Errand Gotta Catch 'Em All PV Marla Quinlan Closed

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Just as the chilly weather and autumn months started rolling in, the festivities followed suit with the annual Fall Ball. Of course, it wasn't for another three weeks or so, but Marla was rather fond of free food and music. The student body was bustling to get everything together even if it wasn't pressing to prep for the dance at the moment. Well, anyone that signed up for the committee would be hardcore. It was the Hogwarts equivalent to setting up Christmas decorations in August.

Just like any other year, Marla wasn't stressing about finding anyone to escort her to the ball. No one took her to anything for the previous years she attended school, she wasn't going to scramble to find a knight in shining armor to lift her off her feet now. It wouldn't matter, anyway, she had disappeared for the majority of her third year. She'd been forgotten by most of her peers by now, imaginably. It was unlikely that they'd all ridicule and shame her for not having an escort if they couldn't even remember who she was.

Strolling through the halls after class gave the girl a bit too much time to think about aimless subjects such as this. It did distract her from her arms aching, she'd been hauling around her bulky divination book for too long. It had nearly endless pages. How many fortunes could one predict, anyway? Not that she cared. Her forearms did, though.

But as the girl heard a suspicious noise echo throughout the halls of the castle, all her focus left the pain in her arms as notions began whizzing around in her head. As she paid more attention, it resembled.. A laugh? That was strange. What was so funny?

"Do you hear that?"

She turned in the direction of the voice and faced a Ravenclaw girl who seemed rather familiar. With her mind on other things at the moment, she couldn't exactly put the thought into recognizing her if she could. Instead, she quickly responded to the raven-haired student's query. "I'd be a bit mad if I didn't... Or deaf. What is that insufferable noise?" It seemed her company had the same question as she walked towards the noise. Marla followed and spotted a moving armor stand. This was nothing new for Hogwarts, strange things commonly occurred. It was just a gamble if those things were dangerous or not. Marla learned her lesson from four years at this school and decided to hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

It seemed that this situation hit right on the middle ground. A pumpkin shot out of the armor stand and Marla flinched in response, staggering back a bit at the unexpected scare. Wait– a pumpkin? Witches and wizards were keen on Halloween, but were they that much so that they decided to haunt the school with the crop of the season? People here had too much time on their hands.

The girl next to Marla was just as confused, asking her what was going on. "...No idea," She responded, boring at the armor stand and still in shock about what happened. "I feel like we should do something..." Stating it in a determined manner, as a true lion does in these types of situations, Marla composed herself and looked back at the Ravenclaw. A nonverbal cue to follow her. Hopefully, she understood or had the guts to do so. It wasn't like Marla to be heroic despite her house. However, she would be damned if she had to hear that horrid giggling in the forthcoming weeks. And so she booked it towards the pumpkin, though she wasn't too athletic and that was a bit of an overstatement. It was more like a light jog. "I won't let you ruin my peace and quiet you annoying orange twerp!" These alive pumpkin demon creatures were toast! Hopefully.

WC: 648/400

@Marla Quinlan

What was there to do? There was an enchanted pumpkin that was causing havoc right then and there. Were they to go and tell a professor? Perhaps the professors know and this was a test for students who chose to take on a challenge.

Dropping her belongings on the side of the corridor, Bloom nodded at the Gryffindor with a smile. They should definitely be doing something about this. If any case, it was better than going to class. And Bloom was dreading to do just that.

Watching the Gryffindor girl run after the pumpkin made Bloom feel like it was her duty to follow suit. Leaving her belongings behind, she ran to catch up with the girl and couldn't help but to laugh at her outburst. THIS was what Hogwarts was truly about. Though, she was interested in knowing what was going on with some of her peers that seemed so daunting.

Getting that out of her mind, she focused on the chaotic pumpkin that seemed to be running away from them. "Do you think this was on purpose?" she asked, wondering if the pumpkin (and if others) were meant to be enchanted. It could just be some interactive decor from the school. Though, from the way the pumpkin was running away, it seemed that it was unlikely. There was no real interaction other than to chase them. Professors wouldn't do that... Would they?

"How should we catch it?" Bloom asked, jogging alongside the girl. "By the way, I'm Bloom. I've seen you before, but we've never spoken I don't think," she said between breaths with a smile.

The pumpkin jumped to one side of the corridor and then bounced from wall to wall, using the ceiling to get past them. Bloom turned around. It seemed that this pumpkin was primarily staying in the corridor area. There had to be a way to catch it.

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Marla had overestimated her athleticism while running towards the possessed pumpkin. Why was it so fast? The damn thing didn't even have legs! She looked to her side to see the Ravenclaw following suit, laughing at her determination to capture the unconventional Halloween decoration. Marla couldn't help but snicker a little bit too, this was one for the books...

"If it's on purpose, I'm gonna hex whoever pulled this crap." Half-joking, she responded to the girl's question. Whoever or whatever pulled this trick out of their butt was either a sadist or just plain clumsy. She just hoped to god that these things wouldn't be at the ball. They'd be more disruptive than anything with their obnoxious giggling. She wanted to smack the grin off of that pumpkin's face. If it had one.

The Ravenclaw had asked another question that Marla hadn't even thought about. How were they going to catch this thing? She'd been too impulsive and just booked it towards the pumpkin without any further plans. It was hard to think when she could feel her heart thumping in her ears, but they needed to come up with a plan before she doubled over from exhaustion.

"Oh! I know! A plan shot through her head and she turned her head quickly towards the Ravenclaw. "Erm.. I don't think we can use a spell on it, or if we can... I don't know how it'd react since it's enchanted. But maybe we can try jumping at it from both sides? I mean, it's worth a shot, yeah?" She pitched the idea, interrupting herself with heaving breaths every now and again. She was slightly unsure whether they'd be able to pull it off. Marla wasn't exactly an Olympian, after all. They'd need to catch up to it first before doing anything. Guess she had to just bite the bullet and do it.

The Ravenclaw had finally introduced herself as Bloom. Funny that it took this long, considering the situation that they'd been dropped into together. But forgetting introductions when you're chasing possessed fall crops happens to everyone sometime in their life... Probably.

"Yeah, I think I've seen you around too. I'm Marla. I'd say nice to meet you but with these circumstances..." She glanced at the pumpkin and back at Bloom with a grin. "Shall we carry out the plan, then?"

With a deep breath, Marla used the last of her strength in her legs to sprint at the pumpkin, getting to its right and waited for Bloom to cover the other side. If this didn't work, they were screwed. At least it wasn't a killer pumpkin.

Mod Post
Dice Roll 1d100: 69 - Successful

The two girls ran through the corridors keeping hot on the enchanted pumpkin booking it with all its might as it attempted its epic escape. Giggling, the pumpkin was too busy looking for its next path to even seem to notice the students closing up on either side of it, getting ready for a chance to catch it. And the chance came, as it realized it was about to hit a dead end it slowed slightly looking for the next route, which gave the perfect opportunity for Bloom and Marla to efficiently grab the pumpkin as they carried out their master plan of “catch that pumpkin”.

Reducio

Congrats! You successfully caught your pumpkin without it exploding. Thank you for participating. Please continue your thread if you wish to

@Marla Quinlan

Marla seemed to have a great idea on how to really catch the pumpkin. To go on either side of its path and try to catch it was definitely going to work, Bloom thought. There was no way for it to get past them. They were just as fast, hopefully.

Bloom shared a huge smile at the Gryffindor and nodded. "Let's try jumping at it from both sides," she whispered, not wanting the pumpkin that was hopping around to hear them. Who knew... If it had limbs and a face, it may as well have ears, too.

Pointing down the hall, Bloom went the opposite direction, making the pumpkin hop around her and end up in the middle. The pumpkin was moving about, not really noticing their plan, at least it was what it looked like.

"READY? THREE... TWO...," Bloom hesitated and took a deep breath, pushing a strand of hair back, getting ready to run. "ONE!" she ran with all of her might down the corridor. Bloom felt as though she was running faster than the wind and that her legs were having a mind of their own. Her pinpoint was the dancing pumpkin that was now trapped in the middle.

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This had to work! They were covering both sides and Bloom got the memo, covering the other side. Marla gave the girl a hopeful glance as the pumpkin started bouncing towards them, bending her knees.

Three...

Two...

...ONE!

Leaping towards the pumpkin in sync with the Ravenclaw, Marla shut her eyes in preparation of disaster. Instead of ruthlessly wiping out on the floor, she felt a hard bang on her head and yelped out in pain. Opening her eyes, she realized that she headbutted poor Bloom straight on the head. But the sight before her made all the pain melt away. They'd caught it! A relieved laugh escaped Marla's lips as she mentally celebrated their victory.

"Sorry about that," Marla rubbed the sore spot on her forehead with a goofy grin on her face, "We should give this to a professor or something, yeah?" They kept thinking about how to catch the pumpkin, not exactly what to do with it after. That would certainly be an issue... Especially transporting it. Maybe someone that passed by could get a professor to help. Still, the girl couldn't help but feel proud of herself and the teamwork that she'd gotten done with Bloom. That was the most exercise she'd done in weeks.

"Erm... Shall we bring this back now?" She glanced at the pumpkin and back at Bloom, hoping she had a good idea. Ravenclaws were supposed to be smart, right?