Laurel Douglass

[Laurel Douglass]

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character name: Laurel Douglass

Previous and/or Current Character(s) if applicable: Calla Douglass and that lot

Character age: 22 19/10/44

Character education: Hogwarts - Hufflepuff 1-3. Homeschooled by her mother (a former Hogwarts professor and Head of Hufflepuff) during her 4th and 5th years. Returned to Hogwarts for her final two years.

Strength and weaknesses (details please): Loving; outgoing; selfless; patient; compassionate; dedicated; fierce. Some of these strengths are also her weaknesses. She can be so loving that she can be easily manipulated at times. Her outgoing personality can be overwhelming for some and she doesn’t always realize that before annoying or angering some people. Sometimes she can be so selfless that she forgets about herself and the fact that she can’t help others if her own physical or mental health isn’t also taken care of.

Physical description: Dark chocolate hair with eyes a slightly darker brown. Long hair that is usually worn down with natural waves. A little above average height of 5’ 10”. Generally healthy figure (she loves food but sometimes forgets to eat). Almost always wearing a smile.

Personality (nice, rude, funny etc. Paragraph please.): At almost twenty-three, Laurel still has a sense of innocence about her. No matter what life has thrown at her (and granted she hasn’t had too many terrible experiences) she has always maintained a sense of seeing the good in everything around her. Some might view her as foolish in the way she looks at the world because she has no hesitance in jumping to help anyone that needs it, no matter the consequences she might suffer. As simple as her thoughts might appear, Laurel has always worked hard. She isn’t afraid to admit when something might be beyond her comprehension and is always willing to do what she needs to when she wants to learn something she’s passionate about. Her passions are prone to change quite often because her perspective is that life and the world are an adventure that should be chased to wherever her heart tells her.

Hopes and dreams. Why are you teaching at Hogwarts?: What could be better than teaching the future of the wizarding world in the institution that helped further her natural inclination and love of supporting and guiding others.

Biography (500 words minimum. There is never such a thing as too much.):

Laurel Gwendolyn Douglass was born inside Hogwarts castle on a late October afternoon. She’d asked her mum and dad to tell her the story many times when she was very young. Her parents were living in Hogsmeade but Mum was the Head of Hufflepuff back then so she spent most of her time at the school. Dad would stop in for a visit now and then. They’d just been planning to get lunch when Laurel had decided it was time to enter the world.

They always said that Laurel arrived a little earlier than she was supposed to and that spontaneity was hard-wired in her from that moment. She was always spontaneous in the way she moved through life. Nothing ever seemed too permanent to Laurel and she was always changing her mind about what her favourite activity or colour or animal was. There was too much the world had to offer to not try everything possible!

She was eleven months old when she first became a big sister. Phillip became her new favourite thing and that didn’t change. They were so close in age that it was only natural that they were best friends. Phillip was the calmer presence to Laurel’s frantic energy and that created the perfect harmony for them. As they grew, Laurel would help Phillip out of his shell while he knew better than most how to get her to focus on one thing at a time or how to soothe her frenzied thoughts.

They were five and four when their next sibling arrived. Another boy, Lochlan, but Laurel hadn’t cared that she got another brother and not a sister. Family was family and she loved them all. It was with Lochlan that Laurel first learned her love of taking care of another being. She’d always been interested in animals and did whatever she could to help her parents when Phillip needed something but they were so close in age. With Lochlan she was somewhat capable of feeding him and taking care of some of his other basic needs. Sometimes she treated him like a living doll.

A couple years after Lochlan, Laurel did get a sister. She was ecstatic for a long time. She’d watched some of her friends who had sisters and it seemed like an even closer relationship than what she had with Phillip. Except as Belle got older, Laurel realized they were nothing alike. That didn’t stop her from wanting to be close with her sister. It was Belle that kept them apart. Sometimes the younger girl was outright cruel to Laurel. It didn’t stop Laurel from loving her, of course, but around the time that Laurel headed off to Hogwarts she did stop putting in so much effort. She could give everything to try to have a relationship with her sister but it would never work if she were the only one trying.

Hogwarts turned out to be even more amazing than all her childhood imaginings had conjured. Laurel was never the best in classes but she was always happy to go to them. It was just the way that some were structured that didn’t work well with her way of thinking. And the little issue that it was hard for her to sit still and concentrate for such long periods of time.

It was in the hospital wing that she found herself most at home. She’d spend well over the amount of time there than what was required of her. There were many times she’d even be late to a class or miss it entirely because she was always making sure the patients were comfortable or had someone to visit with.

After her third year her parents became aware that Laurel’s mental state was not at its best. She never thought anything was wrong but her parents noticed that she was both losing weight and falling behind in her studies because she was always worrying about someone or something else. The next two years were some of the hardest of her life. Laurel felt it was both a blessing and a curse to live in Hogsmeade, so close to Hogwarts. On one hand, she got to see her friends on occasion. On the other, they got to return to the castle while she stayed behind. The beginning and end of the school year was the hardest. Riding the Hogwarts Express was always one of her favourite things, even if she didn’t need to because she lived in Hogwarts. It was a tradition she hadn’t wanted to miss.

She worked hard over the two years she was away from school to make sure she learned to take care of herself as well as others. It wasn’t easy. It always made more sense to her to make sure others were taken care of before she was. And there was always someone else that needed something.

Eventually she learned a balance between giving and taking and with the help of a few close friends that told her when she was slipping back into old habits, Laurel was healthy enough to return to Hogwarts. It was an immense relief. She wasn’t sure what she’d have done if she couldn’t graduate with her friends.

Her last two years at Hogwarts weren’t anything spectacular. She didn’t receive any honours or titles. As a truly generous person, though, she was more happy that some of her friends got those opportunities. All she wanted was to be with them.

Life has still been quite the adventure since graduation. Laurel has travelled to several different continents to study healing in different cultures and one of her other favourite subjects, herbology. There was so much in common between plants and healing and it all fascinated her.

She always made sure to come back home at least twice a year, but seeing the world was something she didn’t think she could ever stop doing. There was just so much and constantly being on the move kept her from getting restless and bored.

Laurel wasn’t sure if she’d ever have the urge to stay in one place for a long time.

SAMPLE ROLEPLAY
(Please respond to to this in third person past tense. Do not write the other characters' reactions. Only your own.)

It was the largest office in Hogwarts and, perhaps to students and newcomers, the most intimidating. The shelves were filled with various odds and ends, with a place of honor for the Sorting Hat, and the walls held all the portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses.

In the middle of the room sat a large desk. Everything was in order, for the current occupant had always despised a messy desk. It was the sign of a messy mind, and she had always favored neatness.

A clock sat on the desk, which currently showed the time to be 2:05. The meeting was supposed to begin at 2:00 precisely.

Along with order, Anneka valued punctuality. She was a very busy woman these days. Even during the summer, she had a number of matters to attend to. Interviewing and hiring staff was only of those matters. The newest potential member of her staff wasn't making a good impression.

She paced the room, black heels clicking against the stone floor. When the door finally opened, Anneka turned, her expression reminiscent of a Russian winter. "You are late."

Explain yourself was what her face said.

Roleplay Response:

Whether applying to work at Hogwarts was a good idea or not was still unclear to Laurel. She wasn’t usually the most reliable person, no matter how hard she tried. There was also the issue of the guilt she would feel if she got the position and then decided she wanted to move to another country or something. How could she leave the kids once she knew all of them?

She gave her head a shake, along with shaking out her arms as she walked the familiar halls of Hogwarts. It didn’t make sense to worry about all of that right now. Her chances of even being considered were low. To actually be awarded the post was next to impossible.

Right now she needed to worry about getting to the Headmistress’s office. Everything else would come later.

Running late was a specialty of Laurel’s. Maybe if Hogwarts taught a class for that she’d definitely have a shot at teaching. Or more likely teaching the kids how not to be her and how successful they could be if they weren’t like her.

Even though she had arrived at the castle a bit late for her appointment, Laurel simply couldn’t help herself from stopping at a few different spots in the castle that had always been her most frequented spots. The corridor leading to Hufflepuff house was the first. She had several conversations with various portraits lining the hall.

Chatting with the portraits on her way to classes was one of the main reasons Laurel was late to class in her school days. Apparently that was going to continue and she wasn’t even working here yet.

But how could she not stop to catch up with some of her favourite Hogwarts residents? It wasn’t like she could stop by the castle every other week.

Finally she reached her destination and took a few deep breaths. She was already late, what was a bit longer? Laurel took a couple of moments to smooth out her light blue dress and gather her thoughts. She needed to remember to tell Anneka about all the time she’d spent learning about plants and healing and their similarities over the years. She needed to remember to point out how her knowledge could work in a couple different positions at the castle. Most of all, she needed to remember to be confident. Just because she was friendly and able to hold a conversation with just about anyone did not mean she always felt secure in herself.

With one last fortifying breath, Laurel knocked once and then pushed on the door to step inside.

“Anneka!” Laurel greeted her former Headmistress with a brilliant smile. A smile that died in wattage a second later when Anneka spoke.

Laurel gulped and one hand tugged a little on the skirt of her dress. She laughed nervously and tried to lighten the mood with, “You’re not all that surprised though, right? I’m sure you can remember how often I was reprimanded for my tardiness in school. That hasn’t changed much!”

Laurel tried smiling again and then realised her first words in an interview for a position where deadlines and promptness were very important were about the negative aspects of her personality.

She blew a breath out that was strong enough to ruffle some of her hair. What a great start.