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.
Tessa had been sat outside the Hog's Head for a while in her animagus form awaiting a shady individual who was to deliver a small vial of potion she required. Not wanting to be recognized, her animagus form was perfect - those who registered their forms with the Ministry were foolish, in her opinion.
It wasn't long before a small brown bag was placed in the agreed location. The man looked about as though expecting to see someone approaching to collect it but found no one, shrugged, and departed. As soon as he had disapparated, Tessa picked the bag up in her mouth and trotted off down the High Street. It was dusk, a perfect time to skulk about as a fox; fewer people questioned a nocturnal creature's presence when night was falling.
After a minute or two, Tessa got the funny feeling that she was being followed. She slowed and came to a standstill and glanced over her shoulder. She was being followed! Tessa didn't know if this person had a weird thing for foxes or suspected she was no ordinary woodland creature, but she didn't want to find out and continued her progress down the street, slightly faster than before. The Painted Lady wasn't far and she didn't want to lead this person right to her doorstep, but how far did they intend to tail her? Would she have to lead them on a wild goose chase through Hogsmeade before she could feel safe in returning? Merlin damn it, she had a brothel to run she did not need this.
""
Luck had played a large factor in Zora garnering fellow "investigator" friends at Hogwarts and, certainly, such acquaintances were available in the later hours to potentially find a juicy crime. Typically, the group only really came across an elderly woman screaming at her cat or the children that ran by, so their adventures were often boring and pointless. On this occasion however, they decided it best to split up and search rather than potentially scare offenders off after they had seen the skulking individuals.
Zora had taken a more direct approach and ventured through high street. She supposed some criminals to be brash and rather confident in their quests of sin-infused pleasures and used this assumption to hopefully locate a person of interest. It wasn't long after she stumbled in front of the owl emporium that she noticed a fox trotting along with something in its mouth. Had she been simply walking around, she may not have thought much about it, but in comparison to her previous endeavors, this was surely one she would not slip through her fingers. Besides, maybe the beast was some mule for trade of illegal goods.
She weaved in between the sparse array of people and behind some stalls in an attempt to make her presence unknown. It was quite difficult after all, given her less than flexible attire, but her choice of muted colors hopefully helped to disguise her. She wasn't sure if foxes had some type of color blindness and really had no idea she would come across one anyways, so perhaps this unconscious decision would aid her. Her wishful thinking continued as she approached and even more so when the thing turned towards her, forcing Zora to pretend that she was reading some imaginary list on her palm. If she was to be a better detective, the witch thought, proper excuses and props had to be in tow to make her disguise all the more believable.
When she thought things couldn't get worse for her, the animal began to pick up pace. Zora had enough trouble keeping up with it and now had to practically jog. Why had it gotten nervous now? It most likely wasn't scared of people given its current whereabouts, so the amateur crime solver concluded it must be her - that, or it was simply offended by her current garb. Either way, the behavior was extremely suspicious, or offensive, and caused her to enter a chase.
Another quick glance over her shoulder informed her that she was indeed being pursued. Damn it. She couldn't just lead her pursuer to her home, if not because she was running a "secret" brothel, then because she was illegally an animagus. She wasn't entirely sure what the repercussions would be if she was caught, but she didn't care to find out. Muggle prison had been bad enough, if they threw her into Azkaban that would be miserable. Or they might do something peculiar as they had with Elsbeth. Tessa might run The Painted Lady, and technically be a painted lady, but she didn't need to be a literally painted lady.
She looked about as she wandered for some sort of escape route - a way to get onto a roof or a wall - but none presented themselves. She would just have to lead this person off the beaten track and hopefully lose them that way. Tessa took a sharp turn down Brewhouse Lane, a street she knew double backed on itself, and slowed her gait to a swift trot so she could keep a track of her follower easier. It was a short diversion that lead her back towards the Hog's Head.
Tessa continued on past the Hog's Head to Padmore Park, certain she could ditch her tail there. If nothing else there were at least bushes she could hide in. She easily slipped between the railings and into the dark park. She stopped once she was on the other side, placed her bag down and then sat to watch and see if her stalker was still there and willing to follow her further.
""
The quickened pace had caused Zora to lose her breath rapidly, leading her to lean upon a structure so she may continue the hunt. At that moment, she was uncertain as to where the beast scampered off to and figured returning to her allies was her safest bet. However, the woman rarely considered herself anything but a risk taker, thus continued her pursuit.
Zora managed to weave in and out of alleys, through lines of people and, at one point, straight into a cabbage cart before she was at the point of giving up. Her mind began racing with thoughts that disproved her theory of the fox having some ulterior motive and worked to bring herself back to the origins of the initial spotting in hopes there would be some evidence left behind. She was disheartened, if anything, to have failed in her task and began to doubt her skills as a detective, though given her previous experience with criminals, she supposed such an outcome was not at all unexpected.
Distracted by these thoughts, the witch's feet kept moving beyond the original street she had come down and, after noticing her surroundings weren't as neat and tidy as she had remembered, Zora looked up to see the severed head of a hog swinging on a sign with a few notes of rowdy chatter emanating from within the building it hung upon. A certain disgusted look upon her face was displayed during her passing of the establishment and continued after as she made her way further north towards the park. One of her companions had stated they would look in that area anyways, so if anything she may be able to assist them and ask if they had spotted the mammal anywhere nearby.
Prior to even spotting her fellow group member on the outskirts, Zora found it necessary to illuminate her wand to provide herself with an added sense of comfort. It had, after all, grown quite dark and, even if she wasn't searching for a mangy fox, such an action proved to be fairly beneficial. Previous hasty feet had turned into a slow trot as a stealthy Zora skulked around the park's perimeter. She clicked her tongue every so often to attract the animal and hoped it hadn't ran to the opposite side of town.
Tessa froze at the sound of distant clicking noises. Was that her pursuer or some random individual who didn't care what foxes got up to? She listened for a several seconds and then gathered her bundle from off the ground and trotted off to a direction she believed to be away from the clicking. The park was large enough that she thought she could quietly slip through the railings and leisurely stroll back to the brothel without being noticed.
Except the bushes bordering the park were thicker than she thought and rustled as she fought to climb through. In the process, the bag got caught on a sharp twig and found itself skewered there. She could just pull it off but it would most likely rip and then she'd have difficulty getting it back without turning back. Damn. She tried to be quiet about it, but there was only so much she could do about the noise as she tried to gingerly prize the package from the plant.
This was the most trouble she had ever had from a bush.
Meanwhile, she hoped desperately that the nosy individual who thought stalking her was a good lark wouldn't notice the small commotion. At least not until she had freed her goods.
""
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