Rachel Dunstan

OOC

Game	Journal	Portrayed By
Find the Horcruxes	mitescent	Émilie Dequenne

Basic Stats

Full Name: Rachel Margaret Dunstan (née Smythe)
Nickname(s): Rach
Gender: Female
Age: 22
Date of Birth: March 10, 1958
Zodiac: Pisces
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Unhappily married to Jason Dunstan (May, 1978)
Bloodline: Halfblood
Hometown: Kingston Upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
Residence: Kingston Upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England
House & Year: Slytherin 1976
Occupation: Apprentice designer of magical handbags, coinpurses, and luggage
Wand: 8 in, willow, phoenix tail feather
Pet: None

Family

Father: Joseph Christopher Smythe (muggle; Professor of Religion: University of Hull; b. September 15, 1923; d. April 28, 1975)
Mother: Jane Elise Smythe (née Grant; witch; Ravenclaw 1942; voice & stage actress)
Brother: Daniel Smythe (wizard; Ravenclaw 1974)
Sister: Georgina Smythe (witch; Gryffindor 1979)

Husband: Jason Marcus Dunstan (wizard; Gryffindor 1974)
Daughter: Briony Clara Dunstan (witch; b. December 3, 1973)

History

Unassuming and mild-mannered is about the best way to describe Joseph Smythe. Raised in a devoutly religious family, it was no surprise that he would go to school and study religion, or that he would then become a scholar and professor of religion on his own. What was a surprise was that he met Jane Grant along the way. She had enrolled in a few drama classes at the University of Hull while he was working on his degree in religion, and they hit it off quickly. They got married and settled into a nice home in Kingston Upon Hull, while he finished up his studies and eventually got a job teaching at the university. He thought that she had the same religious convictions and beliefs that he did. Naturally, his world was rocked when, in 1958, with a toddler and a newborn in the house, Jane admitted to Joseph that she was a witch, and that the odd things happening around their son Daniel were signs that he was a wizard. And chances were good that baby Rachel would also be a witch, as would any future children.

Although it took Joseph a bit of time to adjust to this notion, he did eventually come to terms with it (though he was frequently seen eyeing the cross that hung around his wife's neck with a bit of a ponderous look on his face, as if trying to figure out why the cross was not burning her skin), and the couple had a third child, another daughter whom they named Georgina (who was originally thought to be a boy, and planned to be named after Saint George … the name was made feminine into Georgina when she was born quite obviously a she).

Despite the fact that her father seemed to be frequently testing his children's souls throughout their childhoods, Rachel had as normal of a childhood as possible when you are a witch living in the muggle world with a father who is a professor and a mother who was a voice and stage actress and therefore occasionally travelling (thanks to being a witch, she was able to travel by apparation or floo whenever involved with a wizarding company). Daniel was the first child to go off to Hogwarts: he was sorted into Ravenclaw in 1967. Rachel followed two years later, and was absolutely shocked (and a bit nervous) to be sorted into Slytherin in 1969. From all the stories she had heard, Slytherin was hardly the place for a halfblood. Georgina followed a few years later in 1972 and was sorted into Gryffindor, which sparked jokes that the family should have had one more child, who could be sorted into Hufflepuff for a full set.

She did manage to flourish in that house, which seemed to take her worst traits of selfishness and self-centeredness and prime and polish them. Already vain, she could usually be the member of Slytherin House who was most likely to let you know if your clothes made your arse look fat, or if your shoes completely ruined your outfit. As far as academics went, Rachel never particularly excelled, lacking the drive that made her brother excel in Ravenclaw, and the bravery to stand out that her sister possessed. She was more of a follower or loner in her own house, except when it came to fashion. The only particular honours she recieved while in school were related to the Hogwarts choir: the occasional solo. Rachel was quite in love with singing, and she loved the attention that she earned when performing before the school.

The end of her sixth year was marred by tragedy: her father was found dead in his office at the university. The doctors proclaimed it to be a heart attack, but Jane, who had grown obsessed with worry about the war, was absolutely convinced that it was a Death Eater attack. Despite the years since the incident, there is still no conclusive evidence one way or the other. Rachel had loved her father, and she was devastated by his death. Some might pinpoint his death as the beginning of Rachel's Series Of Bad Decisions.

She began to care even less about school, and the end of her school years was rather unremarkable, scraping by with three As and an E. Even before she was done with school, she had begun the quest to become a famous singer, writing letters to all manner of music producers, in the hopes of enticing them to listen to her sing and sign her up. She also embarked on a series of short-lived romances that lasted around a month or two at the most: she would fall in love, be with the bloke for a month or two, and then one or both of them would stray or just get bored with the relationship. Then Rachel would find someone new to fall in love with and the whole cycle would start over again.

She did try to be diligent in being careful to avoid certain consequences of sex, but she wasn't entirely prepared to walk into a music producer's office in early 1978 and have it be "Highly Suggested" that if she really wanted to sign with him, she "knew what to do." But of course, after shagging the producer on his desk, he later told her that her voice just wasn't quite good enough and sent her on her way. It was shortly after this encounter that she met and slept with Aleron Belby. This was her first — and only — real one-night stand (because the music producer doesn't count as a one-night stand because it was during the day and in his office and it was supposed to be helping her get a recording contract). And it was shortly after these two encounters that the big, life-changing news hit Rachel: she was pregnant.

She knew that chances were pretty good that it was either the producer's or Aleron's. Since she hardly knew much about Aleron, but she did know that the producer was an arse, she decided to look up Aleron and just make the executive decision that he was the father of her unborn child. She was utterly dismayed when he just gave her some money, mentioned a Healer's name, told her to "take care of it" and sent her away.

Her father's death had not wiped away the religious convictions that he had bred into her, so of course she wouldn't "take care of it." Her next mistake, so to speak, was in telling her mother that she was pregnant. Of course, it wouldn't do for Jane to have an unmarried daughter having a baby, so she immediately called up some family friends, whose son Jason had gone to school with Daniel. Almost before Rachel could blink, she found herself engaged to a man she hardly knew, and was married almost before you could draw a breath. Jason and Rachel moved into a small house near her childhood home (where Jane still lived), so that her mother could keep an eye on them. Just shy of six months after the wedding, baby Briony was born.

Amidst all the frenzy of getting knocked up, married off to someone you barely know, and having a baby, Jane also insisted that Rachel get a job, and so she managed to find one that was almost a dream job for her: apprentice to a woman who designed magical handbags, coinpurses, and luggage. If Rachel couldn't get a recording contract (which she was still determined to pursue), then clearly the next best thing would be work in the fashion industry!

Now that Briony is just over a year old, Rachel is happy with her job, but still wanting to seek out that elusive recording contract, and she desperately would prefer to be a single mother rather than being saddled with Jason.