Full Name: Helena Tabitha Dawson née Conway
Nicknames: goes primarily by Nell
Birthdate: January 13th, 1818
Current Age: 72 years young
Occupation: Magical Theory professor, Ravenclaw HoH & author
Reputation: 7 eccentric af
Residence: Hogsmeade/Hogwarts
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Wand: 8 ¼” holly, unicorn tail, pliant
Blood Status: muggleborn
Social Class: middle
Family:

Ferdinand Dawson | [1812 - 1869] beloved husband
Elixir Dawson| [1840] son and family
Essence --- née Dawson | [1842] daughter & family
Jinx Dawson | [1845] son & family
Charm --- née Dawson | [1848] daughter & family
Fairy --- née Dawson | [1851] daughter & family
Patronus Dawson | [1853] son & family
Rune Dawson | [1858] son

Appearance: Nell has always possessed a lithe and willowy build to her average height (5’2”), though age and motherhood has rounded her overall, she is still quite slender. Her once-auburn hair has greyed completely and she keeps it on the shorter side after a miscalculated potion attempt to help keep the red led most of it to fall out. If you ask her about it though, it’s “silver and I can’t be bothered to have it in my face all of the time.” She dresses eccentrically and in bright colors, with lots of jewelry. She is ambidextrous after finding out she was left-handed and her parents forced her to learn with her right. Her animagus form is an otter, though like her hair has faded to more silver in color than the traditional brown.

History:Pre-Hogwarts
Helena joins a plethora of siblings as the final child in a stable middle class family from Edinburgh. She is the only child to show signs of magic in her family, though apparently has an “aunt” that also had a strange childhood. Inquisitive and intelligent by nature, Nell is well-spoken and well-read at an early age. A visit from the Hogwarts Deputy Headmaster explains the “eerie” things that happen around Nell and off to Hogwarts she goes.

Hogwarts
Swiftly and decisively sorted into Ravenclaw, it is of little surprise to the tiny redhead that she has found her home there. Magic fascinates her from the theory, to the practice, to the potions and the creatures, Nell is simply infatuated starting right with her first year boat ride across the Black Lake. Her love affair continues in the library where she spends a great deal of her time reading anything she can get her hands on, from runes to curses and hexes, to difficult transfigurations. Too busy with her studies to enjoy some of the other activities Hogwarts has to offer, she does manage to make a few like-minded friends across her time, but doesn’t even bother to have herself considered for prefect or anything else of the sort. She graduates with a full course load and several Es and Os.

Post-Hogwarts
Though she is not the most social of creatures at this point in her life, she does participate in the Hogwarts Coming Out Ball, though none of her family can attend, she catches the eye of Ferdinand Dawson, a Scottish ministry man who works in the Department of Mysteries. He comes from a well-to-do middle class family and does well in his position at the ministry. Their courtship is fast and furious, Nell is besotted with the lifestyle he can provide, his outgoing and creative personality, not to mention a way to stay connected and in the magical community she has grown to love and admire. They marry the spring after her 19th birthday.

Nell spends the next few years growing to love her husband even more. She does not find an occupation, but is allowed to research and take on any project she sets interest in and automatically starts her animagus studies. Those are put on hold as the Dawsons welcome their first child, a son to be named Elixir in 1840, but it does not stop Nell from any of her other pursuits. With a babe on her hip (much to the nanny’s chagrin) Nell takes on a research assistant position with a local Magical Theoretician to keep her education going. Across the next near two decades six more children are welcomed into the Dawson family (including a couple of lost pregnancies between), a testament to both Nell and Freddie’s love story and Nell’s determination. Across this time she finishes her animagus studies, publishes three books and sees several of her children go and graduate from her beloved Hogwarts.

Tragedy strikes when Ferdinand is killed in a work accident gone wrong in 1869, the year their last child is set to start Hogwarts. Unable to cope with the loss and and empty nest, Nell joins Rune at Hogwarts and takes up the Magical Theory post.

Hogwarts Redux
Though the heartache is fresh and it takes her a long time to heal from the loss of her husband, Nell finds immense joy in her new position. Hogwarts was always a safe haven, a reprieve from the outside world and it serves the same purpose even at this point in her life. She goes on to publish two more magical theory books during her tenure, though neither of which they use for texts at school. Long after her last offspring graduates, (though the grandbabies have started coming!) she remains eccentric, straightforward and caring as they come to each class that comes through. Especially now that she will be taking on the Head of House slot for Ravenclaw for the 1890-91 school year.


Personality: Straightforward; no-nonsense; maternal; loud; eccentric; loyal; outspoken; warm; inviting; knowledgeable; genuinely interested; social; stubborn; enigmatic.


Name: Bee
Age: 33
Contact: @Elsie