Post by Philippe Giry on Mar 3, 2018 15:31:22 GMT -5
Full Character Name: Philippe Alain Giry
D.o.B./Age: September 18, 2016/age 12
Place of Residency:sometimes at Liverpool, UK (with Uncle Caleb and Uncle Ben); primarily at 8 Whitekirk Rd, Whitekirk, Scotland (with Maman and Great Grandma Elaine)
Blood Status: Half-blood (mother is a Muggle)
Former School/House: Hogwarts/Slytherin
Wand: Blackthorne, Phoenix feather, 11 ½", rigid/unrelenting
Position Requesting: First Year Student at Durmstrang
Credentials: General dislike of Muggles, proclivity toward dark arts, dark history (see below), and expulsion from Hogwarts (pending)
History:
Parent(s): (natural) Philip Giry (12/10/1988-7/30/2028) and Josefina Toureaux Giry (4/14/1990-3/3/2029)
Sibling(s): Jeremie (1/14/2019-3/3/2029), Amelie (11/5/2020-3/3/2029) and Emmanuel (12/30/2022)
Other(s): (foster parents) Uncle Caleb Giry (7/13/1999) and Uncle Ben Carroll (9/12/1999-8/9/2028), (gran-mere) Elaine Marie Ellison (9/21/1947-3/3/2029)
Others still: (distant relations) Bryce, Adelaide, and Sydney McAlarney
Pet(s):Milou, a soft-coated Jack Russell terrier puppy (recently murdered by Gran-pere)
Economic Status: Poor (personal wealth ownership is valued at $250k in life insurance; personal net worth is around $350)
A History, Moste Dreadful
Philippe, or Pip as he's more often called, was born unexpectedly. He was told by his harsh gran-pere that his mother spilled a drop of boiled water on her pregnant womb the night he was born, and the shock of the spill sent her into labor, the end result of which was him. His parents loved him, but not enough to refrain from having more children. After they had their last child, Emmanuel, Gran-pere put a spell on his mother to prevent her from having more children. Pip regarded this as reasonable. Jeremie and Amelie, his brother and sister, were well enough, but Emmanuel - or Manu, as he was called - was a horrifying little imp that Pip disliked very early on. He tried to dispose of the imp once (okay, twice) by leaving his crib unattended or by rocking the bassinet too roughly. When neither of these attempts worked, he resigned himself to making the imp his personal servant. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to enslave the child.
His mother, a Muggle, was a pacifist. A Buddhist by choice, she created a very peaceful environment within the walls of her home, and she enforced her peaceful rule of law strictly: the children were not allowed to invite negativity into her home, nor enact malice against one another. Jeremie, Amelie, and Manu bought it; Pip did not. He was a troublesome child in this way, but somehow he won the cold heart of his Gran-pere. He was told that one day he'd be a great man worthy of his Gran-pere's respect and loyalty. As his favor with the man increased, Pip watched his father's favor with his grandfather decrease. Pip looked up to his father, but he never said those words aloud. His father was an important businessman in the Wizard World, and he knew that Pip was going to be a Wizard from an early age; as such, he took Pip with him to many places he visited both in France - where they lived - and elsewhere (namely, Italy and Greece). Hoping to keep her children from the violence of public life, Josefina Giry chose to homeschool her four children, setting up a classroom for them to attend in her art studio. They received a classical education, and they were tutored in mathematics, proper French language and grammar, English language, remedial sciences, basic philosophy, history, and the fine arts. Instead of nap-time, the Giry children learned the art of meditation; by age five, each child was meditating for up to 30 minutes a day. The calming effects of this Eastern practice were had by Jeremie, Amelie, and even little Manu; Pip railed against them. He considered it Chinese brain-washing.
Eventually, Josa allowed Gran-pere to assist in beginning Pip's magical education; these lessons often began with a unique and deeply challenging puzzle Pip would have to solve before continuing with his lessons. Sometimes, he would have to work at the puzzle for hours - far longer than his magical lesson (45 minutes with a brief break) would take - and he was never permitted to continue with the lesson until the puzzle was solved. He failed once, and he never forgot it. Conceptual knowledge was shared only, as he hadn't yet been chosen by a wand or reached an appropriate age at which to use magic, but the knowledge covered a broad range of subjects: (in order) Curses, Jinxes, Hexes, Duelling Spells, Potent Potions and their ingredients, Magical History, Spells and Enchantments, and the Dark Arts. More than once, his Gran-pere demonstrated transfiguration spells, including his own transformation into a ferocious black bear - a lesson in which Pip learned about being an Animagus. As he got older, however, these lessons became more desperate and bizarre. Pip was convinced his grandfather was a lunatic or vigilante, and he briefly crossed over to the "dark side" and embraced his mother's pacifism and peace-loving philosophy. But a storm raged inside him - probably generated from that errant drop of boiling water so many years past.
Pip's most dreadful life event happened quite recently, though. Invited to attend a Liberation Party in the newly reclaimed Soviet city of Smolensk, Pip and his family crossed the continent to appear at the lavish ball. A quarrel between a man calling himself "the Sir" and grandfather spoiled the evening, and in a foul temper, Gran-pere picked an argument with Pip's father, his oldest child. Both men were guilty of the sin of pride, and with both their feelings of pride being severely injured by the other, they resorted to a gentlemanly duel. Gran-pere never meant to be gentlemanly about it, and in front of almost 700 distinguished guests - including his own son's family - Jean-Luc Francios "Manu" Giry ruthlessly tortured and killed his own son, Philip Giry.
Josa went to pieces shortly after the murder. Elaine Marie Ellison, Josefina's Grandmother-in-Law, stepped in (being a witch herself) and helped care for her newly fatherless great-grandchildren-in-law. Conferring with Pip's uncles Jerome Giry and Caleb Giry and his Aunt Sister Alberic Toureaux (a Benedictine nun), Elaine orchestrated a grand scheme to foster the most vulnerable of her extended family to blood relatives. Fearing that Jean-Luc would seek to end the entire Giry line, the fostering scheme was conducted in secrecy. Amelie was sent to Canada to live at the Priory where Sister Alberic was a nun; Jeremie was taken to Belgium to live with his Uncle Jerome (for whom he was named); Emmanuel was taken to Scotland to live with Elaine herself; and Pip was sent to England to live with his Uncle Caleb and Uncle Caleb's husband, Ben Carroll. Elaine also arranged for Josa to take residence at a former Benedictine Priory-turned-Psychiatric Hospital in Zwiefalten, Germany until she was sufficiently recovered and could resume her role as a mother. Initial recommendations from the hospital were to extend Josa's stay indefinitely, but seeing an opportunity to bring mother and sons together, Elaine took Josa out of the hospital and brought her home to Whitekirk, Scotland. Her timing was tremendous as several days later, a crazed Frenchman "helped" a patient jump out of her bedroom window. The patient looked considerably like Josa. Elaine is now on the defensive (as long as her 81-year-old body will allow her) making sure her extended family remains safe. She has had no choice but to protect her own home so that she can keep her great-grandsons and her granddaughter safe. Recently, she has managed to take Pip out of the house in Liverpool so as not to endanger Caleb's life or his husband's life. With the relocation, Pip now resides with his mother, great-grandmother, and brother in Scotland.[/br]
A History Moste Promising
Pip remains a faint shade of the boy he was before his father's murder. A storm still rages inside him, but whether it manifests as good or ill is yet unknown. Attempts by his very good uncles Caleb and Ben do not seem to have registered much on the boy, but only time can tell. As his application for British Citizenship awaits a response from the government, his desire to continue his magical studies at Hogwarts School has grown to a near feverish level: he craves nothing more than to become the sort of wizard that could outstrip his wicked grandfather, perhaps even to avenge his father's death. In fact, of late Pip's sole consolation seems to be in imagining a thousand ways he's going to kill the Gran-pere he once revered.
A Future Moste Uncertain
After impulsively attacking another student in broad daylight, Pip has been promised to be disciplined by the Hogwarts administration. Although his desire for vengeance upon Eoin Brady has been realized, Pip never truly considered what it might cost him. Now, his matriculation with the school (and the Wizarding World) hangs in the balance. All his dreams for his future need to be reimagined. He still has one goal upon which his entire being remains fixed: Gran-pere must die at his hands. Still, many questions orbit his universe: will his budding "friendship" with Caterina Turati continue to blossom? Will he finally be rid of his relatives? Will he even be allowed to study black magic and the dark arts? Where will he go from here?
Personality Description: {at least 2 good sized paragraphs}
Pip speaks politely when he is spoken to politely, and he offers rude gestures when he is treated likewise. If he were to attend parties or immerse himself in large groups, he would be the person staring blankly at the activity around him wearing a look of disinterest. He prefers to be alone, working toward becoming the best wizard he can be, and he doesn't hold much value in having frivolous friendships. His connections with people are for a purpose, and that purpose is to advance his understanding of magic so that he can destroy his grandfather. And yet, Pip still has a soft heart inside; the pain he feels for his mother's breakdown and for the separation he suffers from his siblings (except Manu) plagues him daily. He fears it will never pass and he craves to become Gran-pere's equal so that in killing his rival he can also kill these confused fears inside. He does not yet realize that his guilt, shame, and fear consume him and that he might lose control of them someday. He needs help, but he doesn't look for any.
Pip categorizes his personality traits into two distinct groups (often which fight with each other): positive qualities, and negative qualities. Of his positive qualities, he most values ambition, single-mindedness, and creativity. Ambitious - as discerned from a young age, Pip strives to become the greatest wizard he can become. He views his grandfather as his greatest rival and defines the development of his own abilities comparative to those of his much-advanced rival. Single-minded, Pip focuses on an end result he'd like to have come true, and he works tirelessly to bring that result to reality. A personality trait generated from cracking his grandfather's nearly impossible puzzle challenges, Pip rarely invites others to help him with his goals, and he seeks to achieve results that benefit him only. Creative, Pip uses his imagination to help him solve problems that arise and interrupt his flow. He has the potential to be a very innovative person and one path he may choose to travel is that of an inventor of sorts. His ambition and focus could also pair with his creativity to make of him a very great entrepreneur in his mature years, so long as his negative qualities do not inhibit his ability to see clearly.
Of his negative qualities, Pip identifies trauma, emotion and illogical hesitation as his weakest traits. Traumatized, Pip doesn't show his emotions overtly, but his life experience has given way to a deeply ingrained relationship with trauma. For some, it might seem like a sharp pain in one's side but for Pip, it is more a dull hurt he feels every day. He uses the pain to keep himself focused on his ultimate end goal: to bring about the torturous death of Gran-pere. Emotion, Pip regards as the weakest quality of a human being. Emotions get in the way of the weakest person and also hinder the strongest if he lets himself be emotional. Pip hates this quality about himself the most because his emotions are unresolved: on one hand, he feels strongly about people and places in his life (especially his mother) and he strives to do the best he can to make their lives and places better, but he also thinks less of those who are too emotional (regrettably for him, his mother is the top of the list for her breakdown over his father's murder). Although it seems to be an impossible thing for a boy of 11 to do, Pip makes every effort to fight his emotions. Someday, his efforts may backfire on him as emotions that are suppressed tend to manifest as confused anger, and the rage storming inside him seems already fit to burst. Careless, Pip considers the second biggest human failing to be hesitation. Because of his own single-mindedness, he doesn't understand why some people (himself included) hesitate or delay when taking action. Perhaps this is because Gran-pere never appeared to hesitate, himself when casting spells or making decisions. Pip gets very upset when someone else makes him second-guess or rethink decisions he's made because of his extreme hatred for indecisiveness and hesitation. He finds these things to be incredibly illogical.
Physical Description:
Height: 4'9"
Weight/Build: 76 ½ lbs. and scrawny
Skin Tone: lightly tanned
Hair Color and Style: brown, bowl-cut
Eye Color: grey-blue (pale blue)
Personal Scent: metal and smoke
Despite being French by birth, Pip doesn't keep his appearances up. He has learned to cut his own hair by placing a bowl on his head and cutting around its edges, but other than this effort, he still wears clothing handed down to him and he shows no interest in updating his appearance. He looks like a vagabond sometimes. Uncle Caleb and Uncle Ben are making a huge effort to change their nephew's carelessness with his appearance, but their attempts seem to make little or no effect on the boy. He'd prefer to hide beneath the fabric. He smells like metal and smoke because he enjoys melting (or attempting to melt) metal with his most prized Muggle possession: a highly advanced microscope. Mostly the microscope's magnifying glass chars the surface of the thick metal swatch Pip was gifted by his grandfather last year; it will take much more power and heat to melt the swatch. On occasion, Pip likes to trap ants and imprison them in the direct path of the sun's ray so that they are fried to death, but lately, this entertainment has dulled; he seeks bigger prey. He inherited his pale blue (grey-blue) eyes from his father, and he is the only one of his siblings with that eye-color. Secretly, he treasures it. He considers eating a waste of time and generally will take just a slab of cheese and a slice of toast for any of his meals. He also prefers peanut butter, apple slices and occasionally baguette and goat cheese, but anything more than this diet (especially processed sugars) is unacceptable. He might yet be convinced to enjoy dark chocolate (probably just for its bitterness). Finally, being from Central France and of Mediterranean parentage (his mother is from the southern coast) Pip is lightly tanned (not olive-skinned though). Adults have told him he's fortunate to have skin like this, but Pip thinks such comments are ridiculous.
Likes: {at least List 3}
Solitude
Power
Vengeance
Dislikes: {at least List 3}
Teamwork
Frivolous people
Emotions
Special Talents: Pip has a high opinion of himself because he was born a Metamorphmagus. While this is a special talent to be noted, Pip considers his greatest special talent his ability to make people feel low. He's very skilled at putting people down. As a Metamorphmagus, Pip thinks he's a very special wizard, but he's also aware of how much magic there is in the world and how little he knows of it. He's been able to use his metamorphing skills to conceal himself when he wants to go unnoticed. He is incredibly bright and clever, and he could have fit the characteristics of a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor for his bravery and wit. Unlike those houses, though, he seeks personal gain from his pursuits.
He isn't merely curious for the sake of being curious: he is curious for the purpose of becoming a far greater wizard than his grandfather. Therefore his confidence in himself is quite high, even though he keeps to himself. He's been known to shoot snide remarks before when the person to whom he's addressing has said something (or done something) foolish. He could be tamed by the right person if only they were to respond to him strongly and be relentless with curbing his attitude.
RP Example:
Pip knelt in the grass, magnifying glass in hand, and searched the ground for innocent creatures. He was happy the sun was out (finally), and he was upset that the most recent rain had encouraged the ants to build more hills. He'd considered stomping them out with his feet, but then he'd gotten upset with how dissatisfying that form of genocide would be. It was too quick and painless; he wanted to hear them squeal, to feel the rush of dominance course through him. Milou cam trotting up to him and stuck his nose in the ground. Pip didn't really mind that the soft-coat Jack Russell wanted to share his space, but he did care that Uncle Ben was likely to follow. Like clockwork, his gay Uncle-in-Law arrived with a leash in his hand. Pip fantasized about putting a dog collar and leash around Uncle Ben's neck. He grinned at the thought. Uncle Ben seemed to take that as a sign to join him and Milou, and he bent down to examine the spot Pip was concentrating on.
"What's so interesting, Philippe?" He asked in as gay a voice as Pip imagined he could.
"Ants," he replied and moved a few inches away from his uncle. Milou followed, excitedly.
"Red ants..? Black ants...? Green ants...?" Uncle Ben tried.
"Green ants don't exist stupid," Pip growled. Milou mistook his growl and cocked his head to the side, retracting his tongue back into his mouth. He seemed to be saying, Green ants?
"There's a kid your age living down the street," Uncle Ben tried again. "Sydney has played with him once or twice. Would you be..." But Pip didn't let him finish.
"I don't need friends," he said plainly. "I don't need Sydney either. She's a substandard witch and her worth is very little in the Wizard World. She might as well marry the boy down the street since he's a Muggle and matters little." Milou didn't like the growling. He backed away slowly, whimpering just a little. Pip felt sad that he'd been so aggressive with the dog, but Uncle Ben was being a serious a-hole.
"I think you should have friends though," Uncle Ben replied firmly. Pip barely heard him though. He'd just spotted a colony of ants stranded in the grass (Milou had stepped on the nearest ant hole and Pip was kneeling on the next closest). He was angling his magnifying glass in preparation to fry the colony. It would take a long time to get a fire going around them, but once it did, they'd all burn. "Are you listening to me at all?" Uncle Ben asked. Pip grinned and shook his head. At last, Uncle Ben left him alone. It was not a moment too soon, either: a thin but remarkable column of smoke was slowly rising from the center of the swarming ant colony. They were becoming frantic, but there was no place for them to go. Pip's eyes lit up as he saw the first sparks catch.
How You Found Us (Optional):
D.o.B./Age: September 18, 2016/age 12
Place of Residency:
Blood Status: Half-blood (mother is a Muggle)
Former School/House: Hogwarts/Slytherin
Wand: Blackthorne, Phoenix feather, 11 ½", rigid/unrelenting
Position Requesting: First Year Student at Durmstrang
Credentials: General dislike of Muggles, proclivity toward dark arts, dark history (see below), and expulsion from Hogwarts (pending)
History:
Parent(s): (natural) Philip Giry (12/10/1988-7/30/2028) and Josefina Toureaux Giry (4/14/1990-3/3/2029)
Sibling(s): Jeremie (1/14/2019-3/3/2029), Amelie (11/5/2020-3/3/2029) and Emmanuel (12/30/2022)
Other(s): (foster parents) Uncle Caleb Giry (7/13/1999) and Uncle Ben Carroll (9/12/1999-8/9/2028), (gran-mere) Elaine Marie Ellison (9/21/1947-3/3/2029)
Others still: (distant relations) Bryce, Adelaide, and Sydney McAlarney
Pet(s):
Economic Status: Poor (personal wealth ownership is valued at $250k in life insurance; personal net worth is around $350)
A History, Moste Dreadful
Philippe, or Pip as he's more often called, was born unexpectedly. He was told by his harsh gran-pere that his mother spilled a drop of boiled water on her pregnant womb the night he was born, and the shock of the spill sent her into labor, the end result of which was him. His parents loved him, but not enough to refrain from having more children. After they had their last child, Emmanuel, Gran-pere put a spell on his mother to prevent her from having more children. Pip regarded this as reasonable. Jeremie and Amelie, his brother and sister, were well enough, but Emmanuel - or Manu, as he was called - was a horrifying little imp that Pip disliked very early on. He tried to dispose of the imp once (okay, twice) by leaving his crib unattended or by rocking the bassinet too roughly. When neither of these attempts worked, he resigned himself to making the imp his personal servant. Unfortunately, he never got the chance to enslave the child.
His mother, a Muggle, was a pacifist. A Buddhist by choice, she created a very peaceful environment within the walls of her home, and she enforced her peaceful rule of law strictly: the children were not allowed to invite negativity into her home, nor enact malice against one another. Jeremie, Amelie, and Manu bought it; Pip did not. He was a troublesome child in this way, but somehow he won the cold heart of his Gran-pere. He was told that one day he'd be a great man worthy of his Gran-pere's respect and loyalty. As his favor with the man increased, Pip watched his father's favor with his grandfather decrease. Pip looked up to his father, but he never said those words aloud. His father was an important businessman in the Wizard World, and he knew that Pip was going to be a Wizard from an early age; as such, he took Pip with him to many places he visited both in France - where they lived - and elsewhere (namely, Italy and Greece). Hoping to keep her children from the violence of public life, Josefina Giry chose to homeschool her four children, setting up a classroom for them to attend in her art studio. They received a classical education, and they were tutored in mathematics, proper French language and grammar, English language, remedial sciences, basic philosophy, history, and the fine arts. Instead of nap-time, the Giry children learned the art of meditation; by age five, each child was meditating for up to 30 minutes a day. The calming effects of this Eastern practice were had by Jeremie, Amelie, and even little Manu; Pip railed against them. He considered it Chinese brain-washing.
Eventually, Josa allowed Gran-pere to assist in beginning Pip's magical education; these lessons often began with a unique and deeply challenging puzzle Pip would have to solve before continuing with his lessons. Sometimes, he would have to work at the puzzle for hours - far longer than his magical lesson (45 minutes with a brief break) would take - and he was never permitted to continue with the lesson until the puzzle was solved. He failed once, and he never forgot it. Conceptual knowledge was shared only, as he hadn't yet been chosen by a wand or reached an appropriate age at which to use magic, but the knowledge covered a broad range of subjects: (in order) Curses, Jinxes, Hexes, Duelling Spells, Potent Potions and their ingredients, Magical History, Spells and Enchantments, and the Dark Arts. More than once, his Gran-pere demonstrated transfiguration spells, including his own transformation into a ferocious black bear - a lesson in which Pip learned about being an Animagus. As he got older, however, these lessons became more desperate and bizarre. Pip was convinced his grandfather was a lunatic or vigilante, and he briefly crossed over to the "dark side" and embraced his mother's pacifism and peace-loving philosophy. But a storm raged inside him - probably generated from that errant drop of boiling water so many years past.
Pip's most dreadful life event happened quite recently, though. Invited to attend a Liberation Party in the newly reclaimed Soviet city of Smolensk, Pip and his family crossed the continent to appear at the lavish ball. A quarrel between a man calling himself "the Sir" and grandfather spoiled the evening, and in a foul temper, Gran-pere picked an argument with Pip's father, his oldest child. Both men were guilty of the sin of pride, and with both their feelings of pride being severely injured by the other, they resorted to a gentlemanly duel. Gran-pere never meant to be gentlemanly about it, and in front of almost 700 distinguished guests - including his own son's family - Jean-Luc Francios "Manu" Giry ruthlessly tortured and killed his own son, Philip Giry.
Josa went to pieces shortly after the murder. Elaine Marie Ellison, Josefina's Grandmother-in-Law, stepped in (being a witch herself) and helped care for her newly fatherless great-grandchildren-in-law. Conferring with Pip's uncles Jerome Giry and Caleb Giry and his Aunt Sister Alberic Toureaux (a Benedictine nun), Elaine orchestrated a grand scheme to foster the most vulnerable of her extended family to blood relatives. Fearing that Jean-Luc would seek to end the entire Giry line, the fostering scheme was conducted in secrecy. Amelie was sent to Canada to live at the Priory where Sister Alberic was a nun; Jeremie was taken to Belgium to live with his Uncle Jerome (for whom he was named); Emmanuel was taken to Scotland to live with Elaine herself; and Pip was sent to England to live with his Uncle Caleb and Uncle Caleb's husband, Ben Carroll. Elaine also arranged for Josa to take residence at a former Benedictine Priory-turned-Psychiatric Hospital in Zwiefalten, Germany until she was sufficiently recovered and could resume her role as a mother. Initial recommendations from the hospital were to extend Josa's stay indefinitely, but seeing an opportunity to bring mother and sons together, Elaine took Josa out of the hospital and brought her home to Whitekirk, Scotland. Her timing was tremendous as several days later, a crazed Frenchman "helped" a patient jump out of her bedroom window. The patient looked considerably like Josa. Elaine is now on the defensive (as long as her 81-year-old body will allow her) making sure her extended family remains safe. She has had no choice but to protect her own home so that she can keep her great-grandsons and her granddaughter safe. Recently, she has managed to take Pip out of the house in Liverpool so as not to endanger Caleb's life or his husband's life. With the relocation, Pip now resides with his mother, great-grandmother, and brother in Scotland.[/br]
A History Moste Promising
Pip remains a faint shade of the boy he was before his father's murder. A storm still rages inside him, but whether it manifests as good or ill is yet unknown. Attempts by his very good uncles Caleb and Ben do not seem to have registered much on the boy, but only time can tell. As his application for British Citizenship awaits a response from the government, his desire to continue his magical studies at Hogwarts School has grown to a near feverish level: he craves nothing more than to become the sort of wizard that could outstrip his wicked grandfather, perhaps even to avenge his father's death. In fact, of late Pip's sole consolation seems to be in imagining a thousand ways he's going to kill the Gran-pere he once revered.
A Future Moste Uncertain
After impulsively attacking another student in broad daylight, Pip has been promised to be disciplined by the Hogwarts administration. Although his desire for vengeance upon Eoin Brady has been realized, Pip never truly considered what it might cost him. Now, his matriculation with the school (and the Wizarding World) hangs in the balance. All his dreams for his future need to be reimagined. He still has one goal upon which his entire being remains fixed: Gran-pere must die at his hands. Still, many questions orbit his universe: will his budding "friendship" with Caterina Turati continue to blossom? Will he finally be rid of his relatives? Will he even be allowed to study black magic and the dark arts? Where will he go from here?
Personality Description: {at least 2 good sized paragraphs}
Pip speaks politely when he is spoken to politely, and he offers rude gestures when he is treated likewise. If he were to attend parties or immerse himself in large groups, he would be the person staring blankly at the activity around him wearing a look of disinterest. He prefers to be alone, working toward becoming the best wizard he can be, and he doesn't hold much value in having frivolous friendships. His connections with people are for a purpose, and that purpose is to advance his understanding of magic so that he can destroy his grandfather. And yet, Pip still has a soft heart inside; the pain he feels for his mother's breakdown and for the separation he suffers from his siblings (except Manu) plagues him daily. He fears it will never pass and he craves to become Gran-pere's equal so that in killing his rival he can also kill these confused fears inside. He does not yet realize that his guilt, shame, and fear consume him and that he might lose control of them someday. He needs help, but he doesn't look for any.
Pip categorizes his personality traits into two distinct groups (often which fight with each other): positive qualities, and negative qualities. Of his positive qualities, he most values ambition, single-mindedness, and creativity. Ambitious - as discerned from a young age, Pip strives to become the greatest wizard he can become. He views his grandfather as his greatest rival and defines the development of his own abilities comparative to those of his much-advanced rival. Single-minded, Pip focuses on an end result he'd like to have come true, and he works tirelessly to bring that result to reality. A personality trait generated from cracking his grandfather's nearly impossible puzzle challenges, Pip rarely invites others to help him with his goals, and he seeks to achieve results that benefit him only. Creative, Pip uses his imagination to help him solve problems that arise and interrupt his flow. He has the potential to be a very innovative person and one path he may choose to travel is that of an inventor of sorts. His ambition and focus could also pair with his creativity to make of him a very great entrepreneur in his mature years, so long as his negative qualities do not inhibit his ability to see clearly.
Of his negative qualities, Pip identifies trauma, emotion and illogical hesitation as his weakest traits. Traumatized, Pip doesn't show his emotions overtly, but his life experience has given way to a deeply ingrained relationship with trauma. For some, it might seem like a sharp pain in one's side but for Pip, it is more a dull hurt he feels every day. He uses the pain to keep himself focused on his ultimate end goal: to bring about the torturous death of Gran-pere. Emotion, Pip regards as the weakest quality of a human being. Emotions get in the way of the weakest person and also hinder the strongest if he lets himself be emotional. Pip hates this quality about himself the most because his emotions are unresolved: on one hand, he feels strongly about people and places in his life (especially his mother) and he strives to do the best he can to make their lives and places better, but he also thinks less of those who are too emotional (regrettably for him, his mother is the top of the list for her breakdown over his father's murder). Although it seems to be an impossible thing for a boy of 11 to do, Pip makes every effort to fight his emotions. Someday, his efforts may backfire on him as emotions that are suppressed tend to manifest as confused anger, and the rage storming inside him seems already fit to burst. Careless, Pip considers the second biggest human failing to be hesitation. Because of his own single-mindedness, he doesn't understand why some people (himself included) hesitate or delay when taking action. Perhaps this is because Gran-pere never appeared to hesitate, himself when casting spells or making decisions. Pip gets very upset when someone else makes him second-guess or rethink decisions he's made because of his extreme hatred for indecisiveness and hesitation. He finds these things to be incredibly illogical.
Physical Description:
Height: 4'9"
Weight/Build: 76 ½ lbs. and scrawny
Skin Tone: lightly tanned
Hair Color and Style: brown, bowl-cut
Eye Color: grey-blue (pale blue)
Personal Scent: metal and smoke
Despite being French by birth, Pip doesn't keep his appearances up. He has learned to cut his own hair by placing a bowl on his head and cutting around its edges, but other than this effort, he still wears clothing handed down to him and he shows no interest in updating his appearance. He looks like a vagabond sometimes. Uncle Caleb and Uncle Ben are making a huge effort to change their nephew's carelessness with his appearance, but their attempts seem to make little or no effect on the boy. He'd prefer to hide beneath the fabric. He smells like metal and smoke because he enjoys melting (or attempting to melt) metal with his most prized Muggle possession: a highly advanced microscope. Mostly the microscope's magnifying glass chars the surface of the thick metal swatch Pip was gifted by his grandfather last year; it will take much more power and heat to melt the swatch. On occasion, Pip likes to trap ants and imprison them in the direct path of the sun's ray so that they are fried to death, but lately, this entertainment has dulled; he seeks bigger prey. He inherited his pale blue (grey-blue) eyes from his father, and he is the only one of his siblings with that eye-color. Secretly, he treasures it. He considers eating a waste of time and generally will take just a slab of cheese and a slice of toast for any of his meals. He also prefers peanut butter, apple slices and occasionally baguette and goat cheese, but anything more than this diet (especially processed sugars) is unacceptable. He might yet be convinced to enjoy dark chocolate (probably just for its bitterness). Finally, being from Central France and of Mediterranean parentage (his mother is from the southern coast) Pip is lightly tanned (not olive-skinned though). Adults have told him he's fortunate to have skin like this, but Pip thinks such comments are ridiculous.
Likes: {at least List 3}
Solitude
Power
Vengeance
Dislikes: {at least List 3}
Teamwork
Frivolous people
Emotions
Special Talents: Pip has a high opinion of himself because he was born a Metamorphmagus. While this is a special talent to be noted, Pip considers his greatest special talent his ability to make people feel low. He's very skilled at putting people down. As a Metamorphmagus, Pip thinks he's a very special wizard, but he's also aware of how much magic there is in the world and how little he knows of it. He's been able to use his metamorphing skills to conceal himself when he wants to go unnoticed. He is incredibly bright and clever, and he could have fit the characteristics of a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor for his bravery and wit. Unlike those houses, though, he seeks personal gain from his pursuits.
He isn't merely curious for the sake of being curious: he is curious for the purpose of becoming a far greater wizard than his grandfather. Therefore his confidence in himself is quite high, even though he keeps to himself. He's been known to shoot snide remarks before when the person to whom he's addressing has said something (or done something) foolish. He could be tamed by the right person if only they were to respond to him strongly and be relentless with curbing his attitude.
RP Example:
Pip knelt in the grass, magnifying glass in hand, and searched the ground for innocent creatures. He was happy the sun was out (finally), and he was upset that the most recent rain had encouraged the ants to build more hills. He'd considered stomping them out with his feet, but then he'd gotten upset with how dissatisfying that form of genocide would be. It was too quick and painless; he wanted to hear them squeal, to feel the rush of dominance course through him. Milou cam trotting up to him and stuck his nose in the ground. Pip didn't really mind that the soft-coat Jack Russell wanted to share his space, but he did care that Uncle Ben was likely to follow. Like clockwork, his gay Uncle-in-Law arrived with a leash in his hand. Pip fantasized about putting a dog collar and leash around Uncle Ben's neck. He grinned at the thought. Uncle Ben seemed to take that as a sign to join him and Milou, and he bent down to examine the spot Pip was concentrating on.
"What's so interesting, Philippe?" He asked in as gay a voice as Pip imagined he could.
"Ants," he replied and moved a few inches away from his uncle. Milou followed, excitedly.
"Red ants..? Black ants...? Green ants...?" Uncle Ben tried.
"Green ants don't exist stupid," Pip growled. Milou mistook his growl and cocked his head to the side, retracting his tongue back into his mouth. He seemed to be saying, Green ants?
"There's a kid your age living down the street," Uncle Ben tried again. "Sydney has played with him once or twice. Would you be..." But Pip didn't let him finish.
"I don't need friends," he said plainly. "I don't need Sydney either. She's a substandard witch and her worth is very little in the Wizard World. She might as well marry the boy down the street since he's a Muggle and matters little." Milou didn't like the growling. He backed away slowly, whimpering just a little. Pip felt sad that he'd been so aggressive with the dog, but Uncle Ben was being a serious a-hole.
"I think you should have friends though," Uncle Ben replied firmly. Pip barely heard him though. He'd just spotted a colony of ants stranded in the grass (Milou had stepped on the nearest ant hole and Pip was kneeling on the next closest). He was angling his magnifying glass in preparation to fry the colony. It would take a long time to get a fire going around them, but once it did, they'd all burn. "Are you listening to me at all?" Uncle Ben asked. Pip grinned and shook his head. At last, Uncle Ben left him alone. It was not a moment too soon, either: a thin but remarkable column of smoke was slowly rising from the center of the swarming ant colony. They were becoming frantic, but there was no place for them to go. Pip's eyes lit up as he saw the first sparks catch.
How You Found Us (Optional):