Helena Ravenclaw

[pokethedevil]

Spoliers Alert
You have been warned

Helena Ravenlaw, we know her as Rowena's daughter and under the name 'The Grey Lady', as the ghost of Ravenclaw Tower. But I think there's much more to her than meets the eye. Her character is pretty much free at the moment and I thinks there's plenty of space to be filled up.

And I personally am intrigued by her life story, hence my desire to write a fic on her. And I would love to hear other people's views on her.

So what are you waitng for? Get discussing!

[HARRYHARRYHARRYs_twin]

Well. Helena Ravenclaw. There is so much we can learn about her, and she is a small enough character that we can form our own opinions about her, use them in a story, and we don't need to use a AU warning. And she has connections to the Founders, so she can be talking to Slytherin or a student and nothing be weird.

Well, we can figure that she was in Ravenclaw, as she was the Ravenclaw House ghost, but I think she would have been batter placed in Slytherin. She was sly and cunning enough to steal the diadem, and she showed that she would rather care for herself than her mother, sort of self-preservation, when she wouldn't go back to her mother's sick bed. And she had ambition. She was ambitious to become better than her mother, and better known.

I tend to think she would be a favorite of Slytherin, but her father would be Godric, if her father was indeed a Founder. I'm not sure why her father would be Godric instead of someone else, except that it would be quite ironic if it was so, because she is so different compared to him. The fact that she was quite an ideal Slytherin, but ended up in Ravenclaw, I think would have intreged Slytherin more than anything else.

Helena/Baron is a really interesting pairing. The fact that no matter how hard he tried, she didn't respond shows that she is stubborn and sticks with her choices and ideals. I'm not going to go into detail about the Baron, as that is for another thread, but the fact that he killed her, then killed himself out of regret is interesting. Had he done the same sort of thing before, like hexing someone from behind, then giving him a free shot?

~Selina

[pokethedevil]

Yeah i agree with you, especially on that last account.
Baron/Grey Lady ship is pretty intriguing...I wonder what happened between them during all those hundreds of years at Hogwarts...


Ok so here are a couple of questions if anyone's interested:

Helena's father, Godric or Salazar?

I personally think that it is highly likely that he was one of these two.

And why is her surname Ravenclaw?

Isn't she supposed to have her father's surname??

Her relationship with Hufflepuff...

Helga would definitely try to reach out to this 'cold' person but would be pushed back; Helena, I believe, is too arrogant to accept help.

Other than that you guys can add anything you want, as long as it is relevant.


________
Oh and I love your siggy!

[bling_baby]

Helena' father, Godric or Salazar?
Well, I personally am more of a Rowena/Godric shipper, but that is up to you.

And why is her surname Ravenclaw?
Illigitemate. After all, wouldn't usually Rowena have to take the surname of her husband too? If it is Godric or Salzar, I think it would come from passion. Maybe she intended on marrying one of them, but she was arranged with someone else and during the transition fell pregant?

Her relationship with Hufflepuff...
This is true, but I think that Helena will be smart enough to take it. Helena wants to know about her mother and evidence of her being a lying cheat (the diadem being the center) and then you could bring in the illigitimacy - if you wish to use it. Helga doesn't seem as smart as the other three, and though she is loyal, she could in the end feel attached to Helena. So there might be a friendship, but I think Helena would only do it for personal gain.

[xombie]

Helena' father, Godric or Salazar?
i have never felt that any one of the founders could be linked to each other . or else there might have been some mention of it in the books (is there ???)
so i don't think godric or salazar could be helena's father

And why is her surname Ravenclaw?

maybe rowena married into the family , hence her surname remained ravenclaw.

or her husband could have died early (within a few weeks of marriage ), so she didn't find the need to change her last name .

helena could also have been illegitimate , which i think is highly unlikely .

EDIT: i have just thought of this , but isn't it possible that rowena was married to someone with the surname ravenclaw? after all, it is not mentioned that ravenclaw was rowena's maiden name in the books, is it?

Her relationship with Hufflepuff...
i agree with your take on their relationship maria . being the arrogant lady she is , she most probably pushed helga as far away from her life as she could .

but helga being an open minded person might not have taken it as a huge insult .

[Phoebe Gruzelieur]

I don't think Helena was illegitimate. In those days, having an illegitimate child was SERIOUS. People were often cast off for having children outside wedlock. It was considered sinful, disgusting etc. And the child would be bundled off to a nunnery as quickly as possible, not left to roam around freely stealing people's diadems.

And I personally don't think Rowena would be stupid enough and run away with herself like that.

[pokethedevil]

That's a very valid point.

But what about people who are rich? Belonging to high society and all...They have influence enough to hush these things up dont they? Even in those times...
And Rowena probably belonged to that class I think...

If the child was illegitimate, maybe Rowena was able to keep it quiet, after all , she was the cleverest witch of her time.

[Phoebe Gruzelieur]

People who were rich were famous in those days. She'd find it alot harder if she was constantly 'in the public eye' than if she was just a country bumpkin.

Saying that, I always got the impression Rowena was a country lassie. After all, she came from a fen, and most rich people lived in towns, didn't they?...

[pokethedevil]

Hmmmm...Rowena a country lass...?
This seems unlikely, especially if we presume that she was rich, like you said.
I just can't fit that image in my mind. But I've always thought of her as this elegant, smart, beautiful , rich lady. This might sound cliched but that's my opinion.
Do you have an idea of which time period we are talking about exactly?

[xombie]

i've pictured rowena as pretty rich and elegant too , but it may not be difficult to fit a country girl into the picture.

rowena was extremely brainy, one fact that we all know. so maybe, she needn't be wealthy to attain respect in the wizarding world at all.

i've been thinking about the period too, but other than ' long back ' and ' thousands ' of years ago, nothing seems to strike my mind .