Your Nickname: Kali
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: Cassidy MacQueen
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary

Full Character Name: Penelope "Nell" Scarlett Augustine
Character Birthday & Age: September 10th, 1994 (15)
City & Country of Birth: Camden, Greater London, England
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Muggleborn
House & Year: Ravenclaw - Fourth Year

Wand: 9” ash wand with a unicorn tail hair core, pliable with a spiraled shaft

Physical Description:
Nell’s father has always claimed that she’s the spitting image of her mother. Her hair is a very fair golden-blonde, with natural low-lights of ash blonde hiding throughout. Though naturally wavy, Nell goes between leaving it in waves and straightening it; she rarely wears it up, preferring to let it blow in the wind. Her oval-shaped face holds small hazel eyes that are often squinted in suspicion and naturally pink lips that occasionally manage a smile.

Nell has a true Londoner accent, her tone a surprising alto for how young she is. She is taller than most her age, standing at about five feet and six inches, and her slender frame makes her appear even taller than she is. Nell holds herself with a tall confidence, always seeming sure in her abilities and sure of herself. Her walk is really more of a stride due to her long legs – honestly, she doesn’t even understand the concept of “strolling”, as she always appears to be walking with a purpose.

Being almost sixteen years old, her appearance is rather important to her. Her fashion sense is someplace between vintage and hipster, like many adolescents; however, because she and her father have always been rather poor, Nell’s wardrobe is quite limited. She just recently grew into the clothes that her mother left behind years ago and so has been wearing a lot of those. She is particularly fond of a denim vest and a pair of black jeans that belonged to her mother. Nell also loves to wear hats and headbands.

Personality Description:
From an early age, Nell became used to performing on stage with her father. Though her stage presence was always vastly different from her personality, this taught her to be fearless when it came to interacting with others. She makes sure to think before speaking, though still doesn’t filter much of what she says due to not thinking that there could be any life-or-death consequences to a conversation. Before Hogwarts, she did not have much respect for authority or her elders, but since starting her education at the magical school, has met some adults who have given her hope for those who are older than her. Nell’s main problem with adults is that many of them think that being older automatically makes them smarter – something which she has proven wrong on many occasions.

Nell enjoys making friends and talking to people, but chooses to only open up to a select few. Her father is her only family and probably the only person she ever will consider to be her family. With her close friends, she enjoys teasing them and occasionally making jokes at their expense, but it’s all in good fun. As for those outside of her friend group, Nell tends to be a bit more cordial, though still talks very freely if someone starts a conversation with her. She tends to be incredibly stubborn and unwavering in her opinions, though does not try to force those opinions on others.

Adapting to change is one thing that has always come easy to Nell. Growing up, she had to change schools rather often and she was always moving from home to home with her father. Their life was on the road most of the time, so changes in scenery were something that she got quite used to. Even though she grew up knowing nothing about the Wizarding World, Nell has picked everything up pretty quickly in a few short years. She takes her studies very seriously, as learning about magic is more exciting to her than any Muggle education that she ever received.

The biggest thing that gets on Nell’s nerves is not being in control. She likes being the boss of herself (and others, quite often) and gets incredibly anxious when things are taken out of her hands. When things don’t go her way, she has been known to have panic attacks, and so as a rule, just prefers to be in control of any situation she might be in.

Nell also has a very silly side when she is with people she trusts and cares about. She acts like a huge dork without caring about what she does, and can often bring others closer through just acting friendly and doing ridiculous things. Of course, she doesn't act like this around just anyone. People have to get to know her before she's willing to share her ridiculous thoughts.


History:
Penelope Augustine was the product of an accidental pregnancy between two star-crossed young people who were both enamored with the ideas of love-at-first-sight and destiny. Her father, Leo, was a magician attempting to break into the field professionally, while her mother, Shay, was an American artist traveling abroad who happened to stumble into a magic show one night with a couple of friends. The two met after the show, exchanged names but nothing else, and left separately, only to gush to their friends about the most wonderful person they had met. It wasn’t until a couple of weeks later that both of them happened to attend the same New Year’s Eve party, and at that point, the pair of them were convinced that fate had brought them together so that they could ring the new year in with a first kiss. Of course, it being New Year’s Eve, one thing led to another, which is how Nell came to be in the first place.

During the nine months of preparation for little Nell, Leo and Shay were determined to make things work. Having to actually spend a great deal of time together, though, proved difficult, as they quickly realized they had almost nothing in common, save for their shared love of The Beatles. They fought constantly, as they both had very short tempers and were set off by the littlest things. It got to the point where they couldn’t even talk to each other without starting a fight. When Nell came along, Shay remained for a week before disappearing without a trace, leaving Leo to raise Nell by himself.

This proved to be a very difficult task for twenty-three year-old Leo. With Shay gone and no one else to help him, Nell became his entire world. Although he had begun slowly making a name for himself as a magician, it was still not enough that he had a steady income. The first years of Nell’s life were certainly not glamorous, with much of it spent backstage in a bassinette, being babysat by one of her father’s assistants. Leo knew it wasn’t the sort of way to raise a child, but he did what he felt he had to and couldn’t give up his dream for a day job.

Nell was a clever child, though she didn’t always know when to keep her mouth shut. By the time she was seven, she had developed a habit of giving away the tricks performed by the other magicians who performed after her father (much to their dismay, and her father was usually the one to pay for it). She watched the same shows over and over again and soon began to see patterns in the performances, noticing tells to the tricks and having no problem revealing the magician’s secrets to audience members. When her father deemed she was old enough (eight, in his opinion), Nell began helping him on-stage as his assistant. She helped to set her father apart from other magicians, and the audience always loved her.

Things began to go wrong at shows when Nell turned nine. Freak accidents would happen when Nell was not particularly in the mood to act as a show pony: the curtains would randomly catch fire, glasses would shatter, and props would go missing. Nell’s father did not realize that his daughter was the one causing things to go awry with her magical powers, but Nell herself had a sneaking suspicion that something was wrong with her.

Her Hogwarts letter came via a member of the Hogwarts staff, who explained calmly to Nell and her father that magic did, in fact, exist and that Nell was a witch. The father and daughter were both skeptical; after all, they had so far spent their lives performing tricks and illusions in place of magic. It took a great deal of convincing (and a few spells as examples) to convince the two of the reality, and just like that, Nell’s entire life changed. It was going to take some getting used to for both of them, and Nell’s father became rather bitter towards his daughter. In the time leading up to her departure for Hogwarts, he attempted to get her to perform real magic during his shows and Nell refused. She had no idea how to cast spells and besides that, was told that she couldn’t do magic outside of school. Eventually, she just stopped joining her father on stage for his performances, finding it too difficult to put on a happy face for the crowd.

They gave apologetic goodbyes when Nell reached the Hogwarts Express. She was reluctant to leave her father by himself, not quite sure how he would get on without her for the entire school year. More than that, she was nervous beyond belief to be heading off to this magical school in the middle of who-knows-where. What if she wasn’t good enough? What if she didn’t make any friends?

The Sorting Hat scared Nell beyond belief, so she spent the time trying to figure out the mechanism behind the talking wizard’s hat. It took little to no time before it placed her in Ravenclaw, where it promised that she would meet great minds like her own. She found that she did enjoy the people in her House, and more than that, she loved her classes. They were far more interesting than all of the Muggle (a new word that she had picked up from the witches and wizards) schools that she had attended, and it wasn’t long before she decided that she never wanted to leave Hogwarts. She simply wished that she could bring her father along to live at the castle with her.

More than anything before, it felt like a safe place to land and Nell did not want to let that go.

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?:
Knowledge is incredibly important to Nell. Even before she knew that she was a witch, she was constantly reading in her free time and teaching herself about a wide range of subjects. Nell likes to know things, but even more than that, she enjoyed impressing people who were older than her and proving that she could be just as smart as they were.

Now, being a Muggleborn who knew nothing about the Wizarding World before her Hogwarts letter, Nell feels like she has to prove herself to the rest of her classmates and her teachers. She is very studious and spends extra time on her homework to perfect it.

Writing Sample:
See Cassidy MacQueen's bio.

Sum up your character in one paragraph:
Penelope Augustine (Nell) is an incredibly school-oriented Ravenclaw, whose biggest goal in life is to graduate at the top of her class. She is friendly and outgoing for the most part, but saves her truly silly side for her closest friends. As a Muggleborn, she believes it is her responsibility to stand up for Muggles, as well as others who may be the subject of hateful thoughts. More than anything, Nell just wants to be liked for who she is and finding a place where she belongs is of the utmost importance to her.

Special Title Request
Character Name: Nell Augustine
Title Applying For: Prefect
Character Biography: Bio

What Experience has Prepared You For This Honor?:
Although Nell has not technically been in a position of leadership before, she believes that her past experience in other fields has definitely made her well-equipped to handle the responsibilities of a prefect. She has been a devoted member of multiple clubs, for which she has often completed odd jobs and helped to work on bigger projects. Similarly with her courses at Hogwarts, she has always taken initiative when it comes to her classwork, as well as made an effort to assist her classmates.

What Do You Think the Most Important Aspect of This Job Is:?
The most important aspect of this position to Nell would be the chance to act as one of the important liaisons between the students and staff at Hogwarts. Though much of the job will be ensuring that students in her house are obeying the rules, she also sees the position as a chance to assist any professors or students to the best of her abilities. It would also be a great way for her to serve as a role model to younger students as they enter Hogwarts, as it is important for new students to have some extra guidance upon their arrival at school.

Tell a Story From Your Past That Has Proven Your Mettle: 
Nell is hard-working and devoted in her school life, as well as other aspects of her life. She has a strong sense of responsibility and never shirks her duties. Throughout her time at Hogwarts, she has often lent a helping hand to younger students, no matter the task - such as helping Linus Hughes when his toad was sick - proving that she has excellent leadership skills.