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
“Congratulations to the both of you for having made it thus far,” Ada began after she read the rules aloud to everyone. “And good luck in this next round. Mr. Fletcher, if you could please start us off.”
Jimmy dropped into an overzealous bow to Miss Potts, mostly to mock her – she was too prim by half, by anyone's standards. Then, with a broad grin that ruined any faux-formality of a second ago, he swished his wand with a, "Glisseo!" Hopefully the floor beneath her feet would turn suddenly slippery, and she would go tumbling as though she'd been standing on ice.
The satisfaction that Millie felt in having won her first duel could hardly be measured. Her elation was palpable, visible even, and was unusual enough that her friends had even noticed. Now they sat in the stands again, or readied themselves for their own duels, as she faced off against the most notorious boy in their year.
Jimmy Fletcher had lost some of the boyish, gangling features that once made him seem more like a Creature than wizard. He had lost none of the boorish tendencies that had once convinced her of that belief. If anyone had asked her it was his bow to her curtsy, customary and expected, that might have been the first thing that Millie Potts could have approved of all year.
"Diminuendo! " Her wand moved with a wave that the young witch hoped would make Gryffindor just as small as a mouse. If only Houstonia was in the crowd to snatch him up, no doubt the judge might be upset but she, herself, would have welcomed the intervention of any cat or owl with a Mr. Fletcher at a proper size.
With a small pop!, James Fletcher very nearly disappeared having been reduced to no more than ten centimeters tall. Once Ada set him to rights, she congratulated Miss Potts on winning the first pass. “Now that Mr. Fletcher is quite restored, please begin our second pass Miss Potts.”
Though it was unbecoming to do so, the young witch couldn't stop the swell of pride that stretched her lips into a grin. Seeing Jimmy brought down to size was far more satisfying than she thought it might be. When no predator appeared to swoop him up before Miss Prewett restored him, Millie resigned herself to the next round, ready with a new spell to demonstrate that she could handle herself properly against the boys.
She aimed her wand at Mr. Fletcher's nose this time, though she didn't think the spell needed such accuracy. It wouldn't be very potent, just a little sneeze, but enough that might make his spell go awry. Or at least give him something else to worry about than her. It seemed better than a shield charm to Millie, and flicked her wand to complete the casting. "Sternius! "
Jimmy returned from his shrinking with a new red flush on his cheeks. He couldn't lose to Millie Potts! Of all people! "Furnunculus!" he cried, hoping to see her break out in (well-deserved) boils.
This time it was Mr. Fletcher who was the obvious victor, with Miss Potts skin immediately succumbing to a number of painful looking boils. Edelweiss winced sympathetically as she made the call. “Mr. Fletcher wins this round and may begin our tiebreaker once Miss Potts is restored to rights.”
Ha! He was in with a chance – and this time Jimmy took more deliberate revenge for the full-body-shrinking by aiming an engorgement charm at Miss Potts' nose. Hopefully it would swell up so wildly overlarge that she couldn't see... and she was the sort to go sticking her nose in everyone's business, so it felt fitting too, metaphorically.
Millie couldn't keep the fury off her face, as red and angry as the boils that the school nurse had swiftly removed. She could still feel the sickening pop of each one, and the sting of humiliation at standing in front of the school with the horrifying things covering her. If her duel had been at an end, the young witch would have rushed off to find a place to hide her sorrow.
To her relief, she had one more chance to see her opponent put to rights.
Mr. Fletcher, with his overgrown grin and air of smugness wherever he went, couldn't win this duel. She couldn't let him, not after what he'd done. Not after his years of being a thorn in every class, and still somehow worming his way into being a quidditch captain. That's what he was, really, a worm. And one that Millie was determined to reveal to everyone.
"VERMICULUS! " Millie put all her effort and emotion into the spell, roaring its name to call upon its power.
Miss Potts' spell proved successful in confirming the victor of the bracket. “Miss Potts is our winner,” She announced as she set Mr. Fletcher to rights. “And shall move onto the next round.”
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