ℭ𝔞𝔦𝔱𝔯í𝔬𝔫𝔞 𝔐𝔞𝔠𝔇𝔢𝔯𝔪𝔬𝔱𝔱 ⋆ 𝔊𝔯𝔶𝔣𝔣𝔦𝔫𝔡𝔬𝔯

Full Name: Caitríona MacDermott
Age: 11
Date of Birth: 1st March 2015
School Year: First
House: Gryffindor

Species: Dhampir

Reducio

It is a true testimony of trust when one marries a vampire. Laoise MacDermott can vouch for this. When she met Fintan O'Connor, a warm summer night in the city of London, the year 2010, she knew something was not entirely right. He was not a wizard, that was for certain, but he was not exactly a muggle. The sun had only just set when they had bumped into each other; Laoise returning to her family's vacation home, Fintan looking ready for a night in the city. There was no real reason to stay for a conversation. An apology and moving on would suffice, but they had recognised each other's accents as Irish, and as Irish people tend to do — especially in another country — they introduced themselves. Laoise's family would certainly not approve of her conversing with a man who did not appear to be magical, but there was something about him that intrigued her, and she had always been one to follow her curiosity; she had been a Ravenclaw, after all.

They agreed to meet up the next night for a drink. A dingy bar overran by muggles, yet another thing the MacDermotts would not approve of, where the drink was cheap and there was at least a semblance of privacy. They talked about everything and nothing, hitting it off incredibly well. So well that she never seemed to notice he always tended to hide from the light, sinking into the shadows so she would only catch occasional glimpses of his pale skin. He never seemed to smile, either. At the time, this did not strike Laoise as entirely odd (maybe he was just insecure?) and it was not until a few months later did the secret come out: Fintan O'Connor was a vampire.

When Laoise returned to Ireland before Fintan, they kept in contact via letters. Secretly, of course. Laoise lived in Dublin with her family, whilst Fintan lived in Cork with his. One day, after they had grown to like and trust each other, Fintan told Laoise the truth. In his letter, he explained that he did not intend to keep his vampirism a secret for so long, but he had been wary given the natural inclination of wizarding society to fear vampires. The O'Connors, many generations ago, used to be just an ordinary muggle family residing in Cork. It was not until four generations ago did vampirism enter the family via Aindriú O'Connor, who had a wild fascination with the vampire species. Of course, as a muggle, he was not aware that vampires actually existed; he had only heard of them through folklore. That is, until he one day came face to face with one. Éala, a living vampire, did not scare him, as she had expected to. Instead, Aindriú was revered by her, almost to the point of obsession. Somehow, they fell in love, and as an act of trust between the two, she performed the ritual to turn Aindriú into a vampire. It was successful, and thus the O'Connor family became a vampire coven.

They had integrated themselves well into vampire society after many years, starting with the efforts of Aindriú and Éala, and would be known as quite a respected vampire coven. Most of the O'Connors currently reside in a seemingly abandoned castle somewhere in Cork, far enough away from civilisation to not cause a scare. Anyone who happened to pass by the castle would more than likely assume it is an abandoned ruin, lost to time.

After finding this out, Laoise did not run scared. She did not scream in fear. Instead, she accepted it with grace. She already knew who he was as a person; the general opinion of vampires didn't matter to her. She thanked Fintan for trusting her, and despite knowing that this relationship would lead to her family disowning her, she stayed. They started to meet up secretly, in small towns between Dublin and Cork so both their families would be none the wiser. It was not until the spring of 2014 did the time to tell their families come around — when Laoise found out she was pregnant. Perhaps they had been too foolish. They were only in their mid 20s after all, and love can make people do foolish things. They had not fully prepared for this possibility, but had to accept it.

Both families had the expected reaction to their relationship. The MacDermotts were furious that Laoise not only went behind their back, but fell in love with a vampire of all things. A muggle would be bad enough, but Laoise seemed determined to exceed even that. They tried to demand Laoise cut off the relationship immediately and hope to any higher being that the child would not turn out like their father, but Laoise did not listen. The O'Connors, on the other hand, disapproved of Fintan falling in love with a human, because they were afraid the child would turn out to be a dhampir. It was not necessarily that they disliked Laoise, though they were wary of her. A vampire and a human could never produce a full vampire, and dhampirs were not commonly respected in vampiric society. At least there was one thing both families could agree on: they did not want the child to turn out a dhampir.

Despite protests from both families, Laoise and Fintan refused to part from each other. The road ahead would be tough, but they were determined to make it through. Even if that meant saying goodbye to the people who raised them. Knowing that neither family would come around easily, they took it upon themselves to move far away from the both of them, choosing to settle near the rural town of Clifden, in County Galway. It was beautiful and quiet, a hopefully perfect place to raise a child.

Before Laoise left her family home, her mother set her down to discuss an agreement reached between the family. If the child did turn out to be a dhampir, they would allow Laoise to bestow the MacDermott name onto her child for 'damage control', if the child were to attend Hogwarts and engage in wizarding society in the future. This would only be allowed if Laoise promised not to contact her family again, or try to make use of the wealth in their Gringotts vaults. Now, it is not that the O'Connors are necessarily infamous, and the average wizard likely would not know of them or that they were vampires, but they have been around for generations, and there is always a chance that someone, somewhere has heard rumours. Laoise agreed, understanding that this option would be best for her future child to not receive potential disdain from wizarding society.

Shortly before Caitríona was born, Laoise and Fintan eloped in a private ceremony at home, and soon after welcomed Caitríona to the world. Unfortunately, it was apparent almost immediately that what they were fearing did indeed come true: their daughter was a dhampir. Her unnaturally pale skin, almost exactly like her father's, is what gave it away. It became more apparent as Caitríona grew older. Gaps where canines should've been made room for fangs that appeared when she was hungry, angry, upset or otherwise emotional. Tears that appeared red whenever she cried, fingernails that were sharper and stronger than her mother's — there was no denying it. Her parents did not want her to be ashamed of this. Sure, she was only here because her mother had fallen in love with a vampire. She was still a person, after all. But Caitríona noticed it in the way they looked at her, even when she was young and seemingly unaware of such things. Their eyes held a mixture of sadness, guilt, and love. They still loved her, of course they did. But she could not mention being a dhampir to anyone, that was important. She shouldn't mention what her father is, or what she is. Her surname is her mother's, not her father's, to protect her. People know and respect the MacDermott family, so she must keep her dhampir side hidden. It was the only way wizarding society would accept her. Vampiric society would never accept her.

So, she learnt to be ashamed of her dhampir side. She grew up hiding it, feeling disgust towards what she was. The shame bled into resentment towards her father, eventually. It was his fault she was like this, yet he is teaching her to be ashamed. He is teaching her to hide, and it is all his fault. Caitríona MacDermott is not a dhampir, for those wondering. Why would she be?

History/Background Story:

Reducio

Caitríona MacDermott was born early on the 1st March 2015 at 3:29am. For an early spring morning, the weather was unpredictable. Rain pattered softly yet steadily on the windows outside and dark clouds obscured the natural shine of the moon, leaving the streets dark bar the occasional yellow of a streetlight. Inside, the chilly night air creeped in as Laoise MacDermott and Fintan O'Connor welcomed their baby girl into the world.

Her childhood had been a rather lonely one, growing up an only child of a pureblood mother and a vampire father in a small cottage on the outskirts of the coastal town Clifden, County Galway. She did not have many friends during her early childhood, nor many children her own age whom she could talk to. Indeed, the young girl could count on one hand the amount of friends she had had, and most of them had been imaginary or inanimate. There had been a year where she'd received a pet snake for her birthday and lovingly named it Medusa, but it had concerningly went missing one day and had yet failed to return.

It was not the upbringing most purebloods would hope for their children; there were no social events, no parties, no family gatherings, and very little interaction with their few neighbours. They were quite isolated from the rest of the community, wizards, vampires, and muggles alike. Caitríona MacDermott and her family may have been considered 'old money', and indeed there were vaults in Gringotts under the MacDermott name, but those vaults had been closed to Laoise MacDermott the moment she decided to marry Fintan O'Connor and move away from their family home.

Now, it was not as if her parents did not love her. They did. They tried very hard to give her as normal a childhood as they could manage. The location they chose to raise her in was beautiful yet secluded; the house was quaint yet cozy, and it had all the makings of a lovely family home. As her mother hailed from a traditionalist-leaning Irish pureblood family, keeping the Irish language and culture alive was incredibly important to them. Despite being estranged from the MacDermotts as a whole, it was one of the values Laoise wanted to keep and raise Caitríona with. This being so, Caitríona grew up speaking primarily Irish in her home, whilst still learning English as part of her homeschooling curricular.

The decision to homeschool Caitríona had been for the best. At first, they had debated the idea of potentially sending her to a muggle primary school in the hopes of at least giving her a sense of community and friendship, but this idea was short-lived when they realised it simply wouldn't work. Once Caitríona had come home in tears on what was otherwise a nice, sunny day, claiming that nobody wanted to talk to her and the other children had laughed at her for looking 'scary' and being 'weird', her parents knew homeschooling was the only option. From then, her parents gathered textbooks and school materials, both taking turns homeschooling Caitríona and teaching her all she would need to know for a good education.

When her Hogwarts letter arrived in the mail, it was a sort of bittersweet feeling. Hard to explain, almost. The possibility of this had been in the cards, and her parents were beyond delighted that they didn't need to worry about the 'what if' anymore, but for Caitríona... it did not spark such joy. It was more a mixture of trepidation and anger, for some reason. Perhaps it was because this would be her first experience at a school surrounded by other students, or because she did not exactly have a great track record for making friends or talking to people. Whatever the reason may be, Caitríona was not looking forward to starting her Hogwarts journey, and she was entering this upcoming school year with the awareness of someone being hunted for sport.

First Instance of Magic:

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Despite being the daughter of a pureblood, there was always an inkling of fear that she would not turn out to be magical. Indeed, as she grew older and failed to show any signs of inherent magic, the idea of her not possessing her mother's magical abilities was something her parents had slowly begun to accept.

Then, a mere week before her eleventh birthday — something happened. It had been any normal day for Caitríona, and that meant she was in her room, curtains closed, writing in one of her many diaries. On this particular day, she had been scribbling so frantically hard on the paper that the tip of the quill snapped in half, blotting ink everywhere and staining the page; making the writing unreadable. It was not the first time something like this had occurred, but it annoyed Caitríona more than usual on this day.

She snapped the book closed and launched the quill across her room, landing with a clatter under her windowsill. It was not until many hours later, after she finished sulking cross-legged on her bed, that she went to pick the quill back up and noticed something... unusual. The quill tip was intact, and there was not even the slightest sign of it having been broken.

Caitríona had decided to not tell her parents what had occurred that day, even after she realised this was likely the type of instance they were waiting on. If she really was magical, they would find out when her Hogwarts letter came. If not, at least she wouldn't disappoint them.

Physical + Mental Description:

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Physical Description: There was something about Caitríona that had always unsettled others whenever they looked upon her. Children her own age would refuse to go near her, holding tightly onto the hands of their parents as if she was something to be avoided; something from a horror tale. Even grown adults or family friends looked at her with unease, perhaps even fearing that she was something unusual.

The first thing someone may notice about Caitríona is her unnaturally pale skin, almost translucent in colour. Not just from a lack of sunlight, though that could certainly be a factor given she spends most of her time indoors, but her skin looks as if she is not entirely alive. It is uncanny, but may be chalked up to genetics, as her father notably has the same unnaturally pale pallor.

Her hair, long and naturally messy, is a dark brunette colour, though it may sometimes appear black depending on the lighting (or lack thereof). Normally, she leaves it natural and lets it drape across her shoulders, a slight mess of cascading waves. The only effort she puts into regularly maintaining her hair is styling her bangs, letting them frame her face. Otherwise, her hair is always slightly unkempt.

Caitríona's eye colour is another mystery, as some may describe them to be a unique green, hazel colour, whereas others may notice a blue tint to them. Even so, sometimes it appears that her pupils almost seem to swallow up the colour of her irises, making her eyes appear nearly entirely black.

The young girl stands at a taller than average height of 5'0" (152cm), which is really only noticeable when her mother scolds her to straighten her posture. Caitríona never seems to listen to this, though, as there is a very high chance you will come across her hunched over something. Whether she's reading a book, writing, or simply trying to shrink into herself in the hopes her existence will go unnoticed; she does not seem fond of the concept of good posture.

Another final thing to note about Caitríona's appearance is the consistent lack of a smile. She is noted to rarely smile. Not in photos, in public, or even by herself, and by miracle if she ever does; it is always only a slight upturn of the lip and never a full, showing teeth grin. Her frowning lips, sharp cheekbones, and eyes that appear to be constantly tired no matter the time of day, give others the impression that there is something perhaps tragic or melancholic about her character.

Mental Description: A weird girl, unusual, something not quite right. That is how people would describe Caitríona. That is likely because people tend to describe anything they don't understand as 'weird'. Still, it is hard to understand Caitríona because she rarely talks. She is able to, perfectly well when she chooses, but she simply chooses not to. Instead, she writes. A lot. A lot of it is nonsensical jabber, but other times it is meaningful. Though, there is no one on this earth that has access to her journals other than her. She does not let anyone — not even her parents —read them. They are all for her own eyes, and she would go to great lengths to keep it that way.

Having very little friends or opportunities to talk to people your own age growing up probably stunts your social development, even just a little bit. Caitríona does not really know how to talk to people, nor how to make friends, or what the unspoken rules of socialising are. She keeps secrets. A lot. She does not like telling anyone anything about herself, because what if they leave and take those secrets with them? It's impressive if someone manages to get even something as simple as her name out of her.

She'll lie, too, if only to protect herself. Protect herself from what? She doesn't know. People. Betrayal. Bullies. Caitríona does not see any problem with lying, no matter how big or small, and will do it as easily as taking candy from a baby whenever she sees fit. It's how she keeps herself safe.

A fan of the melancholic and unsettling, she enjoys things that others may find unusual. On the occasions she was not in her room or elsewhere in the house, she would take a trip down to the local village graveyard. Usually at night, and it was not to visit anyone, she did not have any family there. She just seemed to enjoy the silence of the site. It was almost peaceful. There was no one there except her, the night, and the ghosts. Horror books fill her shelves at home, macabre decorations are placed about her bedroom, and she even has a fondness for bugs. The creepy crawlies that get a bad reputation just because of the way they look; she'll find a place for them.