[OOC] Hogwarts World Tour

[Jig]

Hogwarts World Tour

Tl;Dr

Upon graduating from Hogwarts, our cast of young witches and wizards receive a bursary for foreign travel, enabling them to travel the world, starting with Europe. As a game, this will run as a series of short chapters, each focusing on one particular area and the adventures and antics of the group in each place. I really encourage players to come up with plots and locations and interesting sightseeing destinations and even to organise chapters themselves.

Plot and Setting

Obviously, this is set in the wizarding world of Harry Potter - but in 2007, ten years on from Voldemort’s final defeat, and so some scars still run deep, both personally and politically. Most of the world isn’t really documented (and things will have changed in the last ten years) in the books so we’ll be coming up with what we want/imagine certain areas of certain countries will be on the fly. To that end, I encourage people to ‘dibbs’ a country and officially establish what each nation is like, culturally, politically, and demographically.

There will almost certainly be no overarching plot outside the individual episodes beyond the continuity of our characters’ relationships with each other.

The O'Lustrum Bursary for Global Travel and Study is named for Aaron O'Lustrum, a journalist from the Republic of Ireland that reports on global affairs. Following the fall of Voldemort, the UK began a process of introspection and healing. While necessary, this resulted in less engagement with the rest of the world and, given the whole genocide thing, the UK isn't particularly well-regarded nowadays. The O'Lustrum Bursary is designed to remedy this somewhat, and it entails regular payments to the students for up to a year's worth of travel. For this, the students don't have to do anything apart from write fortnightly reports to O'Lustrum simply to say what they're up to and what they've noticed.

While the students may have one or two set events they want to check out, the bursary is designed for them to flexibly travel - and for us to not have to know exactly what we're doing next. ;)

Episodes:

• Setting Forth

Countries and Characters:

Character sheets will be found in the character tab, as will nation sheets. The nation sheets are there so if any one of you is all "Hey I think France should be like this", you can totally establish that as canonical right off the bat. I do ask, though, that nobody posts in the Character Tab, at least for now. I get the feeling there might be a reasonable amount of info that ends up getting put in there and I like to be able to organise it, so I'll probably be the one that uploads everything in there. I might change my mind on that, in which case I'll let you know.

[McHaggis]

.

[Jig]

1) If you want to tweak it, go ahead, but I'd rather you not shake it up completely; while zipping through them and comparing characters it makes life a lot easier if I know where I'm looking in each sheet for what info.

2) Go for it.

[Gowi]

As I said in the interest check, I’ll give it a go but I have 0 idea of what I’m doing. CS time, I suppose?

<Snipped quote by Gowi>

But you know the books or at the very least the films, right?

@Jig

I've read the entire series once and seen the films. But I don't comprehend much so I will probably be deferring to you guys and a wiki a lot.

[Jig]

But you do know the HP universe (at least somewhat), right? If you do, but are a bit rusty, it's nothing that The Harry Potter Wikia can't fix. If you don't know the source material I think you're likely to find this more research than it's worth, but I'll probably compile official canon versions of everything that's likely to turn up in the Episodes (or at the very least link to relevant HP Wikia pages), and so you'd only really need to pro-actively know what you're doing for passing details, which are less important.

Edit: Ninja'd. Deferring to the wiki is definitely A+++

[Gowi]

Started a CS in my character bin, it's hardly finished but you can see awful progress on it there.

[Jig]

Cool. Post it over here when you're sorted or if you have any questions I'll be happy to take a look sooner. I'm a frantic micro-manager, although I try not to be, so I'll hold fire until/unless requested. :P

[McHaggis]

.

[Jig]

Like him.

My only notes are:
1) Looks like Beck's got a drinking buddy
2) It seems cheap given that I've not yet posted him, but my Character #2, Will Lawrence, is also gunning for Head Boy. I don't want to pull rank or quibble or give up on it but we'd both be using that as a legit character development thing so I have a cool idea of what to do there. Let us consult PMs.

[Gowi]

Elizabeth “Liza” Ainsworth

^{Player: @Gowi}


_{“Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.”}

_{[ ߜ ] N A M E}

---

Elizabeth S. Ainsworth

_{[ ߜ ] B I R T H}

---

1/22/1990

_{[ ߜ ] G E N D E R}

---

Female

_{[ ߜ ] B L O O D S T A T U S}

---

Half-blood

_{[ ߜ ] W A N D}

---

Willow, Unicorn Hair, 9¾”, Pliable

_{[ ߜ ] P E R S O N A L I T Y}

---

Elizabeth is at the core, an introvert— quiet, constantly in thought, socially awkward, and ultimately prefers her books over socializing with groups of people in general. But Elizabeth isn’t elitist, self-absorbed, or pretentious in the slightest and generally actually does like people as evident by her shows of kindness and respect for pretty much every student in Hogwarts. Despite the shadow of the incidents that led into war when she was a child hanging over Hogwarts she prefers to look at things optimistically and goes by a philosophy that humanity as a whole is inherently good. This can seem naïve to her more cynical and outspoken classmates, but even the most condescending remark won’t change her disposition or beliefs. This trait, her conviction, is probably her strongest aspect of her personality and likely one of her most alluring. If Elizabeth is anything to go by it is clear that introverted and shy does not equate to weak and toothless.

However, Elizabeth will not remain completely silent in the shadow of adversity; she’s opinionated, slightly sarcastic, logical, and pedantic. If she sees something as wrong she will kindly remark it and confront it with a passion that isn’t expected from Elizabeth’s bookish nature. However, if she does offend someone with her stances she will be sure to resort to apologetic accords as she hates it when she does react unkindly— sometimes she forgets herself and hates how her train of thought can become overzealous towards others. This is especially so when situations escalate into physical aggression, a form of expression that intimidates Elizabeth beyond anything else and in the face of it might freeze out of anxiety or fear. She’ll try to be an arbiter, but when that fails she is afraid of the violence that could come out reeling from an encounter.

_{[ ߜ ] A P P E A R A N C E}

---

Elizabeth descends from three primary ethnic groups, though it is clear that she takes more after her South Korean mother than her largely Euro-centric father given her long flowing black hair, light complexion, and soft features. In fact, Phineas Ainsworth once remarked that she looks exactly like her mother to the point it gives him nervous flushes of anxiety upon just seeing his daughter grow. However, as much as she is like her mother— she is not absentee from her paternal traits such as her height scaling at 5’6” (her mother was 5’2” as an adult) and her lighter eyes that express the same sadness and lucidity as her father as opposed to her mother’s robust unflinching natural expressiveness.

Such as her personality, Elizabeth’s appearance is generally conservative rather than liberal. Her hair is neat whether it is long-flowing or strewn in a ponytail.

_{[ ߜ ] B A C K G R O U N D}

---

Elizabeth is the product of the love between a wizard by the name of Phineas Ainsworth and a muggle by the name of Sojung Hyeong. However, Elizabeth has little to no knowledge about her birth mother due to the fact that she was raised solely by her father with very rare occasions where he’d be willing to talk about Sojung for a period that was substantial. But given that connection that was mired in mystery Elizabeth has always had a quiet curiosity about her mother and what exactly happened to her. Beyond that her childhood pretty much was one that was formulaic by wizarding world terms— she was discovered to have the same gifts as her father and was admitted in the same fashion that he had been in his youth.

Her attendance at Hogwarts was a testament to her personality with her studious, quiet, and kind nature resulting her assignment into the same house her father had been part of in his youth— Ravenclaw. The definition of Elizabeth and who she would become was generally echoed in sentiments in reference to her father, a fact that she grew to detest as she felt that she was more than the daughter of Phineas Ainsworth and a individual of all her own; she wanted to prove that, no matter how close she mirrored her father. However, such respect would be difficult given Phineas long stretch of accomplishments and no matter how much she excelled the comparison would be difficult to shake completely. Such frustrations led her to be utterly sloppy amongst some of her peers in Ravenclaw for a time, though such childhood angst ruling her would be a temporary condition.

It is some years later now, and Elizabeth looks forward for various reasons.

_{[ ߜ ] A S P I R A T I O N S}

---

Elizabeth supposes her aspirations are to uncover part of her identity that has been mired in ignorance and curiosity. All Elizabeth knows is the wizarding world and framework of her academic education. She wants to take the opportunity to comprehend, understand, and to explore. The prospects could be endless beyond the magical walls of Magical Britain. Elizabeth strives for experience and knowledge and she feels like that her life could be much more than a magical scholar.

_{[ ߜ ] H O U S E}

---

Ravenclaw

_{[ ߜ ] A C A D E M I C R E C O R D}

---

Elizabeth has been “undeniably brilliant”, though how much such accolades are smoke and mirrors is unclear. But what is known is that she is talented in applications of practical knowledge, academics, lore, and formula. Her written scores on the OWL’s are well-received and has earned her notations of being a student to watch. Her academic talents expanded when Elizabeth took her NEWT’s in Herbology, Charms, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

_{[ ߜ ] S K I L L S}

---

Care of Magical Creatures: 4/10
Charms: 7/10
Defense Against the Dark Arts: 7/10
Dueling: 4/10
Flying: 7/10
Herbology: 8/10
Muggle Studies: 7/10
Potions: 9/10
Transfiguration: 6/10

[kittyluna45]

@Jig Rooom for one more?

[smarty0114]

I think he's good to go :) I may have another character up soon, but I at least wanted to get this guy up there first :P

Arthur Mallister

<sub>Played by smarty0114


"Don't chase the quaffle when you see the snitch,"</sub>

[❧] NAME

---

Arthur James Mallister

[❧] BIRTH

---

1/14/1990

[❧] GENDER

---

Male

[❧] BLOOD STATUS

---

Muggleborn

[❧] WAND

---

Birch, dragon heartstring core, 10", springy

[❧] PERSONALITY

---

Looking at Arthur from the outside, many would think the Sorting Hat made a giant mistake. He's bookish and clever, and thirsty for knowledge. Always the one raising his hand in class, and always the last one to leave, most can't imagine why the hell he's a Gryffindor. The thing is, Arthur may find learning to be incredibly enjoyable, he desires experience and adventure more than anything else. He loves trying new things and getting himself into a sticky situation, be it on the Quidditch pitch, or in the potions room. He can't help but want to go out and adventure, and he got more than one detention for trying to explore the Forbidden Forest in the middle of the night.

His curiosity and thirst for knowledge and adventure can make him a tad impulsive and impatient, and it's not uncommon for him to make decisions without consulting anyone else, a mixture of believing that he knows best, but also him not wanting to wait for the others. He also has a rather glaring lack of couth, and doesn't seem to understand the intricacies of conversation like others do, making him seem a bit awkward and rude when he randomly blurts out his observations.

[❧] APPEARANCE

---

None can deny that Arthur is rather handsome. His messy, dirty blonde hair was quite the hit at Hogwarts, not to mention his crystal blue eyes that can't seem to get enough of the world around him. He's rather tall, standing at about 6'1, and lanky as well. Years of Quidditch have given him plenty of muscle definition, mostly in the arms. Being one of the Gryffindor beaters has it's perks. His skin is a pale ivory color, and he rarely gets any tanner than that. He was lucky enough to learn an anti-acne charm in his third year, which has kept his skin clear for most of his teens. His face generally has an almost vacant look to it, as it appears that Arthur's mind is elsewhere, which in fact part of it probably is. He walks with a spring in his step, absentmindedly staring at everything, as if it's all a miracle that it exists.

[❧] BACKGROUND

---

Arthur's first eleven years were an uneventful menagerie of boredom. Born to two Oxford professors, Olivia and Henry Mallister, Arthur's life was as boring as it could get. His parents both taught medieval literature, and while they told him riveting tales of King Arthur and his gallant knights, Arthur couldn't help but feel dissatisfied. He desired more than stories, more than what he had. The strange occurrences that plagued him didn't help either, and he soon came to believe that he was some sort of chosen one. Well, he was only sort of right.

When Minerva McGonagall showed up on Arthur's doorstep, he thought for sure he was dreaming. As it turns out, he was very much awake, and he was sent to Hogwarts for the following school year. He was certain he'd be placed into Ravenclaw, knowing his parents and how much he loved to read. It just seemed right. But when the hat shouted out "Gryffindor!" for the entire school to hear, he was shocked, and well, ecstatic. It felt right, sitting among other scarlet clad witches and wizards.

Growing up, Arthur became enthralled with tales of the war, and longed to be considered a similar kind of hero, though he always knew that it was unlikely he'd get the chance to defeat a dark wizard on the same scale as Voldemort. He became a prominent figure at Hogwarts, excelling as the Gryffindor beater, as well as in the DADA classroom, and the dueling club. Sally Mulligan still won't look at him the same way. With the offer of adventure coming from the O'Lustrum Bursury, he became ecstatic to explore more of the world he now called home.

[❧] ASPIRATIONS

---

Arthur has always wanted adventure above anything else. Which really isn't very specific. And as of yet, he can't do much about that. He's considered going into the Auror field, but that seems so cliche to him as well, not to mention he's not a huge fan of the Ministry. As of now, he's considering becoming a wizarding architect, exploring ancient wizarding ruins, and maybe gaining fame and fortune for discovering lost secrets of long dead sorcerers.

[❧] HOUSE

---

Gryffindor

[❧] ACADEMIC RECORD

---

None can deny that Arthur did incredibly well in school. He studied constantly and it showed, as he scored exceptionally well in his O.W.L.'s for DADA, Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Ancient Runes, and Herbology. While he did rather poorly on the Herbology section, he refused to let that get him down. He took N.E.W.T.s for all the same classes sans Herbology, which he scored even higher on, though not nearly as good as he'd have liked. Most of this is due to his complete adoration for the wizarding world, a world that he still finds amazing to this day.

[❧] SKILLS

---

❧ Charms: 7/10
❧ Dueling: 9/10
❧ Transfiguration: 8/10
❧ Herbology: 3/10
❧ Defense Against The Dark Arts: 9/10
❧ Muggle Studies: 10/10
❧ Potions: 7/10
❧ Flying: 8/10
❧ Care of Magical Creature: 4/10
❧ Ancient Runes: 8/10

[Kirah]

Mary Winthrop is back

Player: Kirah

Name: Mary Winthrop

Date of Birth: 8/8/1989

Gender:Female

Blood Status: Half blood

Wand:Fir| Unicorn Hair | Stiff | 8 9/10inches

Personality: Mary's personality has changed a lot over the last 7 years. She was a quiet and terrified girl those first couple of years, but once she joined the Quidditch team she came out of her shell quite a lot. Since then she smiles easier and starts conversations on her own. She has even been known to interrupt people or call them out on something that she thinks they are doing wrong. As such she was able to make some friends, and some enemies during the Hogwarts years.

Appearance:Mary tends to walk with her head down, her eyes always looking around nervous. She has poor posture. She wears shoulder covering clothes, always. This is because of many scars that her mother inflicted on her. Mary also wears earrings, single pierced in each ear, she does not have a favorite pair.



Background:Mary was born to a backwaters hick of a mother who believed God had punished her with Mary. Mary's father was unknown to Mary, and the source of Mary's abilities seen as the worst possibility of a deal between Satan and God. Mary's mother believed she was suffering as Job had, and to free herself of the curse she must cleanse Mary. The woman's definition of cleanse grew worse as Mary's abilities grew. These abilities were never quite under control though.

Somehow word got to Mary's father, Andrew Winthrop, about her situation. How word got to him was never something he told Mary, but late in the night he took the small 8 year old from her home and freed her. It took Mary sometime before she realized she had side-along apparated.

The next few years Mary and her father learned from each other. Mary on how to trust people again, Andrew on how the simplest thing can bring joy. Mary was grossly under-educated so Andrew lost no time in catching the girl up in general education.

Andrew was ecstatic when the letter came, and was overjoyed she ended up in the same house he had been in when he attended. Since starting school at Hogwarts Mary has grown a lot. She is still a bit slow to trust people though, still (almost) no one knows her whole story.

Aspirations:Mary wants to do Social Work between Muggle children and their families, as well as helping out children like her. She plans on attending a Muggle college for her degrees in Child Psychology and Social Work. This is the first time Mary actually has time off from school before starting college, which she won't start until Fall 2008, as such she is excited at the opportunity that this will provide to see the real world outside of her family's estate, or school.

House: Hufflepuff

Academic Record:Mary was a bit slow in the beginning, but she took to transfiguration like she had been born to it. If it hadn't been for the joy it had brought her she might not have returned after Christmas break. Despite the overwhelming academic choices she made for Hogwarts, she chose to also study over the summer at a Private school near her father's family's estate. As well a special by post program for during the regular school year. This kept her mostly-up-to-date with her muggle peers, but put her perilously behind in all but her favorite subject Transfiguration, and better than most in potions. She of course did excellent in muggle studies and flying because of her love for Quidditch and was even the chaser for several years for the Hufflepuff team.

Skills:

• Transfiguration: 10/10
• Charms: 4/10
• Herbology: 6/10
• Potions: 8/10
• Defence Against the Dark Arts: 5/10
• Duelling: 1/10
• Flying: 9/10
• Muggle Studies: 10/10
• Care of Magical Creatures: 5/10

[HalfOfLancelot]

I'd be interested in joining! I'll work on a character now and hopefully have him up in a day or two. ^^ If, of course, having watched all the movies multiple times is the type of sufficient knowledge you're lookin' for.

(also how dare you @McHaggis for stealing my stolen CS formatting! I stole it first!! D;)

[Undine]

.

[Jig]

Drunk Announcement

[@Everybody]
Woke up still drunk and in a room that's so unbelievably fucking hot that I'm probably going to be poking ice cubes down my smalls until further notice. I have an electric fan pointed directly at my face but the air in the room I'm in is so fucking warm it's actually contributing nothing to the whole 'Jig melts into a jiggly pile of goop' situ. Incidentally, all of my 'I expect everybody to see this' posts will be flagged with a centered heading like this one. Please keep an eye out for them, because, ya know, important.

Have seen character submissions and thank you for them but haven't quite gone through them with my usual Laser of Justice^TM yet because of aforementioned drunkery and the forthcoming ice cube situation.

Yes, everybody that has posted in this thread or the interest check and that would like to still submit characters may do so including secondary characters.

That said, the label of 'small group' is looking more tenuous by the minute and tbh there's nobody here that I don't think could play at the kind of standard I would ask of them, which is wonderful and also horrendous because it's gonna make crowd control difficult or arbitrary - but I shall endeavour to make sure that everybody gets to take part. What I shall therefore do, is fire my Laser of Justice^TM at

1) Any further participation apps from people I haven't played with before and people who haven't already posted in here or in the interest check

2) Similar characters. If two people present similar characters I'm going to ask them to work something out to distinguish them. Currently, heh, this means myself and @smarty0114 - sending you a PM shortly

3) Nobody has suggested they might do this, but third characters won't be accepted

4) Inactive characters or players. I will have an Official GM Rule^{Also TM} on inactivity which will simultaneously be both lenient and merciless because I am a creature of paradox

5) Characters who don't have an established role in the group dynamic, since all of us understanding the group is going to be twice as important since there's, well, about twice as many of us as I was expecting. This doesn't mean you need to be friends/enemies with everybody and I'm sure some characters will be more or less strangers to some others, but I do expect all of you to be talking to each other, based on having read each others' sheets, to work out some context for the group (and to make this info public so we all know what we're doing)

Currently I'm going to leave things in a state of flux so things can hopefully iron themselves out organically and it all turns out wonderful. What this means for your characters is that they're all more or less accepted. Hopefully none of the above seems overly demanding or stringent. I'd also encourage people at this stage to start dibbsing countries and shouting out Episode recommendations.

If, of course, having watched all the movies multiple times is the type of sufficient knowledge you're lookin' for.

@HalfOfLancelot

The films tend to be a bit skimpy on the details but if you're willing to HP Wikia anything you're uncertain of, shouldn't be a problem.
also they're shite
:D

@Kirah - could you unbold the body text of your CS because that's gonna upset my poor poor eyes

Jig out

[Jig]

Will Lawrence

Player: Jig

Name: Will Lawrence

Date of Birth: 17/9/1988

Gender: Male

Blood Status: Pure

Wand: Oak, Unicorn tail hair, 14^½ inches, rigid

Personality: Will’s smart and he knows it, and, inevitably, has become rather smug over the years. Although he works very hard for his achievements, he suspects that he actually might not have to and is guilty of overestimating his own talents and abilities, while conveniently forgetting or dismissing his genuine weak points, both academically and socially. As a result, people can find him frequently obnoxious, although it’s an undeniable fact that it’s generally pretty useful to have Will on-side as he really is quite capable. He does try very hard to be liked and to do the right thing, in a way that can easily show that he’s trying - some people may find this endearing, while others might find it slimy.
Will is not used to failure, and consequently does not like losing or not succeeding - in such situations, he simply doesn’t know what to do, resulting in otherwise uncharacteristic gracelessness and temper tantrums. He is highly dismissive of muggles, while meaning them no ill will.

Appearance: With the exception of slightly bucked teeth, Will is a good-looking lad, but looks come at the cost of vanity and he can be notoriously high-maintenance. While he's not prissy, he does put a lot of effort into looking good, both in terms of his body and his overall appearance. Regular exercise (both cardio and muscular, about which he will not shut up), plenty of magical cosmetic products and enchantments (about which he is much quieter), and a diet of tedious care have made him a healthy-looking human. To top it off, he has a tendency to wear clothes that are at least 20% more formal than any given situation requires, because that's what the ideal young man does (probably).

Background: The Lawrence family is a small wizarding family with relatively few connections that other pure-bloods might enjoy, and, although both of Will’s parents have magical blood, he has one grandparent and two great-grandparents who are muggle-borns, so ‘pure-blood’ might be a misnomer in this instance. During the second wizarding war, Will’s muggle-born grandfather was sent to Azkaban (where he died), and so there is great personal resentment there. Will’s mother is a healer at St Mungo’s (and attended the Battle of Hogwarts to patch up the wounded), while his father is a racing broom manufacturer, and, between them, represent many different branches of magic, possibly accounting for Will’s all-round magical prowess.

Aspirations: While the world is Will’s oyster, and he knows it, his most immediate goal is to become an auror, although he has no plans to stop there.

House: Hufflepuff

Academic Record: Will has a glowing academic record and is tipped for great things. He aced his OWLs and performed well in his NEWTS (Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Arithmancy), while being appointed both Prefect and captain of the duelling club in his fifth year. Many in his year, including himself, expected him to be appointed Head Boy, although that accolade was given to non-Prefect Quidditch goon Darren, which both astonished Will and made him just a teensy bit salty.

Skills:

• Transfiguration: 8
• Charms: 8
• Herbology: 4
• Potions: 6
• Defence Against the Dark Arts: 8
• Duelling: 9
• Flying:6
• Muggle Studies: 1
• Care of Magical Creatures: 1
• Healing: 4
• Arithmancy: 7

Was too drunk to post him last night with the result that two people's characters have already clashed with him. ;_;

[Kirah]

Fixed jig also I realized I totally put my month and day like an American and then I realized Mary's birthday was the same number as her month and somehow feel like I outsmarted myself

[Jig]

Sober sheet readthrough comments:

@Gowi - good to go. Throw her in the CS tab when you're ready. If you could do me a favour and make the font colour a little bit brighter, that'd be handy. Then again, my laptop is currently outside so maybe it's just screen glare
@Smarty0114 - have PM'd you about the similarities between our characters
@Kirah - would appreciate if you'd bodge your stats down a bit or give yourself a few weaknesses. Two tens, a nine, and only one weak spot is maybe a bit much
@McHaggis - good to go. Throw him in the CS tab when you're ready

Yep, I know I said the CS tab was for my use only but if anybody wants to edit stuff, I'm not exactly gonna C&P everything across all the time. For those of you that'll be running multiple characters, please post them in separate posts so I can link to them individually.

[Kirah]

@Kirah - would appreciate if you'd bodge your stats down a bit or give yourself a few weaknesses. Two tens, a nine, and only one weak spot is maybe a bit much

@Jig

Edited.