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 1895. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
Complete a thread started and set every month for twelve consecutive months. Each thread must have at least ten posts, and at least three must be your own.
Did You Know?
Did you know? Jewelry of jet was the haute jewelry of the Victorian era. — Fallin
One of the unanticipated upsides of her new position were the weekends. There was still work to do, of course--lessons to plan for the week upcoming and such--but the novelty of having whole days to herself on a weekly basis was one that had not yet worn off. And, frankly, Chastity didn't anticipate it wearing off for some time, not after so many years in service.
Still, though she now had the time to meet with friends, she didn't have the space in her little rented room, so she'd invited Ivy out for afternoon tea to catch up. She had been out of the loop with all of her old friends for much too long.
"How has work been for you?" Chastity asked when they'd both settled at a table.
Ivy shrugged her shoulders. "It's been decent," she said. She had not been put in undue danger, and no one had tried to kill her. Well — Crain had maybe tried to kill her. She had gotten locked in a haunted house with Mr. Davies a few weeks ago.
"And how are the students?" Ivy asked, enthused. She could not imagine having to deal with children on a regular basis. At least dark wizards were mostly adults.
"Surprisingly, not that bad," Chastity said. "There's just so many more than I'm used to handling at once." Chastity didn't mind children--at least not now that she was actively choosing to deal with them as a career instead of it being decided for her--but going from one charge to a classroom full was certainly an adjustment. Though at least here she wasn't alone. "I'm not used to having quite so much free time on a regular basis. I'm not sure what to do with myself." And what a wonderful problem that was to have.
So many children. Now, that really was frightening. Not for the first time, Ivy was glad that she had not gone into service.
Ivy smiled at Chastity. "You'll have to get new hobbies," she said, raising an eyebrow at the other woman. "Do you have any ideas?" Ivy could offer suggestions, but most of her hobbies involved researching dark magic, or other shenanigans — and she was not sure that Chastity would enjoy any of Ivy's hobbies. Honestly, it was probably impressive that they were still friends, having diverged so significantly in the years since school.
Chastity hummed. "I used to like reading, when I had the time for it," she said. That felt like a million years ago now. The fact that she had more freedom now with her time than she'd had in her entire life was still very surreal. "I might take up drawing, too." Honestly, that was about as far as she'd really thought about it.
"I imagine the only group of people more frightening than children must be dark wizards," Chastity said.
Reading and drawing were good hobbies; Ivy only wished that she could give Chastity a decent book recommendation, but she really couldn't. She had also never had the patience for drawing. She chuckled at Chastity's last comment, too. "But I don't understand children," she pointed out. Dark wizards didn't often cry.
"The children aren't so bad," Chastity assured. She glanced around them, then leaned forward and pitched her voice low. "Really, it's the parents you have to worry about." Parents had opinions, which Chastity supposed was probably much better than if they didn't care about or value what their children were being taught.
"But are you liking Irvingly?" Ivy asked. It was a thrill to have Chastity back in the wizarding world — it had always struck Ivy as unfortunate that the girl didn't get to finish Hogwarts.
"Yes." Chastity had missed being part of the wizarding world. She'd only had four short years of getting to experience it before she'd been made to leave it behind. Living in Irvingly felt like the closest she could get to truly combining the two parts of her life. "It's a relief to live somewhere I don't feel like I stand out, to be honest."
Ivy beamed, a rare and very joyful expression for her. "That's why I like Pennyworth," she said. "I mean — there's always purists. But no one minds the magic."
"That is nice," Chastity agreed. "The magic, I mean, not the purists, obviously." She shook her head. "There's no winning on that front, unfortunately." At least Chastity avoided it, for the most part, in her line of things. Though she'd experienced similar attitudes from muggles, so really, the difference for Chastity was not having to deal with both at once. For what that was worth.
Ivy nodded. Their personalities were different, but they had that core similarity: they were both muggleborns. Some people in this world were never going to welcome them — or even tolerate them.
Her expression shifted, the joy draining. "You'll let me know," Ivy said, "If anyone gives you a hard time?"
Chastity smiled, a touch indulgently. "Of course," she said. "Don't worry about me." Chastity doubted she would truly say anything, even if something did happen--unless it was quite bad, anyway. Chastity had survived quite a lot of that sort of thing in her life already, and she rather thought she was more resilient than she appeared as a result of it.
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