Date: February 10th, 2020
Time: Noon
Colors: Zykeal
Encyclopedia: Link

Prodigal Charms Learner

Having grown up in the muggle world of Northern Dublin, Ireland, Zykeal wasn't too sure that he'd be able to excel at any of the subjects that his new school would have to offer. There wasn't a skateboarding class, typical maths or other subjects didn't seem to be the highlight of their studies. The wizard that represented Hogwarts who had come to request his attendance at the school highlighted a list of different subjects that he didn't understand at all. Even after he purchased his first years' list of items required for school, he was still confused about what he would be doing in the year to come.

The books were merely shifted through when he had returned home from Diagon Alley. Although he was curious, he would be leaving his friends and mother soon and wanted to spend as much time with them as he could. At night though, his mother would suggest that Zykeal would at least read through some of the books that were scattered now across the foot of his bed. The only book that Zyk could ever manage to read at least a paragraph through though was The Book of Spells, Grade 1, by Matilda Goshawk. For whatever reason, this book of spells had quickly become his favorite nighttime read.

Zykeal didn't get excited about many things after arriving at Hogwarts. A few notables though included the memory of riding his skateboard back home in the muggle world, seeing his mother on the breaks and more surprisingly, his charms class and homework. The other classes in his first year at Hogwarts weren't that bad, he enjoyed most of them and was having a generally good time at the school. When it came to his favorite subject though, it would be charms. For some reason, he seemed exceptionally good at the subject. Having picked up the spells that were being taught in his classes seemed quite easy for him, unlike some other of his peers.

Although he seemed to be more naturally gifted in the subject, he also decided to put in more extracurricular work into the subject itself. Perfecting his wand movement and the pronunciation, he'd drill tirelessly on days where he was best suited to be doing more homework in other subjects. Regardless though, he pushed through and continued to work on his favorite subject. It came across his mind that he was soon going to finish the work required by his first-year status and he'd have nothing left to focus on for the rest of the year, this bothered Zykeal.

Spending time doing research, he learned that his aspen wood wand probably chose him based on his innate ability with the subject, noting that most aspen wand users were quite skilled with the subject. Wanting to progress his knowledge in the subject, he'd approach the Charms professor and inquire if there was any way to advance his skills in his charm work. Thankfully, the professor had noted that his homework seemed always to be Outstanding and discussed the possibility of letting Zykeal study advanced courses beyond his year in the subject.

Word Count: 518

Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 2 | Strength: 7 | Wisdom: 7 | ArcPower: 8 | Accuracy: 5

STATUS: Approved

Link to encyclopedia: Here
Name of Talent Applying For: Seer
Describe why this fits:

Reducio

The daughter approaches. Buds bloom in the cobblestone cracks for the lion's roar rings true.

Time is but the wait of a friend. The long hour at last cast anew and death's shadow fades as we are called to light.
And in time, the daughter will hear.
And in time, the daughter will touch.
And in time, the daughter will see.

Time is but the wait of a friend.
And the daughter approaches.

_____

Cassandra's eyes blinked open once. Twice. She'd been having the strangest dream, a pattern that seemed to be increasing the past few weeks, but she thought she'd heard someone speaking to her just now to wake her up. The voice had soothing tones in it, much like the sound of her own mother, yet different. Deeper. Distant. Almost like it was shouted at her from a great void and whispered into the warmth of her ear at the same time. The thought left a tingle in her spine as she tried to recall the words spoken. Whose voice was it? And what did they mean?

She shuffled to the kitchen for a cup of tea. Tita Van had visited recently and restocked their reserves. She always said nothing soothes the soul better than hot chamomile, so Cass pulled out a jar of loose leaves for herself and her mom, who she could hear stirring about.

The kettle's whistle pierced loudly when her mom walked in, stretching her lean arms above her head. Warm afternoons like these often meant nap time for both of them. "Hope you've put it on for me, too," Mei yawned, patting her daughter on the head aimlessly. Cass swatted her hand away but gave a noise of approval all the same.

"Chamomile," she said simply. Mei turned to her, a question on her face. Cass almost exclusively drank black tea with lemon. "Just a weird dream."

"Weird enough to make you drink that? Tell me about it."

They sat at the table drinking their tea together, Cass quietly summarizing as much of the dream as she could remember. She'd found herself on a beach at dawn, facing the ocean as the sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Commotion from behind her drew her to a large crowd gathering outside a small hut. The faces in the crowd were blurred, yet Cass felt an odd sense of familiarity as she walked amongst them. They parted slowly as she approached to reveal a seated figure, adorned in a gossamer cloak that glittered even in the lowlight though their face remained hidden in shadow. The figure was looking at her, as far as she could tell, but the weight of their stare cast a heavy burden and Cass found herself drawing to the side of the crowd. The figure continued staring at the spot she'd just been in. And that's when she heard the voice.

"'Time is but the wait of a friend,'" Cass recited the one line she could remember, "'and the daughter approaches.'"

Mei went pale. And that's how Cass discovered that she was a descendant of Seers.
-
For years, the Ledesmas had been known to have a strong affinity for the art of Divination, especially amongst the wizards of the family. No one knows how it began or who it started with, but what they do know is that every once in a while, a Seer would be born into the family. The level of mastery with the Inner Eye usually varied, though they were each powerful in their own right.

The last known Seer of Ledesma heritage, however, was born almost two hundred years ago. Before his death, he gave a prophecy, a family secret about a "daughter" that has been passed down from generation to generation. Since then, the Ledesmas have long awaited the return of a Seer in their bloodline, for it was a huge honor to be born with such a gift.

And a huge responsibility. It became clear very quickly that this was a big deal to her family, especially to Tita Vanessa. Van was originally believed to be the daughter in the prophecy when she started reading tea leaves and palms accurately. Her lessons in Divination were also proving fruitful as she grew more and more masterful, making her father proud. In the end, however, she had yet to make a prophecy and it was apparent that she most likely wouldn't, much to the dismay of their elders. Van carried that disappointment like a burden for many years.

"They'll expect a lot from you," she warned Cass. "Nothing is certain yet but if things keep going the way they are, with your dreams, you will be expected to uphold and continue our family's longest and most sacred tradition."

Cass went bug-eyed. "Thanks, I'll definitely sleep better tonight." Tita Van only smiled mysteriously.

"I've got just the tea for you."

Cass is only just beginning to learn about her magical abilities and understanding the difference between a dream she has versus a vision she sees. Either way, she only hopes to make her family proud.

WC: 847

Stats: Total: 30 | Sta: 4 | Ev: 4 | Str: 3 | Wis: 7 | Arc: 6 | Acc: 6

https://www.hogwarts.io/viewtopic.php?f=169&t=9457

Please list out your stats using the 6-point stat system:

Stamina: 6

Evasion: 6

Strength: 5

Wisdom: 6

Arcane Power: 5

Accuracy: 7

Link to your encyclopedia thread: Encyclopedia
Name of Ability that you Are Applying for: Prodigy Potions Learner

Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it):
The Gears family has always had a strong connection to potions. Claudia's parents, Mack and Emmelynne Gears, are both professional potion makers - and good at it too. Not to mention the fact that the two wizards literally met in potions class.

Claudia is also encouraged by her mother to become a potion maker as well. Her mother says that potions are “educating, interesting, and fun.” She can not only can learn recipes to potions but their uses as well. By making potions, Claudia will get to use her curiosity as she brews and creates new mixtures.

What her mother doesn’t know, however, is that Claudia has already considered a career in potion making. Ever since she was a small child, she gravitated toward the small vials and bubbling cauldrons that her parents would make. She was interested in how mixing a few magical ingredients together could force them to combine together and create something new! The science was simple, but she still felt as if something truly mysterious was going on.

As the years went by, Claudia’s father started to gradually understand what was happening with his daughter. The sudden prank gone wrong with Claudia’s eye opened his mind to the impossible. Or, rather, just simply the possible. Mack would ask the local library to add books on chemistry, would buy books for the Gears family’s personal magical library, and would gift her books with potion recipes in them. While he warned her that she couldn’t try to create the potions or tamper with her parent’s already existing ones, he said that she could still memorize the recipes. When Claudia got her letter for Hogwarts, Mack promised her that when she returned home for the breaks that she could practice with them. He furthered his promise farther by gifting her more advanced potion recipes and sending her tips for potions class.

When Mack started purchasing books, Claudia was overjoyed that finally there was someone she could share her interest with. She started to respect her parents more for their work (although Emmelynne lost some respect when she didn’t pick up on her daughter’s sudden interest in potions) and even started to talk with them a little. Claudia’s parents loved the fact that she was actually talking with them and made sure that they did whatever they could to help support Claudia.

Please list out your stats using the 6-point stat system:
Stamina: 5
Evasion: 6
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 8
Arcane Power: 7
Accuracy: 6

Reducio

Elspeth had never spent much time around her extended family. Her parents were keen on keeping her at home whenever they could, telling her that there was a chance that they would be found out for their Welsh Independence stance by folks who didn't support them if they spent too much time out of the house. She'd never understood why this applied to aunts or grandfathers, but she also didn't know if it was normal to see them at all, and so, never questioned it. Her dad's mom would come over around Christmastime to give her presents and muggle children's toys. Her mom, well Elspeth didn't know about her mom's parents. Any time she brought it up her mom got quiet. This was true for a lot of adults her mother's age, people who had lived through the Wizarding Wars. She didn't push the topic, assuming her mother's parents had died at the hands of a Death Eater.

One morning, as Elspeth was flipping through some of her second year textbooks that she'd just come back from Diagon Alley with there was a loud knock at the door. She didn't think anything of it. Her mom worked odd jobs for local magical folk in the area who would often drop by either to pick up something she'd fixed or drop off something that needed repair. There was a large suitcase that was supposed to be nearly infinite on the inside that had accidentally become a little too infinite and all of Mrs. Green's belongs were now missing somewhere in it's void. Perhaps she had shown up to see how it was coming along.

"No, not another word I will not stand for this mother," she heard her mom saying from the first floor. She'd never heard her mother use this stern tone before. Both of her parents were relatively soft spoken and nervous, they hated getting involved in confrontation if they could help it.

Elspeth was so intrigued by how her mom was shouting she'd missed the part about how her grandmother was here. But she wanted to see what the hullabaloo was about and so she crept quietly over to the banister to see if she could get a better peak down the stairs. Her mom was pacing about with someone Elspeth had never seen before. The woman was older, though how old Elspeth couldn't tell. She was short and squat, even from above Elspeth guessed that even she was taller than this visitor. Her head was a bit bulbous, and it was accentuated with a kind of bouffant hairstyle that showcased her long, point ears.

Goblin! Elspeth had seen the goblins at Gringotts before, but rarely anywhere outside of Diagon Alley. Certainly not all the way out in Aberystwyth. She wasn't even sure if there were any goblins in Wales. What on earth would a goblin need her mom to fix? Goblins were amazing at smithing things on their own. Her mom was good, but she wasn't goblin good.

"The girl has a right to know Rabaco. She deserves to know what she is and what is hers by birthright," the woman's voice was a bit richer than other goblins Elspeth at met, but still more nasally than your average human. Wait. Who was Rabaco?

"That girl is my daughter and I am the one who gets to decide what happens to her," her mother was fuming. Her mother was talking about her. Why was her mother talking about her?

"She's my granddaughter, and that means I get a say in it too," the goblin woman said as they continued their pacing back and forth at one another.

Elspeth felt herself get cold, and then numb. This goblin was her grandmother? What in the world was going on? This couldn't be true. Her mother's parents had died or gone missing or something. She didn't have a grandmother on her mom's side.

Her mother pulled her wand out and pointed it at her grandma, "Gas uis uk kae ruika. Nuv."*

The goblin woman looked practically ill. "Huv dora aeui vuems sros os ka. Ok orr vauvra. Yui voms su rurd es uqar ka, reda es kodak aeui ku kvaceor? Jiks bacoika I com's roqa o vomd duakm's kaom kra'k mus vors subrem Rabacco."**

Elspeth had never heard her mother speak Gobbledegook before. It sounded rougher than the way she had always known her mom to speak. She sounded like a stranger in her own home. Who were these people? What else had her mother not told her?

The goblin woman absentmindedly looked up the stairs as she tried to avert her gaze from the wand. Elspeth looked at her. Their eyes met and suddenly, something made sense to her. Not a fact, not like she'd pieced together a puzzle. But a feeling deep inside of her made sense. She looked at her goblin grandmother and felt kinship.

"Elspeth. My dear..." her grandmother's mouth hung open at the first sight of her granddaughter.

Without thinking or second guessing, Elspeth ran down the stairs and into her grandmother's arms, crying. Her grandmother only came up to about her chest, and so she was effectively cradling the woman herself. But she felt held. She felt seen.

"Oh come now, dear, don't cry. Don't cry. Sromdko's*** here," she looked around Elspeth's side toward her mother, "And I'm not going anywhere anytime soon."

"Mom, I think you've been here quite long enough -"

Elspeth dramatically swung around at this. She never dramatically did anything, and the inertia gave her pause. Her fists were clenched, her body tight with anger, and she wasn't entirely sure what to do now. It was her mom, after all. She'd never stood up to the neighbor boy's she hated before, let alone someone she loved and who had always been an authority figure in her life.

But she started, quietly at first and gaining volume as she spoke, "No, mom. I don't think she's been here long enough. She hasn't been here at all. You can't just send her away. You can't just send my grandmother away. I thought she was dead! I thought one of he-who-must-not-be-named's goons had killed her! I thought you were in mourning! And now, now I find out that you've just be lying to me? What else have you lied about?"

Her mom just stood there, holding her wand down at her side, looking steely.

"Do I not deserve an answer? REALLY? After all the crap you've put me through? Mom, I never even had friends before this year. You kept me so locked up that I was an absolute mess my first year at school. And why? Because you didn't want me to know about my grandma? How is that fair?" Elspeth was shaking now. She was hardly over 5' tall, but she felt giant. She felt like she could walk over and flick her mom, and she'd go sailing through the air far away.

"It's not that simple, Elspeth. There are things you don't know."

"YOU'RE RIGHT THERE ARE THINGS I DON'T KNOW AND WHOSE FAULT IS THAT?" Elspeth didn't even know her voice could get this loud. Her mother took a half step back and looked aghast for a moment. Then, she looked down at the floor, not meeting her daughter's gaze any longer. Elspeth felt triumphant, she'd done it. She'd stood up for herself. And then - then she felt that sinking feeling again. Her mom was upset. Her mom. She loved her mom. As much as this whole situation was deeply upsetting to her, she didn't want to hurt her mom's feelings.

Everything seemed to be happening very quickly, and she wasn't skilled at how to have these kinds of heated conversations. She took a breath, and felt a set of long fingers slide into her hand. Looking down, she saw her grandmother standing beside her now. Three generations, all standing there, all unsure of what to do now.

"Elspeth I... I was trying to protect you." her mother said, weakly, barely louder than a whisper.

"From her?" Elspeth looked down at her grandmother. "Why on earth would I need protecting from her? She's not the one who's been lying to me my whole life. She's not the one who kept me locked in this house. She's -"

"That's enough, Elspeth," her mother had regained some power in her voice, but looked more exhausted than angry, "There's a lot you still have to learn about the wizarding world. You want to know what I was protecting you from? I'm the first person in my family line who's been able to even go to Hogwarts. Did you ever think about that?"

"How could I if you hadn't told -"

"I didn't TELL YOU because I was trying to make sure you didn't have to go through what I went through as a child," her mother was choked up now, and that meant that even though Elspeth had stopped crying she started up again, unable to watch her mother get upset without having a sympathetic reaction, "wizards are cruel, Elspeth," her mother said, tired. She put her hand on her brow, massaging it a bit before taking a big breath. "If we're going to have this conversation now, I'm going to put on some tea. Elspeth, do you want any?"

Elspeth dumbly shook her head, then looked down at the floor.

"Mom, ruv du aeui soda aeuirk, I'qa kursussam.****"

Her grandmother smiled, softly (though showing some rather pointy and yellowed teeth), "I'll take it black, dear. Thanks."

"Alright, why don't we move to the living room then?" Her mother had phrased it as a question but said it as a statement before disappearing into the kitchen to put a kettle on.

Elspeth stayed where she was for a moment. Everything felt surreal, a bit like she was floating in some kind of a dream space. Then she felt her grandmother's hand, like a small grounding force, bring her back to reality.

"Can you show me where your living room is? I don't know my way around your house, of course," her grandmother's voice was so much gentler than she'd ever expected to hear from a goblin. She nodded and led her grandmother around the staircase toward their living room in the back. But as they walked down the hall she felt a tug. Her grandmother had stopped and was staring at all of the photos hanging up on the wall.

"Oh, yeah, um. This is where mom puts all her photos. She gave me her camera last year so... there's a collection of the photos I took at Hogwarts too, see," she pointed toward a framed with about ten different pictures mounted in it. Each was of a different creature wriggling about that Elspeth had captured for her naturalist journal. "Let's see... here's a bowtruckle I saw, maybe a little before Christmas. And um... over here, oh, here's a picture of a hippogriff! I didn't get close to it, I just happened to be walking by while some 5th years were in class out on the grounds. And, oh here is-" She went to point at a different picture when she heard a small sniffle.

Her grandmother was tearing up, ever so quietly beside her. Elspeth stopped, unsure of what to do or how to console her. She wasn't used to seeing so many adults in her life crying. There was something about being next to a perfect stranger who happened to be related to her, and crying, that made Elspeth feel a little uncomfortable. That feeling of expansiveness she'd had earlier melted away and she felt like a little kid again, in way over her head.

"Come on, let's go this way. The living room's just through here," Elspeth led her toward the living room through an archway.

Other than a corner where her mom kept a small pile of other people's broken stuff to be fixed, the living room was fairly sparse. A pile of notebooks were strewn about on the floor by the sliding door where Elspeth had been working on some summer homework, but otherwise the room was clean. There were two sofas sitting around a small oak coffee table in front of a fireplace. As much as her mom liked to collect small knick-knacks, she'd mostly kept them to her work shed in the back. "The less I have to clean in here, the better," she'd once said.

Now she walked in with two tea cups, setting one down on the table for Elspeth's grandma. Her mom sat on the sofa opposite them, and there was a minute of silence, broken only occasionally by the tinking of a teacup against its saucer or a gentle slurp. As much as Elspeth felt overwhelmed by this situation, she was seeing now how much her mom was affected too. Everyone in this circle had skin in the game.

Her mother placed her teacup back on it's saucer and down on the table, "Elspeth, if this is the path you want to go down I'm not going to stop you."

She was taken aback by this. If she wasn't going to be stopped... why make such a fuss about meeting in the living room?

"Wait. I'm not finished. I'm not going to stop you, but I am going to educate you. You need to make an informed decision. It's okay if that decision is different from mine. You're your own person, and now that the djinn is out of the bottle there's no putting it back.

"Elspeth, you are 1/8th goblin. I am 1/4 goblin. My mom," she gestured toward her grandmother,"is 1/2 goblin. That means that she has been barred by wizarding society from having a wand, attending Hogwarts, or participating in a number of jobs and services around the country. Their kind -"

"OUR kind," her grandmother interjected.

Her mother paused for a moment, clearly tensing up. "Goblinkind has been fine with this arrangement for a long time. Only lately,"

"Oh hogwash. If we're going to tell Elspeth the truth then we're going to tell her the truth," her grandmother turned to her, and stretched out her long spindly fingers to hold Elspeth's hands in hers, "Listen, Elspeth. Our people have not been treated kindly by wizards, it's true. I'm not allowed to use a wand, I'm not allowed to do a number of things. I'm not able to walk down the street without being stared at, and heaven knows my mother had it worse. But it's important to me, it's important to all of our kind, that you know that Goblins have never been fine with this arrangement, as your mother so lovingly puts it."

Her mom looked like she wanted to interject, but stopped herself.

"But, how others treat us is beside the point. Whether or not you or your mother likes it, you are part-goblin. Why, I can see it in you here," she pointed one finger up toward Elspeth's face before tucking some of her hair behind her ear, "Ah, yes. There's the old family heirloom right there. You've got the ears of a goblin my dear. And your hands -"

"My hands don't look anything like yours though?" Elspeth blurted out. She shut her mouth quickly and turned a deep pink with embarrassment at what a rude thing she'd just said.

"Ha! That's true, they don't. But they also don't look like your father's hands either. The less goblin that's in you, the weaker the traits. But you can still see those long, nimble fingers, passed down from generations of tinkerers and craftsmen.

"Elspeth, I'm not here to tell you that your life has to change. Up until now you've been perfectly content as a full human. And there's no reason you can't go to sleep tonight just the same. But, if you want, there's a whole world I can show you. I can teach you gobbledegook and how to make the most delicious chantrelle risotto. There's so much rich history and culture that our people have created. Just because the wizarding world has suppressed it doesn't mean we haven't been here. But the choice is yours. I can't force it on you."

Her grandmother released her hands. Elspeth saw her mother and her grandmother looking at her, waiting for her to make a decision. It's normally in times like these that she freezes up or runs and hides. But she couldn't hide from this. Never again.

"I... but I can't just go back to how things were. I know now. And I've met you. And I've always wanted a grandma I could talk to. And..." she looked at her mom, who was staring deeply into her teacup, "and I'm not really sure where I'm from anymore, so maybe, maybe learning about this part of me will help."

Her grandmother broke into a wide toothy smile and hugged her around the torso with a tight squeeze, "Oh, my dear. You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that. I have so much to teach you, when do you go back to school?"

"September 1st," Elspeth's mother said flatly. It was a fact every wizard in Britain knew, or, at least, every wizard who was allowed to attend. "Well. It seems you've made up your mind then. I'll just leave you two to talk. If you need me, I'll be out in the shed."

Before Elspeth could call after her, her mother was gone.

* Get out of my house. Now.
** How dare you point that at me. Of all people. You want to hold it over me, like it makes you so special? Just because I can't have a wand doesn't mean she's not part goblin Rebecca.
*** Grandma
**** How do you take yours, I've forgotten.

If possible, I want this to be something that was true of Elspeth during her first year, but that she only learns about the summer before her second year. A lot of her character's anxiety comes from her parents being a bit overbearing, but she's never understood why. Her mother had kept her 1/4 goblin nature away from her muggle father, worried that her being a witch was already a lot for him to handle. She'd just explained to him that her mother was scary and shouldn't be anywhere near Elspeth and so they concocted this story about their being political rebels to convince Elspeth to stay home to protect her from her Goblin ancestry (her mother, knowingly). Elspeth's realizing that her mother has not only been wrong about a lot of her conspiracy theories, but had also hidden such a big piece of information from her (and also revealed some not-so-subtle racism and shame in her disowning of her 1/2 goblin mom) breaks a lot of the trust that she has in someone who has really been her rock for her whole life.

Because this is all news to Elspeth, I also think instead of starting fluent in Gobbledegook, she has to learn it with her Grandmother over time.

Stamina: 3
Evasion: 7
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 8
Arcane Power: 4
Accuracy: 5

Link to your encyclopedia thread: https://www.hogwarts.io/viewtopic.php?f=169&t=11385

Name of Ability or Race/Talent that you Are Applying for: Seer