Your Nickname: Nuri
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
Are you over thirteen? Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Friend
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: Raine Almasy, Vivienne Thorpe, Dietrich Eisenberg, Ira Almasy, Roger Lemon (secondary) and Arthur Lemon (secondary; still in review)
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary







Physical Description:

Leyla stands daintily at 5’7’’, a lean figure with slanted softness to her hips and slender shoulders. Her frame is unimposing, although there is a definite tenderness to her mannerisms. She has inherited her mother’s dark green eyes- lit with a peaceful and diffident light. What might have otherwise been a sharp jaw line is muted by a soft frame of dark curls. Her skin is deep and tawny but pales significantly in the winter. Leyla’s wardrobe is comprised of loose, silken robes in dark colours while her muggle clothes are typically modest and comfortable.

Having been raised in a multilingual household, she does not speak with an identifiable British accent- it comes across as neat and far from Northern. Leyla is similarly articulate in Arabic and Persian. She carries herself with the gentle and soundless grace of a non-intrusive character; restrained but not at all formal.

The witch has few other distinguishable physical marks: a long diagonal scar across her back from a duelling accident in Iran, among other smaller ones, and a mole on her left shoulder.


Personality Description:

Initially an unremarkable personality, Leyla is  revealed in time to be a genuinely kind woman- she is known to close friends as knowledgeable and considerate, with incredibly perseverant loyalties. Patience is her prevailing trait.

Unfortunately, these same qualities encourage her tendency to be walked over by more powerful and charismatic characters- a circumstance she might not personally mind, though it inhibits whatever potential there is to grow outside of her comfort zones. Leyla is far from passive however, and does not shy away from broaching subjects that personally affect her.

Besides a multilingual proficiency, she has also inherited a sense of spirituality from her parents. Leyla is hardly devout but nonetheless identifies as a practicing Muslim: her performance of the five daily prayers is testament to the casual significance she attaches to discipline and consistency.

As a Halfblood she has neutral views on pureblood elitism and muggleborns. Politics is of little interest to Leyla- she is primarily concerned with her livelihood and those people around her; lofty dreams or goals rarely occur to the witch beyond this scope. Accordingly, she exercises a considerable effort in pursuing the perfection of her potions trade- a profession she has always found to be precise and oddly therapeutic.

Leyla’s inoffensive and engaging personality allows for her to get along with individuals from various walks of life. She is not especially experienced in matters of the heart and maintains a naïve, virtuous notion of romantic relationships. In encountering derogatory or insulting persons, Leyla frequently chooses to disregard such behavior in favor of more amicable responses.


History:

Leyla beinti Naceri was born in the city of Manchester to a second generation Iranian wizard, Naceri ibn Javadi, and his British wife: Rose Cartwright. The couple lived in a neighborhood just off the city center where they occupied a tiny flat with two rooms and a dingy little kitchen, which always seemed to smell like curry.

CHILDHOOD

As a result of complications at birth, Leyla’s mother was unable to bear further children although her daughter experienced a childhood that wasn’t lonely in the least. Naceri was part of a much larger family who lived not only in Manchester but also across England; many of Leyla’s oldest and closest friends are her cousins. They were similarly aged and attended the same muggle schools together up until each of them turned 11 years old. Several relatives were sent abroad to the Middle East for their magical schooling but Leyla, having been born in the United Kingdom, received a Hogwarts letter when she became of age.

HOGWARTS

Always a considerate and fiercely devoted little girl, she was naturally sorted into the house of Hufflepuff; her mother’s alma mater. Leyla was several years above the Potter boy although a great deal of the relevant events had occurred only in her final peridos at the school. Her interests had been evenly spread across the subjects at first and she was an avid player of Wizarding Chess- turning out to be rather average in the former and excelling at the latter.

Leyla began developing specific interests in academic subjects in her fourth year, just as she was drowning in the mundane drudgeries of puberty and boys. She had come from a culturally conservative background and rarely strayed further from flirting with the occasional housemate. For the most part this left her with plenty of time to concentrate on a growing dedication to Potions and Herbology. In a socially and politically chaotic era, these interests represented a form of consistency in her life.

While Leyla’s parents never chose to withdraw their daughter from Hogwarts during its conflicted times, they often took her abroad over holidays to escape escalating tensions in the United Kingdom. Their decision to visit Naceri’s homeland, Bandar-e-Maqam, was not ideally peaceful considering the state of Iranian muggle politics at the time but they felt secure and comfortable under the protection of extended family. Mirzaei ibn Javadi, Leyla’s uncle, welcomed them with open arms to his large home on the coast every summer.

It was only in her final two years at Hogwarts that Leyla's interest and talents began to develop, earning her exceptionally high marks- which only encouraged her further down her chosen academic paths. She took to brewing potions outside of lessons and in her own room when she was home, experimenting with whatever ingredient were within reach.

ADULTHOOD

Leyla Naceri graduated in the year after the end of the second Wizarding War with NEWTS in Herbology, Charms, Potions, Arithmancy and Astronomy. She went on to work at the Slug & Jiggers Apothecary. Here she was able to observe their sourcing methods for various ingredients, learning intensively through the establishment’s production sector.

In 1996, she left London to focus on her potions brewing as a specialty by going to work with a renowned alchemist  in Manchester who ran a private business of dealing with those within the city’s sizable wizarding community. Miriam Patil went on to become Leyla’s tutor and professional partner over the next four years. The two focused on concocting Elixirs of Health and an assortment of less prevalent mixtures, devised on the varying requirements of their clients.

Their partnership came to its end when Leyla was forced to go abroad to Iran in the year 2000, for her uncle’s funeral. Rather than return after the ceremony she chose to stay in her father's homeland to pursue her career down unfamiliar paths by going to study under the Nimatullahi- an Islamic order in the region, known to muggles as a Sufi following (Sufism being the belief in Islamic mysticism). Wizarding communities within the Nimatullahi had constructed temples of learning and knowledge dedicated to the brewery of ancient elixirs that have been passed down throughout the generations- stretching as far back as the Ottoman occupation. They are suppressed by the nation's muggle government and operate distantly - separately - from the magical government of Persepolis. The order opens its arms to nomads, travellers, outcasts and muggleborns who received little to know education about the wizarding world they were born into.

Leyla attended a Nimatullahi temple in the heart of Sanandaj, a large city in Kurdish Iran. What was intended to be a one-year experience grew to become a much lengthier stay. After having completed her certification with the order, she remained in the temple for a further six years to teach the young wizards and witches who came to the Nimatullahi seeking knowledge. The temple's students consisted largely of geographically or politically displaced Arabs and nomads who had never attended formal education; a majority of them were above the age of fourteen but many had scarcely learned to use their wands. Leyla's fondness for her memories at Hogwarts made her soft-hearted towards those migrants who had never been given access to such tutelage. It was easy for her to fall in love with the temple and its persons.

As a result of both mutual affection and familial arrangement, Leyla was also engaged to a Persian wizard during this time: Armaan ibn Shazad. They were extremely close and would travel together when she was away from the Nimatullahi temple, moving further south of the Asian continent before returning again to the Iran's Kurdish region. He had brought out an unusually adventurous aspect in her. Their relationship was playful but sincere- though far from perfect. Unfortunately the engagement never culminated in marriage. When Leyla chose to return to England in 2006, Armaan decided instead to return to Iraq and help rebuild his war torn homeland. They parted on good terms.

Leaving for England was a surreal experience. Leyla missed the home that she had built in Iran- however, its increasingly tempestuous politics was uninviting, and the choice to return was absolute. Surprisingly, work was not difficult to come by. The experience abroad had lent the witch a reputable sort of exoticism; which, in London city, was all the rage in the right circles. Leyla found herself flooded with requests for unconventional elixirs and brews; even requests from her old employers at Slug & Jiggers to consult on the import of ingredients from particular regions of the Middle East. It was initially overwhelming; the requests were not especially numerous but they were unusually specific- as well as difficult to brew. Had it not been for the fact that she was allowed to charge exorbitantly for her work, Leyla might have been put off by the demands.

Operating in London had other advantages- here, she could often run into old friends and former teachers from her time at Hogwarts. More than nostalgia, she was able to reconnect with people she had not seen in years. This included the institute’s former Deputy Head (and recent Headmistress), Minerva McGonagall.

In December of 2009 Leyla received a notification from the elder witch, informing her of a vacancy at the school- and including a subtle offer to apply for the position of Potions Mistress.


Describe your job duties and how you go about them:

Much of Leyla’s understanding of her role as Potions Mistress comes from personal observations of the one professor she had been able to learn underneath from her time at the school- Severus Snape.

Her first and foremost responsibility is as a professor, to the student body. Leyla expects to be a source of knowledge and learning; not simply the chartering of lesson plans but the state of being invariably prepared for the diverse array of scenarios that may arise because… well because Hogwarts is Hogwarts.

Other responsibilities come after this primary function, though taken with no less caution. In addition to monitoring the school’s chief store of ingredients, it is the Potion Mistress’ obligation to aid in whatever other areas of issue that require her expertise- from the personal needs of fellow faculty members to that of the Hospital Hut.


Elaborate on your expertise in your field:

Leyla has three years of experience working at the Slug & Jigger’s Apothecary in Diagon Alley- she has acquired a great deal of information regarding the acquirement and production of potion ingredients, which she intends on using in her role as Potions Mistress by providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the components they will be brewing. A further four years was spent brewing health elixirs and unique personal concoctions under the tutelage of Miriam Patil, in Manchester city.

This was followed by several years of working abroad in the Kurdish town of Sanandaj, Iran. Leyla apprenticed under the Sufi potion masters of a Nimatullahi temple for one year- and stayed at the temple for a remaining five years as a mentor/tutor to its younger scholars (see above, History).  She has since become fairly skilled at devising alternatives to common European mixtures, as well as at dealing with the temperaments of students. While not technically a part of the Ministry curriculum for Potions at Hogwarts, Leyla does intend on imparting personal knowledge to those with exceptional skill.

In addition to her experience in the field, Leyla has always been perceived as a person of exceptionally loyal and trustworthy character. Her unflustered sense of patience and perseverance may prove to be essential in facing the difficulties of teaching volatile young persons.


Writing Sample:  Please see Vivienne Thorpe


Sum up your character in one paragraph:

Leyla beinti Naceri is a witch of Iranian descent, known for her kind disposition and loyalty. She is also the new Potions Mistress at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her teaching methods are comprehensive but gradual and she is remarkably patient with most people- perhaps even too patient. Leyla is fairly communicative and approachable; it is unlikely of her to rudely rebuke new acquaintances.