Lavender Barrett's life began as an unfortunate tragedy. Growing up in poverty, without a father, she found solace in an unshakably close bond with the only person who mattered in her life: her Mum. They were poor, her Mum often skipped meals, and her clothes were ragged and patched, but they had each other, and that was plenty.

Until it wasn't.

Lavender was seven when her Mum married Paul, and, even though the pair seemed happy, and Lavender would now have a nice home, plenty of food, nice clothes, and an older stepsister, she often felt as if she was no longer enough for her Mum. That what they'd had was somehow not as special any longer.

Then, Paul had made the suggestion to send her to some private school that he'd attended as a boy.

That was the first crack in her behavioural dike, and a trickle of the waters of disobedience began to slip through. For the first time, the well-behaved Lavender found herself skiving lessons, pulling almost harmless pranks, and even using (by her standards) foul language. It was just past Christmas when she was finally sent home in expulsion, but it didn't last.

She was sent to another school the following year, but that wasn't all. Now she was expected to study other subjects beyond the Maths and Language Arts and Sciences. She took private piano lessons, and that year ended with not only a noticeable talent in music, but a several-thousand-pound bill for the cost of the damaged instruments and a letter of expulsion.

The next year, she found herself in another private school. Paul had decided that it would be best if she studied additional extra programmes, reasoning with her mum that free time was the enemy. Another cracked formed in the dike of her obedience.

Restlessness would only cause her to get into more trouble, he explained. Mum had accepted this logic blindly, and Lavender found herself studying piano once more, but also ballroom dancing, gymnastics, and even a traditional painting class. She learned little about dancing and gymnastics, but she did develop a talent for art. Unfortunately, the headmaster didn't recognize the talent behind the decidedly vulgar mural she painted in the hall near his office, so she found herself expelled once again.

And, at last, the next year. Her Mum was beginning to fear for her daughter's future. Lavender could see it in the woman's eyes. Despite the horrible repeat offenses, she never seemed to realize that Lavender was only acting out because she missed her mother. The older woman thought she'd failed as a parent, but Lavender knew better. It was Paul who was trying to force them apart. It was Paul who was trying to keep her all to himself.

Unfortunately, Lavender didn't have the emotional intelligence to express those feelings, so she found herself at a school that, despite apparently being designed for troubled children, still maintained a certain level of poshness and "elegance".

The behavioural dike fell apart like a pile of blocks in the path of a rampant toddler.

The instructors were said to be the best of the best for disciplining troubled children, but Lavender would always remember with pride the expression of sheer frustration on the headmistress's face when Mum came to pick her up.

When she knew her mum was beginning to reach her wit's end, that was when the letter of acceptance to Hogwarts arrived, hand-delivered by a faculty member of the school. Lavender could see the reluctance to send her away on her mum's face, and she got the feeling that if things continued this way, perhaps her mum would simply give up on the private schools. Maybe, if she was very lucky, they could even get rid of Paul.

It still hurt to see her mum so disappointed in her, though, and she couldn't pretend to herself that she didn't notice the woman's sad face when she felt Lavender wasn't looking. One way or another, it seemed, Hogwarts was going to be the last school Lavender would be sent to.

Now, Lavender was faced with a choice: continue her antics and blatant rule-breaking, or try to improve herself just a bit, if only for her mum's sake.

Lavender wasn't really aware that she'd done magic when it first happened. In fact, being only six, she hadn't thought about the occurrence at all after the fact.

Growing up poor, she'd learned early just how important it was to take good care of her nicer clothes. She had a few decently nice (that is, with no stains) outfits and a few others for playing. All it took was one reckless afternoon outside with some of the neighbour's children for a terrible rip to be made in her favorite trousers.

While an older Lavender would have welcomed a rip in her jeans just below the knee as a stylistic choice, her younger self was in no way welcoming of the damaged clothing. She was even less welcoming of the laughter that came her way from some of the other children.

"Suppose that's a week's dinner for Little Lavender, eh?" they said.

Or, "Reckon her Mum's going to need a third job now?"

Lavender would later swear to her Mum that she hadn't seen anything fall into the nearby mud puddle, but the girl would never forget the size of the splash. It was so big it could almost be called an explosion of mud.

As she remained miraculously clean from a short distance away, Lavender decided that watching the other children covered from head to toe in the filthy, muddy water was immensely satisfying.

Looking at Lavender's rebellious appearance, one might assume that she's very bratty. A delinquent. A trouble-maker. Well, to an extent, one would be right. She's certainly a trouble-maker. A delinquent, even. But strangely, despite her horrible behaviour and penchant for rule-breaking, she usually performs well in class, earning top marks and even, surprisingly, learning a thing or two.

Her behaviour amongst her peers is just as surprising. While she won't shirk from mild-to-severe vandalism, Lavender will actually go out of her way to avoid harming or causing inconveniences for her fellow students. As a result, she was quite popular at her previous private schools. Students would flock to her, with the fellow trouble-makers watching her every move with anticipation for whatever trouble she would cause the faculty next and those who stayed within the lines turning to her for tutelage.

Unfortunately, the respect she shows her classmates does not extend to her family. She is an only child by blood, but she does have an older step-sister. Lavender absolutely despises her older step-sister, her step-dad, and the stupid house in which they all live, and she's quick to show it. She doesn't speak to her step-dad, Paul, at all, and she only speaks in single words to her step-sister, Annie.

Lavender has hair that loosely represents her name. Though it was originally a very soft blond, Lavender decided to, in a fit of rebellion upon arrival at her second boarding school, have a few of her dorm-mates help her to dye it. Despite her mother being very-much-not-pleased, the woman decided to leave it be, realizing that tightening her grip would only lead to further rebellion.

Her eyes are a blue that almost resembles the crystal clear waters of a gently moving creek in the countryside, but those eyes often find themselves in a horrible glaring expression.

When she isn't in her school uniform, she prefers a punk look. Gone are the days when she would have, if money permitted, enjoyed twirling in dresses or wearing "nicer" clothes. Now, Lavender is often found in ripped skinny jeans, slobbish sweat pants, baggy t-shirts, over-sized hoodies, beanies, and, possibly most importantly, an old pair of Converse she's had for over a year that she just can't force herself to replace.