Ivy Hemlock

[Ivy Hemlock]

E L S E W H E R E   A D U L T

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Ivy Hemlock
Gender: Female
Age: 26, May 29 1937
Blood Status: Muggleborn

Education:
Hogwarts

Residence:
london, uk

Occupation
Auror

Do you plan to have a connection to a particular existing place (for example: the Ministry, Shrieking Shack) or to take over an existing shop in need of new management?
Ministry of Magic

Requested Magic Levels:
Adult characters have 32 starting levels to distribute across these four categories (less levels can be used if you so desire, but no more than 32). The number of levels on the lowest ability must be at least half of the highest ability.

If you want levels above the usual 32 total, or a significantly uneven distribution of starting levels, please fill out and submit the Exceptional Levels special request form here.

• Charms: 9
• Divination: 10
• Transfiguration: 7
• Summoning: 6

Do you wish to be approved as a group with any other characters? If so who and for what IC reason?
Nope

Please list any other characters you already have at the site:
Alice Swan and co.

Biography: (300 words minimum.)
They always made these rooms awfully comfortable, she thought. Ironic, really, considering people visited psychiatrists when they couldn’t handle the torment in their mind, when they couldn’t bother glancing at themselves in the mirror because hatred flared bright in their gaze, and when they couldn’t live with themselves, period.
 
She sat on the far end of the couch, the one where the seat didn’t seem slouched by thousands of bottoms. Her nails picked at her cuticles until bright red appeared and her eyes looked at the growing blood bubble. She applied more pressure on her skin until a red streak covered her thumb. Only then did she bring it to her mouth and let the taste of iron cover her mouth.
 
The psychiatrist entered the room and shut the door behind him. “Hello, Miss Hemlock. I’m glad you managed to make it to your appointment this time. I know it takes courage to show up and I’m very proud to see you here today.” The woman nodded her head as she kept sucking on her skin.
 
The doctor sat in front of her and crossed his legs, laying his pad over his thigh. With an exponentially loud click that contrasted with an awfully quiet room, the metallic tip pressed against the paper. “I wanted to talk about the psychiatric evaluation we did last time. I’m assuming this might be the cause to why you haven’t been showing up to your last appointments?” She nodded again, this time removing her hand away from her mouth and sliding it along with the other under her thighs.
 
“Would you be comfortable if we reviewed some of the information you gave me?” No, she wasn’t, but because this wasn’t her first rodeo, she merely bobbed her head again. The psychiatrist flipped through his pad and said, “So, you said something about being the bearer of bad luck. Would you care to elaborate on that?” Ivy looked down, licking her lips before parting them open. “I’ve never been lucky in life. My dad left when I was young. He wasn’t a nice man. He did… things. You’d think my mother would learn her lesson, but every single man she brought back home were all the same.” She tossed her dark hair left to right and even let out a chuckle. “You think I’d learn from her mistakes, but I did just the same growing up. Fell for boys and men who didn’t appreciate me. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, or so they say.”
 
The psychiatrist nodded and added after a pause, “I understand your mother wasn’t well?”
 
“No. She had issues. She’d be happy one second, furious the other. She would get irritated over minor things. Even threw a plate at my face once because I told her I forgot to do the dishes.”
 
“You mentioned in your evaluation that sometimes you could feel shifts in your mood. Could it be like that?”
 
“Yes, but not as aggressive. I found ways to control my anger.”
 
“Would you consider obsessively engaging in potentially dangerous activities as one of your coping mechanisms?” Ivy flashed the man a dark look. “Okay listen, sure I told you I take spontaneous decisions. Deciding to climb a mountain by myself without training wasn’t smart nor chasing lover after lover was smart and letting them do things—” She took a sharp intake of breath and slowly let the air out of her lungs. “Sorry.”
 
“I apologize, I was too forward. But I understand what you mean. From what you told me; you undertook these activities when your mom passed. Is that correct?”
 
“You mean when she killed herself when I was thirteen? Yeah. I did a bunch of stuff and at the same time I dedicated my free time to studying magic. I would go a full day without eating, too busy doing assignments and what not.”
 
“You mentioned that after your mother’s passing, you had a hard time being by yourself. Could you elaborate on that?”
 
Ivy sighed and leaned forward, elbows on her thighs. “It started after my mother’s passing, yes. I feel like I can’t be left to my own devices. Let’s say I go out with friends, sometimes I freak out when they leave me. I realistically know they’re not gone forever, but I guess that’s what happens when your father disappears, and your mom decides she’d rather leave the world than take care of her daughter.” She paused, teeth biting down her bottom lip to stop the tears that threaten to pool in her eyes. “Is it normal, doctor. That some days I feel absolutely nothing? I feel like I’m a void. I could be having a great day but I won’t feel anything. Not just happiness, but everything else. I’d pinch myself and not even feel pain.”
 
The psychiatrist noted something down and Ivy tried to look over, but his hand hid his handwriting. The man put his pen down and stared straight at his patient. “You know, Miss Hemlock, mental illness is a combination of different factors. For example, having a history of it in the family can make you vulnerable to it. Such as facing traumatic experiences in life.” Ivy listened to the man, already mentally preparing for what he was bound to say next.
 
“Have you ever heard of Bipolar Personality Disorder?”

Roleplay: 
You come across one of these posts on the site. Please select one & reply as your character:

Option Two -
The snow had been falling steadily all morning and it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon. Joshua Campbell scrunched his face up in a frown as he lifted his gaze to look to the sky. Snow. It really was quite a bother.

And it certainly didn't make it better that Diagon Alley seemed to be getting more and more crowded. Joshua sighed and pointed his wand at the large box that was currently placed on the doorstep of his shop. He had to get going. He had an order to deliver.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" The elderly man muttered and watched the box hover in the air for a moment. Honestly, did St. Mungo's really need that much tinsel? And with glitter of all things? He sighed again. If it hadn't been for the rather convincing stamp on the order, he would have been likely to believe it had been a prank by one of those orphaned rascals living up there.

Oh well, there was no point in waiting. Joshua deftly stirred the box down the doorstep and out onto the street, carefully levitating it above the heads of the crowd.

"Coming through! Coming through!" His voice sounded over the chatter of the crowd. "Keep out! Move ahead! Go on!" This was going way too slow. People were in the way and walking like they had all day! He huffed. Luckily the road was down hill.

"Coming through! Coming th--- arrrgh!" Joshua let out a loud shout as his feet suddenly slipped in the snow and sent him, the box, and several long strands of tinsel tumbling into the person who had been walking in front of him.

"For Merlin's sake!" Joshua muttered angrily as he hurried to his feet again, red and gold tinsel now decorating his black coat. "I am so sorry! This blasted snow!" He looked apologetic at the person he had crashed into.

Roleplay Response:
The holidays were such a lovely time. Her heart warmed when she watched children flail in the snow and hurl it at each other in a playful matter, when families walked hand in hand and lingered in front of large bay windows displaying the hit Christmas gifts everyone wanted, when the colorful lights wrapped around streetlights beamed down and illuminated all the patrons faces with holiday cheer.

Ivy never quite cared for the holidays, especially when she spent them by herself in a house too big for one person haunted by the ghosts of a disappeared father and a mother who couldn’t bear the world. That was why she slept with the lights open because spirits only lingered in the shadows.

Yet, the celebrations still got to her and that was why she strolled Diagon Alley with a few gifts under her arms, all of them for her coworkers and a few to offer at St Mungo’s for the sick children. She was too busy admiring how a woman dreamily looked at an engagement ring in a jewelry shop and her boyfriend’s loving gaze on hers as his hand dipped in his pocket to fetch a box precisely the size of a ring box to hear the angry muttering behind her.

Next thing she knew she found herself in the snow, her various gift baskets falling around her.

“Hey, what the hell’s your problem?!” Ivy shrieked angrily as she shrugged away the colorful tinsel that decorated her coat and rose to her feet. The anger that morphed her features slowly receded when dark eyes acknowledged the man’s apologetic face. She took an awful long moment to seize herself, taking in deep breaths like her psychiatrist had taught her so to control any more outburst.

“I-I’m so sorry,” she muttered to the man. “Let me help you, please.” Ivy made sure to avoid looking at his face as she bent down to gather the spilled content.

OTHER
How did you find us? Returning player

[Calypso Ross]

Hi Ivy,

Thank you for submitting your application, apologies for the delayed response.

As per our updated special request guidelines, Ivy's character falls under our requirements for a plot request:

Potentially complicated, confusing, darker, sensitive, or otherwise unusual plots, and plots that directly or indirectly powerplay the actions/views of the Ministry, St. Mungo's, Hogwarts, or Camp Loki, and/or these institutions' staff. This includes plots which explore murder or other dark elements, mental health issues, mental or physical disabilities, other sensitive topics, and unusual plots.

We now require special requests for plots which focus on mental health issues, as this can be a sensitive subject for some of our members and we need to ensure that those who choose to write these plots do so sensitively and with appropriate consideration.

If you could complete the plot special request form (located here), we can review the request and follow up on your application again post-review.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to reach out. Thank you!