the ground, still protected by their bubbles.

With the growing darkness, the orchestra came to a halt, no longer able to see their music or their instruments. In the silent pause that followed, it became clear to the students that there was a faint buzzing noise coming from somewhere in the night. It hadn't been noticed before thanks to the loud chatter and music and dance (not to mention the shouting and the spell casting), but in this brief moment of quiet, the buzzing would be audible to all the attendees in the pitch. Perhaps the only person who might be able to discern the source was the person flying high above on a broom: @Piérre Marchonné, who would have the same visibility and knowledge as someone who was over in the Quidditch Stands.

Would the sudden darkness bring the fights to an end or would it cause even more of a panic? Did anyone care about the buzzing noise or would it be dismissed as normal night noises or imagination? Let's find out.

Rafael D'Spacito Health: 750/1000 Status: Puking Slugs

Gem Stuart Health: 375/500 Status: Puking Slugs (exited ball)

Please keep in mind the following information as your characters react to the above information.

• There is typically only one action allowed per round (any attempts at more may or may not decrease chances of success)
• Speech is a free action and dodging is a wasted action (it gives you no boost to evading, which is an automatic response to being attacked)
• All spells must be cast as attempts. General spells will be determined with a Wisdom roll, combat spells will be Accuracy vs Evasion.
• If you want to move to a different ball thread, it will take an action to do so. This means you must make two posts for this one action: leaving this area and entering the next (if you are currently in between areas, please assume you are in the area that you said you were going to). Because this counts as an action, once you arrive at your destination, you may not do anything of significance without consequence (no spell casting, no attempting to do anything that would count as a second action).
• The next moderation will be happening here on Monday.
• Do not metagame! There may be more/less information in the thread you are in compared to the other ball threads. Try not to use information outside of this thread to influence your character's decisions.

Interacting | @Thomas Lestrange
Mentioning | @Selim Faust | @Erin Ryan

Action: Casting Lumos.

Commentary on pages 2, 4, 8, and 13

Outfit | Locket | Hair | Camera bag

-Interacting with @Aaron Jones -
-Mentioning @Rafael D'Spacito , @Vladimir Athanatos, @Ruka Tân, @Marion Davenport-
Open to interactions

Once Lydia had finished telling the whole story to Aaron, she had felt weirdly empty; all of her emotions were there, the anger, the jealousy, the sadness, but they were all kind of stuck in a limbo, weirdly balancing each other out and leaving the part-vela girl numb.

Her eyes found Aaron's ones as he spoke, his words towards the Gryffindor Captain bitter; it was probably the first time that Lydia had heard his best friend talk about someone that way, she was kind of surprised, and figured that for him to say those things there must have been something else going on between him and Rafael - after all Aaron had always been friendly with everyone, and Lydia couldn't recall anyone that he didn't particularly like.

She barely registered Rafael shouting at someone, his voice and words arriving distorted in her mind, and she snapped out of her trance-like status when she felt Aaron grip her wait tighter, pulling then her slightly away from where the fight was starting. Lydia looked toward the commotion, just in time to see Rafael being punched right in the jaw by another boy; she widened her eyes as she felt a wave of panic crash over her - she had never seen a proper fight in person, only in the movies, and the punch that had hit Rafael looked like it hurt a lot. She took her wand in her hand, ready to use it if necessary, before she looked at her best friend.

"We need to stop them before it-" Lydia got interrupted by the sight of two people casting spells at Rafael - one was the other girl that was in the group with Wren earlier, and the other one was a boy she recognised from Willow's birthday party. The boy's spell didn't hit the Gryffindor Captain, but the girl's one did and Lydia instinctively took a step towards Rafael, only to realise that Aaron was still holding her as he tried to protect her from any harm. She didn't know what to do; it didn't matter that she was upset with the Gryffindor boy, she still wanted to make sure that he was okay - he did take a punch and a spell in the span of thirty seconds pr something- but just as she was about to ask Aaron to let her go, Lydia noticed something weird.

All around the pitch the candles had started to flicker, and shortly after they had all started to die out, as the music came to a stop, a weird, buzzing sound coming from above.

"Aaron, what is happening?"Lydia said as she looked around, hoping that maybe that wasn't happening to all of the candles, but that was not the case. It looked like all of the candles had been dying, their bubbles filling up with black smoke, and soon enough all the light was gone from the pitch and darkness surrounded the students at the ball.

The young Hufflepuff girl felt another wave of panic crash over her, but this time it felt worse: things like this weren't supposed to happen the night should have gone on without problems, and all of the candles dying out like that? That wasn't normal; it might have happened that a couple of them would eventually extinguish themselves, but all of them? Did someone do that?

Suddenly, the reasons why the professors had decided to cancel the Ball made sense to her; she didn't want to believe it at first, that Hogwarts wasn't that safe anymore, but as she stood in the darkness of the pitch, right in the middle of a sea of confused, and possibly scared, students, Lydia had to come to term with it.

"We need some light!" she said out loud, knowing that her voice would have definitely reached Aaron, and hopefully other students as well, before she prepared to cast the spell; she had never done it before, not outside of classes anyway, and Lydia really hoped that she would have been able to perform the spell correctly.

"Lumos!"

Action: attempt at casting Lumos

Stats:
Stamina: 5
Evasion: 5
Strength: 5
Wisdom: 5
Arcane Power: 5
Accuracy: 5

Abilities:
Part-veela

Outfit:

Reducio

Action:
Free action: Making a bird call (to initiate an evacuation), asking Ruka to cast Finite Incantatum (to cure Rafael's curse)
Action: Gathering his allies (Persephone and Evelynn)
Stats:
Sta: 7 ★ Eva: 5 ★ Str: 6 ★ Wis: 8 ★ AP: 3 ★ Acc: 6
Ability:
Calming Presence

Interacting with: @Ruka Tân @Evelynn Decipio @Persephone Barret @Nico Shymane @Griseldis Edelhardt @Jack Warren
Mentioning:

Reducio

@Erin Ryan @Thomas Lestrange @Vladimir Athanatos @Rafael D'Spacito

Previous posts: Pre-ball, Entrance, Recon, Asked to dance, Spots Vlad on dance floor, Dancing with Ruka, Talking to Ruka, Lamenting

Closed to Interaction
Owl me if you have an idea

Interacting with: @Lark Flaer
Mentioning: @Rafael D'Spacito & @Gem Stuart

Everything seemed to be going all hunky dory for the pair of them as they made their way to the pitch to dance like the other coup- nope...not couples, just friends, right? Yeah...just friends. AJ was slightly nervous, he had never been to a ball before, never mind danced at one, and he certainly didn't want to embarrass Lark at this event by being a clumsy lumber-footed oaf. Although it seemed like other's present were intent not to give him the chance.

It seemed to be a bunch of random, seemingly unrelated events that had lead to a rather sizeable fight breaking out on the pitch. One of the Catalysts was seemingly the suspicions of AJ's own Captain which caused the young Scotsman to place his head in his hand and sigh "Yah arrogant bull-headed coo' breened bampot!" Well, it was fine, they could still have a pleasant time once that situation was dealt with, right?

Nope, not at all...

Catalyst number two made his entrance, someone Lark seemed to recognise and AJ seemed to remember her mentioning a handful of times. He hadn't been seen for a good bit and it seemed like many present would have preferred it stay that way as the poor boy was piled upon before he could even get a word in.

AJ's instincts made him want to help but he knew that if he tried he would just be one more person adding to the chaos. He looked to Lark sympathetically, and he could see in her eyes that although she was troubled she was intent to still try and have a nice evening despite everything. AJ opened his mouth to try and say something comforting before their dance.

And then everything went dark.

Whatever had been lighting the pitch was apparently no longer doing so as everything around the first year's instantaneously went pitch black. Within moments wands were illuminated around the area, but AJ new that something was up, and it seemed that this ball was slowly descending into worse upon worse territory.

He could still feel Lark gripping tightly onto his arm as he drew his wand. The long Hornbeam implement was clutched tightly in the boy's hand as he prepared to do something that may be deemed unpopular, but he deemed necessary. "Yah mee wan' teh tree un gut teh yer broom." He advised his date as he flicked his wand to the sky and clearly announced "Verdimillious!"

It was his hope to get a signal flare up. Whatever was happening, he wasn't sure a bunch of easy to anger children were going to be able to deal with it effectively. A lot of them would get in trouble for sure, but he'd rather that than something worse happening.'

Action: Attempting to cast Verdimillious!

Interacting with @Mildred Wilson

Free action: questioning Mildred.

Wearing:

Reducio

With everything happening so fast - too fast for his words to make any sort of breakthrough - Jack was in something of a panic. Erin was ignoring him and instead seemed to be focused on Thomas. The pair of them seemed intent on riling each other up. Thinking that maybe they would only just keep to words for the time being, Jack opened his bag and felt around for a few things in there, sticking two of them in his pockets and holding on to one.

The next time he looked up, however, Erin was attempting to trap Thomas between her legs, it seemed, before he managed to shake her off and she landed back on her feet. Exhaling the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, Jack darted to get between the two of them before the altercation could be escalated even further.

When the lights went out, the Slytherin boy froze. With his sight challenged, he relied on his other senses in order to discover more information on what was happening. There was a faint buzzing and Jack didn't like it. His hand closed over his wand in his pocket, but he didn't yet pull it out.

The last time he had checked, all the people he was most worried about seemed to be in the company of someone else he more or less trusted to have their backs. He knew Selim was pretty decent at defending himself on his own, but he would have liked Thomas to stick closer to him nevertheless. Meanwhile, he tried to get nearer to where he had seen Erin last before having been blinded by the sudden darkeness.

"Erin?" He whispered loudly. "Erin, stay near me. Please!" While Jack was also well aware that the part-veela could handle herself, he wanted to stick to her more to keep track of the violent girl than anything else. He heard the Slytherin girl from earlier speaking to someone she addressed as 'Reaper' - Thomas - ? before he heard her attempting to cast the Wand-Lighting Charm.

Action: Attempting to get between Erin and Thomas while staying closer to Erin.
Interacting with: @Erin Ryan, @Thomas LeStrange, @Selim Faust, & @Santario Martin

Action: Attempts to spot what might be snuffing out the light.

@Aaron Jones & @Pericles Dralt

Piérre had closed his eyes for one second, ONE. SECOND, and already, the party was splitting at its seams. Had it not been for the fact that he was hovering overhead, Piérre may have found himself in the midst of the spat that @Rafael D'Spacito was engaging in, helping his captain by all means necessary. Indeed, green eyes blazed with a mixture of disgust and pity when he saw his captain miss the strong haymaker punch and was instead struck with the slug-vomiting charm. That had to feel worse than terrible, and here the Britalian was, floating just overhead, almost disinterestedly watching the violence begin.

Why couldn't people get along?

This was a question that the lad had been asking himself ever since he was a child hooked by his collar in a locker, watching students laughing as they passed by in the hall outside of slits which offered a bit of light. Sometimes Piérre was put there, other times he put himself there to avoid trouble. And all the poor partygoers that had just wanted to enjoy a nice party, get to know some people, and enjoy a slow waltz under the stars... the candles snuffing out one by one...

One by one, by one, by one...

Silence below, quiet whispers; a few wands attempting to light themselves in the party below, now lacking its candlelight romanticism. The orchestra had put down their instruments... they had no light source. This was not supposed to be happening, was it?

No. It's not. And you need to figure out what's wrong.

A whisper in his ear and Piérre sat up on his broom again, chewing his bottom lip, eyes creased in worry. Where had he seen this before? More accurately; where had he heard of this before?

Yes.

Now another sound; a high buzzing, almost like a flock of insects collecting together and flying towards one singular goal; a collection of some sort. Yes, there was a buzzing of words and talking from the crowd, but it wasn't their voices or actions that was causing the brunt of the sound... It was something else... Something... a little further away...

Coming closer and closer to the party and the unaware partygoers within. A twinge of regret filled Piérre as he looked down at the confused party. They probably hadn't thought of grabbing a broom and flying like he did; indeed, it was only because of Piérre's natural eccentricity that even provoked the thought of the action to cross his mind.

Wasn't it?

No time for second thoughts; he would have to make the best of the situation. With a firm hand, Piérre began to steer the broom, now at a speed closer to how he would normally fly in a match of Quidditch. Speed would be essential if there was danger that the Britalian would have to report. Speed and accuracy. His tuxedo was certainly going to cause him a little drag, but the silk almost made up for the loose apparel, causing wind to slick off of him like water slicking off of a duck.

Still hovering over the pitch, but nearby the rings where the Britalian would usually protect the Quaffle from flying through, Piérre grasped one of the rings, steadying himself and placing a hand over his eyes, squinting towards the direction that seemed to be where the buzzing was emanating from. There were little blobs there... something that looked like owls carrying... packages? Something for a surprise? But then why give out a surprise in the dark? Why be so cloak and dagger?

Something isn't right. Check it out, Piérre. Warn them, even if they don't listen. If you don't warn them, then you are responsible for their sufferings. *Please Note* These inner thoughts are not related to the main plot at all whatsoever. These are not thoughts placed by or forced by Moderation; this is character development towards Piérre's surfacing Paranoid Schizophrenia

A voice like his own, his own consciousness... Was this a shoulder angel/devil thing that Piérre had seen so often in the movies...? Perhaps...?

Either way, the instinct would have to suffice. He would at least have to try and warn anyone if there was danger to be had... but first he would have to see if there was any danger at all to begin with.

Looking for someone anyone who could help him, Piérre managed to spot bright platinum blonde hair and dapper apparel behind and below him. Peri! Moving his hand from squinting in the distance to cupping his mouth for a shout, Piérre attempted to call out to the Prefect.

"Um... Peri!? Was this planned?!" His voice would echo in the stands and through the pitch, but with a high-pitched voice and a good diaphragm support (which was built up from a lot of singing at the top of his lungs and general choral performance), hopefully the intelligent Prefect would see, or at least hear the shrill and slightly concerned voice. "It sure is a surprise, but... um... I don't really like the way that you're introducing it!"

With that little call out of the way, Piérre turned and focused on the blobs again, willing his eyes to narrow and absorb all the light that they could from the stars overhead and the lights slowly glowing from below. If it had been darker sooner, then Piérre's eyes would have adjusted better, used to seeing the constellations and stargazing with naked eyes, but with lights going on and off, it would take the Britalian's pupils a little longer to recognize what was coming their way, if he could recognize it at all.

You have to at least try.

'I know.'

Action- Calling out to Pericles Dralt & Utilizing the Ability Keen Eye
10% Chance to notice something once in a moderated situation (cannot be used consecutively on the same item, but can be used to spot DIFFERENT items)