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Archived Applications / Oliver Rivers
« on: 04/08/2020 at 19:52 »
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Application for Hogwarts School




→ CHARACTER INFORMATION.

Name: Oliver Alder Rivers

Birthday: 11 September, 1948

Hometown: Ongar, Essex, Great Britain

Bloodline: Pureblood

Magical Strength (pick one): Charms

Magical Weakness (pick one): Divination

Year (pick two): First Year, Second Year

Biography:

The August and Distinguished House of Rivers traces their descent from the family of Lord Clemens de la Riviere, who hailed from the village of La Riviere in Calvados, Normandy and was the esteemed companion-wizard of William, Duke of Normandy, and who aided the Conqueror in his 1066 conquest of England. Having been around since the 11th century, the earliest members of the House, Clemens de la Riviere's children, niblings and grandchildren, have been students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since its inception.

Earliest records show that originally, the House coat of arms were emblazoned in colours of gold and red, were not only tolerant of squibs and interactions with muggles but encouraged them. Through the Middle Ages there was hardly a time when a 'Rivers' did not hold high office in England be it Wizarding England or Muggle England; Albion de Ryvaris, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot in 1575 and Sir John Rivers, Lord Mayor of Muggle London in 1589, in the reign of Elizabeth the First, being examples of the eminence of the House of Rivers on both sides of the Statute of Secrecy.

It was in the late 17th century that Regnault Rivers was sorted into Slytherin. While other Rivers had been members of Slytherin House throughout the history of the school, Regnault was the first to be truly influenced by the teachings of Salazar Slytherin regarding blood purity. As paterfamilias of the August House (as it is referred to by those hailing from it), he began persecuting the more muggle-oriented branches of the family, before cutting them off from the wealth and prestige of the family itself; he ordered an official coat of arms for the family in colours of green and silver after that of Slytherin; and disowned anyone from amongst the August House who chose to marry anybody less than a Half-Blood. Regnault Rivers' reign did not continue for long (his seat as Paterfamilias was usurped in a political gambit by his much more sensible nephew, Chastain Rivers), but the damage was done. With most family members against Slytherin's ideals having either been exiled, disowned or having cut off ties with the main family of their accord, the House of Rivers, as a majority, consisted of pureblood fanatics, and such was their perception in Wizarding Britain at large.

Three hundred and some score years later, Oliver Rivers entered the world as the Heir of the August and Distinguished House of Rivers not a year after Alder Rivers and his third cousin-once-removed, Camellia Rivers, were joined together in matrimony per dying wish of their great-grandfather Avodire Rivers. He wanted to see his favourite great-great-great niece and favourite great-grandchild become a family before he (finally!) became a wall portrait hanging in the Great Hall of the ancestral home: Manor de Ryvaris at Greensted, Ongar, Essex.

Oliver grew up quite isolated in the large Manor, especially for the first few years of his life before the births of his younger brother and sister. His father, Alder, was an Auror-turned-lawyer-judge, and now an influential and busy Justice in the Wizengamot, while his mother Samantha worked as a healer at St. Mungo's. Consequently, when he was not being pampered by his house-elf Grundy, Oliver spent most of his earliest youth in the ancestral library. He would write whenever he was not reading. For one reason or another, it would rain a lot at Greensted - Grundy once mentioned that it was due to the ancient wards around the place - and once, during a particularly heavy shower which Oliver had come to enjoy, he heard the song of Augurey.

Later that overcast day, Oliver being seven years old, he would behold the majestic green and silver Irish Pheonix in a tree branch in the Manor Gardens. The creature trilled a sad trill, before soaring away as the rain-shower began to dwindle, but not before leaving behind two feathers, which Oliver collected and preserved.

The day Oliver turned eleven, he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. It was a moment for celebration and doubly-so. His parents, uncles and aunts and siblings all came together for a grand ball to celebrate his birthday and the arrival of the letter - a ball that Oliver himself snuck away from ten minutes into the beginning of the dance.

The trip to Knockturn Alley was, admittedly, quite eventful. From Crow's Creatures came a grey tabby cat, whom Oliver named Elegance. The most bizarre thing happened at The Velvet Box, though. Oliver tried out wands, one by one, hour after hour after hour, until the shop's repertoire was exhausted but not one wand reacted to the boy in an acceptable manner. Ultimately, it was decided that the boy had to be outfitted with a custom wand. When the time to decide the core came, Oliver had an idea, and proffered one of the two augurey feathers he had obtained as a child. As soon as he touched the the rune-inscribed cedar wand, of length just a bit over twelve and three quarters inches long, with a core of augurey feather, a greenish aura enveloped the boy and the power he felt took his breath away.

Eventually, Oliver felt he was ready to begin his long, winding journey. And get away from his Pureblood-fanatic relatives. Yes, he was definitely ready for that.

Better be Slytherin, though, otherwise, they'd have his head.

→ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
Note: This section is optional, and is up to you to complete.

House Request: Slytherin

Personality: In four words:  Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, and Prospecting. (Myers-Briggs personality type INFP, or Mediator, though one can guess that only Muggles would know about something like that).

Oliver is an exceptionally clever, calm-tempered, but shy and reserved child. A true introvert and a natural loner, Oliver cherishes deep, lasting friendships within a limited company, yet would not actively engage with society at large. Large social gatherings, such as the Society Balls he has had to attend even as a child due to his heritage, tire him out, yet he enjoys himself in the limited company of people he loves and trusts. He tends to initially come across as a quiet and somewhat distant person, but opens up others the more time he spends with them.

His passions include sketching, reading for knowledge or leisure, writing novels or articles, magical creatures, potions, and a desire to make the world less stupid and redundant than it is. Oliver is a proud nyctophile and pluviophile; he loves darkness, and the night, and dislikes the light, and he has an intense passion for the rain. Rain calms him and soothes his soul. He loves the sound of thunder and the sight of an overcast sky lit up by lightning; he loves petrichor, and he loves the cool raindrops pelting against his bare skin. For these reasons, Oliver feels an uncanny familiarity with and a magical connection to the Augurey, the song of which heralds rain.

Oliver has a seething dislike for arrogant snobs, reckless and foolhardy people (read: Gryffindors), and muggleborn wizards and witches. However, his dislike of muggles and muggleborns is not rooted in bigotry, like most, and Oliver is hardly a bigot. He just believes that muggles have muggle customs that he, as a pureblood, does not understand and, likewise, the Wizarding World has their own customs and culture. Muggleborns fail to understand their culture, but want to live and thrive in it, and that's something that Oliver views as disrespectful.

Oliver is shrewd and resourceful, and prefers to operate from the shadows, as it were. A dark horse when it comes to his mind, he excels in his studies without making a fuss about it. He would not - never - raise his hand in class; he cannot bear attention of that sort. He probably wouldn't even care about answering right if actively prompted to by a teacher (he'd do it just to avoid losing his House points, though, or unless it served a motive or purpose). Still, he's the best person you could go to to help you with that History of Magic essay, and at the end of the year, he'll be among the students with the best grades.

Oliver's sharpness of wit extends beyond studies: he's astute; he's resourceful, having that natural tendency to utilize anything within reach to his own ends; he reads between the lines; he is not above, should need arise, utilizing his cunning to manipulate others to his own ends; and he's difficult to fool unless done with expertise.

Appearance:

Oliver is a thin, dark-haired boy, lanky due to having a largely sedentary lifestyle. His dull green eyes usually lack luster or mirth, since Oliver is rarely happy in the company of other people. Whenever he's alone, or engrossed in an engaging tome, or stimulated in any manner, however, his eyes tend to get a sharp gleam to them. Oliver is pale, deathly so, due to spending so little time in the light, and tends to dress in either robes or traditional formal-wear for the most part, reflecting his aristocratic lineage and upbringing in Wizarding Britain.

→ SAMPLE ROLEPLAY.

Option I:

The dungeons.

They were dark. They were damp.

They were, definitely, a place eleven-year-old Oliver considered Home Ground. Base camp. Dragon's Nest. Serpent's Den. The latter would probably be the most apropos description. His own personal serpent's den, too. Oliver enjoyed Potions, he enjoyed the odours - however foul some of them - that emanated from the classroom close by. He enjoyed darkness, and the dungeons provided sufficent amounts of that. The pitter-patter of water, leaking from the ancient pipework like tear drops before falling to its doom in the damp floor below...

It all felt soothing.

Yes, Oliver was weird like that. Which, of course, also meant...

"H-h-hello? Hello! Is Emma Birch here?"

... that a foreign creature was trying to encroach upon his territory.

A Gryffindor by the looks of it, only they could be so foolhardy.

Oliver slunk through the shadows, until he was right behind the Gryffindor. He recognised her; they had been in a few classes together. Angel? Angelica? Then he remembered.

"Evangeline," he uttered, right behind the girl. His voice echoed through the damp walls, giving it a ghastly edge. The whole deed - sneaking behind her, speaking her name in such a grim manner, their present locale - all of it was intended to scare the living daylights out of the poor Gryffindor girl.

Oliver wasn't cruel. But she was trespassing on his turf. She thought she was brave? Then no harm in testing that, right?

→ ABOUT YOU.

Please list any characters you have on the site (current and previous): Oliver Rivers, Gawain Rhydderch (formerly, but, uh... life happened, I couldn't keep up with classes, I was sharply reminded of the fact that I'm an adult with responsibilities (*sobs*), and I had to disappear. I'm really sorry about that.)

How did you find us?: A Pensieve. Fond memories, those, however few.

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