Theodora Lillian Mountbatten
22 - Female - Pureblood - 12/03/1994

Photographer for HOME Magazine

Appearance and Personality
General Appearance: Thea “Don’t Call Her Theodora” Mountbatten is shorter than most of her siblings, standing a mere 5’4”, a few millimeters shorter than Constance, but she won’t admit that. She is, however, taller than her matka, which is really what matters. She likes to keep her dark hair in a short lob, sometimes adding in a few ombre highlights or pops of color, depending on her mood. More often than not, Thea is the daughter who can be found in jeans, band t-shirts, and her favorite pair of combat boots (probably much to Matka’s dismay), though she learned from a very early age that she was not as prim and proper as her sisters. She prefers a more hands-on lifestyle, and can often be found with her hair pulled back as she’s peering through the lens of her favorite camera…rolling around in the dirt or on the floor, trying to get the “perfect shot.”
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Skills: Photography — a picture is worth a thousand words, in Thea’s mind. While the rest of her family are expert wordsmiths, Thea prefers to express herself in a more visual sense. Growing up, her room was covered in moving photographs that she took at Quidditch Matches and pictures of her family. She feels a great sense of pride when it comes to her photographing skills and is often hired freelance to do portrait sessions for mums with babies, engaged couples (she’s planning on taking Ella and Elliot’s photos, though she’s yet to tell them that), and weddings (so long as she can wear black jeans instead of a dress). Diffuser — Able to maintain a clear head in times of crisis, Thea likes to keep her cool. She’s more often than not the family diffuser, offering a clear-headed opinion before she lets her emotions lead her. Some might call it cold, but she prefers the term ‘aloof with good reason.’ Athletic — Trained in martial arts from an early age, Thea could probably drop men that were close to two times her size, though she usually doesn’t have to resort to that. Quick-witted and intelligent, she could probably talk her way out of most situations before the need for violence arose. Violinist — “What good is a Mountbatten who can’t play a musical instrument?” A joke, but in all honesty, she picked it up when she was very young and has focused on honing her skills, though mostly in private, these days. Observant — She’s the one that notices when you’ve got a new hair cut, or if you’ve changed something on your desk. Thea has a keen eye, not just for interpersonal relationships, but also when it comes to looking at things and figuring out how they’re made or what makes them tick. Her matka thinks she could make a good broom maker one day if she chose to go in that direction.
Weaknesses: Competitive — Thea’s always had a competitive spirit. As a Slytherin, she was constantly pushing her house-mates to pick it up, earn more House Points. Though she wasn’t on the Quidditch team, she was considered the “manager,” as she liked to hound them all during practice to make certain they were running their drills. Dance — Where her sisters are graceful, poised and eloquent when it comes to movement, Thea can be a little clunky. She doesn’t like to dance, mostly because she’s absolutely horrible at it. During dances, balls, and other parties, she can usually be found on the outskirts of the room, avoiding the dance floor and taking pictures instead. Family — Like all the Mountbattens, she has a strong sense of family importance. Her mother and siblings are incredibly important to her and she would do anything to protect them. Family is above all else, which also makes it her biggest weakness.
Positive Personality Traits: Feminist, quick study, detail oriented, ambitious, charming (when she wants to be…it’s a Mountbatten thing), clear-headed, objective, creative, observant, athletic, independent
Negative Personality Traits: Aloof, competitive, cunning, manipulative, indulgent, guarded, vengeful, risk-taker
Hobbies and Interests: Watching & betting on Quidditch (She prefers the League to the World Cup, mostly because she’s photographed a lot of the League players for the magazine and maintains good relationships with them), playing the violin (though, she doesn’t do it as much as she would like), craft beers and craft breweries, HOME Magazine — it’s her mother’s baby, but the photography is Thea’s bread and butter, music/concerts/wizarding bands (she’s a bit of a groupie for the Weird Sisters II, the re-vamp of the old Weird Sisters comprised of the sons/daughters of the old members) spending money on frivolous things…like lots of band t-shirts, band memorabilia, autographs, concert tickets, etc.
Character History:

I guess I’ll never know if Matka and Táta were disappointed that I was a girl.

They always said they weren’t — that they wouldn’t take Theodora Mountbatten any other way — but I always felt like I failed them.

For as long as the history books recorded, the Mountbattens have birthed boys to carry on the family name. It was like a vicious cycle: have a boy, call it quits, repeat. Our family…well, our family ended up a little different. Ellanora was the first born, then me, then the twins, and finally Phillip…the only boy (Merlin help him, sometimes…). I guess the family’s cycle of ‘one boy and done’ is the reason I’ve always felt like I needed to be the boy. Not like I needed to be a boy, but I needed to be strong and be a real Mountbatten…and a real Wentzell. Matka always said that I was covered in dirt…she didn’t let me far from her sights, but I was constantly doing something…unsavory. Pulling up the garden or throwing flour around the kitchen when the house-elves were trying to make dinner. The only thing that kept me from getting dirty was when she put a violin and camera in my hand. I spent time learning about them both, deconstructing the camera when I was young and putting it back together to see how it worked and playing scales until all hours of the night until finally Matka would come into my room and tell me to turn out the lights or Tak mi pomoz, Theodora (sorry Matka…).

I don’t remember when the twins were born…and I can’t remember a time without them. My first memory of Constance and Temperance was a couple days after I got my first camera. I still have the picture — a moving Constance and Temperance who were briefly crying before stopping and smiling up at me as the flash went off. That’s when I knew that I loved them both.

It was shortly after that, Táta moved us to Prague because of the war that was raging on around us. It was for protection, he said. I still remember the kiss that he placed on my forehead before he disappeared into the manor. I thought it was the last time that I was going to see him. The picture from that day is tucked away somewhere…just a simple shot of our manor disappearing into the distance. I can hardly remember anything about Prague…just what Ella and Matka have let on over the years (Ella more so than Matka).

When we came home, things were different. The world was different. Even as a young child, I understood that. The parties, the people…everything had changed. But, Matka (and Phillip) were allowed to come home, though Táta had to work in the Death Eaters work camp.

When Phillip finally was born, I lost my Táta in a way. Up until that moment, I had felt close with him…but he took to Phillip like he was everything and I was left by the wayside. No more little lessons on Mountbatten etiquette or how to hex your enemies to their death bed. No, those lessons were saved for Phillip. It drew out a feeling in me that I wasn’t sure how to explain…competition wasn’t right…perhaps jealousy was more suited to the situation. That was the year I started training in martial arts with my sentry. It was a good way to get my aggression out. In fact, I learned how to better control my emotions after that, almost developing a cold, aloof demeanor.

When I was old enough, I was sent to Hogwarts, like Ella. I sort of knew that I wasn’t going to be a Ravenclaw…and, like I thought, the hat bounced back and forth between Gryffindor and Slytherin of all things, though it made up it’s mind quickly: the house of the snakes. Though I didn’t join the Quidditch team, I was often at practice, barking orders at the (mostly) boys team to run drills and pound the pavement. I earned the unofficial title of Quidditch Manager my sixth year, and they even gave me a set of game robes and a seat on the team bench to watch the games. I preferred hanging out with the boys in my year — they seemed to understand me more than the girls — so I was often caught up in a flock of boys, though it wasn’t like that. I wasn’t a flirt…in fact, I didn’t have a serious boyfriend at all through Hogwarts (still haven’t, but if you ask Ella, it’s because I’m too obsessed with the Weird Sisters to have any real expectations about boys).

I did well in my classes, but I preferred my summers where Matka let me intern at HOME Magazine, taking photographs for small editorials and feature pieces. Some of them — not many — were published, but I took great pride in those, tacking them up to my bedroom wall as memories of success. When I graduated, Matka offered me a full-time position. Not because I’m her daughter, but because my pictures were actually good. I gladly accepted, and I’ve been there ever since…though sometimes, I do some freelance work for private sessions or…if I happen to be in the right place at the right time, some news work for The Daily Prophet.

When Táta died, I didn’t speak for a few days. It seemed we were all grieving in our own different ways, and my chosen outlet was creative. I picked up my violin for the first time in a few months and, although I was rusty, was able to play a concerto with sad precision. That’s the way that I deal with sadness…aloofness, coldness. Some people see it as bitchy, but I don’t know how else to cope except detaching myself from the situation. The next day, I went back to work, but it was probably a bad idea because when the Fashion Editor asked me how I was doing, I dropped him with a round-house to the ankles and he quit. Matka wasn’t pleased…

(But there’s more to that story. It took me a long time after the fire to realize that Táta wasn’t a good man. We’ve all got demons, sure. But I couldn’t live with the thought of him hitting Matka (you know, Ella is really horrible with keeping things from us). This makes me sound terrible, but I guess that’s why now I’m relieved that the fire happened and Táta never came home.)

The very next day, Ella put us on house arrest, of sorts. I didn’t mind. I kept to myself for the next few days, taking pictures outside (not too far away from the manor, so I could still be seen), but Constance didn’t cope as well. She disappeared one night and by the time she came back in the morning, Ella chewed her out for what she had done. They’ve always been close, so it was probably best that it was the pair of them against each other — fire met fire. Constance was strange after that night, but it wasn’t my place to ask what had happened…it’s not like she would have told me anyway. Sometimes, that girl is like an iron vault. She could take secrets to her grave.

Things went back to normal…or at least, new normalcy after that. I went back to work, Matka went back to work (though, it seemed like she had more up her sleeve than just HOME). It came out a few weeks later: they were plotting to kill the Minister.

Let me get this straight, my family’s never had a clean bill. I’ve known we’ve been mixed up in a world of trouble since the very beginning, so this didn’t necessarily shock me…it intrigued me. I’d rather be taking pictures of a band then getting involved with all the politics and murder, so while some of my siblings wanted to be there, wanted to see it all happen…I was more than happy to back off and let the more experienced lot do what they had to do (I’m not much of a fighter, more of a diffuser…but don’t worry, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself). So, long story short, they did kill the Minister. Which put Ares on the ‘golden throne.’

So here we are. In a new regime, in a new era, and it just might be the best one yet. Or at least, that’s what everyone’s saying, anyway.

Plots and Politics
What is your character’s stance on the recent takeover of the Ministry by Death Eaters? Thea’s always been more of a passive than an aggressive. She prefers not to get involved with the politics (or murder) that usually surrounds her family, but she’s a little received that her uncle is Minister of Magic. In a way that she can’t quite describe, she feels protected.

Where did your character stand in the treatment of Death Eaters and their families under the late Minister Durant's rule? Thea loved her Táta, once upon a time. Knowing that he died because he had been put in the work camp hurts her heart. But now she also knows that Táta hurt her Matka…so maybe this was all a blessing in disguise?

How was your character and their family affected by the reign and death of Voldemort? Thea’s mother and father were both marked, along with two of her Uncles. They’re loyalists to the cause. When Voldemort bit the dust and the regime crumbled, they were left in an uncomfortable position. Uncle Ares was sent to Azkaban, her mother and father were put on trial for war-crimes, and her uncle was killed.


Family

Parents: Anicka Ottilie Wentzell - Mother, and Andrew Mountbatten - Father (Deceased)
Siblings: Ellanora, Constance, Temperance, Philip
Children: N/A
Partner: N/A
Other Relevant Family: Ares Wentzell (Uncle), Nick Wentzell (Cousin), Lasimir Wentzell (Cousin)
Family History:

The Mountbatten family traces it's roots back to Germany. A long line of pureblood men marrying, and having one pureblood son to continue the line, and that was about it. It wasn't the Mountbatten side of the family that is the more interesting ones... They were wealthy, and they were powerful, and they aligned themselves with the Dark Lord. But that was about it as far as they went in means of being anyone worth talking about. Andrew Mountbatten didn't become interesting until Anicka Wentzell showed up...

Well, showing up is a rather poor choice of words, because she was promised to him when she was three weeks old. A Czech princess, carrying the title and the wealth of not only a family, but of an entire country. Andrew was 20, the June that Anicka graduated from Durmstrang... They were married on June 19th, 1985, and that... Well that was the day that everything changed. Anicka's life hadn't been especially easy before that, she had killed for the first time when she was 15, she had set half of the castle on fire to try and get her father to notice her as something more than just the girl, but it hadn't worked.

Her mother had left, when she was 9, and she had taken her younger brother Dominick with her when she had gone back to England to tend to her ailing father. Anicka's father, Ondřej, had let her take their youngest son, he had what he wanted in Josef, who was two years Anicka's senior, but she couldn't have both of their younger children. Clara made her choice and took her youngest, leaving Anicka alone in that palace with her father while Josef was at school. It was that argument though, that made Anicka who she is now, or at least started shaping her into thinking that she was no more than a girl...

Ondřej's branch wasn't the only branch of the tree though, and when Anicka arrived in England in 1985, she didn't speak hardly any English, though she did speak fluent French to accompany her Czech. She was sent to her mother's home. Someone that she had not seen in nine years... The only familiar face belonged to her cousin, Ares. He had been back and forth between England and Prague on numerous occasions, and they were close, for cousins from different countries. It was his girlfriend, Issadora, that taught Anicka English, and for awhile everyone was happy. For awhile they all co-existed. But that was not to last.

It was Christmas, of 1986, that everything changed again. Ondřej came to England for the holidays, and as much as they warned the halfblood witch to stay away from the patriarch, somehow she ended up in a room alone with him. And he killed her. Or, until very recently they thought that he had. Christmas was never the same after that, and it was always a time of year that made things exceptionally difficult. After she had learned English though, Andrew had allowed Anicka to apply to the University in England, and as brilliant as she was, she succeeded in completing a course of study in Journalism, of all things.

They were okay, they weren't happy, she had never been happy, but that was alright. A pureblood woman did her duty, she didn't strive for happiness. It was August of 1991 that she thought that she would never really be happy again. The thing that terrified Anicka the most in the world was having a baby. And it was then that she found out that she was expecting. Not having had the easiest of times in her life, she thought that a baby was the last thing that she possibly needed. Her father being who he was, and treating her the way that he did, and her mother practically abandoning her with him... She didn't think that she was cut out to be a parent. That didn't stop Ellanora being born in April of 1992. Just three weeks before her brother's son... Or... Well... That's a different story...

Ellanora being born a girl was a shock. There hadn't been a girl born in the Mountbatten line in nearly 200 years. More babies quickly followed. Theodora was born in December of 1994, and the twins came in June of 1996. But there was still no boy. Something that neither Andrew or Ondřej was willing to accept. When Anicka fell pregnant again in the winter of 1997 she was more than relieved to find that it was a boy... The war all around them though caused concern and Andrew sent her away, back to the one place on earth that she had continually been hurt throughout the years. She was going to that castle in Prague.

She and the girls were there until July when he had them brought back to England. Anicka, Andrew, and Ares were all put on trial for what they had done during the war. Dominick, though, had perished in the Final Battle. They were all Death Eaters, and though Ares was sent to Azkaban, and Andrew was heavily fined, Anicka was hardly touched. She was a princess, literally, and though that didn't offer her complete protection, the fact that she was eight months pregnant, and had four other little children had. She had gotten off rather easy. Things weren't dreadful for the family, but they weren't perfect either. They kept their manor, though no one ever really talks about how, and they made it work.

Anicka started HOME in 2006, and since then she has run the magazine flawlessly. It wasn't until her brother decided to take over the the Death Eaters a year ago, that things changed again. When Dominick showed up... he wasn't dead... He was dead. He was supposed to have been dead. But he wasn't, and he had shown back up. He had shown back up and they were all putting their family back together again. At least until Ares killed Minerva McGonagall, and the former Minister's wife and mistress... That's when things took a darker turn. The fire in the camp last fall killed Andrew. Anicka was left a widow, and her five children were left without their father. Philip was barely more than 18 when he became the new Lord Mountbatten.

She got her revenge though, on October 24th, 2016, when Death Eaters made their way into the Ministry. Ares and Anicka went to the Minister's office to apprehend the Minister, while Death Eaters went from floor to floor, office to office, rounding up every employee in the Ministry and taking them to the Atrium. It was there that Ares and Anicka tied the Minister to a stake, and killed him. And thus Ares Wentzell named himself the new Minister of Magic, and every Muggleborn that couldn't get out of the Ministry fast enough was then killed. That was only the beginning though, because only days afterwards Dominick Wentzell died again... This time for good, and the family was downward spiraling out of control.

Christmas was already one of the hardest times of the year for Anicka and Ares, and though Ares married Dominick's wife, and the mother of his (Ares') children, shortly beforehand, Constance Mountbatten was kidnapped just days before Christmas. They got her back, alive, with the help of Ares' former best friend Dimitri Rudawski. There was a sense of darkness hanging over the family though. Something that couldn't quite be explained, and when Dimitri got too close to Anicka, and then angered at her attempts to push him away, things came to a head. Ares banished him from being around their family, and things started to settle...

It was only later that they started to realize that things really were settling... Until tragedy struck again. This time killing Aurora Wentzell and almost costing Ares his unborn son. The worry was never ending. They all tried to do their best, work, and school, and lives being lived. Relationships being formed. They were trying. Anicka's relationship with Malcolm Nott brought some new light to the family, and that was something that they needed. Someone that they could count on not to hurt them... That was what they needed. No one knew how much they were going to need him until June of 2017 when he did the one thing that no one else had ever had the power to do. He killed Ondřej Wentzell. He set them free, he stopped the pain that had been a part of Anicka's life, for her entire life... But that's when they realized that Issadora... Was alive. Ondřej hadn't killed her in 1986, he had taken her, and now that they had her back... They were all trying to adjust to what was going on around them.

New lives, new old family members, new family members period... They were trying, and finally, just maybe, things are ready for an upswing.

Other: Can someone please make the members of the Weird Sisters II so Thea can fan-girl over them?

Quinn

I don't know what you're talking about.

What is the status of this application?

Work-in-Progress

Have you read the site plot, rules, and timeline?

Yes

How did you hear about Insurrection?

MAGIC

Play-By:

Lucy Hale

---

Roleplay Sample

So, believe that magic works.
Don't be afraid of being hurt.
Don't let this magic die, the answer's there.
Oh, just look in her eyes. - The Weird Sisters

[attr="class","staffupdatedstemp"]Accepted!