masquerade (open to adults)

The Rules of the Masquerade Soirée:

1) You must wear a mask, or a combination of mask and make-up/ face paint that covers your eyes and identity.
2) You must wear formal attire, or costume formal.
3) You must not remove your mask while inside the main room.
4) An enchantment has been secured around the area of the soirée. Much like anti-muggle enchantments that affect the brain, this one disguises the voices of guests as being unrecognisable. You will hear their voice, but you will not recognise it. Very simple, and very effective. No attempt must be made to lift the enchantment while you are here.


It was an indoor hall in Hogsmeade that mainly hosted indoor bazaars and events, but tonight it had been completely transformed into an magnificent palace ballroom. Roman Doric columns in pale marble held the coffered ceilings, tables of white with pearl-gilded legs stood under the weight of silver platters supporting alabaster fruit bowls, towers of delicate pastries and savouries, and chocolate fountains large enough to drown in. Alabaster vases stood bearing an abundance of white, perfumed roses and long, white ostrich feathers. The place gleamed like the purest of snow, but for the guests of the soirée, they knew it was anything but pure.

Being a fortnightly Professor meant Leythan Selwyn had a lot of time on his hands, and the time he had, he spent unwisely. He'd invited everyone from Ministry personnel to socialites, but somehow he knew - looking at the sheer numbers that had turned out this evening - not all of them had received a direct invitation. For now, that mattered very little to him. The champagne was pouring and the wine was plenty. He was just the same as everyone else: no identity, no name, just another mask in attendance.

It was exciting, wasn't it? Just to be a presence and nothing else. Of course, one could reveal their identity, or let little titbits of information about their lives leak into the conversation. That wasn't a rule. You could damn well say your name and have done with it, that was also an option. But for those who just wanted to be someone else for a time, they could be.

There was music, there was dancing, there was laughter. Although the place was large, the room to move was restricted by the numbers. It was intimate, and it was daring. In a world of rules and expectation, this could be their solace.

As usual, her husband was out of the country doing his business travels. Millicent found it to be a shame that he was unable to find the time to briefly return for one night. Though, she supposed his ability to have perfect slumber was important. He had been going back and forth between every hemisphere and inch of the Earth that it was miraculous he was able to function as well as he did. Well, at least they both would have stories to tell in their chamber once he was able to return and settle down for a moment to see the progress in the wedding planning.

Millicent had taken an earlier shift so she could attend this masquerade soiree; she purposely chose to get ready away from her own family's manor as her mother-in-law would know exactly what was going on, and she was in no mood to have some open criticism hurled at her now that two of her children were back in school. Her hair was done-up far more than usual: it was slightly pulled back, the sides of her hair was adorned in ringlets and small roses. She also went the extra mile of making her hair more of a wine-red to conceal her identity further.

Her mask was also a velvet black adorned in lace and roses that obscured part of her right cheek. Her formal wear? A corset that placed a lot of emphasis on her bust and a long hoop-skirt that looked as if she was wearing a rose garden. It was a level of ornateness and garishness she didn't display too often.

With a glass of champagne in hand, Millicent watched a nearby gathering simply taking in the ambience and atmosphere of the hall.

The past few months had seen a lot of drastic changes in his life: first was his wedding, then soon after the birth of his daughters, then came the madness of overprotection he had for their small, helpless forms, and now he had arrived here: tired of the pattern he had sunk into, and very much nostalgic for the life he'd led before. The possibilities had been endless back then. He missed scheming petty schemes against his foes. He missed being free; as his uttermost, authentic self.

He didn't really need a mask as he could be anyone he wanted to be. His powers saw to that. But he was Ptolemy - a former version of himself, covered up under a beak and feathers and black and gold.

"You have barely said a word," he murmured, to a woman who had been sat beside him wordlessly for a time, "Is it that you're trying hard to create an air of mystery, or are you not drunk enough to have a good time?"

Leythan had nestled himself in between two birds.

Quite literally. Their masks told as such.

Perhaps they could have been twins, he thought excitedly: one man, one woman. Although he had his arms draped around their shoulders simultaneously, he could tell that he was getting more interest from the man. The woman seemed to be going along with it: either because she was drunk on alcohol, the atmosphere, or the feeling that she could do anything without consequence. The man was pressed against his chest, fingers curling around Leythan's hair playfully. This was a man who couldn't be openly homosexual, probably.

"If neither of you will dance with me, then I will simply have to leave you. Where there is music, I must dance."

As good as it was to lull around the place and drape himself over people, the music and the alcohol had got the better of him. He needed to move and mingle. Standing up and abandoning his pleasurable company, he ambled around the champagne glasses and drew alongside a woman who could have been old or young, pretty or ugly, but seemed well enough for him. "Are those shoes for show, or could they be to dance?"

Hector didn't know where to stand, what to do, or how to be. It seemed more of an anonymous pleasure palace than a soirée: everyone was so tightly knit together, brushing against one another, howling and laughing and drinking and guzzling. He felt compelled to adjust his mask every five seconds so that it was firmly pressed against the bridge of his nose and secured tightly at the back. What would anyone think, just by seeing him there? But surely, those who he thought were his greatest critics were also in the crowd, drunk and merry and stroking one another without the slightest hint of shame.

At least he had a glass to hold. If he had a glass to hold, he felt somewhat secure.

Hearing about the soiree through word of mouth, Victoire just had to go! As she hadn't been in Hogwarts in years, she had been missing the fun of formals, and it sounded like a very fun way to spend her night.

Her usual love for mushrooms were monumentally toned down; her dress and mask looked more as if she was a walking ocean with her blonde hair being the shore's sand. She had been sitting beside a man who was trying to hold a conversation with her, but, oopsie, she was sort of zoned out.

Then something in her brain made her snap out of it, and she turned to him.

"Whoa, how did youuuuuu get there?"

@Ptolemy Rowle

By day, Acheflow was the perfect mature pureblooded woman who doted on and kept her grandchildren in line. Right now, you wouldn't have guessed that she was amongst the many guests at the soiree. Her dress was a beautiful emerald green that shimmered like fish scales and draped over her like a Greek statue. Her mask also resembled fish scales, and her hair was slicked back instead of her usual poofier styles; she desired to look sleek this time around. Perhaps it'd make her appear younger as well.

Walking through the crowd, Acheflow walked over to one of the fruit bowls and began helping herself to some grapes.

He moved so that his hands were grasped behind his back, and uttered a low chuckle.

Then, he leant closer to the crook of her neck and confided:

"In a glass pumpkin carriage flanked by abraxans."

The most he could see was that she had flaxen hair, and that she was visioning a sort of mermaid in the style of her dress. Ptolemy was reminded of the painting in the Prefect's bathroom, when Alayna had invited him, flapping her fins and waving flirtatiously at him.

"How did you get here? Dragged by pirates? Caught in a ship's net? Or is this just a time before midnight that you have feet to walk on land?"

His thin lips grew to a smirk.

@Victoire Weasley

Quinn didn’t normally come to the functions like this. She usually frequented much less formal events where she could sing and relax and pretend she wasn’t who she was. But this sounded fun. She had spent her entire adult life trying to hide who she was and here she could be whoever she wanted. She wore a black mask over the upper half of her face, a skintight black dress on the rest of her body that left very little to the imagination but somehow she pulled it off. She didn’t usually dress as such, favoring band t-shirts and hole filled jeans but she was being someone else tonight.

She sipped at a glass if champagne as someone approached her, asking about her shoes and dancing. A smirk came to her lips below her mask. ”I think they would do quite well for dancing if you’re offering?” She said because she was here to enjoy herself, not stand alone sipping champagne!

@Leythan Selwyn

Unlike other people, Edith was at the soiree to gather information. She, of course, couldn't blatantly take notes like she normally would due to the nature of the gathering nor positively identify the attendees if they don't make themselves obvious. However, it was going to bring great insight into the lives of the pureblood elite that she felt her daughters would appreciate for their future work in journalism.

She kept her mask and dress simple and unremarkable to draw as little attention to herself as possible: white and white with feathers. The things she did for a good scoop! Sh found herself standing near a man after she grabbed herself a glass of champagne. She had to blend in as much as possible.

Edith turned to the man beside her and smiled before nursing her drink.

Her jaw dropped. He came in an Abraxan-led carriage?!

"Are you a priiiiiiince?!"

Then Victoire gasped. "You are a priiince! What kingdom are you from?!"

His hair was dark and impeccably well-taken cared of from what she could gather. Wait - did he have feathers for hair? Merlin, she was getting to know an actual bird! Moving her hand to his face, she stroked one of the feathers. Her mind exploded at how soft the feathers were.

"I am the oceaaaaaaaaan. I jumped out of waaaaaaaater!"

Victoire giggled as she poked at his beak. "Are you going to eat me, birdyyyyyyyyyy priiiiiiiiiiince?!"

@Ptolemy Rowle

Claudia had never been to anything like this before! It was all rather exciting to her, though. It was the anonymity of it all. The close quarters everyone found themselves in... The wine and champagne that flowed freely. Every time she found her glass empty, it was refilled. She thought that she would love to overhear about events like this more often. Sure, she was more or less crashing the party since she hadn't been personally invited but surely she wasn't the only one. And who would know anyway? No one knew who anyone else was here.

She had just recently taken the last sip of her red wine and placed the empty glass on a tray someone was carrying through the crowd. She reached up, making sure her mask was in place, it was. She had gone with an autumn theme for her dress, the mask shades of red, gold, and brown to look like the autumn leaves and her dress matching. She had made sure that the gown was long enough to hide her flat shoes when she knew everyone else was probably wearing heels, she wasn't looking to kill herself tonight. As she walked towards the table to get another glass of wine she brushed against someone on her way, not that it was easy to avoid doing so in such close quarters.

Alayna had excuses herself to the ladies room to check her makeup and hair while Ptolemy made the rounds of saying hello to people. She hated the idea of being away from the twins for a whole night, but she knew she needed some grown up time that wasn't being a mother. She straightened the delicate silver mask on her face before walking back to the main room for the party. Her green dress hugged her curves which were amazing for having just had twins. She found ptolemy in the crowd, mask or not she knew her husband, and made her way over to him, kissing his cheek as she took a seat, "Now what sound woman would let you out of her sight?" She asked, teasingly before giving the mystery woman a smile

@Ptolemy Rowle @Victoire Weasley

Dominique was extremely bored with this event. She didn't really see anyone she knew or hung out with in her school days. She sighed and sipped on a glass of champagne with her golden mask sitting on her face. Her red hair was curled into tendrils to frame her face perfectly. She looked around and managed to lock eyes with someone else.