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
January 6th, 1890 — Department of Mysteries, Ministry of Magic
Urquart had agreed, seemingly without any thought, to let you examine the talisman that had been found at the scene. You took it to one of the charmed vaults the department used for dangerous objects such as these, but three days of investigation, thus far, had yielded nothing.
This was, on the one hand, good—the last thing you wanted to trigger was another fatal curse. On the other hand, it irks you, the not knowing. Perhaps, you think, it is the charms on the vault that are hindering you.
A glance at the clock on the wall tells you the day is nearly over.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
a. Continue working away. You are no stranger to staying late, after all.
b. Resign yourself to not knowing for another night, at put it away carefully, locking the vault before leaving.
c. Hesitate a moment before sliding the talisman into your pocket, intending to take it home.
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Running her thumb over the grooves of the talisman for what felt like the hundredth time Marlena idly thought it was a miracle she hadn't managed to rub away the pattern. Not that it would make much difference - the pattern was as mystifying as everything else about this artefact, the secrets unyielding no matter what she tried. It had occurred to her around four o'clock yesterday that she might need to consult somebody whose experience outstripped her own but Lena was nothing if not stubborn.
She had to understand it; last year she had missed out on the adventure of a lifetime in Irvingly through sheer ill-timing and she refused to be thwarted again. There was only one thing for it - Marlena pocketed the talisman, deciding she would take it out of the vault where the charms might be hindering her progress.
If anything happened she would bring it back immediately. What was the worst that could happen?
The brain debacle had occupied most of his waking hours since the solstice, and so Balt had, frankly, been quite chuffed when Miss Scamander had volunteered to examine the retrieved Pictish artifact. Of course, it had been secured in a dampening vault in an effort to avoid any further loss of life, but Balthazar had been satisfied the witch was quite capable of handling the matter, and had largely forgotten about it. With Mulciber off for Merlin only knew how long, Balt's paperwork had seemingly quadrupled (given Mulciber avoided paperwork like the plague, this had been a particular surprise) and, frankly, he needed his Unspeakables to function with as little oversight as possible.
But not no oversight.
"Heading out, are you?" he asked Scamander as he encountered her in the corridor near the department's entrance. The smile he gave her was friendly, but tired—it would be another two hours, perhaps three, before he could follow suit.
A lesser woman might have jumped at the appearance of their superior when they were doing something they really oughtn’t be, but Lena was no such coward and had not been reared in the den of lions for nothing. Slipping the talisman seamlessly into her pocket Marlena thanked Merlin for the eternally dim light in their office – the Unspeakables were, as a bunch, rather inclined towards their secrets and shady corners were a necessity.
“I hope that’s alright?” She asked, doubting he was about to send her back to it at this late hour. If anything she was slightly surprised to find him here at all, though since he had taken over the Department he had proven as adept and dedicated a boss as he had been a Minister. She had even told him at the staff part she would have voted for him given half the chance: hopefully he didn’t remember that too clearly.
"But of course," he responded, smiling. He wondered if Mrs. Lestrange might have been something of a task master. "I only meant—that is, you've secured the artifact and the vault appropriately?"
He doubted very much otherwise, but would not be doing his due diligence if he did not verify this with Miss Scamander.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
a. Lie. Well, stretch the truth—the vault is locked, and the artifact is secure...with you.
b. Admit the truth
c. Say you should double-check and return to the vault, hoping he does not choose to accompany you
"Of course," Marlena replied brightly. Surely if anything untoward was to happen without the dampening spell that enclosed the vault then it would have happened the moment she left it's confines - yet here she was with the artefact in her pocket and the sky had not fallen. Perhaps it really was just a symbolic talisman after all?
"Very good," Balt answered with a nod, satisfied. And why shouldn't he be? Scamander, after all, had never struck him as particularly frivolous or unreliable. "Good evening to you, then."
WHAT DO YOU DO?
a. Make your farewells and leave.
b. Change your mind and admit the truth.
c. Say you should double-check and return to the vault, hoping he does not choose to accompany you
For the merest of moments Lena hesitated; she had no qualms about her decision to take the artefact but if he went into the vault to check for himself he would surely notice that it was not where it ought to be. She had never given him any reason to doubt her word and if she went back now it seemed to Marlena that it would be entirely obvious what she had done.
"See you in the morning sir," she replied with a polite smile, heading straight to the exit.
"A good evening to you, Miss Scamander," Balthazar answered. As he turned away, the wizard could not help but feel as though he was forgetting something. It was a feeling he swiftly dismissed.
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