InsaneJournal

The story of Stephen Cornfoot IV starts with his parents, his father Stephen Cornfoot III was a Ravenclaw alumni and seemingly born to be a healer. He would get so busy with his work that he would forget about his own life for long periods of time, until one day he realized that he was 46 and unwed. Emilie Ackhart was a Beauxbaton alumni who came from affluent French family, she studied healing in France before transferring to st. Mungo’s at age 22. The young girl met Stephen Cornfoot III and considered herself in love, both bloodlines being pure they got no hassle from either family.

Stephen Matthew Cornfoot IV was born to the unlikely pair 2 May, 1980. Stephen Sr. told his wife that she should not expect to return to work because she must raise their son. Emilie was less than happy about this but she knew well enough not to argue with him. It was in those months that Emilie realized that she had entered a marriage formed more for convenience then love. So, Emilie stayed at home while her husband took on extra hours at work, if for nothing else than to avoid the family he never wanted. Emilie did her best around the house and raising her son, most of her companionship came in the form of the family house elf, Wendy.

As baby Stephen grew up it was obvious that he had a curious streak. When he was able to walk, Wendy and Emilie had to watch him at seemingly all hours of the day. He loved to explore, learn, touch, he was always getting into something. As Emilie began to teach him, she realized that he was a fast learner and simply <i>knew</i> that he would be in Ravenclaw. Emilie did the best she could for her son. When he turned six, Emilie found herself pregnant again and so for a while Stephen spent more time under the car of Wendy than his mother. It was at that time that he seemed to seek the most attention. He would draw things and write things to show his father in hopes that his father would give him the reassurance that he needed (not that he knew he was doing it at the time, after all he was only six), still Stephen Sr. ignored his son.

Then came the birth of the first daughter in the family, Ashlyn. Stephen had gotten used to his books and his learning by that point in time and didn’t mind that the new baby was getting all of his mums attention. If that were one thing that Stephen had taken from the multiple experiences with his father was that you didn’t need to be acknowledged all the time to be good. The years passed by fine and eventually his younger sister grew on him.

Stephen was nine years old when his mother was pregnant for the third time. He was excited, there would be another baby for Ashlyn to play with while he was at school learning all sorts of cool things. Unfortunately, there were many complications with the birth and Emilie Michelle Ackhart-Cornfoot did not make it through. However, the new born, then dubbed Janelle Emilie Cornfoot, did. Despite what one would think, the two older siblings did not blame their younger sibling at all but instead carried for her like their mother would have wanted them to. Their father hired a nanny of sorts to take care of them.

The next year, Stephen started school. These years are a blur to him now, everyday seeming just like the next. Stephen palled around with his classmates and various kids throughout the school, but he mostly tried to stay out of trouble and always did his work. While he wasn’t exactly a stick in the mud he was always extremely practical, though his better friends could talk him into doing whatever they wanted. In school, Stephen found a great interest in the arts, especially writing. The more he got into the subject he found a practical way to join his love for the written word with his love for hard facts: Journalism.

Seventh year was by far the hardest year for Stephen, not because the teachers messed with him, they didn’t. His seventh year is when his father shared his Death Eater status with him, it was the year that people were getting hurt just walking in the halls, it was the year that all of his friends were joining the DA. It was the only time since the death of his mother that he ever truly felt lost. He didn’t know which way to go, so he didn’t go anyway. He stayed perfectly still and was completely miserable the whole time. Still, he had an image he had to maintain and in a sick way he was still trying to earn a sense of pride or some kind of respect from his dad. That never came and for two years after his graduation, he managed to dance around his father’s questions of loyalty.

After graduation, Stephen followed his dream and got a job working for the Daily Prophet, figuring that the war would end soon and then the journalism could go back to the level of integrity it had always had (in his head he was painting the Order the winner). He found after years that it hadn’t, but he didn’t want to leave what he was doing though he knew it was wrong. Money was money and it would look bad if he left now, wouldn’t it?

It was late in 2000 that Stephen went home to his flat to the news that his father had died. He had been told that his father had accompanied a group of Aurors who were apprehending a muggleborn criminal in a muggle area of Brighton near were Cornfoot manor was. He had gone along of course incase one of the trained fighters got injured and needed immediate medical attention. Through his years working at the Prophet, he knew this meant that his father was involved in a muggle killing spree that back fired.

Stephen moved from his flat to the manor he grew up in, now he was responsible for not only his life but the well being of 16 year old Ashlyn and 13 year old Janelle, which meant that even if he wanted to he couldn’t do something radical. So, he stayed at his reporter job lying to the public. So, he put on his best neutral face in public. So, he acknowledged all the rules that Voldemort set for people of his status.

But he couldn’t silence the guilt in his head, some of his best friends in school had been muggleborn and blood traitors and all sorts of things because his mum didn’t have the same prejudices that his dad seemed so deeply seeded in. So, he began to take in those on the run, keeping them in the back few rooms of the decent sized manor.

Journal Sample (two paragraphs minimum):

I found this book on the bottom of a rather large stack of books in my library. I thought I would, well, I’m not entirely certain what I thought I would do in this instance. There aren’t too many people that I do not keep in contact with, but wish to. I suppose that is why I am writing in this now, obviously it’s not because I need to writing exercise, I’m a journalist after all.