30 replies to this topic

[Professor d'Ambray]

The notices had been posted in the common rooms several days ago, an Easter Egg hunt had been arranged by the staff who had been busily hiding a selection of golden eggs in various places around the grounds and the castle of Hogwarts. These eggs were a foot in length and had been magically concealed so they could not be discovered until the start of this event.

Kenton now stood on the grounds, in front of the large group of students who had assembled there. Beside him were a several stacks of baskets. These baskets looked to be of a regular size but they had been enchanted so that there was no limit to the number of eggs that they could contain. He noticed  that a number of the more observant students had already taken their own baskets, which was probably sensible as it would help to avoid the mad dash that would surely commence shortly.

"Welcome to the Easter Egg hunt" he addressed the crowd at that point "hidden around the school are a number of golden eggs. These eggs could be in any classroom, any corridor or anywhere on the grounds. They eggs have been magically concealed so they could not be found ahead of time but that spell is about to wear off, so they will become visible as soon as I start the game."

He then explained the process "I see some of you have already collected a basket of your own, that may be a wise move. You will need a basket in which to store your eggs. Only eggs that are in your basket will score you points and once an egg is in your basket it can not be removed until the end of the game. Until an egg is in your basket it does not count as your own. The game will end when all your baskets turn red and will not accept any more eggs."

His expressen became a little more stern. "Wands may not be used during this task, except in an emergency. What I mean here is that anyone who waves a wand at any point will forfeit the game and any points they have earned up to that point."

"You may begin..." he instructed, then started the game by raising his own wand and sending red sparts in to the air "NOW!" He knew that at that at that point the eggs would reveal themselves, but they were well hidden, the students would have to look for them. None of them would be here in the starting area, that would be too easy.

-----
[[OOC: The Rules

1. This game will only be played within this thread, there will be no mention of the Easter Egg hunt anywhere else.

2. During this game the rules regarding Godmoding are relaxed slightly. Students may snatch eggs out of each other's hands or push other people out of the way to get to their eggs. You may not determine how other players act or what they say though. Remember that once an egg it is someone's basket it is their own and can not be taken from them.

3. There shall be no fatal injuries and any students caught fighting will not only forfeit the game but also find themselves in deterntion.

4. As mentioned, wands are not to be used during the Easter Egg hunt.

5. You may collect no more than one egg per post, but each egg you collect will earn you house points. There will also be a bonus for the student who wins the event.

6. The game will run until 10pm (GMT) on Sunday. Any posts made after this time will not be counted. (10pn GMT is the same is 5PM Eastern or 2PM Pacific Time.) The game will be ended by a professor, not a student.

7. Students may not double post. You must wait for another student to make a post before you add another, and people with multiple student accounts must wait for a student who is not one of their own to post before they can add another with either of their own.

8. Staff may also join this thread but will not be taking part in the game,

9. Keep hold of your basket, without your basket any eggs you find will not count.

Good luck! and have loads of fun in this thread.

[Alexander Sowerby]

Alexander half listened to Professor d'Ambray as he went over the rules, he really wished to be somewhere else right now. Trying to perhaps figure out the mystery of the place one could vanish on the Seventh Floor Corridor. The one in front of the Tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, where he had seen Adelaine, Lisette and Meghan disappear off to. He hadn't yet relayed his suspicions to Elisabet.

Feeling it would be best to figure out how to vanish in that place. They couldn't just disapparate, he thought as he heard Professor d'Ambray continue to talk looking sternly at some of the students. One couldn't simply apparate or disapparate within the grounds of Hogwarts, most knew that. Was it some sort of tapestry that looked and felt like solid wall but could be walked through if one had the right password? Some of the portraits worked like that.

Suddenly aware that everyone was scrambling for a free basket, Alexander let the mob sway and push him toward grabbing his own. He wasn't all that eager to be here collecting eggs. He wasn't six years old when this was the sort of fun he looked forward to. The older students looked especially peeved, most of them stood together, laughing and mocking some of the more eager first year students who were scouring for golden eggs.

Alexander slowly walked toward a bush he thought he'd start at when he saw the drawl of the Slytherin Prefect call to the first, second and third years who were the most eager for this hunt. "This is all about collecting the most, so we can win the House cup." just than a sixth year tripped up a first year Hufflepuff boy with a trip jinx, taking his eggs and passing them to a bunch of first year Slytherins. The Slytherin Prefect laughed at the boy and told him "You ought to be more careful when you walk, mudblood", Alexander glanced and saw that Professor d'Ambray wasn't looking in the direction. He didn't care for the bullying, but Alexander knew he had no say in what happened. Especially considering the Sixth year and the Prefect seemed to be in on trying to cheat as much as possible.

[Alistair Bauldaugh]

Amid the boys and girls assembled on the ground at Hogwarts, Alistair was bouncing ever so slightly on the balls of his feet. Last year he and Cerri had managed to collect several eggs, but he knew that the better strategy was to go it alone and collect all of the shiny eggs in his path. He listened every now and then, listening to d’Ambray as he talked about how large the eggs were, something about baskets not giving eggs back, and no wands. That seemed rather counterintuitive for a wizarding school, but Alistair wasn’t going to talk back.

The third year had selected a rather ordinary basket from the bunch, nothing with bows or otherwise that might get caught underfoot or hit him in the leg as he ran about. Someone called out that Slytherin was going to take the House Cup. “It would take ten of these events to give Slytherin a prayer,” Alistair muttered happily to himself. He was perhaps still overly proud of his contribution to the better house, Hufflepuff that is, winning the previous year.

There was movement around him, and Alistair realized that the students had been let loose. Nothing in the immediate area gleamed into visibility, but it was not a bother. Alistair immediately took off toward the edge of the lake and found a row of trees. He was one of the most adept tree climbers he knew, and checked the still mostly bare branches.

Six feet above his head, a large glittering egg was perched between the trunk and two supporting limbs. Looping the handle of the basket around his arm and up on his shoulder like a book bag, Alistair began his assent. He was upon the prize in less than a minute and sat himself on the branch, carefully maneuvering it into the basket. From his perch, he searched the grounds for another hint of gold. He had the foresight to wear his glasses that day, and the highs and lows of the area between him and Hogsmeade were uncharacteristically clear.

[Daniella Cruz]

As childish as it may seem, Dani was looking forward to the Easter Egg Hunt. Yes, it was lacking thrills, but it might be fun and there would be chocolate eggs to eat at the end of it. Plus there was the possibility of house points and there was always the chance to show up her enemies. Dani never missed a chance to prove she was better than just about everyone at this school.

She slithered through the crowd to grab a basket before D'Ambray could start giving directions. She was going to be ready the minute it was time to go, no waiting around for a signal for her. Too bad it was a teacher sanctioned move apparently. Darn.

She listened as he went on, impatiently tapping her foot. She already had a plan and while she was a little disappointed she couldn't use her wand, it was probably for the best. Plenty of older students were out and they probably knew much better spells than she did.

As soon as D'Ambray gave the word, she was off, running back towards the castle. A few older Slytherins had stolen from a first year Hufflepuff and one even had the nerve to offer the eggs to her. Dani shot him a cold look. "I don't need your help," she said coolly. "I can win without help, even stolen, from a Mudblood."

Without a backward glance she rushed inside and into the Great Hall. Everyone else would hopefully mess around outside, but Dani had no intention of competing with every other stupid student for her eggs. Instead she started walking along the tables and with a crow scooped up her first egg which was tucked between the bench and one of the table legs. With a grin she dropped it into her basket and started walking again.

[Mary Lynn Wilkins]

Mary was reasonably excited about this EAster Egg hunt, it sounded like a lark although at the same time she couldn't help feeling that her small size and her youth might put her at some disadvantage. She did find that the instruction that wands should not be ussed made the whole thing a little bit fairer though, she wouldn't have to worry about some older student being more skilled with magic. They would be of course, but without wands the whole business would be much fairer.

She had collected a basket even before the professor started the event, as soon as she had walked by the pile in fact. It seemed like the sensible move as there would likely be a mad rush for them in a moment, and as some students had taken their baskets early and the professor hadn't objected it seemed like a wise course of action, he had even complimented the students who had the foresight to do so.

Once the event was started, Mary set off towards the castle, she saw a number of people were hanging around the grounds and that surely would make for slim pickings as everyone would be competing for the same eggs. She noticed one older Slytherin student effectively bullying a younger child into surrendering their egg and she glanced in that direction with an expression of profound disapproval as she passsed. She had no time for bullies.

Heading into the castle she headed up the main staircase and on to the First Floor corridor, looking left and right as she travelled. It wasn't long before she saw her first egg, partially concealled behind one of the statues. She reached out and colllected it, dropping the item into her basket. That was her first egg taken care of, now to see if there would be any more.

[Alexander Sowerby]

The bush was a dud, nothing. Not a single thing underneath it or within it.

Alexander wondered how long this charade would last, everyone was just incredibly loud and obnoxious. The Slytherin upper years continued to bully a number of students, threatening them with inexplicable amount of hexes being thrown at them if they didn't surrender the majority of their eggs. Than, he saw something shinning. Glancing around he saw that no one seemed to have seen it. It seemed to be hidden with the Earth.

Quickly he glanced once around to see if anyone had seen him, he dug his fingers into the soggy grass and ground and after some tugging and pulling, he was able to reach in and take out a golden egg. His hand all dirty from the mud that it was now caked with. Thinking that perhaps he'd wash it in the lake, he suddenly thought of something else. It was the Slytherin prefect, talking to a Hufflepuff second year he didn't recognise. "Hey Marcus," Alexander said as he came up to the Prefect. The sixth year looked at him and gave him a quizzical look, "Sowerby?" Alexander patted him on the back, wiping his mud caked hand in the process. "I heard you were interested in working for my father over the summer?"
The prefect's face flushed, "Well, it was just an idea. I mean, I understand if it's not possible."

Alexander smirked, "No, no, I'll put in a good word;" he said patting him once again "My dad is very interested in seeing you once you graduate, has heard a lot about you" he lied. Shaking the Prefect's hand with his making sure that the prissy prefect's hand would be now dirty.

The prefect stood there uncertain as to what to say, Alexander walked away toward the castle laughing to himself.

[Joseph Arthur Wilkins]

Unlike his sister, Joe had not the foresight to pick up a basket ahead of the start of the event so he joined the general melee of people trying to collect theirs from the stacks on offer before he could begin the game properly. Eventually though he did manage to colelct one and once he had he pondered for a time where he would go to look for his eggs.

He also made his way into the castle itself, and he actually caught a glimpse of his Mary heading up the main staircase. For a time he pondered following her, but then he changed his mind. This was meant to be a game for people to play individually, not in groups. He decided instead to elect for another staircase, the one that lead down towards the dungeons and the potions classroom.

He wandered up and down the corridor for a few minutes, wondering whether he should try one of the doorways leading into the underground classsrooms, but then he spotted a hint of gold behind one of the tapestries. He reached around and took an egg from its hiding place and dropped it into his basket before moving off in search of another.

[Elisabet la Barre]

Elisabet was too busy listening to the professor to grab a basket before the melee started. By the time the other students had gathered their baskets it was pretty slim picking for her. Elisabet did manage to grab a ratty looking basket with a rather small depressed looking purple bow

Well, a basket is a basket. I suppose, Elisabet thought to herself with a shrug. Deciding to look around to see where her friends went she saw a disappointed Alexander over by the bushes and she did remember seeing Mary flitting towards the castle.   The castle seemed like a good place to start, she  had already witnessed an older student bully a 1st  year. Elisabet may be 12 but she was one of the smallest first years around and she had no intention of being bullied.

Making  her way inside the castle Elisabet heard Daniella make an excited voice from the Great Hall. Best to avoid that way Elisabet thought. She had no intention of running into Daniella today, so she made her way to the charms corridor.

On her way she passed some suits of armour and giving them a cursory glance she noticed a glint of yellow behind the. Egg-cellent she thought as she put the egg in her basket and then giggled to herself at the pun wishing Alex, Mary or Meghan were nearby to share it with

[Alistair Bauldaugh]

The wind blew softly through Alistair’s grown out hair and his legs dangled idly off the edge of the tree branch. He liked his position above the students, watching them run back and forth. He even saw one boy dig into the ground and pull up an egg. Had it been left there, like a giant golden seed, Alistair wondered if it would have sprouted roots like a plant.

He had wasted too much time up there, however. The tree was comfortable and a good place for watching, but looking down on everyone wouldn’t get him any more eggs. He had seen one far off, close to the quidditch pitch. If there weren’t many over there, it would turn out to be a waste of precious time to go retrieve it. But the majority of the students had already run indoors. Did he stand much of a chance in there either? Deciding that he did not, he slipped down the branches and landed lightly on the ground before sprinting toward the towers and high baskets of the Pitch.

Rather than head right in and onto the playing field, Alistair took a turn at the entrance and began running up the stairs. He had seen the glint of gold somewhere near where the announcer sits during the games. He hoped that it wasn’t simply a reflection from the contraption used to call out the score. What an ingenious place to hide it though! He got up to the top of the tower and found, much to his dismay, that there was no egg there. Panting, Alistair bent forward and held his hands on his thighs.

Turning to go back downstairs, the boy noticed something shiny off to his right. In the next tall tower over, there was an egg resting just out of the shade. Delighted by his luck, Alistair ran down a few flights of stairs and then back up the next set over. It was, perhaps, a little more running than one should afford a simple egg. However, he couldn’t suppress the glee on his face when the egg fit snugly inside the basket.

[Daniella Cruz]

Dani continued to move down the Great Hall, no one else had come inside yet, well all the better for her! In such a big room, she couldn't imagine there would only be one egg, that would just be stupid. She didn't see anything else under the tables or on the benches. Maybe she would just move on, if she wasted too much time in one room all the good stuff would be taken! She had been hoping people would stay outside, but she swore she could hear the scurrying of footsteps. Why couldn't they have just been as stupid as usual and stay outside?!

She was about to give up, when a twinkle of gold caught her eye. There, right on the headmaster's seat if you were brave enough to grab it! Without hesitation, Dani ran up the flight of steps to the staff table and slid among the chairs until she was at Llwellyn's big, gilded seat. It was too high for her to just grab, so with a shrug she clambered up onto the chair and plucked the egg down from among the decorations on top. Whether they were supposed to be standing on his chair she didn't know, but she didn't care either.

Grinning, Dani dropped the egg into her basket, then jumped down. She dusted off the dirt she had tracked on the chair's arm, and took off, out of the hall and into the main castle.

[Alexander Sowerby]

Stepping into the Hall, he saw that a number of students were now checking the Great Hall looking for eggs. How he wished he just go downstairs into his dorm and take a nap. Sure, they claimed this was all for fun and was therefore voluntary and yet the Prefects  had made it a punishable offence to not come, especially since points were on the line.The greatest irony of this was that the older students didn't even bother collecting the eggs.

Alexander looked into a broom cupboard that was off the Great Hall, discovering to his delight a golden egg hidden in a bucket of water that was unused undoubtedly  by the caretaker. He placed the egg in his basket walking out of the room slowly, wondering where he should go next. Deciding it best to try an upper floor corridor, he dashed up the marble staircase onto the second floor. Slowly he walked down the corridor, wondering where to look next.

[Joseph Arthur Wilkins]

Having walked a couple of times down the Dungeons corridor and not seeing any more eggs, Joe decided to start looking in one of the classrooms. Starting at the far end of the corridor and deciding to work backwards, Joe opened the doorway of the first classroom on his left hand side. The room was deserted, there was still writing on the board from the most recent lesson that had taken place in here but there was more than enough light for him to look around.

He started scanning everywhere he could find; in corners, behind desks, under seats and even in cupboards. It took him a few minutes but eventually he found a hint of gold behind a stash of unusual looking objects hidden in one of the cupboards. He pulled the golden egg out and dropped it in to his basket, so the single egg that was already in there was no longer alone.

Feeling that he had exhausted the possibilities of this particular room he stepped out in to the corridor ready to try another door. There appeared to be a number of them to choose from.

[Daniella Cruz]

The first floor was probably picked clean by now, but Dani couldn't help taking  a quick look. If it was, she would head up, maybe to one of the towers? Only she wasn't sure if that would actually be worth the time it would take. She supposed it depended on how many people were in here and how thorough they were going to be looking. Not that Dani was a fan of thorough, she preferred quickness, over being careful. That was her problem with Potions and Transfiguration.

She trotted past the hour glasses displaying the house points, thrilled to see Slytherin was still in the lead and with a nice big gap between them and Ravenclaw, when she saw a the glint of gold. It could have been the hourglass itself, but she wriggled between the Gryffindor and Slytherin glasses and was rewarded by a shiny egg, tucked behind them. Gloating, she took it out and carefully extracted herself, in time to back right into a third year Slytherin boy who had most likely been impressed into the hunt like so many others.

"Hand it over shrimp," he ordered reaching out to tug the egg out of her hands.

"Find your own!" she snapped, clutching her prize more tightly.

"Why you-" he reached down, whether to take the egg or grab her Dani didn't know, but she wasn't about to wait around and find out.

She kicked him in the knee as hard as she could and while he was howling in pain she turned and ran, scampering up the marble stairs and hurtling down one of the many corridors, nearly running straight into Alexander who was meandering down the corridor. "Sorry," she panted. "Stupid third year." He might want payback later on, but since she had the three eggs in her basket she was the winner of the moment.

[Elisabet la Barre]

Elisabet slowly made her way downs the Charms corridor scanning anything and everything that could possibly hold an egg. After pacing up and down and not finding anything Elisabet decided to check the classrooms. Opening up a door and realizing wasn't a classroom but a storage chamber she started to close the door she saw a glint of gold hiding underneath a broken down  bookshelf.
Wonderful! Another egg she thought as she scooped it up and placed it in her basket. Two down, hundreds to go she thought and continued her search down the hallway

Edited by Elisabet la Barre, 23 February 2012 - 09:03 PM.

[Lisette Amber Heartstone]

Late, late, late. The word echoed in Lisette's mind. She felt like a failure. Couldn't she ever be on time, for anything? Late for classes. Late for meals. She was even late for one of the most exciting and fun events on the Hogwarts calendar - the Easter Egg hunt.

Her tardiness was partly due to her parent's resourcefulness and organisational skills combined with her own pure laziness, funnily enough. They'd heard about this most exciting celebration from her countless letters before, and she'd often complained that the baskets provided by the school were old and worn and hurt her hands. Kindly, they sent her a fold-able basket decorated with pretty ribbons - rather girly for her taste, but she didn't mind. However, she'd let it sink down - down on her list of priorities, down to the very bottom of her suitcase. She'd had to spend ages digging through things, and in the end pulled out a dusty bag with the ribbons (coated with dust) sadly hanging there like dead fish. She sighed, then hurried and caught the last bits of d'Ambray's speech. No matter, she'd heard it all before anyway.

He signalled for the game to start. Lisette grinned, and rubbed her hands in anticipation. Knowing that the eggs were hidden in out-of-the-way, strange places, she randomly ran around the castle until she found herself somewhere she'd never seen before. She slowly walked further and saw it. It. A golden egg, glinting in the shadows, was within her reach - at least, she thought it was. Lisette, despite being tall for her age, could not reach it. She jumped. Nope. Yelled. Nope. Stomped. Nope. Nope. Nope!

She wanted to scream in frustration. She'd gotten lucky, with a golden egg within sight within a matter of minutes and any second now some leggy older student was going to steal it from her.

Lisette glared at the tall pillar upon which the annoying egg was situated and with a sudden burst of anger kicked it hard. Her strength sent the egg clattering to the ground and she placed it into her basket with a self-satisfied smirk. One down already!

[Alexander Sowerby]

"Sorry," a voice broke his concentration as he turned around to see who it was. Daniella stood there with what he thought was a winning smile. "Stupid third year."

Alexander smiled at the girl looking at her basket of three eggs to his two. He considered for a moment offering to bring her to the kitchens with him to find if there was any hidden treasures in there, but than again the kitchen were technically off-limits. The teacher wouldn't place any eggs within the room would they now?

"So, having fun?" he said breaking the silence which proceeded her statement.

[Luka Chancery]

The castle was alive with students, from first-year-babies to those so old that some of the boys had sprouted whispy beards. They all carried baskets, all ran and fought for eggs like it actually mattered.
Luka had no basket. He drifted through the hallways like a daylight ghost, glaring scorn at everyone. He didn't care about the house points. And he certainly did not want to be seen playing hunt the slipper kind of games like some five year old. What was the point?

He rounded a corner... and stopped. A slow, gentle smile spread over his lips.
So Alexander Sowerby was playing the egg game, was he? Asking that Daniella if she was having fun.
"So, having fun?" Luka mimicked, though his comment was aimed at Sowerby. His voice was cheerful and even his smile might be mistake for a kind one, if you were not looking very closly. But no one could mistake the cold glint in Luka's eyes.
He was just in the mood for picking a fight.

[Elisabet la Barre]

After combing the upstairs hallway and not finding anymore eggs Elisabet decided to see if there were any late blooming eggs in the Great Hall. Besides, as she got closer to the Hall she thought she heard Alex. It would be great fun to hunt with someone. She had thought about looking for Adele, but she was no where to be seen. She also saw Luka, the boy her and Zella and helped to the infirmary at the beginning of the school year  and who she had later hid from the day she met Alex.  He didn't look happy though, not at all. He looked slightly feral with a creepy half smile and he was glaring at Alexander. She walked closer and decided to approach him to see if she could figure out what was wrong
"Hello... Luka... right? I don't know if you remember me, but my sister and I helped you out a few months back. How have you been?  Did you want to share a basket with me so we can win points for our house? I don't think its against the rules, but we can always try and find you another basket it if it is.

While waiting for Luka's reply, she saw the familiar glint of a golden egg within arm reach of where her and Luke were standing. She grabbed the egg and plopped it into her basket with the others.

[Daniella Cruz]

So, having fun?

She grinned, "Actually, yes," she said. "It seems like it would be silly, but it's not actually, Except for the older students." She scowled a little it was behavior Dani expected from a Gryffindor, but from her own house? Well,  yes, maybe. He could have been after personal glory, but that was hardly going to win Slytherin the house cup! He should be stealing from Hufflepuffs or Gryffindors, even Ravenclaws, but not his fellow Slytherins. No wonder they hadn't won anything years, their house was filled with dummies!  

Before she could say much else, a Ravenclaw, Luka or something, interrupted. She shot him a distasteful look. “What, couldn’t find a basket?” she asked. “And I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be clever.”

Then Elisabet had to join the party. Eugh. As much as Dani would have liked to be rude to the girl, just as much as she and that stupid Gryffindor had been to her in the Owlery, she had to behave since Alex was for some strange reason her friend. That didn’t mean she couldn’t fire back to Luka just as good as he gave.

[Elisabet la Barre]

Elisabet had a mental chuckle as she saw the look Daniella flashed her as soon as she was noticed.She wasn't that keen on seeing her either, but she had been trying her best to be polite. It wasn't Elisabet's fault that Daniella had that superior personality trait that irked Elisabet.  Suddenly, she saw an egg up behind Daniella. This shall be fun,Elisabet thought to herself

"Hey! Dani, missed an egg" she said with a smirk as she reached up and around Daniella to grab the hidden egg right next to the girl and dropped it in her basket.
"Hi Alex, find many eggs yet? I have a few" she said to her friend

Edited by Elisabet la Barre, 24 February 2012 - 10:53 PM.