#19
Name: Guinevere “Guinny” Marie Fawcett
Birthdate: 7 May 1960
House: Ravenclaw
Residence: Ottery St. Catchpole, Devon, England in
Fawcett Cottage, a residence that has been in the wizarding Fawcett family for generations and passed down traditionally to the eldest son.
Classes: N.E.W.T. Levels in Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, DADA, and Transfiguration
Appearance: Guinny is exceptionally tall, standing at 5’9.” She’s mostly legs and arms, and thus considers herself to be an “awkwardly lanky mess.” Due to her odd proportion of appendages, Guinny tends to carry herself in a self-conscious manner. With care and practice during her “awkward phase” during second and third year, Guinny’s learned to have good posture and refrain from being too clumsy—but she’s the embodiment of gauche when she’s tired or upset.
She has shoulder length chestnut hair, which has a naturally loose curl, and which Guinny will occasionally charm to wear as straight on special occasions. Guinny prefers the naturalesque look. She most often wears her hair down, and, if she decides to accent it, does so only with a simple headscarf.
What Guinny lacks in grace of stature, she makes up for in a pleasing, ethereal face. Guinny was rather plain as a child, and was often said to resemble her brothers and father much more than her mother, but, during her fourth year at Hogwarts, that ever-coveted wand of Youthful Bloom gave Guinny’s features a tap and blessed her with a much matured face. Guinny’s pale skin is set off by naturally rosy cheeks, a generous helping of freckles, intelligent green eyes, and a small but sharp mouth. Guinny’s most defining characteristic is a childish, slightly upturned nose that gives her an impish air.
Guinny’s wardrobe might best be described as whimsical-meets-flower-child. Guinny enjoys charming and sewing her own clothes, and generally opts for soft pastel colors, such as periwinkle, cyan, and powder blue. Depending on her mood, Guinny will either don simple combinations of solids, stripes, and polka dots or opt for a feminine touch of floral or paisley. Guinny prefers being out of her Hogwarts robes as much as possible, and has been reprimanded on more than one occasion for wearing her cherished Muggle clothing on inappropriate occasions.
History: Guinny is the youngest of four children born to her Wizard father and Muggle mother in the quaint village of Ottery St. Catchpole. An unexpected pregnancy, Guinny came into the life of her aging parents nearly ten years after their previous child. Mrs. Francesca Fawcett was tickled pink upon the birth of her only baby girl; as much love as she had bestowed upon her three sons, Francesca had always longed for a little girl to be her dress-up doll and confidant. Needless to say, Guinny was doted on by her mother from the moment she emerged from the womb—even more so when Mr. Edwin Fawcett, an Unspeakable at the Ministry of Magic, died tragically due to an unexplained incident in the Department of Mysteries.
Guinny was seven years old at the time of her father’s death; her youngest brother, William, made the decision to support his mother and sister upon his graduation from Hogwarts by staying on at Fawcett Cottage and working in the Department of Magical Games and Sports at the Ministry of Magic. Guinny’s second older brother, Oliver, is a squib, and works in London as a journalist for the Times. The eldest of the Fawcett boys, Frank, works as an auror in St. Andrews, Scotland and recently married fellow auror Rilla McWhorter. The Fawcett family is a very close-knit one; the two older Fawcett boys visit home regularly and often send financial support to the rest of the household, who have lived in reduced circumstances since the death of Edwin Fawcett. Guinny is especially close to her mum, who nurtured and doted on Guinny as a child, and, as time progressed, grew to be Guinny’s closest friend and confidant.
When Guinny received her acceptance letter to Hogwarts, her initial reaction was one of fear and uncertainty. Guinny was most accustomed to a relatively Muggle way of life with her mother, and, though assured and prepped by her brother William, it was with much trepidation that Guinny first set foot on the Hogwarts Express. Her first few weeks at Hogwarts turned out to be very trying ones. The sorting ceremony frightened Guinny out of her wits, even more so when she found herself placed in Ravenclaw. Both of Guinny’s wizard brothers had been Hufflepuffs through and through, and Guinny had assumed that she too would be placed in her siblings’ house.
What followed for the next weeks of Guinny’s time at Hogwarts was a period of alienation and homesickness. She wrote home to her mother religiously, and spent her free time cooped up in Ravenclaw Tower, absorbed in her studies and afraid that she would hardly live up the academic expectations of Ravenclaw. It was only on an early September day, after Charms class, that Guinny began to enjoy her time at school. This was owing to the kindly influence of Professor Flitwick, who, after observing Guinny’s keen work ethic but self-imposed isolation, took the time to remind Guinny that her own father had been a “rather pensive Ravenclaw” like herself—but eventually became one of Flitwick’s closest friends during his schooling at Hogwarts. Flitwick observed that Guinny had inherited her father’s brains and wizarding talent, but also, unfortunately, his “ridiculous tendency to over-analyze.” Encouraged by Flitwick to become less anxious about her studies and more amiable around her peers, Guinny followed his advice and soon found that life at Hogwarts could be enjoyable—in fact, after a year at Hogwarts, Guinny had come to acquire a warm love of her “second home.”
Though Guinny was treated with a friendly interest by other students, she, along with her closest friends, earned the labels “bookish” and “odd.” She gradually learned to conquer a shyness born of fear and become more assertive and pleasant to those around her, but she still retained an inborn cautious nature, confiding only in a tight-knit circle of Ravenclaw girls and even then withholding her most delicate thoughts and emotions to share with her mother by mail. She still continued to devote much of her free time to her studies, but she learned over time to let the small things slide. By the time fifth year rolled around, Guinny’s academic uptightness had significantly mellowed, and she found herself surprisingly content with two A’s on her Potions and Ancient Runes O.W.L.S.
One significant instance that helped Guinny to put her academic fervor into perspective was a horrific relationship she endured during her fifth year at Hogwarts. When Guinny returned to Hogwarts for her fifth year, it seemed as though the summer had lent to her a new touch of beauty that did not go unnoticed by several members of the opposite sex. Guinny soon found an admirer in Roger Gibson, a sixth year Ravenclaw and star chaser of their quidditch team. Flattered by attentions that she had never before received, Guinny excitedly entered the territory of a romantic relationship. For the first month of her time with Roger, Guinny was giddy with infatuation. Previously unconcerned with quidditch, Guinny devoted herself to attending Roger’s practice and games and spending countless hours in his company.
It was only later in the school year, as Guinny began to buckle down for O.W.L.S. studying and, consequently, had less time to devote to Roger, that she fell victim to first to a dysfunctional, over-possessive relationship. Roger’s abuse began with passive aggressive tactics, then scathing verbal attacks, and finally escalated to physical blows. It was the first trouble that Guinny never shared with her mother—she felt too afraid, and, somehow, too ashamed to tell anyone about Roger’s abuse. After three more months of a horrific period of Roger’s attacks and subsequent insincere apologies, the abuse culminated in Roger’s use of a wounding curse on Guinny.
Guinny suffered from the curse for two days before two of her concerned friends insisted that she go to the Hospital Ward to have her wounded shoulder looked at. The nurse was shocked to discover that the deep gash on Guinny’s arm had been the result of dark magic—a wound that couldn’t be healed magically. Despite repeated questioning following the event, Guinny insisted that the injury was her fault, the result of a DADA assignment gone wrong. She was afraid of revealing her abusive relationship, which she ended abruptly with little more excuse than that she and Roger simply “weren’t compatible.” Fortunately, Roger was expelled from the school only two weeks later for use of improper magical aid during a quidditch match. Despite Roger’s absence from school, the presence of his past actions have haunted Guinny ever since. Guinny never told anyone, including her mother, about her experience, but the changes it worked in her soon became evident to her closest relations. Guinny reverted to the reoccurring pensive spells that characterized her early days at Hogwarts and, naturally, has become exceptionally leery about members of the opposite sex. Roger was her first romantic endeavor, and she has not so much as flirted with a boy since.
Now in her final year at Hogwarts, Guinny is intent on finishing her classes with the highest marks before committing herself full-time to the Society for Distressed Witches, an organization founded by Dorcas Wellbeloved in 1800s and well-known for its charitable work and care for abused and mistreated witches. Although well warned by her mother and professors that the job will be low-paying and, according to some of her teachers, “a complete waste of talent,” Guinny feels certain that she is choosing the right path—a conviction born out of her own traumatic experience with Roger. Although Guinny feels she can never share with her mother and friends her deepest reason for choosing to join the SDW, she believes that such a line of work will be not only cathartic, but also a chance for her to provide guidance that, in retrospect, she wishes she had during her fifth year.
Personality:You might call Guinny an eclectic product of two worlds. Her close relationship with her Muggle mum has made her a near carbon copy of the gentle and sprightly Francesca Fawcett. Guinny is well versed in Muggle culture. She adores Muggle literature and music, and enjoys doing some things “the hard way,” such as gardening and cooking without the aid of magic.
Despite Guinny’s naturally leanings toward and appreciation of the Muggle world, there can be no doubt that she also the daughter of Edwin Fawcett. Only a few years of studying at Hogwarts lead the rest of the Fawcetts to peg her as the “brain of the family.” She inherited her father’s curiosity and knack for learning magic, and, whatever setbacks she had early on in her education due to a fairly Muggle upbringing, she soon made up for with the Fawcett intuition. Guinny’s greatest passion is learning. She pursues what she loves with a fierce intensity, and despite the occasional ridicule for being “bookish,” she’s quite content with her scholastic niche at Hogwarts.
Guinny may appear at face value, then to be little more than a Muggle-raised braniac, but behind her sprightly, over-achieving façade lies a much more tangled mess of a young girl. However high marks she might make in her prized subjects, Guinny feels she’s little more to credit than simple academic achievement. Guinny’s protection against any feelings of inadequacy is simply scholasticism. When she can’t use books or papers to solve her problems or supply some lasting deficiency, she clams up into a self-doubting mess. Therefore, Guinny rarely likes to venture beyond the bounds of where her mind and wit can take her, whether in conversation, action, or long lasting relationships.
Brought up in a relatively sheltered environment Guinny also retains an air of naivety. Trusting to a fault, she might as well have the sign “Tread On Me” plastered on her forehead. Guinny is incredibly intuitive and discerning as to other’s emotions—not so much as to their intentions. Though not necessarily faults, these qualities turned out to be very unfortunate in Guinny’s dealings with the abusive Roger Gibson. Since her traumatic experience, Guinny lost her ability to trust unconditionally—especially where boys are concerned. Guinny is a stubborn idealist, though, and consequently a romanticist. Although a brief encounter with brutal reality may have shaken much of the youthful naivety she first brought to Hogwarts, Guinny still clings on to the almost buried hope that all things eventually work out for the best, and that good-hearted heroes do still exist. Of course, Guinny runs the risk of passing any such hero up, thanks to the defensive mechanisms she’s placed up ever since her dealings with Roger.
Guinny also has her share of more blatant faults. Her discerning attitude often gives way to a judgmental one, and she finds it hard to get over bad first impressions. Guinny is incredibly frank to the point of brutal bluntness. She sees no purpose in mincing words or smoothing over awkward circumstances. Her ability to cut to the quick is amusing enough when it’s all good-humored wit, but she can make for a fierce opponent in a round of verbal sparring. Guinny has a noticeable odd streak. Her taste in clothing is decidedly unique, and she often makes witticisms or observations that fly over the head of her peers. Her affinity for Muggle culture can also be a bit much for others—especially purists.
As far as Guinny’s dealings with the general populous goes, she’s generally even-tempered and amiable. In her mind, however, there are three unforgivable characteristics a person can possess: insincerity, intolerance, and injustice. Anyone displaying one of these unfavorable qualities can be sure to find themselves on Guinevere Fawcett’s bad side.
All told, Guinny’s currently a jumble of emotions, convictions, and mannerisms—many as paradoxical as the background from which she hails. Inward feelings of inadequacy coexist with assertive witticisms; faith lost in mankind keeps company with a stubborn idealism; a desire to help abused witches issues from the same soul that still desires closure on her own painful experiences. And all the while Guinny’s heart resides in the land incongruities, she’s trying to make the most sense of her last year at Hogwarts as best as she can.
RP Entry: Guinny drummed her brightly painted fingers on the arm of the overstuffed reading chair in a secluded corner of the Hogwarts Library, a copy of
A Charming Guide to Domestic Life resting in her lap. Mum’s birthday was in a week’s time, and she intended on charming an old lamp she had bought at discount in Hogsmeade into a perfect addition to the Fawcett living room. She scrunched her eyebrows as she whispered back the spell listed under a section titled “Illuminating Illusions.”
“Priori pigmento verdis,” she whispered, committing the spell to memory; she didn’t want to bother lugging the rather large volume back to her room in Ravenclaw tower. “Priori pigmento—”
“Excuse me.”
Guinny gave a short gasp, her curly head snapping up to face a smirking boy dressed in Slytherin robes.
“Could you tell me where to find books on Ancient Runes?”
Guinny narrowed her eyes. “Do I look like Madame Pince?”
“No,” came the smooth reply. “You’re much, much prettier than Madame Pince.”
“Save it, Lockhart,” she snapped, shutting her book with an overemphasized force. “You don’t even take Ancient Runes.”
The blonde, smirking boy simply shrugged his shoulders and stayed put. “Maybe I just wanted to know more about Ancient Runes. I’m smart too, you know, Little Miss Bookworm.”
“If you were smart, you’d know better than to talk to me, Lockhart. I don’t deal well with egomaniacal prigs. Why don’t you ask Madame Pince?”
After a good ten seconds of long, cold staring, Guinny rose from her seat, brushed past Gilderoy Lockhart and walked down the aisle to return
A Charming Guide to its proper place.
Boys—weren’t they all egomaniacal prigs? Guinny sighed and reflexively ran her fingers over a deep gash on her shoulder that had never fully healed.
Yes—they were a hopeless lot.