It's the most wonderful time of the year

[Vex]

Five years had passed since the castle had an intruder float around its halls. The poltergeist was reasonably manageable when it came to mischief, as there was always something to do. Whether it was re-labling the potions ingredients or lining the toilets with clear wrap, the being rarely had to cause huge distractions and chaos.

Until today.

Turning five was a milestone for anyone, but Vex was beyond pleased. The poltergeist didn't have a true appreciate of time, or 'births', but he understood that he manifested during an influx of first year students.It was an effective way to keep track of how long he had been around. The students he started with were now entering their fifth year and Vex made sure there were plenty of invites to go around - all stuffed with a wide variety of irritable products. Goop, glitter, confetti and some perfectly normal letters addressed to 'You, there' were littered around the castle, with further directions to the Great Hall.

The Great Hall looked innocent enough, but large balloons hovered across the room filled with feathers whilst others were filled with goo. Professor Pendleton had been nice enough to help the poltergeist get the room together, though whether it was to try and distract him from the fresh potion ingredients or because he genuinely wanted to help Vex celebrate this day, who knew.

There was some food on the tables and naturally, that was where the balloons frequently hovered. They would burst eventually, but hopefully not before some innocent, unsuspecting students entered the room. Vex remained invisible, hanging from the chandelier and trying to contain himself.
​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty had nothing to do with this. Absolutely nothing. If he hadn't been so concerned about having his potion ingredients strewn all about the castle again, he most certainly wouldn't have agreed to help the resident poltergeist organise his mischief. Unfortunately, Monty knew what it meant to cross the chaotic spirit - he'd learned the hard way, after Vex had caught wind of a rumour that Monty had insulted his Halloween costume. He'd done no such thing, of course, but the poltergeist had taken great offence in spite of Monty's assurances, and spent the next year making his life in the castle a waking nightmare. So when Vex had approached the Potions professor and asked him to help set up a party, what could Monty do but accept?

But despite his misgivings, he had to admit that the party would be fairly amusing, and had decided to stick around to celebrate - and perhaps to watch a few of the students get covered in goo and feathers. It was a shame Arvo was in Mexico, and not around to witness the fun - though knowing his 'faulty hip,' Monty doubted he'd have come anyway. Getting down to the great hall wasn't so much an issue as returning to his office afterwards, and Monty wasn't going to mourn not having to give the part-goblin a piggyback up all those stairs when the party ended.

Trying to look as inconspicuous as possible, Monty nibbled on food from the snack tables. He couldn't see Vex - the poltergeist had turned invisible some time ago - but he predicted he might be hanging from the chandelier. Where better a place to watch the chaos unfold?

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

The school's poltergeist had not been nearly as troublesome recently as he had when Katherine first arrived as the new Headmistress, but she was not naive to think that his shenanigans would remain low-key for too long. On more than one occasion she had entertained the thought of trying to rid him from the castle with the Ministries aid, however difficult it may have been for such a completely manifested spirit, but he did little to actually endanger the students, and some of them certainly seemed to find his nonsense endearing. So, he was here to stay, at least for the time being, and she kept her eye on him as often as possible to ensure he never did anything too drastic. She quickly became concerned, however, when she started noticing "invitations" littered around the school, and her house elves talking of an event to celebrate a birthday of sorts, if poltergeists could technically have those. No doubt he'd amp up his antics, of which Katherine couldn't be entirely sure would all be safe, and so she collected up as many of the invitations as she could find, not wanting the entirety of the school to attend such an unpredictable "party". No doubt there would be a large handful of people coming no matter how many she found out of the sheer curiosity of whatever was meant to go down, but she intended to keep it at a manageable group, and narrow down the possibility of it becoming too crowded.

Entering the Great Hall early, Katherine was surprised to find the setup up to be so...organised, for a spirit of chaos, and she had to wonder just whom he'd managed to gather the assistance of to put it together. Some of the house elves struggled to say no, to students and spirit alike, so perhaps the food had come from them, though she didn't know if she could say the same about the balloons and invitations. It was a mystery how he procured half of the materials he used for his pranks. Curiously, one of her staff members was already present, and she had to wonder if he too had managed to find out about the party and was there to have an authority figure present, or if the poltergeist had more sway in her school than she'd thought. The Headmistress eyed the lone professor curiously, then the floating balloons overhead, and frowned slightly. No doubt the poltergeist was already present too, hidden on some high vantage point to get a good view. Hopefully, the event would result in a harmless mess at best, and she wouldn't have to worry. The woman walked purposefully down the hall and took her seat, having put her work on hold once she'd caught wind of what was happening. With her wand in hand, she cast a small shielding charm overhead to protect herself from any raining projectiles that were bound to present themselves sooner or later, and gave a brief nod to the Potions professor further down the room. "Pendleton." She called. "I don't suppose you know what's happening here?"
​

 

[Wren Louise]

Normally, Wren wouldn't have been answering to any kind of letter addressed to him as 'You, there', but he could only assume it was for him since it had shot into the room from beneath the door to his office, and so he had curiously exited to see if the sender was about. They were not, unfortunately, but now Wren was curious, as there were letters poking out from the eaves, clutched in the hands of the suits of armour and being stepped on by students going to and from classes. One of them had burst open, and the Frenchman heard a girl make a disgusted noise as she peeled her shoe out of the goo leaking from the envelope. Wren held his own letter away from himself immediately, tapping it with his wand and levitating it far enough away that it could be opened from a safe distance. With a second murmured incantation, the envelope split open to reveal a simple piece of parchment. Wren sighed in relief and beckoned it towards himself.
Ten minutes later, the Divination Professor peeked into the Great Hall- he was already up, so he might as well make it an expedition- and immediately spotted one of his favourite people having a biscuit at the table. "Bonjour, mon soleil!" Wren greeted him enthusiastically, twinkling his fingers at the Potions Professor until he spotted their Headmistress. The twinkling fingers vanished, and Wren sidled sheepishly into the room to look about. What was the occasion? Was it the Headmistress's birthday? He couldn't imagine the rest of the faculty making such a fuss for anyone else, but the letters full of slime was an odd touch. "Do not tell me ..." Wren murmured, looking about for their resident poltergeist. Vex was nowhere to be found. Surely he'd be the center of attention if the occasion was for him. The Frenchman batted a balloon idly as he walked amongst the tables, which turned out to be a mistake.​

BANG​

Wren jumped a mile as the balloon exploded above his head, showering him with feathers, and for a wild moment he was concerned that there had been some kind of bird inside it, for there were so many. The noise echoed throughout the mostly quite Hall, making him wince. His hair, already unruly, was an utter birdsnest, white feathers sticking out of it every which way with feathers settling onto his shoulders. "'appy birthday, Vex," murmured Wren weakly, wobbling over to a bench to sit down.​

 

[Monty Pendleton]

Monty turned a shade or two paler at the sight of the headmistress. Of course, he hadn't done anything terribly wrong, but he knew Katherine to appreciate Vex's antics even less than he. The headmistress was shortly followed by Wren, to whom Monty waved back and smiled. Then he headed over to Katherine, eager to explain himself before she got the wrong impression - or perhaps the right one. "Hello," he said, glancing about in case Vex was visible and near enough to eavesdrop. Monty dropped his voice, just in case. "Vex cajoled me into helping to organise his birthday party. After the fiasco two years ago with my potions ingredients, I didn't think it wise to decline." Monty looked over at Wren, who was approaching the tables. "I shouldn't think anybody will be hurt." This was worth mentioning, given Vex's somewhat loose attitude toward health and safety. "The only things in those balloons are goo and-"

The professor was interrupted by an almighty bang. "Feathers." Trust Wren to bat the balloons at a poltergeist's party. Monty giggled, despite himself. Wren looked ridiculous. "Still, I thought I'd stay to ensure it doesn't get out of hand. Better this than allow him to organise a party himself." Monty shook his head.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo hadn't particularly been searching for something to do that day, nor did she feel as though she had an abundance of spare time given that now she was a third year and well under way in her studies. She had however seen invitations around the school that there was a party of sorts in the Great Hall, although who Vex was, she had no idea. Deciding that she wanted to spent time away from her books, she had wanted to drag a member of Hufflepuff from the common room to join her. Both April and Vil hadn't been around to ask, but before she left by herself she'd managed to spot a first year that during their last discussion, hadn't seem all that interested in knowing anybody in the Castle. Geo hadn't given anything away with regards to where they were going, but she'd successfully persuaded the boy to join her on an "quest", and besides, she couldn't stand to watch anyone go about their day with no friends at all.

As a reluctant Arvel followed the third year into the Great Hall, she was shocked to see they were the only students there, and that one of the Professors seemed to be currently resembling a nest. "Oh, Professor Pendleton. Professor Alicastell" Geo said, approaching them and nodding her head in greeting as she recalled their names, before turning to the third. All that she could think was Professor Pigeon right now, but obviously didn't feel like saying that out loud. "This is a birthday party, right?" She clarified nervously, hoping her guest wasn't getting too irritated beside her. Between the Hufflepuff common room and the Great Hall, Geo had morphed her skin so that it contained small flecks of glitter, all parts of her body now softly brushed so that it would catch the light as she moved, appropriate for the occasion, she thought.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Even advertised as a quest, Arvel hadn't really wanted to accompany Geo on her excursion. For one thing, she was several years older than him. It was embarrassing not having any friends, but it was even more embarrassing for his only friend to be in her third year. That just screamed, 'I can't make any friends my own age!!' Arvel dragged his feet behind the older girl, barely looking where he was going. He didn't care. He just wanted to get this over with, so that he could go back to his dormitory and do some homework. When he realised they were heading for the great hall, however, he frowned. Not another Dungeons and Dragons game, surely? That was sort of a quest. But no - instead of the usual scene, the great hall was filled with balloons; quite clearly somebody was celebrating. Arvel finally looked around. Was it a professor's birthday? They didn't usually celebrate like this. Actually, why were there so many professors here? Arvel felt like he'd just walked in on a meeting, not a party.

Suddenly grateful for a bigger student to hide behind, Arvel shadowed Geo across the room. Perhaps everybody would be distracted by her shimmering skin, and not pay him any attention. There were a lot of balloons around. Maybe hundreds. Someone had gone to a great deal of effort to organise this - whoever it was supposed to be for.

 

[Katherine Alicastell]

Katherine leaned forward in her seat and interlocked her fingers to rest her chin on as Monty approached to explain himself, listening intently to his explanation of why he was present, and had assisted the poltergeist in his shenanigans. "Cajoled." She repeated with some bemusement - not a word used often, and certainly not one she would have used to describe the way Vex "persuaded" people. Manipulated, or bullied, seemed to be more appropriate terms. The professors attention snapped away when a sudden bang echoed through the hall, but seeing that it was only Wren, she shrugged it aside. No doubt he'd use the feathers to stuff even more pillows for him to sleep on. "I see. A wise decision. Well, as long as you think it'll be safe, I trust everything will be fine." Katherine glanced again at the balloons floating ominously above the food, and back to the potions Professor with a small frown. "While you're here, please try make sure no one ingests any of that-" She waved her hand toward a greenish balloon."Ectoplasm? Goo? I can't be sure what he uses, but I don't want to see any students heading to the Hospital Wing with some sort of goo-poisoning."

The Headmistress kept her voice low as she finished speaking, noting the arrival of some young students. The last thing she needed was any rumours of poisonous goo "Miss Volt." Katherine greeted with a polite smile, and a small nod toward her smaller friend. "I don't know if you could technically refer to it as a birhday party, though I suppose that is the closest description for it." She sighed. "Try not to indulge the poltergeist too much if you see him. I'd rather this not become an annual event."
​

<i></i>

 

[April Ward]

After April picked up a random envelope to see it had directions to the great hall, she wasted no time going there. What helped was that it had been filled with glitter. After all, what bad could come from glitter? Her eyes widened in delight as she caught sight of the great hall. It was decked out for a party! Balloons everywhere, and food! Curious about what was going on, April headed over to Geo. The girl was chatting with the headmistress, so probably knew the scoop by now. April glanced curiously at the boy by Geo's side. He seemed to be shadowing her somewhat. She was soon distracted from that thought as she noticed Geo's skin appeared to be glowing. "Hey Geo, what is going on? Is this a party? Also, wow! Your skin is beautiful! You're like a fairy." she said with a smile." Then she looked at the boy. "Who's your friend?" She looked up to the professors nearby. "Hi professors!" She said to Professor Pendleton and the headmistress. She didn't spot her dad anywhere, but maybe he would still come.

 

[Gideon Zelinsky]

Gideon was a fan of Vex and his shenanigans. It made for a more fun place to learn, especially the closer it came to exam time, and he didn't mind falling for the odd prank here and there. It was all a part of the experience of attending a school haunted by a poltergeist, and it made for funny stories, so he couldn't really complain. After chancing across one of the invitations littered around the castle, Giddy found himself sprayed with multi-coloured confetti and goop, as well as instructions on heading over to the Great Hall for whatever reason, he didn't know, but he definitely wanted to find out. Brushing off as much of the goo and paper as he could, the Gryffindor made his way over to the large room, where it became apparent some others had already found invitations themselves. Balloons floated suspiciously overhead, almost threatening to float off into the never-ending enchanted sky, and he could only guess as to what was in side. With a grin, Gideon seated himself nearby a feathery professor, giving him a little thumbs up for his attire, no doubt one that wasn't of his free choice. Unfortunately, Vex was nowhere to be seen, but the youth supposed it was only a matter of time before something happened.

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo listened as Professor Alicastell proceeded to tell the third year that she hoped this wouldn't be something that happened every year. Would it really be so bad? She turned her head at the sound of a recognisable voice, and smiled when she saw her dormmate April. "Hi!" She said, turning to allow Arvel who'd managed to hide behind her, become visable. "April this is Arvel. He's a first year Hufflepuff. And a little bit shy," she mouthed the last part of the sentence over the head of the first year towards her friend in warning. "Arvel this is April Ward. She's the daughter of Professor Ward, and a third year like me. We share a room." The pink haired girl thanked her friend for the compliments on her look, and wondered how many people would actually turn up to this event. "Do you know anyone else who's coming?" She asked April, vaguely aware of another student entering the room. She'd not specifically mentioned the event to anyone herself, and wasn't sure if she'd be seeing her other friends here too.

 

[Vex]

Vex could see the masses of teeny students and professors heading in, or so they looked from his high perch. With his trusty kettle sitting on one of the arms, the invisible non-entity set to work on making this very special happy birthday vexxie party, one to remember. He floated quietly above the room until he found what he was looking for. As he was about to swoop to it, he paused at the voice of the not Kingy woman speaking to Professor Pureplecoat. He had to drift closer! No-one should be keeping secrets from Vexxie, that's not allowed!

As he moved closed however, he managed to catch glimpses of Professor Looseygoose covered in his lovely concoctions and was ever so glad to know that he was appreciated as the wonderful and loving friend that he was. This was all shaping up so splendidly and Vex completely forgot he was supposed to spy on Professor Purplecoat as he moved out of range of the balloons and back up to the chandelier. Soon, the time had come and the balloons began to explode with glitter, goo, glue, smelly potions and other such things that sent Vex high into the air with his kettle full of more goo.

He poured his kettle over the heads of students and staff alike as he flew excitedly through the air, now more excited than he was five seconds ago. The non-being had no concept of too far and not far enough and so once he was done, he flew out of the room with a maniacal laugh and a procession of trumpets.
​

 

[Wren Louise]

Honestly, Wren didn't know what else he should've been expecting. As the Great Hall began to fill with people, the Divination Professor began to subtly move to the edges of the room, eyeing the balloons suspiciously but lacking the initiative to start vanishing balloons. Monty had put so much work into helping Vex set up his party (and he wasn't entirely convinced it was just to mitigate the damage he could do), but Wren was sure that some of those balloons contained goo. He was right, of course. Once the hall was nice and full, Vex started off his celebrations with a(nother) bang. Despite having moved back, Wren still got a face full of slime and feathers again. The skinny Professor sagged defeatedly and got his wand out to start the tergeos. Vex flying away and not bothering to witness the chaos was the final insulting nail in the coffin. Wren was going back to bed.​

 

[Geovanna Adler-Cade]

Geo was about to properly introduce herself to another student she spotted in the hall, one that she recognised from the game of Dungeons and Dragons, but before she could move she found a cold slimy substance sliding down the back of her shirt. She did her best not to squeal at the feeling, and shook it so that it dropped out the bottom of her shirt. Glancing up, she just missed at the poltergeist managed to run away. Why had she even though this had been a good idea? She frowned angrily, taking a few steps towards the exit that Vex had taken before looking back towards her friends. "I swear he does not deserve this party." Geo wasn't often annoyed, but to soak ones guests in goo wasn't exactly on her list of positive experiences. "We shouldn't have come" she added, turning to Arvel apologetically. If Vex couldn't even appreciate the effort that had gone into setting up something for him, then they'd shouldn't have bothered attending. She peered around the room, hoping that at least there was some cake available for their troubles.