BAIRD QUILLAN MCLAGGEN______________________________________________________________________________________
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INTRODUCTION------------------------------------------------------------
FULL NAME: Baird Quillan McLaggen
NICKNAMES/ALIASES: Mathúin, Bear, Bear-Cub, McLaggen.
AGE & BIRTHDAY: Sixteen, October 31st 2010
Star Signs:
- Scorpio
- Element: Water
- Quality: Fixed
- Ruling House: Eighth
- Ruling Planets: Mars & Pluto
- Tiger
- Fixed Season: Spring
- Fixed Direction: East
- Fixed Element: Wood
- Associated Sun Sign: Aquarius
SPECIES: Human
BLOOD TYPE: Half-Blood
HOGWARTS HOUSE & YEAR: Ravenclaw, Sixth Year
CLASSES AND O.W.L RESULTS:
Core Classes:
- Astronomy
- Charms
- Defence Against the Dark Arts
- Herbology
- History of Magic
- Potions
- Transfiguration
Electives
- Study of Ancient Runes
- Arithmancy
- Care of Magical Creatures
- Divination
- Alchemy
Extra Curricular
- Ancient Studies
- Earth Magic
- Ghoul Studies
- Magical Theory
- Xylomancy
- Hogwarts Orchestra
ALLEGIANCES: Neutral
- The Snailhorn Family
- The Slughorn Family
- The British Ministry of Magic
- The Department of Mysteries
- Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
- Ravenclaw House
- Hufflepuff House
- Ravenclaw House Quidditch Team
- The Hogwarts Orchestra
- The Quidditch Federation
- The Nimbus Racing Broom Company
- England’s International Quidditch Team
- Ireland’s International Quidditch Team
- The Ballycastle Bats
- The Falmouth Falcons
- The Potion Makers Federation
- E.M. L Potions Co.
- Potions Lady
- The Quibbler
- The Daily Prophet
- PlayWizard
- The Hobgoblins
- The Weird Sisters
WAND & WAND TRAITS: Reed and Hazel inlaid with Hemlock and Kaya, Ramora Scales core with Kneazle Whiskers and Augurey Tail Feathers, 14¾ inches, rigid.
Reed
- Delicate,
- Difficult,
- Wise,
- Intelligent,
- A Ravenclaw wandwood.
Hazel
- Quiet,
- Versatile,
- Subtle boosts to Charms and Transfiguration,
- Denotes Divination skill.
Hemlock
- Quick wandwood,
- Allows fast reactions
- Excellent Potion stirrer
Kaya
- Rare in British wandmaking,
- Abilities in Logical Arts (e.g. Potions, Astronomy, Ancient Runes and Arithmancy) boosted.
Ramora Scales
- Boost power of water-based spells
- ‘Typically’ excellent in Healing and Potions,
- Found in the hands of those with the Sight.
Kneazle Whiskers
- Found most commonly in the hands of Ravenclaws,
- Channels Kneazle’s ability to sense intentions of others,
- Excellent for Divination and Defensive Magic
- Augurey Tail Feather[/i]
- Once believed to be a Dark wand core as Augurey cries were thought to signify death,
- Not a strong Dark core,
- Powerful core for Divination.
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APPEARANCE
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FACE DESCRIPTION:
Baird bears some rather conflicting features in his face and upper echelons of his body. He has quite a small lower part of his head and a wide forehead covered by dirty-blonde curls that are a closer shade to brown than they are blonde but some auburn can be found underneath. He has a very prominent jaw line that is harsh in comparison to the rest of his face, giving him an adult edge that is something he has to grow into rather than having already done so.
His features are small and ladylike, having garnered most of his ‘good looks’ from his mother. He has small, expressive blue eyes that are a particular shade caught between sky blue and aqua - though it is unresolved which it is more like. His nose is small and short, sweeping down from his brow bones and forming at the bottom into a plump button. His nostrils are small and downturned towards his lips, certainly nothing of merit. His lips are thin and pink, much like his mothers, though unlike his mother he has the ability to grow facial hair over the top and while he has delved into the realm of moustachioed living he’s never been content with it and takes time to shave that and his jaw daily.
He has a couple of moles peppering his jaw and two twinned one on his left cheek - his mother’s lover once comparing it to a beauty mark French women in the late nineteenth century so favoured. His eyebrows are skinny but expressive and are a dark, sweeping shade that is a similar to that of his hair. They haven’t been styled in any way and are largely unruly. His eyes are framed by long lashes that sweep out and tickle at his cheekbones which stand out stark against the rest of his face. He also has little ears that are ever so slightly pointed at the top, leading many of his friends to the belief that he has Elf-ish blood in him - and he’s content to indulge them.
BODY DESCRIPTION:
Baird is your atypical nerd - everything you’d expect in terms of body shape and size at a glance Certainly, there’s much more to behold beneath the moth-eaten t-shirts and woolly, grandmother-knit jumpers he favours over his friends’ rather stylish choices of attire.
Baird is incredibly tall, adding to the Elf-ish theory but also making many of his friends wonder whether he’s also got Giant blood in him. He grazed six foot long ago and shows no signs of growing. He is reluctant to measure himself but has been able to look into the eyes of his mother since he was eleven and can now lean his arm comfortably on the top of her head - and she’s not short by any means!
His neck is fairly short but spreads down into broad shoulders and a long torso with gangly arms that graze around the tops of his thighs when left to hang. His chest and arms are toned, not so much muscled but he does appear to have the touches of prominent ab-mucles just waiting to exude should he choose to properly work on them. He has a largely hairless chest but for a bit of peppered, obligatory dark curls over his breast area; and of course the tell-tale trail leading down to the waistband of his trousers.
His torso is long and pale, a pallor that runs throughout his outer organ. His legs are a similar shade but unlike his torso, covered in hair he’d rather not show off to the world. His calves are strong due to the steady amount of running he does but he does lament over his ‘wobbly’ thighs that no amount of Charlie consoling him over could make him love.
He has big feet and we all know what that means. He has always, for that reason, had to by larger shoes than all of his friends and was teased mercilessly about it during his Muggle school years. He finds now that, with a paralysing fear of spiders, his shoes are very useful for dropping on their heads - very useful indeed.
He also has rather large hands and, thankfully, skinny fingers that allow him to work intricately. Had he not possessed such vastly important features then it would have made his Potions work very, very difficult.
DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS:
Baird’s best friends are Werewolves, making having skirmishes with them an inevitability rather than something he can avoid. Their long fingernails are always a hazard for him and has for that reason a number of scars that have never properly healed on his arms and on his chest - though how Charlie got him there he’ll never know. Thankfully he’s never crossed them during the Full Moon otherwise he’d have a lot more than just a couple of scars to console himself about over a glass of Firewhisky.
He has a number of piercings, however, which will eventually be self-inflicted scars when he takes them out. He has a number on his ears - particularly he has his scaffold or Industrial done with a number of Helix/Cartilage piercings on both ears. In his left ear he also has his Tragus done while in his right he has his Snug and Conch done. His lobes are pierced in both ears. Interestingly, also, he got his nipples done on a whim while drunk and with his friends which makes for some interesting conversation whenever it comes up. He’s also considered having his hip-bones done but has never gotten that far.
Tattoos were something he always intended on getting having learnt about them from many of his mother’s boyfriends. He eventually convinced her boyfriend two boyfriends ago to give him one and the man, while reluctant, complied. He got a small raven holding an Irish knot in its beak just under his armpit. The raven also appears to have dropped one of its feathers and intermittently with little bits of magic the feather will burst into tiny birds that run over his chest and back. It’s a very clever, pretty piece.
In terms of other bits and bobs, Baird likes to wear rings and linked metal bracelets as well as a silver cuff with his name, date of birth and residence etched into it - the last of which changes every time they find an empty house in Muggle Britain where said Muggles have gone off to Turkey or somewhere for their holidays. That he’s had since he was a child when he had a habit of wandering off.
His prized possession is a vial of Felix Felicis which he keeps corked and looped on a piece of black cord tied around his neck. It’s a precaution. Should he ever need to save himself in any way or need some real luck. The vial also acts as a Portkey.
PLAY BY: Daniel Sharman.
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PERSONALITY
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GOOD & BAD TRAITS:
001. Aware
002. Blunt
003. Clever
004. Competitive
005. Curious
006. Determined
007. Emotionally Immoderate
008. Fearless
009. Hard-Working
010. Intense
011. Intuitive
012. Loyal
013. Motivated
014. Noble
015. Observant
016. Overbearing
017. Paranoid
018. Passionate
019. Penetrating
020. Quietly manipulative
021. Resourceful
022. Secretive
023. Self-Destructive
024. Sensitive
024. Serious
026. Solitary
027. Stubborn
028. Vengeful
029. Wanton
030. Wilful
LIKES & DISLIKES:
001. Crisp spring mornings
002. Divination
003. Football
004. Hogwarts
005. Pet projects
006. Potions
007. Quidditch
008. Tea
009. The Theatre
010. Travelling
001. Bigotry
002. Blood Purists
003. Entitlement, the sense of
004. His father
005. Laziness
006. Moving
007. Sickness
008. Uselessness
009. Werewolf Prejudice
010. Winter
GOALS:
001. Graduate with excellent N.E.W.T.s
002. Win the House Cup.
003. Win the Quidditch House Cup.
004. See the Bats win the league.
005. Go to a real Quidditch match - a live one.
006. Go to University.
007. Join the Ministry of Magic.
008. Research until he gets old, wizened and grey.
009. To find someone who loves him for him.
010. To understand himself and to be happy.
HABITS & QUIRKS:
001. Hangs dream catchers everywhere - currently he owns just over seventy.
002. Always picks up money he finds - so he can have good luck all day long.
003. Is particular about his morning routine.
004. Is always on time - never late. If not on time then early.
005. Writes left handedly despite having a natural disposition for the right.
006. Mirror writes in his diary. He’s also known to write on anything he comes across - from tables to bedspreads to walls.
007. Over-waters his plants in Herbology and then over-fertilises them and they get ridiculously large.
008. Likes to wear odd socks.
009. Enjoys chewing liquorice wands.
010. Bites the inside of his cheek and his tongue when frustrated.
AMORTENTIA: Strawberries, Cream, Fresh Parchment, Spilt Ink, Gooseberries.
BOGGART: Baird’s greatest fear is being bitten by a Werewolf, particularly one of his friends, but he also has a paralysing fear of spiders and every other creepy crawly in the world - particularly woodlice; he especially despises them. He also has an inherent fear and mistrust of food he doesn’t recognise and especially dislikes it when people tell him he likes something when it’s bathed in gravy or something of the like that makes the food beneath completely obscure and strange to him - though that is more of a pet peeve than anything else.
PATRONUS: Baird’s fondest memory is when he was introduced to his mother’s latest boyfriend - the only one he believes she’s ever loved truly. He can always recall seeing the true happiness on her face and this uncompromising love in her eyes that is an addition to her life, not something to hinder her or her relationship with her son.
Baird has yet to learn how to cast a Patronus as it is one of the hardest spells to cast. However, when and if he learns how to cast it, the corporeal form will take the figure of a Tiger on the prowl.
DEMENTOR: Baird’s worst memory is during his early years before his mother learnt properly how to live in the houses of those who were absent from his Great-Great-something-Great Uncle Horace. In those days, prior to them seeking solace with nuns in a cathedral somewhere in the North of the country, they travelled from soup kitchen to soup kitchen and he can never remember a time he felt so cold, so hungry and so dirty. But at the same time it was never a bad thing because his mother’s morale was always high and she would sing to him and no matter how sad he’d always smile when his mother sang to him.
VERITASERUM: Baird’s great secret is not really a secret at all but merely a confirmation of what everyone expects of him. He has addictive traits making for a difficult mix when he was first exposed to alcohol, drugs and illegal potions. Of course he has tried all three but finds he only has a taste for the first and the last. As a result he is always trying his Potions regardless of their effects and while he cannot hold his drink, likes to think he can. He becomes especially dangerous when he is coming down off of the potion high and he grows broody and irritable, prompting him to drink Firewhisky which, in itself, is a depressant - one that doesn’t make anything better for him.
MIRROR OF ERISED: Baird’s greatest desire is to be happy, safe and warm surrounded by a family that loves him. He has much of that now and is largely satisfied but he yearns for the other half of him and it concerns him because within his belly he cannot find an indicator that tells him who it is or who it could even possibly be. Even the gender of the person is a mystery to him! While that in itself concerns him not, Baird is still eager to find his other half. He wants to know - is desperate to know - who in the world could possibly love him for him and not for any other reason - warts and all.
PERSONALITY:
Baird’s Zodiac sign is Scorpio and he bears many of the often destructive yet creative traits that they embody. He is someone who is very much guided by the mystical and the terribly unlikely, believing that once you’ve stripped back all of that which humans consider ‘possible’, what is left is the ‘improbable’ regardless of how ridiculous it may seem. He is for that reason highly suspicious and superstitious, to the point of sheer irrationality; though by having a mother like his, he would say it is impossible not to be superstitious.
Scorpio’s ruling house is the Eight House which is commonly referred to as the House of Sex. However it also governs Death and Regeneration. It puts a great amount of emphasis on relationships - both intimately physical and not - and it is something that Baird also believes in greatly. He adores companionship and loathes being alone for any amount of time. This makes for a rather conversational young man who yearns for someone beside him, even if it is from a non-sexual point of view. Though, be sure to note that either is preferred.
Ironically, it is a sign that is governed by two powerhouse planets: Mars and Pluto. Pluto’s untapped power and undercurrent of evil and misgivings is paramount to this young man - though the latter is fear born out of misunderstanding and that is something that particularly afflicts Baird who is believed to be rather, well, insane; especially when his insatiable passion and drive shines through.
Mars is the planet of passion, ironically, and that is in all things - though does fit rather well with Scorpio’s ruling house. He is, for that reason, fiery and goes above and beyond that which is expected of him in order to sate the competitive drive and ambition within him. While such traits make for a strong competitor, one that is a match for any man, they also create very destructive tendencies in the young Baird.
The boy is fearless, believing nothing can be lost and if it is, it precedes a great win. This gives him a rather arrogant and over-bearing streak that makes him difficult to work with. He also has this single-mindedness that can be endlessly frustrating for people. He seems to get a kick out of work, whatever he’s doing. It’s as though there’s a shot of adrenaline through his veins and he is suddenly a rapid, uncontrollable powerhouse that despite his flyaway flippantness remains particular, lithe of the fingers and exacting in all he does.
Baird has addictive characteristics and a rampant need to finish what he starts. He has a horrendous temper and has no time for people that get in the way. The red mist, as it were, descends more often than it should and it means that he can shout at his closest friend or someone he classes as a brute and someone he’d prefer to avoid; and in those moments, he cares not for the consequences. For that reason, he’s ended up in the infirmary more than once. But he also has a brutal violent streak which makes him uncontrollable and unpredictable - even more dangerous, it has been joked, than the docile Werewolves he has as friends.
That said, Baird can also be the calmest, most loving and loyal creature to ever walk the planet. Despite his impoverished background, he’s always eager to share and has a generosity that is stark in comparison to his brooding fury that is the envy of most strong-willed Gryffindors. He is a fantastic friend, there is no doubt about that, but he is also someone you wouldn’t like to cross, friend or not, and especially not if you hurt any of those he considers friends, close or otherwise. For your trouble, you’ll be getting a potion shoved where the sun doesn’t shine.
Unfortunately though, he’s emotionally immoderate and extreme, overly sensitive and prone to changing his mood at the snap of fingers. He’s like a boiling cauldron with its lid on, if you will, and you’re not entirely sure when the lid will come off and the potion will explode. A joke could be taken as an extreme slight and Baird has the habit of making enemies faster than he does friends.
Despite this, the boy is aloof and solitary, understandably preferring to work alone amongst the weird, the wonderful and the mystical. He is also wonderfully creative and intuitive, finding that people lie but growing, instead of bitter, enamoured with it, determined to find the truth. He also thinks out of the box and has flashes of what he likes to call ‘gut feelings’ - but instead of niggling in his belly, they course past his eyes and give him snapshots of what is to come; both the good and the bad.
Baird is also highly affectionate and loving, as mentioned earlier. He is a firm, loyal friend and will do anything for those he loves. He has quite the fragile heart in the point of fact that he gives it away too easily and while he is paranoid and suspicious, superstitious, bearing all of this intellect and wisdom, he is naive in the ways of the heart and is blinded by a much pinker mist that keeps him from reading those he is enamoured with. It makes him incredibly vulnerable and every time he is hurt he tries to learn better but it is rare that improvement is ever made.
Finally, Baird is highly motivated by his desire to succeed and is highly pointed in the way he goes about things. He doesn’t under the concept of a grey area, believing things need to be compartmentalised in order to be understood. Confusingly, he has a real love for Divination - something that cannot be compartmentalised - and also has many quirks and eccentricities that aren’t either-or either. He lives very much in the grey area but, of course, doesn’t think he does. He has an innate sense of what is right and wrong and is politically, socially charged while not having any factional leanings.
Truly, he is a good young man. A teenager, if you will - prone to all of the aspects that make up a young person, caught between who they are and who they will be.
Baird is
- Hard-Working,
- Logical,
- Thoughtful,
- Traditionally right handed but uses his left for reasons unknown and not worth going into,
- Difficult,
- Loving,
- Loyal.
Baird isn’t
- Particularly tolerant,
- A Quitter,
- ‘Clean’ - in a different sense, he has an almost rabid sense of personal hygiene.
- At ease,
- A doormat - he won’t take things lying down.
- Patient,
- Straightforward or emotionally calm and centred, he’s very unpredictable and emotionally extreme.
Baird does
- Know how to murder people with Potions without leaving a trace,
- Love his friends dearly (God, those two are so juxtaposed it’s unreal)
- Like a good argument,
- Care about personal hygiene - to the point of carrying around wet wipes and getting antsy when he’s got something on his hands.
- Have an intuition that isn’t wholly out of luck, rather, something else a little bit more mystical.
- Eat a ridiculous amount of food but not does not gain a whole lot of weight for it.
- Get ill very easily; hence the hygiene. He does believe, however, that it has something to do with his exposure to Werewolves, namely their saliva, and while he knows that they cannot turn him while human, he is concerned about his sudden taste for rarer meat than usual. It is all circumstantial, however. Baird is perfectly find but was incredibly sickly as a child due to malnutrition and the like. It’s not something that has entirely deserted him, though, and can often be found rifling through the Hospital Wing looking for pain potions because the Potions Master caught him in the ingredients cupboard and ejected him from the Dungeons.
Baird doesn’t
- Know when to stop and take a break - he has to finish whatever he starts regardless of what it costs him.
- Suffer fools gladly and doesn’t react well to bullies. This especially makes him particularly volatile towards Slytherins who didn’t treat him well during his First Year. As a result he has decided within himself that all Slytherins are the same, whether for the right or the wrong reasons, and therefore is never particularly calm when around them and is not one to trust Slytherins no matter how nice they seemingly are.
- Enjoy being told he can’t do something, isn’t allowed or is deemed incapable of doing so due to not having the required skills - it only makes him want to do it more.
- Agree with House Elves being used as servants. He understands it’s what they liked to do and it’s what they’re “meant to do” but he still finds it unsettles him - particularly when the House Elves are poorly dressed.
- Have his own Gringott’s vault.
- Like Ghosts particularly. He has a particular distaste for Poltergeists and Boggarts and a true fear of Lethifolds after he found an extremely angry Living Shroud in a trunk in the attic of one of the homes he and his mother had moved into.
- Like those who make fun of people’s likes and dislikes that are different from their own - particularly the innate dislike people seem to have of Divination.
Baird has
- Had visions before. He mainly sees them as intuitional gut feelings but his mother suspects otherwise. They have not been to see any Healers to confirm this and Baird truly sees no reason to. He thinks it’s all circumstantial anyway.
- Spent most of his time at Hogwarts in the dungeons. He has a very good relationship with the Potions Professor and while s/he does not appreciate xir cupboard being rifled through on the frequent basis it is, Baird is certainly a favourite.
- Learnt everything he knows from his mother and his Uncle Horace, both of whom are very talented and learned in their own special ways. Baird’s potions skill in particular comes from those two. Horace is a little more sceptical of Divination than his mother who encourages it rather than begrudges Baird of his passion. Regardless, he is very grateful to them for teaching him - without them he’d know nothing, be nothing.
- Friends in the strangest of places. He is very friendly with a biker gang, many tattoo artists, illegal Potions importers and varying other shady characters whose company Baird’s mother enjoyed for a time and, in turn, so did Baird.
- A stray cat named Lolly who he suspects is a Kneazle but can’t be sure. Certainly, she seems to like his wand and to him, that’s indication enough. She has a tendency to disappear every once in a while and doesn’t hurry to return and often he’ll wake in the night with Lolly asleep on his chest, legs in the air, as though she’d never even left.
- Had relationships with both genders and all blood-types. His foray into romance was mostly done during the summers when he found a group of Muggles that he rather liked, that were different from the ones that had been cruel to him as a child. While the relationships were never physically intimate, Baird found he rather enjoyed the company of them and likes, as a result, to keep a girlfriend or a boyfriend - more for the companionship than the intimacy. It makes him sound rather funny, really.
- A very good, fierce friendship with the Ravenclaw ghost - the Grey Lady - Helena Ravenclaw. She wasn’t particularly kind to him when they first met. She was rather standoffish. After persisting, though, Baird managed to charm her into becoming his friend and while he does not wish to steal her mother’s diadem like others have in the past, he certainly wishes to be her friend and understand more about the time she lived in.
Baird has not
- Consummated any of his relationships.
- Had a proper job that wasn’t aiding his mother but one of his own.
- Encountered a vision where death is involved - he has yet to make a prophecy.
- Cast a Patronus yet.
- Joined the House Quidditch team.
- Ever brought a library book back late.
- Struggled in many of his classes.
Favourite Food: Toasties.
Favourite Movie: Love Actually.
Favourite Song: Wild Rover, The Dubliners.
Favourite Band: The Lumineers.
Favourite Home: Doxy Manor, Northern Ireland.
Favourite Colour: Navy Blue.
Favourite Book: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Favourite Sport: Football.
Favourite Mode of Travel: Portkey.
Favourite Quidditch Team: The Bats.
Favourite Football Team: Norwich.
Favourite Places: Plymouth, South of England.
Favourite Animal: Tiger.
Favourite Sweet: Liquorice Wands.
Favourite Season: Spring.
Favourite Subject: Potions.
Favourite Birthday: His twelfth birthday - he received a broom.
Favourite Clothing Item: A dark red woolly jumper.
Favourite Possession: The vial of Felix Felicis around his neck that doubles as a Portkey.
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FAMILY & POSSESSIONS
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FATHER: Cormac McLaggen | b. 1978 | Pureblood
MOTHER: Carice Snailhorn | b. 1981 | Half-Blood | Potion Maker
SIBLINGS: While Baird is aware his father has had numerous other children, he has not met nor has he gone out of his way to meet any of the others.
NATIONALITY: Irish-British
HOME TOWN: Unknown. Baird and Carice were always on the move; he doesn’t have one permanent place he calls home.
CURRENT RESIDENCE: The home of Jean and Kenneth Mulch who live in 456 Elf Drive in Surrey.
FINANCIAL STATUS: Impoverished but surviving.
SOCIAL STATUS: Lower Class - exacerbated by the fact that he’s a bastard.
PETS: A family owl named Susie who found them one day. He personally has a stray Kneazle called Lolly who comes and goes.
OTHER POSESSIONS:
- A vial of Felix Felicis that doubles as a Portkey.
- An impressive sock collection.
- A locket with a picture of his mother in it.
- The general odds and todds students have.
- A Gringott’s Key that belongs to his mother but he keeps because she’s prone to losing things.
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CHARACTER HISTORY
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Early Years:
The romance between Carice Snailhorn and Cormac McLaggen was short-lived and what you’d call a ‘whirlwind’. It was a summer romance, one which neither would forget though Carice would give it her best shot. It ended tragically - though with Cormac, how could it ever end anything but badly? She discovered he’d already moved on - typically in the way women always did; he was in bed with another woman - and she left, packing her bags and saving him the trouble. She returned home, licking her wounds and looking to her parents for solace and support. They were society people though, too busy for parenting, and were climbing the Pureblood social ladder despite their alarming differences from them; although claiming to be Pureblood did have its perks, naturally. She found no support there and it grew worse when she realised she’d fallen pregnant - insult to injury.
Scandalised, her furtive parents removed her from the household and set her up in a chalet in France, hoping that Carice would be rid of the child and would slim down enough to marry without compromising their positions. Nine months whirled by - as they always do - and after a gruelling, eighteen hour labour, Carice gave birth to an eight pound baby boy on October 31st at approximately ten past five that evening. She didn’t desert him. As she held him she couldn’t think of anything worse and more cruel and as she brought him to her breast, coaxing him to sleep and reassuring herself that she could provide for her son, she knew that there would be nothing in the world that would make her give him up - regardless of how easy doing so would be.
Carice named him Baird Quillan McLaggen; determined that when the time came, Cormac would know he had a son - a most perfect son that he could not have.
When her parents found out that she intended to keep the child, Carice and baby Baird - or Bear as he was fondly called - were ejected from the chalet and Carice was forced to make her own way back to Ireland. Faced with weakened magic and an uncertain fate at night, Carice had nowhere to go and no idea what to do.
What followed are the lost years, years of turmoil and painstaking travel and weary nights sleeping in allies and getting scraps where she could. Carice would not provide for her son as first though and those were years they both loathed but they were years that taught them to appreciate the small things in life - the ones that made it worth living.
The tide turned when Carice found her Uncle Horace Slughorn who gave them a room in a home he was occupying while a handful of Muggles were on holiday. This was something Carice employed from that point on and she and Baird seemed to settle for a while, moving from house to house with Slughorn before moving on out on their own to live in the houses of absent Muggles. It created a period of moving that Baird grew to loathe and though he knew there was little that could be done about it, while he enjoyed the travelling he hated having to car around the few possessions he’d acquired over time. It drained him -drained them both.
True stability came after a string of boyfriends when Carice finally settled with a man named Stephen Schmidt. He was kind and gentle despite his rather burly, brutal appearance and he encouraged Carice as best he could to do what she loved - which was brew. Stephen was often the one holding an eager Baird as he stood on the table on wobbly legs, eager to see what his mother was brewing. Stephen was a Squib but that did not mean a thing to Carice who loathed the Pureblood way of life her family had tried to take on.
The three became a true family when they moved in together in Southern Ireland. Of course, it wasn’t their home but Stephen joined their nomadic way of life and have travelled together ever since. Baird made friends where he could but found his eccentricities and ‘gypsy’ lifestyle tended to make him rather unlikable and though he hadn’t the foggiest why, he found he rather preferred being with Stephen and his mother - and his Uncle Horace - instead of the horrible Muggle boys and girls that teased him so.
In the end, things had to change and it all changed when Baird received his Hogwarts letter. Carice and Stephen took him to Diagon Alley, introduced him to magic outside of the magic of the world he’d been living in - that seemed special to him. True education was waiting for him and despite his misgivings, he was looking forward to it.
Hogwarts Years:
First Year:
Baird was a Hatstall. He was a particularly difficult thing to get sorted into one single house. The trip up to Hogwarts was one he’d made with trepidation. It would be his first permanent home ever and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about that - or what he’d have to do. He was a bit of a wanderlust, in that respect, and didn’t particularly look forward to the prospect of essentially being static for most of the year. Nevertheless, he was a Hatstall and he sat for a long while with the Sorting Hat peering into his mind, looking for the best place to put the boy. Gryffindor was immediately out of the equation, Slytherin too. Hufflepuffs were too timid for Baird and his thirst for knowledge was insatiable so eventually, Ravenclaw was the only choice.
His first year was strange. He found that he hung around quite a bit with his roommates, too shy to really go out and meet others. He studied quite a bit, finding that Ravenclaw had most of their classes with Hufflepuffs though occasionally they mingled with Gryffindors and Slytherins - rare though that was. His time was mostly spent in the library in that first year as he busied over his homework and helping out his friends with theirs. Baird was determined to be particularly impressive and succeeded with the most part, creating a reputation for himself around the teaching staff that he’d have to keep up with an exceed as he pursued his exams and moved through the school.
That Christmas, Baird was unable to go home. His mother was trying to settle herself and couldn’t afford to bring him back on the train, either. He instead stayed at Hogwarts, finding a lot of time to get his homework done. He wasn’t alone, however, and many of his friends stayed with him. It gave them a great opportunity to go out and play in the snow and after stealing some brooms from the cupboards down in the Quidditch locker rooms he even managed to play a little bit of Quidditch with his friends before they were caught and sent to detention for their troubles.
Baird’s first year was plagued by a few nasty Slytherins that changed his opinion on the house quite drastically. From that point on, he no longer trusted them and grew resentful. It made him learn quite a few jinxes and hexes, also, that helped him protect himself but also go him a fair few detentions too - much to his dismay. Still, revenge was sweet and after that they left him alone.
The summer holidays were particularly exciting because his mother began to work for a potions company. That didn’t make them settle, though, and instead they spent the summer moving from house to house that had been vacated by holiday-ing Muggles, often posing as House sitters while other times charming the Muggles into thinking they’d lived there all along. His Uncle Horace took him on holiday that summer - to the German Black Forest where they looked at Magical Creatures and different Potion ingredients with the help of an Austrian guide. Then they went to Strasbourg and Carice joined them with Stephen for one of the best holidays Baird can ever remember.
Second Year:
Second Year, unfortunately, was conducted much of the same way as the one prior to it. Nothing interesting occurred unless of course you count the satisfaction and excitement Baird felt when he and his friends realised that they weren’t First Years anymore - they were older and more important. That in itself was exciting as they watched the Sorting and it got even better when the majority of the new students ended up in Ravenclaw, making for a very strong side which would ensure more than a few House Points would go to them.
Baird became quite involved with the Quidditch Team during his Second Year. He didn’t join it as a player but he became a ball boy of sorts. He released the Snitch and the Bludgers while the Flying Instructor threw the Quaffle into the air. He didn’t like the Bludgers particularly and they seemed to sense his fear as for one match the Bludger chased him around for a good five minutes before he got off of the pitch and the Bludger took to the skies in search of a Chaser or someone to hit.
Thereafter he stuck to Football and played with a few of the Muggleborn friends he’d made in other Houses, garnering him the ire of many Slytherins but thankfully they’d learnt from the year before that Baird was not to be trifled with,
He continued with his studies, finding that he excelled in Potions even more than the year before and was actually able to spend less time than he had previously studying in order to keep up and exceed those in his class.
He could go home at Christmas that year and spent time with his family. The summer holidays weren’t nearly as exciting as the one prior to it and while they did go and stay in Devon for a while, nothing much occurred other than that and that Baird occasionally went to visit some of his friends.
Third Year:
Now, it was safe to say that Third Year was always going to be good. Armed with parental permission to go into Hogsmeade, Baird couldn’t wait to explore the little village that he and his mother had passed through when he was younger as they’d looked for somewhere to be for the summer. He couldn’t believe it when he first arrived in the October. Already, the village was submerged in snow and the students were wrapped up in their cloaks and scarves. Baird even got to have a snowball fight before they were rushed inside by some Prefects who told them to get warm in the Three Broomsticks.
From then on, Hogsmeade became one of Baird’s favourite places and instead of going home that Christmas, Carice and Stephen came up country and stayed in the Three Broomsticks with Baird before seeing him back into the school that Carice had so loved and Stephen had been so desperate to attend as young man. It was quite a non-descript Christmas but it was one that Baird thoroughly enjoyed as it was about good food and his family - two things he loves.
But it was electives year and the classes began in full force. New ones, old ones and ones he’d never heard of before descended on his timetable and Baird couldn’t believe the options he had when sorting out his timetable with his Head of House at the beginning of the school year.
He picked the following:
- Study of Ancient Runes
- Arithmancy
- Care of Magical Creatures
- Divination
- Alchemy
But what he also did was begin to get involved with extra-curricular activities which became open to him. In particular he joined the Hogwarts orchestra as he was quite skilled in playing the flute as well as the lyre and a number of other skilled instruments which he learnt to play after living in the home of a conductor for a month when he was younger.
During the summer, things became more interesting. Baird found out about the whole new world that was relationships and shared his first kiss with one of his Muggle friends who wanted to ‘practise’ for the boy she liked. Baird wasn’t about to complain regardless of whether he was being used and had a quick peck on the lips with her before hurrying off, cheeks ablaze, thoroughly embarrassed.
Fourth Year:
This year made everything a little different because it was this particularly year when he met Charlie Dyllan. The Hufflepuff was one he recognised, being in his year, but he had never spoken to her and was a little bit awkward about her while they worked in Potions on a Draught of Living Death. He didn’t speak much to the Professor, letting his fellow Ravenclaws badger the answers out without filter. He spoke to Charlie and found that she was quietly quite intelligent and a very nice person to be around. However, quickly he began to notice traits that made her a little different, traits which he later understood to be traits of a Werewolf and though initially he found himself concerned, he brushed it away and they sat next to each other in class for the rest of the year.
That year, Baird fell out with his friends who felt they’d outgrown him. In an effort to solve the situation, his Head of House removed him from the boy’s dormitory and into a separate room of his own that the castle was quick to provide. It was small and basic but he had a bathroom to his self and a bookshelf he could fill with his own books - not just Quidditch magazines though he wasn’t exempt from having them. It wasn’t long after that, that he met Baldric Wood, Grace Llewellyn and a number of other friends of Charlie’s who he realised quickly were in quite a different league to him, the latter of whom being another Werewolf; but by that point, he didn’t care.
Christmas was another good rest for Baird and the summer holidays followed a lot quieter than previous years, his friends no longer around.
Fifth Year:
In his fifth year, Baird met Sonia Ivanov. She was a Slytherin, a haughty Pureblood and everything, everything he hated. But sweet Merlin was she gorgeous. He pined after her in a truly pitiful way and though he did not let it show, his belly exploded into butterflies every time he was near her. He sobered himself by avoiding her as much as possible but that was soon made impossible when the Professor moved him next to her. It wasn’t a perfect scenario and while initially Baird was nervous, irritable and hardly the best person to talk to - her being a Slytherin - he slowly warmed up and he got to know her a bit better. She wasn’t all like he’d thought she was but definitely not like Charlie - who’d been sent over the other side of the class, someone he no longer saw much of at all.
Eventually, Baird and Sonia began to date but shared a volatile relationship which stemmed from her need to be who she was and his desire to be his own man and make his own choices independent of her. Of course that ended in loud rows that the whole castle seemed to hear but regardless of them they always seemed to kiss and make up, Baird entranced and unable to remember why it was they’d fought in the first place. She was just too pretty to stay angry at - that was his philosophy.
Of course, she wasn’t all bad. Really, she was a gem and she invited him into her life effortlessly and without judging him. He certainly adored her for it and as they grew together he found that he was considering her a lot more, considering her feelings, and becoming a much better, unselfish person for it - though he wasn’t exempt from his tantrums just like she wasn’t hers.
Dating Sonia brought him back to Charlie, though. At her insistence he met her friends and he found himself surrounded by what he’d later call the Spectacular Seven plus quite a few more, actually. Baldric, Grace, Olivia, Nathan, Sonia, Charlie and himself as well as another Hufflepuff (who has yet to be named) and the later addition of Trisha. It was a friendship group that Baird felt privileged to be a part of, one that he didn’t ever want to desert - not if he could help it, anyway.
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BEHIND THE CHARACTER
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ALSO KNOWN AS: Amy
RP EXPERIENCE: Nearly five years.
HOW YOU FOUND US: Affiliates from another site.
MAIN CHARACTER: Elijah Krum
OTHER: Credit to Addie from whom I stole, shamelessly, bits of her app I thought were fabulous and employed it in my own.
PURPOSE OF CHARACTER: In order to be fabulous, clearly.
by Peter Howard Sat Aug 03, 2013 6:09 pm
