#recreancydevelopment

Glenda had never been one to truly worry. Why would she, really, when it felt almost as if she knew her goal and how to get there (and perhaps also had plenty of help along the way too?). To her, Dementors weren’t something she was ever going to encounter, and so the Patronus charm was just another tick in a box of spells that she didn’t quite get to check off, but that she wasn’t truly worried about needing to learn. After all, when would she need to learn to fight Dementors?

She’d tried the spell before, trying to check that box off, of course. The Ravenclaw prided herself on knowing spells, but this one was just a little too far out of her grasp it seemed. Still, she didn’t fret, and just put it down as something she would work on in the future. There were plenty of other things to focus on, mainly her radio show and all the new music coming out.

Joining the Order, it hadn’t come up again, and so for the past year, helping out with her radio show and going on missions and such as needed, Glenda hadn’t thought there was a need for it. Of course, that all changed on the last mission, at hearing that a group had been attacked by Dementors and had absolutely needed that spell in order to be safe. 

And so, Glenda realized that maybe she did need that spell, and had set out to try and learn it. This time, she had a little more knowledge on it, had done a bit more thinking, and the memory she’d used was one that meant the most to her in the world. Closing her eyes and trying again, Glenda had been surprised by the small hummingbird that had shot out of her wand and gone zooming around her like it was already on a mission of protection.

ALICE LONGBOTTOM’S PATRONUS: SKUNK (corporeal)

Skunks are some of the most peaceful animals on the planet. They’re not afraid, they’re not mean, they’re not aggressive -- they’re calm and confident and steady. This is because they don’t have much to fear. No predator with any brains messes with a skunk because skunks possess the ultimate weapon and every wild animals know this, and know not to tempt their wrath.

When a skunk raises its tail, you run.

There isn’t much that phases them, isn’t much that upsets them. Messing with their kits is one of those, and anyone who has made the mistake of crossing a skunk knows exactly how much suffering this small, innocuous little creature can bestow when its ire is raised. It’s the sort of stink that lingers in the memory even after it has -- mercifully -- at last faded from the nose.

Skunks aren’t bothered by it. Skunks aren’t bothered by much of anything...because they know there isn’t much that’s going to take the risk of bothering them. And those few creatures that do are likely to fast regret it.

Alice was a little startled when she saw the form her patronus took. Not being much of an animal person, she didn’t know enough about skunk personality or habits to realize how fitting the form was for her. The rest of the N.E.W.T.s-level D.A.D.A. class laughed a little at the “stinky animal,” although the fact that she was one of the first students to muster a fully corporeal patronus helped mitigate the potential for mockery.

The fact that Alice was never much of one to be bothered by light mockery helped, too. Everyone had learned quickly that she wasn’t much fun to bait and tease because she either shrugged and took it in stride or, when backed into a corner or pushed too far, struck back hard. Much like a skunk.

And much like a skunk, Alice is very protective of those she considers under her care. Her laid-back attitude evaporates at any sign of threat to them, and the full-force of her fighting instincts come out instead -- usually much to the regret of whoever roused her wrath. Alice doesn’t pull her punches.

Maybe that’s why she’s been considering bolstering her dueling skills with Dark Magic these days. If she’s going to do what it takes to protect the people in her charge, then she needs to be ready to do whatever it takes to protect them. Even use the enemy’s weapons against them, if need be. After all, mama skunk doesn’t hold back when her kits are threatened, either.

It’s not difficult for Alice to cast a corporeal patronus, although it’s not as effortless as it was for a while there, either. In her first years of work as an Auror, her first years of marriage to Frank, the spell bubbled up almost effervescently, strong and steady and luminous. Dumbledore’s trick of attaching more than just happy thoughts but specific thoughts -- and translating those thoughts into audible words -- to the spell took a little bit to master, because Alice had become so comfortable and confident in casting the spell that tweaking it was difficult. But she figured it out, and now finds it an extremely useful trick. After all, a patronus is one thing the other side can’t fake, no matter what.

The war has cast a shadow over things of course, but Alice still has enough happy memories in her past -- and as a trained Auror, is focused enough to channel her emotions when needed for her spellwork -- that she can conjure a corporeal one even during the darkest or most stressful of times.

THE CHARM

The Patronus Charm was not a spell that came naturally to Robyn. As it was not one she expected to ever have use for, she didn’t begin to learn it until she joined the order, and even then it took her nearly a year of concerted effort and practice to be able to conjure a corporeal Patronus. Thankfully, she had been practicing in her garden at the time, else the over nine-foot wingspan of the vulture that burst from her wand may have caused serious havoc in her cottage.

Since then, she had reliably been able to cast the spell, and has even had some practice using it against Dementors when the Unspeakables have had dealings with them. Not that those occasions necessitated the spell, but the opportunities presented themselves and it wasn’t as if Dementors had someone to complain to about the magical misuse. If anything, Robyn’s human coworkers were rather grateful for the relief.

THE VULTURE

Universally associate with death for their carrion nature, vultures have a number of varying, contradicting, spiritual meaning. Sometimes they are seen as agents of rebirth and cleansing, for their part in healing the cycle of life and disposing of disease, an equalizing force in nature. Others brand them unclean and dangerous due to their association with the putrid rot of decaying corpses.

At various times the admins will make a character development post.  This is completely optional - just a chance for players to expand their character and build them more into the roleplay. It will count towards activity. You can find all previously posted character development posts here. Feel free to answer old ones retroactively!

The Patronus Charm is well known throughout the Wixen World, but neither widely taught nor often utilized as it is an extremely specialized charm with little use outside very particular and uncommon situations…or is it?

A few years ago, Albus Dumbledore had a break-through with the spell: that since the patronus was tied directly to the caster’s thoughts and feelings, it could also be used for communication – a way to send messages faster (and more securely) than by owl and without the locational constraints of a floo-call. The spell is only suitable for short messages: a quick thought or two recorded in a moment and relayed once the intended recipient is reached a few seconds or minutes later - but the ability to communicate even a few words quickly over distance is all but invaluable in a war.

The Order of the Phoenix thus makes efforts to train their members in use of the Patronus Charm. Only a corporeal patronus can be used to relay messages, and it is difficult to produce a full-bodied patronus (especially when under emotional stress) so not everyone in the Order is capable of using the spell to pass messages…

ALASTOR MOODY'S ESTATE

The Moody family comes from an old line of pureblood wix, descended from the earliest, darkest years of the middle centuries. Before they were acknowledged as landed wix, however, the Moody's made their money through cursebreaking and potion distillation, the former of which continued to be passed down the family line for generations.

Alastor's father, Aodh, was passed the family estate after his father, Eoghan, passed away in his sleep. Alastor's grandmother, Niamh, had passed a few years before - as the eldest of five, Aodh was given the estate and all its land, titles, and the family money to distribute as he wished. Each of his siblings received a hearty stipend and Aodh saved the rest for his children.

Alastor, as it were, wanted little to nothing to do with the family's legacy or its money, but it suited him when he was in most dire need. The last time he touched that money for anything outside of a dire expense, in fact, was for his mother Eleanor's dragon pox treatments.

The estate sits now, a looming monolith, out in the County Cork countryside. The village hamlet that surrounds it is well cared for, the people's homes bought and paid and given to the families who have resided there for generations. Many wix there whisper of the mysterious estate, and the Muggles who have moved to the area are curious about the dilapidated building. The drive, if one is curious enough to try and walk it, is a tangle of overgrown trees, briars, and thistle; unsurpassable by even the most tenacious of persons. From what one can see of the building, where it stands nestled between two hills and flatland, it appears run down, though cared for - even if no one has seen hide nor hair of the Moody's heir in decades.

Growing up, Sirius was slower to grow than most of his classmates, and he was on the shorter end of the height spectrum for years. But he has always carried himself with an air of confidence and inherently good posture that lended itself to appearing taller than he actually was. Once he did finally hit his late growth spurt, he really grew into himself.

character development - patronus

The first time Lucinda managed to coax the mass of blue mist into a blob resembling an animal, she had no idea what to expect. Some people she felt clearly was a something, but her mind drew a blank at what could represent her. She never really felt herself as something. 


However she did secretly hope for her patronus to be something cool. Really, who didn’t? There was no way she could live it down if her shape ended up being a slug or something equally dull. Lucinda wasn’t asking for something wicked like a unicorn or thestral - she’d be happy with a bird of any sort, maybe something with claws.


It took several tries before it became corporeal enough to tell a proper shape. And it took her another day at the library to figure out what exactly it was. Turns out that the round little body, beady eyes and soft snout formed a prairie dog. The more she read about them, the more Lucinda liked them. Stubborn little things, at peace in their tribes, not to be messed with. And way better than a slug.


Her happy memory tends to be bits and pieces, but her strongest is the one vacation her family took abroad. They’d been to the beach before, but the sandy dunes in southern France beat the freezing ones back home with a wide margin. The ocean was the kind you’d paddle around in leisurely, and not swim quickly to keep the feeling of cold a-bay. They’d had ice-cream with almost every meal, and Mica, despite being so much older, had nothing against letting his inner child out and playing with her. It was the kind of summer frozen in time. Mica always said he’d take them all back when he was working proper and Lucinda was done at school.