Catch The Snitch

Full Name: Astrid Osborne

Age: 13
House: Hufflepuff
Year: 3
Race: Quarter-Giant

History:

Astrid is the daughter of Hilda (a non-magical half-giant, who herself had Scandinavian non-magical half-giant parents) and William Osborne (a British wizard). She was raised in the Wizarding enclave in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Despite having one magical parent, she was still somewhat surprised to receive an invitation from Hogwarts on her eleventh birthday, as she’d never experienced a bout of accidental magic and had long doubted that she had any magic at all. Encouraged by her father, she decided to attend.

Astrid was content to be sorted into Hufflepuff, as her housemates accepted her differences and treated her kindly. However, she soon discovered that her magic was markedly weaker than that of her peers; for example, as a third-year, she’s still not managed to actually fly on a broomstick under her own power. Her magical weakness has been a constant source of embarrassment and self-doubt. It seems that something about her mother’s half-giant genes has interfered with the expression of her father’s magical genes. Consequently, she consistently gets poor marks in subjects that rely heavily on wand usage (Charms, Transfiguration, DADA), while she does better in the remainder (Astronomy, History, Herbology, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures). In fact, Herbology and CoMC have proven to be her best subjects, and consequently, the only ones she’s really enthusiastic about.

Notes:

Astrid seems clumsy, not because of her size per se, but because she’s in the middle of her adolescent growth spurt and she’s growing much more quickly than her human peers; around the time of her 13th birthday, she was gaining about an inch of height every month (she’s expected to top out between 7’6” and 8’0”). Consequently, she’s constantly stumbling, which is another source of embarrassment.



Personality:

Astrid is shy, gentle, and soft-spoken, completely at odds with many peoples’ expectations. Her size, clumsiness, and weak magic understandably contribute to a lack of self-confidence. As a result, she tries to draw as little attention to herself as possible; for example, she sits at the rear of classrooms and rarely raises her hand to volunteer an answer to a question. She’s a complete pushover, content to do whatever her lab partners ask her to do–she’s just happy that people do occasionally ask to work with her (usually Hufflepuffs who take pity on her, or the last unmatched student).

That said, she thinks with her heart, and she’ll place herself between a friend and a bully, even if it means she’ll be taunted all the more for it. Sometimes she thinks that being a shield of flesh is the one thing she’s really good at; she can tolerate a little more hexing than her smaller peers. She doesn’t have the magical strength to hex her attackers with anything that would discourage them, but she can fight with her fists if it comes to that.



Miscellaneous:

Face Claim: Millie Bobby Brown
Orientation: uncertain
Pet: none
Patronus: unknown
Extracurriculars: none
Electives: Care of Magical Creatures
Favorite Subjects: Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures
Least-Favorite Subjects: everything else
Height: 7'3" (as of Dec. 2005), between 7’6” and 8'0" (eventual)
Hair Color: brown
Eye Color: brown
Wand: Yellowheart and Unicorn Tail Hair, 15”
Birthmarks: none