Template:Swans

Called such after their tavern, the Swan family consists of matriarch Hild, her stepdaughter Leofe (19), her son Eastmund (14), her daughter Æbbe (9), her son Cenric (7), her nephew Ælfgar (15), and her niece Sunngifu (13).

Hild brought the kids to Hogmeade a year ago, shortly after she took on her nephew and niece. Hild's been a window since her husband Wigmund died. Providing for her 4 kids while living in the middle of nowhere was a stretch — providing for 6 was more than she could do. So she packed them up and set off to the all-wizarding village she'd heard rumors of. There, she started the village's first tavern: the Swan.

The beginning was very hard. It took a lot of money, materials, and labor and work to get the tavern built, before they even began making money. And then Leofe got pregnant, and Hild though that was the end any chance any of them had for prosperity in this village. But then, strangely enough, things improved. Business got going rapidly. The kids got better at their jobs, and soon she could even afford to send the boys to school part-time.

Hild Swan (Latin: Hilda)


Leofflæd "Leofe" Swan (Latin: Leofleda)
   Leofflæd Swan Leofflæd was 5 when her father married Hild; young enough she should've accepted the new woman as her mother, and old enough that she never quite did. Not that Leofe quarreled with, or even particularly disliked Hild — just that she never accepted her as mother.

Leofe's half-brother Eastmund, was born the year Hild married Wigmund. Their sister Æbbe was born 3 years later, and their bother Cenric 3 years after that.

Ælfric Swan (Latin: Elfricus)
 Ælfric is a paradox — responsible and irresponsible; foolish but sensible. In many ways he is a mirror, reflecting back the traits whoever he's with. It's more than that though. He reflects back... who they think he is? No, he reflects back who he thinks he is in the context of them. With his sister, he jokes around, quietly but earnestly, the two of them commenting on the world together. Around his mother, he's responsible. Hild could give him the exact same command, and alone, he might do it without complainant — without even feeling annoyed by it — but if Leofe was around, he would lean over and whisper some exasperated comment about the chore as he passed her.

Hild To his mother, Ælfric thinks of himself as the dutiful eldest son, who did his part in getting the tavern running, and is now doing his role as a student. He does what she needs of him — perhaps in part to keep himself ranked ahead of his older and more charming new cousin.

Leofe Ælfric is closer to Leofe than any of his other siblings — the age gap between Ælfric and Æbbe separates them.

Æbbe Swan (Latin: Ebba)
 Shy, quite, solemn, obedient, dutiful... Æbbe is all these things. She's the little girl who's always in The Swan, carrying things around as directed without a word. Her dark round eyes made her look fearful — like a scared animal — curious, and woeful all at once.

Cenric Swan (Latin: Cenricus)
 Cenric is a complete goofball — an earnest, affectionate, enthusiastic bull in a china shop. Hild keeps him out of the tavern, because it's just easier that way. Sunngifu usually minds him, and keeps him back around the house, where they do the house chores and look after Dudda.

Eadmund Swan (Latin: Eadmundus)


Sunngifu Swan (Latin: Sunniva)


Other Stuff
 Their mother Ælfgifu was a witch. She was a healer, much loved by the village. And most loved by her was Æðelræd. When Æðelræd's mother — his only close family member — had been deathly ill, Ælfgifu had cured her. Out of gratitude, Æðelræd would always bring Ælfgifu herbs and things she needed, and would always linger after delivering them, not wanting to leave.

They married eventually. Their son Ælfgar was born, followed a year and a half later by their daughter Sunngifu. Two and a half years after Sunngifu followed a third baby.

Ælfgifu struggled and screamed, and in her pain she could not summon the spells she used to ease other women's births. She was certainly unable to brew the potions she used. Ælfgifu died that day, as did her baby.

Æðelræd remarried, a woman named Cyneburg — a muggle like him. In time, Cyneburg bore, Eoforhild, Wilmǣr, Wigheard, and Ealdgyð, in addition to a few babies who died.

Ælfgar and Sunngifu's powers appeared. Æðelræd had known Ælfgifu was a witch, and knew that the strange events in moments of his children's anger must be magic too. But neither their father nor stepmother knew what they should do. Ælfgifu had moved to the village alone, and Æðelræd didn't know where she had been born, or where the rest of her family lived. When he asked about them, she'd only ever pointed vaguely in the direction they were in — north. Æðelræd feared for this children: the village had loved Ælfgifu because she had been able to cure people. The children where just two little kids who would become dangerous when they threw tantrums.

Ælfgifu's parents thought working for a muggle village was lazy; you could do the tiniest bit of simple magic, and you'd be illustrious. They didn't like muggles, who always came to their door, begging for help.

Their parents worked to find apprenticeships from them as soon as they could, hoping that work would give them something to focus on, and pour their energy into. Ælfgar appertained as a fletcher, with a friend of Æðelræd's, while Sunngifu learned to felt with her godparents.

One afternoon a woman came to the door. She wore a vividly red cloak, and held a broom. She was looking for Ælfgifu.

The woman's name was Hild, and she was Ælfgifu's sister. Their mother had just died, and she was coming to inform Ælfgifu.

She and Æðelræd talked for a long time. He explained how Ælfgifu had been his wife, and had died giving birth to their third child. Ælfgar and Sunngifu were in the other room, with Cyneburg, holding the little ones and peering through the doorway. The three of them sat there, signing loud enough to keep the little kids quiet, but quiet enough they could overhear. Finally, their father called them out.

He introduced them — this was Hild, their aunt, this was Ælfgar and Sunngifu, Ælfgifu's children — as if they haven't been blatantly eavesdropping, and Hild hadn't been watching them.

Hild and their father talked some, but Ælfgar and Sunngifu were barely listening. They just watched Hild. Ælfgar had been 3, and Sunngifu 2 when their mother died, so they didn't remember what she looked like. But they were she she must've looked like Hild. The two of them looked alike — people always said so — and they each clearly saw the family resemblance in their sibling and this stranger.

Suddenly, the adults got up. Ælfgar and Sunngifu just stood their, not knowing what was going on. "Go get your things," Æðelræd prompted. So they did. They whispered to each other, trying to figure it out, but the fact remained that neither of them have been listening at all.

Æðelræd hugged them tightly. He swore he loved them, that they'd see each other sometimes; this was just like another apprenticeship or something. Sunngifu started to cry a little.

Cyneburg, who'd been eavesdropping, hugged them so tightly it forced some of the air out of their lungs. She told the little kids to say bye-bye to Ælfgar and Sunngifu. Wigheard started crying, even though he didn't understand what was going on, and because he was crying, Ealdgyð started crying too. Their father sniffled that Ælfgar was getting so big, that his cloak was too short, and he took of his own cloak and fastened it around his son's neck. Hild looked at the wall, not meeting anyone's eyes.

They followed her outside, out of the village, past the fields to the trees. Out of sighs of the villagers, Hild turned and grabbed them each by the forearm, and disapparated.

They appeared in the doorway or a cottage. She introduced them to their cousins Leofflæd, Eastmund, Æbbe, Cenric, and Cuthberht. Her husband Wigmund had died a few years ago.

Hild and Leofe
Leofflæd is not actually a prostitute, but as a pretty, young woman, who works at a tavern, and has a bastard baby, you can forgive people for the assumption. But the thing is, Leofflæd actually kind of likes the idea of being a prostitute.