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Messages - Irene Cecily OConner

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1
Eppie,

Sorry about my earlier mistake.  I saw that someone had applied for Codebreaker Administration, was accepted, and assumed there would be administration for the Specialty of Spell Creators as well, so I applied as that.  thanks for the clarification, and I have now edited my application appropriately.  Thanks! The new improved, edited application is posted below. :)

Trish


Merlin's Order of Defense

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Irene Cecily O'Conner
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Blood Status (choose one): Pureblood
Education: 
Up until age 11, Irene was tutored by private tutors and family members like all O’Conners (O’Connors)in history, the arts, science, magic, math, writing, reading, Irish Gaelic, English, Russian, German, & French.

Durmstrang for two years, then Hogwarts (Gryffindor, Prefect C/O 62-pre timewarp, post timewarp C/O 1925 ), 4 years of further study in Transfiguration, Law/Politics, Summoning/Conjuring in Russia

Transfiguration and Politics of Magic Professor at Hogwarts for a total of 2 terms

Residence:
Hogsmeade Outskirts & Currently an unoccupied vacation home in Moscow, Russia

Division: 42nd Broom Battalion
Irene has always been one who has loved to do research and experimentation in an attempt to be the one that finds the next big thing.  Her specialties were always Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring, Politics of Magic, and Potions, and she has always been an incredibly ambitious person who would do anything to achieve the next rank and to still be known long after she has passed from this world.  She has done a lot of traveling in her life, regarding research, and as a result has a large arsenal of a variety of spells, potions, transfigurations, summoning/conjuring at her disposal.  Irene has always loved challenges, working with other people who are as detailed-oriented as she is, and researching,  so being placed in the 42nd Broom Battalion with the specialty of being a Spell Creator is a perfect fit for her, especially since a Spell Creator would do just that, research and work together to accomplish something great and challenge anyone involved because it most likely means long hours of researching ancient cultures to perhaps find something that just MIGHT be useful in developing the next weapon or defense to assist in this case, the war effort. 

Consequently, in order to achieve and make strides in research, people must be detail oriented, especially when it comes to testing theories and hypotheses. Because Irene is very meticulous, and detail-oriented, she would want to be part of an organization that values those things and part of a work environment that values those things as well. That is another reason I think she would be well suited for the Spell Creation/Research unit of the 42nd Broom Battalion.
Another strength that Irene has is that she is fluent in English, German, Russian, and Irish-Gaelic, and nearly fluent in French thanks to her various relatives found throughout the world and the many visits to them throughout her life.  As a Spell Creator, because she knows so many different languages, she would be able to communicate with a variety of people in the 42nd Broom Battalion, and really any division necessary to assist in the recruitment of qualified individuals for spell developers and researchers if necessary.  That and to be able to work and communicate well with a variety of people from a variety of backgrounds.   She has experience as a decent lobbyist as well, which of course requires fantastic communication skills to push for a certain agenda, so that shows people further that Irene has charisma, which can be used to get people to do something necessary.

Finally, since the 42nd Broom Battalion is the only division that allows women, she had to have been placed here.  Irene has no Healer experience,  so she couldn't be a nurse or healer.  Therefore, honestly Irene was left with few options.
 

Rank:
Sergeant
Irene as head of the Time Chamber in the Ministry of Magic has assisted and led many research projects and very experienced when it comes to research, and once war seemed to be inching ever closer, she had ensured that the focus of research and experimentation in the Time Chamber switched from attempting to slow down the aging process and use a variety of methods, mostly Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring and looking for cures for serious health issues to developing defensive and offensive techniques that would give Wizarding Great Britain and its allies a leg up on its enemies.  Many of these first steps I would imagine would have been some of the stepping stones for the reasoning and just establishment in general of the Spell Creator/Research division of the 42nd Broom Battalion.  By adding more people to the cause, discoveries would come more quickly.  After all if you only have a few people researching, developing, and testing theories/hypotheses, then progress would be far slower.  Also, Irene would not willingly volunteer herself to MOD in the first place, and give up her job as Head of the Time Chamber in the Department of Mysteries if she knew she would most likely be starting out at the lowest rank out there because she is far too ambitious for that. It is a bit self-serving of course, but that is the reality according to Irene. After all, she has already started to contribute to the MOD by changing the focus of things in her department and beginning to develop various hypotheses to test out. One example is using an old ancient Sanskrit spell as a boost to the typical defensive spell of Protego, and a defensive potion to hypothetically the shielding power of the spell stronger and able to cover a larger area. 


Specialty:
Spell Creator
For the past four years, Irene has been in charge of the Department of Mysteries Time Chamber and was heading research and experimentation with a combination of Transfiguration, Charms, and Summoning/Conjuring in an attempt to perhaps turn back the clock regarding aging, and hopefully find a cure to dangerous diseases.  Though she hasn't discovered the perfect method, yet, she continued to research and try a variety of spells. 

However, when war broke up, her focus switched from what she had been doing to leading up research, discovery, and experimentation with new spells in an attempt to give Great Britain and its allies a leg up over Germany and Germany's allies.  Because she has a significant amount of leadership experience as Time Chamber Head of the Department of Mysteries and a former Hogwarts Professor, which both entail a lot of research, she would be best suited for this specialty, although if the leaders preferred, due to her multilinguistic abilities she could also be a codebreaker as well, but since research is what she has far more experience in, being a Spell Creator/Researcher would be far more suited to Irene's liking and above average magical abilities.

She is incredibly detailed-oriented, and meticulous, too, and that is one of the rudimentary skills someone must have if they are involved with research.
Irene’s biggest flaw, however, is probably the fact that she has a nasty temper, so it is quite possible that if someone doesn't follow protocol, etc., she will really reem into them because if you take shortcuts when it comes to any sort of research, almost always it will backfire and flounder terribly.  Because of that, and the fact she is use to being in charge, Irene might be a bit abrasive at times and come off as unapproachable and overbearing because deep down she feels like being relegated to only Sergeant  and one division in MOD simply because of her gender, is rather demeaning,  and she is incredibly outspoken and prideful by nature when it comes to certain things, but  she is willing to work on that for the good of the country. It just will take some getting use to and time.

Requested Magical Levels:  (see here on how to do this)

Keep her current levels of C12 D14 T20 S17
  • Charms: 12
  • Divination: 14.
  • Transfiguration: 20.
  • Summoning: 17

Please list any other characters you already have at the site:
John O'Conner (Hogwarts), Samantha Carlisle (BB), Elizabeth Vaelbe (Salem Divination Professor & Pawn Society Head), Alcina Theodora Lazos (BB grad of 1939, Muggle university student & part-time potions researcher), Kynan O'Conner (Head of O'Conner family, Wizengamot member, Part-Time Magical Archivist), Amity Additson (Wandmaker Apprentice).

Biography: (300 words minimum.)

Personality & Such:
Who is Irene Cecily O’Conner?  It would depend on who and when you asked.
To her mother, Irene Louisa Schneider O’Conner, Irene was the perfect O’Conner after Elizabeth went off the deep end and began spewing nonsense about how all people should be judged by ability rather than bloodlines. She has poise, influence, smarts, ability, and power.  However, if you asked the same question of Irene’s mother before Elizabeth went crazy, she would have said the opposite.  Her youngest daughter was brash, inappropriate, overly vocal and independent, and too sarcastic for her own good.  Amazing how things change over time.

To her father, Conan, former assistant head for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Irene always has been a unique girl who is often misunderstood and capable of so much if only she could get a grasp on her temper tantrums.

To her younger brother Connelly, she was his protector, teacher, mentor, loyal to a fault to her family who wanted nothing more than to leave an impact on the world before her time on this world was done. To her older brothers, Johnathan and Patrick, Irene was a strong woman who would one day make her family proud and someone they would lay their own life down to protect at any cost.
To her few friends, she was loyal, willing to always lend an ear and offer assistance to them if they needed it, cunning, a bit of a prankster, ambitious, intelligent, outgoing and sarcastic, but decent inside, and a bold young woman who wanted to break from tradition and be more than just a pretty face and good mother and wife. To her enemies, she was relentless, unyielding, and someone you didn’t want to cross.

To Irene herself, she is and was outgoing, not particularly brave, intelligent, a bookworm, ambitious, loyal to her family, detailed-oriented, a lover of research and challenges, had/has a good sense of humor, knows right from wrong, thinkst before she actsmost of the time, misunderstood, and complicated.

Childhood History:
Irene was born on January 10, 1907 and it was apparent from the get go, she was unlike any O’Conner female before her.  At a young age, she cared more for Quidditch and learning than for frilly dresses and galas.  She of course liked those things sometimes, but she preferred to be outside experiencing life than cooped up in etiquette and music lessons.  Irene from a young age, loved to learn all that she could, regardless of the topic.  Well of course anything except muggle things as she had been brought up from a young age to think anything muggle related was inferior and not worth paying attention to.

Growing up she was constantly compared to her ‘perfect’ older sister Liz and it drove her crazy.  She would often act out so much to the point it would drive away her tutors and nannies. Irene always had a fiery temper and many vowed that would be her undoing one day, but Irene never paid any heed to their warnings.  The only reason she acted out so much was because she was starved for attention from her mother and as soon as Liz ‘went off the deep end’ as Irene’s relatives so elegantly put, Irene calmed down significantly.  Irene soon took over as being the ‘favorite daughter” and received so much attention she didn’t know how to react.  However, she soon adapted and was delighted with the outcome.  It served Liz right with her spewing off about blood equality.
Like all O’Conner children, Irene spent a lot of time around relatives and traveled often since her relatives were scattered throughout Britain, Ireland, Russia, and Germany.  Of all those places, Irene loved Russia the most and being around her Aunt Charlene Schenider-Yakov (Durmstrang Charms Professor) and her husband Gavrie Yerik Yakov (well-known and successful defense attorney) and their children, Natasha, Vladmir, and Yerik. Irene was ecstatic each and every time she was around them and was uncontrollably excited about the arrival of her eleventh birthday when she would be invited to go to Durmstrang and learn from her own mother (Arithmancy) and aunt (Charms).

Sure enough that was exactly what happened when Irene turned eleven.  She received the invite to go to Durmstrang and loved every minute she was there.  She was incredibly attentive in all of her classes and played Quidditch there. She was Keeper and was on cloud nine whilst there, especially when it came to exploring all the neat ice caves and classes like Transfiguration, Summoning/Conjuring, Dark Arts & Defense Against Them, and Divination.  All through her childhood, she was whisked off to social galas, fancy dinners, balls etc.  Irene enjoyed them for the most part, but at times it did grow to be a bit tedious.  Life seemed so perfect for Irene her first two years at Durmstrang, but then things changed.

Hogwarts Experiences In A Nutshell:
It was just before the start of her third year when Irene overheard a conversation between her mother, aunt, and father that changed everything and not for the better at first.  Irene’s mother was ambitious like Irene herself and was frustrated that she could never rise through the ranks to have more power and influence over young minds.  She had started at Durmstrang as a professor with lofty goals and aspirations that one day she might become Headmistress.  But it was never going to happen, and after 10 years, Irene’s mother was quitting. It was also during this conversation Irene heard her father was bored with his Ireland diplomat job in the Russian Ministry.  He wasn’t as enthralled with the inner working of politics as his father and relatives before him.  Rather, he had a tremendous passion to work with animals and had heard through the grapevine of an opportunity in the British Ministry of Magic’s Regulation & Control of Magic Creatures Department.

Needless to say, that meant Irene and her immediate family were leaving Russia.  Irene reverted to her tantrums in hopes to be allowed to stay with her aunt and uncle, but it had no effect.  She was stuck moving to just outside of Hogsmeade so her father could pursue his dream and mother focus solely on being a social butterfly and being influential that way.  Irene was going to Hogwarts whether she liked it or not.

And she did.  She was sorted into Gryffindor of all places.  That was more than just a little surprise as all of her relatives that had attended Hogwarts on her father’s side had been mostly Ravenclaw or Slytherins with an occasional Hufflepuff thrown in. The last and only other Gryffindor in the family line had been Turlough O’Conner, the last king of Ireland and Irene wasn’t sure what to make of her surprising sorting.  The hat spoke of leaving a great impact and other riddlesque hints when it sorted Irene.  Irene LOATHED Hogwarts especially the house she was in with all the idiotic moves made by her housemates.  None of them seemed to think before they acted EVER and Irene vowed that somehow the hat had been hoodwinked to sort her in such a place.

At Hogwarts, there were many ups and downs and Irene started out purposefully acting out, breaking rules, etc in hopes she would get thrown out of Hogwarts and able to go back to Durmstrang.  But none of it worked, and by the time her fifth year rolled around, Irene accepted her fate and started to turn her actions around.  Her only escape from the treachery that was Hogwarts at first was her art and Quidditch, but when she did turn her act around, she managed to snag titles right and left-valedictorian, salutatarian, prefect.  It was truly night and day.
She played Seeker and Chaser on the House Team and spent countless hours outside in nature sketching and reading. She began to take things more seriously and buckled down of sorts, so much that when her sixth year rolled around she somehow managed to become a prefect and retain the title through her seventh year.

It was also about that time she found a new love besides Quidditch, Transfiguration, and Summoning/Conjuring, Politics of Magic courtesy of Professor Vasilijev, the same person who had shunned Irene’s older sister Liz when she had been sorted into Slytherin.  All through her terms at Hogwarts, there were very few people she considered friends.  They were Ty Battersea, a distant cousin of hers, Alexander Birch, Filius Pendragon, Anneka Ivanova, Izzy Snidget, and Shikamaru before he disappeared.  Irene had more enemies than friends and many acquaintances, but very few friends. 

Of those people, the only ones she kept in touch with were Alexander Birch, Filius Pendragon, and Anneka Ivanova. Professor wise, the ones that inspired her the most were Professor Vasilijev, Professor Battersea, and to a certain extent Professor Renard, which truthfully was more of love one day, hate another day relationship.  But nonetheless she inspired Irene to an extent. Irene graduated Hogwarts in 1925.

Post Hogwarts History:
After graduating from Hogwarts, Irene returned to Russia and did four years of further study there in Transfiguration, Law, and Politics of Magic while working part time in a Lobbyist group that was calling for the end of the censorship of magic and maintain a distinct class system where purebloods were the leaders, everyone else reported to the purebloods and held less influential jobs.  When Elspeth Redgrave had been running for Mistress of Magic, Irene left Russia momentarily and worked valiantly alongside like minded folks and relatives to get her elected. Elspeth won the election and Irene was delighted, but returned to Moscow to finish her studies.

Once her studies were completed, Irene did a brief stint in the Ministry of Magic’s Department of Mysteries, but quickly got bored doing nothing but paperwork and not getting to do the hands on stuff she envisioned doing there and applied to Hogwarts for a professorship when she heard there were openings.  She was accepted and as a result taught Transfiguration one term and Politics of Magic a second term.  However, Irene soon found out she didn’t have the patience to deal with young witches and wizards like her mother and aunt had and longed to get more involved in Politics, so she resigned.

She returned to Moscow and became Chief Lobbyist of the group she had once been a secretary/clerk/intern for after working tirelessly for their cause, but to no avail.  That was when she heard rumours of a new movement sweeping Britain that seemed to want to end the censorship of magic and longed to be a part of it and see the inner workings of it.  That and though she loved hob-knobbing it with powerful people and debating, Irene wanted more.  She not only wanted power and influence, but she wanted to use her abilities in magic, too.  Her ideal job had always been one of power, influence, occasional debating or presentations, and using magic.

Consequently, she returned and by calling on old connections, both personal and family ones in the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Mysteries, found herself a job in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable and Head of the Time Chamber, eventually.  This job wasn’t filing or clerical in nature, thank Merlin.  Instead it focused on using her skills in Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring in the Time Chamber with the goal in mind of somehow being able to turn back the clock to prolong life and find ways to cure diseases. 
It was and still is top secret stuff, but even though it is hard work, she has enjoyed it tremendously and raced through the ranks rather quickly. The biggest challenge was keeping what she did and where she worked to herself because she is and was so outgoing, but after several years now she has grown accustomed to it.

Though her focus up until now had been research using a combination of Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring to somehow turn back time to prolong life and to cure disease, now that war began, her focus moved more toward researching and trying to discover new spells, potions, transfigurations, summoning/conjurings, etc., so that the wizarding community of Great Britain could get an upperhand over its enemy of Germany and Germany's allies and win the war. 

Being fiercely loyal and protective of her family, Irene decided she wanted to do more in assistance regarding the war effort so that her family and friends could be safe.  That was why she decided to enlist in MOD, provided of course they don’t start her off as a lowly private when she is convinced she already did a lot to lay the groundwork for the establishment and discovery of stronger magical defenses and offensives as head of the Time Chamber.  At least that is and was Irene’s perception at least.

 Additionally,  Irene has always wanted to become well known for something she did, and she felt that if she was part of a group that somehow found and discovered new and improved spells, she would not ever be forgotten in the history books. Finally, Irene has always been up for new and exciting challenges. If Irene was chosen to be a member of the Spell Creation/Research team of the 42nd Broom Battalion, she felt that being a member of the 42nd Broom Battalion’s Spell Creation/Research team would be just those things that her heart desired, a challenge, and a nice change of pace.


Roleplay: Option 2
Crazy?  Perhaps, but no one better tell Irene that, because she was always ready to give a severe tongue thrashing or worse to anyone who questioned her decision to take a year to assist in the war effort as a spell creator when she had a perfectly challenging and wonderful job already as Time Chamber Head in the Department of Mysteries.  So why, take a temporary leave of absence to serve in Merlin's Order of Defense's 42nd Broom Battalion? 

Two words: challenge and loyalty.

Irene was never one to back down from challenges, and has always relished in undertaking them, and when the notice went out that there was a chance to use her research skills, abilities, and experiences in a new environment  that would help assist in Great Britain’s war effort, Irene couldn’t resist.  She had already begun to assist the MOD and the acting government in her Chamber in the Department of Mysteries, but she had always relished diversity, and this being in a new environment and in a high-paced one at that, it called out to Irene and her tendency to get bored easily when there was little diversity in things.  Loyalty to her family had always been a major thing in Irene’s life, so the chance to perhaps have a hand in developing things that would assist in the war effort, and consequently and ultimately preserve the safety of her family, especially her ailing grandparents, was something she couldn’t pass up.  So one could call her crazy or demented to go about enrolling in the MOD, but she couldn’t be convinced that was the case, and anyone who dared challenge her decision would NEVER hear the end of it, and pay for their idiocy dearly.  At least that was Irene’s take on everything regarding the decision.

So now that it was official, it was time to report, and though Irene was excited for the new opportunity, she was also a bit nervous, though she refused to let anyone know that through her mannerisms or words.  Irene did her utmost to mask her nervousness because she felt that would be deemed a weakness, and the last thing Irene wanted or needed on her first day was to be labeled as weak.  She was far too prideful for that. 

Five minutes to her first meeting with her fellow team members , and the butterflies in her stomach multiplied ten-fold, but she kept up that brave and confident façade of hers, she was so good at keeping by now after so many years and experiences regarding politics.  She raced toward the designated meeting area and listened to her superiors intently (which was rather difficult for her because up until this, she was practically the boss, since the Deputy Head and Head of the Department of  Mysteries rarely seemed to take the time to visit her Chamber and check up on the progress or lack thereof being made). 

Mind your manners, Irene.  You have been in this situation before, even if it was a rather long time ago.  This is an incredibly opportunity to use what you know to help your family and friends, so just do what is asked of you, do your best, and before long, you will be promoted.  And after this year has expired, you will be your own boss, or close to it when you return from your leave of absence.  And if you play your cards right, you might make important connections that will assist you in becoming Head of the Department of Mysteries one day, she muttered inwardly to herself as she took notes on findings thus far, protocols, etc..

Irene wasn’t exactly sure how long the briefing lasted, but as soon as it was adjourned, and everyone was sent back to continue research, her mindset changed to that detailed-oriented, protocol obsessed, meticulous person she was and she turned to the group she had been assigned to and offered her assistance “So being that this is officially my first day, did you want me to do anything in particular first, sir, be the designated nottetaker or anything else? Just let me know.  Before this, research was my life.  I have a ton of experience with it as a result, and loved it. And I doubt that is about to change anytime, soon.”

And with that she waited for a reply all the while she cursed thinking she may have said a bit too much.

2
Merlin's Order of Defense

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Irene Cecily O'Conner
Age: 32
Gender: Female
Blood Status (choose one): Pureblood

Education: 
Up until age 11, Irene was tutored by private tutors and family members like all O’Conners (O’Connors)in history, the arts, science, magic, math, writing, reading, Irish Gaelic, English, Russian, German, & French.

Durmstrang for two years, then Hogwarts (Gryffindor, Prefect C/O 62-pre timewarp, post timewarp C/O 1925 ), 4 years of further study in Transfiguration, Law/Politics, Summoning/Conjuring in Russia

Transfiguration and Politics of Magic Professor at Hogwarts for a total of 2 terms


Residence:
Hogsmeade Outskirts & Currently an unoccupied vacation home in Moscow, Russia

Division:
Spell Creator/Researcher Administration:  Irene has always been one who has loved to do research and experimentation in an attempt to be the one that finds the next big thing.  Her specialties were always Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring, Politics of Magic, and Potions, and she has always been an incredibly ambitious person who would do anything to achieve the next rank and to still be known long after she has passed from this world.  She has done a lot of traveling in her life, regarding research, and as a result has a large arsenal of a variety of spells, potions, transfigurations, summoning/conjuring at her disposal.  Irene has always been incredibly outgoing so she has no problems approaching others and trying to recruit them to a certain cause. 

Though she may have disagreed with the closure of Great Britain's borders originally, she is kind of veering away from that opinion as things have unfolded, and has begun to agree with the Wizarding Alliance's positions, though she hasn't gone as far as to join them as of yet.  Irene has always been incredibly resourceful, and a master of slyness when necessary.  She is an intelligent lady who has been leading research and experimentation for the past four years as the Time Chamber Head in the Department of Mysteries, so she would be perfect to be the head of the researchers for spell development.  She has always been above average when it came to academics, and even served as a professor at Hogwarts for two terms before she realized she didn't have the patience to deal with teenagers.  Another strength that Irene has is that she is fluent in English, German, Russian, and Irish-Gaelic, and nearly fluent in French thanks to her various relatives found throughout the world and the many visits to them throughout her life.  As a Spell Creator/Researcher administrator, because she knows so many different languages, she would be able to communicate with a variety of people, and assist in the recruitment of qualified individuals for spell developers and researchers.  She has above average charisma as well, so she can be quite persuasive and well-spoken when necessary, is very meticulous, and detail-oriented, so she can run a tight ship, just like she has been doing in the Time Chamber head once she took over the position.  If she hadn't possessed those traits, she would not have landed her current job as the Time Chamber Head of the Department of Mysteries after all.  Finally, as an administrator, she would be in charge of running the department smoothly, efficiently, and safely, just like she has been doing as Time Chamber Head.

 


Rank:
N/A

Specialty:
(Spell Creator/Researcher Administration)
For the past four years, Irene has been in charge of the Department of Mysteries Time Chamber and was heading research and experimentation with a combination of Transfiguration, Charms, and Summoning/Conjuring in an attempt to perhaps turn back the clock regarding aging, and hopefully find a cure to dangerous diseases.  Though she hasn't discovered the perfect method, yet, she continued to research and try a variety of spells.  However, when war broke up, her focus switched from what she had been doing to leading up research, discovery,  and experimentation with new spells in an attempt to give Great Britain and its allies a leg up over Germany and Germany's.  Because she has a significant amount of leadership experience as Time Chamber Head of the Department of Mysteries and a former Hogwarts Professor, she is incredibly qualified to run a department. That and she has a lot of research experience as well which is ideal for someone in the spell creation/research department.  She is incredibly detailed-oriented, and meticulous, so she is further qualified to run or at least be a high ranking administrative person.  Her biggest flaw, however, is probably the fact that she has a nasty temper, so it is quite possible that if someone doesn't follow protocol, she will really reem into them and not hesitate to fire them. Because of that, she may come off as a bit unapproachable at times, but she definely runs a very tight ship whenever put into charge of something.


Requested Magical Levels:  (see here on how to do this)
Keep her current levels of C12 D14 T20 S17[/i]
  • Charms: 12
  • Divination: 14.
  • Transfiguration: 20.
  • Summoning: 17

Please list any other characters you already have at the site:
John O'Conner (Hogwarts), Samantha Carlisle (BB), Elizabeth Vaelbe (Salem Divination Professor & Pawn Society Head), Alcina Theodora Lazos (BB grad of 1939, Muggle university student & part-time potions researcher), Kynan O'Conner (Head of O'Conner family, Wizengamot member, Part-Time Magical archivist), Amity Additson (Wandmaker Apprentice).

Biography: (300 words minimum.)
Personality & Such:

Who is Irene Cecily O’Conner?  It would depend on who and when you asked.

To her mother, Irene Louisa Schneider O’Conner Irene was the perfect O’Conner after Elizabeth went off the deep end and began spewing nonsense about how all people should be judged by ability rather than bloodlines. She has poise, influence, smarts, ability, and power.  However, if you asked the same question of Irene’s mother before Elizabeth went crazy, she would have said the opposite.  Her youngest daughter was brash, inappropriate, overly vocal and independent, and too sarcastic for her own good.  Amazing how things change over time.

To her father, Conan, former assistant head for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Irene always has been a unique girl who is often misunderstood and capable of so much if only she could get a grasp on her temper tantrums.

To her younger brother Connelly, she was his protector, teacher, mentor, loyal to a fault to her family who wanted nothing more than to leave an impact on the world before her time on this world was done. To her older brothers, Johnathan and Patrick, Irene was a strong woman who would one day make her family proud and someone they would lay their own life down to protect at any cost.

To her few friends, she was loyal, willing to always lend an ear and offer assistance to them if they needed it, cunning, a bit of a prankster, ambitious, intelligent, outgoing and sarcastic, but decent inside, and a bold young woman who wanted to break from tradition and be more than just a pretty face and good mother and wife. To her enemies, she was relentless, unyielding, and someone you didn’t want to cross.

To Irene herself, she was outgoing, not particularly brave, intelligent, a bookworm, ambitious, loyal to her family, had a good sense of humor, knew right from wrong, thought before she acted most of the time, and just misunderstood, and complicated.

Childhood History:

Irene was born on January 10, 1907 and it was apparent from the get go, she was unlike any O’Conner female before her.  At a young age, she cared more for Quidditch and learning than for frilly dresses and galas.  She of course liked those things sometimes, but she preferred to be outside experiencing life than cooped up in etiquette and music lessons.  Irene from a young age, loved to learn all that she could, regardless of the topic.  Well of course anything except muggle things as she had been brought up from a young age to think anything muggle related was inferior and not worth paying attention to.

Growing up she was constantly compared to her ‘perfect’ older sister Liz and it drove her crazy.  She would often act out so much to the point it would drive away her tutors and nannies. Irene always had a fiery temper and many vowed that would be her undoing one day, but Irene never paid any heed to their warnings.  The only reason she acted out so much was because she was starved for attention from her mother and as soon as Liz ‘went off the deep end’ as Irene’s relatives so elegantly put, Irene calmed down significantly.  Irene soon took over as being the ‘favorite daughter” and received so much attention she didn’t know how to react.  However, she soon adapted and was delighted with the outcome.  It served Liz right with her spewing off about blood equality.

Like all O’Conner children, Irene spent a lot of time around relatives and traveled often since her relatives were scattered throughout Britain, Ireland, Russia, and Germany.  Of all those places, Irene loved Russia the most and being around her Aunt Charlene Schenider-Yakov (Durmstrang Charms Professor) and her husband Gavrie Yerik Yakov (well-known and successful defense attorney) and their children, Natasha, Vladmir, and Yerik. Irene was ecstatic each and every time she was around them and was uncontrollably excited about the arrival of her eleventh birthday when she would be invited to go to Durmstrang and learn from her own mother (Arithmancy) and aunt (Charms).

Sure enough that was exactly what happened when Irene turned eleven.  She received the invite to go to Durmstrang and loved every minute she was there.  She was incredibly attentive in all of her classes and played Quidditch there. She was Keeper and was on cloud nine whilst there, especially when it came to exploring all the neat ice caves and classes like Transfiguration, Summoning/Conjuring, Dark Arts & Defense Against Them, and Divination.  All through her childhood, she was whisked off to social galas, fancy dinners, balls etc.  Irene enjoyed them for the most part, but at times it did grow to be a bit tedious.  Life seemed so perfect for Irene her first two years at Durmstrang, but then things changed.

Hogwarts Experiences In A Nutshell:

It was just before the start of her third year when Irene overheard a conversation between her mother, aunt, and father that changed everything and not for the better at first.  Irene’s mother was ambitious like Irene herself and was frustrated that she could never rise through the ranks to have more power and influence over young minds.  She had started at Durmstrang as a professor with lofty goals and aspirations that one day she might become Headmistress.  But it was never going to happen, and after 10 years, Irene’s mother was quitting. It was also during this conversation Irene heard her father was bored with his Ireland diplomat job in the Russian Ministry.  He wasn’t as enthralled with the inner working of politics as his father and relatives before him.  Rather, he had a tremendous passion to work with animals and had heard through the grapevine of an opportunity in the British Ministry of Magic’s Regulation & Control of Magic Creatures Department.

Needless to say, that meant Irene and her immediate family were leaving Russia.  Irene reverted to her tantrums in hopes to be allowed to stay with her aunt and uncle, but it had no effect.  She was stuck moving to just outside of Hogsmeade so her father could pursue his dream and mother focus solely on being a social butterfly and being influential that way.  Irene was going to Hogwarts whether she liked it or not.

And she did.  She was sorted into Gryffindor of all places.  That was more than just a little surprise as all of her relatives that had attended Hogwarts on her father’s side had been mostly Ravenclaw or Slytherins with an occasional Hufflepuff thrown in. The last and only other Gryffindor in the family line had been Turlough O’Conner, the last king of Ireland and Irene wasn’t sure what to make of her surprising sorting.  The hat spoke of leaving a great impact and other riddlesque hints when it sorted Irene.  Irene LOATHED Hogwarts especially the house she was in with all the idiotic moves made by her housemates.  None of them seemed to think before they acted EVER and Irene vowed that somehow the hat had been hoodwinked to sort her in such a place.

At Hogwarts, there were many ups and downs and Irene started out purposefully acting out, breaking rules, etc in hopes she would get thrown out of Hogwarts and able to go back to Durmstrang.  But none of it worked, and by the time her fifth year rolled around, Irene accepted her fate and started to turn her actions around.  Her only escape from the treachery that was Hogwarts at first was her art and Quidditch, but when she did turn her act around, she managed to snag titles right and left-valedictorian, salutarian, prefect.  It was truly night and day.

She played Seeker and Chaser on the House Team and spent countless hours outside in nature sketching and reading. She began to take things more seriously and buckled down of sorts, so much that when her sixth year rolled around she somehow managed to become a prefect and retain the title through her seventh year.

It was also about that time she found a new love besides Quidditch, Transfiguration, and Summoning/Conjuring, Politics of Magic courtesy of Professor Vasilijev, the same person who had shunned Irene’s older sister Liz when she had been sorted into Slytherin.  All through her terms at Hogwarts, there were very few people she considered friends.  They were Ty Battersea, a distant cousin of hers, Alexander Birch, Filius Pendragon, Anneka Ivanova, Izzy Snidget, and Shikamaru before he disappeared.  Irene had more enemies than friends and many acquaintances, but very few friends.  Of those people, the only ones she kept in touch with were Alexander Birch, Filius Pendragon, and Anneka Ivanova. Professor wise, the ones that inspired her the most were Professor Vasilijev, Professor Battersea, and to a certain extent Professor Renard, which truthfully was more of love one day, hate another day relationship.  But nonetheless she inspired Irene to an extent. Irene graduated Hogwarts in 1925.

Post Hogwarts History:

After graduating from Hogwarts, Irene returned to Russia and did four years of further study there in Transfiguration, Law, and Politics of Magic while working part time in a Lobbyist group that was calling for the end of the censorship of magic and maintain a distinct class system where purebloods were the leaders, everyone else reported to the purebloods and held less influential jobs.  When Elspeth Redgrave had been running for Mistress of Magic, Irene left Russia momentarily and worked valiantly alongside like minded folks and relatives to get her elected. Elspeth won the election and Irene was delighted, but returned to Moscow to finish her studies.

Once her studies were completed, Irene did a brief stint in the Ministry of Magic’s Department of Mysteries, but quickly got bored doing nothing but paperwork and not getting to do the hands on stuff she envisioned doing there and applied to Hogwarts for a professorship when she heard there were openings.  She was accepted and as a result taught Transfiguration one term and Politics of Magic a second term.  However, Irene soon found out she didn’t have the patience to deal with young witches and wizards like her mother and aunt had and longed to get more involved in Politics, so she resigned.

She returned to Moscow and became Chief Lobbyist of the group she had once been a secretary/clerk/intern for after working tirelessly for their cause, but to no avail.  That was when she heard rumours of a new movement sweeping Britain that seemed to want to end the censorship of magic and longed to be a part of it and see the inner workings of it.  That and though she loved hob-knobbing it with powerful people and debating, Irene wanted more.  She not only wanted power and influence, but she wanted to use her abilities in magic, too.  Her ideal job had always been one of power, influence, occasional debating or presentations, and using magic.

Consequently, she returned and by calling on old connections, both personal and family ones in the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Mysteries, found herself a job in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable and Head of the Time Chamber, eventually.  This job wasn’t filing or clerical in nature, thank Merlin.  Instead it focused on unsing her skills in Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring in the Time Chamber with the goal in mind of somehow being able to turn back the clock to prolong life and find ways to cure diseases.  It was and still is top secret stuff, but even though it is hard work, she has enjoyed it tremendously and raced through the ranks quickly. The biggest challenge was keeping what she did and where she worked to herself because she is and was so outgoing, but after several years now she has grown accustomed to it.

Though her focus up until now had been research using a combination of Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring to somehow turn back time to prolong life and to cure disease, now that war has begun, her focus has moved more toward researching and trying to discover new spells, potions, transfigurations, summoning/conjurings, etc., so that the wizarding community of Great Britain can get an upperhand over its enemy of Germany and Germany's allies and win the war.


Roleplay: Option 2

This was insane some people might say.  Why bother risking your own life as a spell researcher/creator when you had what some might say was a perfectly safe and prestigious job as a head of a chamber in the Department of Mysteries?  Two words, challenge and loyalty.  As a student, Irene may not have always been that friend you could always count on, well say except to the select few, and even today perhaps, but she was loyal to a fault when it came to wanting to protect her family, and their relatives.  The very safety of Great Britain, Ireland, etc. and a as a result, her family was being threatened, so even though one might say she had a perfectly safe job in the Department of Mysteries, she refused to just hide behind those well-protected doors/walls and let others do the fighting for her and her family. 

Irene wasn't trying to be brave, contrary to the fact that if anyone knew which house she had been in at Hogwarts (Gryffindor) , they would assume just that, but rather, she wanted to do her part.  Plus she was always up for a new challenge.  Though she loved her previous work in the Department of Mysteries, and had felt she had been making headway in finding a way to slow down the aging process, that work was starting to bore her, and she longed for another challenge.  That was what led her to try this administrative position in the spell development and research department.  The work she was doing here not only allowed her to continue to travel back and forth, recruit, hire, and interview people (all things she LOVED doing in the Department of mysteries, too), but what was developed here could really leave a lasting impact on history.  The spells, etc.  that was developed here that would lead to Great Britain's, and its allies' victories (which Irene was 100% sure in her mind would be the final outcome in the end), would be attached to her leadership abilities, and she would not ever be forgotten. And that lofty dream/goal, satisfied her intense ambition that she had always possessed.  If she succeeded doing this, then surely she'd not only be rewarded, but surely she would finally be promoted to Head of the Department of Mysteries when this all ended.

At least that was her perception at the moment, and nothing would convince Irene otherwise. Crazy?  Not likely, more like an ingenius plan.

The first task of the day set before her, besides to check on the progress of the latest research, a charm that was a cross by an old ancient Sanskrit spell and today's Protego which hypothetically, when put together would be able to establish an incredibly powerful invisible field around complete blocks of cities that would not only protect the area and all of its residents from muggle AND intense magical attacks for a long period of time, but even redirect any attacks made on it back at the attackers of course, but to peruse through the latest applicants for various research teams.  This was the part of her work that was tedious, but a necessary evil.  After all, only the best of the best could be allowed to join the department if it was to continue to run like a well-oiled machine, and efficiently.  She sighed as she read the name on the front, apparently a muggleborn that had nowhere to go because she was too old to remain in the orphanage at St. Mungo's and needed a job desperately.  Irene called for a pot of jasmine tea, as she reluctantly opened the file to read more about this particular applicant.  On one hand, people with nowhere else to go often turned out to be some of the best recruits because their loyalty seemed to never waver from their job.  After all, if they ended up being fired, and the way the job market was rather glum these days, they would be out on the streets perusing garbage and begging for handouts and most likely not last very long.  So they HAD to keep their job if they were to survive.  However, the problem was that this girl was a muggleborn, and honestly to this day, Irene never, ever, trusted muggleborns.  Maybe it would be best for her assistant to decide the fate of this one, after all her assistant wasn't quite as biased, and if her assistant made the mistake of recruiting this one, well then it wouldn't be Irene's fault at all, and the blame would be placed all on her.  Yep, best to leave the decision up to her assistant for this one.

*"Nicki, come here for a minute,"  Irene called out to her assistant "What do you think about this one?  She has decent grades, but very few character references. You look over this file, while I look over the next one, okay.  Care for some tea at all?"

And with that Irene waited for a reply.[/i]

OOC:  *I hope you don't mind me making up an NPC for Irene's assistant.  I can alter that part out if you want, though!  Just let me know!  Thanks!

3
Thank you very much, Professor Tibble and all you lubberly admins!  *blows kisses*

Appreciate it tremendously!   :)

4

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Irene Cecily O’Conner
Gender: Female
Age: Born January 10, 1944, so that makes her 29

Education & Experiences: 

Up until age 11, Irene was tutored by private tutors and family members like all O’Conners (O’Connors)in history, the arts, science, magic, math, writing, reading, Irish Gaelic, Russian, German,& French.

Durmstrang for two years, then Hogwarts (Gryffindor, Prefect C/O 62), 4 years of further study in Transfiguration, Law, Summoning/Conjuring in Russia

Transfiguration and Politics of Magic Professor at Hogwarts for a total of 2 terms


Residence:

Hogsmeade Outskirts, Vacation home in Russia

Occupation:
Unspeakable and Head of the Time Chamber

Do you plan to have a connection to a particular existing place (example St Mungo's, the Ministry, Shrieking Shack) or to take over an existing shop in need of new management?
I plan to have Irene become an Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic and Head of the Time Chamber.

Requested Magic Levels:
  • Charms: Type 11
  • Transfiguration: 20
  • Divination: 14
  • Summoning: 17

Reasoning for Higher Levels: The reasoning for her having higher level is two-fold.  First, she was a professor at Hogwarts for two terms.  She served as the Transfiguration Professor and Politics of Magic Professor and those were her levels then and it is unlikely I would think that as years passed, her levels would go down.  Also, she would need higher levels in order to undertake sometimes rather dangerous work in the Ministry of Magic where her main job (highly classified of course) is to see if there is a way time can be slowed down or reversed that would prolong life as well as maybe lead to a breakthrough that might lead to cures of deadly diseases by manipulating the progression of them through time.

Do you wish to be approved as a group with any other characters? If so who and for what IC reason?
Not at the moment

Please list any other characters you already have at the site:
Amity Addision, John O’Conner

Special Phrase: Tibbles’ (magnificent as always) Beard of Power

Biography: (300 words minimum.)


Personality & Such:

Who is Irene Cecily O’Conner?  It would depend on who and when you asked. 

To her mother, Irene Louisa Schneider O’Conner Irene was the perfect O’Conner after Elizabeth went off the deep end and began spewing nonsense about how all people should be judged by ability rather than bloodlines. She has poise, influence, smarts, ability, and power.  However, if you asked the same question of Irene’s mother before Elizabeth went crazy, she would have said the opposite.  Her youngest daughter was brash, inappropriate, overly vocal and independent, and too sarcastic for her own good.  Amazing how things change over time. 

To her father, Conan, former assistant head for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, Irene always has been a unique girl who is often misunderstood and capable of so much if only she could get a grasp on her temper tantrums.

To her younger brother Connelly, she was his protector, teacher, mentor, loyal to a fault to her family who wanted nothing more than to leave an impact on the world before her time on this world was done. To her older brothers, Johnathan and Patrick, Irene was a strong woman who would one day make her family proud and someone they would lay their own life down to protect at any cost.

To her few friends, she was loyal, willing to always lend an ear and offer assistance to them if they needed it, cunning, a bit of a prankster, ambitious, intelligent, outgoing and sarcastic, but decent inside, and a bold young woman who wanted to break from tradition and be more than just a pretty face and good mother and wife. To her enemies, she was relentless, unyielding, and someone you didn’t want to cross.

To Irene herself, she was outgoing, not particularly brave, intelligent, a bookworm, ambitious, loyal to her family, had a good sense of humor, knew right from wrong, thought before she acted most of the time, and just misunderstood, and complicated. 

Childhood History:

Irene was born on January 10, 1944 and it was apparent from the get go, she was unlike any O’Conner female before her.  At a young age, she cared more for Quidditch and learning than for frilly dresses and galas.  She of course liked those things sometimes, but she preferred to be outside experiencing life than cooped up in etiquette and music lessons.  Irene from a young age, loved to learn all that she could, regardless of the topic.  Well of course anything except muggle things as she had been brought up from a young age to think anything muggle related was inferior and not worth paying attention to. 

Growing up she was constantly compared to her ‘perfect’ older sister Liz and it drove her crazy.  She would often act out so much to the point it would drive away her tutors and nannies. Irene always had a fiery temper and many vowed that would be her undoing one day, but Irene never paid any heed to their warnings.  The only reason she acted out so much was because she was starved for attention from her mother and as soon as Liz ‘went off the deep end’ as Irene’s relatives so elegantly put, after being at Hogwarts after much begging to transfer from Durmstrang, Irene calmed down significantly.  Irene soon took over as being the ‘favorite daughter” and received so much attention she didn’t know how to react.  However, she soon adapted and was delighted with the outcome.  It served Liz right with her spewing off about blood equality.

Like all O’Conner children, Irene spent a lot of time around relatives and traveled often since her relatives were scattered throughout Britain, Ireland, Russia, and Germany.  Of all those places, Irene loved Russia the most and being around her Aunt Charlene Schenider-Yakov (Durmstrang Charms Professor) and her husband Gavrie Yerik Yakov (well-known and successful defense attorney) and their children, Natasha, Vladmir, and Yerk. Irene was ecstatic each and every time she was around them and was uncontrollably excited about the arrival of her eleventh birthday when she would be invited to go to Durmstrang and learn from her own mother (Arithmancy) and aunt (Charms).

Sure enough that was exactly what happened when Irene turned eleven.  She received the invite to go to Durmstrang and loved every minute she was there.  She was incredibly attentive in all of her classes and played Quidditch there. She was Keeper and was on cloud nine whilst there, especially when it came to exploring all the neat ice caves and classes like Transfiguration, Summoning/Conjuring, Dark Arts & Defense Against Them, and Divination.  All through her childhood, she was whisked off to social galas, fancy dinners, balls etc.  Irene enjoyed them for the most part, but at times it did grow to be a bit tedious.  Life seemed so perfect for Irene her first two years at Durmstrang, but then things changed.

Hogwarts Experiences In A Nutshell:

It was just before the star of her third year when Irene overheard a conversation between her mother, aunt, and father that changed everything and not for the better at first.  Irene’s mother was ambitious like Irene herself and was frustrated that she could never rise through the ranks to have more power and influence over young minds.  She had started at Durmstrang as a professor with lofty goals and aspirations that one day she might become Headmistress.  But it was never going to happen, and after 10 years, Irene’s mother was quitting. It was also during this conversation Irene heard her father was bored with his Ireland diplomat job in the Russian Ministry.  He wasn’t as enthralled with the inner working of politics as his father and relatives before him.  Rather, he had a tremendous passion to work with animals and had heard through the grapevine of an opportunity in the British Ministry of Magic’s Regulation & Control of Magic Creatures Department.

Needless to say, that meant Irene and her immediate family were leaving Russia.  Irene reverted to her tantrums in hopes to be allowed to stay with her aunt and uncle, but it had no effect.  She was stuck moving to just outside of Hogsmeade so her father could pursue his dream and mother focus solely on being a social butterfly and being influential that way.  Irene was going to Hogwarts whether she liked it or not.

And she did.  She was sorted into Gryffindor of all places.  That was more than just a little surprise as all of her relatives that had attended Hogwarts on her father’s side had been mostly Ravenclaw or Slytherins with an occasional Hufflepuff thrown in. The last and only other Gryffindor in the family line had been Turlough O’Conner, the last king of Ireland and Irene wasn’t sure what to make of her surprising sorting.  The hat spoke of leaving a great impact and other riddlesque hints when it sorted Irene.  Irene LOATHED Hogwarts especially the house she was in with all the idiotic moves made by her housemates.  None of them seemed to think before they acted EVER and Irene vowed that somehow the hat had been hoodwinked to sort her in such a place.

At Hogwarts, there were many ups and downs and Irene started out purposefully acting out, breaking rules, etc in hopes she would get thrown out of Hogwarts and able to go back to Durmstrang.  But none of it worked, and by the time her fifth year rolled around, Irene accepted her fate and started to turn her actions around.  Her only escape from the treachery that was Hogwarts at first was her art and Quidditch, but when she did turn her act around, she managed to snag titles right and left-valedictorian, salutarian, prefect.  It was truly night and day.

She played Seeker and Chaser on the House Team and spent countless hours outside in nature sketching and reading. She began to take things more seriously and buckled down of sorts, so much that when her sixth year rolled around she somehow managed to become a prefect and retain the title through her seventh year. 

It was also about that time she found a new love besides Quidditch, Transfiguration, and Summoning/Conjuring, Politics of Magic courtesy of Professor Vasilijev, the same person who had shunned Irene’s older sister Liz when she had been sorted into Slytherin.  All through her terms at Hogwarts, there were very few people she considered friends.  They were Ty Battersea, a distant cousin of hers, Anneka Ivanova, and Shikamaru before he disappeared.  Irene had more enemies than friends and many acquaintances, but very few friends.  Of those people, the only ones she has kept in touch with are Ty Battersea and Anneka Ivanova. Professor wise, the ones that inspired her the most were Professor Vasilijev, Professor Battersea, and to a certain extent Professor Renard, which truthfully was more of love one day, hate another day relationship.  But nonetheless she inspired Irene to an extent. Irene graduated Hogwarts in 1962.

Post Hogwarts History:

After graduating from Hogwarts, Irene returned to Russia and did four years of further study there in Transfiguration, Law, and Politics of Magic while working part time in a Lobbyist group that was calling for the end of the censorship of magic and maintain a distinct class system where purebloods were the leaders, everyone else reported to the purebloods and held less influential jobs.  When Elspeth Redgrave had been running for Mistress of Magic, Irene left Russia momentarily and worked valiantly alongside like minded folks and relatives to get her elected. Elspeth won the election and Irene was delighted, but returned to Moscow to finish her studies.

Once her studies were completed, Irene did a brief stint in the Ministry of Magic’s Department of Mysteries, but quickly got bored doing nothing but paperwork and not getting to do the hands on stuff she envisioned doing there and applied to Hogwarts for a professorship when she heard there were openings.  She was accepted and as a result taught Transfiguration one term and Politics of Magic a second term.  However, Irene soon found out she didn’t have the patience to deal with young witches and wizards like her mother and aunt had and longed to get more involved in Politics, so she resigned.

She returned to Moscow and became Chief Lobbyist of the group she had once been a secretary/clerk for after working tirelessly for their cause, but to no avail.  That was when she heard rumours of a new movement sweeping Britain that seemed to want to end the censorship of magic and longed to be a part of it and see the inner workings of it.  Consequently, she returned and by calling on old connections, both personal and family ones in the Ministry of Magic and the Department of Mysteries, found herself a job in the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable and Head of the Time Chamber.  This job isn’t filing or clerical in nature, thank Merlin.  Instead it has her using her skills in Transfiguration and Summoning/Conjuring in the Time Chamber with the goal in mind of somehow being able to turn back the clock to prolong life and find ways to cure diseases.  It is of course top secret stuff, but even though it is hard work, she is enjoying it so far. 

 


Exceptional Character ROLEPLAY

Mr. Grunch smirked as stepped into the shadows beneath the overhanging eaves at the side of the street. There was a sort of alcove here, where two buildings came together, and the wall was set back just a couple of feet to make space for a drain from the battered lead guttering. It made it difficult to see if anyone was standing there until you were almost on top of it, and the shape of the roof up above cast an almost permanent shadow even then.

There were a number of such places along Knockturn Alley and Mr. Grunch knew them all.

Seeing nobody was nearby, he quickly cast the concealment spell that would obscure his features, making him unrecognisable, just a blur beneath the cowl of his thick, but worn, robes. He knew his target, had identified them some time before, as they entered the Alley. He had shadowed them, discretely, and now, he knew, they were heading back out again, towards the safety of the better lit Diagon Alley.

He heard the footsteps approaching. This was it, then. Just before they reached the alcove, he stepped out suddenly in front of his target, wand raised and ready.

"Give me all yer galleons, and any jewellery yer got! Don't try to hide nothin', 'cos I'll know, right? Do it now!"

My Response:
Irene was no stranger to Knockturn Alley and the undesirables that resided within its confines.  Hence, whenever she found herself in that area, she always was on high alert.  She had always been fascinated with the Dark Arts, something she inherited from her Russian & German relatives.  Though she was fascinated with them, she was not a bonifide dark witch really.  But she could definitely hold her own.

 Irene might have dabbled in them a bit, and knew all about them, but she wasn’t obsessed with them. Being the responsible person she was, Irene never used them against another unless she thought her life or a family member’s life was in danger.  She saw nothing wrong with them when used responsibly. She had already been an avid devourer of any knowledge and thought it a terrible waste to leave any stone unturned.  And of course, like all O’Conner members, lusted for power and influence too and to Irene knowledge was power.  It also helped that Irene had always been incredibly vocal about ending the censorship of magic courtesy of her upbringing. 

Today she was in the Alley because she wanted to purchase updated versions of Dark Arts books and pick up a cursed necklace that was said to steal years from a person’s life while rendering them powerless when coming into contact with a person’s skin for Ministry business that might unlock a key to manipulating time.  She doubted it was a legitimate claim, but one never knew unless tests were made on it. 

She was met with a wand pointed directly at her by someone under the guise of a concealment charm.  Typical, good for nothing thug.  It wasn’t exactly a creative move.  But Irene played his game.  He would soon see he should have chosen a victim more wisely.  Acting flustered Irene gulped and began to remove her ruby and golden earrings, her matching gold bracelet, and unwrapped the so called cursed platinum, diamond, and gold locket and thrust it onto concealed the man’s hand with the other valuables. 
“Okay, you asked for everything, I’m giving it to you, okay.”
If the claim actually worked the man would be incapacitated momentarily, just long enough for Irene to react in defense. No better time than the present to test the claim, she supposed.   

Simultaneously, she reached into her purse that held her galleons and acted like she was going to hand them all over to the man and instead of galleons what emerged was her wand and in a quick, silent cast she attempted a Transfiguration on the man’s hand holding the wand that would change it from a solid form to a gaseous one (commutati vaporus) and hopefully cause him to drop his own wand long enough for Irene to deliver a quick kick in the stomach and fire a curse his way that would allow her to get away.

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