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The Basics:
Full Character Name: Mary Lynn Wilkins
Likes to be called: Mary
Birthdate: 19 May 1785
Age: 11
Residence: Lives on the family's farm, not far from the village of Elmswell in southern England
Blood: muggleborn
Social Class/father’s occupation: Her father runs a farmstead and employs a number of people to help work the land and undertake a range of other useful professions such as blacksmithing.
The Personality
Emotional Disposition: Friendly and easygoing, but also quiet and observant.
Core Value: Compassion, especially towards animals but also people she cares about including her friends.
Positive Characteristics: Honest, trustworthy, kind and caring. People who put their faith in her are seldom disappointed. She will always try to help out her friends in any way she can and she will never betray a confidence.
Negative Characteristics: She trusts her instincts to the extent that if someone makes a poor first impression with her it can be extremely difficult to persuade her to change her mind. If anyone ever betrays her she will most likely never trust them again.
Conflict and hardship: It was only a short while before her eleventh birthday that Mary committed her first magical act. Until then she had almost resigned herself to the fact that magic wasn’t going to be part of her life and that she would never see this great school that her older brother attends. Even though she is delight to have earned her place at Hogwarts so that she can be with him, she is not entirely certain that she really belongs there. Does that wand really fit in her own little hand?
Motivation, Passion and Drive: She has already achieved one of her greatest long-term goals which was to attend her brother’s school. Now that she is here she just wants to carve out a niche for herself and discover her place in the magical community.
Motto or catchphrase Am I really walking in the footsteps of giants? Is that why my feet are sinking?
Overall personality
Mary is a polite, thoughtful girl who would be far happier to observe the world from a distance than to shout from the top of the astronomy tower. She has a great deal of common sense and judgement with her own clear code of ethics. She won’t act in any manner she deems foolish or inappropriate. She is also reasonably intelligent.
Like her brother, she is not a violent person and doesn’t think that revenge ever serves any useful purpose. She will defend herself if the need arises, but she is unlikely to ever go on the offensive as that is simply not in her nature. If somebody acts in a way she feels is inappropriate however, she is not afraid to tell them how she feels.
She is not afraid to try new things though, as long as she doesn’t consider them inappropriate. Magical is after all, entirely new to her. Who can say which aspects of it she is likely to excel at? She does not have a gung-ho approach to life though, she will proceed with caution; learn to walk before she can run. Wisdom tells her that it is not seemly to rush headlong into the unknown without even an umbrella for protection.
Diary Entry:
Dear Diary
It has happened, I got my letter, the same one that Joe received a couple of years ago and now I too am off to this Hogwarts place. I wonder what it’ll be like. Joe has given me some information in his letters of course and talked about it during the holidays when he was back home. It all sounds fascinating, I’ll finally be able to join him and learn all about magical things.
Is that me though? I never really considered myself magical, even though I somehow did fix my dress that day simply by looking at it. Apart from Joe I have never met anyone who is even remotely magical, I always thought I was just like every other girl and now perhaps I am not. Somehow thought it doesn’t seem like me. I can’t seem to fit my name and the word ‘magic’ in the same sentence without also adding the words ‘Joe’ or ‘nonsense’. Will I really fit in at this Hogwarts school?
I guess someday soon I am going to find out.
The Appearance
First Impression: People might think she was a bit quiet, perhaps even shy.
On Second thought..: far from it, she is not afraid to put herself forward when it is appropriate, but she is not the life and soul of the party either. She tends to think that the people who talk first often have least to say so she will happily hold herself in reserve until she feels the time is right.
Overall Appearance: Mary is short for her age, with long dark hair and brown eyes. She is of average build but not overly muscular since she doesn’t undertake as many physical activities as her brother. Her skin is pale but not so white that it burns too easily. She is used to being outside in all weathers.
Basic Skills
Can your character:
Read: yes
Write: yes
Her mother considers writing to be a convenient method of remembering a recipe and has passed these skills on to her daughter.
Handle Money: A little. She has been shown but sometimes she gets confused. She hasn’t been formally shown how to manage finances but she has been shopping with family and watched people coming to trade at the farm. She understands the concept at least.
The Family History
(I shamelessly copied some of this from Joe’s card, yes.. I admit it)
Parentage: Father Arthur Wilkins (41), mother Emily Wilkins (40) - father owns a farm, mother enjoys baking and embroidery.
Siblings: Joe Wilkins (older brother, attending Hogwarts)
Other important figures: Grandpa Jeff Wilkings (69) - retired, used to work the farm before he handed the business to his son, Arthur... Jeff had a wife called Rose but she passed away in 1778
Emily has a sister, Auntie Hilary (40) and she lives in London.
Reputation: The local community see the Wilkins family as decent, hard working farmers and their staff view them as fair and reasonable employers.
Secrets: Arthur's brother, Uncle Peter has been in trouble with the law on a number of occasions and has spent time in and out of jail. As a man who has been charged with robbing a number of banks, he is an embarrassment to the family and none of them like to talk about him.
General: Whilst Joe had been groomed to hopefully succeed his father as owner of the family farm, his sister Mary had been given a bit more free reign over the path her future might take. Her mother has taught her cooking and needlework from a young age, and she has often taken care of a number of smaller jobs in the farm that essentially involved looking after the welfare of the animals or picking vegetables that were in season. She is also quite musical and has learned to play the violin. Whilst Joe has always concentrated on solid, sensible practicality, Mary’s pursuits have tended to be far more creative.
The Wizard Information
Wand: Elm, 9.5 inches, dragon heartstring
Pet: a female barn owl called Tully. She had wanted a pet of her own, and she has seen school owls bringing letters home. After she received her acceptance letter, her parents decided to buy her a pet s she requested an owl of her own.
Specific Questions for Muggleborns
How did your parents react when you received a letter from Hogwarts?
Thrilled! She has been missing Joe a great deal since he came to the school, and she is delighted that she will be able to join him there.
What explanation is given to your family for your long absences while you are at Hogwarts?
Mother and father know where she goes of course, as do the rest of her immediate family. They tell other people that she has gone to stay with Auntie Hilary for a while along with her brother.
What future did your character abandon in favor of coming to Hogwarts?
At this stage, no definite career path had been put before her. Perhaps she could have looked forward to a future as a cook or a seamstress.
How did your character find out they were magical, how long have they known and how did they react when they got their Hogwarts letter?
It was only a month or so before her 11th birthday. She ripped one of her dresses whilst out playing in the farm yard. Whilst it wasn’t one of her ‘best’ outfits, it was a dress she particularly liked. She stared at the rip, quietly wishing that it hadn’t happened and to her great shock it mended itself before her eyes. She was delighted when she got her Hogwarts letter, because that meant she would be attending the school alongside her brother.
Student Skills
School Ethic: School is a completely new environment for her, but she is not averse to learning. Mastering cooking and embroidery however is not the same as the formal education she will receive at Hogwarts. Things may seem new to her at first, but she will settle in time.
Teacher Relation: Like her brother, she has been taught to respect authority figures. She will accept everything the professors tell her without question
Work Ethic and Diligence: Whilst her workload of the farm has been significantly less than that of her brother, if she has been given a job to do then she will do it. In her family people are required to do what is expected of them.
Subjects: Magical Creatures since she has grown up around animals. She hasn’t worked the field as much though so Herbology might not come quite so naturally. She might take a shine to potions since she is not averse to following a recipe. Transfiguration might confuse her though.
Where don't you want to be: Joe’s letters have told her something about the Hogwarts houses, and from what she has heard she really doesn’t care for Slytherin.
Edited by Mary Lynn Wilkins, 06 June 2011 - 06:38 PM.
Sadie can be too, I'm sure...
