Elizabeth Becker
Bloodtype: Half-and-Half
age: 13
House: Ravenclaw
Appearence: Elizabeth’s appearance reflects a quiet, sensible
manner. Her figure is both moderately tall and thin, her skin a light,
sandy tone. The girl’s blue-grey eyes are thoughtful, and her lips quick
to smile, but reluctant to laugh. Deep brown hair pulled up firmly in
a ponytail falls in gentle waves to the middle of her back. Bangs are
slightly parted and brushed to either side.
Elizabeth keeps to conservative fashions. She takes
little interest in being ‘trendy’ or ‘in’, but rather expresses her own
preferences in dress. When the uniform is not mandatory, she usually
dons blue or greyish-blue robes, or one of the few Muggle outfits she
brought with her to school. She generally finds no use for make-up or
jewelry, except for a silver forget-me-not pendant, a gift of her friend,
Aileen.
Personality: Elizabeth would describe herself as, “searching,
searching for who I am and who I want to be”. She viewed her first months
at Hogwarts as a type of banishment from friends, family, and all she
had ever known. Not ready to seek out new friendship, a desire she
would not admit even to herself, she immersed herself in the one familiar
thing that was ever present in her new home, studies.
Her academic achievement excelled. It was the only
thing she had to do in any day’s empty hours, something to escape to, a
way to accomplish and find fulfillment. She wasn’t uncomfortable in
crowds, but she found a way to be fairly invisible. Over her books, she
would watch her peers. When by chance she was spoken to, she would
smile amiably and make a pleasant reply, but it was invariably brief.
Somehow she felt that in accepting this new life, she would be unfaithful
to her past.
Over months the realization came that longing for the
past would do nothing for the future. Her loneliness bordered on
unbearable, but she knew there was no need for it. She made the decision to
accept what had happened and began to look at her surroundings with new
eyes. So many of the wonders within her reach had remained invisible
in her unwillingness to see them. Now, with hope as her light, she is
beginning to come out from the seclusion she had put herself into. But
it is a hard thing to do after so much time, and she is uncertain of
what she will find when she finally steps forward.
History: Caroline Beaumont, the eldest of four daughters, was six
years old when her family moved from France to England. When she
reached the age to go to school, she was the first in her line to attend
Hogwarts rather than Beauxbatons. A Ravenclaw, she devoted a fair amount
of time to study, but had her small circle of friends that she was
never without. Languages fascinated her, and she had aspirations of
becoming a professor of ancient runes, but her brief stay at home after
seventh year changed all she had foreseen in her future.
She fell in love with a muggle, Charles Becker. Though
she knew that for a time, at least, her contact with the magic world
would have to be sacrificed, she was willing to give that up in the name
of love. She never went back to her other world for further education,
and roughly three years after she’d graduated from Hogwarts, they were
wed. Eventually Caroline felt safe taking out her old school books to
pour over while her husband was off at his publishing job, and
attempted a translation. She was only halfway through the volume when the
birth of her first daughter caused her to put it aside.
Elizabeth was a cheerful child at home, and she learned
quickly to walk and speak, and then, when the time came, to read. She
also loved for her mother to sing to her, preferring traditional music
to contemporary. When she got a bit older, her father taught her to
play guitar.
Since they knew their daughter to be lively and
considerably outgoing at home, Mr. and Mrs. Becker were surprised that
Elizabeth made no friends when she began school. Once they mentioned it to a
teacher, who explained that the first days, when all the other children
were talking to each other and forming their groups, Elizabeth was just
watching with a little smile on her face, but keeping to herself.
Weeks later, after she had gotten the feel of everyone, perhaps, she tried
to befriend a few. But they were all comfortably settled in, and she
became an outcast.
The girl compromised by devoting herself whole-heartedly
to her studies, and she rose above her peers in academics. She didn’t
feel that she lacked companionship because she spent so much time with
her family, who she loved dearly.
When Elizabeth was nine, her family moved into the
suburbs of London. She saw it as a sort of new beginning, and entered her
new school, in the middle of term, with her heart full of hope. It did
not go unrealized. A girl named Aileen, whose first year it was in the
area, quickly befriended her. It was the first true friendship in both
of their lives, and they became inseparable. They next year and a half
were glorious for Elizabeth, especially a few months after her tenth
birthday, when her sister Catherine was born.
Elizabeth’s world changed the day she received her letter
from Hogwarts. At first she was shocked, and then delighted to hear
there was another sort of universe that she was part of, that she had
never known about. She had a long talk with her mother that lasted
several hours, then breathed in a still awe-filled whisper, “I just can’t
wait to tell Aileen.” Then the realization came, “No. I can’t tell her,
can I?” And her eyes filled with tears.
She crossed the hall and closed herself in her room for
several hours, crying for awhile, then pulling herself together and
thinking things through in what she considered a most logical manner. When
she finally returned to the dining room, finding her father sitting
beside his wife with an overwhelmed expression on his face, she was very
composed and clearly stated her decision. She would not go to Hogwarts.
She couldn’t bear to leave Aileen, or to have Catherine grown up
without knowing her. And she did not want to leave her family. If all the
wizardry talk was true, then she would have to be tutored by her mother.
Of course, that could not happen. Caroline knew she
didn’t have enough knowledge to teach her daughter everything, and she
wouldn’t dream of depriving her of the glories she knew Hogwarts had to
offer. She kindly but firmly stood her ground, and Elizabeth knew she had
to obey.
With a vague explanation of going off to boarding school,
she said farewell to Aileen. The girl knew something strange was going
on, and demanded to know what, to a point, but gave up when she
realized how hurt her friend seemed to be. She gave her a silver chain
bearing a forget-me-not pendant, then promised to see her over break.
Elizabeth went off to Hogwarts feeling lonely and an
outcast. She had never been separated from her family, and after almost
two years of knowing Aileen, she couldn’t bear being apart from her. Her
heart knew she needed companionship, but she would not be disloyal to
the past. So she buried herself in schoolwork.
In her lonliness, she began keeping a journal. She even
wrote some letters to Aileen, but she stopped, knowing she could never
send them.
Time passed, and she realized that any lonliness was her
own fault, as there was no lack of people at Hogwarts. Her heart still
jumped at the thought of possibly replacing Aileen, but she knew that
could never happen. Not really.
Elizabeth resolved to look at the world again, as though
she had never seen it before, maybe give it a chance. And now, that is
just what she is doing.