Festival of lights, oh yes Gemma was there! This was going to be so fun! She thought about asking someone to come with her, but figured she would just meet people there. She had put on a cute purple sweater and her favorite jeans before heading down to the grounds. With her purple hat to match she hoped she would be warm enough.

As she headed in she felt the warmth of the area and did the oooh of the lights. This was really nice, but was she the first to come? She wasn't going to look like she was weird or anything being the first one, was she? Nah, she didn't think so at least and heck she got first dibs on the food!

Aries was here, and he was dragging Atlas along with him, because he had very hard hitting questions for the ~NEW~ herbology professor. Sure, he hated the subject - but he needed to do right by his aunt, even if she never asked him to do so.

Also, he was also here because this was not a class and he could openly walk toward the man without him asking why Aries was not paying more attention in class.

Also lights and fire held a lot of potential for ultimate disaster and he was here for it.

Nudging his younger brother, he pointed at the lights covering the greenhouses and trees, "I think if Aunt June had done this more, I would have actually attended her class"

Festival of the Lights. Caes was here because.. why not join a little party. Plus, any excuse to be out in the dark was a plus on his end, especially so close to the forest. Reminding him of his previous natural habitat.

Caes wasn't entirely alone though as he had his little sister in tow. "..Cool.." His eyes were entranced by the sights of the globes and streaming lights complimenting the scenery.

"Not bad, just needs some music.." Maybe there would be some later. Since it was quite warm, Caes removed his hat before setting it aside. His other focus was on the food, picking up a doughnut to snack on, "Want one?" He asked Aria.

Atlas may have been a little less reluctant to join the greenhouse festivities than his brother was, but it was still a part of his strides as they made their way down. He had never taken to Herbology and basically had a shared black thumb with Aries, but he too felt a certain obligation to 'do right' by their aunt. Especially since her had been among the first to suggest and launch the fiery assault on the greenhouses because of the Pharaoh's Triumph. He was hoping to, at least, pass his OWL....and maybe with their shared tutor it would actually be possible.

"Less class time and more hang out time, you mean?" he mused back to his brother while veering him towards one of the glowing baskets and the rainbow light display. There were no signs around suggesting they not touch them...or those floating orbs. They were distracting and made him think of really slow moving golden snitches. In fact...he reached up to try and swat at one as he glided on by. "...wonder if we can sit on one of those...the floating branches," he wondered aloud while also pointing at one as it went by.

They should try, then they wouldn't have to exert extra energy but still look around. Atlas hated to admit it...but all these lights, enchanted or not, were tickling a particular interest of his since he was working with lightbulbs on his latest project.

Jude wasn’t going to miss this Festival! Being out and about was something he loved doing; it gave him practice for his future, you know. “Woah! Professor DeVries outdid himself!’’ The comment was directed to his date - Keighley - whose hand was linked through his arm. “But I think I like the fairy lights more because of all of the colours.” Anyone who knew Jude would know that he was attracted to pretty and bright colours. Along the way, he spotted Gemma and sent her a grin and a wave. She was more than welcome to join them if she wanted.

“Hungry, Keigh?” Jude wasn’t at the moment but he was one hundred percent he inhaled the yummy scent of hot cocoa. That particular scent reminded him of a certain someone and their ice skating dates. Catching sight of Aria and her good looking brother {Caes}, Jude called ‘HI!’ to them. “Uh, what are those?” Jude pointed right at the covered baskets along the wall. And why were they glowing?

* * * * * * *

SPOILER!!: Caes! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

Festival of the Lights. Caes was here because.. why not join a little party. Plus, any excuse to be out in the dark was a plus on his end, especially so close to the forest. Reminding him of his previous natural habitat.

Caes wasn't entirely alone though as he had his little sister in tow. "..Cool.." His eyes were entranced by the sights of the globes and streaming lights complimenting the scenery.

"Not bad, just needs some music.." Maybe there would be some later. Since it was quite warm, Caes removed his hat before setting it aside. His other focus was on the food, picking up a doughnut to snack on, "Want one?" He asked Aria.

Aria was charmed quite easily by the beautifully decorated trees and buildings. They were so sparkly! As for those globes? Well, she wanted one. Maybe one could be snagged easily when everyone was distracted? Hmmm… that was food for thought. Ms. McLeod hurried to catch up with her brother having made up her mind to select the perfect orb-snatching moment. “VERY cool,’’ she admitted. “Those globes are quite something.” Could he hear the longing in her voice? It hadn’t even been a year since they met but Caes? Caes knew her quite well.

“Yes but don’t you start to sing or anything, Caes! Merlin knows you’re awful!” Chuckling impishly, the younger Slytherin adoringly followed her brother to the food table. “Yes, please. A jelly filled one if there’s any.’’ Aria eyed him knowingly. “Gonna try to sneak off closer to the Forest?”

Daniel had been contemplating whether or not he wanted to attend Professor DeVries' light festival. This would be an excellent time to investigate the markings on the wall on the fourth floor and determine the source of the strange scratching sounds. But he'd seen horror movies before, and people who went to investigate alone typically met with a terrible fate. And because he wasn't THAT foolish, he opted to go to the Light Festival instead. He'd have time later, maybe he'd ask Lisa to come with him.

Even Daniel, who normally did not care about such things, had to admit that the area near the greenhouses was beautifully decorated. The best part, though, was that there was food.

Before heading to the tables where the refreshments were set up, he took off his long coat and scarf and hung them on one of the floating branches. He grabbed a mug of hot cocoa and a doughnut before standing somewhere alone, admiring the rainbow-coloured light beams that illuminated Greenhouse Five.

Tonight's event held FAR too many possibilities for Vera to NOT be in attendance. Food? Light shows? Professor's distracted? There was a small part of her that also hoped that the 'light show' would also include lighting a greenhouse on FIRE. She heard students got to do that a couple of terms ago! And how EXCITING of an event that must have been! She was pretty sure someone had mentioned something about it having been a necessity for one reason or another, but the little pyro had been too distracted to listen to the rest.

Skipping her way down, she let out loud "OOOOH"'s and "AAAAH's" giving the splendor the recognition it deserved, before there were two things that suddenly drew her attention. 1) There was glowing baskets. And she was INCREDIBLY intrigued. Would they have a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt? Is THAT why there had been Easter eggs behind the mysterious door? (She was still convinced, believing wholeheartedly that the sticky note had been the truth) and 2) Food. So. Much. FOOD. And majority of it was sweet in nature!!

Vera's eyes flitted between food table and baskets before deciding food should be first and the baskets would probably be spoken about later. Skipping off to the table, she grabbed a plate and HEAPED it with some of everything available on the table, determined to try at least a bite of everything. Was she going to have the tummy aches of all tummy aches later? Absofruitly. But there had to be some benefits to the Healer being your Head of House right??? RIGHT??

Once her plate was beyond full, she carefully made her way over to stand next to Daniel who she was claiming as the older older brother she never had. He was fun to try to infuriate, and considering how she was with Vasco... well annoyance was affection and that's how siblings were! "Hi squid boy!! What do you think we're doing tonight? Are you going to use the ambiance of the evening to sneak off to the Forbidden Forest or do you think you'll make a move on a GIRL instead?" Icky, buttttttt if he wanted help she could probably present opportunities!

A Festival of Lights?! How wicked was this?! Keighley had been super excited since she had heard all about it and knew right away that there was no way possible she would miss this. What made it even better was that Jude was right there at her side! In case anyone didn't already know, he was the greatest brother in the entire universe. "This is so pretty!" Excuse her a moment while she hung up her coat and hat on one of those mesmerizing floating branches right here. That was super convenient and out of the way.

"A little.. I wouldn't mind a small snack to take with us while we walk around." If she really got hungry she could always return to the food tables later on. Right now though she wanted to go look at all the lights.

Huh? Bright blue eyes shifted towards where Jude was pointing. "I have no idea. Should we go check it out or wait and see if Professor DeVries says anything about them first?"

A party did sound nice as Karleigh had a little of the winter blues lately and it being called a Festival of Lights was really intriguing. So naturally the sixteen year old wanted to see what it was all about. She bundled up warmly and headed out towards the greenhouses, soon mesmerized by the twinkling lights and floating, glowing orbs.

"This is so magical," she exclaimed as she approached, admiring the lovely setup. And not like magic magical, but just the entire vibe was enchanting, even if it was likely that some magic was used to put it all together. Oh there were plenty of people here already too, some of whom she knew.

The Flamsteed twins got a friendly wave, as did Jude, but it was Gemma who she stopped by. "Hey, Gemma," she greeted the other girl with a smile. "I like your hat." But Karleigh wasn't surprised as the Hufflepuff was always so stylish. "Did you try any of the snacks yet?" The Gryffindor peered over at the selection, wondering what was good.

~~~~~~~~~~

As a first year, Phoenix was always low-key interested in exploring all that Hogwarts had to offer and just experiencing everything. And a party really seemed to fit right along with that.

Already as he made his way to the greenhouses, he was fairly impressed with the setup. It really was a festival of lights. And there were a lot of people here. But none that he really knew or recognized. They all seemed older. Maybe he should have asked one of his friends or dormmates to come along with him. Hopefully someone he knew would show up eventually. But for now, he'd go get some hot chocolate and hang out by the refreshments and pretend he was cool.

As more and more people started to come in Gemma smiled. She looked around and smiled at all that gave her attention. "The food is really good." She made herself a plate before making her way to a place to sit. Hearing the twins talk about their aunt she bit her lip, [b] "Imissher"[b/] She didn't say it to them or to anyone, but it had come out before she could stop it.

Finding a seat she sat down and started to eat just listening to conversation around her. "Hey Karleigh, thanks, I had found it at a small shop this past summer. " Taking another bite of her food she grinned, "yes, the snacks are good."

Daniel continued to observe the rainbow-coloured lights while eating his doughnut, ignoring the rest of the students at the event. He tried not to groan as he noticed Vera approach him with a plate FULL of food. "Are you going to eat all that?" he asked, motioning to her plate while ignoring the squid boy comment because, to be honest, he didn't mind nicknames.

Daniel hadn't even considered the possibility of an event happening while looking about the place. He'd viewed the festival as standing around eating food and admiring the magnificent lights. "I don't know" he shrugged before looking down at the young girl, and he was ready to respond to her question about the Forbidden Forest when she continued to talk and stated THAT.

He cleared his throat, his cheeks flushing as he looked away in search of a certain fifth-year Slytherin, wondering whether she would be here too, but his dark brown eyes landed on a certain Flamsteed brother instead. UGH, evening ruined. "I'm not going to 'make a move' on a girl" he said, rolling his eyes."And why would I want to go to the Forbidden Forest when we all know what's inside it? Stranger (T)things are going on inside the castle anyway"

Professor DeVries was smiling benignly at all the students as they began to gather, braving the February weather to come out to see what was going on at the greenhouses. Dressed in a full-length fur (fake-fur, that is) coat, he looked rather like a large, shaggy bear and the matching hat he wore made him seem even taller than he was. Everything was going spendidly so far, and the students really seemed to be enjoying the light show, which was pretty impressive, if he did say so himself (although it was nothing compared to the big festival back in Amsterdam--but then, that was a collaboration of many artists and Tapio had put this together pretty much by himself, with the help of a few charms).

Good evening, Miss Kitridge, you look quite festive," he nodded to the first arriving student, happy to know early on that at least someone would be attending his party. "Mr. Flamsteed, Mr. Flamsteed" (dear, it was confusing when there were two of them together!). "Please help yourselves to some food and drink." He waved a large hand toward the tables, noting out of the corner of his eye how one of them swatted at a lighted globe, which immediately flew up out of the way (as they were all charmed to do).

"Mr. Hawkins, Miss McLeod,--those two were brother and sister, he remembered--"Miss Creed, Mr. Marchbanks, Miss Thanatos--(he'd have to keep an eye on that last one, probably--"Welcome, welcome, come on in," Tapio continued greeting everyone as guests poured in and began mingling so fast that it was hard to keep up with everyone. "Mr. Yoon, good evening, please make yourself at home," Tapio continued, pleased to see that he was showing such an interest in the light displays.

Tapio noticed many students looking with interest at the baskets, and of of them even asked him directly. "Yes, Mr. Anders," Tapio responded to Jude, who was standing there with his sister, Keighly, "the baskets." Well, this was as good a time as any to reveal the baskets, he supposed. So, standing next to them, Tapio raised his deep voice (which could be quite loud even without a voice-enhancing charm, when he wanted) and began his announcement. "Attention, everyone! I notice a lot of you are showing some interest in these baskets. They contain," and here Tapio removed the lid from one, "lighted decorations, all charmed with a temporary, very mild sticking charm. You can use them to decorate your clothes or hats--decorate yourselves with light, if you wish. Maybe we'll have a fashion parade later in the evening."

And just as he'd said, there were all sorts of lighted objects in the basket--small versions of the floating lighted globes that were drifting around, tiny fairy lights in all colors, lighted shapes of all kinds--spheres, cubes, pyramids, cones, even long thin tubular shapes and strings of sparkling lights. Tapio picked out a small string and reaching up, twisted it around the brim of his hat, where it remained, shining around his head like a halo. "See? Feel free to open the other baskets, be creative, have fun! If you want to, that is."


[OOC: So, the basets are full of all sorts of lighted decorations which, as Tapio said, are charmed with a very mild sticking charm to stay where you put them, and last to the end of the evening, or until you choose to pull them off. The lights will last to the end of the evening, too, and then gradually fade out. Feel free to pick out the things I've mentioned, or make up lighted decorations of your own, RP your characters decorating their clothes (or not, as their personality dictates), and have fun with it! There'll be an opportunity to strut your stuff before the other guests in a day or two.]

Lisa was running late. She had been busy jotting down a few ideas in her journal for a play that she was working on. Dialogue was flowing through her mind. It was weird. Usually she memorised dialogue but now she was hearing voices. And she feared that if she told someone, they would think she were going mad.

She joined the group quietly and made sure to wave to a few of her friends (the Flamsteed Twins, Daniel, and Jude). She tried to catch Atlas' eye a little longer to shoot him a small smile when he looked over. Also she did wave to the Professor too. She would have said a greeting but he was just getting started so instead she made her way to stand near Daniel and Vera. Her eyebrow raised when she heard Daniel's response to Vera. "Forbidden Forest or what?" she asked, very curious at what Vera had asked her dear friend.

Lisa listened to the instructions with lips pursed as she evaluated what would be the best festive look. Decorate herself in lights? Hmmm... She had a few ideas. "So shall we work together and have a model? Who shall be a fearless model?" she turned to Daniel and Vera, wondering which one of them would volunteer for the task or more likely - who would be volun-told.

One of the perks of attending magic school was a magical setting like this, right? Lights and food and Professor DeVries all bundled up like a big bear. Ed grinned at him as he came into the greenhouse, tossing his too-long Slytherin scarf over his shoulder as he did.

"Hiya, sir. Nice night for this." Thanks for throwing it and all that, he added in his head. What he said aloud was, "Oooh, food!" and made a beeline for that table. How one makes a mild sticking charm as opposed to a strong sticking charm would be his next question. But it could wait till after he'd stuffed his face.

"Here you go, sis." Caes took a napkin to scoop out the best looking jelly filled doughnut of the bunch. Laughing a little about his singing, "I mean, I at least sound better than our fathers." Now that was embarrassing, but in a amusing matter. "Oh hi, Jude." He greeted back at the younger guy who joined in. "Me? Sneak? Never..." Caes said. Sneaking was one thing, pretending to be lost was another.

But he would be sticking around longer with the tall adult around. "Oh hello, Professor." Caes greeted back calmly. He heard some people consider the Professor scary looking but he didn't see how. If anything he was a bit on the soft side. "A fashion parade.." He repeated, looking back at Aria. "I bet you have some ideas already." Was she going to model or... use somebody as her latest project, ahem.

SPOILER!!: Keigh! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kolyander

A Festival of Lights?! How wicked was this?! Keighley had been super excited since she had heard all about it and knew right away that there was no way possible she would miss this. What made it even better was that Jude was right there at her side! In case anyone didn't already know, he was the greatest brother in the entire universe. "This is so pretty!" Excuse her a moment while she hung up her coat and hat on one of those mesmerizing floating branches right here. That was super convenient and out of the way.

"A little.. I wouldn't mind a small snack to take with us while we walk around." If she really got hungry she could always return to the food tables later on. Right now though she wanted to go look at all the lights.

Huh? Bright blue eyes shifted towards where Jude was pointing. "I have no idea. Should we go check it out or wait and see if Professor DeVries says anything about them first?"

Jude didn’t know about being the greatest brother even if he did try his best to be a decent one. What he did know was that Keigh was the greatest sister ever! And he was thrilled now that he was doing better, she still wanted to hang out with him. The boy agreed wholeheartedly: it was so pretty, every aspect of the set up! Jude paused patiently to let Keigh do her thing. Their Herbology professor seemed to have thought about every convenience for the event. Oh hi, Karleigh! Hi, Lisa! His friends each got the brightest smile in return.

A snack while they walked around seemed to be a good place to start. But did they still want to walk around now, especially after DeVries explained all about the glowing baskets? Jude’s face lit up and it was NOT because of the lights all around. “The fairy lights! After we get something to eat, I’m going to decorate my clothes in the brightest colours,’’ he enthusiastically told his sister. “This is quite a brilliant, by the way, professor!’’ DeVries deserved all the compliments.

SPOILER!!: Big Bro aka Aria's model mwahahaha! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charely Potter

"Here you go, sis." Caes took a napkin to scoop out the best looking jelly filled doughnut of the bunch. Laughing a little about his singing, "I mean, I at least sound better than our fathers." Now that was embarrassing, but in a amusing matter. "Oh hi, Jude." He greeted back at the younger guy who joined in. "Me? Sneak? Never..." Caes said. Sneaking was one thing, pretending to be lost was another.

But he would be sticking around longer with the tall adult around. "Oh hello, Professor." Caes greeted back calmly. He heard some people consider the Professor scary looking but he didn't see how. If anything he was a bit on the soft side. "A fashion parade.." He repeated, looking back at Aria. "I bet you have some ideas already." Was she going to model or... use somebody as her latest project, ahem.

Mmmhm! Jelly doughnuts were life! The sad thing was Aria had to be mindful of how many she ate because a girl’s got to watch her perfect figure. “Thank you,’’ she replied, taking the treat. Tonight, she was going to spoil herself silly on goodies. One has to have cheat days once in a while, yes? Just… poor Caes? Because he might wind up with a hyperactive sister to take care of. His words made her smile, not because it was true Val and James weren’t even halfway decent vocalists but because he had yet again referred to the men as ‘our fathers’. Aria wasn’t the sentimental type but she always liked it when Caes acknowledged that he was a part of the family. Over the months, she had come to suspect that maybe being with the McLeod’s was the first time he actually felt like he belonged somewhere. “Yes, well I will suggest to them you give them some lessons. Maybe Darius too because I hear he’s TERRIBLE.” Not really? Because she had no idea if Darius could sing but the girl was determined that Caes bond some more with her friend.

The younger Slytherin was listening to DeVries while taking dainty nibbles from the doughnut when the professor happened to mention the words ‘decorative’, ‘fashion parade’ and ‘creative’. There was a mild commotion on her end because she had started to choke. OH MERLIN!!! THIS WAS GOING TO BE EPIC!!! She desperately tried to clear her throat so that words could be spoken. “New plan - no forest - you - model.” Big brothers were the PERFECTTT models! Even with tears streaming down her face, Aria already had ideas for Caes. Ideas involving loads of those precious orbs. Just allow her to polish off this yummy doughnut first and to catch her breath.

Vera entirely forgot to offer any pleasantries to Professor Devries, which was quite rude of her and yet she was definitely not known for her manners - something she was sure all of her professors were all aware of. And she'd been SO distracted at entrance, it had just slipped her mind. But when she heard his greeting, she raised the plate of food she had acquired in a salute of greeting before devouring another very large bite of a powdered donut.

Mmm. Was there anything better than sugar?

Hearing Daniel speak to her, she turned her attention again to him, offering a large powder covered smile as she nodded her head. "Duh. Why woof I put on plate if nawt?" She mumbled around her large mouthful, crumbs flying from her mouth as she did so. A very silly question to have asked! She picked up a pumpkin pasty, taking a bite of that too.

His 'I don't know' got an eyeroll and she was GOING to inquire how he could possibly not have been CURIOUS about the events of the evening, when she was distracted by the fact his eyes scanned the room when she asked about a GIRL. Curiosity naturally meant she was trying to see who he spotted, and when his eyes landed on one of the boys from her house - the one that made the cool metal bugs at that!! - her eyes WIDENED. And with his statement of not making a move on a girl her brain was already creating an entire elaborate story of Daniel's romance and she was creating PLANS on how to help him achieve it. She reached out a powder covered hand, patting his arm with it. "I'm sorry, I misspoke." She should have asked if he was going to hit on a PERSON. a mistake she would not make again with anyone!!! But also, his lack of adventuring definitely needed to be addressed before she continued with any of the poor drawn plans in her head. Where was Vasco when one needed him for something better thought out?! "Well do we know EXACTLY what is in there? And don't you want to SEE some of it?" As for the castle... "The door is just the Easter eggs! There's nothing remotely interesting about that." Unless there was really good candy stashed inside them anyways.

Being joined by another person, Vera turned her eyes to the older girl and BEAMED. She didn't remember if she knew this girl (apparently she had yet to assign a nickname if she had) but she was predisposed to liking people as a general rule. "Or if Daniel was going to make a move on a person. This seems like a great opportunity to start something!" Y'know, if you were OLD and into cooties.

Hearing Professor Devries speak regarding the baskets, Vera's attention turned to him briefly, a wide grin spreading across her face as he explained the contents. Decorations?? With sticking charms???! What a GENIUS idea, Professor D! Giving a loud giggle, she jumped up and down in excitement, losing a couple items from her plate before turning to the others. She really wanted to decorate her clothes too, and she probably would later, but the girls offer of a model was just TOO good to pass up. "Daniel should do it! And I have the BEST idea on the design!!! Will you help me pull it off??" She gave the older girl puppy dog eyes. She wasn't currently sure if she was asking for the girls help in actually making the design...

Or holding squid boy down.

"I'll get a couple baskets!!" Vera shoved her plate towards both of them, hoping one would take it before it dropped to the ground and she ZOOMED off to grab two baskets to bring back to the older students.

...lame.

Frowning, subtly externally but deeply internally, as the orb floated away and totally ruined the fun of the moment. For the briefest of moments, Atlas may have discovered the appeal to being a Seeker...but seeing how quickly it moved away and then how much effort it was going to take to chase after it, then, nah. He was fine staying grounded. Turning to say as much to Aries, he caught the wave from Karleigh and was flustered by the immediate heat to his cheeks. He didn't want to talk about it and wasn't sure what he would say to explain the complicated feelings regarding all that anyway. His brother knew about the tip of the iceberg and that would do for now.

Turning his head sharply away from her without properly reciprocating her wave, just wide eyed surprise, he caught the tail end of Daniel's stink eye and that sobered him up REAL quick. Enough so that he caught Lisa was looking at him, a lot, and his facial gymnastics continued so that he could offer HER a small smile. She seemed off with her own group of friends though, and smiling, so best to just stick to over here rather than drag Aries over. He was really going for the gold with the Face Olympics too, because in his next breath his bright blue eyes fell upon and darkened when he saw a CERTAIN Slytherin who had bullied Aries the other week. He may have hoped, only for a second, that the boy ate something he was allergic to.

There was a lot going on around him and it was almost enough for him to tune out the professor - and not out of spiteful purpose either. When he did hear thing, however, he kind of wished he hadn't because he really did not have all that much interest in a fashion show. There had already been SO much talk about dresses and dress robes for the dance, something he had admittedly been moderately excited about too during dance committee meetings, and the reminder of it even by proxy was reminding him of the uncomfortable weight of peer pressure his shoulders had been accumulating. He was disappointed he was not more enthusiastic about this considering certain things.

"...this is sort of like what I thought about when I mentioned glow in the dark during the dance meeting," he whispered to his brother while grabbing at a nearby basket and rummaging around its contents. Pulling out two cones, he popped one on top of his head and the other on Aries'.

There. Festive.

"I will, thank you, professor." He said to the man. "The lights are magnificent" he added before looking down at Vera's plate of food and wrinkling his nose in disgust as she talked with her mouth full. "Don't speak if you have food in your mouth, it's disgusting"

Daniel shook his head at Lisa's question as she approached them. "Nothing important" he muttered before returning his gaze to Vera and lifting an eyebrow, seeming truly perplexed as she apologized and placed a powder-covered hand on his arm. The Hufflepuff moved his hand to brush her hand away from him because...gross.

His intuition had always been strong, and he had a bad feeling right now. But he couldn't pinpoint why he was feeling that way. The door? Oh, yes, he had almost forgotten about that. "I wasn't referring to the door..." He said as the professor raised his voice to make an announcement. He placed his finger over his lips to signal to the two that he needed them to be quiet for a bit so he could listen.

Lighted ornaments enchanted with a temporary sticking charm seemed intriguing until Lisa and Vera both spoke again...HIM? model?! BIG NOPE! "I refuse" he said resolutely and crossed his arms. He had to get away somehow...

Victoria had contemplated not coming to the little light festival, but last minute had decided she might as well partake. Just because she had been a little more of a recluse this term didn't mean she couldn't mingle. V actually felt like she needed to lately. It was becoming lonely being sad in her dorm all the time. It was even like she had a huge reason to be sad, so she might as well do her best to get over it. She was channeling her inner gran there, for she knew it was probably something she would have said had she still been alive for V to write to.

Luckily for her, there were quite a few people already here that she wouldn't mind mingling with. There was Lisa, Daniel...the twins, that little first year with Daniel. And other familiar faces, too, but V went to sidle next to her BEST FRIEND (one of) LISA! Catching the tail end of what Lisa and Daniel were saying, V posed.

"I CAN BE THE MODEL," she beamed and flipped her hair. "Don't be such a wet napkin, Daniel. You have a good FACE for modeling, after all," she said smugly.

Lisa wiggled her fingers in a wave to Jude. He seemed in a good mood which she was happy to see. Seeing the smile from Atlas made her heart do weird things which she hadn't been expecting. She waved again, awkwardly, before returning to the duo here beside her.

Turning back to Vera, she noted just how energetic this particular first year was. The two responses to her question earned an amused smirk from the youngest Nam. She giggled at Vera's response before leaning over to nudge Daniel with her elbow. "Making a move isn't nothing Daniel..." she teased, offering him a wink. It was def. scarier than the Forbidden Forest in her book. She couldn't wait to tease him to learn who he was planning to make the MOVE on. Heh. She loved first years. Then she turned to Vera and offered her hand towards her to shake. "I think we've been in similar classes before but have yet to meet. I'm Lisa Nam. And you are?" she asked, making sure to introduce herself.

Then the emotions from the duo next to her were a mixed bag. Vera was the epitome of light, fun, and energy. Whereas Daniel just noped the suggestion. "Da-" she was about to speak his name and try to get him to reason to the suggestion but was interrupted by a newcomer.

Ah!

Fortunately V had arrived precisely at the right moment to intervene and graciously offered to model. A bright smile graced Lisa's lips and she applauded. "Fantastic. Thanks V for being our fearless model," she nodded, quite satisfied with the outcome. Hopefully Vera wouldn't be too upset about the model not being Daniel.

Lisa looked down, biting her lip at V's remark, before she cleared her throat to move on. "Ahem... Right.. So who's the lead designer?" she asked the group for a volunteer before she examined her friend's face. Well...She hadn't noticed before but V was right. Daniel did have a nice face. "V's right. You have a face for dramas and modelling. Maybe you'll end up on the cover of a mystery novel as the main detective character?"

Desiree was looking forward to this party ever since she read the notice on the Hufflepuff notice board. She’d never been to a Festival of LIghts before! Was that like the lantern festival in Tangled? She had no idea! Just in case, she put together a Rapunzel-inspired outfit for the occasion consisting of a purple dress and leggings, a purple sweater with a gold sun on the front, and matching gold shoes. To complete the outfit, her dark hair was braided with flowers.

Her bright blue eyes widened in wonder as she approached the greenhouses. Ooh, look at all the pretty lights! Not quite a lantern festival, but this was the next best thing. The glowing baskets got a brief sidelong glance before Desiree was completely distracted by the refreshment table. Hot cocoa? Yes, please! She helped herself to a cup and perused the food offerings. So much to choose from! For now, she’d go with an apple fritter, a pancake, and one each of the spice and almond cookies.

She stood to one side, daintily nibbling on a cookie as she looked around. Spotting Professor Devries, she greeted him with a smile and extra princessy wave, “Hi, Professor! Thank you for the pastries and cocoa.”

Jude and Keighley also got smiles and waves. “Hi!” She greeted the pair. Then she noticed Gemma’s outfit, and her face brightened. Ooh, she was wearing purple too! So cool! “Hi, Gemma,” she said a little shyly. It wasn’t often that she interacted with older students. “I like your outfit.”

Ohhh, so that’s what was inside the glowing baskets! Desiree had nearly forgotten about those. The more she heard about this activity, the more excited she became. Fashion parade?! The professor just said the magic words! Never one to pass up an opportunity for dress-up, Desiree was determined to come up with the flashiest, most princessy light outfit… right after she finished eating. She eyed the lights in the nearest basket with an intrigued expression, imagining the possibilities. Then the string of lights on the professor’s hat gave her an idea! “Professor, will the lights stick to themselves?” she asked. “I’d like to put some together to make a light tiara.”

Tapio looked around as the students started pairing up and inspecting the contents of the basket. This was going to go well, he thought. Though he noticed several of them (Atlas, Daniel) seemed less than enthused. "Please don't feel that you have to participate in decorating yourselves," he reassured them. "This is not a class, no one has to do anything they don't want. If you'd rather just eat or walk around and enjoy the lights, please feel free. But I hope everyone will enjoy what their classmates come up with and give them their support." There. He hoped he'd made that clear and everyone could relax.

Tapio noticed other guests had arrived since he last made the rounds. "Miss Nam, Mr. Cambridge, welcome. Miss Geller, thank you for coming. And yes, Miss Marchand, you can stick the lights together if you like." Tapio smiled to see them getting so creative with this.


OOC: So, keep on doing what you're doing. You have roughly about 48 hours to get your decorations together and the fashion parade will start Friday July 1 around 5 pm U.S. Central Time. Have fun!

Was she late? Probably, but there had been plenty of other things that had distracted Sable Ileana from making her way over to the party. Namely, the smol blonde had been down at the boathouse checking on her ship, since there had been a while since the last time she’d been able to. Besides, she was pretty sure it wasn’t a lesson, so being a bit late wasn’t a big deal. Either way, she’d run over from the boathouse as soon as she’d remembered, scarf trailing behind her until she’d arrived and looped it over one of the branches. Hopefully Professor Devries wouldn’t let anyone steal it.

As soon as she’d slipped through the small groups of people inside, she’d beelined for the baskets and acquired several strands of mini fairy lights that were promptly wound through her hair. It made her feel very fairy princess pirate-like, and it was only then that she’d noticed bestie over with several older kids. Bestie and no Vasco or Logan in sight, even, and she snagged a chocolate donut on her way over to the group.

“Someone’s gonna be on the cover of a detective novel?” she asked, only catching the tail end of Lisa’s statement and voice half muffled by a big bite of donut. That’d be kind of cool, actually, but she was still more of a pirate fan than detectives. Even if she was still immensely curious about the door. And the weird noises around the castle.