Hjördis 'Disa' von Rosen - Svaetichin Durmstrang

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Jag förstod aldrig orden som du sa Aldrig varför vi två var ett par Så medan jag väntar på ett svar Ska jag kyssa ditt hjärta i kras ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Här på mitt golv bland skärvor o glas För jag har inga mirakel Att lova nån i natt Karenina ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

age: 14
year: fourth
nationalities: Swedish and Russian
race: human
blood status: pureblood

Appearance:

Her dark hair cut abruptly below her ears, shoulders back and eyes hooded- Hjördis appears about as sharp and contemptuous as she wishes to.

She doesn't want the stares, neither those of admiration nor repulsion (though she often assumes the liberty to distribute some of the latter herself), and so she, whilst still keeping her hair and clothes as neat and spotless as she can, doesn't wear the flashy rings she can afford nor the necklaces she has inherited. Instead, when out of her Durmstrang uniform, she dresses in a plainer apparel in order to maintain an almost professional air very peculiar for a fourteen-year-old. But it's not like one of the Svaetichin family, to dress extravagantly even though they can.

Physically, Hjördis is tall (176cm) and slender. Scandinavian, Baltic and Russian features all play parts in her icy impression: her skin is pale but flushed about her cheeks and nose, and her eyes are as dark as her hair.

Personality:

Hjördis behaves much more like her father than she does her mother, and anyone who knew her family would say the same. She is silent, disdainful and proud of everything from the heritage of her two family names to her academic career, short as though it is. But she would never seek out an argument, nor offend someone with the knowledge that it would play out disorderly for her... Those kinds of things aren't worth her time.

But Hjördis is prejudiced. There's no denying that. She was born into two very old pureblood families and was raised to believe that this was something to be immensely proud of, and something that made her just that bit better than those who did not share her history. And though her heart is of course not full of hate, nor is her mind full of ideas that half-bloods or muggleborns somehow lack in talent, there is contempt.

In the company of the few people outside her family whom Hjördis can stand, she doesn't actually act very different from this. She gives up on the hostility, lets them call her Disa for the sake of their comfort, but never lets her guard down. It's got no business being down.

History:

The von Rosens are an old, prestigious and pureblood family originally from the Baltic, but that as of the 16th century has barely got a single member outside of Sweden. There, they've always lived in somewhat close proximity to the capital and its important assets in Svealand's many mansions. Hjördis' mother, Åsa von Rosen, had for example been born and raised in the middle of the Stockholm archipelago- and had had no intentions whatsoever of leaving these islands, before her eventual husband seemed to deem it a necessity to bring the social butterfly north.

So much can be expected of a Svaetichin. This family's origins remain Russian as far back as any family's origins go, and their wealth and power have much more to do with ancient riches and land than the von Rosens' successes in politics and marriage... In fact, the Svaetichin family holds politics in a very low regard. They don't believe in popularity, but rather that you're born with your value. The value of your blood.

It was an obvious thing then, to Andrei Svaetichin, that a direct result of his marrying Åsa von Rosen would be that the two moved away from such an ostentatious metropolis as Stockholm... away from the new money. When she immediately upon request refused to move all the way back to Russia with him, Andrei settled for a manor in Norrland- shielded by the kind of wild forests and waters that could remind him a bit of home.

Though Åsa definitely had been in love with Andrei (at least a little bit in the beginning), and had deemed the bragging rights that would surely follow such an arrangement as their marriage to play very well among her cousins and acquaintances- none of it seemed worth it to her once she'd moved up north. Norrland is cold, and Norrland is lonely.

But it was in this part of the country where Hjördis was born, on the twelfth of January 2006. And this girl was to grow up to yearn for no other place.

Already as a young child, Hjördis was showing much more likeness to her father than anyone else. In Swedish, she even neutralised her mother's Stockholmian accent by learning to speak slowly and malignly like him. She, too, loathed their trips to the capital, and greatly preferred the solitude of their home- far from all other settlements.

As she got older, Hjördis seemed to find the only company worth having in books. In them, she could read stories just like the fascinating ones her father or his brothers would tell her about Russia, or the many great things their family had achieved. Though she was proud of her von Rosen heritage, too, it interested her far less to learn about who married whom two centuries ago... Which is what she, quite unfairly, deemed all their history to be.

But whether she liked her isolated upbringing or not does not change this one fact: Hjördis had little to no training in interacting with other people her age, before she was sent to Durmstrang.

This isn't to say she was lacking in etiquette, of course not, but rather in that innocent and therefor welcoming nature that you need at least a little bit of in order to approach and be approached at that age... Even if she had wanted to make friends it wouldn't have been easy. She was lucky then, even though she probably didn't realise it, that Durmstrang wasn't completely without students willing to overlook such hostility in their peers. She had her names... She had the academic talents... And, as a result, she does now have people to call friends. Even though they don't matter as much to her as they could (at least, she wouldn't admit that they do), she does realise how important it is to have people to rely on- especially in a place like their school.

But she is a Svaetichin at heart, and popularity is not to be considered.

Since she first left her home for the castle, her parents have been spending more and more time in their own corners of the world. Andrei began travelling back to Russia much more frequently, and Åsa returned to her family in Stockholm for long periods of time. It's no secret, or at least it isn't a very well-kept one, that she is engaging in one or more affairs down in Svealand... But Andrei, who definitely knows of this, doesn't seem to care at all about that "disrespect" as much as his daughter does.

Though she's doing a good job of containing herself, a resentment has begun to grow within her.

On some distant, von Rosen level, it all probably broke her heart. But she kept reminding herself that love (at least the romantic kind) had never really mattered to her. That it had never played any part in her father's stories, and that her lonely mother's actions only confirmed the silliness of the whole idea... And she didn't spend time on silliness. No, that's very important.

Is she a quidditch player? No.

Translations:

Reducio

I never understood the words you said
Or why you and I were one
So while I await my answers
I'll kiss your heart in two
(On my floor, among shards and among glass)
I don't have any miracles to promise anyone tonight
Karenina

Approved

Stats:

stamina: 8
evasion: 7
strength: 3
wisdom: 11
arcane power: 8
accuracy: 8

Abilities:

Ability year 1: advanced casting

Reducio

"Effect: A reflection of inherent skill or simply hard work in studies. Spells have an increased chance of being a critical hit. +1 to the critical chance, so if a critical would be on a 20, now it would be on a 19 or a 20."

If you're not going to do something properly, then there's no point in doing it at all. That is one of the many things the young Hjördis has decided to live by, and (because of that very principle), she lives by it thoroughly. Just as she has done for the most part of her life.

For as long as the girl can remember, her father had taught her about the importance of impact- quality over quantity. Like a "make the few words you say, count"-sort of thing... He was very much himself a man of this philosophy, Andrei, and it was one of the most distinct differences there were between Hjördis' two parents: where her mother would chat, spill her heart out, and make do- her father would remain passive, closed up, and only settle for the opportunities arisen that boded him well.

And then, what went for conversation, of course also went for magic:

While neither of Disa's guardians had raised her to seek out confrontation, or to ever use her abilities recklessly, the major contributor to her attitude towards magic as a subject was, again, her father. To the both of them, magic was something sacred. It was an academic force that you were to study carefully until you knew as much about it as you possibly could... That was one very pureblood take, that differed from her Swedish family's.

In Stockholm, witches and wizards who were proud of their magical heritage would express this by making whatever item they were currently holding glitter or sing... They would throw spells all around, without knowing the least thing about them, only because they could...

Or at least, this is what Andrei Svaetichin had told his daughter. And it might be useful to remember that he didn't have a very high regard for these people.

In any case, it is this philosophy that has kept Hjördis' nose buried so deep in books for so many years now... As well as what has kept her eager to practice these spells practically, outside of classes- with her father or uncles, or even together with other students at Durmstrang before whom she felt more confident failing.

Or rather, who she knew wouldn't mind should her successes hurt them.

She and Nichlas, for example, they would practice. And he was good for practice, too, since even though she might like him- the boy embodied a certain cockiness that added to the satisfaction of hitting him would just about anything.

Especially when that something was done properly.

WC: 422 words without the ability description at the top.

permission granted to godmod Alan Vanes' NPC

Ability year 2: perfectionist

Reducio

"Effect: You have a reduced critical failure chance range by 1. In addition, you can counter up to 1 point of additional critical failure chances caused by abilities or spells (not potions)."

While it might go without saying, it is evident that Hjördis' great determination to succeed (advanced casting) has come hand in hand with her thankfully less prominent fear of failure. It's not something she ever discusses, not with anyone at all, but it would be dishonest of her not to admit that it has played an important part in fuelling her years worth of hard work. Both academically, and in the rare efforts she makes in other areas.

Failing is just not something you do. Especially not out of recklessness.

Here, at least, both of Hjördis' parents can for once agree. Because while her mother might appear soft in comparison to her husband (a comparison in which she has lived since their marriage), it's important to remember that Åsa, too, was raised within wizarding high society. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to suggest that the pressure put on the young witches and wizards in Stockholm were even harsher than those Disa's father had learned to live under in his remote parts of Russia.

Because that was the thing about political families: everyone knew everything about everyone else, and they only cared about the worst parts. You might've been born with some worth, the worth of your pure blood, but that didn't mean you couldn't easily lose it...

So then, even though Hjördis herself had lived all of her life far away from such communities in both the physical and emotional sense- the idea that shortcoming was a very shameful thing, had stayed with her through her parents, slowly manifesting itself in the girl as a hidden kind of nervousness, much like her mother's, as well as a deep wish to impress her father.

And to impress herself. Who else is there, really?

Academically, this has proven to serve Hjördis as a strong motivator to stay meticulous in her studies. There's no skimming through the details of a spell, no butchering its pronunciation, and no aimless flailing of her wrist... Only precise practice. It is what has earned her some very good marks through her schooling years, and a for her paramount yet unobtrusive reputation- one that has reached her family, and that has become that which they expect from her. That, and nothing less... And so it's also what she will be expecting from herself, now, and for many years to come. Both out of fear, and out of pride.

WC: 402 words without the ability description at the top.

Ability year 3: sixth sense

Reducio

"Effect: +2 to their awareness rolls. If a player attempts to enter a thread that you are already in, there is a 25% chance that you automatically detect them on entry."

She's always been more or less on guard, Hjördis, and has been for as long as she can remember. Every waking hour she'd allow for one eye to inspect the room, and for one ear to listen for anything out of the ordinary to occur around her... because those things rarely boded any well in her opinion, that is, the opinion of someone who didn't enjoy surprises of any kind.

Yet you shouldn't necessarily call her paranoid- the girl is just not self-interested enough to believe that the world is out to get her. But at the same time, she'd always found herself distrusting of both intentions as well as her surroundings- no matter how seemingly innocent they might be... And of course, residing in a dark castle full of ambitious and hierarchical young witches and wizards (who ranged all the way from the most recklessly impulsive to the most carefully determined)- did contribute to this.

In fact it contributed to it a lot.

Thankfully, her wariness wasn't exactly due to a great many enemies within the school, as she didn't imagine she really had any... Mostly, of course, because she thought the idea was rather childish. There were students whom she more or less loathed, that was true, but she wouldn't go out of her way to pay them any sort of unnecessary attention. Nor, she sincerely hoped, did they her.

No. Her alertness was instead something she could largely thank her own disciplined work for (not that she hadn't always been observant). It was the truth that the Durmstrang Institute taught its students about the dark ways of magic, and in some cases primarily its use in combat... Among many other things too, of course, but it was still in this light that Hjördis regarded the art. And so, in studying it, she had grown cautious and hyper-aware...

Hjördis had managed this perfection, just like she had with her spell casting, by consistently taking every chance she got to sharpen her senses by practicing out of class... Which she'd especially do together with her friend Nichlas. She'd already bettered her accuracy and the power with which she could use her magic with him, but it was when it was his turn to practice, that she had to stay viligant: Nichlas would hide and creep all through their school in order to surprise the girl, and to gain the upper hand in whatever combat his ambush would launch. Sometimes he'd make it (which proved that the boy actually could be quiet if he really wanted to), and sometimes, more and more frequently as they both had grown better, he'd fail.

Some might call this a game. Hjördis most certainly would not.

WC: 452 words without the ability description at the top.

permission granted to godmod Alan Vanes' NPC