Lottie Harkaway's profile

Archery
Flying - Quidditch & Quodpot
The Outdoors

Small Spaces
Feeling Trapped
The Indoors

Miriam Gardiner was born and raised alongside her twin sister Maxine in Richmond, Virginia. Upon coming of age, and graduating from Ilvermorny with a glowing recommendation from her charms professor and a knack for memory modification, she moved to Washington with a dream of joining the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation.

On one blustery winter afternoon, during her lunch hour in the street just outside of MACUSA, Miriam would pass by a handsome man with a mischievous grin and a cart full of hot butterbeer for sale. One Delaney Stein.

After weeks of passing glances and nervous polite chit-chat, Miriam agreed to allow Mr. Stein an opportunity to court her. Over the course of their courtship, The two would learn much about one another. Their shared roots in Virginia, how they each took their tea. Delaney learned that Miriam Gardiner loathed clutter and mess, could modify the memory of almost anyone and how he was the only person in the world that could get Miriam to let loose, and find some joy in life.

Miriam learned that Delaney Stein was not simply a hot butterbeer vendor, but a travelling salesperson, selling anything that would sell, with a dream of buying some land and raising a family.

One night, with a ring in his pocket and an anxious knot in his gut, sitting on the crumbling stairs of some back alley, Miriam learned that Delaney Stein was not Delaney Stein at all, but Delaney Harkaway; a direct descendant of ousted former MACUSA President, Thornton Harkaway. Thus, to avoid carrying the shameful weight of his surname, and with fear of frightening his dear Miriam off, he told a small fib. Upon this discovery, Miriam had soothed his worries, and forgiven him for the sins of his ancestor and gleefully accepted his proposal.

The two were married the following June, and just over a year later, on December 17th, 1874 - They welcomed one Charlotte Delaney Harkaway into the world.

With their bouncing baby girl, and a sack full of savings - Mr. & Mrs. Harkaway bought a large piece of land on the outskirts of rural Woolhope, Virginia, a magical village, with a new shared dream of raising their daughter on the same virginia soil that they had grown up on.

While Miriam continued her work with F.B.C.V.N.O., Delaney worked the land and tended to his little girl, and with each passing day it became more and more apparent to the couple that their Lottie girl was undoubtedly her father's girl. (Much to her mother's chagrin and her fathers delight.)

Lottie had her fathers bright & curious brown eyes, his mischievous grin and a love for mischief and all things of the natural world. She would consider her pa her very best friend, and he would agree without a moments hesitation.

Her magic had always been apparent, manifesting in little ways since she was old enough to walk. Levitating cakes and cookies from the kitchen to her bedroom at 4 years old. Turning the hands of their old grandfather clock back and back when she knew it was drawing near to bath time (which meant bedtime), until the sun had set and her parents found her asleep, curled up in front of the fire. Even multiplying the number of worms in her little bucket when she went fishing alone in the creek behind her home, when her mother told her she could stay out until she ran out of worms.

Lottie was 8, when tragedy struck the Harkaways. After a particularly bountiful harvest of puffapods one summer, Delaney set out to the city to sell off the surplus to vendors in Richmond. During a game of cards at the The Crooked Cane Inn, Delaney made what would be a fatal mistake in mentioning the bounty he carried in his knapsack. Later that night, a band of thieves led by the man Delaney had played cards with, broke into the room in which he was staying to rob him of his goods.

Delaney cooperated, even in his exhausted and slightly inebriated state, he knew his life was worth much more than the gold he would earn from his plants; and he wanted to get home safely to his wife and little girl. Though, In an attempt to get off on the crime, and to leave no witnesses, the men killed Delaney, leaving his body behind in the little room of the inn to be found by housekeeping staff the next morning.

Miriam fell into a deep state of depression, unable to process living life as a widow. Their saving grace came in the form of MIriam’s twin sister, Max. Who took it upon herself to move in and help tend to her sister, to Lottie and to the little homestead. For months, Miriam soothed Lottie with the tender lie of her father being gone on a long trip, this course of action created tension between the twin gardiner girls, when Max insisted Lottie be told the truth, and allowed her grief, but ultimately allowed Miriam to do what she thought was best for her daughter.
An egregious error. When one night, when the pain of her husband's death became too much to bear; and Miriam did not wish the same pain upon her daughter, She snuck into Lottie’s bedroom, and obliviated her daughters memories of her father, before doing the same in the next bedroom to Max, modifying her memory as well, magically coaxing Max to believe Delaney had died when Lottie was only an infant and Max had come to live with them to help with Lottie’s magical education. To solidify this lie, Miriam convinced the small village townspeople that even the mention of Lottie’s father would send the girl into hysterics, and with Victorian traditions, they all abided.

Delaney’s death had only exacerbated Miriam’s reserved and cautious nature, becoming increasingly overly protective of Lottie; and when the time came for her to attend Ilvermorny, Miriam did not allow her to attend. Max, worried for her niece's future, took the lead in continuing Lottie’s magical education - in hope to give her a chance at a future in the magical community.

Lottie’s introduction into the world of magic across the pond, came in the way of Miriam remarrying when Lottie was 14; He was an archivist from the British Ministry of Magic who had traveled to the new world for research at MACUSA.

Though it was not the passionate sort of love Miriam had with Delaney, she fell in love with the quiet and reserved Historian. Longing to be free of the memories the little homestead still held, Miriam accepted his proposal, and his offer to care for Lottie as if she were his own.

Miriam and Lottie moved to London, into Miriam's husbands home, and her husband managed to convince Miriam that Hogwarts was the safest place in all the world, and she was enrolled and Miriam began work as an Obliviator in the British Ministry of Magic.

The familial affection the man has for Lottie, was not reciprocated; as Lottie still finds the man to be dreadfully boring and she and her aunt Max still bond over teasing letters about the droning of her new stepfather.

As an only child raised in rural Virginia, Lottie spent a lot of time on her own with only one true friend her age - giving her ample time to explore the woods and lakes surrounding her childhood home, tending her family's garden, experimenting with potion brewing and fostering her vivid imagination. Due to her mother's overly-cautious nature, and overprotective parenting, (and a little help from inheriting the more adventurous bits of her father), Lottie became overly curious and oftentimes reckless, always searching for something new, and delving into anything that got her heart racing. She is recklessly optimistic and cheerful, always on the move.

Her passion for archery was bestowed upon her from her father and his crew of friends, who, as soon as Lottie was old enough to walk and talk, took her along on hunting trips. A rare moment where Lottie could learn to be still, and steady her racing mind with the soothing breeze and passion for the hunt. These days, with the hobby becoming just that -- a hobby, rather than necessity for survival, Lottie's passion has only grown for the sport.