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
Theo hadn't meant to be moderating duels, of all things. But one of the judges was ill - or had cleverly ducked out of the task somehow - so the buck had been passed along to him. Presumably he ought to have better things to do, in his last year of training, but... Maybe it was a relief not to be out in the field today. He was on thin enough ice at work already.
He supposed he ought to pay some attention to the duel at hand, then. Both these contestants, though not competitive, were Ministry faces nonetheless, and he didn't expect either of them were unfamiliar with the rules. In any case, after the formalities, Theodore gestured to Miss Goyle to begin.
Then again, proper young ladies also didn’t become engaged to a man their family disapproved of, lose him in a tragic accident, and then take an office job to support themselves, so the propriety ship had long since sailed for Elinor Goyle. In spite of this, though, the witch had never entered one of the myriad tournaments that dotted the magical landscape each year. Oh, she had toyed with the idea for the better part of half a decade, but it had only been a week since the Pest Advisory head had officially signed her name to it, the second most reckless thing that Nora had ever done.
Now she stood here, wand in hand, across from a man who, in another life, she may well have married (well, someone like Mr. Pettigrew, at any road), keenly aware of how unprepared she was for this. Determined not to make a mockery of herself rather than to win, Nora offered the perfunctory curtsey before raising her wand in the air.
“Expeliarmus!”
Alright, so she wasn’t exactly reinventing the wheel here, but everyone had to start somewhere.
Eleven years of his life had been spent in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, but never one in his career had he been forced to draw a wand to do his job. Although inclined to believe himself better than everyone else, he wasn't so cocky to assume he was the best at everything—and dueling, he knew, had never been his greatest strength.
Still, it was almost an insult to be put against Miss Goyle, a woman who'd managed to make a mockery of her family name and yet still managed to climb the career ladder. (It was another reason, he thought, that no woman should ever be made head of department. The moment they found power, they went around handing positions to every woman they knew, regardless of reputation.)
Unwilling to focus on Miss Goyle's shortcomings while her wand was pointed in his direction, Albert gave the obligatory bow and raised his own in return.
Albert sneered at his opponent. These duels were all the same; women won by simply disarming their opponents. It only gave credence to Mr. Skeeter's belief that women should compete in their own bracket. That way, the winner might be determined by the quickness of a simple disarming spell!
This time, Albert would aim to ruin the one thing all women seemed to care about: their appearance. Raising his wand, Albert attempted to cover Miss Goyle's face with hideous boils.
She was, perhaps, not as far out of her depth as she had believed. Curious. Mr. Pettigrew’s attack, though, came far more quickly than Nora was expecting, and the witch had to hurry to erect a shield charm.
