#homenumcharacter

[moaningmaddy]

Self-made, ~ 7inches,  Centaur-hair core, unknown wood

Age 11

Coming from a poor family who didn’t even fully believe Maddy was a Witch at first, they had no interest in spending a lot of money on a wand. Not only did they not really understand the importance of a wand -- knowing wands only from children birthday party wizards -- but they also had no means to pay for a new one, even if they had wanted to. So Maddy got a second hand wand from Ollivander’s. It was made of Blackthorn and combusted in Maddy’s first year. Just. Set itself on fire.

Age 12

Maddy was lent one from a friend in school. “I’ll just ask my family if they have any left-over wands, don’t worry! You can give it back to me once you can afford your own!” The wand didn’t suit Maddy but she made do, grateful to even have one at all. With each year that passed, the wand became less stubborn and in Maddy’s fifth year at Hogwarts, the two had almost become friends. Only that that was also the year she started to play Quidditch... During her third match, she was knocked out by a bludger, waking up in the hospital with a broken leg to her south and a broken wand to her north.

Age 16

At this point, Maddy had already made some money with her little trinkets shop, and decided to finally buy herself a real wand. She was terribly proud of it. Not too long, not too bendy, of a handsome dark wood -- it was stolen three weeks into her new term. She blamed herself for having bragged about it (really, she hadn’t bragged, only told people joyfully about her investment) and never accused anyone of the crime. In a way, she understood why they had done it, after all...

The school lent her another wand, and much like the school broom which she flew for Quidditch, it was useful only for the bare minimum. It was neither very fast nor very powerful not very eager to help Maddy with her trinkets, but Maddy made do, as she always did. She passed her NEWTs with it, and while her grades were anything but bad, deep down she wondered if perhaps she could’ve gotten even better results had she had a wand made for her.

Age 18

Right after graduating Hogwarts and right before leaving with the train for the last time, she went into the Forbidden Forest and approached the colony of centaurs. Her bow was deep, her demeanor eager and apologetic, and her language so profusely respectful that the centaurs let her come closer, join her for tea. It was around a fire that Maddy explained that she needed a wand that was hers. Really hers. That she finally wanted to fit in, but that she needed to fit in her own way, and that for this, she wanted to ask if perhaps one of them could grant her a hair. The centaur laughed: “From my head or tail?” And because Maddy blushed so terribly, the centaur gave her two of each, wishing her luck with her endeavours. 

Maddy needed two attempts and by the third she didn’t know which hair it was that she ended up using -- but the endeavours were successful indeed, and that was what mattered. She had placed the hair into a wooden pencil, weaving it around the lead inside, then locked the pencil close again and sealing everything securely with wand-awakening spells. To her biggest surprise, it worked, and it’s the wand she’s been using ever since. 

The wand is young and eager to learn, clearly confused by having been brought to life, and grateful for Maddy having done so, thus rather willing to please her. Used by others, the wand does a lot of nonsense, even on the most simple spells, but for Maddy it works well. However, it’s not particularly powerful (yet), and honestly, she could probably need one more suited for her strength, to really unfold and discover her potential. But let’s be honest, until a month ago she never thought she’d even need a powerful wand, and so she never, not once, complained. 

[dearborncaradoc]

HEIGHT - Jedi Master Mace Windu

Caradoc is 1,88 meters (6′ 2′′) tall. Despite his height, he never hunches with his back and instead stands perfectly straight which makes him tower over everyone. 

Author’s Note: Caradoc is taller than Jordan Calloway, but same sexiness of the back.

[lutraverselemonde]

Agatha Coraline Lorraine:  30cm. Siren-hair core. Elm wood. Rather bendy.

Agatha Coraline Lorraine

is Beauxbaton’s own wandmaker. She provides every new student (at the age of 10) with their own wand for free once they pass their entry exam. Testing their creativity, strength, endurance and motivation, she determines the best wood, length and core. You can buy a new one at any time, though they’re rather pricey and take a while to be made -- as each new wand is hand-crafted for you. It’s not uncommon that students upon graduating buy a new wand, or get bought one by their parents as a gift. She also tends to broken wands and generally helps adjusting students’ hands to their grip over the years. Lu, being the valedictorian of their year, was offered a new wand for free as a prize, but Lu declined. After all, it was this wand that had gotten them so far.

Siren-hair core

is not an unusual core in France. The rivers that cross the country are famous for being inhabited by sailor-luring sirens. They’re known for being both of great dignity and beauty as well as being fiercely ambitious. Wand-owners with that core are usually known to be similar. 

Elm Wood

“The unfounded belief that only pure-bloods can produce magic from elm wands was undoubtedly started by some elm wand owner seeking to prove his own blood credentials, for I have known perfect matches of elm wands who are Muggle-borns. The truth is that elm wands prefer owners with presence, magical dexterity and a certain native dignity. Of all wand woods, elm, in my experience, produces the fewest accidents, the least foolish errors, and the most elegant charms and spells; these are sophisticated wands, capable of highly advanced magic in the right hands (which, again, makes it highly desirable to those who espouse the pure-blood philosophy).” says Ollivander, and Lorraine would probably agree. 

Rather bendy.

This came to a surprise to most people who met Lu during their years at Beauxbaton. Lu was so fixed and stubborn on their goals, unbending and unwilling to give anything up to reach them, starting fights wherever it was needed, and refusing to ever sand down their edges, that they were quite famous for being unapproachable. There was no point in discussing things with Lu, or starting debates, Lu had their own set of truths and wrongs, and one either participated or one wasn’t Lu’s time. But Lorraine had not made a mistake with the wood, for when they had first met the little boy with the breaking voice and trembling fingers, she’d seen that all he was going to become, was going to be his choice. Each trait Lu chose to depict would stand in direct opposition to another truth within them, and for this they’d need a wood willing to adapt. Not to others, no, but to the conflict in their own heart.

[everybody-talks]

Character Development: A Trip to Ollivander's

(I really enjoy wandlore, so here's an over the top explanation/short story about Lucinda getting her wanddd. Enjoyyyy.

The TL;DR for those just passing through: Lucinda has an Unyielding 10 1/2" Larch Wand with a Unicorn Hair Core.)

The Talkalot family had a history of being finicky with their wands. Or, rather, wands had a history of being finicky with them. Her father, Marcus, had tried out five wands before one had settled for him. Maxim had tried six. Their father, Lucinda's grandfather, had tried a grand total of eight wands, and had flapped the mildly unflappable Ollivander in the process. Marcus had Cedar, Maxim had Beech, and old Benin Talkalot received a particularly mischievous Dogwood wand. All of them rather shy at first, needing Ollivander to seek them out instead of just making themselves known. So, Ollivander was prepared for a long afternoon when young Lucinda was hustled into the shop by her overexcited parents.

Lucinda was terrified of wands. They'd always made her a bit uncomfortable, though she was surrounded by them every day. It seemed like such a responsibility, and "responsibility" was one of Lucinda's least favorite words, up there with "expectations" and "moist." But, this was all an inevitability, so here she was, quivering so slightly one might mistake it for excitement.

The first wand was a Cedar. Helpful suggestion from Dad, who had always had a thing for "tradition" and all that. Lucinda obediently stood, scared that even a twitch would cause an unwanted spark, but nothing happened. Ollivander knew immediately and whisked the wand away almost as quickly as he'd set it in her hand. Dad hid his disappointment well.

The second was a Black Walnut wand that Ollivander was desperate to find a home.. But, as soon as the wand touched her fingertips, it emitted a high-pitched squeal that would make a Mandrake cringe. Ollivander hurriedly put it away, muttering to himself about how long Black Walnuts inevitably sit on his shelves, the picky things.

But, as he placed the wand back on the shelf, he heard a small thump from the back of the shop. He'd peered around the corner, searching for the attention-seeking wand, and found a single box on the floor of the aisle. He glanced over the name on the box and back at the trembling girl, still rubbing her ears indignantly, and the pieces came together.

He took the wand out and walked back to the Talkalots. Before he placed the wand in Lucinda's hand (which had been outstretched this whole time as if she were a statue,) he warned Lucinda not to aim at anything valuable. That stack of old boxes over there was fine. Before Lucinda could even register what he'd said, her hands made contact with the wand and she felt... different.

Every nerve end seemed to switch on like a light, firing off all at once, and that stack of boxes Ollivander had pointed out suddenly looked ever-so interesting. She wondered vaguely how loud it would be if they all toppled over at once, and found herself flicking her wand to find out. She did it with such unnecessary gusto that the boxes flew backwards, thudding into the wall behind them with great force. Lucinda stifled a laugh, and involuntarily groaned when Ollivander suddenly snatched the wand from her right hand.

"I'll take this, before you seek out another target. Interesting choice, Larch wood. Very interesting. I'd watch her carefully, if I were you."

Her parents were rightfully mortified at the damage she'd joyfully caused, and Lucinda quickly joined them in their derision. She hadn't liked how much she liked it, and this sentiment would be the theme of most of the rest of her school life. From that point on, Lucinda developed a habit of keeping her wand stored away, only using it when absolutely necessary. No accio-ing over a paperback book from the couch for her. Her wand's influence made her uneasy. Sure, it couldn't make her do things she wouldn't do, and in fact, couldn't make her do anything at all. It just... emboldened her. And she didn't always like duscovering what she felt emboldened to do with her wand in her hand.

[untamedmeadowes]

Marlene: 6′0″ / 1.83 meters

Dorcas: 5′5″ / 1.65 meters

Ainsley: 5′8″ / 1.73 meters

Lucius: 6′5″ / 1.96 meters

Dolohov: 6′1″ / 1.85 meters

[justicebones]

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Amelia Bones, who despite her rough and tumble ways was rather smart, was invited to learn to cast a Patronus. It should also come as no surprise that she was able, not the very first time but among the first tries, to produce a fully corporal Patronus. For someone as headstrong and stubborn as she was, it made sense.

Amelia found the casting to be rather easy, because she knew what the happiest thought she had was: Edgar's hand in hers, holding them tightly together. That was what made her feel safe, that was the place she felt most secure in the entire world, hand in hand with her twin and ready to face whatever came their way. There was nothing she couldn't do at his side.

The fact that it was a Maned Wolf from South America didn't surprise her at all, not only because of the location, but because of what it was. The body of a wolf, face of a fox, legs of a deer, and bat-like ears, it's a pretty but different looking creature. Nicknamed a "fox on stilts" and having a "roar-bark" to communicate makes it even more unique. Makes it even more lovable, in Amelia's eyes. Just like her, being who it was and not afraid to be different than all of the others.

[fletchermundungus]

HEIGHT -  Princess Leia

Mundungus is 1,58 meters (5’ 1′’) tall. Which is, admittedly, short, but he was never too bothered by it. He has often found it useful to sneak upon people, or move right past them, and sometimes below them. 

Author’s Note: I like to call the graphic ‘ Tom Payne being conveniently shorter than other people ‘ though he’s in reality taller than Mundungus.

[coragreengrass]

Cordelia Greengrass had been invited to learn to produce a Patronus, but despite all her efforts, has never managed to produce a fully corporal Patronus charm. The wisp of protection and learning was a start, she thought, but she was stubborn and wanted to learn more, to do better, and yet, the Patronus was something that eluded her. She wasn't sure when or if she'd ever need to use it, at the time thinking of her family's protection, but shouldn't it be something she could do?

Originally, her happiest memory to use had been the secret kiss of the boy she loved, which had been what she was thinking of when she first cast it. However, after he broke her heart, she didn't know what other happy memory she could use that would be strong enough. It seemed like nothing would work anymore, and it was upsetting. However, more recently she's been trying again to produce one, and has found that the memory of the sorting hat declaring 'Ravenclaw!' is enough to produce a wisp once again.

If Cora is ever able to produce a fully corporal Patronus, she won't be surprised to see that it's a Magpie that comes from her wand to protect her. A relative of the crow, magpies are considered one of the most intelligent animals in the world. Although having a bad reputation, they're also seriously misunderstood, much like herself. They're also very home-oriented and very curious creatures, one that Cora will find herself very much at home with.

[peterdpettigrew]

Peter Pettigrew hadn't been invited in school to learn the Patronus Charm, but it hadn't stopped him from seeing it in a book and attempting it. A spell that could offer protection against Dementors? That could keep him safe? He figured that was something worth learning, even if others didn't think he was up for the task. So he became determined and practiced it on his own, finally managing at least a wisp of the spell.

It was when he was seventeen that he produced a fully corporal Patronus for the first, and so far only, time. He doesn't think that counts though, considering he was alone and no one else was around to witness it, but it had been done nonetheless. What had he been thinking of, that had been strong enough to produce this fully corporal Patronus springing free from his wand? The first time that the other Marauders had called him their friend, of course. The first time they'd said it out loud, that it had been acknowledged that Peter actually had friends for once in his life.

The Patronus being a Rat is almost of no surprise. He supposes it only makes sense that it matches with his Animagus form, and he never questioned it. These days, however, it'd be hard pressed for him to manage a wisp of a Patronus charm, let alone a fully corporal one. Not to mention the fact that now that he's rat in both senses of the word, he can only imagine how people would react around him if they saw that's what it was. It doesn't mater though, because Peter can't focus enough anymore on those happy thoughts to be able to produce one like that again.

[hestivjones]

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT .008

Height: 5.0 feet / 152 cm

Hestia Jones is, by most standards, tiny. She was always the kid that got physically picked up, and needed to sit in front when it came to classrooms and school assemblies. That led to her being exceptionally good at climbing up things.

At fourteen, she had a long-awaited last growth spurt… taking her to just about 5 feet. Hestia has perfected the art of standing straight and wearing heels, often seeming a bit taller than she is. Just because she isn’t physically tall, doesn’t mean she can’t stand tall. One of her pet peeves is people talking down to her.

[auror-frank]

Frank is 6′ 1″ or 1.854 meters.

edit: He’s basically Harrison Ford.

[moaningmaddy]

1,70m - 1,73m | 5′6′’ - 5′7′‘

Maddy’s relatively tall.

The reason her height isn’t fully determined is because she does have a perm and it adds at least 5cm to her hair, so...

Either way, compared to how frail she looks like, to how people tend to see a child in her, and to her very young-looking face, she’s quite tall.

Her father was a really tall, lanky man, but her mother is a really small, plump woman, and privately, Maddy always prayed she’d come after her father. Not that she didn’t love her mother and how comfortable she was, but when Maddy’s breasts began to sprout, she completely panicked because she thought this was it, she was going to become like her mother now, and consequentially spent three hours rolling around on the ground in a hope to squish the breasts back into her ribcage.

[spellnbone]

Capable/Protection: Yes Since: Age 21 Memory: His and Amelia’s bedroom in Mexico

Capable/Corporal: No

Nahual

It was the Order which taught Edgar how to finally produce a shield of protection. He’d never managed in class, and even now at 21 it was anything but powerful, anything but lasting. A year later he lost this ability completely. 

He blames the fact that he’s simply not a powerful wizard, arguing that he’s quite happy after all, with many memories to use, but perhaps it’s something else. Perhaps it’s the same thing which blocks most of his other magic as well, while unleashing his true power whenever he dares to let go of Latin incantations: the European magic system is simply not inherent to him. 

And perhaps that is why, sometimes, at night, when he’s sound asleep and wide awake alike, he sees the beast. 

Sees it sitting over him, breathing slow with a face made of all his fears while also of his own skin. Sometimes it appears as a colibri, sometimes as a lizard, small and delicate it watches him from the windowsill, speaking to him in a language he’s never learnt and yet knows to understand, knows the meaning of. Sometimes the beast -- this hairless, tailless wolf-like monkey -- caresses him and eases his pains, sometimes it devours him and is the cause of it all. 

When he wakes, he’s forgotten all about it again, yet the name of it sits on his tongue always: Nahual, alma gemela.

[homenum-revelio-hq]

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT .010

At various times the admins will post a character development post.  This is completely optional - just a chance for players to expand their character and build them more into the roleplay. It will count towards activity. You can find all previously posted character development posts here. Feel free to answer any retroactively as well!  

We all know that body language can say a lot about a person -- and that’s true whether they’re moving or stationary. So how does your character sit?

[everybody-talks]

Character Development

Lucinda's Patronus: Bighorn Ram

Lucinda managed to flunk her way out of her NEWTs, and so she was not invited to learn how to create a Patronus. Her ability to create one will depend on her being comfortable with her happiest memory not being a warm and sugary glow but the thrill that came from wielding her wand for the first time. Nothing to be ashamed of there. Not everyone is made for the safe and unexciting. There's an honor to be found in honest work, that's true, but those who choose to deny the world their talents out of fear are anything but honest. Without honesty, forget about happiness, without happiness, the best she'll be able to conjure is a small glowing orb.

As for the corporeal form, the Bighorn Ram was an easy choice. Sheep are a herding animal. They are easily led and most would be happy not making a decision for themselves their entire lives, happy to glide by with little effort. But, in every herd, there must be those that distinguish themselves to make the first move and choose to lead, and for many rams, that requires using the horns they were born with and jumping into the fray.

[untamedmeadowes]

APRIL 1982: ONCE BURNED...

Facing Voldemort head-on had affected more than just Dorcas’s physical well-being; those injuries, while brutal, had eventually healed. The damage done to her beloved Diagon Alley left a deeper scar on her heart; that was her home she’d had to watch burn, the one place in the world that was supposed to always be safe. But then the Death Eaters had come; then Voldemort had come. She’d fought, and that should have been enough -- but the Dark Lord had batted her away like some kind of fly.

Like something that hardly mattered.

Dorcas refused to be dismissed. She threw herself into her dueling lessons with Branwen and Severus with the same enthusiasm as ever, but twice as much focus. The flighty, chattering, irrepressibly cheerful girl wasn’t gone -- but she was subsumed. This Dorcas was every bit as devoted to the cause of the Order of the Phoenix as she had been that day last October when she had accidentally immolated herself while attempting to bring the hopeful flame of the Order’s existence to the world...but now she understood that a few sparks weren’t enough to make a difference. She couldn’t just scrawl the letters of her pain in the air and think that would somehow change the world.

If she wanted anything to change, she had to set the sky on fire.

APRIL 1982: SPREADING WINGS

On the homefront, things had changed for Dorcas as well: she moved-out of the little flat over Flourish & Blotts where she had grown-up and moved in to a new one with her friend BENJY FENWICK. It had been his idea, to grant them both a bit more independence -- and thus make it easier for them to attend to Order matters without having to constantly explains their absences to their respective parents -- but after the battle in Diagon Alley, the move became even more important to her.

She had exposed herself, if not necessarily as a member of the Order of the Phoenix, then as a definitive enemy of the Dark Lord. There was no proof to tie her to the Order (she could just as easily have charged down Voldemort as an angry shopkeeper defending her home as as a member of the vigilante organization; that claim was what kept the Ministry of Magic from prying afterwards) but she knew it didn’t matter: whether she was known or suspected to be a Phoenix or not, she was marked. The DEATH EATERS would be watching her...which meant moving out of her parents’ home was the best way to keep them safe. 

If someone in a silver mask wanted to come and try to kill her for having the audacity to throw a hex at their precious Dark Lord, so be it; Dorcas would face them down unafraid. But coming home to find her parents’ dead bodies on the floor was something else entirely, and the attack on Diagon Alley had brought home to Dorcas for the first time the very real possibility that she might be courting danger for more than just herself.

Dorcas wasn’t the only one spreading her wings, of course...but since Benjy knew how well (or more accurately, not well) she got along with MADDY WARREN, he kept quiet about his burgeoning reconciliation with his former friend. If Dorcas ever suspected her new roommate of being less than forthcoming on certain subjects, it was easily ignored. He was her friend, after all. That meant he told her everything...just like she did him...

APRIL 1982: KINDLING FLAMES

There were two bright notes -- of disparate type -- that alleviated spring’s darkness:

EMMA VANITY, her best friend since the day that Dorcas discovered the other witch crying in a Hogwarts loo, was now her girlfriend. Dorcas was over-the-moon-elated, and not just for her own happiness: a side-effect of their romance was that Emma had finally had-it-out with her family for (Dorcas hoped) good, and she had shucked-off their shackles to stand strong and proud and free of the Vanitys. Dorcas couldn’t have been prouder...or happier.

MARY MACDONALD, who in Dorcas’s eyes was quickly becoming the most (only) useful member of the Inner Circle, had recruited Dorcas to assist in pushing the Order to take a more active role in the war. The fallout from the attack on Diagon Alley had derailed some aspects of their scheme -- the Order was too busy to listen to petitions like that, and there were hopes they might finally be starting to take some action anyway...but not enough, and not fast enough, for Mary and Dorcas. So they acted on their own.

Successfully dragging Emlen Lowe in to face the music for his murder of Florean Fortescue (unofficially, at least; handing him over to the Order wouldn’t lead to Azkaban but it was something) alongside once-and-future-ally FRANK LONGBOTTOM wasn’t actually connected to her off-the-books activities with Mary, but it fell into the same category for Dorcas. It was all action, all devoted to the cause of ending -- and winning -- the war. So what if it was illegal? The Order was illegal! So what if the Order didn’t know about it? Mary knew about it, and she was in the Inner Circle! So what if she hardly told her friends about most of it? She was just keeping them safe.

So what if it left blood on her hands? This was war. And they couldn’t afford to lose.