MAGNUS, helen integra

[Helen Integra Magnus]

Full Name: Helen Integra Magnus
Date of Birth: May 23, 1973
Place of Birth: Ipswich, England
Gender: Female
Race: Witch
Appearance:
Occupation: Member of the International Confederation of Wizards (Wouldn't mind being Supreme Mugwump! )

---BACKGROUND---

Heritage: Pure-Blood
Family:

• Father - Eric Morgan Magnus, Sixty-One, ex-Ministry worker(Department of Magical Transportation) member, Living
  
• Mother - Lydia Anne (Holland) Magnus, Fifty-Three, Housewife, Living
  
• Sister - Evelyn Sophia Magnus, Twenty-Nine, Member of the Wizengamot
  

History:

CHILDHOOD

Helen was born on the twenty-third of May to two staunchly pure-blood parents. They were raised to respect blood status and they intended to pass on the belief that pure-bloods were better than all others - though the belief system was never really shared by their children. Though impressionable, the two sisters looked at with the simplicity of any child's mind. Why should they hate people they had never met? And wasn't hate bad? And since it made no sense to them, they simply didn't buy in. Unless their parents gave them a solid reason as to why they should despise a fellow witch or wizard just because of of their lineage - a thing that they no control over anyway - they would continue to like and dislike everyone as they had before. And that was based on their personality, not their blood.

Being the first girl of two, Helen was doted on in her early years like any other only child would be. When her sister was born three years later, they were both treated as princesses. And as they grew old enough to play together, they developed as strong a bond as any sisters could hope. Almost every waking moment of their young lives was spent playing make-believe and dress-up. They frolicked through their family's property and imagined themselves powerful witches, saving countless wizards' lives from a menagerie of horrid fates.

When Helen was seven, her mother began tutoring her in non-magical things. She learned how to play the piano and the violin, she learned proper grammar and spelling and was expected to write weekly letters to relatives who lived far away. Her mother also saw fit to school her in Latin and French - the two most useful languages to learn, her mother thought. Lydia, Evelyn, and Helen took daily horse rides through the country. They always stopped for a little picnic and some girl time - chatting away and laughing at the follies of men. It was a lovely time in everyone's life.

ADOLESCENCE

Helen entered Hogwarts in 1984 and was promptly sorted into Ravenclaw. Her parents would have preferred Slytherin, but both were relieved that their daughter hadn't gone into their rival house, Gryffindor - or the house that they thought of as the "left-overs." Hufflepuff. Being in Ravenclaw had its benefits, though, and Helen tried to take full advantage of them. It was the house no one really hated. The Slytherin thought of them as the second best and at least tolerated them, the Gryffindors only really hated the Slytherins, and the Hufflepuffs were fairly accepting of anyone as long they didn't get picked on. Not only that, but the teachers seemed to favour them as well, though unintentionally - Ravenclaws were usually the pets of the classroom.

In her second year, Eric, her father, was fired from his job in the Department of Magical Transportation. The official reason was "improper conduct," but Helen later found out that it was because he had lost his temper with a co-worker and the issue had reached his superior's ears. The affair was a long, drawn out tangle of he-said-she-said, but in the end someone had to go. Why not the one who had started it? The family was wealthy and so the loss of his job hadn't affected their living arrangements in any way, but after all that he was a changed man. He grew more bitter every day and began drinking, which of course, only magnified the problem. He was a mean drunk, it turned out, and eventually grew physical with his wife and children. Being away at Hogwarts for most of the year, Helen was able to avoid most of the would-be beatings, but she witnessed what it did to her mother and sister and she hated the man for it. Why could he not control himself? What was so wrong in his head that made him want to hurt his own family? Had his job really been that important? And if it had, why had he not worked harder to ensure he kept it? It made no sense to her at all.

Due to the rapid degradation of her father's health and temperament, Lydia also fell a few notches on the hygiene scale. She was often seen in only her bed wear and a robe, and sometimes she didn't even bother to shower. And doing household duties like cooking and cleaning was far beyond the poor woman's capabilities. Whenever Helen came home for the summer holidays, the task of making the house presentable always fell to her. And she really didn't mind - she hated the sight of her parents filth, a mark of the shame her father had become to them all. For this reason, Helen has always been somewhat of a neat freak. She loves order and tidyness in every area of her life.

When Evelyn finally entered Hogwarts in 1987, Helen played the role of dutiful older sister. She made sure Eve wasn't picked on and helped her find her classes for the first week or so. Helen's friends even became Eve's, they spent so much time together. To some it was odd that the siblings got along so well, but this was how they always were. When they were kids, all they had was each other and they had grown quite attached to one another.

ADULTHOOD

When Helen graduated Hogwarts, she went to apply as an intern in the Department of Magical Cooperation. She got the spot, despite her father's poor reputation within the walls, and flourished. Her reasoning for selecting politics of all things, was that she enjoyed the feeling of bridging a gap. In school, she had always been the peacemaker, the mediator. She was forever diplomatic in everything she said and she had discovered it was a much better way of acquiring something you wanted than, say, violence. Words couldn't send someone to St. Mungo's, for instance. And with the right set of words, you could accomplish almost anything.

Within a year she was offered a permanent post as someone's secretary. And for the next three years, she worked on having perfect punctuality and a spotless work record. Finally, in 1992, she received a position in the Department of International Magical Cooperation, which she worked hard to earn. Most of her co-workers referred to her as a workaholic, and perhaps they were right; she was determined to clean the smudges on her name left by her father. She wanted to show the wizarding community that the apple could indeed fall quite a ways from the tree.

During her time as a secretary, Helen took up a couple extra-curricular activities. Having always had an affinity with panthers, she decided to begin learning the ways of animagi. In addition - and as the result of her alcoholic father - she also studied the art of occlumency. Fearing any sort of mental weakness, she worked furiously to control her mind. That gives her clarity and focus, which assists her later on in life in a variety of situations. And after a couple years of laborious study and testing, she finally achieved her goals. She registered as an animagus in the fall of 1995.

Three years later, in 1998, Helen is given the opportunity to work abroad and she travels throughout Europe, eventually gaining a semi-permanent residence in Strasbourg, France near the German border. There she remained, refining the French her mother had taught her and picking up a fair amount of German along the way. While there, she made many contacts - some less reputable than others, but all highly useful. Her cool, calm mannerisms and smooth voice aided her on many occasions and she managed to come out of the experience with only a few enemies - instead of the hundreds she could have easily made.

After twelve years abroad, Helen returned home to England. And, though she had written to her sister on a regular basis, Evelyn and her simply didn't have the relationship they once had. In some ways, they were strangers. Yet in others it had seemed like no time has passed at all - and as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. In the time that Helen was away, Evelyn had married a man by the name of Basil Randulph who had a job in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Despite her wifely duties, Eve often ran off with her sister. The two were determined to rebuild their once rock-solid relationship. However, after Helen received another promotion - thanks to a handful of old colleagues - they didn't have much time for play.

During the somewhat short reign of Lord Voldemort - from 2005 to 2007 - Helen was, obviously, out of the country. As such, she only knew what her sister wrote to her about and what the rest of the French people knew. Fear and suspicion ran amuck and not a moment passed that Helen didn't fear for the life of her sister - for, at the time, Eve was a member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. How she managed to steer clear of most of the trouble illuded Helen, but she was indeed glad of it. Evelyn was an intelligent woman with a good head on her shoulders and no doubt she had been given strength from the experiences she had had with their father. (Who, by this time, neither of them would visit. Their mother would always arrange meetings outside the home whenever they came to call.)

Though Helen did not harbour any hatred for her mother, she knew the views the woman held, and as such, deemed it necessary to refrain from writing her letters during the short-lived war. Since Lydia agreed with the Dark Lord's views on pure-blood supremacy, it was dangerous, not only for her career, but for her life as well, to contact the woman. If anyone had found out that her mother was a supporter and that Helen still sent regular letters to her, all would assume that Helen held the same opinions. And that was far from the truth. It hurt her somewhat that she couldn't contact her own mother and she felt guilty for shutting Lydia out of her life, but they were, for all intents and purposes, enemies. Each was a pawn on the opposite side of the proverbial board.

Two years after Evelyn is made a member of the Wizengamot, Helen joins her sister and is honoured with the position of Supreme Mugwump. The position was won by no easy task and it took long hours and days and months of hard work, but she accomplished it with a bit of skill and a lot of luck. Though many relatively small occurances were built together to form her success - ending individual squabbles with foreign ambassadors, smoothing over wrinkles between co-workers, winning over a superior with a few well-placed syllables, et cetera - the major event that had sealed her leap on the corporate ladder was the work she did with the centaurs. It was common knowledge that they clashed, and brilliantly, with magic folk. They were very proud and easily riled by a tiny a slip of words, and as such, few people in her department relished the thought of talking to one. Yet it was sometimes unavoidable. On one of this oh so fun occasions, Helen was landed the role of communicating with them - whether that was meant to be praise for her skills, or a test, she didn't know. Either way, she came out of it in flying colours. Having had much practice at stroking feathers and playing with words to mke them seem like whatever the person wanted them to be, Helen was able to avoid a skirmish that could have easily turned into a full on rebellion. Not only that, but she managed to wrangle a sort of truce between the herd and the Ministry. None had expected such results from one so young and they were impressed despite themselves. So after a lot of debate - she was fairly young - Helen was given the position. Though, admittedly, the main reason for it was probably to prove to the wizarding community that people in politics weren't all old, crotchety men.

Now the sisters rarely have time to sleep, let alone play hooky, but each understands the other's position and they remain close to this day. And, though the position is still somewhat new to her, Helen strives to be worthy of it. Being one of the youngest women - or person of any gender, really - to have received the title, she is somewhat suspicious of the motives behind the decision, but she is a firm believer in never looking a gift horse in the mouth.

---GENERAL CHARACTER TRAITS---

Personality:

Magnus is a strong individual with a commanding presence. Her cool calmness easily puts all around her at ease. She chooses her words carefully and she doesn't think much of inane prattle. Anger is not a feeling she likes in the least so she tries to squelch it anytime it tries to float to the surface. Anger, in her opinion, is a weakness and it accomplishes nothing. Magnus has a an easy patience about her which makes it difficult to get her riled. Though she has trouble expressing anger and upset, she sees no need to mask her feelings of joy and often expresses them in the form of a soft hum.

Likes:

+Neat, orderly things.
+The feeling of accomplishment and/or success.
+The smell of coffee and roses.
+Instrumental music - mostly strings and piano.
+The quiet.

Dislikes:

+Being talked over and/or ignored.
+Narrow-mindedness.
+Peas.
+Cockiness and people who think they know all.
+Anger in herself and in others.

Habits:

+Humming when bored or in deep thought.
+Tapping her fingers for the same reasons as above.

Does your character like Quidditch? Well enough.

---ABILITIES---

Strengths:

+Calmness
+Intelligence
+Experience
+Althletic and Healthy

Weaknesses:

+Human Frailties
+Unwillingness to Take a Life
+Distrustful
+Surprise Attacks
+Her Wardrobe (it's slightly hard to fight - other than with a wand, of course - when in heels and/or a skirt)

Powers: Registered Panther Animagus, Occlumens

---OTHER---

Pets: Hawk owl named Antius.
Wand: Rowan wood, 13 3/4 inches long, dragon heartstring core.
Broomstick: N/A
Which Hogwarts house would you NOT like to be in?: Hufflepuff.
Anything else?:
How did you find us?: Oh dear... ages ago - I believe a google search.