Nicknames: Cora
Birthdate: August 30, 1869
Current Age: 18
Occupation: Vampire Hunter and Hit Witch Trainee
Reputation: 4
A solid 4, Cora is both known for her family's reputation as vampire hunters - an illegal occupation - and being the wild child of such family and for her career choice after Hogwarts of training to become a Hit Witch - not a particularly well liked occupation for an upper class woman.Residence:
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
Wand: dogwood/yew, 13 1/8", firm, dragon heartstring
Blood Status: Halfblood
Social Class: Upper Class
Family:
Godfried Van Helsing, Paternal Grandfather (b. 1811)Appearance:
Annika Van Helsing (née Bjoergen), Paternal Grandmother (b. 1813)
Abraham Van Helsing, Father (b. 1837)
She values her father well enough, the same as any other girl however her relationship with the man on her part revolves around the family business and her gratefulness that he allows her to fight. Honestly, she had no opinion beyond that, other than his choice in a second wife was a horrible one.
Mina Van Helsing (née Brown), Mother (1841-1871); deceased at 30
Cora was never able to form much of an opinion on her mother as she died when Cora was only two, most of her opinions of the woman are based on her legacy. While she does wish she had been able to grow up with her mother, she knows her father would have never allowed the girls to learn to fight had it not been for their mother's death, so in a way, she is grateful to her mother, though she is still bitter to have this woman who was supposed to be an important role in her life stolen from her and therefore hates vampires for what they have done.
---- SOPHRONIA VAN HELSING, Sister (b. 1860)
---- Corinne Van Helsing, Sister (b. 1863)
---- Roxanne Van Helsing, Sister (b. 1866)
---- Valentine Van Helsing, Sister (b. 1867)
---- PERSEPHONE VAN HELSING, Sister (b. 1868)
Persephone, or Sephey as she calls her, is the sister that Cora is closest to - an understandable fact considering the close age, and that they virtually have done everything together from schooling years to society. While she is close to her sister, like any other siblings and friends they do tend to fight occasionally though nothing yet major. She has always been jealous of her elder sister for her intelligence and marks and general magic control and abilities.
Artemis Van Helsing, Sister (b. 1865); estranged as of 1882
Cora is unsure of how exactly she feels about her middle sister. When she was younger, she had looked up to her sister but after she fell pregnant without being married, her opinion has shifted and she still hasn't made up her mind just how she feels about her. She does, however, respect her sister for how she handled the mess and choosing to follow her heart as Cora cannot lay claim to being 'normal'.
Broderick "Brody" Van Helsing, Nephew (b. 1882); illegitimate
Sadie Van Helsing (née -------), Stepmother (b. 1846)
Cora didn't mind that her father wanted to remarry, however, she didn't really approve of the who. She sees Sadie as too intense and tends to avoid her as much as possible. When she is insistence in securing their marriage quite annoy. She already knows she wouldn't be prime marriage material. The likelihood is she would have to marry in the order and they all already know how she is, or at least the girls of her family. Her tolerance of the woman had increased after Sadie's trip to the hospital, but it still is largely negative.
---- Adrianus Van Helsing, Half-brother (1882-1882); stillborn
Various aunts, uncles, and cousins, though the most notable of her extended family is her first cousin, IMOGEN.
A rather small in height girl, standing only at five foot one, Cora would easily be passed over as someone who could hold her own - if it wasn't for the thin layer of well-defined muscle on her body and her distinct lack of fat. She moves comfortably in her own body, comfortable in herself and her abilities and it gives her what could only be described as a power walk. Her fair skin is marred only noticeable by a fairly deep scar on her arm that while it has faded over the years, still stands out. On closer inspection, she does have other scars; nicks and bumps from the years of physical training. Still, in all honesty, it suits her and she wears them like battles scars - with pride.History:
The stereotypical blonde hair of the troop of her siblings share appears in Cora as well, a slightly darker shade than hay blonde but still light. Her roots, however, are dark and it hints towards her hair actually be a darker shade, much like her father's but with how much time she had spent out in the sun from birth to now makes it impossible to tell which actually happens to be the truth. She tends to wear her hair in forms of braids to keep it out of her face and out of her way. With the blonde hair resides a pair of eyes that occasional look like a light blue but tend to favor a light, but dull gray and she considers her eyes her least attractive feature.
She favors loose clothing made of lightweight fabrics that are easier to move in. She tends to wear her corsets slightly looser than she should, unless someone catches her, not liking how the boning restricts her fighting abilities. At home, she tends to dress in men's breeches and cotton shirts rather than dresses as they are easier to move in and more comfortable. As for colors, she favors bright, bold colors after the two morning periods she has observed and tends to dress in vibrant shades that seem far too risky to pull off, though she seems to make them work with the way she carries herself and the matching boldness of her personality.
Underneath her skirts and sleeves, she tends to wear knife sheaves, to the frequency that she has had a set made especially for her. While she tended not to wear them at school, now that she is out, she can be found wearing it fairly often and often wears them to work. While she barely remembers her mother and didn't witness her death the idea of being caught off guard haunts her, and prompting her to always be prepared. She tends to carry her wand in her left hand, and can often be found with it in her hand rather than tucked away and occasionally even spinning it between her fingers - though she has been scolded for that habit and its possible dangers far more than once.
AUTUMN OF 1869 | In the later half of the year, at the end of August, Terpsichore Rae is born as the seventh and youngest child of Abraham and Mina Van Helsing, completing the batch of daughters. She was a troublesome child off the bat, always wondering off as soon as she can crawl and she showed a tendency to be quite vocal, even if she cannot yet talk, making her fair share of noises and being quite hard to ignore when she cries, though that was rare.Personality:
SUMMER OF 1871 | At the ripe age of two, the young girl's family takes a vacation to the Americas. She has quite a fair bit of fun, spending most of her time with her sister Persephone, who isn't even a full year older than her, but the only thing she now really remembers of the trip is of being very confused when her mother did not come home with them. She would later learn that during the trip, her mother and a few of her older sisters had been out to see a play when her mother had been brutally murdered by a vampire, a fact that would only fuel her later aggression towards the species.
AUTUMN OF 1871 | The family slowly starts to move on from the death of her mother and the day after her third birthday, her eldest sister is off to Hogwarts, where she is sorted into Ravenclaw.
WINTER OF 1873 | During her sister's holiday break, Cora watches her elder sisters train, bitter that she isn't allowed to partake as well and in one of her first, but nowhere near last, idiotic decisions, she decided to sneak into the training and partake in her first lesson. As imaginable, it turns out not to be a good idea as she gets caught in the crossfire of a spell shot off by an unaware relative. Panicked, she was able to cast a weak shield charm by throwing her hands out as she screamed. While it was not enough to totally block the spell, it did weaken it, leaving only a shallow gash in her arm that scared. Frankly, she got more excited about the magic and seemed not to care too much about her injury.
AUTUMN OF 1874 | Following days after her sixth birthday, both Sophronia and Corinne - who becomes a Slytherin - are off to Hogwarts, leaving the house for quiet, leaving the house with five children rather than seven. Just as the eldest two start their Hogwarts education, Both Persephone and herself are allowed to start their pre-Hogwarts schooling, joining their remaining two sisters for lessons, though in a much more basic level. Cora is allowed to start early due to she would lose a year if not with how close her birthday is to the start of school.
PRE-HOGWARTS ACADEMICS
Etiquette Lessons
Dancing
English
Literature
History/Geography
Music -- flute
Foreign Languages -- french and german
-basic vamp stuff
AUTUMN OF 1876 | A third sister is off to school this year, Artemis who is sorted into Slytherin. A fair bit of Cora's recklessness seems to be curbed, though she gets in minor trouble and while she does well in etiquette lesson, her habit of sticking her foot in her mouth remains. Some of this is likely due to her father's allowing of her to start fencing lessons with a private instructor he hired - at a fairly high price for the instructor to take on a female student - something she takes to like a fish to water.
AUTUMN OF 1877 | Roxanne is off to Hogwarts and is sorted into Gryffindor, leaving only three left and an eerily quiet house.
SPRING OF 1878| At the end of the year, Sophronia graduates from school and debuts. From there she joins the Order of the Dawn, the family's vampire hunters and follows their father, leaving Cora jealous and she begs her sister for stories and training every time she comes home, even if she is only eight.
AUTUMN OF 1878 | Off to Hogwarts Valentine goes and joins the ranks of Van Helsing Ravenclaws, leaving only the youngest two in the care of their governess as their father and eldest sister is off hunting. While nine-year-old Cora seeks comfort in her weapons - particularly her fencing and the throwing knives she developed a fondness for in the past few years - and in the training rooms, Sephey favors her violin, a choice that has Cora avoiding their room unless necessary. Her sister isn't a bad player, rather Cora thinks she is quite good, but there is only so much violin one can take and remain sane.
WINTER/SPRING/SUMMER OF 1880 | Nearly nine years after his wife's death, Abraham decides to remarry. While Cora doesn't mind that, after all, she is about to go off to school for seven years and she doesn't very much remember her mother [something that has made her rather bitter of vampires as they took away her chance to know her mother, a fact that makes her quite okay with the family business]. Rather than the fact he is remarried that she dislikes, it is the woman she dislikes. A woman far near in age to what is old wife would have been, the woman is persistent to marry the girls off, something none of them was that happy with for the most part.
Near the middle of the summer, Cora and Sephey both finally receive their own Hogwarts letter and Cora is excited to be away from the empty house and the stepmother.
AUTUMN OF 1880 | On the day of her eleventh birthday the girl is permitted to go out and acquire her first wand, the next day, the day after her eleventh birthday, she and her sister are off to Hogwarts. Cora favorite part is easily the boat ride to the castle as she loves the view of the castle at night. Being her name starts with a letter before her own, her sister goes first and Sephey is sorted into Slytherin. As much as Cora wish to be with her sister the hat barely has to touch her head before it declares her a Gryffindor much to no one's surprise though she is bitter about being separated from her sister for the first time.
SEPTEMBER 1880 - MAY 1881 | Her first year turns out to be anything but smooth. Right off the bat, she has an issue controlling her magic and even though when they went to buy her wand that seemed like a good fit, she has issued controlling her magic and it, her spell often coming out far too strong or another spell entirely and she even had a few issues of her wand randomly firing whenever her emotions tip off the balance in one way or another. With the help of a few older students and the professors, she is able to gain enough control not to be expelled and even the dueling club. At the end of the year, Cornnie graduated.
SEPTEMBER 1881 - 1882 | Her issue with magic follows her into her second year, though now it tends to at least always be the right spell simply too strong occasionally. At this point, it has become a source of embarrassment for her as such lack of control is reserved for first years and muggleborns, who are still adjusting to such a world. Still, she progresses over the year to the point where she can control her magic except at any point in which she is emotional.
Near halfway through the year, there is news that their stepmother is expecting, a fact that honestly displeased the girl as she would now actually be related to her through this child. Still, that is not the biggest shock they are to revive as news is soon delivered that her second oldest sister is expecting as well - except she isn't married and still in school. Artemis is then moved to Amsterdam and the public story is that she has been disowned and cut off. She is disappointed in her sister, and upset at her leaving, but she secretly is jealous of her elder sister's new found freedom, a fact she doesn't share with anyone, even Sephey when she notices how disappointed she is.
SUMMER OF 1882 | Cora finds herself disliking her stepmother and the unborn child even more during the summer when she is informed that they will not be going to their summer retreat due to the pregnancy and that she is to spend her summer in Hogsmeade. When her Sadie gives birth to a stillborn son she finds herself satisfied and with the though, she got what she deserved. Something she feels immediately guilty for - though more for the fact the boy didn't choose his mother. They dub the dead baby by the name Adrianus and host a small family funeral for him and while she dislikes the morning clothing, she partakes halfheartedly. After the death of her only blood child, Sadie's mental health deteriorates, something the family really doesn't do anything about.
Soon after, her sister gives birth as well and they are informed that it is a boy to be named Broderick, though most already called him Brody. She was to live now with her son and the father on the continent, but away from English society. It is a well-known fact within the family that Abraham provides them with money due to him being unable to see his grandson suffer.
SEPTEMBER 1882 - MAY 1883 | This year, she is almost as excited to go back to school as she had been her first year. While she missed her training at school - Hogwarts had proven not to be that okay with a eleven year old girl twirling a pair of knives around, she had been quick to discover, even with her family name - she quite okay with escaping the drama of her home life and spent far more time on her grades this year, bringing up to a somewhat respectable level. It might have helped she was able to choose a class or two; comc and ghoul studies.
During the winter, her father tells the girls of his plans to take his wife to spend the winter outside Hogsmeade to see if the fresh air would do her good. Really, however, Sadie spends the winter at a hospital far away and this is a fact possibly only ever told to Roni or Corinne. It does not help her as much as desired but it does make a noticeable difference.
SEPTEMBER 1883 - MAY 1884 | Her fourth year is likely the quietest one she ever had and it goes with relative ease. She starts to play with ideas of what to do with herself after school and joining the order seems like a no brainer. She's dreamed of it ever since she was little. Fighting was something she could do and could do well. But the more she thinks on it, she realizes she wants to do more. There are plenty of times when Roni is at home with no Order business to do. It might be fine for her eldest sister but the thought of sitting around doing nothing sounds dreadfully boring. So with a bit of poking and asking around, she decides to work towards being a Hit Witch.
SUMMER OF 1884 | It almost seems like she can't get a break and as summer arrives, so did a nasty plague in the wizarding world, one that sent the Van Helsings packing their bags to retreat and wait out the bout in their Amsterdam headquarters. Good, as it turns out soon after they left a batch of fiendfyre was let loose on the city. She much enjoyed being home and took advantage of her liberties and spent most of the summer training again and was quite often found twirling a pair of knives. And she also took advantage of the space to avoid her stepmother.
Even with the disasters of the outside world, she had a nice, relaxed summer of which in of the prime lights was her uncle's kneazle who had just had kittens. This was a fact that she delighted in greatly and spent much of her non-training playing with the kittens once they were old enough. A surprise came at the end of the summer when she was allowed to pick on the keep as her own. Her choice ended up being a small tomcat who she called Pike for no real reason.
SEPTEMBER 1884 - MAY 1885 | Her sister is chosen as a Champion for the Pan-magical games and she cheers wholeheartedly for Sephey. For once in her lifetime, she works really hard towards her grades recruiting a few of her sisters and friends’ aid in her work. Still, some classes do not see as much attention and she winds up failing two of her classes as she spent most of her time working on the others.
O.W.L.S
Care of Magical Creatures — O
Charms — E
Defense Against the Dark Arts — O
Ghoul Studies — P
Herbology — E
History of Magic — D
Potions — E
Transfiguration — E
SUMMER OF 1885 | An owl delivers her O.W.L.s results and the failing of two of her classes plus the comparison of herself against all her sisters, notably Persephone do to being in the same year, sets her into a stump.
SEPTEMBER 1885 - MAY 1886 | Cora’s summer stump remains and she hardly tries in many of her remaining classes, disappointing a few teachers that had actively held hopes for her after the previous year's improvements. If she isn't as good at academics why bother at all? It clearly wasn't her thing so she'd be better of devoting her time to other things. The only class in which she manages to maintain her grade in is DADA and COMC, and she actively excels in her Dueling Club and the DADA club.however, her emotional state causes her magic to flair up and become unstable once more making some of her duels dangerous to her opponent and herself and she finds herself occasionally getting benched which only makes her more upset and mad.
SEPTEMBER 1886 - MAY 1887 | The day after her seventeen birthday, Cora faces down the school one last time as this is to be her seventh year and she will not be coming back. She comes to realize the end of her Hogwarts career is near and she finds herself actively looking forward to leaving, ready to leave that part of her life behind and move on to something she'd be better at that would make her happier. The idea of leaving allows her to come back to the conclusion she does want to do more than the Order. Thankful her O.W.L. grades are enough and that for being a Hit Witch, it doesn't matter so much that she screwed her last two years up, Cora starts to look forward to applying to the trainee program the Ministry offers. At the end of the year, she attends the Hogwarts’s coming out ball.
N.E.W.T.S
Care of Magical Creatures — O
Charms — E
Defense Against the Dark Arts — O
Herbology — A
Potions — A
Transfiguration — A
1887 | During the summer, a fair bit of drama happens. She talks her sister into competing in a boating race, neglecting to mention it required previous experience - which neither of the two had. Somehow, likely Cora's reckless nature, the sisters take first place. She is also trapped in a tent by a flying tiger, a wooden beam falling and breaking her arm while also trapping her for roughly a week until she is rescued.
A month after the fact, she starts the Hit Wizard training program. During winter holidays, she has a bit too much to drink and lets it slip to Annabelle Scrimgeour that their family still hunts vampires - it's unclear if either girl remembers this confession.
1888 | She seems to thrive under the program and finally being able to do something that suits her and makes her happy does the girl well and her mental state seems to improve from the past few years. The comparisons to Sephey no longer bother her quite as much now that she is doing something her sisters haven't done and is her thing. This improves her relationships and the effort she puts in them noticeably. Not only that but she tends to be much calmer at social events and actually comes to enjoy them again.
Ambitious. Reckless. Bold. Careless. Passionate. Impulsive. Protective. Hot Headed. Brave. Blunt. Open. Talkative. Judgemental. Biassed. Determined. Peppy. Friendly to family and those she knows and trust. Alert. Not a maternal bone in her body. Stubborn. Cheerful. Loyal. Confident. Daring. Earnest. Decisive. Determined. Rough. Unforgiving. Fun Loving. Playful. Perfectionist. Absentminded. Aggressive. Dominating. High-spirited. Moralistic. Competitive. Physical. Proud. Abrasive. Childish. Critical. Dissonant. Extreme. Foolish. Hateful. Impractical. Strong-willed. Thoughtless.Other:
• Speaks four languages - English, Dutch, French, and German
• Is proficient in fencing and throwing knives, as such she has amazing aim
• Her magic issues stem from her low self confidence and possibly depression and or anxiety
Age: 17
speaks with a dutch accent!