Ary loved the pretty streamers the moment he saw them. As a matter of fact, all the decor was pretty, though he was quite confused: was this a belated Christmas party or an actual Transfiguration activity? In the process of heading to the area where everyone would gather, the Slytherin scooped up a blood red balloon, tossing it a little in the air then catching it.

He rather heard professor Carton before he saw him, even if it was difficult to miss the man and his dummies as they were clad in those bright assortment of colours. Homies? Ary shook his head. This sort of talk from Carton was just wrong; he didn’t like how a few of the professors’ personalities had changed, especially Aunty Hady’s.

With the balloon under his left arm, Ary stood a little distance away from the dummies and gave Carton a weary finger wiggle-wave.

Kion wasn't sure what had gotten into Professor Carton, who seemed to taken a liking to bright clothing and bombastic activities. Loud seemed to be appropriate. Homies.. "Hello, Professor," He greeted. Before he looked around observing the surroundings. Maybe he could dance with Maria even though he wasn't all that skilled.

But at least the decorations and scenery was well done, even if it wasn't to the sixteen-year-old's particular taste.

Not that Vera wasn't one to appreciate a party spirit, but Carton's sudden enthusiasm that was not normally befitting the Transfiguration Professor was becoming... unsettling. Or maybe that was just a conclusion she was coming to due to the rather offensively LOUD attire he was currently donning. Or maybe it was residual pettiness over being referred to as of late by Veronica. There were so many letters added to her name now, Prof!!

Either way. She was here, she was ready to over indulge in sugar and hang out with her friends. And probably ooh and aah over her favorite couple, as she saw Kion as she joined the gathering of people and gave him and Aryan both a wave in greeting. "Hi Professor Carlton." It was wrong intentionally, but the way she smiled she hoped was selling that she would never do that. "I like what you've done with the space." The confetti was a little much but... the twinkling lights were really cute.

“Everybody cut, everybody cut, everybody cut footloose!”

Norman was so into the music that he almost didn’t notice the first arrival (Ary). Spotting the boy’s finger wiggle out of the corner of his eye, he returned it with a full body wiggle of his own. “Hey…” What was that kid’s name again? Started with a vowel… “Ewart. Glad you could make it!”

The next arrival (Kion) likewise got a wiggle in greeting. “Kevin! What’s shakin’, my dude?”

Truth be told, Norman was too busy singing and dancing to notice that he’d been called the wrong name. If he had, he wouldn’t have associated it with pettiness; he would’ve thought it an honest mistake. Not at all bothered, he greeted the girl (Vera) with a big toothy smile. “Hey! How’s it going…” What was her name? Veronica? no, that wasn’t it! Something else with a V… “Vicky?”


Norman resumed singing and dancing for a few more songs to allow more time for arrivals. After a while, he saw nobody else coming, and a song he didn’t particularly like came on. Perfect time to get this party started! With a wave of his wand, he turned the music down - but only a little. “What’s up, my dudes and dudettes? Welcome to the party!” He addressed the group. “There’s snacks on the table over there -” He vaguely gestured in that direction. “Help yourselves to anything you like!”

Speaking of helping oneself, he could use something sugary right about now! He picked up a couple of sugar quills, casually licking the end of one. The other was safely tucked into his pocket for later. What was he doing again? Oh right, transfiguration activity! “We were going to play a game of freeze tag, but that’s BOH-RING!!!” he continued, a dramatic eye roll punctuating the last word. “So I’ve turned it into a dance party instead!” How cool was that?

He paused to allow the students time to ooh and ahh over his brilliant party plan before giving the instructions, “Your job is to hit the dance floor and boogie-oogie-oogie until you just can’t boogie no more! These dummies will be dancing with you, but they look so good, we should turn them into decor instead. Use Duro to turn the dancing dummies into stone statues. Everybody remember that spell from earlier this term? Duro, open D-shaped wand movement, turns objects to stone like this…”

Norman picked up a bright red balloon and tossed it into the air. “Duro!” he cast, making the open D movement. “LOOK OUT BELOW!” he called as the balloon turned to stone and fell near his feet with a thud.

“Try to hit the dummies before they hit you. The dummies will try to tap you on the shoulder. If they touch you, you must sit out for one full song. Likewise, if you stop dancing, you’re out of the game for a full song. The dummies’ dances will change periodically, so keep on your toes!” He meant that both literally and figuratively. Was there anything else he needed to add? Oh, yeah!

“Be careful where you aim - we don’t want any stony faces out there!” Or any other stony body parts! “On your mark, get set, GO!” Norman flicked his wand, and the music returned to its original volume. Another wand flick animated the dummies, and they began to dance.

OOC: The activity has officially started! Feel free to jump in at any time. This is not a lesson; late arrivals are welcome. Here’s a recap of the game rules:

1. The object of the game is to turn the dancing dummies to stone using the spell Duro.

2. The dummies will try to tap your character on the shoulder. If your character is touched, they’re out of the game for 1 full song.

3. Participants must dance for the duration of the game. If your character stops dancing, they’re out for 1 full song.

4. You get to decide when/if your character is out. You don’t need to wait OOC to rejoin the game. Just indicate somewhere in your post that your character is/was out and sat out the time.

5. Participants MUST NOT hit each other with their spells! Ducking/dodging is fine, but there should be no human transformations/injuries rped.

6. Please don’t rp for the dummies! I’ll be posting the dummies’ actions periodically.

If you have any questions, please PM me.

Ewart?

Ary wrinkled his nose. Did he really look like an Ewart? How did an Ewart even look? Definitely not like him. He shook his head, still trying to wrap his brain around Carton’s behaviour. That’s when he saw Vera and waved back to her with his balloon-free hand. Then, while Carton continued with his frivolity, Ary continued tossing the balloon in the air. He even threw it at Vera’s head one, just for the funsies. Of course, he knew she wouldn’t be hurt.

A dance party? Oooh, where was Dynah? This was her scene since she had begun taking dance lessons from Jude two years ago. Ary himself was no dancer, sadly. But listening to the instructions, he thought he understood the gist of the activity.

So, um… he just got started now that he had discarded the balloon? Ary stepped onto the dance floor, wand in his dominant hand and began to sway from side to side while revolving on the spot. Yes, he probably looked silly but he didn’t care. Because he was adjusting to the dancing, his movements were rather stiff.

Don’t mind him. He might warm up to shaking his limbs about soon.

Vicky? VICKY!?

That was even worse than Veronica, and Vera's face probably showed the offense that she felt at the mistake. She might even own up entirely to her pettiness now. She did NOT look like a Vicky.

Finding herself a spot in the room to pout stand and listen to instructions, she leaned herself against a wall and only sliiiightly tried to keep herself from glaring at Carton. She wasn't sure what it was about the Professor's sudden personality change, which had been welcomed initially only because of how exuberant the Professor suddenly was. But now he was forgetting and mixing up names - which wasn't actually something she'd noticed him do in the last 4 years of being a Hogwarts student.

Which actually, the more she thought about it - the weirder that was. Was the Professor doing some type of method acting? Were ALL of the Professors? Professor Khanna had been pretty weird too..

She was momentarily distracted from her thoughts by a balloon floating towards her, and she instinctively reached out and grabbed it, before looking around and spotting Aryan again. Laughing softly, she sent it back flying towards the first year.

But now it was also time to dance apparently. Pushing up off the wall, she stepped out onto the floor with her wand in her hand, her hand absently practicing the movement (did this count as dancing?) while she shimmied her shoulders a bit. She was trying to keep an eye out for any of the dummies coming towards her, but she couldn't spot any right away.

Pink blur anyone?

Yes, that could only be a small first year Slytherin racing down towards the grounds in some clothing with a bright pair of pink high tops on her feet that matched the bright pink tutu around her waist. What?! She liked pink! And it seemed like this was a perfect fit coming from the loud blasting music that she was hearing all the way across the grounds.

The closer she got, the bigger her blue eyes went as she took in the scene around her. Fairy lights, balloons, streamers, lanterns! This was great! Lets not mention the food that she no doubt took notice of immediately. Wonderful choices there, Professor! Seriously, this girl loved her snacks.

Now whatever they were all meant to be playing... erm.. she hadn't a clue. She missed that part. Whoops, sorry! There would be time to figure it all out in a moment.. or maybe not. It didn't really matter. "Hi! hi! I'm here! I love the set up, Professor! And you're robes, pink is definitely your color!" Obviously. More people should wear pink. Good going, Sir. "Can I put some of the confetti in my hair? Or do you have any glitter?!" Glitter was lovely and shiny. Shiny things were the bestest.

Bry bounced up and down on her toes, giving finger wiggles to Ary and Vera. Ooooh, they could help her figure out what was happening, right? Cause clearly those spiffy looking practice dummies weren't just moving about for no reason what-so-ever.

The brightly-attired dummies dispersed throughout the dance floor, shaking and shimmying in time to the music as they went. One dummy wearing a fluorescent green dress and a fruit hat moved toward the boy (Aryan). As it neared, it reached out a wooden hand to try and tap him on the shoulder.

Another dummy in bright orange robes and a hat that made it look like a traffic cone approached the girl (Vera) from behind. Closer, closer it drew until it reached out its arm to try to touch her shoulder.


Norman blinked confusedly. Even a scatterbrain like him couldn’t ignore the nose wrinkle from Ewart (Ary) and the pouting from Vicky (Vera). Seriously, what was up with these kids today?! Maybe dancing would cheer them up a bit… he hoped!

He stood aside to give the kids plenty of space to boogie-oogie-oogie, dancing along with the dummies. He danced his way to the refreshment table and helped himself to a couple of licorice wands. While he was there, he spotted another student (Bryony). Now that was more like it! The girl’s attire and cheery attitude got a biiiig toothy smile. “Hey, what’s up? Welcome, welcome!” He greeted her with a dramatic wave. The compliments had him smiling even more than ever, if that was possible! “Oh, thank you! Pink is everybody’s color!” Glitter? D’oh! How did he not think of that?! “Sure, help yourself to all the confetti you want! Sorry I don’t have any glitter, but that’s an excellent idea for the next party!”

After a few minutes, Norman grew bored with the dance. Time to mix it up a bit! Chicken dance, anybody? He flicked his wand at the dummies, and they began doing the chicken dance. Turning his attention to Bridget (Bryony) again, he said, “Would you like to join the game? All you have to do is try to turn the dummies to stone with the spell Duro… all while dancing! If a dummy taps you on the shoulder or if you stop dancing, you’re out for one full song.”

Balloons being thrown back at him by Vera, and Bry arriving a little late and moving dummies… oh my!

Ary’s limbs had not loosened in the least, which made sense as he always was not squinting dramatically at the dummy approaching him. Oh, he could see it quite clearly {how could it be missed when it was dressed so exuberantly?} but he just wanted to let it know that he was onto it.

Wiggling his shoulders, Ary quickly sidestepped out of the dummy’s way. “Missed,’’ he called happily, pleased by his nimble move. “Have a spell for your troubles. Duro.” The D movement was quickly traced out.

And what’s this? The Chicken Dance? Yeah.. no. Ary was not doing that; he was just going to jive to his own moves {half of which were out of time with the music}.

As the professor aimed his spell, the dummies froze in the middle of their dance, their arms and legs stuck in strange positions. A split second later, they resumed dancing, this time doing the chicken dance. The dummy in the fruit hat was oblivious to the boy’s (Aryan) squinting. Its only concern was the chicken dance… that and trying to tap the boy on the shoulder.

The dummy’s touch may have failed, but the boy’s spell did not. The fruit-hatted dummy turned into an awkward-looking stone statue with its arms out mid-flap. One dummy down, many more to go! Another dummy, this one wearing a pink tutu and fairy wings, chicken danced its way toward the boy. As it neared, it reached out a hand in an attempt to touch his shoulder.


Norman stayed in his spot by the refreshment table, chicken dancing along with the dummies. “I don’t wanna be a chicken, I don’t wanna be a duck so I shake my butt…” he sang. The last line was punctuated with a dramatic butt wiggle!

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ewart’s (Ary) spell hit its target and applauded loudly. “Good one, Ewart!” he called.

After a few minutes, Norman grew bored with the Chicken Dance. Time to mix it up again! He pointed his wand at the dummies, and they started doing the Macarena. “Heeeey, Macarena!”

Ary rather liked this game as he, quite truthfully, was having the time of his life. Firstly, his fruity tutty dummy friend had missed tapping Ary’s shoulder and secondly, his spell had hit its target. This meant that ole fruity tutty was stuck in a ridiculously funny pose. There was barely any time to get a round of laughter out when Carton was calling to him. Or at least Ary thought it was to him Carton was referring to because… who the heck was Ewart? The man was fixed with a narrowed eyed look of suspicion. There was something seriously wrong with that man.

However, there wasn’t time to dwell upon that. A pink tutued fairy!dummy was macarenaing towards him. Not really dancing but just moving from side to side while sticking out his hands in time with the words of the song, Ary kept his eyes on the dummy. Too bad he completely forgot about the others around him; this would make it easy for another to sneak up on him since he wasn’t paying attention.

“Duro.” Become a statue, you fairy!dummy!

Vera wasn't sure at this point with the gathering of individuals, Carlton, dummies and the addition of the brightly clad Bryony, who was wearing the most color? Although, the color was clearly helpful as it meant she caught sight of the blonde and her arrival and gave her a return wave before also then spotting the orange thing coming towards her - which gave her just a fraction of a second to duck and quickly dance out of way of the dummy. Turning back as she attempted to moon walked away from the dummy, she drew a D in the air with her wand as she called out "Duro!"

.... Did Aryan just get called Ewart? At least the names she got started with the same letter, she supposed. Giving the man a curious glance she couldn't help the slight smile at the ridiculous dance movements before attempting to mimic him. At least the macarena was easy?

If not also a little disorienting with all of the perspective shifts as she rolled her hips and jumped to face a different wall.