Physical Description:

Ayla is short and skinny with a tiny waist and an average bust. Now that she's well into her teens Ayla's body has grown rather curvy and she's starting to look more and more like her mother each day, sporting a traditional hourglass figure. She stand only 5' and weights a modest 115 lbs. which only proves to accentuate his figures and petite stature. She's often referred to as compact sized and many believe her to be younger than she actually is.

Ayla's hair is Dark brown only a shade lighter than Black and hangs down in long waves. She used to wear her hair cropped short but during Christmas vacation in her third year she tried out an elongating charm and now whenever she tries to cut it, it just grows long again.

Her eyes are Green with flecks of gold. Different highlights become noticeable depending on what colour Ayla is wearing. Her Hufflepuff colours bring out the gold in her eyes.

Just like her mother Ayla has Olive skin and in the summer she gets very dark when she spends enough time out in the sun.
 
Aside from her small size Ayla's most noticeable feature is her smile, not only is she usually beaming but she recently had her muggle braces removed and is now sporting a brilliantly straight smile.

Personality Description:
 Ayla is a small bundle of energy. She's peppy and happy and is never afraid to speak her mind. She does what she can to brighten up a room, she'll tell jokes, sing, dance, anything to change the mood if she doesn't think it's cheery enough. Ayla likes to see herself as a leader and loves being surrounded by other people. Her self confidence however can often be contrued as her being conceited especially when it comes to her looks. Ayla knows she's attractive and isn't afraid to flaunt it.

When it comes to friendships Ayla does everything in her power to keep them strong. She hates being alone so when she's not busy with homework she'll always be found somewhere that is crowded with students. She believes in being honest even if it will hurt someones feelings. She does her best to soften the blow but doesn't feel the need to lie to her friends just to keep them from emotional harm. Ayla is loyal and will always do what she can for her friends no questions asked even if it means doing something stupid.

Ayla used to be a hopeless romantic. She's not exactly jaded when it comes to love but she's certainly become more cautious about it. In her third year at Hogwarts she learned a few hard lessons when it came to the opposite sex and since then has guarded her heart more than she has in the past. When she gave up on boys she threw herself into baking, finding a natural talent and great passion for mixing magic with baked goods and has developed a fair amount of her own recipes for Charmed Goodies.

History:

Ayla was born to Joseph Collins and Miranda Hallowell. Joseph can trace his pureblood back to a group of Irish immigrants who had come to the new world during the potato famine. Joseph met and fell in love with Miranda while the two were in college. After completing his magical studies Joseph decided to attend a muggle college hoping to one day work for Muggle Relations in the Ministry for magic. Miranda claims it was love at first sight but Joseph once admitted to Ayla in secrecy that he had known Miranda for five months before slipping her a highly potent love potion that made her fall in love with him. Joseph kept his magical nature from Miranda throughout their entire courtship and well into the first years of their marriage. He finally revealed his heritage when the couple decided to have children. Joseph knew there was a possibility that his children would have magical talent and didn't want it to be a surprise to his wife when they first started performing magic.

Ayla was the first of three children. She grew up knowing full well what the wizarding world was but due to her mother's muggle upbringing there wasn't much magic allowed in the house. Once Ayla displayed a talent for magic Joseph took her under his wing and told her all about the wonders of the magical world and their proud heritage as one of the few pureblood lines left in Canada (although Ayla herself wasn't a pureblood) She attended muggle elementary school like the other kids in her neighbourhood. It was evident from a young age that Ayla was a social butterfly easy to make friends and loving keeping the attention on herself. She knew that she was special and showed confidence around muggle children that none of her teachers truly understood.

Ayla was a good student although all of her teachers suggested she'd do better if she worked harder and talked less. Ayla wasn't athletically inclined but had no real problem performing in Phys Ed.  She was what would be considered a queen bee constantly followed around by a gaggle of girls and sometimes even a few boys (those that didn't think girls had cooties) Ayla was very much looking forward to embracing her wizarding heritage when she turned ten knowing the next year she wouldn't be attending junior high like her friends but attending Pinebrok Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the nearest Wizard school in her province. She had spent the summer saying goodbye to her friends telling them that she'd be attending a private school out of town and made her first trip to The Under (the Toronto equivalent to Diagon alley) She bought all her school supplies and black and white striped kitten and her very own wand.

Then Ayla's life changed forever. Unbeknownst to her Ayla's father had been offered a job to be the Canadian Ambassador for Britain's Department for International Magical Cooperation. The position would require the entire family to be relocated to Britain. Deciding that it would be the best time, since Ayla was the perfect age to start attendance at Hogwarts, Joseph applied for citizenships for his entire family and bought a house just outside London. Miranda was able to secure a transfer within her own Muggle job to their London office and a week before she would head off to Pinebrook Ayla was swept away to London.

At first the transition was hard. Her younger siblings didn't seem to mind it as much, seeing the massive change as an adventure. Ayla on the other hand was devastated. Not only had she left all her friends behind but she was now in a strange country with people that were really weird and had only a week to settle into her new house before being shipped off to some strange foreign school that she knew nothing about. Ayla constantly begged her parents to take her back home and let her go to the school her father had graduated from. Her father insisted it would be fine and rushed her off onto the Scarlet train that would take her to Hogsmede and then Hogwarts. The first few months were tough. She had a hard time understanding the accents and slang of those around her and seemed to be failing History of Magic, having never heard anything about the Britain's and Europe's magical History.

Eventually Ayla settled in and got used to her new surroundings and before long her bubbly perky personality won out and she began making friends. Ayla is now in her third year at Hogwarts and although she does get occasionally homesick she has finally accepted Hogwarts and Britain and her new home.    She found herself to be rather good at Quidditch and made the team in her third year. Which unfortunately was the only good thing she could say about that year.

Ayla's third year was a disaster (at least that's what she would call it if you asked her) She had gotten her very first real boyfriend, Xavier Tawse, only to have him break up with her on her birthday and his crazy new girlfriend - Bellatrix Dark - crash her party. His best friend, Callum Knight, constantly teased her in any class that they had together and she found herself at odds with almost any student that wasn't in her house. She started to throw herself into her baking and developing new recipes for her Charmed Goodies. She practiced more in Quidditch and tried to convince her best friend, Blake Knight, that she was the girl of his dreams. Unfortunately even that had ended in heart ache when he had asked her out and then stood her up on Valentine's Day (to this day Ayla is still unaware that this was a prank pulled on her by Blake's older brother) and to top things off in the final match of Quidditch for the year a bludger hit by her ex had shattered her shoulder blade causing her to spend the last week before exams in the Hospital Hut.

Ayla has been determined to make her fourth year better and so far has succeeded. Though she's spent most of the time writing in her personal diary (which is actual just a collection of charms and recipes) instead of paying attention in class, her grades are still steady and she's had some success on the Quidditch team, even managing to be a temporary Captain for one game. As her fourth year of Hogwarts finds itself coming to an end, her old bubbly and perky self is finally resurfacing.


How Do You Fit Into Your House?: Ayla fits in rather well within her own house. Although some other students (like Slytherin's in her year) perceive her as being conceited and annoying those within her own house think she's a joy to be around. Ayla does her best to be the life of the party and make sure everyone around her is having fun. Most Hufflepuff's can always count on Ayla being able to brighten their day or put a smile on her face.