CHARACTER INFORMATIONCharacter name: Henry Reed
Previous and/or Current Character(s) if applicable: Mouse Marchen, Kurtis Garland, PJ Carter, Fergus Fraser etc
Character age: 19
Character education: Head Boy 1959-60.
Hufflepuff Prefect 58-59.
Hufflepuff Captain/Co-Cap 1957-1960.
Hogwarts Graduate 1960, Hufflepuff.
Strength and weaknesses (details please):Anybody who has had a conversation for longer than five minutes with Henry would have some sort of knowledge that he’s an insecure individual. His weaknesses lie within his own opinions and thought processes of himself and his actions. Despite being known as the ‘smartest kid in school’ during his Hogwarts years, he still felt as if he was cheating to get that title. It was his memory, which could be his strength, that made him stand out amongst his classmates. An eidetic memory (everything he sees) gets stored into that big brain of his as if there’s no limit to what it can hold and he doesn’t quite know how to control it yet. A strength and a weakness perhaps mixed into one; his greatest tool also his biggest downfall.
Henry has a thirst for knowledge that is larger than himself - the need to know how things function, why events occur and just about every random fact he can get hold of. General trivia, languages, sciences, math, it didn’t matter what it was nor whether it was a paper, journal, article or book. As long as he could read it, he’d do exactly that. Again, this is both a strength and a weakness in a way because whilst it gives him a really well rounded view of the world and it’s mysteries, it can also set him off on a tangent where he’s searching for a topic millions of miles away from what he actually intended to look for.
His kindness, boy was he a Hufflepuff, was something instilled in him from a young age and he’s taken that on board fully and with a vigor that means he’s found himself with numerous ‘siblings’ in his friends both older and younger than him. A big brother whose there to guide, advise and comfort, and a little brother who is able to motivate and just be there when he’s needed. That is his favourite part about himself, the part he is proudest to acknowledge and certainly the thing he hopes he can pass onto his children.
A final weakness would be his self-doubt. Even though Henry could cite an entire book if he read it enough times and put his mind to it, he falters when it comes to information that is based on personal preference, opinion, his own words. Facts and figures come installed in his brain but he struggles to express his views on topics that he knows inside and out - should werewolves be legally required to register with the Ministry? What does he think about the current Prime Minister? Did Artemis Marquis get a long enough jail sentence?
Henry couldn’t tell you any of those things but he could think them and that is why he’s stuck in a routine of sprouting facts nobody cares about instead of answering the harder questions asked of him.
Physical description:Henry is just about reaching 5’5”, a journey that has taken him years to complete, with a very slim and slight build but long limbs. Whilst he has muscles from years of farm work and Quidditch beating, he often wears heavy jumpers, loose fitting shirts and button ups with layers underneath on his usual days. After his awkward younger years, he is beginning to feel comfortable in his dress sense and so is exploring the new world of fashion that he’s being encouraged into, stepping out of the Hogwarts robes and into jeans, dress shirts and waistcoats when the occasion calls. It would be rare to find Henry Reed without a dress shirt and tie when he’s working.
His thin face highlights his sharp cheekbones and pointy chin, with bright blue eyes that show all his emotions before he even knows them himself, he is pale with slightly olive undertones. Dark hair settles on his head in whatever direction it feels like it that particular morning, though it’s usually attempted to be kept as natural as possible in terms of hair product and resulting in a fringe that doesn’t always want to point down.
Personality (nice, rude, funny etc. Paragraph please.):Henry is a reserved young man who is forever fighting the urge to big brother anybody younger than him, so he can come across as protective and a stickler of the rules sometimes. The truth is, he’s just a worrier. He likes routine and knowing what comes next, hence why he is forever with his head in a book to figure that same question out.
Perhaps heightened since becoming a dad, Henry’s patience and caring nature is definitely the first thing people would notice about him upon meeting. He’s an awkward,
very slightly over prepared individual who has experienced enough things in his life (seriously, a werewolf attack, being poisoned by his girlfriend, enduring a whole monster plot, becoming a dad to two little girls, and that’s on top of his home life fiasco!) to not be phased by sick kids, childish drama and stress that would surely come with the Hogwarts student population.
Hopes and dreams. Why are you teaching at Hogwarts?:Since stepping foot in those corridors, he’d wanted to stay there as long as he could. He’d argue that it most definitely was not for the wonderful library that he’d spent so much of his time in. When he was a pupil, he had a range of relationship types with the professors, including ‘ghost mum’ Vera Cole, a friend in Maggie Harkiss and a mentor in Felicia Navarro. Henry can only hope that if he worked at Hogwarts, he’d be able to be those things for the students. Well, maybe not a ghost mum.. dorky older brother??
After being homeschooled for all his life before boarding school, Henry was all too aware of the hardships that came with teaching children how to read, write and to love what they were learning. His goal is to instil that same love into anybody who would listen, as he found a great experience in both education environments purely because he was so open to anything that came his way. Henry would absolutely adore the chance to watch someone’s eyes light up when they connected the dots on a problem, and spending his spare time reading essays of the young minds that he was so fascinated by.
Biography (500 words minimum. There is never such a thing as too much.): First and foremost, Henry is a Reed. This means that he is one of 14 children, he was born into a world of responsibility, respect and independence. He knew his place in the pecking order and easily bounded around the set rules that were in place for their daily routines and schooling. His mother is, and most likely forever will be, his best friend in life, and despite not talking about her much to his friends, she is a pillar in the Reed-Ackerly family that will never crumble.
Siblings are a matter of having built in friends and they are a bunch that has each others backs whatever the case - even if it means getting into trouble or whatever. The brood’s eldest lot are leaving the nest, making families out of strangers and exploring their new lives, whilst the babies of the bunch remain on the farm learning about… well, learning whatever they want.
Henry’s family structure failed him when he was thrusted into the world of magic and into a school miles away from home, all alone. Luckily, he had managed to find a family within the walls, even if it took a few years. Those years were hectic, a little bit on the traumatic side and yet full of good memories slotted in between.
One of the most important events that came from Hogwarts for Henry, was Lia Ayres. Aside from her casually poisoning the majority of the Hogwarts population, he found a friend and then something more in her, and it accidentally resulted in two little girls that he wouldn’t change for anything. Bryony and Erys Reed morphed Henry’s life into something that he couldn’t recognise but yearned to explore even the farthest depths of, his overwhelmed panic fading as soon as he got a smile or got called ‘daddy’ from the currently two year olds.
When he’d heard Felicia Navarro was resigning, he didn’t think much of it. She was flittery, she liked change and he wasn’t too surprised. She did have a reserve to look after, anyways. It was when he was lying in bed one night that he thought of the things he’d been taught by her, and the things he wished he would’ve known, what he wished they would’ve taught, that he
could teach. There was an awful lot of planning, days spent with Felicia throwing ideas around and even more encouragement from Lia, but eventually, he decided that he’d at least try.
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:He swore he was on time, early even.
It was just that walking through those halls made him feel so small again, after he’d spent so many months trying to walk tall, to straighten his shoulders and stare the real world in the face now that he could no longer hide behind exams, professors and the fragile title of being a student. Now that he was an adult, almost out of his teens and shouldering the responsibility of children, he couldn’t let himself slip back down to how he was before.
Except, the voice in his head reminding him of that didn’t sound all too loud when he was staring at the Headmistresses office door. Henry had barely stepped foot in that room, once because he had been damaged enough to think a rally was a good thing and any other because of Head Boy duties. The anxiety that previously became associated with that door flooded back in the most unfortunate of ways, and he froze.
The idea that perhaps too long had gone by and he should just turn around and leave made sense to him, until he looked at his watch. 2:05. That wasn’t too bad. If it had been 2:09, or perhaps even later, that would’ve made a good enough excuse to bail.
Taking a deep breath and reminding himself that he actually wanted to do this, he knocked and then pushed the door open to reveal the Headmistress.
"You are late."Henry winced, nodded and tried to smooth down his tie. “I know, and I’m sorry. It won’t happen again, I don’t make a habit of lateness, Headmistress.”
lessons have been pmed!
