Sophie Alyvia Heart

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Spoiler:

Full Name: Sophie Alyvia Heart
Age: 11
Date of birth: 17 March 2009
Birthplace: England
Current home: Hogwarts
Blood Status: Halfblood
Sexual Alignment: Heterosexual
Wand type: Chestnut, Phoenix Feather, 9.5 inches

Hair colour and style: Long dark brown usually straight or tied up in a ponytail or some kind of braid
Eye colour: Brown
Height: 4’7” (5’ 5” when fully grown)
Body type: Slender, fit from working on the farm
Dress sense: Casual, practical and comfortable, with cowgirl western influence. Her usual outfit is jeans and t-shirt. When she does have to dress up, she chooses the least restrictive most comfortable outfit.
Birthmarks: A small heart birthmark on her right shoulder, which identifies her as a Heart, a prominent Pureblood family.
Scars: A few from the falls she took during show-jumping
Piercings: Normal earlobe piercings though she rarely wears earrings.
Other: She has a dimple on her left cheek when she smiles.

Likes:
-Horses and anything to do with them
- Show jumping
- All kinds of animals
-Singing around a campfire
- Marshmallows
- Sunshine and being outdoors
- Sunsets and sunrises
- Bacon, ham, and eggs
- Gazing at stars on a clear night

Dislikes:
- Being cooped up indoors
- Rainy days
- When people mistreat animals
- The colour yellow
- Being sick
- People who think they’re better than
others when they’re really not.
- Boring teachers
-Mean people, especially rich, mean people

Strengths:
- Animals; she has a special touch with them and can read their body language, without even being conscious she’s doing so. She knows how to handle them and get them to respond to her.
-CoMC; because of her love for all sorts of creatures and her affinity with them, Care of Magical Creatures is one class she excels in.
- Outdoorsy activities; having grown up used to being outside, any activity set in mother nature is exciting, enjoyable, and not much of an obstacle.

Weaknesses:
- Bacon, ham, and eggs. She cannot say no to a good hearty breakfast with those three items.
- Animals. She would do anything to keep them from suffering and hurting.
-DADA. She cannot stand the thought of hurting anything, be it humans or animals. This makes her reluctant to do the practical aspect of the class.

Positive traits:
-Always optimistic, cheerful, and hopeful. She tends to see the positive side of things with childlike hope that things always turn out well.
-Helpful. Very much so. She will drop everything to go to the aid of someone in need. If she is capable of helping, she will go all out.
-Extremely compassionate and caring. She has the ability to empathise with a person who is hurting.
-Patient. She has an endless supply of patience and will never give up in helping animal or human.
-Bold and daring. She’s never afraid to try something new even if there’s a risk of getting hurt in the process. In her grandfather’s words, “That girl doesn't know fear.”

Negative traits:
-She can be rather absent-minded, lost in her own world and thoughts.
-Gets worried and anxious easily, especially for those she loves and cares.
-Gets attached to all kinds of animals very quickly, which is not a very good thing considering she’ll end up with a zoo of pets.
-Very stubborn and doesn’t know when to give up. She keeps going, never believing that something is a ‘lost cause’, often at her own expense.
-Is rather sensitive to criticism.

Born and raised on the English countryside, Sophie grew up on an equine ranch with her maternal grandparents. She nursed an intense passion for the magnificent four-legged creatures she was constantly around. She started riding before she could walk and the first thing she held was a curry comb. She had a special affinity with the animals and the ability to understand and communicate with them. They would do whatever she asked and she began to be known throughout her county for her ability. Neighbouring farmers whose horses had behavioural problems would come to her for advice, and she would tell them what they were doing wrong, sometimes even doing a demonstration with her own pony.

Her gift was was discovered when Graham, her grandfather, bought a breeding mare who refused to be saddled and bridled. Sophie - who had been calmly watching Graham trying to get the horse to accept the bit and was barely five at that time - very helpfully said, “Gwampa, you’re doin’ it wrong.” Graham, frustrated at his failed attempts, told Sophie to see if she could do any better, not actually meaning his words. Sophie, however, took that as a cue for her turn. She scrambled to get the stool and ran her little hands all over the mare’s body, testing the waters before commenting, “She’s not afraid of the saddle or bridle, Gwampa. Just of you holding it.” She nodded to where Graham had rested the saddle and bridle on the door of a stall. The horse hadn’t shied away from it.

“Then how am I supposed to tack her?” Graham had asked.

“You don’t,” was her mischievous reply.

That week, Sophie spent all her time with the mare, first riding her bareback - which Gramps disapproved of because he deemed it too dangerous - then slowly discovering the cause of her behaviour. All the horse had wanted was to be treated more respectfully. Her previous owner had mollycoddled her, treating her as if she was the most precious thing in the world. As such, she resisted any manhandling and insisted on being treated right. Before long, Sophie got her to accept both bit and saddle quite calmly.

She was a contented girl, never questioning her parentage and why she had no father or mother. She instead dedicated all her time to her favourite animals. It wasn't until she turned seven and started going to school that the bullying started. Other kids made fun of her for the amount of time she spent with horses, often making neighing and snorting sounds around her and dubbing her “Horsie”. She was very upset but diverted that energy into her passion.

She discovered her talent for show jumping at a very young age and spent a lot of time perfecting her technique on a course her grandfather built especially for her. She bagged first place in most of the competitions she entered, garnering even more hate and jealousy from her peers. The bullying got so bad that her grandparents decided to pull her out of school and educate her themselves.

The first major horse she worked with was Phoenix Rising. Phoenix was an abused horse who ran away from his owner and ended up on the Kennedy farm, tangled up in some wiring and badly injured. He wouldn’t let anyone near enough to help him and only Sophie managed to calm him down enough for her to cut away the wires. He had to be tranquilised and moved to the barn where the vet could work on him.

Over the course of a few weeks, Sophie gained Phoenix’s trust, starting by feeding him and sitting outside his stall. Once he was comfortable enough with her that he didn’t spook or bare his teeth, she introduced her presence into his stall, grooming and massaging him, letting him know that she wouldn’t hurt him. When he fully recovered, she began working with him in the ring, gaining more of his trust until he allowed her on his back.

Things took a turn for the worst when Sophie took him out on a trail ride for the first time. He spooked at the sight of a fallen tree and threw her off. Talented as she was at staying in the saddle, she was no match for his strength. He was a big horse and she was a little girl, only eight at that time. She broke a few bones from the fall and ended up in the hospital with strict orders from her grandparents to never go near Phoenix ever again.

But Sophie refused to give up, going against her grandparent’s rules and working on him in the middle of the night when they were sound asleep. From the hours she spent with him, she learned that he spooked at anything resembling a jump and inferred that his previous owner had abused him to make him jump higher.

She began from scratch again, building a solid foundation of trust with him before introducing him to obstacles. Slowly but surely, she helped him overcome his fear, using every setback as a learning experience until he could trot over ground poles calmly. Her grandparents were not pleased to find out that she’d disobeyed them but could not deny the fact that she’d got through to him.

But that wasn’t the happy ending she’d been hoping for. Phoenix’s owner came after him and took him back forcibly. Since he rightfully belonged to her, there was nothing the Kennedy’s could do. His owner wasn’t selling him so there was no use offering to buy him. Sophie was heartbroken, all her work and time spent of him lost in one moment.

For two months, the Kennedy’s tried to come up with a solution, seeing how morose Sophie was, but they failed. They didn’t have enough finances to hire a lawyer and charge Phoenix’s owner for abuse and they couldn’t buy him either. They were at the end of their wits until a miracle happened.

Sophie was moping around with Maverick in a meadow when she saw her grandfather waving and calling to her. He had good news. A rich man offered a price so high to Phoenix’s owner that he could not say no. Sophie at first thought that was not helping the situation until her grandfather continued telling her that the new owner was giving Phoenix to Sophie. She only needed to pick him up from his previous owner’s center.

She was over the moon at the news and utterly relieved to find that Phoenix still remembered her although he sported new wounds and fears from the abuse he’d been through while they were separated. It wasn’t until he was back at the Kennedy’s for a week and her joy had abated slightly that it dawned upon her to find out who this rich man was so she could thank him. Unfortunately, neither of her grandparents were willing to divulge that information to her, telling her that he wished to remain anonymous. She could see that talking about the subject upset her grandparents so she dropped it.

After training him for a few months, Sophie entered her first competition with him and discovered his fear of large crowds, noise, and flashing cameras. It was a reminder of the abuse he’d been through, and though he was fine with jumping with only her back at the farm, he couldn’t handle everything else. He reared up at the entry gate and refused to go into the show ring. Sophie didn’t panic and with five minutes on the clock before she was disqualified, she managed to calm him down enough for him to go into the ring and jump the course. It was difficult with him being jittery and skittish but they completed it and came in seventh out of ten riders.

With that new revelation, Sophie started again with him, working on that fear until it no longer frightened him. They entered another competition and came in first - to most people’s surprise - and put her on the radar of some riding academies and sponsors. She turned them down, preferring to go at her own pace and not be pressured to perform.

When her Hogwarts acceptance letter came, she was conflicted. She didn’t want to leave her life behind, attached as she was to the animals on the farm. She worried that if she left, no one would take care of Phoenix. He wasn’t as accepting of other people as he was of her and she didn’t want all her work with him to go to waste. Knowing how much Phoenix meant to her, Sophie’s grandparents made arrangements and secured permission for her to keep Phoenix at the Hogwarts stables.

With nothing else holding her back, Sophie headed off to a new chapter of her life, excited to learn about her abilities and meet magical creatures.

Mother:
Name: Alyssa Kennedy
Age: 35
Living or Deceased: Deceased
Blood type or Species: Muggleborn
Occupation: Before she passed away, Alyssa was an undercover Auror, a highly skilled operative, known for her ability to maintain cool and calm under extreme stress and pressure, valued for her ability to be flexible between the Muggle and magical world.

Father:
Name: Trent Heart
Age: 37
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Pureblood
Occupation: Auror.

Pets: ”My horses are not pets. They’re my friends.
In Hogwarts:
Name: Phoenix Rising (or just Phoenix)
Age: 7
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Horse

Name: Cinnamon
Age: 15
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Owl

Not in Hogwarts:
Name: Checkers
Age: 6
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Horse

Name: Maverick
Age: 11
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Shetland pony

Name: Spots
Age: 5
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Border Collie mix

Name: Carrots
Age: 3
Living or Deceased: Living
Blood type or Species: Rabbit

And many many more...

The Hearts are a prominent Pureblood family, famous for their wealth - gained through wise financial investments and businesses - and their power. Their most notable business is a large restaurant chain, held in very high regards by society, with branches all across the world both Muggle and Wizarding. Their next profitable business is a publishing company specialising in Wizarding books.

Trent, as the firstborn, was supposed to inherit everything but he chose to become an Auror, disappointing his family. They did not estrange him but they did not accept his choice either, reminding him all the time of the business that was awaiting him once his “childish phase” was over. Trent, however, has no intentions of leaving his career.

Alyssa grew up on an equine ranch with Muggle grandparents. When she went to Hogwarts, she discovered her talent for DADA, excelling exceptionally in that subject. After graduating, she went straight to university, majoring as an Auror. She specialised in undercover work and made a name for herself as a gifted Auror.

Trent and Alyssa met on the field while both were undercover. Alyssa was part of a mission that required her to work with Muggle cops to apprehend a Pureblood Auror suspected to leaking confidential information to Muggle authorities. She was responsible for getting close to the Muggle receiving the information. Trent, on the other hand, was assigned to the Pureblood suspected of leaking the information. However, because of miscommunication, neither knew that there was any other Auror involved in the case.

It was in May that they arranged a meeting between the two parties for the payoff and exchange of information. It went bad when the Muggle party did not meet the terms of the deal. A fight broke out and Trent and Alyssa ended up duelling against each other in an effort to keep their own party safe, Alyssa using a gun so her cover won’t be blown and wandless non-verbal spells only when absolutely necessary.

They managed to get their own party to safety but Trent suspected Alyssa of being more than who she claimed to be. He contacted the Auror office and, with difficulty since her cover was so deep her true identity barely existed, found out that she was also an Auror. He contacted her under the guise of arranging another meeting but instead gave her the code word that revealed his identity as an Auror. Together, they used this to their advantage and closed the case.

Trent did not hesitate to try and get to know Alyssa better but she was reluctant because of their different blood status and the emotional rollercoaster that came with dating a fellow Auror. If she got emotionally attached to him, he’d be a weakness, a target for the many enemies she had. Though she did not doubt his ability to take care of himself, she wasn't sure if she could take the worry she knew would come whenever he went on the field. She was used to being independent, not giving her enemies any leverage against her.

After months of maintaining a friendship with him she finally gave in to his persistent request to court her but not before she had a long talk with him. It was no surprise that Trent’s family disowned him for associating with someone of a lower status. But it didn't make much difference to him since his relation with them was already shaky when he made the decision to become an Auror instead of continuing the family business.

They married and though they had their many arguments usually caused by the amount of time they had to spend on work, they were very happy together. Two years later, they decided to have a baby and Alyssa gave birth to Sophie. Alyssa resigned from her job to devote her life to taking care of Sophie. But nine months later, tragedy struck. An enemy seeking revenge managed to get to Alyssa. She put up a good fight, dealing damage and protecting herself. But even the most skilled Auror could only hold out that long when outnumbered 25 to 1.

After her death, Trent, fearing his daughter’s safety, brought her to Alyssa’s parents in Canada and left her with them. He cut ties with them, not wanting to endanger them. He went on a hunt for Alyssa’s killers, seeking to avenge her but could not track them down. He kept at it though, devoting a whole room in his studio apartment to the case.

Although he tried to keep his distance from his daughter, he could not endure the separation for long. She was the last piece of Alyssa he had and he would not let her go. He didn't compromise her identity by visiting her but he kept an eagle eye on her, making sure she was safe, protected and happy. From a distance, he watched her grow up, noticing her magical abilities at an early age.

When it was time for her to go to a wizarding school, he ensured that she had a place in Hogwarts. It was easier for him to keep tabs on her in a place where he had more connections and where many people owed him countless favours he. Trent watched his daughter's progress and was proud of her. His only regret was that he could not be a true father to her.

Posts : 1364 Join date : 2015-12-20

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Sophie eyed the girl before her, contestant number forty-three. She was good, there was no doubt about that, but Sophie’s trained eye could tell that Forty-three had only gotten this far because of the talent of the horse and not the rider. She was riding a Hanoverian with a pedigree that could be traced five generations back, each sire and dam having multiple awards. But Sophie was determined not to back down. She had worked too hard for this. Forty-three finished with no faults and three seconds to spare on the clock, trotting her horse out the gate and looking snobbishly down at Sophie.

Many of the contestants were rich kids with abundant lessons and money to spend on pedigreed horses, and access to the best jumping courses and trainers available. Sophie’s only lessons were those she taught herself in a wide open field, a trail ride, or a round pen. Her horse had no pedigree with an unknown sire and dam. It was for these reasons that the other kids looked down on her and teased her endlessly. She guessed that it was because she’d been invited and they hadn’t.

One month before school let out for the holidays, Sophie had received a personal invitation to participate in the Royal Junior International Show Jumping Championships - or more commonly abbreviated as RJISJC. It was the biggest competition ever for junior riders with the highest jump at five feet and the widest jump at six feet. She’d been over the moon about it. To get a personal invitation was a big deal. Riders who wanted to qualify for RJISJC, had to start from the bottom up, consistently placing either first or second in their county, state, region, and country, each level consisting of multiple shows. It required them to participate in every competition under the jurisdiction of the RJISJC.

Those who were lucky enough to receive an invitation only had to participate in the major competitions for each level. They were automatically placed into the final pool of riders competing at each level without having to go through three to five shows to get there. It meant that they had more time to practice the course and get their horse in shape. It also meant that their horse would not be as weary as those without the invitation.
The first competition started two weeks after school was done. Sophie returned to Grampa’s farm - as she always did - and immediately set to work training. She had come up with her own training routine comprising not only of jumping but also of endurance, stamina, and liberty work. They had shows almost every other week through the summer and Sophie had to pace Phoenix out, not wanting to tire him out before the final competition.

She’d passed through all the shows without much difficulty. Phoenix was in top condition and ready to perform. Now everything came down to this final jump. It was all or nothing.

The announcer gave the cue that it was her turn. Nudging Phoenix with her heels, the pair trotted into the ring. She paused a little at the entrance, stroking Phoenix’s neck and taking a moment to block out the audience and stray noises in the arena. “Let’s do this,” she whispered, smiling a little as Phoenix’s ear twitched back to catch the sound of her voice. With a click of her tongue, Sophie cued the horse into a quick trot, turning him to the first fence, a simple Ramped Oxer. It was the lowest at three feet. Next was a triple combination - a vertical, into an square oxer, and ending with a Liverpool. Sophie cleared all four, adjusting Phoenix’s stride so that he his highest point in the jump was always centered over the bars.

Eyes already on the next jump, Sophie turned Phoenix in a tight angle, heading for the fifth jump, a five foot wall. Applying slight pressure to the reins to keep Phoenix straight, she kept her gaze on the jump, viewing it between Phoenix’s upright ears as she counted his strides. Checking his last stride so that he would take off at just the right spot, Sophie cued him into the jump, keeping her body low over his in perfect form and landing gracefully.
Very aware of the timer in the background somewhere, Sophie didn’t pause a bit. To beat Forty-three, she needed a clean clear with a faster time. She kept her breathing even and her hands steady. Panicking never did any good.

Horse and rider went through the rest of the course smoothly, so in sync with each other that anybody with eyes could see the bond they had. Each jump was fluid and planned. Through each obstacle - hogsback, open water, fan, triple bars, more oxers and combinations - they remained in tune to each other. Sophie only had to make the slightest movement to let her horse know what she wanted from him and Phoenix was ever ready to please his rider.

She relished the adrenaline rushing through her veins, the way she felt like she was flying when they went over a jump, the way her heart would stop right before Phoenix landed and kick start again when they landed cleanly. There was nothing better than working as a team with someone who understood you thoroughly and trusted you with everything.

They came to the last jump, a Joker. It was a deceiving jump having only one rail right at the top. Without any other bars underneath it, it was difficult to judge the height of the fence and the distance to it. That wasn’t the only tricky part. To get to it, one had to ride across the entire arena and make a sharp turn, one that might throw a horse off balance or mess up the angle into the jump.

Sophie had no idea how much time she had left on the clock. Making a split second decision, she put Phoenix to a gallop. Above her somewhere, she could hear the surprise in the commentator’s voice. She knew the risks involved in galloping to that Joker. At a gallop, Phoenix would not be able to control his angle well, compared to a trot, but she needed to shave a few seconds off the clock.

Judging the distance to the jump, Sophie checked Phoenix’s gait right before the turn, slowing him down to a trot. Consciously making the effort to keep her grip on the reins relaxed, Sophie changed the angle of her heel on Phoenix’s side, shifting her body weight and adjusting the pressure on his mouth the slightest bit. It was a rodeo trick, something she’d been trying out with Phoenix but never in the context of show jumping. The horse was a little startled at the change but made the sharp turn smoothly, allowing him to turn with the momentum of the gallop. Two and a half strides and they were over the jump.

Sound came rushing back to Sophie’s ears, the cheering of the crowd and the commentator’s rambling. Her eyes went straight to the clock. She had four seconds to spare and a gold medal in her reach. She trotted Phoenix out of the ring, sending a bright grin to a scowling Forty-three. She’d beaten a pedigreed horse and its spoilt owner.

The announcer called her in for the victory lap and Sophie re-entered the ring, Phoenix galloping around on his own. He’d done a fantastic job and he knew it. At the end of the round, Sophie dismounted, stood by Phoenix and gave him the cue to bow. Both horse and human bowed. Feeling slightly mischievous, Sophie turned to Phoenix, glancing him in the eye before coming to stand beside him. With a flourish, she raised both hands to the sky and Phoenix reared.

The next moments passed in a blur of the top three contestants receiving their medals and awards. Instead of riding Phoenix out, Sophie secured the reins to the saddle and jogged, Phoenix right by her shoulder. Nothing connected them but an invisible thread of trust.

It was a moment Sophie would remember for the rest of her life.

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