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
It had been a very long year, Algernon mused. A year ago he was a bed-bound invalid with pitifully little access to the outside world. Even Algernon could admit the whole affair had been harrowing. The world had continued on without him, which might have been humbling to another man. The dragon attacks had been one thing by itself, then voting reform had come around when Algernon was in no shape taking up his seat in the Wizengamot just yet. But now it was here and he really didn't approve.
He wasn't alone in his feelings, considering the recent protest--though "protests" toed the line too closely to populism for Algernon's tastes. Still. "It was bad enough before, when any riff-raff could vote if he was a man," he said aloud, from his spot behind today's Prophet. This was presumably directed at Seraphina, who was sitting across from him at present, but Algernon was, as expected, talking at his daughter rather than to her.
Sera was periodically taking a sip of her tea, which had far more honey and sugar in it than she normally allowed. The overdose of sweetness acted as a shock, a continual reminder — awake, awake, awake. Since her father had become more mobile — mobile enough to wander High Street, as the rumors had it — the constant wariness she felt was starting to border on, she knew, paranoia. For hours after this, she would be looking over her shoulder to see if he was there.
But Algernon — Sera was trying this, referring to him by first name rather than as father in her own head — was reading the newspaper, and Sera was reading a book on spring gardens that she had already read. She looked up from her chapter at his comment.
"I still shan't qualify to register," she said mildly, as if that didn't bother her in the least. She didn't work, didn't own property — no registry for her.
Algernon did not look up from the paper, as there was not much point in actually engaging with his daughter. That was the pity of his family situation--meaningful conversations were a thing he'd given up long ago. Not that Algernon thought he was really missing out on much from any of his children, particularly his daughters. Still, he said, "No, I should think not. What an embarrassment that would be." At least he would be spared humiliation.
Sera's eyes flicked over to her father, and her fingers tightened on her teacup. It was all she could do to avoid responding sharply, and she swallowed it back down with another sip of tea. "Of course you're correct," Sera said sweetly, "Dear Henry can vote in the way that makes sense for us both, after all."
"Indeed," Algernon said, almost without thinking. "Bythesea's got a sensible head on his shoulders at least." Algernon had been cursed with children like his, but at least he'd been able to select his in-laws. It didn't make up for much, but it was certainly a comfort.
She had an impulse to grind her teeth. Sera smiled sweetly, instead. "He certainly is one of the most sensible people I've ever met," she said. She was sure her father would say more, worse things if she baited him long enough — so perhaps she just had to keep acting like she had when she was Under.
He was mocking her. She was being mocked. Sera bit on her lower lip, hard, because the alternative was for her to snap at him. I'm smart, she wished to say. She'd taken several N.E.W.T. classes, and they'd been difficult. Before she went under, she had been good at all sorts of practical magic. She read a great deal. She was growing magical plants in her bedroom at home, and not all of them were easy. I'm smart. I like to talk to smart people. But her father had never wanted to know her. He had not wanted to know her siblings, either, but Sera still felt as if much of this was because of her gender, because Algernon Rowle never thought she would be anything more than a wife.
And she had not wanted more than that, when he cursed her! She had only wanted to be loved.
She finished her tea in a sudden, unladylike, gulp. "I think I have to go," she said.
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