STUDENT IDENTIFICATION
N A M E:Avery Jayne Barnes
N I C K N A M E:Avery is already short enough. Most people just call her that. Or 'Barnes' if she's done something particularly exhausting.
G E N D E R:Female
A G E:17
B L O O D S T A T U S:Halfblood
PRESENCE
There's really nothing elegant about Avery and for those who take a bit of pride in maintaining the illusion of 'elegance' or 'what proper witches and wizards should look like' Avery sticks out like a sore thumb. It starts, as these so often do, with her height. Avery is naturally tall - which one would think would be an asset - but instead she's a bit gangly with thin, long arms, and legs that, while thin like pens, aren't as long as she would like. She isn't waifish, just slim and possessing very little that would resemble a figure. Unless one considers perpendicular lines with a body squeezed between them to be a figure.
It continues, of course, with her head - specifically what lies atop it. Avery's hair is a natural muddy brown and always has the appearance as if it only sees water when caught in a rainstorm. She DOES wash, though, it just looks as if she doesn't. Stringy and loose, messy and long, Avery's hair just might be the favorite thing about herself physically - except for when it gets in her face which it does so fairly often being so wild and loose. But that just means more time for silly little hair flips before simply turning her head makes the long locks slide around crazily. She could style it or cut it or any number of things but it adds to her rather unique sort of appeal.
Avery's facial features are rather sharp, with her jaw line being very well defined down to her chin. Wide, light brown eyes, thin eyebrows, and a smallish nub of a nose make for a cute face on an otherwise piercing looking face. When Avery smiles it's always with a bit of a mischievous grin that still nevertheless shows off her immaculately porcelain teeth that rest just behind her thin, coquettish lips.
The same 'care' is given with her uniform which skirts the dresscode at damn near every opportunity. Her skirts hover precariously over the 'too short' line (with her excuse always being "You try finding a fitting skirt when your legs go to the moon"), her tie and collar always askew, buttons never buttoned correctly but more in the 'can't be assed' sense rather than the 'in a rush' sense, and chances are if there aren't tears and badly patched holes somewhere on the uniform..then there are stains. Often dirt. Sometimes soot or splash-back from potions. Avery's appearance, in a word, is slovenly. It's a wonder to people that she isn't dribbling food everywhere when she eats but, in her own words, "I know what I'm doing."
While she doesn't slouch when she sits, her posture is far from immaculate; oftentimes she sits with her legs extended as far out in front of her as she can get while sitting at a weird angle. When she walks its with confident steps, which is just one thing people point to when they wonder if Avery's whole...everything is just one big act. Because when everything else about her appearance is so off, her confident and almost...elegant stride is such a contrast that there has to be something going on.
Try not to think about it too hard. Avery sure doesn't.
ACADEMICS
H O U S E:Tituba
Y E A R:Sixth
E L E C T I V E S:Arithmancy
Divination
Study of Ancient Runes
B E S T C L A S S:Astronomy. Someone once uttered "Fitting, for someone that can look over her shoulder and see Neptune."
W O R S T C L A S S:Potions
C L U B S:Astronomy Club - Member
Divination Club - New President
Potions Club - Joke Member
WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
W A N D:A quite handsome Black Walnut with a Jackalope antler core, eleven and a half inches in length that is, by all accounts, quite supple.
P A T R O N U S:Dragonfly
B O G G A R T:Avery has a fear of rats. So naturally the boggart takes the form of what Avery pictures all rats as being: big, ugly, hairy creatures with sharp teeth and a whip-like tail for attacking its prey.
F A M I L I A R:Parker, a hedgehog that is almost always seen on Avery's shoulders. He's a curious little mammal and always sniffing around and skittering about. Often Avery will feed him berries and things, sometimes during classes.
ESSENCE
P E R S O N A L I T Y:Avery constantly makes people wonder how the hell she got into Tibuta; most tend to settle on 'the Candle had no other option'. It's not as if Avery doesn't hold some of the values of her house in high regard, she's honest to a point - in that she'll admit to being responsible for something if and only if she gets caught, and she's an incredibly fair person. In that there's no one at Salem that she won't have a go at. Nothing seems to be taken seriously to Avery which often has her at odds with more studious sorts who see her as nothing more than a nuisance with the silver lining being that for most 'serious' students she's only a problem after classes thanks to Avery's taking of...less popular subjects.
Those less popular subjects fascinate Avery and are the classes where she pays the most attention, however. The Arithmancy professor wouldn't believe the stories told by staff and students were it not for Avery ending her Arithmancy O.W.L. by pretending to cheat with Parker by having Parker skitter around to other students' exams; that Avery went on to get an O on the test was due to her genuine skill in the course. Avery has an active interest in the more outlandish fields of magic; believing that things like potions are for muggle chemistry students. Her interest in numerology and divination in particular has created a bit of a racket for unknowing new students (and curious enough older ones); Avery, much to the dismay of the Divination professor, holds fortune telling sessions that are really just 'will you find romance here' or 'will you pass your exams' that, in some eyes, makes up for her otherwise casual, laid back, jovial nature.
Avery, despite annoying people with her general lack of care, concern, or interest (as well as her never missing an opportunity to crack wise), has several friends within Titubta (and without) who appreciate her jokes and candor and for generally caring about the Tituba newcomers. She knows the reputation that Titubaa students have and her antics are just one way she attempts to deal with that fact. No student should feel undervalued or rejected so if people will look down on Tituba then Avery will make sure Tituba is frequently on the tips of tongues.
Entering her later years, Avery's younger activites - namely pulling pranks and breaking curfew - have toned down with the threat of adulthood creeping just around the corner. She still is quick with a comeback and a chaotic storm of annoyance when you don't want her to be, but signs of maturing are creeping up on a constant basis. Her taking on the role of Divination Club President, a position that has actual responsibilities (small in the grand scheme though they may be) is a step towards a more serious Avery Barnes.
It's easy to like Avery and it's easy to dislike her; but chances are good that no matter what someone thinks of her, she's left an impression. Hopefully it'll come out in the wash.
R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S:For someone who has spent several years telling students about their potential romances and flings, Avery hasn't exactly had much success in that field - and it certainly isn't for lack of trying. Avery is notoriously gay to the point where just putting an arm around another girl in an absolutely friendly innocent sort of way often gets misinterpreted as flirting. Not one to shy away from making her crushes well aware, Avery doesn't beat around the bush and just stare awkwardly; she'll ask them out and get rejected and deal with it.
While she believes in love she isn't so sure that 'true love' happens anymore and certainly not in the confines of a school. She knows that someone out there (or hell, in here) will be 'the one' for her but at the moment sparks leave her eyes and just fizzle out after a series of rejections.
L I K E S:- Playing and/or listening to lilting music
- Solving arithmancy problems without writing out the numbers
- Hearing that first crackle when opening a book the month before term ends.
- Thunderstorms
- The old 'give 'em an earwax bean and call it chocolate' trick
- Parker resting on her shoulder
- Eggs, any style
- Meat and fish and dairy products, being an ovo-vegetarian and lactose intolerant
- Studying for anything
- Snow
- Quidditch. She never got over the fact that she was and is an awkward flier.
- Coffee
- People that look down on her house. Look down on her all you like, just not the others.
- Stress
- Playing the flute
- Predicting fortunes and fortune telling/advice giving in general
- Staying out past curfew, often to stargaze
- Scaring people with the aid of Parker
B A C K G R O U N D:Avery grew up knowing that magic was real, or at least deeply hoping it was after a series of seemingly unexplainable events in her youth. The first of these was her lost stuffed toucan, her favorite toy as a little girl, which she KNEW she lost in a mall showed up on her bed a few days later. It wasn't new, it was the same exact toucan. Another was when she fell from a tree and her descent seemed to slow just long enough for her father to catch her with little issue. By the time her acceptance letter to Salem arrived, it wasn't that shocking.
What WAS shocking was that her parents kept it from both her and her younger brother Jesse. Avery's father, Martin, is a wizard while her mother, Abigail, is a muggle and a police detective by profession. Martin, after falling for Abigail from afar, once risked a great deal by protecting her in secret when a standard speeding ticket went south. Abigail was then just a beat cop but still wasn't used to a gun being pulled on her; she hesitated but the one who pulled the gun on her tumbled and dropped his weapon. It wasn't until after Martin had married Abigail (after working up the courage) that he foolishly disregarded certain rules by admitting to his wife the truth of what he was.
Abigail, of course, didn't believe him but appreciated his sense of humor.
After Avery's letter arrived, she was upset that her parents kept such a thing from her, but realized how risky it was for Martin to even tell Abigail and has since forgiven them. Avery was excited to attend Salem, thinking that it would be different from the public school she had been attending; she was in for a bit of a rude awakening. Her first year at Salem was by far her worst what with people snickering when she was placed into Tituba and snickering more when her first potions lesson ended with her covered in the contents of a cauldron and responsible for a fire. She was an awkward student and hadn't yet had her growth spurt and as such kept mostly to herself, sniffling into her pillow at night.
The summer home after her first year was when Avery grew up. More so physically. She was a tall enough girl but she grew to her current height with puberty and came back to Salem in year two a different person. Not wanting to have to cry and wish for home before she slept, Avery did whatever she could to make nice with people, even those who a year previously were making fun of her. The quiet Avery Barnes was now the loud, disruptive, joking Avery Barnes that gave staff a headache and gave students someone to laugh with.
Her magical education hasn't been the easiest, her lack of studying led to her being middle of the road or worse in most subjects, her favorites the exception, and most nights saw her in detention for disruptions and disobedience. Whenever a letter was sent home to her parents she received a chewing out the next day which, at best, brought Salem three days of quiet. Entering her sixth year, Avery's maturing somewhat, having become something of a motherly figure for younger Tituba students that were facing similar experiences to Avery's own first year. She never really got to be much of an older sister to her brother so she's gotten that experience at Salem instead.
It remains to be seen how long Avery can go this year without finding herself in trouble.
Member
RPM,
Khyron Shadowfang,
Savo,
Rune_Alchemist,
Stryder BC,
Tau,
Red Helix,
Kaiidth,
Antlers
