AYANA SISSAY
arithmancy professor

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⒈BASICS

Name Ayana Sissay (አያና ሲሳይ), no nicknames or variations please.
Pronunciation guide: ah-YAH-nah (similar to 'Ariana', without the r) siss-AI (the ending rhymes with 'high')
Date of birth November 7th, 2060
Place of birth Gondar, Ethiopia
Current hometown London, England
Nationality Dual Ethiopian and British

Wand 12½'' springy Boswellia Sacra with runespoor scale core
Blood status Pureblood
Alma mater Addis Ababa WU, Uagadou School of Magic
Patronus African forest elephant
Boggart 0101010
Member of the international association of arithmancers, was keynote speaker at the 984th annual Arithmancy symposium (2096)

⒉BACKGROUND

FAMILY
__Father Fisha Sissay
__Mother Salamawit Sissay née Abebe
__Siblings Bayyelin, Tadese and Ejigayehu Sissay
__Life partner Grace Akasi Quaye
__Children Ife Quaye and Leul Sissay
__Pet an abyssinian owl named Ayibe

PRE-HOGWARTS HISTORY

Ayana attended Uagadou School of Magic as a child, and graduated with top marks across the board, especially in Arithmancy. Her love for numbers took her back to Addis Ababa where she completed her undergraduate degree in Advanced Arithmancy with a minor in Experimental Magic, and then to London for her Master's. She spent several years traveling and learning about Arithmancy at all corners of the world, and her research granted her a spot on the international association of arithmancers. Life began to settle down for her when she was offered an Arithamancy teaching post at her beloved Uagadou, which she eagerly took. She taught at the Mountains of the Moon for six years before moving to Hogwarts, to start another new and exciting chapter in her life.

Text Cut: once more with feeling

Ayana was born in the magical sector of Gondar to Fisha Sissay and his wife Salamawit, the youngest child. Her magic appeared late, much later than her parents had assumed, and the community had almost written her off as a squib, for she took much greater interest in muggle subjects such as science and maths than in magical learning. When she turned eleven, on a hot night in November, a dream messenger left a token in her hand and the Sissay's rejoiced. Ayana had been accepted to Uagadou.

Her years spent at the Mountains of the Moon formed the very person she is today. She bloomed at the school, meeting people from far and wide across the continent of Africa and discovering a love for magic in all its forms. By her sixth year Ayana knew what subject she wanted to pursue, more learning and knowledge about the fascinating, ancient, mystical world of Arithmancy. How the numbers, appearing so lifeless and random, could hold such power, such natural, intuitive magic.

Ayana spent four years in Addis Ababa studying Arithmancy, and another three in London. The discovery that Arithmancy is slightly different in every place, in every specialisation, fascinated her. She spent several more years traveling, becoming a member of the International Association of Arithmancers for her research and findings related to the field and its countless possible expansions.

In 2092, when Ayana was fresh off a study on the Arithmancy of Atlantis, Uagadou contacted her. One of their Arithmancy teachers was retiring, and they were looking to hire. Of course she jumped at the opportunity, being single at the time and full of information she couldn't wait to share with the world, she began her tenure as Arithmancy Professor in September. Teaching became an even bigger reward than researching, to see that light in a child's eye when his misconceptions about Arithmancy fall away, when the sheer awe of the subject makes itself known to students. She was in love. She'd discovered her calling.

Ayana had met Grace Quaye during a summer holiday to London a year later, while on a visit to her former colleagues at the university. At the time, Grace had been the wife of a Potions mistress, a woman Ayana knew in passing and did not care to know more. Their affair lasted the summer, but both were reluctant to let go when the school year began and Ayana had to return to Uagadou. Ayana's love life was reduced to coded letters and secret messages in fires until 2094, when Grace finally left her wife. Ayana moved in - as much as anyone can move in when away for months at a time - to Grace's flat in London and the two began their life together along with Grace's daughter, Ife. They brought a child into the world together in early 2097, Grace's second and Ayana's first, a baby boy named Leul.

The owl from Hogwarts had seemed as if destined by the numbers. Her and Grace had been talking about a change, and the request had arrived. For Ayana, it had been a no brainer. She loved Uagadou and always would, it was her home in more ways than one and she had been sad to leave it behind. But Ayana Sissay loved challenges, and Hogwarts was definitely the obvious next step in her life.

Besides, Ayana was curious to see if the stories were true. Hogwarts does have a very unique reputation after all.

HOGWARTS HISTORY

• 2098-2099 :: Ayana's first term teaching went about as well as she had initally expected. True to wizarding school fashion, an odd and quite terryfing mist began creeping across the school ground. Animals fled and the students and staff had been forced inside the castle in attempts to get as far away from it as possible. By spring, the school had needed to be evacuated and they had all moved into the nearby village of Hogsmeade.
  With all that said, it hadn't been the worst of years for Ayana herself. Her students all made excellent progress, some shining brightly in their end of year examinations despite the circumstances, and she'd made some new friends among the Hogwarts staff. She was sad to see a few of them go despite only knowing them for a year or so, but such is the way of life. Some things fall when their time is up; in her case, it's her partnership with Grace. Her reluctance to leave the castle by the end of term only highlighted to Ayana how little she cared for Grace in a way one is supposed to care for the mother of their children. By the end of the 2099 summer, they hadn't yet reached an official decision, and until Christmas rolled around it no longer mattered; it was school time again.
  look it's a line break
• 2099-2100 :: Beauxbatons! tbd.

⒊APPEARANCE AND PERSONALITY

Face claim Liya Kebede
Personality type ENFJ-A
Deeply connected to her roots, and seeing no reason to let them go, Ayana often wears traditional African robes and dresses. Lanky from birth, Ayana stands at 1.79m tall and a digestive condition keeps her almost unnaturally thin. Not to worry, your professor will not collapse during lessons. Regular potion intake suffices her needs. When teaching, Anaya always has her hair pulled back from her face and is dressed in practical, light robes. Her customary jewelry, large golden bands and gemstone earrings are sights one would see outside of the classroom. She is rarely seen without her metallic water bottle, either in her hand or in her robe pocket.

Ayana Sissay is often in a good mood, an optimist by nature and enthusiastic about her life. Her career brings her joy, and teaching is an added bonus she is grateful for every day. (She is less grateful for uninspired homework assignments and students who wrongfully assume her intelligence is equivalent to a snidget's.) Her goal is to stir up enthusiasm in students who would rather be anywhere else than Arithmancy class. Generally in life, Ayana often attempts to infect others with her enthusiasm for life itself. How marvelous are trees? How wondrous is the night sky? The elegance of a simple yet accurate shrinking solution, or the grandness of corporeal patronus.

Her love of travel keeps her well informed on worldly affairs, which she appreciates and will miss during her months at school. Ayana has a dozen newspaper and academic magazine subscriptions and two trashy papers from back home that she cannot resist. When upset, she becomes very quiet and closed off, preferring to keep her bad mood to herself until it blows over. A great many things can upset Ayana Sissay, but she chooses to let only a few get to her. Rarely does her bad mood affect interactions with her students, as she is professional above all else.