Gillian Caris Katsaros

[Background] [Personality] [Description] [Outfits] [Family]

• Name Meaning
  • Gillian: downy-bearded
  • Caris: grace, kindness
• Birthdate: August 2, 1912
• Role: Magical Music Teacher at Scattergood School
• Former Hall: Yates
• Wand: Whitethorn wood, 15 inches, with a pearl dust core.

Background

Gillian’s parents, Dareia Zabat and Elias Katsaros, both moved to the United States in the later part of the 19th century with their parents. The two families had been close in their “mother country” of Greece, and once they settled in their new homes, the two families remained in close touch. It seemed only natural that as the children grew older, they would become closer, and as their parents were hoping and predicting, the two decided to marry. Dareia and Elias were married very young and settled near to their family in western New York.

Elias worked as an assistant to a jeweler in the same small town as his parents settled. He and Dareia settled into a small home, which their parents bought for them, and it wasn’t long until their first child joined the family. Michaela Tempest was the first daughter to join the family, born in 1908. Melanie Helene in 1910, a second daughter. Elias worshiped his young girls, despite the fact that he had no heir to his family name yet, while his younger brother’s young wife had already produced twin boys in the first year of their marriage. In 1912, a third girl joined the family, Gillian Caris. Having three girls in the first six years of marriage was something disappointing to Elias, but he was determined that the three of them would show honorable tendencies and make known the Katsaros family name, even if they weren’t boys.

When Michaela was five years old, she went to school, and there she began to learn proper English. Her parents spoke only rudimentary English and chose to speak Greek at home more often than not. This served to somewhat alienate Melanie from her mother, who never attended a public school and knew very little English. Melanie followed two years later, despite Dareia’s protestations that she could teach her other daughters well enough at home. Elias, however, wanted to make sure his daughters fit in with the other children in the neighborhood, and as a result, he made the decision that Melanie and Gillian would both go to school at the appropriate times.

Gillian started school at age five, following both of her older sisters. Where Michaela and Melanie were mild-mannered, Gillian was enthusiastic and energetic. She garnered a lot of attention throug her first few years of school, though not always for good reasons. Teachers recommended hobbies to take up some of her time, and Elias quickly complied, not wanting his daughter to get the reputation of a hooligan. He procured hobbies for Michaela and Melanie, as well. Michaela was enrolled in dance classes, Melanie in art classes and Gillian began playing the piano at a small music school nearby.

While her sisters didn’t take so well to their courses, Gillian took like a duck to water to her piano classes. This did not go unnoticed by her father. Soon, Gillian was taking singing lessons as well, and when she was seven he managed to find a fairly battered violin, and she was enrolled in violin lessons as well. Michaela and Melanie continued in their own lessons, but neither expressed much interest in continuing. The same year that Gillian started violin lessons, Michaela turned eleven. Dareia and Elias were shocked to receive a letter on parchment, inviting Michaela to attend a school in Pennsylvania named Scattergood School for the Magical Arts. Shortly after, an oddly dressed individual followed, and sat the shocked-looking Katsaros couple down to explain the reasoning for the peculiar owl-delivered letter. Much to the surprise of the whole family, it turned out that Michaela had magical ability. It explained some of the odd occurrences that happened around the house which all witnesses had merely written off as a mere oddity and nothing more peculiar.

Elias found the disappearance of his daughter from local schools easy to explain, using it as an opportunity to talk up the brilliance of his children. Gillian and Melanie were fascinated by Michaela’s letters home, detailing the life of these people who had abilities that they had never before heard of. Much to Melanie’s excitement, a letter inviting her to join her sister at Scattergood arrived just after her eleventh birthday. It left Gillian alone at home with her parents, though with her multitude of lessons, nearly every day of the week, she had little time at home. It seemed that the little girl liked it that way.

Two years later, as she expected, Gillian received her own letter. Now the Katsaros sisters would all be in Scattergood at the same time, all residing in Yates Hall. Gillian found this new world enthralling. Instead of slates and pencils, the students at Scattergood used parchment and quills. Instead of learning about famous authors, mathematic equations and scientific mehtods, they learned about charms, transfiguration and potions. Gillian loved it, and more importantly, she looked forward to when she could add Magical Music to her course list in her third year.

Her years passed quickly, and as her sisters had, she received high marks in all of her classes. She was not the top of her year, but she certainly made a good showing for herself. She added Magical Music and Arithmancy to her classlist in her third year and as with her other classes, she made a good showing for herself in them. She graduated from Scattergood, having been made a prefect for Yates hall and achieved high marks through all seven years.

After school, she went home for the summer to spend time with her parents for a time, but Gillian had her eye on other things. Her time at Scattergood had inspired her, and she found an interest in perhaps returning there someday. She acquired an apprenticeship with a well-known maker of instruments whose shop was just outside of Philadelphia. Her parents weren’t fully pleased with the distance between her new residence and where they were, but no real protests came.

Over time, Gillian became as well-known as her employer, showing real promise as an instrument expert, not to mention a talented player. After ten years of work at the shop, Gillian was bored with the opportunities available to her there. She relocated to Silverdale, near to where her former school was. By now, her neices and nephews were beginning to attend the school, so Gillian was available on town weekends to entertain the youngsters. In Silverdale, her primary business was employment in the book shop, where she started up a corner, entirely for acquisition of popular sheet music. Mostly, Gillian was biding her time until a position came open at Scattergood for a music teacher. Her opportunity came in 1946, when the former professor decided to retire. Gillian was the first to apply, not to mention the most eager. It had been sixteen years since she had left the school, and she had already made a name for herself outside of Philadelphia as a gifted musician.

Gillian was accepted for the position of Magical Music professor and began in September of 1946. Gillian was over the moon, and her parents were thrilled as well, though they were still nagging her to find a husband and have children, to carry on her talent. Gillian could not have been less interested in finding love, regardless of her age. All that mattered to her was her music. She soon fell into the schedule of daily life from the other side of the desks and began to love her students, even the difficult ones. She had big plans for the budding musicians which she could see in every student who graced the seats of her classroom.

Personality

Gillian is a determined individual. When she sets her mind to something, she goes for it single-mindedly. Fear has never been a flaw that the girl possessed, either. She is persistently confident, even in situations which would make others cower with fright. Her independent nature has her set apart from her family, none of whom really seem to understand her. One of Gillian’s most major faults is her vanity. It is the one place in which she can be convinced to let down her guard – her Achilles Heel. She is, however, an enthusiastic individual when speaking of things about which she cares deeply.

Description

Gillian has medium olive-toned skin, owing to her Greek heritage. Her skin is clear and smooth and she has no freckles, moles or birthmarks to speak of. Her lips are full and cover medium-sized straight teeth. She usually wears dark red lipstick to accentuate her lips, which compliments the color of her skin. She has chocolate brown eyes are framed with long black lashes and ‘punctuated’ by dark eyebrows. Her hair is dark brown and wavy. When left down, it falls just below her shoulders. Usually, her hair is tamed and pin curled so that it sits in a fashion which would be considered stylish among muggles. Her figure is shapely though she is nowhere near thin. She is of approximately average height for full grown women, standing at approximately five feet six inches without shoes.

Outfits

None yet…

Family

• Elias Sotiris Katsaros (b. 1888)
  • Dareia Pelgia Zabat (b. 1889)
    • Michaela Tempest (Katsaros) Maurell (b. 1908)
      • Emidio Ottavio Maurell (b. 1904 ; d. 1947)
        • Sophia Rosabella Maurell (b. 1933)
        • Delia Aglaia Maurell (b. 1934)
        • Eloisa Selene Maurell (b. 1935)
    • Melanie Helene (Katsaros) Dimitriou (b. 1910)
      • Andreas Apostlos Dimitriou (b. 1910)
        • Jason Leonidas Dimitriou (b. 1932)
        • Katina Theophania Dimitriou (b. 1936)
    • Gillian Caris Katsaros (b. 1912)