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
I enjoyed having lunch with you yesterday. Mrs. Meadowes might be one of my favorites, as far as chaperones go. She doesn't do the hovering thing that some of them do — and she certainly doesn't glare so much as Konstantin does.
Sorry about the way the day started. I love you.
Alfred
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
Katia's a good chaperon, in that she is generally a little eccentric and unlikely to hover too much. She's also not nearly as scary as Roslyn can be. I'm glad you like her.
I love you too. It's all right. Did you know Jo Smith sent me a letter?
No, I didn't know she'd sent you a letter. How would I have? It's not as though she's over here every day, and she's certainly not having me proofread her outgoing mail. What did she say?
Well, I thought you might have, especially seeing as my pointing out that I know exactly nothing about your friendship is apparently a "violation of privacy." But by all means act as if I am ridiculous for asking.
Alright, I've talked to Jo about it. I think we've had a lot of misunderstandings and a lot of hurt feelings where we needn't have had any. Sometimes I wish we weren't courting — it was so much easier when I could just talk with you, instead of sending all these letters and waiting around for a reply and having all these pent-up feelings in the meantime.
Neither of us have anything to hide, so ask me whatever you want to know and I'll tell you. The most important thing is that I've never felt anything towards Jo that compares to how I feel about you. I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you. I'm sorry all of this has gotten out of hand and likely ruined your Valentine's Day — but I love you.
J.A.D.
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
I hope you don't actually wish that we weren't courting.
The last time I talked to Jo before the luncheon she was very defensive about you, and I didn't understand why, and now everyone is acting like I'm being the strange irrational one here. I don't understand how I'm not supposed to have a reaction to any of this, especially not when I'm not allowed to go anywhere or do anything or actually talk to anyone without my family listening in all the time. I guess my only question is: is there anything you feel I should know about this?
Valentine's Day was always going to be sort of a wash if I couldn't see you, I think.
No, obviously I don't wish we weren't courting. I just wish it were easier, sometimes. You knew what I meant.
Honestly, if there were anything I thought you needed to know, I would've told you already. But I understand why you're upset and I understand that nothing Jo said about it helped matters, probably, so I want to tell you whatever you need to know to feel better about it.
I know what you meant and that it's not easy for you. I also don't want you to tell me things just because you think it's what I want to hear. Honestly I sort of wish that Jo had just left me alone about this instead of writing because now I just feel annoyed about it all over again.
I wouldn't lie to you, if that's what you mean. I just don't know what to say, if you don't have specific questions, because if I thought there was anything going on with Jo that you ought to be worried about, I wouldn't have been doing those things to begin with.
It's hard to explain the way I feel about Jo. It takes me a long time to become friends with someone — with Pablo we were literally alone in the wilderness for years before I admitted to liking him — and when I met her last year it happened all at once, like I'd known her a long time, but at the end of the day we're still just friends. English society doesn't really like the idea of men and women being friends, so of course it's not something Jo wants to talk about openly, but it's really nothing more. Nothing has happened or could ever happen with her that would make me feel any differently about you.
Alfred
MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER
I don't even know what I would ask about if I had specific questions in mind because all I keep being told is that you two have a very deep friendship that is largely conducted in your flat. It's fine. I trust you. I'm glad you have such a good friend.
![[Image: xXXD462.png]](https://i.imgur.com/xXXD462.png)