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Rowena Ravenclaw

Wit and Learning

Created on 2007-07-22 22:50:56 (#13435081), last updated 2007-07-23

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2 Journal Entries, 3 Tags, 0 Memories, 0 Virtual Gifts, 15 Userpics

Basic Info

Location:	United Kingdom
Website:	OOC Journal

Bio

Basics  
Name: Rayna Reivneva
Nicknames/Aliases: Rowena Ravenclaw
Age: 31
Birthday: 11 April anno domini 910
Astrological Sign: Aries
Bloodline: Pureblood
Gender: Female
Wand: Nine inches, white ash, kelpie hair core, supple
House: Founder and Head of Ravenclaw House
Years at Hogwarts: 925 (founding) to 943 (death)
Birthplace: a small, now forgotten village in Bulgaria
Animagus Form: Eagle

Appearance 
Height: 5 feet, 3 inches
Weight: 100 lbs
Eyes: Greenish-hazel
Hair: A vivid, fiery red. This color is uncommon in Eastern Europe, and is traditionally associated with the undead and vampirism. Due to this, Rowena had few childhood friends in Bulgaria—all were superstitiously frightened. It is wavy, leaning toward curls, and she keeps it long and often hanging loose.
Face & Complexion: Pale and slightly translucent
Build: surprisingly short with a slender build; fairly flat-chested with an athletic form
Defining Marks: three vicious scars on her back from a murder attempt in Constantinople when she was ten, each the width of a dagger; small scar on the underside of her left wrist from a collateral wound during a battle in which she was not personally involved in anything other than strategy; the tent from which she was surveying the fight was stormed by Vikings
Dress Style: Plain, non-decorous, practical
Possessions always on this person: a notebook of parchment, quill, journal
Manner of Speech: Softly-spoken and yet confident; no accent, having trained the Bulgarian tone from her voice; an astonishingly beautiful singing voice, well-trained due to extensive lessons while in Constantinople, high and full coloratura lyric soprano, well-projected despite her usually quiet tones
Manner of Movement: Decisive and usually with moderate pace
Any special talents: Academia, strategy, linguistics, and most especially singing

Health  
Eyesight: Very good
Hearing: Perfect
Left/Right/Ambi: Right-handed
Disabilities/Handicaps: obsessive-compulsive disorder and subsequent anxiety, possible post-traumatic stress disorder due to her childhood experiences in wartime Bulgaria
Physical Health: physically fit, but feels ill as of late; dies of a wasting illness when she is thirty-three

Psychology

IQ: not tested; likely to be in the 280s or 290s
Extrovert/Introvert: Combination
Phobias/Fears: extreme perfectionist, anxiety over things being out of place or asymmetrical, practices rituals in order to organize thought structure and schedule; fears being proven wrong and not being in constant control of a given situation
Mental Health: Rare but severe delusions--they are growing in frequency as of late; exceptional and irrational anxiety, possibly stemming from post-traumatic stress disorder

Personality  
Goals/Dreams: expand Hogwarts and the education of magical people throughout Europe; expand her personal knowledge as much as is possible; keep Hogwarts orderly; protect the wizarding world from the onslaught of the Vikings and the Danes
Quirks/Habits: obsessive-compulsive tendencies and rituals; refuses to drink red wine due to watching a Byzantine general, after massacring her entire village except for the female children, calmly drink a glass of sangiovese over the corpses of her family and friends
Likes: books, foreign languages, intelligence, learning, mathematics, science, history, literature, law, politics, military science, criminology, the gastronomically-inclined, white wine
Dislikes: ignorance, intolerance, excessive aggression, being patronized or watching/allowing others to be patronized, red wine
First Impression: A calm and soft-spoken, yet arrogant, woman who appears far too young to be speaking with such authority. And yet her clear brilliance overshadows all else.

Morality 
Ever been drunk: Yes
Lied to a boyfriend or girlfriend: Never had an exclusive relationship, only casual sex
Cheated on a boyfriend or girlfriend: Not applicable
Gotten into a fight: Yes
Innocent or guilty: Depends on how you choose to operationalize those terms
Been a hypocrite in the past: Yes
Opinion on the Dark Arts: Fascinating but potentially dangerous
   
Academia and Career

Excellent/Good/Mediocre/Poor Student? Superb
Good at Job? Yes
Does this character's performance accurately reflect their intelligence? Yes
Most talented in: Strategy, logic, learning languages, music
Struggles with: Objectivity at times
Favourite class during Hogwarts years: Not applicable
Favourite instructor: Not applicable.

Background  

Occupation: Head of Ravenclaw House, professor of Transfiguration and of Military Strategy
Education: Taught by her parents and studied at a university in Constantinople after being brought back to Byzantium following the deaths of her family
Home: Bulgaria originally, then Constantinople, then a nomadic military existence in Hungary for a year, then across to the British Isles until she was fifteen, when she helped found Hogwarts
Finance: Independently wealthy; her family fortune was stolen by the Byzantine invaders, and thus all the money she now possesses, she earned through her own personal work as a military strategist
Personal History: Rowena was born Rayna Reivneva in a small village in Bulgaria. Her bright red hair marked her as an outcast from local children—Eastern European superstition dictated that it was a mark of evil and the undead—but despite her lack of friends, she was content with the company of her parents and older brother Kostadin. She was well-educated and was about to attend university in Athens at the young age of seven years old when an invading Byzantine army massacred the entirety of the town, save for the female children. Rowena and the survivors watched as the general of the army stood over the bodies of their families and neighbors, sipping a goblet of red wine as he ordered his men to strip the fields and orchards, and leave the corpses there to rot. The children were brought back to Constantinople with the intent of being converted to Christianity and raised as nuns and servants.

Rowena’s extraordinary intelligence quickly made itself known, however, and she was singled out for education in the city’s university. The intent was to groom her as a Byzantine military strategist. However, this backfired. As soon as Rowena had exhausted the most advanced level of schooling offered at the university by age ten, she fled the empire for the familiar ground of Hungary.

Though, this flight was perhaps stimulated by violence. Rowena was internally persecuted by the other students of the university, and some of the teachers, due to her heritage, gender, and age. Her most vociferous enemy was Adrian Hyrtakenos, a long-time rival whom, despite their mutual hatred of each other, Rowena eventually fell in love with. This fantasy of romance ended abruptly the same night that Rowena finally lost her virginity to him. She fell asleep in bed with him, but was awoken a few hours later by his two accompolices, who held her down as Adrian stabbed her three times in the back, in an attempt to kill her. Each puncture missed her heart by less than one inch.

Once Rowena was back on the European mainland, she changed her name to the closest English equivalent--Rowena Ravenclaw--and joined the Maygar army as a low-level servant as they moved into Western Europe. Once more, though, her brilliance came to light and by the time they reached France, she was the chief military strategist. It was simplicity, then, to cross the channel into England, which was ravaged by war against both the Danes and the Viking invaders.

By now, Rowena’s fame had spread, due both to her military prowess with the Maygars, and the publications she had submitted to the best universities in the civilized world. Her age was concealed from the masses of civilians and soldiers alike, and only her most direct associates ever met her face-to-face. Her age would have made her a laughingstock among the layfolk, but those who were intelligent and educated enough to achieve top military positions did not begrudge her this fact. Her reputation trumped her youth.

She was fourteen, and heavily involved in the fight against the Viking invaders in Scotland, when she met Salazar Slytherin. They became close friends and had already begun to discuss the pathetic lack of education among magical Europe when they met the other half of the Founding four and began Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Rowena was fifteen at that time.

Rowena was not scrupulous about her sexual encounters, and they were many. When she was sixteen, she gave birth to Salazar Slytherin’s child, whom she named Helena after her own mother. Her relationship with Salazar after this, however, remained the same as ever—at least from her perspective. Their encounters had never, in her opinion, been more than casual.

Role during the war: Military strategist for Anglo-Saxon Britain, both wizard and Muggle
Losses during the war: her family and friends, her ability to look at a situation without cynicism and doubt, her ability to forge close friendships, the beginnings of her sanity

Family 
Parents: Georgi and Elena Reivnev(a); both killed in massacre
Spouse/Significant Other: None; single
Sibling(s): A brother, Kostadin, who was killed in the Byzantine massacre at age seventeen
Children: Helena Ravenclaw (15), by Salazar Slytherin one year after the founding of Hogwarts; named for Rowena’s mother

Family History: The Reivnevi were not natives of the village in which Rowena was born. Before her birth, they had lived in the city of Sofia several miles to the west, and before that, the family could trace its lineage to the lords of Romania, and beyond that, to the very first people who began to exhibit signs of magic, in Western Russia. Georgi and Elena were both highly educated, and due to their involvement in their studies and research, did not have their first child, Kostadin, until Elena was nearly forty years old. Rowena was born scarcely before her mother went into menopause, but the age of her parents did not stop them from entering the education of her and her brother with an unbridled passion. They had retired to the village desiring peace and quiet, and an intellectually fertile atmosphere in which to raise their children. Kostadin and Rowena were both exceptionally bright. Kostadin was on holiday from his school in Greece—the same university to which Rowena had just been accepted despite her gender and young age—when the Byzantine army marched through the village, massacring everyone except for female children under the age of ten. Rowena was seven.

Social
Friends: Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, Helga Hufflepuff
Enemies: Invaders
Best Friend: the other Founders, but with a soft spot for Salazar since he was the one she met first
Most Hated: the Byzantine general

Favourites
Person: None specifically
Animal: Eagle
Book: Impossible to choose
Colour: Blue
Drink: Chai tea (picked it up in Constantinople), white wine, pomegranate juice (another Byzantine taste)
Food: Apples
Flower: Roses; they’re classic
Music: Any and all
Scent: Cider
Thing To Do: Read and learn

Least Favourites
Person: The Byzantine general whose army destroyed her hometown
Animal: Flies
Book: None
Color: Orange. It’s too vibrant.
Drink: Red wine
Food: Rare meat
Music: None
Scent: Rotting
Thing To Do: Be bored

Anything Else of Note
--speaks most European and Arabic languages fluently, as well as Latin, Greek, Japanese, Hindi, Mandarin Chinese, several African dialects, and many traditional/tribal Asian languages

 Astrology

 Aries in Ravenclaw 

   

These Ravenclaws will have lightning-fast mental reflexes. Aries is an intellectual sign, but it is also an impatient sign; Ravenclaws who were born under this sign are likely to tolerate no dull wits or stupidity, whether they see this lack of mental competence in themselves (in which case they will berate themselves for not understanding, or give up quickly in frustration without really trying to overcome their difficulty in learning) or in others (in which case they will lash out at the offender with acidic comments and haughty, cutting looks). These Ravenclaws will want to be at the head of the class, dominating other students in their chosen intellectual field, and may be almost as competitive as Slytherins. However, the true aim of every Ravenclaw is knowledge, knowledge, and more knowledge. While a Slytherin might see losing a magical duel or being bested by another student in a DADA class as humiliating, the Ravenclaw will probably just take delight in competition for its own sake, and see defeat as a learning experience.

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