Emily Shephard | Fourth Year | Hufflepuff

Portkey:
Statistics and Abilities -
Student ID - Relationships - Family - Personality - Emily's Soundtrack - Over The Years - Character Inspirations - Wand - Threads
Spells and Potions

Full Name: Emily Shephard
House: Hufflepuff
Age: 14
Wand: 28,3 cm aspen wood and phoenix feather
School Year: Second Year
Species: Human

History/Background Story:

Before Hogwarts:

Reducio

Emily was born on 8th September 2011 to a pure muggle family; her mother Patricia and her father Arthur. Emily is also the grandchild of Isaac and Loretta Pond (her mother's parents) and Markus and Thea Shephard (her father's parents). Thea unfortunately passed away due to cancer when Arthur left Secondary school at age 18 and once he left for university, Markus became estranged and later disappeared. Isaac and Loretta's whereabouts are also currently unknown as Patricia has hinted in the past that relations broke down between her and her parents before Emily was born .
Patricia and Arthur both met in primary school as childhood friends and slowly fell in love over the course of their teen years. They got married after graduating from the same university together before eventually moving to Belfast where Emily was born - however due to their sudden workload in their newfound careers they needed someone to look after her in their stead.
With Patricia's parents and Arthur's father unavailable, Emily grew up in Belfast primarily under the care of Nora Russell, a former primary school teacher who took the job of looking after her ever since Emily was just two years old, while her parents spent long periods of time away from home due to their demanding work (her mother as a fashion designer, her father as an economic businessman). Her mother would be home once a week while her father would visit on very few occasions. Despite the family being well-off as a result of their work, neither her parents nor Emily herself boast about wealth or family expectations, instead focusing more on passion and following their hard-earn dreams - even if that meant Emily's parents being far from home to properly spend time with her much of the year, each year. Emily thrived both at home and in primary school, though while she had a good mix of friends there was some strain between her and some other of her classmates over her rather well-off background. In spite of that however, Emily grew up to be a compassionate individual, although her parents' extended absence had left her feeling somewhat neglected by them, instead finding parental love with Nora and affectionately calling her "Auntie" to both honour her position as a "nanny" of sorts as well as the fact that as far as Emily was concerned, she was a part of her family too. Emily's parents own a second residence in London where they once resided in as flatmates while they were still at university before Emily was born but has since become a "work space" for whenever either of them need it.
While they've been gone however, Emily has grown up kind, caring, humble and incredibly bookish, finding joy in reading, research and getting in touch with nature, developing an inquisitive mind and becoming an avid thinker.

She encountered her first instance of magic when she was 10, where at school she one day her emotions boiled over after she got picked on by some kids at school because of her parents' absence. A sudden outburst of frustration caused a nearby mirror to shatter to pieces without anyone getting hurt. She received her letter to Hogwarts not long afterwards.

THE STORY (SO FAR...)

First Year

Reducio

After being sorted into Hufflepuff, Emily quickly settled into her new life at Hogwarts. As an avid reader, she spent most of her time reading in the library, borrowing books for revision as her lack of knowledge of the Wizarding World made her feel like she was behind everyone else. However, she found she was able to catch on with lessons quite quickly and her revision slowly evolved into one of pleasure. Over the course of her time at Hogwarts, she'd made a close friendship with the Ravenclaw boy (Emmanuel Bourne), a Gryffindor Dhampir (Scout Fu-Hai), a friend within Hufflepuff (Sarah Sailor) and many other acquaintances in Slytherin. In her lessons so far, she'd received near top grades for nearly most of the homework she had received marks for so far.

However the year itself was a slow and quiet one. Naturally so, with Emily's persistence for knowledge keeping her independent and seldom getting into shenanigans. That would all change when her curiosity would bubble over and the true story would begin.

At some point during the year she managed to conduct a way to carefully sneak into Hogsmeade and by chance, she got her hands on a unique cloak. This cloak helped her sneak into the forest but upon her first journey she fled in fear, the dark aura of the environment just too much for her.
Stuck in a depressed rut for a few weeks after, Emily began having doubts about herself as both a witch and a person. Her common sense, goals, desires and knowledge clashing, Emily was on the brink of giving up though after some encouragement from her critters among nature, as well as some new friends she made along the way - most notably AngelFyre McCubbin - Emily regains confidence and sets back out into the forest late one evening, her courage restored. With the success of this trip and Emily's feelings finally clear, she comes to terms with her fascination with dark and magical creatures and resorts to wanting to know more... Merely so she could be their friend as the soft and gentle soul she is.

This is called into question however when Emily stumbles upon Evelynn Decipio's gathering to discuss ways to better safeguard the school after multiple instances of students getting targeted and attacked by magical creatures and each other. One such instance has AngelFyre recount an attack during a school event she was present for where her friend (Colin McCoire) and his first year cousin (at the time) were targeted. Initially distraught and upset that such instances have happened - more so when Hogwarts allegedly tries to hide these events - and at first fearing what she wishes to achieve was an unattainable goal, Emily solidifies her resolve and promises to remove the stains of immorality from these creatures by hoping to ally with them instead, thus ensuring the safety and peace for both magical beings and humans.

While her trips to the Forbidden Forest were limited during the final stretch of the school year, she had a chance encounter with Colin McCoire himself - after he barged his way accidentally into Emily and Scout in the corridors. While Scout was busy giving lip to him and his twin brother who was also present, Emily was shocked to have bumped into the boy who was rumoured to have experienced such pain as AngelFyre had explained before. Since then, Emily has kept the numerous rumours about dark magic in the school in the back of her head, something which would come in handy when she would return next year.

On the night before she was due to be on the train ride home at the end of the year however, she made one last journey into the forest to make peace with all she had to face in its vast darkness. It's on this night that she felt the unsettling presence of something... Hiding behind a tree she observes an unknown individual hobbling past her. Though she made it out undetected and unscathed, the mystery of who had been wandering about the forest had her return early the next morning to find them long gone from the scene. The only clue left behind was a bit of bloodied fabric, which Emily kept. The mystery of this man stayed with her throughout the holidays.

Upon returning home at the end of the academic year, Emily reunited with "Auntie" only now struggling to balance her muggle life with her wizard life away from home.

Summer 2024, Emily encounters Casey Stone, a wizard-born boy attending Ilvermorny School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Initially thrilled that she has met someone in her Muggle town who is aware of the Wizarding World, their first encounter is a turbulent one, with Casey being cold and hostile towards her while she tries to befriend him - resulting in an antagonistic relationship.

This relationship soured further when Scout picked a fight with Casey, resulting in the boy getting hit with a Knockback Jinx, a rift now between him and Emily. As the weeks at summer camp progress, there is silent communication between them until Emily helps Casey after he gets in an accident. Finally realising how harmless her intentions are Casey asks to meet her where he confesses his grief and circumstances about his brother. After gaining his trust Emily and Casey bond, the two of them sharing intimate parts about themselves and their lives - including Casey's ambition to find his brother himself and Emily's goal to remove the divide between half humans and wizards. Though sceptical of her ambition, Casey nevertheless reassures his backing to her plans. During the summer when they exchange letters, Emily offers her assistance to help find Casey's brother as a sense of obligation after all they've been through. She also tells him about the night she saw the man in the forest, with Casey looking into the origins of the fabric she found to help her in turn.

Second Year

Reducio

Returning to her second year at Hogwarts, Emily immediately gets to work on her research into magical beings and rumours of tragic incidents involving said creatures. The desire to know more and her frivolous investigations cause her to burn out frequently, especially when schoolwork is added to the mix.

In the middle of all this, Emily begins to develop deeper friendships with her peers; she patches things up with Ava Winchect, uncovers Colin's secret bench in the dungeons, rides with Aston Beckett on the train ride back for the new term and of course spends every chance she gets with Scout - whom seemed to become unexpectedly insecure in recent times. Emily then learns that she and Zyair (a student at Uagadou and summer camp goer) had been bonding in the background and wishes to admit her vampirism to him, something that concerns but also piques Emily's hopes that magical beings and humans can be comfortable with one another, despite the obvious social risks.

Another uplift in motivation comes when the Head of Ravenclaw, Professor Marcus Iwasaki, admits in front of the student body that he himself is a werewolf. This unexpected revelation further boosts Emily's hopes and optimism that there's no need for such a divide and disdain for magical beings; if magical beings are already bonding with human students and teachers, then Emily just knew she could spread that influence to a wider audience.

Following up on the revelation, Emily meets with fellow Huffie and lycanthrope, Tesla Stone. Realising that patience and optimism is wearing thinner than she thought for individuals like her has Emily spending longer nights awake in research and more prep work for further scouting missions and discoveries in the Forbidden Forest.

All she uncovers is shared with Casey in the letters they exchange with one another, with Casey in turn filling her in on his own efforts back at Ilvermorny towards uncovering the mystery behind his missing brother, as well as providing assistance with Emily's secret stalker from last year. However, the thread comes up short and Emily's investigation is halted when Casey fails in identifying the whereabouts of the fabric she found, leading them both to believe it may have been a misunderstanding - this sudden conclusion doesn't sit well with Emily.

October sees Casey and Emily meeting up for the Fall Ball in October, days after Hogsmeade was attacked while the other wizarding schools were en route to Hogwarts - with Casey being among the injured. With suspicions pointing towards a terrorist group advocating for equality for halfbreeds, a determined Emily finally makes her big expedition into the deepest depths of the Forbidden Forest, where she encounters a unicorn that guides her through the forest until she stumbles upon a withered notebook that bears an eerily similar design to the fabric.

With the notebook sent off to Casey, her suspicions are proven true and Casey begins interrogating a survivor that was present at the time Nick disappeared.

With Casey chasing down witnesses to the incident, Emily gets acquainted with Matthew, a theatre performer and friend of "Auntie's" that she's been getting to know while Emily's been at Hogwarts - however the two of them have silently hinted that they're mutually attracted to one another.

Returning from Christmas break, Emily's expeditions continue in secret until she finally has a run-in with the rumoured hag dolls spoken of in Colin's history, haunting Aamon Athanatos. The experience sticks with her before she asks Ava and Colin to go hunting for more. However, the trail runs cold.

However, not long after, Emily finds herself afflicted with a black mark after falling for the follies of Gideon Athanatos, who manipulated her into offering blood to an abnormal tree in the forest. In the weeks that followed the encounter, Emily suffered from hallucinations, whispers in her ear and becomes isolated and distant. The change in demeanour catches Colin's attention, as does a strange plague of potion bottles that have the Hufflepuff students addicted to a new and dangerous substance known as Darkest Night which occurred at the same time. Emily learns of Colin's history with his own battle with Darkest Night and swears to help him.

While grappling with the emotional and mental repercussions of the black mark, Emily finds respite at Beauxbatons in February where she's reunited with Casey and meets Cursa McCoire, Colin's cousin. While discussing Casey's investigation one night, Emily receives an owl from "Auntie" who had caught on to her ward's strange, quiet behaviour. After being gifted a Black Tourmaline stone and reaffirming her love for Emily, the Huffie breaks down into tears, but not of sadness... In the days following, the black mark fades and Emily soon heals from its haunting symptoms.

Life at Hogwarts returns for Emily after departing from Beauxbatons, much happier and livelier now that her affliction had been lifted. With the return to a peaceful atmosphere, her friendships deepen with Casey, Scout and her Hufflepuff peers, as does her friendship with Colin in particular. Her determination to protect the denizens of the Forbidden Forest also re-emerges now that her focus was back to what she sought to accomplish. After confidently declaring her goal to the tree that poisoned her, Emily restarts her journey to defending halfbreeds and the creatures of the forest.

The first step in doing so begins to take root where she and fellow Hufflepuff, Tesla Stone, discuss the prospect of a werewolf meetup with human students over the summer. Emily eagerly advertises their event in June right before the school year ends.

But with the end of the school year came with the start of the most extraordinary summer... Partnered with Casey - joined by Scout, Zyair and Colin's enigmatic cousin, Cursa - they journey to the Black Mountains along the North Carolina border where hiding as a hermit is none other than Nick - Casey's missing brother. However, not is all they appear. In fact, a shocking revelation befalls the group... Nick had somehow become a werewolf, despairing Casey. The night stirs a blizzard of emotions and Emily comes to realise the weight of acceptance when she understands that soon, she would have to face Colin the same way Casey had to face Nick - with trepidatious love.

The Werewolf Appreciation Night rolls around the following full moon and Emily sees Colin in all his wolf glory for the first time. Tender moments are shared, as are hidden truths that neither of them expected. Yet the goal is accomplished; bringing two worlds together, all achieved with the light of the moon... And Emily and Colin's relationship is bolstered because of it.

Third Year

Reducio

Third year continues with Emily and Colin's relationship, the two of them becoming intertwined by their paths to salvation, particularly when Scout becomes absent from school. However, Colin's boisterous romanticism proves a different kind of challenge for Emily, as she learns that despite all the love and care she harbours for every living organism, romance and serious relationships are foreign to her, something that she embarks to understand and process with the help of her peers. Especially Auntie, whose relationship with Matthew becomes stronger by the time Emily comes home for the holidays.

This is a glimmer of light compared to that of the relationship with her parents, when Emily's mother suddenly intrudes on them during Christmas Day, still insisting that her daughter is an insignificant gesture of human life by neglecting everything Emily has become this far.

At the same time, Emily's path also becomes mingled with that of an old loner, Marcus, whom comes to her aid when she and Auntie are accosted by hooligans over Christmas break. With the man intriguing her, Emily returns the favour when Marcus travels to an old estate to reconnect with his son. It's then that Emily uncovers a shocking revelation...

Fourth Year
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Fifth Year
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Sixth Year
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Seventh Year
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