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.
It was fortunate, Algernon thought, that he'd been spared the hassle of seeing a daughter through her introduction to society. Mind you, his only other daughter was Miranda, but nonetheless. He was happy to leave the bulk of things to Belinda. He had far more important things to concern himself with, after all.
That, of course, didn't mean he didn't need to keep tabs. Unfortunately, Algernon knew his children too well to trust them fully, even with his wife's supervision. If you want something done right and all that.
Algernon was taking the morning to go over the family accounts in his office when he called for Seraphina to check in. When the expected knock came, he called out, "Enter."
Sera was lucky to have a maid who woke her up early when her father wanted to see her. (Debutantes stayed up so late!) She ensured that she was dressed flawlessly, and spent several minutes outside of her father's office, waiting to knock on the door. He'd always been distant, so Seraphina liked to be as perfect as possible whenever she was alone with him.
She stepped inside the office as soon as he bade her. "Good morning, father!" Sera said cheerfully. "Would you like me to request anything from the staff for us? Tea?"
"Tea would be nice, yes," Algernon said, his expression as near to pleasant as it ever truly got. He had no real reason to expect anything out of the ordinary today. Checking in with his children was a necessary headache, but no more than most of his responsibilities as head of the family. Mostly.
He gestured toward the seat in front of his desk, expecting Seraphina to sit. "Tell me, how is the Season progressing?"
Sera poked her head out of the office to ask the maid for tea, and then closed the door behind her, turning to her father's desk and sitting in the chair. She crossed her legs at the ankle. There was a part of her that felt — childishly, she chided herself — as if meeting with her father about the season meant that she was important.
"It's going well so far, Father," Sera said brightly. No one particularly impressed her yet, but she was having a great deal of fun. "Mama and I had three events this past weekend, and we are already scheduled for four upcoming. She tells me that once we start seeing the same gentlemen at multiple events, they are likely to pay us calls."
"Good, good," Algernon said, nodding. He was already planning to have a conversation like this with his wife, to see what her thoughts were. Belinda was, thankfully, reasonable enough that Algernon trusted her on this front--at least as much that he needed to give it little supervision, thankfully. He didn't know what he would do without her. Arrange a betrothal, probably, because there was no way he would ever suffer the work it took to chaperone a debutante through the season.
She would, of course, only tell her father about the purebloods who had caught her eye. "There's Mr. Gaius Malfoy," Sera said dutifully, "And I've thought about Mr. Bernard Prewett, but he's — odd." She wrinkled her nose. "A seer, all that. I've danced twice with Mr. Achilles Newberry, once with Mr. Lovegood, and twice with Mr. Lupin — Mr. Leon Lupin, but also once with his brother Lionel. I wish that Mr. Claudius Lestrange was a few years older!" Mr. Lestrange was very handsome and she remembered him being smart — she had not managed to discern that about any of the eligible men she had actually danced with.
"I apologize, father — that is a great deal of detail," Sera added, flushing. "I've been maintaining a notebook, you see."
Algernon nodded, humming as Seraphina rattled off several names. He made a mental note to look into each of these gentleman further--except, likely, Mr. Prewett. The family hardly needed more seers, after all. "I'd like to see this notebook," he said.
Sera could not recall having ever told her father no. (This may have been at least partially because Algernon had very rarely asked her for anything.) And she knew that she couldn't bar the notebook from her father's gaze, but she did not want him to see everything — not the H next to bachelors she thought were particularly handsome, or the wealthy halfbloods or particularly handsome middle class men who she'd added to the book. She shifted in her seat. Surely she could come up with something? (She had a blank notebook up in her room — she could rewrite her notes.)
"I have to add my notes from last night," Seraphina said, with a bright smile, "But I shall have it ready for you by tonight, father."
"Of course," Algernon said, seeing no reason to push the matter. "After dinner, then." As long as things were going as expected, there was no need to do more. Hopefully it would stay that way.
She'd made it! Sera carefully hid her relief. "Thank you, Father," she said dutifully. "I will report back after dinner." The maid returned with his tea, and Sera collected herself and took this as a dismissal. Once she left the office, she went upstairs to work feverishly at her new journal for the rest of the day — she was going to have to be very careful to keep her notes Father-appropriate for the rest of the Season, or continue the second journal!
She had never expected him to take an interest in her life as a debutante — certainly Sera had never had a close relationship with either of her parents before this year. She was almost charmed, even if it meant that her notes were going to have to be obscured.
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