Name: Marlene Renny McKinnon
Birthdate: 08 October, 1959
House: Gryffindor
Residence: Kilmory, Rum Island, Scotland
Appearance: Marlene has light brown, naturally wavy hair and big brown eyes that is accented with a nearly always present smile on her face. Her hair is a bit of a problem for her, as it has a tendency to "fluff," as she calls it, if she doesn't dry it almost immediately after she leaves the bathroom. She also wears black, rectangular glasses while reading. Her complexion is a bit paler than normal, but she freckles easily when she's outside for an extended period of time. At 5'8", she's a bit taller than average and has a thin build, but still has a hint of curves there. She really came into her own over the past year and blossomed from an awkward, scrawny girl into a pretty, confindent young woman.
Regarding her style, Marlene doesn't really put a terrible lot of thought into it. She grew up with nice robes and gowns that she would have to wear to pureblood functions that her family was periodically invited to. Because of this, she does have a tendency to drift toward the more extravagent out of habit, but she doesn't like to splurge. That isn't to say, of course, that she doesn't occasionally receive a gift here and there after going out with her mother because she happened to eye a certain skirt or set of robes longer than she normally would. When hanging out with friends or just sitting in the common room, though, Marlene wears mostly bellbottoms and comfortable sweaters. She has a habit of holding onto things far past its prime. She feels that if it's still held together, it's perfectly fine to wear. Marlene doesn't wear a lot of makeup as she feels it is more important for people to see her for who she really is, but will wear a small amount of powder and some mascara whenever she goes out in public.
History: Alastair McKinnon and Glenna Campbell discovered that they were two of the lucky ones very early on in life. Both being from Scottish pureblood families, they were well rehearsed with the ideas of a future of betrothals, fancy parties, and they accepted it. The two knew nothing else and they certainly weren't going to complain when it came to expensive belongings and the like. However, when Glenna was in her fifth year at Hogwarts and Alastair in his sixth, the two were able to get to know one another better through being prefects. While they certainly had known of each other, they had never forged a true friendship which quite soon became a relationship.
Glenna knew that there was a good chance Alastair would not be her parents' pick for a suitable betrothed, but that didn't keep her from hoping nonetheless. Alastair went through the walk and steps and eventually became one of the suitors vying for Glenna's hand in marriage. While he was certainly the youngest at only eighteen, he couldn't help but hope. As it turned out, their hope was not in vain when the McKinnon and Campbell parents decided together that it would be a good idea to allow them to be married. Only a few short months after Glenna finished school the two were very happily wed. Despite how perfect things worked out for the two of them, Alastair and Glenna both decided early on that they would never do the same for their own children, feeling that it was much more important for them to fall in love rather than be forced into a marriage they didn't like. This didn't exactly excite their parents, but the two were set in their views.
While many pureblood families went straight into the idea of children and continuing the family, Alastair and Glenna had different ideas. Knowing that they had all of their lives together for a family, they decided to enjoy their love and company and traveled the world for a few years. They went just about anywhere they felt like going until they returned back to Kilmory in 1950 to settle down. It was then that Alastair began to follow in his father's footsteps (with only a little pressure) and began Auror training. It didn't take long for them to start a family, either, as only two months after they moved home, Glenna found that she was pregnant and brought their first son into the world - Carson. Soon to follow were Leslie, Kenneth, Alan, and Marlene.
Growing up with four siblings and also being the youngest of the group, Marlene was protected much more than the rest of her brothers and sister. A mixture of random bursts of magic that were much stronger than her siblings, chronic and excruciating headaches, and just being the baby of the family caused her to spend much of her childhood cooped up inside with her mother. However, when she was allowed to play out with her siblings, Marlene quickly took to flying and playing Quidditch with her brothers. While she isn't a tomboy, she always preferred spending time with her brothers over Leslie, mainly because her sister was a bit jealous of the attention she got from her father. Marlene was definitely Daddy's Little Girl and he always saw fit to let her know. She was also very close to her oldest brother, who saw fit to take care of her when she was younger.
Like most pureblood children, Marlene was tutored with her siblings in the usual subjects - primary essentials on top of Latin and etiquette. Admittedly, she struggled in etiquette, mainly because her mind was so often outside of the house and climbing a tree or just watching clouds. She struggled to understand that proper spoken grammar is as important as written and continually spoke without thinking. This only really proved to be a problem when she went to parties her family might have been in attendance for and she eventually just learned to keep her mouth shut and smile. Her parents never tried to push elitist views on their children as they didn't exactly believe that sort of thing themselves and they didn't treat their children as royalty. The McKinnons were punished and lectured or hugged and praised as any functional family might.
Finally, in the summer of her eleventh year, Marlene received her letter inviting her to Hogwarts. She couldn't have been more excited to go after hearing the stories her older siblings and parents had shared about moving staircases, the Headmaster, and just the idea of going to classes where she could learn more magic. Upon reaching the school, she was sorted into the Gryffindor house, which she was quite excited about as her own father and eldest brother had been sorted there as well.
Marlene enjoyed Hogwarts as much as anyone might. She found her niche and soon found herself trying to read the entire library before she finished her seventh year. She made friends easily and began to realize what subjects she was exceptionally good, mediocre, and downright awful at. While she wasn't at the very top of her year, she was near it with her sharp mind and ability to get from point A to Z very easily. While her friends slowly started dating and exploring the world of boys, she opted for her textbooks. Watching her friends laugh and cry over relationships made her wonder if they were really worth all of the trouble.
It was in Marlene's fifth year that the idea that she might go into Healer training after finishing Hogwarts was first implanted into her mind. It was actually through Professor Flitwick at her career advice meeting before her OWLs. While she had realized that she was fairly efficient at medicinal magic, the thought had never really crossed her mind before that moment and, honestly, it only sat in the back of her mind yet as part of her is fairly convinced that she won't be good enough to be a Healer.
Now in her seventh year, Marlene is just trying to find her place in the world and make it out of Hogwarts in one piece. She is fairly aware that she has a limited time until she will be expected to jump into the world of adults and know exactly what she's going to do with herself. However, there's a larger part of her that's rather sure she's still seventeen and she ought to make the most of her time while she can.
Personality: Those who put a terrible lot of weight into house stereotypes would be rather disappointed when they met Marlene. While she is easily a Gryffindor through and through, she lacks the easy and near constant hotheadedness and tendency to act before thinking that many of her housemates happen to have. She is the sort of woman that will mull over something for days before she comes to any solid decision on how to handle said decision. Also, for someone that might not know her well, it would seem that she constantly ran at lukewarm. Not to say that she is boring, but she seems to never give anyone the cold shoulder or a fiery wrath.
However, it is quite notable to say that that temperament is only one that people who do not know Marlene well would make note of. On the contrary, once she is pushed hard enough, her temper is rather explosive. It takes a terrible lot to push her past her lukewarm place, but once taken over that line she is rather frightening. The primary subjects that might push her are primarily her friends and family and any sort of opinions she might have formed over her nineteen years of life. People can say anything they might want about her personally, but once they turn onto her loved ones it is a completely different story.
Regardless of any flares of bad temper she might have, though, Marlene is an incredibly laid back person that rarely doesn't have a smile gracing her lips. Easy going, she's very easy for all types of people to get to know her and her smile almost draws them to her. She has a very gregarious personality and is always joking and laughing at this or that. She believes whole heartedly that it's impossible for all hope to really be lost when you are able to laugh or smile at something and she has made it her personal goal to keep that hope alive in a rather dark time.
The largest Gryffindor trait that is alive in Marlene is her intense and almost obsessive loyalty that she feels toward her loved ones. Once you make a friend of her, you are rather stuck with her for life. She is always looking out for people that she cares about - and, really, people she might not know at all. Her need to take care of people and make sure they are always all right is part of the reason that Marlene decided to go into the occupation that she chose.
Marlene is an incredibly stubborn person. Once she makes a goal, she will not rest until that goal is fulfilled.e is far from walking away from him. Related, she also has very high integrity and she believes that everyone else should live at the same level as her. As far as she is concerned, everyone should want to be the very best and they should strive for that. She doesn't understand why anyone would settle for anything less than the best that they can be.
Other important bits of Marlene is just how sensitive and emotional she can be. She is incredibly in tune with the thoughts and feelings that people happen to feel and she uses that to her advantage when trying to help them. It sincerely pains her when she sees other people in pain or suffering and it is even worse if there is nothing she can do for them. Marlene also feels a great need for harmony - not only between her friends and family but the world as a whole. That is one of the largest reasons she is an active part of the Order. She wants nothing more than to see harmony and peace in the world. Also, Marlene is an intense and avid reader. She has a huge library of classics, but Charles Dickens happens to be her personal favorite. She also loves to sing. She doesn't have a spectacular voice, but it also isn't particularly bad. She normally doesn't do it much outside of her shower, though.
Strengths: Marlene's greatest strength is her great and unwavering loyalty to her friends and family. They are what drives her to be the person that she is and keeps her on the path to succeeding and being, what she believes, is the sort of person that they want her to be.
Related, Marlene is also incredibly faithful. When she decides that she cares about someone, she is committed to them 100%. There is no halfway with her. She does, however, expect to receive the same treatment to any of the people that she gives that sort of attention to.
Another notable strength is just how goal oriented she happens to be. Marlene is the person who will decide that she will achieve something in so many years and will strive to make sure that when that time is up she will have met her goal. She has a great drive within her to succeed and be her personal best.
Magically, Marlene's greatest strengths lie in the practical application of magic. She's very good with defensive spells and, while in Hogwarts, she found herself rather good with medicinal magic. It had been Professor Flitwick that suggested a Healer profession to her after Hogwarts, but it wasn't something that she thought of seriously until halfway through her seventh year.
Weaknesses: Marlene's biggest weakness is her incredible stubborness. It is terribly hard to sway her from thinking a certain point of view after she has had years to form that opinion. She knows what she wants and what she thinks and she's fairly certain that if anyone wants to challenge it they are embarking upon a lost cause. Relating to this, she will not give up on something after she's made up her mind. She is difficult and a bit bullheaded, but she believes that everything she does is only for the best of her and hre loved ones so she doesn't see what might be wrong with it.
Despite that it is one of her strengths, Marlene's incredible loyalty to her friends and family is also quite a weakness. She has a habit of letting those she cares about the most walk over her from time to time, particularly because she doesn't want to let them down or give the impression that she doesn't care about them. Rationally she knows that she does this, but it's hard for her to let go of.
Magically, Marlene's greatest weakness has to do with theory. She's dreadful at remembering dates and the only reason she continued with Arithmancy after fifth year was because her mother seemed to think that it was a subject that she ought to take - even though Marlene hated every moment in class. The only exception to this rule is Astronomy, which she says is only because the night sky is far too beautiful to not want to understand.
RP Entry: Marlene held her pallet in her right hand, her left carefully flitting across the nearly filled canvas before her. She was in her painting zone - a zone that was quite hard for her to get out of. Her brow was furrowed in concentration as she allowed the pale pink to mix with the oranges as she tried to capture the sunset that was flooding in through the window her easel was set up next to. Biting down softly on her lip, Marlene smoothed some of the paint over with her knuckle before giving it a satisfied nod.
As she wiped the excess paint onto her smock, Marlene let her gaze drift outside for a moment. There were a handful of first or second years playing in the snow down on the grounds, making her smile a bit. While winter was her least favourite season, it was still nice to see others enjoying themselves as they were.
Just as Marlene put more paint on her brush - this time a pale yellow - there was a knock on the door, jerking her from her thoughts. She let out an annoyed breath as she glanced at the quickly setting sun; she had hoped to finish the painting tonight, but she might have to wait until tomorrow, depending on who it was on the phone. Carefully easing the handle of her paintbrush into her messy bun at the back of her head, Marlene hurried across the flat and opened the door. "Oh...hi," she greeted, her eyebrows raised as she recognized the person on the other side.
PB: Emily van Camp
