Oonagh Brown | First Year | Gryffindor

Oonagh Brown was born in the Gateway to the Highlands Stirling, Scotland, on the night of 30th of March in the year of 2013 to a couple by the names of Iseabail Brown and Conall Graham. However to understand this young lady’s upbringing, one has to go further back, to a time in which Oonagh Brown was yet to be born.

Iseabail Brown was born into a family of farmers, as the oldest of three and her mother growing sick, she knew it was partially her responsibility to see to it that her siblings were well taken care of. Aside from a quaint cottage near the outskirts of the city the family owned a pasture with highland cows and blacknose sheep. What this meant for the young girl growing up was a tight schedule between early mornings, stressful days at school and even busier afternoons on the farm. She grew independent at a young age and knew one had to work hard to earn their keep and pave their way, a lesson she would later make sure to teach her daughter. By the time graduation rolled around she had set her sights on Conall Graham, a boy from her neighborhood. This only added to the tasks and numerous distractions she had in life. Between high school, a job, helping out on the farm and keeping her younger siblings in line, she now also had love to worry about, a distraction that was quite unwelcome yet too tempting to ignore.

So life kept her busy and when her younger siblings left the nest to spread their wings, she stayed to now take care of her elderly parents, with the help of her high school sweetheart turned life partner and father of a little daughter that had blessed the family at this busy point of their life. To keep afloat the entire family kept busy and so aside from managing the highland cows and other pastures that came with the cottage, Iseabail had taken the position in one of the local elementary schools, while Conall worked long shifts in a dreadful office job in one of the closeby cities, Glasgow. Coming home in the evenings with supper on the table was perhaps the most peaceful time this family knew, before it was time to retire for the evening. Their farm relied heavily on the help of student interns and low-earning farm hands during that period of their lives.

Oonagh, since the night she was born, had a temper unlike any other infant or kid Iseabail or Conall had ever laid eyes on. Oonagh did not visit a kindergarten, nor was she blessed with a nanny to give her the focus she could have used, what with how much trouble she got in as a toddler. Instead she grew young between cow feed and wool, raging war with the chickens in the coop that did not take lightly to her grubby little toddler hands reaching for their feathers, or the fact that she frequently decided to boost her immune system by stealing their seeds instead of feeding them whenever she was allowed to help an inattentive farm hand. Her wild curls were kept short until she had a word to say about it, as her parents grew tired rather quickly of having to pick all sorts of things out of her hair as well as brush out any knots that gathered. However as soon as she could formulate sentences and even before that, her tantrums quickly made such a procedure a nightmare for everyone involved; though arguably her complaints whenever her father had to pick little sticks, hay and animal feed from her hair from time spent at the barn and on the pastures, was perhaps not much better on either one’s nerves. Though there was less biting and hitting involved as long as her blonde locks were left unharmed.

Despite a lack of faith into the public school system, especially knowing how disastrous it could be for a free spirit such as Oonagh, Iseabail found herself unable to provide any homeschooling and there was simply not enough left within the family’s budget to hire a home tutor that could supply Oonagh with the education that was more fitting to her personality and being. So against better judgment Iseabail and Connal would send their little girl to an elementary school close by, knowing that while she would have trouble with teachers and authority, she would certainly not be a victim of the students. Too strong was her confidence and personality and in a way they liked her that way - rambunctious and trouble seeking - and would not have her any other way.

Her parents remained in the right, when seldom a day passed by in which there wasn’t a teacher’s note attached to her communication binder. Various complaints that were met with an eye roll and her parents were never quite sure how to deal with it. Arguably in many cases they did not even disagree with the essence or reasoning of their daughter’s behavior, so how does one punish a child for being ‘disruptive’ when the child was in the right? How does one scold their child for another kid’s broken nose when their daughter had stood up for herself? It was after all what they had taught her from the very start. To stand up for herself, to question authority and to pave her own way no matter what people said she could and could not do or achieve. Even when they did try to ground her for the more serious things, her young age did not stop her from climbing out the second story window or at the very least trying to and a broken arm and a hospital visit later, Iseabail and Connal knew that Oonagh would find ways to escape and who could blame her for wanting to spend time in nature? Other parents would have begged for a child that loved nature half as much as Oonagh did. It was however also in their interest to challenge Oonagh academically, though it would provide more challenge to them than her as getting her to pay attention without letting her mind wander proved more difficult. It was the more interactive classes in which the young girl thrived, though even in PE did she manage to disobey authority enough to only land her a passing grade, despite excelling at the practical portions of it.

Oonagh hardly seemed to mind the grades. To her she did not have to worry about the future. It had always been clear to her that one day she would take over the farm and she wished the day would come sooner. Her mother surely could trust her more, could she not? She knew all the things she had to do in and out, knew all the cows and sheep by name and still managed to upkeep the feud between her and the chickens. The cows were like second family to her and often her afternoons once school was over were spent amongst them, not other kids. Frankly getting a cow to let her ride on its back had proven more easy than maintaining a friendship and what was the point of keeping friends anyway? They came with commitments and demands. There was always something about school that felt like she didn’t belong, that she was destined for different things, bigger things than sitting in a classroom, learning about fractions and writing lines until her hands cramped up. She longed for freedom, adventure and a good time and frankly, not even home could give her that. The biggest thrill she felt was climbing the roofs and even school time was often spent getting places students were not meant to be. It was a game truly, to see how much she could defy expectations and that perhaps was the only thing that got her through lectures. That and staring out the window, daydreaming of big pirate adventures and hidden treasures, slaying dragons and overcoming obstacles no one else had ever faced.

Life however, loved to have some plot twists and Fate was known to keep an ace up their sleeve. So when Oonagh was nine years old, she was discovered by the Book of Admittance. But the fact would remain unbeknownst to her, until she reached an age of eleven. During playtime in the yard, she and another girl named Martyr found themselves locked in a storage shed for playtime equipment such as tricycles and other things that always turn out to be great tools for mayhem. The door was not actually locked, but being held close by some upperclassmen from fourth grade. Obviously that made the young girl’s blood boil and when she kicked the wooden door (not before screaming all insults and threats known to her) and the door creaked but then splintered into a million pieces, exploding from its hinges. Fueled by her anger the lioness charged the surprised boys and with Martyr not allowing their escape, was only satisfied after both of them had bloody noses and were crying for their teacher. Needless to say it was Oonagh and Martyr and not the boys who served detention that day and Oonagh swore to steal their homework and burn it the next time these boys would leave their school bags unattended. They have made an enemy, they were lucky it was their last year in this school…