Helena Ravenclaw

Helena Ravenclaw
Biographical Information
Born	1 January 982
Died	1 January 1012, 30
Blood status	Pure-blood
Also known as	Grey Lady
Physical Information
Gender	Female
Hair Colour	Black
Eye Colour	Grey
Skin Colour	Pale
Relationships
Mother	Rowena Ravenclaw
Education
School	Hogwarts
House	Ravenclaw
Class of	1000
Classes Included
Character Information
Playby	Kelly Macdonald
Biography
Canon

I stole the diadem. I sought to make myself cleverer, more important than my mother. I ran away with it. My mother, they say, never admitted that the diadem was gone, but pretended that she had it still. She concealed her loss, my dreadful betrayal, even from the other founders of Hogwarts.

—Helena confiding in Harry Potter

Helena Ravenclaw (c. late 10th century – early 11th century) also known as the Grey Lady, was a witch and Rowena Ravenclaw 's daughter. She attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Ravenclaw house.

At some point after graduating Helena stole her mother's diadem and ran away to Albania. Rowena became fatally ill and hoping to see her daughter one last time, sent the Bloody Baron, a man who harboured an unrequited love for Helena, to find her. In a rage the Baron murdered Helena when she refused to return with him, before he committed suicide out of regret for what he had done. She and the Baron eventually returned as ghosts to Hogwarts Castle, where Helena became and continues to be the Ghost of Ravenclaw House.

Page adapted from Helena Ravenclaw at the Harry Potter Lexicon.

Biography

Early life

Helena was born into the wizarding Ravenclaw family, to Rowena Ravenclaw , no earlier than 982 somewhere in the British Isles.

At the age of eleven, Helena became part of one of the first generations of students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Scotland, which, at that time, was still being run by its original Founders. She was Sorted into Ravenclaw House and was educated in the magical arts by her mother during the seven years that followed.

Around this time, she met the Baron of Slytherin house. He fell in love with her, though she always rejected his advances. Helena never found true love as she never found anyone that lived up to her standards.

Death

Envious of her mother's cleverness and importance, Helena stole her diadem and left Scotland, believing the item could help her become wise enough to accomplish her goals. Ashamed of her daughter's betrayal, Rowena Ravenclaw never admitted her daughter's treachery, hiding the fact that the diadem was no longer in her possession.

Having fallen fatally ill and on her deathbed, Rowena desperately asked the Bloody Baron, who was deeply in love with Helena, to find her daughter and bring her back to her so that she could see her one last time. Helena tried to hide from him, but the Baron managed to track her down to a forest in Albania. When she heard the Baron blundering through the forest toward her, she hid the diadem inside a hollow tree. Helena refused to come with the Baron and rejected his affections and he stabbed her in a fit of rage. After seeing what he had done, remorseful of his action, he stabbed himself to death.

Post-mortem

Oh yes, our house ghost is the Grey Lady. The rest of the school thinks she never speaks, but she'll talk to Ravenclaws. She's particularly useful if you're lost, or you've mislaid something.

Helena, now known as the "Grey Lady", returned from the dead as ghost along with the Baron. They both returned to Hogwarts Castle, where they became the house ghosts of their former Houses, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. The Baron has been remorseful of his actions ever since, and carries heavy chains as a sign of penance. Nobody else seems to know why both of them died nor why the Baron is covered in blood, not even the other Hogwarts ghosts.

While the most of the school sees the Grey Lady as a timid ghost, she maintains a good relationship with members of her own House and is particularly useful if they were lost, or had mislaid something.

Physical appearance

Harry supposed that she was beautiful, with her waist-length hair and floor-length cloak, but she also looked haughty and proud. Close in, he recognized her as a ghost he had passed several times in the corridor, but to whom he had never spoken.

Helena was a tall witch with waist-length hair. She wore a floor-length cloak. She carried herself in a serene manner.

Personality and traits

A highly intellectual young lady, Helena was a scholarly, literary, and cultured woman. Close to one-thousand years after her death, she still maintained her intellectual curiosity, enjoying attending Transfiguration classes and reading.

Helena had high standards and never bothered in love due to this. She was also evasive, as she did not appear to like telling others about her past (not even that she was Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter) and somewhat taciturn. She also has a preference for secluded places: she hid in a forest when she ran away from her mother, hung around in deserted classrooms, and chose a deserted Gryffindor Tower as a reading spot. Despite all this, she had a thirst for importance and notability and was, as such, very envious of her mother.