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Author Topic: Daphne Alanis-Byrne  (Read 1099 times)

Daphne Alanis-Byrne

    (30/04/2017 at 00:22)
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Application for Hogwarts School




→ CHARACTER INFORMATION.

Name: Daphne Alanis Byrne

Birthday: September 14th, 1935

Hometown: Athens, Greece

Bloodline: Halfblood

Magical Strength (pick one): Conjuring & Summoning

Magical Weakness (pick one): Charms

Year (pick two): preferably fourth year (alt: third year)

Biography:
Daphne has a multi-cultural background. Her mother, Ariadne Alanis, was born and raised in Greece and hadn't even questioned living anywhere else until she met Daphne's father, Dean Byrne. Hailing from Ireland, Dean had been raised in Ireland by Pureblood parents who were considered "blood traitors" for their kindness and toleration of Muggleborns and other blood-types. After the time-warp, when the Ministry started demanding W.I.S.A.s and started persecuting Muggleborn sympathizers, Dean, a former employee of the Ministry who had been fired for calling out a fellow employee for his discriminatory slurs towards Muggleborns, fled the United Kingdom. He moved to Greece, finding that the country had a much different view towards Muggleborns. Having left his entire family behind in the United Kingdom and with no chance of ever returning there and without any job prospects at the moment or means of survival, he did what any born-and-raised Irishman would've done: he immediately retreated to a bar to drink his problems away as he tried to figure out his next steps.

At the bar, in typical cliché fashion, he encountered Ariadne, whose family owned that very bar. As a Muggleborn, the Time Warp had left her frazzled; to her knowledge, her parents had been in a terrible accident, leaving her orphaned. But she had always been an independent woman, having moved away from her family the moment she graduated from school, thus she wasn't so affected by the Time Warp as others might've been. At the moment when she met Dean, though, she'd been a little upset, as was natural. Independent as she may be, her parents were her parents--and she wasn't close to any of her other family. Like Dean, Ariadne felt lonely. The two gravitated towards one another naturally. Ariadne wasn't inclined to flirting with a drunk Irishman, so she sent him off to a nearby motel where he could stay for a few days as he got his bearings.

Dean managed to convince some friends who owed him a favor—in his Hogwarts day he'd been incredibly charismatic and thus had won friends practically everywhere he went—and returned to the bar the following day, looking significantly worse for wear. Ariadne brew him a concoction for his hangover and their conversation reignited. Ariadne, drawn in by Dean's kind, non-judgemental nature and sly wit, found herself sharing her grievances about her family; having been distant with them, she regretted their relationship now that they were, supposedly, gone. Dean, drawn in by Ariadne's beauty, fiery personality, and her effortless grace, found himself sharing his fears and hopes for the future with her, and told her about the situation in the United Kingdom.

After a year, Dean and Ariadne were married (if it were up to him, they'd have been married two weeks after having met, but Ariadne was stubbornly resistant to marrying a man she'd just met, as would be expected of any rational woman). When Ariadne became pregnant, Dean and Ariadne made the joint decision to move to the United States, not wanting their family to be broken up in case someone from the United Kingdom tried to find Dean and force him to return.

Although adjusting in the United States was initially difficult for the newly married couple—Dean was busy at work at the MACUSA while Ariadne was typically left alone at home by herself without any means for entertaining herself—the cracks in their marriage were repaired when Ariadne gave birth to Daphne. Both Dean and Ariadne loved Daphne with all their hearts and knowing that they had, together, created such a beautiful and perfect baby girl led them to remember why they loved one another in the first place.

Thus, Daphne's childhood was filled with happiness and adoration from her family. Because she was raised in a Muggle neighborhood, she didn't exactly realize that her magical abilities were special. At home, her parents used magic all the time so she grew accustomed to magic and wasn't alarmed if she accidentally caused her favorite stuffed turtle to fly in the air every time she was a little angry. But at Muggle elementary school, her quirkiness often led her to be picked on a little. Of course, Daphne wouldn't have any of that; she had inherited her mother's fiery temper and got in a little trouble for "accidentally" pantsing a kid without even touching him.

Daphne and her father shared a special bond; he and her would sing songs together from The Wizard of Oz, her favorite Muggle movie. He ingrained in her an appreciation for Muggle culture and the Muggle lifestyle which she didn't actually realize until she reached Hogwarts; growing up in a Muggle neighborhood and her father's positive influence led her to have an equally as accepting perspective as her father did. Perhaps it was even a little bit too accepting; Daphne hadn't had an inkling of the tensions over blood status in the United Kingdom, and happily hidden away in a state of blissful ignorance in a Muggle neighborhood in New York City, there was no way that she'd possibly discover that.

At least, that would've been the case had she not met Oskar. When Daphne was nine, she met Oskar among the streets of New York—specifically, digging through a trash-can for food. Oskar was a German boy who had fled from Germany when World War II began; since then, both of his parents had been too busy working to tend to him, so he'd been free to explore the city himself. Oskar was one year older than Daphne and had good fun teasing her about her littleness. At first, their friendship consisted of nothing more than playing tag or trying to sneak into the cinemas to watch movies—Daphne was elated to find someone who loved films as much as she did. But Oskar soon revealed his magical abilities by levitating Daphne's stuffed turtle, Mr. Speedy—yes, she had a little bit of a ironic sense of humor—when they were playing tag.

When Daphne discovered that Oskar had magic too, she was ecstatic; the two spent their days talking about magic and all the cool things they could do. Both of Oskar's parents were Muggleborn sympathizers like Dean who had fled to the United States rather than be persecuted in the United Kingdom; they had an honest relationship with Oskar and thus told him quite a bit about the United Kingdom, wanting to be honest with him. Oskar revealed to Daphne the situation in the United Kingdom, shocking Daphne and igniting her natural curiosity.

Now, she sought to find out more about the situation in the United Kingdom and started asking her parents more and more questions. Neither Ariadne nor Dean would share any information with her, though, giving her a sugar-coated version about her and thrusting a doll in her hands, wanting their little daughter to be their precious princess once more, her only concerns being whether the Wicked Witch of the West actually existed or not. For a time, Daphne's curiosity was quelled; after all, what reason did she have to mistrust her parents? They had raised her and loved her--in comparison, Oskar was just an annoying boy who followed her around everywhere and liked teasing her about her height. Daphne just assumed stubbornly that Oskar had been lying and refused to talk to him any longer.

Until one day, one year later, she received a letter from Oskar, who had since then started as a student at Hogwarts. He shared an extensive account of his life at Hogwarts, enchanting Daphne with stories of the magnificent castle, all the things he was learning, the fact that he could practice magic every single day and was actually required to do so. Daphne was perplexed as to why her parents had never told her about Hogwarts and demanded that they tell her about it. Every day that she got closer to her eleventh birthday, Daphne kept questioning her parents about Hogwarts and they continued to deflect her questions, instead telling her that she should be thinking about Ilvermorny instead.

When Daphne turned eleven, though, she received her letter to Hogwarts. The girl was absolutely hell-bent on attending Hogwarts. Her parents tried to convince her otherwise but nothing could faze her; after having heard so much about it from Oskar, she knew that she just had to go there. Her fiery temper wasn't all she had gained from her mother; she had also inherited her mother's stubbornness and and her father's persistence, which combined to result in her threatening to never talk to her parents again if they didn't let her go to Hogwarts.

Thus, her parents reluctantly apparated her to King's Cross on September 1st and watched their little girl wave them good-bye. Since then, her relationship with her parents has been increasingly tense as they've continued to live in fear that with her mixed-blood and her relation to a Muggleborn and a known Muggleborn sympathizer, Daphne would be in danger at Hogwarts. Daphne continued to feel resentful of her parents' secrecy during her childhood, not understanding why they'd hidden it in the first place. This was why she never returned home during vacations, instead staying at Hogwarts, and why their letters are sparse, curt, short, and tense. Daphne wants to repair her relationship with her parents eventually but in typical teenager fashion and especially typically Daphne fashion, she won't do anything unless her parents act first.

Daphne, however, has loved every minute of her experience at Hogwarts. As distant as she became from her parents, Daphne fell increasingly in love with Hogwarts and attached to Hogwarts; it only took her a few weeks before she started calling the castle "home" and not New York City. The moment the sorting hat touched her head, she was sorted into Ravenclaw, not because she was a nerd who loved to read and learn but because she was a searcher of the truth, committed to justice and discovery. This is why she's become intent on becoming an investigator or detective for the Ministry, though she's aware of the prejudice she'll face as a woman trying to enter this field.

During her time at Hogwarts, Daphne hasn't had all that many friends. She loves Hogwarts for Hogwarts but not for the people there; actually, she can get on her fellow students' nerves for her rudeness and bluntness, for her sarcasm, for her ferocity. Daphne gets along quite well with the Gryffindors; at times, she's wondered if Ravenclaw was necessarily the right house for her, considering that her personality seemed better-fit for Gryffindor. Daphne has pursued classes and clubs that weren't necessarily very feminine, earning herself a reputation as a bit of a tomboy; for instance, she has been trying for the past two years to become a member of the Dueling Club only to be turned away to the Frog Choir every time.

Daphne also found a little difficult initially to shed her Muggle culture appreciation; she continually made references to The Wizard of Oz for her first two years at Hogwarts but eventually became sick of the blank looks she received whenever she used the phrase "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore". Her blatant appreciation of Muggle culture and the proud red Halfblood badge pinned to her chest made Daphne a social outcast for her initial years at Hogwarts, until Daphne started hiding some of that appreciation. Though she might not call some of her least favorite professors the Wicked Witch of the West anymore, that doesn't mean that Daphne has lost any of her appreciation of Muggle culture. It would be difficult to do so, considering that was the entirety of her childhood; rather, she shows her appreciation of Muggle culture through a carefully placed poster in her dorm or some other little memento.

→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Note: This section is optional, and is up to you to complete.

House Request:
Though Daphne might not be sure if Ravenclaw is the perfect house for her, in her heart, it is. While her personality is atypical of a Ravenclaw's, in the end and at the core, Daphne is a true Ravenclaw. She's not as studious or nerdy as her classmates and she's not even as smart as them. but Daphne has a natural wit and sharpness that makes her instinctually smart. She's also incredibly creative; since coming to Hogwarts, she hasn't lost any of her natural singing ability and although it might frustrate her to be turned away from the Dueling Club, she actually does enjoy the Frog Choir. However, the most important feature of her that makes her the perfect fit for Ravenclaw is her curiosity. She isn't curious about the future, she's curious about the truth--and even that cannot really be called curiosity but rather a deeply-ingrained desire to know the truth, about the world, about people. Her relentless pursuit of the truth and the knowledge that comes from that makes her a perfect Ravenclaw.

→ SAMPLE ROLEPLAY.
Please reply to one of the Sample Roleplays below.
Daphne had quickly learned about all the rumors and stories about Hogwarts when she'd first entered. Though at first she'd been skeptical to believe anything the older students had said—firstly, they were older students and notorious for picking on younger students and secondly, some of these things seemed absurd; ghosts, really?—these doubts had been quickly dispelled when she'd almost walked right through Nearly Headless Nick on her third day at Hogwarts. Of course, she'd apologized profusely, her eyes nearly bugging out at the sight. It was clear to her, then, that Hogwarts was full of secrets and Oskar had barely told her the start of it.

After her encounter with Nearly Headless Nick, Daphne had picked up a book called "Ghost Stories from Hogwarts", keen on learning more about the secrets that her new home had hid. Carefully evading all the late notices she received from a very angry librarian—Daphne was quick to always get a book from a library when the head librarian was not looking—she'd been practically hoarding the book for the past three years. Every night when she had the time, which grew increasingly difficult with her increasingly demanding schedule, Daph would read a chapter from the book, which was more appropriately described as a tome, and then go in search of verification. She'd discovered more stories to be true than false; for example, she definitely hadn't expected the Giant Squid to be real until she'd spotted a glimpse of a tentacle twisting in Black Lake.

Tonight's mystery was the story of Emma Birch, a supposed sixteen-year-old girl whose spirit was now haunting the Slytherin Common Room. Daph wrinkled her nose in disgust; she couldn't understand why for the life of her any one would choose to haunt the Slytherin Common Room of all places. It smelled absolutely horrid, like sulfur and rotten eggs mixed with hippogriff feces. (Perhaps that was a bit of an exaggeration, but clearly, Daph had an affinity for drama). If she were a ghost, she would've personally chosen to haunt the kitchen—surrounded by the delicious smell of Hogwart's impeccable food all day and with the adorable House Elves to chat with. It seemed perfect!

But no matter. Emma Birch had chosen to haunt the Slytherin Common Room, so to the Slytherin Common Room Daph went.

She donned a dark cloak so not to be seen by the Slytherins, which would be a little difficult as her red hair didn't exactly help her blend in very much. Almost tip-toeing down the corridor, she felt a little juvenile, but felt a little thrill regardless. Searching for the truth behind these mysteries, it always thrilled Daph. Finding out if a story was true gave her an even greater thrill. She'd just stopped in front of the Slytherin Common Room door and snuck her wand out from the pocket of her robe, softly casting, "Lumos." She positioned her illuminated wand over the page about Emma Birch in "Ghost Stories from Hogwarts", trying to find out where the ghost might be hidden, when she heard a meek voice call out, "Hello! Is Emma Birch here?"

Startled, Daph dropped the heavy tome and it landed on her foot with a heavy thud. She almost cried out in pain before clamping her mouth shut at the last moment, tears of pain pricking her eyes. These books were certainly not light and she was certain that this one had done great damage to her foot, but she couldn't be heard. Whoever was down here must've heard that heavy thud; in the deafening silence of the night it would be impossible to not hear it. Daph had to think quickly, otherwise she'd be found out.

A little nervously at first, she said in what she hoped was a spooky tone, lowering her voice slightly, "Who asks for me?" Rats, she cursed internally. What have you gotten yourself into now, Daph?
 
→ ABOUT YOU.

Please list any characters you have on the site (current and previous): Daphne is my first!

How did you find us?: Top RP Sites.

* Anneka Ivanova

    (30/04/2017 at 14:18)
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Hello Daphne!

You're off to a great start with your application. There are some changes that need to be made before we can get you accepted, though.

I love how you've worked so much of our plots into Daphne's backstory. There is an issue with how the dates match up, though. You currently have Daphne being born in 1935 and after the Time Warp happened. That event didn't happen until midnight on Dec 31 1974/1936. She would need to have been born after 1936 for it all to work out.

I'm a little confused on where her friend Oskar is from. At first you wrote that he was German and fled Germany because of the war. However, you also said his family fled to the United States rather than be persecuted in the United Kingdom. Also, I'm curious how Daphne received a letter from Hogwarts if she wasn't born in the UK or Ireland.

Blood badges are no longer required to be worn, so Daphne wouldn't need to wear one around Hogwarts. The attitude and extreme prejudice towards Muggleborns and their sympathizers in the UK has lessened a little since the war happened, though Daphne could most certainly still face prejudice from individual people or families.

I also noticed that you included Daphne being sorted into Ravenclaw in your bio. While we definitely take your request into consideration, we don't guarantee that you'll end up in that house. You'll need to remove any references to Ravenclaw from your bio. In addition, girls are welcome to join the Duel Club! Daphne wouldn't have been turned away just because she's a girl.

Finally, your RP sample looks wonderful. However, we are an AU site, meaning most of the characters found in the books have never existed in our universe. You'll need to remove the reference to Nearly Headless Nick.

Once you've made these changes, please post your entire revised application below and we'll be happy to take another look. Thanks!
and if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free
to those who ground me, take a message back from me
tell them how I am defying gravity

* Anneka Ivanova

    (01/05/2017 at 02:15)
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Applications are now closed, but if you PM me your revised application within 48 hours of this post, we can still get you accepted.
and if I'm flying solo, at least I'm flying free
to those who ground me, take a message back from me
tell them how I am defying gravity

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