Site Plot: The Kidnapping | Open to All

As nighttime fell upon the carnival, rides, booths and stalls all lit up in brilliant colorful shimmers, cascading across the grounds with their own magic. The band picked up in energy as the dance floor filled with sugar-hyped students. The rides seemed just a little more thrilling, and the games just a little more difficult.

Everywhere one looked, students were coupling off, hands entwined as they took in the sights, sounds and smells. Everything sparkled. Everything shone. And yet, beneath the glow, something in the air had changed. Too still between the songs, too heavy beneath the laughter. The carnival goers had been sure that the night would taper off as peacefully and full of fun as the day had began.

They were wrong.

The padded gates of the creature paddock tore open, metal shrieking, ropes snapping, and a scatter of creatures burst into the midway. Sleek shadows, feathered shapes, a tumble of hooves and startled cries. Stalls emptied as students dove from the path; vendors and professors tried to herd the beasts back, and the crowd's gaze bent toward the commotion like moths to a flame. For an instant every head turned away from the center of the carnival.

It was the distraction the night needed.

The music didn't stop right away. It stumbled, and then faltered, the musicians sensing something sinister before anyone else did. The air changed, stiller than it had been just a few moments before, the colors of the carnival suddenly blending together before each person's eyes in a blinding smear.

A harsh wind suddenly exploded through the grounds, whipping the tops of the tents and sending snacks and prizes flying in every direction. A pulse of what seemed to be swirling black smoke burst through the midway, twisting through the lights as if drawn by the magic itself. It swallowed the laughter in an instant, devouring sound and sight and leaving only the screams of those who hadn’t been caught in it, before it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

When the air cleared, a handful of students were...gone. No trail, no echo, only a faint ozone tang, and a voice that amplified across the grounds for everyone to hear.

"I have three." The voice rasped lowly, a slight giggle in the his inflection.

"All you've done has been in vain. All your efforts, all your 'triumphs'," another chuckle, "Only to realize we've been here all along."

Confusion would come over the crowd as they tried to understand what the voice meant, what he referred to.

"The Ministry will release Halloway within two hours. Deliver him to the Dark Tower. Ten minutes to acknowledge my demands. Otherwise what has been taken, will not be recognizable when you bury it."

Faint screams suddenly sounded from the Dark Tower, before fading out and leaving the carnival grounds in stunned silence.

---

Welcome to the big site plot of the 1920-1921 school year.

This thread is open to all carnival-goers. You can find additional threads regarding this event in the Great Hall and The Dark Tower.

"Like it?" Julia asked, smiling down at her daughter who'd just been handed an enormous stick of cotton candy that doubled the size of her head. The girl was quiet as she always was, but there was the faintest glimmer of excitement in her eyes as she stared at it and then back up at Julia. "Alright, little. If you need to save it for a specific time, we'll wrap it up and save it." The woman gave Kathryn a reassuring squeeze as she took her by the hand, and led her towards a game booth.

"Your brother should be around here somewhere," she mused, her eyes searching the surrounding area for Benji. She had it in her mind to hand off Kate to him so she could go help Maddox lock up the paddock for the night, but he was nowhere in sight. "Want to try out this one?" She asked, pointing to a booth with a table full of water cups and little balls to try and throw into them. Blue eyes stared up at her blankly, and Julia couldn't help the little laugh that escaped her lips. "Got it. We'll just wander and take in the sights then."

It wasn't meant to be.

No sooner had she said the words, an enormous crash sounded from the paddock. All at once, it was chaos. Creatures were racing from the barn and various stalls and pens. Julia cursed, stooping down quickly to gather Kate into her arms and lift her onto her hip, before stumbling her way out of the stampede. Shouts of confusion and chaos ensued as students and professors alike dove out of the way, some whipping their wands to try and stop the madness.

What in the world - where was Maddox? Julia searched for him, holding tightly to her daughter who had lost her cotton candy in the excitement, when suddenly -

The woman held her breath, feeling a cold chill run down her spine, as her eyes glanced up, just in time to see a dark swirling cloud descend upon the students. Screams erupted from every direction. Objects were flying, tables were crashing and tents coming apart at their seams. Faster than Julia could draw her wand, the cloud shot up and away again, leaving the carnival goers in an absolute panic.

"Benji!" Julia called out, looking for her son amongst the panicking crowd. "Rosalie!" Neither of her kids answered, likely unable to hear her in the ear-shattering noise.

"I have three. All you've done has been in vain. All your efforts, all your 'triumphs'. Only to realize we've been here all along."

Silence fell across the grounds, everyone seemingly holding their breath at the sound of the voice that echoed amongst them. Three. He had three. Her eyes scanned the crowd again.

"The Ministry will release Halloway within two hours. Deliver him to the Dark Tower. Ten minutes to acknowledge my demands. Otherwise what has been taken, will not be recognizable when you bury it."

When the voice vanished again and screams rang out from the direction of the Dark Tower, Julia swallowed hard, running a hand through Kate's hair. "It's alright. We'll find everyone," she soothed, not sure if it was more for her daughter or herself. The creatures were racing for the forest, there were students panicking again, screaming for their friends and children that had been taken.

Her eyes finally fell on Gideon, and she hurried over to him, not letting Kate down, less more danger befall them. "We need to get the students in one place," she said quickly, and drew her wand. With a swift flick of her wand, a crow patronus appeared. "The Minister of Magic. Carry the message."

Within a moment, her patronus had shot off through the night sky. "The Great Hall." She looked between the deputy and the headmistress. "I'll help gather them if you can stop the panicking."

Maddox was after his creatures, and she grabbed him by the arm as he rushed past. "I can send Kate with the students if you need help."

"No, no, gently."

Maddox pried the eager little hands of his now two-year-old off the harrassed puffskein that was still trying to figure out a way into the little boy's nose. He tugged a little harder, willing his son to let the fur he gripped tightly in his tiny fist go before the docile creature could decide it no longer wanted to be so.

One last tug and a protest he stomped out with one look and the custard coloured beast was free to roll off to safety. It had suffered enough and deserved the peace it managed to carve out for itself on the other side of the pen.

"This way--no, no this way. We do not bother the fairies."

To say that the man was having a long day would've been the grossest underestatement of the century. Earlier, he'd left Evander to nap with his mother while he got the creatures set up. From the moment the boy was awake, the day had devolved in wrangling both creatures and a toddler who may as well have been his own sort of beast. It wasn't that he ws complaining about his son's seeming affection for creatures, just...his way of showing it.

"That's enough of that." He scooped him up, ignoring the fussy wiggles and protests. It had been a long day for Evander, too. Up and down he'd gone, never too far from his father's eyes. He'd played with some of the students who came to see the creatures and had found himself plenty of entertainment with the vain fairies before they'd decided enough was enough of having their wings pulled. Now, every squeal and kick spoke volumes. They were the promise of bedtime and mercifully, an entire night without his son waking up.

"Let me get these creatures locked away then it's a bath and be--"

BOOM!

Maddox held Evander close, turning his back to the source of the sound that sent his ears ringing. In a split second, there was chaos. The creatures, frightened by the sudden intrusion into the otherwise peaceful night, began to scatter. They took off in several directions. The bulk of them, he realised, were heading for the forest. Suddenly...this night was tripling in length and the man could already feel the ache of fatigue in his bones.

In the middle of thee chaos and the screaming children, a voice. Three? Three students...taken?

"Shit."

He spotted a pair of first years crouched by the stack of hay near the entrance. Reaching down, he pulled one then the other to their feet. "Get to the castle, stick together. Follow the others," he nudged them both forward, "now."

There were more like them. While some of the children's responses were flight, there were too many who froze. Maddox moved swiftly through the stampeding crowd, his own son now clinging to him and screaming in fright at the obvious panic around them. As he moved, he urged the students to do as they were being told by the other professors and to head back to the castle while he moved in the opposite direction.

His arm snagged against something, something he nearly took with him before realising it was a hand that tried to get his attention. Maddox staggered to a stop, whirling around to find Julia with her mute little demon seed clinging to her.

The two exchanged the only look he needed. This was an emergency. Something was very wrong. The details he would get as he went along. Now was the time for action.

"I can send Kate with the students if you need help."

The very suggestion had the little girl recoiling into the woman's neck and side, as if making it clear she wouldn't be sent anywhere.

"No, it looks like you're needed with the students." He'd heard, in all the confusion, some talk of the great hall. "Here, take him with you. I'll meet you there once I've secured the creatures and I'll send along any of the students I run into."

He tipped the boy over to her but Evander clung fiercely. His cries became shrill screams that provoked the headache the chaos had already stoked.

Maddox shot his friend a pleading look for help. There was no time for this new tired tantrum but toddlers seldom understood how much bigger the world was than the problems they faced.

The carnival had been a nice break from the monotony of the castle. The Prefects, in charge of the event, had done a great job with every aspect. Except the Dunk Tank. He had been dunked far too many times for his liking. He’d have to make sure that didn’t come back next year.

As the sun was getting lower in the sky, darkness and shadows descended over the grounds, Gideon walked through the tents with a beautiful woman by his side. He had seen Rose with her daughter Fiona, riding rides and looking at the creatures. Her red hair shining in the sun. Gideon had of course met both of Rose’s children. They were adorable, mischievous and full of fun. He had always loved children, wanting a large family. It was just a dream he had thought was out of reach.

He liked Rose. A lot. The chemistry had been there from the start, and it hadn’t stopped. He hadn’t taken it past harmless flirting, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t thought about it. She had kids. He had a history.

Little Fiona was looking longingly at the cotton candy, shaped into fun designs. Rose, meanwhile, was talking to a student. “I’ll take one please,” he said to the vendor. Taking the sweet treat in a fun flower design. “Here ya go Miss Fiona, everyone needs cotton candy at a carnival.” he said, kneeling before her. A rare smile on his face.

Just as he handed it over, the atmosphere changed. The music stopped in a broken jumble. Gideon, got to his feet, looking around to find the source of the change. It felt wrong. Putting his hand on Fiona’s shoulder, he pulled her to his side while taking his wand out. “Rose.” He said simply. The one word spoke volumes. The uncertainty, worry and concern in his voice.

The wind was next. Tent tarps were flapping, prizes and food started flying off of tables and stands. The Fortune Teller tent had tarot cards flying from its entrance. A black smoke like vapor flew through the grounds. Gideon’s eyes becoming blurry. Grabbing Rose’s hand, he pulled her to him. “Get your wand out. Take Fiona’s hand. Follow me.” Gone was the fun Gideon, the soldier was taking control.

"I have three." Gideon stopped in his tracks. Looking for the source of the voice, but it wasn’t someone, it was in the air. Broadcast throughout the grounds for all to hear.

"All you've done has been in vain. All your efforts, all your 'triumphs'," another chuckle, "Only to realize we've been here all along." What in the hell was he talking about? The voice was familiar, but different. Not one he could immediately place.

It was then that he noticed the animals. The carnival was in utter chaos. People running, tears, screams, animals running loose, people running to nowhere in particular.

"The Ministry will release Halloway within two hours. Deliver him to the Dark Tower. Ten minutes to acknowledge my demands. Otherwise what has been taken, will not be recognizable when you bury it."

“Fuck!” Gideon tugged Rose and Fiona along with him. He stopped as they got to the edge of the carnival, turning to look at her. “Go, get to the great hall. Take any kids you see along the way. I need to find Ruby and contact the minister. GO! NOW!”

Just as he was about to send a message to the Minister, Julia was at his side. "We need to get the students in one place, The Minister of Magic. Carry the message." Her message would do just fine.

“I sent Rose off to the Great Hall, told her to grab students on the way.”

"The Great Hall." Julia said, looking between himself and Ruby, who had just joined them. "I'll help gather them if you can stop the panicking."

Nodding, Gideon waved his wand in the air, casting Protego Maxima over the grounds, a much larger version of Protego, to protect the students while they were getting to safety. With no wait, he waved his wand in the same manner as Julia, producing his wolf patronus to get the word out. “Find the staff on the grounds. Send the message. ‘Remain calm. Get all students to the Great Hall, stay alert.’”

“Lets go, we don’t have a lot of time.”

Her duties as the resident fortune teller had come to an end. If she was being honest, things had gone quite well. Besides a little death, destruction, tyranny and some bad fashion choices, Tilly thought her fortunes were spot on.

“Listen, I know you didn’t love your fortune, but you just need to accept that short shorts are in your future. Deal with it.” she told Benji, grabbing a handful of pickle flavored popcorn. Munching on the strange, salty, sour, buttery treat. Grabbing another handful, she said between bites. “Why is this good? It shouldn’t be good.”

The carnival had been a roaring success, thanks to the Prefect team and their brilliant ideas. Looking around at her fellow students and random staff members, Tilly was happy that everyone was having fun. FINALLY. It had been a rough year thus far, with all the magical craziness that had been plaguing the school.

Tilly stopped and looked around, realizing that she hadn’t seen Ren or Rae in quite some time. “Hey, Where did Ren and Rae go off to. I haven’t seen either of them in ages.”

The last word was barely out of her mouth with the atmosphere changing dramatically. The sound of metal breaking and animals running caught her attention first. There were screams, which was not unwarranted when she saw the creatures once in the paddock running every which way. “Oh shit, what happened.” Then the music stopped. Something wasn’t right.

Moving closer to her best friend, worry in her voice, she simply grabbed his hand, squeezing tight and uttered a shaky, “Benji?”

The air was wrong, the colors blurry, then the wind hit them in the face with a frightening strength. Tent flaps waved wildly, debris surrounded them. Something sharp came out of nowhere, grazing Tilly along her hairline, slicing the skin, blood streaming down her face. “WHAT’S HAPPENING!?” She screamed, her voice being drowned out by the chaos around them.

"I have three. All you've done has been in vain. All your efforts, all your 'triumphs'. Only to realize we've been here all along."

She was clutching Benji's arm now. Afraid to be separated in the mayhem. The voice sent chills down her spine. "The Ministry will release Halloway within two hours. Deliver him to the Dark Tower. Ten minutes to acknowledge my demands. Otherwise what has been taken, will not be recognizable when you bury it."

She didn’t even notice the blood, staining her ginger hair a gruesome shade of red. Her head stayed on a swivel, wand in her hand, terrified at what might come out of the shadows to get them next. "We need to move, we need to find the others." Ren, Rae, Alice, Everleigh... the list went on and on. So many people she loved. They needed to be ok.

Miss Nordstrom’s ominous tarot card reading had no effect on the woman; she had laughed it off at the time because she knew the girl wasn’t giving true readings. Tarot was more complex than just picking a card. Then again, she was no master of Divination techniques, in fact she had struggled in that subject her whole time as a student and now as an adult. She was of the mind that it wasn’t a serious subject, though that could just be because she lacked the skill.

After visiting the tarot tent, Ruby made her way to the dunk tank and watched her Deputy get dunked a couple of times. Seeing the man laughing and having a good time made her smile as well; he was always so serious so it had been refreshing to see him having fun. The Creature Corner was also visited, but as she made her rounds she mostly was checking on the Prefects to see if they needed anything.

Ruby, despite being accused of being too serious herself, had a hard time relaxing and not working. Then again, she was the headmistress; the school and all of the students were her responsibility. With how wild the magic had been this term, she needed to be at the ready to act if anything should happen.

Like if the cotton candy machine began spinning too fast and coating everything nearby in sugary bits. Or if the chocolate frogs somehow took over the tarot reading – honestly, Ruby was not ruling anything out at this point.

And then a loud metallic shrieking sound came from one area of the carnival. Ruby turned from the direction she thought the sound came from, and then saw a blur of creatures run past. She gripped her wand as a thick, black smoke made its way through the carnival.

"I have three."

Did it giggle? The air cleared.

"All you've done has been in vain. All your efforts, all your 'triumphs'. Only to realize we've been here all along."

Ruby set her jaw and looked around, thinking briefly of Miss Nordstrom’s tarot reading. Had she somehow been right?

"The Ministry will release Halloway within two hours. Deliver him to the Dark Tower. Ten minutes to acknowledge my demands. Otherwise what has been taken, will not be recognizable when you bury it."

Screaming from the Dark Tower – loud, terrified – rang in her ears as she looked up at the tall structure. What…?

Silence. And yet she could hear orders being given. Gideon was on top of it, and so was Julia. The librarian had sent her patronus to the Minister with word of what happened. It looked as if adults were already dividing themselves up. Barlowe was heading to the creatures and most of the other teachers were ushering the students into the Great Hall.

“Gideon, we have ten minutes to get up there and find out what he is doing to them,” Ruby said, her heart pumping quickly. While the screams couldn’t be heard now, she didn’t trust whatever that thing was to wait ten full minutes to begin whatever form of torture he was planning.

She looked at the other adults still nearby. “Take over the shield,” she said, looking at the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. “Let’s hurry, Blackwood,” she directed and took off running in the direction of the castle.

Benji did not do his duties. Not really anyway. He'd napped during most of it, having found a quiet corner behind one of the pens with fresh, clean straw to lay in. Who was gonna tell him something? The Head Boy or Girl? A professor? They were all busy off enjoying the carnival. No one cared what Benji was doing, and it worked beautifully in his favor.

"It really shouldn't be," Benji agreed, taking another handful for himself, not quite computing pickley popcorn worked so well, but hey. What was good was good, and he was happy to share a snack with his best friend. They'd both worked so hard today, and definitely deserved the reward.

The boy shrugged, not really sure where Ren and Rae were. Since he and Rae had broken up, things had been...weird. Not never-talking weird, but weird all the same. He still missed her. Still wanted to make things right with her but...

It didn't matter. "I don't know. You know Ren these days. Always off busy somewhere else."

CRASH!

Benji nearly jumped out of his skin at the almost-explosion that sounded from the paddock, his eyes widening as creatures came flying through the carnival, crashing into booths and kicking up dust everywhere. The music suddenly silenced, and he felt Matilda's hand in his. It felt...off. Something was definitely off. "It's okay..." he tried to say.

In the next moment, a huge gust of wind tore through the carnival sending debris flying in every direction. Matilda was screaming, and Benji did the only thing he could think to do. Popcorn flying from his hand, the boy grabbed her, wrapping his arms around her in an attempt to shield her with himself. Colors blurred in front of his eyes and he barely made out the image of a black cloud as it zoomed right in front of him, circling the students and then vanishing just as quickly.

He let go of Matilda, his breathing labored now with the disbelief that took him, as...Professor Thayer's voice sounded across the grounds. He'd...he'd taken people? Why? Who? Panic ensued all around them, screaming, crying and Matilda was bleeding. "Shit," he muttered, wiping a bit of blood from her forehead with his thumb. "We need to get you to looked at. We can look for everyone after." The professors were already gathering people and yelling for the prefects to help.

He tugged her by the hand. "C'mon, I've got you."

Tulip had been hanging out for most of the night with the animals in the padocks. Sure she'd been keeping an eye on the dunk tank she had a list of professors she would like to throw a ball at and deposit in a tank of water. She's ridden a couple of rides with Poppy rides her 1st year friends were too scared to ride on. They were fun but both agreed they could be much more scary. She'd seen Rose holding court with her latest boy and Briar and her weird Ravenclaw friends were busy consuming all types of sugar related goodness. After bumming some smokes off an older Gryffindor girl she had made her way back to the pens, chatting to the various creatures, Tilly's friend Benji had been sleeping there, which was fine with Tulip she didn't fancy explaining why she was hanging out with the cute creatures. That really would have dented the facard that she had spent 4 years cultivating.

As Tulip headed away from the animals there was a noise she dismissed it at first but then the commotion took hold suddenly animals that had been in the pens ran past she looked blankly at them at first and then suddenly had a worried thought people would blame her for letting the creatres out. She thought about running back may be rounding up some of the creatures. But there was suddenly a gust of wind that ripped through the carnival it took Tulip off her feet and for a few moments Tulip couldn't quite understand what was going on. This wasn't good, but somehow Tulip kept the panic at bay, she needed to find her sisters and check they were okay.

She got to her feet dodging the students running in all directions, just as she stood she heard a voice;

The Ministry will release Halloway within two hours. Deliver him to the Dark Tower. Ten minutes to acknowledge my demands. Otherwise what has been taken, will not be recognizable when you bury it."

What the fuck! where was the voice coming from and what did it mean? This was insane. So many thought were going around her head and trying to catch just one was hard. She heard a Slytherin screaming they had kidnapped a whole class of first years. Tulip looked around somewhat concerned for her sister but then remember it was only Poppy who was a first year and if she'd been kidnapped she felt sorry for the kidnappers.

She saw some of the professors were hearding the children away and she found herself getting caught in the rush, then she heard squawking and looked down as she almost tripped over a large blue bird. It looked up and Squawked at her. The Diricrawl looked as cnfused as she did. Tulip didn't think she just scooped it up "You're comming with me fella" she said placing it under her arm, and ran with the crowd.