Hogwarts School: A Harry Potter RPG

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character Name: Pepper Grace Kedding
Gender: Female
Age: 38

Education: 
Hogwarts ~ Slytherin, Class of 1954
Healer Training and Residency, St. Mungo's

Residence:
No. 88 Zither Circle, Penthouse in Dilapidated Brick Domicile, Knockturn Alley

Applying to be: Department Head

**If Department Head, please also fill out the section here Please note that the number of slots for this are limited.

Department of choice: (select one, descriptions here)
Magical Psychology

Why did you request that particular department?
Pepper is a bit...invasive. She likes head games so much that she decided to pursue a career path that played to her strengths and what better than Magical Psychology to achieve that end? The intricate way the mind works had always fascinated her, particularly when it comes to magically induced lapses in memory or assessing patients with special gifts. Of course, this might also have something to do with the fact that she enjoys dabbling with Muggle-based approaches to psychology and incorporating it with traditional wizarding Healing techniques while assessing patients. She's open-minded, patient and thorough.

...her bedside manner, however, could use some work.

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

• Charms: 11
• Transfiguration: 9
• Divination: 13
• Summoning: 7

Please list any other characters you already have at the site:
Juniper Kedding, Wayne Ballard Clausewitz, Angel Dumont

Biography: (300 words minimum.)
"We're not here to talk about me. We're here to talk about you."

Annoying. Pepper had always loathed when a particularly crafty patient attempted to turn the conversation around if only to avoid having her poke around where they thought she didn't belong. Her legs uncrossed, then recrossed at the ankle as she willed the quill that was busy scratching away to cease its motions. "Mr. Hinklebert, let me remind you that the only time you're wasting is your own. Now, we can either speed this along with your cooperation or we can sit here and talk in circles until your hour is up. The choice is yours."

---

A saccharine smile touched scarlet lips as she gestured for the balding wizard to exit her office. No sooner had he evacuated the premises did the door did the door shut firmly behind him and the top two buttons of her blouse came undone. He was her last patient for the day and she didn't need to continue with the pretense of propriety. She didn't know how many times she had been asked to speak about herself by cheeky headcases, but who was the doctor here and who was the patient? She didn't need anyone muddling about in the recesses of her mind. After all, knowledge was power and the one with the most information always had the upper hand. The less people knew about her, the better off she would always be.

Sprawling out upon upon her sofa, she languished for a few moments as inky lashes drew to a close. Being the Head could be so tiresome, but she had never imagined herself as anything else. Kedding was a name that was synonymous with St. Mungo's and it was only natural to pursue a career in Healing. It had been expected of her and she wasn't the type to fight predestination. All roads always lead to St. Mungo's much the way they had lead to her assuming the role of Head of Family.

She didn't fight fate. She embraced it gently with open arms. Some people were destined for greatness and others were intended to fade into obscurity. For her, it had always been a smooth ascent rather than a treacherous uphill climb to the top of the proverbial food chain. Healing, science, magic...they called to her and she had answered. Unfortunately, it left little time for trivial things like marriage and children. That ship had sailed and she regretted nothing.

Roleplay:
Reply as your character to the following:

"Coming through!"

The double doors burst open as the newly-minted Junior Healer shoved through, dodging the milling patients and staff and leaving behind a trail of parchment. The doors stayed open just long enough to allow a glimpse of the scene beyond - a riot of noise, colours and gesticulating arms - before closing again.

It was Archibald Forrester's first day on the job, and while his professors had warned him it could get hectic at St. Mungo's, he'd never imagined it'd be quite like this. Arms transfigured and somehow regrafted onto someone's head, an Auror coughing up rainbows after a dust-up with a gang of young hooligans in Knockturn, and oh - that patient up on the fourth floor that was running around telling people he was Merlin reborn. And that was just the cases that had come in in the last hour.

It had to be time for his shift to be over, right?

He gave up the lost bits of parchment as a lost cause and cast a frantic Tempus. One minute. Heaving a sigh of relief,  his eyes instantly began darting around to find a convenient on-duty person to hand his load over to. Shoes - bought at the nice medical suppliers and outfitters just down the street - squeaked on the floor as he weaved and skidded around corners, before finally stopping in front of the first figure he found.

"Here. Here are all the charts - the arms for the Transfig patient seem to be morphing into tentacles, and Healer Wilberforce says we need to operate now but needs a second opinion - the Auror's squad captain is outside demanding to know what's been keeping the treatment and uh - "

A few floors up, muffled thumping and howling could barely be heard, but Archie winced anyway.

"Right. Mr. Merlin's somehow gotten hold of a wand and now the entire psych wing believes in him too - for the love of all that's magical, take this, please!"

---

Flats.
 
How she loathed them. Modest pumps made her legs look infinitely longer, but instead she was reduced to sporting hideous flats that were so white that they were nearly blinding. It had all been the Director’s idea and she was supposed to set an example. Honestly, she thought he just had a personal vendetta against her choice in footwear. Regardless, she had complied along with the rest of the lot and instead made her annoyance known by sporting a scowl for the week. Most residents couldn’t tell the difference between her mad and happy faces anyway.
 
The squeaking of said detestable shoes alerted her to a frazzled mess of a Junior Healer; hair all unkempt, cheeks rouged and palms likely sweaty. “Fresh meat.” The words were uttered mostly under her breath as she kept her eyes upon the magical assignment board that was eternally writing and erasing cases. Her arms remained crossed over her chest, but that hardly stopped the poor greenhorn from attempting to dump his piles of parchment into her arms. Apparently, he didn’t know who she was. How precious.
 
She listened to him babble and kept her face impassive, but a brow gradually lifted as she waited for him to continue. “And? Is that all?” He had finally stopped talking. “Do you feel better now?” He looked like he was about to pass out at any given moment. Kids. “First, the Transfiguration patient is experiencing an uncontrolled transformation. He needs to be sedated. The symptoms worsen with panic.” She glanced back to the board, shifted the pile of parchment in her arms and gingerly flicked her wand to add a name to that particular case. “I’ve assigned Healer Abernathy to soothe the patient.” There was a pause, then another flick of her wand. “And requested assistance from the Emergency and Triage unit for a second opinion.”
 
A glance was spared in the direction of the door that he had breezed through and she heaved a light sigh. Aurors could be so bloody pushy. Patience was never their virtue. “It’s only been twenty minutes.” Her wand lowered back to her side and she tucked it temporarily into one of the pockets of her lab robes. Snapping her fingers twice at a brunette who was whisking past with a food cart, she issued out another stern order. “Hemmingway, there’s an Auror in the waiting area who could use a soothing cup of tea. Make it chamomile. Touch of honey. Chop chop.” Her eyes rolled upwards at the sudden series of muffled thumps and howls that permeated the floors. Psych ward. Her domain.
 
“That would be Miles Templeton. No need to panic. He’s totally harmless. After all, he has no magical talent. Just a Squib with a complex. Easily placated with a simple you’re a big, strong wizard encouragement speech, but I can’t very well have him leading some nonsensical rebellion. I’ll handle that personally.” She rambled off the assessment before digging about in another pocket. “Oh, and Forrester? You should take a few deep breaths. You’re likely experiencing a panic attack. Very common on first days. It gets better. Really.” She hardly sounded convincing, but still managed a saccharine smile when she finally found what she had been fishing for. A cherry sucker was held up as a peace offering. “Good job today. Go home. Have a night cap. Sleep. Come back in the morning and do it all over again.”

Exceptional Characters
Characters wishing to be an auror, healer, or other character with more than the usual 32 magic levels should reply to the following RP scenario:

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!"

Roleplay Response:

It was late and Pepper Grace Kedding was positively exhausted. Her ward in particular had been overflowing with unusual mental ailments of all varieties today and she wondered if it had anything to do with the fact that it was a full moon. The lunar cycle never failed to bring out the less-than-sound of mind in droves and it only ever resulted in a headache for her as well as the rest of the Healers under her command.

Control had finally been regained after taming the wild masses, but it was late and all she wanted to do was down a pint, crawl her way back to the shoddy flat she owned and snuggle with her obese tabby cat, Mr. Chubbington Pibbs the Third. She'd managed the first task well enough for there were always plenty of dimly light, dingy pubs to loiter in at this hour of the night. Wobbling along in her favourite fashionable pumps, she grimaced at the thought of another day catering to the needy as soon as the sun rose enough to filter through the shutters that blocked her window.

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

It took a moment to process that the words that were flowing from the the little gremlin-like hobbity man were indeed the Queen's English. A blonde brow lifted to her hair line as painted lips twisted into a frown of disapproval. Blue eyes dropped lethargically to note the wand that was being jabbed in her direction and she heaved a weary sigh. "Old hat." Thieves, panhandlers and other shifty varieties made up the local wildlife of Knockturn Alley. It was only natural that the man had chosen to target a lone woman with expensive taste in shoes.

"Put that silly thing away. I doubt you even know what to do with it." His hand was shaking and even with the way the world was currently spinning, Pepper was still observant enough to know an amateur when she saw one. Sloppy. "Anyone worth their salt knows not to carry more than a few sickles on their person in these parts and does it look like I'm wearing any jewelry? The most expensive things on me right now are these pumps and I'm afraid they don't run in your size, so why don't you just turn around, walk away and reevaluate your piss poor life choices while I stumble home and collapse on the sofa?"

OTHER
How did you find us?
Recommendation

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DEPARTMENT HEAD QUESTIONS
Answer these questions only if you are applying to be a department head as well.

Department requested: (select one)
Magical Psychology

Please outline a sample case thread your department might handle, along with where others in your department might be able to jump in (200 words minimum):
Juniper Kedding is a seventh year Hogwarts student who is currently undergoing some very difficult training within the Ministry in order to become a full-fledged Animagus. Unfortunately, it has an extremely low probability of success and most trainees bow out after experiencing grotesque Transfiguration accidents. Not only do such patients have to deal with the physical change from human into animal, but they also must learn to cope with having a human mind within an animal body. This is before any of the animal's inherent instincts come into play. The effect of such an ability has the great risk of driving someone into insanity and as such most trainees (Juniper Kedding in this particular case) eventually find their way to the Magical Psychology department seeking help.

However, the Magical Psychology department is ready to alleviate the mental trauma that comes along with such an ability. By offering counseling sessions throughout the course of the candidate's training, the department can aim to make this particular trainee a successful Animagus with minimal psychological trauma. There is plenty of opportunity for all members of the department to jump in as Healers can use this particular case as an example to train Junior Healers in how to assist those patients with special abilities.

Please outline a sample departmental plot your department might experience, along with where others in your department might be able to jump in (200 words minimum):
The Magical Psychology department has the possibility of working in conjunction with the Ministry of Magic. There Ministry has imposed numerous regulations for those talented witches and wizards who possess rare talents and most are required to register their abilities with the Ministry. In an effort to maintain order and to assure that such special abilities are not abused, the Ministry could require regular psychological evaluations for those with unusual magical skills. Likewise, this could extend to Aurors as well considering the stress that comes along with the nature of their job (quite a lot of nasty crimes and that can do things to a person).

In this way, we could involve the entirety of the department, those with strong magical levels/special abilities and hopefully Ministry members as well by creating an influx of cases. Healers can work with Junior Healers to evaluate each individual on a case-by-case basis. If such occurrences are regular, then said Healer and Junior Healer have to the potential to build up a trusting relationship with the patient in question. Private, confidential files containing the results/findings of said evaluations can then be forwarded to the Ministry. There is always the possibility of a breach of confidentiality somewhere in this process and that could lead to further departmental plots.

How would you propose increasing activity in your department (get other non-St. Mungos people in on threads)? Why would people want to RP there just for fun?
The doors of this particular department are always open to the public. Anyone from any background or age group can come in for a counseling session or psychological evaluation at any point in time. There's likely also a permanent section of the ward for patients who are thus far incurable (victims of dark magic spell damage for example) and need constant care/supervision. This section of the department should theoretically be open for visiting hours to friends and family.

If for nothing else, Pepper likes to give out lollipops to good patients.