Who: All students and staff, plus a few spirits and perhaps an uninvited guest. Please tag your character when you comment.
What: The annual Halloween party
Where: The Ballroom.
When: 7PM to 1 AM. While the party officially ends at 1 AM, celebrations don't have to.

The hallway leading to the ballroom was dark, only dimly lit by floating candles held by ghostly hands, a levitation charm wrapped in conjuration magic. Decorations lined the walls, everything lending a still, ghostly air to the already dark and quiet school. The doors at the end of the hall opened into the decorated ballroom, swathed in tones of red and blacks, again sparsely lit. Light concentrated by the food, so attendees would be able to see what exactly they were eating, though perhaps that wasn't for the best. The food had been carefully made and cleverly charmed to look positively questionable.

Charmed ghosts hung around corners of the room, pale shadows and translucent white images that were meant to unsettle, not terrify. Along one wall lay the carefully crafted image of rows broken dolls, mingled with what looked like skeletons and a few fleshier bodies. The staff had clearly gone all out this year to infuse the room with the creepy air of Halloween. Some things looked a little too real.

The doors opened precisely at seven PM, as smoky fog rolled along the floor and eerie laughter echoed from somewhere in the rooms. Sounds and screams punctuated the halls, setting the stage for what was going to be one hell of a party.

OOC: We will be putting up time stamps for students to arrive when they wish and interact. After a bit, we will post a new thread with plot bits. Anything posted beneath that post will take place chronologically afterward, and students can react accordingly. Everyone is encouraged to attend, mingle, and be prepared.

Who: Petya Krum and open
When: Thursday afternoon
Where: Outside Durmstrang
What: Petya flew around the Durmstrang grounds and decided to lay in the grass like usual
Rating: G

Back to school, what a strange feeling of excitement. Petya chalked it all up to be the excitement of new adventures in learning, she could never admit that she was just happy to be around other wizards and witches her own age. She was not bored or tired of her lessons and was actually quite glad that her schedule had finally changed to accommodate her chosen path. Aside from all of that, being at school was also another chance to get back on her broom.

She laid in the grass after a long ride on her broom with Besnik loyally perched on the broom which Pet had carelessly tossed to the ground. She held a little golden snitch in her right hand which she let go and grabbed as soon as it started to fly away, she did this continuously and absent mindedly. She started singing a song to herself, a familiar tune that she had heard some of the gypsy mothers singing to their children as they laid down to sleep at night. The Romani language rolled from her lips fluidly as she lost herself in the gentle lyrics and notes of the song. Her singing voice was an almost foreign, sweet thing that she herself barely recognized.

Who: Kazimeras Seraichyk & Ion Laieshi
What: Kaz wants to know what major Ion chose
When: After classes on Wednesday.
Where: Sixth year grey path common room
Rating: Worksafe

Kaz rarely went looking for people, unless it was to satisfy some measure of his own curiosity. That was the case today as he set out to the 6th year Grey Path tower, looking for one Ion Laieshi. He knew the younger student was choosing Grey Path, but when they last spoke, he hadn't chosen a major yet. He would have had to by now, and so Kaz found himself curious as to what choice the younger boy made.

He smiled at a sixth year who stared up at his as she passed, and he asked her to send for Ion Laieshi, if she could. The girl seemed shocked that an eighth year was speaking to her and immediately ran to go get Ion. Kaz sat comfortably in a chair, remembering just two years ago, when this had been his own common room.

It is my greatest pleasure to announce that the following students have been accepted into the prestigious eighth year at the Durmstrang Institute:

Vilhemina Amsel - Grey Path
Adele Hastenpflug - Dark Path
Antigone Kaligaris - Light Path
Nastasiya Kostenko - Grey Path
Theonia Lekkas - Light Path
Markos Mogensen - Dark Path
Kazimeras Seraichyk - Grey Path
Mykola Vladimirovich - Light Path
Oleksandr Vladimirovich - Grey Path
Kadriye Yilmaz - Dark Path

[+ 1 more Grey Path, 2 more Light Paths, and 2 more Dark Paths, currently unnamed and available to be picked up]

Congratulations on your success, and good luck in your final and most distinguishing year at Durmstrang.

Who: All Grey Path students and any invited guests.
What: Grey Path party, yo.
Where: The Ballroom.
When: 11PM to 4 AM, Friday June 19th/Saturday June 20th.

The Durmstrang ballroom had once again been magically transformed into a stunningly decorated hall. Headmistress Eberhardt cast a spell on its doors and on every entrance. No student or staff member who was not invited could enter the room. It didn't matter what spell a clever student tried to cast, by what method they tried to circumvent the spell, there would be no way in without an invitation.

The dance floor was open and clear, and there was food set up for students who would undoubtedly grow hungry before the party's end. Any dish student wanted would appear, just like in the dining hall. The doors opened precisely at eleven PM, but would only admitted those who belonged there. As the party began to get under way, music filled the room as the night's guests showed up.

[OOC: Okay, so again the people who can attend are: Headmistress Eberhardt, Nastasiya Kostenko, Dorottya Kováts, Kirsten Nordlund, Kazimeras Seraichyk, Sasha Vladimirovich, Theonia Lekkas, Taavi Suullinen, Misha Vladimirovich, and Ion Laieshi. If you play a Grey Path, you may invite whoever you choose. If anyone else wants to attend, feel free to come up with a way they got invited (NPC, sibling, friend, etc) and join in. Also, please tag your characters as they enter!]

EDIT: And the punch may or may not will be spiked with alcohol. Drinker beware.

Who: Kazimeras Seraichyk & Natasiya Kostenko
What: Kaz attempts to be social with a fellow Grey path
When: Wednesday after classes.
Where: On the front steps of the school
Rating: PG probably

Kaz was no fool. He had no intention of going off into the woods. Or even stepping off the school steps themselves. He did however, sit in contemplation. He didn't know as much about magical creatures as the light paths who took the course. His focus was more on people and languages than the animals in various areas. But he could help wonder what it was that had attacked those two students, and why. Whatever it was seemed to not mind leaving the woods, which left him unsettled.

It was still light out, which was why he had little problems with staying out. Quidditch practices were being observed by professors now, because they were at night. There was a general air of nervousness flitting about the student body, as though everyone was expecting something else to happen. Kaz fervently hoped nothing did. Sitting where he was, he wasn't expecting any sort of company, and looked up in surprise when someone joined him.

Who: Kazimeras Seraichyk & Sorina Machvaya
What: Kaz gets ahead in some schoolwork, until he's interrupted
When: Tuesday, around 6:30 PM, before Quidditch practice
Where: The library
Rating: PG, I expect

Kaz was torn between being happy to be back, and being sad break was over. He'd had a great time traveling, and had a lot of information he'd discovered written down for posterity. He half-wished he was still out there, still discovering things, but at the same time, he was happy to be back, with his nose in a book. He was in the midst of translating some sentences into Troll, a language he wasn't fluent in yet. With good reason. It was hardly even a full language. Full of grunting snarling sounds, it seemed to lack an actual grammatical structure, which made translations difficult.

With a small sigh, he sat back looking out in the direction of the grounds. He couldn't really see them from where he sat, but he knew which way they were. And the woods. What was in those woods? And how was it - or they - continually escaping being seen? He wasn't foolish enough to go explore, but he was curious to know the answer.