#openwampus

Nyx Herrera // 28 // Alumni // Wampus // Halfblood

Defense Against Magical Creatures Professor/ Supervisor of the Guard Club

FC: Rosario Dawson

As a student, Nyx Herrera was the embodiment of all things the Wampus House valued. She was as fierce as she was gifted. Her ability to tame and befriend a hippogriff landed her in the Ilvermorny history books. She even founded the Guard Club that she was later hired to head years after her graduation. Nyx also became the professor of Defense Against Magical Creatures. As a professor, Nyx is very selective. She doesn’t have time to waste on wishy-washy students who have sympathy for the big scary creatures who go bump in the night. They’re dangerous and require a firm hand. If you don’t have it, she will boot you from her class without hesitation.

But where was Nyx for those years between graduation and her employment at her alma mater? Rumors say she traveled the world learning how to tame the wildest beasts of the magical world. Seeing as she was able to become the Defense Against Magical Creatures Professor, the rumors might be true. However, the truth is harder to believe than the rumors.

The night of graduation, Nyx was in the forest surrounding the school and she could’ve sworn that there was something out there after her. She said it was after her the whole year. She had an elaborate plan to trap and disarm this creature. After almost hexing the young child of a fellow student, Nyx was sent to the infirmary for an evaluation. She was diagnosed with a Paranoid Personality Disorder. She spent a few years learning to cope and manage her personality disorder. She was finally feeling like she was normal. Even her therapist thought it was time for her to move on and that was when she took the position at the school.

Nyx’s resolve is tested daily. She hears the rumors of a beast terrorizing the barrier between the school and the no-maj and tries to tell the irrational voices that there is nothing out there. She won’t allow the disorder ruin her hard work and career but the more and more she hears the harder it is to ignore. Is she strong enough to withstand the temptation to give in to her paranoid delusions? Or will she fall victim to them again? But the bigger question would be, is the creature that Nyx’s mind is trying to fend off real? Or fake?

Positive Traits:

Strong, Dedicated, and Focused

Negative Traits:

Paranoid, Guarded and Curt

Connections:

Gogo Tomago // 18 // 6th Year // Wampus // No-maj Born

Alchemic Engineering Specialization

FC: "Newsun” Choi Yoonsun 

Gogo was born with a different name to a family who never really wanted her. She ended up on the streets at an early age and was adopted more or less, by a crime family who gave her the name Gogo Tomago. She engaged in crime and violence but never anything as awful as murder. When she turned eleven however, her whole life changed. She discovered that she was not a normal girl, she was a witch and she had to go to a very special witch school called Mahoutokoro in Japan. She was scared and confused but her crime family was supportive, making sure she had everything she needed and got there safely and had a place to return to in Korea every summer. It turned out that the bratty little girl really excelled at school and for the first time ever she felt as though she could really contribute things to the world. She graduated and became interested in pursuing her magic further so she enrolled in Ilvermorny to specialize in alchemical engineering. Her entire immediate family was so proud of her pursuing her education that they moved with her to the states and set up shop in Adamsville.

Being so connected to both the magical and the non-magical worlds, she always resented the fact that they had to be separate, something she always played pretty close to the chest. With the tensions between hunters and magic folk rising, she sees the dream of fully integrating the worlds slipping further and further away. Having secrets doesn’t bother her, her dreams of making big contributions to wizard travel is a secret, so is her crime family so what’s one more? Still, if there ever came the time to stand up for the no-maj world, she’s always there to do just that.

Positive Traits:

Tough, Smart, Brave

Negative Traits:

Stubborn, Abrasive, Sarcastic

Connections:

Merriweather Benevolia  // 17 // 5th year // Wampus // No-Maj Born

Undecided

Jamie Brewer

The youngest, and sassiest, of the Benevolia girls is Merriweather. There was a short period of time they thought the sassy young lady wasn't going to make it. She was born with Down Syndrome and had a heart defect that even magic couldn't fix. She had surgery and pulled through without a hitch. The strong girl made strides and was strong enough to finally go and live with her new family when she was a year old.

Unlike her sisters, Merriweather knows she isn't a domestic goddess. Her cleaning skills could barely pass as a skill. She won't cook, because she knows she'll burn down the house. But she has magic. She doesn't need domestic skills if she can just wave her wand and make it all better.

And don't get her started on her sisters. Merriweather tells them like it is. She doesn't sugar coat their shortcomings. Honestly, she's like that with everyone. Don't ask Merriweather for her opinion if you don't want the honest truth, because it might hurt.

Merriweather is probably the closest with Aurora, since she spent the most time with her around the house until Aurora went to Ilvermorny. Merriweather loves Aurora and would defend her like she would defend her other sisters.

Positive Traits:

Straight-forward, Logical, and Honest

Negative Traits:

Hot-headed, Unfiltered, and Argumentative

Connections:

Flora: Flora is Merriweather’s eldest sister. She looks up to her natural leadership ability but still thinks she can't see to save her life.

Fauna: Fauna is the middle child. Merriweather loves her sister’s sweet disposition but does not love her attempts at making sweets.

Dora Mouse// 20  // 6th year  // Wampus // No-Maj born

Auror: front line specialization

FC: Halsey  

Dora Mouse doesn’t know the taste of a silver spoon but she knows those who do and was always resentful of it on some level. The privilege that came with money warped people, made them fee invincible and that they could not be held accountable for their actions. She didn’t hate rich people, she wasn’t prejudicial like that but as a child she could never fully wrap her head around why they got so much and she got so little. It wasn’t fair. When she was seven, her magic began to manifest and she began to feel more like things had evened out in some way. They had money and she had magic.

Unfortunately, she was too young to control her magic and it came out in a bust in front of the other kids one day in the classroom. She was getting yelled at by the teacher and in her frustration and fear, sent the chalk and chalk brushes and everyone’s books whirring around the classroom. There were screams of genuine fear at the display and suddenly, the rich kids money didn’t make them untouchable anymore. They went home, told their parents, the rumours started and suddenly the witch hunt was on.

They hunted her down at her home with literal torches and pitch forks. They burned down her home and her parents died, she would have died too were she not rescued by a team of aurors. After she was taken by the aurors, she was visited by professor Cato Pillar, headmaster of Ilvermorney. He told her that one day she would live at the school but until then (and during the summer months) she would live with an old ex-auror named Tarent Hightop, the infamous “mad hatter.”

Since entering school she’s taken to pursuing a life of an auror and helping to protect people like her from the no-majs. She’s a part of the guard club, a group of students who patrol the woods at night with teacher supervision. She’s been clocking in so many hours that she’s practically falling asleep in her classes. The teachers have been if she doesn’t learn to calm down a bit in her crusade against the evils of humanity she might get in some grade threatening or worse, life threatening trouble.

Positive Traits

Passionate, Dedicated, Brave

Negative Traits

Stubborn, Obsessive, Self Destructive

Connections

Cheshire Cat: One of Tarrent’s foster kids, her unofficial brother. Their relationship is antagonistic since she wants to keep magic a secret and he wants to blow the doors wide open.

March Hare: Another unofficial brother, they get along quite well despite his dark tendencies.

Tarrent Hightop: Her foster dad and one of the people who inspired her to pursue a life as an auror.

Whitley Rabbit: She thinks he’s pathetic for doing what Queenie commands.