Jayden Holt ❖ 7th Year ❖ Wampus Ilvermorny

⌖ M.O.M. FILE ⌖

1. Wizard Name: Jayden Holt

2. Animal: Gray Wolf (Canis lupus)

3. Description: Slightly larger than the average female: 31 inches (2’7”) tall at the shoulders, 50 inches (4’2”) long from nose to rump, with a 16-inch (1’4”) long tail, and weighing about 80 pounds. Her fur is a milky brown color, tinged with dark ashen brown on her dorsal side, with faded white undersides. Her eyes are a deep golden yellow.

4. Distinctive Marking: A bright scarlet red band of fur around her neck. In Human form, it is an intricate tribal tattoo painted with magical ink that wraps around Jayden’s collarbone and the back of her shoulders. In wolf form, the pattern is mottled, covered with fur, and glows a fiery yellow-orange-pink color in the dark (does NOT glow in Human form).

Animagus Form Stats

Size: Medium [0]

Skills: Claws [1], Bite [1]

Stat Allocation: [40]: Wisdom 9 ⟡ Stamina 10 ⟡ Strength 7 ⟡ Accuracy 9 ⟡ Evasion 5

Total Points Used: 10

Explanation: Wolves have teeth (bite) and claws. Higher stamina, wisdom and accuracy as they are chase predators and strategic ambush hunters.

Year 1 ❖ Perfectionist

Reducio

It all started with upbringing, and perhaps ran a little in the genes as well. Nature or nurture, Jayden had been imprinted with ideals of perfectionism since she was a toddler. Not so much by her own parents, but from relatives and extended members of the Holt and Speirs clans - particularly those of elite and upper-class circles - who saw it best to educate Jayden in all refined, classy, and “respectable” aspects of pure-blood wizarding society. Table etiquette, ballroom dancing, attire, and tactfulness of speech… Not a step, frill, or hair out of place. With these rigorous lessons came the instillation of self-discipline, as well as the more inspiring notion that one could become anything so long as they set their mind to it. Practice did make perfect, after all.

Her parents, while more lenient and less demanding of what their daughter ought to pursue for her future, never failed to stress the importance a clean room (for “A clear space is a clear mind”, and the road to perfectionism first began with tidying up one’s quarters), along with high grades - once Jayden arrived at Ilvermorny - for nothing short of excellence would guarantee to unlock as many doors as possible for Jayden’s future, even if she never opened any of them, at least the opportunities would always be there for her to consider later on.

Unfortunately, the boring and monotonous task of reading and writing - the basis upon which academic success was hinged - did not come so easily enticing. Jayden was a stubborn physical learner, to no fault of her own genetics. Yet she was determined to succeed, and to make her parents proud. Through many tutors (some begged for, others bribed for), and though it often took twice as long for her to absorb words on paper, Jayden forced herself to “enjoy” studying and achieve high marks. Being a perfectionist in the academic sense did not come natural at first, but through hard work and self-discipline, Jayden adopted the mentality and accomplished that which she set her goals on. And with her newfound reputation to keep as being a “smart” student, all the more pushed Jayden to reach the top of her class.

Hands-on activity, however, was a different story. Books could only achieve so much, and luckily were not so important in the long run, compared to one’s skill with a wand.

That was where Jayden’s perfectionism really came into play.

Year 2 ❖ Perfectionist 2

Reducio

Feeling the instant spark of connection flow through her from her wand, was a moment long dreamed of by Jayden, the day she arrived at Ilvermorny at the start of her first year. All Jayden wanted to do at school was practice spells, excelling at Charms and DADA right off the bat, as far as the actual performance of spells was concerned. While Jayden only devoted enough time to books in order to “get by” with acing the next assignment, pop-quiz or test, words on paper hardly registered in her mind long-term, not without some physical accompaniment to sear it into memory. She was a true tactile learner, enrapt by the grandeur of spellcasting. Books were all fluff. Spells were real substance, not only in which all the fun was to be had, but the only thing one could depend on to save their life when facing an enemy. Nothing excited Jayden more than to put her spell work to the test, to hone her skill with the wand and build up practical experience. Books, she could force herself to endure, but spellcasting was where Jayden’s zeal for learning truly lied.

Dueling was to prepare her for those worst case scenarios, an activity that her parents strongly encouraged, and which Jayden felt immediately drawn to participate in. No surprise, considering both of her parents and a majority of the Holt and Speirs clans were also Wampuses, many of them pursuing Auror careers in light of their potential. Living up to the “warrior” stereotype of her House, Jayden found thrill in the Dueling arena and dedicated herself to the sport. Whenever she wasn’t occupied with schoolwork, Jayden would train in the Dueling ring every chance she got. Winning was always the goal. Still, it was only practice, no matter how heated and competitive the matches got. Jayden wasn’t a sore loser, nor did she boast about her victories. Rather, she viewed Dueling as a chance to teach and to learn from others. If she failed a match, Jayden bore no shame in asking the winner for lessons on their strategy. Regardless of House or blood status, wizardkind was a team (according to the “traitorous” beliefs of her parents). In fairness of teamwork, Jayden wouldn’t withhold from sharing her own Dueling techniques with her competitors as well, despite being aware of every Duelist’s underlying motive to one day use an opponents’ techniques against them. All the more, this prompted Jayden to stay on top of her game, to perfect every spell and constantly strive for better, keeping one step ahead of her opponents.

Year 3 ❖ Fearless

Reducio

Fear of heights was never an obstacle for Jayden, growing up in the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming. Part of her family’s house was built along the side of a steep mountain cliff. Poking her head perilously out of a window or over a balcony, Jayden could stare down from the miles-long sheer drop, admiring the beauty of the valley below, without feeling a heart drop in her chest. Not as dangerous as riding a creature with a mind of its own, from the same height in mid-air. Jayden was on the back of a hippogriff before she could walk, wrapped in the protective arm of her father for her first joyride through the sky. Freedom and bliss. The caress of wind brought smiles and giggles to the infant’s face, unfazed by the reality of falling distance below her. Riding hippogriffs and winged horses proved to be Jayden’s introductory course in mounting a broom for the first time at Ilvermorny, which she adjusted fairly quickly to. At least brooms didn’t have half so much a mind of their own. Aside from Charms and DADA, Flying became second nature to her, though Quidditch didn’t call so much to her competitive interests than Dueling.

There was no shortage of adventures and dangers to be found in the remote wilderness surrounding the Holts’ homestead. Both magical and non-magical alike lurked in the woods, requiring no small amount of bravery for Jayden to step in and protect her loved ones from an attacker. From an early age, Jayden learned to mask her fear in tending to the family’s menagerie of magical creatures. Animals often reflected a person’s emotions, and a calm and quiet mind was necessary to be able to tame and handle most of them. Hippogriffs and winged horses of note.

It wasn’t until she stepped foot in the Dueling ring that Jayden really learned how to control her fear. Where fortitude and mental strength was put to the test, in a battle of wands. Stage fright was easier to overcome than her opponents, who came in all walks of life (some more naturally intimidating than others). Over time, Jayden learned to hone her focus and sharpen her concentration to a spear, in order to pierce the veil of illusion of fear intended to distract her. Even if it was “only a game”, Dueling was preparation for the real-world thing. Jayden wouldn’t allow any fear to get the best of her, in learning to stand strong on her own.

Year 4 ❖ Blindvision

Reducio

"Yeah, right," Jayden scoffed, stuffing her precious few belongings in the leather drawstring bag to be slung over her shoulder in the morning when she left her grandparents' New York apartment for the summer in Wyoming. At the end of her first year, she had already made a friend and house guest of Hadrian Zuheir, whose ego had bluffed the skills and moxie to "vacation" with her, to which she sneered. "You wouldn't last a day without a toilet and a mirror. And a wand."

It was a challenge she led by example, wand forgotten within the folds of her deerskin dress as she stood at the threshold of the secret entryway, the dim interior light of the cabin against her back, lapping at the wall of abyss before her.

"Scared of a little dark?" Pearly whites flashed, detecting a twinge of apprehension from Hadrian beside her. Moccasins padded their way silently as she stepped forward, enveloping her in shadow. "Need me to hold your hand?" Her chuckle echoed, transitioning from wood to stone. "Relax." She teased, body disconnected, separated by a veil of pitch black. "It's only one way, you know."

If Hadrian thought it couldn't get any worse, being in a dingy old cabin, boy had he been in for a shock when he realized that wasn't where he'd be sleeping tonight.

"Don't be a wimp," Mr. Zuheir stated flatly, before taking the portkey himself to the end destination. Thus marked the start of "boot camp" for his eldest son.

Twenty miles was a hop, skip, and a jump away – provided Hadrian's whining and heavy feet didn't give her a migraine and slow them down.

"Shut up, keep up, or I'll leave you!" She growled irritably.

Stripped of his own wand, at the dictation of his father, Hadrian didn't really have a choice but to follow, unless if he wanted to permanently stay entombed in here.

She knew the main highways like the back of her hand, those tunnels that made up the Village labyrinth. Calling the whole thing a "house" was an understatement, though the complex of caves and cabins was communally inhabited and Jayden referred to it all ambiguously as such. Since toddlerhood, her hands and feet had felt over every pebble and crevice in the tunnel that connected her family's cabin to the Village proper, until she no longer relied on torchlight to navigate each bend, legs measuring out each pace with a preprogrammed sense of direction, and fingertips brushing the air and stone where instinct wavered, after a whole school year since she last trod this path.

Her eyes adjusted swiftly to the familiar dark she had been accustomed to since her youth, imprinted by the Village. Owing to her Fearless nature, she and other children had made a perilous game of who could venture the farthest from the beaten paths, deeper into the belly of the mountain, where ghost stories abounded of those who had wandered off and disappeared, never to be seen again. Magic was not a crutch for the Villagers to lean on at the slightest discomfort. Neither was fire, for sight. Mother Nature knew best, as it had taught her ancestors to embrace the elements around them. Darkness included. Whether it be under a moonlit sky or in the shadowy depths of a cavern, Darkness was not something Jayden craved, but a force she learned to work with, to respect, to accept, and to be prepared for.

Darkness taught her to be calm, first of all. To be stripped of sight, panic and irrational fear of the unknown lurking within the shadows were the first to sink in, paralyze and disorient a victim, and the first she learned to gain control of. Once fear of the dark was conquered, a clear mind could focus on honing the other senses. Not just the immediate hearing, smell and touch, for even those could be deceiving. Whether she be blinded by rain, fog, snow, mud, or underwater depths, trust your instincts was the most difficult to master, bolstered by a heightened awareness to her surroundings, sharpening a photographic memory to her terrain and whereabouts, so in the blink of an eye, whenever the light switched off or weather shifted, she would be able to map her way forward or retrace her steps. Or at least not have a mental breakdown in the middle of wherever she was.

A skill which followed her to the New York City nightlife, and the Dueling arena beyond…

Darkness. The great even playing field. For the world would not be so full of greed in lust for the visual, if everyone were blind. She and Hadrian were simply two lonely souls in the void as she kept up a steady pace, Hadrian calling out every minute or so to complain, if not to keep track of where she was in front of him.

Until the faint orange glow of torchlight appeared over the slope; the ache in her feet nothing compared to her relief that they had made it to the Village just in time for supper.

"We're here," she breathed.

She couldn't wait to show Hadrian the sunrise view from the summits in the morning. If she could drag him out of bed, that was.

Year 6 ❖ Nonverbal

Reducio

Nonverbal spells weren’t something formally taught at Ilvermorny until a student’s later years, around fifth or sixth year. Being in the Duelling Club, however, gave Jayden a tremendous head start, joining the club in her first year. Her first few duels caught the attention of a particular clique of duellists, members of the Duelling Club impressed by Jayden’s skill, and took her under their mentorship wing. Secretly, they would meet in rooms for training and mock duels, specializing in nonverbal magic that made Jayden envious in awe. Duelling was meant to prepare oneself for real life combat after all, they reasoned. Nonverbal magic was one of those essential survival tools to gain the element of surprise over one’s opponent. So long as she didn’t flaunt it during any official duels, in front of any professors or prefects, Jayden didn’t see anything wrong with some “extra learning” and getting herself ahead of the game.

She started on training dummies, practicing duelling spells, which at first seemed to hit everything and everyone but her intended target, if she could even convince her wand to work in the first place. The older year students were helpful, giving her tips and tricks to hone her wand movements and concentration in silent spellcasting. Perhaps the flexibility of a first year child’s brain was too “chaotic” for nonverbal magic, compared to a more mature sixth year’s, taking a few years longer for her magic to stabilize and rewire itself. Once those neural connections sank in however, they held firm, stronger and faster than if she had started later, Jayden believed.

It took her a couple of years to get the hang of it and be deemed “safe” enough for her duelling clique to finally allow her to practice on live dummies–fellow students–in an unsanctioned training arena. By the time the school’s curriculum rolled around for Jayden and her class to actually learn about nonverbal magic, she was able to cast it without nearly as much difficulty and concentration as her classmates. What she might snobbily chalk up to genes or pure-blood giftedness, at the time, so as to not squeal on her duelling clique, masking the depths of her ability in front of others at school. Indeed, perhaps the affinity for nonverbal magic did run in the blood as well, no shortage of inspiration in Jayden’s own wizarding family, parents and grandparents, to motivate her to mimic their nonverbal and wandless spells in the household. T’was all simply a part of growing up, in her journey towards refinement.

NOTABLE POSSESSIONS
wand • violin

FAMILY

• Jason Holt (father)
  • Jaxon Holt (grandfather)
    • Desmond Holt (great-grandfather)
  • Doris Holt (grandmother)
  • Leslie Holt (uncle)
  • Gareth Holt (uncle)
• Evelyn Holt (mother)
• Forrest Holt (brother)
• Albin Eslinger (distant relative)
• War Cloud (ancestor)
• Sun Wolf (ancestor)

RESIDENCES

• Eslinger farm (2006-2017, 2021-2023) – Jayden's early home
• Holt apartment (2017-2021, 2023-present) – Jayden’s place of residence during her Ilvermorny years

EDUCATION

• Sun Wolf Village (2012-2017, 2021-2023) – Jayden's hometown, where magical homeschooling was the norm

‘21i

MAY 30i The Making of a Cupid | Hogwarts Campgrounds | Amaya Haddock ∙ Hadrian Zuheir
MAY 29i Blossom Ball - Trial of Apollo | Hogwarts Grounds | solo
MAY 29i Blossom Ball - Trial of Persephone | Hogwarts Grounds | solo
MAY 29i Blossom Ball - Trial of Hermes | Hogwarts Grounds | solo
MAY 29i Blossom Ball - Trial of Orpheus | Hogwarts Courtyard | solo
MAY 29i Blossom Ball - Trial of Hecate | Hogwarts Courtyard | solo
MAY 29i Blossom Ball - Trial of Hades | Hogwarts Courtyard | solo
MAY 29i Blossom Ball - Underworld | Hogwarts Courtyard | Hadrian Zuheir ∙ Evelynn Decipio
MAY 21i Arrival | Hogwarts Great Hall | Espen Kvalheim

Hogwarts: May 21 – Jun 11

‘20i

OCT 16i The Fall Ball (The Hunt) | Hogwarts Corridors | Kara Capricorn ∙ Sapphire Riddle ∙ Henry Knight
OCT 16i The Fall Ball (Masquerade) | Hogwarts Ballroom | Thomas Baines ∙ August Henry ∙ Callie Jensen ∙ Hadrian Zuheir
OCT 10i Interschool Race | Hogwarts Flying | Damion White
OCT 09ii Sensational | Hogwarts Grounds | Karilyna Kawahara ∙ Phylicia Stanwood ∙ August Henry ∙ Gregorí Erkens ∙ Andrew Lycan ∙ Kit Paine

Hogwarts: Oct 09 – Nov 01

violin

An old and worn-looking violin, a soulful reminder of her hometown, handed down to Jayden from Albin Eslinger. Most of the tunes she plays are bluegrass and fiddle music.

Jason Holt
father · 07.29.1979–05.28.2023♰ · 6’0” · pure-blood · Auror
faceclaim ◆ Matthew Settle

Ilvermorny (Wampus) graduate. New York City native, born into a lowly "working class" pure-blood family, as the first child of Jaxon and Doris Holt. An invitation from long lost relatives drew Jason and his expectant wife Evelyn to Sun Wolf Village in the summer of 2006 for a family reunion, which persuaded them to raise their children there, much to his parents' protest. His firstborn became the apple of his eye, Jayden following him wherever he went, being the more playful, relaxed and sympathetic parent, gentle yet firm. He and Jayden bonded over a lot of rough, outdoorsy activities, sometimes to Evelyn's distress over their thrill-seeking adventures.

Evelyn (née Speirs) Holt
mother · 03.08.1977–05.28.2023♰ · 5’6” · pure-blood · Auror
faceclaim ◆ Indiana Evans

Ilvermorny (Wampus) graduate. Her upbringing was that of privilege in the suburbs of Niskayuna, New York. The black sheep of a white picket fence family, Evelyn's old soul never cared to keep up with the Joneses, so she shed her inheritance for "something more" within the grit and sweat of her career and the calm of a small, homely circle of in-laws, upon marrying Jason. Anxiety in tending her children the individual care and discipline she felt she lacked as a child of eight, attributed to her fierce nurturing and protectiveness as a mother, portraying the more serious and domestic role in raising Jayden.

She is the fifth of eight children born to Walter and Darla Speirs: Tiffany, Victor, Justin, Marilou, Sabrina, Darrell, and Richard. She has a rich and posh aunt in New York whom Jayden is also acquainted with.

Forrest Holt
brother · 11.16.2014 · pure-blood

Jaxon Holt
paternal grandfather · 02.20.1950 · 6’1” · pure-blood · NYPD detective (Auror)
faceclaim ◆ Tom Welling

Ilvermorny (Wampus) graduate. A licensed Auror, Jaxon uses his NYPD cover to help MACUSA investigate supernatural phenomena and protect the wizarding and No-Maj communities from each other. Wary of cultism, he snubs the Sun Wolf Village's efforts to reconnect his side of the Holts with the Warcloud-Eslinger family tree. Dismayed by his son and daughter-in-law's decision to sacrifice city comfort and closeness of family for the Village's "uncivilized" way of life, Jaxon is no less a concerned father and grandfather, to guide and protect his own. He lives with his wife, Doris, in New York.

Born to Desmond and Jacqueline Holt. His only sibling, younger sister and Squib, Marjorie, was swayed to marry into the Warcloud family – her daughter marrying the great-great-grandson of Albin Eslinger.

Doris Holt
paternal grandmother · 09.03.1953 · 5’8” · pure-blood · chef
faceclaim ◆ Kate Beckinsale

Ilvermorny (Thunderbird) graduate. Born in New Jersey, Doris grew up helping her parents run their family-owned diner, instilling her love of cooking. After graduating from Ilvermorny, she went on to finish culinary school in New York, where she began married life with Jaxon, alongside her culinary venture. From restaurants to catering to private clients, she earned her own small fortune to indulge herself and her family the finer things in life, supplying their home of her dreams on Roosevelt Island. Her work hours lessened once she became a mother, then grandmother, savoring the role of housewife and socialite in her senior years.

She and Jaxon have three children together: Jason, Leslie, and Gareth.