Evelyn Teresa Black - Character questionnaire

Name: Evelyn Teresa Snape (Née Black)

Age: 49 years old as of 2012. 35 years old at the beginning of the story.

Height and weight: 1,73m (sans heels). Weighs around 70 kilos. Which might seem like a lot, but Evelyn has been a amateur dancer for most of her youth and she runs every day, which accounts for a fair amount of muscular body-mass, particularly on her legs. Also her body built is rather sturdy and broad, particularly around hips and thighs.

Body type: Average height to tall and flexible, but with a very sturdy and solid frame. Evelyn has a cello-shapped body, with strong shoulders and back, slightly bigger than average breasts, round hips and butt and thick thighs (her proverbial "thunder thighs", which she hates). She has a slight tendency to gain weight (particularly on her lower half)if she doesn´t watch her diet and exercise.

Eyes:Almond shaped, somewhat narrow, of a very vivid golden brown. She has strong eyebrows that add intensity to them. According to Severus they have an Eagle-like quality about them.

Hair: Long and wavy, layered most of the time. Dark golden brown, almost on the side of mahogany. Evelyn takes almost obsessive care of her hair and changes hairdos frequently, but hasn´t changed the cut since her early 20s.

Race: Caucasian. Evelyn could be described as having the so-called "Black Irish" type, with a rosy-olive complexion that tans easily and generally dark features. (Evelyn has both insular Celtic and Iberian Celtic roots)

Nationality: Irish. Born and raised in the city of Doolin, County Clare in the Munster Province of the Republic of Ireland. She spent a great part of her life in Dublin and has traveled abroad for work many times, having spent extended periods of time in France and England, so her accent is not as pronounced as that of the rest of her family. She does revert back into a thicker Irish brogue when she´s among family or friends, or just relaxed.

Birthday:Evelyn was born on September 10th , 1963. Time of birth: 5:30 pm (Virgo with Capricorn rising, moon in Gemini...for those who believe these things)

Other phys. traits: Her most distinctive physical features aside from her eyes are her Greek nose and her somewhat wide mouth and big smile. Evelyn has scars on her right thigh, due to a fire-related accident that happened when she was around nine years old.

Preferred outfits: 
Clothes: Evelyn tends to prefer discreet and basic outfits, she favors neutral and simple pieces she can mix and match all she wants(which is more practical). She loves pencil skirts, blouses and wrap dresses with an accentuated waists, tailored pants, and slightly plunging necklines (particularly in V). None of her skirts are above knee level (not only because she thinks too short skirts are trashy, but also because of her issues with her thighs, which she thinks are too thick). It will be a cold day in hell when Evelyn wears a miniskirt or shorts(unless she´s at home or at the beach, in which case she will wear boyfriend shorts and never daisy-dukes). At home she usually wears yoga pants, tank tops and sweat shirts. For sleeping she goes for long and simple nightgowns in pale colors, either in cotton or silk, almost always with a vintage feel to them. She also loves oriental inspired robes in rich, warm colors and prints.

Shoes:Evelyn is addicted to shoes, and has an alarmingly large number of high heeled shoes in her closet, a fashion choice Severus hates, but can´t make her let go of. Is the only extravagant fashion habit of hers(and the only thing that will make her spend unreasonably). Not counting her running sneakers and stay-home havaianas and slippers, the smallest heels she owns are about three inches. Her favorite shoes are five-inches! Of course it comes with a price, as Evelyn´s feet are constantly in terrible shape.

Colors: As for colors, Evelyn prefers autumnal colors, like warm reds, oranges, browns, dark yellows, beiges and mossy greens, with the occasional dash of  turquoise and pink, all of which go well with her olive complexion and brown eyes and hair.

Make up and nails: As far as make-up and nail polish go, Evelyn prefers rose,  rosy-browns and nudes for everyday occasions and warm reds and plums for special occasions and evening events. She tries to avoid make-up as much as possible tough, really only wearing the very basics for work and washing her face as frequently as possible.

Underwear: Evelyn hates fussy underwear. She doesn´t own a single piece of lingerie that is lacey or too decorated. Not only she considers it uncomfortable and tacky, she abhors the possibility of her underwear ruining the fit of her clothes. Instead she prefers basic, sleek, perfectly fitting lingerie in neutral colors, particularly nudes, roses and beige.

Family background: Evelyn´s grandfather was Marius Black, a squib born into the pure-blood Black family. After being disowned by his family, Marius settled in Ireland where he was forced to make ends meet by working various odd-jobs, finally becoming a fisherman. He married a muggle, Elizabeth, the daughter of a local market owner, and took up his father-in-law-s business. He never told his family of his wizard origins.

Marius and Elizabeth had only one child, a son whom they named Marius, like his father. Marius Black Sr., being a born and bred Black, made sure his son had the best education the family´s means could provide. Marius Jr. went to college in Dublin. He returned home and got a position teaching Irish History and Gaelic at St Brigid School for girls. He would also become a local historian and founding member of a musical group dedicated to the preservation of Ireland´s traditional music. Eventually he married Sophia Finnegan, daughter of a local business owner and dilettante historian, with whom he had three children: Paul Éamon, Evelyn Teresa and Caitlin Brigid.

Paul died at age 11, following a traumatic event, over the course of which it became clear to her grandfather that Evelyn was not a muggle, but a squib (a rare case of a muggle born squib, a genetic anomaly in which the magical gene is only partially manifested). Evelyn and Caitlin grew up surrounded by love and attention from both Marius and Sophia. Evelyn was particularly close to her father and grandfather, with whom she shared many interests. Her father in particular was very keen on nurturing her interest in History, music and art. He encouraged both Evelyn and Caitlin to learn the piano (in which Evelyn only partially succeed, and Caitlin simply wasn´t interested) and had them have singing lessons(again Evelyn was more successful here than Caitlin, who was more interested in math and sciences, another inclination that Marius wholeheartedly supported). Sophia encouraged the girls to take up dance classes (both were enrolled in Irish step dancing classes, and as a teenager Evelyn would also take up Flamenco). Their grandfather also encouraged the girls to read, watch movies and be curious about everything. From her paternal grandmother, Elizabeth, Evelyn got the interest in Irish legends and myths. Thanks to their father and granfather´s intellectual support and to the nurturing of their mother and grandmother, Evelyn and Caitlin had a very happy and whimsical childhood. They also have a somewhat large extended family that was always there for them (Sophia was the second child of four, so Evelyn and Caitlin have two uncles, Colin and Aidan, and one aunt, Elaine, and several cousins)

Unlike her more arts and humanities oriented big sister, Caitlin excelled in sciences and math, particularly biology and went on to become a nurse, which was always her dream. Caitlin got married to Sean Sullivan, her high-school sweetheart, but the marriage was not a happy one, as Sean was an alcoholic and emotionally abusive. The couple had two daughters, Alice and Elizabeth, but divorced when Caitlin was pregnant with Elizabeth. For most of her daughters´ lives, Caitlin was their primary care-giver, being helped by Sophia, Marius and Evelyn until she had the means to support her family all by herself. When Marius Jr. died, Evelyn became the head of the family, taking upon many of her father´s responsibilities. She also acted as a second parent to her nieces, seen as Sean was more often than not, absent from his daughters´ lives. Sean died in a car crash in the winter of 2001.

In the summer of 2001, Evelyn married Severus Snape. On October 31st  of 2005 Evelyn gave birth to the couple´s only child, Soren Prince Snape. By the time Soren was born, Evelyn´s eldest niece, Alice, was attending her third year at Hogwarts. Alice was sorted into Hufflepuff.  Caitlin would go on to marry Paulo Pereira, a Portuguese pathologist, in the summer of 2010. Paulo was a widower and has a son, Camilo, from a prior relationship. Caitlin and Paulo did not have any children together, but had a happy and peaceful marriage.

Soren will be sorted into Slytherin. He will also give Severus and Evelyn three grandchildren: two boys (Marius Severus and Paul Éamon) and one girl (Eileen Isobel, better knows as Lilibel)

General history:

1963-1998- Evelyn had a normal and happy childhood and youth. In the early 80s she was accepted into Trinity College and moved to Dublin. She lived in Dublin until 1996. First she shared an apartment with a friend, then, as she began working as a Medieval studies professor, and getting royalties for her published works, she bought her own apartment. In 1992 she met and fell in love with up and coming writer Richard Keenan. They lived together from 1992 to 1996, but never got married. In 1996 she returned to her hometown, following her break-up with Richard and her grandfather´s death. In Doolin she started teaching History at St. Brigid´s school for girls,  where her father was now headmaster.

After the death of her father, in 1998, Evelyn became the executor of his estate and found out that, among other inheritances, she had come into possession of an abandoned house at Spinner´s End. This house belonged to the Black family, who (she soon discovered) were related to the Prince family (another pure-blood wizarding family). The house inherited by Evelyn was right next to a similar house once owned by Eileen Prince, where she had lived with her husband, Tobias Snape (a muggle). Hoping to discover more about her grandfather´s mysterious origins, Evelyn moved to Spinner´s End and, upon discovering the connection between her family and the Prince family (but still unaware of the fact that both families were pure-blood wizards), went looking for the only living member of the Prince family: Severus Snape, Eileen´s only child. 

1998-2001- Spoilers

2001-2005- In the summer of 2001, Evelyn married Severus Snape, after being together for three years. The couple left Cokeworth, where they had been living together since 1999, and moved to Hogsmeade, going on to work at Hogwarts. Starting from 2001, Severus teaches Defensive Magic (formely DADA) and Evelyn teaches Muggle studies. Due to Hogwarts´bureaucratic demands that all teachers must be sorted into one of the school´s houses(for paperwork reasons, since the payment sheet for teachers are magical objects and divide the payments by houses), Evelyn had to go through a particular type of non-student sorting that landed her in Ravenclaw. On October 31st  of 2005 Evelyn gave birth to the couple´s only child, Soren Prince Snape.

2005-Onwards-Spoilers

Schooling:Evelyn went to both primary school and secondary school at St. Brigid´s school for girls. Her father taught her Gaelic and French at home. Later she finished her studies in French in Dublin´s Alliance Française. In the early 1980s she was accepted in Trinity College (being among the second generation of Catholics accepted into the institution). Also in Trinity she got her Masters degree and PhD. She completed her graduation while having beginner classes in Latin and Greek. She also got lessons in Italian and Spanish, but is not as fluent in these languages as she is in French. Evelyn´s mother is a devout Catholic and accomplished homemaker, so she taught both her daughters religion and domestic economy at home.

Talents:Evelyn can play the piano and sing, but not extraordinarily so, actually she´s a rather mediocre musician and only does it for fun. Her vocal type is mezzo-soprano. While still a teenager she became the firt female member of "The Old Boys", a musical group founded by her father whose purpose it to research, perform and preserve Irish traditional music (she´s the groups only female voice and takes care of most research work). Evelyn took years of Irish step dancing as a child, and Flamenco as a teenager, and she can dance both quite well(and still dances whenver given the oportunity, which usually happens at family parties and reunions). But her real talent (not counting her academic pursuits of course) is cooking, which she learned from her mother and grandmother. It is also one of her favorite hobbies; she collects books and recipes and can spend hours in the kitchen experimenting.

Special powers: Like any squib she can perceive magic and magical events. She cannot produce magic tough.

IQ:Well, she is a Trinity graduate, has a PhD and has a solid career as a historian and writer. Also she is a worthy intellectual match for Severus Snape. Her IQ probably ranges at around 140.

EQ: Evelyn grew up in a very positive and nurturing environment, cared for by parents who loved and respected each other deeply and who loved, supported and cherished their children. So, it´s a given that she would grow up to become a very mentally and emotionally stable woman. Given the way she was raised, Evelyn has a deep sense of self-worth and since her family was so close-knit and involved with their community she also has a very strong sense of group belonging and is very sociable. In fact, if she has one fear, it is to be alone. Evelyn can´t stand not being able to exchange with others, be it intellectually or emotionally. She´s a very gregarious person. After her brother died, she became the oldest child, with all the responsibilities it entailed, and given her no-nonsense personality she became the epitome of the care-giver, usually preferring to care for others than being taken care of. Of course that means she can be quite domineering and pushy as well.

General personality: 
Positive traits: Caring, responsible, smart, humorous, candid, straightforward, non-nonsense, tenacious, industrious, curious, adaptable and sociable.

Negative traits: Headstrong, obstinate, perfectionist to a fault, obsesses over trivial things, excessively curious, nagging, proud, has a slight overbearing streak.

MBTI: ENFJ

Maturity: Given her background and the fact that she always had to take on many responsibilities in life, Evelyn is a very mature person.

Relationship status: Married to Severus Snape since 2001. They met in October 1998, and she has lived with him since 1999. They shall remain happily married for the rest of their lives

Social standing: Very solid professional reputation as a professor, historian and writer. Has also been the head of her family for a long time, which makes her respected among her family and friend circles. After meeting and marrying Severus Snape, she will be the first squib to teach in Hogwarts, and will write several works on Wizard-Muggle and Wizard-Squib relations, therefore she also has a very respectable social standing in the Wizarding world. The fact that her husband is possibly one of the most notorious and well regarded Slytherins and widely considered a war hero also contributes to her status (seen as squibs are not generally respected in Wizarding world, to say the least, both her profession and marriage give Evelyn a privileged social standing, particularly when compared to other squibs.)

Philosophy/Values: Evelyn was raised Catholic. In her youth she came to abandon most aspects of the faith, in favor of a more liberal view of life. She remains very culturally Catholic tough(something that annoys Severus on occasion), as it is a huge part of her Irish identity. In regards to her own personal life, she can be rather conservative and even a bit "common" and bourgeois. Even tough she is an academic, Evelyn has little  patience for excessively theoretical or too idealized world views. She prefers to go about life in a practical manner, making the best of whatever is in store for her and quickly adapting to changes. She´s a firm believer in "live and let live".  She also dismisses first-impressions rather easily, and never assumes situations or people to be exactly as a they appear to be (which is probably what helped her and Severus grow close in the first place).

Quirks and mannerisms:Whenever she´s tense or worried, Evelyn bites her lower lip. Her accent also gets thicker whenever she´s relaxed, and when too excited about something she will drop words or entire sentences in Gaelic (same goes for sex, when she completely reverts to Gaelic).

When angry:Evelyn doesn´t get angry easily. She can take a lot with a cool head. But when she does explode she can be very irascible, spiteful and downright mean. If she gets really angry she will either go to any lengths to hurt whomever caused her grief or she will completely shut down and remove herself from the situation. She has a tendency to hold grudges.

Values violated: Evelyn tends to stand up for the things she believes in a very straightforward and open manner. Over the course of her professional career she has done a fair amount of social services in the education area, and later, as a Muggle studies professor and Wizard-Muggle relations scholar she will take several stands against the idea of blood purity and the ill-treatment of squibs in Wizarding society.

Misc. Views: Evelyn values common sense above everything. She won´t subscribe to any particular political or social view if she doesn´t feel is the most reasonable one. That means she has a very flexible manner to reflect upon politics, social issues and does not easily conform to labels, agendas or parties. If pressed to choose a political positioning she might be considered center-left, giving a strong importance to social issues, but never at the expense of reason, she also detests being politically-correct for the sake of being politically-correct. She´s very liberal on issues like marriage, gay rights, and religion. Even tough she was raised Catholic she abhors religious meddling in society´s affairs.

Minor Notes:
Evelyn is a neat freak and needs everything around her to be clean and in order.
Evelyn is slightly OCD.
She is a bit of an emotional drinker and eater, and has been known to down incredible amounts of Tullamore Dew and ice-cream when feeling anxious or depressed.
She also drinks coffee and tea all the time (which leads to obssessive teeth brushing) and is a chocoaholic.
Evelyn is afraid of Barn Owls.

Strengths: 
Evelyn has a very earthy and honest personality. She gives great importance to small everyday things, like food, drink, sex, conversation, all without loosing sight of the greater things in life like politics, art or social issues. Even tough she is a consummate intellectual, she´s not the type of intellectual that hides behind books, she´d rather live life at its fullest. She´s not the type to be lost in reverie or unfulfilled dreams. She is very energetic and adaptable.

Weaknesses:
Her personality often causes her some problems. Her insistence in being her own person and taking on responsibilities often makes her appear stronger than she is, and feel like she´s not entitled to fail or to be less than perfect. As a result she can be too demanding on herself, and on others. This can also mean she can fall prey to stress reather easily.

Growth: Marriage and motherhood will help her mellow some of her stronger personality traits. A few less than joyous romances and being a witness to her sister´s disastrous first marriage gave Evelyn certain reservations about men and marriage (one of the reasons she never married Richard, even tough they lived together for four years), and helped develop her strongly independent  personality. When faced with Severus Snape and his many issues, Evelyn will find herself challenging a few of her ideas about herself and her life..The birth of their son, Soren, and the boy´s larger-than-life personality will also make her rethink a lot of things. (Lots of spoilers here)