Becca Cross | First Year | Gryffindor

Full Name: Becca Cross

House: Gryffindor
Age: 11
Wand: 28,2 cm chestnut and dragon heartstring
School Year: First
Patronus: N/A
Species: Human

History/Background Story

Reducio

Becca Cross was born in the year 2012on the 17^th of June at a hospital in Cambridge, England. Her father, Hugh Cross, who was born in London, is a muggle without any magical relatives and her mother, Estella, was a witch. When Becca was barely a year old, her mother left for work one morning and never came back. Becca’s father never spoke of that morning or the months following to his daughter, nor did he ever really speak of Estella while Becca was growing up.

What Hugh did not know was that his wife, who worked in the Department of Mysteries, was attacked and killed that morning by an individual wanting to infiltrate the department. The individual was quickly discovered and apprehended before he could learn too much or cause any damage in the department. Tragically Hugh was never told of his wife's murder because Estella, afraid of discrimination, had never informed her peers or supervisors of her marriage to a muggle or her child. When she could no longer hide her pregnancy, she took a long sabbatical, and she never spoke about her personal life to her colleagues.

The only thing Hugh mentioned of those dark couple of months after Estella left was Becca’s sudden, and long-lasting, desire to always be near Hugh. She followed him around closely and rarely chose to leave his side. Any time he left her in alone in a room, Becca cried until her father came back. Sometimes, he told her, she threw awful tantrums. Other times, she found a way to get out of whatever he placed her in and ran to his side quicker than he thought possible for a child as young as she was. He laughed about those instances as retold them to his daughter, but at the time he was almost at his wit's end.

Despite her mother disappearing, Becca had a wonderful childhood full of love, patience, and knowledge. Her father is a history professor at the University of Cambridge, and is very popular with his students. He is known for always taking the time to help any student who reaches out to him for help. Because of this, Becca grew up on and around the University since her father often held long office hours, or met up with students off campus if their schedules demanded it.

Becca grew to love history as much as her father from these outings and instances. She tried to absorb every single story or fact he shared. She demanded her father teach her to read when she was around three years old, according to Hugh. When he acquiesced, she learnt very quickly. Hugh did his best to foster his daughter’s love of learning by taking her to museums, on educational trips, or teaching her age appropriate facts about history. In fact, their monthly trips to museums and galleries are some of Becca’s favorite childhood memories.

When Becca started primary school, her father encouraged her to make friends, but Becca often found herself sitting alone reading while everyone else played with each other. Until one day, when Becca saw a boy picking on a girl in her class named Danica. Becca shoved the little boy, but he did not fall and shoved her back, knocking her to the ground. Becca jumped back up and shoved him back even harder. That time he fell down, and ran away crying.

Danica and Becca were best friends from that day on, until Becca was nine years old. When Becca was nine years old, her and her father were in his home study drinking a cup of tea and talking about a book. Her father and her were disagreeing on the theme of the book. Becca gestured widely and accidentally knocked over her cup onto an old first edition copy of the book.

Becca instantly began apologizing as her father jumped up to try and save the book. When Becca picked the book up, though, it was completely dry. She stared at the book, confused and horrified, then she looked up at her dad. He had taken his glasses off and was rubbing the bridge of his nose. He gently took the book from her and sent her to the kitchen to start boiling water for another cup of tea for both of them while he finished cleaning up.

While he cleaned, the whole situation kept playing through the nine-year-old’s head. Once her father stepped inside, she bombarded him with questions about what just happened. He asked her to sit at
the table then he told her what he knew of her mother.

Estella Cross, maiden name Verne, was a witch. She had not told Hugh about her magic until after Becca was born and he caught her doing magic around the baby. From that point on, the two were constantly arguing over it. Her father looked ashamed while he told Becca of it. He explained that he had been hurt by her keeping it a secret from him for so long, but now that time had passed he understood her situation a little more.

Estella wouldn’t tell him much about her world, and he did not ask very often. The arguments were over little stuff around the house, but they stemmed from the ousted secret. The big thing, in Hugh’s opinion, was she refused to tell him about her career. He knew her work involved magic, but she didn’t tell him what she did. All she ever said was it was ‘a mystery’. Hugh felt like it was a vital piece of information for him to know, and was upset she would not tell him more.

Becca sat and listened to her father tell all of this while questions began firing in her head too fast for her to keep up. Finally, her father finished speaking and she asked him some of the questions she deemed most important. ‘Why did she keep it a secret?’ ‘How did she know she was a witch?’ ‘Where did she learn how to be a witch?’ ‘She did magic at her job?’

Hugh, though, didn’t have any answers for his daughter. He went into his room and grabbed a large trunk out of it. Inside, there were several books on potions, charms, spells, and theories. There was also a children’s book in it, a cloak, some quills, parchment, and some other bits and bobs Becca didn’t recognize. Lastly, there was a small, locked box in it.

Hugh told Becca she could have it all, but he warned her that she might not find the answers she was looking for in any of it. Becca took it all to her room and began pouring over the books, but they were too difficult to understand. A few weeks later, Becca gave up on trying to understand these advanced books. Instead, she went to all the bookshops and libraries in the area, and read every book on wiccan witchcraft, the occult, and magic she could find.

Over the next two years she became obsessed with it, but she never tried to do anything with her own magic. Occasionally, when she was overtired or overly frustrated, something might have happened she could not explain. She mostly ignored that, though. She was slightly afraid of her magic and the idea she may never be able to control it. In some of her books, she read the practice was passed down from parent to child, and her mother was gone. How could she teach Becca about it?

Becca became so obsessed with finding answers, she started ignoring Danica and, to a lesser extent, her father. By her tenth birthday, it had been months since she spoke to her best friend or anyone her age outside of mandatory group projects at school. Her father tried to force her to talk to people, but when he was too pushy, she locked herself in her room. By Christmas of that year, her father and her weren’t speaking to each other very often as Becca constantly shut herself inside her room.

When a knock sounded on the door to her flat the summer when she turned eleven, she answered it as her father was grading papers. It was a stranger, but they knew her. Becca instantly realized that it had something to do with her magic. She listened, fascinated, as the professor spoke of Hogwarts, Diagon Alley, and the magical world. She tried to keep her questions at a minimum as she didn’t want to come across as clueless to her future professor, but it was very difficult.

The next day, her and her father went to London and then to Diagon Alley, using the entrance the professor told them about. Becca excitedly went to Ollivanders first and got her wand, then to Flourish and Blotts for her books. The rest of the trip, all Becca could think about was her books. She noted the casual magic being done in the Alley and was amazed, but it was all a temporary distraction for her.

Once they got home, Becca instantly took her new books to her room and began pouring over them. Finally, the magic was beginning to make sense. Becca spent the rest of the summer reading over her new textbooks and two other books her father let her buy. Her father tried to coax her out to spend time with him, but she never wanted to leave her books.

On the 31^st of August, Becca realized she was leaving her father the next day. For the first time in her life, she was going to be apart from him for longer than a weekend, and she had missed the entire summer leading up to it. That morning she cooked breakfast and told him she wanted to go to a museum with him. He was very happy to spend the entire day with her.

The next morning, they loaded up their car and drove to London. Her and her father spent the entire trip in silence as neither knew what to say. They said their goodbyes on the platform, and Becca boarded the train for Hogwarts. She was excited to finally find the answers to all her questions about the magical world.

Hogwarts History

Reducio

On the 1^st of September, Becca Cross was sorted into Gryffindor.

Personality

Reducio

Becca is a quiet and observant child who loves to learn. Since childhood, she has been obsessed with knights and wanted to act like one. This has led to her jumping into situations without enough thought to consequences if she saw someone/something in distress. However, she can become too obsessed with something and forget to connect to the people around her.

Appearance

Reducio

Becca is a tall girl, around 152 cm, with freckles across the bridge of her nose and cheeks. She is slightly chubby, which makes her a little insecure. She has straight, long, brown hair that she usually wears up. When not in her uniform, she prefers to wear a t-shirt with jeans. She always has her school bag with her, which is a shoulder, messenger bag made from faux, brown leather.