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: Oh, God. Okay. Primaries - Raine Almasy, Ira Almasy, Balfour Spectre, Rascal Rosier, Peter Thackeray, Dietrich Eisenberg, Solomon Carstairs, Virgil Carstairs Secondaries - Nathaira Spectre, Roger Lemon, Arthur Lemon
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Secondary




Character Birthday & Age: 27th July 1978, 32 years old
City & Country of Birth: Cairo, Egypt
Blood Purity: Halfblood
Alma Mater: Beauxbatons Academy of Magic
Job/Position: Beast Handler, Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures
Wand: 10' inch Acacia wood, Sphinx hair core. Very flexible with an irregularly long hilt and spiralling shaft, engraved. Inherited from his mother.

Physical Description:

Sylvain Onuris looks younger than he is - always the impression of a young man almost at his prime, thin pink lips that don't quite smile all the way. His somewhat alarming bug-eyes are a stormy grey and rarely settle on looking at one thing for very long.

He carries himself with a boyish, indifferent air: unconscious of mannerisms and usually focused only on what he has in mind. There is always the sense that he is not saying everything he is thinking but this tends to come across as social awkwardness more than anything else.

At 5'11 and of slender build, Sylvain is hardly what is expected from a beast handler - a little time with him, however, exhibits an efficient physical resilience to the way he moves. Quick and with purpose. He is a tactile person with those he knows well and will greet complete strangers with effete kisses, though he generally does not like to be touched without invitation. He is careful not to touch women if they do not seem open to the notion.

Sylvain's dark brown curls are worn very short and he dresses in neat and old country clothes; shirts worn thin, slim fitting but patched up denims. His shoes are almost always muddy and he smells of fresh dirt, eucalyptus oil. Corduroy shirts are his go-to if he must dress up - untucked and with a dab of Oud on the cuffs.

His hands are rough with blisters.

Personality  Description:

Sylvain has suffered from a social anxiety disorder since he was a young boy at Beauxbatons, after receiving news of his mother's death. While at the time this meant he would sporadically suffer panic attacks (often in the form of tantrums or being sick), he has since learned to cope with nervous or excitable moments through various personal mechanisms. Knuckle cracking. Recitation of facts. Comfort zones.

Most people will find that Sylvain is awkward but well-meaning on first impression. He goes through the motions of eye contact and affable gestures, even if day-to-day interactions don't involve these. Confidence in his work and intelligence carries him through; if anything, gives him a charming sort of shyness with a glimmer of intellectual humour. He is very clever but occasionally lonely.

Like most people, Drunk!Sylvain is very much more open to letting inhibitions slip. As is High!Sylvain or Sleepy!Sylvain.

While he would never call himself an addict, the wizard is practically hooked on mild substances. Coffee, cigarettes, gillyweed - he cycles through them in phases to convince himself it is purposeful dependency. He refuses to drink hard liquor alone (alcoholism runs deep on his father's side) and is a notoriously good card player.

Sylvain is at his most comfortable around beasts. The more dangerous, the better. He has a natural tendency for them and animals like him instantly, as he often has a calming effect on them.  If you know him well enough, he has the same effect on people.

History:

Born out of wedlock to a British Healer witch and a French-Egyptian wizard in Cairo, 1978. The year before the famed peace treaty with Israel. Ruth and Nassor Onuris were married after the fact, when they migrated from Egypt to a small farmhouse in Provence, France.

Sylvain's father had grown up in Provence as the eldest of a large family of second generation immigrants before he became a translator from the French Ministry and began working between both countries. His decision to permanently move back to his childhood home was spurned largely by the desire to build his own little family in that same, nostalgic ambiance. He arrived at the rundown cottage in the spring of 1980, with his wife and son and two dusty suitcases full of either clothes or books.


CHILDHOOD (1980 - 1989)

Few lived near the farmhouse, which was located close to a  Garrigue and a neighbouring wizarding village where Sylvain's mother traded what little Lavender oil their sparse land could produce. Nassor still travelled and translated for the Ministry, was only home for a month at a time - when he was, he would frequently take them to Paris for a long weekend.

Sylvain had a scenic childhood and he practically worshipped his mother. They had many pets and animals around, mornings began with him rousing his little army before trailing after Ruth to do chores. He worked hard but spent many long afternoons in the woodlands, reading and talking to creatures. The village children liked him. Nassor's tutoring benefitted with impeccable, metropolitan French and fluent schoolboy English. He hated his Arabic lessons and would often earn himself a good slap for lingering in the countryside to avoid them, though he speaks it well colloquially today.


BEAUXBATONS ACADEMY OF MAGIC (1989 - 1996)

Academies are not built for children like Sylvain. He had not been expecting the glamour and the magnificence: in a way, it didn't impress him for lack of attaching importance to such things. But he liked it. He liked the excitement and the sheer volume of information suddenly available to him, things hardly thought of before now brought to the forefront of a new lifestyle.

The focus on fine magics hindered him to begin with - it was clear he wanted to deal with creatures from the start - but Sylvain discovered a surprising thing in his first years at school. He discovered that he was irregularly bright.

Poetry, literature, dance, music. These things came naturally to him in youth and his mother was delighted to have him come home for holidays to share this throve of knowledge.

Upon sitting exams for collège, Sylvain began to specialise in magical creatures. In his fifth year however, he received news while at school of his mother's death - she had caught a sudden illness and attempted to treat herself for it, being a Healer, instead of seeking outside help. Sylvain had read this news in a letter from his father that enclosed her wand. He uses it to this day.

Losing Ruth was the equivalent of losing his anchor in life. Sylvain withdrew from social activities in the months to follow; he would throw tantrums if forced to participate in highly socialised activities. This involved hyperventilation, sweating, sitting on flat surfaces and either screaming or speaking to himself. It was extremely unbecoming of a Beauxbatons student and letters of reprimand were sent to Nassor.

Sylvain would eventually learn to cope. That was the nice thing about Beauxbatons and its etiquette: they were only rules after all, and any idiot can follow rules. Can stand up in the Dining Hall when the Headmistress entered. Can bow or remember his pleases and thank you's. Almost therapeutic, really.


TRAINING AND WORK (1996 - 2003)

Learning to handle beasts is probably his most irritating memory. Sylvain did not get along with his peers to begin with - he went straight to train at the French Ministry of magic but found that most trainees were meant to undergo a series of theoretical work before they were given more hours in the field. He aced his paperwork effortlessly. Not everyone found this admirable, and Sylvain often escaped to the farmhouse in Provence to turn a professional eye to the wildlife there.

It was only in his 20s that he could really shine as a handler. He began with dragons and sea serpents, and was the first of his group to attempt interacting with Thestrals without actually being able to see them (until he turned 21 when he witnessed his first death-by-Hungarian-Horntail on a visit to east Europe). Even those who did not like him gave him credit for this; not quite reckless in nature, he was instead eager. And kind.

Kindness is one of those things animals can see but people cannot.

Sylvain travelled a bit during this time but his favourite spot to be assigned duty was the French Alps. He would go weeks here, the only wizard in a rustic old cabin, tracing Graphorn movements and greeting Magizoologist visitors from across the globe.

Approaching 25, he received word of a new Sanctuary in the Rockies that were seeking skilled handlers to help set the perimeters of their project, and handed in his notice to the Ministry. He met briefly with Nassor before leaving for the United States.


ADULTHOOD (2003 - Present Day)

Sylvain Onuris has been difficult to track in the last seven years. While he began these travels in Colorado, he did not stay long - his movements extended across America and Canada before crossing the ocean back to Egypt for a brief stint in 2004 that involved some of his best and worst experiences with Sphinxes.

In 2005, Sylvain offered his services as a freelance handler to the French Ministry so that he might retain a semi-permanent position specialising in Graphorns in the French Alps. It was here that he first made contact with visiting handlers from the German and British Ministries of Magic, who respectively commissioned Graphorn migratory reports from the wizard on a quarterly annual basis. The income from these sources allowed him to maintain a solitary living in the Alps. He befriended the likes of Balfour Spectre and Margo Amherst during this time.

During Christmas of 2010, a strange invitation arrived at his cabin from the French Ministry of Magic - it referenced his commendable lingual abilities, a recommendation from his father, and his friendly relations with British Ministry staff.

Sylvain obliged this invitation, only to anxiously find himself in a dimly lit, smokey room: a meeting attended by several Parisian political players. There had recently been reports of Direwolf attacks in the city - made moreso remarkable by the victims being significant members of the French Ministry. The birthplace of the Direwolf being in Great Britain, a request was made for Sylvain to accept an offer of permanent employed by the British Ministry while attempting to discover if these attacks have been satisfied by a British civil servant aligned with French criminals.

He was perfect for the position - not entirely related to the subject of Werewolves, multi-lingual, known for his sole focus on beasts, an awkward wizard who could get away with being taciturn.

This was all irrelevant to Sylvain. He had loyalties, of course, but found the notion improbable. It was only his pre-existing consideration of British employment and the opportunity to live in his mother's home city that swayed his decision.

That and... well. The money was tempting. He knew people. Life was becoming rather dull in the Alps.

Describe your job duties and how you go about them:

FROM JANUARY 17TH 2011...

As a recently employed Beast Handler for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures (Beasts Division, Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures) Sylvain finds himself doing a little bit of whatever is needed on the fourth floor.

He is on-call whenever needed by the Dragon Research and Restraint Bureau but a majority of his duties involve solving incidents of violence when dangerous beasts find their way into society. This is hardly a nine-to-five job and Sylvain might go days without his group having to attend to some emergency, and so he busies himself by offering his services to whichever faction of the fourth floor in need of it.

It is not unusual to find him flitting between divisions or floors - particularly the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes when muggles are involved with beasts - on some errand or another. He has yet to attempt infiltrating the Werewolf Wing to broach his ulterior motives but is psyching himself up to the task of befriending its staff members.

Elaborate on your expertise in your field:

Sylvain has little experience in any other vocation. As seen in his History above, he began training and working in the French Ministry of Magic's equivalent of level four as soon as he graduated from Beauxbatons with top marks.

Seven years of experience with the Ministry led on to freelance work with several sanctuaries across America and Canada, as well as Egypt (and a brief stint with dragons in China). His most recent experiences have been with the notoriously difficult-to-handle Graphorns of the French Alps.

Sylvain is naturally gifted with creatures and is well-known in his field for this talent.

Writing Sample:
See Vivienne Thorpe, please.

Sum up your character in one paragraph:

Sylvain Onuris is a French-Egyptian wizard in his early 30s, who currently works as a Beast Handler at the British Ministry of Magic. He is a socially awkward, boyish looking man who is exceptionally smart and fantastic with creatures. He has no problems calling people out on their foolishness, though often does not realise that this is rude. Sylvain has an ulterior motive to working the Great Britain - he has been instructed by the French Ministry to discover who has been supplying Parisian criminals with Direwolf resources.

Career Change

Character Name: Sylvain Onuris
Character Biography: http://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=18057
Previous Job/Position: Beast Handler
Position Applying For: Professor of Care of Magical Creatures & Keeper of Keys and Grounds

Why have you chosen to change careers?:
Having spent the last year working on level four, Sylvain finds that his routine and dissatisfaction has changed little from when he first decided to move to England. He has applied to work at Hogwarts, in search of a more meaningful vocation that will allow him to change how young people perceive magical creatures.

Elaborate on your expertise in this new field:
Sylvain has been working with magical creatures since he graduation from Beauxbatons nearly 15 years ago. He has worked for the French Ministry of Magic, in the handling and preservation of their creatures. He has also worked with them to train young handlers, and has given talks/workshops at Beauxbatons Academy when they have invited him to do so as an alumni. Sylvain possesses all the necessary official qualifications to handle dangerous animals. He is considered a very cautious handler and would never knowingly put himself (or his students) in any great danger.

Describe your new job and how you go about doing it:
As the Professor of Care of Magical Creatures, he would hold and oversee lessons for all students who have elected the subject. Sylvain's lessons would take a practical bent most of the time but he will expect his students to have done their own research in preparation for each class. He is extremely severe when it comes to this because he prioritises the well being of both student and creature. His approach is that only one is capable of coming prepared.

To ensure reading is done, Sylvain assigns weekly essays or group projects. He is a good professor to assign Detention duty. As Keeper of Keys and Grounds, it is his duty to oversee the upkeep of the school's grounds. Sylvain is also responsible of ensuring the Forbidden Forest is well guarded against students (and vice versa). He does this by 'patrolling' the grounds every evening.