Natalie McDonald

OOC

Game	Journal	Portrayed By
Euphoria Lane	aquapasto	Aubrey Dollar

Basic Stats

Full Name: Natalie Juliet McDonald
Nickname(s): Natty, Nattie, Nat
Gender: Female
Age: 20
Date of Birth: June 29, 1983
Zodiac: Cancer
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Single
Bloodline: Halfblood
Hometown: Westminster, London, England
Residence: 212 Euphoria Lane, flat 4B
House & Year: Gryffindor 2001
Occupation: Artist; waitress: Moon & Sun Cafe
Pet: None

Family

Father: Arthur McDonald (wizard; Accidental Magic Reversal Squad)
Mother: Ophelia Warren (muggle; waitress)

History

Natalie is the only child of Arthur McDonald (a pureblood wizard) and Ophelia Warren (a muggle). Although Arthur and Ophelia were married when Natalie was born, they divorced when she was two years old, her mother unable to deal with her father being a wizard, and Ophelia resumed her maiden name (she wanted Natalie to take on Warren, but Arthur demanded that his daughter keep his surname). Natalie grew up primarily with her mother in Westminster, where Ophelia had moved upon the divorce. Arthur remained in his home in Birmingham, so he was close enough that Natalie was able to visit him.

While Arthur focused on educating his young daughter about her heritage as a witch, Ophelia countered this by showering her daughter with muggle culture: taking her to museums, plays, operas, et cetera. Coming from old family money, she was able to afford to do this while only working lightly during the day (as a waitress at a local cafe), so that she could spend time with her daughter. Arthur, meanwhile, worked for the Ministry of Magic, in the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad, so sometimes Natalie's time with him was cut short because he had to rush off to work.

Natalie was always fascinated by art. She often begged her mum to take her to more museums, and she was always asking for more colouring books or other art supplies. She "graduated" from colouring books to drawing her own pictures when she was five, and she proved to be something of an artistic prodigy. Paint, crayons, markers, coloured pencils, ink, pencils, no matter what the medium, she loved to draw and sketch and paint and colour, and she was good at it too. Her mum let her colour and draw and paint however much she wanted, as a way of making up for the fact that her father wasn't around much and for the times that Ophelia had to work extra hours and leave Natalie with a babysitter. She encouraged Natalie's love of the medium and creativity within it, instead of encouraging her to go out and make friends and do things other than paint and draw.

Shortly after her eleventh birthday, she recieved a letter from Hogwarts. Although Natalie wanted to attend a muggle art school, her father insisted that she attend Hogwarts, to learn how to use her magic so that it didn't burst out accidentally (he did make his living cleaning up after other people's accidents, after all). So on September 1st, Arthur took Natalie to King's Cross and saw her off on the train. It was when she was sorted into Gryffindor that Natalie met the girl who would later become her best friend, Romilda Vane. Romilda was a year ahead of her at Hogwarts, and took Natalie under her wing.

Being an only child from a "broken" family, Natalie was happy to have an older-sister figure at school. Romilda helped her out a lot with getting used to the castle and the weird quirks about it (such as the moving staircases, and also Peeves), though Natalie didn't quite understand why Romilda seemed to go crazy around the fourth year boy in their house, Harry Potter. Her father had told her some about him, but she actually thought he wasn't that cute (though she would never say that around Romilda!). She even tried a little to talk Romilda out of some of her crazier ideas in later years, but in the end supported her some when she couldn't talk her out of it (she went with Romilda when Romy tried out for the Quidditch team, and when Romy wanted to give Harry love-potion-infused chocolates, Natalie eventually gave up on talking her out of it and helped her mix up the love potion, though a less potent one than Romy had wanted).

Natalie's years at Hogwarts were fairly tame. She was only a third year when Professor Dumbledore died, and while her mother wanted her pulled out of school immediately, her father once again insisted that she stay at the school. She was only thirteen, after all, and still needed to learn more about her magical heritage and what she could do with it. Ophelia relented and Natalie remained at the school for her final four years. It was during her seventh year that Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Natalie's father was ecstatic and, during the very next Hogsmeade weekend, met his daughter at the town and took her out for a drink to celebrate.

Romilda was Natalie's best friend during all six years that they were both at Hogwarts. When Romilda finished school and was living at home, they still kept in touch with owls (Natalie's roommates took turns reminding Natalie to reply to the owls whenever she got wrapped up in her art or actually studying for the N.E.W.T.s) and met just about every Hogsmeade weekend to hang out and catch up and such. As Natalie's seventh year drew to a close, she and Romilda decided to find a flat somewhere together and be roommates. Thus, after she left school, they moved into a flat on Euphoria Lane.

Grades-wise, Natalie did remarkably well in Potions, Charms, and Transfiguration. She didn't do nearly so well in any of her other classes, mostly because she preferred to spend her time painting or drawing, as opposed to studying. She managed Os in both O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s for those three classes, a couple other O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, and that was about it.

Natalie was in school for the entirety of the war. She was a first year when Cedric Diggory died and Harry Potter insisted that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was back. She was a second year when a bunch of the students fought Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic. She was a terrified third year who hardly knew any defensive magic and was kept in the Gryffindor common room by prefects while a battle raged outside and Dumbledore died. During her fourth, fifth, and sixth years, she was worried about her father and her mother, but she couldn't do anything about it from inside the castle, so she spent a lot of time (when not studying or working on her art) worrying about them. Finally in her seventh year, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was defeated.

Because she was in school while everything was happening, Natalie never got involved with either the Order or the Death Eaters, but she was sort of involved with the Ministry through her father's job. She supported the Ministry if only because her father worked there. But she remained a wholly inactive non-participant in the war. After she left school, she didn't have the grades or the desire to go into Healing or being an Auror or any of the other "noble" jobs related to the war. Instead, she continued with her art and also picked up some waitressing jobs to help pay the bills.

Even if she had been out of school, Natalie would probably have still been a non-participant in the war. She never did well in Defense Against the Dark Arts, and she was always too wrapped up in her art to really pay attention to the world at large. While she wouldn't have gone into hiding, she would probably have just gone about a normal daily routine with only a few modest changes to remain safe.