Part I: You

Name: Woodstock

Email address: [email protected]

IM: AIM: SilliAesthetic YIM: [email protected] MSN: [email protected]

Part II: Character Information

Character Name: Kael Gallagher

Job: 1st year Slytherin Student. He's fairly unconcerned with politics, but he tends to believe that the muggles should be left to their own devices.

Age/Birthday: 11, January 27

Likes: Fires, which isn't to say that he's a pyromaniac because he doesn't really like burning things, he just likes the heat.

Noise - more specifically, the noise made by other people having conversations. Even if he doesn't (always) listen in, he doesn't like to be sitting in a room with a lot of people who aren't talking because it feels awkward.

Potions, even though he's bad at them.

Early mornings when there is no one else awake yet.

Dislikes: People who won't stand up for themselves or willingly play the victim. He thinks that people should be driven and independent, and he has a hard time functioning around people who aren't that way.

Most pets, including cats or rats but not owls. Owls serve a purpose in delivering the mail, but cats don't do anything that a mouse trap isn't capable of, and most everything else is even more useless.

Potions, because he's bad at them (it's a love-hate relationship).

Being called by his full name, or having anybody who's not a professor use his last name at all. He'd prefer to be just plain 'Kael'.

Cooking, because even though he knows he -should- be able to do it for himself, it seems like a silly thing to waste his time with. He's also bad at it, and he's afraid he might become violently ill if he eats something he cooked.

Hobbies: Watching Quidditch. He doesn't play but he follows some professional teams and he enjoys going to the house games.

Organizing things. When he's bored, he organizes.

Practicing potions because he's sure that it will be necessary for his future.

Drawing things, mostly far-fetched things that don't exist at all but would be massively useful if they weren't so impossible.

Appearance: Kael is shorter than is average for boys his age, and thinner as well, though the latter is due to his work out and eating habits. His hair is a dark reddish-brown color - nothing spectacular, really - and he goes to great lengths to make sure that it lies flat and looks well kempt. His eyes are light brown and they're set above high cheek bones. His pale skin is covered with a light scattering of freckles, and his face doesn't show many emotions. His only other notable features are his hands, which, with their long, thin fingers, look out of place on his arms. All in all, Kael himself looks out of place, as if he is made up of a bunch of other people's features thrown together haphazardly.

His clothing is mostly made up of hand-me-downs from an older (and larger) cousin, and as such most of it looks almost ridiculously large on him. The clothing that actually fits him is not terribly stylish, but he takes great pride in making sure that it looks nice all the same.

Personality: At a first glance, Kael seems to be a self centered, egotistical child, who doesn't care about other people, animals, or the world at large unless it benefits him to do so. He doesn't talk much without reason - not because he has nothing to say, but because he doesn't see how saying most of it will benefit anyone - and when he does have conversations, he speaks slowly, as if every word is of utmost importance. He's quite single minded, and he can concentrate on one thing for hours, if he needs to. He strives for excellence in his classes, and, even though he doesn't do anything that isn't required, he does achieve his goal - for the most part. Potions in the exception; he's horrible in that class, and he spends a lot of his free time trying to get better. This is a boy who will work hard to achieve his goals, because he knows that's the only way he'll get what he wants out of life.

On a deeper level, Kael is not a mean person. He doesn't hate people, and, while he may put his wishes above those of others, he doesn't seem to think he's any better than any one else - he simply understands that if he doesn't look out for himself, no one else will. He often urges other people to be as independent as he is, because his way is obviously the best. Relying on others to do things for you is never the way to go. He has few friends, but he is rather nice to them, and most are well aware that if it comes to a choice between himself and them, he'll put himself first. He hopes that they'll do the same.

Aside from that, he has fairly strict opinions on almost everything, even though most other people know nothing about them. He doesn't believe in wasting things - words, food, money - and he doesn't believe in making a big deal out of yourself. If you're good, that's great, but you don't need to flaunt your talents or your problems just for attention. People start off with his respect, and lose it as time goes on - and it usually doesn't take long for him to completely lose respect for a person. In his mind, people need to think less about now, and more about 'the real world'.

All in all, he's not a terribly easy person to get along with, but he knows what he wants in the world, and he goes after it with all that he has. People are nice, but once they start holding him back, he's done playing their games. The present is unimportant, as long as it leads to a good future, and that's what should be focused on. In general, he's not a person who will attract much notice, but he's most definitely the center of his own world.

History: Back in her time, Ianna was a very talented witch. She was a muggle-born Hufflepuff, and she had a close circle of friends who she was rarely seen without. She did well enough in all of her classes, and, for the most part, school was an enjoyable time for her.

Liam, on the other hand, was a squib. His parents were relatively well off as far as money went, though, and they were very encouraging to their children - Liam had two sisters - to do great things with their lives. The fact that their youngest son wasn't magically inclined was of little importance to them, though he often felt inadequate because of it.

Ianna and Liam were dreamers. He was a struggling poet, and not a very talented one, and she was trying her hardest to be a seamstress. They had grown up together, due to the fact that Ianna and Liam's sister Maisie were very good friends, and shortly after she graduated from Hogwarts, the two were married.

Unfortunately, a struggling poet doesn't make much money, and Ianna's sewing skills, though they were quite good, were not going to make them rich. Despite that, the couple was happy in their small home in Kensmare, and the birth of their first son, Kael, was a blessing to them. Liam's family�particularly Maisie�helped provide clothing for the child; her own son Conner was a little bit older than Kael, and so the boy was raised with his cousin's hand-me-downs.

When he was two, his parents had another child, Braeden, and a year later another sibling of his, Garrett, was born. Ianna was beginning to make more money with her sewing skills, but now she was supporting three children, and money was tight. They had enough food, usually, and they had a roof over their heads, but that was about it.

Kael's fifth birthday was followed by one of the most dynamic years of his life. His little sister, Keely, was born then, and that finally pushed Liam into getting a real job (not to say that he gave up poetry) working for a richer wizarding family who needed someone to take care of their gardens. That gave their family enough money to live on - there was still no money to spare on expensive clothing or toys, unfortunately.

Kael started school that year, as well. His mother had a difficult time teaching him with three other children to take care of, but she managed, somehow, and his education inched forward at a snail's pace. Had he not enjoyed learning as much as he did, he probably would have come to Hogwarts completely stupid, but he learned the things his mother taught him easily.

He also showed his first signs of magic that year, during their Christmas dinner. He had finished all of his food, and, when he was told that there was no more, he made some appear on his plate (straight off of Braeden's plate). While his parents instantly recognized the action for what it was, they still had to punish him; stealing his brother's food, after all, was not acceptable.

His schooling continued, and life was rather mundane until he was eight. That was when his father was fired - he'd been replaced by someone the family knew and trusted - and the family starved for quite some time until Ianna began working more, and even then they often went without enough food. Unfortunately, Liam was showing no signs of wanting to work again - he promised that he would get some of his poetry published and make some more money, but, as was already mentioned, he wasn't a good enough poet for that.

With Ianna working that much, the children had no one to teach them but Liam. He wasn't a bad teacher, but his focus was on literature and while he taught, Kael learned little along the lines of mathematics or science. He's a bit behind on those subjects now.

Life continued for much the same way for the next three years. Liam taught his children, Ianna worked for barely enough money to make ends meet, and Kael became increasingly annoyed with his way of life. He soon had goals to never grow up like his parents - love would not come before what he knew he should do, and he would not let himself get so caught up in what he loved that he couldn't take care of himself.

He turned eleven in January of 1913, and he got his letter to Hogwarts the following summer. His parents were proud - there was no doubt about that. Still, they had no idea how they were going to buy the things he needed for school. That was when Maisie came back into the picture - she sent them all of Conner's old school things that he wouldn't be using anymore, and even offered to take Kael to Diagon Alley to get him a wand.

That was one of the first times he felt as if he wasn't restricted by a lack of money. Sure, he was -only- buying a wand, but it was going to be -his-, not a hand-me-down from his cousin like his clothing and books.

Before long, he was on his way to Hogwarts, leaving his family for the first time in his life. The good-byes had been tearful for his parents, and forced for him - he would be going to a place where, finally, he could escape his money problems and make something of himself.

As far as hobbies go, Kael seems to enjoy quidditch - not playing it, but watching it. Wizards chess is another thing he enjoys, though he doesn't play it often, as he doesn't see how it will benefit him. He isn't scared off by long discussions about the future, even at eleven - looking to the past is no way to get ahead in life, after all, and he actually enjoys discussing the future with other students, even ones he will otherwise ignore. Otherwise, things he does in his spare time are limited to things that will help him once he's out of school: he's very single minded about that.

His plans for once he gets out of school are very solid - he's going to get a job that pays him well, buy himself a house, and, if it so happens that way, he'll get married and start a family. To some extent, his vision of the future is what his father's family has: money, a solid living place, good jobs. He doesn't idolize them so much as their way of life, though.

NPCs: Connor, his cousin (a 3rd year, Gryffindor). Other family members include Maisie, Ianna, Liam, and his siblings Keely, Braeden, and Garrett.

Part III: Writing Sample

Be detailed! This is where you can be judged. Use your creativity. You have several options:

1) If you are a student, write out your Sorting. What sort of thoughts and anxieties did your character have?

It was sorting day for the new Hogwarts students: Kael was standing with the rest of the kids his age, small, quiet, nervous. They all were, and didn't they have reason? They were being culled one at a time, pulled up to the front and sat upon a stool where -

Where what? What exactly was supposed to happen to him? The rest of the students would sit there for a moment and then something would call out a house for them to go to - not just something, but the infamous Sorting Hat - and then they'd go. It shouldn't have bothered Kael so much that his group was getting smaller and smaller, they were getting closer to him. It was supposed to be a happy occasion. It was an occasion that would change the rest of his life, at least.

He glanced up as a girl was sorted into Gryffindor. It was his cousin's house, a good house from what he'd heard - would he get that one, too? He was nothing like his cousin, not outgoing, certainly not stupid (not that his cousin was stupid, of course, but he wasn't smart like Kael was smart) but he didn't know where else he was supposed to go.

It wasn't exactly a concious thought, more like something creeping through the back of his mind, but he was a bit worried that he wasn't going to be sorted -anywhere-. He'd get up there and they'd be waiting and instead of calling out a house, the hat would call out that there had been a mistake, this boy wasn't supposed to be there at all, better send him home -

"Gallagher, Kael!" And he didn't have much of a choice now, did he? So he took a deep breath and walked over to the stool, and sat perfectly still while the hat was placed on his head.

It was one of the fastest moments in his life, or at least it felt like it. There was a voice in his head, saying something - "Ravenclaw, hm, I can see that you will work hard." - and there was a pause before it spoke again, and he was listening (was that what he was doing? he was never sure - the voice was in his head, his ears had -very- little to do with what he was ... hearing? sensing?) more closely this time. "But you're certainly an ambitious one. Slytherin traits - the more dominant ones, at that."

"SLYTHERIN!" the Hat called, and the next thing Kael really remembered was stumbling towards his house table with a sort of stupid grin on his face.