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
It always reminded her of when Kit was missing, and she'd come to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement multiple times a week to beg someone to tell her if they knew anything, beg them to find him, beg them to let her find him, beg them to tell her if he was dead. The floor reminded her of desperation and going home to a house with crying children, of fear and frustration. And for most people here, it was just a workplace.
Her jaw was set in a stubborn line, and if she ran into her son or her husband, they would surely notice. But she made it to the combative magic instruction room without incident. While many of the AITs were mostly working on paperwork and other tasks over the summer, there was still some magic engaged — or so Ned told her.
The instructor was there, just as her supervisor had told her. Emilia unlocked her jaw and ignored the ache. "Afternoon," she said, "I've heard that someone accidentally created a small black hole?"
It wasn't like the trainees came to the ministry without any magical training, but even Mateo had to marvel at how this had happened. They were still learning to work together and a bad combination of spells had been deflected into the corner of the room and somehow, some sort of vacuum had been created.
"Mrs. Moony," it had taken concentration not to just call her Moony, like he would have Kit or Ned. To be fair, he called Moony the younger, Moonshine, because he was far outstripping some of his fellow trainees. Plus he needed a way to delineate between the two. "Yes, we seem to have a combination of spells that shouldn't have been used in conjunction." He peered at the black hole warily. "I deflected them," he passed her a sheepish sort of smile. "Otherwise that might have been me." That would have been inconvenient.
Emilia looked at the black hole, but unlike Sutherland, her expression was quizzical instead of wary. She pulled her wand from the pocket of her robes and palmed it. It was probably not advisable to prod the black hole with her wand, but she was still tempted to. She looked back at Sutherland; the corners of her lips quirked up in response to her smile, despite her loathing of being with the aurors.
"I wouldn't recommend that," she said, "Do you know which spells collided?"
"Yes, well, I wouldn't either, but getting trainees to communicate is often the biggest struggle." Mateo could teach them all of the spells and the tricks of the trade, but until the really worked together and were able to read one another in a situation they often made mistakes like this. It was a work in progress, though this was truly a first for Mateo.
"Impedimenta was certainly one of them," cast slightly incorrectly if he heard the incantation the way it had indeed been said. "Orbis may have been the other one." Both were intended to slow the object or person down, the latter specifically to suck the target into the floor, and while Mateo had to give the trainees credit for their creativity, he also thoroughly suspected this is what had caused the rift to appear. He would make note of this one for their debrief later; bad combination of spells.
Orbis and impedimenta; both were relatively normal when on their own, and yet they'd managed to do this. She was a little delighted by how strange this was, and bit back a smile despite herself. As long as her son hadn't been involved in this thing's creation, she could be pleased with it — even if it involved the auror's office.
At least Sutherland was pleasant.
"I suppose you nee this room back sooner rather than later?" Emilia said, "I'd like to study this - but I understand if we'll have to move it."
"I mean, eventually." Mateo had no idea just how long it would take Mrs. Moony to clear things up and so he'd sent the trainees off to do something less exciting for a little while in the meantime. He was curious about the situation himself and just how far the magic extended, so he wanted to know her thoughts on the matter, if she would share.
Her suggestion to move it was a surprise. "You can do that, move it?" He was impressed and shocked all at the same time. Teo was good with certain spells and skills, but not nearly anywhere as talented as he assumed the unspeakables to be. Their particular brands of magic were well beyond his capabilities.
"I believe so," Emilia said, with a quiet confidence and a nod. She rocked on her heels, and crouched in front of the black hole in order to study it more effectively. "Although I shan't be sure until I try."
Impressed, Mateo gestured for her to go ahead and stepped aside. He was still in awe of the magic itself, somehow not moving, and nothing going in or out, which he would have assumed might have happened if somebody got too close. "Is there a gravity to it?" He was genuinely curious, and the question had slipped out, so he immediately closed his mouth to let Mrs. Moony focus.
Emilia's concentration was briefly disrupted by Sutherland's words, and she looked over her shoulder at him, her mouth quirking up into a soft smile. "Yes," she said, "But only slight — we could leave it and, as long as it was not hit by another spell, it wouldn't do much damage in here."
"I fear if you leave it, I'll be too tempted to toss Selwyn into it and who knows where he'll end up." Mateo was kidding... mostly. Of all his colleagues, Selwyn was perhaps the most... prickly, the opposite of Mateo himself, so he would be the likely candidate if it became an option.
Though she smiled at him, Mateo remembered once again, he was interrupting her and the only reason he hadn't stepped out was that he wasn't exactly supposed to leave anyone unsupervised in here that wasn't in the department itself. So he pressed his lips together and gestured for her to continue.
Emilia's smile curved upwards with additional amusement, but then she focused on the dark spot again. She considered, and muttered a spell under her breath, and tugged her wand — the spot moved, following her as if it were a dog on a lead.
She stood up. "Would you mind accompanying me to the lift to ensure that no one walks into it?"
She couldn't be sure, but she did not think that would go well.
Mateo liked to consider himself good with magic. He had found himself in many various, sticky predicaments over the years and had to use some ingenuity to get out of them, otherwise he wouldn't still be here, but to watch Mrs. Moony magically move the equivalent to some sort of vacuum, was impressive. Clearly he was not Unspeakably Good at magic.
"Gladly!" He quipped, popping off his post at the door with enthusiasm. He wanted to see the looks on the faces of everyone they passed as they made their way through the ministry with the spot in tow. Then again, Teo was the kind who would go to the butcher to watch him slice bologna if the occasion arose and he had nothing better to do. "Do you think you will keep it and study it, or simply try to vanish it?" He cleared the hallway outside the room and motioned for her to take the lead.
![[Image: MateoSig.png]](https://i.ibb.co/XrP6kyBX/MateoSig.png)