Secret Blossom Ball Event Finished

Entering from the stands.
Only open for assumed interactions.
Interacting with: anyone in need of a broom.

Pericles Dralt was not necessarily a fantastic flyer.
In fact, his Flying sessions had been more or less the same since his arrival at Hogwarts. Unlike every other subject, he did the absolute bare minimum when it came to these classes, eager to achieve Acceptable performances and call it a day. But the basis of every class flight had been steeped in fear of failure. He worried he would not meet the same standards his father had set long before him, worried his report card would earn a grimace upon returning home for the summer. Tonight, he flew due to a different fear: the thought that he had helped facilitate this ball, and thus was to blame for anyone- everyone- who had been harmed.

Even with five brooms tucked beneath an arm, he managed to maneuver his with adequate ease. He had managed a feat which would alter his opinion of flying forever, which was catching a friend who had fallen from the stands. This flight was comparatively less significant. All the same, any act of aid at all was crucial to him. He would sweep low, clutching the bundle tight lest he risk dropping a ride on any unsuspecting student's head. Pericles' pale face was uncharacteristically tense, stern. He scoured the grim situation below. The smells would stain him, lingering in his mind long after he had washed them from his face: the tang of blood, the burn of smoke. He would be particularly keen in aiding couples- two to a broom was energy efficient, but also ideal in case one was too injured to operate it. Any five persons limping, or aiding someone who could not walk with ease, or carrying anyone unconscious, would have a generic school broom tossed to their feet.

The crowd was managing to disperse swiftly. His meager contribution doled out, Pericles swerved up and out from the pitch, hovering a little ways away from the main air traffic. It was his ship to go down with. He would watch, waiting, for the last of the unfortunate ball-goers to head towards the castle before drifting after, expression empty and eyes pitted in an exhaustion unsuitable to his age.

Event exited.

@Kateri Karr

Cy braced herself for the piercing pain that accompanied the satisfying crunch this time, and found that knowing what was coming dulled the sensation considerably. The insect was snapped up in no time, and she smiled in victory, but her triumph subsided into confusion as she noticed - was the buzzing... getting... softer? Not in a way that signified fewer bugs, or just that they were flying lightly, but... echoey, more distant. They were retreating. Good. It looked like the evening was rapidly coming to an end.

Her suspicions were confused when her friend called to her. "Good," she responded first. The sooner the kids were back at the castle the better - there were plenty of injured that needed to be taken care of. But as Ms. KK was cut off by a voice calling to her from across the grass, Cy tilted her head, recognizing the sound. "Yeah, you should go," Cy assured her - she could handle things there well enough on her own. Cy, on the other hand, was on another mission. Vernatis was still here, whether he wanted to stay on the pitch or go with Kateri. She needed to get back to the castle, make sure the returning students were all right.

A prickle of unease brushed her mind, and she furrowed her brow. Was it wise for the kids to go to the Hospital Wing? Finley... they'd been told to watch him. Just in case, even if he didn't seem like a probable suspect given his behavior... but these days you could never really be too careful. "Ceta!" she called, mind made up, loud as she could, and the loud crack beside her alerted her of the arrival of her assistant.

"Young miss!"

"I'm all right," Cy reassured her. "Man, I should've called you sooner. Can you bring me back to the castle, then keep an eye on the Hospital Wing once I'm there? Things are... things are messy right now." She grimaced, brushing a strand of loose hair out of her face, wand still out. She sent her serpent to slither quietly into the Great Lake with a thought, feeling its albino scales moving over the grass, away from the action - green anacondas were water snakes, and it would be comfortable there, even though it wasn't exactly conscious, until it turned back into fire, and by then the water would take care of the flames.

She felt Ceta's hand on her arm, and followed the elf in the direction of the exit, feeling a little helpless now that the adrenaline had started coming down, the chaos was beginning to fade, and she realized she hadn't brought her cane with her. Keeping her limbs in close to not bump into anything, she squeezed Ceta's hand, hearing the students around her heading in the same direction.

action • exit thread

stats • 7 stam • 12 eva • 4 str • 20 wis • 13 arc • 14 acc

abilities • perfectionist i • perfectionist ii • spell spread • blindvision • nonverbal magic • wandless magic

interacting with: @Celynne Gray, @Cecily Quinn and @Dmitri Jones
mentioning: fleeing ballgoers

entering from Qudditch Stands

"Celynne...!" Adam shouted as their group tumbled onto the pitch. "I hope you know what you're doing!" He'd followed the raven-haired Ravenclaw out of the stands, trusting that she had a plan of escape, but things had only gotten more hectic since then. The buglike creatures that had attacked the ball were suddenly fleeing, as if called away by an inaudible summons. Their retreat should've been a good thing — no more deadly stingers meant no more poisoned wounds — but Adam was unsettled by their sudden exodus. Why would they leave now all of a sudden?

The blond boy got his answer when his eyes landed on a giant white snake, lurching across the pitch and snapping creatures out of the air like they were houseflies. Adam's heart leapt into his throat before he realized that the giant reptile was on their side. At the very least, they had a common enemy. If it had been snatching up students, Adam honestly might have turned and ran. He did not want that thing catching sight of him. The creatures must have been scared off by the arrival of the predator, leaving their dead behind to rot on the grass. Again, the idea struck both fear and relief into Adam's mind.

"You guys see that too, right?" he asked, though it was kind of a stupid question. The only way that they could miss it would be if the snake was some kind of venom-induced hallucination. Of course, that was a remote possibility, even though Adam still felt relatively fine. "Let's, uh, avoid that thing!" Once he was finally able to tear his gaze from the creature, Adam realized with a start how...tidy...the pitch looked. Some chairs had been knocked over or thrown around, sure, and most of the flowers had been displaced, but there was practically no sign of the disaster that had swept the evening. If it weren't for the bug corpses, it would've been your typical magical high school party scene. It was kind of creepy, in the same way that the fleeing bugs had been. The chaos had ended just as quickly as it began. It felt like only moments (and yet somehow, days) ago that Adam had arrived: spirits high, dress robes intact, broom in hand...

Oh! His broom! He'd completely forgotten about it the second that he'd dropped it off at the entrance. Assuming that it was still in its place, Adam had found his way out. He strained to see the edge of the pitch, but it was just out of his field of vision. He couldn't risk losing the broom — they had to be going quickly with so many students in attendance. Celynne had said that she wanted to help the professors, that maybe it would get them out of trouble, but Adam couldn't take her word for it. As much as he wanted to believe his housemate, he didn't relish the idea of rolling out of his hospital bed right into detention. He couldn't stop her, or any of them, but he also couldn't go with them.

"Guys, hold on." Adam bit his lip nervously as he tried to figure out what to say. "I know we said we'd come down here and help, but my broom might still be over there, and I really think that we should go. If we get caught here, there could be trouble, and even there isn't then we're going to get a lot of questions that I can't answer. It seems smarter just to go." He hesitated a moment, hoping that he wasn't stumbling over his words. "I'm not trying to control the group, I swear. You guys can obviously handle yourselves, so if you want to stay here, I get it — but I have to go."

He hadn't even thought about if he could fly a broom with his chest torn open, but he'd have to risk it. Giving one last apologetic look to his classmates, Adam turned for the entrance, moving as fast as he comfortably could. It felt wrong to leave the others behind, but they really could take care of themselves. Plus, there was still a chance that they'd follow him out. Whatever plan they chose, Adam prayed that they stayed unharmed.

It was hard to pick out his Nimbus when Adam finally got to the entrance, so he just took the first broom handed to him. There would be time to sort out possessions later, if they weren't all seized by the staff first. Adam felt his arms shake a little bit as he mounted his broom. He tried to remember his Quidditch training, but he hadn't had all that much of it as a second-string Beater. Still, any first-year that passed Flying class could get off the ground. He didn't have to be a professional to make it back to the castle.

With that slight comfort in mind, Adam kicked off and set his sights on Hogwarts' glowing lights, where he knew that he'd be safe. The boy didn't have a plan for tomorrow, or even an hour from now. He had no idea how he was going to explain his wound, but with so many injured students, he doubted that he'd have to. If he was lucky, he might even be able to heal it himself (although it did look pretty deep). Finding a small solace in the feeling of the wind on his face, Adam took a breath and told himself not to panic. He'd cross each bridge when he came to it. For now, the only goal was reaching the castle and finding his friends. They would all be alright in the long run.

Next time, he was just going to stay in the damn common room.

[THREAD LEFT]

Asteria looked around. It seemed like most of the chaos had died down in the time that she was frozen. That was good. Without those evil-looking beast bugs around, she could relax again. Those things had given her a bit of a shock. No wonder she never liked bugs much.

Without all the commotion that the mosps caused, the pitch almost seemed quiet. A bit too quiet in fact. Asteria resisted the urge to scream, which would bring too much attention to her, and with other people around who were actually hurt that wasn't a good idea. She still had yet to think of something that actually was a good idea though.

Looking around once more, the Ravenclaw noticed something that she had missed the first time. Why was there a snake in the middle of the pitch? Apparently all the creatures weren't gone after all. She should probably just leave, there was no point in staying anymore. The professors would likely give detention or worse to whoever was found to be a part of this event and personally, she would rather not get detention if at all possible.

Taking one last glance at the pitch, Asteria turned on her heel and fled. She sprinted back in the direction of the castle, as fast as she could go. Hopefully, no one had noticed her in the event at all, or if they did, that they weren't the snitching type.

Action: Attempting to flee unless stopped

Mentioning @Pericles Dralt

For her first ball, her whimsical expectations were eminently farther from the truth. She had simple whims, though a bit romanticized to a fault. A dance with the boy she likes, some fun and laughs, that's all she expected. When Pericles told her that he's leading a sort of investigation team for Hogwarts, Breana always thought it would be akin to Saturday night mystery shows for children, not... this. This massive clash against flying vermin of epic proportions. A part of her wondered if situations such as this were the norm here in Hogwarts. Could she even survive such attacks? What if there would be a worse encounter than this? Another part of her wondered if she could have been better prepared herself.

Her thoughts rambled along as she helped Pericles hand out brooms for their schoolmates, her actions almost looking as if she was programmed for such actions. Breana was wondering if she was even a fit enough witch to be in Hogwarts. It never occurred to her, that her situation was almost completely in the midriff. She isn't pureblood, so she never had enough knowledge to fortify a library of wizarding knowledge in her mind. However, she wasn't a muggle-born either like her mother, so she didn't have the reasoning that she lacked the knowledge. Breana had her mother to lean towards. Maybe she could ask her of her own school days with more detail next time...

For now, it's time to focus on safety. As she handed the brooms, her thoughts were already one foot out the door. As she was left with the one broom for herself, Breana was ready to head straight for the Ravenclaw dorms, ready to head straight to bed despite her torn up attire.

Breana has left the thread unless interrupted.

interacting with @Crystal Jagger
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She finally had dealt the Mosp some damage and it really had made her ego go up a bit. She looked around and saw a spell going towards her. She widened her eyes and jumped out of the way just in time. Lizzie sighed and placed her chair on the ground and took a deep breath. She plopped herself down on the chair and took another breath in.

Looking around the pitch, she saw all the fortunate mosps who had lived the traumatic event flying away towards the forest. She sat there staring down at her hands for a while trying to catch her breath. That event was so much more exciting then she had even imagined. It defiantly was not what she had thought when her feet first stepped into the area.

Lizzie looked up towards the girl who had basically helped destroy one of the mosps and smiled at her. She stood up and walked over to the girl and held her hand out, "I'm Lizzie by the way." She breathed out quickly while shaking some of the hair out of her face, "I would like to thank you for sticking around even if it was because your friend got hurt."

She shrugged her shoulders and looked around trying to see if she could notice the other girl, "I think you should attend to your friend. I must get going now. I do not want to make Cassie any more worried then she already is." She laughed and patted the girls shoulder before running off.

She slowed down while moving towards people who were handing out brooms. She took one quickly and mounted it. Slowly, she pushed herself off from the ground and flew higher to be able to get over the top of the stands. She had always been good at flying but it had never occurred to her she would need to use it to escape from a dangerous situation.

Lizzie took one last look at the pitch before flying off towards the castle. She did not want to get caught out of bed even if the Professors that were at the ball had already seen her face. Zero detentions would be better then two but she probably would have to have at least one punishment for actually going to the illegal event. The Ravenclaw landed in front of the castle and dropped the broom running inside.

═ ∘◦❦◦∘ ═

Lizzie had left the Thread.

Interacting with: N/A

Mentioning: @Pericles Dralt @May Moonstar @Janet Jackson @Fred Woods @Lydia Cooper

Damn it Ariana! It's a blinding spell stupid!

May was making her feel idiotic, yet there was still a grain of defiance that rersided within the pit of her stomath, her eyes blaring with fresh anger and exasperation. “Well how was I supposed to know what spell you were going to use!” She snapped angrily, “I didn't want you to hurt Lydia by accident, she is one of my good friends!” She was almost yelling now, the anger had taken over and she fought it down, breathing slowly in a point to calm herself. It was now that feeling flooded back. It was as though the wound had been freshly cut open again, the anaesthetic of frustration slowly ebbing away, leaving her with raw emotion. Agony, aching though her body, the tired feeling dragging her brain into non-existence. NO. She had to stay awake, to stay conscious. She wanted to collapse and fall asleep right there, but she couldn't. That wasn't the right thing to do, she needed to escape. May had now run off and Ariana's eyes temporarily followed her to where she dropped down beside- Lydia. The gryffindors eyes widened, was she hurt? She swallowed, tearing her gaze from the scene, she seemed okay for now, people were aiding her. She would be alright. Ariana squeezed her eyes shut, everyone was going to be alright, she repeated to herself. But right now wasn't the time for meditating. Ariana needed to find Janet. She scanned her eyes across the commotion and spotted the girl not far off.

"OVER HERE!"

That was Fred's voice. Ariana spun around, [maybe too fast for she winced in pain and glanced hastily down at her ankle.] just in time to witness Fred hurl a jug from the nearby table at the mosp. The girl relaxed a little. At least Janet had Fred to help her, she would be fine. For now, however, Ariana needed to get away from the ball, her mind was made up. Other people were leaving, she needed to get away too, before it was too late. But it was then, that another thought hit her like a bullet.

She didn't have a way out.

Janet had given away their broom, what was she even to resort too? She couldn't walk her way back, not in this state? She bit her lip, casting her gaze around for a possibl- As if her thoughts had been answered a broom was tossed to her feet, she glanced up, eyes zeroing on Pericles who was handing out brooms to anyone in need. She would have sent the prefect a grateful smile if she wasn't in a desperate rush. Swooping down to grasp the broom, she put on a grimace, mounting her new-found transport and feeling a sense of freedom as she rose up higher in the air, determined to get away as soon as possible. A guilty lurch flopped around in her stomach as she glanced back down at the pitch, were her friends still fought against the trauma. The chaos was terrifying, yet she carried on, towards the castle.

She had to keep flying.

Ariana has exited the thread.

Mentioning @Lydia Cooper
Action: Passing out brooms to whoever wants one

[Exit Thread]

Interacting with: @Opeila Seilun @Thora Larkston
Mentioning:

Reducio

@Jack Burnett, @Willow Anderson

Previous posts:

Reducio

Pre-ball, Entrance, Recon, Asked to dance, Spots Vlad on dance floor, Dancing with Ruka, Talking to Ruka, Lamenting, Executing plan, Running to Willow, Talking to Vlad, Hugging Willow, Double Kick is Super Effective, Flinging Spells and Dodging Mosps, Holding Willow’s hand, Getting stung, Carrying Willow

Leaving the thread
I'll continue to post if anyone wants to follow/ help/ talk to Flash on the way out

As she waited for Damion to speak, suddenly the lights went out. No, no, no! Not again! Serena froze, merely unable to process what was happening around her. As the pitch became dark and the music stopped playing, the eleven-year-old suddenly became aware of the buzzing sound coming closer and closer. She could very faintly make-out what appeared to be giant insects.

As the lights came back on just as suddenly as they went out, it became clear that the bugs were Vampire Mosps. How on Earth did they end up here? Were they from the Forbidden Forest? Why did they come here? As the chaos unfolded around her, including students being on fire or stung, Serena stayed still. She wasn’t sure why. Maybe Serena just didn’t know what to do? Or perhaps she thought that if she just stood there and didn’t do anything that nothing would happen to her. And in a way, this worked, because while so many other people were hurt, Serena was relatively unscathed. Well, at least physically.

Finally, seeing some of the professors arriving seemed to snap her out of it. Of course, by then, most of the action was already over. Not that that mattered because either way, all Serena wanted to do was leave and go back to her Common Room. How stupid was she to think that coming here was alright! If the official, professor-supervised events could go horribly wrong, then of course an unofficial, unsupervised one would.

With tears in her eyes and without even checking in with Damion to see if he was alright, Serena began to run away, back to safety. Well, as safe as she could be in this damn school.

Mentioning: @Damion White

Serena has left the thread unless stopped