.The Mundane. Name: Steff Age: 21 AIM//Email: scheffyy / steffpanda@gmail.com Past Experience: Have been playing on IJ consistently for the past two years, played off an on for about 6 years prior.
.The Character. Full Name: Bertrand Sebastian Higgs. Goes by Bertie preferably, but is also okay with Bert. Journal to be Used: Date of Birth // Age: January 13th, 1926 / 18 House // Year: Ravenclaw / 7th Position: Member of Charms Club and Dueling Club. Tries out for quidditch every year, but has yet to make the team. Class Schedule:
MONDAY:2:10-3:10 Herbology 4:00-5:00 DADA Theory
TUESDAY:9:00-10:30 Ancient Runes 1:00-2:00 CoMC 4:00-5:00 DADA Practical
WEDNESDAY:9:00-10:30 Charms Theory 1:00-2:00 Transfiguration Theory
History: Bertrand Sebastian Higgs was born early in the morning early in the year. His January birthday is a plus he has against not only many of his peers, but his sister born nearly eleven months later. As a first born son, Bertrand was well received by his parents and extended families. A boy is what all pureblood families want, and Bertrand is perfectly happy to inherit his father's estate. The Higgs squandered their money years ago, so while Bertrand was welcomed with open arms, love is the only thing flowing freely from his parents.
When Augusta was born, Bertrand was instantly paired up with her. Having two children the same age was an easier burden on Ursula. Though she had double the diapers and double the messes, Bertrand and Augusta could always be counted on to entertain each other. Because of this, Bertrand was a rather happy baby. He rarely cried through the night, and during the day his eyes were always searching and his fingers always feeling. As Bertrand grew up and began speaking, his first order of duty was editing his name. Even as a child he insisted on being called 'Bertie', going so far as to tuning his mother out when she used the god-awful name of 'Bertrand'. To this day, the only person he will tolerate using his full name is Augusta. The reason behind that, simply, is her nagging. While Bertie can and will be stubborn, he is no match for Augusta.
Growing up, Bertie was accustomed to hand-me-downs, leftovers, and holes in his pants. He didn't mind, since his clothes often became ripped and stained during play. He rarely received new things; most his clothing were his father's that his mother had carefully repaired. His toys were second hand, but that hardly mattered to Bertie. A shiny firetruck was an exciting toy no matter the package it came in. The lack of money in the Higgs' household merely taught Bertie to be modest. He'd have to work for things and earn them carefully. He wasn't spoiled, he doesn't expect things, and he appreciates anything new he's given.
When Bertie was nine, his parents had another child. It was a bit of a shock to Bertie, and he's never quite gotten used to the idea. What's he supposed to do with a kid who's nine years younger anyways? When EustaceNate receives attention, jealousy flares in Bertie. He refuses to call his brother by his horrible first name in any situation. Leaving Nate behind was refreshing for Bertie. He'd never admit it out loud, but he dislikes the way Augusta fawns over Nate instead of him. Deep down, Nate's potential scares Bertie - what if his younger better is smarter or better looking or more popular or makes more money?
Hogwarts was everything Bertie expected and more. Ever since stepping off the train he's been infatuated with the place and all the learning opportunities. His mind is always thinking new questions, and often he receives no definitive answer. Magic can't always be logically explained, after all. At Hogwarts Bertie has found a niche he's quite comfortable it, and is looking forwards to his final year.
Personality: Curiosity killed the cat is an expression that completely applies to Bertie. Ever since he was a small child, he would explore anything and everything he could get his hands on. As he grew from putting objects in his mouth, Bertie started asking questions. They ranged from the typical 'why why why' to being very specific and details. He simply likes to know things. There are so many glorious things that he doesn't know or understand yet, and he has so much to learn. The problem with Bertie's curiosity is not the questions, it is his mind. He can only contain so much information, and often once he asks a question and hears the first bit of an answer, he's already forming a new question and tuning the remainder of the answer twice. Bertie's housemates and friends aren't surprised hearing the same question two or three times. Bertie is simply genuinely interested in everything.
Following rules letter by letter was never something that interested Bertie. Rules had reasons, of course, but there were so many other important things in his life. He has no qualms about sneaking around after hours, saying inappropriate things, or climbing up trees in the Forbidden Forest and ruining his best dress robes. Bertie isn't a troublemaker by any means, but he often finds himself serving detentions and writing lines. He has little to no filter on his mouth and mind. His sister has done well keeping him in line, but Bertie often drifts off into the unbeaten path.
While Bertie has plenty of people he calls friends, he does not have the charismatic personality to stand in the spotlight alone. Bertie tends to surround himself by strong personalities, feeling both at ease and encouraged by them. Bertie's essential drive is his curiosity, but strong personalities help to narrow his interests. His opinions are fairly easy to sway by a good passionate argument, and Bertie occasionally finds himself the middleman between two or more opposing sides. When he firmly believes in something, Bertie finds it awkward and intimidating to go against someone who believes the opposite. It's not terribly hard to lead Bertie astray and convince him the wrong thing is the right thing.
Though Bertie is very interested in school, he's not particularly good at it. For a Ravenclaw, Bertie's marks are below-average. When testing, Bertie grows intimidated and flustered, and often forgets everything he knows. He likes being part of the charms and duelling club, however he is no star member of either. His professors generally like him, however. Whether it's because they feel pity for him, or like his enthusiasm, Bertie doesn't care. He has absolutely no idea where he wants to go after Hogwarts, but his best class is CoMC, so he's starting to look at employment opportunities in that direction.
As in most pureblood families, family holds the utmost importance to Bertie. He is his father's heir a legacy, and hopes he consistently makes his father proud. Though his sister's interests are most often not his own, Bertie makes an effort to do the things which make her happy. Where his loyalty comes in most important is scaring off any potential suitors. August does a fine job of that herself, but Bertie has squashed an interest or two over the years. Bertie does not really have anything to do with his younger brother, the age gap makes him feel uncomfortable and lost. What is he meant to do with a kid? Bertie will play EustaceNate, but quickly grows bored and frustrated.
Appearance: Upon first impression, there's nothing particularly spectacular about Bertie. His height is nothing more than average, so he hardly towers over the girls, let alone the boys. His hair is often unruly and out of place, and it's plain dark shade of brown does not stand out amongst a crowd. Bertie's features are soft, and his face is more round and squishy 'boy-ish' than sharp and defined 'of-age-wizard'. Essentially, Bertie is cute, but not handsome. Bertie isn't muscular, but he's not skinny either. He's figured out some sort of weight ratio to keep him somewhere in the middle, a mixture of metabolism and lack of exercise.
Plot Ideas:
1. Develop his relationship with Augusta. I love playing siblings and all the drama they create. In addition to Augusta, I'm excited to see how he responds to her friends any possible suitors/male friends, and especially excited to see how he responds to people disliking her for how critical and strict she is.
2. I'd like to have Grindelwald affect him in some way. Whether through death of a family member, loss of job opportunity, or something (obviously I need to think of this!). I'd like to have Bertie forced to confront the dark and looming future between Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort and try and figure out where he stands. Since he's a pureblooded male, it would be interesting for me if somewhere down the line he was asked to join one side or the other, since at the moment he doesn't really have an affiliation with anyone.
3. Spamming my CDJ and contacts to join!
.The Writing. Third Person: It was a sunny day outside, and Bertie was thrilled to be done class. He knew that soon the castle would be plagued by cold, and his mind would be plagued by all the work he had dye. For now, Bertie could and would relish in some freedom. His school assignments hadn't quite stacked up yet, and he was able to continue his carefree summer attitude. No point in giving into the worry just yet! A few of his housemates were already studying in the common room, but Bertie simply hadn't been able to focus. His eyes were immediately drawn outside, and he'd quickly grown impatient and frustrated by the textbook sitting on his lap.
As Bertie deeply inhaled, he smiled. Whoever wanted to study instead of enjoying the last few moments of summer was a damn fool! Bertie jogged away from the castle and all it's confinements. When he reached a tree, Bertie rested against it and looked to the sky. He watched a black bird fly from a nearby tree and into the Forbidden Forest. He'd always wondered what it would be like to fly. Not as a wizard in bird form, but as a real and genuine bird. Did they know they were flying, or was it just instinct? Did they enjoy flying? Did they even realize the freedom they had?
Bertie could stand here all day and think up questions, and he wasn't just limited to the birds. He could move his eyes slightly downward and ask questions about the bushes and trees, and look even farther down and inquire about the ants crawling all over the grass. For now, Bertie closed his eyes and simply let his mind float freely. His legs slunk to the ground, and Bertie found himself laying on the grass. Maybe he'd have a nap out here; all this waking up early was starting to get to him. Yeah, a nap. That would be good.
First Person: Have you ever thought about your name? Not just what it means or how your parents chose it, but the letters and syllables and sounds themselves? Individually everything is just a noise. Burr and te are nonsense syllables but when we put them together it's my name. Aw and taa and gus don't even sound like they should go together, but they do. It would be so cool to go back to when all the words were created. To just see how they put syllabls together, and which ones got vetoed. Imagine we were all names like Likmini? It's really not all that different from Bertie when you think about it.
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ginge) wrote,
