20 Random Facts About The Grey Lady | PG
Title: 20 Random Facts about the Grey Lady
Author: soberloki (GJ & IJ)
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): Just so you don't come upon it all unawares, thar be spoilers here. Big ones, with shiny surfaces, and they dance the foxtrot.
Disclaimer: All characters from the Harry Potter universe are the property of J.K. Rowling and those to whom she has licensed her creations, including without limitation Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note(s): iulia_linnea is once again holding The Harry Potter Random Facts Fest, and I just can't pass up a chance to create backstory!
The Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's Ghost
1. She didn't mind being Rowena Ravenclaw's only daughter until she was nearly fourteen. It was then that she realised she'd never care about books and learning more than whether or not the boys in the village noticed her, and her mother would never stop being a teacher.
2. She had vibrantly red hair, and let it fall loose and curly down her back until she was seventeen years old.
3. The Baron was much older, and a very dashing figure, and she didn't have a word to spare for him the first time they met. She was only twelve.
4. At fifteen, she realised how the Baron watched her, and felt more powerful than she ever had before.
5. She hated living at the castle, because everyone assumed she was like her mother, cool and distant and a bit imperious, and she only wanted to join in on festival days and give a kiss to one of the boys competing in the games.
6. Rowena wasn't a bad mother, but she wasn't good at covering up the disappointment she felt in her only daughter.
7. She secretly thought her mother was wasted on books, and should have used her beauty to collect as many lovers as possible. She was also terribly jealous that most men and boys noticed her mother much more often than her.
8. When she stole the diadem, she had to drug her mother first, and then take it from a pouch on her chatelaine.
9. She approved heartily of all advances in the position of women in society. Hermione Granger was actually one of the few students she bothered to check up on, though she didn't think much of the girl's fussing about that Ronald Weasley boy.
10. Despite the fact that many people assume the Weasley line has a distant blood link to Hufflepuff, they are actually the nearest thing to a direct line from Ravenclaw through Rowena's fourth child, a son called Hedin. The Grey Lady is the only one who knows this now.
11. The smell of fresh ink used to make her feel slightly ill. Her mother said it was something to do with iron gall, but she rarely took note of such explanations.
12. She was only a passably good broomstick rider, and thought it crude when her mother would put on men's breeches and ride astride. She much preferred a side saddle, on a unicorn. Her mother didn't ask why she took to a broomstick permanently following a fair day when she was sixteen, and she never volunteered to discuss it.
13. She likes to tease the books in the Restricted Section over the summer. Madam Pince needs a full week before the students arrive just to get the Library to stop attacking shadows and house elves.
14. Stealing the diadem was her own idea.
15. Percy Weasley used to follow her in the Library and ask her questions using what he thought was elegant language. Really, he sounded like a twit, and she resented having to pay him any attention at all. Even if he was family.
16. For roughly six hours in the February of her sixteenth year, she referred to her mother by her given name, rather than 'Mother'. Rowena put a stop to that in a hurry.
17. She lost all interest in the ideals of love after she died, and instead set about educating herself thoroughly, hoping one day she might make it all up to her mother.
18. She wasn't actually afraid of the Baron, despite his anger and wild behaviour, until the moment before she died.
19. She wishes her mother hadn't left her behind with the Baron, and though she knows it's silly, she sometimes thinks the Founders are still punishing her for her betrayal.
20. Her name was Radgert, and she avoided telling anyone unless she absolutely had to.
Author: soberloki (GJ & IJ)
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): Just so you don't come upon it all unawares, thar be spoilers here. Big ones, with shiny surfaces, and they dance the foxtrot.
Disclaimer: All characters from the Harry Potter universe are the property of J.K. Rowling and those to whom she has licensed her creations, including without limitation Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books, Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No copyright infringement is intended.
Author's Note(s): iulia_linnea is once again holding The Harry Potter Random Facts Fest, and I just can't pass up a chance to create backstory!
The Grey Lady, Ravenclaw's Ghost
1. She didn't mind being Rowena Ravenclaw's only daughter until she was nearly fourteen. It was then that she realised she'd never care about books and learning more than whether or not the boys in the village noticed her, and her mother would never stop being a teacher.
2. She had vibrantly red hair, and let it fall loose and curly down her back until she was seventeen years old.
3. The Baron was much older, and a very dashing figure, and she didn't have a word to spare for him the first time they met. She was only twelve.
4. At fifteen, she realised how the Baron watched her, and felt more powerful than she ever had before.
5. She hated living at the castle, because everyone assumed she was like her mother, cool and distant and a bit imperious, and she only wanted to join in on festival days and give a kiss to one of the boys competing in the games.
6. Rowena wasn't a bad mother, but she wasn't good at covering up the disappointment she felt in her only daughter.
7. She secretly thought her mother was wasted on books, and should have used her beauty to collect as many lovers as possible. She was also terribly jealous that most men and boys noticed her mother much more often than her.
8. When she stole the diadem, she had to drug her mother first, and then take it from a pouch on her chatelaine.
9. She approved heartily of all advances in the position of women in society. Hermione Granger was actually one of the few students she bothered to check up on, though she didn't think much of the girl's fussing about that Ronald Weasley boy.
10. Despite the fact that many people assume the Weasley line has a distant blood link to Hufflepuff, they are actually the nearest thing to a direct line from Ravenclaw through Rowena's fourth child, a son called Hedin. The Grey Lady is the only one who knows this now.
11. The smell of fresh ink used to make her feel slightly ill. Her mother said it was something to do with iron gall, but she rarely took note of such explanations.
12. She was only a passably good broomstick rider, and thought it crude when her mother would put on men's breeches and ride astride. She much preferred a side saddle, on a unicorn. Her mother didn't ask why she took to a broomstick permanently following a fair day when she was sixteen, and she never volunteered to discuss it.
13. She likes to tease the books in the Restricted Section over the summer. Madam Pince needs a full week before the students arrive just to get the Library to stop attacking shadows and house elves.
14. Stealing the diadem was her own idea.
15. Percy Weasley used to follow her in the Library and ask her questions using what he thought was elegant language. Really, he sounded like a twit, and she resented having to pay him any attention at all. Even if he was family.
16. For roughly six hours in the February of her sixteenth year, she referred to her mother by her given name, rather than 'Mother'. Rowena put a stop to that in a hurry.
17. She lost all interest in the ideals of love after she died, and instead set about educating herself thoroughly, hoping one day she might make it all up to her mother.
18. She wasn't actually afraid of the Baron, despite his anger and wild behaviour, until the moment before she died.
19. She wishes her mother hadn't left her behind with the Baron, and though she knows it's silly, she sometimes thinks the Founders are still punishing her for her betrayal.
20. Her name was Radgert, and she avoided telling anyone unless she absolutely had to.