CHARACTER INFORMATIONCharacter Name: Cedric Pellinore Galyn
Previous and/or Current Characters: Theodosia Blythe, Cillian Galbraith, Wesley Winsday, Leon Delaney, et. al
Character Age: 38 (3 December, 1920)
Character Education:Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Gryffindor, Head Boy (Class of 1939)
St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, Emergency & Trauma (1939-43, 1944-45)
Merlin's Order of Defence, 42nd Broom Battalion, Healer Lieutenant (1943-44)
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Head Nurse (1949-50)
Private Medical Practice, Healer and Apothecary (1950-present)
Strength and Weaknesses:Magically, Cedric is especially strong in Charms work and Transfiguration, having spent years in St. Mungo’s emergency rooms and perfecting his ability as an Animagus (grey wolf). But his specialty is potions. Since his residency as a junior healer at St. Mungo’s, he has worked in the research and development of improving and studying potions for use in medicine, especially with regards to lycanthropy treatments. He is also well versed in magical toxicology, considering the werewolf potion itself contains aconite.
In casting magic, Cedric has always found that the spells he uses to defend -- the Patronus Charm, Shield Charms -- are significantly more powerful than spells he uses in offense. For Cedric, the intent behind a spell is key because magical has always deeply bothered him. It is likely that, even at his angriest, he would be unable to very successfully cast any of the three Unforgivable Curses. The oath of ‘do no harm’ has a great deal of meaning to him.
Cedric’s abilities in Divination are definitely his weakest point; while he can go through the motions of the art, he is not very adept at interpreting it. Conjuring and Summoning are also not his most developed skills. Cedric is a literal person, and a very kinesthetic learner. Conjuring something from what appears to be nothing is much harder for him than the physicality of Charms or Transfiguration. He’s better at Summoning for sure, but the abstract concept of guiding an object through time and space still trips him up once and awhile.
Physical Description:Cedric stands at an even six feet, with sandy brown hair and grey-blue eyes. He is built with a soft athleticism; a far cry from his more chiseled youth, but he remains active, taking his broom on house calls or going for hikes in the woods. Subtle lines at the creases of his eyes show age but also wear, a gentle indication of the past. Less gentle are the perfect circular scars in his shoulder and wand arm, and a faint, jagged curse scar over his ribs.
The healer’s style is clean-cut but not high fashion – black robes, grey trousers, leather wingtips, and wool jumpers in muted earth and jewel tones. Old habits die hard, so he always wears his old wand holster from his military days (he just prefers it to less-formal methods of wand-carrying), with a dark leather cross strap and brass buckle at the shoulder.
Personality:At Cedric’s sorting ceremony, the Hat barely touched his head before it shrieked “GRYFFINDOR.” He embodies several of his former House’s traits – daring, nerve, and chivalry – and definitely lived up to the stereotype of a Gryffindor hothead in his youth. But he’s grown more understated in his adulthood, or at least wiser. He thinks before he speaks and observes before he acts.
Even still, Cedric is not one to sit quietly. He likes to be active, prefers to use his hands before his wand. He likes to feel useful and go where he’s needed, wherever that may be. Since childhood, Cedric has been a reluctant leader, the kind of person who genuinely doesn’t want to be in charge but will take on that role if it’s necessary. His first instincts will always be to step in and help, and he has overstepped boundaries in the past; while he’s gotten a lot better, there’s still a bit of a savior complex in him that sometimes needs to be called out.
Hopes and dreams. Why are you teaching at Hogwarts?:Cedric loves working with children, despite being unable to have any of his own. He spent many hours with the orphans at St. Mungo’s and helped raise the nieces and nephews from his created family, but it remains his biggest regret that he will probably never be a father. He loved being a mentor though, especially while he was serving as Head Nurse at Hogwarts about nine years ago. Maybe now, efter having had some time and a little distance to work on himself, it’s time to come back.
His loftier goals are more in line with the work he’s been doing on lycanthropy research and treatment for werewolves. Cedric is concerned with the lack of information and the fear surrounding magical people with special abilities, having seen the horrors of the Institutions and the Hexenreich and what that fear and hatred did to several of his friends and loved ones. Following the werewolf incident last term, Cedric wants to break the cycle and be an influence for change, even if he knows he’ll likely have to tread carefully.
Biography: He was born on the outskirts of Cardiff, Wales in an Unplottable mansion. His mother, Vivienne, quietly named him for two kings -- Cerdic of the Anglo-Saxons and Pellinore of Arthurian legend fame, a knight of the Round Table. It was a great deal to live up to, she whispered, but she knew he could.
Cedric was not born into an easy existence. Although his family was as pure as they came and wealthy to boot, his father was abusive and his mother miserable in a marriage she had never wanted. Cedric learned to steer clear of Lewis Galyn. His mother, however, he loved dearly and she doted on him in kind. They read stories and she told him of her adventures beyond the wizarding world, a year she'd spent living in America with muggles. He always wondered why she hadn't just stayed there, but Vivienne simply smiled sadly and told him that sometimes in life, you didn't always have a choice. As the years went on, Cedric became more and more aware of the violence in his home, noticing the marks on his mother's arms and body had become more frequent. One day in his ninth year, he walked in on the brutality and stepped in to try and stop it. He was hit with a poorly-cast Memory Charm and spent the better part of a month in the hospital recovering. Although he was not severely impaired, his memories of that incident remain very hazy to this day, and he suffered from nightmares for a very long time after.
Hogwarts, therefore, was a welcome reprieve though he hated to leave his mother alone. He was sorted very quickly into Gryffindor House. Initially a rather sullen and angry child, he gradually was drawn from his shell by a core group of friends. In second year, he discovered Quidditch and the sport gave him a much-needed outlet for his emotions.
In 1933, Cedric' third year, Lewis Galyn died suddenly of a heart attack in London. His son met this news with mixed feelings. Cedric felt nothing for his father and felt no guilt for it, but Lewis' death dredged up secrets. Lewis' drinking and gambling habits had taken their toll -- the family was in irreparably deep debt. Although the Galyn mansion remained in their possession (due to some nasty curses that would take effect should the deed be passed along), most of their assets were sold and they could no longer afford to live in Cardiff. Living with Vivienne's father, Cassius Medraut, an elitist pureblood of the worst sort, was their only option. Vivienne was moved from one oppressive environment to another and the shock began to break her. As Cedric headed off to his fourth year, he worried that his mother was wasting away before his eyes. In 1936, his fears came true. Driven to a deep depression, Vivienne was unable to continue. Her death wounded Cedric deeply and the fifth year was utterly heartbroken.
Somehow, his fortune held. A half-sister he'd never known existed appeared, a well-kept secret from Vivienne's past. Arianrhod was a stranger, but she was his way out. He packed his bags and moved in with his half-sister. He never spoke to Cassius Medraut again.
His friends again were his rock in the grieving process, but new challenges were presenting themselves. An accident led him to the already nagging realization that he had no romantic interest in girls. The better part of the first half of term was spent rejecting the idea (and one Seamus Reinhardt, an impish fourth year Slytherin) before he gave in and began a very secret relationship. In time, he realized Seamus had his own personal secrets and Cedric often covered for Seamus' monthly disappearances on the full moon. Motivated by Seamus' dangerous condition and hoping to one day accompany the Slytherin on his moonlit escapades Cedric began to secretly train as an Animagus, discovering with some shock that his form was also a wolf. In school, Cedric became a prefect and played as a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. It was also around this time that he discovered healing through the Hospital Wing program.
While his successes in school lasted and blossomed, his relationship with Seamus faltered. In seventh year, Cedric ended it, leaving Seamus heartbroken. Cedric himself felt guilty and not completely convinced he'd done the right thing, but he pressed onward, serving as both Head Boy and Quidditch Captain. Graduation led him to the healing arts and an apprenticeship at St. Mungo's, where he quickly excelled and became one of the youngest senior Healers in his department at the time. His innate talent for the job earned him recognition, and while his success at the hospital gave him a sense of accomplishment, he couldn't help but miss Seamus sorely. After over a year of separation, he approached Seamus to make amends. They agreed to try again, and have been happily together ever since.
In 1943, Cedric was called up in the draft to serve in Merlin's Order of Defence. He served mostly in medical tents, but the horrors of war were all too real even there. When he was finally put into combat, he was severely cursed and wounded, landing him back in the hospital -- this time, as a patient. Months of recovery later, he was well enough to return to a civilian lifestyle, having been honorably discharged. But the damage had been done. Between what he'd seen as a healer and what he had experienced on the battlefield, it was extremely difficult to adjust.
Back at work, Cedric was offered the position of Department Head for the Emergency and Trauma Ward. He accepted, but the pressure of such a demanding job after having returned from the war took a toll. He decided to step down after only a year and a half, just as the Hexenreich invaded Britain. Cedric joined the Resistance and did his best to offer medical services to anyone in need. The old Galyn residence, in disrepair but structurally sound and Unplottable, served as a barracks away from the prying eyes of Hexenreich invaders.
During this time, Cedric quit his job at the hospital altogether and started a very small private practice in Hogsmeade. He gained a few regular patients, including his own chosen kin -- Juniper Ellwood-Luxe Steele, Charlie Kedding, and their families. He and Seamus, preferring the quieter life and wanting to live away from the judgment of those who would view their relationship as unnatural, built a small but cozy home called Glasmoor Cottage in northern Scotland a few miles outside of Hogsmeade, where they presently live.
These days, Cedric is doing well. Although he will likely suffer from nightmares and occasional panic attacks for the rest of his life, his work and chosen family have helped him immensely, and the decline of the Hexenreich has allowed he and Seamus to live in peace. It has also allowed him to pursue his passions, and he has put a great deal of effort into researching the wolfsbane potion and other lycanthropy treatment methods, continuing the work of the late Argo Oliveroot, a mentor and friend who had died in the first onset of the war. Meanwhile, he and Seamus consider themselves married, even if they keep that part of themselves hidden to the vast majority of the world. It’s a happy existence nonetheless, and a long time coming at that.
SAMPLE ROLEPLAYHe should have just apparated outside of the entrance rather than take his broom. He’d forgotten how twisted the corridors could be, and
maybe he’d gotten a bit sidetracked by the proverbial ghosts of his childhood, so that by the time he’d realized the time, the healer was already running late. Brushing down his robes with his hands and straightening the tie he’d put on just for the occasion, he rode the eagle up to the office and pushed open the main office door.
“You’re late.”Bollocks. Of course, she had noticed.
“Déjà vu, Professor Ivanova,” Cedric said sheepishly, his deep voice softly echoing off the wall as he entered and approached the Headmistress’ pristine desk. So, nothing had changed. He still hadn’t been able to stop calling her ‘Professor’; twenty years later, in her steely presence, he still felt like a student. “I believe I was five minutes late to the last interview I had with you.” Probably not the thing to call back to at this moment (she did look exceptionally peeved about it), but it was covering up his nerves for the moment.
It occurred to him suddenly that rather than wax nostalgic, he ought to apologize. “That is, my apologies, Professor. I can assure you I don’t actually make a habit of this.” He smiled wryly and reached into his satchel to pull out a neatly prepared stack of parchment, which he set on the desk. “I’ve brought materials. Ideas for the curriculum, sample lessons. I won’t claim to be an experienced educator, but you know I have the qualifications for the subject.”
