HP: Katie Bell of Gryffindor
katie bell
GENRE: Harry Potter
ARCHETYPE: I believe a rather wise woman by the name of Chel once described her as a "fierce, gritty Earth mother." This may or may not be a theme with me.
REPRESENTATIVE JOURNAL ENTRIES: ONE, TWO
REPRESENTATIVE ROLEPLAY LOGS: ONE
PERSPECTIVE ESSAYS: Forthcoming!
NAME: Katherine Greer Bell
DATE OF BIRTH, AGE: 11 May 1979, 18 in Deathly Hallows, would-be 28 as of 11 March 2008
AFFILIATIONS: Dumbledore's Army, those of mixed-blood parentage, Gryffindor alumna.
PROFESSION: The unwilling heir of the Bells' wand wood and apothecarial supply farm, Ringing Tree in Lincolnshire. Job description officially includes discussing distribution contracts with companies such as Ollivander's and student supply stores, cultivating one of many of the Bells' wand wood orchards, and training the winged horses that the Bells use for work. In reality, she does everything and anything that an independent wizarding farmer is forced to do when the only help available includes an aging wizard and a slightly dense but extremely strong cousin.
PERSONALITY: (NOTE: This is as of 'Deathly Hallows'; a slightly modified version of her for Euphoria Lane has age and an alternative universe in mind. That being said, most of this is still entirely applicable, as the base character's essence is the same.)
Katie Bell is hardly the type of girl who will ever apologise for herself. She walks into rooms and tries to make strides that should belong to those who are seven feet tall, with an equally abrasive initial impression to match. She does not pause to see if anyone is offended when she curses or commits any bodily function, nor does she particularly care for physical taboo. Katie invades the spaces of anyone nearby, whether physically or verbally, and to be entirely truthful about it, she frequently does both. The spunk is mostly bravado by now, of course, mostly due to the nature of being a pseudo-businesswoman means that one must not take shite from anyone and must not give anyone reason to think that they would be able. Yet, when around family and friends, a little bit of the bravado is still there to coat around her fear of that horrible loss that could be lurking about at any corner that she doesn't want to give voice to quite yet. She's always been a little rough around the edges, of course, being a girl who grew up with more than a fair amount of male influence in rural Lincolnshire certainly does that to a girl. But now, she seems to make herself rougher on purpose, a hard calm lurking behind her eyes that no one can quite read.
She tries, though, for those she cares about. (Sometimes, of course, those who care about her say she's trying. It works both ways.) For her mother, she will wear pretty dresses and heels and pretend to be a delightful young lady. For her father, she will try this farming thing out, and she'll even do it without comment to her cousin Albert, who is more like a lumbering teddy bear that plows than anything else. For Joseph, she will try to act as if she's allowing her parents to protect her instead of being determined to protect them, and the same goes for her sister Nan and her darling niece. For Angelina and Alicia, she will pretend that she isn't nearly as sick as she feels sometimes, and for Oliver Wood she will pretend that all of his Puddlemere United news is terribly thrilling, and for the twins Weasley she will pretend that laughter drips off her lips like wit does on better persons. (Although, to be fair to Fred and George, it is hard for Katie to not laugh at their antics, which perhaps explains her silent infatuation with George that she would rather die over rather than have him hear exists.) Katie does few things anymore that are for herself -- Quidditch being one -- but she has found, in her painful collision course with maturity, that she prefers this selfless Katie, for being nice is enough of a balm for all of the anger and confusion she feels courtesy of the tumultuous times.
But really, Katie is a reluctant martyr. She struggles with resentment towards her career path, those who tried to use her through the opal necklace escapade, the happier successes of her friends in busier and more exciting climes, the idyllic baby family her brother has produced, and shoving down feelings that she is not necessarily trained to shove down. Katie is not a natural suppressor, and so she has recently become the posessor of an even more volatile temper than she had originally possessed. Often, she will snap and then immediately apologise, swinging between manic and depressive (or, well, manic and rage). For a young woman who has barely been of age for a year, Katie's handling of her recent situation has made her into a prickly, pointy girl. Time, experience, and patience -- none of which she has currently -- will smooth the edge.
LIKES: her boots, the Appleby Arrows, her Cleansweep 7, crups (especially Delilah), the whole of her family, the best mates on the face of the planet, the sea, swearing like a sailor, mead, butterbeer, firewhisky, most alcohol actually, plants on occasion, dancing at Christmas in the snow, the carol 'O Come O Come Emmanuel,' friendship as its own entity, hand-knit Fair Isle sweaters that fit nicely, humour that borders on the disgusting and bathroom-related, cooking (secretly), 'Scotland the Brave,' walking barefoot if she hasn't her boots, the feel of grass between one's toes, Quaffles, the sensation of laughing until one cries, the very moment in which both people decide that it is expressly important to hug a little bit tighter in order to convey a nonverbal yet important message, sunshine, gentle rain, proper weather for crops at certain points in the season, her little cottage by her orchard, Hogsmeade, Diagon Alley, the hustle-and-bustle that involves being in the city, being informed and in-the-know, beating brother Joseph at prank wars despite his age and married status, and possibly someone who is redheaded, freckled, and is missing an ear (not that she knows that yet).
DISLIKES: anything on her feet other than her boots, the Winbourne Wasps (!!!), disgusting cheats on the Quidditch pitch, Blast-Ended Skrewts, being obliged until the bloody end of time to Ringling Tree, opal necklaces, ink pellets, most anything resembling coursework, feeling that she is even less clever than she fears herself to be, any sort of blood-sucking insect that has the guts to suck her blood, china patterns, how being 'one of the blokes' means invisiblity, comas, having no control, the blind attacks, blood supremacy, bullies, intimidating those who cannot protect themselves, things that are rotten from the inside out regardless of it being organic or metaphorical, useless insults, abuse of power, power trips, despair, vunerabilities, and licorice wands.
HISTORY: (NOTE: See the same addendum on PERSONALITY above.)
Most of Katie Bell's early life was filled with visits by her neighbor and then-best friend Leanne Paisley, constant emotional torment by her elder brother Joseph and cousin Albert, and running through chores so that she could claim the chair closest to the Wireless on Appleby Arrow gamedays. Being a farmer's child influenced Katie's life in so much as she was hard-pressed to be crammed into anything resembling shoes or a dress, as well as a predisposition for grabbing anything remotely slimy or smelly and taking it for observation on her bedroom windowsill. It always made her relationship with Leanne rough from the start: Leanne, ever the delicate china doll, was always pleading with Katie to pay less attention to Quidditch, insects, and her toy broom and more to tea sets, dresses, and manners. The two frequently had squabbles, but aside from that, both were quite fond of each other as playmates up to their installation at Hogwarts.
It was a defining moment, that first day in September: Katie, in the grand tradition of many Bells before her, was Sorted into Gryffindor, whereas Leanne was placed into Hufflepuff. Although both maintained a mild friendship throughout their days at Hogwarts, Katie found two mates within her House who were much better attuned to her own unbridled spunkiness in the form of two second years: Angelina Johnson and Alicia Spinnet. It started with Quidditch madness, of course, but soon the three developed into genuine best mates. This bond was solidified in Katie's second year upon her acceptance on Gryffindor's Quidditch team, and for the beginning half of her years at Hogwarts, most of her life revolved around the simple joy of speeding through the air, tossing Quaffles to her two best mates, and laughing at the occasional mad prank.
It was her fifth year, of course, where everything changed. She had been at the Quidditch World Cup, of course, clutching her brother's cooing child to her bosom as her family screamed at her to run anywhere but there. For what felt like a moment, the Triwizard Tournament was enough for her to forget the twisting fear that had occupied Katie's every being as she ran with her little niece, and she was content to clap for Potter and hold her breath through all the tasks. Her fifth year was the last time she had felt as if she was a real, honest-to-God teenager, being cross for not being taken by the right date due to stupidity and for lost points. At the end, everything broke and Katie knew when she found out about Diggory's death that the memory of running with the little life with such horror and despair wasn't coincidental. Everything was dark and stewing, and if she wasn't careful, everything she loved would go to rot.
It was why she insisted on joining Dumbledore's Army, that memory at the Quidditch Cup. Nightmares at night and drawn faces at her family's kitchen table moved her hand that day in the Hog's Head, and she never regretted the decision. Besides, Potter was rather brilliant at teaching, which was exactly what Umbridge wasn't. It was worth every moment of being able to feel as if she could protect everyone she loved, to not feel that fear that the people that she laughed with in the summer and the winter and gazed upon with admiration and sadness would die if she could help it, and she still believed it as she had all sorts of interesting things etched into her hands thanks to certain persons with a particularly large kitten fetish. But her fear became more distant, strangely, with the spotting of Voldemort. Dumbledore, after all, had been right, as had Potter, and there was something in that which made Katie's momentary surge of bravery cecede back into the passive feeling of childhood. With Dumbledore, Katie still had her security blanket. It would hardly do her well her final year.
Her seventh year seemed stark, anyway. With a good portion of everyone she ever adored at Hogwarts gone (some with more stylish exits than others), Katie found herself a little lonely. Of course, she had made up with Leanne, who had been significantly shaken by the state of events and insisted that the two should make up for lost time. The typical squabbling, of course, hadn't been too terribly noticed by Leanne at first when Katie had been Cursed, but it was too late when her Hufflepuffian friend realised the dire state of Katie's affairs -- she was rising into the air, touched by the foulest thing that Katie never knew she had ever had encounters with. The necklace not only caused Katie to lose a serious chunk of her life, but she still occasionally suffers from the particularly vicious pseudo-conjunctivitis that blinded her in the early days after she woke up from the curse. It cleared up enough for the end of the year, of course, and she was able to play the last Quidditch game she would ever play. The sweetness of the act would become bitter, of course, when the security blanket died and Katie realised that it was too late for her to try to cling to being the idyllic child she once was. She was the young woman who was running with her niece again. She was a woman who was ready to die before they would.
The combination of absolutely abysmal N.E.W.T.s and family expectation has lassoed Katie into her long-dreaded position as the unsaid heir to the family farm, but although there is a certain lingering sourness about the entire affair, Katie has started to blossom under the pressures of her job. She had always been decent at Herbology, after all, and she had been forced into Care of Magical Creatures by her father, and all of these things had prepared her, but most of it just felt as natural as she had been born into it -- which she had. But there's still a niggling in the back of her brain, a worry about things that she can't quite control, that is still within the pit of Katie's soul. There's been a lot of things unsaid, a lot of things undone, and Katie is of the opinion that now she must be frank with herself, her fear, and others. The only fear that is greater than what is happening is, perhaps, that she may be prohibited from telling things that she should have told them a long time ago.
GAME(S) PLAYED: "toscin" at Deathly Hallows RPG at Greatestjournal, "dingdongmerrily" at Euphoria Lane at Greatestjournal.
STATUS: Inactive
PLAYED-BY: Billie Piper