Your Nickname: Nuri
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
Are you over thirteen? Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Friend
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: Balfour Spectre, Virgil Carstairs, Ira Almasy, Dietrich Eisenberg (Primary, Active). Raine Almasy, Peter Thackeray, Rascal Rosier (Primary, Inactive). Nathaira Spectre (Secondary, Active). Arthur Lemon, Roger Lemon (Secondary, Inactive).
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary





Physical Description:

Solomon Carstairs, with his confident bearing and good posture, stands at about 5'9'' to 5'11'' depending on the time of the day. His other measurements are confidential, although he has nothing against positive speculation. He is a handsome man and has aged with physical grace across the years. Once dark hair is now peppered by strands of white, fading brown. Spectacles sit on his nose to correct the effects of farsightedness (when potions are rather cumbersome) and the youthfulness of his smile is dampened by an underlying cynicism. A sad, resigned glimmer in the eyes.

At the Ministry, Solomon is a familiar sight in his formal robes. He doesn't like garish clothing and opts for simple whites or blacks in his everyday wardrobe. He likes to think that he is a well-dressed wizard and - for the most part - he is, although it is largely thanks to a sense of style developed through trial and error. His wife has much better taste in clothes and Solomon takes her advice as such most seriously.

There is an open, approachable manner about him. His mannerisms are relaxed and cocky unless, of course, on duty. Solomon might be an old hand on the second level but his instincts are still sharp - failing only in possessing the tireless resilience of youth.


Personality Description:

Solomon is a charming man. He makes no disguise of the fact that his charm is a superficial instrument, a way of getting around and getting along that helps make interactions a little easier for everyone. This is what lies at the heart of his underlying persona: a desire for others to get what they want out of life, with as little difficulty as possible. Within limits. He isn't selfless. Far from it, his ideas of charity and forgiveness are self-serving. Balm for an untreated conscience.

Solomon's political notions are fairly liberal. He supports the integration of muggle bloodlines, advocates equal rights for werewolves, and maintains neutrality on vampires. Although his opinions on the current government might be quite scathing, he genuinely believes that it is a fair system that can and will satisfy the best interests of wizarding communities. He is more than willing to get his hands dirty to defend what he believes in.

Outside of professional inclinations, his moral compass is riddled by inconsistency and weakness. The wizard is an absolute flirt and while he doesn't always follow through, he has no qualms whatsoever with leaving a trail of trampled emotions or misgivings. Even his most genuine relationships have rarely had good endings. The only person whose feelings Solomon will actively go out of his way to protect are his wife's, Irene - and even then only through keeping her ignorant. He loves Irene dearly in spite of the fact that he has been maintaining a steady stream of extramarital affairs over the past twenty five years.


History:

Childhood & Hogwarts

Solomon had a fairly pleasant childhood at a large redbrick house in the Oxfordshire countryside. Whilst a considerable number of his extended family are fairly close-minded about the nature of muggles and the non-traditional, his own parents placed no barriers to independent learning. He read voraciously and played well with other children. His mother was rather religious and so one of the tenets by which he and his siblings lived by was their nightly prayers - something long abandoned now. He didn't much care for it but this only helped him understand from a young age the importance of pretending acquiescence for a greater good. Namely, maintaining stability. 

At Hogwarts, Solomon was promptly sorted into Gryffindor. Many had anticipated Ravenclaw. He was proud to be amongst lions, and his time with housemates cultivated a sense of foolhardiness that had never before been so blatantly encouraged. To say that he was popular might be a stretch of the truth. Solomon was well known and well liked. When he caused trouble, it was usually only for the less socially affluent (which is to say that he was a bit of a bully).

This didn't get in the way of academics. Solomon left school with NEWTs in History of Magic, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Potions and Transfiguration. It surprised nobody when he chose to go into Auror training. 


Auror Training and Work (1977 onwards)

Much of his later years at Hogwarts and early years as an Auror happened in the shadow of the first Wizarding War. Training, to be fair, often took place in the form of active rebellion and duelling. Solomon was sympathetic to muggles and he knew all the right people from Hogwarts to avoid falling into the wrong side of the war. Amongst his acquaintances were the older, wiser wizards of the Order of the Phoenix.

It was only after the end of the war, at the age of twenty two, that Solomon could officially call himself an Auror. He met his future wife Irene whilst at a new year's celebration in Glasgow - she was three years younger than him. A plain witch but full of life and vigour, with a smile he didn't think people were capable of having after the trials of war. They would marry two years later after she had dropped out of training to be a healer and began working at the Daily Prophet as a photographer.

He was not faithful to her over the years. It might be speculated that Irene knew about the affairs conducted by her husband but if that were true, she never indicated as much. The couple appeared happy. She was proud to be married to an Auror and in spite of his infidelities, Solomon believed that he loved her very much.


Second Wizarding War (1995 onwards)

Voldermort's second rise to power caught Solomon in his late thirties - by now already a father to two beautiful toddlers - and it affected him deeply in a way that the first war couldn't. He participated in the various missions and tasks set upon by the new Order of the Phoenix and when the time came to abandoned the poisoned Ministry, he did it as well as the best of them could assume. Initiative wasn't his strong point. Solomon had a magnificent ability to block everything out and focus on orders but at the end of each night he was aware of how he (and his comrades) often survived by the skin of their teeth. The recklessness of youth no longer existed to protect him from the fear of death.

Irene would be a widow. His children, Cynthia and Ernest, would be fatherless. His parents would outlive him. But luck was on his side - as it often is. Solomon lost many friends in the final battle. His wife had been bitten by a Werewolf and now suffered from Lycantrophy. At the end of the war he quit the DMLE altogether to focus on his family life.

Family

This hiatus from the red robes did not last long. Even Irene, who didn't enjoy contemplating the possibility of losing him, detested having a politically over-opinionated wizard sitting around at home making disparaging comments about her place of employment.  He was really quite the nuisance. Restless, chatty, disappearing for nights at a time and coming home reeking of whiskey. Some months he would leave to travel. On the overall however, he maintained a good attitude towards the children.

It was important that he did. They represented his legacy - Solomon didn't care much for his illegitimate offspring. He sent their mothers a bit of coin if convenient but generally speaking he did not think of them unless prompted. As far as he was concerned, it wasn't anyone's business if a woman decided to keep the child.

Return to Work (1999 onwards)

Cynthia and Ernest were still three years away from attending Hogwarts when Solomon returned to work as an Auror. At this point the children were old enough to be having their own little adventures in the countryside around Oxfordshire - and of course they had the company of the many Carstairs cousins. Even so, it was Sol's inherently restless and challenging nature that brought him back to the Ministry of Magic.

He had become a regular fixture on level three, a Senior Auror who had an excellent repertoire with trainees and whose approachable demeanour made him an easy mentor for those uncertain of vocation. It was not until recently that Solomon had gained any sense of ambition in regards to advancing in the Department.

Current events over the past two years have spurned him into activity. Dementors terrorising civilians. Murders at the Opera House. Werewolf Fights! It seemed to him that the wizarding world was going to hell once more and nobody in the DMLE seemed to really give a damn about it (which is untrue, but do forgive darling Solomon for his rare show of vehemence). He possesses decades of experience under his belt and now, in the light of new criminal activity, those years felt like they were wasting away instead of being put to use.

Describe your job duties and how you go about them:

He hurts people but he has a sense of humour about it. At least in his head. Since assuming duties as Head of the DMLE (note: NOVEMBER 2010), Solomon Carstairs has been a fairly consistent source of stability to the wizards and witches working underneath him. He is still getting his bearings in terms of acquiring a leadership position as such - he had essentially campaigned for it by deprecating his predecessor's lacking initiative in recent cases - but the notion of being a department head has come quite naturally to the wizard. 

Paperwork is an obvious burden of any department head. He is of an age and temperament suited for this. Solomon might be one of the few Aurors who has never complained about the amount of red tape surrounding their affairs, on account of knowing his way around the bureaucracy well enough to stave off white collar frustration. He is happy behind his desk - perhaps happier away from it, dealing with the social politics of working with other departments or having to actually be out on a proper assignment every now and then.

Being a great duellist he naturally prefers that setting but there is duelling of a different sort here.  Of wits, of words. Solomon emanates an air of truth and bluntness when on level three. While he might try to be fair and just in his work, he makes no apologies for personal bias. Usually there is good reasoning behind this. His liberal opinions on muggle society and werewolves have made him a favourite with younger aurors who share these views. He has not stepped on enough toes to have fallen out of favour with the older Aurors... yet.

Solomon begins his work day before anyone else on the regular shift and he ends it much later, often sticking around the offices to wait for whichever groups are returning from their evening assignments. He isn't a workaholic by any means - he is simply very comfortable being in the Ministry, and this gives people an impression of ever-present solidity. Solomon is more than willing to let little office grievances slide but he is nothing if not cutting when a significant line has been crossed.


Elaborate on your expertise in your field:

Solomon has been involved with the DMLE since the start of the first Wizarding War in the 1970s. This has given him over thirty years worth of experience in the field, even taking into account his short hiatus after the second war. He is a common and trustworthy sight on the third floor - respected or obeyed as a Senior Auror for his years of service, liked for his charming manner and dry writ.

As a duellist he is formidable and as a speaker, even moreso. Solomon's irritation with recent criminal activity has incited greater ambitions in his later years - he has lived through two wars. He has two children who are only now just growing into adults and beginning their lives. Solomon would like to see them live and thrive in better times than his.

His experience on the third floor has helped him to acquire an aura of knowledgeable leadership, an attitude of calmness that is rarely shaken. He has seen a great deal and it would take something genuinely horrific to throw him for a loop. Solomon has taken to governance and administration like a fish to water, beyond even his own anticipation. He is suited to the role on merit of personality, and fortified in place through worldliness and history.


Writing Sample: Please see Vivienne Thorpe.


Sum up your character in one paragraph:

Solomon Carstairs possesses a long history in the Auror Corps and a charming, approachable personality that is completely at odds with it. He is a hard worker and a good leader - some might even consider him a good friend. Depending. Outside of professional relationships Solomon can be a real arse, you see. He flirts indiscriminately but cares little for the feelings of others.