Drizelda Raven

Appearance

Birdie is a short and slight woman whose age is impossible to determine based on appearances alone. She has bright grey eyes and long white hair which hangs in elegant curls around her shoulders. She likes to wear colorful and loosely fitted clothing such as blouses, dresses, and skirts, but has been spotted wearing overalls and jeans when working in the garden behind the Raven Mansion. Birdie is unimposing most of the time, unless her family is in danger. In that case, she can become quite terrifying.

Personality

Birdie is an extremely friendly woman. She loves her family more than anything else in the world, and only ever wishes for the happiness of her family members. She is always excited when her family grows, and considers any close friend to be a part of the Raven Clan. This includes Viktor, Caspian Puno, Alice Crypt, and the Raven Mansion itself. Birdie is fiercely loyal to her friends and family, and she considers it to be her duty to keep them all safe. Because of this, she tends to keep secrets from her younger family members to spare them any pain, and she often blames herself when someone gets hurt. Losing Camila was the most painful event of her life, and having to keep her distance from her grandchildren was incredibly difficult.
Birdie is a talented Witch. She has spent her life studying Anthropology and Agriculture Magic, making her a skilled Traveler and a specialist in growing herbs and plants. She spends most of her time in her tower study where she tutors her grandchildren, but she always takes Sundays off to spend them at the farmers market with Omar. While Birdie loves cooking and enjoying pleasant conversation with her loved ones, she cannot stand technology. She believes that it is wholly unnecessary and erects walls between people. However, she has made minor efforts to understand her grandchildren. She enjoys listening to the music they like, and has even watched a select number of Sam's favorite movies and TV shows.

Family & Friends

Birdie is quite skilled at making new friends. Throughout her life, she has met and befriended plenty of people. She has also encountered a number of people she did not like.
Tom and Birdie first met as teenagers. While Birdie had been born and raised in the town, Tom did not move to Midnight until he was thirteen and his mother decided that it was time for them to move away from the hustle and bustle of San Francisco. She enrolled him in the local high school where he learned to master Shifting as well as his limited Witch powers. This was where Birdie and Tom met and became best friends. She was a wild and unruly child with hair like fire, and he was a timid young man who had eyes for no one else. The pair quickly fell in love. In 1934, Birdie took her beau camping. They talked about the past and the future as they admired the stars shining brightly above them. Birdie proposed to Tom later that night. She'd baked him his favorite cupcake and had placed his future wedding band in the frosting. Their wedding was intimate and beautiful. Téa officiated the ceremony in the early spring of 1935 and Tom took Birdie's last name. Nearly thirty years later, the Ravens welcomed their first child into the world. Three years later, Omar joined the family. Birdie and Tom were thrilled to finally have the family they always wanted.
Birdie met Galatéa as a young woman when she and Tom were traveling the world. Tom's mother had passed on several years earlier, and recently, Birdie's parents had followed. Although Birdie had never been all that close with either of her parents, she found herself lost without their guidance. When she encountered Téa at a rowdy pub in Paris, it was friendship at first drink. The trio got to talking and after several rounds of drinks, Birdie built up the nerve to ask if Téa might want to tutor her in the ways of Magic. She believed that her education at Midnight High School had been inadequate. Téa happily agreed. She had been looking for a place to settle down and was more than happy to give Midnight a chance. For many years, Téa taught Birdie everything she knew about Magic. Then, when Camila and Omar entered the picture, Téa was more than happy to tutor the children while Birdie and Tom focused on their gardening and potion making efforts. Before long, however, Téa decided that it was time to move on. Although the two women had to say goodbye, they remained good friends throughout their lives.
For eighteen glorious years, Camila and Omar were Birdie's pride and joy. She was immensely proud of her two children, despite their constant bickering and usual teenage mischief. Perhaps it was her limitless love for her children which prevented Birdie from spotting the red flags when they began to appear. She watched as Camila became good friends with a new boy in town, and although she was far from thrilled when a young DeVaughn boy joined their friend group, Birdie believed that it was none of her business whom her daughter chose to befriend. But then Camila began to ask strange questions. She asked her mother how they could be certain that the Three were real. Why Witches had to go through a Dedication Ceremony when the other Magics did not. Birdie watched as her daughter began to lose faith in their way of life, and when Camila went through her Ceremony, Birdie was not entirely certain that she would survive. Camila did survive. But a few days later, she disappeared. What followed were the worst years of Birdie's life. She and Tom were told that their daughter was dead, learned that this was not true, tried and failed to contact their daughter, and finally accepted that Camila did not want anything to do with them. They learned about their grandchildren through a postcard sent in the mail. Then, they learned that Camila had died in a car crash, leaving her mortal husband and their three children behind.
Despite, or perhaps because of the drama surrounding Camila, Omar and Birdie have always had a good relationship. They are honest and kind with one another, neither wishing to cause the other more pain. As they grew older, the two became good friends. When Omar left to travel the world, he sent his parents many letters from the road. Birdie cast a location spell each night to see where he was, and to make sure that her son was still alive. Omar was gone for nearly five years. He became an accomplished Witch and made many friends. When he finally returned, he sat down with Birdie, Tom and Viktor to exchange stories. It was a good time. Then, Sam arrived. No one knew quite what to make of this bizarre appearance. No one knew that Witches and Mermaids could have a child together, and with Omar's insistence that things had remained strictly platonic between him and the child's mother, the Ravens had no choice but to perform a paternity test. Of course, Birdie knew the truth before she ever laid eyes on the test results. She could see her son in the face of this small, blue-haired child.
For most of her life, Birdie did not believe that she could love anyone the way she loved her children. Then, Sam arrived and Birdie found that her capacity for love had multiplied. Having a child in the house once more was a blessing none of them had known they needed. Birdie watched as this little child grew into a proper person, learning to deal with the many challenges life threw at them. She tried her best to shield Sam from the small-minded folks in Midnight, but she could only do so much. When it came time for Sam to begin their schooling, Birdie begged her son to be allowed to teach them. But Omar believed that socializing was too important to miss out on. When Sam returned home from school one day with a crudely drawn fish on their forehead, Omar finally relented. From then on, Birdie took Sam under her wing and taught them everything she knew.
The arrival of Izzy turned the entire Raven household on its head. It was chaotic and confusing, but in a good way. For so long, Birdie had dreamed of meeting her estranged grandchildren. She had tried and failed to get Lukas to Midnight in time for his Ceremony, and she was determined not to do the same with Izzy. She recruited Viktor to help her and, together, they managed to manipulate the situation so that Izzy finally arrived in Midnight. Inevitably, her siblings followed. Their questions about their mother were impossible to answer, but that did not matter so much. Birdie was just thrilled to see her family come together at long last. Lukas was well on his way to becoming a kind and loving man; Izzy was bold and brave; Carmen was sharp as a tick. Birdie loved them all immensely. Despite their absent parents, these children were quite extraordinary. And now that they had entered her life, Birdie refused to see them leave. Even when the kids returned to their father in New York, Birdie exchanged emails with Carmen and made sure that she was doing okay. She offered Lukas a permanent place in the Raven Mansion so that he would not have to continue living in his crappy apartment. He declined her offer, wishing to stay close to Carmen. Birdie admired his love for his sisters, even when the truth came out about Carmen. Of course, this specific truth did not change anything in the eyes of the Ravens. Carmen was, and would remain, their family.
While Birdie had plenty of friends in Midnight, she also had her fair share of enemies. Her least favorite person by far was Deacon Miles DeVaughn. She and Miles had grown up together, attending classes at the local high school. Their families already did not like one another, but this family feud only grew with the latest generation. Despite their differing focuses, Birdie and Miles were rivals in all matters. They argued and fought frequently, and as they got older and Miles sought more power and influence, this did not change. When Miles was elected to the position of Deacon, however, Birdie learned the hard way that you cannot go around and smack talk the Deacon without consequences. Begrudgingly, Birdie listened to the advice of her husband and opted to keep her distance from the entire DeVaughn clan. She met some of their children in town and found that they were quite as despicable as their father. When Camila befriended young Benji, Birdie fought hard to keep her tongue in check. She believed that perhaps Camila could be a good influence on the child. However, when the children left and the truth subsequently came out about their falsified deaths, the Raven-DeVaughn feud grew to massive proportions. Miles blamed Birdie, and Birdie blamed Miles' inadequate response as the Deacon of their coven. She tried to warn her grandchildren to stay away from the DeVaughns but, of course, this only worked if the DeVaughn children kept their distance too. They did not.
The Raven Mansion is as much part of the family as anyone else. It is Birdie's oldest friend. It is her family home, and it is the place where she raised her children and met her grandchildren. She loves it dearly and takes good care of, decorating it with pictures and plants and keeping it tidy. In return, the Mansion takes care of the Ravens. It keeps them safe, provides them with whatever they need, and occasionally helps out with the decorating of its interior. No one quite understands what the Raven Mansion is, Birdie included, but this does not matter so much. It is alive, and it is one of them. That is enough.

Drizelda "Birdie" Raven

• Species: Witch
• Pronouns: she/her
• *Age: 125
• Birthday: June 28
• Eye color: Grey
• Height: 5'2
• Hair: White and curly
• Zodiac sign: Cancer
• Religious affiliations: Magic

Allies

• The Raven Clan
• The Kingsley Family
• Galatéa of Atlantis
• Fen and Don (Midnight residents)
• The Royal Family of Far Meadows
• The Midnight Coven
• The East Side Coven

Enemies

• Deacon Miles DeVaughn
• Fairies

Family

• Thomas Raven (husband)
• Camila Kingsley (daughter)
• Omar Raven (son)
• Lukas Kingsley (grandson)
• Samwise Raven (grandchild)
• Isabella Raven (granddaughter)
• Carmen Kingsley (granddaughter)
• King Harold (son-in-law)
• Clemont Kingsley (son-in-law)
• Viktor
• The Raven Mansion
• Gwendolyn Raven (mother, deceased)
• Wes Raven (father, deceased)

* Age at the beginning of Witch In Progress