April 11th, 1890 — High Street, Hogsmeade

A Collector's Playhouse. It was a peculiar name for a shop, but that only added to its appeal. Helga had risen early that morning to attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony, where they'd been promised not only a good time, but also a gift for the road as well!

Helga and her companion arrived just as everyone was being shuffled through the door into a surprisingly dark room that smelled, frankly, like dead rats.

"I'm surprised they haven't invested in adequate lighting," she murmured to the person next to her, the discomfort setting in as someone else's shoulder collided with her own. Helga gulped."And a bigger space, perhaps. Does anyone else feel warm?"

---

For the Group Thread! Let me know if you want to join and I'll add you to the chat!

  

---

— set by MJ! <3 —

Cecily and her step-mother were having a walk along High Street when they saw that there was a ribbon-cutting event for a new shop.

"A Collector's Playhouse, I wonder what they're supposed to sell!" Veronica had commented. Cecily agreed, it was an odd name. It almost sounded like a brothel's name. There was no way someone could so easily open one on High Street, though.

The two women walked into the shop where they were told to enter a room along with everyone else. Cecily and her stepmother exchanged a look but did as they were told.

Something wasn't right.

"This place is terrible," Cecily agreed. She was starting to feel uneasy, like something bad was going to happen.

  

Adam was tired, both from training and from the increased stress levels in his department as all of the qualified aurors tried to track down cursed magical objects. He wished he could help — or that they would let him help, rather, because he knew he could help. But, alas. He was still very much in training, and would be for another year and change.

So a little mental break was in order this week-end, he thought, and a ribbon cutting ceremony (with the promise of some free merchandise) sounded like an excellent way to burn off steam. Most of the people here seemed to be wealthier women, but that didn't bother him. If he got something girly as his door prize, he could pass it on to his mother or sister.

The room they were ushered in to did bother him, though. Adam eyed the nearest wall suspiciously and felt inside his coat pocket for the butt of his wand, just in case.

  

Loretta didn't know what to make of the shops name. It really didn't tell one what products the shop offered, did it? She had attended the ribbon cutting ceremony and now was being shuffled into dark room with everyone else that had been in attendance. Loretta was rather perturbed and confused. Was this part of the experience?

"I am as well - they should have also invested in better air flow," she said in agreement to Miss Scamander, a girl that had been a couple of years below her in Hufflepuff.

  

The appointment with Mr. Binns had occupied most of her morning. Knowing she would soon have to sit and discuss the future with Ben (and his disapproving opinions most like), Melody decided to procrastinate her return home and step into the new shop opening. Which, as she was quickly realizing, was yet another wrong decision to add to her list.

She looked about uneasily, her hand gripping the base of her wand. It'd been years since she last practiced her defensive spells — years since she had needed to. "Has anyone seen the proprietors?" She asked from her spot near the wall.

  

---

beautiful set by mj

Even so, Diana was feeling the warmth rise in the room, and she fanned herself whilst looking around at the crowd. After an ever so brief scan of the room, she recognized a few faces. "I haven't," she responded automatically, though it took her a few seconds to realize she knew the voice she was responding to.

Diana whipped around (well as much as one could in such a crowded room). "Mel!" She whispered, her eyes wide. They were across the room from each other, but for Diana there was no mistaking her voice. Still, she craned her neck to see her friend, even going as far as raising on her tip-toes in attempt to see her.

  

---

Emilia wasn't much of a shopper, but with Kit gone and the children at school, she was lonely. So - A Collector's Playhouse. Maybe it was the stench, the rising heat, or the presence of confused debutantes, but - EJ was worried. She tucked her hand into the pocket of her jacket to feel for her wand, and glanced around uneasily. Something was off.

She edged towards the door, and found herself blocked by other bodies. This wasn't good.

---

  

It was the name that had appealed to Maddie more than anything, collectors playhouse what a curious name for a shop! she thought perhaps it might be the sort of place to sell curious, or second hand nic nacks- the sort of place were - for example one of those pictish cursed objects might find its way into the market. Following her little meeting at the pub Maddie had a renewed vigour to find out as much as she possibly could about the objects which were posing such a pronounced threat to the public.

The store was crowded and the air was close, more than just the expected cluster of too many bodies on a busy day. She overheard another lady talking about the air flow and she had to agree. MAddie was all too aware of the heat and lack of fresh tasting air within a very short period of time. As the air grew stale with the press of bodies, the rising panic in the room was palpable. Maddie didn't remove her wand from its place in her pocket but she did tighten her fingers around her - and debated aparating on the spot.

  

---

Hugo had dragged Rosie to yet another event. At least it was for the opening of a shop. Something that she could find some mild interest in. Some of the faces, she even recognized. Like the one of the young lady who had felt sick on that boat.

Having decided to hover more towards a person she recognized, it was a comfort to have more than just Hugo there as a friendly face as they were rushed into a dark room. Quickly, she grabbed for her wand to try to bring some light to the room.

---

  

---

Magic by Lady

Tension filled the room as everything came to a standstill. There were far too many people in the small room, but yet it seemed like it was designed to fit people more than anything else!

"I don't see much merchandise," she commented, raising her voice enough so everyone around her could hear. There were two shelves, both with seemingly random objects placed on its shelves, a glass case full of old keys and jewelry, and... a door?

"I see a door back there—it's mahogany. Can you see if it opens?" she asked, eyeing the tall blonde who stood nearest to it. Optimistic as she usually was, she was almost positive it wouldn't open; the huge steel locked seemed to be taunting them.

---

  

---

— set by MJ! <3 —

One of the young women addressed her and Cecily went to the door. "It doesn't, we must find the key!"

  

The longer he stayed in this room, the more suspicious Adam was not just of the shop and its owners but of everything. Why did that woman know the door was mahogany, as opposed to any other type of wood? Why did the blond who'd pushed on it say something about a key, as though it was a guarantee that there would be one available in the room and that it would be the easiest, simplest option?

He didn't want to voice his concerns and panic everyone, but he did think something was definitely fishy about this. Edging his way back to the door they'd come in through, Adam tested it and found that it was locked. Without alerting anyone else to this news, he slipped his wand out and muttered "Alohomora," under his breath, which produced a mechanical clicking sound but did not open the door.

Magically locked, then. Great.

The following 4 users Like Adam Ragge's post:4 users Like Adam Ragge's post
   Cecily Gallivan, Helga Crouch, Loretta Browne, Melody Crouch

Lorettas attention caught on to something about keys and she looked around herself, her height above most of the others making it rather easy. "There's keys here," she said, using her height to her advantage as she grabbed the jar of keys off the shelf. "There's a lot of them, though," she said, handing the jar to the woman next to her so that they could get it to the people near the door. She wasn't close enough to it to just reach over and do it.

  

Her attention whipped from the various individuals talking about doors and keys to the speaker of her best friend's voice. "Diana?!" Melody answered. Being amongst the shortest of the room did her no favors, though she did immediately set about maneuvering around everyone to be closer to her friend. Once found, Melody gripped Diana's hand tightly.

"It'll take hours to go through all those keys..." she bemoaned. "Shouldn't we be trying to exit the way we came?"

The following 2 users Like Melody Crouch's post:2 users Like Melody Crouch's post
   Cecily Gallivan, Diana Abbott

---

beautiful set by mj

The amount of emotions that flooded through Diana as she strained to see Melody were overwhelming and she found her voice locked in her throat. No doubt she'd face some serious words from her mother after word reached her about this from her chaperone, but at the moment Diana was rather preoccupied with being stuck in a very crowded room in addition to reuniting with her best friend. Nevertheless, she clutched at Melody's hand, beaming.

With her other she absently grabbed the jar of keys from the girl next to her – Merlin what did that woman consume to be so tall? – and passed it on, but not before peering into it to get a better look. "They all look different, might we try to match the key to the style of the door?" She piped up after regaining her wits about her.

Mel had brought up a fair point though - what did happen to the way they came?

  

---

Emilia was tremendously uninterested in the jar of keys, because she did not have the time to sit around going through them. She was interested in the back door, though, and found herself next to a man she recognized from her husband's department. (GREAT!)

"I suppose it's probably not the best idea to bombarda our way out of this one," EJ muttered, eyeing the locked door. It would be inelegant, and result in injuries - but the longer they were in here with the temperature climbing, the more uneasy she was. She could feel a drop of sweat on her forehead.

---