And now, once again, here is Emma Dilemma:
(Thanks again to Venatrix for her CS from the oldGuild)
Name:Emma “Dilemma” Robinson
Sex:Female.
Appearance: History: Probably placed in Gryffindor because of her tendency even at eleven to trailblaze her way through life, conventions be damned, Emma Robinson nonetheless had to grow into herself, and is currently very different from the quiet little girl who first stepped into the Great Hall to be sorted. Her parents, both descended from powerful Kenyan wizarding clans (distantly, in her father's case), considered her a prodigy (though they probably thought too much of her natural talent), and taught her as much African and Western magic as she could handle even before her Hogwarts letter arrived, taking her to get her wand at eight, but starting the wandless training even before that. As a result, when the young witch actually went off to “real school” a few years later, she was accustomed to their impromptu lessons and enthusiastic encouragement of individual research and discovery, and found it difficult to fit into the more rigidly structured Hogwarts system. This landed her in detention many many times in her first few years, as she would try to develop her own spells and potions, mostly to disastrous effect, or sneak into the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night to talk to the centaurs. If it isn’t obvious, this is when her classmates started calling her “Dilemma”, as she always seemed to have detention for something or other. To this day, the name has stuck (mostly because it's fun to say).
Emma took it in stride, laughing at her mistakes and failed experiments with everyone else, and truly came into her own in her third year, when she discovered the Dueling Club. From that point on, she focused a majority of her excess energy and passion into dueling, having never done something quite so fun, and trained as much as she could for her matches, thus cutting down on the experiments and detentions. It took her longer than she would have liked, but two years later she had become the dueling queen of Hogwarts, captain of the club and feared by every member for her inventive jinxing and powerful curses. On the academic side, however, Emma’s scores seemed quite weak. She barely got through classes like Potions, Divination, Herbology and History, where she couldn’t use much or any “practical” magic, but on the other hand, those classes that DID focus on magic (Charms, Transfiguration and DADA) she excelled in, up to and through the N.E.W.T. level. The only non-practical studies she ever did well with were Alchemy, due to its usefulness in “Hedge” magic, and Artification, because of the same. Her non-traditional studies got her interested, and once she was hooked, as usual, there was no way she couldn’t learn everything possible.
Near the end of her seventh year, she got together with a few of her friends and helped to put together a grand adventure, a Pilgrimage around the world just like the famous old wizards and witches of the past. There was no doubt, it was a perfect opportunity to learn about the Muggle world, to learn magic she had never even dreamed of… and to find herself some treasure!
Credentials:Charmer (2)
Defender Against the Dark Arts (2)
Transfigurer (2)
Alchemist (2)
Duelist (3)
"Hedge" witch (2)
Artificer (2)
(One is O.W.L.-equivalent, Two is N.E.W.T.-equivalent, and Three means "Truly Skilled". Every character has fifteen points total, and Emma is rather specialized)
Strengths:
Dueling, and practical magic in general, be it enchanting an object, performing a ritual or just casting spells with her wand. She is quite a contender, with a knowledge of offensive and defensive spells almost unmatched by her schoolmates, and has been the Captain of the Dueling Club since her fifth year. The emotions she feels as she duels, especially when overcoming a difficult opponent, can only be described as “unbridled joy”, and accordingly it’s one of her favorite pastimes. Somewhat following as a result of the above, Emma is in good physical shape, tempered by continuous dodging, side-stepping, running, and tumbling during her duels, and the general fitness training that she does. For fun, she has even learned some Muggle martial-arts, something that often surprises people when she tells them, and especially surprises people she duels against, as she sometimes applies their techniques.
While working with the more academic side of magic, she resonates well with her wand, giving her an edge in transfigurations, and she does well in both DADA and Charms. Finally, because of (among other things) her family heritage and a natural love of adventure, Emma has developed a powerful interest in non-traditional, non-Western and even non-human magic, studying that of the Caribbean islands, her ancestor’s homelands in East Africa, centaurs, elves and goblins. This more ritualistic, often wandless magic is usually frowned upon (and never taught) at Hogwarts, and magical Britain in general, as they much prefer the precision of wands and spells, but obviously she doesn’t share the same prejudice.
Weaknesses:
All of the less-practical classes were very difficult for Emma to stay interested in, if just for the fact that she loves using magic, and in these classes, magic is supplementary instead of being the main focus (Astronomy, Divination, History of Magic, Ancient Runes, Potions and the like). Also, though good at dueling, the other main British wizarding sport, Quidditch, is a big step in the opposite direction. When pushed, she can use a broom in some capacity, but because she gets vertigo very easily while suspended in the air like that, she tries to avoid them as best she can, preferring to keep her feet securely on the ground and Apparate to travel quickly. Finally, some people that she has attempted to befriend have been put off by the rumors that used to travel around the school that she’s a Dark Voodoo witch, not to mention her often troublesome nature (hence the nickname).
Wand:Padauk, 11 1/2”, Dragon Heartstring
Because of excellent balancing, it is light and mobile in the hand. Described by Ollivander as “very good for... transfiguration, and quite possibly dangerous,” due to the relatively chaotic Paduak wood, as its entropy facilitates the shifting and destruction of forms. Since then, in Emma’s hands, the Padauk wand has absorbed her intense passions, even further enhancing its combative tendencies.
Alma Mater:Gryffindor.
Extra Information:
Patronus:
Elephant.
Worst fear:
Being powerless. Not just losing her magic, but losing the freedom to choose her own path.
Boggart:
Herself, body broken and trapped in a cage, trying to cast magic, but having none.
Amortentia:
Singed hair, sweat, and the scent of a certain Gryffindor girl in her year...
Natural Ability:
She and her father both have “double-jointed” fingers and thumbs.
Learned Ability:
“Hedge” Magic, which includes wandless magic, “doggerel verse”, pseudo-wandless rituals and the creation of small magical talismans and amulets. She loves the stuff, and is completely willing to teach it to anyone who wants to learn.
Goals:
To duel the most powerful witches and wizards in the world (even if she lost, which she would)!
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To explore jungles and deserts and far away islands, fighting off magical beasts and collecting treasures as she goes! (In fact, she was one of the first ones to talk about going on a Pilgrimage)
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To develop her own useful spells and unique artifacts (probably her biggest long-term. She wants to make an impact on the magical world, however she can)
Special Items:
Wand sheath: A commonsense item, and a must-have for any serious duelist, this belt and/or wrist-sheath combo allows quick access to her wand at any time, and she never goes anywhere without it.
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Ritual items: amulets, incense, animal bones and magical reagents, to name a few, this is Emma’s “hedge magic” and alchemy repertoire, collected over several consecutive summers during trips to magical and/or traditional places around the world
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Advanced spellbooks: As soon as she became of age at the beginning of the summer, Emma marched (and Apparated) right down to the restricted and advanced section of Flourish and Blotts and had a glorious few hours picking out the most interesting theoretical and practical spellbooks that her parents had never let her buy before, going even beyond N.E.W.T. level in rigor and capability. She won’t pretend to have mastered them already, or even to have read them all, but she is indeed making a valiant effort, and plans to study them during the Pilgrimage.
As long as we have each other, eh Primez? Hehe.
