<strong>name:</strong>Astrid Henrietta Bishop<br/><br/><strong>age:</strong>19<br/><br/><strong>gender:</strong>Female<br/><br/><strong>race:</strong>Witch<br/><br/><strong>Blood Status:</strong>Pure Blood<br/><br/><strong>position:</strong>Student<br/><br/><strong>Signature Spell:</strong>Animagus - Sparrow<br/><br/><strong>Wand:</strong>11', Yew, Phoenix feather core<br/><br/><strong>status:</strong>Single<br/><br/><strong>mirror, mirror on the wall:</strong>http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae282/caela_ecub/Blondes/ts2.jpg (http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae282/caela_ecub/Blondes/ts2.jpg)<br/>Astrid stands at a petite 5'2 in her bare feet. She compensates for that with force of personality and a plethora of spiked heels to make herself seem taller. Golden hair falls in gentle waves to near the middle of her back and frames a kind and open face with dark green eyes framed by, naturally, sooty lashes that mascara always promises but never seems to give. With a straight nose and soft, kissable lips, she has what her mother always called, "classic beauty". Despite her petite stature there is nothing about Astrid that seems "short". Her body is in perfect proportion with toned legs, a firm behind, flat stomach and perky breasts just large enough to require a bra under most tops.<br/><br/><strong>in my heart of hearts:</strong>Astrid is, mostly, a sweet girl with a love of learning and thirst for knowledge. She can get caught up in a new subject and lose track of the world around her almost entirely. When you can snap her away from her books, however, you find that she is friendly, open, chatty, and almost always ready for some form of entertainment. She'll help with practical jokes but only if she believes them to be funny, not cruel, and is one of the most loyal of friends you could ask for. What few people ever see is the temper she manages to hide behind her sunny exterior. It takes a lot to set it off, but if you harm someone she loves, she'll be patient, and dogmatic, in making sure you pay for it.<br/><br/><strong>my dark past:</strong>Astrid's past isn't dark in the least. Born to a minor Witch family (both her parents worked as low level Clerks within the Ministry) she grew up with loving parents and there was no doubt that she would receive her letter and attend Hogwarts. From a young age she showed a propensity for transfiguration and potion-making, often able to improvise in either to dramatic effect so it was no surprise to her teachers (or her parents) when she became the youngest Ravenclaw in her class to learn to become an Animagus and one of the proudest moments of her her young life was when she was registered as a Sparrow.<br/><br/>Having excelled in her studies at Hogwarts, she still had no idea what she really wanted to do with her life and was thrilled that the University was an option for her. Her parents made it clear how thrilled they were as well since it was an option that hadn't been around when they were graduating themselves. It wasn't that either of them hated their jobs, but both felt that there might have been options for them that they never discovered because they didn't get the chance to study longer.<br/><br/>In her second year at the University now she's studying far more advanced forms of transfiguration than would ever have been taught at Hogwarts, higher levels of potion-making, and taking further lessons in Herbology as well, though the Herbology she studies is more to further her potion-making because she's found that she can improvise and create better, the better she knows the properties of the plants and minerals she's working with. In the back of her mind she has begin thinking that a future in medical potions might be fun to explore.<br/><br/>This semester her classes include: Advanced Transfiguration, Medicinal Herbology, Advanced Potions, Defensive Magic, and Basic Apparating/Disapparating.<br/><br/><hr/><hr/><br/><strong>name:</strong>Athena StarGazer-Smith<br/><br/><strong>age:</strong>25<br/><br/><strong>gender:</strong>Female<br/><br/><strong>race:</strong>Witch<br/><br/><strong>Blood Status:</strong>Half-Blood, Muggle father<br/><br/><strong>position:</strong>PhD Student - Magical Archaeology, teaches Beginning Divination<br/><br/><strong>Signature Spell:</strong>Seer; Bubble-Head Charm modified so that it can continue to draw oxygen from the water around her, not just hold a finite amount.<br/><br/><strong>Wand:</strong>10 1/2 in, Olive, Centaur tail strand core<br/><br/><strong>mirror, mirror on the wall:</strong>http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae282/caela_ecub/Brunettes/ed3.jpg (http://i980.photobucket.com/albums/ae282/caela_ecub/Brunettes/ed3.jpg)<br/>Standing at 5'9 in her bare feet, Athena doesn't bother much with heels in the traditional sense. She does favor stylish boots (when not wearing sneakers) that usually have a small heel, but already being tall, she doesn't feel the need to wear four inch spikes...unless she's looking to intimidate somonee! A curtain of chocolate waves fall just past Athena's shoulders and frame a face that can be utterly serious, or filled with mirth in turns faster than most people can follow. Golden-brown eyes typically look out on the world as if she knows some secret that amuses her...and she's not sharing.<br/><br/><strong>in my heart of hearts:</strong>Athena is a sarcastic, kind, intelligent young woman. She studies hard, and plays harder, enjoying a variety of activities but preferring those that take her outside and let her enjoy the beauty of nature around her. She finds the sounds of nature soothing, particularly just after a Prophecy has gripped her. For the most part she ignores her<em>Gift</em>because it's something she can't truly control, the Prophecies come as they will and she simply chooses to live her life irregardless of what she Sees.<br/><br/>As a friend she is loyal and caring but more than willing to share harsh truths as well. She doesn't believe in "polite" lies and doesn't bother telling them, though she does try to soften some of what she tells people if she thinks it's necessary.<br/><br/>As a lover she is flirtatious, teasing, rarely easy to catch, but worth the chase. She will drive a partner mad if they let her, but will make the effort to catch her well worth the the time spent to do so. She enjoys being chased nearly as much as being caught and conquered.<br/><br/>As an enemy she is someone to be wary of. Her temper can burn fast and die just as quickly for minor matters but if you truly earn her enmity she will be patient and wait for the opportune moment to (when you are least expecting it and might even think she's forgotten) to exact her vengeance.<br/><br/><strong>my dark past:</strong>Athena grew up living what seemed to be a charmed life. The daughter of an American businessman and a Greek Witch, she actually grew up moving around many different parts of the world for her father's business ventures. When the time came to get her letter, she actually got more than one because of her nomadic lifestyle and her parents chose a school located near Queensland, Australia. The school itself it actually based on a small island in the Great Barrier Reef chain and is otherwise uninhabited. It was never "home" (that was always wherever her parents were) but it was a great deal of fun and she spent a good portion of her free time learning how to dive (which was how she gained exemplary control of, and affinity for, the Bubble-Head Charm) and swim the reefs that surrounded the island. Because it was far from the nearest Muggle habitation, it didn't require the same level of security as most other schools and only had a few spells to divert Muggle boats, ships, and aircraft so that it wouldn't be noticed.<br/><br/>While the school taught her the basics, much of her high level learning was done with her Mother who taught her things like Appariting/Disapparating and the Patronus Charm(an Owl in Athena's case). Athena wasn't sure when the latter would really be of much use, but her Mother made it a point that anything you<em>could</em>know, was worth knowing. While Athena hadn't grown up during the rise of Voldermort, her Mother had and she wanted her daughter to always be prepared to defend herself as needed. To that end, she also taught her daughter how to duel, and there could be no harsher teacher than Athena's own Mother when it came to winning a duel!<br/><br/>All her time spent diving also piqued the interest that, finally, brought her to Dragonsclaw; the Archaeology of Magical Civilizations. Just like the Muggle world, the Magical had lost cities over time and she suspected that many of Muggle mythologies famed "lost cities" were actually Magical in origin. Cities like Atlantis that were supposed to have seemingly magical or advanced technological capabilities. All of her diving inspired a passion to search out such places and learn the secrets lost to time. To that end she moved to the only University the Magical community had, even though it took her far from the oceans she loved, to learn as much as she could about ancient magical civilizations. Because of her Gift as a Seer, her Mother also taught her other divinatory arts and she uses those skills to teach her Beginning Divination classes.<br/><br/><strong>Note on her "Gift":</strong>Being a Seer is an inborn talent, not a skill she learned. According to her Mother, family lore has it that every generation of their family has spawned a Seer going back (supposedly) to Kassandra of Troy. Athena isn't certain that she truly believes the family stories, but they make an interesting story to tell when people ask about her Gift.<br/>