OCs Come To Life!
So, here's some ECverse picspam for you all! I was searching for a picture of Cecily from Chapter 3 of Be Well Tried, and I found her so quickly it was a little amazing! :) I do sometimes like to find pictures of my OCs, as it helps me get a better idea of "who" they are. And so I can keep physical descriptions separate and clear.
But here we have her, Sixth-Year Slytherin Cecily Needham, who first made an appearance at the Pevensies' Christmas tradition in Elijah's Cup, and who is spunky, fun, and going to be a total befuddlement during her apprenticeship to Snape. The man needs a little harmless aggravation, definitely, and I think her cheerfulness, tendency to tear up when chastisted and then suddenly get determined and refuse to take any crap, is going to leave him very bemused. Heh! She's from a "solid wizarding background" (in her own words), bloodwise, so she hasn't had much prejudice to deal with and doesn't have any opinion about that, good or bad - which in itself is as problematic as the bigotry her fellow Slytherins stereotypically espouse.
Brett Bixby also made his first appearance in Elijah's Cup, during Madam Hooch's first-year flying lesson with the Ravenclaws (he pointed out the giant squid that had come to the surface of Hogwarts Lake to greet the Pevensies), and makes another cameo later in the fic. His first name wasn't revealed until Chapter 2 of Be Well Tried, but he's exuberant and surprisingly impulsive, for a Ravenclaw - though of course he loves to learn and only ever dreams of skipping class. Twelve, going on eleven. :) He's a full wizard from both sides of the family, although his father's father was adopted into a wizarding family when his Muggle parents disowned him. This story has of course been passed through the family, making Brett a little wary (not much though, part of his Ravenclawness is his curiosity about learning new things and having new experiences) of Muggles. In his Second Year, he's most looking forward to the first Quidditch match of the season, and is very put out by the cancellation of the sport.
Owen Cauldwell. Owen grew up in Buckinghamshire, son to Nathan Cauldwell - who is a childhood friend of Will Stanton. The Stanton clan of ten siblings (of which our bachelor Will is the youngest) and their assorted spouses and families are "cousins" to the Cauldwells, who maintain a very close friendship with Will despite the fact that at eleven (when Will himself came into his power as an Old One) Nathan went to Hogwarts and became part of the Wizarding World. But the town of Buckinghamshire is very small, consisting of a mere 200 or so people (most of which are the Stanton Clan), and Own is very happy to come from the quiet country. He doesn't quite know what to do with all the people at Hogwarts, and is painfully shy. He's comforted some by the presence of "Uncle" Will, but as Will is actually a Professor, he doesn't know how to act now around someone he's thought of his whole life as family, and that's got him feeling alone and scared too. It's this almost debilitating shyness that has his house-mates thinking that he's Muggle-born, and although he does come from a Wizarding family, his grandparents on both sides are Muggles through and through.
And yeah, I couldn't resist adding this pic of the Trio when they were all First-Years and adorable. Puberty really does mutate the cuteness factor, *le sigh*.