Swan's Lake
- Thread starter Swan
- Start date
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2017
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 31
Nick Cross
Age - 19
Height - 5’11” / 1.80 m
Weight - 143 lb / 65 kg
Hometown - Bristol
Bloodline - Half-blood
Eye Color - Brown
Hair Color - Dark brown
Skin Tone - Dark
House - Hufflepuff
Patronus - Red Squirrel
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Personality
Nick is a laid back guy, comfortable in most social situations. He is a classic Hufflepuff in that he is happy to be amicable, non confrontational and friendly. In fact, some would say he's a little too friendly, often choosing to ignore possible conflicts even when he's in the right. Cowardly might be going too far, but Nick isn't a long way off.
Nick has a deep set fascination with animals and, to a lesser degree, the rest of nature around him. He scored top of his class in his O.W.Ls for Care for Magical Creatures and aims to go into animal care once he leaves Hogwarts, either teaching, training or breeding. He's not afraid to get dirty, although is afraid of cleaning up, often leaving clothes and possessions in a scattered heap on the floor, or dumped in a drawer somewhere.
Nick's mind is almost as cluttered as his room. It's a miracle he even passed History of Magic, let alone with an E. He leaves notes at home (in Bristol, not even at Hogwarts), forgets friend's birthdays and even forgot to feed Ernie for two weeks. Usually this is because Nick is away with the fairies, his imagination wandering through distant lands.
Nick's main priority is his family. His mother and father drilled a strong sense of respect into him from an early age, which he has carried through for his whole life, even if his teachers didn't see it so often. There were a number of occasions when Tom, his older brother, stepped in to defend Nick against other students, a responsibility which now fell to him. If he thought any of his siblings were in trouble, even Tom, Nick would be livid and would immediately come rushing to their aid.
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Background
Nick has always been interested in animals. He grew up on a farm near Bristol as the second oldest child of a huge family - oldest to youngest: Tom, Nick, Pete, Mary, Sue, Gavin and Lucy. To anyone visiting the farm they were dairy farmers, keeping a small herd of Holsteins for milking, but behind the strong Disillusionment Charms and underneath the pretense Walter Cross, Nick's dad, was a fence. He had spent his early life as a smuggler, shipping magical items and exotic creatures overseas where they were sold for thousands of Guineas at times, but now he merely acted as a middle man, buying and selling artifacts and livestock for shady clients.
While Nick was a child, the vast manor house had been used for everything from storing Bowtruckles and Fwoopers to hiding precious chalices in locked off rooms. Nick was used to staying on the bottom floor and not opening any doors he wasn't supposed to. After interrupting a sleeping Tebo, most of his curiousity was lost.
Nick's letter arrived a few weeks before his eleventh birthday. His older brother Tom (Gryffindor) had been at Hogwarts for a year and a half prior and both Walter and Julia Cross (Slytherin and Ravenclaw respectively) had attended as children, so it didn't come as much of a surprise. It was Tom who first took Nick around Diagon Alley, closely watched by their mother. Tom was busy elaborating on the latest broomstick design when a certain reptile caught Nick's eye. It was a tortoise, peering up at him from Magical Menagerie's window. It seemed to have a slow, contented smile and Nick smiled back, immediately feeling a connection to the little guy. Without waiting for his brother to finish, Nick pulled his mother into the shop to buy his new friend, Ernie.
The eleven-year-old Nick sat alone for most of the train journey, letting Ernie explore around his bag. The tortoise scratched and dug into the casing of Nick's wand, so he quickly moved it. Ollivanders had been an ordeal. It took twelve tries before he found a wand that didn't immediately fly across the room, or put a crack in the wall at the first flick and swish, or even just refuse to cooperate at all, lying dormant in his hand like a dead stick insect. While Tom cracked up behind him, Nick leafed through each different wand length, cut and wood type. By the twelfth wand, Ollivander looked sympathetically at Nick while he passed over a 12" Cedar wand, with a unicorn hair core. Nick turned it over in the palm of his right hand. It was quite thick and felt important, as if it had real weight and significance. With a newfound enthusiasm Nick flourished it toward its case and it shot up into the air, flew towards Nick's outstretched hand and landed firmly in his left hand. He couldn't help but grin.
Within a week, Nick was happily established in Hufflepuff. At first he was dissapointed: Nick had always gone on about how boring Hufflepuff was and Nick would have been happy with any other house. It didn't take long though before he realised how friendly the people were, how convenient their common room was and how lucky he'd been to have been sorted as Hufflepuff. The Fat Friar greeted all the new students while they tried on their yellow ties and scarves and they were led to the kitchens to find their common room. Nick was sleeping next to a tall, lanky boy called Roger Robertson and a small, overweight kid called Stephen Webster. They became fairly good friends for that first year, but have since moved apart.
That was a common position to be in for Nick. There was no one he disliked (he was a Hufflepuff after all), but he never made firm, lasting friendships, even with Stephen and Roger. Most of all he stayed focussed on his studies. After a year, Pete, his younger brother, moved into Hogwarts, closely followed by Mary and Sue in the next three years. The three were all sorted into Slytherin, like their father.
It was in that year that Nick, as a fifth year, had to take his O.W.Ls. Apart from a few key subjects, especially practical subjects working in the grounds or working with animals, Nick's exams were a flop. He actually failed both Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts, and scraped an 'Acceptable' out of Charms and Transfiguration. Care for Magical Creatures, Herbology and, surprising both himself and his History professor, History of Magic were all comfortable passes, with Nick achieving 'Outstanding', 'Exceeding' and 'Exceeding' respectively. Nick carried on studying these three subjects and will be sitting the N.E.W.Ts for each of them, although his hopes are fairly low for History.
Now on his seventh year, Nick is starting to branch out somewhat. Ernie is still alive and kicking, and Nick is following in his father's footsteps somewhat, smuggling a number of creatures into his room to show his fellow Hufflepuffs. It started as a toad from the woods, but he was caught and punished. Since then he's gotten better at hiding them and never keeps them around for more than a few days. His classmates in History cracked up when he hid a gecko in each of his professor's drawers and he even got away with that. This is the limit of his defiance though. At the moment the chances of him actually breaking the law are slim, although its definitely possible after his father's lucrative, relatively consequence free business.
For now, though, Nick is comfortable to study hard, pass a N.E.W.T or two and leave Hogwarts comfortably.
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Magical Aptitude
Nick has always been at the lower end of the class for natural ability with his wand. In classes like Charms or Transfiguration, he scored poorly in all of his exams for all five years he actually took them at Hogwarts and in any duels he managed to find himself in, his lack of confidence and poor memory let him down, forcing him to resort to a small pool of basic spells such as Expelliarmus or Lumos, which he shouted in a panic one time, much to his classmates amusement.
OWLs
- Charms - A
- Transfiguration - A
- Herbology - E
- Defence Against the Dark Arts - P
- Potions - P
- Care of Magical Creatures - O
- History of Magic - E
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Personal Belongings
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- Joined
- Mar 25, 2017
- Messages
- 36
- Reaction score
- 31
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PersonalityMolden McLain is selfish. There's no other way to put it. Everything he does is entirely self-centred, every action carefully calculated to reach the best possible outcome for 'number one'. It's one of his best skills in fact: knowing what to say to stay in the black. Many of his attributes revolve around keeping himself out of danger's way, either by avoiding confrontation altogether or escaping trouble once it has arrived. Blackmail, bribery, backstabbing; nothing is out of the question for Molden if the situation is desperate enough.
Of course, this approach doesn't lend itself to a gregarious character, which seems to hold up in the case of Molden McLain. The people he chose to associate himself with as a child were vile people, horrible role models for young Molden, constantly throwing themselves and as a consequence him, into shady, disturbing circumstances. As he grew up, his trust for other people quickly and violently declined, forcing him to spend much of his adult life alone, not willing to put his faith in other humans (or otherwise) for fear of misuse. To this day, 'friends' don't really fit into his schedule.
One of the main parts of Molden's schedule is the use of hardcore narcotics. From an early age Molden was exposed to a society of spice users. He is an addict, relying almost entirely on a daily hit of whatever he can get his hands on, whether that's Ryll, Glitterstim or Giggledust. Not only does it affect his physical health and his credit balance, but it has affected his career, his social life and his mental health. It's his biggest regret, but good luck getting him sober enough to admit it. He's almost never sober and suffers from manic depression when he is. Often he would prefer to stay out of his mind than spend any lucid time inside it.
Molden McLain has one redeeming quality: a desperate sense of self preservation. Such is his paranoia though that, when it comes to securing his survival and prosperity in the foreseeable future, he thinks big. Molden is not a stupid man and a large portion of his brainpower goes to reading people and reading situations. He has a plan for every situation, from the next five minutes to the next five years, altering his company, his moral compass and his affiliation to the current state of affairs. If Molden knows one thing in his spice-addled mind, it's that the Force is not to be trusted. Whether that is from the narcissistic Jedi - 'Defenders of the Galaxy' who demand respect without ever really earning it - or the deadly Sith - hell bent on destruction and tyranny, leaving no room for freedom of speech and freedom of travel (both vital for Molden McLain's livelihood) - he tries his best to avoid the Force and the people who command it at all costs.
However it is the latter of the two factions which poses the greatest threat to the galaxy and therefore, the greatest threat to Molden McLain. In order to save himself, Molden is currently working to save the people around him and the world he lives in. It might seem altruistic, but he knows better than that. At times a suspicion of compassion may sneak its way into Molden's actions and attitudes, but that can be quickly crushed with another hit of spice. Sympathy leads to indecision, which can get you killed.
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BiographyMolden McLain spent his early life on Nar Shaddaa.
He started hanging out with gangs as a young teen, experimenting with drugs.
He 'accidentally' killed a man at 16, it messed him up. Self defence?
Realised he loves the thrill of criminal life in the underworld of Nar Shaddaa. Was a little unhinged at this point.
Progressed from theft, intimidation, assault. Moved up in his gang to more senior roles.
Ran into trouble from a rival gang, got beaten up and got his friends murdered. Only just managed to escape with his life.
Escaped onto a cargo ship travelling to Roon. The ship was smuggling spice along the Death Wind Corridor.
Molden traveled with the smugglers for years, never trusted them so ran off with their money after a big spice deal.
Started his own smuggling circuit, using a third party crew and a small cargo ship he managed to buy with the money. Traded 'medicine' with Corellia for years. If crew were ever caught they didn't know enough about Molden to blame him and he could just hire another crew.
Approached by Guardian seven years prior, at age 21. Started working contracts for them, smuggling weapons through dangerous routes. Has been working for the last several years in and out of Guardian control, organising minor operations where Guardian could not risk their own men.
Gave up smuggling after a close encounter with his old crew, who tried to kill him. Lost most of his resources in the attack, mostly due to a basic mistake (leaving a safe unlocked, something careless like that).
Only recently has been taking a more direct approach in Guardian affairs as a direct member.
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