Ismene

This character is retired, and is no longer in play.

Not A Pleasant Person
Portrayed by Agnes Moorehead
Name: Ismene Claudia Antonina Lestrange Malfoy
Aliases: Madam Malfoy to most
Birthday: August 19th, 1884
Position: Blot on the Landscape
Lineage: Pureblood

Description

Sharp black eyes peer (or, more frequently, glare with deep suspicion) out of a narrow, bony face bleached to a startling white by the joint efforts of nature and indoor living. At one end is a small chin, at the other a pair of high, thinly-arched brows, and in between is nothing of distinction. She is well on in middle age, though her precise vintage might be a matter of debate.

Her height of 5'3" is amended by a well-worn-in black pointed hat, affixed by dark metal pins to the prodigious sweep of silvery-black hair which rises from her widow's peak. She wears widow's weeds to match: sober black gowns, high-necked and long-sleeved, often slightly faded by the march of time and showing darker spots left by droplets of ink. Quality ought to last, and it is made to last, with a few neat stitches here, or a fresh set of cuffs there, to enliven styles which were not the height of fashion twenty or thirty years ago, new. But they are well-made, these black gowns, to fit a figure still shapely and voluptuous, unspoiled by child-bearing or indulgence. It has sometimes inspired head-shaking amongst the gentlemen of her acquaintance, head-shaking and thoughts of sacks, this contrast between her odd little face and the feminine opulence further down. Of course, the expansive dullness of her black robes ensures that many who meet her remain unaware of this particular… aspect of her appearance.

Her black leather belt is sturdy and plain, but finely-made and well-kept, its buckle formed of a silver serpent. Suspended from it, a matching rhomboid pomander gleams against her skirts. On her left hand, she wears an old signet ring, skillfully crafted in heavy silver, showing the silhouette of a man hanging by his broken neck from a rope which flows up and around her finger. Despite this burden her small hands are quick and deft, the right one usually empty of her wand only when she requires both for the preparation of some noxious potion.

Her scent is soapy and herbish, mildly astringent. She's compulsively cleanly.

Background

        Faolus Lestrange + Ramilda Tripe
                      ___|_____________________
                     |                         |
   Behari Shafiq + Ichabod Lestrange     Ismene Lestrange + Agrius Malfoy
                 |                                        
       __________|____________________________________
      |                                |              |
  Arcadius  +  Portia    Anais    +  Delvin       Bernadette
  Lestrange |  Prince   Umbridge  |  Lestrange    Lestrange
            |                     |
      Oberon Lestrange   Balthazar Lestrange

Born into the Lestrange family in 1884. Attended Hogwarts 1895-1902; sorted into Slytherin; invariably top of the class in potions (and received extra private tuition) but never rose above second or third in her year, and was a prefect for just one term to replace another Slytherin who'd been expelled. She could have done more and risen higher but even then she strove not to draw too much attention to herself, not to reveal the full extent of what she knew or what she could do.

Wand

Length: 11 7/8"
Wood: Walnut
Flexibility: Unyielding
Core: Dragon heartstring

Pet

An ancient and terrible black tom cat, Ptolemy VIII. As his name suggests there were seven others before him; he, however, is the longest-lived of the line, and has spent the past twenty-one years alternately eating crumpets in Ismene's best winged armchair and fathering three-quarters of the kittens in Central London. These activities give him an interest in life, in carrying on despite his great age.

Her only friend outside Slytherin was a pure-blooded Ravenclaw, Lysandra Yaxley; they were two of a trio of young witches who took a Grand Tour of Europe together between 1902 and 1903 before settling into their adult lives. Lysandra went into the Ministry and is now running the Department of Intoxicating Substances; and in 1904 Ismene married at her family's behest.

Agrius Malfoy was the younger brother of the then-patriarch, Typhon Malfoy (Abraxas's grandfather). He was a widower and a high Ministry official, aged 38 to her 20; she has several step-daughters hardly younger than she is, and a bevy of step-grandchildren. The marriage was amicable enough, save in one point: Ismene never provided the son for which her husband particularly wished, or even any extra daughters. Having failed, then, to pass on the pure blood she prized so highly to children of her own, she sank with ever-burgeoning intensity into the potioneering studies which were simultaneously her greatest pleasure and her best hope of making herself invaluable to her family. By her expertise she drew attention despite herself: she has been known to assist the D. of Intoxicating S., via her old friend's connivance. She was widowed in 1923.

Her principles and prejudices are those to be expected from an aristocratic pureblooded witch who is Slytherin to her fingertips: being near a Mudblood makes her skin crawl, and her moral compass is a very personal and specific gadget, pointing due Family and Purity. She has never known a moment's want, but is thrifty to the point of parsimony: she considers waste a failure of imagination, and a probable indication of mental slovenliness into the bargain. Being unable to have children of her own transmuted her dislike of them into loathing: even little Malfoys and Lestranges find it best to avoid her, for if they are suspected of impolitesse, they are likely several days later to eat or drink some innocuous-seeming substance which turns out not to be after all.

She is subtle, stealthy, and quiet. She spends lots of time alone, watching cauldrons.

Quirks

Occlumens
Paranoid A woman with secrets; and a deal of practice at keeping them. Also, if you're not with her, you're assumed to be against her.
Parsimonious Sometimes it takes them that way, aristocrats. She regards waste as a failure of the imagination and an indication of mental slovenliness; and she can make a galleon go farther than you'd believe.
Peevish Perpetual dissatisfaction with most things and most people. Scant hesitance in expressing this feeling in everyday interactions.
Purist To A Fault She says "Mudblood" rather than "Muggleborn" and has to wash if she brushes against one in the street.
Wealth: Well-To-Do A Lestrange by birth and a Malfoy by marriage, she doesn't enjoy the great riches of the main lines of those families, but nonetheless she has never known want.

RP Hooks

  • Are you a pure-blooded Slytherin? We're bound to be related.
  • Are you a half-blood or Muggleborn? I'm always available to snub or insult.
  • Have you need of any special potions?
  • Have you got into TROUBLE with any special potions?
  • I play the violin. We're thinking of getting together a Dark String Quartet.

Logs

Logs featuring Ismene Logs that refer to Ismene

Relationships

Cassius

Cassius
My great-nephew by marriage. I don't approve of that young man's political activities; or the obscenely gaudy ring it pleases him to wear. He acts the gentleman; but I doubt.

Gallery

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