[center][img]http://slodive.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/medium-curly-hairstyles/light-blonde-curly-hair.jpg[/img] [color=MediumSlateBlue][b]Character information[/b] NAME: [/color] Melanie Ariana Stryder [color=MediumSlateBlue]GENDER:[/color] Female [color=MediumSlateBlue]SEXUALITY:[/color] Bisexual [color=MediumSlateBlue]AGE:[/color] 16 [color=MediumSlateBlue]YEAR:[/color] 6th year [color=MediumSlateBlue]HOUSE:[/color] Slytherin [color=MediumSlateBlue]BLOOD STATUS:[/color] Pure blood [color=MediumSlateBlue][b]In-depth Information[/b] APPEARANCE:[/color] A girl of reasonable height at 5 foot 9 inches, she's not short enough to be teased for it and yet not tall enough to be awkwardly gangly either. In body structure she is slender, and doesn't show a lot of muscle tone, but does have shoulders that are slightly broader than would be considered 'average' for a lady. Pale, porcelain shade skin makes her chocolate brown eyes stand out quite noticeably in her face, with naturally quite thin/small eyebrows. Her hair is pale blonde in color, with darker roots, and is naturally curly, stopping at just past her shoulders in length. She dresses modestly, and in a "smart casual" style, e.g. jeans, polo shirts/sweatshirts, you wouldn't catch her dead in a dress unless for special occasions where she is [i]required[/i] to wear one such as the Yule Ball for example. [color=MediumSlateBlue]PERSONALITY:[/color] Stubborn and determined, Melanie will never back down from a challenge, so don't butt heads with her if you're someone who isn't prepared for that. She holds grudges for a LONG time and finds it very difficult to forgive people if they've done something bad against her or one of her friends. Often sarcastic and snappy, she's not particularly patient either and will often respond sooner with a sarcastic retort rather than a kind comment, but if you can learn to deal with that she can be a decent enough friend and will usually stick by you...but if you expect her to squish a spider for you, you can get lost! She's absolutely terrified of them and would sooner scream and run than try and fight back against one, whether it's a house spider or a behemoth like Aragog was, it makes no difference to her. As a Parselmouth she has a close connection with snakes and is never seen anywhere without her pet snake Kindle, who she even hides in her pocket or bag during lessons--they haven't been caught yet! Of course, this isn't something she flaunts openly and in fact she's rather wary of being open about her abilities to other students due to how Parselmouths are usually received in the wizarding world since Voldemort's reign, she keeps quiet about it and probably wouldn't tell anyone unless they confronted her about it first, and even then she'd swear you to secrecy before admitting it out loud. (I know this is only six but I honestly can't think of anything else to add to this without babbling on about random crap and I'd really rather not ruin the character by adding a ton of random traits just to fit with a sentence limit, I hope that's okay D:) [color=MediumSlateBlue]HISTORY:[/color] (I tried to make the stranger wand core make a bit more sense without making it too weird since her parent's ages would be a little younger in this version XD) Born to two pure bloods sorted into Slytherin house themselves, her mother Anya was a witch with an aptitude for potions, while her father Eli excelled in all things to do with the Care of Magical Creatures, especially all things serpentine. Both Eli and Anya had been 6th year students at the time of the second war with Voldemort, and while Eli had supported the ideals of the Death Eaters and their master Anya was a bit less inclined, although she would not openly argue it. When Voldemort was defeated and the Death Eaters disappeared into hiding, Eli at first went in search of them though he never managed to find any of them, or any fellow supporters. During one such search, he came into contact with a Basilisk who he befriended and kept for a time, keeping it hidden from the Ministry at their home until it's death shortly before Melanie's birth, where Eli then had one of it's fangs made into a new wand so that he could always have a part of his old friend with him. It was Eli who Melanie inherited her Parselmouth ability from, though it didn't come to light until she was eight years old when Eli suddenly found her deep inconversation with his own pet snake at the time. Afterwards, he began to teach her more of the language though cautioned her not to use it openly in front of other wizards and witches as they may not see it the same way that they did. When she turned 11, Melanie of course received her Hogwarts letter, and it was then that her parents finally allowed her to have a snake of her own, thus she was given Kindle as her 11th birthday present, to be the pet that she took with her to Hogwarts. The next few years were largely uneventful as she studied and practised her various lessons and classes, discovering she possessed her mother's gift for working with Potions, until half way through her third year at Hogwarts, where her father's accident happened. When the Cloaks began to make themselves known, Eli was one of the first to join up and try to bring back the old ways started by Voldemort, and it was during one of these scenarios that he suffered an unfortunate injury due to a mis-fired hex, which landed him a permanent spot in St. Mungo's, deemed no longer safe to carry his wand or to cast with it. The wand was then passed down to Melanie, who needed a replacement after her old one snapped during a practise duel with another student the term before, and was rather upset at the prospect that it would have to be destroyed otherwise. But the wand took well to having her as it's new bearer in place of Eli, and she has carried it with her ever since. She and her mother will frequently visit her father at St Mungo's during the longer holiday periods, as they have done since he was admitted. [color=MediumSlateBlue][b]Magic[/b] WAND:[/color] 12 inches, yew wood, Basilisk fang core. A sturdy, but still somewhat flexible wand. It has a slight curve in its shape near the middle, with the handle end carved into the shape of a cobra's head. The length of the wand is also etched with engravings of sorts, that give the wood the appearance of snake scales. Her wand core is unusual, because it's an heirloom wand that was passed down to her from her father. [hider=image, for visualisation, if it helps :)] [img]http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0221/1146/products/36.jpg?v=1371719538[/img][/hider] [color=MediumSlateBlue]BOGGART:[/color] Melanie's boggart begins as a large Aragog-sized spider, which then gradually splits itself off into more, smaller sized spiders as it gets closer, eventually ending in thousands of roughly hand-sized spiders which then swarm and try to attack her. [color=MediumSlateBlue]PATRONUS:[/color] [hider=PATRONUS IMAGE]Monocled cobra [img]http://cs.mcgill.ca/~jmcken8/monocled-cobra.jpg[/img][/hider] [color=MediumSlateBlue]TALENT:[/color] Potions, Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures are her main best subjects. [color=MediumSlateBlue]WEAKNESS:[/color] Anything to do with levitating or flying (whether it be spells to make things fly, or flying on a broomstick herself), she is also particularly poor when it comes to Transfiguration [color=MediumSlateBlue][b]Other[/b] PET: Mel's pet of choice is a corn snake named Kindle, who she has had since she started Hogwarts at 11 years old. [/color] [hider=Kindle] [img]http://i67.tinypic.com/164746.jpg[/img][/hider] [color=MediumSlateBlue]EXTRA:[/color][/center] Parselmouth [@Classpet] Phew, done! Sorry it took so long, I had a bit of trouble with changing her history around at first, but hope this is okay! XD