Maria Reed
17 - Female - Muggleborn - 09/01/1998

7th Year Student

Appearance and Personality
General Appearance: Her muggle friends used to call her ‘Chipmunk’ because of her cute squidgy cheeks but she was lucky enough not to take that nickname with her to Hogwarts. Her olive skin is youthfully smooth and her face is round and doll-like.

She is a petite girl with a slim figure, marginally athletic from her frequent solitary hikes and jogs around the castle grounds. Maria has always been one of those young girls who are blessed with a good metabolism.

Unless she is going to an important event, she'll usually choose to dress down in order to blend in with others. If she needs to look glamorous to blend in then that's what she'll do. Her appearance is never something she wants to be known for - better not to stand out from the crowds and catch the eye of a dark witch or wizard.
Sexual Orientation: Bisexual
Skills: Intelligence, Rational thinking, Defensive magic, Self control, Long distance runner
Weaknesses: Anxious/Paranoid, Extreme fear of dark magic, Lacks physical strength, Care of magical creatures, Divination, Broom riding
Positive Personality Traits: Ambitious, Curious, Independent, Logical, Self-Confident, Resourceful
Negative Personality Traits: Stubborn, Dishonest, Cynical, Spiteful, Hostile, Cunning, Secretive, Fearful
Hobbies and Interests: Running, Reading, Studying, Exploring and Muggle Studies
Character History:

Maria lost her innocence and her serenity the day she discovered she was a witch. On this day, she discovered that any enemies she might ever make in the future could have powers beyond her wildest fears. She realised that even her very thoughts were unsafe and untrustworthy. She understood that to survive in a world full of dangerous magic she would need to change her entire outlook on life.

She didn’t mingle with other students enough in her first year, too preoccupied with studying and making up for lost time in the Hogwarts library. Her first priority was to learn defensive magic. She quickly realised that to feel secure she would need to dedicate years of study and training to even stand a chance against more powerful dark wizards who would be able to torture her, obliviate her and kill her without hesitation. She trusted few students, only seeking the company of those who were equally paranoid of danger and avoiding any Slytherins who were clearly destined to abuse their magic outside of the Hogwarts wards.

Now in her 7th year, Maria keeps a low profile and tries not to attract too much attention from her classmates. She studies hard, she writes to her family every week and she prays that there will come a day where she is strong enough to protect herself and the ones she loves from anything that could cause them unimaginable suffering.

As a young ‘muggle’ before discovering Hogwarts she was excited to be somebody - to be a high achiever praised for her accomplishments and looked to for inspiration. Now, she wants nothing more than anonymity. This is the only chance she has of reaching her potential without fear of reprimand from those looking to get in her way.

Plots and Politics
Where does your character stand in the treatment of death eaters and their families? She is terrified of Dark Wizards and once someone has shown their potential for evil, who is to say that they aren't capable of re-offending? The only way to guarantee that they won't re-offend is to remove their magical privileges that they abused. Maria believes strongly that any known dark wizard should be obliviated of all their magical knowledge and should be condemned to a life of being a muggle.

How was your character and their family affected by the reign and death of Voldemort? Not necessarily directly, but Voldemort's legacy has changed Maria's personality forever from a brave and optimistic young girl into a fearful, distrusting recluse.

Family

Parents: Jacob and Julia Reed
Siblings: David Reed (24 years old)
Children: None
Partner: None
Other Relevant Family:
Family History:

The Reeds are a Muggle family with one witch in the bloodline. Jacob Reed is a computer science professor at Durham University whilst his wife Julia is a mental health nurse at the NHS specialising in patients with histories of substance abuse.

Maria was raised to be book smart as well as conscientious of others less fortunate than her. Being from a family of reasonable affluence her parents thought it was important to involve her in community projects aimed at helping the vulnerable; she would often spend summers caring for the elderly or working with the disabled. She was well tutored in the subjects she showed promise in (Maths, Science and Computing) and Jacob would often have her tinker with robotics and software to gain a better understanding of computer mechanics.

Her older brother David was always a role model to her, leaving the UK shortly after his 18th birthday to join the navy on an engineering scholarship. When Maria discovered the existence of magic she tried in vain to persuade him to change his career path and opt for a safer way of life. Warzones suddenly seemed much more horrific considering there could secretly be magic aiding either army destroy the other.

Other: Maria is very paranoid.

Other witches and wizards can apparate to within a metre of your location at any moment providing that they have also been to that location themselves before. The only way to prevent this is to cast anti-apparation wards in every single place you spend even a single second in that you do not want people to be able to teleport to.

Other witches and wizards can not only read your thoughts, but can delve through your memories, your emotions and even possess your mind just by looking at you in the eyes. The only way you can prevent this is to learn Occlumency which typically takes many years to master.

Other witches and wizards can inflict the most excruciating pain you can possibly begin to imagine, with a spell that only requires powerful hate and strong magic from its caster. 16 year olds have been known to be able to cast it and there is no prevention of its use – only a law on it being punished if it’s used. But it can still be used, and worse yet, the caster might not be punished.

Maria realised very quickly into her first year that she was now in a world where everyone carried a wand on their person at all times – A deadly weapon which was capable of skinning her alive, controlling her mind, erasing all her memories and even transfiguring inanimate objects into giant bears. Each wand can cast a curse that always kills if it hits and that can never, ever be blocked. Other witches and wizards had grown up with this knowledge and had an understanding of magic from a young age, often growing up in entirely magical families, but Maria was finding this all out at 12 years old after having wasted her life up until then learning algebra and Ancient Roman history. She’d bothered to learn to ride a bike which in retrospect seemed like a completely redundant skill in a world where she could teleport.

Reed

Not yet

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

Yes

How did you hear about Insurrection?

Google

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Roleplay Sample

The witch wore black and carried a broom in each hand as she walked. Her body was lithe and stepped lightly across the wet and rocky coast of the Great Lake with the sinuous grace of a cat trying to avoid the water. Each broom was old and tattered having been kept at the back of the Quidditch shed for decades, but they would serve their purpose this saturday afternoon.

Keeping up with the witch was a young spanish wizard of the same age and house; a wizard that the witch trusted much more than most. He was often quiet although when he spoke his words always had sense and clarity. There was no doubt that his brilliant mind would be of great help today and the witch needed all the help she could get.

The pair of Slytherins slowed their pace as they approached the water's edge, both faced with the vast and still surface of the cold, black lake before them. The day was not as bright as the week had been and the sun was hidden behind a wash of grey clouds and the ground was still wet from a smattering of April showers earlier in the morning. To swim in the lake would be a grave mistake for the unprepared in these conditions.

Maria was excited. After pestering Victor to keep this saturday afternoon free she had rented two standard quidditch brooms and planned what should really have been covered in quidditch lessons. The sport itself was useless, but the skill of riding a broom was useful in situations where apparation wasn't possible. She was totally useless on a broom and the time had come to change that.

"We're here." said Maria, stopping with her shoes just shy of the shallow lake water. There was a gradual slope downwards of the lake's bed and the depth only really grew to head height a stone's throw away.

She looked to Victor who might have been unsure of the exact details of what lay ahead of them. Hopefully he would be as eager as she was to achieve something special by the lake. "Before we start, we'll need to cast some spells. Do you know how to waterproof yourself?" Maria grinned mischievously, enjoying the anticipation of Victor's reaction.

Accepted as a 7th Year Ravenclaw