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
The heavens opened, pouring what felt like a week's worth of early Spring rain onto Hogsmeade. For many, a hitherto delightful Saturday afternoon was ruined. Children playing in Padmore Park ran squealing for cover, ladies bee-lined for the shops with parasols erect, and a café owner who'd optimistically placed seating outside grumbled as he levitated his chairs back indoors.
But Arven was stuck out in the rain. His trademark long green coat was fair protection, but his long golden hair was already slick with rainwater. He was getting impatient now as he once more leaned on the stone wall by a grassy ridge near the park and barked; "Virgil! Come on lad, where are you?" Arven's pet ferret, Virgil, had vanished into a rabbit hole fifteen minutes ago and still hadn't emerged.
The day had began normally enough though Dove was the identity the gender-shifting brunette had felt more akin to that day. Dove watched herself in the mirror as her hair flowed from Robin's short, tidy style to her more wavy, much longer strands which she had then pinned up into a stylish updo with a modest hat. As she finished dressing for the day and seeing to other parts of herself, she apparated to High Street, that being her chosen place of excursion. She did need lace and ribbons.
It had been sunny when the day began but soon it was pouring. Rather than scurry for cover, she opted to explore in the rain, finding her parasol to be adequate protection against most of the wet droplets. As she came near the park with the idle thought that the rain was sure to bring out more of the slowly returning ducks, Dove saw a man who appeared to be barking into a stone wall.
Upon closer approach, she realized she had once met him though that had several months back in June. Or rather, the male part of her had met him. Not that she could let on as this was one of the secrets Robin had joked about when they had met. She also saw on closer inspection that he had been barking into a rabbit hole - not the wall it was by. "Perhaps this Virgil has gone off to Wonderland," she said in jest, parasol perched on her dainty shoulder as she thought of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
Not in the best of moods as he turned to regard the onlooker, Arven shook his wet hair from his face and was warmed somewhat by the quip. Arven narrowly avoided a mild double-take — partly because the stranger was faintly familiar, with her seafoam eyes and high cheekbones, but also because this well-to-do gentlelady was of exceptional grace and fairness, the use of the parasol giving her the look of a sprite emerging from a parted waterfall.
Arven allowed a brief, crooked smile. "Possibly, though he's more a Mad Hatter than an Alice." His smile faded as he returned his gaze to the rabbit hole. "He's definitely having a tea party in there", he grumbled.
"But don't you hassle yourself, miss", the Englishman added, noting the juxtaposition of the courtly young lady in the pouring rain. "This won't be a show worth getting your shoes wet for."
Dove smiled as the man shook his wet hair from his face. She was grateful to be protected from the raindrops, at least partially. Not that she would have particularly cared if she got as soaked as a cat left out in the rain.
The brief, crooked smile made Dove want to entice out a truer one, especially as it faded. "Is it a cat? Perhaps a saucer of milk?" She had no idea what manner of pet this Virgil was. She was at least certain it could not be a child for surely he would a bit more concerned than he was currently displaying and not grumbly as he was.
"It is not a hassle. The rain will not cause me to melt and has yet to cause me trouble beyond, perhaps, a cold," besides, she felt invested now in assisting the man in getting the thus far mysterious, unseen Virgil out of the rabbit hole and back in the arms of his human companion.
Arven was curious indeed that this sprite of a girl was lingering out here in the rain, with meager protection, speaking to a strange man without her chaperone. As he uncharacteristically recalled propriety, Arv glanced briefly over her shoulder as if expecting to see a disapproving aunt or matronly maid in waiting — but no, she was entirely alone. He could not help but bet that she was looking for a little adventure; and by Merlin she'd come to the right place.
"Virgil is a ferret", he explained with a slight smile. "He can't resist a rabbit hole. Which probably means he's chasing the White Rabbit, I'm afraid", he added a little darkly, preparing her for the possibility that Virgil might shortly return with a mangled thing in his jaws.
Dove hid a smile as she guessed why he was glancing over her shoulder. It would be a feat to have a chaperone for herself when her parents did not know that she sometimes left home as Dove. They tended to think she was holed away in the family library which was exactly what she wanted them to think. While the adventure of the pages had always gotten Dove through years of isolation due to their parents not knowing what to do with a literal gender-shifting child, in adulthood, it was not quite enough.
"I've never seen a ferret," Dove said in thought. "In books, of course but not in the flesh. Though, I suppose I still haven't." Curious grey-green eyes full of hidden mischief eyed the rabbit hole curiously, wondering if he would come out soon.
To someone who'd seen wild wolves and elephants, let alone ferrets, Arven found it almost otherworldly to know of someone who hadn't set eyes on a such a humble creature as Virgil. But he corrected himself that this must be very common. Ferrets were used fairly regularly on farms, but this young woman was hardly a farm hand. Though something told him she would be curious to try.
"By now he's likely closer to another exit route than this one", he nodded down at the rabbit hole. "So I'm going to follow this tunnel above ground a little ways. Should you wish to meet yourself a ferret, you're welcome to join me..." but he'd be surprised if she replied in the affirmative. After all, it was still raining, and although a path on the outskirts of town was hardly a safari track, it would likely land her in a world of scandal if she were seen to wander off with a rugged stranger.
"How will you know where the tunnel is?" She asked curiously. "If the tunnel went a little deeper, would it be hidden by the path walked?" She had nary an experience when it came to following tunnels dug by animals. She had the academic knowledge of how it worked from books but it was very different to now be doing it.
Dove took a moment to think about it before lifting her skirts a little so that they wouldn't weigh her down with the mud already starting to cake a little at the hem. "Very well, I do wish to meet this elusive Virgil that makes his human companian hunt for him through tunnels."
Arven shortly realised that he was the White Rabbit, and little Alice here was far too intrigued to resist the temptation of risk and adventure. But they did not jump down the rabbit hole; theirs was a very different story.
"Well", he began, as he led the way off the main path that went back to town; instead they would be taking a smaller track that led around the edge of Padmore Park. It was hardly a mountain pass or a bandit-strewn highway; but to the fancy girl with her umbrella it was evidently something far more interesting than what daily life could offer.
"We can see from the rabbit hole itself that the tunnel is even and goes straight ahead, without curvature. Which means it's going this way." He pointed ahead; the little track that led towards the Black Lake. "And it wouldn't veer off to the side because there are too many tree roots to navigate", he added when he spotted this.
"Where would you dig your tunnel if you were a rabbit?" he added as they walked, faintly amused at the concept.
Dove followed after the man as he led the way off the main path. It was a smaller track that she had not taken before. Not even as Robin. Well, better late than never, she supposed.
She looked to where he pointed and nodded since it made sense that the trees roots would be a hindrance to a rabbit. "Far beneath a tree since folks would assume there were too many tree roots," she said with a light, lilting laugh. "But I think if I were an animal, I would prefer to be a bird." Her name was a bird name and birds were one of her favorite animals.
"Then you'd have me fooled, sure enough", Arven chuckled at the bold remark, ever-more charmed by this strange young witch. It had been a while since he'd met someone quite so willing to blaze their own trail.
"A water bird, maybe", he amended with a smile, noting her state of comfortable contentment as the rain continued to shower down upon her parasol, dampening her skirts and muddying her shoes.
Though he was one to talk, having no regard for the rain whatsoever. He tossed a few sodden strands from his face as they continued to walk.
Dove laughed as the man said that she would have him fooled. She granted him another smile as he said that maybe she would be a water bird. She did not know which kind she would be, slight vanity said a swan, perhaps. But she supposed she would be more likely to be a duck.
"Do you want to borrow my parasol?" She asked as she noticed how soaked he was getting compared to her. Her parasol was more made to guard against the heat of the sun though so she was not completely safe from the rain. Even so, her hair, hat and face were still dry even if the same could not be said for the rest of her.
Rabbit burrows did not tumble on for long, and sure enough they shortly came to another rabbit hole — with no ferret to be seen. Arven frowned faintly at this, but soon turned to a crooked smile at his unlikely companion's offer. "And they say chivalry is dead", he quipped, it being almost unheard of for a lady to forsake her dignity for a gentleman's. Arv was no gentleman, but he wouldn't even think of accepting her offer. "Thank you, but no", he said graciously.
"But let's duck into the trees to plan our next move", he suggested. Just off the path began a thick woodland that would offer generous cover from the rain. Arven led the way (it was down a short hill), then turned to offer a hand to help the chivalrous girl down the slope.
There was no ferret to be found once they came to another rabbit hole. She nodded as he declined her offer. It was too bad her parasol was not at all enough for two. And besides that would require a closeness that even Dove would balk at since this was probably the longest she had been alone in a mans company.
She followed after him and accepted the offer of his help though that was not enough against the slippery slope for she ended up slipping and falling against him. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, cheeks flaming pink as she moved away. Would walking be made easier if she took off her shoes? She would see which way they would end up going and decide then, she supposed. "How do you know Virgil isn't squatting in there, waiting out the rain?"
"That's quite alright", he replied gently, unabashed as she fell into his hard chest and then moved away. She was blushing under the parasol. What a pretty thing (... the girl, not the parasol). And so strange to be along for this adventure, like a water-logged petal dodging the dainty stream and instead choosing to crash into the wild, dark ocean. Arven was a risk, he knew this well; was she lacking in this knowledge? Or did she simply care for it not?
He'd been distracted for a moment, but now returned his verdant-green eyes to the rabbit hole. "Virgil is no more bothered by the rain than his master is", he replied, confident that the ferret had left the burrow and (for whatever reason) wandered somewhere else.
"Having said that — I wouldn't mind crisping up a bit" They were beneath the thick woodland canopy now, where only the occasional raindrop fell. He took out his wand to perform a drying spell, but offered to the perform it on the lady first. She could likely cast the spell herself, but courtesy was courtesy. "Care for a drying charm?"
Dove managed to regain some composure enough for her mind to dart right back into the notion of ferret tracking. She was too lacking in socialization to fully realize that it was an oddity for her to have come along with him on his ferret tracking trek at all. At the back of her mind, she knew that men and women weren't supposed to be alone but she paid that little voice very little mind in the face of doing something interesting.
"Yes, please that would be pleasant. I'm glad it is a little more dry here. I was contemplating taking my shoes off if we were to walk through more wet grass." That would be unnecessary if the direction they went to search for the wayward Virgil in was just as protected from the rain.
![[Image: virgil-sig.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/FzCVRgK/virgil-sig.jpg)
