Charming is a Victorian Era Harry Potter roleplay set primarily in the village of Hogsmeade, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and the non-canon village of Irvingly. Characters of all classes, both magical and muggle — and even non-human! — are welcome.
With a member driven story line, monthly games and events, and a friendly and drama-free community focused on quality over quantity, the only thing you can be sure of is fun!
"Are you always this forward?" He asked teasingly since it would be a very short thread if he just ignored her entirely. — Tobin Cartwright in Take A Peek
Did you know? Churchgoers and worshippers had to endure a foul stench during prayers due to the amount of bodies often stored within the vaults of churches and chapels.
Going for shopping, so please aim for ten posts in this thread!
There's no reason for these fears
It's a promise that was made
We've been promised this for years
Never Be as Young As We Are Right Now
So, buying a miniature hippogriff was, doubtless, a bit impulsive. Chastity had been quite confused when he'd shown her the unexpected gift, since, to both of their memories, she had never expressed any interest in owning any sort of pet, much less a proud half-eagle-half-lion pet. If nothing else, however, Thom fell into the category of the rich eccentric, and he could afford to keep a hippogriff, so why not?
His fleeting ideas of having the baby hippogriff grow alongside his own child and become a devoted, loyal pet and mount were quashed somewhat by his wife's reminder that babies were, in fact, fragile, and young hippogriffs not exactly known for their timidity, but he couldn't very well return it (besides, doing so would be admitting his own foolishness in having purchased it), so instead, Thom had set out hippogriff-proofing their backyard.
So far, things hadn't been going so terribly, except that there was the small problem of what to feed it. Hippogriffs, he had learned, were hunters by nature, but the Pettigrew estate did not possess quite enough mice, rats, or other small vermin to fully feed a growing hippogriff. At this point, Thom was having to purchase small animals for it, and that was simply too tiresome and too costly to keep up. Which was what brought him to the pet store.
Walking in with a brusque air, Thom located the nearest available person, who was not facing him. They didn't appear to be quite as wealthy as he was, so in his mind they became a shopkeeper, clearly, and though he had no evidence whatsoever that this was the case, he started right in as though they had introduced themselves and asked what they could help him find. "Do you know much about small animals?" he said, tapping the person's shoulder briefly to get their attention. "I need something that will breed quickly, something small and fast but not too much of a pest. Oh, and it would be helpful if it wasn't particularly cute," he added as a sidethought. His daughter was at this point not old enough to lift her head, but someday she would doubtless be roaming the grounds, and it would not due for little Odessa to like the prey more than the hippogriff he'd bought for her.
The idiot that worked at the shop clearly had no idea how to store things properly. She was at the shop for more than ten minutes now and she had no idea where that particular cat food was kept. She had asked the shop-keeper earlier and he told her that it was in the shelf she was currently facing. Well, apparently he was wrong because there was no cat food there. Or at least the food that Betsy wanted for her stupid cat.
Why she sent her for that task, Tomorrow didn't know. She was a kitchen maid, her job was in the kitchen. Still, Betsy didn't seem to care that much because she had asked her to go to that stupid animal shop in order to buy her cat food. Well, that was stupid. Couldn't the cat eat whatever normal cats ate? Was that pest spoiled as much as her owner? Betsy was hardly the worse from her cousins, but she was still a spoiled little princess in Tomorrow's opinion. She wouldn't last a day on the streets.
She stood on her toes and examined the highest shelf, hoping that the damn food was there. She didn't remember the name of the food but Betsy told her that it was in a dark green bag, so she searched for that particular colour. Her toes soon started hurting her, but she luckily managed to spot the damn bag. Well, now she would just have to take it from there. If she was at home she would have used her wand, but that would be dangerous in a public place. She could pass for seventeen, but she was still underage and there was the trace.
That wouldn't be too hard, she tried to convince herself. After all, she was managed to carry heavy pots around the kitchen, that bag surely couldn't be much heavier. She took a deep breath and then stood on her toes and grabbed the bag with her hands. Then, she started pulling it closer slowly, careful not to drop it when some idiot tapped on her shoulder and as a result the bag almost fell off the shelf.
"What on Merlin's balls do you want? Can't you see I am busy?" she snapped at the man who had interrupted her.
They say there's a heaven
for those who will wait.
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
than cry with the saints,
the sinners are much more fun.
Only The Good Die Young
Thom blinked at her irritation, wondering what he had done to incite such ire from her. He hadn't realized that she didn't actually work there, yet, so he was quite perplexed. She had said he was busy, but he honestly couldn't figure out what she could have been busy with. There was a bag of something on the top shelf that she had just pulled to the front edge. Perhaps she was just pushing all the merchandise up so that it was easier to find? That hardly seemed urgent, however.
If the help cared more about the merchandise looking nice than they did about helping customers, they had some staffing issues, Thom reflected. Perhaps he would write a letter to the owner--he probably knew the owner, even though he couldn't think of who ran this place, just off the top of his head. Luckily, if he could just get through this one encounter and get the right thing, he hopefully wouldn't need to be back to buy anything in the foreseeable future.
"I just told you what I want," he said with a slight frown. Maybe she hadn't heard him, or maybe she was touched. Either way, rudeness was inexcusable. Yes, a letter would be in order, he decided; for now, he decided to repeat his request, very slowly and deliberately, so that if she was deaf she'd have no chance of missing it, and if she were slow, she might in fact understand him. "Small animals. Something that breeds quickly, but won't cause problems. The ugliest thing you have will suit. Oh, and nothing that screams when it dies," he added. He didn't want to listen to anything that would make as much noise as a rabbit, for instance.
That man was clearly either too stubborn or too stupid, because even after she made clear to him that she was busy he continued bothering her. And now he even talked to her as if she was some deaf eighty-year old lady! Tommy was sure that he was one of May's friends, there was no doubt about it. Only someone related to the harlot would be so stupid.
His request didn't make sense either. Why did he ask her about animals? Did she really seem as someone that knew about animals? "Ehh... Lizards are ugly..." she murmured as she picked up the bag which was dangerously at the edge of the shelf. She pulled it sligthly before turning her attention to the man. "Buy a lizard." she added before pulling the bag once again. Then, she felt the whole bag's weight on her arms and seconds after it fell on the ground, spilling the food around. "Crap." she mumbled angrily and kicked the already opened bag. "Look what you did." she snapped at the man as she tried to pick up the spilled food.
A Hit Wizard's duty around the magical community was one of those peculiar jobs that never ceased even when one was technically off the likes of duty. That was something that most perhaps did not think about when a crime was committed in the presence of one of them. However, that was also something that one young man in particular accepted about the job, that young man being named Merlin Chamberlin. It was not the highest paying job that one could have and there were many risks to it, but he was good at it...very good at it. Twenty seven year old Merlin never really had many days off and such was not because he did not have the choice but rather because he choice not to take them having accumulated so many vacation days over his career that his manager literally, but nicely, made him take this day off. It was one of those many things that happened when another enjoyed his or her work a bit more than others. It was also uncommon to see so many vacation days build up and not be taken for almost any reason short of death, the latter case still not being a good enough reason to Merlin to take off unless it was someone of a closer nature to him or his family.
Merlin's attire was a bit consistent of the weather that was ever the more present on this day, that attire being a grey vest over a simple white dress shirt and matching dress pants to the vest itself. There was a black tie that was apparently around his neck tucked into the vest and after he adjusted it slightly he entered into the pet store with one intention in mind, which was to buy food for his mother's kneazle. She was breeder of these animals and sold them to people. Her own kneazle, however, was a bit middle aged and had done more than settle down in the house, but also finding it appropriate to never leave it with anyone other than his mother, the original owner. The door was already opened and perhaps such was to merely allow air to flow in and out of this rather older buildings. However, there was literally nothing that would that had prepared him for the remark that came from the young lady there, that remark being his name that he shared with the man that was referred to in such a condescending manner. This made Merlin halt in place, just for a brief moment, and blink rapidly a couple of times consecutively. He knew that named was often used in similar gestures, but that did not make it any less embarrassing to him as it always was.
On Merlin's right side was his wand, and it was not sheathed, but rather it clung to his hip and was connected to it with silver chain that wrapped around his waist much like his belt did. The chain was magically connected to the butt of his wand, this meaning it was charmed. Indeed, like that of his namesake Merlin was a man of ingenuity and a bit renowned for his originality when it came to his methods of using magic. The charm that fastened the white cedar wand to the chain, the same concept used for pocket watches, was one of many smaller and perhaps insignificant yet creative acts of magic. A few more light steps that gently echoed through the room, but was a bit overlooked due to the levels of noises around him. However, the sound of food that hit the ground produced a thud loud enough to shake Merlin back to the present moment. It was followed up by a simple polite question "Ma'am, are you in need of any kind assistance in regards to all that is one the floor?" he asked. It was only natural of him to walk over towards her and the man whom she blamed for her accident. "Allow me to help you with that." Merlin stated before he bent down and started aiding her with the food. "My name is Merlin by the way. What do I get to call the two of you?" he asked.
They say there's a heaven
for those who will wait.
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
than cry with the saints,
the sinners are much more fun.
Only The Good Die Young
Thom raised an eyebrow. "Lizards?" he asked quizzically, thinking it over. Well, she was right, they certainly were ugly. Did hippogriffs eat lizards? He hadn't ever considered it. He supposed he didn't know why not, but he had always seen them eating things that were more... furry? Like ferrets, weasles, rabbits, that sort of thing. He could try lizards, but if the little hippogriff didn't eat them, he'd have to find something else that would. Thom's hippogriff adventure seemed to be turning into a small menagerie.
Before he had time to ask where the lizards were--or if she really knew that hippogriffs would eat lizards--the girl basically just dumped an entire container of some sort of animal feed onto the ground, which was obnoxious on its own. Then she had the gall to blame him for it, when he had clearly not touched the bag in any way, shape, or form. Thom merely stared at her for a second, incredulous--which was long enough for some other man to come over and start to pick things up. The newcomer didn't look like a shop employee--perhaps a man of the middle class--though he was clearly far more polite than the little shop girl.
"This is ridiculous," he said irritably. "I'll speak with her manager," he declared to no one in particular--perhaps the man picking things up off the ground--then waved a hand at the rude girl. "I want to speak to your manager. Immediately!"
Tomorrow doubted that she would return home anytime soon. Another man soon approached them, and although he was not as ridiculous as the first man, he was acting as if nothing had happened. He even introduced himself, though the other man was far too irritated to introduce himself as well. Tommy wouldn't bother introducing herself either, especially since the man wanted to speak with her manager.
What?
"What are you talking about?" she asked, exasperated. Did he really want to speak with her uncle because she was rude to him? That would be useless, considering that Tommy was rude to his children and she was still not kicked out of the house. Tommy, though, was not stupid and she was sligthly suspecting that he didn't mean her uncle. She had been rude to strangers around Hogsmeade a lot of times and none of them wanted to speak with her employer.
She only had to look at the bag of food to realize what was going on. The idiot thought that she worked there.
Tomorrow, despite her frustration, found the whole situation rather ridiculous and entertaining, so she couldn't help her answer to the man. "Oh, I'll tell my uncle that you want to speak with him." Tomorrow said to the man confidently. It was a stupid idea to lie, but the shop manager was nowhere to be seen and by the time he returned to the shop or realized what was happening Tomorrow would have left. Nothing bad would happen if she lied anyway. Sure, the man wouldn't want to step in there again and he would probably tell his friends that the shop was terrible, but it was not her shop so she didn't care if they lost their customers. Hopefully it would close and then Betsy wouldn't send her to buy food again.
The fact that neither of them bothered to take the time of day to introduce themselves, let alone act with any kind of maturity only made him frown. Despite being a rather tolerant person he really find their level of dignity, formality, and poise utterly disgusting. Thus, it was only like him to take whatever he had in his hand and simply put it on top of the nearest counter. Apparently she worked for her uncle because her sorry no good butt could not get any kind of better job with the kind of sloppiness she exhibited, not to mention the overly horrible bad attitude. As for Thom he expected no more than what he exhibited as many families of a higher class lacked the social graces that was needed to be loved for who they were amongst society rather than being loved for their money. The family he was from was a middle class family, upper middle class to be precise, and was not far from being in the upper class bracket. However, being unkind as well as insensitive was not something his family was known for. Indeed, the family he was from was well loved around Hogsmeade because of the fact that they were generous with many businesses around the village and even highly supported the cause along with the curriculum at Hogwarts, That did not mean that they did not speak their minds when such was warranted.
"He asked for a manager, young lady, and because of that alone you should get the manager, and get him now because you have two unsatisfied customers on your hand." he stated putting aside all of the casualness and formal etiquette he had aside. He pulled his wand from his hip and with very precise wand movements he cast an apparent nonverbal spell that cleaned up any left over mess that remained on the floor. Whether she realized it or not he had been there for the entire conversation, well enough of it to know that she was the one in the wrong to begin with. It was horrible manners and considerably unhealthy for the likes of this poor quality shop that one would have the audacity to refer to as important, prosperous, or essential to this community. Perhaps Merlin would have had a bit more sympathy for her plight if she were not such a poorly performing attendant, and unqualified individual for this job. He had tried to be nice, but that was no longer much of a real option on the table.
"If he is not around at the moment as such is perhaps a possibility. I will keep coming back until I speak with him on your poor performance in maintaining this small establishment as well as lack of courtesy for a customer seeking helpful information." he added to the thoughts he expressed.
They say there's a heaven
for those who will wait.
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
than cry with the saints,
the sinners are much more fun.
Only The Good Die Young
Thomas hadn't expected to have been backed up by the man who had joined the conversation, but it wasn't an unwelcome development. It made him feel more justified to have someone else on his side--not that he really needed it. The girl here was clearly in the wrong. He didn't even bat an eyelash when she mentioned her uncle; that certainly explaiend why she was working here, but he didn't think it would save her from chastisement, no matter how smug she was. Even if her uncle didn't punish her for her rudeness, the word would get around, and his business would suffer for it. If you wanted to get a man to really think about something, you hit him in the pocketbook; it was something Thom had learned long ago, and this girl was doubtless costing more business than she was bringing in.
"Indeed!" he said, in agreement with the other man's statements. "Go and fetch your uncle immediately. I shall wait," he said, though he hadn't really thought that statement through much. He did have plenty of other things he had to do today, and he couldn't sit about waiting to get help with the, er, lizards, for very long. But rudeness was not something he could just let slide.
"Thank you, sir," he said briefly to the other man, who had cleaned up the feed on the ground. "I can't imagine what--well, you know, you were here."
Things were getting more dangerous than she expected. The man who had originally tried to help her was now on the other man's side and that both disgusted and intimidated Tomorrow. At first she thought that it would be fun to pretend that she was the manager's niece but now she was starting to realize that it was dangerous. She didn't want to get in serious trouble with those men who were both clearly angry. Luckily, they didn't know her name because if they did them she would be punished by her real uncle. She didn't like the idea of being locked up in the kitchen for two months because she decided to have some fun with two idiots that mistook every single poor person as a shop worker.
She raised an eyebrow at Merlin, though it was not that easy for her to remain confident anymore. "Oh, I suppose that you should set up a tent in front of the shop because my uncle is clearly not here." she answered and her lips formed a mocking smile. All the fear she felt only a few seconds ago seemed to have disappeared. "You can wait for him for however long you want. I could even give you some food, if you got hungry. I bet such animals like you would enjoy it anyway."
The idea of a middle classman and an upper classman coming together under a united front was, in many cases, farfetched. However, that was precisely what happened within the small pet shop within Hogsmeade. Merlin had expected this kind of attitude and disposition from Thomas, being who he was, but the idea of it coming from Tomorrow was inexcusable as there was a business to run here in a dignified manner. The very idea of her not complying to such business standards said a heck of a lot about her own personality. When Thomas spoke to him with a brief thanks Merlin only nodded although never really officially looking at him. This awkward young woman was not scoring any sort of brownie points here and her smart-alecky tone only brought about more swift words from Merlin. However before he decided to speak up he walked over to Thomas and looked at him for a moment. It took a moment, but he would eventually recognize him from time that had long since flown away from the both of them, that time being their years at Hogwarts. They were both students there, Tom being a Slytherin, and Merlin being that of a Ravenclaw.
"Hogsmeade is my tent, and I am here more often you can probably recall. As a matter of fact I can typically see you before you know I am even around." he told her straight forwardly.
"You want to know why?" sternly inquired.
"Because its my job that unlike some people I am damn good at it my job." he told her.
It was with each passing word, and moment, that Merlin's tone as well as demeanor grew even the more solid in presence. He was a mild tempered man for the most part, but like most people he had quite a few pet peeves that really burned the likes of nerves to nothing more than a black charcoaled crisp of what it usually was, horrid customer services being one of them. He walked over to the other end of the counter in a way that followed her. If she thought she was going to get away with this attitude, and this kind of service amongst this humble town where people like him and Thomas worked their bloody bums to death only to get some half assed service from a store that was not really all that much of an essential addition to the Hogsmeade scene then she was drop dead wrong. A side glance at Thomas and then back to her only indicated his utterly ill disposition with her service. If she had shown a bit more courtesy to either one of them upon their entrance she would not be in this predicament.
"So, tell me the name of your uncle now." he said in a much deeper annoyed voice.
"I know you. Thomas of Slytherin." he suddenly stated in a change up subject.
He turned around and looked over towards Thomas which indicated that he had just spoken to him. He walked back over to him, still expecting an answer from Tomorrow, and addressed the former Slytherin. He remembered who he was and finally decided to speak up about it while waiting for the little woman and attendant to spill the name of her uncle. He was not sure if Thomas would even remember him being a former Slytherin and all, that referring to the fact that Slytherin spent majority of their leisure time trying to kick others around as well as while they were down. However, Merlin was quite different during those times given that he his house was centered around many traits that varied and differed completely as well as utterly from the Slytherin house. Merlin was even sure that the two of them even had classes together for much of their time there. Merlin stopped in front of Thomas and stood there for a moment making sure he had the right person.
"Yep, I am definitely right. It has been a long time since I have seen you around." he stated before he asked one last question, that being a perhaps simple "Where have you been all these years?"
They say there's a heaven
for those who will wait.
Some say it's better, but I say it ain't.
I'd rather laugh with the sinners
than cry with the saints,
the sinners are much more fun.
Only The Good Die Young
Thom wasn't exactly thrilled by her response, but he didn't have a chance to respond to it before the other man started on what must have been the longest and most awkward sermon Thom had heard in quite some time. It quite diffused Thom's own anger, as he was focusing instead of wondering who asked questions like that, or who said Hogsmeade is my tent or I am damn good at my job. Thom also considered himself fairly good at his job, but he honestly didn't see how that was at all relevant here.
He was even more taken aback when he was addressed by his first name, which was, in his book, never okay. Thom only called people in his family by their first names, and then really only because referring to them as Pettigrew would get confusing. There were people he'd worked with for years who were still Mr. this and Mrs. that. There were servants he'd had since infancy who still possessed only last names. There were people whom he had bought perfume for whom he would never call by first name.
"Mr. Pettigrew, indeed," he said rather coolly, not making much of an effort to place the man. Probably someone from school, but certainly no one Thom would have considered a friend. "And I'm afraid I don't have time for any of these antics--good day," he said, having at this point given up on the hippogriff food and in no mood whatsoever to converse with someone who treated him with such a lack of respect.
Tomorrow raised her eyebrows at the Merlin man. He was acting like a drama queen and the way he spoke was just annoying. Luckily, he seemed to have attracted the other man's attention, which was a good thing. Tomorrow probably had to find a way and leave the shop before she got into too much trouble. She liked trouble and making fun of those people was entertaining, but she didn't want to end up getting punished for that. It was not her who created this confussion in the first place!
"Well, fine. My uncle is at a shop nearby. I'll fetch him immediately." she said to the men though neither of them really noticed her. She walked towards the exit of the shop and walked out to the street. Then, when she made sure that the men were still busy talking, she started walking hastily before she had distanced herself enough to start running.
It was said by a wand maker by the name of Gervaise Ollivander that one will never fool the cedar carrier. Indeed, this was because the cedar wand often found its perfect match with those who held quite a level of astuteness, shrewdness, or the uncanny ability to discern as well as understand. Tomorrow was not telling the entire truth and, to Merlin, only a fool would have believed otherwise a word that came out of the girl's mouth. It was when she spoke of getting her uncle that her merely glanced at her with a half assed and rather lazy look before he turned back to the man who was being what all pureblood high class Slytherin were, that being complete and utter jackasses. It was something that actually made Merlin smile and laugh; fore, unlike the fake pretentious high rolling people he was not caught up in the likes of something as trivial as a name, or title, let alone anything that would exalt one above any level that was necessary. In his family it was better to be loved and well respected for who you were not for what you were.
"Ah yes, forgive me, Mr. Pettigrew" Merlin stated wittingly.
"I do hate to inform you, but the little lady you wanted to hit on has, well, done a bunk." he added.
This was something that made the Ravenclaw laugh at the Slytherin.
In all honesty Merlin had no clue what he considered to be an antic. He knew the girl was going to run away, and he had no plans on pursuing her today, tomorrow, nor ever. He was simply here to get food for his mother's kneazles given that she had five of them with more in mind. Thus that it was he got and he even paid for it leaving a magically attached note to it having tabulated tax and everything. He then made his way to the front door of the store as staying her was pointless. The girl had gone awol and this left him with a rather absent minded Slytherin who prized himself above most because of his social status and bracket. The Chamberlin were humble upper middle class people with money invested in a wide array of things, something that would technically push them well into the upper class brackets. However, they were happy with the life they lived and tended to try to make all the lives of others around them just as pleasant.
"Good day to you too." he said before he walked out the door.
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