〖  01  〗   ◦◦◦    ❝  yule ball。

 

hark the sleigh bells ring,

 

While the weather outside frightful, the Great Hall is simply delightful! There's no chill to be found in Hogwarts, no sir no, even though the castle has transformed into a winter wonderland for all the students and professors to enjoy. Whether your classroom recieves a visit from dancing elves, or the charmed garlands shake pine needles all over your robes in the hall, the true spectacle is the great hall; as the winter themed decorations only mean one thing: the Yule Ball.

 

While last year we felt as if we were in a giant snowglobe, this year we take a journey through an enchanted forest; golden stars shimmer in the sky and soft snowflakes fall and fade in the warmth of the hall.  Circular tables decorated with holly and pine wreaths have glimmering baubles and enchanted wooden creatures nestled within the leaves. In addition to the large tree behind the headmistresses chair, smaller christmas trees dot the empty spaces in the hall. The house colours have remained but deepened into jewel tones and each animal wears some sort of winter themed clothing item (a santa hat for slytherins, a scarf for hufflepuff, a pom pom beanie for Ravenclaw and fluffy boots for Gryffindor). Everywhere you turn is a vision of shimmering jewels, vibrant emerald leaves and cozy wooden arrangement.

 

Wearing tastefully simple red robes, headmistress McGonagall greets all attendees of ball with a customary welcome speech; the professors lined up on either side of her at the end of the hall.

When the majority of the attendees have entered the hall, McGongall raises her hand and a respectful silence falls to hear her speak.

❝ I welcome all of our esteemed guests to another Yule Ball at Hogwarts. You all look wonderful in your dress robes and gowns, certainly fitting for an esteemed event such as tonight. As we burn the yule log in honour of our ascendants and we celebrate all holidays of this merry season, we only ask that you have fun and enjoy yourselves.

Most of us will be going home for the holidays and will not be seeing each other until the next term starts. So today, in Hogwarts, we celebrate the end of the year with joy and laughter—and, of course, dancing—and enjoy each other's company as if today is Christmas.

So tonight, I would like you all to join me in this celebration, starting off with a dance. ❞

Today marks the first day of our Yule Ball Event!  This event will be open for writing and interactions for three weeks.  Afterwards, the event room will close.  Threads may not continue past that point so we can move on with our timeline. 

 

With that said, we apologize for the delay.  I know this throws off our timeline a bit because it is late and we're having Christmas in January, but better late than never, right?  After the event, we can resume with the timeline (which aligns with real life) as normal!  So, as promised...

 

General Yule Ball Features (in character)
» food served whenever your person is hungry
» dancing
» music by a variety of wizarding bands

 

Tasks (not mandatory, but suggested for those who struggle to find interactions/plots)
» ask to dance with someone, be it a friend or a stranger

» post song suggestions (in the comments of this announcement; this will maybe give people something to listen to while writing)

» publicly ask someone to be your date to the yule ball! (do this in the great hall so everyone can see)