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Author Topic: Estella Ricardus  (Read 593 times)

Estella Ricardus

    (10/12/2017 at 03:42)


CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character name: Estella Ricardus

Previous and/or Current Character(s) if applicable: Calla Douglass and the lot

Character age: 23

Character education: Hogwarts - Slyherin ‘47

Strength and weaknesses (details please):

Naive: Estella likes to believe the best of everyone and that belief can sometimes lead to not only a skewed view of the world around her but also to a lot of heartbreak. Even at twenty-three she still hasn’t realized that not everyone is who they first appear to be. A lesson she probably should have learned early in life, given her family.

Easygoing: This is both a strength and a weakness. On one hand, it can allow Estella to adapt relatively easily to most situations. She isn’t consumed with needing to have absolute control over her environment and so she is able to change and adjust when circumstances call for it. On the other hand, being too easygoing can mean she’s not always prepared for important events. Her easygoing nature can cause her to be a bit of a procrastinator, making her believe that everything will work out in the end no matter how prepared she is or isn’t.

Insecure: In a family of mostly strong and commanding individuals, Estella always felt a little unsure of herself. Her magical talent was never as strong as what was expected of a Ricardus and in certain areas no matter how hard she worked or how much she studied, she just never improved much. While she can be confident in most social situations, doubting her magical ability has occasionally caused her some issues in actually performing magic.

As a result, her best classes were always Potions and Care of Magical Creatures because they generally didn’t require the use of a wand. Charms was a favorite class and her strength, if she had one, but it was often difficult to stay around the same level as her peers.

Physical description: Estella has mostly traditional Ricardus looks with bright blue eyes and dark brown hair, although hers is more of a mahogany tone than a nearly black and she usually wears it down, cascading around her shoulders. She is a bit on the short side at 5’3”. She’s never put a ton of effort into her appearance, she’s always been fine with how she looks without all the extra work. Unless there was a special event.

Personality (nice, rude, funny etc. Paragraph please.): There is a natural charm to Estella, she always had an easy time getting to know people, although she had only a small handful of very close friends.

She still views the world a bit whimsically for an adult, believing in happily ever after and other things that some would consider childish.

Kind and compassionate, Estella is always willing to help anyone or anything. She cares about people, sometimes to a fault. She can be too trusting because she wants to believe that everyone is good.

Hopes and dreams. Why are you teaching at Hogwarts?: Estella’s biggest hope is simply to do more with her life. She’s been struggling since graduation and is hopeful that a change, especially one as big as becoming a Hogwarts professor, will turn her life in a better direction. She also secretly hopes that becoming something as respectable as a professor will impress her father, at least a little.

Her dream is to help students. All students, of course, but mostly ones like herself who may be struggling in certain areas and not as gifted as some of their peers. She doesn’t want any child to feel like they are not capable.

Biography (500 words minimum. There is never such a thing as too much.):

Her name was Estella Claire Ricardus. The name Estella was chosen because, although she was a girl, she was Richard Ricardus’s first born and he had high hopes that she would shine as bright as a star and make him more proud than his brothers were of any of their children. Claire was chosen because it had been her mother’s first choice for her first name, but Richard had deemed it too simple.

She was born in the evening on January 9th, 1929. A Capricorn, she exudes a lot of those traits. She’s adaptable, charming and despite not being the most intellectual person, she has a strong work ethic. Caring and attentive with those she loves, gentle, and occasionally prone to getting lost in her darker thoughts are all things that make Estella who she is.

One trait of being a Capricorn that she is not, however, is a natural leader and that was something of a disappointment for her father. From a young age it was clear Estella wasn’t what her father wanted, even for a girl. She was too tender and soft-hearted, too lost in her own thoughts. She preferred to have fun and play games, creating her own adventurous stories rather than any serious pastimes.

Estella was three years old when her parents had a second child. Another girl, though from almost the moment Aurelia arrived in the world it seemed destined that her and Estella would not share much of a sisterly bond. Even though Estella was only three years old when Aurelia was born she could sense how grumpy the girl was. Almost the complete opposite of Estella, who loved life and found happiness in almost every situation.

Two more sisters were added over the next handful of years. Iola and then Calista. Estella helped out as much as she could for an eight-year-old. Of course, there was staff to take care of the younger ones when Estella’s mother was too weak to do it herself.

That was one of the most ingrained memories Estella had of her mother. She never seemed to be at full strength. Frail, her father called it. Not sick, just never very strong. That strength failed her completely when Estella was eleven, the spring before she was due to start Hogwarts. Another pregnancy, the roughest one, and her mother died on April 3rd, 1940. The day her only brother, Castor, was born.

Their father changed after that. Not that he was ever very warm or affectionate toward his children, he now barely ever saw or spoke to them; leaving them in the care of the house staff or even some of the house elves from time to time. Over the next six months, Estella experienced a coldness she had never felt before. Her father barely even looked at her and she saw him treat Castor even worse. She never saw her father hold the baby.

When September came and Estella was sorted into Slytherin her father had actually sent her a letter congratulating her. She had expected him to say he was proud that she was going to be a part of the same house as he had been. She really should have known better.

Estella’s school days weren’t anything special. She enjoyed class and always tried her best but she just wasn’t very good at most things. But where she failed intellectually she made up for in friends and excelling in most social situations.

During her second year her father informed her that he had arranged a future marriage for her to Vladimir Borovsky. Vlad was one of her best friends so it wasn’t that she didn’t think she’d want to marry him, it was just hearing that her marriage was already planned for her when she was only twelve years old was a hard thing to accept. She wasn’t very ambitious but there were still things she wanted to do before her entire life was set up.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, however, she didn’t really have to worry about any arranged marriage. The Summer before Estella’s sixth year she met a boy, a Muggleborn, and a good deal of her world came tumbling down. She felt as though she was beginning to fall in love for the first time but that meant hurting Vladimir. On top of that Aurelia told their father she was involved with a Muggleborn and Richard threatened to disown her if she continued the relationship.

At the time she had not been brave enough to give up the life she’d known for something she didn’t know would last. They had only been sixteen, there was a lot of time for things to go wrong. So Estella had felt she had no choice but to stop seeing him. Her relationship with Vladimir changed too, and it was never really repaired after that.

Without the prospect of any marriage after graduating Hogwarts, Estella’s dad asked her to move out of the family home. She’d had to get a job to support herself but he allowed her to have a monthly allowance, he couldn’t have her become homeless. For the past several years she has been working at a newspaper but she would love nothing more than a change in her life. 

SAMPLE ROLEPLAY
(Please respond to to this in third person past tense. Do not write the other characters' reactions. Only your own.)

It was the largest office in Hogwarts and, perhaps to students and newcomers, the most intimidating. The shelves were filled with various odds and ends, with a place of honor for the Sorting Hat, and the walls held all the portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses.

In the middle of the room sat a large desk. Everything was in order, for the current occupant had always despised a messy desk. It was the sign of a messy mind, and she had always favored neatness.

A clock sat on the desk, which currently showed the time to be 2:05. The meeting was supposed to begin at 2:00 precisely.

Along with order, Anneka valued punctuality. She was a very busy woman these days. Even during the summer, she had a number of matters to attend to. Interviewing and hiring staff was only of those matters. The newest potential member of her staff wasn't making a good impression.

She paced the room, black heels clicking against the stone floor. When the door finally opened, Anneka turned, her expression reminiscent of a Russian winter. "You are late."

Explain yourself was what her face said.

Roleplay Response:

She hadn’t been back at Hogwarts since the last day of her seventh year. She supposed that was normal for the majority of Hogwarts students. There probably wasn’t much of a reason to come back unless something happened with their children, or maybe they worked for the Ministry in a department that worked closely with Hogwarts.

Or unless you were applying to be a professor at the school.

Estella had been more than a little nervous while getting ready, she knew she wasn’t the ideal candidate for a teaching position but she really did have a desire to help the students. Wasn’t that just as important? You could be the smartest person in the world but if you didn’t want to help people or just weren’t good at working with others they still wouldn’t learn anything.

A lot of her nerves had disappeared when she’d stepped inside the castle. A feeling of nostalgia came over her so strongly that she’d stopped right there inside the doors and stood for several minutes. The Slytherin commons weren’t that far away, neither were the kitchens. Two of Estella’s most frequented places during her years here.

The castle looked exactly the same to her and she slid her hand slowly up the banister as she ascended the staircase. It had only been five years since she had graduated yet somehow she had expected everything to be different. But the farther up into the castle she went the more familiar it became. There were even certain portraits she remembered!

Along the way to Anneka’s office Estella found herself stopping several times and having some nice little chats with some of the portraits. She had done that a lot during her first year. They always had such interesting stories and she had loved hearing about their adventures. For a good while it was almost as if she were a student again.

And then, suddenly, she remembered she wasn’t and what her true purpose for being here was. She ran as best as she could in high heels the rest of the way to the Headmistress’s office.

No sooner had she flung the door open that she heard,

"You are late."

After a few deep breaths, Estella looked at her fellow Slytherin alumni with the best apologetic look she could muster, “I know and I’m so, so sorry. I got a little...distracted by some of the portraits.”

Easily distracted. That was not listed on her resume. But apparently she hadn’t needed to list it. She simply demonstrated it.

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