Welcome to Charming, where swirling petticoats, the language of flowers, and old-fashioned duels are only the beginning of what is lying underneath…
After a magical attempt on her life in 1877, Queen Victoria launched a crusade against magic that, while tidied up by the Ministry of Magic, saw the Wizarding community exiled to Hogsmeade, previously little more than a crossroad near the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the years that have passed since, Hogsmeade has suffered plagues, fires, and Victorian hypocrisy but is still standing firm.
Thethe year is now 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
Show a pattern of selfish behaviour with your character. You should have at least three threads (ten posts, three+ yours) of your character doing cruel things. Character accounts cannot be combined.
Did You Know?
Queen Victoria was known for putting jackets and dresses on her pups, causing clothing for dogs to become so popular that fashion houses for just dog clothes started popping up all over Paris. — Fox
It would be easy to assume that Evangeline came to the Lady Morgana only to pick fights. That wasn't true at all. They also had very good biscuits. — Evangeline RowleinCheck Your Privilege
Mother had said that Carm had some interesting news to share that would possibly effect Lucky specifically. He had no idea what she meant by that. It seemed as if it wasn't something bad, so that was something. Getting to visit his sister was something to look forward to. It was hard to be the youngest at times. Everything that they did that was great made him feel as if he should do at least as good as they had. All of their mistakes made himself feel as if he had to learn from them and do better. Being nine years younger than his closest sibling did not help his confidence.
After arriving at her home and greeting her, he still wondered what she had to say. He was surprised that mother hadn't simply told him and stated that he should act surprised. "So, what is it that you wanted to announce?" He asked, giving his sister a friendly smile. Did their siblings already know about this mysterious news? There were times when he felt that he was the last to know important events among their family.
Lucky would be surprised, she was sure. Whether he'd take it well or not, well... if she were completely honest, she wasn't sure, but she wouldn't think about that just yet! Instead, Carmelina pushed a plate of fudge towards her little (well, giant, really!) brother and beckoned for him to sit down, make himself comfortable first.
He had already asked, though, and she tutted teasingly at him, for trying to rush the answer. "I was going to ask you how you were, first," she pretended to chide, but the excitement about her news was spilling out in her smile all the same. "But if you're so eager," she added, quirking an eyebrow in amusement, "why don't you guess?"
(There were, at least, some kinds of news he could rule out immediately. Particularly since she was a childless widow.)
It was hard not to be curious when he was told there was going to be big news. Being the youngest and having the age gap made him feel less close to his siblings than they were to each other. It wasn't ideal. So when big news was introduced, he had a big urge to know what was going on.
Giving his sister an embarrassed smile, he shrugged. "I like hearing news, actually participating in my siblings lives. Is that so wrong?" He asked with another, playful, shrug. It wasn't as if he sent them owls every day to ask them how their day went. Those letters would get boring for all involved fairly quickly, from what he imagined.
Thinking for a moment, he tilted his head back and forth. Almost as if each option was shuffling around in his mind until he picked one out to present it. "You're going to go travelling again?." He asked after a few moments.
At the first part of his answer, Carmelina would have leant over and ruffled his hair like he was a little boy, if only he'd been in reach of her chair. As it was, she just pressed her lips together in a smile ear-to-ear, almost ready to bounce off the edge of her chair by the time he'd moved on to guessing.
Best to keep her mouth closed in this smile, she berated herself, as she felt the unbearable temptation to leapfrog over his musing and just tell him at once. "No," she answered carefully, drawing out the mystery of it instead. That would be the expected news - and she had considered it, going off on another archaeological adventure - but she had never gone anywhere without Walter, and while that wasn't something to prevent her, she was worried that it would be a far more lonely experience, or somehow just... wouldn't feel the same.
"Rather the opposite, in fact," she prompted, thinking of how close the castle was to where they were. "I'll be much closer to home. Much nearer to you." Would that be enough of a clue? Would he get it? Her eyes were sparkling.
Oh... he knew that look on her face. Out of instinct, he put a protective hand on his hair. No touching the hair. Why did his siblings insist on touching his hair? He wanted it to still look nice. At least his sisters seemed to always be too short to reach for said hair when he was standing.
The moment she said no, he tried to think of other options. It was a surprise that she wasn't going off somewhere again, as it had always seemed to be part of her nature. Still, there could be other things that she could work on. The Ministry came to mind. Part of him wondered if he should work there.
When she said 'opposite', he gave her a confused look. Was she going to go into some weird occupation that didn't usually fit for her personality? That would be weird indeed. Closer to home, closer to him. Tilting his head, he tried to think of what was closer. Tutoring someone? Teaching someone? Teaching... teaching. His eyes widened. "Are you going to work at Hogwarts?" He asked. Hadn't there been an opening in ancient runes? A class that he was in? Could be ancient studies... another class that he was in.
Golly, he’d gotten it! Carmelina smiled wide now, pleased not to have to bother with suspense any longer. “Yes!” she exclaimed. “Ancient Runes. I interviewed at the end of term, and I’ve been accepted; it’s all settled.”
In saying that, she realised, somewhat belatedly, that although she had told her mother the news and spoken to a few of her siblings while she was deliberating and then awaiting news, she had not, confessedly, mentioned this to Lucky at all. And he the one who it would affect most. Dear Merlin, she hoped he didn’t mind! “What do you think?”
He was right... and he didn't really know how he felt about that. Mostly, he was in shock. The news was far bigger than he thought. What was more shocking was the fact that she would be his professor. Would that change things in class? Grading a sibling would feel impossible for him to do, would she be able to do so without stressing out over it? This was a whole new thing for them. Well... at least she would never have to handle being his head of house, given their differences in houses.
There was the fact that he doubted that she had made such a big decision without receiving some support from their family. Who knew? Most, if not all of, their siblings probably. Mother definitely. And here was Lucky, still the last to know. Still, it was important to Carmelina. Giving a sheepish smile, he shrugged. "Honestly? I don't know what I think. I'm glad we can spend more time together, but would it really be OK for you to be the professor of your sibling?" He responded.
His reaction, while not hostile, was not, altogether, as enthusiastic as she had hoped. "Mama said just that, that it would be nice to see you more," Carmelina echoed, though she could not pretend to pass the blame - it had been her own idea, and one that had taken fervour almost instantly as precisely the thing to do with herself. "And I thought it would be fun, for the both of us!" she explained, trying not to look too crestfallen.
"Of course it would, I should hardly think I'm the first," she argued next. "Why, don't you think I'll be entirely professional?" She cast Lucky a playful grin, hoping he would cheer up about this, and fast, or else she'd feel awfully guilty. How hard could it be? All she had to do was treat him fairly, and not draw undue attention to him!
Now he felt bad. This was big news for his sister, something she was excited about. Yes, he should be excited as well. But wouldn't it be weird to have an older sister as a professor. It was different when it was a parent. Their age gap felt weird enough, but now it was just getting a big reminder of how different in age they were. Each day in class. Deciding to listen to what he had to say, he chose not to add into what she was saying until she would be finished speaking.
The playful grin was a relief. At least she wasn't too upset by his reaction. "I guess your right. But this does mean I will have to call you Professor Cramming. And what if we get into a fight that only siblings would? I don't want to loose house points because of you." He replied, though the last statement was far more playful. Hopefully his fellow Hufflepuffs would have a similar sense of humor.
He seemed to be coming around to the idea, just a little. Well, perhaps he was still rather sceptical, but - he would see!
"Then you had better hope you don't provoke me," she declared, wagging a finger at him in gentle mockery. "I'm sure I'll jump at the excuse to see Ravenclaw take the lead," Carmelina teased, and then thought better of making this sound worse. She didn't mind all that much about points or houses, and she could hardly imagine that her little brother was one to make a nuisance of himself in classes! "But what kind of fight would we possibly get into? Over Runes? Lucky, what have you been up to at school?" She raised her eyebrows, but then grinned to show she was still only teasing.
"If you'd prefer, we can just pretend we don't know each other at all," she proposed, with a new touch of seriousness. They might be able to get away with it, just about - since apparently Lucky wasn't going to go raving about how proud he was of her to his classmates, she presumed, judging by his reaction here.
Scoffing, he gave his sister an 'are you kidding me' look. "Hey, I'm the student of this family. I think it's my time to be earning the house points. You had your chance." He responded. School was gonna be different now. Hopefully it would be a good different. "Over... sibling stuff. I don't know. I'm completely innocent." He countered.
Now that made him laugh. "It's more likely for me to call you Melly than to pretend I don't know you." He responded. That was another problem. They were siblings, they had nicknames for each other. With a parent, it seemed easier to call them professor. Would other professors be upset by that? Hopefully his other classmates wouldn't follow his example.
She couldn’t help but grin at her baby brother and how offended he was at the thought of her stealing his points - and his time to shine! She supposed it was different for Goodluck, being so much younger than the rest: he had gotten the chance to go into Hogwarts as his own person, whereas she had been surrounded by siblings on all sides, and had always been one of them.
She had been one of her siblings, and only had to strike out on her own when she turned to governessing - and even that had not lasted long before she had been married. And then, she and Walter had been a pair, partners - not like that, but in everything else - and it was only since his death that Carmelina had begun to try and find herself again, a singular being, fashioning out a new place and a new identity for herself.
And Professor Cramming would be a good one, she hoped!
“Now don’t you dare!” She protested, at the thought of him calling her Melly. It would not be the end of the world - hardly - and she would not be surprised if her brother slipped up, but still. “How will any of the other students be able to take me seriously that way?” She said, still mostly teasing. (She did worry, though. If she made a fool of herself, how would she get by? If she had had any children of her own, she might be in better stead for disciplining them now. Would she be forced to hand out detentions by the cauldronfull?)
It was nice at times to not have other students constantly comparing him to his siblings. However, first year had been especially lonely for him. No older siblings to help guide him in person, no quidditch team to be a part of. First year was certainly his hardest. Even if it wasn't the hardest to make friends, it still wasn't easy. It certainly wasn't easy to get used to everything that Hogwarts had to offer.
Professor Cramming. Certainly not Professor Warbeck. Still felt odd, a sibling that didn't share a last name. Would that ever feel normal. Scoffing at her protest, he shook his head. "But that's what I always call you. Don't tell me that I'll start having to call you Professor Cramming on holiday as well." He countered with a small smirk. His peers respecting her was one thing. At the very least, his Hufflepuff teammates wouldn't bug his sister. "At least the Hufflepuff quidditch team will have your back."
"Oh, you know," Carmelina said, getting a broad smirk on her face now as her teasing escalated once again. "I could get used to that. Professor Cramming!" It sounded so wonderfully official!
"Thanks, Lucky," she added, smothering something of a giggle at the idea of her brother's quidditch team having her back, as though they would need to be defending her honour or ganging up on the troublesome children who inevitably discovered some way of bullying her. What awful things could they do? Let snakes loose in her office? Stick Flobberworms in her shoes?
She leant over and patted him on the shoulder (glad that he was sitting down, else that would have been rather a tall order), "you're a dear. You will get used to it, though, won't you?" She asked, a little self-consciousness slipping back into her tone. "I mean - you're sure you don't mind?" He had really not sounded very convinced at the start of this conversation, and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin her poor baby brother's time at Hogwarts, but -
Scrunching up his nose, he shook his head. Glancing at mother with a 'help me' look, their mother had the nerve to laugh at his reaction. Looking back at his sister with a huff, he shook his head once more. "You couldn't pay me to call you that on holiday. Joss would never let me hear the end of it." He bluntly stated... well not too bluntly.
At her self-conscious tone, his eyes softened. "I'm sure I will Melly. It'll just take some time." And he wasn't wrong. Even now he was slightly beginning to warm up to the idea. At least it wasn't Joss as the quidditch professor. Melly seemed more patient than Joss ever had shown besides to him and some of their other siblings. Perhaps that was just how he saw his big sister, the quidditch captain.
"Oh, now, it was your idea and not mine!" Carmelina said with a giggle, taken by the arrival of yet another way to tease her youngest brother, as if he didn't already put up with quite enough from them all. She did feel a little bad to be encroaching on Hogwarts - Hogwarts, as she supposed, had been a space that was only his, the rest of the family being far too old to cramp his style there - but perhaps no one would even realise they were related.
And she would keep out of his business.
...She would at least try.
"Oh, thank you!" Carmelina exclaimed, squealing a little aloud in her excitement that she had, for all intents and purposes, wrangled a blessing out of him. "Really, thank you, Lucky! This means a lot." She beamed. "And it'll be fun for both of us, I promise."
