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 1894. It’s time to join us and immerse yourself in scandal and drama interlaced with magic both light and dark.
It was still taking Acacia a good minute to process that her brother was now, apparently, alive. Had been this whole time. Not like they could really announce to the whole world that he had been 'dead' for the past few years. People would think of the Ruskin family as even more odd. They didn't need that. They had to keep this quiet. She just hoped that the rest of her family kept to that idea. If they even agreed with her at all. This was just so shocking to all of them. And their poor father, who couldn't even see him. Not likely that the headmaster would allow for father to demand Dunstan be sent home just to 'see that he is alive'. How would that sound?
So the Ravenclaw tried to fill her day with her studies to cope. And spend time with friends and acquaintances. Spotting Miss Urquart lead Acacia to a warm smile and nod as she decided to approach the Gryffindor. "Hello Miss Urquart, how are you today?" The former-Minister's daughter had been through her own drama and stress, as Acacia well knew. While Acacia did not plan to rant about the sudden occurrence with her own family, a friendly face was always a comfort none-the-less. It was always nice to forge and maintain friendships for the Ravenclaw.
Hadn't Topaz become a werewolf, Ruby wouldn't have enjoyed having a half-vampire friend. Vampires made her feel uncomfortable because they looked just like corpses. As for their children, they looked sick, as if they were about to faint. Their touch was also always so cold. It brought shivers down Ruby's spine, but she tried to fight off those feelings since Miss Ruskin had been one of the few people to be kind to Ruby. There were many people who felt uncomfortable about Ruby's darker skin, much like Ruby was uncomfortable about Miss Ruskin's sickly, verging on corpse-like paleness. She had overheard some girls, once, who were saying that people with darker skin had more odorous bodies. Ruby had become very self-conscious about that, since.
"Miss Ruskin!" Ruby greeted her friend with a smile. "I'm good. I was actually heading outside, to do some Tarot readings for the coming week. Do you want to join me?" Delight had asked Ruby for one because she was worried about a task at her job. Doing a reading for Miss Ruskin would be fun since Ruby wasn't used to doing it for her. It'd be something different to challenge Ruby's tarot reading skills.
Many people found Acacia's presence unsettling. Not something she liked to think about. She tried to be a kind and compassionate sort of person. To make people feel comfortable around her. She didn't feel that she looked that pale, but that was probably because she was so used to herself. Orinda had wanted to use makeup to look less pale. The very thought was unsettling to the older sister. Thankfully father had put an end to that nonsense. They might as well go about their days and try to be kind to others and help those who they could help. Make the Ruskin name something better. But that was how Acacia saw it. Not everyone was going to see it that way.
Topaz had been through enough stress, and Acacia has simply thought having more friends might help. She didn't think ill of the fellow witch. Most werewolves didn't choose to live under such circumstances. Just like her. "I would be happy to." She responded. That could be fun. She wondered how true tarot predictions really turned out to be.
"Alright!" Ruby said and the two witches headed outside.
Ruby laid a blanket on a patch of grass and the two witches sat on it. Then, she explained to Miss Ruskin how the tarot worked and what type of reading she was going to do. There were many different ways to read the Tarot cards, but that day Ruby had picked one which involved picking six cards.
"This is the type of reading to see in what mood you are in currently. To understand yourself better, understand why you feel the way you feel." Ruby liked to do this type of reading when she worked with someone for the first time, because it helped them gain trust in her and thus, open up spiritually and vibrationally to her. If the other person didn't truly believe that she could be of use to them, Ruby felt blockage and her vision was clouded. She didn't have the sort of natural talent in divination to be able to break through those blockages.
"Alright, pick six cards please!"
ooc: I'm going to use this site to get six cards because I'm not really such a tarot expect, haha! If you do know about it, though and you want Ruby to find certain cards, do let me know!
The concept sounded simple enough. Watching the Gryffindor set up her cards did catch Acacia's interest to a certain degree. She remembered having divination during her OWLs years. It was more interesting seeing it done by a fellow class mate.
Six cards that read her emotions. Acacia wasn't sure how she felt about that. But it was all in the name of fun and learning, right? It was time to take a chance, however small it was. "How about these six?" She mumbled as she gently took six cards.
OOC: I don't mind if you pick the cards, as long as they vaguely match Acacia's inner monologue.
Magic by Elaine!
March 30, 2020 – 12:25 PM
Last modified: March 30, 2020 – 12:39 PM by Ruby Urquart.
Acacia had picked the cards a bit too hastily for Ruby's liking. She preferred it when others took their time, so she could get in sync with them, vibrationally.
She turned over the first card. "How you feel right now... The Chariot." The card depicted a man on a chariot that was dragged by two horses, one black and one white. "You feel conflicted at the moment. You see those two horses? It represents being pulled in two directions. Perhaps you need to make a decision and you're not sure which one is the right one. Or maybe you received some news that you're not sure how to feel about."
She continued on to the second card, which depicted a man dressed in a dark cloak, holding a lamp. "The Hermit. Yes, it makes sense. Because of those conflicted feelings, you feel the need to rest, so you can gather up your mind and maybe make a decision. You want answers and this card suggests that through introspection you'll be guided through whatever is troubling you."
"Moving on to your fears," Ruby said and turned the next card, which depicted a man who was about to step off a cliff, seemingly oblivious to that fact. "You're afraid of making the wrong decision. Of being too impulsive, perhaps. Or it could mean that you feel powerless over a situation. Just like the fool, who is about to step off a cliff and seems to have no control over his feet."
Acacia had a troubling set of cards so far. Something had to really be tormenting her if Ruby's reading was to be trusted. The Gryffindor was glad that the fourth card had a happier message.
"What is going for you -- The Empress." An impressive card, which Ruby had paid a lot of attention into painting beautifully. It was a woman who resembled her mama and who wore an impressive, regal dress. "In spite of your troubles, you will have abundance soon in your life. So don't worry about that decision that is troubling you. Good things will come out of that situation."
The fifth card, once again, had a more ominous message. "Hmm, The Magician. Someone, most likely a male, is potentially going to trick you. You should be careful of him and handle him with care, otherwise, he might get in the way of that abundance I was telling you."
"And finally, what will be the likely outcome of this situation." The final card depicted an angel which held two golden objects. It was exchanging waters from one goblet to the other. Ruby had charmed this card, so the illustration would be moving and not static. "Temperance. You will have peace, once you deal with whatever is troubling you. And abundance, as I was telling you. As long as you beware of someone trying to trick you."
She waited for Acacia to tell her whether she had hit the nail on the head, or if she had completely missed the mark.
So, I got these cards completely at random and it is eerie how accurate they were for Acacia's situation. xD
Divination was something that Acacia saw as most likely inaccurate on most things. Not that she didn't believe that everything was wrong. Even seers got things wrong, but they could have terrifyingly accurate prophecies. So when Miss Urquart proclaimed what the cards meant, it didn't feel completely surprising. However, it was still scary, to a point.
The half-vampire's already pale skin seemed to turn a few shades paler as Miss Urquart went on. Goodness, so much for taking her mind off of things. And a trickster? Could that be Dunstan? No, it couldn't be. A family member? A peer? This was quite overwhelming.
Magic by Elaine!
April 20, 2020 – 8:38 PM
Last modified: April 20, 2020 – 8:40 PM by Ruby Urquart.
Ruby could see that Acacia hadn't taken well to her predictions. Had she been too accurate, perhaps and some of those things had already happened? Someone who didn't believe in Divination wouldn't really be shaken by someone's predictions, after all.
"Are you alright, Miss Ruskin?" Ruby asked her friend with concern in her voice. "I hope that my reading hasn't upset you. Tarot cards have a way of making things sound very dramatic. I assure you, whatever happens probably won't be as grand as the cards are making it out to be!"
And that was why many people didn't believe in Divination. They expected all predictions to be grand prophecies about the arrival of world dictators and famines when in reality, they predicted something as mundane as a tearing in someone's favourite socks.
Oh, now Acacia had done it. Making her friend startled. But what could she say. "I'm fine. It's just... some of that stuff... a lot of it really.... It just sounds very familiar." That seemed like an understatement. How did she explain this? She didn't want to sound crazy. Even with magic, there were just some things that seemed too unreal.
Ruby was impressed, with herself. So she really had gotten a lot of things correctly?
"Oh," she made. "If I predicted some things, though, then, in the end, everything will work out, like the Temperance card suggests." Of course, sometimes things worked out in ways in which we didn't like. Or we couldn't see that the outcome had been a good one, until much later in our lives, when we got a different perspective on the situation.
The Ravenclaw took a moment to think all of this over. Things were complicated enough without having someone come in and make even more of a mess. "Could you try to predict who the Magician might be?" She asked. It couldn't hurt to try, could it?
Magic by Elaine!
April 26, 2020 – 9:01 AM
Last modified: April 26, 2020 – 9:02 AM by Ruby Urquart.
"I-uh-I could try to see him, or her, in a crystal ball. If it is a person at all. Sometimes, it could be a situation, or an animal, or a magical creature, or Peeves, there's no saying with certainty who or what it might be," Ruby explained. "The tarot cards are very open to interpretation." That's why many people didn't consider them a very reliable method of predicting the future. Their predictions were so vague, that they could mean anything. They needed you to have a very open mind, just like any divinational practice in general.
While that made sense, it certainly didn't help. This wasn't Ruby's fault, and Acacia didn't blame her one bit. "You're right. I'm sure everything will be fine." She responded. No need to put pressure on someone over something like this. It could easily turn out to be something that Acacia would overthink.
Ruby felt disappointed with herself. Divination was the one thing she was good at and she couldn't even properly answer Acacia's questions. She shouldn't have offered to do her a reading at all, all that had accomplished was to upset her friend!
"Yes, it'll be nothing, I'm sure!" Ruby said and placed a comforting hand on her friend's arm. "Besides, I'm no Seer!"
Ruby smiled. She knew that Acacia was only telling her that so not to sadden her and that she had disappointed her. Hopefully, none of what she had predicted would come true. She didn't want her friend to have misfortunes.
