Harper Beckett

: "Mrs. Swift mostly lectured us about not being hussies and not letting boys kiss us. But we're not supposed to hit them if they do, either." Harper rolled her eyes at that; it always seemed to her that it was best to deal with a problem yourself if you could. — Intacto
Harper is the middle child of Duncan and Emilia Hatchitt. She was in Gryffindor at Hogwarts, but dropped out of school less than two months before her NEWTs in order to take a job as the personal assistant to the sponsor of Puddlemere United. Eventually she was hired away from him to take the same position for the sponsor her favorite team, the Holyhead Harpies; however, after a few months she quits that job in favor of returning to Thom's employ. She is something of a workaholic and focuses almost entirely on her job.
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Duncan Hatchitt and Emilia Rookwood eloped after discovering that Emilia was carrying a child. Their second child, Harper Haven Hatchitt, was born in December just nine days before Duncan's brother was presented with twins. The three children — Harper, Constance, and Jesse — were brought together frequently as a result of their close age. When Harper was seventeen months old, her parents had a third and final child and named her Judith Rose.
By the time Harper was three, her parents were frequently gone on business. The children would be left with Duncan's brother Rufus and his family, and Harper and Connie grew quite close. The older the children got the less frequently Duncan and Emilia came home.
===Hogwarts===
Test Results 	
Test Results
OWLs 	OWLs
Arithmancy 	O
Astronomy 	A
CoMC 	A
Charms 	O
DADA 	O
Herbology 	A
History of Magic	O
Potions 	E
Transfiguration 	E
Harper began her Hogwarts education in the same year as Connie and Jesse. She and Constance were both sorted into Gryffindor; Jesse went into Ravenclaw.
While Harper seriously enjoyed quidditch and had even entertained fantasies as a child of playing for the Holyhead Harpies one day, she did not try out for her school team as she was aware on some level that quidditch was not considered to be a truly ladylike pastime.
Her school career was relatively unremarkable. Her grades were good, but not amazing, and she was not chosen as prefect. She supposed that after school she would either secure a job as a secretary or find a husband.
In her fifth year, Harper met a boy named Harrison who was a year below her in Slytherin. The two quickly became friends and after just over a month the two shared her first kiss. The two continued to have a secret relationship from that point on.
In the summer before her seventh year, Harper's cousin Gabe is married. At the event Harper's parents announced to their children that they were not going to be returning home anymore; instead, they were going to focus completely on their trade in the Orient and leave Harper and Judy in the care of their now twenty year old brother, Noah. Harper, who had previously done all she could to excuse her parents' absences, found that the news made her bitter towards her parents and (irrationally, she knew) her cousin's new bride.
One week later, Harry told Harper he was officially courting a lower class girl in his year and named Nora Sheehan. They continued to see each other for months, although things were strained; Harry finally broke things off in January when they managed to get locked in the Potions classroom together. Harper, who has no concept that you can fall in love with more than one person in a lifetime, is devastated.
Harper attempts to deal with her grief over her broken relationship in a variety of ways, including a brief experiment with drink. On March 10, 1883 Harper applied for a job as the personal assistant to the sponsor of Puddlemere United, her second favorite quidditch team. Upon getting the job she drops out of Hogwarts without gaining her NEWTs and attempts to start her life over without the memories of her relationship with Harry.
===Career===
After leaving Hogwarts, Harper attempted to appease her cousin Connie's hurt feelings about her leaving school by moving into Constance's home in Wellingtonshire (which had been left to her cousin by her cousin's deceased fiance). Two days after beginning her career as a personal assistant (which paid enough for her to support herself entirely), Harper traveled with her employer and a friend to South America for a week. She dove happily into her job and found that it was a perfect fit for her. She thrived in a way that she never had in school.
In April, Harry's sister was believed to be dead and he showed up at her door. The pair resumed their relationship with a spontaneous trip to Paris, which they had spoken of visiting previously. Harry hugged Harper and apparated them to France when she declined to go, and the pair wound up spending most of the day in Paris. Harper took the opportunity to get a little work done and see one of her employer's French contacts, and then the two almost consummated their relationship before Harry told Harper to go home. They saw each other again in late May, and Harry told Harper he loved her. Shortly afterwards, Harper moved to Irvingly and back in with her brother Noah.
Harper and Harry did not see each other again until mid-August, and while the physical part of their relationship fit as well as ever Harper decided afterwards that she had no real choice but to force herself to move on — even if she did not think she had any chance of finding love again.
On November 11, 1883 Harper was hired away from her employer by the sponsor of the Holyhead Harpies. He promised her the same sorts of bonuses that she was already receiving, as well as a 10 sickle a week raise. Harper was excited to be working with the Holyhead Harpies.
In February of 1884, Harper's cousin Connie left her position as second string seeker on the Holyhead Harpies, sold her house, and moved out of the country without a word to her family.
Early in April of the same year, Harper ran into Mr. Brendan Beckett at Beautiful Beast Bouitique and the two began talking. This was the first time they had seen each other as adults instead of as professor and student, and the pair were immediately attracted to each other. The two exchanged letters and managed to meet up on one occasion (chaperoned by Harper's aunt Beatrice Hatchitt) and on June 4, 1884 Mr. Beckett asked Noah for permission to court Harper. On November 10, Brendan proposed and Harper accepted.
Also on November 10, Harper returned to the employ of Thom Pettigrew, although before she knew Mr. Beckett was going to propose that day.
==Personality==
Harper is a jaded workaholic. She has a lot of misconceptions about life, many of which are a result of the fact that her parents set a rather skewed example for her. For one, Harper believes love is a once in a lifetime thing, and that once you have fallen in love you cannot ever fall in love again. She is well suited to her job as a very involved personal assistant, and she spends the majority of her time working. She is certain she will become an old maid.
She is also very direct and to the point. Sometimes this leads Harper to violence, as she doesn't believe in putting off what can be solved immediately ... even if her solution involves a fist, or doesn't work particularly well.
==Notable Relationships==
===Duncan & Emilia Hatchitt===
Harper's parents have a good relationship with each other, but not so much with their children. Duncan is a merchant and opperates primarily in the Orient. He loves Emilia dearly, but never really wanted children. Of course, he married Emilia in part because he had gotten the upper class pureblood with child, but that doesn't really factor into much. While Harper was always hard on her father for being gone all the time, she was more forgiving of her mother ... at least until the pair decided that they weren't going to come back even the few times a year they had previously. Harper is incredibly angry and bitter towards her parents, and has gone so far as to primarily call them "Duncan and Emilia" rather than her mother and father.
===Beatrice Hatchitt===
Harper's Aunt Bea is a mother figure to her, one who she loves and respects but does not always listen to. Aunt Bea is the one that Harper goes to both for advice and to chaperon her.
===Noah Hatchitt===
Noah is a Healer and only three years older than Harper. She can be hard on him, definitely harder than he deserves, but recently has come to be much more relaxed in her attitudes towards him. He married a muggle girl younger than Harper in February of 1883, quite by accident — they drank Amortentia tainted tea and eloped. Tuesday, a muggle, is uncomfortable around magic and Harper mostly leaves her alone. The pair have a daughter named Helen Amoirtentia Hatchitt; Tuesday tend to call her Tea.
===Judy Hatchitt===
In many ways, Harper's relationship with her younger sister Judith has always been strained. Judy was jealous of how close Harper and Connie were, and Harper didn't prioritize Judy the way that she should. Recently, Harper has begun to make efforts to get closer to her younger sister.
===Constance Hatchitt===
While growing up Harper and Connie were closer than even Harer and her sister Judy, they are currently estranged. Things with Connie fell apart when Connie herself started to fall apart. Things happened slowly and Harper tried to preserve their closeness, but Connie's bitterness, anger, and tendency to overreact made it hard. Eventually Connie left the country, and Harper can't help but think that's better for everyone.
===Harrison Primpernelle===
Ship name: Primpitt. Things with Harry were never anything but bumpy. Harrison and Harper had great deal of chemistry and made great friends, but when it came down to it their relationship was doomed from the start. She was older than him, and the secret nature of their relationship meant that it never seemed completely serious to Harry. As much as Harper loved Harry, and he cared for her, there was simply no way for it to work out.
===Brendan Beckett===
Ship name: Bender. Harper and Brendan met for adults for the first time on April 8, 1884 in Beautiful Beast Boutique in Hogsmeade when they were both buying owl treats. They were immediately attracted to each other, and exchanged letters and even managed to meet to talk on one occasion. On June 4, 1884 Brendan asked Noah for permission to court Harper, permission which was immediately granted. On November 10 of the same year, Brendan proposed in Padmore Park, and Harper gladly accepted. The pair married on June 10, 1885.
==Pets==
===Winchester===
Winchester, or "Ches", is a Northern Saw-whet Owl that was hatched in February of 1882. Noah gave him to Harper for Christmas that same year; it was the first Christmas after Duncan and Emilia had announced that they were not returning home, but not the first Christmas that the Hatchitt children had spent without their parents.
Ches is small, at just over seven inches in length with a seventeen and a half inch wingspan. He is calm and patient, and very willing to carry anything for Harper, but he will refuse to move if something is legitimately too heavy for his small size.
===Kirk===
Harper purchased Kirk as a puppy about one week before the first game of the Quidditch World Cup in 1883. He is a shisa and is friendly but highly protective of Harper. His coat is brindle, a bright red-orange coat with faint black stripes.
=== Matilda ===
While in Chile on a business trip in April of 1885, Harper gained another pet in the form of a female humboldt penguin that she named Matilda. Her pet penguin was two at the time she obtained her, and stands around two feet in height.
Category:Characters