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Author Topic: Austin Nadeau: Applying for Full Time Staff (finally)  (Read 648 times)

* Austin Nadeau

    (13/12/2017 at 06:16)
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CHARACTER INFORMATION
Character name: Austin Felix Nadeau

Previous and/or Current Character(s) if applicable: Sylvia Renn, Elsie Märchen, Lynn Basile, Artemis Foxe (WIP)

Character age: 25 (DOB: July 1st, 1927)

Character education: Graduated from Horned Serpent, Ilvermorny. Learned under various tutors until beginning to teach in 1947. Supposedly taught how to make The Best Poutine but has since lost the certificate to prove qualification.

Strength and weaknesses: Austin is nothing if not dedicated, as he will throw himself fully into something once committed and be determined to see it through to whatever end may come. Some may see this a bit of stubbornness as he refuses to give up and can have difficulty see the futility of his current path. That being said, his commitment to completion leads to a high degree of creativity in order to get the job done, and a flexibility to work on short timelines (also born out of his current career of a substitute teacher). Austin is generally extremely patient and polite (perhaps to a fault), trying to ensure everyone does well and enjoys their time. (Though, he is noticeably awkward while doing so.) With his positive attitude, Austin determinedly stays away from conflict and would likely start crying if someone began to yell at him, more much comfortable with passive-aggression that is more common where it’s too cold to move your face much. Though he would never admit it, Austin does have one fatal weakness: an angry Canadian Goose.

Physical description: Austin is fairly average when it comes to appearance. Standing at 6' 1" (he will fight you on that inch), Austin is of fairly light build and even lighter complexion. With dark brown hair, glasses, and facial hair that may be tinged prematurely with grey in the corners (that he Transfigures each morning), Austin looks a bit older than his fairly young 25 years but he likes to call himself 'distinguished'. With a tendency to fade into the background, Austin wears plain clothes, with a poorly knotted tie and shoes that have seen a few rough winters. Seen wearing shorts and sandals (with socks if it’s below ten degrees) much too early in the Spring and way too late into the Fall, Austin seems almost impervious to cold, but fear not, when the snow is threatening to fall through the windows and the wind is enough to blow someone over, Austin will pull out his trusty toque and matching scarf.

Personality: Austin is Very Awkwardly Canadian. With a passionate love for his home-country, Austin is essentially most things people expect from someone hailing from the land of Winter. Polite and unassuming, Austin tries to fit in as best he can without being awkward (which leads to him being very awkward). He just wants everyone to have fun and be happy, more than willing to be the cause is that to happen. Having many Canadian phrases and references, he is constantly astounded by the naivety of Britain when it comes to All Things Canadian including to blessing of cheese curds and True Maple Syrup.

Hopes and dreams. Why are you teaching at Hogwarts?: Austin has two main reasons for wanting to teach at Hogwarts; to prove to Ilvermorny he deserves more than a temporary substitute professor position and to open a magical school in Canada (and be the Headmaster). Eh, okay three reasons. He wishes to return to Ilvermorny one day and believes working at the esteemed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to regain a professor role. He wishes to open a magical school in Canada because he believes it is the Best Place Ever, but also because of the unique magic that has the potential to be developed within the space between their mountain range and beautiful ravines. The major schools offer specializations and uniqueness that allows them to be at the forefront of magical education and Austin wants to find the powerful contribution that Canada could be to the future of magic.

Biography: Austin had a very normal childhood. To the point that he doesn’t really talk about it that much because there weren’t a lot of significant things. He enjoyed ice-fishing with his parents, playing shinny with his friends, and eating the whole bag of ketchup chips to blame on his younger sister. His parents were both magical, though there was a couple Muggles in distant relatives, a squib of a cousin, and he was fairly certain his great-great-grandmother had been a Muggle, though there’s no direct evidence of it. He was raised in a mostly-Muggly neighbourhood, meaning most of his young life was spent explaining away the odd things that happened with the sporadic magic young wizards have to deal with.

It was almost a relief to go to a magical school where everyone had the same oddity running in their veins, but it had really upset Austin to be so far away from home for most of the year. His time at Ilvermorny was uneventful, keeping away from girls, keeping away from guys, and generally trying to stay out of the way as he once apologized to a wall he’d bumped into. It goes to say that his grades, quietly competitive for the top of the class, spoke louder than he ever did.

Upon graduating, Austin returned to Canada in an effort to become involved in the private magical education occuring in richer homes. He dreamed of being a private tutor, working with one student at a time, and being able to tailor the program to their learning style. He had seen the amount of students that fell through the cracks of generalized teaching and wanted it be part of the change. However, Austin was unable to land a permanent position and was recruited back to Ilvermorny with a promise of higher pay and more steady hours.

His time at Ilvermorny was the most exciting of his life, seeing the other side of the school as a professor and being exposed to almost every subject as he stepped in a substitute. He waited every year for an open position but was never selected to move up to a full time professor when the time came, likely due to his innate ability to ruin every interview he’d ever been to. However, it was the year of 1930 that his life changed.

That summer he was tactfully told not to return to Ilvermorny the following term and politely asked never to come back after the Incident. The Incident involved Austin, a very angry Canadian Goose, poutine and the current Headmaster. He refuses to speak of it to this day, saying the experience would almost equally scar anyone he told. Thus, no one really knows the details of what happened on that fateful day, other than Austin was removed from Ilvermorny and found his one true weakness.

It just happened to be the same time Hogwarts was looking for a substitute professor and Austin heard through the teaching grapevine. With the chance to prove himself again as a teacher, Austin relocated to London (temporarily) to bade his time until Ilvermorny realized how much they lost with him and begged asked for him back.


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:

Oh, Morgana, he was going to be in big trouble. Huge trouble. Being invited to a game of shinny and not having skates with you trouble. He sprinted through the castle as best he could, taking advantage of his long legs as he charged up the steps almost three at a time. Austin knew three minutes ago he was going to be at least five minutes late and it definitely was not helping that time was moving faster than he was. “Beaver’s tail,” he muttered as he skidded around a corner, narrowly avoiding a ghost that he waved an apology to before running through them as they failed to move fast enough. (Ice shot through his body briefly, but it was familiar, a reminder of when his coat would lift up and the gust of wind would perfectly whip up his spine.)

“Headmistress!” Austin practically yelled as he burst through the door, right as the woman turned with an expression that could make cheese curdle (in the bad way, not the good poutine-melt-y-goodness way). He gulped audibly as his face settled into one of anxiety, bobbing his head with her statement.

“I am! I am, I am so so so so so so so so so so sorry, Ann-Professor Ivanova, it is so unprofessional of me. Um, but, you see, I was on my way here, and and this flock! A whole flock of them! They wouldn’t move from the courtyard!” His hands wrung together as he subconsciously tried to make himself smaller, shoulder folding towards himself. “And and, I was going to walk around them, really, and well it didn’t really work well because you see they must have smelled by muffin. I had to hex them! I hexed the geese!” He threw his hands up to his face in shame, mumbling through them, “It was terrible. They weren’t the other geese I know. They didn’t know what was coming!”

Dropping his hands (now nervously fiddling with the wand precariously stuck in his belt), Austin hesitated briefly before moving closer to the desk, wand shaking slightly as it waved to produce a few sheets of parchment. “I did bring lesson plans though! We should, um, make this quick. I should go clean that up … eehhh, should I go now? I could go now. Pukwudgie, I have to go now, don’t I. Someone else might run into them and oh by polar bear’s foot, who knows what would happen. Don’t want another Incident, eh? I’ll go now --” and Austin began his half-turn to leave.

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