Post by James Potter on Jul 20, 2010 0:29:43 GMT 1
General Information
Name: James Potter
Heritage: Pureblood
Birth date: 27 March 1960
Age: 14
Place of Birth: Camberly, Surrey
Current Location/Home: Dartmoor, Devon
House at Hogwarts: Gryffindor
Look
General Appearance: At fourteen, James is at average height but still growing. His body is athletic but slender, which frustrates him because he is always wishing he didn’t look like such a weakling, especially since he can’t see two feet in front of him without his glasses. He has an average face, with a thin, pointed nose and shrewd, sloped eyebrows. His hair is constantly untidy, especially since he happened to glance in a locker room mirror after playing Quidditch and decided his hair looked good. In his second year he was constantly sleeping in and rushing to class; after a while his raggedy clothes and disheveled appearance became part of his everyday look. His shirts are wrinkled, shoes scuffed, sleeves shoved up to the elbow, and tie worn loose.
Eye Colour: Hazel
Hair Colour: Black
Background
Parents: Laius Potter, father. Laius can trace his family lineage directly back to Ignotus Peverell, the original owner of the Invisibility Cloak Deathly Hallow. From a wealthy, pureblood family, Laius has a natural zest for life and jovial demeanor, untouched by the grit and depression that comes with the real world. He is elderly by wizard standards, having had James late in life.
Aethra Potter (née Murielson), mother. A strong-willed and intuitive woman from a wealthy wizarding family, it’s hard to get anything past Aethra. Good-natured and fun-loving, she has the rare ability to keep her head in the clouds with her feet firmly planted on the ground. She is elderly by wixard standards, having had James late in life.
Siblings: None
Other Family: Laius is an only child; his parents both died before James was born. Aethra parents died when she was a young girl. She has three “insufferable” older brothers with whom she is no longer in contact. James knows he has several cousins, but he doesn’t really care for them and they haven’t tried to contact him in a few years.
Personal History: James Potter was born in the little town of Camberley during one of the worst thunderstorms of the year, but his family would move to Devon to live in a secluded area of the moor. His parents were elderly, and so they naturally saw James as a special treasure in their lives. James was treated as such, and was very pampered as a child. He became spoiled, in combination with his parents’ coddling as well as their seemingly unlimited means. At around the age of six he started acting out, breaking the rules just to see what would happen if he did. As it turned out, he found that he enjoyed breaking the rules very much. He quickly broke out of his role as a pampered young rich boy and soon became as reckless and crafty as any street urchin. His inexperienced, uncontrolled magic did not help matters, and if his parents had not been able to counter just as quickly with their own spells, the household would have been a place of constant havoc. Around the age of nine, James expressed an interest in Quidditch. His father brought him a racing broom, which might have been considered dangerous for such a small child. James soon became enamored with the sport and practiced as often as he could, often after dark so anyone taking a country walk wouldn’t be greeted with the sight of a young boy zipping around on a broomstick. James would say later that he’d never gotten so many injuries in his life than he did the first few years practicing flying.
James received his first letter from Hogwarts right on time, and was sorted into Gryffindor like his mother (his father had been a Ravenclaw). He quickly established himself as a brilliant student, but with very poor deportment. His professors as well as his peers were unsure whether to be charmed by him, or loathe him entirely. Indeed, James has found that people’s attitudes toward him often go one of those two ways.
At the school’s first Quidditch match of the year, James decided he wanted to be a chaser above all else. He tried out for his house team in his first and second years, but did not get a position. In his third year, however, he performed quite admirably indeed, and got a position that was being vacated by a seventh-year chaser.
Character Traits
Personality: Everyone knows a personality like James: either people love him, or they hate him. His antics can either endear him to you, or they can make you think he’s nothing more than an arrogant show-off. Fortunately, James was granted the gift of charm, so he is able to convert most of the people he meets over to his side. Charisma is his specialty. Confident and bold, you would often hear James’ loud voice and boisterous laugher in the corridor before you could see him. Never afraid of an issue or confrontation, he is a severe combatant and takes his battles seriously (perhaps too seriously). James has a grim sense of humor; he enjoys the suffering of people who, in his opinion, deserve to suffer. Some might accuse James of having a high opinion of himself, which is absolutely true. As a result, he is often driven to succeed and does not take failure well. He can occasionally be hot-tempered, but more often vents his anger with biting, sarcastic remarks. Intensely loyal to those he considers his real friends, James believes that a friend is like a brother, and they need to be there for each other constantly. He refuses to accept false friends for himself, even though he will often pretend to be friendly with someone to achieve an end.
James’ most treasured possessions are his broomstick, a Nimbus 1700, one of the most quality broomsticks available from the most recently introduced broom company; and his family’s Invisibility Cloak, which he liberated from a seldom-used trunk in his father’s study during Christmas break in his third year. Laius Potter, to James’ knowledge, has yet to discover it missing. James has his parents’ zest for life and appreciates good food and parties. His favorite foods include butterbeer, watermelon with salt (to the vexation of his friends), mashed potatoes, and anything chocolate.
The one thing James can’t stand is people with no sense of humor. Anyone he can’t make jokes with, he will not hesitate to makes jokes about. He also will hold grudges against professors who give him low marks, often lasting until they pay him a compliment or a high mark again. That aside, he attempts to be agreeable for the most part. James hates pumpkin pasties and always gives his chocolate frog cards away to whomever will have them; collecting is a boring habit. He is annoyed by most popular music and also dislikes using outdated clothes, instruments, etc. He is also highly allergic to strawberries.
Strengths: James’ best subject by far in school is Transfiguration, but he is also highly intuitive when it comes to Defense Against the Dark Arts. He also has mildly impressive skills when it comes to flying, and with practice is becoming better. Charming and smart, he can talk himself out of (or in to) many a situation. Although he is not much for diplomacy, he is a good mediator of conflicts when he wants to solve them (and is not causing them). He has a creative mind that some might say is wasted on pranks and other diversions.
Weaknesses: James often gets low marks in Potions because of a tendency to “experiment.” For all his charm, there are some people to whom his arrogance is insufferable, and only on occasion does James continue, fruitlessly, to try and win their favor. His sadistic sense of humor can make him unintentionally cruel, even to his friends. He has an irrational fear of infection/festering wounds, but he wouldn’t tell a soul.
Other Information
Pets: None. His parents own an owl named Cirrus that he can use as his leisure to communicate, but he doesn’t see the point in having to take care of an animal.
Wand: Ollivander’s brand. Mahogany, 11 inches, pliable. Excellent for Transfiguration.
Role-play Example: The blundering Hufflepuff keeper was focused more on where the quaffle was than where it was going, and James Potter used that to his advantage. With a swift glance around to make sure the bludgers were elsewhere, he held the quaffle far to his left for a tenth of a second before flicking his wrist sharply to the right and letting his arm follow, propelling the ball through the rightmost hoop. The keeper had veered to James’ left and was too late to stop the goal. James laughed and pumped a fist in the air as he darted back downfield. He took a moment to listen to the crowd cheering for him, basking in it, before returning his focus entirely to the task at hand. He gripped the handle of his broom tightly with anticipation, keeping his eyes trained on the quaffle…
Suddenly, an unexpected cheer rose up from the crowd. James whirled around in a neat circle in time to see the Gryffindor seeker pull up in midair from a dive, the snitch held firmly in his fist. James cheered along with the rest of his house, and on signal, touched down again. He crowded around the seeker with the other members of his team to offer his congratulations. “Not bad for a Silver Arrow!” James said, meaning to be admiring, but the seeker’s smile faltered a little. James rolled his eyes. “Come off it. That was great, as always.” With an encouraging grin, he clapped his teammate on the shoulder, and received a smile in return.
As they walked back to the locker room, their brooms over their shoulders, James fell into conversation with one of the beaters on his team. The beater said suddenly, “Let me ask you something, Potter...”
“It wasn’t me, I swear,” James replied automatically, with a sideways grin.
The beater sighed and chucked a little. “You’re an arrogant load of rubbish.”
“Oh, is that what you wanted to ask me?” James snapped, a bit of venom creeping into his tone.
“No, no. Sorry. Just...I wondered...why did you choose to be a chaser, when she seeker gets a lot of the attention when the day is done?” The beater fiddled with the handle of his broom. “I dunno, it seems like you’d be better suited for a seeker overall—your build, personality...”
“I’ll tell you why,” James said as he opened the door to the locker room. He was grinning again. “Seeker does one thing the entire game and gets a hundred and fifty points, all very well. A good chaser, though, plays hard the entire time, if he’s excellent enough, he doesn’t need the snitch to win him a game.” He tapped the side of his nose and chuckled at the bewildered look on the beater’s face before swaggering into the locker room.