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GENERAL
Name: Alarice (say 'polaris' without the p) Banning
Gender: Female
Birthday: October 24th
House: Slytherin
Blood Status: Pure blood
Wand: Unicorn hair, willow, 13 inches
Wand Hand: Right

PERSONALITY
General:
She tries her best to be cordial, convinced that those who would take the time to befriend her will look past her house's reputation and see her for who she is and not where she is placed. In spite of that, she does get a little paranoid about people doing exactly that, and is quick to get on the defensive if she believes that someone is looking at her and merely seeing a Slytherin. Not that she minds being in Slytherin house; while the decor is NOT what she expected, she feels a sense of truly being welcome there and feels that this is the place to achieve the profession of her dreams.

While she believes her threshold of tolerance is wide, if someone starts to get on her nerves, they will find a Tasmanian devil lurking behind those teal eyes. Too much pestering or general inability to keep one's mouth shut (especially if she believes you're being stupid on purpose) will result in her shouting passionately at the offender and telling just what she thinks of them, sometimes getting her dander up enough to invite the situation to dissolve into blows. This has gotten her into trouble in the past, and sadly doesn't show any signs of disappearing anytime soon.

Alarice prizes true friendship over everything else, and if you make a friend of her, she'll have your back no matter what. If someone she likes is being accosted, she won't hesitate to step in and help them. This can be problematic if her friends are the rule-breaking type, as she will easily choose her friends over the rules. The only rule she habitually breaks without any influence is the occasional trip into the Dark Forest in the hope of spotting a unicorn. Because she treasures such feelings for others, should you prove yourself a false friend, she will never forget it; as her grandfather says: 'Forgive your enemy, but remember the b*****d's name.'

Habits:
Sleepwalking- When Alarice is particularly stressed out about something, be it a test or an impending encounter with someone she recently fought with, and she takes it with her to bed, she has a tendency to sleepwalk. Most of the time she doesn't get very far, but incidents at home have shown that she is not above going as far as the outside of her own house before coming to or being woken up.

Fighting- Despite her eagerness to make friends, when pushed the wrong way, Alarice can have a short fuse, and is not above trying to give the occasional big mouth a fat lip to go with it. Oddly enough, it seems as though Gryffindors are the ones she gets into the most fights with, her defense being that they happen to have the ones with the biggest mouths.

Paper Chewing- One that she would rather everyone NOT know about. Some students chew on their quills when their minds wander; she will tear off a small piece of her parchment and chew on it the way a Muggle would chew shredded jerky. One such Muggle child caught her at it once when she was seven and called her 'billy goat'. Needless to say, it was a good thing she was still too green for any sort of malicious magic, but later had to apologize for giving the child a black eye.

Hobbies:
Unicorns- As much an obsession as it is a hobby, Alarice strives to learn anything and everything she can about unicorns, from their anatomy to their eating habits to where they are most likely to be found in the wizarding world. She dreams of one day meeting one in the forest and befriending it, believing that of all the magical creatures that the Muggles adore, unicorns at least deserve all the pomp and praise of their often misguided press.

Reading- Though unicorns are her favorite subject, Alarice likes many varieties of books, and enjoys spending some of her quieter moments at the library, looking for new stories or just trying to gain as much knowledge outside of classes as she can, in order to be at the top of her game and get the marks she knows she's going to need. Only the history section remains untouched by her, unless she needs something for reference in a homework assignment.

Nature Walks- Alarice loves the outdoors and when the weather is to her liking, she loves to take walks outside, often accompanied by her cat, Mr. Shin. She is partial to walking on the outskirts of the Dark Forest (seldom inside it though, during the day), but steers clear of any paths that wind around the Black Lake.


Likes: Unicorns, nature, hot tea, cats, stories (tall tales in particular), cheese, the color blue
Favorite Quidditch team: Appleby Arrows
Favorite Candy: Fizzing Whizbees
Dislikes: Rats, deep water and getting wet, rats, loudmouth idiots, cold weather, rats

FAMILY
Mother: Jennifer Banning, formerly of Ravenclaw, pure blood
Father: Dimitri Banning, formerly of Slytherin, pure blood
Siblings: None
Extended Family: The only extended family Alarice is familiar with is her grandfather; a senile old wizard from her mother's side of the family who comes to visit every so often. She always looks forward to his visits, as he comes bearing stories of all the feats he did as an Auror, despite her mother taking her aside and telling her of his tendencies to over exaggerate or outright make things up when he can't remember a particularity. She always finds it amusing that he was never one to like 'those shifty Slytherin types' and spends much of his visits giving her father the stinky eye, even as Dimitri shrugs innocently and walks it off with a grin or harmless comment. Would probably make for a much tenser atmosphere at home if he wasn't so on in years that all he could effectively do was grumble.

Relationship with Family: Alarice currently lives with her parents in a 3 story house on the outskirts of Amesbury. She gets along well with both parents and feels she has a stable home life; her father is surprisingly the more easygoing and her mother provides the balance of firmness, though both are loved equally and they in turn cherish her. She adores her grandfather and strives to be like him when she gets old enough for a profession.

HISTORY
General History:
Alarice was born in Amesbury and has lived there her entire life, an only child and the sole recipient of her parents' attention. Born in a moderately well-off, pure blood household, she was exposed to magic right from the beginning, though since they lived on the outskirts of town and were considered 'odd' anyway, her parents sought to restrict their daughter's encounters with Muggles, for fear of any violent repercussions. Certain things were bound to happen, such as the paper-eating incident, but for the most part they could be smoothed over or dealt with peacefully. She was brought up with the knowledge that Muggles were different, not too terribly bright, and should be regarded with caution, as they overreacted greatly to anything they considered out of the ordinary. Alarice took a measure of pity on them for it, but was also content to stay away as long as her parents gave her suitable playmates from non-Muggle families.

When she was about six, Alarice's parents took her to a public beach for the very first time. She was on an inflatable floating raft and having the time of her life, when she noticed that all of a sudden, the beach and beach goers seemed alarmingly far away from her. At the same time, a sudden large wave knocked her from her raft and into the deep water. For what seemed to her like years she floundered, her eyes stinging and her cries coming out as so many tiny bubbles, until she felt her father's strong hands around her waist pulling her up. She clung to her father and refused to let go, even during the trip home. Since then she has been frightened of any body of water large enough to drown in, and even prefers showers over bathing, refusing to forget the feeling of being trapped in a smothering blanket of blue, the sunlight dancing mockingly on the surface as she slowly drifted down.

When she was about 10 years old, her family obtained something they hadn't had since before she was born; a house elf. Her mother had grown up in a house with one and had often expressed her desire to have one again to assist in the upkeep of their current house. Upon looking for house elves to employ, they came across Bridgey; a female house elf who's disfigured hands prevented her from doing her work in any sort of timely manner, but as a result, as she pleaded her case, she was willing to work twice as hard to make the time up. Alarice and her mother Jennifer voted two to one in taking her on, and Dimitri relented, much to his daughter's delight, for the house elf was true to her word and not only performed her tasks with fervor, but ensured that 'Miss Banning' had a friend and confidant should she ever need one, and as Alarice got older and her raw magical talent began to manifest itself along with her already existing temper, she often took Bridgey up on her offer for a sympathetic ear. Additionally, one particular talent that the house elf excelled at was making sure that Alarice didn't get very far when her fits of sleepwalking went unnoticed by her parents in the night.

The letter from Hogwarts was an immense relief to Alarice; by this time she wasn't entirely sure that she could have refrained from showing any magic, accidental or no, to the Muggles that unknowingly passed by her door time and again. A trip was promptly taken to Diagon Alley for supplies, and it was there that she met her familiar. She was scanning the cages in Magical Menagerie for just the right pet when she felt a warm presence against her shin. Looking down, she saw a strange-looking cat rubbing up on her and, to her astonishment, appearing to grin up at her. The storekeeper stormed up and fussed at the feline; apparently it had a habit of getting out of it's cage and wandering about the store. Enchanted with the creature, Alarice insisted on having him, christening him Mr. Shin on the spot and laughing as he smugly walked out the door beside her. She's convinced that she has bagged a Cheshire, but there's no real way of knowing just what sort of breed her new friend really is, or if Cheshire's even really exist; all she knows is that he's one of a kind.

And so she entered Hogwarts; full of hope and eager to prove herself and become a great witch. She knows she's lucky to have such a good home life and parents who support her, and hopes that in spite of her faults, she will make them all proud.

MISCELLANEOUS
The Sorting: "Banning, Alarice." Alarice chewed her lip and forced her legs to move, wishing with all of her might that her last name had started with Z instead. She didn't feel the least bit ready as she took leaden steps up to the stool, where the inoffensive hat sat waiting. She hadn't been able to take her eyes off of it since she and the other first years had set foot inside the Great Hall. She remembered the words of her father Dimitri: "Just go up to the hat, and it will tell you you're house; that's all there is to it. There's no test to take or scary task to do, so don't let those other students fool you into thinking otherwise, alright?" He had winked, and backed away as Jennifer moved forward for her say: "Remember dear, we love you very much, and it doesn't matter which house the hat chooses for you. The important thing is that you are happy with where it places you."

But what if I'm not? The panicky thought fluttered in Alarice's head like a butterfly as she reached the stool and sat down, feeling the eyes of the entire Great Hall upon her. She felt the hat slide down over her unruly bangs until her eyes were obscured by dark stitched-up patches and the scent of old leather filled her nostrils. She was about to panic when she heard a voice whisper in her ear, as comforting as the leather smell. "Hmm, you've got quite a fire inside of you, and lots of untapped energy waiting to be shaped and put to use. A good thirst for doing well, for you've got a very high goal set for yourself. Quite a passion for what you believe, and no qualms about where to go....relying wholly on me, eh? Now that won't do; what is it YOU want most?" Alarice was startled for a moment, but the answer came surprisingly fast; the image conjured up was her train ride there. She had been in a compartment with three other kids; all seemed to know each other and chatted amicably, not paying much attention to the strawberry-blond with the strange cat. She had had playmates in the past, but aside from Bridgey, had she ever had that sort of understanding with anyone, that sort of camaraderie? No, she couldn't say that she had. And it had consumed her, heart and mind and body and soul, all the way to Hogwarts.

"I want friends." she heard herself say, "Real friends; ones who I can share things with and help out and stand by when we need each other. Someone to know the real me, not just a witch with good marks. THAT'S what I want most." The hat on her head seemed to ponder for a moment, and then she almost seemed to feel it smiling; she even started a littler as a fleeting image of the ocean passed before her mind; what had brought THAT on? Had the hat done it? "Well then, you'll just have to trust me just this one time." Before she could ask for clarification, she heard the hat shout out "SLYTHERIN!" Her eyes widened as the hat was removed, and she blinked in the sudden brightness as she stood up and made for the table that was evidently cheering her on, putting on a rather wobbly smile as she moved to where an older student was eagerly motioning for her to sit. She knew about Slytherin house from her father, and likewise how others thought about it and those who called it their house, but she also knew that he was living proof that there was so much more to it than a mere reputation. It wasn't until she sat down that she realized that with that in mind, the Sorting Hat couldn't have chosen anything better, and with that she was able to change the wobbly grin into a real smile. Of course, should her grandfather find out......THAT would be something she wouldn't mind overhearing!

Boggart: Alarice's breath caught in her throat as she beheld the creature in front of her. She knew it was only a boggart, but that knowledge in itself frightened her, since she was well aware of what it was capable of. She could feel the thing's eyes on her, probing deep into her mind and weighing what she knew to be her two greatest fears, fighting back hysteria as she waited to see which one it would choose first.

To her horror, it morphed into a giant rat, as big as a hippogriff, drool slavering from it's open mouth, yellow teeth bared and eyes that glowed a horrific red, seeking to freeze her in her tracks. It looked exactly like how she remembered it, seeing it as a child on a screen that took up her entire line of vision; a demon-eyed rat, crouching under an infant's crib, waiting for the right moment to strike and bite with it's twin needle fangs. It advanced toward her, dragging its tail behind, as thick as three coils of rope.

Alarice squeezed her eyes shut, and she heard a small poof in front of her. She opened her eyes and stifled a sob; she now saw herself splayed out in front of her, water dripping off of her and forming a puddle all around her. Her eyes were blank, and a small pile of foam was forming at one end of her open mouth.

No, no, no! Alarice squeezed her eyes shut again and rubbed her fists in her eyes, feeling her dread mount as several more soft pops rang out. She opened her eyes again and gasped aloud. The enormous rat stood before her, but now the gleaming red eyes were hazy, the fur was drenched in water, and as it opened it's mouth to hiss at her, water and foam cascaded from its mouth and splattered onto the floor. Willing herself to concentrate, Alarice took a deep breath, pointed her wand at the Hellish figure and shouted "RIDDIKULUS!" Instantly, it seemed as though a blast of hot air had dried the fur, and down to the last hair, it gave a final shudder and fell off, until there was nothing left but a surprised-looking naked rat, it's formerly demonic face smothered in little pink wrinkles, the two fangs now looking more like two old, blunted chopsticks. Each peal of laughter from Alarice seemed to strike it like a blow, until it vanished like smoke, leaving nothing behind but a few tiny brown hairs.

Mirror of Erised:
What a strange mirror! Alarice thought to herself as she let the sheet that had been covering it drift about her feet and settle to the ground like snow. She ran her fingers over the smooth glass, admiring the frame as it drew her eyes from one end to the other with its strange, undecipherable phrase.

A sudden movement in the mirror caused her to whirl around, but there was nobody else in the room. Puzzled, she turned back to the mirror, and gaped as she saw herself staring back at her....or WAS it herself? The figure had her strawberry blond hair, bangs still as unruly as ever. teal eyes wide with disbelief. But instead of the clothes she was currently wearing, her reflection sported a different kind of dress; more like armor than anything, and here and there she could see various burn marks and nicks, as though it had been hit by powerful spells. Looking at the face staring back at her, she could see scars in a couple of places, the eyes seemed hard and stern, reflecting tribulation that she had yet to even be able to imagine. Her wand was by her side, equally nicked but still strong and true. Alarice grinned, and her reflection grinned back; here she was in all her glory; an Auror like her grandfather, with her own stories to tell when the time came for her to bounce little ones on her knees.

She saw the stern eyes soften suddenly, and as she continued to watch, she gasped as she saw a majestic white figure appear from a distance in the mirror, growing larger and more beautiful as it drew ever nearer, When it was right behind her reflection, Alarice moved her hand back to touch the unicorn's soft nose as it bent it's head down obligingly, but of course nothing was there. She drew in her breath as she saw more white forms emerging, until it seemed as though an entire herd was behind her, unafraid of this legendary magic-wielder in their presence, but instead moving around her as though she were a part of the herd. We've waited for you, she felt rather than heard the words, and as tears filled her eyes and blurred her vision, she watched her reflection turn away and walk off into the distance, scarred and battle-worn hand resting against the snowy flank, until the greenery of some far off woods obstructed them from view, and left merely the reflection of a young student, shaking with desire as she reached down to pick up the sheet and replace it over the mirror.

EXTRA CREDIT

Patronus: Alarice's patronus is a liger; strong, majestic and the biggest bloody cat in existence; able to take on the largest, meanest and most flea-infested of any rat that should come her way.

Greatest Treasure: A necklace given to her by her parents, featuring a coin-like ornament made of solid antiqued silver and depicting a unicorn's head in front of a slivered moon, surrounded by celtic knots. Picked out for her when she started showing an obsession with unicorns.

Manner of Dress: She doesn't mind how she dresses, and might include a few odd things in her wardrobe just to make that point clear, but she takes no responsibility for her hair and often claims that it has a mind of it's own. You would have to fight her tooth and nail to get her to put it up for any reason.

Favorite Class: Potions, because she's very meticulous about measurements and is actually pretty good at it. On the opposite end of the scale, she's less than brilliant at Charms, but her liking of the class itself makes her strive to do better. Only when there are unicorns as part of the lesson does Care of Magical Creatures overshadow both of these.

Worst Class: History of Magic, because she has no use for dates and has a hard time keeping them straight, with Transfiguration a close second; she's not very good, but unlike Charms, there's not much love lost between her and this class.

Here, Kitty, Kitty....

Name: Mr. Shin
Gender: Male
Breed: Cat
Focus: Sense
Inspiration: For some reason, whenever I picture him, I imagine him a lot like one of these; minus the extra ears of course. I would love to have the smile (close-mouthed) and squinty eyes though. ^^ For color I'm not particularly picky, but I would really like a soft purple, like lilac; if a lighter color is needed for highlights, I would like white.
Unwanted: Nothing that I can think of.

Total Price: 20k+ (willing to pay LOTS for facial edits)