“Did you know the Victorians had an entire language dedicated to and revolving around flowers?” Carina mused as she perused the various blossoms. She plucked a bouquet from a display and held it towards the other person. “What do you think of these?”
“Did they?” Dark eyes glanced over the bouquet as Astraea’s attention was drawn to the proffered flowers. “Lavender for burns, yarrow for headaches, with cornflower for fever. The last one...” she trailed off as she tried to remember her books. “Sunflowers for vitamins?” Her head tilted to the side with a puzzled look. “They are very beautiful - can you speak this flower language?”
〔 brittany o’grady, twenty-four, female, half-blood〕⟶ i believe astraea clearwater just walked into the leaky cauldron. that is the former hogwarts student now working as a potioneer. i heard they can be impatient & superstitious these days, lets hope they are still affectionate & persistent as well. i believe she is siding with the neutrals after the reconstruction of the ministry of magic. [ bailey, 26, cst, she/her]
q1. what are your thoughts on the charity, pur societatis, created to rebuild the wizarding world after the terror of he-who-must-not-be-named?
“Anyone who claims to be pure, can never stand for the entire wixen world. We’ll just have to see how they start to rebuild, won’t we?” While the charity might do some good, Astraea wondered privately what harm they would bring. She didn’t face the same discriminations as muggle borns but she understood what it meant to be ‘tainted’.
q2. why did you choose to become a potioneer?
“It’s just always been a dream of mine since I was a child.” The familiar answer rolls off of her tongue, coating it in ash and dust. She had learned a long time ago that, ‘trying to find a cure for werewolfism’ led to uncomfortable questions and judgemental stares. Once they found out what her mother had been, they would never talk to her again. The only person who hadn’t pried was her mentor - and he was also the only person she’d come close to telling in years.
“Besides,” she shrugs, a wry look on her face. “Isn’t it a waste if you don’t use what gifts you were given?”
q3. do you feel safer now that he-who-must-not-be-named is dead? or do you believe he is still out there?
A dark look crosses her face and her hand instinctively drops to her wand. She may not have fought on the front lines but her apprenticeship had seen its effects. Blood Replenishing potion and Bruise Balm and sleeping draughts and essence of dittany. The list went on and on and on. There was no time for research, only time to mince and chop and stir. More than once, they’d had to pack up shop and move somewhere else under heavy spellfire as death eaters attacked their lab, trying to weaken their side.
Astraea could feel her heart begin to race and her breathing pick up. Forcing herself to relax her fists, she stared up at the interviewer, eyes hard.
“I don’t think I will ever feel safe again.”
mun’s choice.
Spotify
Savage Daughter - Sarah Hester Ross
“I am my mother’s savage daughter/the one who runs barefoot cursing sharp stones/I am my mother’s savage daughter/I will not cut my hair I will not lower my voice
Nina Cried Power - Hozier
“It’s not the war but what’s behind it/Lord the fear of foul men is mere assignment/And everything that we’re denied by keeping the divide/it’s not the waking it’s the rising
Bottom of the River - Delta Rae
“The wolves will chase you by the pale moonlight/Drunk and driven by a devil’s hunger
Haven - We Banjo 3
“Walk with me ‘neath the rising sky/We will make a choice for love and joy
Capable - The Wild Reeds
“He says ‘you’re awful young for 21/You’ve got some work to do/Bit your pencil harder than/You were planning too’”
“You’re capable of so much more/Than these people give you credit for/And you just need to show it”
Crowded Table - The Highwomen
“I want a house with a crowded table/And a place by the fire for everyone/Let us take on the world while we’re young and able/And bring us back together when the day is done”
Oom Sha La La - Haley Hendreickx
“I’m throwing out the milk/The olives got old/I’m tired of my mind getting heavy with mold/I need to start a garden”
Biography
Grew up on the edge of a small wixen town
Father was a wizard but he was gone before Astraea was born
Her mother was a muggle witch - the magic she created was in her tonics and her intents
Astraea grew up surrounded by the mundane magic of her mother, learning different types of herbs and flowers and mushrooms, what qualities each stone had
Astraea like to “help” her mom with spells and often times the effects were more potent than expected
When her letter arrived, Astraea could hardly contain her excitement - her mother hid her sorrow behind a smile
Throughout her first couple years, Astraea did well in Herbology and Potions, with Transfiguration and History of Magic her worst
The summer of her third year, a pack of werewolves attacked Astraea’s small town while her mother was out delivering her wares. The local healer managed to keep her alive but it didn’t stop the affliction from taking hold.Fear took over the town and Astraea and her mother were cast out for fear of the next full moon. They hid deep in the forest, stumbling upon an old abandoned shack. That summer was the worst couple months of her young life. (1974)
From that moment on, Astraea became hyper focused on her schoolwork, determined to find some way to help her mom, sure that they would eventually learn a cure
Her friendships became secondary and she grew more and more secluded as she dove deeper and deeper into her studies
Her mother was killed at the end of her sixth year. (1977)
She graduated within the top 10% of her class and went straight into a potion apprenticeship, set up by Professor Slughorn.
Astraea drifted through lesson after lesson, mincing lacewing flies and carefully crushing nettles alongside 10 other aspiring potioneers.
When she was 21, a man visited their lab, eyes carefully scanning around as he walked towards the back office (1980)
Stopping at her station, he watched Astraea mix together a bruise balm and frowned. “If you didn’t have the enthusiasm of a limp noodle, you may actually be good.” And then he moved away, ignoring her indignant expression.
After that, Astraea left her apprenticeship. No job, no goals, no hope, she picked up a serving job in a muggle town and managed to save up enough to get her own apartment.
She started to grow plants, by accident at first, and then she began to seek out ones from her childhood until her apartment was overflowing with greenery
Astraea wrote to the potioneer who had insulted her and asked if she could continue her apprenticeship with him
After some convincing, he agreed. (1981)
Under his tutelage, she worked harder than ever before and began to find herself again, for the first time since her mother had been killed.
When she was 23, she officially finished her apprenticeship and earned the title of Potioneer (1982). She hadn’t found a cure yet but she was getting close to...something
Wanted Connections:
I’m working on writing these up right now. I’m definitely looking for some friends or ex-friends, maybe people she was close to in school and then began to pull away from. Or people who she met after Hogwarts and developed some sort of competitive friendship with them.
Definitely looking for an Ex - will write up more on that this week
Will also be looking for her mentor, the one who helped her finish her potions apprenticeship but that’s also going to need a bit of a write up.
I am definitely open to filling any connections or making new friends!! I’m very excited to be here
