Venus Lind

[Katya Volkova]

Application for Hogwarts School

→ CHARACTER INFORMATION.
Name: Venus Annette Lind

Birthday: Born on August 12th 1929 (year before time warp: 1967)

Hometown: London

Bloodline: Halfblood

Magical Strength (pick one): Transfiguration

Magical Weakness (pick one): Charms

Year (pick two): 4th, 3rd

Biography:
Mid-December, 1966 (before warp)
St. Mary's Inn
English countryside, outside Oxford, England

25 year-old Vesper Lind was enjoying a brief vacation away from everything magic. She had had a tough last couple of weeks at her workplace ... namely secretary at a major wizarding law firm in London. The young woman wanted a time out from everything for a few days, without contact with the magical world. She knew there would be another tough last few days at work before the Christmas holidays, hence why she needed this getaway to recharge.

When she had arrived at the front desk earlier that day, she had bumped into a handsome dark-haired gentleman. Vesper had found him rather attractive. He had apologized courteously, then he had grabbed hold of his key and had gone upstairs. She had felt a bit disappointed that the man hadn't stayed around longer ... There had been something mysterious about him, but she hadn't been able to figure out what that was.

Until later that evening ... There was a brief noise and her eyes opened, only to find herself with a hand over her mouth. It was the mysterious gentleman from the front desk! In a brief explanation, he mentioned that there were two shady individuals at the inn that were after a document in his possession. A very important document, destined for the higher muggle authorities. He needed a place to hide for the night. Somewhat flustered, Vesper hesitated to answer. He was a muggle. She wasn't. Should she ... ?

In the end, she accepted ... Seeing that she was somewhat out of sorts, the man thought about comforting her and reassuring her that she would be safe with him. However, the mixture between a vulnerable and beautiful young woman and the charming, mysterious and attractive man, plus adding the tension in the air inevitably led to more than just comforting.

The two shady individuals did arrive later that night. But the man was ready for them and made quick work of them, before asking the innkeeper to call in the authorities. Supposedly, they had tried to break into Vesper's room for ... something else entirely. The story had been prearranged, so Vesper was ready to back it up. The gentleman had left before the police arrived ... not without a parting kiss for the damsel in distress. And a name. Michael ... Michael Darrow.

9 months later
St. Mungo's Hospital, London, England

Screaming and more screaming. And then silence.

A baby girl was born.

6 years passed

Young Venus had grown up slowly but surely. She had been constantly wondering where was her father. Her mother had given no answer to that ... because she had never seen him again. It had been just a one-night fling. That was all. Still, Venus had wanted to at least see him once. Unfortunately, there had been no starting point because any attempt to look for him had hit the wall right away. So ... there had been no answers.

The young girl had often lost her temper over this, because she had been used to receive everything on the proverbial silver platter. A figure of speech, of course ... The Linds were a rather old and rich pureblood family from Sweden and Venus' grandmother, Evelina, had been the one to break away from the far north, looking for a different style of life, and had brought this branch of the family to Britain before World War II had started. Her daughter, Vesper, hadn't been the typical spoiled rich girl that one would expect from such a family. But Venus was ... and continued to act like a spoiled brat everytime something wouldn't go her way.

This spoiled act of the youngster continued with her stubborness had led her grandmother to a very old friend of hers who had promised to try and find out where could this Darrow character be found. It had taken a few good months until an answer came back. A few big favors had been called in ... Venus would be able to meet her father in about a week's time.

The answer had come on December 30th 1974.

And less than two days later, as we all know, disaster struck ... Time shifted backwards.

Post-time warp

Venus continued to grow up, not remembering anything about that meeting with her father. That meeting that she had been so close to achieve. Just that he was somewhere out there. But she still wasn't happy about it. The fact that she didn't have a father around ... that just sucked majorly to her. On her side, Vesper didn't remember much about Nigel either. Whenever asked, she would just say that he had been just a stranger in the night, one time at an inn. That was all. She didn't try to get involved again in a proper relationship, despite Venus' insistence. The woman felt that she might be better off single with Venus for the time being. Maybe she would try in the near future.

The lessons about magic started for Venus soon after the warp. Evelina was the one responsible with the teaching of the youngster ... Venus wasn't terribly receptive about the lessons though, screaming often that magic had left her without a father (without really knowing that she was correct about that). Every now and then though, their family's caretaker/butler, Francis, would find the young girl more receptive and teach her a few things.

Unfortunately, things deteriorated further for Venus. September 7th 1940 came ... Her mother was visiting a friend in London, when the bombing began. Her friend escaped miraculously, but she didn't make it home. That evening, the dreadful news arrived to the Lind mansion. The announcement was met with screaming and tears. A long mourning followed.

Time moved along. Venus was now officially an orphan. All she had left was the house which had been left to her through will (her mother had been cautious enough to make one once the War had started), her grandmother which got appointed her legal guardian and Francis (who had also turned into her closest friend, since the tragedy of her mother's passing). And magic. Venus was even less receptive about the lessons than before. Evelina decided to let Francis take over with the lessons, since the young girl was listening to him a bit more.

Her 11th birthday came and went. The letter from Hogwarts came, but Venus ignored it. Neither Evelina nor Francis had said anything to her, but were wondering between themselves what would become of the girl. As months went by, Venus started to pay a bit more attention to magic lessons, but still not fully there and still bitter about everything. She became rather interested in Transfiguration ... since that gave the ability to change the appearance of things. And she wanted to change her appearance at some point. Nails would be done quicker ... No zits. And stuff like that. Except she realized soon that she was nowhere near the level of ability required for that. Which frustrated her further.

After a very long thinking process, Venus finally decided to go to school. Lessons at home were nice, but Francis could only really teach her so much. There was also a chance of making some friends. Hopefully. Moreover, there was only so much space to fly around. Apparently, Hogwarts had large grounds and a Quidditch pitch even. She was getting rather interested in that. Professional players were getting paid a lot of money. She needed a big payday from magic ... It owed her a whole big lot for making her an orphan. So that settled it. She would go to Hogwarts, train like crazy to become a very good Quidditch player, learn something extra from classes plus make some friends in the process and then she could go off and earn money.

So she could buy the world someday.

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

House Request: I will leave it to the Hat. However ... I would like to tell the Hat not to say 'Slytherin'. Too many of those lately for me. <3

Personality:

Bitter. Frustrated. Angry at the world. Alone. That's how Venus is at current time. She would sympathize with orphans, being in the same situation and all, but not too much. She prefers loneliness to company, with very few exceptions.

Also she prefers looking for shortcuts in life, since she considers that life is in debt to her. Especially when it comes to classes and a future job. Money certainly helps finding shortcuts ... at least that's what Venus believes. Whether that's right or wrong, she doesn't really care at this time.

Appearance:

Venus is quite short, 4-foot-2. Some say it's the perfect height for a seeker in a school Quidditch team. Or at least she likes to think so. She has long brown hair, that she sometimes pulls up in a bun. Also, piercing green eyes. Her grandmother often says that it's like Venus stole them from her mother Vesper, exact same nuance and glitter.

→ SAMPLE ROLEPLAY.


“Oh, come now!"

Astrid Bixby’s voice carried down the corridor, the tall blonde girl not far behind. Her interviewee – or victim, depending on perspective – turned a corner and she frowned. They were always so elusive when she needed them. Sure, they would talk as if there was no tomorrow during class, but once she actually needed them to say something, they were nowhere to be found. Gryffindors.

Flustered, Astrid stopped in the middle of the corridor and stared, her parchment hanging limply from her hand. She was a good reporter, really, and she always did her best to make sure that everything she wrote was accurate. She glanced down to the quill, eyeing it with disdain. It wasn’t her fault if her quill misquoted. How was she supposed to know? It made for interesting articles, at least, and if she had misquoted the Head Boy last term as saying he had a love for stuffed animals, then that gave him personality. Astrid sighed.

A pout formed on her lips as she turned away, discouraged. The corridor was mercifully empty, though the doors to The Spellbound – the school newspaper – were ominously closed. Corbridge was a mercifully sweet editor, but Astrid was terrified of disappointing her all the same. She had to come back with quotes.

Her eyes, blue, trailed her surroundings before choosing a new path, and she turned down a new corridor. A figure was ahead, and her eyes lit up, an impossibly rosy smile blossoming across her lips.

“Hey!” Astrid called, her voice light and singsong. She trotted to catch the person, her shoes clicking on the stone floor. “Wait up! It’s for the paper!” Her legs aided her admittedly poor running, and Astrid gasped as she came closer. “What do you think about serving frog legs at lunch? Some say it’s a delicacy, but others think it’s plain gross.”

Reply

It was a quiet day. Well, it had been until the screaming began in the nearby corridor. Venus was sitting down on the floor, staring blankly at a parchment. It was a letter from her Grams, asking about how things were going at school. What should she say? That she hadn't made any friends yet? That classes were borderline acceptable but that she didn't feel like participating during them? That her only interest so far were the Quidditch practice sessions? Ok, so the last part was somewhat positive but ... only barely. The real question was: did she really care if it would be something positive in the letter or not? Not really. She didn't want to lie to her Grams. The woman had been nice to her. That was not the way to treat people that were nice to you.

Especially if they were family.

Sound of footsteps approaching. She didn't want to talk to anybody. When spotting who that was ... Astrid Bixby. Even less of a chance. Venus stood up and began walking in the opposite direction. Except the blonde was persistent. Couldn't she tell that Venus didn't want to talk to her? Annoying people that needed things to be spelled out for them. Go ... A ... way. Or maybe they didn't understand English.

“Wait up! It’s for the paper!”

So what? Venus didn't care about the paper. Except that annoying voice followed her and got closer.

“What do you think about serving frog legs at lunch? Some say it’s a delicacy, but others think it’s plain gross.”

Venus stopped walking and raised her brows. What the heck of a question was that? Reporters and their dumb questions. Where the hell did they come up with this one? She turned around and stared blankly at Astrid. Should the brunette even bother answering the girl? As seconds passed though, there was a small amount of pity forming, as Venus looked at the girl in front of her. Maybe others hadn't wanted to respond to Astrid's question. Otherwise the blonde wouldn't be that desperate to look for an answer from the new girl that didn't particularly want to socialize with anybody. Maybe Venus was her last hope or something. The brunette knew how that felt.

Alright. One exception. Just because she was feeling pity for the blonde in front of her.

"Ok, look ... Astrid, right? A favor for a favor ... My favor to you: I give you an answer to your question. Your favor to me: you turn around and walk away. I want to be left alone now. Deal?"

It sounded like a fair enough proposition. It was a win-win situation, from Venus' point of view.

→ ABOUT YOU.

Previous Characters (if applicable): Gabby, Chantal, Naomi ... You know those.

How did you find us?: Well, first it was EzBoard, then it was Yuku ... then we moved here.

[Charles Kedding]

Ms Lind

Congratulations, your application to Hogwarts School has been accepted!

Your admission to the Hogwarts board also includes Elsewhere, where you will find fully functioning institutions, like the Daily Prophet and the Ministry of Magic, that you’re welcomed to peek into and enjoy.

At the moment you'll find Summer Campus the place to be! Head over there and enjoy some fun in the sun!

Fine and Fresh
Professor Kedding