Accepted! -- Sparky

Your Nickname: Anica
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Other
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: Fiona Lloyd Marren
Stella Aalto- Smith
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary

Full Character Name: Amarantha Boudicca Mellette Lestrange.
Character Birthday & Age: April 4th, 1974; 35
City & Country of Birth: Altnaharra, Sutherland, Highlands, North Scotland, UK
Blood Purity: Pureblood
Alma Mater: Durmstrang

Cover Job (If any): Healer/Herbologist
Type of Criminal:
Allegiances / Loyalties / Political Faction: Formerly Death Eater, possibly WBA in the future

Have they committed any previous crimes?: Yes
If yes, what were they and were they convicted?: Support and member of Death Eaters
Torture in 4 cases
Usage of the Unforgivables
Murder in 3 cases
helping and harbouring criminals on the run

Amarantha has been convicted to 5 years of Azkaban for all of the above excluding the 3 murders and usage of the Unforgivables for lack of evidence.


What crimes might you commit in the future?  Discuss all possible: Help and support of criminal (WBA) activity, black market trading.
Although it is all very possible, no ambitions in that direction are shown.

Are you currently under pursuit by the Ministry of Magic?: No

Wand: Wood: "Dalbergie melanoxylon" African Blackwood, very dense and lustrous
Colour: reddish black
Core: Chimera Scale
Strength: Inflexible (hexes, curses, doesn't back down)
Surfaces and Strength: Smooth (for the calm, collected); seems twisted out of two strings, one of which carved with ornaments, pointy end
Other Notes on the wand:
The wand used to be her grandfather's. It has been in the family for many years and is always passed from grandparent to grandchild, if proofed worthy.
Amarantha's violin is made from the same wood.

Physical Description: Azkaban and the years as the Dark Lord's servant have left their marks on the 35 year old. Being 5'7", but weighing a mere 60kg, she looks very worn and older than she is. Her pale blue, observing gaze is deeply settled among pale, almost translucent skin. With a pointy shin, prominent cheekbones and a large mouth she sometimes looks a little bizarre, especially when her normally dark brown, straight hair hasn't been transformed to her preferred neatly adjusted blonde curls.
She is not the most beautiful woman, has never been, and Azkaban had not improved that.
Everything about her is very neat and clean, unless she works. Being a more traditional type of person, Amarantha prefers long dresses and skirts, flattering blouses -just flowing material- and wears mostly flat shoes and family heirlooms.

Personality Description: In a room with many people, there are always those in the shadows. Those who, beside their lack of beauty, charisma and brightness are always noticed. Felt.
No matter how well lit the room, their surrounding seems darker than the rest of the room. As if they swallow the light. You can feel their gaze on you, the cold shiver that runs down your spine. But you do not see them. Not really.
Growing up in the presence of the Dark Lord and his followers as well as spending 5 years in Azkaban have made Amarantha such a person.
There is nothing light about her. Or bright. Amarantha is a woman with an intense desire for silence, tradition, efficiency. She is always polite, very patient and calm. Her idealism is high and she expects only the best from herself first and then from everyone else.She doesn't bother with compliments unless they're really really well deserved.
Even for those closest to her Amarantha is very distant and she mostly keeps to herself. She finds communicating tiring and it happens that she ends conversations simply by leaving the room- no matter wether you were in the middle of your sentence or not. Her unpredictability is dangerous, her brutal impulses of aggression come in a quiet, sudden manner. Get on her wrong side and she can get very nasty very quickly. But do not make the mistake to think you know the limit. You don't. Mostly because she doesn't.
Surprisingly enough, her bad side does not drive people away from her. They search her presence, even. She is always where you need her to be. If you have nowhere else to go, you go there (if, of course, you have the right sort of relatives) and you can always be sure to find help and shelter. She is good at what she does and even beyond death, her loyalties lie with her family, her blood, her heritage and history.



History: Ashes.
Ashes everywhere. It settled beneath her large curls and the deep folds of her wollen, dark blue cloak. Dark as the night. Slowly, the screams and cries echoing through the woods around Hogwarts, now only a heap of ruins, eventually began to fade. Fade from the world. They would always remain within the deepest corner of her heart, the darkest corner of her soul.There they would live on, flourish, nourish from her pain for all those years she still had to live. Waking her out of her bloodstained dreams. Bloodstained like her hands. Bloodstained like her wand. Stains that were now covered up by all that remained of her world. Her beliefs. Her family. Her pride.
Ashes.
"Move!" She heard him from the distant, felt him pulling her along. Rodolphus. Through to woods. She kept staring back, unable to do anything. tripping over ruins and roots.
The words flashed up in the dark. For a second. Then another. "Move!" And diminished.
No. She tripped again and her body could not hold onto her heart anymore. She sank to the earthy floor, sank deep into the dry moss, as if they praid to be swallowed.
The trees drew closer. They whispered to her. Whispered to the wind and sky. And the wind carried their stories away, across plains and seas. Until every grain of sand, every drop of rain and even the now rising sun could join their song. Their song of glory. Of defeat. The Rise of the Light.
Beneath the ashes and the darkness that had settled on her, she didn't see it. Didn't feel it.
The end, maybe. And death. Numbness. Fear. Emptiness. Nothing, maybe. Anything.
But no light. Not for her. Only ashes.
Her entire world raining from the sky in ashes.
Rodolphus sank onto his knees in front of her and grabbed her shoulders. "Amarantha. Listen to me. We have to get out of here."
They would never get out of here. Not really. They both knew that.
Slowly and eventually, the sunlight broke the night into pieces and the horrors the stars had to witness that night, seeped into the earth. They should run. Hide. A ray of sun found them and presented them in full light for everyone to see. White silk skirts peeked through her cloak like feathers through the linen covers of a pillow. Once, the fine materials of her dress, matching shoes, family heirlooms and carefully adjusted curls were supposed to show her status. What she was worth. Now she just looked ridiculous.
She was nothing but a miserable looking skeleton. Her nails had been chewed off and were covered with crusts of mud and blood, insignificantly mixed. The veins shone through her yellow looking skin. The bloodshot eyes stared bewildered out of deep dark sockets. Underneath her clothes, she was covered in bruises.
How does one turn an insignifant, obedient pureblood girl into an obedient, people killing servant of the Dark Lord and his causes? It is so easy.
Voices could be heard. Rodolphus jumped up and vanished into the woods, leaving behind his pregnant niece in all her pieces.



Amarantha Boudicca Mellette Lestrange was born to Rabastan and Godiva Lestrange (nee Lloyd) on April 4th, 1974, only weeks after her parents became married and joined the ranks of the Death Eaters alongside so many others. Neither of her parents thus had time or patience for a child and Amarantha spent most of her childhood on Tarth Hill, her paternal grandparents residence. Adaddon Lestrange and his wife Boudicca Lestrange nee Nott both were as devoted to the Dark Lord as everyone else, but their responsibilities lay within their own home and were thus able to "care" for the girl. With Abaddon being a healer, their home had been transformed into a shelter for wounded Death Eaters and, living in the midst of a war, the entire mansion looked like a crime scene kind of a hospital day and night.
Growing up in the lap of malignity, Amarantha became a vicious child. She learned to be patient, efficient, polite. To function well, to listen carefully and to be odedient to the Dark Lord and his servants. Aka her closest relatives. If she did not behave as asked of her, she had to feel the consequences.She didn't talk if she wasn't asked. She was quiet, kept in the shadows. But every once in a while, she broke. Quietly, quickly, brutally she would freak out. Harm houseelves. Destroy something. Hurt someone.

If i hadn't been there to witness her birth, I'd have thought Amarantha to be Bellatrix's own flesh and blood.

Aside of her "normal" everyday life between wounds, violin lessons and wizarding chess session at the brink of the night, Amarantha started to become obsessed with her aunt Bellatrix. When she entered their home, Amarantha followed her everywhere. Her father had proven to be a disappointment. He was weak, obedient to his brother, always nervous-looking. Fragile soul. Her mother was even worse. Bellatrix however- she was convident, beautiful, strong. Skilled. First, Bellatrix was furious. But in time she grew to accept her little servant and even started to teach her. Not much, of course. As if a 5 year old could perform the killing curse. Or duel. Only the basics. More and more. And Amarantha soaked it all up and never forgot anything. It became the profound foundation of her knowledge of the Dark Arts. Even more, the Dark Arts anchored in her heart, grew with her.Naturally, the deep admiration and devotion Bellatrix showed towards the Dark Lord, eventually settled over onto her niece. At the age of seven, she already started counting the days until she'd be old enough to join the ranks of the Death Eaters.
Until the last day of October 1984, were her world very suddenly changed. Crumbled. The first days after the fall, Tarth Hill was crowded. Crowded with refugees, wounded from duels with Aurors whose powers that were now infiltrated with joy and hope and happiness. Her mother died. Her father, aunt and uncle vanished, only to finally be captured, convicted and sent away to Azkaban. Aurors came and went, searching their home, but not finding anything. Of course not. And even if- who could ask a healer not to heal?

Desperation and sadness now filled their empty rooms. And eventually, silence moved in. Amarantha was now the focus of her grandparents and those relatives who had not been imprisoned or killed. Narcissa Malfoy, in those days her mother's dearest friend attempted to keep in touch, to visit with Draco, but Abaddon Lestrange, having attended the trial of Lucius, watching him trying everything to avoid conviction, felt disgusted by their betrayal and forbade any kind of contact.
The years passed by, but Amarantha never questioned the world she got to know. Not once.

In September 1985, Amarantha started to attend the Durmstrang Institute of Magic under the name of Mellette Lloyd, her mother's maiden name as her grandparents had found it wiser for Amarantha to keep a low profile and in addition didn't want to her to ever come in touch with Dumbledore and his joke of a school.
Durmstrang proved to be right choice for the young Lestrange in both educational and social ways. No one minded her on occasional racist and brutal comments- neither of them was any different- or her strictly woven plans and check lists for just about anything. Her life was planned- either by herself or by her grandparents- and there was no room for nonsense. Only Fridays to Sundays from 4 to 10 pm.

With her gradutation moving closer, Abaddon and Boudicca started to search a suitable husband for their grandchild. Amarantha never wanted to marry and have children, especially after witnessing her own parents' and her aunt and uncles' unlucky marriages (plus she hated children), but she never thought of being disobedient. She was very aware that she wouldn't stand a chance if she dared to try. So she at least tried to influence the choice of her husband and started to pray she'd turn out to be infertile.

Neither worked out very well.
In November 1992, only a couple of months after graduating, Amarantha marries probably the least interesting, poorest, dummest pureblooded wizard in the entire world. Abaddon wished his surname to be preserved and knew this  could only be asked of someone well below their status. No man with pride, money AND status would have ever agreed to that. Of the desperate, however, pride could always be bought. And it seemed "Dimwitt Lestrange" how everyone came to call him, did not only sell his pride. He took on Amarantha's last name and turned out to be easily pushed around. He was scared of wife -which she loved- and of her family -which they loved- and no one had really ever expected to show up on the day of the wedding- but he did. The things people did for the right sum of money. From the moment the vows had been spoken, Dimwit kept a very low profile. No one really noticed him anymore and when he finally died somewhere in 1997 in a duel, no one really cared. (It should be noted here that his last child was born 2 years after his death. And although it was very very obvious the last child ha not been fathered by him, no one ever dared to point that out or ask. Not even Amarantha's own children.)
They move to her grandparents, where Amarantha got trained in Healing, Herbology and the Dark Arts while her husband worked in the Ministry of Magic in London. Her first son, Abaddon Lucian Rabastan Lestrange is born June 1993 in St.Mary-upon-Thames, Surrey, England on Tarth Hill.
Life goes on and slowly Amarantha got used to married life and being a mother (which in her world means: hearing something cry and have the nanny to take of it).

Which colour has the night?

Then, in the middle of the night somewhere in 1994, Boudicca pulls Amarantha out of bed, breathless, excited.
The Dark Mark on Abaddon's and Boudicca's arms is burning.
The Dark Lord summons his servants.
Tarth Hill is in an uproar. At first, no one can believe it. Then the joy is overwhelming. It was true. The Dark Lord has returned.

Amarantha is being introduced to the Dark Lord and joins the Death Eater ranks only days later. Her childhood dreams have come true. When her daughter Imogen Bellatrix Lestrange is born in May 1995 and the family reunion, to most people known as the mass breakout out of Azkaban, takes place, life for the Lestrange family seems once again "perfect". With her aunt Bellatrix and her father and uncle around, Amarantha's lessons in dueling, the Dark Arts and Occlumency are being lifted onto a new level: practical application.
Now a trained healer, Amarantha also takes over Tarth Hill and re-establishes it's former purpose as surgery and hide-out. War goes on, taking over their lives, dictating their every-day life for the next couple of years. In between, Amarantha gives birth to her daughters Ima Godiva in August 1996 and Isadonna Boudicca  in December 1997. They don't see very much of their mother, who is busy doing anything that is asked of her of the Dark Lord or her aunt Bellatrix with a brutal passion. Life wasn't as easy and perfect as she had hoped it would be, however. Her lack of skills, experience and insanity needed for a life like Bellatrix's left its marks. She had never been a leading lady like her aunt. She never had had the strength to be. Now all her strength was required to rise out of the obedient role she had so quietly adjusted to over the years and remember the brutal child she had been. It took a lot of curses and hexex, bruises and broken bones for her. And when she thought she was almost the best she could be, the way she wanted herself to be - her life to be- heaven came down on her.
In Ashes.

She was captured and convicted because she wanted them to. There was nothing left of her world. Like it had all been a phantasmagoria. She felt there wasn't another way.
Some might have called her disloyal when she told them everything. But I think being a Death Eater was all she ever really was. All she ever had been. Had to be. There was not a second of doubt. She really believed in it all. In him. With being the offspring of his most devoted servants, she wasn't even afraid. Not like the others were. She was so much like her aunt. For everyone else but him she only had a pitiful smile.

The Dark Lord. Bellatrix. Rabastan. Adabbon. Boudicca. Her family. Her friends.
Gone.
Rodolphus had been captured only days after he had left Amarantha in the woods and was convicted to a deserved lifetime sentence in Azkaban. Amarantha faced trial, but no matter what she had done, no one dared to convict a pregnant mother of 4 to a life sentence of Azkaban.Since the wand she had used had been her Grandfather's (and was supposed to be buried with him) and her own wand showed no signs of having ever been used to kill, no one could proof it was her who caused the deaths. No one could proof she had used the Unforgivables.

Viktor Rodolphus Lestrange is born January 2nd, 1999 in Azkaban and moves to his maternal greatgrandparents only days after his birth.

"What scares me most about her is that she almost seemed to be relieved to not be around her children anymore. She seemed to like the thought of being in Azkaban."

5 years came and went. In summer 2003, Amarantha is released. She has aged significantly, hardly talked to anyone and didn't seem particularly overjoyed to be free and reunited with her children and maternal side of the family. She even makes the impression that she'd not have minded staying just a little bit longer.
After spending 2 further in a Bridge house in London, all five children and Amarantha move back to Tarth Hill. She talks little to her children and spends a lot of time gardening, cooking or giving them lessons. At first, the children refused to obey. They kept their distance, showed their hostility towards their mother openly and tried to revolt and get back to the Lloyd family.
But they all had to quickly learn that being her own flesh and blood or not, neither of them could escape her sudden, unforseen eruptions of aggression if they didn't function. And that their mother was wandless did not make her less dangerous. Not at all.
So learning to function they did.

At first, she visited London daily  to meet her supervisor, showing she was still in the country, hadn't taken or done anything she wasn't supposed to do and that she was still as wandless as the Ministry of Magic had decided all Death Eaters to be if they were to be released from Azkaban.
Well, about that...Maybe not quite that wandless. Shortly after the battle, her grandfather had been buried with what had originally been his wand, but which Amarantha had come to use for most of the Second War. So when her time in Azkaban and the Bridge House (which had been, by the way, her particularly filthy personal hell) had been up, she showed not a second of hesitation before starting her new, free life with a crime and exhumed her grandfather's wand. Or rather, she forced her houseelf to do it.
Of course Amarantha did not carry around her wand openly. There were still those random visits to her home and she was still being supervised. Instead, it was hidden in a place only she herself knew and considered safe. To be able to cope in her every day life and feel not quite so useless, the former Death Eater starts to practice wandless magic, but progess was slow and it would take many more years until she mastered the skill.

Her first-born starts at Hogwarts in September 2004 and is sorted into Slytherin as all of his siblings would in future.
Shortly afterwards and although she has never been officially trained as a Healer, Amarantha opened a private surgery on Tarth Hill. Rare herbs and plants grow in her garden and over time, she started to develop cosmetics and medical tinctures or cremes which she sells in her surgery. Her skills, especiall the medical ones, are mostly used by related pureblood families. People who know and trust her. Tarth Hill and its inhabitants have always been known to be that "place to go" during and those difficult times after the war. Especially when you had nowhere else to go.
It still is today. Even though you will not find warmth and love here, you are always taken care of. Up to today. If you are of pure blood.

Over the years, Amarantha successfully finished her behavioral therapy and the visits of her supervisor and her briefings lessened more and more until, in October 2008, in a hearing before the Wizengemot it is decided supervision is no longer necessary.
And for the first time in 10 long, tiring years, Amarantha starts to really, truly feel free. She moved her wand out of its hiding place into the closer surroundings of her home. She still does not carry it about frequently, but it helps her to know it is always close. Now that she is no longer forced to visit London, she mostly stays at home to receive patients, friends and family.


Writing Sample:

Sum up your character in one paragraph: Most and foremost, Amarantha is the personification of Wizarding tradition. Her biggest fear is that her family (all pureblood families, really) become extinct and that she is leaving her descendants in a world that is no longer safe for them and that has no space for their traditions and beliefs. Her greatest flaw is probably her lack of warmth and of opening up, especially towards her children. But her observing calmness in moments of chaos and danger can make her presence a haven. If you are worthy of her presence, of course.

Accepted!  -- Sparky

Character Name: Amarantha Lestrange
Age: 35
Please provide a link to their Application:
Do any of your other Characters have Special Abilities?: No
If Yes, then Please provide their name and a link to their bio: Not avaible yet.
 
Special Ability: Occlumency/Legilimency
What level is this ability at?: Master
At what age did your character gain this ability?: 15
How did they learn or hone this ability?: Amarantha has been exposed to Legilimency at an very early age, so when she was taught Occlumency and Legilimency at Durmstrang aged 15, she already had a good impression of what she was dealing with. It made her first learning experiences easier, but did not result in her learning it any faster than anyone else.
When she graduated two years later, she was on the merge to "Intermediate". Over the years- and especially during the 2nd war period- she spent a lot of time practicing and developing her skills, but it took her many many years to really Master it.  In fact,  it was only last year during the hearing before the Wizengamot that she really felt she was mastering them.
It is the only magic she can perform nonverbally and wandlessly.
Describe how the Special Ability influences their life.  What do they use it for?: While Occlumency is simply for self-protection, one could say Legilimency is one of Amarantha's favourite toys. She has never been as physical in her approach as her aunt Bellatrix had been, but had always chosen a more observing, quiet way. 

She prefered to distance herself both physically and mentally from people (and victims), but without the disadvantage of meeting a mind closed to her.
Write a description of what happens when your character is exhibiting this Special Ability: Over the years, the effort she has to put into using both Legilimency and Occlumency has lessened. Espcecially with Occlumency it seems to come almost naturally to her, like it is always there, jumping in to protect her constantly. Like a part of her.
Legilimency seems to challenge her both physically and mentally. While the physical tiredness and exhaustion had almost ceased over her, Amarantha still feels overwhelmed by the pieces and impressions that hid her. It is too "loud" for her, which is why silence is so important to her in her every day life. Using Legilimency rather often, preferably on her children, she searches for equilibrium.

As for the effect it has on others: people on whom Legilimency is practicted can feel nausea, dizziness, headaches and even massive pain. It always depends how long and on which level on intensity it is performed.
Sometimes, for the more random things like finding out if the opposite lies to her, the opponent does not notice anything at all, but feels strangely presented and observed.