Miriam Strout
OOC
| Game | Journal | Portrayed By |
|---|---|---|
| Secretss | merely_miriam | Jennifer Lawrence |
Basic Stats
Full Name: Miriam Rachel Strout
Nickname(s): Some people use "Mir" for short, but mostly people seem to stick to Miriam. Deb calls her "Yammie," but nobody outside of family knows that nickname.
Gender: Female
Age: 17
Date of Birth: April 20, 1960
Zodiac: Taurus
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Single
Bloodline: Muggleborn
Hometown: Maidstone, Kent, England
House & Year: Hufflepuff 7th
Extracurriculars: Prefect, piano accompanist for the choir
Wand: 10 in, maple, unicorn tail hair
Pet: None
Family
Father: Jacob Strout (muggle; doctor; b. 1932)
Mother: Abigail Strout (née Cohen; muggle; b. 1934)
Brother: Benjamin Strout (muggle; Airman in the Royal Air Force; b. 1956)
Uncle: Michael Strout (muggle; was an architect; b. 1930; d. 1962)
Aunt: Laura Strout (née Baum; muggle; bakery owner; b. 1933)
Cousin: Daniel Strout (muggle; automobile mechanic; b. 1957)
Cousin: Deborah Strout (muggle; student; b. 1960)
History
Miriam is the second child and only daughter to relatively conservative muggles Jacob and Abigail Strout. Growing up in the county town of Maidstone, Kent, England, Miriam had a rather quiet childhood, though not one untouched by tragedy: her father's older brother died suddenly of a brain aneurysm when Miriam was two, and her newly-widowed aunt and two cousins (Daniel and Deborah) moved in with Miriam's family. Deborah and Miriam being the same age, the two grew up more as best friends and sisters than cousins.
It came as a shock to the entire family when they learned when Miriam was eleven that she was a witch, though it did shed light on some odd occurrances that had tended to follow Miriam around in her childhood. Although she would miss her family terribly, Miriam agreed that it only made sense for her to attend Hogwarts and learn how to use her magic. Though this revelation did put a slight crimp in Jacob's hopes for his daughter, that she would follow him into the world of (muggle) medicine, but the whole family supported Miriam. Upon arriving at Hogwarts in 1971, Miriam was sorted into the house of Hufflepuff, which she knew very little about at the time (though she came to see that it was a good fit for her, much better than all the other houses, except perhaps Ravenclaw).
At Hogwarts, Miriam soon learned that there were those who judged her simply for her parentage: because she didn't come from a magical family, these sorts of people found her lacking, thought she wasn't as good as they were. It hurt to be judged so unfairly by people who didn't even know her, and she was determined to work hard in her new classes to prove that she could be just as good as them. She did do well at most of her classes … flying lessons in first year were an absolute bust, and Astronomy was the only class she ever in her life considered skipping (her lifelong fear of heights made the time spent at the top of the Astronomy tower excruciating … she was just glad to not have been placed in either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw!), and she dropped the class as soon as she was able to.
Right from the start, as soon as Miriam learned of the magical world's medical field, she wanted to be a part of it. She was absolutely fascinated by the differences between magical medicine and muggle, and immediately set to work making a pest of herself to the school's nurse, wanting to help out around the hospital wing and learn at her side. She learned what classes she would need to excel in to become a Healer, and she focused all of her attention on them, sometimes letting other classes slip by the wayside in favour of those five.
It came as a complete surprise to Miriam to receive a Prefect's badge with the booklist for her fifth year. Honestly, she had assumed that it would go to her roommate Amelia, whose brothers had both been Prefects. But, well … she supposed she did deserve it, as well: given how she tried to set a good example for the younger students and followed all the school rules. She also couldn't help but wonder if it was an attempt by Professor Sprout to help nudge her out of her shell a bit: she could hardly hang back to the wall if she had to be helping to enforce the school rules.
Now in her seventh year, Miriam is hedging her bets: in addition to applying to the Healer training program at St. Mungo's, she has also applied to several muggle universities, so that in case Healing doesn't pan out, she has muggle medicine to fall back on. She is keeping up with her prefect duties, and both looking forward to the end of school and the start of "real life" … and being absolutely terrified of the same prospect.
Personality
Positives
- Hard Worker: Like any stereotypical Hufflepuff, Miriam practically embodies the definition of "hard worker." She's willing to roll up her sleeves and dive in, no matter how messy the job. Once she's started on a job, she's determined to keep working on it until it's done. She's known for her whole life that she wanted to go into the medical field; finding out that she was a witch simply veered her path toward Healing over Muggle Medicine, and she works hard every day toward that goal: she's been helping out in the Hospital Wing with Madam Pomfrey practically since her first week at Hogwarts, wanting to learn at the elbow of the best. She spends her holidays from school as a candy-striper at St. Mungo's, just absorbing all the knowledge she can get. She applies herself to her studies, as well, wanting to be sure that her marks are high enough to get her into Healer training after she finishes at Hogwarts.
- Patient: A key trait for any kind of doctor or healer, and Miriam has it in spades. She has the patience to sit and listen to a friend talk for hours, or wait patiently over a cauldron as a potion brews. She doesn't believe in rushing things, no matter what it is: relationships, potions, whatever. Short cuts only help you short cut yourself: anything worth doing is worth taking the time to do right.
- Friendly: Once she gets out of her shell (see Negative #3), Miriam is very friendly. She has an open good-naturedness about her, and she is a good friend to those she has, willing to listen without judging, and only offering advice when asked for it. While she won't always necessarily go out of her way to talk to people (especially boys), she will sometimes surprise even herself by reaching out to the lonely or overlooked.
Negatives
- Overworked: The flipside of being a hard worker, Miriam will sometimes work herself weary. She sometimes needs to be reminded to stop and take a break for herself, that she doesn't need to do everything all at once. Once she's overworked herself into exhaustion, she tends to slip to the opposite end of the spectrum into laziness, not wanting to do much of anything until she's recovered. But once she does, she'll start piling the work back on for herself until the cycle repeats.
- Idealistic: Miriam believes too much that there is good in everyone, and she has a hard time seeing that some people are just not that good. Even as unrest and war is brewing in the wizarding world (and it's directed at people like her, who come from non-magical lineage), she still believes that everything will work out for the best in time, and surely the magical world's government will protect her and those like her. She just doesn't really see or understand how dire the threat is against her.
- Wallflower: Miriam has a tendency to hang back and be a little shy, especially in mixed company with boys. She tends to sort of clam up and get tongue-tied around members of the opposite sex, so she's never been on a date. Even among her own gender she has a tendency to be a bit shy at first, until she's spent more time around people she has a hard time opening up to them (but once she warms up, she'll be open and friendly). She joined the school choir mostly at the urging of friends, but she doesn't want to draw attention to herself by singing: she just plays the piano for them.
Likes: Music (acoustic guitar and piano music, especially). Tennis. Strawberries. Playing the guitar. Playing the piano. Working at the hospital. Sunflowers. Driving (seriously, it's so much fun, more wizards should drive cars). Digging around in the dirt. Flavoured lip gloss.
Dislikes: Being treated differently for being a muggleborn. Disco music. Pumpkin anything. Mini skirts. Heights (she is terribly acrophobic … she can't even handle watching quidditch matches). Flying (be it in airplanes or on brooms, for obvious reasons!). Rosemary (it just smells way too strong). Swimming (bathing suits show off way too much). Her thighs.
5 Facts
- Her most prized possession is her guitar, which belonged to her uncle. It looks its age, but Miriam takes very good care of it. She tends not to let others touch it. (Public.)
- She hopes to be accepted into the St. Mungo's Healer training programme after school. She has applied to several muggle universities as a just-in-case back-up plan, however. (Public.)
- She turns all sorts of shades of pink and red when spoken to directly by a cute boy, and she loses her grasp of the English language. (Public.)
- She still sleeps with an old ratty stuffed terrycloth puppy. His name is Sir Woofenstein and she's had him since she was a baby. He lives under her pillow during the day. (Known to roommates and family.)
- For a long time, she had a crush on her older brother's best friend and their neighbour, Lucas Williams. He just got married on New Year's Eve to his long-term girlfriend, and Miriam ended up getting her first kiss (and subsequent make-out session) from a random guy at the wedding. (Private to everyone but her cousin Deb so far, though it may be divulged to schoolfriends eventually.)