In-Character
Full Name: Marianne Margaret Finch nee Warbeck
Nicknames: She was called Marie by a French governess and it stuck throughout her teenage years. Nowadays, she prefers her full name or better yet, Mrs. Finch.
Birthdate: November 12th, 1842
Current Age: 47
Occupation: Socialite
Reputation: 8 - if it was up to
her, her reputation would be impecable, but her daughter went off and eloped with a loser.
Residence: Hogsmeade, Wellingtonshire
Hogwarts House: Slytherin
Wand: Unyielding, 14'', fir and dragon heartstring
Blood Status: Halfblood
Social Class: Upper Class
Family:
Edwyn Warbeck, father (1819-1861)
Kendra Warbeck nee Shacklebolt, mother (1823)
Leonard Warbeck, brother (1849)
Suzanne ---- nee Warbeck, sister (1852)
Arthur Finch II, husband (1832)
Margaret "Maisie" --- nee Finch, daughter (1866)
Melody Crouch nee Finch, daughter (1868)
Dorothy Finch, daughter (1871)
Arthur Finch III, son (1872)
Penelope Finch, daughter (1874)
Appearance: Elegant and imposing are the best words one might use to describe Marianne. She is somewhat tall for a woman of her era, standing at five feet and four inches. As a young woman, she had a mostly balanced hourglass figure. After five births, her figure remains as such only thanks to the assistance of corsets. She has dark skin and a strong bone structure to her face. Her eyes are somewhat small but have a piercing gaze. Finally, her hair is quite curly at its natural state and sometimes Marianne uses it to her advantage to make elaborate hairstyles for fancier events. On a day to day basis, she tames it with potions to fit the European ideal. She is right handed.
Although she doesn't follow the latest fashions as passionately as young woman might, Marianne is always impecably dressed. At fourty-two, she knows exactly which lines compliment her figure the best. She is always elegant and put together.
History:
November 12th, 1842 | Marianne is born to a middle class household. She has a strict mother who wants to elevate the family's status as high as possible. Marianne is educated by a strict French governess and is expected to set an example for her younger siblings.
As a child, Marianne had a somewhat playful nature. She loved playing games and she was obnoxiously competitive in a child-like way. She also loved fairy tales. This more spirited side of Marianne was stiffled by her strict upbringing.
HOGWARTS
1854 - 1855 | The Hat sends her to Slytherin without hesitation. Even at eleven, Marianne is an ambitious person though at her age it displayed as her being overly competitive. She quickly befriends a group of upper and middle class girls. She only interacts with the lower classes if it's needed for school, otherwise she keeps her respectful distance.
She is a fairly good student, though she's better at the more "feminine" subjects. She was taught that a proper lady doesn't duel and doesn't
need to, because she has a man to protect her at all times. She focuses her attention on subjects such as Charms and Potions.
1856 - 1857 | Marianne chooses two electives in her third year: Arithmancy, which genuinely interests her and Divination, because all of her friends took it. Secretly, she quite likes the class and she believes in things such as the tarot and the zodiac, though she would never admit as much!
1858 - 1859 | In her fifth year, Marianne is named prefect. This puts a strain between her and one of her friends, who obviously wanted the position for herself. She is somewhat heartbroken and from that instance she begins to cultivate a mindset that there is no such thing as true friendship. All people care about is themselves!
She passes all of her OWL classes with at least an A, though she keeps only the classes that are deemed appropriate for a young woman: Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, History of Magic, Arithmancy, and Divination.
1860 - 1861 | Marianne is named Head Girl, a position that she had worked hard to receive. She opens the Hogwarts Coming Out Ball in the end of her seventh year, though her family follows up with a private coming out ball as well.
DEBUTE & DEATH (in the family lol)
December, 1861 | Marianne's father dies after consuming the wrong sort of potion. It was meant to be a cure for the common cold, but instead it froze him up, leading to his death. The family is devastated, as they not only have to mourn him but also pursue justice for his death. This understandably puts Marianne's debutanting on hold, as she has a full year of mourning ahead of her.
1862 | Marianne has some interactions with Arthur Finch II, the son of one of her father's friends. At first, she is too stricken by grief to make much of their relationship. As the end of her mourning period approaches, Marianne begins to notice that Arthur seems to
like her. Even though she doesn't feel romantically drawn to him, she subtly encourages his feelings. A marriage with Arthur Finch would elevate her social status. She had been taught by her mother that marriage should be treated as a business, rather than a matter of the heart.
1863 | Arthur confesses his feelings for Marianne at a garden party in May. However, his mother is hesitant about him courting her. Even though Marianne's natal family isn't starving and she is actually on friendly terms with Marianne's mother, she does think that her son deserves a girl from a more... established family. The Whatevers are good enough for friends but as a potential wife? Eeeehhh.
1864 | In the end, Arthur is given permission to court Marianne. In reality, what happens is that he begins to court her and his mother slowly accepts the fact that she can't do anything about her. She doesn't
mind Marianne as a girl, she's just not... enough.
In late August, Marianne and Arthur get married at a country estate that will later become their home.
MRS. FINCH
1866 | Two years after tying the knot, Arthur and Marianne welcome their first child, a daughter. Their delay is due to... bedroom troubles. Marianne, who like every Victorian woman was taught virtually nothing about her anatomy and sex, is somewhat traumatized by her first night and then has anxiety about going through it again. Arthur is respectful and doesn't pressure her into it. It takes the couple nearly a year until she feels comfortable with him on a physical level.
Marianne is initally happy about her little girl but after almost everyone shows how they would have preferred it is a boy, she grows somewhat resentful of her daughter. She feels like a failure.
March 21, 1868 | Marianne is terribly disappointed when the midwife announces that her second child is another daughter.
October 7, 1871 | After the initial bliss of a new birth, Arthur begins to make passive aggressive comments about having daughters. It is comments about how they'll go penniless funding their dowries etc. Well, what can Marianne do? It's not like she can
control the sex of her children!
Or can she? She privately starts researching birth charms and such.
1872 | It's probably just a placebo effect, but Marianne totally attributes the birth of her son to things such as the Law of Attraction. Privately, of course. She would never publicly admit to believing to such silly things!
1874 | Marianne has another child, another daughter. Everyone would have preferred it was a second son. In any case, the family
does have a son, so Marianne feels more comfortable being happy about her daughter's birth.
1876 | After having the anxiety of giving birth to a son, the new type of anxiety is not having a squib child. Marianne is relieved and flattered when Melody revives a vase of flowers. She is her favourite child for that week.
1877 | It is a turbulent year for wizards, as they're discovered by muggles. The Finches aren't affected overmuch, since they lived in the countryside. Their reason for moving to Hogsmeade was so they'd be closer to society. Their children were starting to go to Hogwarts, so space wasn't an issue.
1878 | Melody goes to Hogwarts and is sorted into Ravenclaw. Marianne is pleased that she does better at school than Margaret.
1882 | Dorothy goes to Hogwarts and is sorted into Hufflepuff. Marianne is somewhat disappointed, Hufflepuff is just so... boring. At least she'll make a good timid wife, she supposes.
1886 | Melody graduates from Hogwarts and is sent to finishing school.
EVERYONE LIKES SCANDAL UNLESS IT'S THEIR DAUGHTER CAUSING IT
1887 | Melody is caught as she tries to sneak away with a man of a bad reputation, Reuben Crouch. Thankfully her husband strikes a deal with the head of the Crouch family and Reuben is sent to Canada. For a while, Marianne wishes she could send her daughter away too. She is so disappointed with her she refuses to speak with her.
1889 | Arthur arranges Melody's marriage to an American diplomat. Lucky girl! Marianne had to work hard to secure herself a good match, so she's annoyed that her naive, ungrateful daughter is lusting after some man with no prospect and doesn't seem elated about her arranged match.
1890 | Melody elopes with Reuben Crouch. Marianne is devastated. The scandal! How will she continue to be alive on this earth after her daughter's selfish and foolish decision? Marianne isn't mad about the selfish part. She has always admired selfishness, but only if it was accompanied by intelligent decisions. Deep down, she is concerned about her daughter. Melody might have been very clever, but she knew nothing about life. How would she survive living in poverty with that man?
Melody is disowned. When she is mentioned around Marianne, is acts as though it is the first time she's hearing about "this Crouch woman". The family also tries to save their relationship with the St. John-Blacks by offering Dorothy in Melody's place, but understandably they turn their third daughter down. Dorothy is sent to finishing school and Marianne is
anxious about what would happen to her two remaining daughters' marriage prospects. The Finch girls would now have a reputation of being "easy" and unreliable thanks to Melody. They couldn't even marry them off to someone American, because of the St. John-Blacks' tie to that country.
Personality: Marianne has undiagnosed anxiety. She was raised by a strict mother, so she has become a control freak herself. She can't stand the feeling of powerlessness and she tries to control everything. She's the type of parent who insists on going 10 hours earlier to the airport.
Due to her deep desire of controlling everything, Marianne is very nitpicky. She thinks that she knows best and she's not great at working with people. That has been something of a problem at charities she was involved in, since Marianne wouldn't let others have an input. Marianne is particularly harsh on her children, since she has the most power over them. Especially after Melody's scandal, she has become even stricter on her two remaining daughters and, to some extent, her son.
Marianne has repressed a lot of her personality. She secretly likes thinks like Divination and gossip, but she would never openly admit to it. She also loves hearing about others' failures, since it makes her feel better about herself. She's a perfectionist, which is deeply rooted to her insecurity about not being enough, something that her strict mother and governess cultivated into her.
My inspiration for her is Mean French Mom TikToks, J. K. Simmons' character from Whiplash, and Miranda Priestly.
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Out-of-Character
Name: Soph
Age: 23