Shauna MacKenna's Application

This application is for a halfblood student character, without any restricted concepts in the application. She was approved in July, 2004.

Declan MacKenna is a very muggle-ish muggle. Aileen O'Sullivan is a mixed-blood witch. The two could not be more dissimilar. Aileen met Declan when she and some friends were on a jaunt to Dublin and was attracted to his forceful and charming personality, a contrast to her own retiring manner. Declan was in turn attracted to the sweet and obedient Aileen, mostly because she seemed like his idea of the perfect girlfriend - a woman who would turn to him for all decisions. The two dated for a year before Declan popped the question, never doubting that Aileen, who was by now utterly charmed by him, would say yes. She did, but had something to tell him first. She was a witch. Declan, amused, didn't believe her at first and merely played along. It didn't sink in until after the wedding that Aileen had been completely serious.

For any current student, it's important to include some information about their parents, as this is what determines their living situation. For a half-blood (someone with one muggle and one magical parent), this information should include how said muggle met up with a wizard or a witch, because this would not normally happen.

Declan moved his bride to Bray, Ireland, where he works in his brother's B+B. Aileen stayed home to mind their two children: Buckley and Shauna, who is three years younger than her brother. Also added to the mix was their cousin Jana, Declan's niece, whose parents were both busy in the B+B and didn't always have time to mind their daughter. Since she and Shauna were the same age, it seemed reasonable that the two would make good playmates.

As often happens when adults expect something, Shauna and Jana did not get along. Jana is a spiteful girl who at a young age would snatch toys, hit and kick when she didn't get her way, and rip pages from books just to make Shauna cry. Buckley, the elder brother, only had a use for Shauna when he wanted something, and used the fact that he was bigger and older to make his sister fetch and carry for him, steal cookies from the jar in the kitchen, or watch /his/ program on television instead of what she wanted to watch. As a result Shauna grew into a nervous, withdrawn child who stammered when upset and preferred to hide in her room with a book, which wouldn't pinch or yell at her. She would read anything and everything, but her favorite books were historical fiction. The Tudor period in particular fascinated her, and she adored books about Mary and Elizabeth. She did have other hobbies - crafts were something she adored, and the adults in her life kept her well supplied with 'Learn to...' sets that taught her the basics of knitting, painting, mosaic making, sculpting, and other such childish endeavors. She never spent too much time on any one thing - after the basics were learned and the project complete, it was time to learn something new.

As the children grew older they were sent to the local muggle school at Declan's insistance, and that's where the trouble really started. Jana and Buckley had never really ceased to pick on Shauna, and children are quick to scent a victim. After the first couple of times Shauna came home crying Aileen decided to homeschool her daughter, but Declan would have none of it. Shauna would simply have to learn to stand up for herself. And stand up she did - the next time someone taunted her they found themselves shoved backwards into the fence by an unseen force. Unfortunately, Jana and Buckley saw and reported it to Declan, who subjected his two children to a long lecture on the evils of magic. Aileen, who was pretty well cowed by this point, nevertheless stood up and furiously denied that magic was any such thing. This led to many such arguments and formed the opinions of Buckley and Shauna - the former took after his father and firmly believed that magic was bad, while Shauna, who had seen what her mother and grandparents could do with a stick of wood, was intrigued. Aileen's parents, who hadn't been thrilled with their daughter's marriage but supported her decision rather than lose contact with their daughter when she proved determined, often took the children for weekends over the summer. Shauna enjoyed the time spent with her grandparents, though Buckley found ways to wiggle out of the visits as he grew older.

Buckley never received a Hogwarts letter, so when one came for Shauna he was jealous despite his distaste for magic. His treatment of Shauna got worse as a result. Declan was not happy that his daughter took after her mother and considered refusing to let her go, but ultimately decided (after Aileen argued in favor of the school) to let her go 'get it out of her system'. And so Shauna went off to Hogwarts, with her pet kitten Turkish Delight to keep her company.

Shauna was Sorted into Ravenclaw, due to her love of books and delight in learning new things. Her first year at school was relatively uneventful -

Though this is a stereotypical statement about Ravenclaw, elsewhere in the application there is enough information about Shauna's intellect to justify her sorting there.

not being allowed in Hogsmeade, she didn't get Imperiused and as she was just a first year, she wasn't particularly scarred by the idea of Snape getting married, though she was a little boggled by the idea that anyone would /want/ to marry such a man. More important to her was learning everything she could, to make her mother proud and maybe even convince her father there was some good in magic. Her second year was much the same - she excelled in pretty much everything, sitting in the back of her classes and making good grades but no waves. She was quietly competent in potions, had a fondness for charms, and devoted herself to defense with the fervor of someone determined never to be bullied again. At the end of that year she chose Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies for her electives, taking the latter in hopes of understanding her own family better. It didn't work.

Shauna's third year was disrupted by Dumbledore's death and the Seige of Hogwarts. She was dismayed to find her dorm crowded with still more people, but she directed her anger at Voldemort and his Death Eaters for destroying her peace and quiet and being the biggest bullies of all. She spent as much time as possible assisting with research and helping to develop ways to fight the Death Eaters, though she did very little fighting herself. Shaken by the deaths of her classmates and teachers - Banning being sent to St. Mungo's particularly upset her - she once again sought solace in her books and classwork. Her fourth and fifth years have been mercifully peaceful, the biggest problem being OWLs at the end of her last year at Hogwarts. She did quite well in these, receiving Os in Charms, Defense, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, and Astronomy and Es in History of Magic, Transfiguration, Herbology, and Muggle Studies. In preparation for her sixth year she chose to drop Muggle Studies, keep Astronomy and CoMC, and take up Fine Arts and Modern Magical Languages.

When the new laws were passed and the letters for Poudlard and Hogwarts sent out, Declan took an interest in Shauna's education for the first time in years. He declared that no daughter of his would be going to a school where they taught that 'normal people' were bad, and she had two choices: Poudlard or further homeschooling from her mother. Shauna's choice was clear, and so she's just settled in as a 6th year Ravenclaw at Poudlard.

Game history is worked into the character's background, and we clearly see what she was doing at the time of important events. Her OWL scores and selected electives are also clearly stated.