Those of Wit and Learning [Susan]

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Gaius sighed, rubbing at his temples. The Triwizard Tournament had proven to be a thorn in his side for more reasons than one. On top of the whole ‘disgracing the family’ thing he’d done by not being chosen, now there was additional work and coordination to do with the prefects and the Aurors. Most of which admittedly was handled by the Headmaster and Professor Jakebson, but not all, and there was still plenty for Rose and himself to do. Not to mention the ever-increasing workload that comes with NEWT year, and with Gaius taking the maximum courseload, that meant a LOT of work. Nothing he was unequal to, but hand cramps made it difficult to get that eighth essay written. But on top of that, the increased security and the Tasks themselves required more organization, on top of already being disruptive to classes on his most important year.

Gaius was hardly unequal to the task, but it was such an unnecessary amount of annoyance.

He knuckled his forehead for a moment as he considered the layout of the Yule Ball and where everything would have to be. The balancing act of security versus fun was like a tightrope, and Gaius was trying to figure out how best to lay out the Great Hall itself to accommodate all the students and the Ministry, while maintaining the Aurors’ ability to keep an eye over the proceedings. He had already hit upon using more Christmas trees than the usual twelve, since the Great Hall would be much larger than usual to deal with the much larger crowds, and he intended to cut the top half of the trees off and use illusions to remake the top halves. Doing so would give several Aurors a hidden ‘eagle eye’ to watch the party from, while being as unobtrusive as possible. Headmaster Longbottom liked the idea, but now it was up to Gaius to actually create the illusion and figure out the ideal placements.

He also intended to enchant the tables where the food would be to null poisons, which was a very tricky combination of defensive enchantments and ancient runes, but he was pretty sure he could pull it off.

So much to do.

@susanvictoria
Rozalina Antonina Nightshade (Just tagging Rose in case she wants to jump in and do stuff too~)

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Susan hadn’t been recruited to help with the setup for the Yule Ball; she had volunteered for more reasons than one. Knowing the layout could only help with Phil’s surprise entrance for Andromeda, and besides Christmastime was one of her favorite times of year. She’d always been somewhat involved with the Muggle balls her family had been a part of, even as a child. Her father would carry her on his shoulders while she pointed out which decorations looked out of place, or because she could be quite bold sometimes, which looked ugly and needed to be taken down. She smiled to herself at the memory as she crossed into the Ravenclaw Common Room to see Gaius Goyle already sitting there, knuckles pressed to his forehead. A lot of people would have written off Gaius due to his last name, but after seven years and Prefect duties with him, Susan knew there was far more to him than being Gregory Goyle’s son. “Hello Gaius, what can I do to help you?” she asked him, taking a seat at the table with him. She looked around and for once, didn’t see any spiders. She had seen less and less of them since going to Headmaster Longbottom, and she was beginning to feel more at ease.

@gaius

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“Hello Gaius, what can I do to help you?”

Gaius looked up and blinked. Susan Windsor had joined him at the table. They knew one another, perhaps not all that well; she had become the Ravenclaw prefect for her year after Rose had been named Head Girl. And she had jumped on the chance to help plan the Yule Ball. Given her place in the same house and year as Gaius and Rose, this had inevitably led to her doing more work than the rest of the volunteers, but she’d had yet to complain.

“Hello, Susan. I’m just trying to work out the layout of the ball and what protections need to be set in place.” He reached out and pulled a sheet with a long list of supplies needing to be purchased that the kitchens in Hogwarts didn’t always keep. The Headmaster’s wife had been very helpful with providing him pricing lists of alcohols, and he’d received information from some Ministry official on expected numbers, not to mention Gringotts information for funding. Since the Ministry intended to be here, and because it was part of the Triwizard Tournament, they had practically hurled fistfuls of coins at Hogwarts to make sure a lavish ball could be provided. Gaius had actually checked into several things, including running simultaneous indoor and outdoor bands, and everything he considered adding still put them well under the Ministry-approved budget. “We still need to tally purchase costs. Oh, and here’s a letter from the Ministry with a new estimate on numbers from their end and a notification of increase to budget.”

@susanvictoria

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Susan reached out and took the list from Gaius, looking it over carefully. “Are of aged students going to be allowed to drink? Legally I suppose they can’t be stopped, but I’m not sure if the Headmaster would appreciate that,” she said with a wry smile. Growing up royal, she’d started having a glass of wine with dinner at aged thirteen; her mother had been of firm belief that her children not abuse alcohol like their past ancestors had, and she had done so by introducing it in a tasteful and safe situation. As such, Susan enjoyed the occasional glass of wine, but other than that she was careful never to go overboard. “They’re really going all out with this,” Susan mused, sounding happy. The Yule Ball was shaping up to be one reminiscent of the Muggle balls she had attended, but with magic, which would make it all better. Still, it’d be nice if Casey wasn’t working that night.


“We seem to be well under budget; do you have any ideas for added entertainment?” Susan asked him after she studied the purchases and tallied up their costs. She didn’t want to overstep, but she did happen to know a thing or two about attending and throwing lavish parties, to say the least. She wondered what Gaius and Rose had come up with so far. “The Ministry seems to be having a good number of people coming; the mix should be fascinating to see,” she added, looking over the list and recognizing a few names from the recent graduates of Hogwarts. She saw Claire Slater, her brothers’ ex girlfriends name on the list, and wondered briefly if she would ever have considered asking him to accompany her to the Yule Ball.

@gaius

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Susan asked a rather important question: would students of age be allowed to drink? “The Headmaster mentioned something about having a bar instead of just an open table full of drinks. Apparently he got a couple of lower-level Ministry people to work as bartenders in exchange for a bonus to their paycheck. He says Madame Longbottom taught them how to bartend and they could be trusted to make sure the students were cut off before they got too drunk. And they have to pass an Age Line test as well. He's also having Sobering Solution made in case of emergencies.“

He nodded absently at her mention of things going all out. She sounded happy about it, but to Gaius it didn't matter one way or the other. The time he would spend with his father and sister would be as oppressive as it always was, regardless of the opulence of the party. And...he was pretty sure now that the time he spent with Rosaria would be great, independent of the setting. They'd had fun with books and without. What else mattered, really, from his own point of view?

She was right, they were currently very far under budget. “I was thinking about paying for two bands. An outdoor one to play all that classical stuff the Ministry and older people like, and an indoor band running all the popular dance and rock songs that our classmates are going to want. I'll run that by the committee when we do the full meeting. Other than that, there's more money available for decorations, which will make a couple of people happy. Did you have something in mind?”

He glanced over at her when she mentioned all the Ministry people coming. It would be a mix all right. “There's a possible downside to this as well. If they start to segregate over their political views, the sheer number of people here, along with the fact that the venue is essentially one big room and one courtyard, it's going to be much more obvious that when they host the party at whatever Pureblood manor wants to have them, where there's two dozen different rooms to diffuse the cliques.” He'd dealt with politics enough to know they were, essentially, more subtle version of popular teenage girls.

Slightly more subtle.

@susanvictoria

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Susan nodded in agreement; Gaius had explained the rule perfectly clear, and it made sense to her at least. Sure, she was certain that perhaps one or two students would not try to adhere to the rules, but she doubted Headmaster Longbottom would take such a thing lightly. Plus that meant she could enjoy her glass of wine with dinner. “That all sounds perfect,” she told him.


Susan listened to Gaius’ ideas about two bands. “I know there are students who are trained in ballroom dance, myself for one, that prefer dancing to classical waltz music for the most part. I think that would be something both age groups could appreciate,” she told him. She didn’t know if Ed would take Addi and show off his training, but Lucy at least would definitely appreciate the classical music. Will too, if he ended up coming.


“I do have an idea actually, to utilize more space on the grounds. Even though it’s vast, there are going to be a LOT of people, so the more spaces to break up massive groups, the better in my opinion,” she started, her voice growing more confident. She waved her wand and an image of the pond glittered in front of them. “I was thinking, nobody uses the pond for anything during the winter, so what if we put a strong Freezing charm over the water, and laid a marquee floor on it for people to use to dance? I’d suggest ice skating but I fear that in long dresses and robes that would be inadvisable. Perhaps even put a pretty bridge over the middle for people to walk over and look out over the grounds?” She added her ideas visually to the pond image so that Gaius could see what she meant. “What do you think?” she asked.

@gaius

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He shrugged when she mentioned that she was trained in ballroom dance. “I am too. Most purebloods are. The current band is supposed to switch back and forth between ballroom, waltz, and a few other styles of dance music. But I figured if we had a more modern band running parallel to them, people could just go to the music they wanted.”

He watched as Susan sketched a small image of the pond in the air with magic, then filled it out with people and a bridge, to illustrate her idea about using the ice as a dance floor. He shook his head. “I like the idea, but the Headmaster was adamant: the outdoor portion of the party stays in the courtyard. Besides...” The scraggly-haired Ravenclaw raised his own wand, and the image of the lake shifted, with an ancient, weatherbeaten ship appearing in the midst of the ice. “We'd need to get permission from the Durmstrangs to party on what it essentially their front lawn for the year.”

Gaius paused for a moment, considering. “But perhaps we could use ice in the courtyard. Create a level dance floor over the ground. If there's nowhere outside to dance—we just make one.” With the proper application of magic, even a thin sheet of ice would stand up to the weight of hundreds all night. And no matter how hard the house-elves or the groundskeeper worked, there were simply too many feet tromping through the courtyard daily to keep the place smooth. Even if it started that way in the beginning of the Yule Ball, it wouldn't last. A sheet of ice, on the other hand...

“We could even section off part of the courtyard to make an ice skating rink if you think it would get enough attention? I'm pretty sure the Headmaster intends to enlarge the area.” Longbottom, as the Headmaster, had control over the enchantments and magic of Hogwarts, and could do such a thing as increase the courtyard's size with that power.

@susanvictoria

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Susan nodded, understanding. It made sense that the pureblood families made sure their children were taught in the art of dance; in their own way they were also royalty in the wizarding world. Of course, blood purity mattered less to the general wizarding population than it once did, but to the families themselves they would not throw away centuries of manners and decorum. “Well then I fully expect to see you on the dance floor,” she told him with a small smile.

She leaned forward as he told her that Headmaster Longbottom didn't want the student festivities to go much past the courtyard. It made sense with the heightened security, the Ministrys' presence and yes even the Durmstrang ship being moored in the lake that the less open spaces they were able to roam the better. “I think an ice skating rink would be nice; it'd set the winter wonderland theme quite nicely. Perhaps a small serving hut of hot chocolate and hot apple cider and a few little bites from Germany and France? After all, you've never expereienced Christmas until you visit the German Christmas markets,” Susan said with a giggle. It'd be fun to see people skating in their lovely ball gowns and distinguished suits or dress robes, then heading to grab some hot chocolate off to the side, perhaps with a bratwurst or a profiterole.

@gaius

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Gaius shrugged halfheartedly at Susan's request to see him dancing. “Sure.” There wasn't any malice in the words, but no excitement either. Gaius had always been a little awkward while dancing. He wasn't bad, but he was...wooden. Mechanical. He danced the part perfectly but never really felt the rhythm. He liked listening to music, but dancing had always been treated as an important societal function, not something to be enjoyed, and as such, musical entertainment vanished while he made sure to hit every step exactly right.

...he found himself looking forward to dancing with Rosaria though.

He marked down notes on creating an ice rink within the courtyard. Probably circling one of the Christmas trees...yeah, that would do nicely.

He nodded at Susan's idea about food stands being set up for people, jotting down notes along with a note to check prices to see if they could afford to import proper cooks and ingredients. He would send messages along to the heads of the other two schools, see if they would contribute to bringing in their native foods. “Alright, that sounds good. Maybe we line them along the rink with serving counters facing inward and outward, so people can pick up food and drinks without leaving the rink if they want.”

@susanvictoria

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Susan watched Gaius' face as he spoke indifferently about dancing. There was something else there though, barely discernable but definitely there. Susan knew that a lot of pureblooded families tried to arrange their children into marriages; her best friend was intended to marry Raleigh Flint after all.  They rarely seemed to work out; River, though he had changed a bit lately, did not seem intent on marring Vi Nott, and Dusti was always around Albus Potter.  Gaius though, he was betrothed to the other twin Rosaria.  She'd seen them around the library together; they seemed to be the least angry about their betrothal of all the ones she knew about.  Personally, she was just thankful that arranged marriages had died out a century ago for the royals, though some could certainly have used it.

"That sounds perfect," Susan agreed, leaning in to see how Gaius had arranged it.  It would remind her of Christmastime in London for sure and it would make not going home for Christmas more bearable.  If she could pry Phil and Andy away from each other, perhaps they'd join in with the skating.  Probably not; she was sure someone would though, hopefully many people in fact.  "Obviously we need lots of fairy lights too, set off a twinkly wintery feeling," she added, prodding the model with her own wand to make it light up in a soft white, twinkling glow.


@gaius

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Gaius nodded at Susan's suggestion for fairy lights, watching as they twinkled and gleamed. “Alright, that sounds good. So, what about mistletoe locations? I'm loathe to put it over the doorway, that's too aggressive, but perhaps....let's see.”

He raised his wand and prodded at an empty spot, creating a tiny tree of ice. “If we made a few trees out of ice, we could hang mistletoe off them, where they're visible enough that people can't be fooled into going under them. Hmm...what d'you think about freezing fairy lights inside the trees?” He had no idea what sort of effect that would have on the lightning. It seemed like an interesting idea, though. He doubted it would be enough to destroy the magical sparks of light, but he didn't know if it would enhance the effect, if they should use different color or stick with one color laced through a tree, or what.

@susanvictoria (sorry is short Dx)

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Susan smiled a little at the idea of mistletoe, though her smile was a little sad; since Casey wasn’t attending the Yule Ball, having work commitments to see to, she didn’t envision kissing anyone under the mistletoe this Christmas. “That works, the colors of the mistletoe directly contrast the ice on the trees; people won’t mistake it for a stray branch or anything,” she agreed, nodding at the idea. She smiled wider this time at the fairy lights suggestion. “That would look beautiful; more winter wonderland than anything,” she said happily. She looked around the space they had designed so far; there was still some space left, and Susan got an idea. “What about a small hedge maze? We could instill some two-seater swings for couples that just want a few moments alone- don’t look like that I meant to talk privately nothing vulgar!- and then the maze for people who need to do something more active that’s not necessarily dancing,” she suggested, prodding her wand as the small maze began to grow. “It doesn’t have to be anything too intricate, easy enough to get through. The hedges should be 6-7 feet tall, and maybe some winter roses blooming in them. We could ask some of the Aurors to patrol the outside, and have the perimeter well lit so that nobody can skulk in the dark outside.” The idea of a maze came to her from the old castle of her ancestors; they had placed a little hedge maze near the back of their castle for guests to entertain themselves with.

@gaius

let's wrap this up soon <3

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Gaius scratched at his chin absently with the tip of his wand while Susan laid out her ideas for a hedge maze. It sounded less like a maze to him than a simple hedged garden, but the idea had merit. People liked stuff like that, right? Susan was much more of a people person than he was, so he wasn't about to argue with her on the value of something like that.

“Okay, I can see something like that. Maybe we can get some bowtruckles to nest in the bushes for the night. They'll stay quiet unless the bush is disturbed, so it would be difficult for someone to sneak into the maze by crawling under the bushes....or....anything else,” he added, looking away uncomfortably.

He stared at the miniature projection of the courtyard, setting up false ice trees, including having the branches of a few stretch out over the hedge maze Susan had placed there. His mind wandered for a moment; there was so many good and bad things happening that night...

He blinked and looked at the projection again. He'd added a tiny couple to one corner. They were featureless, just a couple of standins. But somehow, he knew who he'd been meaning to put there. Oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap think think think—

Another flick of his wand added a trellis with vines behind the faceless couple that had nothing to do with either himself or Rosaria and created a third person, from which intermittent flashes occurred. “So we finish it up with a corner set up for pictures, what do you think? Maybe we give a couple of third-years from the newspaper club passes to come to the ball, so long as they take turns manning the photo booth, and sell the pictures they take. Just enough to cover the film, the cost of developing the photos, and hiring an owl to deliver? We're not looking to make money, so just charging what the school would need to break even on the photos should be enough.”

@susanvictoria (would you care to finish it up? <3)

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It had not gone unnoticed that Gaius had added a couple absent-mindedly to the corner of the projection.  A quiet smile crept across her lips, and she turned away so he wouldn't notice.  She knew who she wanted that faceless couple to be, but alas Casey was working at Saint Mungos the night of Christmas, so that was not meant to be.  Perhaps Lysander would be back from the hospital by then and he could spare her a few moments; she knew once Phil showed up Andy would be preoccupied.  She couldn't blame her friend; her beau was just a hop skip and a jump away in London and Phil had been all the way in Brazil, halfway across the world.  She couldn't wait to see Andy's face though, and that thought alone was satisfying enough.

Susan checked her watch.  "It's late, I better be getting to bed," she told him, gathering up her bag and standing up.  She made to head across the room towards the door leading to the tower room she shared with a few girls, but she stopped short and turned back to Gaius.  "She's lucky to have you," she told him with a smile.  She nodded farewell and headed up to the Girls Dormitory to sleep; another day was approaching fast.


END THREAD <3