blood status:
age:
gender:
personality and history:
Rory was born into a working class family in the Glasgow suburb of Paisley. His father is a butcher at the local supermarket, and his mother has worked on and off part-time at a string of convenience stores. Her health issues have chronically caused her to lose work and fall back on social security, which meant that growing up the pulse of the family was often directly related to how bad Rory's mother's nerve pain was that particular day. With his father working overtime most days to support three children, Rory (as the oldest) found himself from age six or seven to be having to complete a lot of household chores such as fixing himself meals and cleaning up after dinner. Rory's father is not unloving, but was necessarily distant because of irregular work hours and often overcompensated by “overparenting” his children when he could find time, inserting guidance and admonitions where they were not necessarily needed or required. His father also struggled with an alcohol dependence that was rarely violent but still further impaired his ability to foster trusting relationships with his children. Thus, Rory grew up in a family where he often had to take care of his younger siblings, while just as often fighting them for the finite attention of their parents.
His early social environment was heavily mediated by the lack of emotional support in his family, but luckily Rory found some support from the teachers at his school. Though the school was an underfunded inner-city institution with a mostly working-class demographic, his year one teacher took a great liking to Rory and often spent more time with him than he did the other students, regularly checking in on the young child to make sure he was managing okay in school. Thanks to that and a relatively middle-of-the-road experience in terms of popularity, Rory got along quite well in primary school and tended to finish solidly above average in terms of grades. As he aged, Rory took a bit of an interest in sports such as football, but his smaller stature often disqualified him from the position he most wanted to play, which is goalkeeper. He was most interested in that position because something about being the last line of defense for his team really spoke to him and made him feel needed and valued by others when he made an unexpected save.
However, Rory has also been exposed to the realities of child poverty, including going hungry at mealtimes and facing systematic food insecurity, missing out on regular health checkups, being somewhat malnourished, and struggling to afford proper school supplies. He benefits from being the older child, as many of his old clothes are handed down to his brothers, but he still often looks with jealousy at the clothes that other children wear to school. He often has to be clever and a bit deceitful in order to look out for himself, such as using tricks to get extra food at the school lunch line so he can save some for dinner, or crafting cover stories for his location when he's hanging out with the older boys. Rory is not therefore not completely innocent to violence, substance misuse, or poverty, but it is important to remember that he is young and still part of a loving if struggling family that provides him with some degree of love and support.
When it comes to his personality, Rory has inherited his father's work ethic, but often conflates hard working with effective working, and can get easily frustrated and discouraged when hard work doesn't pay off. In the primary school system, he worked a little bit with the school counselor to get better at setting goals, but he still dreams very big and is crushingly disappointed when those dreams don't come true. However, Rory bounces back very quickly from disappointment, despite being extremely emotive, and is quick to latch onto solutions or the “next big thing” that provides him with an opportunity to be positive. These cycles of manic excitement to extreme disappointment and frustration to a return to excitement and work define Rory's daily experience, and make him an effective (if erratic) student. It is also a learned behaviour that exemplifies Rory's resilience in the face of his situation – though he has internalized some negative messages about his background, he is constantly looking for the silver lining, and has been a great help to his family because of that.
When it comes to interpersonal relationships, Rory comes on quite strong. He's used to having only short periods of time in which to interact or engage in reciprocal displays of affection, so he tries to get as much done in as short a period of time as possible. Only some of this is a learned behaviour; Rory's mother and father both have very intense personalities and opinions, and Rory inherited that characteristic. He is upfront, often boisterous, and seeks to create emotional response to his actions, such as laughter at his jokes or friends congratulating him on a success. He desperately craves long-term friendship, and often needs continued signs of friendship and affection over time to feel more comfortable.
Finally, despite his intense nature, Rory does keep many things very secret and intentionally does not tell people about information about himself or his situation that he feels might give other people power over him. For example, while growing up he learned not to mention certain facts about his home life while at school to avoid a child protection investigation, and he holds onto secrets like a vise. Ultimately, this means that those who are attentive will note that though Rory talks quite a bit, very little of what he says is overly specific or revealing about himself.
appearance:
At first glance, Rory is a stick of a boy, shorter than average and with not very much meat on his bones. To any medical professional, it is evident that he is slightly malnourished though not necessarily underfed, and that he has received minimal medical attention over the years. In particular, his teeth are slightly uneven; while not hideously out of place, he is a child that could definitely have benefited from braces but never got them. Rory has a brownish black mop of hair on his head that easily curls into ringlets and is impossible to keep straight the second he steps outside into a wind. His irises are a dark blue, with some darker-coloured specks in them, and his nose is set a little bit higher than the average.
As a young teenager, he is gangly and his limbs look a bit out of place, but are not otherwise noticeable; he has the build of a much stockier child, and will likely fill that out over the years if he eats more. He is Caucasian, with the complexion of a child who gets sunburnt often and so ends up with patches of slightly redder skin around his nose and neck, but otherwise lacks freckles or distinguishing birthmarks. He has a small, almost unnoticeable scar on his left ear where he tripped and fell into a barbed wire fence while playing as a young child.
Rory has become more self conscious of how skinny he is, and if left up to him his clothing would all be baggy enough to conceal his frame. Luckily enough for him, his clothes are relatively baggy already, being bought to also fit Rory's younger brother who despite being a year and a half younger is almost bigger than Rory. Given this, Rory usually defaults to thin hooded jumpers that look less out of place on him, t-shirts, and denim trousers.
wand material:
Rory's wand is made of yew wood, with a unicorn hair as the core, 11in in length, and supple. It is otherwise undecorated, but the grain of the wood creates a very prominent swirling pattern on the wand. As wands go, it is reliable, consistent, very resistant to damage, and holds a surprising capacity for channelling magical energy. However, it lacks the flashy pop and almost intuitive responsiveness of wands with other cores, and as a result only gives out exactly what is put into it.
boggart:
Rory's boggart is himself, standing alone and friendless, whispering to him about how he's let everyone down. This is related to Rory's genuine fear of being left alone. He hates the feeling of not having anyone to turn to or verify his opinions or actions, but most of all fears the contempt or rejection of other people. This is a substantial fear to the point that Rory struggles to apologize to others out of fear of their rejection, and takes a very long time to discuss the 'secrets' about himself or others that his brain holds on lock-down. It's important to distinguish between that and social anxiety, as Rory is fine in most social situations, even the centre of attention in many, but struggles with particular social situations that he feels put him at risk of ostracization.
other:
Nothing, as of yet! I've yet to work out exactly how his family reacted to the letter, but I've got a few ideas. They'll most likely be supportive, if perplexed and even a little angry. Rory is also definitely going to be on a scholarship for poor students.
