Welcome

[Alannah Morgan]

Presenting . . .

Alannah Vivian Morgan


>>THE PUPPETTEER

Alias: J
Contact: adeocle@gmail.com
How you found us:Christina linked me.

>>THE PUPPET

Full Name: Alannah Vivian Morgan
Nickname: Most people refer to her by her last name.
Age: 16.
Year: Sixth.
House: Ravenclaw.

Canon or Original: Original.

Wand: Firm, 10 3/4 inches, Hawthorn with Unicorn Tail Hair core
Blood:Halfblood.

Pet: None.
Birthday: August 27.

Portrayed By: Thinking on it.

Appearance:
There are perhaps some people in the world who can put themselves together without really having to make an effort. Given the general lack of impression Miss Morgan makes on most people, she may as well have been one of those who didn't bother, but she is certainly not amongst that lucky bunch who do not care, or who do not have to care. By no means is she an ugly person and perhaps with some effort she could be somewhat attractive.

But the sort of effort she puts into her appearance is directed towards a diametrically opposite end. Indeed, it takes a certain amount of effort to blend into, as one might say, the upholstery, and Miss Morgan certainly goes the extra mile to accomplish this. In this quest, she is assisted by her relatively short stature, about three inches above the five-feet mark, and a particularly unadventurous wardrobe. She keeps her head down, her nose in her books, and basically seems to mind her own business, leading to no exceptional reason to remember her. Which, of course, is exactly what she wants. Few probably realise that the girl who always seats herself somewhere in the middle of the class chose the place quite deliberately to avoid attention. While some people push themselves forward, she willingly and deliberately holds herself back.

A second look might have revealed a face which, though extremely cautious, cannot help but betray the thoughts of its owner. She possesses the natural pallor of someone with Slavic genes (at least half), and expressive dark eyes which give her a striking, if not even a little attractive, look. Since she has always been on the thinner, leaner side (particularly when stressed), she could be anything but plain. But all of this is lost under the extremely conservative, slightly oversized clothing she dons and the lack of colour in her wardrobe. More significantly, it is lost to her ability to make herself as invisible as possible. She walks quietly, and though she has her clumsy moments, she doesn't normally attract any kind of attention while walking.

There is, about her movements and appearance, a certain predictability one might find boring. But there is also silent anger and something like unaffected dignity therein, shrouded as it is by growing pains and pangs of adolescence. On her better days, she is pleasant on the eye but not memorably so; at less fortunate moments, she is purely awkward, gangly and with ears just a little too large for her face. But though brute strength is definitely not her stronger point, she isn't physically weak. Perpetually lugging around an enormous bag of books can give one a strong arm, and Alannah is capable of at least one or two good, solid punches, if pushed hard enough.

Personality:
Alannah presents, as mentioned, a quiet picture. She does not make very much noise, and though she has a breaking point like any other person, she is more aware of her own limitations than the average sixteen-year-old. Control is an important factor with this young woman, and she goes to a vast extent to ensure that she doesn't find herself in a situation where she is vulnerable. This is its own kind of vulnerability, of course. In a sense she has built a large number of walls, fortifying herself from anything that could affect her too deeply, other than her beloved, predicable, safe books. The world outside, other people in particular, are not what one could call safe, since that can kick you down and break you. Alannah is determined to never let that happen to herself.

This creates a paradoxical situation, in a sense. Being in control can be a very good thing. It means that she can take care of herself and handle most situations without asking for help. But it also means that she isn't accustomed to cooperating, and that in the event that she needs help, she finds it difficult, if not entirely impossible, to ask for it. She knows how to turn every potential problem into soluble parts that can then be handled systematically (both academically and otherwise). In this quest to keep things comprehensible and manageable, she is assisted by her true friends, logic and reason. That which she cannot explain in rational terms is either dismissed as unimportant or, in the scheme of things, ignored. As one can imagine, this makes her uptight, stubborn and rather difficult to get along with. Once one breaks down these barriers, over a long, long period of time, normally, she can be almost irrational in her loyalty to a person.

However, it also reveals a certain nervousness around the irrational. Human emotions - her own emotions - fall into this category, and her response to most extreme sentiments is to throw herself into her studies. She shies away from most forms of warmth and affection, because it doesn't make sense for people to be warm and affectionate. What possible logical reason could anyone have to be, say, nice? The simpler things in life, things that can make one happy, are lost on Alannah. She thus shies away also from most kinds of happiness and has troubles believing in concepts like love and attraction when they're applied to her.

Indeed, she isn't what you would call the harbinger of sunshine and kittens. Alannah is morose, with several dark moods, both because she is naturally pessimistic (realistic, is what she would say) and also because it's an image of herself she has - of a plain, depressingly logical student. She takes this definition very seriously, especially the student aspect. Human beings, in her opinion, are what they do, and so her worth is defined in terms of her studies. When it comes to her academic work, she is rigorous to the point of going berserk. This is not what one would call well rounded and sensible. Too much academia and too little focus on other finer things in life - like food, sleep, and in her words "being social" - makes her contained in her own world. She believes she is a creature of habit, never having been particularly violently uprooted from her surroundings, and thus is comfortable in familiar surroundings. Introducing new and unanticipated elements into these surroundings makes her nervy - she can be, at more unpleasant times, somewhat volatile.

Nervousness comes with the package. One of the reasons that Alannah is as focused on her studies is because it is something she is certain that she can do. She knows that she isn't one of those naturally intelligent and charismatic Ravenclaws, but one of those who, with effort and continuous practice, she's more than competent. In her "realistic" perspective, she locates her identity not inside herself, but in what she does, which is to a large extent external. Though she isn't emotionally hollow, she finds her various emotions difficult to understand – and even more difficult to handle. It is a different kind of madness, one that isn't really a madness at all, except that she keeps battling with herself and pushing down anything that compromises the somewhat precarious equilibrium she's constructed for herself. The slightest loss of control is unnerving to the point of being terrifying, and this manifests in different kinds of anxieties. Anxieties about her work ("Oh I haven't read that obscure book that no one even prescribed and goodness, what's going to happen!") and about her behaviour ("Maybe I shouldn't have said that things I said a week back to John because it implies something no human being other than me could possibly understand, and oh, Merlin, does that mean I'm insane?") - she ties herself up in knots, her own little cage, even though she's terrified of losing that sort of control.

Underneath the calm and extremely controlled facade is a determination that can transcend her much-loved rationality. She channelises her efforts towards a definitive end, normally failing to live in the moment entirely. Though not usually cruel or devious, she is cunning enough to work out what she needs to do to achieve this end, and though she has her own ethical sense, she doesn't have what one might call standard morals - which means in the event that she needs something that is not attainable through normal means, she would not hesitate (or not too much) to take a less ethical way out. She doesn't normally do this sort of thing to get out of detention or petty things like that, and this isn't a tendency very strongly tested yet; but she has in the past not hesitated to remove a book from the restricted section in the night even though she did not have permission for it. She uses her perceived invisibility to her advantage when needed and is quite unapologetic, unscrupulous about it.

Underneath the calm facade that Miss Morgan usually does carry off very well lies a well of complexities and turmoil. Quite a bit of this is probably adolescence, but once that shroud is lifted, what remains is a determined, passionate young woman. She once loved her mother very strongly, but now hates her with a venom just as strong. It is poisonous and she knows it, but she nurtures it and uses much of this sort of latent energy to get ahead. Though she alternates between reticence and horror at her own thoughts, almost fluctuating like a pendulum, she conceals this under the image - of the quiet observer, the silent worker, the unmemorable student.

Ethnicity: Caucasian/Slavic
Father: Jonathan Oladowski Green (deceased)
Mother: Helena Morgan (Auror)
Siblings: Zoe Elizabeth Morgan (20)

Other Family:
At one point of time, it is possible, though not proved, that the Morgans were a respectable pureblood family. Now there is a sort of debate about the matter within the family itself. Helena Morgan believes it's a joke and that there are no purely pureblood families, and had detached herself from the clan entirely.
Alannah does however have an aunt, Lynette, who works in the Department of Mysteries, and an uncle, Edwin, who does not work at all but spends his time fruitfully wasting his inheritance. Since he is the only male heir, his two children will receive whatever's left of said inheritance by the time their father is done sqaundering - they live away from their father at the moment, with their mother, are both very young, and this equation suits everyone involved perfectly. Not much love is lost between the Morgans.

The Greens were, before the 1930s, the Oladowskis. The moved to England in 1936, when Mr. Oladowski perceived a genuine threat, and proceeded to change their name. Mrs. Oladowki is not magical, though Jonathan's father is. Both live in Birmingham, far more well-adjusted and infinitely fond of one another. Alannah also has a paternal uncle, Joseph, who was twelve years younger than her father and is now attempting to write anti-Cold War poetry. He is also not magical. Every Christmas he sends Helena a card talking in depth about his dead brother, and the card winds up unopened in the fireplace. Helena maintains no contact with them at all, preferring her isolation.

Place of Residence: London, as of last summer.

History:
An Auror who falls in love with a criminal is in deep trouble, knowledge of which doesn't really prevent them from continuing to fall. Helena Morgan called herself a sentimental oaf, an amazing moron, the backside of a troll and other things that can be left out of this account, but by the time she realised what was going on with the object of her affection, it was too late. They fought, they bickered, they split up and came back together, and repeated the process - but it was clear that they wanted to be together and that they completed one another. Though the spring of 1955 witnessed a great falling out, one that neither believed left any shreds worth salvaging, the birth of their first daughter, Zoe, early in 1956 seemed to sort this out. For three years they were happy, and for those three years, Jonathan's illegal activities persisted, as secretly as possible. They did not marry (which was questionable and frowned upon, but had the benefit of burning the last of the bridges between Helena and her family - something she always considered advantageous). Though for all intents they were a family, they lived in two separate apartments. Helena was not particularly foolish, and knew what was up, but chose quite deliberately to do nothing about it. They were happy.

This was to change before the turn of the decade, though. Once Helena realised that she was pregnant once more, she pushed Jonathan towards marriage, settling down, and most importantly, breaking away from his job. They had been together for over six years, they had a child between them, and did it not make sense to take the final step towards becoming a real family. What she did not realise was that the nature of Jonathan's work was dangerous, more than she had imagined. A little illegal Potions trafficking never really hurt anyone, but the job came with other expectations and demands. Loose ends were covered, ties were formed. People did not really ever stop being involved, unless they died. And if they were alive when they attempted to quit, it wasn't really particularly long before that minor detail was taken care of. Perhaps the man knew it would end in the way that it did, but he quit anyway, closing a circle he had never truly realised the complications of. He was found dead in their new home early in the month of July by his new, extremely pregnant wife and young daughter.

The rest of the year is fuzzy. Zoe, even now, remembers little of their hasty move, Alannah's birth (aside from that it seemed to pain her mother very much) and the coldness and silence of the second new house they moved to that year - a small apartment in Lytham, which was, for all intents and purposes, as far away from the life they'd had in London as was possible. Her mother, who had grown distant and upset, seemed more comforted by her own presence, but the new baby seemed to disturb her further. It was a while until Helena could look at her younger daughter, choosing instead to hire help with the baby. The nurse was soon fired for being "too nosy", forcing Helena to do the bare minimum, but Alannah was left largely to her own devices - and her sister's care.

The child grew up curious and easily trusting of people and things who were a little out of the ordinary. Since her mother seemed more agreeable to the idea of her being outside, she learned quickly to play in the vaster stretches of land, leading her sister on various adventures and tonnes of trouble. Perhaps it was because of Zoe that she never really felt threatened by the outdoors, always sure that she could go as far as she liked and Zoe would bring her back. Since she never lied herself, she assumed, and lived with the assumption for a long time, that no one else would either. It was naive, and more than a little silly, but it worked to keep her amused. Certainly, there were times when she fell too hard, or wandered too far, inciting her mother's anger. But since her mother paid more attention to her when she did something wrong, she didn't particularly hold back on that front. She asked a million questions, not all of which were answered, but looked up to her mother, respecting her from afar, never becoming deeply affectionate as she was with her sister.

When Zoe left for Hogwarts, this changed considerably. The four years in between Zoe's departure to school and her own were formative, with lasting implications on her life. It was the first time she was ever truly alone, the first time she discovered the usefulness of secrets, of people not knowing even if you weren't particularly going out of your way to hide something. Though she had definitely discovered books before, she unearthed now the true joy of learning and getting lost in books for hours and days. She also discovered that she fell into a lot more trouble when her sister wasn't around. Things were different when Zoe returned too. Somehow, the older girl was now grown-up, not at the same plane. They played their old games, but they seemed more Alannah's games than Zoe's, now. And it became clear, that summer, that there was a marked difference in how Helena treated her two daughters.

It brought forward new emotions, of resentment and annoyance. She didn't hate her sister, but the unconditional, unquestioned love that she'd had for her before, was somehow tainted now. Rather than waiting for Zoe to return, the next year, Alannah waited for her to leave, so she could have her mother to herself. Although Helena did not pay as much attention to her, these years were in a sense a period of mother and younger daughter getting to know one another better. Alannah realised that a word of praise was difficult to acquire, but not impossible, and went out of her, at school and otherwise, to do "better". To come closer to whatever she perceived her mother wanted of her. It worked to an extent, but the words of praise were enough to motivate Alannah more. She even held back all her protests at being sent to Hogwarts, which was a place she had decided to loathe because of what it had done to her sister. But she was determined to do well, to please her mother, who seemed more agreeable lately. In order to make her mother love her more (because in her more logical mind, she could see the need for a cause for there to be an effect), Alannah begged the Sorting Hat to put her in Ravenclaw, which was where her mother had been, rather than any other house (Hufflepuff was on the list). This, however, did not appear to affect her mother at all.

School in general came as something of a shock to Alannah, who was not used to constantly being around people or having to actually make friends and live with people in her room. Her first instinct was to shy away, but she did manage to become friendly with some people in her year. But questions were inevitably asked, about blood, about family, her lineage, her standing - things she had never considered and never really taken seriously when Zoe talked about them. She found that she could say nothing about her father, aside from his name.

Working up her nerves over the next summer - she did try over Christmas, but found herself dismissed - she asked her mother. What happened next changed her life. Her mother did not respond, not immediately, becoming angry and then somewhat disturbed. Determined, Alannah pushed, fuelled by indignation and the general embarrassment she had faced, not knowing. But her mother responded by pushing her away, first verbally, and then physically. And when this brought forth tears, she hit her again, losing all rationality and getting fairly violent in attempt to make Alannah stop making noise. When all else failed, to get away from the child, Helena locked her up in her room, and left her there. Here she remained for a day, not sleeping, but no longer making any noise. The shock of it did not wear off until Zoe came to sneak her out of her window and take her out of the house.

For Zoe remembered, little as it was, and Zoe understood, and why hadn't Alannah come to her sister?. A warped version of the tale was told, but the essence was clear: Her mother couldn't really look at her. Had Alannah not realised that Zoe and Helena looked alike, while she looked like her father? And he was dead because he "'fessed up" to his wrongs because she was about to be born, so her mother was angry.

For a long while after this, Alannah wondered if she was to blame, somehow, for her father's death. It weighed on her that someone had died for her, in a sense, and maybe her mother was right. In that sense, it was also just logical that her mother only kept her because she looked like her father; and didn't really love her.

It changed everything. Alannah lost her faith in the world. Faith and expectations didn't mean anything, love was a lie, and nothing was perfect. It destroyed most idealistic notions she had ever had. She responded by throwing herself into learning more, which was the only thing that made sense. She withdrew from the people she had become closer to before, hiding out in the library and making her excuses, growing to understand, gradually, the politics of pure blood and how power was dealt out in the wizarding world. And though she understood it, it seemed too big for her to really handle. People couldn't understand, and admittedly she could see no reason why anyone would want to understand at all. After the incident in the summer of her first year, she found that her mother too grew more distant and further away from Alannah. It seemed as though there was no longer any reason for Helena to keep up the facade of loving her daughter, and Alannah accepted this inference without question, allowing the hatred and anger to fester.

This grew more acute as Helena chose to move back to London in the summer of Alannah's fourth year, without really asking her younger daughter about the matter, so she could return to her old job and contribute to the cause against You Know Who. Helena also made the huge error of never praising her for her achievements, like her ten OWLs, all of which she had to achieve with hard work, for Alannah had never been exceptionally intelligent. Alannah heard no praise for the seven Outstanding OWLs, rather was berated about her one Acceptable one: Potions. Her mother never expressed any faith in he, and though Zoe was far more affectionate, since the latter graduated, Alannah has grown more isolated and studious. She seeks out her confidence and faith elsewhere, particularly in her studies, in maintaining a consistent standard of grades. She does not ask as many questions, but keeps her nose down and out of others' business for the most of it. But being a keen observer, the events unfolding around the world do not go unnoticed.

Other Notes:
- Has a really soft spot for strawberry.
- Is an intensely picky sleeper.
(More to be added as these random bits about her come back to me. ^^; )

Skill Testing Question: Eff-ing awesome kinds? The kinds who like to say "I told you so" when right? >>;; I think I missed this phrase, but let me know and I'll take another look. >_<;

Example Post:
(From an old RPG, hence why it seems slightly out of context. Suffice it to say her mother was injured, and she got a letter, and so on...)

Nights in the fifth year Ravenclaw girls dormitory tended to follow a fairly regular pattern after a certain point of time. Generally, eleven or, at the latest, twelve o'clock in the night, which had been deemed late enough by most people, after which the lights were turned off, and one by one, everyone's breathing would fall into a pattern, and they would fall asleep.

To be followed by hours of what felt like everlasting silence.

It was not exactly insomnia, perhaps, for to say that Alannah did not sleep at all would have been considerably far from the truth. But sleep, like hunger, came and went with no specific pattern, never really forming a very vast part of her day, as such. It was rare that she felt very hungry or very tired, and she could not think of a time when shed been asleep the moment her head hit the pillow; such a tiredness would have been blessed, she felt, for listening to the calm breathing of her dorm mates, a sharp juxtaposition to her own disposition tonight, one could not really help but feel a little envious. Of such calm, such a lack of worries; sleep would have carried them off to some land where the world did not sting, but calmed and soothed, or perhaps it didn't carry them off anywhere, so much as just close the curtains about them, and allow them to rest. But rest for her seemed far away, sleep quite out of the question tonight. Especially tonight.

Not that this was this an irregular occurrence. Indeed, she didn't sleep until a couple of hours after her dorm mates did on most nights, certainly, but that was because of some book that had claimed her interest, or a homework assignment she wanted to get done. Not tonight though; the unfinished History of Magic essay she would have been agonizing over under normal circumstances was pressed in between the pages of the textbook assigned for it, quills and ink bottle placed carefully in there with them, books organized efficiently so that she knew exactly where everything was, notes in their folder, spare quills in their box. Everything was just so, exactly as it was meant to be, ordered, offensively neat and tidy.

For neatly folded pieces of parchment in a sealed envelope could present a careful picture, of course, give the impression of something organized, well-constructed, but carry news of something that, even when stated in such a matter of fact, presented images that were blurred, hashed, checkered with sharply contradicting angular colours and faces, names in neat, official handwriting, dates, numbers, unfortunate incidents...

...an unfortunate incident in which your mother, Auror Helena Moran sustained injuries of the...

Something inside her was well, exploding was not a bad word for it, certainly. Something inside her was screaming, and she ached to run, or howl, or just throw her head back and scream in utter and inexplicable anger, which of course, was out of the question at this hour. Anger against her mother for having been foolish enough to have got hurt although that was not it, was it? Hurt was temporary, and in her mother's chosen line of work, it was more than likely to be a frequent occurrence, and Merlin, she didn't care about that. She didn't know what it was, for God's sake. She wasn't really craving revenge or anything, or being upset over the idea of her mother lying in St. Mungo's with said injuries. She wasn't concerned, she couldn't be, it didn't make sense. But the thing inside her bubbled anyway, incomprehensible and disturbingly tangible.

Alannah clenched her fist and opened her eyes, staring rather unblinkingly ahead for a moment and then, abruptly, sat up. This was getting nowhere, really, although, frustratingly enough, there was nowhere to go with it. On the other hand, anywhere but here would be better. The comfortable silence of others slumber did nothing to calm her. Everything so neat and in place, everything so perfect on the outside; it was a lie, and, somehow, it was just loud. Oppressive. And it made her feel inexplicably, desperately isolated, and while she didn't really want company either, the idea of remaining where she was, in this unaccountably stagnated place, was more than she could bear. Movement was calming, the act of setting sock-clad feet on the cold floor, of getting up quietly and moving out of the dormitory, with no clear intention of what she was planning to do, really. The ideas in her mind were varied and all a bit extreme, none really plausible. The common room, regardless of its general lack of offerings in the way of anything that would serve to make the inexplicable lull something sharper, was far more alluring than her dormitory, leaving which behind in itself seemed to calm her somewhat, a deliberate distinction between the subtle isolation and a more consciously accepted sort of solitude.

This was not to be either, it seemed. The common room was, she realised a minute too late, despite the late and ungodly hour, not exactly empty.

[Alannah Morgan]

Done, I think.

[Remus Lupin]

Hey there, J. First off, welcome to HoM and I'm sorry for the long wait between the original post date. Real life has been taking over and all that.

Anyway, your character is approved!

...however, throughout the whole bio, I thought she'd do much better in Ravenclaw than in Slytherin. It wasn't until I got to the portion of the bio where you mention that she begged the Sorting Hat to place her in Slytherin that I got how her being in that house was possible at all. What I'm going to ask is that you either change her house or put more of an emphasis on the reasons behind her being placed in Slytherin. You don't have to do too much, just a sentence or two that would fills us in on what you already know.

That's about it. After that, I'll get you all set up and you can start posting.

[Alannah Morgan]

Ooh, yay! ^^ And right, I'll think on it, edit, and let you know when I'm done. *bounces off*

[Alannah Morgan]

Done. I changed her house to Ravenclaw, after thinking about it a little bit. Hope it's okay now!

[Remus Lupin]

You're all set now, hun.