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Full Character Name: Silvia Muriel Bog-Goyle
Character Birthday & Age: August 24, 1997: 12 years old
City & Country of Birth: East Ham (London), England
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Halfblood
House & Year: Slytherin 2nd Year

Wand: 91/4 inches, Holly, Dragon Heartstring, slightly inflexible, somewhat brittle

Carved with a beaded 'scale' pattern that twists unto itself, perhaps representing a snake in the moment of consuming itself.

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(A small girl entered the shop at the end of her grandfather's arm, a grand old gentleman built along the lines of a brick.  Ollivander smiled pleasantly, watching as the girl's round eyes absorbed her surroundings: boxes and boxes, piled high into the shadows of the ceiling. 
"Ah, mister Goyle!  It has been a while."
"Harrumph, yes, been a while since the last one went through Hogwarts, dontchaknow!"
"Yes, I remember!  Dear little Gregory--" Ollivander hesitated, remembering just where 'dear little Gregory' was spending his time these days.  "I hope the wand was satisfactory? Blackthorn, 8 3/4 inches, Dragon Heartstring, somewhat brittle--I always remember."
"It performed," Goyle said shortly, wide leathery face stiff and unrelenting.
"Good.  And who's this?"
"My granddaughter, Silvia Bog-Goyle."
And she looked every bit as venomous as her cousin, though Ollivander didn't say so.  She had yet to master the sneer properly, but her eyes had already adopted that sharply suspicious light he recognized in her grandfather.
"Good afternoon, Silvia.  Now, I'll need to take some measurements--"
She didn't fidget or gawk like her muggleborn peers, but watched closely as the measuring tape zipped this way and that around her body.  She was shy around adults, he surmised, but among other children . . .
"Hmm, yes, I see.  Here," Ollivander laid hand on a beaten leather case, carefully extracting the wand inside: pale and speckled, with a spiraled shaft. "Blackthorn, 9 1/4 inches, slightly rigid." he explained, wrapping her twig-like white fingers around the utensil, then just as quickly plucking it away.
"No, no, I'm sorry, don't know what I was thinking . . . here: hornbeam, 10 inches, quite brittle.  Heartstring again.  Yes, go on, give it a flick." There was the briefest of glimmers--no, no, "Not at all suitable.  Ah!  Perhaps--maple, 9 3/4 inches, heartstring, totally inflexible."  He was getting closer!  He could see Silvia was losing patience, though her grandfather hadn't twitched a muscle, not even to breathe.  "Definitely.  Holly, 9 1/4 inches, dragon heart string," he lifted the wand from its plain parchment-covered box to admire the carvings again--like a snake eating itself--before presenting it to Silvia.  The girl's lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but remained still.  He knew, the moment she touched its scaled grip, that he'd matched them perfectly.  There was no visual demonstration, but a sudden feeling of tension in the air that made it hard to breathe.  Then it passed.  "Somewhere between inflexible and brittle," Ollivander murmured.  "So don't drop it.")

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Physical Description: Build: slight, angular
Height/weight: 4’7” / 84 lbs  (slightly behind the growth curve, she'll likely surpass her classmates by the end of the year to reach the same lofty heights as the rest of her family)
Hair color: reddish blonde
Eye color: dark brown, nearly black
Skin color: parchment pale, her nose is perpetually chaffed
First Impression: Small, but not in a particularly pitiable way, more in a miserly, irritable fashion, all sharp edges and elbows.  She puts some people in mind of a wet cat, particularly in the way she scrapes her hair back flat against her low skull and lets it curl out wildly beneath the ear.  Few connect her with her notorious cousin, the only visible clues to their shared blood being her overhanging, neanderthal brow and deep sunk, small dark eyes. 
Odd or Outstanding Features: Aside from her typical Goyle forehead, people sometimes remember her for her peculiarly long neck, though she’s been assured she’ll grow into it in time.  She also has a small white scar close to her hairline above her right eye where she fell and split it open trying to fly a broomstick down a flight of stairs.
Effects: Silvia is never seen without her hair clip, a black lacquered heirloom, possibly charmed to keep her hair back.  The Hogwarts uniform seems pretty normal to her, since she’s been dressed in scratchy wool skirt and button-down shirt almost all her life.  Now that she’s seen some of the other clothes she might wear she’s had some traitorous thoughts about trousers.  Silvia can be surprisingly prude, though that may change with time.

Personality Description: Silvia was born of a paradox.  Technically, she is the heir of a proud pureblood family and has been raised as such.  Yet actually, her mother was a grand disappointment to her lineage, first as a Hufflepuff, then as the wife of a lowly muggle, and finally, as an invalid and madwoman.  So Silvia is proud, yet painfully aware of her shortcomings, so that she is touchy, hot-tempered and eager to prove herself all at once.  When she fails, she takes it as a sign of her weak blood and as an omen against her.  When she succeeds, she is quick to boast and strut.  She is socially awkward, shy around adults but far too forward among children her age.  When frustrated, whether by the complexities of society or the difficulty of potions, Silvia seeks reassurance in confirming her power.  In other words, Silvia is a bully in the fine old Goyle tradition. 


History: Silvia was born to Marie Goyle, a pureblood witch, and Charles Bog, a London garage technician.  A brief history, if you will, of this unusual union.  Marie is the daughter of Gregory Goyle Sr. and his third wife, Helene Argent.  His first wife, Marcia Crabbe (grandmother of Gregory Jr.) had died young at 34 years, and his second wife, Lucy Fay, had died at 28.  The ministry had grown suspicious, but were ultimately unable to prove anything.  In any case, Helene’s daughter, Marie, was something of a disappointment from the start.  Waffling, weak-willed and prone to tears, nobody was especially surprised to see her sorted into Hufflepuff, and her father hoped to find her a strong but kind husband who would look after his wayward little princess.  It came as an unwelcome surprise to find that Marie wasn’t totally without a spine.  She met Charles when she got lost looking for the Diagone Alley and ended up in a muggle bar, trying to convince the bartender to accept bronze galleons.  Charles paid her tab and they talked long into the night, long enough for Charles to find out Marie was lost and didn’t have any place to stay.  He offered to put her up with his sister.  When she disappeared the next morning he thought he’d never see her again, and was surprised when she tracked him down to the garage he worked in almost half a year later.  They eloped in 1996, two years before Voldemort fell for the second time.

The fall was a hard time for the House of Goyle.  They’d pinned so much on Voldemort’s ascension, and had become too closely involved not to be arrested, and ultimately, convicted.  The House lost most of its fortune in fines and attorneys.  Since then, Gringotts has refused to even think about lending them money, and the other pureblood families who would typically step in with a little financial aid avoided the Goyles like the plague.  Suddenly Gregory’s attention turned to his much estranged and incidentally disinherited daughter and her newborn.  Her husband was a minor, somewhat unsavory detail.

Three days before Silvia’s second birthday, Charles Bog vanished.  Marie returned, broken-hearted, to her parents' manse, the two-year old Silvia in tow.  There, she suffered a mental collapse and descended into an impenetrable depression.  From that day forth, Silvia rarely saw her mother, but occasionally heard her: screaming, ranting, sobbing, singing . . . her voice filled the empty halls of Gargouille Manor.

The resident house elf, Gurdy, was charged with keeping an eye on the young mistress until something more suitable could be arranged.  However, more often than not, Silvia's grandmother was busy with Marie, Silvia's grandfather was busy brooding and Gurdy had housework to do (it didn't help that Silvia started screaming whenever Gurdy entered the room).  In theory, Silvia had governesses or tutors to watch after her, but money was scarce, and her tutelage intermittent.  So the girl was left to her own devices in the long drafty halls of Gargouille Manor, entertaining herself with dolls, broomsticks, toy wands, and, once she learned how to read, the many gruesome grimoires the Goyles had collected through the ages.
 
Occasionally, her grandfather would find time between breeding dogs and brooding to summon his granddaughter, either to remind her of her tainted blood and other failings, or to shower her with endless praise, comparing her favorably to her cousin, uncle and mother.  Sometimes she'd just sit with him and listen to him rant, or talk about the past, often falling asleep comfortably in the crook of his arm.  Her grandmother, meantime, spent much of her time watching over Silvia's mother, who by Helene's account is quite mad.  When she did come into contact with Silvia, it was usually to straighten her skirt, or order her into the bath.  Nevertheless, Helene has become Silvia's most trusted consul, confessing minor problems and quandaries to her 'grandmaman,' perhaps because of her grandmother's practical approach and level-headed nature.

Last year, Silvia was officially accepted into Hogwarts.  She was even allowed to take the acceptance letter to her mother, though she protested this bitterly as she openly despised the woman whom she sees as silly and weak-willed.  Still, when Marie took Silvia in her arms smelling of clean linens and lavender soap . . . there was something in the way she held her tight, that made Silvia glad she had showed her mum the letter after all. 

Though the Goyles had sold off several invaluable family heirlooms and a number of their famous dogs to afford the school supplies, the price tag still came as something of a shock.  Nevertheless, her grandfather insisted on buying her only the best, and his coffers were quite empty by the end of the shopping list.  They even purchased a short-eared owl (evening owl) whom Silvia named Faustus.

In Hogwarts, Silvia had trouble making friends.  Pride was a common fault among Slytherins, but her violent temper was a little rarer and less welcome.  When she became frustrated, she took it out on weaker students, showing off her aptitude for the darker magics and dueling arts in her choice of spells. 

In addition to these irksome details, Silvia has run across some troubling rumors, mostly about her grandfather.  Of course, she hardly credits them, but anybody who believes otherwise ought to be prepared for a duel.

Points of Interest

The Goyle family has produced the meanest, most magical guard dogs in Britain for the past several hundred years.  Silvia is terrified of them, but to be fair, we're talking about great slathering wolfish things the size of small ponies.  They're rumored to be descendants of the Grimm itself, though her grandfather insists the Grimm is merely a runt his father threw out.

Silvia is a staunch supporter of the Wimbourne Wasps and a fine flyer.  She has adopted her cousin's Nimbus 2001, seeing as he hasn't got much use for it at the moment, and though entirely outdated, it still flies well.  Though still largely considered too young to make the Slytherin team, it hasn't deterred her from trying out.

Silvia's life-time ambitions are as follows: 1. Minister of Magic  2. Captain of Wimbourne Wasps  3. Next Dark Lord.  It should be noted that she doesn't find any of these goals mutually exclusive.

Classes:

Core Classes Astronomy Charms Defense Against the Dark Arts Herbology History of Magic Potions Transfiguration No

Electives No No No No No

How Do You Fit Into Your House?: Silvia is proud, ambitious and has an unhealthy interest in forbidden spells, any one of which would make her an excellent candidate for the most suspect House in Hogwarts.

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("Silvia Bog-Goyle."
Silvia could hear her heart fluttering in her throat as she stepped across the stage.  Noticing that she was ducking slightly, she adjusted herself to a more leisurely pace and tried to stand up straighter.  For a moment, she gazed out upon the many up-turned faces and located the Slytherins.  I want to go there. she thought, as the hat fell over her eyes.
Ambitious, the hat thought, and Silvia jerked her head up in surprise.  I wonder, what will become of you?  I put your mother in Hufflepuff--Silvia shook her head hard, almost hard enough to dislodge the Sorting Hat.  --No, I wasn't going to put you in Hufflepuff.  No: proud, ambitious, power-hungry . . . you'll do well in--
"SLYTHERIN!"
Silvia felt weak at the knees and lost all composure as she wobbled over to the cheering table, collapsing where other first years shuffled to make room.  Grandfather would be pleased.)

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Writing Sample:

Sum up your character in one paragraph: Proud of a lineage that scorns her, Silvia Bog-Goyle is deeply insecure.  It doesn't help that rumor haunts the Goyles, whether it be mutterings of her imprisoned Death Eater relatives, whispers of her mad mother or tell of her grandfather's murderous demeanor.  She has few real friends, but enjoys the company of hangers-on and the notoriety she garners for her hot temper and bullying ways.