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
Mrs. Embry and Ross had had several sessions so far in the office, where he mostly sat at his desk and tried to be still and occasionally had Miss Binns run around the Ministry finding information he did not trust Macmillan to find for him. (After one of these sessions, he'd had Miss Binns go down to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement so he could place why he remembered Mrs. Embry. The answer had surprised him, but he hadn't mentioned it to her yet.)
"So when we are done with the painting portion," Ross said, "What is the process for ensuring that the portrait has —" his lips quirked up "— my personality?"
This was one of the stupider things he'd had to do for legacy.
She hadn't said as much but this was her first official ministry portrait. Not that she was lying about it - a simple question or even a records check would make it plain but she hadn't volunteered. She kind of liked it. There was life just beyond the walls and door of his office and it provided a sort of background hum while she worked.
At their typical positions - her at her easel and him behind his desk - her gaze danced between him and canvas. That initial feeling of intense intimacy had long since passed for her and she was able look past him as person to see him as a collection of shades and shadows.
"Its a bit of spellwork on my part." She said with a light smile, knowing she would soon find out how powerful a wizard he was. "Sometimes the sitting is enough for me to build an impression strong enough... sometimes I'll do a follow up interview if the charmwork comes out a little flat. I'm guessing your schedule will dictate which route we try first."
"Have you heard? She's the one that killed her husband!
They couldn't prove it... but everyone says it was her"
Ross quirked an eyebrow upwards, too intrigued by her mentioning the spellwork to keep his expression flat. "That will be a question for Miss Binns," he said with humor in his voice. Ross had more awareness of his schedule than he presented to outside parties, but Miss Binns really was the best resource in terms of his schedule.
"Do you ever have a sense that you know someone's personality enough before the spellwork begins?" he asked, intrigued.
January 30, 2022 – 8:16 PM
Last modified: January 30, 2022 – 8:17 PM by Louisa Embry.
It was hard not to be drawn in by such insightful questions or by such a receptive audience. She peered past the edge of her canvas to look at him, much like she had hundreds of times before, but this time noted his expression rather than say - the subtle shadow cast by his nose. There was a longer answer on the tip of her tongue but after a moment thought better of it.
"More... boisterous persons can leave a strong impression almost immediately and without effort." She reached for her mahlstick and leaned in close to carefully add a bit of light to his likeness' pupil.
"Of course, what I do can be just the basis. You'll take over once it's animated."
"Have you heard? She's the one that killed her husband!
They couldn't prove it... but everyone says it was her"
Ross raised an eyebrow to express his interest in what Mrs. Embry said without making too much of an expression. "I am to understand that the painting will see everything that happens in my office," Ross said. It would hang in his office and observe his meetings; that meant that he would be unable to use his office for any of the meetings he wanted kept quiet. This would make things more difficult for himself, and for Miss Binns, and was perhaps why he'd put off the task of the portrait for so long.
Louisa nodded out of habit but added a "Yes." when she remembered that he couldn't see the expression with her behind the canvas. There was something about the set of his brow that wasn't sitting right with her and she couldn't quite place why. She took a few steps back to regard her work at a distance, her head tilted as she puzzled over it.
"Well, when he's present at least. They do like to wander sometimes." She glanced repeatedly between him and canvas with a frown of concentration, trying to find where she went astray. With a cluck of her tongue she set her brush and palette down and reached for her wand. She muttered a spell that made the canvas rise off the easel, flip upside down, and settle back where it was. "And I wouldn't believe them if it looks like they are sleeping - I'm not convinced they actually can sleep." She regarded the flipped image it with her arms crossed over her chest, only paying half attention to the conversation. "I'd say its best to assume there's always someone there listening but not always paying attention."
"Have you heard? She's the one that killed her husband!
They couldn't prove it... but everyone says it was her"
Listening but not always paying attention. Ross hummed. "That sounds like children," he mused. The difference, of course, was that Ross' children did not come to his workplace. And Ross' children were people, which meant that he understood more about their motivations, and he knew that they could be mostly trusted.
There was no one better to ask about his doubts than Mrs. Embry, if only because she was the only portrait-expert he knew.
"Do the portraits feel any — loyalty to the people they are modeled after?"
She hummed a thoughtful but ultimately noncommittal noise as she reached for her wand again to set the painting right-side up. 'Feel' was a tricky concept and that wasn't even the important part of his question.
"It's hard to say." She said after a moment. It was both true and a cop-out. She had thoughts on that very subject and she was surprised to realize she wanted to share them with him - like if the finished portrait was dependent on her impressions of the sitter what would happen if she tried see her sitter as a loyal man? - but in the end it was just thoughts and he was just a client. A client who happened to be the Minister of Magic.
"Would you be loyal to you?"
"Have you heard? She's the one that killed her husband!
They couldn't prove it... but everyone says it was her"
"I like to think I would," Ross said, after a moment's thought. "But I've never met myself." He was a loyal person, but a portrait was not a person - no matter how much of his personality Mrs. Embry put inside it. "Do portraits usually have an affinity for their subjects?"
What was he supposed to do if the portrait didn't like him? He hated this.
It took her a moment to answer. Struck by a jolt of understanding, she jumped to adjust a few of the brush strokes around his eyes. After a pause she gave it a decided nod. It was a small difference but it made the whole portrait come together for her.
Setting her paintbrush down, she stepped away from the easel and took a seat in a spare chair near by. "It needs a moment" she explained with a brief wave of her hand. She was glad for the chance to sit since her knees had grown stiff with all the standing still but it really did need a minute. She needed a moment to clear her mind so she could see it again with fresh eyes and be sure she was happy with it.
"So - what's your third favorite thing about being minister?"
"Have you heard? She's the one that killed her husband!
They couldn't prove it... but everyone says it was her"
Ross hummed at her question. "It's a good office," he said, after a beat of silence. "I like the office." He was going to have a portrait hung in the building, and if the portrait had a more mild view of him than Ross' actual internal life, then that was better for him.
Louisa quirked a brow, muting a wry smirk. He had deftly side stepped her scheme with what looked like very little effort. She'd thought if she asked for his third favorite thing it would get past his most polished political answer and would bring out a more substantial answer.
Or maybe he was that simple. She doubted it but she had to allow that it was possible.
"It is a nice office" she agreed mildly though she didn't have much of an opinion on it. She gazed around the room hoping for some kind of talking point, something to inspire an interesting question or conversation she could use to get to know him. After finding nothing she decided to be direct.
"Knowing that my impression of you colors the final result - is there anything you want me to know? Or maybe a story that would tell me something about yourself?"
"Have you heard? She's the one that killed her husband!
They couldn't prove it... but everyone says it was her"
Ross hummed. There had to be something that he could share with her, some piece he was willing to give — he liked her, even if he didn't entirely trust her.
What was the most surprising thing about him, in this room?
"My wife is the first person I talked to before I committed to run for Minister," he said. "We talked in the greenhouse she keeps behind our house. I was never going to do this without her. She said it was the right thing to do, probably because we were both afraid of a conservative winning."
Ross shrugged his shoulders at Mrs. Embry. "I could tell you that I've always been cautious despite my good nature, that the entrenched Ministerial establishment is not a fan of me, that I checked your file before this portrait and decided you were the woman for the job anyways. But Roslyn is most important."
She listened closely, intrigue keeping keeping her singular focus. She wished more of her clients could be this helpful after so little prompting. She tried to keep her mind open, to just absorb what he was saying, but she found herself speculating and wondering about his motives and intentions behind what he was choosing to tell her. That he included the detail about the greenhouse was particularly interesting to her.
She froze when he mentioned her file and what followed after was lost on her. Of course she was sitting still and the knee-jerk reaction had passed nearly as fast as it came so there was a decent chance he missed it.
"My file?" she asked, trying her best to sound casual. She could hope he meant her portfolio but there was that little 'anyways' that he'd tacked on the end.
"Have you heard? She's the one that killed her husband!
They couldn't prove it... but everyone says it was her"
Ross raised his eyebrows at her. "But you were found innocent, of course," he said. As far as he knew, her husband's death had never been solved — but she was found innocent, and frankly if there was evidence against her the Department would have found it.
She didn't seem like a murderer, besides — and Ross had met several.
She searched his eyes for a motive - he'd known her history this whole time, commissioned her in spite of (or possibly because of?) it, and then decided to reveal as much in this exact moment. She found only the heaviness of knowing in his gaze.
She wanted to say 'I was'. To affirm that basic truth and speak in defiance of all who chose to ignore it. Instead she tore her eyes from his and stood. In a measured tone she said "Thank you. I don't expect we'll need a separate interview."
Moving back to her canvas she glanced at him again, the picture of practiced professionalism. "Would you like to see it? The colors aren't set but that takes time and varnish."
