.The Character. Full Name: Augusta Eugenia Higgs. There is a special place of loathing and wrath reserved for anyone who dares call her Auggie, with a very few exceptions - among them her two brothers, her parents, and her best friend, Irma Pince. Journal to be Used: ~vulturehat. Date of Birth // Age: November 2 1926. Seventeen. House // Year: Gryffindor / 7th. Position: Prefect. Slug Club. Class Schedule: Arithmancy, Astronomy, DADA, Herbology, History, Potions, Transfiguration. Blood Status: Pureblood. The Higgs family is sufficiently pureblooded to be considered old blood, and while their funds might be low, their societal standing is decent on blood alone. Family:
Close, proud, and fiercely loyal. Augusta's main loyalties will always lie with her family, and they always have done. Everything else is a secondary concern, when it comes down to it, although she does expect her family to do what is Right, whatever she might consider that to be.
Percival Sebastian Higgs, father [b. May 15 1901]. Former Gryffindor. A high-ranking auror, Percival is the source of all of Augusta's notions of justice, and right and wrong. She is very, very proud of her father, while at the same time always fearful of his safety (although she would never admit this). His paycheck keeps the Higgs family afloat - as does their collection of anything and everything that might be useful (admittedly, a large portion of this...isn't), and Ursula's talent for budgeting and getting the most out of very little. Percival is a strong man, and a rather large one, but in his household Ursula generally has the last say on a day-to-day basis. If Percival intervenes with a Last Word, things are really quite serious indeed. Augusta sees less of her father than her brothers do, of course, particularly Bertrand, but she does love him in an admiring sort of way. Her pride for him is mirrored in his (quiet) pride for her, and she imagines that he is the best father in the world, however true that might or might not be. It's easy to think the best of someone who is rarely there, and her mother only says good things about her father.
Ursula Theodosia Higgs née [Wilkes], mother [b. March 1 1906]. Former Slytherin. A housewife and mother, Ursula makes certain the Higgs household runs smoothly. She mends and fixes and squeezes every last ounce of use from everything and anything. Ursula has long been talented at making do with very little. The war has not changed this overmuch, except for making do with less than before. She's a sharp woman, and expects much of her children. The family name and pride and blood is everything, where there is no wealth to be proud of. These days Ursula donates her time to charitable organizations approved of by Society, although she spends a great deal of time with her youngest son, as well, and writes both her older children at least once a week. One might expect Ursula and Augusta to clash more than they do, but Augusta fully respects her mother, as she does her father, and one word from either will curb her actions. She is a perfectly dutiful daughter, and it baffles her when any child rebels against their parents.
Bertrand "Bertie" Higgs, elder brother.
Eustace Nathanial Higgs, age ten [b. July 2 1936], younger brother. While Eustace is, in practice, the spare heir, Augusta has never seen him as anything other than her younger brother, and he is treated to her full affection and bossiness as a result. From the age of nine to the age of eleven she often looked after him, freeing up her mother for other household tasks (or, while her mother was with her new little brother, taking care of the other tasks herself), and she still looks after him whenever she comes home. Eustace is a quieter sort of boy than his elder sister, but can be unbearably stubborn when he wishes to be - until Ursula or Augusta scolds, at least.
History: Augusta Eugenia Higgs was born on the second of November in 1926, when her elder brother was not even a year old. The short time between the two siblings meant they would attend Hogwarts at the same time, much later on - and that they would endure questions as to their being twins, which they are not - but as children, it mostly meant that there was always someone of the proper age around to play with, if playdates hadn't been arranged by their mother. Augusta was raised knowing Bertie - Bertrand, as she insists on calling him - was the heir, and she is appropriately respectful, except that she never actually has been. Despite always being shorter and younger than Bertie, Auggie grew up nagging her brother and giving advice and generally bossing him about to do what was right and proper. It's just the way she is.
Augusta grew up in the HiggsFamily Home, located in Oldbury on the Hill, Gloucestershire. It's a bit larger than the pictures suggest; there are, at current count, four bedrooms in use, two guest bedrooms, one drawing room, one study (Augusta's father's), one nursery, one kitchen, one dining room, three bathrooms, an attic, and a basement. There is a family library located within the basement, a compilation of magical books collected by the family over the years. There are books not found at Hogwarts, among others, and Augusta considers it an indispensable summer study tool.
The Higgs family ancestoral home has rooms and an attic full of things carefully saved and stored away against the mere possibility they might someday be of use, and an almost empty Gringott's vault; the war was not easy on them. If they sold some more of their hoarded possessions they might make life easier on themselves, somewhat, because there are magical objects of some worth and family jewels locked away at home - but the Higgs family has far too much pride to even consider such a logical solution, and instead they outfit their children in clothes saved from generations ago, carefully mended by Augusta or her mother, Ursula, and they hoard what money they have left with miserly pride.
This meant, growing up, that the Higgs children had to make do. Even today, Augusta owns very little that is new, her wand among those items, and those few things were saved for and bought only after careful consideration. Their blood and name are worth far more than their (lack of) wealth, but they're proud despite and because of it. Augusta does not waste anything at all, and she hoards things from sheer habit. Nothing is too old or ugly to throw away, and there is nothing that is not worth mending. She grew up with this mindset, and the war only solidified it. There is a dowry that came from her mother's marriage to her father, but the majority of that has been saved against Augusta's future marriage and the inheritance of her brothers. Her parents very stubbornly do not touch that particular money, and even if they did, it's not really anything to speak of at all, particularly after it has been divided up amongst their three children. No one would marry Augusta for her dowry. Her name and her blood are her selling points.
For all her childhood, Augusta assumed it would only be her and Bertrand - as did her parents and brother, for that matter. They had an heir and a daughter, and there didn't seem to be any rush for another child. Nathanial wasn't born until Augusta and Bertie were nine (with a differing amount of months). Augusta could not possibly adore Nate any more if she tried (and the same is true for Bertie, although people might not realize that, due to her affectionate nagging not quite seeming as affectionate and well-meaning as it is meant when Augusta somehow manages to be intimidating without attempting to be). Leaving her younger brother at home was the only low point of that first year of Hogwarts, so far as Augusta was concerned.
Bertrand and Augusta shared a compartment - he was under strict orders to look out for his sister, while Augusta wasn't about to let Bertie out of her sight so easily - he needed her to do his tie up properly, after all! Irma Pince was also a member of their compartment and later their boat. A pureblooded girl from a family of decent standing, Irma had often had playdates with Augusta when they were younger, and the two were best friends at the age of eleven (and, now, at the age of seventeen). The Sorting would scatter the little trio, however. While Irma and Bertrand went to Ravenclaw, the Sorting Hat barely had to think before shouting out GRYFFINDOR for Augusta. It wasn't a scandal, exactly, for the Higgs family. Augusta's father, Percival, was himself a Gryffindor, and the family was not considered blood-traitorous, as such. They just didn't (and don't) seem to involve themselves much in politics, beyond the bare minimum. Augusta tends to stick her nose in other people's business, but when it comes to politics, she leaves well enough alone (except when she doesn't).
While Augusta was a bit put out about Irma and Bertie being sorted away from her, she didn't let it slow her down. Augusta settled into Hogwarts quickly, and she was - and is - a serious student, although some things took better than others. Charms, for example, has always given Augusta difficulties; she failed her Charms OWL, although it isn't exactly common knowledge, and considers it a "soft option" because she could not otherwise handle her less than stellar performance in the subject. She's an excellent duelist, however (and much later on in life she will prove this against a Death Eater, before going on the run at seventy-one years old) and a good student in many of her other courses.
Augusta's firm, no-nonsense manner, her grades, and her inability to let the younger years alone when it came to guidance (she's well-known for scolding anyone who tries to lead them astray, and while she's very much tough-love, Augusta is also known for always helping the younger years out - any house may apply for her assistance, to boot) won her the Gryffindor prefect badge in her fifth year, and allowed her to keep it in the following years. Never lax with rule-breakers - especially not people she likes! - Augusta likely became only more terrifying after being given a badge. She's still quite short, but she can loom, and everyone knows she's not the sort of prefect to allow anything to slide - but she's also not willing to let things slide for everyone equally, so it isn't as though people can say she's discriminating on any basis at all. Unless you count Bertie, who gets at least ten times as much watching and scolding than anyone else in the world.
Personality: Augusta Higgs is a force of nature. Very few things and people have any chance whatsoever of stopping her from meeting her goals, and it is only the fact that her goals are quite ordinary and usual and the fact that she believes rules were made to be followed that keep her utter determination from getting her into trouble. Or it would have, if she didn't believe that it was her solemn duty to make certain other people were aware of the rules, as well, and following them. Augusta was quite frankly a nuisance before she got a prefect's badge. Now that she is authorized to scold wrongdoers she is positively a menace.
Not that those toeing the line of Rules are the only ones likely to catch Augusta's attention. She freely offers her criticismsopinions to anyone and everyone who doesn't meet her standards in any way. She would never outright say anything in an unladylike manner of course, but there's nothing quite like Augusta Higgs glaring at you and informing you exactly which rules you've just broken, or exactly how that ought to have been done. It's almost worse when she's being helpful or not glaring at all, because Augusta has no sense of her own business and minding it. If something is being done wrong, she is quite obviously required to go over and say so, and make certain it gets done right.
Augusta doesn't leave much to chance. She micro-manages every aspect of her life, and often her personal relationships suffer because of it. It takes some time to understand that Augusta nags and bosses others about because she cares (or because she doesn't care - it's hard to tell unless you know her, sometimes). She is one of those people who is under the impression that she Knows Best. It doesn't help that her standards are so high, because it tends to validate this belief in her mind. Not that being proven incorrect or being bettered at something invalidates it - Augusta has the magical ability to overlook that sort of thing. She almost never admits outright that she was ever incorrect, but goes along as though she always held the correct idea or opinion. As to anything she can't do well - Charms has been a "soft option" from the moment she proved dreadful at it, never mind that Charms is the backbone of many other branches of magic. Anything she can't do well clearly isn't worth doing. Not that this stops her from offering her opinion on such things, of course.
Critical statements on her own performance have often been thrown back in response, but they almost never have the intended effect. Augusta is a result of her upbringing, and it has never occurred to her to be anything else. She learned from her mother's sharp eye and tongue, and she doesn't see why it wouldn't work for anyone else. She learned to recognize the praise and pride that wasn't always overtly stated, and she quite likes knowing what she has done wrong, so that she can fix it. Granted, she doesn't always accept the remarks as valid, because Augusta's respect and trust are hard to earn, but once someone has her ear she will take their statements seriously and with the determination to improve. If someone is being frank with her, she is liable to listen to them and take their words into consideration. If someone truly believes she is wrong, and she realizes this, Augusta will always rethink her actions. Many times she will come to the conclusion that she behaved perfectly well, of course, but others she will recognize her shortcomings or failures and move to correct them, although she might not always apologize in so many words.
Her brothers and parents are the only members of a very short list of those able to curtail Augusta's sharp tongue, and it is only further proof of her prickly adoration of them. Although those who catch the pitifully frequent sight of Augusta scolding her older brother Bertie might not think it true, Augusta does love her family. Fiercely, with all the dedicated determination she shows all that she deems worthwhile. So of course she only wants what is best for them, and only wants them to be their best. She bullies Bertie into studying when she thinks he isn't, and straightens his tie in the halls when they're passing by one another, completely disregarding the opinions of anyone else. At home she reads aloud to Eustace and insists he gets the biggest portion of any rare sweet they manage to get, and loudly demands that he remember to scrub behind his ears. She helps her mother run the household and she helps her father find anything he might have misplaced. Augusta's brand of love is overpowering and bossy, but it's there and very real. strengths: self-confident, honest, orderly, reliable, determined. weaknesses: critical, bossy, over-confident, doesn't like to admit to being wrong, dislikes not being in control. Sexuality: Heterosexual, but her critical nature and high standards generally mean boys aren't really interested in her like that (nor has she found anyone who meets the sky-high standards). Augusta has male friends, but that tends to be the extent of things.
Played-By: Ashley Slanina-Davies. (Alternates: Emily VanCamp and Christina Cole? Honestly, Ashley is my hands down favourite, and I fail at picking alternates.) Appearance: Five-foot-three, one hundred seventeen pounds. Built somewhere between curvy and straight, Augusta's figure doesn't get much in the way of scrutiny, and her height, after she has borne down on you like the wrath of all that is unholy, tends to be remembered as far more imposing than it actually is at the end of the day. In terms of dress, Augusta can be trusted to never have a rip or loose button about her, and her clothing is always quite clean. Her shoes are usually shined, if worn, when she has anything to say about it. What she has might be older than her mother in many cases, but she takes care of it with a fierce, possessive pride.
Her clothing also happens to consist of well-mended hand-me-downs, however, often from relatives long dead. Augusta and her mother have refitted countless worn dresses and shirts, for herself and her siblings and parents. As a result, her style can occasionally be hit and miss. Augusta treasures the splashes of colour that make their way into her wardrobe, from a great-aunt or a second cousin she doesn't recall ever meeting. The Higgs view of clothing is that you ought to make use of it for as long as you feasibly can, and occasionally shirts are eventually combined in mending them to help this along. This was habit before the clothing ration began, and now that there is, in fact, a clothing ration it is only justified. Old linens and the like have begun to be taken from the old-fashioned, cluttered rooms at home to turn out new clothes. She's usually turned out decently enough, although Augusta occasionally has rather odd notions about what is acceptable to take out of the attic - there is, for example, a particular vulture hat that her great-grandmother once wore that Augusta has been fond of since she was quite small. Ursula has yet to let her daughter take it out of the house, if only because it is an important heirloom (although considering that almost everything in the house is an important heirloom, this is not much of an argument).
Plot Ideas:
1. I love playing prefects! Especially in games like this, where things are beginning to move, and they might be needed. I like playing prefects who prefect, too, although I try my best never to step on toes!
2. I've cajoled two friends into applying: Bertie Higgs & Irma Pince. I've not been in a game with either of them for a bit, so I'm happy about it, and I'm still trying to get other people to join me. :) And I want to meet new people!!
3. I'd love to see a sixth-year Longbottom male added somewhere, even just as a cousin for the other Longbottoms. I don't require a romance or anything, but I like friendships and just the beginnings of whatever - even if that's dislike or...anything. TBH I just want as much plot as I can get!
.The Writing. Third Person: Patience was not exactly a virtue that Augusta Higgs possessed. Punctuality was important to her, as was doing things when they needed doing, not whenever she got around to it. Few things irked her more than finding people had put something off due to laziness.
Well, no. That wasn't precisely true. Many things irritated Augusta Higgs, but is just so happened that right this second the ability of some people to put things off until the last second was her biggest quibble with the universe. It wouldn't matter quite so much if she weren't paired with exactly that brand of idiot for a Transfiguration project, of course (except that it absolutely would have if Augusta had noted the occurrence, because she would in no way have been capable of keeping her own counsel on the matter).
But she was. So Augusta's foot tapped, perfectly polished black shoe beating out her annoyance as she crossed her arms, seeming to loom above the unlucky boy who'd drawn her name a week earlier when they'd chosen partners from a hat. "What do you mean you haven't finished it yet?" The words were spoken evenly, but that was perhaps even more terrifying, considering how dark a look Augusta was giving the other Gryffindor. First Person: [IRMA PINCE]
We need to make a NEWTs study schedule; Bertrand will be attending, of course, but I have not quite pinned down who else we ought to ask, or if we really need anyone further. There is a fine line between a study group and a group of people who were supposed to be studying, and I would much prefer we stayed on the correct side of said line.
Do tell me if you have anyone in mind to consider for the group. NEWTs are important, after all, and we must be prepared.
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vulturehat) wrote,
