Marina von Marburg

## Marina Lilibet Bicondova (née von Marburg)

**Marina Lilibet Bicondova** (née **von Marburg**) (b. 21 May) is an exceptionally intelligent British half-blood witch, philosopher, and alchemist, born to the Von Marburg family, making her a direct descendant of the House of Thorn. Marina is also a known half-breed of Mermaid and human. She is the illegitimate daughter of Phoebe von Marburg, a half-blood witch, and John Mather, a muggle. She is the wife of Filip Bicondova, a noble Danish half-blood wizard, and the mother of Adam, a famous artist.

Like her mother, Marina attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardy and was undoubtedly sorted into the Ravenclaw house, having shown bright and creative talent since infancy. Traditionally keeping herself to herself, Marina was known for her sarcastic personality, dark humour and intellectual narcissism. Despite being in the same year group as her cousins, Maisie Thorn and Grace Antebellum, Marina did not develop relationships with them until her fourth year at Hogwarts. She was renown for her magical aptitude, studious abilities and penchant for potions, alchemy, astronomy and arithmancy. Marina undeniably left Hogwarts with a magnificent achievement of nine 'Outstandings' in her N.E.W.T exams, going on to eventually study the art of Alchemy at the Durmstrang Institute in northern Europe.

On par with Marina's expertise in various complex fields of magic in which she has claimed to have mastered each branch, Marina is also an accomplished philosopher of both the magical and muggle worlds, theorising the existence of such beings within the world and is noted to have written many academic journals on the topics. In addition, Marina is also a half-breed of Mermaid and human, making her a furthermore redoubtable force to be reckoned with.

## Magical abilities and skills

"*My magic can do a great many things.*"
— Marina to Ivory
Marina is a very powerful and accomplished witch. Rich in learning and experience, testaments to Marina's considerable abilities are in her proficiency in alchemy, arithmancy, astronomy and potions, some of the most complex fields of magical study. A well-rounded and fully capable magical genius, Marina also possesses an increasingly expedient intellectual ability, showing great logistical and methodical thinking that helped her to achieve success as an academic at a young age.

* **Intellectual genius**:
* **Alchemy**: Having always been highly gifted in the ancient magical science art of Alchemy since her youth, Marina became recognised as one of Europe's greatest alchemists by the time she had reached early adulthood, alongside names alike Albus Dumbledore and the great Nicolas Flamel. Her expertise in the field allowed her to achieve an 'Outstanding' grade in her N.E.W.T exam and propelled her into a career as the Professor of Alchemy at the Durmstrang Institute. She is renown for her use of variations of magical animal blood, and her study of Unicorn's blood, hoping to one day dismantle the properties from the legendary curse that burdens it.
* **Non-verbal** and **wandless magic**:
* **Philosophy**:
* **Potions**:
* **Magical chemistry**: Marina also has a great deal of knowledge on magical substances, particularly rare substances such as Dragon's blood. Though she became known for her study of the properties of Unicorn blood. In addition to magical chemistry, Marina also has an excellent grasp of the periodic table and became infamous for intertwining magical and non-magical science.
* **Arithmancy**:
* **Multilingualism**: Marina, like much of her family, is a fully capable multilinguist and is fluent in several languages, including English, German, Danish, Bulgarian and Polish. She is also fluent in foreign magical languages, such as Mermish and Gobbledegook. She is also familiar with French and Italian, though never mastered fluency in either.
	+ **Sign language**: In respect of her friend, Ivory Cauldwell, Marina learnt the modality of British sign language in order to effectively communicate, having an existing penchant for languages.
* **Apparition**:
* **Charms**:
* **Transfiguration**:
* **History of Magic**:
* **Astronomy**:
* **Study of Ancient Runes**:
* **Teaching skills**:
* **Logical thinking**:
* **Ancient studies**:
* **Ghoul studies**:

### Mermaid abilities

* **Amphibious transformation**: Marina is capable of taking on an ordinary human appearance through a quick metamorphosis that allows her to visit land for varying amounts of time. During this process, Marina sheds the membrane of her tail and will decrease in length. She will undergo this metamorphosis again when returning to waters of a natural geographical origin.
* **Aquatic habitation**: Marina is able to survive and adapt to any underwater environment she encounters due to her complex internal structure, including high water pressures and extreme water temperatures. This allows Marina to habituate in some of the deepest zones of the ocean, between the mesopelagic and bathypelagic zones which range between depths of 200 and 4,000 metres below the surface.
	+ **Terrestrial habitation**: Marina is also capable of surviving and adapting to terrestrial environments on land. Being of a half-breed nature, Marina is able to remain at land or sea for as long as she desires, due to her natural biology and physiology being catered to suit both habitats.

* **Enhanced strength**: Marina is noticeably physically much stronger than humans, and many other creatures, as mermaids are considered one of, if not the most physically powerful aquatic humanoid inhabitant, which is in part due to the bones and tissues of a mermaid being incredibly dense.
* **Enhanced speed**: In water, Marina's powerful and streamlined tail allows her to propel through the roughest waters with incredible speed, grace, and agility with minimal restrictions to water resistance. Mermaids are noted as being five times faster than a sailfish, the fastest animal in the water.
* **Enhanced agility**: Mermaids are naturally agile creatures, due to their long tails that allow them great moves of flexibility and speed within the water.
* **Enhanced senses**: Similar to other aquatic mammals such as sea lions, whales and dolphins, mermaids have superior enhanced senses to that of average beings, such as their ability to hear sounds far off the ultrasonic frequency. Mermaids also have enhanced sensory systems comparable to sharks, including smell, hearing and sight. Below the water, Marina can hear sounds with frequencies ranging from 10 hertz to 150,000 hertz, frequencies that exceed audibility for humans on both ends of the scale. She is also able to see clearly in the darkest of waters, due to the tapetum lucidum that is located behind the retina. This allows Marina to see far more clearly in dim light than that of a human.
* **Underwater protection**: An ability popular in nautical folklore, Marina can also grant a gift of temporary underwater protection onto a human by kissing them. For the duration they remain under the water, they can breathe as they do on land, though they are not immune to the dangers of the sea, such as water pressure and temperatures. When they return to the surface, the enchantment breaks.

## Etymology

The name **Marina** is notably, the feminine form of Marino, a name derived from the Latin Marinus, which is a mariner, a *man of the sea*.

Her middle name, **Lilibet**, is an uncommon name of English and British origin. The meaning is a blend of the lily flower, meaning *innocence*, *purity* and *beauty*. It is considered a form of the name Elizabeth, meaning *my God is bountiful.*

The surname **von Marburg** is a name of German origin. Von, in German, is a proposition that means *of* (*belonging to*) or *from*, that was used as an indicator of nobility and status. Marburg, a German town, then provides the definition for the surname **von Marburg** as *from Marburg*.

## Notes

* During her Hogwarts years, Marina studied the mandatory subjects necessary for O.W.L.s, as well as an optional two of Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Runes. For her N.E.W.T exams, she studied a total of nine subjects, including Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Alchemy, Arithmancy and Study of Ancient Runes.
* In her fourth, fifth and sixth year, Marina also attended an extra-curricular of Ancient Studies and Ghoul Studies. Due to her extensive amount of N.E.W.T.s, she revoked her participation for her final year.