Izîl Izri Uagadou

Name: Izîl Izri

School: Uagadou

Year: Fourth

Status: Pureblood

Appearance: Izîl is a slender, quick girl. Her face is heart shaped and her nose and lips are thin. It is her eyes that draw you to her, though, for they are dark and her gaze is deep and penetrating. She keeps her dark hair long and often tied back out of the way. Izîl also wears three tattoos on her face, two small symbols on each cheekbone and one above the bridge of her nose. She might give you an annoyed look if you inquire too deeply too soon. The practice of tattooing girls with ink and needles is ancient in Berber culture and tattoos are sometimes referred to as ouchem which means a marking or jedwel which are protective symbols. Izîl wears the ghemaza between her eyebrows, but not the siyâla which is worn on the chin. Not many young women wear ouchem any more, particularly among the non-magiques. Izîl received hers when she was eleven. In times past, Berber women would continue to tattoo themselves all over their bodies with complex designs. Izîl has not yet decided if any future ouchem will be permanent tattoos or henna, which is now a more common practice among the non-magique.

Personality: Izîl is the quintessence of the retiring personality. She will observe and calculate until she is certain that the object of her gaze is trustworthy. Once her trust is gained, Izîl will prove to be a strong ally and, perhaps, even a good friend. She does enjoy all kinds of games and sports, and it is in this arena that you might just catch a fleeting smile!

History: Izîl is a girl of the Free People, the Imazighen, or Berbers, of northern Africa. She is a pure blooded girl, born in Algeria, though currently lives with her grandmother's family in Morocco. It was here, in the Ourika valley of the beautiful Atlas Mountains, that Izîl's story really starts. The village she comes from looks no different than the ordinary Berber villages around: squarish houses made from stone and block, flat roofed and overlooking verdant terraces all whilst overlooked by the snowy heights of the high mountains beyond.

Her mother and father died during a duel when Izîl was seven and she was brought to Morocco by her mother's mother. It was on that day that she showed her magic. After the duel, the victors entered her parents' house and found nothing of note so they left. However, when her grandmother arrived, she found Izîl in the main room, playing with some flowers and a small book. When asked, the girl said: "Men came in shouting. They stood right there on the edge of the carpet. They were looking for something. They said it was blue. I was scared and didn't want to be seen. They couldn't see me, even though they were looking at me. I laughed and wasn't scared anymore! Then they left."

In that instant, her grandmother packed all of the carpets and books and other things into a small bag. She told the girl that they were bad men, rivals to her artefact dealer father. She impressed upon the girl that it was vitally important to remember the men's faces. In case they ever met again and she had to --- defend herself. Izîl was impressed. Her mother rarely used magic, but her father did. She asked how this magic was done, and grandmother told her that she would learn at a place called Uagadou. Then they left and Izîl never saw Algeria again.

In Ourika, Izîl met her cousins, the children of her mother's sister. They looked different from her, and they told her that their father was an English wizard who came to Morocco. They told her all about the English game of quidditch and other strange things from other parts of the world, and Izîl soaked up all of this new knowledge. Likewise, she taught them about life in Algeria. Outside of her new home, Izîl remained curiously shy. Except when it came to games, then she opened up!

As Izîl and her cousins grew up, first they, then she herself, received the dream token from the far away school of Uagadou. Her older cousins taught her the Swahili language that was used at the school --- it was so different from the Tamazight language they spoke at home! And soon, she at last received a curious dream and awoke to find an inscribed stone in her left hand. Upon it was carved a most curious symbol. All of Izîl's cousins --- now her sisters and brothers, really --- mother, father and grandmother were excited and curious about her token.

Izîl chose for her grandmother --- her greatest guardian and first teacher --- to go out in the moonlight to accept her invitation to Uagadou.