InsaneJournal

the basics
NAME: Marlene Cadence McKinnon
NICKNAME(S): Marly
AGE: 16
BIRTHDAY: 6 July 1958
HOUSE: Ravenclaw
YEAR: Sixth
WAND: 10”, Hazel with unicorn hair. Quite rigid.
PET: Brown hawk owl named Hippocrates, persian kitten named Dallas.
BLOOD: Pureblood
ALIGNMENT: Light; will eventually join the OotP.

family
MOTHER: Mariella McKinnon, former Ravenclaw.
FATHER: Gareth McKinnon, former Gryffindor.
SISTER:Michael McKinnon, 7th year Gryffindor.

history
Marlene McKinnon was born nearly two years after her older brother Michael, and the siblings are as different as night and day. Michael is strong and athletic, impulsive and quick on his feet. Marlene is calculating and deliberate in her thoughts and actions, weighing every possibility before coming to a decision. Despite their differences, the two siblings care about each other a great deal. Michael would do just about anything to protect his little sister, and Marlene would move mountains to help her brother in his time of need.

As a child, Marlene showed great promise as a healer, constantly taking in sick or injured animals and attempting to nurse them back to health. Often, her ministrations were successful and she delighted in those happy moments. Sometimes, even her best efforts could not bring back a fading life, and she tried to view each failed attempt as a learning experience - identifying and storing alternate courses of action in her mind for future use.

Her propensity and love for healing is just as strong now as it was as a young girl; she still nurses animals in need (her friends and housemates have grown quite used to this by now) and often works with Madame Bonnesante in the Hospital Wing. She just took her OWLs and is confident that she will be taking advanced, NEWT-level classes in potions, herbology, charms, and transfiguration - the areas of study most important in the field of Mediwizardry.

personality
Those who don't know Marlene might mistake her quiet, instrospective nature as snobbish or cold, but her close friends and family know that still waters run deep. She isn't one to speak just for the sake of hearing her own voice; she is quite content sharing a comfortable silence. Marlene is extremely bright, as most Ravenclaws are, and deeply dedicated to learning and knowledge. She can often be found reading in the Common Room, enjoying the group atmosphere as she peruses the latest potions or medical journals. Her notes are meticulous, and often peppered with her own theories and ideas. Due to the sheer volume, she's taken to using muggle composition books for archival purposes. When the ink smudges from quills started to become too annoying, she switched to ballpoint pens. While the use of these muggle alternatives has earned her a fair amount of good-natured ribbing from her mates, she isn't one to pander to the status quo simply because of traditions; sometimes the muggle versions of everyday items are just...better.

Just because Marlene is relatively quiet and even-tempered doesn't mean she is without passion. She will talk at great length about topics that interest her - especially wizard and muggle medicine, the pros and cons of each, and her theories on blending the two. Obviously, the wizarding world has many advantages, but Marlene feels that muggles more than make up for their magical shortcomings with creativity and innovation.

Marlene is a rather tidy person who feels that hygiene and order are of the utmost importance, and she often has to stop herself from picking up after others.

She doesn't play Quidditch, due to an irrational fear of heights and flying, but her brother and many close friends do. She enjoys watching the game, and can usually be found in the stands cheering on Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.

miscellaneous
AT SCHOOL
CLASSES: Advanced potions, herbology, charms, and tranfiguration. If her schedule permits, she'd like to continue muggle studies and care of magical creatures.
CLUBS/ACTIVITIES: Volunteers in the Hospital Wing, tutors younger students in charms and herbology.

VIEWS
ON VOLDEMORT: A bigot and a murderer. Marlene is well-informed enough to know that everything for which he stands is in complete conflict with her own values. Usually, she can respect the opinions of others, but this is different. To turn a blind eye would be to condone hatred and genocide, and she knows that she will do anything she can to help stop this madman from rising further in power.
ON BLOOD PURITY: Rubbish. Even though she is a pureblood herself, she believes that half-bloods, muggleborns and even muggles have much to offer the wizarding world, and the purity of one's blood has nothing to do with ability and merit. Also, she knows enough about genetics to realize that level of inbreeding that occurs in the some of the purest "Most Ancient and Noble" lines is worrisome, and she thinks this will be a problem for future generations.
ON THE OTHER HOUSES: Marlene knows quite a few of the older Gryffindors through her brother, and for the most part gets along with them well. They can be a little reckless and brash at times, but she likes them just the same. She doesn't know enough Hufflepuffs or Slytherins to form judgments that she'd feel comfortable bestowing upon the houses in general. Obviously, she feels a close bond with her Ravenclaw peers; they are, after all, kindred spirits when it comes to the pursuit of knowledge. Most of her closest friends are Ravenclaws.

LIKES: Healing, learning, writing, watching Quidditch, reading, espresso, cleanliness, her family, firewhisky, animals, muggles, bittersweet chocolate, clementines, cashmere jumpers and strong hands.
DISLIKES: Bigots, seeing others in pain, heights, accordion music, butterbeer.

TALENTS: Very clever, has a near-photographic memory, plays the harp.
FLAWS: Sometimes feels like a walking brain. Ever-so-slightly obsessive-compulsive. Sometimes talks down to people without intending to.

SEXUALITY/LOVE INTERESTS: Straight. Currently dating Gideon Prewett and on not-so-great terms with her ex-boyfriend, Dirk Cresswell.

ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Cancer
Cancer is the fourth sign of the Zodiac and governs the breast and the stomach. Positive traits include loyalty, a love of home and family, the ability to express emotion, intensity, a great sense of humour, a sense of initiative, tenaciousness, a gift with finances, compassion, shrewdness, and intuition. Negative traits are self-indulgence, moodiness, clinging to other people, bossiness, emotional manipulation, and oversentimentality.

This is an odd sign for Ravenclaw wizards to be born under, but it happens. You'll see them wandering the halls, muttering to themselves or lost in daydreams. Some great Ravenclaw astrologers have been born under this sign. Any magic which involves moonlight and intricate calculations, actually, will attract the Ravenclaw Cancer. They may also be prone to collecting and enchanting white stones that remind them of the moon - pearls, moonstones, opals... These wizards have an extremely dry sense of humour, and are prone to making trenchant observations of the world around them. (taken from birds of a feather)

PLAYED BY: Indiana Evans
JOURNAL: smartiepantts