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Mara Ashlador
Status:
Half-blood
Nationality:
Irish
Residence:
Kenmare, Ireland
Function:
Second year, Slytherin
Wand:
27,3 cm cherry wood and phoenix feather
Encyclopedia link

Mara Ashlador is the bright-eyed, prideful, and whip-smart daughter of Ben Ashla and Aidan Appledor. She enjoyed a relatively quiet upbringing in Kenmare, Ireland, making friends through local Muggle sports leagues and spending her free time dreaming of outer space. While other children in her town fantasized about moving to the big city, Mara dreamed of places bigger, further away, and, well, not on this Earth. Ben, a Muggle with a background in astrophysics and cosmology, encouraged Mara by buying her books on astronomy and engaging her in science projects at home. Aidan, the wizard of the family, was always a bit uneasy about Mara's burning desire to become an astronaut, especially after she began exhibiting signs of magical ability. As a Hogwarts graduate himself, Aidan knew all too well how closed-minded many witches and wizards could be towards the Muggle way of life.

Mara's magical status was confirmed at age 5, after her fathers left her alone for an hour to put together and play with a new toy rocket ship. When Ben poked his head into her room to check on her, he observed his beloved daughter literally flying around her room with the rocket ship in hand. Both dads were thrilled, though apprehensive -- they knew their daughter had a tough journey ahead of her. (Not to mention, Aidan and Ben discussed in hushed tones, how her fellow students would react to her parentage. Mara is fiercely proud of both her dads, and because of her progressive upbrgining, she can sometimes be blind towards other ways of life.)

When the Hogwarts letter finally arrived, Mara despaired of attending, assuming (like her father Aidan) that she would have to give up her dream of space travel. But Ben assuaged her fears by appealing to Mara's love for all kinds of learning, and challenging her to use Hogwarts as a way of finding avenues of communication between the world of science and the world of magic.

Ironically (given her career goals), Mara is also nervous about traveling so far from home. She has never been apart from her dads for more than a week at a time, and she idolizes the two of them more than anything. One of her most precious possessions is a photo of herself and her dads at their wedding, on a gorgeous summer day in 2015, months after gay marriage was legalized in Ireland. An 8-year-old Mara had staunchly refused to remove her prized astronaut helmet for photos, but the guests insisted the helmet looked just perfect with her Cinderella-style dress. Mara's dads couldn't agree more.

Now at Hogwarts, Mara is apprehensive about the challenges posed by a new environment, but excited to make friends with similar interests. She also can't wait to give this whole "Quidditch" thing a try. After all, she's always dreamed of flying...