In-Character
Full Name: Harmony Frances GambolNicknames: Fran or Franny, mostly.
Birthdate: December 1st, 1876
Current Age: 17
Gender: Female
Occupation: Student
Reputation: 6 or 7
Residence: North Bartonburg, Hogsmeade
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Wand: Acacia, eleven inches, with a unicorn tail hair. Swishy.
Blood Status:
PurebloodSocial Class: Middle
Family:
Francis Gambol, Father [1833]Appearance:
Rosaline Gambol nee —, Mother [1847]
Tranquility Gambol, Sister [1873]
Prosper Gambol, Brother [1875]
Benedict Gambol, Brother [1879]
Serendipity Gambol, Sister [1882]
Katherine — nee Gambol, Aunt [1830s], and family, including Ottaline [1877]
Ottaline Gambol nee —, Paternal Great-Grandmother & Former Minister of Magic [1785-1876]
History:Red haired, full-figured, and at just over five feet, three inches, blending in is not something that comes entirely naturally to Franny and she rather stubbornly likes it that way. After all, why should someone else’s sins make her hide? Still, her nature does not naturally thrust her into the spotlight, either: she does not speak if she does not have something intelligent to contribute to the discussion, and after a rough third year, does tend to hang back, make herself just a fraction smaller, among new people.
Like her elder sister, Fran’s wardrobe is one that makes ample use of charms to change her dresses, rather than buying new ones, out of necessity. Colours are vibrant to help support the ruse that she has many, many different dresses—even though most people at school are aware at her family’s fall in stature. She prefers to remain indoors or in shade, as her pale skin freckles quickly, then burns rather aggressively, in the sun.
Harmony Frances Gambol has never been the sort to take her time. She walks in small, quick strides, and speaks always a hair faster than whoever she is conversing with. Her own handwriting is small, neat, though occasionally boasts smudges from being written with her left hand. Her light grey-blue eyes tend to stare at a fixed point in the middle distance when lost in thought.
Her PB is Nicola Coughlan.
Personality:Timeline
December, 1876 A third child is born to the Gambol family at the beginning of December, mere minutes after the clock strikes midnight and a week after the passing of her great-grandmother. It is three days before a naming seer is consulted and the babe is given the name Harmony for the peace she, alongside her elder sister, will supposedly bring to the family. Her middle name, Frances, is a gift from her father’s ego, and one that will follow her in the years to come, being used more often than her first. Spring, 1878 Gabol Grove, the Cambridgeshire estate that had been in the family since the 1600s, is sold to Nigerian immigrants. Though it is the only home young Franny has known to that point, as a baby, she does not remember the sale or subsequent move to their London home. She does, however, overhear squabbles about the matter in the years to come. 1879 Benedict is born. With their father’s preferred naming seer out of the country, it is three months before the baby has a name. The nickname garnered from his siblings during this time, Egg, remains in place into his school years, much to his embarrassment. 1882 Serendipity is born, her arrival something of a surprise as their mother showed few signs of pregnancy until she was very far along. Autumn 1884 The Gambols sell their London home and move to Wellingtonshire, picking up a new house “at a bargain” after most of its former occupants die during the Laughing Plague. Young Franny finds this horribly morbid, and struggles to sleep for the better part of two months after the move. 1888 Fran joins her elder siblings at Hogwarts, where she is sorted into Ravenclaw. This swiftly proves to be the right call: always clever, she begins quickly to excel in her coursework, even doing homework for her peers, on occasion, for some extra pin money. Summer, 1890 Harmony Frances Gambol is twelve years old when she learns the true meaning of debt, as well as how far their father has sunk them in it. Francis Gambol, the older children are told, has gambled away… well, just about everything, and they are to move to Bartonburg North.
What the children are not told, and what they don’t come to realize for a couple of years, is that their mother sold the Wellingtonshire home in a bid to save the family without informing Francis, placing the money obtained into a Gringotts account in her name and hers alone. This act is… dubious in its legality, but Francis is far too mortified to ever do anything about it. The Gambols, once a formidable family that produced a Minister of Magic, had fallen to the middle class.Autumn 1890 - Spring 1891 Class falls, it seems, are feared to be catching, with a handful of girls Fran had previously been friendly with now reluctant to be seen with her. Her cousin, Ottaline, remains her advocate, eschewing the company such fair-weather friends for those willing to accept Franny and her circumstances for what they are.
A third year now, Fran is the first of her siblings not to take Divination, their father’s pet subject/weird interest, instead enrolling herself in Ancient Runes, Ancient Studies, and Muggle Studies—courses that lend themselves well to her Side Hustle, which she increases her efforts in. With so little money coming from home, Fran needs an income to take advantage of her newly-issued Hogsmeade weekends—and to save for an uncertain future.1891 - Present Franny’s success in school brings with it scholarships—a welcome relief to her mother, who continues to rule over the family’s finances with an iron fist. Her business efforts, best described as ‘selling success to lazy rich people’, continues to do well, though ostensibly, she’s stopped doing it, referring previous clients instead to a particular statue in the fifth floor corridor where requests (and money) can be left to “buy quills”.
As time goes on, Prosper finds work in the Ministry of Magic out of necessity, and Tranquility attempts to have a season, relying on her own magical skills to ensure it isn’t obvious she is wearing the same limited wardrobe from event to event.
As Fran heads into her final summer-in-between, the looming shadow of what comes next has already begun to stalk her. The knowledge that her future is altogether in her hands is as terrifying as it is empowering.
Other:BRIGHT — LOYAL — SHREWD — GOOD-HUMORED
- Doesn’t burn bridges herself, but will consider them burnt by others.
- Does not like to gossip, even about those she dislikes.
- Has absolutely no respect for her father…
- ...and abhors gambling as a result of his actions. If someone enjoys it, it is a mark against them.
- Would love to be an academic someday; will likely have difficulty trusting in a future husband.
SKILLS:
- Languages: English, slightly-above-proficient in French
- Franny is particularly talented at charms, having invented one in her fifth year that is not yet technically legal (see “quills”, below)
- Can play the pianoforte, but playing lacks the heart of someone truly proficient.
TRIVIA:
- Boggart: TBD
- Amortentia: TBD
- Loves poetry
If one were to scribble the details of a written assignment on a piece of parchment, then place it in the cauldron of the statue of Ceridwen on the fifth floor with some money, one might receive via owl, within a few days, a single quill. When inked and placed in your hand, it will lead that hand upon a merry journey as it rewrites—in your own handwriting!—an essay sent by a person or persons unknown. After that, it’s best tossed in the fire, as you’d not want to get caught, would you?Quills from Ceridwen
(For some elective courses, alas, all you will receive in the post is your money back.)
ACADEMIC RECORD
Class Name OWLs NEWTs Ancient Runes O — Ancient Studies O TBA Astronomy O TBA Charms O TBA Defence Against the Dark Arts O TBA Herbology O TBA History of Magic O TBA Muggle Studies E — Potions E — Transfiguration O TBA
Out-of-Character
Name: KayteAge: Over 30
Contact: PM Aldous Crouch
