Ismelda Murk

Ismelda Murk was a witch who started attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1984 and was sorted into Slytherin.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

Ismelda Murk had a sister called Annalena Murk who achieved great success as a student and thus was showered with love and attention from their parents at Ismelda's expense. This parental neglect resulted in Ismelda acting out in the hopes of getting more attention. Her futile tactics involved casting Transfiguration spells on herself, hexing others, and animal abuse. Her desire for attention became increasingly dominant until it was a pivotal part of her personality.

Hogwarts Years (1984-1991)[]

Year One[]

Ismelda watched and laughed while her friend Merula Snyde bullied Ben Copper and the Main Character, but fled when the Main Character disarmed Merula and Professor Snape appeared on the scene.

Ismelda bluntly rejected the Main Character's offer to attend Rubeus Hagrid's birthday party, saying she would rather attend a Deathday Party.

Physical Appearance[]

Ismelda had straight dark brown hair, green colored eyes, and freckles. Her tie was loosened, and she wore a green scarf.

Personality[]

Ismelda was generally a mean-spirited and even cruel young witch, saying that she would "cast the killing curse on the first Gryffindor" she would see, or coming up with the idea to torture the Main Character with the Cruciatus Curse in order to obtain information about the Cursed Vaults. She also appeared to sympathize with the ideals of Lord Voldemort, as she sometimes voiced support for his extreme beliefs in the importance of pure-blood supremacy and her apparent support for the usage of the Dark Arts, for which even her friend Merula called her crazy. It is unknown, however, how many of these sentiments are her actual opinions or feelings, or if she said them merely for shock value.

Like most wizards and witches of her time, Ismelda exhibited prejudice against werewolves and was eager to capture and imprison a classmate suspected to be one for glory and gold. That being said, Ismelda wasn't entirely unsympathetic; she has a soft spot for dogs, in contrast to her general predilection towards cruelty, and seems to value her friendship with Merula. She also befriended and seemed protective of Beatrice Haywood. She also had a romantic attraction to the third member of their trio, Barnaby Lee, and though she reacted poorly to his wishing to remain friends with her, could be persuaded to eventually accept his decision.

And although she is often antagonistic towards the Main Character, Ismelda was nonetheless willing to be their date for the Celestial Ball if asked, and claimed she didn't "want to be unpleasant" towards them despite rarely being kind to them. She was also willing to help them humiliate Rita Skeeter, albeit more for the chance to work mischief than sympathy for their plight.

Ismelda has a sense of inferiority as a result of living in the shadow of her older sister, who had achieved great success as a student and so was showered with love and attention from their parents at Ismelda's expense. This parental neglect prompted Ismelda to begin acting out in the hopes of getting more attention, thus explaining somewhat her behavior in general.

Abilities and Skills[]

History of Magic: Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in History of Magic and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Potions: While her skills were not quite as proficient as Merula in the art of potion-making, Ismelda was capable of successfully producing Weedosoros, a potent poison which she learned how to concoct in Potions class.
Magizoology: Initially, she merely took the class to find out the weaknesses of magical creatures, so that she could either kill them or capture them to kill others. However, she did learn about some habits of magical creatures, such as Glow Bugs. Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in Care of Magical Creatures and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Duelling: Whilst she was not as skilled a duellist as her friend Merula, she was still fairly competent in martial magic, being able to cast a variety of offensive spells which would cause significant damage to her opponent in duels. She was known to have been able to cast a particularly strong Everte Statum, an offensive spell very useful in duelling.
Divination: Despite her not liking Divination and preferring to look into the past instead of the future, Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in Divination and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Defence Against the Dark Arts: Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in Defence Against the Dark Arts and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Astronomy:Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in Astronomy and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Charms: Ismelda was rather skilled in charm-work, as she was capable of casting some duelling charms such as the Disarming Charm, Tickling Charm, Freezing Charm, and Everte Statum successfully.
Muggle Studies: Ismelda stated that the only reason she took Muggle Studies was to deride Muggles. Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Transfiguration: Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in Transfiguration and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Herbology: Ismelda earned an O.W.L. in Herbology and continued the subject at N.E.W.T.-level.
Gobstones: Ismelda was skilled enough in playing Gobstones to be able to compete and win the Gobstone trial during the Tournament of Clubs.
Dark Arts: Ismelda was rather skilled with dark magic, as she could successfully cast a number of dark charms, such as the hex Densaugeo, the Trip Jinx, the Sea Urchin Jinx, the Stretching Jinx, the Ear-Shrivelling Curse, and the Curse of the Bogies, the latter of which she even taught to the Main Character.
Healing Magic; Ismelda had some skill in the field of healing magic.

Trivia[]

Her favorite drink was Pumpkin Fizz.
Ismelda is one of the characters available as a Romance option for the “Celestial Ball” Achievement.