Full Name: Erika Elizabeth Hines
House: Ravenclaw
Age: Twelve
Wand: 28.6 cm, silver lime wood and unicorn hair
School Year: Second-Year
Patronus: Not applicable until 6th year
Species: Human

Silver-Lime Wood

"This unusual and highly attractive wand wood was greatly in vogue in the nineteenth century. Demand outstripped supply, and unscrupulous wandmakers dyed substandard woods in an effort to fool purchasers into believing that they had purchased silver lime. The reasons for these wands’ desirability lay not only in their unusually handsome appearance, but also because they had a reputation for performing best for Seers and those skilled in Legilimency, mysterious arts both, which consequently gave the possessor of a silver lime wand considerable status. When demand was at its height, wandmaker Arturo Cephalopos claimed that the association between silver lime and clairvoyance was ‘a falsehood circulated by merchants like Gerbold Ollivander (my own grandfather), who have overstocked their workshops with silver lime and hope to shift their surplus.’ But Cephalopos was a slipshod wandmaker and an ignoramus, and nobody, Seer or not, was surprised when he went out of business."

Unicorn-Hair Core
"Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.
Minor disadvantages of unicorn hair are that they do not make the most powerful wands (although the wand wood may compensate) and that they are prone to melancholy if seriously mishandled, meaning that the hair may 'die' and need replacing."

Before Hogwarts
She was born on the 13th May 2007 in Harrow to the wizarding couple Joshua and Tanja Hines, a German witch, both who worked at the Ministry of Magic in the DMLE and had attended Hogwarts themselves. Erika was the second-born child of theirs, with her older brother aged eight when she was born. The Hines family had always attended Hogwarts and with her older brother, Matthias, having shown signs of magic at the age of two – it was assumed that Erika would be the same. Of course, Erika would make it to Hogwarts at the age of 11. It was expected of her.

Erika’s first sign of accidental magic didn’t appear until she was six years old. That day she had been placed in the care of her nanny while her family went shopping in Diagon Alley for her brother’s new robes and equipment for his sixth year at Hogwarts. She had truly hit out in a temper due to having been left behind. As her temper had flared, her magic had as well. Her nanny had been turned every spectrum of colour possible and there wasn’t a charm around which would make the colours go away! Other times of accidental magic was setting her brother’s potions homework on fire when she had sneezed during a bout of summer illness. Granted Matthias hadn’t been too pleased with her, but their parents were delighted. Privately, of course. It wouldn’t do to show emotion after all.

From the moment that she could talk, Tanja Hines started Erika's language tuition and it is thanks to this that Erika is fluent in French, German and Italian. She was a fast learner yet ultimately some days she had no choice but to persevere. More often than not her mother, father and brother would converse in one of these languages. Erika had to learn in order not to be left behind. She found it easier to hurry to learn rather than experience the feeling of a sharp stinging hex on her knuckles or the backs of her legs. After a life-time of learning so far, Erika finds it more exciting to research something that she wants to find out herself. Everything feels more rewarding that way. Her favourite topic of reading is about healing spells and potions, not that she understands much about it all at aged eleven.

First Year



Erika was delighted when Ollivander uttered the words of information about her wand for that precise reason: "Stiff, very balanced, that excels at healing spells as well as at hexes"

Upon being sorted in Ravenclaw, Erika has found so far that Hogwarts is everything that she could have dreamed of. She's enjoying meeting new people, running into others that she had met growing up and going to classes. Quidditch is something alien to her, however, but she has enjoyed watching the games so far. Her favourite thing to do is to explore the castle, although almost getting caught by a trick step on one of the staircases before curfew has made her rely on her watch more than once now!

Erika's first year at Hogwarts School wasn't too eventful. Excelling in her classes with mainly O's has boosted her with confidence over the term. Of course, she has already been told by her parents that she will be resuming her tutoring over the summer holidays because her constant E grade in History of Magic just won't do. Her favourite classes from her first year as easily transfiguration, charms, potions and astronomy. DADA intrigues Erika, but it isn't something that she sees herself following fully, only aiming for a repeat O throughout her years to make it as a healer in the future. Over her first year, Erika has met other students from her house and from the other three, but hasn't truly managed to make friends properly. She has acquaintances but Erika, alas, seemingly lacks social skills needed to make friends.

Summer before Second Year

TBD

Second Year

TBD