Amelia Charlotte Hargrove

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

• Name Meaning
  • Amelia: work
  • Charlotte: army, warrior
• Birthdate: March 10, 1877
• Former Role: Headmistress
• Former House: Gryffindor
• Wand: Pine wood, long, with a phoenix feather core

Background

Harold Hargrove and Emma Larsen met in 1872 at a concert in London. The two got along well, and started to meet regularly. They found that they had similar interests, and shared views politically. At twenty-seven and twenty-two, respectively, the two led active lives, especially in the darker circles of the city. The two were not “evil,” per se, but they did enjoy to live in a rather unorthodox manner. Emma worked as a “professional Mistress,” so to speak, soliciting the interests of wealthy gentlemen — muggle or wizard didn’t matter to her — and expecting that they buy her fabulous jewels in return for her keeping them quite satisfied in a way their wives did not. She was very blunt about this with Harold when she met him (after ascertaining that he was not wealthy enough to be a client), and was taken aback to find that he considered this knowledge exciting rather than repulsive. She knew, then, that he was special. Harold worked by day as a janitor in the Ministry of Magic, and spent much time at card games and other such pleasurable but socially taboo practices. Two nights a week, Emma and Harold would plan to be together, regardless of whatever else might be going on, be it an opera or a poker tournement. After about six months, Emma agreed to become Harold’s wife, under the condition that she be allowed to continue her ‘work.’The two were wed on October 1st, 1874.

Their activities continued, though each was just a bit more subdued, as they had someone to come home to at the end of the night. During the summer of 1876, Emma found herself pregnant. Harold was thrilled at the idea, but all that Emma could think was that their lifestyle would have to change drastically, as she wouldn’t be able to work for quite a large chunk of a year, due to pregnancy and nursing. Nevertheless, she gave birth to on March 10, 1877. The birth itself was rather difficult, but both mother and baby came through just fine, and both were quite at their best within a week. Emma and Harold agreed to name the child, a girl, Amelia Charlotte Hargrove after the Prima Soprano who had been singing in the opera at which they met. Despite their nefarious ways, both were more than a little bit romantic at heart. For a time, Emma stayed home, caring for the child and keeping house, as was expected of women. By the time Amelia was three years old, she found that she just couldn’t stay home any longer; she had to get back out and work. She convinced a neighbor to keep an eye on her daughter, for a small payment every week for the service, and she went back to work.

Amelia grew under the care and love of her father and mother, who she saw only in the evening, and the neighbor, Alexia Martin with whom she spent much of her time, who, it was rumoured, was really quite crazy. Amelia didn’t know the difference, nor did she care. The woman told entertaining stories, and if her company couldn’t completely replace the feeling of her mother’s constant care, it was still comforting. When Amelia turned six years old, Miss Lexie, as she requested Amelia call her, decided it was high time the girl begin learning basic things. She collected several books, with full intent to oversee her charge’s education. She taught Amelia, who she called Amy, though the girl insisted that Amy was not her name, all about squid, the correct way to mix oils, and the proper way to care for a kneazle. This, of course, was not much help to Amelia’s education, but it made the woman feel quite useful and successful to teach her, so Emma and Harold made no complaints. It was about this time Amelia began to show small signs of magic. When enduring a particularly tedious lesson from her mentor, she would find that Miss Lexie’s hair would begin to turn a different colour. The woman never seemed to notice whether her hair was its normal brown or an atrocious shade of green, so Amelia began to suspect that she never did look into a looking glass. Her parents witnessed one such event when she was eight years old, and were pleased as punch to find that their daughter was, indeed, a witch.

Harold began to tutor Amelia when she was about eight and a half, teaching her basic maths, english grammar, and a smattering of French at her mother’s request, though he thought it was utter nonsense (despite the fact that he learned it himself). Amelia continued on in her studies — from both teachers — until the summer after she turned eleven. That summer, her ‘caretaker’ was dismissed, though she and Amelia still remained friends. Amelia spent the summer wandering through Diagon Alley and the adjoining streets, experiencing life out there. Many of the folks seemed to know who she was, or at any rate, who her parents were. She found this rather disconcerting, but didn’t understand the nature of the looks and whispers going on around her constantly. Her letter arrived mid-July that summer, and from then on she could hardly focus on anything at all, save for going away to school.

At school, Amelia found she was rather intimidated by the other students, particularly her Gryffindor housemates, some of whom seemed to already know each other. She was hard-pressed to know what to talk to them about. While they wanted to talk of Quidditch and the newest kind of candy available at the confection shoppe in Diagon Alley. Amelia preferred to talk of the last Opera her parents had seen and told her about, or what was better for a kneazle: letting them catch their own food, or providing food for them. This major difference in knowledge and interest led to Amelia’s feeling cast aside by her peers for much of her school career. Amelia’s lack of friends did create a lack of distraction for her, and she threw herself into studies early on, earning the reputation as ‘teacher’s pet,’ a nickname which she abhorred. Still and all, she did very little to disprove the nick-name. She was able to earn respectable marks, as well as OWL and NEWTS, though neither set was particularly outstanding. She could only be said to have done well enough. And while her parents did wish she would ‘work up to her full potential,’ by and large they were more immersed in their own lives to really notice whether she got fantastic grades or not.

Just a few weeks after graduation from Hogwarts, Amelia fell drasticall ill. She came down with very acute pneumonia, and was ill for weeks. After just over a month, she started to improve, but it was quite a long time — nearly eleven months — before she was back to full strength. During that time, she rarely went out, and became very pale. This contributed to the public idea that she was sickly and wouldn’t live long. Due to this wide-spread rumour, she was only able to secure a job as a receptionist in the Ministry of Magic. She commuted to work with her father, and got paid scant more than he did. Though, considering his tenure at the Ministry — he had been there nearly twenty years — it was almost insulting to him that she was paid more than he. He chose not to think on it long, as he and his wife still led active lives, which more often than not excluded Amelia. She was left alone in the Hargrove’s flat, to read the few books that the couple kept around (neither cared much for reading). Occasionally, her parents would invite her along to an opera, or, even more rarely, a poker tourney. Amelia didn’t care for poker; it bored her. But she found a keen interest in opera, though she couldn’t understand most of them, since they were in German or Italian most of the time. She could hear the beauty of them, and felt the emotion running through her. Otherwise, she spent her days at work, answering the questions of the various people who wandered in, and copying memos for the higher-ups. She stayed on as a receptionist for five years, keeping her routine much the same: occasional operas, trips to the library, and nights at home, often alone. She would sometimes splurge and go down to the sweets shop and buy herself some peppermint frogs, or something else of interest. She began to get lonely, though, and after about three years, began frequenting her neighbor, Miss Lexie, more and more. Her friend still told fantastical stories, and Amelia found her just as entrancing as she had before she had gone off to school, if not more-so because she was not subject to her abysmal lessons any longer. Miss Lexie did have a habit, still, of talking a bit more about kneazles than Amelia would have liked, but she did admit that she found the creatures fascinating.

After five years, Amelia found that she was fed up with taking memos and answering the same mess of questions every day. She put in a notice of resignation, much to the shock and disappointment of the ministry members who had come to realize her as a part of their daily grind. She managed to escape without much hubbub or commotion on the part of the Ministry workers, though her father did find himself rather disappointed that she wouldn’t be accompanying him to work and home daily. Amelia’s love for the opera drew her to the operahouse in search of a new, more pleasant job. She was pleased to find that there was a position as a dressingroom assistant. She was able to meet the singers, and dancers, and all the stage crew which she had never seen before during her trips to the opera. It was while she was employed at the Opera that she had the chance to meet her idol from the stage, Anderson Fitz. He was a haughty veteran of the stage, who had fits if he didn’t get his way. In short, he was the Prima Donna, so to speak, of the South London Opera House. Amelia, though, did not see his faults. She only saw his suave and cool manner. He was nearly fifteen years older than her, which also allured her. She was hopelessly smitten with the man, and found it difficult to string a sentence together. He being who he was, though, never seemed to notice the plain girl who was always accompanying the make-up girl. He was prone to flirtations with the make-up girl, and some of the other girls who worked with her organising and keeping the costumes in top condition. It was here that she began her habit of wearing rouge. The other girls had shown her how to apply it just so, to accentuate her cheekbones — which needed all the help they could get — and put a little blush in her cheeks. They were uncertain that this would improve her much, but she was determined to try.It began with just the tiniest bit, to keep her pale cheeks from appearing as washed out as they tended to be, ever since her illness. Still, this did not earn her notice from her idol.

Despite the lack of notice, Amelia soldiered on, going through night after night, rehearsal after rehearsal, hoping that Anderson Fitz would notice her, and profess his undying love and adoration for her, as the characters he played always did for his on-stage counterpart Louisa Monteclaire. (She seemed to be oblivious of the rumours connecting Fitz and Monteclaire.) She drove herself almost mad with obsession over the man onstage, who seemed so distant, and yet, at least in her mind, so close. She would sneak to the side of the stage, standing as close as she could to Anderson, even while he was onstage. She never let herself be seen by the audience, though; she was always consciencous about that. It didn’t even matter to her that he was a muggle, and that he likely wouldn’t even know how to comprehend her world. He consumed her mind more than anything else ever had. Amelia’s world, though, came crashing down, about three years after she began working at the Opera house. Anderson and Louisa announced that they would be wed. It took all of Amelia’s courage not to immediately begin to cry. It was well-known amongst the girls that she was smitten with the flirtateous leading man, and many of the girls felt a pang of pity for the plain girl who had never, despite all of her interests and efforts, managed to attract his attention, even for a moment. The two announced their retirement from the opera on the same night, and left a month later. That month was the hardest month Amelia had known in her life as of yet. Even her illness didn’t compare to the misery she had felt at seeing him, and knowing the gorgeous and talented Louisa Monteclaire had secured him when she hadn’t even had a chance. For that entire month, Amelia found herself always almost on the verge of tears.

Even though her idol had long gone, and her joy at working for the opera was squashed, she stayed on, continuing to help in the dressing rooms, but her heart was no longer in it. She stayed on for five years, even after that, slowly and surely getting back to some semblance of normal (though those who had close contact with her on a regular basis would argue that her behavior did not resemble normal, by any means). She had become more distractable, sometimes laying out a costume from a previous show for the lead, or putting shoes into hat-boxes. She never noticed when she did this, either, so the other assistants kept their eyes open for boo-boos like these. The other girls who assisted the performers breathed a bit of a sigh of relief when she decided to leave the opera for good, though they attested to each other that they would miss her antics, for they provided some much-needed comic relief among the drama created by the performers.

Amelia much of the next year doing absolutely nothing. She never joined her parents anymore (a fact for which they were quite pleased, as they were still having a good time in their circles of fun),and only occasionally trekked to the library, when she was feeling in the mood for a new book. Occasionally, she would go downstairs and keep Lexie company, but found her company less and less satisfying as the woman became increasingly senile. Life seemed very bleak to her. Fortunately, one one rare trip to the library, she came across an advert requesting a governess for three small children, ages three, four and seven. She recognized the name of the family as a rather prominent one in the Wizarding community. She put in a response to the ad, and was contacted several days later. The Medlock family wanted to take her on as a live-in governess for the three. Mrs. Medlock was expecting a fourth child, and could not be expected to follow the other three around at all times, as they could be taxing on her nerves and energy. The next week, Amelia began as their governess. She was expected to teach the children basic school skills, such as some math, writing techniques, and some history, for the older one. She also had charge of keeping their quarters neat and tidy, teaching them skills such as shoe-tying and organization. She was in charge of seeing that their meals were being prepared and served in a timely manner, and that they bathed as often as they should. While Mrs. Medlock was still the one they called mother, and the one who they ran to when a knee was scraped a or a head bonked, Amelia was the one who they counted on for everything else. She cared for each child until the age of eleven, at which point he would go off to school, and would hence be out of her care, though she was always there when he returned from school. She stayed on with the Medlock family for thirteen years, seeing each of their five children through to their first year of Hogwarts.

It was after the youngest had turned eleven and headed to school that Mr. Medlock had learned of the Headmaster position at the school vacating. He discreetly made an inquiry about the position for Amelia, and would the board be interested in hearing of an extremely efficient woman, who was quite good with children. He presented his case to the board, and the board accepted his proposal. He couldn’t wait, and apparated home, hollering for Amelia immediately. As soon as she heard what the man had done for her, she broke down in tears. It was like a dream to her. Not only would she be rising above what her parents had dictated her life might be due to their nefarious activities, but she would be in such a respectable position as those who had known her and her parents would have to see how she had achieved so much. She seemed to be walking on clouds for the next several months. At forty-five years old, she was finally getting a break, and it was all thanks to Mr. Medlock, who had never seemed to notice anything about her, all the while she worked for him, tending to his children and raising them to be good people (if possibly exposing them to a few of her odd opinions). In celebration, she took some of her saved money, and went to a pet shop in Manchester, where she had heard they sold some of the more exotic pets. She had wanted to own a kneazle for as long as she remembered, probably influenced by Miss Lexie in this desire, and now she had decided that she would own one. It did not come to her cheaply, but once she owned it, and found that it adored her, she didn’t care what the cost had been, and testified that she would have paid twice as much for such a darling animal.

With Aristos the Kneazle in tow, and what little belonged to her — including some rather disgustingly coordinated robes and several neat dresses which would have fit very well into the times which the muggles had dubbed the Regenc period, and a small collection of books. No doubt she’d have access to many books to which, during her previous sojourn at Hogwarts, she hadn’t been privvy. She was elated as the first day of term approached, and she would be able to introduce herself to her students and charges, as well as meet all the staff who would be under her command. Hers! She still was not used to the idea when term began, though it didn’t take her long to adjust to the idea.

Personality

Amelia is known to be a bit of an odd duck. She says things that seem to make sense to her, but which nobody else knows the reason for. Her mind wanders, sometimes aimlessly, from what her current train of thought is, and she is known to go off and talk about something completely unrelated, without even bothering to transition. She can be absent-minded, and tends not to put anything into the place that she has designated for it, even if she has the spot labelled. She gets ideas into her head, and will — quite literally — not rest until she has seen them through, or at least told someone of them, for fear of forgetting. She also has a diary placed next to her bed, for that very reason. She talks often of odd subjects, such as the proper way to tie one’s shoe, and the best way to walk to conserve energy. Her love for kneazles also seems a bit odd to most people, who think the creatures are more than a bit odd. Knowing Amelia, though, this is not so out of place. Despite the fact that she was sorted into Gryffindor, she seems to display very few of the dominant traits credited to that house. She does have a strong desire to be successful, and a strong sense of duty, which seems to place her more rightfully into Hufflepuff. She still believes, however, that she is Gryffindor to the core, and will attempt every now and then to display some form of bravery as proof. This nearly always backfires on her, sending into solitude for hours at a time, to ponder and re-collect her scattered thoughts. Her views on life are unorthodox, and she rarely seems to understand those who cling to the conventional and socially accepted, tending to puzzle at them more than help them or even make some sort of motion of understanding. She can be described as a slightly-senile kook at worst, and an unconventionally-minded educator at best.

Description

Amelia is a tall woman, obviously beyond her prime in life, if she ever did have a prime, that is. Her body is starting to sag in places, and she was obviously at one time very curvacous and slender, though she seems now to be putting on just a bit of weight. Her face was never very lovely to begin with, but she seems to have a charming middle-aged face. The wrinkles which now are taking over seem to give her an odd aura of mystery. Her face would still not be considered pretty, nevertheless, despite an over-abundance of rouge. Her mouth is set in an almost-smile nearly all the time. Few people see her genuinely smile. Her light brown eyes seem to look right to the soul of whatever she is looking at, her gaze is so intent. Her dark brown hair is coiffed high on her head, as might have frequently been seen in the early 1800s on any muggle. It has a bit of a kinky wave to it, which tends towards frizziness more than anything else, making her head seem like a ball of fuzz some days. It also has several prominent gray streaks through it, showing even more acutely her age. Her overall look is rather disconcerting, as she is known to wear audacious colour combinations, such as a bright pink with a pea green, and not think twice about it. So, while she is not particularly attractive, she is quite eye-catching.

Outfits

None saved.

Family

• Father: Harold Amias Hargrove
• Mother: Emma Laraine Larsen