Mariah Berkeley-Benton

Full Name: Mariah Aubrey Berkeley-Benton (formerly Mariah Aubrey Davis)

Goes by: Mariah, occasionally "Ri" by her parents

Gender: Female

Sexual Alignment: Demisexual; Panromantic


Hair colour and style: Long, dark brown, wavy, usually worn down and unstyled, sometimes straightened if she's in the mood.

Eye colour: Dark brown.

Height: 5’3”

Body type: Slender, flat-chested, not particularly athletic, but stronger than she looks.

Dress sense: Whatever she happens to find in her closet.

Birthmarks: None, just a smattering of freckles across her face and chest.

Scars: One on her left hip from being hit with a belt.

Etcs: None.

Likes: (min 3)
  -Daydreaming (It's how she escapes from her problems--she likes to fantasize about being a different person in a different place, and often forgets about the world around her.)
  -Writing (Creative writing, especially poetry, allows her to express herself and her feelings--though she would never let anyone read it.)
  -Nature (She used to enjoy taking long walks through the woods near her home in Redding, California, and has a special love for trees, which she has been climbing for as long as she can remember. She finds activities like hiking to be peaceful, and she likes to sit outside to clear her head.)
  -Heights (She likes to climb up as high as she can and enjoy the view from the treetops. Heights never bothered her, and she often used to escape to her tree house when she was younger--it was her special place to be alone.)
  -Solitude (She enjoys the peace and quiet, and likes to be left alone to her thoughts so she can daydream.)
  -Authenticity (She loves people who aren't afraid to be themselves, and she admires people who allow themselves to be vulnerable.)
  -Classical music (She likes to fall asleep listening to pianos and violins, it makes her feel relaxed and inspired.)
  -Fantasy novels (They fuel her daydreams, and allow her to escape to distant lands with distant problems.)

Dislikes: (min 3)
  -Crowds (They're always so noisy, and it makes it hard to think.)
  -Gossip (She can't stand it when people say mean things about others behind their backs, and she hates idle chit chat because it feels insincere.)
  -Insincerity (She hates it when people don't say what they mean--she would much rather deal with blunt honesty than sugar-coating. She wants to know people deeply and intimately, and shies away from shallow, surface-level relationships.)
  -Being the center of attention (She is very insecure, and she doesn't like people looking at her.)
  -Seeing people in pain (She feels other people's pain deeply, and will often absorb the emotions of the people around her.)
  -Confrontation (She crumbles under any sort of confrontation, and will likely start to cry.)
  -Arguments (She hates it when people are upset with each other, and she does everything she can to diffuse the tension and mediate between people.)

Strengths (min 3)
  -Empathy (It is easy for her to see from different perspectives and to understand people. She intuitively feels what other people are feeling, and this motivates her to be kind to everyone, and makes her a good listener, and adept at comforting people in need.)
  -Imagination (She has an extremely vivid imagination, in which she often loses herself.)
  -Climbing (She's always been good at climbing, it comes naturally to her.)
  -Writing (Though she's embarrassed to show it to people, she is actually quite talented.)

Weaknesses: (min 3)
  -Public speaking (She tends to freeze up under pressure, and doesn't do well as the center of attention.)
  -Paying attention (She often gets distracted by her daydreams, and loses awareness of her surroundings. This often causes her to miss important instructions, which leads to a lot of silly mistakes.)
  -People in need (She is unbearably compassionate, idealistic, and naive, and her mothers often have to restrain her from giving all of her money away to random homeless people--seeing other people struggling pulls at her heartstrings, and compels her to help in any way she can.)
  -Self-care (She often forgets to look after herself, as she's too busy caring for everyone else. She also gets so caught up in her daydreams sometimes that she forgets to eat, or attend to other basic necessities.)
  -Making herself heard (She has a naturally quiet voice, and has a hard time being assertive, so she has trouble getting people to listen to her.)

Positive Traits (min 3)
  -Empathetic (She feels what other people are feeling, and thus treats them with kindness. She understands people’s emotions, and is sympathetic toward everyone.)
  -Compassionate (She cares deeply about people, and wants to help everyone and make people happy.)
  -Creative (She has a great imagination, and is good at creating characters and scenarios, which also allows her to write convincingly.)
  -Honest (She doesn't see the point in hiding the truth from people who want to know. Although she is not one to talk to people unprompted, if asked, she will tell the truth about everything.)
  -Selfless (She puts the wants and needs of others before her own, and is willing to sacrifice her own desires to help other people.)
  -Humble (She is modest and self-deprecating, and does not like to draw attention to her own accomplishments, but rather builds up other people instead.)

Negative Traits (min 3)
  -Sensitive (Her feelings are easily hurt. She feels things deeply and intensely, and often draws from the emotions of the people around her. This makes it very upsetting for her when there is discord and the people around her don't get along, and she often retreats into herself to escape from it, or else she'll likely start to cry.)
  -Insecure (She has an incredibly low self-esteem, and she believes that everyone hates her. She is not confident in her abilities, and is easily embarrassed.)
  -Naive (She believes that everyone's intentions are good, and wants to help everyone. This makes it easy to take advantage of her.)
  -Timid (She is easily intimidated, and really quite spineless. She won't stand up for herself, and tends to let people walk all over her.)

Age: 14
Birthdate: 17 February

Blood Purity: Muggleborn

House: Hufflepuff
Occupation: Student
Wand Type: 11.5 inches, willow, unicorn hair


Likes:
- Charms (her best and favorite subject, she excels at the lightest of magics, which doesn't require as much concentration as Transfiguration, as much bravery as DADA, or as much precision as Potions.)
- Flying (though not necessarily quidditch--she isn't competitive, so she doesn't like organized sports. She just likes being up in the air, so flying on broomsticks comes naturally to her.)
- The Room of Requirement (she discovered it fairly early on, when she was looking for a place to be alone. It became a regular haunt, whenever she wanted to escape from the rest of the students in the castle.)

Dislikes:
- Potions (this was something her tutor never worked with her on, and she loathes it more than anything. She's very far behind the rest of the class, she hates the aura of the dungeon, she often messes up because she's distracted, and she hates the idea of using animal parts, especially from sentient, magical creatures.)
- The Hufflepuff Common Room (she doesn't hate it, per se. It's comfy, and got a nice vibe. But she'd much rather be high in the air than underground, and the low ceiling makes her feel trapped.)
- The Dungeons (why would anyone want to be in such a cold, dark, clammy place, especially below the ground? It makes her shudder.)


Mariah's birth mother was homeless, unemployed heroin-addict named Veronica Davis, who drove off a bridge one night in Sacramento, California, after stealing a car. Mariah was five months old, and in the passenger seat. The police found her miraculously unscathed, and were able to identify her and her mother, but unable to find the next of kin to take the child.

As such, she grew up in foster care for the first six years of her life, bounced from home to home all over California. Eventually, she ended up in the care of one Mrs. Carson, a dour lady who already had eight other foster kids between the ages of three and eleven. Mrs. Carson hoped to maximize her government check by taking in as many kids as possible, and spending as little money on them as she could. The children were often starved and neglected, and beaten into submission.

An anonymous tip from a neighbor sent the police to the scene, and with them, Katrina Berkeley-Benton, a lawyer who represented the children in court. Over the course of the trial, five-year-old Mariah managed to worm her way into the lawyer's heart, and seven months later, she was invited to live with Katrina and her wife, Samantha, in Redding, California.

Two years later, she was adopted. For the first time, she was happy. She had a good home life, she attended an elementary school, and even made a few friends.

And then the weird things started happening. She was nine, when it started. She was playing hide and seek with some friends, and suddenly found herself invisible. She freaked out, and her friends found her frightened and crying half an hour later. She told them what had happened, of course, she was honest and trusted her friends. They consoled her, but clearly thought she was crazy.

As things like that kept happening--weird, unexplainable things--she would always tell her friends, and go to them for help. Eventually, they began to talk about her behind her back. They didn't believe her. They called her a liar, or even insane. They thought she was making it up for attention.

As time went on, Mariah slowly found herself excluded from the rest of the kids her age. They began to ignore her when she spoke, and they stopped inviting her to play with them.

She could tell that she wasn't wanted anymore, so she left them alone. She stopped trying to talk to people, and instead retreated into herself. She started to go off on her own and daydream, retreating to the treehouse that she and her mothers had built when she was eight. She lost herself in imaginary worlds, and eventually, it started creeping into her real life as well.

She stopped paying attention in class. She'd turn in late, unfinished, or sloppily completed work. She was constantly distracted and disorganized, losing things, and missing instructions. Her fifth grade teacher began to worry, so she met with Mariah's parents, who later confronted her.

She burst into tears, and told them everything. Her mothers were both muggles, but although the didn't understand, they loved and accepted her unconditionally.

A few months later, she received a letter from Ilvermorny. For the first time, she discovered that she wasn't alone. There were others like her--a whole, secret, wizarding world. But Ilvermorny was so far away, and her parents were skeptical about removing her from school to send her across the county to learn magic. She declined the invitation.

Instead, her parents searched far and wide, and finally found her a real wizard to tutor her personally. His name was Klaus Weber. He had a wand made for her, and taught her charms and practical magic. They met every week to practice in the woods behind her house, narrowly skirting the Statute of Secrecy. She flourished under his tutelage, and came to accept, and even enjoy, her magical ability.

And then Samantha received a job offer in London. It would be a huge promotion--something she'd always dreamed of doing. But she was set to decline, for the sake of her family. Mariah felt guilty. She didn't want to keep her mother from her dreams. She convinced her to take the offer, and they moved that summer, when she was fourteen.

The move was much harder for Mariah than she ever let on. She'd grown to love their home in Redding--the tree house, the woods, Mr. Weber--and it was painful to leave it all behind, but she didn't want her mother to feel guilty, so she kept up a cheerful attitude.

She still had much to learn, though. At fourteen, her magical education was far from complete, especially since it had been informal. Her mothers saw how important it was to her, so they arranged for her to attend Hogwarts, as long as she promised not to forget her non-magical education. She transferred into her fourth year, and was sorted into Hufflepuff.

But this was difficult too. She was terribly unsure of herself--her past experiences made her wary of social situations, and she was shy and bad at making friends. Her lack of formal magical education was obvious in some classes, and she had a hard time catching up. She fell back on the habits she'd developed when she was nine--she went off by herself, and spent her time living in her head, imagining a world where she was better than she was.

Age: 15
Birthdate: 17 February

Class: Unaffiliated (hero or sidekick, most likely)
Occupation: Student

Superpower: Light manipulation (includes visual illusions and invisibility)


Likes:
- Peacemaking (she feels accomplished when she can convince people to work together without having to fight)
- Receiving praise (she often feels that she's not good enough, so verbal affirmation goes a long way)
- Other people's powers (she loves watching other people do awesome things. She thinks everyone else's abilities are beautiful and amazing, moreso than her own, and she will tell them as much if she's not too nervous)

Dislikes:
- Fighting/using her powers to hurt people (doesn't matter how terrible a villain is, she still searches for the good in people, and hates seeing them in pain)
- Chaos (as during a battle, or just people being too rowdy in general)
- Letting people down (she often feels like her powers aren't useful enough, and she's afraid of disappointing people)

Strengths:
- Good mediator (she's good at diffusing tensions and calming people down--her presence can be very relaxing, although she doesn't realize it)

Weaknesses:
- Easily manipulated (it is very easy to take advantage of her, as she has rather blatant insecurities)


Mariah's birth mother was homeless, unemployed heroin-addict named Veronica Davis, who drove off a bridge one night in Sacramento, California, after stealing a car. Mariah was five months old, and in the passenger seat. The police found her miraculously unscathed, and were able to identify her and her mother, but unable to find the next of kin to take the child.

As such, she grew up in foster care for the first six years of her life, bounced from home to home all over California. Eventually, she ended up in the care of one Mrs. Carson, a dour lady who already had eight other foster kids between the ages of three and eleven. Mrs. Carson hoped to maximize her government check by taking in as many kids as possible, and spending as little money on them as she could. The children were often starved and neglected, and beaten into submission.

An anonymous tip from a neighbor sent the police to the scene, and with them, Katrina Berkeley-Benton, a lawyer who represented the children in court. Over the course of the trial, five-year-old Mariah managed to worm her way into the lawyer's heart, and seven months later, she was invited to live with Katrina and her wife, Samantha, in Redding, California.

Two years later, she was adopted. For the first time, she was happy. She had a good home life, she attended an elementary school, and even made a few friends.

And then the weird things started happening. She was nine, when it started. She was playing hide and seek with some friends, and suddenly found herself invisible. She freaked out, and her friends found her frightened and crying half an hour later. She told them what had happened, of course, she was honest and trusted her friends. They consoled her, but clearly thought she was crazy.

As things like that kept happening--weird, unexplainable things, like objects changing colors around her--she'd always tell her friends, and go to them for help. Eventually, they began to talk about her behind her back. They didn't believe her. They called her a liar, or even insane. They'd never seen any of these things she described, so they thought she was making it up for attention. There were no superheroes in Redding, she must be lying to make herself look cooler--after all, she couldn't control it yet, so she could never give demonstrations on command when they asked.

As time went on, Mariah slowly found herself excluded from the rest of the kids her age. They began to ignore her when she spoke, and they stopped inviting her to play with them.

She could tell that she wasn't wanted anymore, so she left them alone. She stopped trying to talk to people, and instead retreated into herself. She started to go off on her own and daydream, retreating to the treehouse that she and her mothers had built when she was eight. Sometimes she turned invisible when this happened, but she didn't even notice. She lost herself in imaginary worlds, and eventually, it started creeping into her real life as well.

She stopped paying attention in class. She'd turn in late, unfinished, or sloppily completed work. She was constantly distracted and disorganized, losing things, and missing instructions. Her fifth grade teacher began to worry, so she met with Mariah's parents, who later confronted her.

She burst into tears, and told them everything. Her mothers believed her. They'd both worked with their fair share of superheroes--Katrina had had a few as clients, since she sometimes travelled to bigger cities for work. They promised to enroll her in the superhero school when she was old enough.

In the meantime, they searched for someone nearby who could help her with basic control. Eventually, they found a man named Klaus Weber. He was notoriously reclusive, having retired from the heroing business decades before after an incident which he refused to talk about. However, Katrina was very persuasive, and, after a time, he reluctantly agreed.

They met every week to practice in the woods behind her house. He helped her to define the extent of her powers, and to train her mental control over them.

She grew rather fond of him, and he gradually warmed up to her as well, though he kept up the guise of a grumpy old man. For over a year, though he taught her techniques and gave her tips, she had no idea what his own power was.

Until one day, she'd climbed up high in a tree, as she often did, and sat comfortably on a branch 30 feet in the air as she waiting for him to arrive. When she saw him, she began to clamber down, but a dead branch snapped under her weight. One second, she was plummeting to the forest floor, and the next, she was safely on her feet on the ground, as if nothing had happened.

Mr. Weber had the power to freeze time. He refused to use it unless absolutely necessary--something related to the incident, which he refused to discuss, and she respected that and didn't pry. But in her mind, his power was incredible--so much more practical than hers.

She wished she had a useful power, like freezing time. Instead, all she could do was mess with people's eyes. She rather despised her powers at times--they didn't feel right to her. They didn't match her personality. She was honest to fault, but illusions were only good for lying. She didn't want to deceive people. She thought she couldn't make or do anything practical with her abilities--she couldn't use them to help people. Nothing she made was real, and thus couldn't have real use for people.

The only thing they were good for was bringing her daydreams to life. Once she'd gotten sufficient control of her powers, she'd been able to use her vivid imagination to create real images, which fueled the stories she created in her mind. She could make a large boulder look like a horse, or make her treehouse look like a castle (though the larger ones were harder to maintain), and this allowed her to add further depth to her daydreams by bringing them to life before her eyes.

At times, she even thought it was beautiful. But then she felt guilty for not making a real contribution to the world, and only really using her powers for her own enjoyment. She wanted to help people, but she wasn't sure how.

By the time she was old enough to go to the superhero school, she'd gotten decent enough control over her abilities. She no longer turned invisible without meaning to, and could hold an illusion the size of a couch for about five minutes, if she really concentrated (though she often got distracted and broke concentration within the first two).

She was glad to be around other people like her, but she was also nervous. She didn't feel like she was good enough. Everyone else had such awesome powers that had obvious practical uses--she felt like she didn't belong in the "hero" category with all of the actually helpful people. She felt unworthy of being there, and she was worried that other people would see her powers as a joke, so she avoided drawing attention to herself. Instead, she retreated to her usual habit of living inside her head, and dreaming of a world where she might actually make a difference.