User Profile

Name: Nerita Castillo
Age: 33
Gender: Female
House: Gryffindor
Bloodline: Half-blood
Hair color/style: Black / Falls just above mid-back, often pulled back into a ponytail or a stubby braid while she's working.
Eye color: Dark brown, nearly black.
Other appearance details: Rita, as she prefers to be called, is a fairly average looking woman. She is obviously Spanish, given her name and appearance, and has never felt bothered by being somewhat of a minority in Hogwarts; rather, she's thrived. She has a rounded face, bronzed skin, dark eyes, and a compact build. She's not svelte and never will be, but she gets along fine.
Family: She has a huge family. The Castillos were, at some point, Pureblood, but somewhere along the way they started marrying Muggles (actually, if you ask, Rita knows exactly where her branch of the family deviated, and is quite amused by it). Her immediate family includes her parents, grandparents, three sisters, and four brothers; she is the eldest child.

Alejandra - sister, 28
Evita - sister, 24
Hermosa - sister, 22
Felipe - brother, 24
Lucio - brother, 26
Miguel - brother, 23
Rafael - brother, 20

Pet(s): None

Positive personality traits: Rita is a happy person. She's exuberant, optimistic, and has a fairly good sense of humor. She's intelligent in a practical sort of way but not overly enthusiastic about letting it be known. She's very content to be aware of herself and her strengths and not really carry on about things. When you're looking for someone to be a sounding board or a support system, Rita tends to be rather enthusiastic, and she's very hands-on. She likes being involved in things and feeling needed, and isn't afraid to pull her own weight to make it happen.
Negative personality traits: She can be, well, tactless. Despite her good nature, she's argumentative, but she sees it as fun. Debates are fun to her, but she's not entirely socially adept; she has a hard time seeing that someone else really doesn't want to be discussing, in great detail, why she believes in her side of the argument. Also, she makes a rather poor student of any kind; she'd rather be doing something fun than poring over books or lesson plans alike, and so much of her classes are moment-to-moment. Which means a lot of pop quizzes.
Best and/or favorite subject: While in school, she excelled in DADA and it was her favorite subject.
Worst and/or least favorite subject: Most definitely Transfiguration. She didn't have the attention span or the desire to do well in that class.
Occupation: Professor of Muggle Studies at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Unique quirks: She's prone to speaking Spanish when under pressure or feeling playful. She also sometimes plays hooky from her own class. It gets her in trouble.
Character's personal boggart: Rita's boggart takes the shape of the man who cursed her; because she does not know his name or voice, however, or even what he looks like, it is just a recreation of a blurry memory. She doesn't like to admit to still being afraid of her attacker, and it frustrates her that she doesn't know who it was, but the boggart would draw a wand and advance on her once again.

Brief history: Rita was born the first child to a couple who had big dreams of a big family. Her siblings all arrived within a few years of one another, but thanks to the fact they were reasonably wealthy, they didn't worry overmuch about expenses. The children had a nanny whom they inevitably saw more of than their parents, but they weren't neglected.

Their family was one that had a long line of magic; the Castillos had been Pureblood at one point, but somewhere along her father's line a wizard decided to take a fancy to a Muggle maid and eloped, sending their branch of the family into disreparable shame. They somehow lived through it, though the stigma hasn't faded over the years. Despite the shame, her line has stubbornly clung to the Castillo name, a point of great annoyance for the actual Pureblood Castillos.

Despite settling in Spain, her own parents had attended Hogwarts, and so they were determined to send all of their magically inclined children there. Rita and her brothers all attended Hogwarts, while her three sisters proved to be largely unmagical.

After graduating with no excellent record under her belt (Rita was a somewhat poor student but an excellent Quidditch player) she moved on to play for a team. She was within a breath of being recruited onto the Spanish national team when she was attacked.

Rita was never one to be quiet about her views and ideals, and she must have said the wrong thing to the right person, because one night when she was headed home after a late practice she was cursed. It wasn't an overly dramatic affair; really, it was all over and done with rather quickly, even if she did suffer lasting damages.

That was five years ago; since then, she has had incredible respiratory problems. In order for her to do anything more strenuous than fastwalk, she must brew and take a potion every three hours, but even then, she has to use a cane to walk. She's become quite adept at vaulting down hallways with the cane for leverage, however; when she was attacked, her right leg was badly mangled, and she wasn't taken to St. Mungo's in time for the healers to do much but regrow the bones. The muscles were damaged a bit beyond full repair.

Unable to continue her Quidditch career (she was a Chaser), she took up a position with the Daily Prophet for a time, but soon grew bored. She was offered the position that she now holds by Professor Dumbledore because, though she comes from a wizarding family, she knows quite a bit about Muggles and how their lives work. Aside from that, she did well in the class while she attended school.

She's fairly content with teaching, even if it requires pesky things like near perfect attendance in class.

Anything else: Rita is fond of long walks on the castle grounds, so chances are if she's not in class when she should be, she's off getting lost somewhere.

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