Valerie Gray
NOLTIE'S BOTANICAL NOVELTIES
face claim: nastya zhidkova | post color: #856363/dusty rose

you fascinated me
basic essence
NAME: Valerie Clementine Gray
DATE OF BIRTH: 15 March 2076
AGE OF FIRST SIGN OF MAGIC: 6
BORN IN: White Rock, British Columbia
CURRENTLY RESIDES: London, UK
LANGUAGES: English
RELATIONSHIP STATUS: someone permanently under my skin single

HAIR: white-blonde
EYES: purple-grey
HEIGHT: 5'11"
BUILD: slender
MB TYPE: ESTJ-T

Valerie is quite stubborn and does not always listen well, especially when she believes her side of the story to be correct. In fact, she is quite likely to do the opposite of what is asked of her out of spite. She's very independent, determined, and does not appreciate those who pity. She also has a particular dislike of optimistic and super happy people. Her stubbornness fused with her often short fuse can result in her going from 0 to banshee crazy at the drop of a hat if provoked.



cloaked in shadow and secrecy
magical essence
BLOOD STATUS: No-Maj-born
WAND: 12.25 inches, cherry, Antipodean Opaleye heartstring
FAMILIAR: Duchess [Turkish Angora]
PATRONUS: Corsican Ram
BOGGART: none of your concern
AMORENTIA: also none of your concern
ANIMAGUS FORM: barn owl

Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
HOUSE: Wampus
FAVORABLY INCLINED SUBJECTS: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, & Transfiguration
LESS INCLINED SUBJECTS: Divination & History of Magic
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: Dueling Club, Quodpot team

WIZARDING UNIVERSITY, EDINBURGH
double degrees in Advanced Transfiguration & Herbology (first-class honors)
additional certification in Potions & Metallurgy

the beauty of a broken angel
familial essence & personal history
FATHER: Jamie Edward Gray [No-Maj] ✝
MOTHER: Olivia Eloise Gray [No-Maj] ✝
BROTHER: Shane [No-Maj] ✝
PATERNAL UNCLE: Callum Edward Gray [No-Maj]
PATERNAL AUNT: Elizabeth Susanne Gray [No-Maj]
PATERNAL COUSINS: Joshua (16) [No-Maj], Rebecca (12) [No-Maj], Adam (7) [No-Maj]
MATERNAL UNCLE: Sean Franklin Kronshagen [No-Maj]
MATERNAL AUNT: Ariel Renee Kronshagen [No-Maj]
MATERNAL COUSINS: Joshua (9) [No-Maj] ✝, Ryan (8) [No-Maj]

Valerie was always difficult and stubborn, even before she was born as she came into this world in breech position. Born into an impoverished family in the middle of the night on a particularly windy day, Valerie was often left in the care of the family's good Samaritan neighbors starting as an infant. Her father spent the majority of his earnings as a bankteller at the Black Jack table rather than providing for his family, thus resulting in her mother working long hours at a juice production factory and would come home each night with a carton of juice she had pressed and boxed herself that day which she shared with her children over crusts of bread she had salvaged from the discarded bits of sandwiches the factory also produced. These moments of being huddled around by their matchbox sized kitchen table eating crusts of bread and sharing a carton of juice (typically apple but on the rare special occasion cranberry) were the favorite moments of Valerie's day.

A little after her sixth birthday in the midst of a terrible tantrum, a sizable earthquake shook the area leaving her home (and only her home for some reason) in shambles with Valerie the sole survivor of her family. She was then sent to live with her paternal uncle's (and godfather) family in Tacoma, Washington.

Struggling with making meaningful human connections outside of family all her life because of classism and prejudices towards her appearance, Valerie attended Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry where her closest and only friends were Kyle Baker and Jesús Rodríguez. Life changed for Valerie when, in her sixth year, she was selected to represent Ilvermorny and her Wampus house in the The International Magical Pupil Standoff (IMPS) along with her two best friends. Finishing third overall in the competition behind Kyle and Levi Kenning (who had earned her respect and become a friend during the competition), Valerie returned to America and Ilvermorny to finished her education and immediately applied to attend university in the United Kingdom. Jesús too returned to the United Kingdom and the pair got a flat together along with mutual acquittance Jerry Zimmer. While attending university and coming into her own, Jesús and Valerie began to explore their mutual feelings for one another that had been intensifying since the IMPS competition and she felt herself falling for him. However, one day Jesús left a note for her saying he was moving out and moving in with an older woman...completely breaking Valerie's heart and causing her to fortify her walls once again because people were the worst and love was both a lie and a curse. Over time, Valerie and Jerry too began to explore a mutual attraction and affection for one another while never truly opening up to one another exclusively in part because of their past failed relationships.

Upon graduating from university, Valerie became listless and unable to find herself a steady job due to her lack of a bedside manner and temper. Often times she would use her animagus form to perform petty theft and other misdemeanors more for the thrill of it than out of necessity, just to feel something other than the melancholy that had taken over her existence. Eventually, Jerry accidentally got Valerie involved in the film industry by bringing her as his plus one to a function and was 'discovered' by a director there. She became the reluctant lead of an indie film released in November 2103 that was a commercial success and propelled her into a fleeting and unwanted limelight. Her film career on hold indefinitely, Valerie resumed the cycling through many jobs until the owner of Noltie's Botanical Novelties noted the frequency with which she visited the shop, almost always because of good friend David Truebridge, and offered Valerie a position on their staff. Impressed by Valerie's knowledge and thoroughness, though less so her repertoire with customers which could be quite prickly, they offered her an assistant position ... and Valerie eagerly accepted.