(no subject)

[alicia_spinnet]

PRE-HOGWARTS
Alicia Priscilla Spinnet was born on December 22, 1978 to Thaddeus and Priscilla Spinnet, pureblood bankers and investors. Thaddeus Spinnet is considered one of the wealthiest and most successful businessmen in the Wizarding World; he owns several properties all over Wizarding London and has many private investments which add to his fortune. Though Thaddeus and Priscilla held pro-purification ideals and invested in Voldemort's army, they were never Death Eaters, probably due to his short, rotund stature and poor eyesight, and Priscilla was rumoured to be a squib having gotten through Hogwarts using Kwikspell's programs. While both parents explicitly favoured her brother, she was much closer with her mother, as her father had never really given her the time of day.

Alicia's older brother, Thaddeus Spinnet, Jr., was born in 1970; due to their age difference, they were never close. Thaddeus, a Slytherin like his parents before him, was everything their parents dreamed a male heir could be: ambitious, intelligent, and had a desire to take over the family business after he graduated from Hogwarts.

Alicia, on the other hand, was viewed by her parents as a regret. "Why must we have this child, when we already have a male heir?" Her father complained, but her mother insisted she wanted another son. Much to their dismay, Priscilla gave birth to a girl, and from her early childhood she was seen as a disappointment. "Thaddeus walked and talked sooner than Alicia, Thaddeus performed accidental magic years earlier than Alicia, Thaddeus shows an aptitude for Arithmancy and business, unlike Alicia." She had heard it throughout her childhood, and began to resent her family early in life.

When Alicia was seven, she had her first trip to Diagon Alley with her mother; they had passed by Quality Quidditch Supplies, and Alicia slipped away from her mum in Flourish & Blotts to enter the store, in awe of the broomsticks and other Quidditch-related apparel. When her mother found her, she was punished to her room for the rest of the day and night without dinner and was told that she was never to think of "that silly little game" ever again. Alicia couldn't help it, she was hooked right away. She even snuck an old Quidditch Monthly magazine out of her brother's room once, when he was away at school.

HOGWARTS
In the fall of 1989, Alicia left her home to begin her magical education at Hogwarts. Her parents nearly disowned her when they received the news that she'd been sorted into Gryffindor. Alicia, on the other hand, was delighted. It was refreshing to find out that her housemates were not obsessed with financial issues or would put pressure on her to perform. She bonded with housemates Angelina Johnson, Lee Jordan, and Fred and George Weasley right away, especially when she found out they shared a love for Quidditch.

Having a close-knit group of friends allowed Alicia to let down her guard (most of the way) and have her personality shine through. She was a fiercely loyal friend, quick to draw her wand or throw a punch in defense of their honor. Alicia was witty and had a sharp tongue, and she prided herself on coming up with quick replies to Fred and George's sneak-attacks. When she sensed her friends were having a bad day or upset about something, she was the first one there with a handkerchief or box of chocolates, though she was never good at speaking about her own emotions. Sarcasm was her natural defense mechanism for that, especially when someone would ask about her family. She was particularly hostile toward Slytherin students and took great pleasure when Gryffindor earned more points during a class or during a Quidditch match.

As punishment for being sorted into Gryffindor, Alicia's parents forbade her to attend Quidditch trials. For her first two years of schooling, she sat on the sidelines as a spectator with her mates, watching trials and each game with amazement, wishing and hoping that one day she could give it a go. However, in her second and third year when all of her best mates made the Gryffindor house team, Alicia couldn't sit by and watch anymore. She used most of her savings to buy a Comet 260 during a Hogsmeade trip and left it with Angelina or Katie over holidays so that her parents wouldn't discover that she disobeyed them. Whenever she had free time, she was practising, and it all paid off in her third year when she was discovered by Oliver Wood, who made her a starting Chaser. For the rest of her time at Hogwarts, she was happiest playing in matches or practising on the pitch with her friends. Though she knew her family expected her to learn the family business, Alicia yearned to play professional Quidditch and was scouted by the Ballycastle Bats in her seventh year, who offered her a reserve Chaser position for the following season. Just before graduation, she plucked up the courage and wrote to her family to let them know of her career plans. She found it strange that she did not receive a Howler or any sort of nasty reply that she was expecting.

Alicia graduated from Hogwarts in 1996 with above average marks. Angry that her parents had not shown up for graduation ceremonies, contacted her at all, or were there to pick her up from Platform 9 3/4, she disapparated home from the platform, planning on unleashing weeks of pent-up rage. However, before she had the chance, her father had informed her that her mother had passed away from a battle with adult-onset Dragon Pox; according to her father and brother, she had been gravely ill for months now, and the news of Alicia's desired career in Quidditch was "just enough to kill her."

POSTWARTS
Stricken with guilt and grief, Alicia regretfully declined the Bats' offer and followed her father's orders (and mother's dying wish) by taking up a job as a banking apprentice at Gringotts. It paid well-- enough to afford a flat so she didn't have to stay at home, though she hated every moment of it: sitting behind a desk, dealing with grumpy, callous goblins all day, chauffeuring snooty purebloods to the depths of the bank to reach their vaults.

THE BATTLE OF HOGWARTS AND BEYOND...
When news broke of the battle raging at Hogwarts two years later, she joined Angelina and the rest of her old schoolmates by returning to the school to fight. She was absolutely enraged when she saw her older brother, Thaddeus, Jr., maskless but still clad in Death Eater garb, dueling her classmates and friends. She knocked him off his feet with a powerful "Stupefy!" and then cast a full-body bind on him. "I hope you rot in Azkaban!" She yelled, making the decision right then that she would never have any contact with her family ever again.

She returned to her flat that night, exhausted, injured, and covered in dirt and dried blood. She was numb, unsure of what to feel-- exhilarated, because they won? Overcome with grief, as many of her ex-classmates and friends were either dead or in critical condition at St. Mungo's?

As she wandered through her eerily quiet (yet somehow peaceful) flat, the first emotion she felt was rage. How could her brother be a death eater, and how could she not know about it? Why was she keeping up with this illusion that they somehow cared for her? Why had she been giving up on pursuing her life's dream to try to make them happy? Her mother would understand, surely... and even if she didn't, it wasn't enough of a reason to throw away her happiness.

Her decision was made. First thing tomorrow morning, she would call the recruiter for Ballycastle. Hopefully they're still interested in her. Hopefully she can still perform.