Kalina's heart raced as she ducked behind a suit of armor. She was already running late for a meet-up with Tabitha at the Three Broomsticks for a spot of lunch before spending the afternoon shopping with her Pureblooded bestie. She could swear that she heard the pitter-patter of feet following her through the corridors but every time she turned around there was no one there.
"This just won't do," she muttered to herself. "I knew that ignoring Lugh's last owl would lead to disaster, but I really didn't want to cancel on Tabby again." With an audible sigh, the witch struck out on her way once more, dashing up the remaining flights of stairs toward the main doors. With a covert glance around the Entrance Hall, the seventh-year witch squared her shoulders and thrust open the enormous door before stepping out into the sun's glorious rays that did little to warm the Slytherin.
It was a very cold November morning, but the sun had decided to grace the students with a rare appearance, casting its golden light over the landscape. Bright, shining leaves of red, orange, brown, and yellow peeked out of the Forbidden Forest and blended in with the colorful birds and owls that bustled about delivering the early mail to the Great Hall. Kalina took a deep breath before casting a warming charm on her cloak and gloves. Her hands subconsciously found their way into her hair, ensuring that it remained firmly braided and pinned despite the gusts of wind that danced through the courtyard.
Lugh had decided that the entire group needed to find a way to take a game that Muggles loves to play, something called paintball, and make it magical. His idea had merit, but the Keeper had not wanted to cancel plans with her shopping bestie for a third time this month. Lugh had become rather disheartened when the only suggestion from the common room was to use the Colovaria Charm to change the color of other people's clothes at will. He said it was "dreadfully boring" and that he'd rather "sit through seven hours of Binns history lessons" than do that.
Kalina shook her head with a smile as she darted across the grounds towards the lane that led down to Hogsmeade. She had missed the latest round of carriages and was not about to risk the wrath of Tabby by waiting for the next ones. "Looks like a bout of cardio is in the cards for me today," she called out, trying to motivate herself. Tearing off down the lane, the energetic Pureblood lost all of her thoughts. There was no thinking of how unladylike she looked or the look of disdain that Tabitha would have on her face at the disheveled hair that Kalina now had. Her only thoughts were of making it to Hogsmeade in record time... so much so that she missed the telltale signs of activity in the trees along the road. Twigs snapping, students giggling, and rustling leaves as several people danced among them.
"BOMBS AWAY!" Kalina had but a second to register the booming cry before she felt something wet and slimy sliding down her face and back. Pools of lime green and neon yellow melded together down the front of her cloak all the way to her boots. Impervious she cried out, pointing her trusty wand at her boots. "LUGH! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!" The boy in question appeared five feet in front of her, cackling with glee. He was laughing so hard that he was bent over, clutching at his stomach. "You are so lucky that I am already incredibly late. Don't think I won't be telling Tabitha EXACTLY who did this to me."
A towel was thrust into the witch's arms by their Ravenclaw friend, Jade, whose face held a sheepish grin. The Ravenclaw Keeper shrugged her shoulders a bit and called out, "I tried to stop him, but you know how he is." Kalina wiped as much of the paint off of her face as possible before vanishing the towel and stomping off toward the village. She was a mere hundred yards or so from the entrance, she had been so close.
"Just you wait, Lugh Hughes, my revenge will be far sweeter than those dragon tarts that you concocted last month for the Macbeth issue before realizing that the theme was Macbeth and not Coriolanus." The disgruntled Slytherin sent a discrete nonverbal spell or two toward the still cackling boy changing his hair to a shocking pink color and giving him a few well-placed devil horns. OK, so his idea had more merit than I gave it. With a few modifications and actual signups to avoid having more unsuspecting victims, this could work as some sort of club sport or something.
At least Tabitha should be happy, Kalina was going to need a new cloak and gloves to go with the robes they were already planning on looking for. That would add at least another two hours to their shopping trip.
What do you think? Does Wizarding Paintball stand a chance at becoming a thing? What modifications would you suggest? Tell us all about it over in the Common Room thread!