Bulletin Board

[Zoe]

Atop the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall along the corridor that will direct you to the moving staircases, you stumble across a long, horizontal cork bulletin board that is encased in glass. Here you will find an array of notices and signs, stick up by tacks and push-pins, that are meant for the entire student body to read. Anything from requests, advertisements, lost and found notices, and gentle reminders can be viewed for all eyes to see.

If you have something you would like to add to this colourful, paper-filled board, you are more than welcome to do so. Simply slide over the glass surrounding the board (it is never locked) and stick on the board whatever it is you wish for everyone to know. Having this board for your use is a privilege, not a right, so use it responsibly. Any crude drawings or messages will result in the bulletin board crumpling them up and throwing your balled notice at your face, giving you a deep paper cut, before you even have a chance to slide the glass back to its original place.

On the ceiling above, an ominous red hawk glistens. Even though the blood has been there for a while and should be dry, it still looks as if the walls are bleeding and keeping this mysterious hawk alive. Why hasn't anyone managed to clean this mess up? Will it ever go away? And, most importantly, what does it even mean?

[kayquilz]

Paul was running to post flyers everywhere, but the main place was... HERE.



GOOD LUCK, POTENTIAL THESPIANS!

OOC: Auditions will take place in the Room of Requirement from OOC September 21st to September 30th. Any student interested in auditioning should come with a monologue/quick scene from a play or movie to perform (the monolgue/scene must follow site rules). After I post Paul in this designated location, you may then post your audition. More details for how this will work to come (when it takes place). Your characters would know who they want to audition for since the Fountain of Fair Fortune is a story in The Tales of Beetle the Bard.

The following are characters that can be auditioned for:

NARRATOR
GATHERERS
ASHA
ALTHEDA
AMATA
CREEPERS
SIR LUCKLESS
HORSE OF SIR LUCKLESS
WORM
GROUND
STONE

Those of you that signed up for Drama Club in the Hogwarts Extra-Curricular spreadsheet are still part of the club whether they audition for a role in this play or not. IC they may have a role in the play (you will need to audition for this IC) or can have a background role (no IC audition needed) — helping out with lighting, painting scenery, etc. The same applies to anyone that wishes to add their student to the reference list.

Further details about auditions/the casting selection, the play itself, etc. will be shared later. Any you have questions/concerns, please contact me via PM, Skype, or Trillian.

[The Narrator]

With the bright orange flier demanding everyone’s attention, it makes it very easy for the other aspects of one’s surroundings to go unnoticed. Something else had been added overhead before the auditions notice was pinned on the board.

Drip ...

Did you just feel something like a raindrop fall on your head? Surely that was nothing, right?

Drip ... drip ...

Only it isn’t nothing. If you curiously place a hand on your head and look at your fingers, you will discover a crimson liquid. Is that ... blood?

Drip ... drip ... drip ...

Gaze up at the ceiling and you will find a rather ominous sight. Painted above where you are standing is a silhouette of a hawk, its wings spread open as if it just took flight. Another drop of the substance falls from the ceiling onto your forehead.

What in Merlin’s beard is going on?!

[griffin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Narrator

With the bright orange flier demanding everyone’s attention, it makes it very easy for the other aspects of one’s surroundings to go unnoticed. Something else had been added overhead before the auditions notice was pinned on the board.

Drip ...

Did you just feel something like a raindrop fall on your head? Surely that was nothing, right?

Drip ... drip ...

Only it isn’t nothing. If you curiously place a hand on your head and look at your fingers, you will discover a crimson liquid. Is that ... blood?

Drip ... drip ... drip ...

Gaze up at the ceiling and you will find a rather ominous sight. Painted above where you are standing is a silhouette of a hawk, its wings spread open as if it just took flight. Another drop of the substance falls from the ceiling onto your forehead.

What in Merlin’s beard is going on?!

As Isa was heading up to the stairs, the bright flyer on the bulletin caught her eye. What was this? Isa got closer to read the message on the flyer. Oooh, a play! That sounded fun! Isa wanted to sign up to audition, but she didn't see any information on the flyer about if sign ups were required or who was running the auditions. Pity she didn't know who to contact for more information about the auditions.

Her questions about the play were forgotten, however, when she felt something wet fall on her head. What was that? Was there a leak in the ceiling? Was Peeves around causing trouble? Isa looked up to see where the drip was coming from. The fourth year Hufflepuff girl squealed in surprise when she saw what was painted above her. What in Merlin's beard was THAT? It looked like some sort of painting of a bird. Who put that there? Another drip of the liquid hit Isa on the forehead. She touched the spot of liquid on her forehead and looked at her fingers. It was red, the color of blood. Curiously, she rubbed the red substance between her fingers to investigate its consistency and sniffed her fingers to see if it smelled like blood.

Something was wrong here. Isa didn't know how or why the painting got there or who did it, but if it was done in blood this was really bad. Even if it had been normal paint mysterious paintings were usually not a good sign, but blood paintings were really, really bad. Was the bird a symbol of something or a message to someone? Where had the blood come from? Had someone or something been injured or killed? Something sinister was at work in Hogwarts. She needed to find a professor right now.

[Anna Banana]

Maddie just had to get more information about the try-outs for that play! It sounded SUPER FUN, and she'd heard a few people talking about it. Apparently, there was a bulletin board on the ground floor and some flyer was posted about the try-outs. Maddie was on a mission to find this bulletin board. As she turned the corner, she saw Isa, one of the older Hufflepuff girls she'd seen around the common room. "Hey, Isa!" she said, skipping up to the older girl. "Are you trying out for the play, tooooo?"

Oh, look! There was the flyer! Maddie turned to look at it, but just as she did, Isa squealed, and Maddie jumped just a little. "Are you okay?" she asked, but just as she said that, a drop of something hit her on the forehead, and with a confused expression on her face, she wiped it away. "Ewww! What is this?" she asked, assuming Isa would know. She followed the girl's gaze to the bird drawn on the ceiling. Maddie was only a firstie, and since this was her first trip to the bulletin board, she had no idea that the bird hadn't always been there. "What's that?!" she asked.

[littledhampir]

When Oliver walked past the bulletin board the bright flyer caught his eye. He was going to just cast a quick glance at it, like he usually would when there was an announcement. But when he saw that this one said 'Auditions' he stopped to give it a closer look. This was about the drama club! He wanted to join the drama club! They were going to put on the Fountain of Fair Fortune? That was cool. But Olly didn't think he wanted to audition anyway. He wanted to work behind the scenes. It just reminded him that he should talk to Professor Myers about whether or not he needed a stage manager. Someone in charge. He had experience so he would be a good candidate.

While he was standing there contemplating he felt a raindrop fall on his head. At least, that's what he thought it was at first. But then he remembered that he was inside. Was he imagining things? No, that was definitely a drop. He felt another one and this time looked up to try to find the source.

What was THAT?!

Now, Olly was no stranger to paintings. Taken as it's own it was a rather nicely rendered hawk. But there was something sinister about this one. Something about the dripping red paint. Wait, it was paint right?? The alternative was... no it had to be paint. RIGHT?? He glanced at the two girls by the bulletin board, who both seemed to have also noticed the hawk.

"Something tells me Professor Myers didn't put this here."

[siriusblackliveson]

Patrick was scurrying down the halls trying to get to the staircases so he might get some studying in. He glanced over to see the bulletin board with a bright orange flyer that he had seen in the Slytherin Common Room. Only this time there were more people surrounding the board. He saw one girl standing and looking up at the ceiling. He approached a bit as he noticed Maddie, a girl he had seen in his potions class. He figured that he would ask if they were auditioning for the play, he might stop by to see what drama club was all about because he was somewhat interested in.

He glanced at the ground and saw that there was something red on them. Patrick took a half step back hoping to avoid the red stuff. He followed the girls looks toward the ceiling and saw a hawk. He hadn't seen anything like this in any of the other corridors but he wasn't certain that that wasn't supposed to be there. "Are you two okay? Do I need to run and get someone?" He wasn't really sure what he needed to do but he knew that he should likely ask the others what they thought since he was only a first year.

[SarcasticStrawberry]

Juni had seen a few of those orange fliers around and finally had a chance to stop and take a look at what was on the fliers. Seeing that Isa was already there, she quickly read the sign. Cool a play, maybe she would audition for it. If nothing else she was in the drama club so she would at least be around to help work on the set. Maybe her mother could even donate costumes she was in the fashion industry after all.

The third year turned her head to ask Isa if she was thinking about auditioning too. But she soon stopped and stared at the older girls hand. "That's blood!" Touching the other girls hand. She tilted her head up seeing another drop drip down from the ceiling. What was that? A painting of a Hawk or other large bird. More questions than answers were running through the Ravenclaw's head at the moment.

WHY DIDN'T SOMEONE JUST USE PAINT? Then she had to remind herself that this was Hogwarts. Juniper looked back over the older Hufflepuff girl. "What does that mean? We should get a professor right away." As soon as the words left her mouth they had company. Two first years and a Prefect. Oh good, someone of leadership. She glanced at the two older kids.

[NifflerFan]

October had some of the best weather ever! Emmeline was just coming inside from a looong time of playing with Sirius when she saw a group of students crowded around the bulletin board. The Gryffindor bounced over to them, saw the bright flyer on the board, and grinned. Cooool, a play! She wondered if alll of these kids were going to try out, and had just turned to ask them when she felt a drop of something hit the top of her head.

Frowning, Emmeline reached up to touch it and felt her eyes widen as she saw that it was BLOOD. She slowly turned her gaze towards the ceiling and finally noticed the huuuge hawk drawn in blood. The second year bit her lip and turned to the two older girls (Isa and Juni): "What IS that? Honestly, people play the dumbest pranks for Halloween around here..." 'Cause it was just a stupid prank, right?

[littledhampir]

It seemed that the others were sure this was blood. Which was gross. Who would have painted something with blood? That made this all the more sinister and Oliver agreed that they should probably definitely get a professor here. He suddenly remembered that he was not just the oldest of the bunch gathered around the bulletin board, but that he was also a prefect. Right.

"Yes, I think it would be best to alert a professor." He kept his voice steady and calm. No need to freak the young ones out more than they already were. His eyes settled on the Slytherin firstie who had offered to go get someone. "Patrick. Can you go get a professor? Preferably the headmistress, Professor Myers, or Professor Hirsch. If anyone else wants to help, split up, that'll be faster." He wanted some of them to stay there, though, in case something changed. He was also afraid of this painting magically disappearing, as things sometimes did at Hogwarts.

[siriusblackliveson]

Patrick looked at his Prefect before glancing back at the Hawk again on the ceiling. "Sure thing Oliver. I'll go try and get the headmistress right now." He turned and went running down the hallway, assuming that if he lost a few points for sprinting the halls, at least it was for getting help.

[Anna Banana]

Maddie wiped a bit more of the blood off her face then made sure to step away a little so it wouldn't fall on her again. On a scale of one to ten, this was a four thousand. Eww. Double Ewww. She nodded when Patrick asked if she was okay. "I'm fine. Just disgusted and feeling in need of a shower, but I'm good," she said. If she could see her forehead right now, she'd scourgify herself.

People were planning on getting a professor, which seemed like a good idea to Maddie. It didn't take her long to figure out that this hawk hadn't always been there. "Kind of looks like the Thunderbird mascot at Ilvermorny," she pointed out. Hadn't she heard that Ilvermorny had visited the castle last school year? Maybe one of them left it. "I'll stay here and keep watch," she said, and of course that meant staying out of the blood's pathway. If anybody wanted to stay here with her, she was perfectly fine with that, too, since...yeah...blood.

Ewww.

[NifflerFan]

Soo apparently Mr. Slytherin Prefect didn't agree with her that this was someone's gross idea of a joke. Not if he was telling that first year boy to go get the headmistress. Emmeline gulped and backed away a few steps, so she wouldn't get any more GROSS blood on her head. She realllly needed a shower or three now, mhm.

The Gryffindor moved over to stand next to Maddie; she was super happy to hear the slightly younger girl say that she was okay. And then the Hufflepuff girl said something that made Emmeline crane her neck to study the bird drawing again. "Huh...I don't think it would still be all drippy and stuff if someone from Ilvermorny had left it here. But you're right, it kinda looks like a thunderbird, doesn't it?" What did that MEAN?? Also, she kinda wanted to ask Mr. Prefect a question that she didn't really want to know the answer to too much: what kind of blood was it? And if it was wizard blood...who was hurt?

[Lissy Longbottom]

Scarlett had made a vow to herself that she was going to get involved in more stuff this year, so naturally the bulletin board was her first stop almost every day. She had to check up on all the new clubs and activities, and figure out which ones she wanted to get involved in. She needed to make more friends outside her dorm - not that she didn't like her dorm mates, but they were downright EXHAUSTING at times.

She pushed her way through the crowd to the bulletin board, raising her dark eyebrows at them. Um, why was everyone gathered around here? Had Quidditch rosters been posted or something?? Weird place for that...oblivious to what was going on, she made it to the board, only to feel something drip on her head.

Um, WHAT? Was it raining outside and leaking into the castle? Did they ever hire another caretaker after the other one got like, eaten? HONESTLY, people. This school sometimes...

DRIP. Again? Gross. She reached up to her forehead and wiped it off, only to find...red liquid?

Wait...WHAT?

WHAT WAS GOING ON?!

"EWW! GROSS! GET IT OFF ME!" she screeched, reaching towards the first person near her (Maddie) and wiping her hand off on their robes. "Is that BLOOD!? EWW EWW EWWWWWW!"

[Steelsheen]

The Curly Top had just descended the stairs and was on his way out to the grounds when he spotted the commotion happening by the bulletin board. His first thought of course was that people were excited about the play, and he waved happily at Oliver who was amongst the crowd, thinking nothing was amiss and any kind of crowd control the Slytherin Prefect could handle easily.

But then he heard Scarlett freaking out. Did she just scream about blood? Ok something was up. He made a detour towards the bulletin board "Hey guys whats up?"

Drip.

Now he looks up.

[hermionesclone]

It was probably lucky that Hirsch's office, being just a floor up, wasn't too far from the scene that Isa had told him about. It didn't take long for the two of them to reach there and, after hopping down the marble staircase, he didn't need a guide to tell him exactly where the scene of the crime was.

Wand still held aloft, he glanced this way and that before heading straight towards the growing group of students all huddled around some kind of notice. Vague words about 'Ilvermorny' and 'Thunderbird' reached his ears but he was concentrating, instead, on following the others' gaze upwards towards.....

......... oh Merlin. Was that really BLOOD?!

Somehow, the sight looked far worse than anything Isa had described to him. Sure, he wasn't any stranger to the sight of blood but to see it used in such a way in a school was........ well, it left him feeling disgusted, if anything. And to think there were students here. Speaking of, he turned to look at the closest student to him, Tenacius, and frowned slightly. He reached out a hand and wiped the blood off with a sweep of a finger before holding the finger close to his eyes. The blood dripped downwards but something about it didn't look right. As weird as it was, it didn't even look human. Frowning, he bent down to look at the drops that had fallen on the floor. Looking.... examining....

A moment or two later, the Defence Professor stood up and turned to the group at large. "Okay, listen up! I want everyone to take at least five steps backwards and away from the bulletin board," he called, his voice sounding a lot more serious than it usually did, "Tenacius, Oliver, please make sure that no one tries to barge into this immediate area." In short: crowd control. "If anyone's in need of a serious clean up, feel free." Or the shower was an option.

In the meantime, he raised his wand and pointed it in the direction of the great oak doors. A silvery fennec fox burst from his wand and ran in the direction of Tristan's hut. Whether his guess was true or not, this was Tristan's area of expertise, after all. Another patronus followed the first one but ran, instead, up the marble staircase in search for the Headmistress.

[PhoenixRising]

It was the middle of October, which meant she had to get this flyer up about the Marchand Costume Wedding celebration she was planning for Halloween evening.... only, she stopped short of the bulletin board, because of a crowd of people - two prefects, Hirsch, some younger kids, some older kids ... and was that?

Drip

Yup. Dead hawk. Or some kind of winged creature. Uh, since when did Hogwarts decorate for Halloween with dead creatures? Four years of school here and she was fully aware that Halloween was important here, including a nice feast, but dead creatures with fresh blood dripping?

"Sick." Sky said to sum up very succinctly the sight on the ground floor.

[Watson]

Vi had just walked into the Entrance Hall when she saw quite a group gathering around the Bulletin Board. Huh? What was all the commotion about she said as she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. Curious. She spotted the boyfriend, Emmeline, Patrick, and Oliver over there! Oh hey and Skylar too. Then she saw Hirsch there. Everyone was just... staring.... What.... What were they doing?

And what WAS that? she thought as she took several steps forward before she turned more pale. Her stomach began doing somersaults.

Something was there. She couldn't tell what. But there was blood. She stayed silent and watched with widened eyes, wondering what was going on. Were the younger years alright? Emmeline, Patrick, and Maddie? She looked over at Tenacius and bit her lip. What did this mean?

[Steelsheen]

There was still a part of him thats still partly skeptical, mostly confused as to what the red dripping things were. Is that really blood? It could be tomato sauce for all he knew. Which makes him even sadder if it was, imagine all the pizzas and lasagnas bereft of such core ingredient. Such sadness.

But it wasnt long before their Defense Instructor appeared, and the man's reaction just made everything real serious really quickly for the Curly Top. Right crowd control. He turned and looked at Vi for a moment-- this is some serious stranger things stuff going on here, defense mode on.

He then raised his voice as he held his hand aloft "Ok peeps, you heard Professor Hirsch, back up... back up please..." he repeated as he waved his arms for them to take several steps backwards..

Should he put a shield up? But other Professors may need to move freely about, so instead he took an idea from those Muggle cop shows and decided to conjure a big DO NOT CROSS ribbon and hovered it around the perimeter of the bulletin board.

[Suziella]

Tristan was heading towards the barn when he received the Patronus message from Hirsch and came as quickly as he could. Looking up, he quickly saw the...was that a Hawk? Was that a Hawk drawn with Blood?!? “Excuse me everyone, if you could please let me through.” As soon as everyone was out of the way, ignoring the 'Do Not Cross' tape completely, he headed over to Roderik. "Professor Hirsch," he said with a nod, "I see we have a crowd as usual. I will get right to work." Seeing as the Hawk was on the ceiling, he was searching for the possibility of blood that was more easily accessible.

Soon enough he noticed that a vein of the red liquid was slowly dripping down the wall. He got as close to the wall as he could, sniffing the unidentified red stuff. Just the scent told him that it was indeed blood. That metallic smell was always the give away. The worrisome part was whose blood was it? Was it human or beast? Tristan dabbed his index and middle fingers of his right hand in the blood, rubbing it with his thumb to get a better scent. Unfortunately, he still couldn’t tell for sure. This would take a little magic to discover.

Pulling out his wand, he did a series of unspoken spells that would help him determine the type of creature it had come from. It seemed like it was taking a good bit of time to identify the type of blood. “It’s definitely not human…,” he said more to himself than anyone. The spells made a quick job of helping him discover what type of blood this was. Soon enough he had a clearer idea of what kind of creature the blood came from.“This is for sure not human blood. It is some kind of...rodent species.” He wondered who possibly could have done this.

He turned to the group still in the hallway, “Has anyone gone to get the Headmistress?” He asked the group in general, but looked at Roderik. He had a feeling that this was more than a silly prank from a student.

[Sneakeh Cat]

Flynn had been out enjoying this nice weather, alone, which he much preferred lately. He strayed away from loud crowds and, well, people in general. He had enjoyed the quietness of nature so much that when he entered the entrance hall, he regretted ever coming back in.

Ugh, crowds of PEOPLE.

He was not sure at that moment if he was more curious as to what was going on or if he wanted to head straight to his dorms. He stood there, silently thinking for a few minutes, before heading over to where everyone was.

HOLD ON. Was that.....

"Blood?" He asked, finishing off his sentence out loud. Yep, he should of went to his dorm. "Is this some sort of Halloween joke?"

[lazykitty]

He had been headed outside for dip in the lake in the pleasant October weather, which explained the towel on his arm and the fact that all he had on was a pair of swim trunks and flip-flops. But once he reached the Entrance Hall, he ran into a crowd. Specifically, one crowded around the central bulletin board.

It was pretty easy for the fifth year to figure out that this wasn't over some new announcement. Especially once he saw the 'do not cross' tape and the presence of the professor's. "Somehow, I don't think so," he replied the Slytherin (Flynn) that he'd stopped next to, looking up at the ceiling. Ugh, who would do such a thing?

[NifflerFan]

Loads and loads more people soon showed up at the Scene of the Crime, and Emmeline was starting to get a liiiiitttle bit scared. Just a little. When Professors Hirsch and Wayland showed up and Mr. Ace drew the crime scene-type ribbon, Emmeline edged close to the ribbon to hear what else the professors were saying.

So it WAS real blood, not some sick sort of blood-looking paint. That kinda ruled out the theory that this was a practical joke gone WAY wrong that Emmeline had been trying reallllly hard to hold on to. And then Professor Wayland was saying it was creature blood, and Emmeline felt her heart start racing again. Who would do something like this to a creature?! She took a deep breath and called out, "A boy from Slytherin went to get the headmistress a while ago, Professor Wayland." She didn't know his name, 'cause he was a first year or a new transfer student. She hoped he hadn't gotten lost trying to find the headmistress's office or something, 'cause now that she thought about it, she didn't know where that was and she was a second year.

She was starting to feel realllly twisty in her stomach 'cause that was kind of a BIIG thing to draw in blood mhm. And another thought occurred to her, so she asked the group at large (but mostly the professors): "Errr...how did the person get up there without somebody seeing them?" She figured that somebody would've noticed a kid flying on a broom and stuff. Maybe it was one of the ghosts?

Emmeline managed a small smile and wave to Miss Olivia when she came over, and had just been thinking about going to hide behind stand next to her Housemate when FLYNN showed up. The second year edged a little closer to the Slytherin boy instead; she figured that someone who was allllwayysss making other older kids mad must be pretty good at defensive spells by now, mhm. She stopped in time to hear his question and shook her head: "I thought it was a joke too, Flynn, but...I don't think it is anymore 'cause there's REAL blood." Nobody would kill or severely injure an innocent creature just for a stupid prank, would they??

[SarcasticStrawberry]

Juni kept her eyes on the ceiling at the painted bird, it still seem to be dripping. Juni made sure she dodged the drips. Hearing Emmeline turn and talk to her and Isa. The third year frowned slightly at the younger girl. ”I’m not sure but I don’t think it’s a Halloween prank” The first time ever that Juniper hoped she was wrong. She patted the girl’s shoulder reassuringly though.

She blinked around at the crowd, how long did it actually take to get a professor especially one that was on the first floor, the next floor up. Plus the crowd had gotten even bigger, even after Professor Hirsch had gotten there. She took a few steps back from the bulletin board, she would have to read the post later and get the date and times.

Luckily she had dodged the drips of blood. She would volunteer to help someone that needed to get cleaned up but she moved behind Professor Hirsch. ”Hi Professor is there anything I can do to help?” She knew that there wasn’t much that she could do at this point but she thought she would ask, especially since more and more people kept showing up and acting stupid over things going on that they had no idea why they were even there.

[Steelsheen]

He caught sight of the Creatures Professor coming towards the board, so the Gryffindor Prefect lifted the DO NOT CROSS ribbon up a bit to let the man through faster.

It was just a bit of a waiting game after that, Ace watching Professor Wayland at work and glancing back towards the students from time to time, of which most were either aghast with the crimson markings or thinking it was a joke of some sort, just like he did.

Professor Wayland spoke finally, and the Curly Top couldnt help but wince at the conclusion "Thats an awful lot of rodents to paint something as big as that." He didnt have any problems with blood. He did have an awfully big problem with animal cruelty.