Open Butterfly Effect

[Lysander Summers]

The suit Lysander wore felt much too big for his small frame, despite his dad's assurances that it fit just fine. Suits were grown-up clothes, not meant for eleven-year-old boys, so no matter how many parts of it were magically adjusted, it just never felt right to him. Though he had spent a good deal of time fussing over his clothes in his dormitory already, even as he approached the Great Hall, he was still idling fiddling with the cuffs of his shirt in an endless attempt to adjust them. Giving up, he spared a glance toward Alec, whose own dress looked way better than what he was wearing. She looked so pretty wrapped up in what looked like butterfly wings, and a small touch of envy hit the boy over the fact that he too wasn't wearing some kind of cool butterfly wing jacket. Why did he get stuck with some lame outfit when it seemed like his father could make pretty much anything out of thin air?​

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The doors to the Great Hall were already open by the time Lysander reached them, but he had to stop mid-stride just to take the room in. This wasn't anything like the hall he was used to. Sure, it had already been redecorated once for the Halloween feast to look all spooky and creepy, but he hadn't had any idea what to expect from his first ball. He didn't even know what a yule was! He took a moment to nudge his friend in the side, pointing enthusiastically up at the ceiling above them. "Snow! It's snowing!" Without giving her much of a chance to respond, Lysander ran over to the closest chair he could find to give himself a boost. The snow seemed to be disappearing before it hit the ground, so he had to stand on his tip-toes just to reach it before it was gone. A cold flake touched his fingertips and melted into a droplet of water, much to his dismay. Perhaps if he could get higher, he could collect enough to make a snowball, but there were no taller chairs than the one he had found. He made a note to keep his eye out for any particularly tall students he could ask to get on the shoulders of.​

 

[Alec Tricity]

Alec had spent weeks agonising over her Yule ball dress. She didn’t wear them too often but she didn’t want it to be boring, and she wanted something that was going to impress people. Eventually she’d found one that was perfect, long and flowy with bright reds and yellows, with the biggest butterfly wing wrapped around her waist. She’d come down from the dormitory with a smug smile on her face, knowing that some people would be looking at her this evening but that was all part of the fun. She joined her friend who himself looked very dashing and grown up in his little suit, cuter still when she realised she was slightly taller than him when she linked her arm through his so she wouldn’t fall on her way to the Great Hall.

As the arrived, her jaw dropped at the scene in front of them. Sure. She’d seen a few decorations, and during the sorting ceremony there had been candles above them, but the snow looked so real. The brunette watched as Sandy ran over to a chair, and she grinned at his excitement. She always assumed none of this was new to him since he’d grown up with it all, so seeing him just as excited as Alec felt herself was welcoming, and made the first year believe she wasn’t as behind her classmates as she sometimes thought. She crossed the floor, watching the boy reach up and grab at the snow, which admittedly did look fun but there was no way she was going to try that while in her dress. She peered around at the others in the room, their outfits ranging from simple to complex and she knew she’d made the right choice with her own. “Is it cold?” She asked her friend. In her mind, the decorations were similar to a hologram so they weren’t completely accurate. Besides while it was cool in the room, that was probably because of some secret hidden fans or something, right? She had yet to distinguish the limits of what exactly this castle could do.

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma's mouth had fallen open the moment she had stepped into the great hall. It was almost unrecognizable, especially because it was summer outside. The hall was beautiful and looked like a Winter Wonderland. The house tables were gone, but there were tables in the corners full of delicious food that she immediately wanted to try. But before she could rush over there, she was distracted by the beautiful Christmas tree and wanted to run over there. But she only took a few steps until she realized there was snow coming down from the ceiling. She looked up at the falling snow and tried to catch a snowflake on her tongue, but it vanished before she could. Frustrated, Emma tried to jump up to catch one, nearly knocking into someone else. She wasn't very tall, so she hadn't even managed to get any snowflakes.

She looked around for something to climb or stand on, and then noticed Lysander was already standing on a chair. She headed over to him and noticed Alec was there too. Emma wanted to ask Lysander about the snow, but was sidetracked by Alec's dress. "WOW! You're a butterfly!" She said, staring at her with a mixture of awe and envy. "That's so cool!" She then turned to Lysander. "Can you get the snow from there?" She asked him, but before waiting for his reply, she tried to climb on the chair with him impatiently.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Try as he might, getting any snow that could last longer than a second was impossible. Lysander inspected his wet fingers with a furrowed brow, and shrugged his shoulders when Alec questioned the temperature. "Kind of, yeah. Its a bit cold when I touch it, but it won't stay frozen!" He pouted. The snow above their heads seemed to fall endlessly, yet so far any attempts to gather it were fruitless. He considered accio-ing some of the flakes of snow, but he couldn't grab a bunch at once with the spell. The boy wiped his fingers dry on the side of his jacket, and paused to wave at Emma when she came over to join them. Her reaction to Alec's dress once again had him annoyed that he wasn't wearing anything cooler, but he pushed the thought aside to focus on his snow-gathering mission. "A bit! It all melts too quickly and I can't get any big pieces, I need to reach even higher." He told her, shuffling aside on his chair to give her some room to climb up. It was a lot more wobbly, and even more difficult to get any of the snow with two people on. He had to grip onto the back of the chair just to keep his balance. "See what I mean? I bet its even colder closer to those clouds. I wish I'd brought a broom. Hey, you're a butterfly, Alec. Why don't you fly up and grab some?" He teased his friend. Unless she had somehow managed to get her dress enchanted to actually let her fly, but he figured if that were the case, he'd definitely know by now.​

 

[Oona Macaulay]

Oona wobbled into the great hall, wincing with each step. She'd already twisted her ankle twice on the way down the stairs, but she was damned if she was taking her high heels off after how hard she'd begged her dad to buy them for her. Might as well lose what remained of her dignity in style.

She held onto a statue to get a good look at the hall. It was truly beautiful, and not at all what she'd been expecting, considering it was summer in New Zealand. Snowflakes glittered in the misty heights, dancing amongst the baubles and disappearing just before they reached the ground. That must have been some advanced magic. She made a note to ask a professor how it was done and looked around for somebody she recognised. The first person her eyes landed on was Lysander, who was balanced precariously on the edge of a chair. A girl - Iris, or maybe Emma - clambered up alongside him. That was several broken bones just waiting to happen.

Releasing the statue, Oona hobbled over. "Oh my God, you're going to break your necks," she said. "Wait! Let me get some popcorn." There was none, but she grabbed a handful of snowflake-shaped biscuits that tasted a bit like cheese. "A galleon says she falls off first," she said to Alec, popping a biscuit in her mouth happily.

 

[Alec Tricity]

Alec wondered if it was only muggle snow that melted when you touched it, because Sandy seemed to be very confused that he couldn't capture the flakes that were falling on him. Snow was all still a bit surreal to the Gryffindor who'd only actually experienced it once when she was on holiday four years ago, but that didn't mean she didn't know that it usually melted. She turned her head when she received another compliment about her dress, and turned to smile at Emma knowingly. She looked good too of course, but the brunette was too busy bathing in her own glory to say so. "Hey, you're the flyer, you fly up and grab it!" Sandy knew full well this costume didn't actually work and besides, she was still a little sour that he'd managed to get on the team already. One day she would join him, she was sure of it, but since he was the professional, he was perfectly capable of flying up himself if he was so desperate for the snow. Alec sniggered again when Oona joined them, "Make it three." she urged, resting one of her hands on her hips and watching to see who would be the first to falter. It wasn't that she didn't believe in Sandy not to fall, but he was so eager to get himself into situations for the fun of it that she was fully prepared to watch him do whatever was necessary for him to reach his goals. The Gryffindor followed the Ravenclaw's motion to the snack table, "Hey Sandy, there's frogs here," she called out in glee, helping herself to a chocolate frog and being very careful not to get it on her dress; which, by the way, Oona had yet to comment on.

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma frowned a bit as Lysander told her the snow was could to the touch, but would melt. "So... is it real snow?" She asked him, shifting a bit to claim a little bit more room on the chair. It was a pretty tight fit. Emma tried herself to get some snow, but only ended up with wet hands for her effort. She pulled a face. "Eugh, yeah. I see what you mean." She said, unceremoniously wiping the melted snow on her dress. It was fine, it was just water. She hesitated. "Do you think I could sit on your shoulders on the chair?" She looked over at Lysander. "Beaters are supposed to be strong, right?" Emma looked down at the Ravenclaw who had joined them, and glanced down at her feet after she saw how she had hobbled. "I think you're going to break your neck first!" She called after the girl as she grabbed some biscuits. "Hey Oona, maybe you should get on the chair with those heels. Bet you could reach the ceiling." She added teasingly. As Alec mentioned chocolate frogs, Emma's dedication to the snow mystery wavered. She looked at Lysander for a moment, uncertain. "So... any other plans?"

 

[Artemisa Raven]

Artemisa entered the Great Hall along with her twin and her brother. Although they had all agreed to go together since none of them had dates anyway - Jai maintains that all of them were too young to be accompanied by anyone other than him or Corey, they would go separate ways for a little while to spend time with friends. Well, Corey had a date and Jai hadn't exactly been able to do anything about it. But anyways, a ball like this was definitely right up Artemisa's alley after having attended the annual Nightray Christmas ball. She had to admit though that Hogwarts seemed to be a lot more fun. With a small wave, Misa wandered off deeper into the Hall where she eventually found her fellow first year Gryffindors, most of whom she'd met already (and gotten into trouble with). Well, they seemed to be seeking trouble anyways - with climbing chairs and making bets on who'd fall first. "Are we trying to build a human pyramid on top of chairs, because I would definitely be up for it," she commented as she approached the group. Well, she wasn't sure on who all of them was, she wasn't very good with names - even if they had all been attending classes for a while.​

 

[Lysander Summers]

Sander stuck his tongue out at Alec's comment. "Let me just grow some wings real quick." He told her with a laugh. If he'd brought some fizzing whizzbees, perhaps he'd be able to float a few inches higher, but candy and broomsticks had been the last thing on his mind to bring along to a ball. Who knew they would be so necessary. He looked back at Emma when she mentioned how strong beaters were supposed to be, and raised his arm to flex his muscles, of which there were essentially none beneath the layers of fabric. "I am pretty strong, I could probably hold you up like really easy with all my muscles." The boy continued to show off his imaginary muscles, until he realised that Oona had joined the group and begun making bets. "Five galleons says neither of us falls. Doesn't count if you push." He countered, shooting Alec a particularly accusatory look. She'd pushed him off chairs enough times since they'd been friends. He perked up with excitement at the mention of chocolate frogs, and peered toward the table of snacks. "Are there cards? I need Paracelsus." He asked, frowning when it appeared to only be chocolate. What the heck did they do with all the cards if they were buying chocolate frogs? He made a mental note to go and ask the house-elves in the kitchen, on the off-chance that they were hoarding collectors cards by the hundreds every year. He would complete his collection for sure if that were the case.

Another classmate joined, at which point it seemed that the likelihood of them somehow reaching and gathering snow was even higher. Artemisa's mention of a human pyramid had him thinking. "Okay, say we like, got two chairs together, and then one person crouched on either chair, then the third person could stand on their backs and maybe then we'd get high enough. Or, or!" He interrupted himself by clapping his hands together enthusiastically, struck by an even better idea than that. "Did anyone bring a wand? What if one or two of us levitates the chair, and then we float up into the snow?" It was a brilliant and absolutely flawless plans with no negative consequences whatsoever. "Whatever we do, I call first dibs on making a snowball." He decided. It was his idea to get snow, so it was only fair.​

 

[Oona Macaulay]

"Deal," Oona told Alec, continuing to munch on cheesy biscuits. She smiled sarcastically at Emma. It had to be Emma. Iris didn't strike Oona as the sort of person to climb chairs and make fun of people's shoes. She snorted at Lysander's comment. "Do you think I'm made of money?" Technically she could afford to make the bet, but that wasn't why she refused. It had suddenly occurred to her that Lysander might know a spell to make his feet stick to the chair, and though her dad might have disagreed, she didn't actually enjoy throwing money away.

Many ideas were being thrown around, all of which sounded delightfully dangerous. Oona didn't have to guess which Raven twin had joined them. It was such a Gryffindor thing to think that making a human pyramid on top of a chair was a good idea. She was having a brilliant time imagining the human avalanche that was about to take place, but she had to put her foot down when Lysander asked if anybody had their wand. "No, no, I have nothing to do with this," she said, taking a step back. "I'm not getting expelled for murder. I'm just a witness."

 

[Alec Tricity]

So snow was interesting but it wasn't that interesting that the Gryffindor was going to lose more money and her friend over it. Besides in six months time the entire lawn would be covered in snow and she'd be able to smash Sandy's face straight into it and he would get all the snow in his mouth that he could ever desire. As another student from their dorm joined in, she wondered if other students around the world hadn't seen little flakes enough to want to climb on top of each other, and raising her eyebrows, Alec began munching on some of the chocolate instead of helping, "I dn 't bing a wond," she spat ungracefully through a mouthful of treats. She didn't know she would need it at a dance. Speaking of which, no one here was actually dancing. She swallowed her frog and cleared her throat, "Does it count if I push someone else and they fall in to you?" she asked, very seriously. She was determined to win the money after all. As the two of the students on the chair seemed keen to actually start climbing on top of each other all for a little taste of what looked like her grandmothers dandruff, she turned to the Ravenclaw beside her who seemed to have the right idea. "Do you want to dance?" she asked, hoping to leave the kids to themselves for when they ultimately landed in a heap.

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma shook her head as Artemisa joined and pondered what they were trying to do. "We're catching snow!" She yelled down at her, even though so far they hadn't really managed to catch much snow. She nodded as Lysander said they wouldn't fall, betting five galleons on him. "YEAH!" She said, to show her support for his claim. When he started to talk about cards, she poked him in the shoulder. "Focus!" She hissed. She listened to his ideas, but was skeptical. "I think that first one would kind of hurt, if you stand on someone's back." She said, thinking. "And I don't think we can levitate something so heavy. "She admitted sadly. She shrugged. "But I could get on your shoulders? If you really think you can carry me." She added a little hopefully. He didn't look that strong, and definitely wasn't very tall, but as far as Emma was concerned it was the most realistic idea yet. She rolled her eyes at Oona's commentary. "Well if you want nothing to do with this, why don't you go away?" She called to the Ravenclaw, she was getting on her nerves. Alec seemed to be done with it too, and Emma rolled her eyes again, pointedly. "Fine, go dance. But we'll be having fun without you." She said petulantly.

 

[Artemisa Raven]

Artemisa stared at the shoes that her dormmate was wearing as Lysander suggested that someone step on the others' backs. Well... That would hurt. And she wasn't sure on whether she could hold half of Lysander's weight without buckling. And she didn't bring her wand either, not that she much use for it anyways since first years weren't taught much spells to begin with. Catching snow was a peculiar activity though, even if it did seem like fun. And well, she was kinda torn between dancing and joining in on the chaos that Lysander and Emma were causing. "Dancing seems fun too," she didn't understand much why Emma thought that dancing wouldn't be much fun, she and Coco and Roto did it a lot back in the manor - and would likely be doing it again in the next weeks since it was one of the fun things to do at a ball. Other than the apparent snow catching. "Maybe I'll join you guys later," Misa said with a smile at Alec and the Ravenclaw that she could not remember the name of - she'll have to ask Coco later. "I'll help out with the snow catching first! Though I didn't bring my wand either, and I don't think I can manage anyone on my back," she said rather disappointedly.​

 

[Lysander Summers]

"You would be if you won the bet, but we're not even gonna be close to falling!" Lysander responded to Oona with a teasing grin. He stuck a leg over the chair to emphasise his confidence, swinging it through the air as if daring fate to knock him off balance. It might have been risky and impressive if he wasn't also gripping onto the back of the seat for dear life. "You can't push anyone Alec, it's against the rules. If we were to fall, which we won't, we'd have to fall on our own. But we won't." Sander and Emma had totally won the couch bouncing competition, and he was eager to win again. He listened to Emma's skepticism over his first idea, and for a moment appeared confused. None of them were that heavy, but when he glanced down at the shoes the girls were wearing, he quickly changed his mind. Someone definitely could get hurt. He was disappointed that no one had seemed to bring their wands - himself included. It was another thing to add to the long list of items he wished he'd brought along. What he needed was a magical bag like Mary Poppins that he could carry around and pull whatever he wanted out of.

The look of betrayal on Lysander's face was evident after Alec asked Oona to dance first instead of him. They didn't understand how important the snow mission was now that he'd hyped himself up about it. "You can't, you have to watch us get the snow." He pouted. He looked back toward Emma, and lowered his voice. "If we can make a snowball, we should throw it at them first." He suggested with a sly nod, before crouching down to his knees. "I can probably lift you up, come on! Someone just needs to hold the chair still so it doesn't wobble around. Artemisa?" The boy suggested, looking at the only other person still interested in their fantastic plan. Oona and Alec were going to be so jealous when they realised what they were missing out on.​

 

[Oona Macaulay]

Oona liked Alec's way of thinking. Emma, on the other hand, was getting on her nerves. All Oona could think was thank goodness she hadn't been sorted into Gryffindor; they were even more obnoxious than her, and that was quite an achievement. She stuck her tongue out at Lysander and grabbed Alec by the hand with the intention of dragging her to the dance floor. "Come on, let's all dance!" she said, beckoning the girl who was most-likely-but-not-certainly Artemisa to join them. Even if Lysander managed to reach the snow, it was obviously going to melt as soon as it touched his hand. Oona rolled her eyes and wobbled toward the crowd.

 

[Artemisa Raven]

Artemisa watched amused at all the interactions happening before her. She wasn't very close to her housemates or to anyone at all except family for that matter so actually spending time with them was kind of refreshing. It was particularly interesting to watch the banter really. The young girl grinned and nodded at Lysander as she approached them to hold the chair to stabilize it. It would definitely at least do a load of good if it didn't wobble around so that the boy didn't lose his balance or at least worry about wobbly chairs while having a classmate up on his shoulders. "I got the chair. Just be careful you two so you don't fall!" the girl reminded before turning to the Ravenclaw-who's-name-she-still-can't-remember. "I'll join you guys in a little bit," she said with a smile. She did want to dance but snow catching was fun too. And well, someone had to make sure that the two were at least relatively safe.​

 

[Emma van Houten]

Emma took note of how Artemisa stayed with them with the intention to help. At least she wasn't being totally boring like Alec and Oona. She nodded in agreement when Lysander insisted they weren't even close to falling. She grinned at Lysander when he said they would be their first target for a snowball. "Great idea." She told him. The two girls were getting on her nerves, and it would be good to get back at them like this. Then Lysander crouched down, and Artemisa grabbed the chair, and it seemed like they were really going to do this. There was a moment of hesitation, as Emma could almost hear Iris' voice warning her not to do this, but then she ignored it like she usually did. She carefully climbed onto Lysander's shoulders, looking down at him. "Are you sure you can lift me?"