MONTGOMERY, Christine Mórrígan

christine morrigan montgomery

PERSONALITY

Boggart: A morphing figure holding a knife, they have no face or distinguishable characteristics.
Mirror of Erised: Westley, alive and in her arms.
Patronus: Animal - Hebridean Dragon, conjured by remembering her wedding day.

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Christine's personality has changed as many times as her name has changed. Born Caristine Mor-rigan Sayre, she was a loving, if a little bit lonely, child. Eager to please and desperate for love, but always very shy. After her father abandoned her and she assumed the name Christine Williams, she became a lonely disillusioned kid that grew up far too fast. She had just about given up on the sweeter things in life when she met Westley.

He introduced her to magic, family, and love. Over the years she really began to blossom, and when she became Christine Montgomery, she was able to let go of the past. She had become a blissfully in love, bright and happy woman. The kind of woman she had never imagined she could be, but had always wanted to be: kind, soft, mischievous in ways, but good hearted, very loving and loved in return.

It didn't last. After Wes' death, Christine crumbled completely. Her will to survive is the only thing that has kept her going so far. Survival, vengeance and a lot of bourbon. But in order to survive and even have a chance at vengeance, Christine has tried to kill any and all softness in her life. She's not always successful.

She presents herself today as mysterious, detached, moody and perhaps a bit dangerous (the sexy kind), but scratching too deep beneath the surface and you'll find a paranoid, pessimistic, aggressive, dangerous(the scary kind), slightly neurotic animal. Like an abused dog with its teeth bared ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

She's tired though. Tired of running and tired of being chased. Tired of always being afraid, and tired of being sad and alone. Most of all she's tired of being tired, but every time she closes her eyes the nightmares begin. She lives on sleeping potions and the aforementioned bourbon, but this isn't living. Something has to give.

HISTORY

Mother: Cristina DuBois, Deceased, Beauxbatons, Pureblood
Father: Raghnall Sayre, 46 , Slytherin, Pureblood
Siblings: Nioklas Sayre, 29, Slytherin, Pureblood
Partners: Westley Montgomery, Deceased, Thunderbird, Unknown
Others: A host of "Uncles" and extended family.

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Raghnall Sayre and Cristina Dubois were one of the few marriages in wizard aristocracy that was both a love match and a proper match. The DuBois brought their land and fortune to the marriage, while the Sayre’s brought their esteemed bloodline: they were descended from Morrigan – a celebrated Irish witch and Animagus.

Within a year Cristina was pregnant. They wanted a large family, but with complications in her first pregnancy and three additional miscarriages, she was warned against trying again. While Cristina was heartbroken, Raghnall was more concerned with his wife’s health – he had his heir, Nioklas, after all.

Three years later, despite preventative measures, Cristina was pregnant. Not wanting to get her husband’s hopes up, she hid the pregnancy until she was sure the baby would live.
Raghnall was furious and terrified. He wanted to terminate, but it was too late.

1954 Christmas Day, a month before her due date, Cristina had a severe cramp in her abdomen that caused her legs to go numb. She was leading Nioklas down a flight of stairs at the time and fell. She went immediately into labor.

Cristina fought to give birth to her daughter, but lost her life in return.

Later, Raghnall would be told that Cristina suffered a placental abruption and there had been severe internal bleeding. It had been impossible to detect because the blood was trapped inside the uterus. Coupled with the fall, they were unable to save her.
Raghnall raged against the healers, blaming them for her death, until he realized that their child had survived. Then he blamed her.

For years, Raghnall would not acknowledge her. Instead, Cairistine Morrigan Sayre (named after her mother and her ancestor), was raised by Nalo, a house elf.

Nalo was trained as a nanny and taught Caris to crawl, stand, walk, speak, read, etc. She also entertained Caris with magic, and when Caris began to demonstrate her own abilities, Nalo explained about wizards and witches.

Just before her ninth birthday, the family took a trip to the Black Forest.

A few nights into their vacation Raghnall, in a rare form of affection, tucked Caris into bed. As he leaned in to tell her goodnight, he told her to meet him in the forest after her brother had fallen asleep. Caris didn’t question her father – for several reasons – but mostly because it was the most attention she had ever received from the man.

The forest was known for a variety of wild and dangerous creatures, but none posed as great a threat to Caris as the Erkling. Capable of human speech, Erklings would lure children away from their parents to devour them – this had been Raghnall’s plan. He could no longer bear to see the monster that killed his wife. Each day she looked more like Cristina and each day Raghnall's mind slipped a little more.

But what if it didn’t work? What if the Erkling didn’t kill Caris? What if she got scared and came back to the cabin?

Raghnall had another plan, less final, but Caris would be gone. He wouldn’t have to look at her.

She had only barely entered the forest, and even then, just sat at the perimeter. Her features lit up when she saw him.

He gave her a small nod and took her hand. After using the Portus charm on a nearby rock, he transported them to a place far away.

He led her to a building and told her to sit while he handled important business.

She did not know that "important business" meant abandoning her in a different country – New York, to be exact. The building was a muggle government agency called the “State Board of Child Welfare” they handled something called a "foster" system.

The New York foster care program was a mess. Record keeping for abandoned children was even more unreliable (although Raghnall had falsified the appropriate documents). It was a perfect place to discard an unwanted child – and Caris was more than unwanted, she was reviled.

He was careful to use a memory modification charm on the worker. Though the imperious curse would have been easier, he did not want to alert the authorities to his presence. Satisfied he had covered his tracks well enough, he went to see her one last time.

He gave her new clothes and used a spell to draw some of her blood. She didn’t ask questions, but was very confused, until Ragnall used the memory charm on her, then a dreamy look of unconcern fell over her face.

When Raghnall returned to the forest, he called the authorities the next day and played the part of bereaved father. A search party was ordered, but when they found the shredded clothing and blood, Cairistine Morrigan Sayre was declared dead.

After eight different foster homes Caris – or Christine Williams as her paperwork stated – gave up on trying to find a loving family. She was peculiar, and her magic manifested in various ways. Even the nicest of families were terrified of her "accidents".

Her latest foster home was better. They were indifferent so long as she stayed out of their way and they collected a paycheck, and because Christine was “special needs” showing “aggressive tendencies” they collected even more.

She didn’t remember anything before her father abandoned her. All she had of her previous life was a bracelet and a paper-thin file that gave little to no clue who she was, if she had any family, or if there was anyone else in the world like her.

She was different. Things happened around her, things that she wanted to happen – or didn’t want to happen. To avoid trouble, she preferred to spend her days alone in the alley behind her foster parent’s apartment building.

That’s how she met Westley Montgomery. He was a server at the jazz café that connected to their apartment.

After being bullied by a group of boys for being odd, Christine lost control of her magic blowing out a street lamp. The children ran off, but Westley – taking out the trash – had seen what Christine had done.

He chastised her for using magic in front of no-majs, but soon found out she was an orphan and had no idea what he was talking about. She was fascinated with him and the fact that he was like her. They began a friendship, and in his spare time, he’d regale her with stories of his life at Ilvermorny and his adventures with magic.

On her eleventh birthday Christine eagerly waited for her summons to come. She was so desperate to find her place in the world. But nothing came. Heartbroken Christine confronted Westley, calling Ilvermorny a lie, he was a liar and she wasn’t special at all, just a freak.

What neither of them knew was that her letter never left Hogwarts, and Ilvermorny had never been notified of her presence. Upon her birth, the quill recognized her ability. When she was four, the book accepted her name as a magical child. But when she was declared dead, the deputy headmistress refrained from sending the letter on her birthday.

Westley was confused. He was certain Christine was magical. He began writing his previous transfiguration instructor religiously, convinced if he could get his professor to see Christine, that she would be accepted into the school.

To mollify his previous student Professor Abrams agreed to meet Christine, and to his immense surprise she was indeed magical.

But how could they have missed her? Who were her parents? She was an orphan yes, but where did she come from?

An investigation revealed very little, just that someone had gone through a lot of trouble to hide Christine in the muggle world. Perhaps it was for her own protection? Perhaps there was a darker purpose? They could only speculate as magic easily altered muggle paperwork and memories.

After a lengthy discussion with the Headmaster, they agreed to accept Christine into Ilvermorny. It was their duty to train magical children, but Christine would be under Westley’s supervision during vacations, as her foster parents were clearly not capable.
Magic was a new and beautiful world for Christine. It was at Ilvermorny she began to heal and even thrive, but it was during the summers spent with Westley she began to love.

Not just Westley, but the whole Café. The employees and owner had become her family. And when she was on the verge of being placed into her ninth foster home, the owner – Tony – adopted her. She’d pay him back a few years later when she replaced a jazz singer that had fallen into their cups too many times. Christine had a hell of a voice.

Then there was Westley, of course, she would fall in love with him. But it would be another year after Christine graduated from Illvermorny that Wes would admit his feelings. And another year after that on her - 20th birthday - that they would get married.

After their wedding, Westley said he had one last surprise for her. He gave her an address to meet him at later that night and though she was disappointed, she let him go.

The address was to a condo Westley had put a down payment on. Christine arrived to find the door was open. Excited and curious she opened the door and called his name.
Nothing could have prepared her for the sight. Her new husband was hanging from the ceiling his body broken and his throat slit. She screamed.

The authorities found her clinging to him in a near catatonic state, but she fought them when they tried to take his body away.

She was devastated. For a while she couldn’t do much, unable to get past the trauma. But after three months, the investigation was dropped, no magic had been detected; therefore, it was a muggle matter.

Once again Christine was devastated. Muggles couldn’t detect their way out of a paper bag! And how would a muggle overpower a wizard?!

Driven by a need for justice, or even revenge, she obsessed over Westley’s death trying to find out what happened. Tony tried to get her to move on with her life, but she couldn’t.

Then the fire happened.

Christine was chasing a lead when she heard the news. The café had burned down and Tony and half the staff, had been inside.

The Aurors refused to listen, something else was brewing, something big, they didn’t have time for what appeared to be muggle business.

The muggle police however, were now interested in the common link between the two cases. Suddenly Christine was a suspect. But when she used magic to clear her name, she was accused of meddling in muggle affairs. It was quietly suggested that she leave the state to avoid prosecution.

So she did. The lead she had been following led to the west coast. There was nothing left for her in New York.
 
Unfortunately, there was nothing for her in California either. After a few months the case went dry. Christine nearly gave up - in more ways than one - but then another body dropped.
 
A waitress at the diner where Christine worked was found strangled to death. While Christine knew that Westley's attack had been personal (due to the nature of the crime), she only suspected that the fire was related. But with the death of her coworker Christine was convinced that someone was targeting the people she was close to, and that person had followed her.
 
Christine left California immediately. She wanted to find whoever was toying with her, but she didn’t want anyone else to be hurt. Still, no matter where she ran, he found her. He taunted her. It became a cat and mouse game. Sometimes there was a body, other times just a memento.
 
She's been running for almost two years, her latest destination: England. Now, she's right where he wants her to be.

OOC

Play By: Phoebe Tonkin
Your Alias: Vixn
Pronouns: Her/she
Age:29
Other Characters: @bellal , @jaspers , @artemis
Where did you find us: Recommended to me.