Thanks to Joel/Charely Potter
Following the feast, your Prefects have led you up to the Gryffindor tower, given you the password, and opened up to the Common Room. Where – IT HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED!

A large banner dangles from the ceiling

Quote:

START OF TERM PARTY! ROAR ROAR GRYFFINDOR!

The couches and chairs have all been transformed into a variety of things; haystack, car shell, brick walls etc. (You decide what else there is!). Scattered around the room are buckets of what looks to be water balloons. Except they're not full of water... they're full of PAINT!

There are no set teams, but the colour of the paint is all a variety of reds. Light reds, pinks, maroons etc. Will you go and throw the paint balloons at your friends or someone else?

Having just finished introducing the Firsties and Transferees to the Fat Lady and then passing around that week's password, Tenacius naturally thought maybe now he can just crash into his favorite arm chair and just chill.....

..... then saw that it wasnt there, instead there was a block of hay in its place.

"Whut?"

He looked up then looked around, with each passing moment excitement started to pump through his blood. He spotted those balloons lying around, seemingly out of place with all these obstacles. Wait is this filled with water? Some kind of liquid? Shake shake shake shake shake.....

This wasn't what she had expected. Ashley walked into the common room and found buckets everywhere. Uh, is this normal?

The feast had been a quiet affair for her, with minimum to none discussions. Infact she hadn't spoken a word since the train. She had been absorbed to her own thoughts most of the time. Well, a party would be nice place to start

Party. But where was the crowd?

WWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAT WOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

Professor Newt had done it AGAIN! HE WAS AMAZING! BEST. TEACHER. EVER!

Matt's favourite, of course.

Matt LOVED parties and HECK, Gryffindor ones were the BEST TYPE. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!!!!!! GRYFFINDOOOOOOOOR!!!" He was full of HOUSE PRIDE, alright.

FULL OF IT.

It was like he apparated right next to Ace. Omg was that- "PAINT!" The fourth year yelled into his friend's ear exclaimed as he grabbed the balloon the new Prefect was touching, bringing it close to Chewie's lovely clean robes and making sure his own nails went through it.

POP!

ThiswasgoingtobetheBESTMESSYPARTYOFALL!

Olivia thought that she was running late to the party after running into a couple of people that she had met at Diagon Alley over the summer, she quickly ran after the Prefects, group of first years, and transfers so that she could meet the Fat Lady as well as learn their common room password.

As she entered the common room, she stared at the sight of the room. This wasn't what she had expected. Glancing at some of the other student's expressions, she could tell that this set up wasn't normal. There were hay stacks and brick walls. Was this even real or was she still dreaming? She blinked and took a step closer to one of the brick walls. Placing a hand on the rough, cold surface of the brick, she walked towards a bucket nearest to her. It certainly felt real. Tilting her head, she bent down to pick up a balloon. The liquid looked darker than water. What was in there? Olivia poked the balloon carefully at first, making sure not to burst it in case the liquid rushed out and covered her as well as one of the fellow students near her.

Curiosity got the best of her and she through the balloon at the brick wall. The plastic burst, releasing majestic maroon paint on the wall. It was paint. Splatters had gotten onto her robes. Glancing down at her now maroon paint covered hands; she looked around her and smirked. Was this a paint war? And then she heard Matthew Solo enter the building. He was going down. Well he was until he burst a balloon near her parole officer. "Fancy seeing you here!" she called out to all of them with the widest smirk EVER. Teehee. Then she picked up two new balloons flung one at Matt and Tenacius and one towards Ashley (dansgurl). She then darted behind the brick wall, not even taking a glance to see if the balloons had actually hit anyone.

Shake shake shake... it was definitely some sort of heavy liq--

--suddenly there was a YELLING in his ear and only had a second to recognize that it was his buddy Matt before the balloon EXPLODED all over his uniform! With his own hands!

"Pfpfpfpfpffttttt...." he flapped his lips trying to get the paint that got into his mouth "MAAAAT! You gonna pay for th--"

--SPLAT!!

.... all over his HAIR this time. Oh perfect just perfect. Now where did THAT come from???

Tenacius turned his head just in time to see that long curly head dart behind the wall. Wait why is that famili-- "Olivia?" She that quick with the draw too? Gryffindors geez....

.... never been more proud of his housemates <3

"THIS IS WAAARRRRR!!!" the paint drenched Curly Top hollered, scooping some balloons and hurling them in quick action-- one to Matt and the other to Olivia, before jumping behind that block of hay.

He needs more ammo stat.

Art was hiding behind one of the brick walls, a balloon in each hand... waiting. Madame Curie was down in the dungeons, in her little cardboard house. Art hadn't wanted to see her hurt or scared. Hearing the party get STARTED he (old man) JUMPED from his hiding space and threw the two balloons towards PEOPLE!

"WELCOME BACK GRYFFINDORS! AND WELCOME TO ALL FIRST YEARS AND TRANSFERS!" He bellowed.

He went to the bucket nearest him, picked out two more balloons and threw them.

GAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Aw, man, that was AWESOME. Look at Chewie's FACE, HAHAHA!

The fact their Prefect was hit again before he could finish saying that Matt was going to pay for that made the boy laugh his head off even harder. WHODUNNIT?? HAHAHA!

The fourth year frantically looked around to see WHERE the second balloon had come from and was pleasantly surprised to see that girl he had met that one time at the Zoo! Aaaand another paint balloon coming at HIM now.

All he had time to do was to try and slap the balloon away, which did no good and the thing SPLASHED paint all over him and his immediate surrounding. HAHEHEHEHEHEHE!! "You're Gryffindor too!" Which meant she was COOL. Obviously. "This is your official welcome and..." He said as he scooped up two balloons in each hand and threw them all at her. "...initiation!" If there was such a thing. There was now!

"And this is your official 'CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'RE A PREFECT', Chewie!" Matt added, turning in the general direction where his friend had hidden, aiming the biggest balloon he could find at the curly head, BUT! Before he could shoot it towards his friend, Matt was hit by a balloon thrown by none other than PROFESSOR NEWT HIMSELF!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMAZING!!!

See, there were REASONS why the old man was Matt's all time favourite. MANY reasons. Good ones TOO.

The boy made no effort whatsoever to hide. All he did was to get some more balloons and throw them randomly at people he knew and also at people he didn't know. "I SEE YOU, PROFESSAH!" He added, hopping a few steps sideways to get a better aim before throwing the second biggest balloon he saw. The first one was still reserved for Chewie!

Zoryn was SO excited. Every single minute of the day had been better than the one before it. The train was AWESOME because she made so many new friends (and a few enemies too)!!!! And the sorting was AWESOMER because she got Gryffindor, just like she decided she'd get!!! And the feast was AWESOMEST because she found out that Gryffindor was the house of exceptions AND so many of her friends were also Gryffindors. AND they had the very best badge-heads as their Gryffindor ones!!

So the bar was set pretty high.

And honestly, the Gryffindor Common Room surpassed all expectations. They needed a word that was even better than 'AWESOMEST' because she officially ran out of adjectives. After having run all the way up the stairs behind the Prefects, she had to take a stop once inside the room. Where she buckled over her knees and panted for just a few seconds before jumping back up into the AIR and fawning over the place in AWE.

Zoryn was beaming so hard as the old dude (Professor Newton) welcomed everyone. And without thinking, she gave him an incredulous look and blurted out, "Whoa, how old are you, dude?" He looked ancient. Like he was about to break any second. Also... Who was this guy? Zoryn figured he was the janitor. Maybe here to make sure everything was working okay. 'Cause the only adult on the train was the Trolley lady, so why the heck would their be adults in their Common Room?? Hogwarts was basically anti-adult other than the Professors. She appreciated that about this place.

The chaos in the common room was very much welcomed. She softly elbow nudged the girl beside her (Ashely) and grinned. "This place is so cool, right!?" Except, how come there weren't any chairs? They sat on benches in the Great Hall and now they had hay stacks? This place must not believe in traditional seating, AWESOME!!!

She could almost-- "HEY!" Her whole tummy had turned BRIGHT blood orange RED as a rogue balloon made contact with her little body. "These robes are NEW," she wasn't actually that mad. But she wanted revenge. Sooooo... She ran and grabbed a balloon of her own, totally intending to hit the culprit (Matt) with it. Buuuuuut.... She may have been a little off. Because that girl (Olivia), was definitely NOT her target. And uh oh. To make matters worse, Zoryn was sure that this was the transfer student she had met earlier THE SUPER NICE ONE. WHOOPS.



.. oops? DUCK AND COVER. DUCK AND COVER.

Right, that shiny new badge meant Ace had to go do prefecty stuff. Did that mean he would be to busy this term? Sam glumly made her way to the common room. She wasn't looking forward to the traditional meet and greet, she'd rather just get to spend some time with her friends before classes started. Or at least that was until she stepped into the transformed common room. It took a moment for it to register with her, but when it did, she grinned widely, and let out a laugh.

Charging in, she reached for a couple of the balloons, when she got hit by a one thrown by an unknown source. Shrugging it off, she ducked behind a haystack near Professor Newton, and threw one right at Matt. "Professor, this is awesome!"

Wait, did that girl just call their professor old? "Hey you!" she said to the girl (Zoryn) loud enough to be heard over the commotion. "Thats mean. Didn't your mom teach you not to say anything if you can't say something nice?" and she threw her other second balloon at that girl (Ashley) that was near her.

Olivia giggled when she heard Tenacius call out her name and then proclaimed that this was war. Teehee. Yes, Mr. Parole Officer that had been her, the one and only, Olivia Holden. She'll be here all year. When she went to grab more balloons as ammo, she was unexpectedly hit on her right shoulder. SPLAT. What? WHO WAS THAT? She then saw Tenacius take a turn at diving. It must have been him. She was about to cry out to him and charge when suddenly their Head of House appeared.

With Professor Newton here, she thought it would be a safe time for a ceasefire. Foolishly, she lowered her balloons for just a moment and was hit again. SPLAT. Red paint added to her left shoulder. What? Olivia stood there absolutely gobsmacked that Professor Newton had joined in for approximately a few moments. Then she grinned. "Thanks Professor!" HE WAS SUCH AN AWESOME HEAD OF HOUSE. With him in the game now, she threw a balloon in Professor Newton's direction and then ran to grab some more ammo from a bucket.

She was practically an open target for several minutes and that's when Matt Solo called out to her. She nodded. "I am!" Yes, she was a Gryffindor and she was proud to be sorted into such an amazing house. A moment later, Matt had thrown two balloons at her. Both hit her stomach, splattering bright pink all over her shirt and skirt. "MATT! TENACIUS! You better start RUNNING!" she cried as she took some of the wet paint off of her stomach and drew a small horizontal line under both of her eyes. Then another balloon splat onto her shirt. This time the paint was bright orange. She narrowed her eyes, searching for the suspect and found a little firstie. "Zoryn?" said Olivia as she wiped the extra paint off of her stomach. They had recently met. Spunky young girl. She glanced down at the balloon in her hand. She couldn't hit a first year. No, that'd be mean... but then again, this was all in fun and games. So she threw a smaller balloon at Zoryn.

Olivia had been hit badly several times. WOUNDED was her ego. She needed to find cover stat as well as attack. She threw two balloons at Matt cause he deserved it and then ran for cover. With three balloons in her arms, she slid past the haystack where Tenacius had been hiding and passed him a balloon. "This is cause you helped me find Chewie." She was only giving him one balloon for that, mhmm? Then she ran off further past the haystack to find another brick wall to hide behind and develop a strategy.

People trickled into the common room and they all wore the same expression of bewilderment. But it didn't last for long. The guy (MATT) who came in went straight to the balloons and got himself full with... "But that' paint!" she said loudly, shocked.

Was how parties were done here? She was taking a second to process it when,

SPLAT!

Ashley closed her eyes for a moment at the sound and she felt a wet and thick sensation on her left arm. She opened her eyes to find paint splattered all over her arm and neck. WOAH! "Whazzat?" She watched as an older girl(OLIVIA) move behind the wall. Ashley's face bore pure shock, and then crept in a little smile.

The prefect had some balloons thrown at him as well. She laughed as he shouted and hurled balloons at others. Some balloons landed near her and she saw a much older man with a booming voice. This is one hell of a place! She grinned from ear to ear as she watched, whom she could only assume to be a professor, pick two more balloons.

And then all hell broke loose. Balloons started flying around the common room. Ashley tried to duck a fair amount of them, but she got a few straight at her from the first guy and another girl(SAM) she'd swear she just saw her entering. Where they that fast? She was about to pick a balloon herself, when she got a nudge from a girl. The girl looked new there as well. "Yeah! I think this might just turn out to be the best party I ever went to!" she said as she picked up two balloons. "I'm Ashley" And I won't throw one on you, yet. she said, smiling.

She aimed a balloon at the guy (MATT). Throwing balloons at strangers? Are we even allowed to do that here? She threw one right at him and another towards went hurling towards the girl(OLIVIA). Without waiting, she grabbed another set and threw one at the other girl(SAM) and the other at...

oh he's the Prefect ! ! !

and she'd threw it already. Weren't prefects strict?

But she was running towards the arm chair. Hide. Hide. Hide.

Prefect duties had already started. Noelle had led the new lions to the common room, but had seen a firstie get caught on the moving staircases and had to go retrieve her and lead her back to the common room. The password given, and the bright eyes of the first year looking in awe at the Fat Lady, made it all worth it though.

The portrait swung open and Noelle led the firstie in to...... chaos. Her mouth dropped open as she saw a full on paint war going on. Pink, reds, maroons, were scattered everywhere. Balloons here and there. The furniture was gone and in its place were things to hide on.

It. Was. On.

Noelle grabbed a balloon from nearby and her eyes scanned the room until they landed on Professor Newton. "HEY PROF. NEWT! IM CALLING YOU OUT!" She said pointing the balloon at him as she talked. Also an eyebrow wiggle. Intimidation. Of course.... she was trying to intimidate a professor was just silly but.... THIS WAS WAR!


Also.... giggle.

She had spent the majority of her day in the Greenhouse 4 and you could most certainly tell by the state of her humidity hair and the dirt smudge on her nose and collarbone. Not that Aslan minded ether, she was far too content with how well today's research had gone to care about something as inconsequential as poofier-than-usual-hair and a bit of earth on her skin.

Having given the password to a less-than-impressed Fat Lady, Aslan slipped into the Common Room and dusted her hands off on her jeans.

A bath, and a book. That was the plan for the night.

"Ah ah ah nooooooooooooooooooope." Bentley slipped infront of the 6th year Lioness with a hand out.

Where were Reuben and Justin? How come he got stuck doing doorman duties.

"You have seen the notice haven't you?" He gave her an intent green eyed stare and pointed to the notice board. "Five knuts or no entry."

Guard duty was hard. Know why? Because for as many times as they stuck their hands out, it sometimes wasn't enough to pry the 5 knuts from the unwilling tax victims. 5 knuts, that's all they asked for. It took 293 of them to make a galleon, were they the only ones who saw how inconsequential forking over 5 knuts could be?? Merlin imagine if they'd gone with the original idea to charge the galleon.

Perspective, the boys had that. Willing housemates? That they didn't have so much. Take right now for instance. Blaise hopped up from the couch he'd been lounging on and was by his cousin's side in seconds.

"It's like we'll have to start sticking the posters in dorms too. Rules are rules, Aslan. We'd make an exception for you but we already have two of those and business is business." 5 knuts, in theory, would not break anyone's piggy bank. It certainly wouldn't have the Gringotts goblins batting an eye, making this a non-negotiable clause.

"It's for the greater good." Their greater good.

Ammo he needs ammo!

Tenacius glanced around him-- of course he'd be on that side of defense that offered nothing for offense. As he was searching around he heard the familiar voice of the Potions Master. In his delight he stood up and waved "Hiiiii Professor New--" --SMACK! Yep. He saw him.

He ducked for cover again, just when he heard Matt Swan-dive Solo congratuheckling him "YEAH THANKS A LOT MATT!...." he hollered back half heckling, mostly appreciative. But what.... no balloons flying his way? Now was his chance!

He spider crawled around the heystack and was trying to collect an armful of balloons when he heard more familiar voices-- Sammy! Zoryn! His fellow Prefect Noelle! Oh oh oh now's his chaaaance....

--SMACK!

--Nailed by a firstie (Ashley). Pull back pull back!

He scurried behind his haystack, most of the balloons he collected have fallen save for one. But then he was startled that War-paint Olivia was suddenly beside him with a balloon! Hull breached aaaaaahhh--huh? She offering ammo? "Thanks!" and for that he wont throw this at you while you have your back on him. He's a gentleman like that.

One ammo. Whooooooo gets it? Cousin dearest? No wait she might rat him out to his mom. Lets someone else nail her first. The firsties were such easssssy pickings, but no not yet. And then Matt stood up, wide open shot as he launched a big one at the Prof....

NOW!

And there Tenacius hurled the balloon as RED as an angry lightsaber straight for Matt's torso

Aslan remained silent as Moore and Bellaire swaggered into her path. The boys were often times amusing, or interesting, or loud, but today they were being...

She couldn't couldn't think of the word.

Not pedantic.

Not arrogant.

Well, perhaps arrogant, but that wasn't the word sitting tantalizingly on the tip of her very pink tongue. Whatever her underclassmen were being they were being much of it.
"I've seen the notice." she simply said, dark eyes shifting from one cousin to the other as Blaise began to speak. He seemed to do the majority of the speaking for the two of them. Then again he seemed to do the majority of the speaking wherever he was.

"Who are the other two exceptions?" She asked, dark hair falling in a wave over her shoulder as she tilted her head to the side.

Business is business. The greater good. She hardly saw what ether of those phrases had to do with her or her five knuts, but she hadn't moved yet.

Bentley wasn't big on a lot of talking. He left all that up to his cousin, who also seemed fine to take the helm with conversation making.

He looked from Aslan to Blaise. Really, she didn't need to know that they had exception to the five knuts rule. He resisted the urge to face palm or roll his eyes. Instead he let out a heavy sigh.

"That's not really important. What is important is you getting back to your business. Time is money after all. The faster you pay the faster you'll be able to get back to your business."

Speaking of business.

He stuck his hand out once again. Pay up.

"What he said." Blaise responded, giving a firm nod in his cousin's direction. Didn't matter who the exceptions were. You'd know if you were one, and if you didn't know who they were, it was a good chance you weren't one of said two. Hardly worth centering an entire conversation around if you asked him. There were far more important things that needed their attention.

"This doesn't have to be long and drawn out, it's only 5 knuts then you'll be free to go about your business free of us." He could think of a LOT of girls that would jump at that deal.

Amusing, wasn't it?

"Pay the man and you're free to go. We're an awful persistent bunch otherwise." Isn't that right Bentley? His trusty quill floated close enough to document the exchange because yes, they made a note of problem people too. Yep.

They were so contrary.

She felt an echo, not to a person or place or time, but to an old Muggle movie and two twins who wouldn't let a girl pass until they'd said how do you do and shook hands. Of course, in this case the boys were not twins or brothers and they were after money, not pleasantries. A part of Aslan found herself almost admiring their idea, or perhaps, the motive behind it for she could see a million and one ways this could easily fall apart.

Case in point, Blaise's loose lips.

"I believe it is my business." She said, her tone still as neutral and calm as ever. "Blaise said I could be an exception if it wasn't for the other two, that makes it a note of personal interest." Idly, Aslan scratched the side of her nose, she had been eager for a bath, but now? Now she found herself decidedly in something and was no longer in a rush unlike, it seemed, the Pack members were.

Bentley shot Blaise the dirtiest look he could muster at the moment. He had a feeling that this had gone a lot smoother had the boy just shut his mouth and let him handle it. He was doing perfectly fine before his cousin interjected.

He sighed again.

"Fine..Olivia and Clara are the exceptions, but you can switch with Clara. Blaise can pay her five knuts when she needs to gain access to the common room...but right now..since the exchange hasn't been made official yet, you'll have to pay."

He offered her a dimpled smile...sweet as possible.

"Come on As, pay up."

Whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA!!!

Blaise shot his cousin an obviously incredulous look. "No. No no, that's not even up for debate." He turned to Aslan, ignoring the smile and the outstretched hand of his cousin. "That's not a thing, don't even listen to him." And if she didn't, she was paying for herself. What did he look like? If he was willing to pay for her in the first place, did they think she'd need to be an exception??

"I think we all just need to stop overthinking this situation and, y'know, pay what's owed and just move on with our lives."

He'd already said this. Clearly they just weren't listening.

Art laughed as he saw the balloons thrown by him exploded paint over the younger Lions. "No you don't," he said to Mr Solo, and was about to turn to duck behind the wall again when the back of his head was SPLAT with a balloon. Specks had flown forward and landed on the wall and he saw a nice dark red. "MR SOLO!" he roared, aiming a balloon in his direction, all the while continuing to laugh. He saw that another of his paint balloons exploded over Mr Salander, and he said "Oh hello there, Mr Salander, I didn't see you there..." with a mischievous grin.

Not being shy of his age, Art looked to the young Miss Spinnet and said "I am 63 years young, actually," and he promptly threw a balloon in her direction. "Welcome to Gryffindor," he added.

In his hiding, he was joined by Miss Swynford. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself," he said to her. "I knew this would be spectacular fun!" Thank Merlin they had magic to clean it all up! Not that mess was on his mind right now, he didn't mind how messy it got. In fact the messier the better! He laughed at her reaction to Miss Spinnet's question and said "ahh it's all right, I've lived a lot in my 63 years." He turned back to look at her, "And I'm not done yet!" He stood up to aim another balloon over the haystack and ducked back down.

Just opening his mouth to speak to Miss Holden, who had just offered him a thanks, he got a mouthful of paint, from the young lady who had just thanked him! He spat the paint out and wiped at his face so that he could see a bit better. "Well thank you for joining in Miss Holden," he said with a big ol' grin, and picked up a balloon to aim towards her.

He was weaving around the place. Now that his knees were back to normal, if not BETTER, he was much more able to run. He was passing another First year, and paused a moment to say "Miss Hunter, welcome to Gryffindor!" And what better way to say welcome than with PAINT? As he ran back in the other direction he aimed a paintball over his shoulder towards her.

He roared with laughter at Miss Summers, and said "I don't know what you're talking about," before ducking behind a wall. He reloaded his hands with two more paint balloons and stepped out from behind the wall to aim one at the Prefect.