Rosaline Clarke

Backstory

Basic Info:
Born-1968
First Year at Hogwarts-1979
House-Slytherin
Wand-Chestnut wood with a dragon heartstring core, 12" and hard flexibility

Rose was born in 1968 to a half-blood family. Her mother, Eliza Clarke née Crouch, was the sister of Barty Crouch Sr.. Brad Clarke, her father, was a half-blood. His mother (Dezmelda Clarke née Intonis) was a muggle and father (Samuel Clarke) a wizard. Her older brother Ravenclaw brother Caleb went off to Hogwarts in 1975 and she began counting down the days until she received her letter. At last, she boarded the Hogwarts Express in 1979. Oddly enough, she was a Hatstall; the Sorting Hat wavered between Ravenclaw and Slytherin before asking her preference. Slytherin, she said. She would turn out kind but ambitious and prove everyone wrong. Not every Slytherin ended up a Death Eater. She would show them.

It proved to be a choice with difficult repercussions. She was surrounded by a house full of future Death Eaters, some of whom wanted nothing more than to beat her into giving up her principles and fitting the Slytherin mold. Though she found a close friend in a Hufflepuff boy and a Slytherin girl from her dorm, many from her house snubbed her, some going as far as to threaten her. Her cousin, Barty Crouch Jr., was six years her senior. Although he never explicitly mistreated her, he certainly never defended her. As she progressed through the first few years, she found herself spending every second of her spare time with the other houses and avoiding Slytherins like the plague. Sometimes, when she was feeling especially lonely and even a little afraid, she allowed herself to regret. Slytherin, she had said.

Over the next few years, she developed a keen interest in the practical subjects--Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Potions. Mainly the core subjects, really. But Arithmancy was also quite fascinating. She followed her brother's example and joined the Duelling Club in her fourth year. For the next eighteen months, she was repeatedly crushed in nearly every duel she fought in. She tried to quit several times, but Caleb, along with her pride, wouldn't let her. Halfway through her fifth year, she began to get the hang of the lightening sharp reflexes needed to survive a duel.

Rose waited until her sixth year to try out for the Slytherin Quidditch team. She shocked her mother, who was an executive at Nimbus Racing Brooms; her father, a healer at St. Mungos, was merely pleased that his daughter would not put all the free prototypes she had gotten over the years to waste. For the next two years, she played as a Chaser on the team, losing to Gryffindor in the first year but winning the Quidditch Cup in the second.

In many ways perhaps her sixth year was the only one that mattered. Yes, it was the year she finally got a serious boyfriend (dear Marcus). But it was also the year she lost Caleb--her best friend and role model. After three years of training, he was put in the field as a newly anointed Auror operative. Until a muggle with a psychotic urge to kill people pulled a violent stunt. The shooting killed 12 muggles and 1 wizard. Caleb. That year was also the first time she was put in a choke hold. Quite an enlightening experience. But perhaps that was a story for another day.

Author's Note: ...You read to the end? Wow... Thanks for sticking with me!