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.
With the same account, complete eight different threads where your character interacts with eight different usergroups. At least one must be a non-human, and one a student.
Did You Know?
Braces, or suspenders, were almost universally worn due to the high cut of men's trousers. Belts did not become common until the 1920s. — MJ
By the time the sorting hat had called out what house it put her in, Hyacinth felt like she was hearing things from underwater and her whole body felt heavy, causing her breath to slow down and her fingers to let go of the stool. It frightened her, as she hadn’t had a fainting spell since early that summer and it was only because it had gotten so hot out. She carefully slid off the stool, only now realizing she didn’t actually hear what house she was put into, and the clapping was being drowned out by the weird fuzziness in her ears and her vision was beginning to go white. She took a couple of steps forward, not entirely certain on where she was going if she didn’t hear the hat, but just as she thought about going back and asking the hat to repeat itself, she blacked out. It was then, she hit the ground, sprawled out on the floor of the Great Hall, sort of hearing a fit of gasps and maybe a scream or two, she couldn’t tell. What seemed like only moments to her, though she wasn’t sure how long she was actually out, she sat up, blinked a few times, “What…what happened? I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to.” She teared up a little.
Tony had known about the Houses before coming to Hogwarts, but also didn't really know in the same way that the children who had grown up with magic did. Ravenclaw (the blue one) the one he was sorted in, was the one where wit, wisdom and a passion for learning was most highly regarded. Tony decided he liked that and that it suit him very well. Then, there was Gryffindor (the red one) where the brave and the heroic were sorted. Like most eleven-year-olds, he might have liked himself sorted in the story book's hero's house, but he had always been more of a scholar than a knight. Then, there was Hufflepuff (the yellow one) where the loyal and hard-working were sorted. It also sounded like a knightly House, just for less flashy people. Finally, there was Slytherin (the green one), where the ambitious and driven students were sorted.
Where Miss Hyacinth was sorted.
His initial disappointment was quickly washed away, at the sight of his best friend in that entire room collapsing. Instinctively, Tony jumped from his seat to her aid.
"You don't need to apologize, Miss Hyacinth!" Tony reassured her. He was standing on her right and placed his left hand on her back while taking hold of her hand in his right hand. Thankfully, the Slytherin table was right next to the Ravenclaw one, so he could help her get there and get back to his seat, without creating more of a spectacle for them.
"You know, the boat ride gave me a bit of a motion sickness myself!" he lied to make her feel better.
Amarantha was most definitely not expecting to be named Head Girl, nor did she think she even wanted the position, and yet she still rolled her eyes and made a slightly sour face when it was given to the most prissy, goody-two-shoes Gryffindor they could possibly find in the whole school. At least the new batch of Slytherin Prefects seemed promising, not that she knew much about the students two years below her. What she was most interested in was the sorting as she had four family members starting today and the first was her baby sister, Hyacinth; she still couldn’t believe that colicky little brat was eleven already.
She frowned slightly as even from a distance, Hyacinth didn’t look to be doing too well; she was far paler than she usually was and it seemed she was a tad wobbly on her seat, but she supposed it could just be the nerves; Amarantha thought back to her sorting and she watched as the boy after her got sick on his shoes before stepping up to the hat. But that frown turned into a look of pride and superiority as the hat called out ‘Slytherin’ and she couldn’t help but smirk over at Isobel over at the Gryffindor table as if they were somehow in some competition on who got each of the four girls. She couldn’t wait to guide her darling little sister over the coming school year and show her what Slytherin could offer her if she knew where to look.
But pride turned to horror as she watched her sister hit the floor and even worse when before Amarantha could get up out of her seat to go to her, that little mudblood that her Great-Grandfather had escorted in Diagon Alley last month ran to Hyacinth and put his hands on her. “What do you think you’re doing?” she hissed at the boy as she moved closer to them in the gap between the two tables, “Get your filthy mudblood hands off of my sister, boy. She doesn’t need help from you.”
Hyacinth smiled a bit, though tears still fell down her cheeks, when she heard Tony’s voice and knew that he had come to help her in her time of need; she was ever so grateful for his friendship. She blushed when he told her that she didn’t have to apologize, but she felt like she did as she was so embarrassed that she couldn’t even make it one full day at Hogwarts without having an episode. It must have embarrassed her family to see her do that! Oh and she hoped her mama and papa didn’t find out about this! Otherwise they might send for her and make her stay at home forever! It would simply crush her little heart.
“Thank you, Tony,” she said, her legs were shaky but thanks to his support she was able to stand up and walk with him toward the Slytherin table, “I wish I got to be on the train too, but I live in Hogsmeade. I hope you feel better now.” She wondered if he made some friends there - if she wasn’t so shaken from fainting, she may have been bitter about not being able to ride it again. But, her smile was immediately removed when she smelled her elder sister’s perfume and heard those cruel words she threw at Tony. Hyacinth gasped, “Anne!! You can’t say that!” They were impolite and no lady should use those; she also believed nobody should use mean words against someone as nice as her new friend, “He was just trying to help!”
'Mudblood' only broken down to its two components, wasn't a nice thing to be called. And, the way this older girl had said it... It reminded Tony of how some people would address people with different skin colours, or with different religions, back home.
The Lawrence family, being white and English and Christian, had never been on the receiving ends of such remarks. There were some boys of Indian descent at his school, that his father had told him to steer away from, talked about how these people were no good. This had never felt too right to Tony.
He hadn't thought that prejudice might exist in the magical world. After all, hadn't that girl who had helped them at King's Cross been Black and a prefect? Tony had liked to think that the wizards had put prejudices behind them.
He was also disappointed that the famous Potion president sister, the one he'd heard so much about, was so cruel.
Then again, maybe she was offended that he'd touched her, because he was a boy, after all? That must have been it! Tony so desperately wanted to like this older sister, to be one more Valenduris he grew to be friends with!
"I am sorry, Miss Anne," Hyacinth might have mentioned her full name in the past, but Tony had forgotten. "I know it is impolite to touch a young lady like that, but I wanted to help her get to your table."
Amarantha ignored her little sister as she protested against her using the words she did and made a mental note to speak to her more on the subject, realizing she must have failed her as an elder sister if she thought it was okay to be fraternizing with muggle filth like this. It was always interesting to observe from an outsider's perspective; as a whole, wizards were a bit less bigoted in some ways, and in others, they were just the same as muggles. Amarantha happened to be disgusted with anything that wasn’t at the very least halfblood with no muggle parentage, and definitely not any being blood such as half-vampires.
“First off, you will address me as Miss Valenduris or Miss Amarantha; Anne is reserved for people that don’t make me want to vomit,” she snapped at him; perhaps this was why she never made Prefect or Head Girl, though, to be fair, not even her friends called her by her nickname, it was mostly just her family. Of course, what Tony apologized for was indeed a bit of an issue, though logic states that since she was in distress and only eleven, it was forgivable, but what Amarantha had an issue with was him being around her at all. “Keep your filthy muggle hands away from my sister, don’t even breathe around her or I will knock you into the ground, you understand me?” she hissed at him, pulling her sister to her, her grip on her wrist perhaps a bit tighter than she needed, “Hyacinth does not need to associate with your kind, nor need your help… ever.”
The sorting had already moved on, but Thomas had been distracted by Miss Valenduris heading to her house table since she had collapsed. He stood up, prepared to escort her to the school nurse when she was rushed to by one of the new first year boys; he smiled, thinking it was rather kind of him to help her, but frowned when it seemed one of the older Slytherin girls joined them and she didn’t seem happy about it at all. He started to walk toward them, but quickened his pace when he heard what she called the boy and saw her roughly grab the young girl by the arm, leaving a slight bruise where her fingers laid.
“Enough!” he called out, stopping the three children in their tracks, putting himself in between them as if somehow he was trying to make sure they didn’t start thrashing each other. He turned to both of the Slytherins first, “If Miss Valenduris needs to go to the nurse, you may send her with one of your prefects, otherwise you need to go back to your table and sit down and allow the rest of the first years to be sorted. 10 points from Slytherin for your language and I expect to see you in my office for a lengthy detention. Now go.” Then, Thomas turned his attentions to Mr. Lawrence, “Go back to your table and sit down, it’s almost time for the feast and you don’t want to miss it. And, Mr. Lawrence… take five points for Ravenclaw for your compassion and helpfulness toward another student in their time of need.” He gave him a smile, before making sure they did as they were told; once they did, he would head back to his seat at the head table and await the next sorting.
Tony flinched when she corrected him about the way to address her, deciding then and there that he would try his best not to use either form, for he would try to avoid this dreadful girl!
Thankfully, one of the Professors made his way towards them and reprimanded Miss Amarantha Valenduris for her behaviour, while rewarded him with 5 points. In spite of the ugliness he felt about the elder Valenduris' words, Tony felt his chest swell with pride at the reward.
"Yes, professor," he said and after giving Hyacinth a final sad glance, he sat back at the Ravenclaw table, where he could process all that had just happened.
And to think that he'd been so excited to join the Potions club after all Hyacinth had told him. How could she have missed telling him how dreadful her sister was?
Then again, he supposed, it was hard to overlook the faults of one's family. Hadn't he witnessed his own father and step-mother use such words when talking about people native to the colonies, for example? Didn't his sister Viola talk poorly about girls who were 'thin as twigs' and 'fat as cows'? He didn't like them using those words, but he hadn't disowned them for using them either, merely been a silent accomplice. If anything, Miss Hyacinth had stood up to her terrible sister.
Amarantha derived some sort of sick pleasure to see the first year boy flinch when she coldly not to call her by any special nickname; she was lucky they weren’t in some darkened corridor otherwise he might find himself hexed to pieces for putting his hands on Hyacinth. But, before she could say anything more, it seemed that one of the professors had caught on to what was happening and of course it had to be good old Professor Mudblood himself. “Yes sir,” she said, simply, knowing that arguing would only make it worse and she already started Slytherin with negative ten points before the feast even began. She shot one last menacing glare at Mr. Lawrence before pulling Hyacinth off to her spot at the Slytherin table, allowing her to rest her head on her lap while they waited for the rest of the sortings to finish, knowing she would be just fine after she ate.
Hyacinth was blushing at this point, not just because perhaps her sister was right that a boy should not be touching her like that, but also because she was so embarrassed that she was so unkind to her new best friend and calling him horrible words. Perhaps she always knew that Amarantha hated muggles and muggleborns, but she supposed that she never thought much of it until now; she so desperately wished she could apologize for her behavior, but nobody was letting her get a word in and she was far too exhausted to be of any help anyway. She cried out when Amarantha gripped her arm, feeling the bruise on her delicate skin, but froze when she heard an adult man’s voice who seemed to be one of the Professors or someone with authority here.
“I don’t need to go,” she protested to Amarantha, “I just want to sit with you at the table!” If she went to the nurse, they’d write to her parents and she’d be sent home and have to have one of those private tutors instead of learning here. It seemed like her sister gave in to what she wanted as she pulled her in the direction of the Slytherin table after being given detention and losing points for her…now their house. Hyacinth felt a horrible sinking feeling, however, as she rested her head in her big sister’s lap once they were seated again, that she just lost the only friend she had and Tony would never speak to her again.
![[Image: hyacinth-signature.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/Dw1FytG8/hyacinth-signature.png)
![[Image: amarantha-signature.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/j5qGRWnQ/amarantha-signature.png)
