new skies all turn to dusk

how easy it is to release the bowstring and think, it is not I, it is the arrow ... the arrow killed him, not I. but the arrow does not dream anything in the night.

[marymacdonxld]

dromedaunaffiliated​:

Being a Healer who specialized in Curses, Andromeda often had patients with difficult and dangerous jobs. These patients were also very frequently extremely stubborn and bad at making follow-up appointments. Andromeda had marched over to the Ministry when one didn’t show twice. 

Now satisfied that her patient was recovering as expected, she was having lunch at the cafeteria before she headed home to pick up Nymphadora from her sitter. She supposed she could have just rushed home to her daughter, but she had asked the sitter to be there for several hours longer, and as a new mother, she kept telling herself that it was good to take time to breathe as well. Still, rather than making conversation with anyone around her, Andromeda was busy thinking of Nymphadora where she sat, her lunch mostly untouched.

The sight of a sweet-faced young woman sitting down across from her completely startled her. 

“No, I don’t mind,” she reassured her with a blink once she’d come back to the moment. She studied her for a moment. “Have we met?” she asked after a moment, her eyes curious but gentle. 

She seemed to recognize Andromeda, but Andromeda didn’t know who she was. The young woman looked quite nervous–she could see the way her eyes darted around the cafeteria before she sat. By her age, she had to be an intern or a new hire. It was easy to be intimidated by the Ministry at that level, of course, but Andromeda had a Healer’s keen eye, not to mention a mother’s. She wondered if there wasn’t something deeper to it.

at the other woman’s confirmation that her presence wasn’t unwelcome, she relaxed a little. mary picked up her fork from her tray, and took a bite from her salad, her eyes still darting around to make sure that no one unsavoury had entered the room while she’d been distracted. she really did miss her usual muggle spots, where she was safe from any dark wizards who might be able to take her by surprise.

not that she expected for someone to attack her, it was just ... well, she hadn’t expected it last time, had she? but it had happened, and it didn’t hurt to be alert. 

“no, we haven’t,” she answered her, smiling sheepishly. “my name is mary, mary macdonald. i was in the same year ... and house as your cousin sirius,” she said, partly to introduce herself, and partly to let the other woman know she wasn’t any kind of threat. with the current situation, mary found it was comforting if she met someone new and was able to confirm that they were either friends with or related to someone that she trusted ( although, in this world, related didn’t necessarily mean much ). or that they were, at least, not a slytherin from a known dark house. 

“you are andromeda tonks, right?” she confirmed, as soon as she realised that she might have gotten it wrong, in which case she sounded incredibly stupid. 

[marymacdonxld]

thequeenofquills​:

Rita made it her business to be everywhere and anywhere. And right now, she was lurking around the Ministry because that place was sure to have some good gossip. She’d gotten herself coffee and now was simply waiting for the story to write itself.

.

as an intern, coffee runs were part of the daily routine. she’d been sent to get four coffees for various wizengamot members, and as much as she was supposed to be in a hurry, she was also desperate to get away from those people for as long as she could manage. she had the piping hot coffees in hand as she began to leisurely walk back, looking around for distractions. at the sight of rita skeeter, she hesitated: were the perils of talking to such a dangerous woman worth the break from the monotony of work? since mary considered herself to be wholly un-newsworthy, she decided that yes, they were. 

“good afternoon, ms skeeter,” she said, aware that the older woman likely wouldn’t have a clue who she was, since mary wasn’t very remarkable in the wizarding world of politics and intrigue. “my name is mary macdonald, it’s good to meet you. i hope you’re having a pleasant afternoon?” maybe this could be fun... after all, her job involved being around a lot of gossip, and wasn’t that what the other woman thrived on, from mary could tell from her writing? 

[inferi-hq]

✰ –– ‘ introducing: mary macdonald ! ‘

age: nineteen blood status: muggleborn occupation: intern for the wizengamot affiliation: order of the phoenix positive traits: brave, reliable, astute negative traits: hot-headed, self-critical, competitive suggested faceclaim: diana silvers

✰ –– ‘ associations: aesthetics ! ‘

bright coloured flowers, touching hands, pale pink lingerie, soaking in the sun, a brush of hands, movie marathons with popcorn and hot chocolate, the smell of books, the sound of the sea, listening to pop music while brewing potions, play fights, loud jokes, a pint down the pub.

✰ –– ‘ known information: biography ! ‘

TW: Sexual Assault

Mary Macdonald first knew she wasn’t like everyone else at her Muggle primary school when she was seven years old. Until then, she had been perfectly normal: a group of friends, a member of the gardening club, and a spot on the local football team. During one of the team’s matches, Marlene found herself getting frustrated. As a striker, she had struggled to score all match against the other side’s goalkeeper. She found herself wishing, in the last few minutes of the game, that she could get one goal. Just one would be enough to see her team to victory. As she broke free in the final moments of the game, and streaked down the pitch towards the goal, her wish for a goal was clear in her head, and her irritation felt like it was crackling around her. She took a shot, and… the ball swerved (in a way she had never seen a football swerve) right around the goalkeeper and tightly into the top right corner.

Her team celebrated, but Mary was in shock. She knew that she wasn’t that good; she didn’t have that kind of control over the ball. And she didn’t know what had made the ball take the trajectory it had, but it had happened when she was wishing for a goal with all her might.

The next time Mary Macdonald experienced something she couldn’t explain was when she was eight. She’d had a long, tiring day: a maths test, a spelling test, and a particularly mean girl on the playground who she had told to back off but who had pushed Mary down anyway. She’d hurt her arm, but she didn’t want her parents finding out, knowing well that being seen as a ‘tattle-tale’ would make things a whole lot worse. So, when her mother asked her to pass the potatoes at dinner, Mary knew full-well that she would see the scrapes. But she couldn’t let that happen, nor could she simply not pass the potatoes. She felt her desperation crackle around her this time, as she wished for the potatoes to just pass themselves to her mum.

She almost fell out of her chair in shock when the potatoes simply levitated themselves to the other side of the table, and plonked themselves down right in front of her mother. Both her parents glanced at Mary, shock and concern clear on their faces. She tried to explain what had happened, but they refused to believe her, that she had simply wanted for the potatoes to move, so they had moved. In the end, though, Mary had forgotten about her arm, and successfully avoided her parents finding out about it, so she considered the night a success.

After that, though, she recognised the crackling feeling she’d felt both times she’d wished for things to happen, and things had. It was easier to find it again – not easy, but easier. When she was nine and there was a boy in class who pulled her friend’s ponytail, he found some force pulling his own hair back even though no-one was there. When she was ten, and she was distraught at breaking one of her dolls, the doll repaired itself and looked as though it had never been broken in the first place.

When Professor McGonagall, came to talk to Mary and her family about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her parents were shocked to learn about the existence of magic. Mary, to the Professor’s surprise, was not. She had known there was something more, and she explained the wishing, then the crackling feeling, then the things that happened to the Professor, who looked slightly impressed with her. She learned that it was uncommon for a Muggleborn to figure out how their accidental magic worked, but not unheard of. That she was special, but not unique.

Mary was sorted into Gryffindor in two minutes – an average sorting time, really. The hat had considered Ravenclaw, her natural intelligence clear in how she had (vaguely) understood her magic at eight years old, but ultimately decided on Gryffindor. It told her that it believed Gryffindor was where Mary needed to be, where she would truly come into herself. Mary happily took her place among her new housemates at the Gryffindor table, and it felt like home.

For the next few years, she picked up magic quickly, but not the fastest. She was in the top third of all her classes, but she didn’t particularly stand out in any subject. She selected Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as her electives, and found that she had a natural affinity for Ancient Runes, and that was her specialty. She learned about warding, the creation of magical artifacts, curse-breaking, and more in that class, and was pleasantly surprised to see how well the subject overlapped with Arithmancy, which she was just as competent in as her other classes.

One day during her fifth year, hurrying back from the library close to curfew, she was stopped by a Slytherin she recognised as Mulciber. As a Muggleborn, she knew well to avoid the Slytherins as much as possible, but the corridor was deserted and there was no one around to help her, and no clear escape route. She had library books in her arms, and only ten minutes to make it back to the tower. She tried to keep walking, but he planted himself in front of her, and when she looked up at his face and saw his smirk, she knew that something was going to happen. Something turned out to be the Imperius Curse, which he placed upon her in the deserted corridor. He told her to take her outer robe off, so she took her outer robe off, despite very much wanting to keep it on. She was screaming in her head at her body to stop, stop, stop doing what he said, but she couldn’t. Then he told her to take off her jumper, followed by her shirt, followed by… the desperation was building up, and it was crackling around her, and she wasn’t sure what would happen but she just wanted him to stop and she was so close to something happening… when a Prefect could be heard approaching their corridor, asking who was there – he had clearly been drawn by the noise.

Mulciber disappeared quickly, leaving Mary standing in the corridor, bare from the waist up, and her skirt half unbuttoned. She felt the curse break when he left, but she could hear the footsteps of the prefect and she could feel her heart beating loudly and her hands were shaking and she couldn’t do anything to hide what had happened when the prefect rounded the corner. Upon seeing Mary in the corridor, clearly traumatised and half undressed, he immediately called for Professor McGonagall, her head of house, who took her back to her office and spoke to her, helped her, but ultimately couldn’t do anything because Mary refused to say who had done this to her. After all, she knew that being seen as a ‘tattle-tale’ would make things a lot worse.

From that point on, she stuck to her housemates closely, never going anywhere alone or without a fellow Gryffindor. She had been wanting to stay out of the war the wizarding world seemed to be building up to. Mary had thought of going to a Muggle university after Hogwarts; she hadn’t been quite ready to give up on all that the Muggle world had to offer. After the incident, though, she knew that she had to stay in the wizarding world and fight the people like Mulciber who would wreak havoc on the innocent. Over her summer, she tracked down a Muggle trauma counsellor, to whom she told the story (with the magical parts omitted), who helped her work through it and come out the other side stronger than she had been before. She still sees the counsellor every two months now that she has left school.

Following her N.E.W.T.s, she followed a lot of her housemates in signing up for the Order of the Phoenix. She was also offered a position as an intern for the Wizengamot, which would allow her to mingle with the other junior members of the ministry and hopefully pick up on any gossip or rumours that could help the Order. It would also pave her way to a career within the Ministry, which seemed like a practical idea for her future… if she survived the war that she’d inserted herself right into the centre of.

All canon information can be found by clicking here.

✰ –– ‘ ministry docier: connections ! ‘

marlene mckinnon: close friends, her go-to person lily evans: good friends, she looks up to her dorcas meadows: good friends, also her crush

[abyss-of-words]

Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.

Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (via abyss-of-words)

[marymacdonxld]

where: the ministry’s cafeteria

who: andromeda tonks

it had been a busy day so far, and mary was tired. so tired in fact that she decided to just eat at the ministry’s cafeteria rather than leaving to buy her usual lunch from one of the places in nearby muggle london. by staying inside the ministry, she would be walking less, and therefore conserving energy for the rest of her ( no doubt ) hectic day. 

when she arrived at the cafeteria though, she realised that her plan had a major flaw: she had decided to eat here during the busiest time of day, so she would most definitely have to share a table with someone. mary made a mental note to not come here again during peak hours, and then set off to find an empty spot that wasn’t beside a pureblood supremacist or a suspected death eater or someone else she knew would take offence at the presence of her muggleborn, gryffindor self. 

her eyes fell on a dark haired woman, and for a moment mary was ready to hightail it the fuck out. but after a blink, and another, she realised that it wasn’t bellatrix she’d laid eyes on, a woman she knew to stay the hell away from, but her sister, andromeda tonks. from seven years spent in gryffindor tower with sirius, she knew that she was the cousin who had married a muggleborn. she was like sirius; an escapee of the black regime. 

quickly, she beelined towards the other woman, not wanting to lose the one seat she’d seen so far that wouldn’t place her in literal danger. the wizarding world was fucked, really, when she thought about it too much. so she stopped those thoughts in their tracks, sat down next to the older woman, and offered her a smile.

“all the other seats are taken,” she said apologetically. “do you mind?”

[marymacdonxld]

where: the green dragon

who: sirius black

usually, mary frequented muggle pubs. being a muggleborn, she’d been intimately acquainted with them since she was fifteen, and figured out how to make fake ids with magic for herself and her muggle friends ( which, she of course, took no credit for because she couldn’t exactly tell them she’d made them with magic ). however, it was less about the familiarity these days, and more about them being safer for a muggleborn like mary. 

but there was nothing quite like a wizarding pub, no matter the charm the muggle pubs had. plus, they served firewhisky. 

the promise of firewhisky was why she’d made her way to the green dragon on her lonely saturday night. she was always so busy these days, with work or friends or the order. but tonight was strangely empty, and to have a whole night to herself felt wrong, so she’d decided it was time to get a drink. 

she sat down at the bar, embarrassed by how early it actually was, and began to drink. she was five shots in when she caught sight of a familiar face, and almost did a double take. she had been friendly with sirius back in the day, before the  mulciber incident, and afterwards had drifted away from everyone but her three closest friends ( lily marlene and dorcas ) while she put herself back together again. 

now that she was doing better, she thought it might be nice to reconnect with some old friends. “well well well, if it isn’t sirius black,” she called out to the bartender, slurring her words a little because oh, she was drunker than she’d thought. 

[marymacdonxld]

msmckinnxn​:

Marlene made sure to pull Mary into a quick side hug before she sat. Once her cider was placed in front of her and the correct change had been handed in return, the Scot took a sip of her cider, exhaling as the sweet liquid hit her tongue. She turned, arching a brow as Mary sighed. “What’s up?” she asked.

She knew Mary struggled with the idiots on the Wizengamot; which ( to no surprise ) almost always comprised of men. Old ‘I think I know best’ men. The types that still called young women darling and sweetheart, and spoke to you as if they were speaking to a young child or animal. Collosal arseholes. Marlene was lucky that most of those types of men were higher ups and she didn’t have to converse or deal with them in her division of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It didn’t stop her from getting angry for Mary each and every time though. And despite the fact she knew her friend could stand up for herself and look after herself; it didn’t stop Marlene from wanting to march to everyone of them and put them in their place. Of course, that could likely result in both their dismissals. Marlene scowled, drinking a large mouthful of her drink before turning back to Mary. “Godric, I hate ‘em,” she uttered. “I don’t even work with them, and I bloody hate ‘em,” she grumbled. “You donnae deserve t’ deal with them day in, day out,” she told her friend. “But you’re workin’ hard, and you’re there for a reason, Mare,” she said softly. “Just think of that,”

She exhaled softly, but it wasn’t negative, more just tired. “Trainin’ was hard, but it was a good day all in all,” she said. “I’m just tired now,” she admitted with a chuckle.

mary appreciated the hug, and held on to the feeling of warmth it brought her. the warmth increased when marlene, as always, showed her complete support of her, and her shared hatred of the people mary had to work for. it was good to be with someone who truly understood how working with for them made her feel. the other couple of interns all had their own opinions, she knew, but none of the others were muggleborn. and that meant they simply weren’t treated the same way mary was, nor were they interested in hearing about it. they were either halfbloods or purebloods, both of which were usually alright within the ministry. it was the muggleborns who they truly liked to pick on. 

but she was there for a reason, and it was more than just to keep the money coming in so she could support herself. it was to gather information that might be useful, to do something useful. that was what kept her going at that job more than anything. “i just can’t wait until i never have to run around for them again. hopefully within the year i’ll have been promoted. i’d be just as useful then, if not more.” 

“well, it definitely sounds better than mine,” she said as lightly as she could manage, trying to follow the conversation to a more positive place. “don’t even talk about being tired, i can hear my bed calling me all the way from this pub,” she joked. “those days of staying up late and chatting in the dorms are so far gone now.” it was a sad thought in some ways, that their days of girlhood and slumber parties were over, but she was glad they’d had those days together before they’d had to grow up.

[underusedmodels]

[marymacdonxld]

flevrdelis​:

she could imagine the lopsided grin that would overtake james’ features no sooner had she retold this story ; the way he’d chuckle, perhaps poke fun with a simple ‘that’s what happens without me there to reign you in, i suppose’. he and a great many others would be ENTERTAINED, most assuredly, and she would surely be able to laugh about it later, too - this silly reaction to something so little, something she could have chosen to simply walk away from, but hadn’t. if it wasn’t for mary’s well timed arrival, she’d have surely started all over again. “happily,” she says, directing a final, dark ‘you should be ashamed of yourself’ towards the shopkeep before her focus falls COMPLETELY upon the other. “good call. you’d have been paying an arm and a leg, here.” 

.

mary stood behind lily with her arms folded, a glare fixed on the shopkeep as lily delivered her parting remark. mary was more than happy to act as lily’s backup, supporting her friend in this situation as much as she would support her in any situation. “clearly,” she remarked, glancing around once more at the prices displayed. she wrinkled her nose in distaste. “it’s obviously a ploy for unsuspecting muggleborns,” she muttered darkly. it was just the kind of thing she would expect of the wizarding world, trying to rob muggleborns. after all, purebloods and ( most ) halfbloods she knew would never fall for such a scam.

finally, mary turned away from the shop and stepped outside, her eyes narrowed in her anger at what the shop was doing. scamming people was never okay, but scamming a minority specifically? it made her mad. 

[marymacdonxld]

lucixtalkalot​:

Where: Quality Quidditch Supplies, Diagon Alley When: Early morning Open to: everyone (preferable 4 max.)

With her hair pulled back into a high ponytail and sunglasses on her nose, Lucinda had sneaked into the shop through the back entrance. It was early in the day, but there was no way that she wanted to be recognized this early on the day. She was not a morning person at all. Her Beater’s Bat had been in need of a new one. Even though there were enough of those that would be sent as possible sponsorship deals, she never accepted them. She had always bought it at Quality Quidditch Supplies, so she was not going to change that. Even when it meant that she had to come into the store to arrange the right grip on the Bat. She went into the front of the store, but before she could find a shop assistant, she bumped into someone. “You do not work here. Any chance you can help me find someone who does work here?”

.

mary visited diagon alley as often as she could. it was good to stay connected with wizarding society as a whole; she spent most of her time these days within her little social bubble, and she liked to stray out of it as often as she could. it was nice to just walk along the alley and pretend that she was just a witch amongst other magicals, rather than a muggleborn amongst those who would do her harm. 

despite not being a quidditch player, or fan, she found herself veering into quality quidditch supplies. some of her friends loved quidditch and she was always trying to stay on top of birthday and christmas presents for her loved ones ( how did she end up with so many people to buy for? ), so she tended to check it out whenever it looked like there was anything new in. 

what she didn’t anticipate was walking into someone almost as soon as she’d walked inside. immediately, she backed off and took in the figure standing across from her, assessing the threat. was this someone who would hurt her?

“sorry,” she said, after coming to the conclusion that she was probably okay. “i should have looked where i was going, huh?” while not able to place the other woman, she did recognise her vaguely, leading mary to conclude that she’d likely just been quite a few years ahead of her in school and had seen her around once or twice. 

after glancing around the shop quickly, she shrugged. “i assume whoever works here is out back... i could help you look for whatever it is you need though; i’m just browsing myself.” 

due to her lack of interest in quidditch, mary had absolutely no idea who the quidditch star was.

[marymacdonxld]

msmckinnxn​:

Meeting Lily and Mary had introduced Marlene to worlds far different than her own; worlds less complicated in some ways and much more in others. It was them and her love for her girls which made her explore the different walks of life and learn about the muggle world. So that they felt accepted, more at home. So that they could talk muggle and not feel weird or out of place and Marlene could actually join in. Muggle pubs were something that Mary had introduced Marlene too. Her first trip to one was with Mary ( her second and third were with her brother’s who discovered guiness and fell in love - they had to buy Marlene a whiskey to stop her from calling them paddies ). It was a tradition that the girls kept up. Muggle pubs meant they didn’t bump into any unsavory types, people who most likely would start a fight or Marlene would want to fight. 

The Scot walked into the pub ( conveniently round the corner from the ministry ), she still wore the boots she’s trained in but had showered and changed clothes. She could feel a bruise blossoming under the skin on her right shoulder already. Spotting her Mac at the bar, Marlene walked over, sliding in beside her. “Drinkin’ alone is sad, Mare. Drinking wit’ two of y’ is much better,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, can I get’a cider, whatever’s on tap,” she ordered.

.

the familiar voice made mary grin; after a hard day at work, her girls knew how to make her feel better. “as always, you’re right,” she greeted marlene. drinking alone was definitely sad. she sat up straighter and turned towards her friend, no longer as closed off as she had been before she arrived. she took another sip of her beer, then sighed audibly.

“today was such a shit show, marls.” she rolled her eyes. “the other interns aren’t really that bad, i’ll admit, but the old fucking men on the wizengamot are absolute arseholes.” she was so done with their sneers and the way they treated her. just because she was a muggleborn, it didn’t mean that she was any less capable of fetching them a pumpkin juice or passing a bloody note or whatever else they wanted from her. but of course, they just had to act like that, to keep pushing their stupid pureblood agenda.

and because the dark lord is probably keeping tabs on all the wizengamot.

that thought sent a shudder down her spine, and mary decided it was definitely time to move on from her day. “please tell me that your day was better than mine?” the least the universe could do was not give marlene a crap day as well.

[marymacdonxld]

where: a muggle pub around the corner from the ministry.

who: anyone.

not for the first time, mary was sitting in the pub nursing a beer after work. being an intern for the wizengamot was rewarding, yes, but stressful and tiring. running around doing the errands of the kind of wizards she wanted to bring down really did take it out of a person. it was no wonder that some days after work, she just needed a pint. she was a muggleborn after all, and pub culture was a thing. she and her muggle friends had indulged in pubs a lot during school holidays. 

before she even noticed, she had finished her pint. with a sigh, she signalled the bartender and asked for “just one more, please”. she had to set herself a limit, or she could well be here all night. she paid the bartender with a five pound note, then sipped her next beer, her legs kicking the bar absently. she could have sat at a table, there were plenty available, but there was nothing like just sitting at the bar to drink the shitty work day away. 

[marymacdonxld]

Name: 

Mary Elizabeth Macdonald.

Aliases: 

Mare, Mac.

Gender/Pronouns: 

Cis female, she/her.

Sexual/Romantic Orientation: 

Lesbian.

Age: 

19.

Birthdate: 

November 3rd 1960.

Occupation:

Intern for the Wizengamot.

Height: 

5’8.

Build: 

Slim.

Hair: 

Brown.

Eyes: 

Brown.

Identifying Marks: 

A magical tattoo of Medusa on her upper inner arm, on which the snakes of her hair are always moving and silently hissing; while it seems an odd choice for a Gryffindor, Mary finds her a sympathetic character of mythology, and finds resonance in her story with her own trauma from Mulciber.

Personality: 

Mary is very much a Gryffindor: quick to temper, but brave. She is also sharp, noticing a lot and using it for her own gain. Her own gain, though, is bettering Wizarding society for Muggleborns and other magical creatures ( in the long run. ) She is also incredibly reliable when it comes to her friends; if they need her, she will be there. Having had her closest friends ‒ her housemates ‒ there for her after the Mulciber incident really cemented her loyalty to them; none of them knew about who had hurt her, just that someone had. Even without any verification, something she could not offer for fear of what Mulciber may do in retaliation, they had believed her and been there for her. They were her family now.

Motivations: 

She originally wanted to stay out of the war; perhaps not very Gryffindor, but she was aware that she had a target painted on her back, and to truly engage with the war would mean cutting off her parents, something she wasn’t ready to do. Until she was attacked by Mulciber and she knew that she just couldn’t sit back when people like him, the other Death Eaters were roaming free and looking to do the same to other people like her, and their families. As a Gryffindor, she felt compelled to protect others from the same harm she had suffered. So she cut off her parents, told them that they had to move and change their names and not tell her where, and then at the end of the war, she would find some way to contact them, and if she didn’t make it ? They would continue their current lives, knowing that their daughter was dead and they had nothing to go back to, no one to go back for.

Current Goal: 

Her current goal is to survive the war, and see her loved ones do the same. Plain and simple. If she sees the end of the war, she will worry about her future then. In the meantime, she is doing absolutely everything she possibly can to help the Order of the Phoenix, and the fight against You-Know-Who.

Life Goal: 

To settle down, marry a beautiful woman, have a few cats and maybe some other magical creatures. A garden, and perhaps even a child one day. A career at the Ministry; she could sit on the Wizengamot and write and pass important legislation that could help people after the war wreaks havoc.

Best Quality: 

Bravery. 

Worst Quality: 

Hot-headed.

Fears: 

You-Know-Who, but more than him, Mulciber. But more than him, the world they want to create where Muggleborns are killed and Muggles are seen as little more than animals. It’s why she fights so hard against it.

Hobbies: 

Jogging ( she likes to stay in shape, and she’s never been much of a flier ), amateur potion brewing ( she isn’t amazing at it, but she’s competent, and she only really brews the more basic potions herself, preferring to purchase ready-made potions when she feels that the potion is outside of her competency ), reading ( she loves the Muggle novels , the classics and the romances, but she also likes to read magical history books in her free time. )

Talents: 

As soon as she began studying Ancient Runes at Hogwarts, she knew it would be her best subject, and she was right. She managed to get Outstandings on both her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, which were her highest set of grades; she swept Exceeds Expectations for everything else, except History of Magic, where she had just scraped an Acceptable. She’s also a quick duellist ( she has built up stamina from her daily runs, and she trained hard during and after school, determined to be as useful to the Order as possible. )

Skills: 

She’s a competent Runist; she’s able to create wardstones and she’s a decent cursebreaker, although decent is a higher level than many ever achieve. Due to her finding a little bit of control over her magic as a child ( part of being an only child was having a lot of time on her hands, and she’s always been observant and good at using that information ) which led to her picking up a fair bit of wandless magic over her later school-years and since she has left school, too. She is unable to cast more than fourth or fifth year spells wandlessly, and only the most basic charms wandlessly and wordlessly. Once again, while not much, is still more than a lot of people ever achieve in the field.

Family: 

Her mother, Elena Macdonald, and her father Robert Macdonald are both Muggles. Her mother is an accountant, and her father is a computer programmer. This led to her leading an comfortable upbringing, never wanting for food or toys or anything else she might need, but not quite spoilt. Her parents were left-wing, ideals which she wholeheartedly agreed with as soon as she was old enough to understand politics. The daughter of advocates for equality led to her experiencing little grief with coming to terms with being a lesbian when she was thirteen years old. Her family were and still are, incredibly supportive of her, even though they have cut all ties currently due to the war.

Relationship Status: 

Single, and while not actively looking, she would not be opposed to finding a girlfriend.

Other Relationships: 

She dated a Hufflepuff third year for most of her fourth year, but they broke things off before the summer at the end of the year because they didn’t really click, they were just the only two out lesbians at Hogwarts ( that they each knew about. ) And after Mulciber attacked her, she didn’t find herself wanting a relationship for quite a while. And when she did find herself wanting that, she had bigger concerns; the war.

[inferi-hq]

✰ –– ‘ introducing: mary macdonald! ‘

age: nineteen blood status: muggleborn occupation: intern for the wizengamot affiliation: order of the phoenix positive traits: brave, reliable, astute negative traits: hot-headed, self-critical, competitive suggested faceclaim: diana silvers

✰ –– ‘ ministry docier: biography! ‘

TW: Sexual Assault

Mary Macdonald first knew she wasn’t like everyone else at her Muggle primary school when she was seven years old. Until then, she had been perfectly normal: a group of friends, a member of the gardening club, and a spot on the local football team. During one of the team’s matches, Marlene found herself getting frustrated. As a striker, she had struggled to score all match against the other side’s goalkeeper. She found herself wishing, in the last few minutes of the game, that she could get one goal. Just one would be enough to see her team to victory. As she broke free in the final moments of the game, and streaked down the pitch towards the goal, her wish for a goal was clear in her head, and her irritation felt like it was crackling around her. She took a shot, and… the ball swerved (in a way she had never seen a football swerve) right around the goalkeeper and tightly into the top right corner.

Her team celebrated, but Mary was in shock. She knew that she wasn’t that good; she didn’t have that kind of control over the ball. And she didn’t know what had made the ball take the trajectory it had, but it had happened when she was wishing for a goal with all her might.

The next time Mary Macdonald experienced something she couldn’t explain was when she was eight. She’d had a long, tiring day: a maths test, a spelling test, and a particularly mean girl on the playground who she had told to back off but who had pushed Mary down anyway. She’d hurt her arm, but she didn’t want her parents finding out, knowing well that being seen as a ‘tattle-tale’ would make things a whole lot worse. So, when her mother asked her to pass the potatoes at dinner, Mary knew full-well that she would see the scrapes. But she couldn’t let that happen, nor could she simply not pass the potatoes. She felt her desperation crackle around her this time, as she wished for the potatoes to just pass themselves to her mum.

She almost fell out of her chair in shock when the potatoes simply levitated themselves to the other side of the table, and plonked themselves down right in front of her mother. Both her parents glanced at Mary, shock and concern clear on their faces. She tried to explain what had happened, but they refused to believe her, that she had simply wanted for the potatoes to move, so they had moved. In the end, though, Mary had forgotten about her arm, and successfully avoided her parents finding out about it, so she considered the night a success.

After that, though, she recognised the crackling feeling she’d felt both times she’d wished for things to happen, and things had. It was easier to find it again – not easy, but easier. When she was nine and there was a boy in class who pulled her friend’s ponytail, he found some force pulling his own hair back even though no-one was there. When she was ten, and she was distraught at breaking one of her dolls, the doll repaired itself and looked as though it had never been broken in the first place.

When Professor McGonagall, came to talk to Mary and her family about Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, her parents were shocked to learn about the existence of magic. Mary, to the Professor’s surprise, was not. She had known there was something more, and she explained the wishing, then the crackling feeling, then the things that happened to the Professor, who looked slightly impressed with her. She learned that it was uncommon for a Muggleborn to figure out how their accidental magic worked, but not unheard of. That she was special, but not unique.

Mary was sorted into Gryffindor in two minutes – an average sorting time, really. The hat had considered Ravenclaw, her natural intelligence clear in how she had (vaguely) understood her magic at eight years old, but ultimately decided on Gryffindor. It told her that it believed Gryffindor was where Mary needed to be, where she would truly come into herself. Mary happily took her place among her new housemates at the Gryffindor table, and it felt like home.

For the next few years, she picked up magic quickly, but not the fastest. She was in the top third of all her classes, but she didn’t particularly stand out in any subject. She selected Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as her electives, and found that she had a natural affinity for Ancient Runes, and that was her specialty. She learned about warding, the creation of magical artifacts, curse-breaking, and more in that class, and was pleasantly surprised to see how well the subject overlapped with Arithmancy, which she was just as competent in as her other classes.

One day during her fifth year, hurrying back from the library close to curfew, she was stopped by a Slytherin she recognised as Mulciber. As a Muggleborn, she knew well to avoid the Slytherins as much as possible, but the corridor was deserted and there was no one around to help her, and no clear escape route. She had library books in her arms, and only ten minutes to make it back to the tower. She tried to keep walking, but he planted himself in front of her, and when she looked up at his face and saw his smirk, she knew that something was going to happen. Something turned out to be the Imperius Curse, which he placed upon her in the deserted corridor. He told her to take her outer robe off, so she took her outer robe off, despite very much wanting to keep it on. She was screaming in her head at her body to stop, stop, stop doing what he said, but she couldn’t. Then he told her to take off her jumper, followed by her shirt, followed by… the desperation was building up, and it was crackling around her, and she wasn’t sure what would happen but she just wanted him to stop and she was so close to something happening… when a Prefect could be heard approaching their corridor, asking who was there – he had clearly been drawn by the noise.

Mulciber disappeared quickly, leaving Mary standing in the corridor, bare from the waist up, and her skirt half unbuttoned. She felt the curse break when he left, but she could hear the footsteps of the prefect and she could feel her heart beating loudly and her hands were shaking and she couldn’t do anything to hide what had happened when the prefect rounded the corner. Upon seeing Mary in the corridor, clearly traumatised and half undressed, he immediately called for Professor McGonagall, her head of house, who took her back to her office and spoke to her, helped her, but ultimately couldn’t do anything because Mary refused to say who had done this to her. After all, she knew that being seen as a ‘tattle-tale’ would make things a lot worse.

From that point on, she stuck to her housemates closely, never going anywhere alone or without a fellow Gryffindor. She had been wanting to stay out of the war the wizarding world seemed to be building up to. Mary had thought of going to a Muggle university after Hogwarts; she hadn’t been quite ready to give up on all that the Muggle world had to offer. After the incident, though, she knew that she had to stay in the wizarding world and fight the people like Mulciber who would wreak havoc on the innocent. Over her summer, she tracked down a Muggle trauma counsellor, to whom she told the story (with the magical parts omitted), who helped her work through it and come out the other side stronger than she had been before. She still sees the counsellor every two months now that she has left school.

Following her N.E.W.T.s, she followed a lot of her housemates in signing up for the Order of the Phoenix. She was also offered a position as an intern for the Wizengamot, which would allow her to mingle with the other junior members of the ministry and hopefully pick up on any gossip or rumours that could help the Order. It would also pave her way to a career within the Ministry, which seemed like a practical idea for her future… if she survived the war that she’d inserted herself right into the centre of.

All canon information can be found by clicking here.

[ofwxtches]

Where: Diagon Alley, Leaky Cauldron

Who: Open!

Alice rarely took her lunch break away from the ministry. That was when she was actually there. Alice preferred being in the field, and when she was there she didn’t really need lunch breaks. Today was an office day, an enforced one, so she could catch up on all her paperwork. So, once lunch time had come around, she’d literally jumped out of her seat, and hot fotted it out of the office. She needed a break.

She was now sat in the Leaky, eating a bowl of cheesy chips, as she enjoyed her time away from the office. She would always hate paperowrk, and anything that kept her away from the office right now would be truly welcomed.

[marymacdonxld]

mary’s wizengamot internship was going well, and she was certainly picking up on all the ‘ important ’ gossip that flew around. keeping her ears peeled for anything of importance during the workday was one of the reasons her internship was a good move for the order ( everyone knew that some of those wizengamot types could be loose‒lipped when no one was around, and being an intern was practically an invisibility cloak around the rich and self-important ) as well as for her own future. if she got to have one; the way this war was going... well, she’d be surprised if she survived the thing. 

but it was time for her lunch break, not that she got long ‒ just enough time to catch her breath, eat, then mentally prepare for the hectic afternoon to come. today was different, though; for the first time in what really must have been months, mary had a full hour. 

the atmosphere of the leaky cauldron enveloped her when she entered, and she immediately felt more relaxed than she had done during a work day in a long time. when she caught sight of alice, she grinned, then wove her way through the crowd to sit down at her table with her. "mind if i join ya?" she asked tentatively; alice had been a few years ahead of her at school, and she wasn't sure if she'd take kindly to mary intruding.

[flevrdelis]

𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞:   diagon alley   !  𝐰𝐡𝐨:   anyone   ! 

“this is effectively daylight robbery.” lily scrunched up her nose and crossed her arms over her chest, stubbornly refusing to keep her voice down ( in spite of the fact that it would have been common courtesy ). the apothecary could try and swindle those of them without inner knowledge of the business out of a FEW extra galleons, sure, but she DID know better - and she was utterly incensed at the perceived injustice. “beetle eyes aren’t worth ten knuts a scoop! i guarantee they’re being sold for half the price just down the street!”

[marymacdonxld]

ground unicorn horn was the last thing on her shopping list for the day, already having stopped by the magical menagerie to pick up some treats for her owl and twilfitt & tattings for her new work robes. she was strolling down the alley casually, in no rush, when her ears picked up a familiar voice arguing about the price of beetle eyes. grinning, she came to stand next to lily. “well, i’m looking for ground unicorn horn, but if that’s what you charge for beetle eyes, i guess i’d best go elsewhere. want to join me, lily?” she asked her former housemate, directing a saccharine smile towards the apothecary staff.   

[beautifulklicks]