Foundling | Gwyn was four, perhaps five, when she first asked for the story of how she came to live with the Glynns at Fairtree Farm, not far from Avalon Glen. Indeed, she was told, she was discovered but a few days old near the river that ran through the family's grove of wandwood trees whilst Mr. Glynn was tending to some saplings. A foundling—though as magic folk, she lacked the danger that the muggles might have felt. With four children of their own already (and two to reveal themselves in only a matter of months), the Glynns were hesitant to take on another mouth to feed, but ultimately, were won over by how delicate she was. It was rather a false advertisement.
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Firecracker | By the time Gwyn was five, the Glynn children numbered nine, herself included, and all but inseparable from the daughter closest in age to her. Gwyn had proven early on to be ill-suited to sitting still or doing anything with a needle other than jabbing it at the boys, much to Mrs. Glynn's dismay, and even Enid's somewhat calming influence could not run off on her entirely. Mr. Glynn, though, was delighted that at least one of 'his' girls was as comfortable outdoors as he himself, and probably encouraged her a bit more than he should have.
Eight saw her first act of magic: accidentally setting a shrub on fire. Mr. Glynn was a bit less keen to have her around the grove for a while afterwards.
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Failure | At eleven years of age, Gwyn did the most natural thing for a child in magical Britain: she departed for Hogwarts. Between the family's relative comfort and hand-me-down supplies, all the Glynn children were allowed three years' stay at the school, longer if they could maintain a scholarship, and Gwyn certainly... couldn't. Like needlepoint, reading quietly, or simply sitting inside, she lacked the temperament and restraint for her classes—though Merlin, did she ever try.
Unfortunately, trying only served to make matters worse, and it was though bad luck stalked her through the school's corridors during her three scant years at the castle. Still, she did remain long enough to enroll in Care of Magical Creatures, which she adored.
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Fortunate? | Gwyn returned to the farm with little idea what to do with herself. She helped out as best she could, but found herself listless when Enid returned to Hogwarts in the autumn, then downright blackened of mood when a particularly rough winter saw her housebound for weeks on end. When spring finally comes, the fourteen year old is out ranging far further from home than is technically prudent, ignoring reminders of the dangers of the region in favour of freedom.
Though docile, as dragons go, a Welsh Green is still very much a dragon, classified by the Ministry of Magic as, to paraphrase, STAY THE FUCK AWAY. Gwyn did not anticipate happening upon one, and to her credit, her first thought was to run, but her body did not cooperate and she froze instead.
Then the pain came.
It was sheer luck that Madoc Yarwood and two of the keepers came by when they did, following up on an errant dragon harrying sheep. Without their quick action, Gwyn would most certainly have died. A local healer was employed to tend to her immediate life-or-death wounds, and a Mysterious BenefactorTM paid to ensure there would be no visible scarring on her face or hands (though did not spring for her torso, which she is only slightly irritated about).
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Force of Nature | Not at all deterred by her initial brush with dragonkind (Enid would wonder aloud if she'd bashed her head during the accident), her seventeenth birthday sees her first kiss (Rhys Glynn, of course), rather overshadowed by her finally convincing Howell, the head dragonkeeper, to take her under his wing. Everyone is baffled that he would do so (even Gwyn did not expect him to acquiesce), but for the first time, Gwyn is genuinely enthusiastic about learning, even the academic side of things and has a sense of purpose about it. She moves out of the farm and into The Kiln, the large if rather bedraggled cottage that houses the keepers and their much put-upon house elf, Sparky.
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