Avia Teague

[Avia Teague]

THE BASICS
Name: Avia Teague. Calling her ‘Ava’, even by mistake, will not endear you to her.

Former Character's Name (if you had one): Not applicable.


CHARACTER DETAILS
House Request: Gryffindor would probably be the best fit for Avia, not only would she prefer the view from the tower and hearing the wind whistle past the windows of her dorm to being underground or by the kitchens, but because she has traits commonly associated with the house. Avia has the courage of her convictions, nobody can tell her what to think or believe, and there are precious few people who she will tolerate telling her what to do. She’s also a daring, almost reckless flyer, especially on her winged horse. Being impulsive and not always thinking before she acts or speaks are also par for the course with Avia but she’s quick with an apology if she thoughtlessly hurts somebody’s feelings. Her experiences dealing with her mum’s muggle family and their societal niche have made her proud of her outsider status among her gender and she will usually gravitate to other outsiders. She will also stand up for anybody she sees being picked on. She has no patience with exchanging pithy insults with people she doesn’t like, she’ll tell them honestly, perhaps even bluntly, how she feels and then avoid them.

Year: 4 or 5.

Bloodline:Wizard father, muggle-born mother.

Magical Strength (pick one): She has always found casting charms easier than transfiguring anything but caring for magical creatures is where her true talent lies, they just seem to take to her.

Magical Weakness (pick one): Divination is Avia’s weak area, she has no natural affinity for the subject and believes it almost entirely useless as a type of magic.

Biography:
If the average witch or wizard was asked if they would rather their family was old, wealthy and part of the societal elite, the vast majority would say yes. This is understandable as it would make most aspects of life easier. Complications only arose, Avia reflected, when the family, wealth, and society was completely muggle. To say she hated mixing with her grandmother’s friends and their families was an insult to the other things she hated, like small dark spaces, being stuck indoors and cabbage. It was a minor miracle that proximity to people like the Honourable Mrs Edward Beckett-Jones didn’t bring her out in a rash and today was worse than usual. There was nothing like a society wedding to bring out every dullard who had their name added to Burke’s Peerage or Burke’s Landed Gentry since the Victorian era ended. As much as she thought the pure-blood superiority thing was nonsense, she had long understood why some witches and wizards had been driven to whipping their wands out and jinx-ing the hell out of various muggles, posh muggles especially.

“Where did you say you went to school Ava?” Every muscle in Avia’s body clenched against the almost irresistible urge to correct her, knowing that it wouldn’t change anything except her grandmother’s mood when her supposed ‘impertinence’ was mentioned during another excruciatingly polite conversation. She only endured these tedious soirees after being threatened, bribed or blackmailed by her mum so it wasn’t really the muggles’ fault that they didn’t remember asking her the same questions every time they saw her, or that they continued to mispronounce her name. That’s what she tried to tell herself anyway.

“Scotland, Mrs Beckett-Jones.”

“Ah yes, the highlands. Excellent shooting estates, shame about the cuisine…and the locals. Well…I daresay the less said about their habits, the better.” Avia surreptitiously rolled her eyes as the woman beside her hypocritically quaffed champagne, smart money said that the Beckett-Jones children, both underage teenagers around her age, were also having a sneaky tipple somewhere.

“You’re probably right.” Avia began, finishing the sentence with ‘about absolutely nothing’ in the sanctuary of her mind and wishing she was seventeen so she could just apparate back home and take Pegara out for a midnight flight. She was ‘saved’ from having to think of another safe topic of conversation by the arrival of the Honourable Mr Beckett-Jones.

“There you are, darling.” Avia averted her eyes as the couple kissed the air next to each other’s cheeks, it wasn’t that she thought kissing was gross, she was after all old enough to be interested in doing it herself, but all the married muggle she’d ever met were like this, somehow managing to appear both false and cloying. Not looking was the only way to avoid dry heaving. “Baroness Norton was asking where you were.” Baroness Norton was more than capable of crossing the ballroom in order to strike up a profoundly dull conversation, it just gratified her to have people sent her way as if summoned by royalty. It was one of the few things her grandmother did that Avia actually found amusing. “Ava,” she tensed again, “you must be bored stiff talking with us grown-ups. Claudia and Alexander are in the sun room, you should join them instead of humouring us fuddy-duddies.” Yes, she should join them, put them and their cronies in a full body bind and then wait out the reception in blissful solitude and silence…before explaining to her mother, grandmother and the Obliviators why she performed magic on a dozen underage muggles. Unfortunately, ‘mutual loathing’ probably wouldn’t save her from expulsion and she needed to get back to Hogwarts like she needed to breathe.

With a tight smile Avia excused herself and walked in the general direction of the conservatory, with no intention of actually getting there. Only one person at the wedding reception understood exactly how much of a trial these events were for her, the only person actually worth talking to, so she went on her tip-toes and made for the only woman in the room not wearing a hat or fascinator. As uncool as it probably made her, Avia was going to spend the rest of the night talking to her mum. As she approached the corner her mum was stood in, Avia saw that she was deep in discussion with her uncle’s widow and, given their expressions, the topic wasn’t particularly pleasant. Feeling a slight twinge of guilt, Avia picked up a glass of something from a passing waiter and pretended to examine a conveniently placed painting.

“Charlotte, I have my own business to run, I can’t just drop everything because you and mother aren’t seeing eye to eye on a few things.” Her mum had been saying similar things for years, it shouldn’t have been a big deal but somehow it was.

“A few things! Phillipa, it’s a wonder that the estate is still breaking even. If things carry on like this you’ll be a titled peeress living in a four bedroom farmhouse.” While the title and obligations that went with it had never appealed to Avia, she loved Norton Hall and the grounds. It was where she’d learned to ride a horse, a broom…she knew every rock and tree and creature on the estate, every nook and cranny of the house she could curl up with ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ and not be found for an hour or so. The thought of losing that part of her childhood, nevermind what it would do to her grandmother and mother, was enough to make a knot form in her chest.

“You want this kind of life, I don’t and nor does Avia.” That was true, playing lady of the manor for a bunch of muggles would suck the life out of them both. Not having the freedom they enjoyed at home with their magical menagerie, being forced into a role they hated…they’d be dying by degrees every day. Avia knew she had years before she had to try and embrace her muggle birth-right but it looked like her mum was being dragged into the tedious mess now.

“Let me put it another way, if something doesn’t change soon, Victoria might lose everything and be forced to move in with you.” Avia momentarily choked on her drink. There was no way that having granny on the farm would be anything but a catastrophe of epic proportions. She didn’t like dirt, animals or her son-in-law.

“Fine.” Apparently her mum had come to the same conclusion. “I’ll talk to Derrick tonight. I’m sure there’s something we can do.”

“There’s always you-know-what.” Oh god. If Aunt Charlotte was suggesting using magic she must be desperate.

“Believe me, that would only make things worse.”

“I really don’t think that’s possible.” Not wanting to hear any more, Avia slipped into the crowd of guests, wishing for the first time in her life that she could put off going back to Hogwarts, at least until she knew what she’d be coming back to at Christmas.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please include these sections if they are not addressed in your biography.

Personality:
She’s an outdoors-y tom-boy by nature and fairly spontaneous, only copious amounts of practice allow her to tolerate formal social functions. On such occasions her discomfort, boredom and desire to leave are relatively successfully masked, though nobody is fooled into thinking she’s enjoying herself. When she’s happy she conjures wildflowers for her bedroom/dorm room and is content to spend the day indoors if necessary, doing tedious things like chores and homework. On a bad day she has to get outside, get away from people and, if possible, take to the sky. At home she has her own winged horse but at Hogwarts she makes do with a broomstick. If for some reason she’s stuck indoors when she’s miserable, you’ll find her near an open window with her cat close by. She likes magizoology, Quidditch, and values independence and freedom. She dislikes being stuck indoors doing what she’s told for any great length of time, duplicity and materialism. She hates people who mistreat animals/magical creatures with a passion. She fears being trapped and helpless, literally and figuratively. She’s also claustrophobic.

Appearance:
Avia’s a couple of inches taller than other girls her age and her build is athletic which further alienates her from ‘girly’ girls. When not in its customary pony-tail her dark brown hair falls in waves that reach her shoulders and on the rare occasions when she uses Sleekeazy’s potion it falls past her shoulder blades. Her eyes are a fairly light blue/grey. They and her nose are her favourite features as they are from her dad’s side of the family unlike her heart-shaped face, fine cheekbones and determinedly pointed chin which are all from her stuffy maternal grandmother. The aging muggle sees her younger self in her granddaughter’s appearance and takes the differences in their characters as a personal affront.

SAMPLE ROLEPLAY
You come across one of these three posts on the site. Please reply to one only as your character would.

Option I:

Blimey, the Great Hall was packed. It seemed like everywhere a guy looked there was some clown waving around a House banner or yelling about the game.

'Can you believe it?' 'No way!' 'This must be the biggest upset in Hogwarts Quidditch history...'

Stupid Quidditch.

James flopped into an empty seat at the end of the table, shoved an empty plate out of the way, and let his head sink onto his crossed arms, squishing his freckled nose down flat against the table top. He wasn't sure why he'd even bothered to come here, since he definitely wasn't hungry. He'd probably never eat again, in fact. He didn't deserve to eat. He hadn't stopped in the locker room to change out of his muddy, sweaty uniform after the game either, because he was pretty sure he probably didn't deserve to be clean too; and anyway he couldn't stand to see the looks on his team mates' faces after he blew their chance at winning one of the biggest games they had ever played.

Just one lousy shot. That's all it would have taken. If he could have just got that one stupid foul shot to go through that one stupid hoop, they could have won and he wouldn't have been the biggest blockhead in the entire school.

As if to prove the point, half the people at the next table suddenly broke into a loud victory chant. James pressed his face further into his arms to hide the bright red blotches he could feel creeping up his cheeks. That was it. He was just going to have to run away and move to Nova Scotia. He'd just cost the three-year-in-a-row Champions the Quidditch Cup! How do you ever live that one down for crying out loud? He was only a second year and he was going to spend the rest of his life as 'that dumb cry-baby kid who dropped the Quaffle!'

It felt like every set of eyes in the room was boring into him, and James couldn't stand it anymore. He jerked himself back up from the table and stomped right back out of the Hall the same way he had come in. As he stormed into the quieter hallway outside, he could hear footsteps somewhere behind him. James rounded on the sound and began to shout, his brown eyes shining with tears. "WHAT! Haven't you ever seen a loser before? Why don't you just take a picture!"

Sample Roleplay Response:

Avia left the owlery in something of a daze, her mind still on the letter from her mum and the reply she’d spent hours writing. She knew things at home were strained but she hadn’t imagined that things could deteriorate so quickly. Only the rumbling of her stomach had pulled her from the depths of her reverie and prompted her to return to the castle. Usually being in the great outdoors soothed her, but not today. She hadn’t even been tempted to go for a scenic flight on her broomstick, fearing that her distraction would cause her to crash or fall. An owl from Madam Pomfrey was the last thing her parents needed right now. They already had more than enough on their plates. No, she had to be a big girl and deal with her problems, not jump on the nearest object or creature capable of flight and escape from it all.

It was a fine idea in theory, in practice however, the big girl plan hit a snag. There was nothing she could do about the problems her parents were having with each other, with her grandmother and aunt. Even if she wasn’t hundreds of miles away from her home in Cornwall or her grandmother’s home in Yorkshire, which was really where the trouble was, she couldn’t help. After all, she was only a teenager, even if she was a witch. She hadn’t got a vault full of galleons to throw at the problem and though she did have a magic wand, she had no idea which spells, if any, would help.

She was trapped in a situation she could do nothing to get out of, which would anger her even on a good day, but this wasn’t being forced to stay indoors and do History of Magic homework, this was her family potentially falling apart…and all she could do was read about it.

Her feet had managed to bring her close to the Great Hall, quite without any input from her brain, and the enticing smell of food only made her stomach rumble again. Shaking her head clear of thoughts, Avia sped up, knowing that eating and catching up with the other people in her house would take her mind off things for a while. She never even noticed the kid in front of her until he turned around and bit her head off.

"WHAT! Haven't you ever seen a loser before? Why don't you just take a picture!" She was in no mood to deal with anybody else’s drama, she had quite enough of her own.

“I wouldn’t want to break my camera.” It was only after she spoke that she saw the boy’s tears. “Sorry, I’m having a bad day…and it looks like I’m not the only one.” From the Quidditch robes and the tears she surmised that the game she missed in order to write her letter hadn’t gone this kid’s way. “Look, I know you feel…crap…but, at the risk of earning a hex from pretty much everybody in school. It’s only a game…nobody died, and pretty soon there’s going to be something else that gets everybody talking.” She gave what she hoped was an encouraging smile.

Optional: I found my way here via Google