22 Jan 2020, 02:52
Lunar Year Lanterns
Red paint lined the walls of the classroom, illuminated by the afternoon light. The usual deep purple curtains had been swapped for rich red silk ones, painted carefully with characters of good fortune and spring, while the desks had been replaced with large circular tables and cushioned chairs.
Stacks of materials - colored paper printed with golden designs, scissors, glitter and normal ink, tassels, stamps, templates, and more - had been placed each table, clearly not by Cy but by Ceta, judging from the neatness with which they had been arranged. Any student of hers would be familiar with the chaos that probably would have happened if Cy herself had tried to organize the desks by herself.
She had, however, brought out her 古箏，or Chinese harp, enchanted to pluck its own strings, invisible hands trailing notes over each taut wire. Quiet music floated into the high ceiling as Cy conjured cut paper figures of the characters and props of her story - the bride, the groom, the parents, the suitors - enchanting them to dance across the air, tweaking parts of their movement until she was satisfied, humming along to the harp as she worked.
The watch on her wrist vibrated, notifying her that the time had come, and she hopped down from her perch on her desk, quickly bringing the figures down again. The professor herself was dressed in a black qipao, decorated by red embroidery and print of a dragon winding its way down her torso. Her bright red scarf matched the silk of the curtains in the classroom, with similar characters down the length.
With a flick of her wrist, she sent the decorated doors flying open, setting off the hidden firecrackers she had hidden beside the hinges and most likely scaring the hell out of any students who might have been waiting outside of the door. No matter! It was time.This is a thread for the ERRAND LUNAR YEAR LANTERNS. Only the following students plus the Prefect Griseldis Edelhardt should post in this thread. Once everyone has posted their entrances, I will continue.@Ruthie Greer
@River Dewlight
@Serena Bowen
@Evelynn Decipio
@Lark Flaer
@Juniper Irving
@Violine Thomas
22 Jan 2020, 11:41
Lunar Year Lanterns
If she was honest, Ruthie didn't know anything about Chinese New Year, other than whenever you were born made you some cute animal. She was, fundamentally, a Scottish and a cloistered Scot at that. Her own mother had told her little of her English heritage. They'd never visited her English grandmother, only heard from her occasionally via owl. And if she knew little about England, it was certain she knew nothing about China. But that was why she was here: to learn. Plus the fact that Gris was partially hosting was boon--she didn't see the Gryffindor nearly as often as she saw her fellow Ravenclaws.
So, she made her way down from the blue tower to the Transfiguration classroom, which had been transformed into a sea of red. The walls and curtains held a bright hue that was so bright, it was almost blinding. And yet it was a cheerful setting, as though the red forced one into a bright and alert mood. The walls were not the only thing that had been made over. From the chair to the tables, it was clear Gris and Professor Lian had outdone themselves. It was almost as though they had fallen through a portkey and arrived in China. But most surprising of all was the firecrackers, which forced always inquisitive Ru to push the door open an investigate, but it seemed all was well.
Soft harp music beckoned her further into the classroom. As she did so, the self-playing harp caught her attention. It was clearly Chinese too. And it accompanied paper cut-outs beautifully as they danced in the air. Perhaps these were the characters of the story they were to hear. At least, Ruthie assumed this was to be a storytelling session--wasn't that what Gris had said? Ruthie loved stories, especially ones with adventure like her trusty Robert Lewis Stevenson. Hopefully, something exciting was in store--maybe not crusades or pirates or kidnapping, but some wonderful adventure beneath the facade of a wedding. Time would tell.
She nodded to great Professor Lian as she took a seat on one the (much more comfortable) chairs. The Professor was dressed for the occasion in a black Chinese robe with a beautiful silken dragon along the seams. Ruthie couldn't help but admire it. Somehow a house tartan felt plain in comparison to the pomp and circumstance of Chinese traditional dress. Waiting for the others made her a bit uneasy so she addressed the Professor, "Will we have more firecrackers in the story, Professor? It was an exciting start. All this really." Perhaps an odd comment, but as long as they were safe, firecrakers could only enhance a story, right? As she said, she realized the Professor might not immediately recognize her. After all, she saw so many students in one day. "I'm Ruth from first year transfiguration," she introduced herself, leaving off her last name deliberately because if the Professor didn't completely recognize her, she wouldn't recall that she was one of the worst transfiguration students either. It wasn't that she didn't pay attention or take good notes. It was that transfiguration was hard and Ruthie's strengths laid more in tactile subjects like potions and herbology. But hopefully, today would simply be about stories and culture, not schoolwork.
WC: 545 | Open to Interactions
Ruth Iona Greer
Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 4 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 9 | Arcane Power: 6 | Accuracy: 6 | Ability: Sixth Sense
Frog Choir President | Ravenclaw Chaser
22 Jan 2020, 19:14
Lunar Year Lanterns
@Cypresse Lian
BANG!
Evelynn, at least a couple other students, had been waiting at the door to the Transfiguration classroom when a sudden loud explosion seemed to burst open the portal. Nearly jumping out of her skin at the unexpected interruption to her reverie, the redhead reflexively scrambled as far from it as she could, finding herself pressed back against the cool stone wall of stone opposite the classroom, eyes wide and searching. Seconds later, her brain caught up with the racing of her heart, and she realized she needed have been so jumpy. With a sigh, she relaxed her shoulders as she caught the tail end of a mini fireworks display that , evidently, was supposed to have been a fancy welcoming into the room's interior.
"Honestly…" she muttered under her still hitched breath as she pushed off from the wall to follow after the other students. Despite having been fully immersed in the magical world for nearly half a year now, it still got the better of her more than she liked to admit.
"Oooh…" The murmur split her lips the moment she entered the room.
With the red walls, rich silk curtains, circular tables and cushioned chairs, she didn't even recognize the classroom anymore. She cast a furtive glance in the teacher's direction. Professor Lian always unnerved her, the way she seemed to be able to see more than she ought given her limitations. Not to mention that transfiguration was one of the subjects in which Evelynn struggled the most. Attempting to avoid any unnecessary interaction, and more than pleased for the unfamiliar Ravenclaw to take the spotlight instead, Evelynn casually meandered to an empty chair and gently set her bag down beside her.
Almost immediately, her attention became consumed by the gathering of materials and craft items on the table. The notice had made mention that they were to be making paper lanterns. It was something that Evelynn had done before with her mother. She always enjoyed the sky lanterns best, finding it particularly magical to see them float off into the night once lit. Somehow, the whimsy was less impressive now that she could actually make things fly with simply a flick of her wand, but alas. She still looked forward to these nonetheless.
While she waited, Evelynn allowed her gaze to wander around the room again. She heard the interaction between the student and professor, making a mental note of the girl's name. Ultimately, however, her attention came to settle on the harp. Folding her hands in her lap, she adopted a pleasant smile and closed her eyes, allowing the melody to inspire a series of colours and images, merging and molding and melding into and out of each other like something out of Fantasia. As the music progressed, they began to take more concrete forms of each of the twelve zodiac animals. But when a cat dashed between them, Evelynn's eyes snapped open.
"Twenty-three," she called out. Evidently, regardless of the appearance of the room, the habit ingrained from Transfiguration class knew exactly where Evelynn was, and she called out her number as she would when wishing to ask a question in the middle of class.
Word Count: 531 | Total Count: 531
24 Jan 2020, 06:21
Lunar Year Lanterns
Heads-up, everyone: Entrance posts should be completed by 12am PST on January 25th, 2020. Those who have not completed their entrance posts by this time will no longer be included in the errand. If you need an extension, though, feel free to ask!
24 Jan 2020, 17:14
Lunar Year Lanterns
Her first errand. Violine had tried to join other errands so far but she had always arrived after the enrolment was closed. Anyway, this time she had signed up just before it was too late and she couldn’t help but feel proud of herself. China was a real mystery for her. She knew her geography, of course, but she didn’t know anything about the country or its culture. That’s probably why she had decided to claim this errand: to learn more about all of it, to broaden her horizons… Well, and she would also earn some points, and some sickles. And there would be a story. That may have been the thing that had motivated her to try and sign up early.
So here she was, standing outside the classroom, waiting for the door to open. Instead, it kind of burst open, quite literally. Violine started and knocked another student, as surprised as her. But as they came closer to the door, they realised the noise had been caused by firecrackers. If she had been sleepy until then, it was sure to be over now.
Violine waited for the students in front of her to go in and finally entered the room, wondering if there would be more pyrotechnics involved during the session. But the flyer had mentioned paper lanterns, not explosives, so she kept her expectations low. The sight of the room put a stop to her thoughts and she looked around, surprised. Professor Lian had decorated the place and it sort of felt as if you had travelled the world, just by entering the room. The chairs were now cosy cushioned chairs, and the desks had been replaced by circular tables, covered with crafting materials.
As she was moving forward, a Ravenclaw asked a question about firecrackers. Violine listened carefully, for this was a subject which also interested her. She chose to sit next to a fellow Gryffindor whom she only knew by sight. It was the one who had jumped at the other end of the corridor when the firecracker had exploded. Evelynn Decipio She was already seated and was obviously enjoying the music, eyes closed, smiling… Where was the melody coming from anyway? Violine looked around and quickly spotted the enchanted harp. The music was indeed beautiful. She felt like it would be a nice way to start a conversation and, who knows, make some friends? She was about to open her mouth when the girl called out a number. She sat back into her chair and gazed around in search of someone else to talk to. She touched the small symbol she had drawn on her wrist earlier, a circle with the letter ‘h’ – which looked like a rune – in it, and with a dot on the right. She had found it in her father’s diaries and had drawn it on her skin on a whim. Maybe it was a special rune which created a link between beings… Whatever it was, she felt closer to her father already.
And she was also getting bored. She picked up some random stamps and started examining them, waiting for the Professor to answer the other girl’s questions.
So here she was, standing outside the classroom, waiting for the door to open. Instead, it kind of burst open, quite literally. Violine started and knocked another student, as surprised as her. But as they came closer to the door, they realised the noise had been caused by firecrackers. If she had been sleepy until then, it was sure to be over now.
Violine waited for the students in front of her to go in and finally entered the room, wondering if there would be more pyrotechnics involved during the session. But the flyer had mentioned paper lanterns, not explosives, so she kept her expectations low. The sight of the room put a stop to her thoughts and she looked around, surprised. Professor Lian had decorated the place and it sort of felt as if you had travelled the world, just by entering the room. The chairs were now cosy cushioned chairs, and the desks had been replaced by circular tables, covered with crafting materials.
As she was moving forward, a Ravenclaw asked a question about firecrackers. Violine listened carefully, for this was a subject which also interested her. She chose to sit next to a fellow Gryffindor whom she only knew by sight. It was the one who had jumped at the other end of the corridor when the firecracker had exploded. Evelynn Decipio She was already seated and was obviously enjoying the music, eyes closed, smiling… Where was the melody coming from anyway? Violine looked around and quickly spotted the enchanted harp. The music was indeed beautiful. She felt like it would be a nice way to start a conversation and, who knows, make some friends? She was about to open her mouth when the girl called out a number. She sat back into her chair and gazed around in search of someone else to talk to. She touched the small symbol she had drawn on her wrist earlier, a circle with the letter ‘h’ – which looked like a rune – in it, and with a dot on the right. She had found it in her father’s diaries and had drawn it on her skin on a whim. Maybe it was a special rune which created a link between beings… Whatever it was, she felt closer to her father already.
And she was also getting bored. She picked up some random stamps and started examining them, waiting for the Professor to answer the other girl’s questions.
WC: 529 | Open to interactions
Mentioning @Evelynn Decipio
Colour: #008080
24 Jan 2020, 18:46
Lunar Year Lanterns
The classroom doors exploded open and Juniper nearly hit the ceiling. Then she laughed, partly at herself and partly out of nervous energy. Firecrackers... that was unexpected. And a peculiarly muggle touch, now that she thought of it. Which was nice... back home in Stonehaven there would be parading through the streets, people swinging fire above their heads. It seemed that everyone - magic or muggle, Chinese or Scot, enjoyed burning down the previous year to make way for the new one.
Juniper trailed inside with the other students. As a girl named @Ruthie Greer introduced herself, Juniper looked around what had once been the Transfiguration classroom.
The entire room had been completely... well, transfigured. Gone were the desks and chairs and even the curtains... not a hint remained of the rigorous academics that usually took place here. In there place stood inviting round tables, slender, elegant chairs and deep red curtains with lively Chinese characters painted down their length. The minute you stepped inside you were enveloped in red, and the effect was enchanting. For a moment, Juniper lost all sense of where she was. If anyone asked her for her name, she would dreamily reply "Juniper Irving..." but be unable to tear her eyes away from the opulence of the room around her.
Professor Cy completed the effect, with a bright red scarf and a red dragon embroidered around her black dress. Catching sight of her jolted Juniper back to the present. She liked the professor, but was always a bit afraid of making a fool of herself in her presence. She very much wanted to excel in her subject, and even though they were here to make paper lanterns, Juniper wanted to stay on her toes and leave a good impression.
Remembering the lanterns, she moved to inspect the supplies on the tables. All the makings of a beautiful art project were neatly arranged, and Juniper idly thumbed through some of the decorative papers. She was standing at an open seat, while a short ways away another Gryffindor @Violine Thomas, was already seated. Juniper wondered if she should do the same or wait for instructions from the Professor. One more seat down, she recognized @Evelynn Decipio , comfortably reclined and seemingly lost in the sounds of the harp overhead. Hesitating, Juniper looked around to see what other students were doing.
Juniper trailed inside with the other students. As a girl named @Ruthie Greer introduced herself, Juniper looked around what had once been the Transfiguration classroom.
The entire room had been completely... well, transfigured. Gone were the desks and chairs and even the curtains... not a hint remained of the rigorous academics that usually took place here. In there place stood inviting round tables, slender, elegant chairs and deep red curtains with lively Chinese characters painted down their length. The minute you stepped inside you were enveloped in red, and the effect was enchanting. For a moment, Juniper lost all sense of where she was. If anyone asked her for her name, she would dreamily reply "Juniper Irving..." but be unable to tear her eyes away from the opulence of the room around her.
Professor Cy completed the effect, with a bright red scarf and a red dragon embroidered around her black dress. Catching sight of her jolted Juniper back to the present. She liked the professor, but was always a bit afraid of making a fool of herself in her presence. She very much wanted to excel in her subject, and even though they were here to make paper lanterns, Juniper wanted to stay on her toes and leave a good impression.
Remembering the lanterns, she moved to inspect the supplies on the tables. All the makings of a beautiful art project were neatly arranged, and Juniper idly thumbed through some of the decorative papers. She was standing at an open seat, while a short ways away another Gryffindor @Violine Thomas, was already seated. Juniper wondered if she should do the same or wait for instructions from the Professor. One more seat down, she recognized @Evelynn Decipio , comfortably reclined and seemingly lost in the sounds of the harp overhead. Hesitating, Juniper looked around to see what other students were doing.
word count: 393 | open to interactions
Juniper Irving
Sta: 5 Eva: 7 Str: 3 Wis: 9 Arc: 5 Acc: 5
25 Jan 2020, 01:40
Lunar Year Lanterns
There were a few reasons why Serena wanted to do this errand. One, she would get to create paper lanterns. The badger loved all things creative, so anything to do with crafts or the arts she immediately had to sign up for. Two, Serena knew practically nothing about Chinese culture. So a creative errand where she would get to learn something new (not to mention get some sickles)? It was absolutely perfect! She had just barely made the sign-ups, so the first-year was looking forward to it.
She leaned against the wall across from the entrance to the Transfiguration classroom, waiting for the door to open. Well, it did open, alright. There was a loud bang! Firecrackers exploded, which caused the door to burst open. Serena instinctively jumped, almost hitting her head against the wall. That was unexpected! She thought.
After seeing a few other students walk in, Serena decided to follow them. As she entered the classroom, her jaw dropped at what was inside. Gone were the desks and blackboard, and well, almost everything that was usually in the Transfiguration classroom. Instead, there were round tables with chairs that looked far more comfortable than the usual ones. Beautiful red silk curtains were draped over the windows and一Was that a harp playing? Professor Lian had really out-done herself!
Serena then realized that she was blocking the door. Whoops. She quickly walked toward one of the tables, which had a few Gryffindor girls who Serena thought might be in her year. @Evelynn Decipio, @Violine Thomas, and @Juniper Irving Not one to shy away from new friends, she kept walking over until she stood in front of one of the empty chairs.
“Hello, the music’s lovely, isn’t it? My name’s Serena Bowen. Do you mind if I sit here?” She asked with a smile.
WC: 296 | Open to interactions
The world is filled with nice people. If you can't find one, be one.
Stats:
Sta: 6 Eva: 7 Str: 7 Wis: 7 ArcP: 6 Acc: 8
25 Jan 2020, 22:29
Lunar Year Lanterns
[font=book antique][/font]
Interacts with
@Ruthie Greer
Open to interactionsRecently, River had stumbled across a book, and it was a good one too. Perhaps it wasn’t the best decision to sit up til well past midnight reading that night before, but she could simply not manage to put the book down. Just one more chapter, just one more, is what she had been thinking to herself at least seven times before she’d finally managed to put the large leather bound book away and drifted peacefully off to sleep.
The thing is, when you make stupid decision, you have to face the consequences and this time that included a horrible time getting up in time, and feeling tired and groggy through the day to come. It’s not like she was too stressed out with getting out of bed that day anyway. She didn’t really have any plans to get to.
Suddenly a jolt of realisation hit the young ravenclaw. It wasn’t going to be an uneventful day at all. She had totally forgotten the fact she was going to the lunar year lantern event. Hurrying to check the time, she threw on a jumper and felt a rush of relief as she noticed she hadn’t run late. Yet.
River quickly made her way down the many steps from the tower down to the transfiguration classroom. Luckily the distance wasn’t too great, and she noticed the other students were still standing outside the doorway as she approached the entrance.
Before she had the time to slow her breathing, a loud bang echoed along the walls as the doors in front of the students opened up. The noise had made her already heavy-beating heart jump even more before she carefully stepped into the room along the rest of the group.
The way the room had been decorated made River forget all about feeling tired after staying up all night and then running down the stairs. It was beautiful, and she knew that this was going to be a good experience.
She looked over to the professor and sent a polite smile, as she also did to the rest of the students in the room as she finally now had time to take a good look at them. Most of them were people whom River had not met before, she knew Ruthie from multiple places, but the rest were unknown to the ravenclaw.
She took another good look at all the wonderful decorations creating a unique atmosphere, before she found a seat.
River looked over to Ruthie and smiled, «Seems like we come across each other all the time lately», she said and looked around to the rest of the group. She was excited, but her eyes still looked quite tired from the lack of sleep the previous night. She hadn’t properly met any of the others yet, only seen them around the halls and such. «This is going to be interesting», she said and smiled to the rest of them. River was very curious of the subject for today, as she didn’t know much about China at all for the time being. She was excited to learn some new things that were a little different then her usual subjects here at Hogwarts.WC || 530
Curiosity Killed the
| STA: 7 | EVA: 6 | STR: 4 | WIS: 10 | ARC: 6 | ACC: 7 | Dhampir & Perfectionist
26 Jan 2020, 01:59
Lunar Year Lanterns
The deadline has been extended to 12:00am PST January 26th, 2020. Those who still need to post their entrances include only @Lark Flaer.
26 Jan 2020, 04:40
Lunar Year Lanterns
»»——❀ Interacting with: @Cypresse Lian @Ruthie Greer @River Dewlight ❀——««
The Chinese New Year hadn't been anything that Lark was familiar with. Even with her parents having traveled all over they didn't often talk to her in depth about different cultures. That was another reason for loving Hogwarts. Lark had been introduced to so many new things and getting a chance to help with this celebration was another welcomed chance to learn about a new custom. Some of the other students had seemed extremely excited about celebrating and Lark had only heard bits and pieces of animals being involved, a type of Zodiac something that Lark already was rather fond of.
Finding her way to the Transfiguration classroom the young Ravenclaw had no clue what would await her, making her pulse quicken. She had wished there had been more time for her to run to the Library and study up a bit on the subject but silently promised herself she would immerse herself completely in whatever duties she was requires to fulfill.
Walking into the classroom Lark's jaw dropped, or at least she hoped it didn't fall too far agape. Still, the sight that welcomed her was truly enchanting. The mix of red and gold was so pleasing. A shade of red matched on Lark's cheeks as she entered the room embarrassed as it seemed she was the last one there. A soothing melody was plucking away at an instrument that Lark had never set eyes on before but was now extremely curious as to what it was. It appeared as if a plethora of materials were neatly stacked on each of the tables, another jolt of excitement rushing through Lark. Crafting AND learning about a new culture... friends and a lovely atmosphere! What a day.
Lovely... Lark's eyes found the Professor who was adorning a beautiful black dress, trimmed in red. She felt transported in time and place. Was this really the classroom they all toiled away in working studiously on their classwork and spells? She started to gain a new appreciation for the room seeing it in a different light. Stepping further into the room, Lark gave a small nod and apologized quietly to Professor Lian for being later than the others.
"I'm sorry for coming late Professor. I'm Lark, in your first year Transfiguartion class.." Granted she knew that the Professor used numbers for each of her students.. but somehow introducing herself as 34 didn't sound quite as...proper for the occasion. Out of the corner of her eye Lark caught sight of a familiar face, a relief to help quell the embaressment still bubbling up in the girl's cheeks. Excusing herself from the Professor to take a seat, Lark scooted next to Ruthie.
"Sorry.. sorry.. I got caught up in well..." A lopsided smile slid across her lips. She had been too caught up in daydreaming is what it was. So much so she had taken the wrong hallway... twice. Having to backtrack and rush to the classroom. A couple of other students were in the room as well. "Hey again!" Lark gave a small nod and whispered to River whom she had shared another errand with as well. Thankfully this one was inside this time and not out in the chilly Scottish air. At least a couple friends were here so she wouldn't feel totally out of place.
WC: 549
Stam: 4 - Ev: 6 - Str: 3 - Wis: 5 - AP: 7 - Acc: 5
In friendships we are searching for a soulmate, someone who shares every facet of their passions and imagination.