Post by Clara Elizabeth Cotterill on Jun 4, 2017 1:48:59 GMT -5
CLARA ELIZABETH COTTERILL
 | Fifteen Female Bisexual Fifth Hufflepuff 10" Spruce Wood, Unicorn Hair Core, Quite Bendy Nina Dobrev |
Kindhearted | Humorous | Worrisome | Indecisive |
Appearance
Overall, everything about Clara’s appearance screams “average”. At 5’6”, she’s close to average height, her hair is an average shade of brown, as are her eyes. However, her lovely personality makes her average looks seem much more interesting than they are; her plain brown eyes sparkle with mischief when she’s around her friends. Her boringly-brown hair looks like silk in the afternoon sun, when she’s outside identifying plants or simply relaxing after classes.
One thing that stands out about her is her killer smile, which she takes from her mother. It’s said that her smile is infectious, but she usually hides it behind her hand as she laughs.
When she was a kid, she was sheltered away from the world, but that didn’t stop her from going out into the woods behind her house and exploring. Every day she would come home with new cuts and bruises from her playtime in the woods, and her legs still have scars from where she fell from trees and onto rocks. There’s a particularly nasty one behind her left leg from the time she ran into a particularly nasty magical creature (which she still hasn’t identified). She also has a small scar under her chin, which she tries her best to hide with makeup, from an incident she doesn't speak about. It's the only scar she's self-conscious about.
She doesn’t let that stop her from wearing her short dresses, though. She loves letting her tanned skin shine with her short sundresses and crop tops. Her style is very much bohemian, or 70s inspired. Flared sleeves are the norm, and she usually wears chokers every day (regardless of whether or not they’re uniform appropriate). Her hair is naturally straight, but she usually curls it when she’s feeling extra flirty. Her favorite possessions are her jewelry with crystals in them. She’s always wearing at least one piece.
One thing that stands out about her is her killer smile, which she takes from her mother. It’s said that her smile is infectious, but she usually hides it behind her hand as she laughs.
When she was a kid, she was sheltered away from the world, but that didn’t stop her from going out into the woods behind her house and exploring. Every day she would come home with new cuts and bruises from her playtime in the woods, and her legs still have scars from where she fell from trees and onto rocks. There’s a particularly nasty one behind her left leg from the time she ran into a particularly nasty magical creature (which she still hasn’t identified). She also has a small scar under her chin, which she tries her best to hide with makeup, from an incident she doesn't speak about. It's the only scar she's self-conscious about.
She doesn’t let that stop her from wearing her short dresses, though. She loves letting her tanned skin shine with her short sundresses and crop tops. Her style is very much bohemian, or 70s inspired. Flared sleeves are the norm, and she usually wears chokers every day (regardless of whether or not they’re uniform appropriate). Her hair is naturally straight, but she usually curls it when she’s feeling extra flirty. Her favorite possessions are her jewelry with crystals in them. She’s always wearing at least one piece.
Personality
It’s easy to see that Clara is pretty – if plain – on the outside, but it’s her personality that truly makes her shine. No one in life is perfect, and Clara is no exception, but she certainly does try to paint a picture of perfection for everyone else to see. The truth is that Clara is very much a people-pleaser, and she doesn’t want anyone to be disappointed in her. This makes her dependable, but at a deficit to herself. She’ll put her own needs aside to make sure the needs of others are met.
While Clara loves to paint herself as the perfect little witch, she has a mischievous side. Depending on her company, she could be found switching the sugar with salt, and snickering behind her hand as you cough up your morning coffee. She envies the braver students, who don’t mind casting a spell on a teacher as a prank. However, she doesn’t feel that she would be able to do something like that, because she’d feel so guilty she’d likely confess to it herself.
Due to events in her life, she finds it difficult to make close relationships with people. Showing her any type of love makes her suspicious, because she doesn’t think she’s worth it. She’s never really had unconditional love shown to her before, but she’s working on it, and she’s getting better at letting others in.
While Clara loves to paint herself as the perfect little witch, she has a mischievous side. Depending on her company, she could be found switching the sugar with salt, and snickering behind her hand as you cough up your morning coffee. She envies the braver students, who don’t mind casting a spell on a teacher as a prank. However, she doesn’t feel that she would be able to do something like that, because she’d feel so guilty she’d likely confess to it herself.
Due to events in her life, she finds it difficult to make close relationships with people. Showing her any type of love makes her suspicious, because she doesn’t think she’s worth it. She’s never really had unconditional love shown to her before, but she’s working on it, and she’s getting better at letting others in.
History
Clara was born in a very small town just outside of Manchester to Everett and Savannah Cotterill – two muggle parents who were normal. Everett was a professor at the local university, and Savannah was a stay-at-home mother who ran a beauty shop out of their spare room. The couple had tried for years to get pregnant, so when Clara came along, they were head-over-heels in love with their precious daughter.
In their small town, image was everything, and Everett did everything he could to maintain the image of their happy little family. Unfortunately, it seemed that they had bad luck at every turn. Shortly after Clara’s first birthday, the Cotterills’ received the news that they would likely be unable to have any more children; according to doctors, it was a miracle that they’d had Clara at all. They kept that news as quiet as possible, content with the fact that they had little Clara there with them.
But things in the household weren’t as peaceful as they appeared. Everett Cotterill had an explosive temper, and both he and Savannah would always be arguing over money and their debts. Oftentimes he would strike Savannah in one of his fits, and then apologize in a cycle that would continue on-and-on. But he didn’t hit Clara – never Clara, to begin with, at least.
When Clara was three years old, she began to display magical abilities. When she’d have a tantrum, things would fly off the shelves. She could get her dolls to move around on their own, scaring her very religious mother half to death the first time she saw it. She stopped questioning it when her daughter’s apparent knack for telekinesis was used to whack Everett over the head with something any time he raised a hand to his wife.
Once Clara started Kindergarten, that’s when her parents knew that she wouldn’t be able to stay for long. Drama at home was one thing, but to bring it into the public light in a town where public image means everything, that was another. Only three weeks after she started public school, she was removed for turning another child’s hair blue. That was the first instance that she was punished for magic, but it wasn’t the last.
Magic became forbidden in her house. Her father wouldn’t allow their image to be tarnished, and her mother was powerless to go against his rules. Clara was enrolled in another school, and the threat of punishment stopped her from doing magic at all, until one day when a boy wouldn’t stop harassing her in class. She retaliated, and it ended with the boy having a tail. The teacher had seen it, and Clara was removed from the classroom. She still doesn’t know what happened to the boy after that.
She does remember what happened to her. Her father’s punishment was severe, and it ended in her falling and bashing her chin on the glass table. She still has the scar to this day, and she doesn’t like to talk about it, because that’s the day she lost faith in her parents. Coincidentally, that’s also the best day of her life, because at the hospital she met Aurelia McFadden. Mrs. McFadden was a lovely woman, with warm eyes and a beautiful laugh. She was a kind nurse at the hospital where Clara was taken to get stitches in her chin.
While Clara was alone in her room, she stubbornly did anything she could with magic, due to the anger she had towards her father. She was pulling something towards her from across the room when Mrs. McFadden came into the room. She immediately knew what Clara was, and after speaking to Clara’s parents (and perhaps a bit of magical persuasion on her part), she became Clara’s tutor for magic. That’s where Clara met Mrs. McFadden’s nieces, who were also witches, and learned to control her magic as best she could.
Once Clara turned eleven and received her Hogwarts letter, she left and never looked back. She hasn’t visited her parents since she was thirteen, and although she still sends her mother a birthday letter every year, she’s never received one back. If ever she does leave Hogwarts to return to the muggle world, she usually goes to visit Mrs. McFadden.
In their small town, image was everything, and Everett did everything he could to maintain the image of their happy little family. Unfortunately, it seemed that they had bad luck at every turn. Shortly after Clara’s first birthday, the Cotterills’ received the news that they would likely be unable to have any more children; according to doctors, it was a miracle that they’d had Clara at all. They kept that news as quiet as possible, content with the fact that they had little Clara there with them.
But things in the household weren’t as peaceful as they appeared. Everett Cotterill had an explosive temper, and both he and Savannah would always be arguing over money and their debts. Oftentimes he would strike Savannah in one of his fits, and then apologize in a cycle that would continue on-and-on. But he didn’t hit Clara – never Clara, to begin with, at least.
When Clara was three years old, she began to display magical abilities. When she’d have a tantrum, things would fly off the shelves. She could get her dolls to move around on their own, scaring her very religious mother half to death the first time she saw it. She stopped questioning it when her daughter’s apparent knack for telekinesis was used to whack Everett over the head with something any time he raised a hand to his wife.
Once Clara started Kindergarten, that’s when her parents knew that she wouldn’t be able to stay for long. Drama at home was one thing, but to bring it into the public light in a town where public image means everything, that was another. Only three weeks after she started public school, she was removed for turning another child’s hair blue. That was the first instance that she was punished for magic, but it wasn’t the last.
Magic became forbidden in her house. Her father wouldn’t allow their image to be tarnished, and her mother was powerless to go against his rules. Clara was enrolled in another school, and the threat of punishment stopped her from doing magic at all, until one day when a boy wouldn’t stop harassing her in class. She retaliated, and it ended with the boy having a tail. The teacher had seen it, and Clara was removed from the classroom. She still doesn’t know what happened to the boy after that.
She does remember what happened to her. Her father’s punishment was severe, and it ended in her falling and bashing her chin on the glass table. She still has the scar to this day, and she doesn’t like to talk about it, because that’s the day she lost faith in her parents. Coincidentally, that’s also the best day of her life, because at the hospital she met Aurelia McFadden. Mrs. McFadden was a lovely woman, with warm eyes and a beautiful laugh. She was a kind nurse at the hospital where Clara was taken to get stitches in her chin.
While Clara was alone in her room, she stubbornly did anything she could with magic, due to the anger she had towards her father. She was pulling something towards her from across the room when Mrs. McFadden came into the room. She immediately knew what Clara was, and after speaking to Clara’s parents (and perhaps a bit of magical persuasion on her part), she became Clara’s tutor for magic. That’s where Clara met Mrs. McFadden’s nieces, who were also witches, and learned to control her magic as best she could.
Once Clara turned eleven and received her Hogwarts letter, she left and never looked back. She hasn’t visited her parents since she was thirteen, and although she still sends her mother a birthday letter every year, she’s never received one back. If ever she does leave Hogwarts to return to the muggle world, she usually goes to visit Mrs. McFadden.
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