In-Character
Full Name: Miriam Magdalena KyprianouNicknames: Mir, Midge
Birthdate: September 20, 1853
Current Age: 42
Gender: Female
Occupation: Director of the Museum of Magical Miscellany
Reputation: 5 -- despite being upper class and a woman, Miriam holds a job as a museum director. She is also a single mother, but she was married to him until he went missing during his duty as an Auror. She kept her given surname rather than her husband's after he passed, which likely adds to her reputation dropping a bit in certain circles.
Residence: Originally from Cyprus. Currently, she resides in London, UK (a flat in the muggle world bought for her as a young woman), but she spends most of her time in a home in Hogsmeade.
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Wand: Cedar with a dragon heartstring core -- 12".
Blood Status: Pure
Social Class: Upper
Family:
Daughter: Eleana Kyprianou, 6th year at Hogwarts (Half-blood)
Husband (MIA/Deceased): Alexander Galanis (Muggle born)
Mother and Father: NPC -- estranged
Brother: NPC Kyprianou -- younger brother
Appearance: Standing at about 5'6", there is always an air of elegance and and class about Miriam that other's notice almost immediately upon meeting her. Her hair is dark brown, and is often kept at the nape of her neck in a braided bun or other regal up-do that her mother taught her how to do when she was a girl. Hazel-brown eyes and porcelain skin often make her stand out in a crowd despite her preferring to blend into the background whenever possible. She is notably attractive even though her lifestyle and manner of dressing might be a sensitive point for some. When she was a girl and until she was about 20, Miriam dressed the part most appropriate for the upper class. Expensive gowns, uncomfortable shoes, and an obscene amount of grooming that she never could stand. Currently, she opts for comfortableness and a more modest approach to her appearance. During her official hours at the museum, she dresses in socially-acceptable dresses as to not attract any additional looks of disdain from less open-minded folks. When she is participating in archeological digs or is otherwise not 'on the clock,' she prefers pants, boots, and a blouse.
Having a good balance of field work and 'indoor' work in her life, Miriam is built athletically and has a certain roughness to her hands that most women of her social class don't have. She stands a bit taller than the average woman, and is perhaps a bit physically stronger than the average woman as well considering her line of work. Miriam spent (and still spends) a significant amount of time on horseback growing up as her family were known in Cyprus in the Muggle world for horse breeding. Digging in the dirt for magical artifacts from bygone eras is no easy feat, either, and her physical build reflects that. Despite her seemingly unorthodox exterior, though, Miriam's voice is warm, inviting, and smooth. Her family hails from Cyprus and they have been there for thousands of years, as her surname would suggest. She was born in Cyprus and thus her words are laced with an accent that adds a sense of mysteriousness to her depending on the person.
Miriam is right-handed and thus this is the hand in which she uses her wand.
History:
September, 1853: Miriam is born into a very affluent family on the island of Cyprus. She would be the first of two children born to her parents, the second child being a son that they'd favor. Despite the clear favoring of her younger brother, Miriam would be raised to be proud of her heritage. Her family hails from a very old bloodline of Pureblood witches and wizards that have been in Greece/Cyprus since ancient times. Her ancestors saw the rise and fall of empires, rulers, and many other notable parts of Muggle history. Her parents pushed the importance of continuing their Pureblooded line but the rhetoric never sat well with her. Having knowledge of Hogwarts, Miriam's father would purchase a residence in the London area for his children and wife to live. That way, they would be invited to the school just before turning 12 like other wizarding children born in the British Isles. Until her Hogwarts letter came, Miriam would spend most of her young life bouncing between London and Cyprus, adventuring around on her family's horses, swimming in the Mediterranean Sea, and poking around her father's library to satiate her curiosity for history, archeology, linguistics, magic, and her ancestry. Her mother forced her to adhere to the standards of the upper class, much to Miriam's dismay. She always put up a fight, but her mother's stubbornness and the pressure from her relatives won over in the end. A huge source of solace for Miriam were her studies. She has a knack for languages and speaks several fluently which would go on to help her in her future career in the archeological field.
1865-1872: When she arrived at Hogwarts, Miriam would be sorted into Ravenclaw. She was relieved to get away from some of the pressures her parents placed on her. At school, despite its own challenges, Miriam felt freer and blossomed into a very talented and intelligent witch. She had a particular knack for Defense Against the Dark Arts and Magical History. While not a subject studied much at school, Miriam continued her fixation on learning languages from various parts of the world. It was her hobby, at this point, and she currently speaks English, Greek, Romanian, several Arabic dialects, and Peruvian Spanish. Ancient runes and hieroglyphics also fascinated her.
Not one for sports, and barely one for team spirit, Miriam had a handful of close friends who also avoided Quiddich matches like the plague and much preferred getting in extra study time. She was caught more than once trying to break into the restricted section inside the library -- her curiosity and passion for learning often got the better of her. Her mischievous methods for gaining knowledge, however, would prove useful when it came to her OWLS. Miriam often scored very high on exams and did well with magical/spell application as well.
1875: Miriam would meet her future husband in a young Auror named Alexander. A Gryffindor she remembered fondly from her time at Hogwarts, although they didn't run in the same social circles back then. Since her family held an impressive amount of generational wealth, Miriam didn't have to worry about working for a living. She refused to sit at home and 'be a lady' as her mother begged her to do, however. Instead, she decided to find work at a museum as a tour guide. Her knowledge of both Muggle and Magical history was unmatched, and the director at the time took a liking to her and agreed to pay her a small amount as a favor to her father. She'd meet Alexander at the museum and later go on to marry him.
Unfortunately, this was seen as a great offense and failure to her parents. They refused to allow their daughter to marry a Muggle-born wizard despite him coming from a wealthy family in their own right. It was unheard of for "their kind," as her father had said when she broke the news of their engagement. Determined to live her own life, Miriam stood her ground but it cost her a place in her parents' will and estate. They cut her off from the family despite her brother making a half-assed argument in her defense. A few weeks would pass before she was contacted by her maternal aunt whom she always had a special bond with. Her aunt agreed that the reaction from her parents was unfair and agreed to help Miriam financially.
1878-1888: Miriam and Alexander are now expecting their first child, much to the delight of the young couple and Miriam's aunt who had become more of a mother to her in recent years. When Miriam was about six months pregnant, Alexander would be sent away on an Auror mission and sadly he never returned. The Ministry of Magic assumed him dead along with the others who had gone with him on this mission. This left Miriam to be a single mother to Eleana once she was born. The choice to assume her maiden name despite being a widow/once married slightly impacted her social standing, but she was proud of her heritage regardless of her marital status and wished for her daughter to bear her family name given their extensive history.
Miriam still worked at the museum under senior curator, Edison Berkley, who thankfully was a man of progressive morals and ideals. It bothered her that he seemed to take pity on her when he offered her a role as a curator. It paid comfortable and would sustain her and her young daughter well enough. Despite the way in which she was offered the role, Miriam accepted it and was excited to be able to earn a living from her passion for the histories and archeology. Her aunt would also play a role in raising Eleana, often babysitting and providing her with many finer things that Miriam's sole salary wouldn't provide. However, her aunt considered Miriam a part of her immediate family at this point and decided to include the two in her own will, knowing she was getting older and didn't have her own children to leave her assets to.
After a few years as a curator, Miriam would get opportunities to go on digs and experience the discovery of artifacts first-hand. Berkley played a large role in pushing for Miriam to get these roles. She spoke languages that not many people spoke and her knowledge of ancient alphabets (Cyrillic, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, etc) proved to be more than useful on many occasions. Sometimes, she would get to return to Cyprus and the surrounding area for such expeditions.
When Eleana turned 11, she was sent off to Hogwarts which gave Miriam more time to pursue a career.
1891: Berkley had become a close family friend at this point, and with him growing in age, Miriam started helping him with his duties as director in addition to helping him with his failing health and the costs it would accrue. It was becoming clearer and clearer that the man would be retiring soon, in addition to the current director of the museum, and whispers of her being promoted to director started among the employees. Many of these whispers were nasty rumors about Miriam using her femininity to gain such favor, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Even if she was aware of how batting her eyes could win her certain favors, she hadn't done anything of the sort in this case. Towards the end of 1891, Miriam would be promoted to director in the museum. The caveat that was given to the public to 'save face' was that the retired director would be shadowing her and still heavily involved to ensure that everything went smoothly, and that a male counterpart would be hired along with her as co-director. Several members of the board objected, having their own opinions on who would be a better fit, but ultimately Berkley's wishes and arguments for Miriam's case won out.
1894-present: Since the recent passing of her beloved aunt, Miriam inherited the woman's fortune and thus was able to maintain her upper class status. Although her lifestyle often gets some judgemental looks and words thrown her way, Miriam has grown quite tough and refuses to let it bother her much. If anything, as she has aged, she has started to retort back which might cause her reputation to falter a bit among certain people. Her daughter is her pride and joy -- Miriam does all she can to ensure that Eleana has access to the best of everything. Supplies, clothes, food -- you name it. Between her own income (which is significantly less than her male counterparts) and her inheritance, Miriam and her daughter both live quite comfortably. She is able to visit London when she likes and stay at a flat there for when she needs to work in the Muggle world, and with her inheritance, Miriam was able to buy a home in Hogsmeade for the two of them.
Her current pressures, however, include the museum slowly losing funding for certain projects. She knows it is partially due to her having acquired a
role that many believed belonged to a man, so she is determined to bring in more funding and artifacts by just about any means necessary.
Personality:
Miriam is known for her wit, logic, and expertise rather than her warmth and kindness. Although if you're her daughter or someone who is close to her, you might see more of that warmth than the average person does. Having existed in a man's world for so long, Miriam has grown very thick skin and seldom is bothered by petty commentary, or harsh judgements from society. She cares about her reputation only because she knows it impacts the museum. Aside from Eleana, her work is the most important thing in her life. Miriam is ambitious, and while that can rub people the wrong way, she doesn't see anything wrong with it. Her somewhat harsh exterior is considered charming to many of the people she works with either because they find it a novelty for a woman to be where she is, or because it's a breath of fresh air. Often times, societal gender roles fade away when she is on an archeological dig. It's partly why she loves working in the field so much. She gets results and therefore she gains respect out there -- it's how she wishes things were in 'real life.'
Organized, introverted, meticulous, and reluctantly empathetic, Miriam finds solace in books, playing piano, and a herbal teas. While she cares too much about her image to be seen in taverns publicly, she is known to engage in a drink or three among close, private company. She carries a heavy burden despite never speaking of it. She doesn't see the benefit in admitting to life being difficult -- what would it change? If anything, she feels it would cause her to be perceived as weak and she wants to avoid that as much as she can.
Her relationship with her daughter is notably close and she adores the girl very much. Miriam has never been the stereotypical mother, and often has difficulty showing a traditional sense of motherly love, but she made sure Eleana knew (and knows) how much she loves her. As her daughter has aged, the two are working on adjusting their relationship. Recognizing that Eleana takes after herself, Miriam intuitively has backed off a bit and allows Eleana to come to her for help/advice whenever she deems fit. It's difficult for her to not give advice, as she often has to bite her tongue to avoid irritating Eleana.
As a director, Miriam is extremely poised, professional, and knowledgeable. In true Ravenclaw fashion, she is considered sharp. Her mind rivals that of any man who shares her profession and she is held in high regard among those who don't mind the fact that she is a woman. For those that do mind, she is tolerated and secretly wished to fail. She is aware of this and it often triggers her temper, but she is relatively good at keeping it in-check unless something wildly offensive is said or done.
As a civilian, she is sardonic, has an odd sense of humor, and is very loyal and protective of her loved ones. She was never really shown how to display affection, so she isn't likely to hug or be comfortable with physical attention unless it is a select few people. Miriam can come across as cold, but after a few minutes with her, people usually find that she is simply not very expressive. She has a good heart, but her ambitions for success and the chip on her shoulder from constantly fighting off negative assumptions does affect her negatively at times. In a way, she takes after her father in the sense that she might be willing to go about unorthodox ways of getting to where she wants to be.
Other:
Amortentia: ocean air, citrus, and the scent of books
Boggart: Eleana's lifeless body.
Patronus: Albatross
Personal Scent: Gardenia and smoke incense, mixed with the faint scent of dust from artifacts/digs.
Sample Roleplay Post: The icy chill in the air had Waldrada somewhat second-guessing her choice to accept a role in the warfare academy. She was not built for this climate -- her ancestors were all coastal people. Or underwater for most of their lives. With a brief, involuntary shiver, Waldrada pulled the heavy furs that Thorin had given her tighter over her shoulders. Achlyson, in all his wisdom, was shouting commands at the crew in his usual crazed way. She had grown used to, and even fond of it, over the years.
As the ship took a sharp, agitated turn, Waldrada stumbled slightly but regained her stride with ease. It hadn't taken her long to adjust to the unstable flooring and overall unsteady nature of the airship thanks to her athleticism, but she craved ground. Achlyson hadn't exactly taken it well when she, and Thorin, announced their choice to 'abandon ship' as their captain had said. However, Waldrada knew her friend well enough to know that he was only upset because he would miss them. The underworld itself would freeze over if she ever heard him admit that, though. It wouldn't stop her from trying to get him to confess, though. Hence the bottle of rum in the sack on her shoulder. She'd tempt the captain with it after landing.
The pathetic sight of a younger crew member clinging to the ship for dear life elicited a sigh from her lips. Waldrada shook her head at the boy as she walked past towards her captain. He'll do it, you know, she warned, lifting the crew member by his shoulders to his feet with a strength that would surprise most. Best make yourself useful, yes?
With a shove of tough-love, Waldrada sent the boy toward the rest of the crew who were manning the sails. Having grown up with brothers, and despite her profession, Waldrada had a tendency to be a touch rougher than most. Of course when the time called, she could be warm and empathetic, but she was most comfortable somewhere between dispositions.
The cracking of the ice beneath the Dauntless made a sound that reminded her of a bone breaking -- it didn't phase her a bit. Waldrada took the small set of stairs upward to find Achlyson at the wheel of the ship and joined him in admiring the shoreline once the ship steadied in the icy waters.
Don't throw that poor boy overboard, she told Achlyson with a subtle smirk. Cruelty doesn't suit you. No matter how much you think it does.
The two stood shoulder to shoulder as the Dauntless drifted closer and closer to the port at the mouth of the Frith Academy. Waldrada bit her lower lip subconsciously -- another beginning was right there in front of her. It was a feeling that she never adjusted to despite her restless nature.
Out-of-Character
Name: RedAge:29
Contact: Discord (theeredwitch)
Other Characters: None
How did you hear about us?: Rook
