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
"French is so dull." Mona lamented from where she stood with her bow in hand, arrow nocked and ready to fly at their makeshift little target (haybales with a painted target on an old piece of cloth). The weather was finally nice and Mo just wanted to spent all day outside. There were trees to climb and brooms to ride and flowers to pick in the field and it was all far more interesting that maths and etiquette. Oh, she'd done it, as asked, but she was also in the mood to complain about it.
Frowning as her arrow stuck into a lower corner, just barely hitting the outermost section of the target, she turned back to her twin on a sigh. One of their giant Irish wolfhounds, Orla, was nearby, always watching while the girls were out in the yard without an adult. She yawned and lifted her head, but merely looked down the garden for a moment before closing her eyes again. Mona regarded the target anew and nocked another arrow. "Do you think that's what Hogwarts is going to be like? Surely it can't all be boring lessons?" She peeked over her shoulder at Stella briefly before refocusing on her shot. She released the arrow and it it hit more toward the middle this time. Satisfied, she turned to her twin in earnest now.
"Papa says it was so much fun, but honestly, with lessons all day, how entertaining can it truly be?" They were just a few short months from going to school themselves and Mo was both nervous and excited and it came out in rambles at the most random of times.
Stella blinked sleepily from where she perched on a nearby chaise, her dangling hand resting atop Orla's head. She'd brought a book to read while Ramona took her turns but it had long been abandoned in favor of basking in the sun much like a cat. For a moment, Mo's complaint made Tells think she'd forgotten some sort of evening lesson and she bristled unhappily only settling as Mona took her next shot and she realized her sister was only complaining about that morning.
"I hope not," Stella agreed, thinking it over. She'd been excited about the idea of spending most of the next seven years away from her governess's constant nagging but the idea of trading one nagging source for another when it wasn't interesting didn't sit well. "But at least these lessons have magic." Still, she really wasn't sure magic would be enough to make classes fun unless they had a practical element. Transfiguration wasn't interesting enough to listen to someone drone on for an hour. She did look forward to getting to try things though.
And... "We'll make all sorts of new friends too." It would be like a whole year long sleepover with their new dormmates (she was refusing to think about Mona being sorted into another house than her when they'd shared the same room their whole lives) and while classes might still be boring, the things they could do with the magic they learned in it...
Mona took aim with another arrow and loosed it with better success, but still not up to her standards. "Magic will make it better," she agreed, thinking through it. Anything that involved her hands would be fine. Perhaps that was why she did better with music and art, her hands were always busy. Maybe it would be a good mix, some boring, some more fun. That was at least something she could survive until she could add electives in her third year. Once she could add Care of Magical Creatures, things would be fine.
"More like we're taking half of them with us." Mo laughed. They already knew most of the other children of their parents' social circle. She picked up another arrow and tried to fix her previous mistakes, taking a deep breath, bringing her thumb back to her cheek, but she wildly overcompensated and nearly missed the haybale. "I'll miss this though." They were lucky, Mo knew, that they were afforded the leisurely activities that they had and that their parents were adamant about spending time outside. It wasn't exactly proper for a young lady to be quite so tan, but Mona hated being cooped up indoors.
"And it will not just be a governess talking for hours. We will actually get to do something that isn't just our numbers." She sighed, long and drawn out as she thought about the comparison of solving yet another multiplication table or getting to learn to cast patronuses. (Romona and Stella were twins. They shared pretty much anything from items to opinions - would they share a patronus too? She felt like surely hers would be a wolfhound.) A pantronus clearly won. And maybe they'd get to go on some grand adventure at Hogwarts. Maybe they'd host another panmagical games and they could spend a year in... we'll she didn't know. Maybe Africa?
Yes but I'm also excited to meet... different people? Everyone we are friends with come from the same background as us. Mostly the same family too. At school maybe one of our dormmates might be from another country or class or... I don't know but still."
She frowned then, nose pinched. Momma had already told the girls they wouldn't be permitted to bring their bows and they wouldn't be allowed to roam the halls in their pants. She'd said they'd have to act a bit more like society expected of a lady and Tells - like Mo - was not looking forwards to it. She had already determined that she was going to slip at least a pair of pants in her trunk after the maid's finished packing it. "Do you think we might end up as pale as Regina?"
Having multiple teachers for different classes would help. Even if one or two weren't that great, chances were the majority would be enjoyable. "I will likely get a T in History of Magic like Papa, but the rest should be fine." Mo chuckled and picked up another arrow. Stella was right though, they would meet a lot of new people and that was a good thing. Mo thought their social circle could be a little... dull sometimes. New people from different places and different classes would be fun.
"I wonder where we'll all end up." Mo still had yet to voice aloud her thoughts on them being separated from either Stella or Gina, but it would be especially hard if two of them ended up in one house and the third in another. "Wherever it is, I'm trying out for quidditch," even though she knew it wasn't likely she would make it. "So I certainly won't be!" Either way she would either be on the house team or the club team. If none of that panned out she would simply do her studies outside!
She rolled, shifting to move out of the shade as the sun moved across the sky and closed her eyes. She would miss this most, she thought. The peaceful solitude of their forest and gardens. She knew Hogwarts had a ground but it wouldn't be the same with so many people. There would be so much more noise. And the sun would feel different. Tells yawned, wiggling into the cushions. "But that means he can't be mad at us if we do."
"Where we'll end up? Mmmm im sure we'll be together. I doubt we'll be in Ravenclaw. If we were, I think we might have to drop out after that Troll in shame. I think you'd do well to try out for quidditch. They'd be lucky to have you. And Mama and Papa would be so proud. " She still wasn't sure if she wanted to try out. But it might be more fun if she was playing with Mo. She certainly didn't want to play against her twin.
Mo loosed an arrow while Stella got comfortable on her cushions. The shot was much better and Mo put the end of her bow on her toe, turning toward Stella with a grin. Her twin's confidence they would wind up in the same house was heartening. Being separated would be some sort of miserable, even if she knew that was being dramatic. They would meet all sorts of new people and they would have a lot of their existing friends, but it wasn't quite the same.
"I doubt Papa will have much to say on our academics, as long as we don't fail absolutely everything." Mo thought the classes she wound up liking would hold her through the ones she didn't. Once they got to add electives that would be fun too. "I don't know how often first years make the team, but it can't hurt." Mo loved to fly, quidditch was in their blood after all and she had been flying for most of her life. "I wonder if I can get Papa to get me a new broom before we go." She pondered with a wicked glint in her eye.
"That one was nice," Tells offered, looking over at the sound of strings being drawn again. Lazily she ran her hand across Orla's head, grinning as the dog leaned her head against Tells's hand. She also miss the dogs.
"Of course not! I'm sure you'll make it... but even if you don't I'm sure that and club will certainly look good next year. But you'll make it." She didn't really haven't any doubt about that. How could they not want her sister? That would be crazy. But then she perked up, "Ohhh Papa would probably get us new brooms if we asked. Especially if you told him you were wanting to try out. And I could say I want to try out with you?"
Mo appreciated her sister's enthusiasm for her chances. One of them had to have a positive attitude. It made her feel better about the whole thing.
She had to laugh at Stella's thought process about the brooms. Their father was as good as useless when the two of them teamed up for something they wanted. A new broom might be as essential as a their wands for their first year of Hogwarts, how could he deny them that? "We just need to make sure Mama isn't around, I think she'd be harder to convince." Aoife Pendergast could even say no to their father's puppy dog eyes; who did that? "Maybe we could swing it after all. Perhaps we should try and swindle him into taking us shopping soon." She mused, setting her bow down to recover her arrows from the target.
With all of those things collected, she went to settle herself on the end of Stella's spot, running her hands down Orla's shaggy back as she got comfortable. "I think I might be more exited for school now." Which was good, it would help soothe the nerves.
She shifted again, lifting her legs to allow her sister to slip underneath wanting to make space but not willing to loose her comfy spot. "Oh... we could tell him we want him to take us wand shopping. If we go to Diagon Alll will have to pass Quality Quidditch and we can just say we want to look. We start school in a few months and we are already eleven. There is no reason not to go wand shopping now, is there? I doubt we need to wait till we get our letters."
"As long as you don't think Mama will be upset not going?" she would want to hurt Mama, not when she knew that the two of them leaving would already hurt her.
Mulling over the idea, Mo thought they might want to do wands separately. "I think perhaps we should do wands as a family and then convince Papa to go back to town for something else and then try the quidditch store?" It wouldn't be the same without Mama there and she would hate for her to miss something as big as getting wands.
"We might not even have to try and trick him, just ask him when he's in a good mood." Which was often, but Mo thought he might be easily persuaded, their whole family loved quidditch! "He has a hard time saying no anyway." Mo giggled as Orla lolled her head into her lap.
"Maybe we forget a book at the bookstore? Or realize we missed some potion ingredient?" Tells offered, looking up at her sister with a faint smile. Most of all, she would miss this - lazy afternoons in the gardens with Ramona with nothing but their family and the dogs. Now they just needed Mama and Papa. "That seems like a believable thing to look over I think? And if Mama isn't there and we mention quidditch tryouts he might even offer himself!" This declaration was followed by a tingy giggle.
"We can manage it, these are all good ideas." Their father was truly an involved, doting parent and for all his good qualities, he was also a bit of a pushover and they were not always above exploiting that, especially when it would work in their extreme favor. "Letting him think it's his idea is a good way to lead into it. Then he doesn't even know he said yes, because he thought of it." She chuckled. "And I love that about him." They had honestly lucked out in the parent department... especially in their extended family.
"This is a good plan, we can come up with details as we get closer." Hogwarts would be here before the knew it!
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