Fractal  Reflections  Of  Glittering  Champagne  Shown  Across  The  Ballroom,  Accompanied 

Don't ask me for relationship advice cause I'll tell you to kill him

[ she/her, cis woman ] greetings to all of our listeners! we start today’s potterwatch with a long-awaited update on athena selwyn ii who was finally spotted alive just last night, wandering the streets of london. for those of you who haven’t tuned in before, they are a 27 year old pureblood (unregistered borzoi animagus) witch who is oddly reminiscent of a nape draped in blood stained pearls; self-made prisons of fading tombs and ink stained parchment; a revolving door of ideas, haunting every crevice of a shattering mind; the desolation that's born from a childhood brimming with competitive obedience; the slow ticking of a clock, counting down to an inevitable descent into madness, which makes sense considering their driven, calculative, dignified, reticent, vindictive, and withdrawn nature. you might know of them as the biological child of thaddeus selwyn iii and diana carrrow, and we’re sure that their family will be relieved to hear they’re safe and sound — or at least as much as you can be, in times like this. to all our listeners, if you catch a glimpse of someone who looks a bit like that muggle emma dumont, that’s them. before approaching, please be aware that they’re rumored to be affiliated with the death eaters, so best proceed with caution. these are dangerous times we’re living in. well, thanks for tuning in, folks. we’ll play ourselves out with how villains are made by madalen duke. [ kaya, 26, she/her, akst ]

P A R A L L E L S

wednesday addams ( the addams family ) , diana cavendish ( little witch academia ) ,  victor frankenstein ( frankenstein ) , the cheshire cat ( alice in wonderland )

T R O P E S

defrosting ice queen , family honor , the ace , in the blood , the mad scientist , kids are cruel , creepy child , even evil has standards , dark is not evil

S U M M A R Y

one of four children born to thaddeus selwyn iii and diana selwyn née carrow, doing anything else besides living up to the selwyn legacy was never going to be an option for her. the selwyn's have always been a member of the sacred twenty-eight, making a name for themselves within the wizarding community that had remained pristine and untouched for centuries. even decades after the famous list had come out, the family has managed to avoid having even the smallest of scandals, always shying away from any potential negative press as they came out with endless magical breakthroughs. while not the biggest powerhouse within the wizarding world, they were still a formidable player, one that expected nothing short of perfection from its members. before voldemort's rise to power, house selwyn had always been known for their unparalleled knowledge of the dark arts and objects with the family serving as a pool of wisdom for as long as anyone could remember. they've maintained a private collection of tombs and scrolls, preserving artifacts that past members have found within their searches of ancient ruins or a quick stroll throughout knockturn alley. while it hadn't been known where the family kept these items, the one thing that was known was that not a drop of taboo magic or literature had ever been found within their dufftown manor despite the numerous raids that were called upon them throughout the centuries. for families that were within their inner circle, it went unsaid that all their knowledge stemmed from more than just stories of the past passing down through generations. unethical experiments, located in an undisclosed location of eilean donan, has kept their information up to date and improving, allowing improved magical discoveries to be unveiled to the world although it was often questioned how these breakthroughs came to be in the first place. a child who had been sculpted in the family's image, her frosty expression is a direct replica of her mother's, diana selwyn, a pureblood heiress who had been in the early stages of her obliviator career at the time of the war breaking. since then she has made a name for herself with her time at the obliviators' outpost and her research expanding on the permanence, or lack of, with memory erasure. a socialite to the bone, she's always been a welcoming hostess, always inviting to those who enter her home, a saccharine smile radiating bright in the hopes of masking the darkness that seems to linger in step with her. whispers now follow her, wondering how someone could possibly feel so comfortable possessing a natural gift for taking memories away, not realizing how she spent her youth practicing on others until harmless gaps in the memories of others became common place whenever one spent a little too much time around her. never satisfied with her own success and always striving for more, thaddeus selwyn iii is left to blame for athena's eternal restlessness. originally working towards a seat within the international confederation of wizards before the wizarding world was reshaped into the image of voldemort, thaddeus wasted no time working up the ranks of the dark lord. starting in the fifth circle like the rest of his family, he made himself indispensable whenever the opportunity arose. like his father before him, there was no hesitance as he traded knowledge for power, bartering with a mad man despite the previous efforts of his ancestors to keep their legacy secret. now a member of the court of serpents, his ambitions know no bounds and athena has inherited that drive much to her own detriment. while power is not what she strives for, her research into the dark arts has seemingly possessed her, keeping her up all day and night as she tests hypothesis after hypothesis. driven by a thirst for knowledge and answers to a never ending list of questions, it's rare to find her doing anything not research related as she spends her past time locked up in her family's laboratory, spending endless hours with nothing more than pepper-up potions and her own thoughts for company.

Q U I C K  S U M M A R Y

house selwyn is full of mad scientists in the making. some are worse than others but primarily they all lack a specific code of moral ethics. athena is admittedly one of the worse when it comes to this and she's so caught up in her research that she's on the path of losing her sanity. she spends days without sleeping, instead throwing herself into her work until it borderline consumes her. unless forced away by the dark lord calling for her or some obligation she's been roped into, she steeps herself in dark magic especially with the dark lord's latest project of transferring magic between two beings.

this has been mentioned in amadeus's intro but one of her cousin's is a squib so the family is high key in a frenzied "all hands on deck" when it comes to researching how to transfer magic from a muggleborn to a squib. athena in particular is passionate for this project since she has spent enough time with orpheus to realize how bright he is when it comes to magic theory and she believes it's a full on tragedy that he lacks the ability to cast. growing up she had idolized his mind and work ethic despite his inability to cast himself and if she has the opportunity to help him succeed, she’ll do everything in her power to make sure it happens.

she has two older siblings, thalassa and thaddeus jr, and they're twins. while both degenerates in their own right, the two of them can't be anymore different. where thalassa is ambitious and inherited her family's drive for knowledge, thad is basically a wizarding chad who wastes away gambling and drinking. he can typically be found in nox during most hours of the day whenever he's not sewing chaos with the rest of the sixth circle vigiles

where thad is useless and can't be trusted to do more than terrorize others, thal's ambition had taken her to heights that made thaddeus sr proud. a member of the third circle, she's a wraith who spends her time spying on the order, originally gathering info to be given to the death eaters. but as of the last few months, something has shifted within her and she's been spending less time at home, more specifically away from her legilimens mother, and more time in the field. unfortunately she's destined to be a traitor and the fallout from that... pour one out for a real one

both athena and her younger sister, aletheia, are members of the fifth circle but their passion for it couldn't be any more different. whereas athena throws herself into her research, aletheia couldn't care less and instead acts more like a research assistant for her various family members than a scientist herself. all she really wants to do with her life is create art and she does, but it's something her parents consider a hobby meant for her spare time and not something to consume most of her time during the day. ( think barbie rapunzel but if rapunzel was actually a mean girl )

grandma clarissa selwyn and thelonius selwyn, father of amadeus, are also members of the fifth circle alongside diana. thaddeus sr used to be in the fifth circle until he was promoted to the first circle, becoming a member of the court of serpents alongside his father, dacian selwyn. thaddeus' eldest sister, callidora vulcanova née selwyn, is actually a member of the fourth circle, bringing esteem to the family where elphias selwyn, the second youngest of the five siblings, could do nothing more than be a warden in the seventh circle. elphias is the original thad jr except he lacks brain cells and so you can't even expect banter out of him.

thaddeus sr had a twin sister, theodora selwyn iii, who ended up dying in 2007 when the order had infiltrated the court of serpents for the magical birth registry of britain. now her ghost haunts the grounds of the selwyn estate and her portraits were forced to deal with athena forever asking her questions and never leaving her ghost alone if she was ever spotted.

in my head thaddeus sr is a combo between tywin lannister and rick from rick & morty and i'll let you imagine what i mean by that

she has a pet kneazle named mortem that she's had since childhood but her heart def lies with her family's pack of gytrash ( the english version, not jk's ) that she's helped raise throughout her life

when she's not being a hermit she’s always playing mental games??? like studying people’s actions and seeing what domino effect one action can cause. def treats life as a game of chess and it shows

she craves knowledge above else and can never have enough of it *alexa play satisfied from hamilton*

right now she's full immersed in transferring magic from one being to another but her true passion project is to study death and figure out a way to preserve a soul in an immortal sense but not like a horcrux. she one day hopes to be able to fiddle with time and has endless ideas and theories that can at times make her sound a lil crazed if she ever chooses to explain her ideas to someone

personality wise athena is pretty reticent and withdrawn, keeping to herself and watching from afar. when she does talk to others she typically keeps her cards to herself, never truly giving away her deepest thoughts and opinions unless to give a cutting remark or opening up to the few people she keeps within her own inner circle. she’s pretty vindictive and even the smallest of slights will be remembered, even if it means she doesn’t take action against you until many years later. queen of playing the long game, the consequences of anything that might have happened during her hogwarts years will probably be showing it’s head soon.

those who went to hogwarts will recall that athena, as well as thalassa and thad jr, were members of the dark lord’s protégés. the three of them excelled at the night hunts and the final trials, becoming branded with the dark mark upon their graduations. despite typically remaining within her own company or shadowing the other protégés, around hogwarts she was typically composed when interacting with the rest of the student body and at times might have come off as condescending to others.

H O U S E S E L W Y N L O R E

at the age of fourteen, it is tradition for all selwyn children to go through the process of being illegal animagi. even now with everything going on in present time, athena, her siblings, and her cousins were able to continue this tradition with the exception of her squib cousin, orpheus.

considering their dabbling in the dark arts and the stain it leaves on one's soul, it comes to no surprise that most of the selwyn family are incapable of producing a patronus. however there are a few members who have been known to produce one, including athena's grandmother, clarissa selwyn née jorkins. athena's sister, thalassa vi, has been able to conjure the occasional patronus although this fact remains secret from the rest of her family.

if you ever wanted to go to a wizarding zoo, the selwyn’s are the closet thing you’ll get to one. despite being a secret, their eilean donan location hosts a variety of magical creatures ranging from harmless to dangerous. the only creatures you’ll find on their public manor in dufftown are thestrals, granians, and gytrash.

a family primarily made of slytherins, it wasn’t unheard of for a ravenclaw to pop up in every generation. gryffindors and hufflepuffs were a rarity though, often facing ridicule from within the family and added pressure to exceed expectation as seen with thalassa selwyn iii, a hufflepuff who eventually wrote a book titled flesh eating trees of the world. other notable non-slytherin’s include athena selwyn i, a gryffindor who created the curse that would eventually fall upon marvolo gaunt’s ring.

known for their brilliant minds, most members worked at the ministry. while potioneers and unspeakables were the most common occupations within the family, there were quite a few curse breakers, magizoologists, and dragonologists. however, there were a few who stepped out of the family’s mold, pursuing careers not usually seen within the family. elphias selwyn and thalassa selwyn v were two cousins who went on to be healers for St. Mungo’s, with thalassa discovering treatments for blood malediction and making progress towards a cure. unfortunately, she passed away from her own affliction before finishing her research. even those who married into the family have had the following occupations: unspeakable, potioneer, magizoologist, herbologist, magical theoretician, minister's advisor, obliviator, daily prophet reporter, and wizengamot members.

at hogwarts the family’s accomplishments used to be able to be seen in the trophy room. whether they were a quidditch captain or head prefect, their names and faces had been scattered around the castle. some of the more recent titleholders include slytherin quidditch captain, thaddeus selwyn iii, and head girl, theodora selwyn iii.

the family has a secret laboratory that also doubles as zoo of magical beasts and creatures although some are illegal like their zouwu and wampus. as a child athena had dreams of maybe one day becoming a magizoologist but with how the wizarding world was being reshaped, her dreams ended up going into a different direction. that being said, she isn't a tin man and does have a heart at least when it comes to magical creatures.

even before voldemort took over, the selwyn family had been experimenting on humans for decades so the dark lord's rise made their previously secret endeavors public 

L I N K S

statistics page: here

pinterest: here

spotify: here

“She learned her alphablet from ghosts and heard bedtime stories from the decaying throats of the dead, and we all know what this kind of nurture does to a girl.”

— Nikita Gill, from “Great Goddesses: Life Lessons from Myths & Monsters,” (via violentwavesofemotion)

divinity will stain your fingers and mouth like a pomegranate. it will swallow you whole and spit you out, wine-dark and wanting. you will reach for it again and again, greedy human fingers clutching at everything you can reach. the divine will curl its way through your veins and take you over, and it will not leave you quietly. i feel divinity in my bones like aching; like fire.

Greek Muses: Melpomene

muse of tragedy

escaping  one  skirmish  after  another  with  a  few  short  murmurs  and  flicks  of  acacia,  athena  haunted  the  halls  of  malfoy  manor  as  if  she  were  its  keeper,  prohibiting  those  she  encountered  from  seeing  any  more  of  its  hallowed  halls.  after  the  masks  had  fallen  away  to  expose  a  truth  that  many  had  predicted  but  still  could  not  believe,  she  had  made  quick  work  of  getting  her  sister  to  the  closest  fireplace,  a  flurry  of  ebony  movement  as  she  sent  her  off  with  a  clear  message  for  orpheus,  knowing  it  was  only  a  matter  of  moments  before  the  estate  would  be  sealed  off  for  the  night.  it  was  only  after  she  was  sure  the  tenderhearted  lamb  of  the  family  had  evacuated,  that  she  began  what  was  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  long,  cruel  night.  flashes  of  light  flickered  throughout  shadowy  halls  as  she  dove  deeper  into  its  depth,  dark  curses  escaping  her  lips  with  a  practiced  ease  as  her  attention  sharpened  onto  oncoming  steps.  stepping  around  the  corner  with  her  wand  drawn  and  poised  to  strike,  the  hex  that  had  been  about  to  escape  her  lips  died  short  as  she  registered  who  it  was  before  her.  green  hues  honed  in  on  james,  drinking  in  his  presence  as  if  it  were  a  beacon  signaling  the  arrival  of  spring,  freeing  her  from  the  frozen  state  she  often  kept  herself  captive  in.  the  urgency  he  radiated  only  amplified  the  twin storms  she  saw  reflected  in  his  eyes,  providing  a  moment  of  reciprocated  frenzy  she  hadn't  known  she'd  craved  until  its  arrival.  “  james,  ”  she  murmured  back,  eyes  quickly  catching  his  movement  but  doing  nothing  more  than  raise  an  eyebrow,  wand  still  at  the  ready  despite  the  growing  curiosity  to  see  how  this  played  out.  “  never  thought  i'd  chance  upon  you  in  the  middle  of  a  snake  pit,  ”  she  mused,  taking  the  time  to  fully  take  him  in  as  she  spoke,  a  smirk  growing  on  her  face  as  her  gaze  watched  his  own.  “  you  know,  i  haven't  quite decided  yet.  ”  she  spoke  with  honesty,  her  tone  borderline  teasing  despite  her  hesitancy  to  make  a  move  in  a  game  whose  rules  she  still  wasn't  sure  of.  she  hasn't  been  blind  to  the  budding  tension  between  the  two  of  them,  familiar  with  watching  others  get  caught  up  and  giving  into  temptation,  often  times  without  the  realization  that  they  weren't  the  only  pawn  chancing  upon  a  king  on  the  board.  “  but  that's  rich  coming  from  someone  who  probably  disobeyed  a  few  by  coming  here.  ” a  determination  still  radiated  off  him  as  she  took  him  in,  familiar  in  its  echo  of  past  encounters  but  with  a  ruthlessness  that  differed  from  times  previous.  flickering  her  gaze  to  the  set  of  his  jaw,  she  contemplated  her  options,  knowing  that  her  night  held  nothing  beyond  bodies  to  use  for  target  practice  whilst  james  had  the  stance  of  a  man  on  a  mission.  his  open  body  language  told  her  all  she  needed  to  know  that  he  would  be  hindered  by  nothing,  a  concept  she  would  normally  hold  in  high  regard  if  not  for  who  it  concerned  rescuing.  “  something  tells  me  you're  especially  motivated  tonight.  ”  her  words  were  her  only  warning  before  she  struck,  taking  advantage  of  his  lowered  guard  with  a  whispered  disarming  spell.  “  unfortunately  for  you,  i'm  in  the  mood  to  play,  ”  she  hummed,  a  sly  gleam  in  her  eye  before  firing  a  few  rapid  hexes,  backing  away  as  she  did  so.

the   dimly   lit   corridors   of   malfoy   manor   twisted   and   turned   like   the   labyrinthine   paths   of   his   own   thoughts,       heavy   air   laden   with   the   distant   cacophony   of   a   battle   not   far   detached.    he   moved   through   the   shadows   with   his   wand   clutched   tight   in   his   palm,       careful   not   to   be   seen   as   he   navigated   through   the   maze-like   structure,       his   every   sense   honed   to   a   razor's   edge.       the   ambush   was   a   calculated   risk,       it   seemed,       but   one   that   carried   the   weight   of   necessity       :       he   wasn't   the   only   one   who   lost   family   when   many   of   the   order   were   taken   as   hostages.       the   whole   order   took   a   blow,       and,    depiste   his   promises   to   his   younger   brother,       he   was   not   going   to   leave   until   he   at   least   freed   a   fair   few   of   them.     rounding   a   corner,       he   nearly   collided   with   a   figure   emerging   from   the   gloom.       his   wand   snapped   up,       poised   to   strike,       but   he   froze   as   recognition   pierced   through   the   haze   of   urgency.        @doctrinxire   stood   before   him,       her   presence   a   startling   contradiction        …       one   that   seemed   to   have   come   in   the   most   innportune   of   times       —       right   in   the   heart   of   enemy   territory.  flickering   torchlight   danced   across   athena's   features,       casting   sharp   shadows   and   soft   highlights   that   accentuated   a   fierce   determination   he's   grown   to   know,       basking   within   the   depths   of   familiar   eyes.       those   eyes,       he   found   himself   musing,       were   not   dissimilar   to   windows   open   to   a   storm       :       one   quite   mimicking   his   own.       "       …     athena,       "       james   breathed   out,        surprising   even   himself   when   he   lowered   his   wand   slightly,       though   not   enough   to   fully   disarm   himself.       trust   was   a   luxury   neither   could   afford.       tension   that   had   simmered   between   them   now   was   undeniable       ….    crackled   in   the   air,       electric,       and   palpable.       "     fancy   meeting   you   here,       "        his   tone   in   between   keen   amusement   in   the   midst   of   a   heated   battle,       and   genuine   surprise.        "       should   have   known   you'd   be   right   in   the   thick   of   it,       “       his   gaze   flickered   over   the   other,       taking   in   every   detail       —       the   set   of   her   jaw,       the   fire   in   her   eyes,       the   way   she   held   herself   with   a   defiant   grace.       ”       what’s   your   play   here       ?       "        james   raised   a   brow   as   he   waited   for   her   to   strike,       despite   himself   having   lowered   his   guard.       "       you   don't   exactly   strike   me   as   someone   who   just   follows   orders,       "       he   stepped   closer   to   athena,       the   space   between   them   charged   a   dangerous   intrigue   that   seemed   to   hum   in   the   air. 

“The skin she wears may be made of calm, but her bones are made of chaos.”

— Contradictions Made of Skin and Bone | Nikita Gill (via untamedunwanted)