CHARACTER INFORMATIONCharacter name:Robert Oliveroot
Previous and/or Current Character(s) if applicable: Charles Kedding, Gregory Noble, Noel Delaney, Ciel Koell, Elliot Noble, and Madison Litchfield.
Character age:25
Character education:1929 – 1937, Hogwarts
Currently, studying Potions and Plants at St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries
Strength and weaknesses (details please):Robert tends to think that his strength is in his ability to manipulate people and lie through his teeth, but truthfully he is strong for his ability to overcome trying situations. Even if he has no faith in himself, courage is what the Sorting Hat saw, and what settled him in gold and red. Though he’d rather not admit it, Robert has a soft heart. While he tends to shut himself off from people, once someone has wormed their way into his heart, he has great trouble letting them go. His strength is in caring, though sometimes from the side and sometimes not exactly how you’d expect.
His weakness, however, it in protecting himself. Robert had been raised with a mentality that you take care of yourself, because no one would be there for you if you fall. He’s sheltered, in that sense, and struggles to place faith in other people. He’s unfortunately had a string of poor luck when it comes to trusting, and it has only reinforced his skeptical nature.
The most outstanding weaknesses for Robert are his sensitivity and fear. He his constantly consumed by fear; a fear of being discovered, of being called out, of being seen for who he really is. Though in recent years he has been able to control his better, he still struggles with insecurity.
Physical description:The young man stands at a slight, below average, five foot and four inches. Though most of his frame is thin, a round face and soft limbs make him look more feminine than he’s never been comfortable with. Thankfully, he has a family known for beautiful women who often take the brunt of attention, so he’s happy to sit in the sidelines while someone gushes over his cousins pretty faces. Less attention on himself, the better.
Though the female brood of the Oliveroot family are known to be graced with beauty, Robert was by no means less graced. Good looks from both his parents have often made Robert a center of female attention. He’s become a prince when dealing with young maidens. Having been denounced from his mother and father, the drive to marry has all but fizzled, making for an easy excuse to ignore the opposite sex.
However, when things go below his collar, Robert clams up. Though he’s managed to learn a spell or two to keep up appearances, the young man’s insecurity stems primarily from anatomy that doesn’t fit that of a typical man. His body is Robert's curse, and it holds a heavy burden for the young teen, one that he is in constant fear of someone discovering. However, in age he’s talented at Transfiguring anything he doesn’t want. He has become content with this falsehood; he is who he has always wanted to be.
Personality (nice, rude, funny etc. Paragraph please.):Robert is a gentleman to strangers and a stern Professor to those he teaches. He takes little nonsense, and he is not afraid to leave down punishment when it is deserved. Do not expect anything ordinary from Robert’s punishments: if you cross him, he will make sure you remember to never do it again.
Robert always has an air of poise and calm collection. While years before he seldom smiled, Robert’s attitude has improved in the last year, and showing a smile is far more commonplace. There is no doubt that he has a certain charm when he turns off the fake charm.
Despite having a general lid on most of his emotions, anger erupts sometimes. Usually from stress, a raised voice is very rare in Robert, and should you hear his shout, it may be best to remove yourself.
Along with the gentlemanly nature, there is a harshness that comes off through his silver tongue. If Robert has any true skill, it would be in talking his way out of just about anything. He has a bit of a reputation for letting out harsh comments and snippy replies, sarcasm is an eagerly used tool.
Beneath the layers he’s constructed is a very insecure, shy and sensitive individual. While he has enjoyed helping others with their problems, he’s made it seem like he has no problems of his own. He’s an ear to listen, a shoulder to cry on for most in his life. There are very few people who Robert has opened up to.
Hopes and dreams. Why are you teaching at Hogwarts?:The last year has been a huge transition for Robert. Last term, he had taken a pause from teaching to pursue higher education in plants and potions. He had discovered a seed of interest in plants while teaching Herbology in 1942, and it has bloomed to complete infatuation. Though he still has heart for animals, tending to the gardens without complete chaos or ruckus surely has its perks.
He’s become absolutely infatuated in plants and has developed two green thumbs. From planting and tending his own tea, to finding and caring for some of the most dangerous plants in existence, Robert has truly started to live up to his name. He hopes to bring his newfound enlightenment and joy of plants to the students at Hogwarts.
Biography (500 words minimum. There is never such a thing as too much.): Ingrid, is my baby a boy or a girl? That’s the question most mothers don’t even have to ask, for most births start with “Congratulations, it’s a boy!” And likewise for a bouncing baby girl. But when Robert was born, there was a silence aside from the healthy baby’s wailing. While the woman sank back with relief, looking over as her midwife, Ingrid Pinkerton, and her husband spoke in hushed voices, holding the crying infant. The woman instantly demanded her child, scolding her husband and asking what was wrong.
“The child… is not normal.”
Those words seem to haunt Robert wherever he goes, and he’s unable to escape, not fitting into any kind of norm. From when he could remember his parents always fought, and from even further back the arguments always started or ended about their only child. First, it started with a choice. His mother wanted a baby girl and his father wanted a boy, and in their arms they had both. Pick a gender. It can’t be both. It needed to be hidden.
As an adult, Robert musses the idea that his father wanted to disown him. Rid himself of the strange. Part of Robert thinks he would have had a better childhood had he been thrown into pit and left to rot. And least he wouldn’t have been be forced to live in a world that demanded perfection.
Despite a strict hand of Pureblood standards, all Robert longed for was his father’s approval. Nothing ever changed the man’s disposition; he was always hateful to the boy, never giving him an inkling of acceptance. There was no love in the Oliveroot home. Perform your duties, do not act out. Perfection was always the demand, not just the expectation.
Looking back, Robert mourned his childhood, but grew from the ashes. For so long he tried to become the son his father wanted, and it turned him into someone he wasn’t. Hogwarts, while at the time had seemed so much a burden, had been some of the best years of his life. While at Hogwarts he discovered who he was, and who he was meant to be.
He had planned to wed, he planned to take a wife and have children and continue his name. That good name crumpled in glory when he had been stripped of his title by his mother: he had become too removed from the family. He shamed them, for reasons he still couldn’t understand, but he was freed, and after twenty years of following orders, he was finally able to follow his own path.
He could have, kept the lie up and figured out a way to be a husband to a tight-lipped woman. He could have begged his parents to take back what could have been nothing but a threat. He could have done a lot of things. At least, if only he hadn’t found Lincoln. Lincoln ruined all his good planning. And Robert could not be more grateful.
SAMPLE ROLEPLAY(Please respond to to this in third person past tense. Do not write the other characters' reactions. Only your own.) It was the largest office in Hogwarts and, perhaps to students and newcomers, the most intimidating. The shelves were filled with various odds and ends, with a place of honor for the Sorting Hat, and the walls held all the portraits of past Headmasters and Headmistresses.
In the middle of the room sat a large desk. Everything was in order, for the current occupant had always despised a messy desk. It was the sign of a messy mind, and she had always favored neatness.
A clock sat on the desk, which currently showed the time to be 2:05. The meeting was supposed to begin at 2:00 precisely.
Along with order, Anneka valued punctuality. She was a very busy woman these days. Even during the summer, she had a number of matters to attend to. Interviewing and hiring staff was only of those matters. The newest potential member of her staff wasn't making a good impression.
She paced the room, black heels clicking against the stone floor. When the door finally opened, Anneka turned, her expression reminiscent of a Russian winter. "You are
late."
Explain yourself was what her face said.
Roleplay Response:“… Sorry.”
That was the only word he got as the hurrying back of a young girl rushed back through the halls, spilling a sloshing mess of purple-colored potion in her wake. Robert’s pants had been struck, the thick glob of violet standing out against the crisp black. He had a mind to shout at her, but his attention was quickly brought back to his pants, as he tried to brush the potion aside with his hand.
The goo, however, seemed to be growing, and suddenly Robert’s pants felt heavier. It expanded and grew, like a balloon connected to a hose. Certainty not the impression he wanted to set forth.
Ten minutes scrubbing in the bathroom had only created a larger problem, the purple sliding down his calf and to his shoe. His leg was as heavy as led, and no spell seemed to work in removing it. He could at least get to the Headmistress’ office and explain the problem. He still remembered her as a Professor when he was student, and being late had never been favorable for the woman.
The stairs proved a complication, though Robert finally reached her just a few minutes behind schedule.
“My… apologizes.” Hands making the attempt to brush down his vest, greens darting to the glob that had crawled down to his shoe, expanding and withering against the dark laces. “A run away potion,” He found himself murmuring, ushering to the ruined pants, where the glop continued to expand and swell. “Might need to clean the hall. She made a trail.”
He couldn’t help but smirk, the smile faintly touching the ends of his lips. The chaos of school, the unpredictability of it all: Robert had missed it.
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