Elizabeth Ryder
From Incantatem
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Elizabeth Ryder
Elizabeth Ryder is a seventh year Gryffindor. She is a character in the RPG Incantatem. Elizabeth is portrayed by Keira Knightley, who she shares with Rose Tippet and is played by Aylen of Acornrack/Headmistress of WikiIncantatem.
The Basics
Current Age: 18
Birthday: January 3rd, 1978
Height: 5 foot 2
Weight: 110
Wand: Her wand is made of mahogany which is excellent for Transfiguration, and has a dragon heartstring in it's core. It is not very large, being only 8 inches long and very flexible.
School Education: In her 7th year at Hogwarts
Honors: Prefect, Quidditch Captain
Blood: One-forth muggle, three-fourths pure
Name Meaning: My God is an oath
Known Languages: English, and enough to converse in French, Spanish, Arabic, Greek, Italian, and a few words in other languages.
Appearance
While Elizabeth would not be described as classically beautiful, she has more than enough attractiveness about her features to be called pretty, or lovely, even if it is in an unconventional sense. Every inch of her five foot two frame is covered in nearly unblemished skin with pink undertones, giving her an often rosy appearance. Despite years of Quidditch training and summers by the sea, her skin is remarkable fair and without even one freckle. The only thing that mars it are a few scars: a faint one running vertically on the right side of her throat, and another running across her left wrist.
Elizabeth is slender at best, though can occasionally be seen as almost unhealthily skinny. The few who wonder about that only have to sit through one meal with her to know that it isn�t an eating disorder that makes her so little. She�s one of those annoying few who can eat absolutely anything without it affecting her weight. Instead, Elizabeth�s emotional and mental condition are what effect her physical condition. Regardless, Elizabeth is almost boyish in shape, with very little curves to speak of. Though she has a small waist, her small hips and breasts don�t lend her enough curvature to have an hour-glass figure. However, her slight figure and soft curves aren�t unappealing.
Years of training have put Elizabeth in great physical condition. Both her arms and legs are lightly muscled and firm. It is obvious just looking at her that Elizabeth loves to be active. Vitality literally shines from beneath her skin, and its almost impossible to keep it contained. For this reason, Elizabeth is often moving or fidgeting. If one watches carefully, it may be noted that the petite girl favors her left leg over her right. From the outside, it is impossible to tell that it has been shattered twice, but it occasionally causes the girl some trouble.
Elizabeth face borders on heart shaped. It�s slim and symmetrical, with high cheekbones and an angular jaw. A dimple in each cheek is evident whenever Elizabeth smiles. Her lips are full and naturally pink. Almond shaped eyes are one of her crowning features. Framed by fairly thick lashes, Elizabeth�s eyes are brown with both chocolate and amber flecks within. They are very expressive for eyes, bringing to mind that old saying about the eyes being the windows to the soul. Elizabeth isn�t very good at closing the shutters, so it is entirely possible to read a great deal of what she�s thinking by looking her in the eyes. Eyebrows that are slightly darker than her hair arch delicately over them.
Until her sixth year, Elizabeth had a long mane of wavy, blond hair. However, feeling it aged her and bored with its upkeep, the small blond chopped it off. Her new pixie short style is more suited to Elizabeth: youthful and spirited. For her, it was a bold move, showing that she was growing up and away from porcelain doll cut out she had typically stuck to. Moving away from the superficial, so to speak. Instead of worrying about its maintenance, Elizabeth normally just runs her fingers through it, letting the short blond locks style themselves. It gives her a somewhat quirky appearance, but Elizabeth doesn�t mind.
When it comes to make-up and clothes, Elizabeth�s fairly low-maintenance. When she wears make-up at all, it is normally kept to a minimum and always used to make her look as natural as possible. She likes her own skin too much to cover it up with all that mess. Her clothing choices are simple when she�s not dressing for school. She�s equally likely to throw on the first thing her fingers come into contact with as she is to put any thought behind it. The petite young woman prefers flexible and comfortable clothing over other styles. It allows her the movement and comfort she craves. However, Elizabeth is a girl, so on very rare occasions she loves to get dressed up with all the frills and elegance of a fairytale princess, regardless of comfort.
To the outside world, Elizabeth is a very strong, spirited person. She’s outgoing, and never fails to make an acquaintance. She completely doesn’t care what the world thinks of her and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. Her temper is quick to flare, but she’ll also be the first to apologize if she realizes she’s wrong. If she doesn’t, however, she’ll stick to her argument stubbornly. Elizabeth appears to see a lot of the world in black and white. She has a strong sense of right and wrong that she adheres to, though not always strictly. She’s often in trouble for one thing or another. She sneaks about, pokes about things and places she has no business with, gets caught out of bed or out of bounds at all hours and is rather high-handed with adults, including teachers and Aurors, from time to time. She’s completely reckless when she flies and doesn’t always think her decisions through.
But inside, there is a lot more to Elizabeth. She was forced to grow up very quickly after her parent’s death, then even more after she left her brother’s home. The adult she has had to be often conflicts with the child she should be. Her sense of judgment is not quite as developed as it should be, so though she appears to not think things through, she actually struggles a great deal with the bigger issues. Elizabeth appears strong most of the time because she hates showing weakness. It’s a sign of how much she trusts someone if she is willing to let her guard down enough to cry in front of them. She had to find out the hard way that she’s capable of killing if it means her life or the life of another and it terrifies her.
She’s also absolutely terrified of being caged in any sense of the word. Its one of the reasons she loves flying so: the freedom of the open air, the wind caressing her face. Even her patronus and animagus form are birds. Elizabeth often feels confined, especially if she cannot see the sky. Her greatest fear is a small, enclosed space, with no light, no wind, no sky. Only darkness.
But Elizabeth does all she can to make her spirit and heart strong. She figures if her body and mind are so weak, something about her needed to be strong. She’s learned many times how fragile the body is, through both Quidditch and her own stupidity. A much harder lesson to learn was how weak her mind really is. She is, according to the many psychologists she’s had to see for one reason or another, perfectly sane. However, her mental protections are easily broken. “Unstable,” one shrink described her. Whenever anything traumatic happens to Elizabeth, those shields are shattered, leaving her venerable. She frequently suffers from nightmares, though she is slowly getting better at controlling those.
Elizabeth, as far as school is concerned, is an average student. She does her work and goes to class (normally), but isn’t overly concerned about it. She’s very bright but not overly book smart. She does, however, love Transfiguration. After several years of study, Elizabeth succeeded in becoming an animagus. Its one of her proudest accomplishments, though not one she shows off.
As far as athletics, Elizabeth is a huge Quidditch fan, liking to play both at school and at home. She’s almost stupidly reckless when she flies, but it frequently gives her an advantage. Very much a team player, she isn’t reckless strategically. After all, a team victory is so much more satisfying.
History
Elizabeth Marie Ryder was born on quite a stormy night in London to William Ryder, and his wife, Catherine. After twenty-three agonizing hours of labor, Elizabeth was finally brought into the world. William judged it fit to name her accordingly to her mother's wishes.
When she was still young, but after her older brother had gone away to school, her father announced their departure from London to travel by means of a ship (he owned his own merchanting company). He was determined not to let his work come between him and his second child, the way it did his first. Every summer and holiday, however, he would take Elizabeth home to stay. Elizabeth, of course, was enthralled by this new prospect. They boarded their ship early in the morning. William II, Elizabeth’s older brother, was off at Hogwarts at this point and time, and Catherine preferred land. William Ryder had ushered his young daughter onto the ship, and set sail toward that glorious horizon. Elizabeth loved traveling with her father. It made missing her brother less painful. As she grew older, her father told her that one day she would also go to Hogwarts, and leave traveling with him behind. Though this notion was upsetting, she knew it to be true.
She was sad to leave the sea and all her traveling behind (she entered Hogwarts with more knowledge of the world than most first years) but soon discovered that she loved school (though wasn’t always good at it). There was only so much one can learn from one’s father, after all. Unfortunately, her brother left school the year after she began it, but Elizabeth did not let this deter her. She made new friends, found new adventures. She and her brother remained close, however.
Such was her life when she was in her third year at Hogwarts. Her brother was to be married, her parents had promised her she could go with her father that summer, and life in general was good. She had to rush, the day of her brother’s wedding. She had a few more finals before she could leave school, but the Headmistress had kindly allowed her to leave Hogwarts early for the summer, starting after she took her last test. She dressed on the train on her way to the wedding. As she was alone in the compartment, she missed the latest gossip in both the wizarding world and the muggle one. It wasn’t until she got to the church that she saw the devastation. Most of her family, including her parents, were dead. So was the woman she was looking forward to having as a sister. At first glance, it seemed her brother was as well. He, however, heard her cries, and got up from where he was being tended. Elizabeth rushed to him. Everyone knew to let the siblings alone in their grief.
Since then, it has just been the two of them. For a long time, Elizabeth had to be the adult in the family, Will had sunk so low. This has forced her to grow up quite a bit in a small amount of time. It might seem odd that one so young is so mature, but it is clear when you see how her home life was. She even had to see a muggle physiatrist for several months when her neighbor thought her suicidal. Between her and Professor Beckett Rhys, they managed to pull her brother out of it, and Elizabeth got to try to be a kid again. It was hard, however, so she relates more easily to older students than to her peers. Every summer, Will looses his bachelor pad, and every fall he gets it back. Just this year, Elizabeth decided she had had enough of his brooding and encouraged him to get back out there. She never imagined it be with a girl closer to her own age than to his, but her brother had started smiling again, so Elizabeth didn’t mind.
In her fifth year, however, Elizabeth began struggling quite a bit. Her infatuation with an older, married student led to fights with not only his wife, but with her brother as well. She was incredibly naïve, even though she was grown up for her age, and that winter began her first steps to see that not all the world was black and white. It took the form of a confrontation with a fellow student she believed to be “evil” that turned into a fight for both their lives when they were attacked by a manticore. So many things seemed backwards: the boy put his life on the line so that she might be safe, she performed the worst Unforgivable Curse, then lied to the Headmistress about what had happened. The line she had so believed in before had begun to fade. Unfortunately, so had the line between sanity and madness. Nightmares plagued her nightly and she was once more sent for counseling. In the spring, she had the misfortune of hearing her worst fears about herself from a person she was beginning to care for. For a while, she was angry ALL the time, but the rage eventually dimmed when she realized it was herself she was angry at. Another step in the right direction.
The summer between her fifth and sixth years was instrumental to maturing the sixteen year old. When Will found out about her romantic relationship with a kelpie and found that she was unswayed by his threats, her brother threw her out of his house, declaring that if she thought she was an adult, she could bloody well be one. Though the loss of her only family hurt her, but Elizabeth had hurt worse. Nonetheless, she returned to Hogwarts for her sixth year much subdued.
Unfortunately for the already unlucky Gryffindor, that year ended with the death of her brother, though not before the two had made amends. This threw into sharp relief how silly she had been before. Now, truly an orphan, Liz finds herself accepting positions in life that might actually bring some meaning to it.
Plot Involvement
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Personal Plot
Urg
Other Interesting Facts
O . W . L . Scores: - Care of Magical Creatures: T - Arithmancy: P - Charms: A - Herbology: A - History of Magic: A - Defense Against the Dark Arts: E - Transfiguration: O - Divination: A - Potions: P
Random Info: -->Patronus: Albatross -->Animagus: A Lark (still studying) -->Favorite Candy: Chocolate -->Favorite Animal: Any sort of bird -->Favorite Flower: Daisy -->Favorite Class: Transfiguration -->Most used spell: Lumos -->Favorite Sport: Quidditch -->Pets: Owl; Aramis -->Most beloved item: the locket her brother gave her for her seventeenth birthday -->Elizabeth has used the killing curse, though not on a human being. Nevertheless, it still bothers her. -->Elizabeth loves the rain. Its very calming -->She’s actually very ticklish, but has some how managed to bribe/threaten the few people who know that to keep it to themselves. -->Though she’ll probably deny it, Elizabeth is a romantic at heart. -->There is a soft spot in her heart for children, though she isn’t always good with them. -->Ironically, she’s allergic to lovage, so her recklessness is 100% her own. She’s also allergic to cumin. (The first is a potion ingredient in droughts that cause hotheadedness and recklessness, the second is a spice) -->Amortentia smells like the sea air, grass, and clean linen -->It isn’t uncommon for her to take a sleeping draught at go to bed at night, though she loathes doing it.
