In-Character
Full Name: Nicolina De Vries nee DippetNicky frequently goes by pseudonyms depending on her mood.Nicknames: Nicky
Birthdate: April 18 1862
Current Age: 26 years
Occupation: The Prodigal Sister
Reputation: 5
You probably don't recognize Nicky (she hasn't been in the UK for seven years), but if you do, you know that she's supposed to be 1) richer and 2) dead and 3) married in South Africa.Residence: She sure would like to answer this question. (Nicky drifted into Hogsmeade with her baby just before the fog.)
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
Wand: Holly, 10", flexible, dragon heartstring
Blood Status: Half
Social Class: Working
Family:
Josephina Ophelia De Vries | Daughter | b. 1883
--- De Vries | Husband, Technically
--- ---, "The Local" | Long-Time Lover
The following information is what Nicky knows as of her "death" in 1882.
Dario Nicholas Dippet | Father | b. 1836
Ophelia Lillian Dippet | Sister | b. 1864
Although she's a descendant of Armando Dippet, this was never relevant to Nicky when she lived in Hogsmeade.
Appearance:
A mirror of her younger sister, Nicky stands a titch taller at a largely unremarkable 5'3. Her skin is slightly tan. She has dark, curly hair that is usually kept up, and is shorter than it was when she left. Her clothes vary: English-style dresses which were once in middle class style, but are now worn and a few years out of date - mostly because they're the clothes she took when she left her husband. Now, and more often: South African fabrics in bright colors. (She wears the latter when she wants to 'pass' for having money, since most don't know any better, and the former when she wants to appear working class.)Nicky has dark eyes and a tendency towards smirking. She is slender - more slender now that she actually has to want for things - and has a presence that seems observational. Nicky's body language tends to mirror whoever she's with, and she is perfectly happy to code switch between working and middle class circles when she has to.
History:
The eldest of the Dippet children, Nicky is born in 1862. She doesn't remember this gap period between her birth and the birth of her sister, Ophelia, who very swiftly becomes her best friend. Papa is always bringing home pets from his travels - all of who are odd, although Nicky doesn't realize this until much later - and the pair often get into shenanigans with them. (Especially with the nifflers.)
Zoe is born in 1867, but by then Nicky is old enough to have little interest in infants. She's followed by Octavian, in 1868, who would have garnered similar indifference if it wasn't for Ophelia disliking him. Because of that, Nicky fosters a similar animosity.
These years are when Nicky remembers things going wrong. Mama has a miscarriage in 1870, and by the time she becomes herself again, (years later), every member of the family catches ill. This would have been fine, as almost all of them recover - but Zoe, who catches it last, (1872) doesn't. Nicky's dislike of Octavian becomes more genuine, now, because he was the one who first caught the illness and killed poor Zoe.
Nicky goes off to Hogwarts and is sorted into Gryffindor (1873). An inherently social creature, she is more concerned with making friends than her grades, but does well in practical lessons. Nicky starts to develop a talent for moving between social circles and mimicking the people within them, which becomes useful to her later.
A new sister, Cora, is born when Nicky is at school, but Nicky can hardly get to know her before Cora dies in the first month of 1874. She cannot find a way to blame Octavian for this, which makes her more miserable. Nicky and Ophelia write near-daily.
In Nicky's third year, (1875), she's joined at Hogwarts and in Gryffindor by Ophelia, which is just delightful! They hang out often, and Nicky, who has developed a fascination with boys, encourages Ophelia's crushes as much as she can. Nicky takes her NEWTs in June of '78, and continues with DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, and COMC.
Octavian joins them in 1878, but manages to fuck everything up by running away before he's even reached Christmas break. Mama is put in an asylum, and Nicky is quite heartbroken; something she conceals under a thick layer of everything-is-normal.
Octavian resurfaces but dies, in 1879, and apparently Mama is determined to follow him, because she kills herself. After the girls return from school, Papa announces that they shan't be returning, and while Ophelia is pissed, Nicky is alright with it.
Nicky's is alright for this because it means she gets to debut as soon as she exits mourning, and before her first season is out she's met a Dutchman involved in the South African diamond business. This is all dreadfully romantic and exciting, and Nicky does everything she can to encourage his affections, finally resulting in an engagement.
They marry very quickly (81) and leave to go to Johannesburg, where Nicky finds that she has no friends, that her husband says awful things about the local population, and that mirroring his behavior is exhausting when she has to do it all the time. She misses Ophelia, though pretends to be cheerful in letters. She misses Papa. And she does not know what to do.
Nicky meets [the Local/Singh] in Jo'burg entirely on accident, and somehow finds herself in a deep affection with him - affection that results in a betrayal of her husband. When she finds herself pregnant, she panics - not knowing whose baby it is, and it'll be very obvious if it's not Mr. De Vries' - and flees her husband with the local.
She tells Ophelia and Papa, and is disappointed-but-not-surprised when they decide she's dead. She can travel with Singh and his sister and the carnival, and have a great, adventurous life!
Except as her daughter is born (1883) with features that don't make her father obvious, and as Nicky travels with the carnival, she grows increasingly frustrated. She begins to hoard money in 1886 as it becomes more difficult to provide for a growing child vs. a baby, often resorting to less-than-ethical means to get it. (Read: stealing money from rich folks she seduces, sorry!)
When she finally has enough, she books passage on a ship to Scotland with Josie, leaving Singh with nothing but a note. Nicky arrives a few days into June, heading to the only all-magical place in Scotland in case the family has relocated, and soon finds Hogsmeade faced with some sort of fog-based crisis. But where's her family?
Personality: To most: Nicky is a mirror. What do you want to see? She will become that person, and that's who you'll know, and if you see her elsewhere you might be surprised. She is a mimic and a parrot and a very good one, with a talent at reading body language and intent.
Fundamentally, but to few: Bold, reckless, and over-dramatic. Periodically shallow and self-absorbed. A loyal, excellent friend, Nicky is rather clever, but buries this under a thick layer of dramatics. Good self-preservation skills. Can be vicious.
Other: Nicky is fluent in English, as well as Afrikaans and Dutch due to her time in South Africa, and has a working proficiency in [the Local's native language, to be filled in later.] She is also bisexual, but due to VE homophobia/biphobia often interprets her bisexuality as simple opportunism-for-money-or-sexual-satisfaction.
Sample Roleplay Post: [At least a paragraph. Only required for first or canon characters.]
Out-of-Character
Name: Beanie
![[Image: TrSGeWR.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/TrSGeWR.jpg)