Post by claire on Sept 14, 2009 21:04:54 GMT -5
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About You - -
Name: Kabby
Gender: Girlie
Age: As per use, shall remain hidden (;
Years of RPG Experience: Three or four, something like that?
Other: [removed by staff]__________________________________________________________
Quick Quiz - -
How did you find us? Through the site previous to this one, which I found through RPGC, way back when.
What about ISS inspired you to join? Friendly admins, awesome freshness of the site as it got started.
Do you have any suggestions for us? Nope, we's be awesome! But oh oh, definitely keep your admins, those girlies rock
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About the Character- -
Name: Claire Anabelle Turner
Age: Fourteen
Gender: Female
Year: Fifth (will start her fifth year in the fall)
Face Claim: Dakota Fanning
Canon or Original? Original
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BIG EYES
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Startlingly blue eyes are the first thing to grab anyone's attention when they glance at Claire. They are vivid in both color and clarity - one might even go so far as to call them striking what with their contrast against her fair skin. Unusually large and framed by strawberry-blond lashes, they show off her emotions easily - perhaps too easily. It is an old and common saying - perhaps a cliché, - that people's eyes are the windows to their souls but this holds especially true for Claire. She never bothers to attempt to hide her emotions and her eyes often show off exactly what she is feeling. Whether they're widening with delighted surprise, flashing with indignant anger, lightening with blissful contentment, or darkening and welling with tears of sadness, her eyes never fail to show absolutely anyone who is near exactly what mood has currently taken over her. Even though her lashes are remarkably light in their coloring, they are generally free of makeup. It is only on the grandest of occasions that she will swipe on a touch of mascara or brush on some pale shadow - all normally borrowed from a friend, although her mother did give her some mascara as a present after her fourth year ended, to be used on any special events to come in the future. When she does apply makeup, it sets off her bright blue eyes rather sharply, making them stand out even more against her pale skin - too much, perhaps, Claire even thinks at time, preferring not to attract so much attention. As well, she simply doesn't enjoy having to take so much time preparing herself in the morning, being an extremely low maintenance girl who would much rather throw on her clothes, run a brush through her hair and be out the door than spend hours in front of a mirror, preening and examining this and that until she deems her reflection to be just perfect. It just isn't her and Claire has never been one to pretend to be anything other than that.
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BUTTON NOSE
[/color][/font]BUTTON NOSE
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Contrastingly to the eyes on either side of it, Claire's nose is rather unnoticeable. To her dismay, it has no telltale bump or quirk that she believes would give it character of sorts. Instead, it is straight and simple. Or, in other words, boring. Different constellations of fair freckles swirl over the bridge of her nose, darker there than on any other place on her face - or body, really. Otherwise, her nose is rather average, a simple ski-slope of thing that ends in a little button knob. Some might call if the only redeeming factor but by her current age, Claire has long grown annoyed with it. Cute button noses are fine and all but after spending a whole childhood having it tweaked by siblings and parents whenever they felt like it, certain feelings of mild frustration do tend to grow. Although, who is she kidding? It certainly wasn't just a childhood phase; her family still to this very day enjoys grabbing her nose in a tweaking fashion when the urge passes them, either to try and cheer her up by making her laugh or merely to tease her, knowing that she finds the childish gesture annoying, or has at least tired of it - though the latter motivation really only applies to her siblings. Claire suspects that her family's rather odd enjoyment of this silly habit stems from her early days as a little baby. Like any parents or older siblings, hers enjoyed pinching her nose ever so lightly, only to giggle and coo "I've got your nose!" as if it was the funniest thing in the world. Sure, they can't be begrudged for acting the same as anyone else would but when, nearly fifteen years later, they still haven't outgrown the phase? At this point, she's surely not being overdramatic but huffing, crossing her arms, and feigning great annoying when the habit strikes again, more often than she'd prefer.
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PINK LIPS
[/color][/font]PINK LIPS
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Underneath this little button of a nose is the smallest indentation in her skin - common to everyone, the little cleft above one's lips. Beneath that, obviously, is her mouth. She's always thought of it as being slightly odd-shaped - or maybe that's just the nature of mouths and she hasn't quite realized it. Her lips cover two neat rows of white teeth, one of her assets as they are all rather straight and perfectly aligned. Her lips themselves are a very pale pink and have often been described as being raspberry-colored although Claire's never really seen it that way. In her opinion, they are far paler than any rich, red raspberries. Unless, by chance, those raspberries happened to have been left out in the sun for many, many days on left to fade away in a bucket of a bleach. No, her lips really are too pale to be called raspberry and while most girls would desperately seek to change that through applying all the latest lipsticks or glosses, Claire simply goes about her daily business without a care. They're just lips, for heaven’s sake, whoever said they needed be luscious red? No, she certainly never got into the craze of lip gloss when most girls her age did. Well... that's perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. After all, when she was thirteen - not that long ago, really - she received a tube of lip gloss for her birthday and proceeded to wear it every day for the next month or so, enjoying the rather grown-up feeling that seemed to accompany it. After all, her older sister, Julia, wore lip gloss all the time - even lipstick at times when she felt dramatic, was going somewhere special, or had a someone special to impress. Her mother even wore lip gloss or lipstick at times. So it seemed natural to follow in their footsteps - a rite of passage, if you will. However, to her great disappointment, Claire quickly found that lip gloss was nowhere near as elegant as she'd made it up to be in her mind. On the contrary, it was annoying. She was constantly nibbling at her lips or licking it of absentmindedly. Or it would grow sticky and heavy on her lips until she had to blot it off so as to not die of frustration. In the end, after a month or so had passed, Claire was finally able to come to the conclusion that no matter how grown-up lip gloss may or may not have been, it was too annoying to be worth it. So she swore off it and hasn't wore any to this day - special occasions included.
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MINISCULE EARS
[/color][/font]MINISCULE EARS
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Seeing as she's not dressing her lips up with gloss anymore, Claire managed to find a new way to dress up for events where she's required to look pretty and darling. Earrings. Having got her ears pierced rather later than most at age fourteen - the day after her birthday, to be exact - she's compensated by throwing herself with a fresh vigour into the world of hoops and dangles and studs. Most days, she simply keeps a pair of diamond studs in - the same earrings she got her ears pierced with and a birthday present from her parents - as they go with absolutely everything and are comfortable enough that she can sleep in them. On days when she feels like adding a bit of a splash to her appearance, however, she'll poke a dangly, beaded pair through the holes in her ears - or perhaps small golden hoops that catch the light just so. Her mother often enjoys experimenting with jewellery-making and has made many sets for Claire. She especially enjoys wearing some of these on days when she's feeling homesick, as they bring a smile to her face as she remembers or imagines her mother bent over the dining room table, humming to herself as she beaded or twisted the newest pair of earrings into shape. But moving past whatever earrings she's wearing are Claire's ears themselves. They're also rather unnoticeable but this stems for a very different reason than them being average or plain, for they are really rather unique in their size. Petite, tiny, minute... if it means the same thing as 'small,' Claire's heard it when it comes to her ears. Often hidden away behind her hair, they are ridiculously small when one really takes the time to stare at them. If someone is just taking a passing glance, there might not appear to be anything wrong with them but then again, it's always only when one takes a second look that things begin to jump out. And when it comes to Claire's ears, size is definitely a factor to distinguish them. She has the smallest ears of her family - especially seeing as her uncle (her mother's sister's husband) is known for having rather large ears. This trait was inherited by his son, Claire's bouncing little cousin. Why indeed, Claire remembers comparing ears to her cousin when he was only a year old and she twelve - and his were bigger.
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PALE SKIN
[/color][/font]PALE SKIN
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Always one to burn rather than tan on a sunny day, Claire possesses extremely fair skin - even paler than the rest of her family, none of whom are particularly dark. Paired with a childhood spent mostly outside, this meant that as a young child, Claire was constantly needing to slather on generous amounts of sunscreen or simply ran around looking a little red in the face throughout the summer - her Mama's little red lobster, as she was often fondly teased. Of course, this also resulted in numerous sunburns from overexposure during days when she forgot to apply sunscreen, as lost in her own little world as she often was. There has been the odd occasion in the past where she has managed to attain what most of the population would deem as 'barely tan,' although to Claire this was cause for great celebration indeed. Not that she possesses a vain or haughty bone in her body, but it felt like a sort of accomplishment. As if all her determination had culminated in satisfactory results. Though she wasn't nearly as brown as any of her brothers or sisters, she was still darker than her normal white without being red or pink - and when her entire past had consisted of her either being white enough to be teasingly called a ghost or red enough to be teasingly called a lobster? Yes, it was an odd sort of victory for her, even if she kept those sort of thoughts to herself, embarrassed for the most part to be making any kind of deal of it whatsoever. For the most part of the year, however, her skin is simply pale - not red at all - except for when she's blushing, of course. And Claire is quite the blusher. It's not so much that she's all that easily embarassed but she blushes at the slightest thing, her cheeks always pinking and betraying her. Otherwise, her face is a soft white. Small freckles spread over her cheeks faintly - darker and closer together on the bridge of her nose. The rest of her body is dotted slightly with the same little speckles as well although they are much paler, generally less noticeable, and spread farther apart. Her face itself is caught between round and oval-shaped, not quite short enough to be the former, not quite long enough to be latter. Like so many other things about her, it's simply impossible to label.
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BLOND HAIR
[/color][/font]BLOND HAIR
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Her final rather average feature - although perhaps some would beg to differ in that analysis - would be her hair. Reaching down four or five inches past her shoulders, it's rather long but that's most interesting thing that Claire feels could be said for it. It's a light, almost-white-blond in color and always smells like strawberries, a by-product of having used the same Strawberry-scented shampoo for as long as she could remember - ever since her mother stopped bathing her with gentle No Tears shampoo. As well, her hair doesn't seem to follow the requirements of being either straight or curly. Rather, it chooses to fall in gentle waves that follow no sort of order whatsoever. Sometimes, it falls in a semi-straight motion from the roots, only morphing into soft yet erratic waves nears the tips. Other times, it does the opposite, falling in large, gentle waves that calm down and straighten out by the time they reach the tips of her hair. Perhaps if she simply let it dry normally or used a bit mousse, she could get it to curl. Perhaps if she had a flat iron she could get it to straighten out. Or if she was the sort of girl who knew who to use Glamours she could accomplish either goals much more easily. Either way, she owns no sorts of hairstyling products and never found it necessary to spend her time learning Glamours when there were much more useful spells to be learned. Sure, there are times when she feels as if she should know how to use Glamours - after all, they're rather common knowledge and even if they aren't the most fascinating of things, they still hold some interest for her. Perhaps she could even use them to make her hair more interesting. Not that she's a rather shallow person but she enjoys uniqueness and dramatics and feels as if her hair possesses neither of these traits. She'd much rather have a large head of flaming red, unruly curls - even if perhaps, most girls who did have that sort of her would probably wish for the simplicity of her fairly straight, blond hair. Sure, it makes her have the standard pretty combination of blue eyes and blond hair but Claire finds that to be boring, not unique at all. Besides, her blond hair is neither made of up of glossy ringlets or straight and slick. And her eyes are never lined with dark liner to make them pop amazingly. So despite being blessed with both characteristics, she's never really felt as if she fits the ideal that seems to go with that combination, especially seeing as one normally associates it with the classic sort of beauty that Claire has never felt she possesses. No, in her mind, she is nothing but average, simple, and plain. And despite her wild, secret longings to be bold and unique, she is perfectly content that way.
Physique:
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SHORT STATURE
[/color][/font]SHORT STATURE
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Standing at the not-so-impressive height of five foot, Claire has always known that she was shorter than average. Even from a young age, she's always been a tiny girl - enough that many didn't believe it when her mother told them that she was two or three or however old, always believing that she at least a year younger than she actually was. It seemed as if she was never really able to make up for her rather lousy start, when she was born weighing in at 5 pounds, exactly, just heavy enough to be allowed to leave the hospital instead of having to stay under care until she was deemed healthy enough to return home. Nonetheless, her parents were extremely cautious with their baby girl, and even still seem to treat her delicately. She's shorter than any of her older siblings were when they were her age - and same in comparison to all of her cousins and pretty much anyone that she's ever met. Nonetheless, Claire refuses to let her short height allow her to be daunted easily - she has no qualms marching up to people over a foot taller than she if she feels like she needs to give them a piece of her mind or stand up for something. Sure, it makes it so that she has trouble reaching up to higher places, be they shelves or cupboards or ledges or whichever. To her, it's not nearly the big deal that some people seem to enjoy making it out to be. She's grown quite used to having to clamber up on stools or chairs in order to reach whatever it is that she's looking for. To a certain extent, this had lead to her ease in all high places - she loves climbing trees or anything that will allow her to get up to a higher view. Whether that's due to her constant need to be reaching greater heights due to her shortness or not doesn't really matter. Yes, perhaps there are times when she feels slightly off-put by her height - or lack of - but the way Claire sees it, if she doesn't let her height bother her than why should she care if it bothers anyone else?
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SKINNY FIGURE
[/color][/font]SKINNY FIGURE
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Besides, fortunately enough for her, she has a naturally petite frame to accompany her height. Her arms and legs are all quite thin and have even been called bony at times by those who sought to poke fun at her - mainly teasing family members who were only joking around. Her entire body could be called rather bony, though. Her collabone protrudes ever so slightly beneath her neck, the nodules of her spine can be seen when she bends over and her ribs are very evident when she sucks in her breath. The fact that she weighs it at around 100 pounds, usually a bit less, adds to the concerns that have come pouring in in the past. Claire's always shrugged the worries off as she's fine with her body. It isn't as if she's suffering from some sort of eating disorder, no, she's never been plagued with the likes and usually has the quite the appetite - as she should, being a growing girl. She's rather active as well and has been for her entire life. As a child, she spent her days running around with her siblings, always roaming and exploring around the farm, playing whatever ridiculous games they were able to dream up. Even after she started at Hogwarts, she was still active, going on little jaunts around the castle whenever it took her fancy - whether because she had a destination in mind to visit or simply to go somewhere where she could be alone with her thoughts. But the outdoors has always held the greatest appeal to her, no matter what sort of activity she had in mind. And through that, she's gotten accustomed to running around, hiking, swimming, exploring, and so much more, all of which have served to keep her tiny body fit and well-exercised.
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PHYSICALLY WEAK
[/color][/font]PHYSICALLY WEAK
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For this reason, her arms and legs, skinny though they are, are also fairly toned. She would be the first to point out that she's nowhere near being physically strong but she hates the idea of being weak so is able to take some comfort that at least her limbs aren't as weak as strands of spaghetti. Her short stature often makes people believe that she's physically incapable and that is one of things that annoys Claire the most. She knows that she is, by most standards, physically weaker than average - quite a bit, actually - but the fact that such a thing is obvious perturbs her more than she would like to let on. It certainly doesn't help out when she's standing up to people so much taller now, does it? But alright, so she can't lift the heaviest objects and perhaps she's not a prime candidate to ask for a piggy-back ride. That's not the end of the world, is it? No, but it's enough to cause a great deal of frustration, especially with her family members who have coddled her for as long as she can remember. It's as if they still see the weak, barely-able-to-leave-the-hospital baby that she was fourteen years ago every time that they look at her. Really, it's as if everyone sees that tiny little thing when they glance her way. But seeing as Claire isn't the sort of person to take pleasure in bullying or intimidating others, she's usually fine being the weak little thing that she is. And if some want to call her a wraith of a girl, seemingly about to float away in the next gust of wind that blows by? Well, there's that choice and she'll merely shoot them a friendly smile and be on her way, knowing that physical strength isn't everything and hoping that she at least makes up for it in other senses.
Wand Type: Claire was only barely eleven years old when she first visited Diagon Alley for her school supplies, wide-eyed with wonder at the magic of it all. Her parents were just as awed by this strange new world but they were able to methodically help her through her list of school supplies, getting her books and robes and cauldrons and everything that she would need for her first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The very last stop that they made was at Ollivander's - a name which none of them had ever heard before but seemed special as it rolled off their tongues. Tiny little Claire pranced into the shop, putting her shyness behind her as she shot a smile towards the kindly man behind the counter and announced that she was here for a wand. Prompty realizing that that should have been obvious, she blushed but her expression was still as bright and sparkling as ever as she continued to smile at him. The kindly Ollivander, he who seemed to resonate with magic took her through the aisles of wands, allowing her to test many of the different models. Claire was amazed every time that something happened, every time that she caused something to happen merely by waving a wand. Here was the magic that she'd always dreamed of. It took a few tries though before she felt something more than awe at the magic she was creating - there was a connection, a sense that this wand was not just performing random magic when she waved it, no, she was really making the magic happen. Her, Claire Anabelle Turner, an ordinary eleven year-old girl... was making magic. Beaming up at Ollivander, she'd nodded eagerly, barely able to form the words to tell him that yes, this was her wand. He'd seemed just as excited as she was, going on to give the details of this specific wand. 10 inches, Maple with Unicorn Hair Core. It was perfect. Ten, such an even, perfect number. Maple, like the pretty trees that delicious maple syrup came from. And Unicorn Hair, well that was just beautiful, reminiscent of so many fairy tales that she'd read as a child. Yes, her wand - her very own wand - was perfect. And to this day, she still considers it to be so, to this very day.
Wand Expertise: Claire is a rather skilled witch, her fascination with all things magical causing her to throw herself into her learning at every oppurtunity that she gets. Her trustworthy wand has helped her through all the beginner spells and on to more intermediate magic as she progressed into her third and fourth years. Though she's never failed a class and pursues good marks with a sort of zeal, it does have to be said that she is able to perform best when it comes to all matter of charms. Her wand simply seems to respond better when she is causing varieties of magic of occur for whichever purpose as it's flexibility enables her to adapt quickly to the various techniques and movements that are required for the different spells. It rests comfortably in her hand, gripped lightly by her thin fingers as they wrap around the maple wood, and always helps her to perform exceptionally well when it comes to Charms class. Whether she's levitating objects or causing water to spurt from the tip of her wand, it all seems to come naturally to her and, to be honest, she finds the subject rather fascinating. Especially because it encompasses so many different things that it can prove to be useful for almost anything that's needed. In Claire's opinion, people often forget just how many times they need to rely on simple charms - they all become second nature, especially for those who grew up in wizarding families and are used to magic. But to a muggleborn like herself, charms are simply fascinating - they are the barest form of magic and she throws herself into them vigorously, thankful that her wand has proved over and over again to be well-suited to the genre of magic.
Patronus: It should come as no surprise to anyone that sweet, doe-eyed Claire Turner's patronus would be of a gentle nature - albeit that her fourteen year-old self has yet to master the spell to conjure it. Nonetheless, in the nature of knowing everything about her, one would need to be told that her patronus is a small, hopping, little bunny rabbit. Smaller than a bread-box, the shining, silver bunny would leap to and fro, pumping it's sturdy legs furiously in pursuit of any dementors that sought to harm Claire. Though it may not seem dangerous, it serves it's purpose - and suits Claire rather well. After all, bunnies are often seen as being sweet and innocent and those same two adjectives have been applied to Claire many more times than she would care to count. They're also harmless little things and whether Claire likes it or not, she's rather physically inept herself, yet another thing that she shares in common with her patronus. Although it has her beat when it comes to dementor-ridding abilities. So it's not a lion or a wolf or something equally terrifying. So what? It's an accurate reflection of the girl who would cast the spell and as it hops quickly through the air, throwing off silver light in its wake, it does the job that any patronus is needed for. It would be able to get rid of dementors before they could hurt Claire and that, after all, is what really counts, much more so than the danger appeal it may or may not be severely lacking.
Boggart: To understand the reasoning behind Claire's boggart, there's a little story that has to come first. As a child - and even still, now - Claire was notorious for wandering off away from her parents. On a certain visit to her aunt and her uncle, she and her siblings and cousins were playing around in the backyard when she decided to venture off into the adjoining field. The long grasses were swaying so enticely in the wind, seeming to beckon to her, and before anyone had even realized it, she'd scampered off by herself. It was only was a sudden terrifying shriek split through the air that they realized that something was dreadfully wrong and went sprinting off into the field. They found her curled on the ground, crying and screaming and cradling her ankle which now bore two deep indents. Snakebite. The horrified adults somehow managed to keep their calm and, after wrapping some cloth around the bite, rushed her off to the closest hospital - which thankfully wasn't very far as her aunt and uncle resided much closer to an actual city than Claire's family did on their farm. Claire doesn't remember much of seeing the snake itself or bending down inquisitively to perhaps pet it. She doesn't remember the snake coiling back with a hiss before whipping itself forward like lightning to sink it's fangs into her ankle before slipping off quickly into the grasses. She vaguely remembers the vicious pain that seared through the bottom of her leg - enough to shiver when she does recall the incident - and has certain blurred memories of being driven to the hospital, rushed through a stretcher past the emergency room and- That's where the memories cut off. She's not sure if she slipped into an unconcious state or merely blocked it but either way, the most important thing is that the doctors were able to successfully treat the wound in time to save her life - as it turned out the bite was rather poisonous, even though snakes such as the one that bit her weren't thought to live anywhere in the area. Even so, the incident was horrifying enough to leave Claire with a permanent fear of snakes imprinted in her - and that's exactly the form that her boggart takes. Never mind the fact that she harbors no ill feelings toward them, being an avid animal lover of all species. No, she still thinks kindly of snakes - she just wouldn't be caught within a thousand feet of one.
Personality:
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BUBBLY
[/color][/font]BUBBLY
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Bubbly. It is the first word that often comes to mind to someone upon meeting Claire Turner for the first time as there is really no other word that could be applied to such an infectious, over-flowing personality. Claire is always interested by new people and has a habit of giving a strong first impression with her wide-eyed cheer and frequent smiles that stretch across her cheeks. She can babble on with someone that she's only just met, instantly wanting them to feel comfortable and treating them to a high dose of her naturally friendly nature. Hand gestures are common and often applied to aid her as she jumps from one subject to another when excited but for the most part, Claire is rather calm. She isn't the type to jump all over someone she's meeting for the first time, but would rather link her arm with theirs and begin chattering about this and that, always with a big smile and eager expression on her. Everyone is treated with this same overdose of friendliness, be they someone she's never seen before or someone she's known for her entire life. People are people and everyone deserves to be treated well - that's the way that she sees it. Truly, Claire has nothing but good intentions but these such actions can often stir up annoyance among those who she has known for longer and now see her treating some new person exactly the same way she treats them. This stands as one of the reasons why most people, as much as they might like Claire, simply find it near impossible to actually relate to her or consider her as part of their circle of confidantes. Claire considers almost everyone to be her friend and though many people consider her a friend as well, they'd be the first to explain that it's not exactly like any friendship they have with their other friends. Some perceive her actions as having no loyalty to any particular group of friends and it is for this reason and all the trouble stirred up by people's perceptions that it can honestly be said that Claire is friendly to a fault.
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UNRELATABLE
[/color][/font]UNRELATABLE
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Truthfully though, Claire simply has no need for a group of friends. She's always been the type to be perfectly content on her own, reading, writing, or even just thinking. Dreaming. Lacking this need as she is, she never fell into the ways of forming solid friendships with a group of people as she didn't have to worry about who she would spend her afternoons with, who she would spend her weekends with. If there was someone around who she knew, she could be sure to go off and have a fun time with them but if not, she'd be perfectly happy by herself. For this reason, she simply treats everyone with the same over-flowing friendliness. But most people don't like it when someone is different, when someone doesn't act the way they assume everyone is supposed to. And though none would doubt her honest inentions while they are talking to her, watching her smile and listening to her tell some story or gush about the latest romance that she's said, it's quite a different matter once she's gone and they're left to contemplate her, to try and fit her into a label or box that she simply doesn't fit into. And so people would rather belive that she just thinks highly of herself, that she considers herself too good to be best friends with any person or group. Because Claire Turner has no best friends, not even one, and she never has. She's close with her parents and siblings and then treats her fellow students with a friendly, bubbly nature and lets that be that. She doesn't commit to one person to be her closest friend. If she has a story to tell, she'll tell the nearest person. If she has a secret to share, it shall be whispered into the ear of the person sitting next to her. If she has great news, it can be delivered to anyone and everyone. So yes, Claire treats everyone as if it they are her best friend, which in turn, means that she has no best friend at all.
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OBSERVANT
[/color][/font]OBSERVANT
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As this leads to much time spent alone - which Claire doesn't mind, that being one of the reasons why she has no best friends - Claire is a rather good observer. When she doesn't have her nose in a book, a pencil in her hand, or her head in the sky, it's certain that her eyes will be riveted on someone - or perhaps multiple individuals. She gets a thrill of fascination from watching people interact - watching them joke around, watching them engage in a casual conversation, watching them argue, watching them swing hands on the way to class... It doesn't matter whether she knows them or not, she paints them in her head as characters, trying to capture every moment that she sees to be written about, to be drawn through words. It is moments that she cherishes after all - single shapshots into other people's live. A boy and a girl on the steps, the boy telling a joke, the girl laughs, her head thrown back - and freeze. A perfect moment. Or perhaps a girl storming after another girl, not caring about who is around, the girl in the lead whirling around and throwing her hands up - and freeze. A moment. Claire eagerly takes in all of these, everything that she sees, with wide eyes and an open imagination. And she is teaching herself as she goes, gaining slices of understanding into human nature, becoming skilled at predicting someone's actions, reading someone's emotions. Yes, all the time she's spent watching and observing the people around her, whoever they are, has led her to develop a new sort of understanding of emotions and the way that people let them out. She has a keen eye for picking up on how someone is feeling without needing them to admit it. She feels a thrill every time that she guesses to how someone is feeling and then watches them prove her right. She loves that little thrill, that little satisfaction that she was right, that she knew.
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INQUISITIVE
[/color][/font]INQUISITIVE
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This satisfaction is common among other areas of her life as well. She simply can't get enough of random little facts, of knowing this and that tidbit and feeling the oh-so-familiar thrill that accompanies the learning of something new. Always one to pay attention in class, Claire is the sort of student that eagerly devours every word from the professor's mouth, retaining so many little things in her head that have a tendancy to later come in handy. Truthfully, Claire Turner has a nearly photographic memory, something that can be just as annoying as it can be useful, as there are many moments where she knows that she's seen or heard something before and simply can't remember what. This has driven her to a strong dislike of forgetting absolutely anything and everything and leads her to ask question after question in class, always phrased politely, of course, as she seeks out a new delighting fact to clear up a mystery or simply entertain her. Yes, there's nothing quite like hearing something for the first time, something that she's never heard before and can now take for truth, something that she now knows that she didn't know before. Often going overboard with homework and assignments, Claire has been called an overacheiver but the description isn't quite accurate. It isn't that she has to be perfect, that she has to be more than perfect. She just takes a very sincere pleasure in learning new facts, in researching and exploring a branch of information, and preparing it all for the professor, eager to show what's she learned. And, of course, always eager to learn even more. Isn't that what school is for, after all?
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EMPATHETIC
[/color][/font]EMPATHETIC
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Of course, this politeness that she always maintains in class with the professors transcends into every other area of her life as well. Claire hates the thought of being the reason for someone else's unhappiness, however large or small, and so, in a perfect solution, simply does her best to ensure that this happens as rarely as possible. When it comes down to it, she has too much empathy, something that could be regarded sweetly but only serves to act as one of her greatest flaws. She over-analyzes the smallest of things, worried that someone might misunstand her meaning or take offense where it was not intended. She feels horrible for someone that has gone through a misfortune, even if it was something so small as finding out that the book they intended to take out from the library is unavailable. Sure, it's nothing all that important in the scheme of things but if she thinks about it too much, she'll start worrying about how awful it would be to have really wanted that book and then just not be able to get it and well, it goes on. It's one of her most childish qualities, this inability to distinguish between what is and isn't important and it's a flaw of hers that has been pointed out many things. But Claire isn't the sensible type with her feet firmly on the ground and her vivid imagination and creativity often show through in situations where they really don't belong, only complicating things. Her empathetic nature doesn't help when added to the mix, often leaving her feeling terribly upset over something of no real importance. So Claire tries to do her best not to upset others when she can, at the same time assuaging her own easily-tipped self-conscience.
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HEADSTRONG
[/color][/font]HEADSTRONG
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However, none of this is to say that Claire is the type who would put others' needs before her own to the point of never standing up for what she believes in. Au contraire, she can be quite stubborn at times when it comes to defending her opinions or others that she believes are being treated unfairly. It is the one sort of situation in which she is able to bypass her empathy - or at least, subdue it in direction of whoever it is that she is confronting. Those who pick on others weaker than themselves certainly won't be receiving any of her famed friendly nature. Instead, they're most likely to be treated to her headstrong side which is seldom shown in any other sort of situation. Not caring of the fact that she is so much smaller than almost every other student her age (and many of those younger than herself), Claire will furiously march up to any bully or antagonizer the second she hears of the injustices that have been committed. Growing up with so many siblings, that was the one lesson that her parents always reinforced the strongest. It was nature that the five of them would have their quarrels but there was a difference between bickering and bullying and the latter was never acceptable. Jack and Anna Turner were firm when it came to teaching fairness amongst their children and often now joke that perhaps they got through too much with Claire, who is easily riled and angered by those that make fun of and torment others who are weaker than them. Though she would never outright admit it, she suspects that part of the reason why she is so easily outraged by such stems from the fact that she herself is tiny and physically weak and both relates to the victims of most scenarios and needs to make it clear that despite such physical weakness, she isn't about to let those "stronger" than herself walk all over her.
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UNFAZED
[/color][/font]UNFAZED
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That being said, she is unusually unaffected by criticisms that are directed towards herself. As much as she prides herself on defending others too scared to defend themselves, she doesn't take offence easily, acting with a rather thick skin that one wouldn't expect of her. Yes, she cares what her family thinks of her and the same for anyone that is important to her but when it comes to people that she doesn't know, she usually swallows the slight bit of hurt and moves on. The way she sees it, it's not worth it to take offence at every slightest thing and she has better things to spend her time on. Not to say that she merely shrugs everything off, no, she's still upset by things often - she just doesn't act on it. Even so, it's only the large things that upset her. She's not at all the type to jump down someone's throat over something they said to her, nor the type to hold a grudge as she waits for an overdone apology. Sure, she appreciates apologies but she's also an extremely patient person. It's a slight contradiction to her eager, enthusiastic nature but that mainly has to do with her overflowing personality that she doesn't bother to contain. When it comes to other people, she has all the patience - and perhaps, at time, too much - in the world. Because really, one of the most obvious traits to jump out at anyone after spending time with her is how completely unfazed she is. Unfazed by anything and everything. She can shrug off other people's opinions if the people themselves aren't those that she holds in a certain esteemed value and generally doesn't take to worrying too much about anything in general. Unlike most of her age who are struggling to figure out who they are, Claire has a strong sense of who she is and is perfectly happy with that person. If anyone has a problem with her? Well, really, that's their problem, not hers.
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FARM GIRL
[/color][/font]FARM GIRL
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Many of these such values that she holds dear were instilled to her by her parents when she was growing up. They made sure to teach all the children the importance of having a strong moral compass and knowing the difference between right and wrong. They taught them about being proud of who they are, uniquely, and where they come from. No matter who was bickering with who over what silly thing, there was always a strong atmosphere of family that consistently existed on the farm. Jack and Anna Turner were a united front when it came to these such things, completely devoted to doing their duty as parents in raising their children as best as they good. Claire has always appreciated being blessed with the parents that she was and is extremely loyal to them and the rest of her family, never one to feel ashamed of her humble origins. She can be both fiercely and gently loyal towards her parents and siblings but regardless of how she chooses to act upon it, her loyalty is unwavering. She is also extremely grateful to her parents for so many things that they have taught her - above all that she shouldn't change herself for anybody and should be proud of herself, something that she tries to apply every day in life. No matter that it's been just over four years since she found out that she was a wizard, Claire Annabelle Turner is nothing if not still a farm girl at heart. Sure, she can levitate objects and put out fires just by waving a thin stick of wood around. But she can also milk a cow, stack up hay bales (with help), calm down a skittish horse, help shear the wool from a sheep, nurse a piglet to health, know when it's the best time to plant a new batch of crops, and so on. No matter how much she learns at Hogwarts, everything that she learned growing up on a farm is still right there in her head, just as - if not more - important.
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AWED
[/color][/font]AWED
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After all, she was a simple farm girl for so many more years than she's been a wizard. Indeed, Claire doubts that she will ever be one hundred percent used to the magical world. She of course loves it with every fiber of her being but that's exactly it - despite the years that have passed, she's still in awe of it all. In awe of Quidditch, in awe of Hogwarts, in awe of the idea that there was a whole world of magic right under her nose for eleven years. At times she still feels like that little girl whose jaw dropped the second she stepped into Diagon Alley for the very first time, amazed that all these things that had only ever existed between the pages of the books she'd read - all those things and more - were right in front of her eyes. In a way, she oftens wants to dance around say "I knew it!" How many times did she try and convince her family members that the fairies she'd read about in some book or another really did exist? How many times did she try and convince them that magic really did exist? And along, she was right. So for Claire, being a wizard, being a part of the magical world, is everything that she ever could have dreamed of. After such, she finds it easy to continue believing in things that not everyone would agree to be true. She easily believes what she is told, never stating anything to be impossible. Even in the magical world, there are certain things that most wizards don't believe in but Claire finds this to be foolish. Everything that she believed in when no one else did was fulfilled so how is this any different? Yes, she holds a soft spot in her heart for magic. Her biggest wish as a child, the one she made on every first star of the night? It turned out to be true. And what could be more magical than that?
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NAIVE
[/color][/font]NAIVE
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This easy acceptance of ideas that are not known to be fact, however, stems from something more than the fact that she believed in magic for so many years before anything resulted of it. Claire is a rather naive girl - something that is easily noticed by anyone who has spent time with her, along with the fact that she is remarkably innocent, almost childishly so, seeming in many way to be younger than her fourteen-almost-fifteen years. Yes, she is smart and yes, she loves to learn, but there is so much that she doesn't know. Random facts and tidbits are one thing but when it comes to wordly experience, she is most definitely lacking, having grown up on a small farm, after all. To label her as ignorant would be a bit harsh but it's not a word that has never been used before to describe her. She sees good in people where it doesn't exist - partially because she wants to believe there is good in everyone and partially because her naiveté makes her unsuspicious for the most part. It's the one exception to her talent at reading people. Or at least, the one time where she ignores what someone's body language and fleeting expressions are telling her, wanting to believe the best of them even when proof is being shoved under her nose. She frustrates herself as well by this, wanting to just walk away and make it clear that she recognizes they have ulterior motives. But to do so would induce a massive amount of guilt in her and so she's developed a most annoying habit of forcing herself to believe the best of someone. This has left her many times to take pity on those who don't deserve it, to finish off the majority of group assignments after ruefully playing into the excuses given by other members of the group, and so on. In the long run, however, there aren't many that Claire would actually consider herself close to outside of her family - and even then, they aren't exactly treated differently from the rest of the school population - and so she figures that it doesn't really matter if she pretends to believe little fibs and lies that are fed to her. It would only cause a scene if she called them out on it and so she usually remains silent, not wanting to embarass herself or the other person and merely contenting herself to be grateful that she can detect these things but reminding herself that that's not a fact that she needs to always make apparent.
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READER
[/color][/font]READER
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Claire is, however, aware of the aforementioned fact that she is lacking in world experience and tries to make up for this in every way that she can. The cheif way? Reading. Of course. No joke, Claire Turner has been reading since she was two years old, having learned to read before she could completely talk. She'd mastered quite a few words of course but it was much easier for her to read words than it was to pronounce them and so her mother took to holding up little cards with the words on them and getting her to read them out so that she could learn to say them, expanding her vocal vocabulary as her mental grew day after day through the books she devoured - yes, even the ones with carboard pages were simply delightful. Ever since, her love of reading has never diminished in the slightest, only growing with each and every day that passes. Besides being a voracious reader, she is also an extremely fast one, often accused of merely speed-reading or skimming through a book. Since, after all, she's definitely progressed in the type of books she now reads. From carboard-paged baby books, she moved on to learn-how-to-read books, then picture books, then tiny little "chapter books" and finally novels. But oh! That wasn't quite it. No, the best of all was when she discovered a certain genre of the novels. Her absolute favorite type, the best bet if guessing what she books she's currently got her nose is all about. Guessing this would usually result in being correct as it's the one genre of book that she would be content to read nothing but for the rest of her life is she had to choose between them all. Romance. Yes, there's nothing that Claire Turner enjoys more than a particularily fascinating romance novel. It doesn't matter how cheesily written, she'll still lap up every word, every "butterflies in her stomach" that's repeated down the page. Not to say that she reads nothing but sillies, of course not. Her favorite love story of all time - well, it's quite the cliché but then isn't that fitting for such a lover of clichés - would be Romeo and Juliet. And she could give you that answer in a heartbeat. The dramatics of it all, the beautiful words and the imagery they pain, the dizzyingly romantic notion of a love that continued through death... All of it, it gets her every time. Every single time. (And that would be twenty-eight times.)
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WRITER
[/color][/font]WRITER
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Not only is Claire is an avid reader, but she quite enjoys the other end of the book spectrum as well. Writing. After all, what could be more exciting than reading fanciful and exotic stories? Oh yes, getting to create her own. Her large vocabulary and habit of embellishment made her an extremely descriptive writer, the sort that paints their texts with all kinds of adjectives and adverbs just because it sounds prettier that way. It's one of her favorite passtimes, the one thing that she simply can't go a day without doing. She always carries her little notebook with her, ready to jot down some ideas or write out a few paragraphs of some story or another when she has the time. Her imagination has only been helped along by all the books she's read and she's quite proud of the fact that, modesty - something she normally posesses in great doses - aside, she has quite the wicked imagination. Yes, Claire loves writing and has ever since she started reading "real" books and decided that one day, she would see a book with her name on the cover. It remains her goal in life to this very day, overshadowing many other less important or interesting aspects of her life. Indeed, she would honestly admit that she'd usually much rather spend her time writing than in the company of her fellow Hogwarts students. Though, she would never actually admit this as she'd feel much too guilty but it remains the truth. The same can be said for reading. Some might view this as a sad fact but Claire has never minded. The characters in the books she reads and the characters that she comes up with in her head are simply - for the most part - far more interesting and vivacious than any of the students that attend the school. And the plots and twists are far more interesting than any of the mindless teenage drama which she's never been one to occupy herself with. No, that can be left to all the other girls her age. Because no matter how social she acts, Claire is a rather solitary person when it comes down to it. Sure, she has a many friends; sure, she gets along easily with almost everyone; sure, she's often invited to this or that social function; sure, she has a personality engaging enough that if she was rather determined to become popular - and was able to transform herself to be as outgoing as that task would require - she would potentially be successful. But she's completely happy the way she is and sees no reason to change that.
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DREAMER
[/color][/font]DREAMER
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However, all of these glimmers and tidbits about Claire come to nothing if one important fact can't be realized. Above all else that one might think they know of it, none of her personality traits is as central to herself as the fact that she is a dreamer. No matter that she may get good grades at class, to classify her as "sensible" or "practical" would be an error as she is neither of the two. Unlike those with their feet firmly planted on the ground of reality, Claire Annabelle Turner has her head far up in the clouds and always has. Everyone evolves with time and she accepts that certain parts will change as she matures but this is something that never will. She is at her happiest when simply by herself, allowing her thoughts to race off unrestrained, fantasizing about this or that - dreaming. So one could describe how she has an infectious personality, how she treats everyone with an overly friendly energy, how she gets along with everyone but has no best friends, how she is content to spend her time alone, how she enjoys watching others, how she's skilled at picking up on others' emotions, how she loves learning new facts and expanding her horizons, how she's an eager student, how she has too much empathy than could possibly be helathy, how she stands up for others, how she's unfazed by anything and everything, how she's still a farm girl at heart, how she's in awe of the magical world, how everything about her screams "naive", how she's an avid reader, how she's an aspiring writer with a wide imagination... They could go on and on for as long as they pleased. And none of that would matter in the slightest if this last, most important quality was left out. When it comes down to it, Claire is a dreamer and everything that she does, everything that she is, is a direct result of that.
And she's perfectly content to live with her head in the clouds - exactly where it belongs.
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