Merula Snyde

Merula Snyde
Biographical information
Born	Between September 1, 1972 and August 31, 1973
Blood status	Pure-blood or Half-Blood
Title(s)	The Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts (by herself) The Most Powerful Stirrer at Hogwarts (by herself) The Most Delicious Witch at Hogwarts (by herself) The Most Powerful Snyde (by herself) The Most Powerful Puffskein at Hogwarts (by the Main Character)
Physical information
Species	Human Puffskein (briefly) Flobberworm (briefly)
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Dark Brown with an Orange Streak
Eye colour	Violet
Skin colour	Light
Family information
Family members	Father Mother Maternal Aunt Verucca Buckthorn-Snyde (aunt) Snyde Family
Magical characteristics
Wand	Unknown length, wood, and core
Patronus	Non-corporeal
Affiliation
Occupation	Student
House	Slytherin
Loyalty	Snyde Family Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Slytherin Her Gang Sphinx Club Circle of Khanna 'R'

"Merula is the Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts, and won't let anyone forget it. Her cunning and ambition make Merula a powerful ally... Or a formidable foe!"

—Merula's character description in the game

Merula Snyde (born c. 1973) was a witch who began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1984 and was sorted into Slytherin, the house for the ambitious and cunning. Merula serves as an antagonistic character to the Main Character, reminiscent of the rivalry that Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy shared in the original Harry Potter series.

Their rivalry starts when the Main Character sees Merula picking on Rowan Khanna. The Main Character stands up to Merula, making Merula sabotage them in Potions Class, as well as luring them into a near-death experience with a devil's snare. In Year Six: Chapter 45, she is revealed to be the mysterious mole of 'R.'

Biography

Early Life

Merula's mother and father were Death Eaters who supported Lord Voldemort. At some point, Merula witnessed them in an "incident" with an Auror which led to the death of the latter or a bystander, which allowed her to see Thestrals.

During her tenth birthday, Merula received a broom as a present from her parents, for which she was thrilled. Since she was still a bit young to ride a broom on her own, her parents took turns taking her on the broom, with Merula clinging to their backs whilst she flew and joyfully laughing. Merula considered this the happiest memory she had and used it to attempt to cast the Patronus Charm.

After the Dark Lord's demise in 1981, Merula's parents were captured and sent to Azkaban between 1983 and 1984; Merula witnessed their trial, which greatly upset her. Her mother, being a member of the Frog Choir in her youth, frequently sang to her until her arrest, though she would keep this a secret out of insecurity.

Afterwards, Merula was raised by her aunt, who forbade her from owning any pets, much to her chagrin. Victims of her parents sent threats to their house, resulting in her aunt spending as little time with her as possible and Merula almost entirely staying indoors. Merula claimed to have attended every Quidditch World Cup since she was born.

Hogwarts Years (1984-1991)

First Year

Merula began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1984.

Physical Appearance

Merula had short and messy dark brown hair, with an orange patch in her bangs. She smoothed down her hair in rare occasions, including the Celestial Ball, and once changed her orange patch to pink for Valentine's Day. She had thick, furrowed eyebrows and used a charm to turn her eyes lavender. Merula also smelled like cloves, nail polish, and some other elusive scent.

She wore Slytherin robes with a loosened tie and stockings with a hole around her left kneecap, as well as black combat boots, rather than the shoes one would see other witches wearing. She occasionally wore a more casual outfit consisting of a green plaid button up shirt and black jeans. In their third year, the Main Character privately described her as "strangely cute."

Personality

Merula Synder is a strong-willed yet mean-spirited and cruel girl. She was also a talented young witch who exemplified many of Slytherin's traits, such as cunning, determination, and ambition, as well as the negative stereotypes of Slytherin, such as prizing pure-blood supremacy and extreme arrogance. Merula was also highly rebellious, sadistic, and petty, and was prone to bullying those around her, especially wizards from Muggle or half-blood families. Her greatest trait, however, was her ambition to prove she is the best, which was her primary motivation for seeking out the Cursed Vaults and the major reason for being in constant conflict with the Main Character.

Merula's parents being imprisoned in Azkaban, an experience that very much hardened her feelings, may have contributed to this need for attention. Another curious quirk to her personality was her irreverence towards the Dark Lord, as she often referred to him as Voldemort, much to everyone's chagrin.

Merula's hatred for the Main Character pushed her to go to great lengths to sabotage her rival, by either attempting to get them expelled or badly injured. Indeed, Merula often went out of her way to seek out the Main Character in classes, either to taunt them about Jacob or to generally be a nuisance. Merula was always eager for a fight with the Main Character and never backed down from a challenge. However, despite her aggressive nature, Merula did demonstrate a strong work ethic and could often be seen studying alone in the library and was noted to be a competent student by many of her peers, especially in Potions class. She didn't share her friend Ismelda Murk's obsession in the Unforgivable Curses and told her to shut up about it. Merula was also not so cruel as to be willing to completely ruin someone else's life.

As the years passed, Merula was also described by her classmates as "not all bad," hinting at a softer side, which she demonstrated from showing concern at Beatrice Haywood's predicament, while working tirelessly on finding a way to free her. Over time her relationship with the Main Character also mellowed, her once cruel taunts becoming more like friendly jabs. By her sixth year, she was more or less on good terms with the Main Character and their friends and formed close cooperation with them. As they became closer, the Main Character came to realize that at least part of Merula's aggressive nature was a front to avoid being seen as vulnerable. Due to her life experiences, she was insecure about herself and feared being vulnerable or alone. Their friendship allowed Merula to let go of those fears to an extent.

Magical Abilities and Skills

• Magical aptitude: Merula was often described as a talented witch by her Hogwarts peers and faculty. Indeed, her skills had been personally praised by Severus Snape and Rita Skeeter, despite her boorish personality. Patricia Rakepick took interest in Merula for her skills and took her on as an apprentice during her fourth year, along with a handful of other highly skilled candidates, such as the Main Character and Bill Weasley.
• Nonverbal magic: Merula appeared to be accomplished in nonverbal magic, with her attempting to attack the incredibly powerful Patricia Rakepick without uttering a single incantation, although she was still swiftly subdued. Nevertheless, her proficiency in nonverbal magic is a further testament to her magical prowess.
• Dark Arts: Merula showed a keen interest and skill in the Dark Arts, mostly in utilizing jinxes and hexes on her enemies. She was quickly capable of using the Knockback Jinx in her first year to bully her fellow classmates. Merula also claimed to be knowledgeable of various unpleasant hexes during Defense Against the Dark Arts class in her fifth year, such as the Knee-Reversal Hex. Merula Snyde was also knowledgeable of the Unforgivable Curses, specifically the Killing Curse, as it was taught to her by her parents before they were taken to Azkaban. She was even able to produce Fiendfyre, extremely destructive cursed fire, but she lacked the ability to adequately control it. Despite this however, she was surprisingly and disturbingly proficient with dark magic.
• Care of Magical Creatures: Merula appeared to have a general interest in magical creatures and in Magizoology, as she decided to enroll into this class as an elective in her third year. Throughout the various lessons, Merula gave her opinion on different creatures brought in for lessons, such as regarding kneazles as 'handsome creatures' while being disgusted with murtlaps.
• Potions: Merula was formidably skilled and knowledgeable in the art of potion-making, as she achieved an 'Outstanding' in her O.W.L. exam to be able to advance to the N.E.W.T.-level Potions class taught by Severus Snape. Hence, she was able to discreetly sabotage the Main Character's Cure for Boils with Bulbadox powder, to brew a Wiggenweld Potion that Professor Snape deemed "flawless" and to swiftly identify that the particular brew the Potions Master was concocting was Veritaserum.
• Duelling: Merula was known to be a fierce and resourceful duellist. Even during her first year, she showed her impressive martial magic abilities whilst duelling the Main Character. While she bested them, she was defeated during their rematch, lamenting that she had yet to master the Disarming Charm. In all their other altercations, she was defeated always by the Main Character, although they did note on her improvement, having struggled before besting her.
• Charms: Merula was shown to be highly gifted with charm-work, given how she capable of casting the rather advanced Disillusionment Charm to disguise herself. Merula was also skilled enough to cast an incorporeal Patronus Charm when confronting a Dementor in the training grounds of Hogwarts, a mark of exceptional magical ability, particularly for a Hogwarts student.
• Astronomy: Merula was proficient in Astronomy, as she achieved an O.W.L. in the subject and studied it further at N.E.W.T.-level, thus displaying aptitude in the subject.
• History of Magic: Merula was proficient in History of Magic, as she achieved an O.W.L. in the subject and studied it further at N.E.W.T.-level, thus displaying aptitude in the subject.
• Flying: Merula showed an aptitude for flying and was often seen capable of mastering advanced flying techniques. However, she initially had difficulties with raising her broomstick and sometimes struggled during other techniques in Flying class.
• Singing skills: According to Rowan Khanna, Merula was a good singer, partly because her mother was in the Frog Choir, meaning she would have learned how to sing well from her.
• Wandless magic: In her seventh year, Merula showed an aptitude for Wandless magic.
• Muggle Studies: Merula earned an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies and continued the subject on N.E.W.T. level, though she told Professor Sikander in her seventh year that her summer as more interesting than it.
• Transfiguration: Merula earned an O.W.L. in Transfiguration and continued the subject at N.E.W.T. level.
• Herbology: Merula earned an O.W.L. in this subject at Hogwarts, and continued it further at N.E.W.T. level, showing she was knowledgeable about this subject.

Trivia

• Merula's favorite sandwich is bacon and pickled eel.
• In her second year, Merula boasts to the Main Character that she's working with someone on finding the Cursed Vaults. That someone is likely Tulip Karasu as the two were still working together during their second year and only ended their partnership before their third year. It is also possible she referred to Patricia Rakepick, since Severus Snape believed that Rakepick had been watching the Main Character already before she was invited to Hogwarts by Dumbledore.
• Merula owns a broom she considers to be far superior to the brooms provided by Hogwarts during Flying Class, claims to that the Snyde family vault in Gringotts contains "jeweled shells," and that her mother owned a unicorn a long time ago. Because of these claims, it can be assumed that the Snyde family was quite wealthy in its prime.

• Interestingly, Merula is in some ways is a dark reflection of each member of the Trio:
  • Like Harry Potter, she lost her parents as a result of the First Wizarding War and has had to live with an aunt with whom she is not close. Both also have a loved one in Azkaban as a result of the First Wizarding War and are something of an outcast at Hogwarts. But where Harry is able to make friends and is mostly benevolent, Merula is largely friendless and is albeit initially, a mean-spirited bully.
  • Like Hermione Granger, she's had to work hard for everything due to lacking any connections or advantages upon arriving at Hogwarts. Both have a strong work ethic and a desire to become successful witches. But where one is a Muggle-Born whose parents are loving and supportive, the other is a Pure-Blood supremacist whose parents are convicted Death Eaters.
  • Like Ron Weasley, she suffers from feelings of insecurity and inadequacy born from being in the shadow of another student. In Ron's case, his brothers, and in Merula's case, the Main Character. But where Ron is the best friend of his story's protagonist, Merula is the arch-rival of hers, although, she can eventually become more friendly to the Main Character.
• Merula bears some similarities to Draco Malfoy. Though ironically, Merula could also be said to resemble a young James Potter; like James, Merula was talented but arrogant and something of a bully. But also, like James, was loyal to her few friends and over time became more mature and friendly. Should the Main Character choose to romance her, the comparison is strengthened, as both would be pairing off with a fellow student who they initially did not get along with.
• Merula is one of the four characters, along with Penny Haywood, Andre Egwu, and Barnaby Lee, available as romance options in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery for all four dating side quests: "Celestial Ball," "First Date," "Valentine's Day," and "Festival Fun."
• If the Main Character is sorted into Slytherin, Merula will appear in additional side-quests revolving around plotting revenge against Gryffindor for defeating their house in Quidditch.
  • During the Year 4 Prefect side-quest, Merula will appear, along with Rowan and Barnaby, as the Main Character's group of friends, where Merula admits to constantly pushing Barnaby into the fountain with the Knockback Jinx.
• Starting in Year 5, Merula can be seen to be noticeably less antagonistic towards the Main Character. During the Defense Against the Dark Arts classes, including the Hex-Deflection class, as well as the Hair-Raising Potion class, Merula can be observed having casual, and sometimes even friendly, dialogue with the Main Character. Most notably, in the Hair-Raising Potion class, Rowan is seen to say, "Is it just me, or is Merula being friendlier lately?"
  • Merula also became more tactful towards the Main Character in Year 4 when searching through Jacob's old room, when she realized that there is still a chance for Jacob to be alive. She also didn't take offence if/when the Main Character picked her to travel to Forbidden Forest to talk to Centaurs again, due to her fearless and scary attitude. The change in attitude was later, due to Tonks and the Main Character saving her from a Dementor or insisting her to try and cast a Corporeal Patronus Charm, which she failed.