Age: 16
Year: 7th Year
House: Cerva
Wand: Willow, 12.4 inches, kneazle whisker core, has a kitten keyring stuck through the end of the handle due to a mishap.
Patronus: "I'm flattered that you think I can do one." (It's a Saint Bernard)
Familiar: She elected not to have one.
Personality
Gemma keeps her head low. She tries to keep her flights of fancy a secret, hide that she's a hopeless romantic who believes in the good in everyone. She's soft hearted and gentle, but she prefers to stay away from others. Partially so they don't learn that side of her, and partially so that she doesn't bother people. She likes to look after the people around her, especially people younger than her, but she prefers to do that from a distance rather than become really prominent. Mostly, what she wants from life is to get through it without anyone looking directly at her, so she constantly downplays even the positive aspects of herself. Gemma likes to take a moment to sit still for a while, whether by caring for the potted flowers she has beside her bed, or sitting staring out a window with her chin in her hands.
However, Gemma isn't all sweetness and security issues. Gemma is hardworking to her core, and deeply curious. She believes wholeheartedly in justice and fair play, even if it takes a while for either to really take hold. She keeps her grades up, but sometimes she feels like some information is useless, and she forgets about it. Such is the case with Astronomy, however, her difficulty with Defence Against the Dark Arts is completely down to the fact that she's just not good at confrontation. Gemma is somewhat irrationally afraid of heights, has been since she was little, and as such she did not learn to ride a broom. She has loyalty that's as unshakeable as a mountain, once you've earned it, you won't lose it, even if you hurt her. She'll follow those she cares about to Hell and back with a smile. And then maybe a little farther.
History
Gemma... Doesn't have the most welcoming home life. It's hardly as bad as some, she'll be quick to tell you, but it's not the best either. Her parents are both Upstate New York lawyers, who honestly got married mostly as a business agreement, merging their practices, and they never really loved the daughter that resulted either. Gemma spent most of her childhood in the hands of nannies, the first two didn't last long with the 'troubled' child. The third, Ms Kirren, was a witch. She was the first person to realise exactly how little origami people had started being Gemma's little friends. Magic. At first, Ms Kirren wanted to tell Mr and Mrs Jackson about what their daughter could do, but the day after she realised what was happening, she bore witness to how Mr and Mrs Jackson reacted if they got home in time to see their daughter's little tea parties. Gemma's little friends froze and fell to the ground, so it looked like Gemma had just been talking to pieces of paper, and Gemma looked up at her parents with wide, frightened eyes. While Mr Jackson put them in a garbage bag, Mrs Jackson loudly told little Gemma that she was a freak and that she should be better than this. Needless to say, Mr and Mrs Jackson did not find out about their daughter's magic that day.
Instead, Ms Kirren taught Gemma how to hide her abilities from her parents, acted as lookout and accomplice, until Gemma hit 11 and got her acceptance letter from Gaol. Ms Kirren was fired, after she explained the whole tale, but by then Gemma's attendance to Gaol was set in stone. Before leaving for the final time, and kept away with a restraining order, Ms Kirren told Gemma to take care of herself and never let anyone take the light from her eyes. Gemma's had to deal with summers spent alone with her parents ever since, but she was quick to set up an arrangement with Gaol Academy that meant that she could stay at the school until Summer Vacation.
Ever since, Gemma has pretty much kept her head low, and carefully stayed out of trouble.
Likes
- Books
- Being on her own, she's used to it, and it still feels safer.
- Looking put together.
- Fairytales, fantasy stories, tales far removed from reality
- Order and structure
- Gardening and flowers, especially tulips.
Dislikes
- HEIGHTS
- She doesn't really know what to do with anger, her own or that of another.
- She's a little bit scared of animals, she's never spent much time around them.
- Being told she should know/be better.
- Being called a freak.
- Her parents.
- Summer Vacation
Password: Specialis Revelio