Accepted! -- Sparky

Your Nickname: SJ
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: 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: Active: Dolly St. James, Liviana Wiedman, Sophie Flickwick, Ruby Flickwick

Inactive: Philippa Perdue

Retired Secondary: Ramona Flickwick
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary

Full Character Name: Caitlin Elizabeth Norwood
Character Birthday & Age: May 24th, 1993 (16)
City & Country of Birth: Dublin, Ireland
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Halfblood
House & Year: Hufflepuff Sixth Year

Wand: supple 12" twisted cut Mahogany wand with Unicorn Hair core.

Physical Description: As the much shorter of the Norwood twins, standing at only 5'5", Caity is often mistaken for Lucas' younger sister. She has, in recent years, remedied this problem by wearing generous heels whenever possible. While much paler than her brother, Caity shares his rather stunning blue eyes. In most ways they seem to be rather opposite – Lucas is tall, Caity is average at best; Lucas is dark, Caity is fair; Luc is naturally lithe and fit, Caity has always carried that nagging bit of baby chub especially in her cheeks. Much of her life has been spent in front of a mirror trying to figure out the best way to add depth to the cheekbones she feels she lacks but probably no more than another other sixteen year old girl. Caity, without sounding full of herself, knows she’s pretty; she just wonders if she couldn’t be prettier.

During the school year she skirts as closely by the dress code as she can without landing herself in detention. Skirt length is always debatable but never so much that it would draw serious suspicion, make up kept flawless though minimal during lessons. After hours, however, and on any sort of vacation day it isn’t much of a secret that Caity covets the generous wardrobes of girls like Kitty Li and Neely Woolfolk. Their shoe collections alone are enough to make the petite blonde salivate just a little. Her own closet is much more low key, with her Mum’s influence still strong enough to yay or nay particular items of clothing. ¬¬Out of robes and uniform she pays fairly close attention to muggle style but likes to incorporate wizarding wear as much as she can.


Personality Description: There is a certain expectation that comes with being born a twin; it’s like the world expects you to share a telepathic link and be the yin and yang to one another. It’s hard to say if this is actually true for Caity and Luc or if the idea was planted when they were infants and she’s just never bucked the trend. In a way it serves a purpose. The perception has always been that Luc is the naturally intelligent, though absent minded, and easily distracted one; while she is perceived as sweet, hardworking, and grounded in the reality of being a teenage girl. People assume (despite the fact her marks are often as high or higher than her brother’s) that Caity is more concerned with her hair and Witch Weekly than she is with the plight of the Werewolf or the history of Giant Warfare. It isn’t completely inaccurate – but like all things it is a mass over simplification of the truth and the truth does nothing if not resist simplicity.

The fact of the matter is? Caity does like boys, and Witch Weekly, and talking about fashion, and gossip – but she also loves History and Arithmancy. Her brother is naturally intelligent when it comes to mechanical and technical things; Caity understands people and the complexities of the roles every person in a family is expected to play. Being the “shallow” one lets her off the hook for expectations that are then hinged on her brother. With Mom and Pop Norwood constantly on Luc about how his grades should be better or how he should spend less time doodling Caity is left mostly to her own devices. She has just enough fun to keep life interesting while flying under the radar that would land her in the Headmistress’ office or grounded for life. There are people who might accuse her of being manipulative but Cait likes to think of herself as a people person.

Of course Caity doesn’t have it all figured out, what fun would life be if she did? Because her brother is sort of a brain child and the central focus of her parents angst Caity has a host of insecurities, but what sixteen year old girl doesn’t? She worries about the typical things – whether or not she’s pretty enough, or popular enough; could she be thinner or sweeter, stronger or meeker? Does her uniform skirt lay just right or does it make her bum look big? She has a certain sort of wistful appreciation for girls who either don’t seem to care at all or seem to have stepped out of a high fashion spread. There is a certain sort of desperation in her being to belong to one of these two groups. She never quite gets it right though because in the end she’ll always care too much yet doesn’t have the funds to throw twenty galleons at a handbag that’ll be out of style by next month.

At the end of the day, perhaps what Caitlin Norwood is most guilty of is… simply wanting to be seen as her own separate entity because in the formative years of her life she was not. It was always the twins this or the twins that – never “just Caity” (unless it seemed to be a letdown). Her deepest darkest desire is to simply be a singleton, not part of matched set (horribly mismatched as a matched set could possibly be at that). Being grand and important would be grand and important… but odds are she’d be just as happy being mostly nobody so long as she was a nobody who had her own stupid birthday. It isn’t that she resents Luc specifically but rather that she resents the feeling of never really having a time and space that was solely Caitlin Elizabeth Norwood. She loves her brother, and her cousins, and all the rest of her family… but she wants a life that has very little to do with them at this point.

History: Born ten minutes after her brother on that fateful day in May of 1993, Caitlin Norwood likes to joke she took her damn sweet time coming out because she knew it was the first and last time she would have any space to herself for the rest of her life. The funny thing about jokes is they all have some basis in reality. For as long as Cait can remember she’s been known as the “ditzy” one Luc had to take care of. It’s a role she plays because in all honesty it makes her life a lot easier. Mr and Mrs. Norwood have very different expectations of their children which the bubbly blonde has no trouble skewing in her favor. It wasn’t always easy growing up in Luc’s shadow; but at sixteen he makes for a nice shade tree now and again.

It’s hard to say, exactly, if her parent’s marriage is a happy one. It certainly doesn’t seem unhappy on the whole to an outsider looking in. The lack of some great love affair is hugely disappointing to their only daughter who gobbles up that sort of information as though it were sustenance for the soul. It’s a bit disgraceful to come from such an ordinary world when you want to be something extraordinary. Me Wanting to be something special made being raised muggle that much more frustrating. Sure they were aware of their Wizardingly Ancestry but it was a secret that she could never share; as a hopeless gossip it was always difficult for Cait to have such a spectacular secret she could never share. Whatever anyone tells you – secrets are meant for telling behind cupped hands and giggles.

While she catches a fair amount of flak for being a Hufflepuff (like her Mum) from some people; the last six years living in the Cellars is the closest thing to that ten minutes of alone time she got pre-universe entrance. It seemed like the worst possible fate at the time (it wasn’t until about thirteen she really started to desire a separation from Luc) to be in a house that her brother was not a part of. For the first time she had to look outside of her family for companionship; luckily she was placed in a house that seemed to put a premium on friendliness. Making a home for herself wasn’t hard, falling in love with her classes and the universe that existed outside the Norwood family tree was surprisingly even easier and before either of them knew it… the twins’ lives were so separate it was like they lived in different countries rather than houses.

Maybe then it isn’t really surprising the twins have grown apart over the last six years. There isn’t a moment before Hogwarts she can pick out in their childhood; a moment she can point to and say “that is when my brother started being a person I didn’t really know anymore”.  It might be easier or at least less sad if there were; for Cait there just exists the time she was close to Luc and the time (now) that she isn’t – the same way there was a time when she thought her parents were amazing and now… they seem so painfully ordinary. There is nothing harder (or more tragic in Caity’s opinion) than the desire to be spectacular and come from nothing but mundane (while having no disenable talents other than people reading).

Still, she is only sixteen; how much living can one really expect her to have done by now - especially since she's the "good" one?

How Do You Fit Into Your House?: There is a common misconception that Caity Norwood is naive, shallow, possibly even vapid; all of these accusations may have a grain or two of truth in them but on the whole completely over look the fact that Caity is also loyal, loving, and willing to work extremely tirelessly when she really wants something or someone really needs her.

Also, she really is an excellent finder.

Writing Sample: See Dolly

Sum up your character in one paragraph: Caity is your average sixteen year old girl - and she feels that is exactly her problem! Always wanting something bigger than what's right in front of her. Some people may find her interests (gossip, boys, Witch Weekly) and aspirations (being like Dolly St. James, maybe) frivolous or down right foolish but that’s never really mattered to the “other” Norwood. Let Luc be the brilliant one everyone has sky high expectations for, life is much easier when people think you’re too silly to know they think you’re shallow. Most people don’t bother looking past the first layer (and that suits Caity just fine for now), when people think you’re clueless they’re more apt to let you see who they really are.