Welcome back! - Kit
Your Nickname: Armiece
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
Are you over thirteen?: I’ve been accused of it, yes.
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Duck Duck Go
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: a million and just one other for now: Tapendra Trishna
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary
Full Character Name: Sidoneus Artemis Blackburn III | Signs as ‘Sid Blackburn’
Character Birthday & Age: January 4th, 1980 | 31
City & Country of Birth: Blackburn Manor | York, England
Blood Purity: Pureblood
Alma Mater: Slytherin House | Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry (1991-1998)
Job/Position: Professor of Divination
Wand: 8.5in | Elm | Unicorn Tail Hair
Physical Description:Sid stands at 6’1 and has a slim muscular build. He has olive skin and dark hair, relatively angular features and bright yellow eyes with slitted pupils - a trait passed down in his family, spawned from a great-grandfather’s dalliances with some matter of creature. What creature it is varies on who tells the tale; most of the family agrees on Veela, though a great-aunt claims a mermaid. It’s a stain on their pureblooded status the Blackburns haven’t quite lived down.
He is a handsome man, tall and well-dressed. He has an engaging manner and a bright smile, an energy that manifests in a slinking, controlled sort of movement. His eyes are unearthly but nonetheless engaging, their sharp color usually paired with a sly smile. He wears earrings and makeup, a combination that offsets his often garishly colored robes. He dresses fashionably and flamboyantly, and will always stand out in a crowd.
Hidden beneath his expensive suits and stylish clothing is a body mapped with dark, whirling tattoos. The designs cover him head to foot and are clear at the edges of his cuffs, his ankles and his arms.
Personality Description:Sid, as he prefers to be called, is a charming and friendly man, one who finds it easy to socialise and is most at his element among the politics and parties of the elite. He has a careful and prepossessing manner but he is a snake at heart. He is by no means an evil man, but nor is he a good one. He looks out for his own interests with ruthless efficiency, and cares truly for a select few. This hardly stops him from being pleasant to everyone, of course; he’d rather charm his enemies than fight them.
As a Diviner his personality is half his job. He watches and manipulates, says the words his subjects want to hear. To those who believe in his abilities it makes him seem incredibly effective; to the doubtful it is merely more proof that divination relies merely on trickery and only tangentially on magical talent.
Though he might dabble in the more questionable corners of the wizarding world, Sid’s life has had a recent change. A powerful vision and the near-death overdose that came with it have, though he hates to admit it, scared him straight. From a celebrity life of drugs, travel and excess he now finds himself living more moderately, acting less as an exotic trophy and more as a man with a job to do. He was drawn to Hogwarts; knows, with incredible certainty, that he is meant to be there.
History:Sid was born into the run-down glamor of Blackburn Manor, a dilapidated but ancient home near York. His parents have blood as pure as it comes (or so they claim), tracing their family tree to the illustrious Malfoys, along with the Burkes and Slughorns. He was raised to take pride in his lineage and its supposedly unmuddied blood. In reality, the Blackburns weren’t the most interesting of people. They were hardly the image of glamorous pureblooded nobility they wished to be. His father - a small, squat sort of man with beady eyes and a mustache quite too large for him - managed money and files at the Ministry. His mother stayed at home and managed a society for musical education. They were respectable, but hardly anyone important.
For a family well known for throwing squat, square sorts, Sid was a change. Even as a young boy he was lithe, tall, and wide-eyed. He was a dark-haired angel among a family portrait of rather drab relatives, and he learned quickly to exploit that.
Going into Hogwarts in the same year as the illustrious Potter, Sid was sent to Slytherin and there he excelled. Purist and manipulative, he spent his early school years bonding with his far-flung cousin, Darian Morgan, and generally being a bit of a snot. His grades were passable; study was hardly interesting for him.
Puberty changed things, as it always does. Sid had always been a curious sort; it wasn’t long into his 4th and 5th years he’d secretly tried gillyweed, and his visions followed soon after. At first they were small - flashes and feelings, really. But as he tried more and more they became...clearer. And as the war wound up, they became ever more terrible. The battle that raged across Hogwarts was the final straw; Sid, like many of his cohorts, spent his 7th year with his head down and doing what he was told. When not observed he resorted increasingly to his addictions, always seeking something that’d open his third eye. He was convinced his clairvoyance might keep him safe.
He returned with some of his fellows to the Battle of Hogwarts. There he gained some scars he retains to this day, now covered by his dark whirling tattoos. The war made him steady in his political views: while he might view purebloods as an elite, he certainly was no Death Eater. He was eternally relieved at their fall.
After Hogwarts the young man hit his stride. With his looks and charm he developed his divination talent into something remarkable. Being picked up by the wizarding radio to do their daily horoscopes was his first big break - the next came as he began to travel, taking his abilities and charm on the road. A celebrity diviner known for his accurate and insightful predictions, he charged top dollar for personal readings and schmoozed his way among the elite. His biggest break was to become the personal diviner to the head of the French DoMLE, and he purportedly helped to solve cases there. Is it true? His publicity certainly claims it was.
But it was covered by a cloud: he gained his remarkable visions only through hypnotic highs, and to reach them he took to trying ever more powerful and illegal drugs. Behind the glamor and fashion, his health became shaky; he tried muggle and magical drugs alike, living a life of hollow, fervent excess. A rampant self-promoter, he rarely slept, began to rarely eat, and by the age of 30 his life seemed likely to burn out early.
The wakeup call came in the fall of 2010. Lazing with friends, he sank into one of his typical highs, trying a drug said to give realistic dreams. It gave him a vision - of Hogwarts, of children and teachers in danger; one powerful enough he thought it reality for a time. But in taking the drug he took too much, and slipped into a fervently dreaming coma.
The overdose nearly killed him - only the panicked and timely intervention of his friend returned him to medical care in time to save his life. Even so, he was trapped in a terrible dream for a week straight as doctors struggled to wake him, hovering near death.
When he did awake it was to a new world. He’s too proud (and far too stylish) to say he’s been scared straight, but the downward spiral of his personal life was all too clear. He chose to follow his vision to Hogwarts, to try a more steady and clean life.
Time will tell if it sticks. Sid has never been fond of children.
Describe your job duties and how you go about them: As Hogwart’s Professor of Divination, Sid teaches those who choose to take his elective class the many methods of divining both the past and future. Sid has his own goals in coming to Hogwarts; a drive for his chosen profession to be seen as more legitimate and an interest in developing his own abilities further….on the surface, at least. That he’s been driven by a vision he keeps rather quiet, for once.
His own preferred techniques are generally rather one-on-one, and it reflects in his class styles where he works closely with students.
Elaborate on your expertise in your field: Sid has been a celebrity (but professional, of course) diviner for some twelve years, his experiences ranging from personal readings to widely published visions and being the personal diviner to many of the elite and famous. His most famous customer was the former head of the French DoMLE, where his visions helped to solve cases and his good looks have landed him regularly in the likes of Witch Weekly and other tabloids.
As for how he is at divination? To Sid, divination is an art, one based more on manipulation than magic. To his students be claims otherwise: Divination is a talent not all possess and unless they are ready to believe in their third eye, he cannot coax it from them…!
In short: Sid is a very talented Diviner but his skills as a teacher may need work.
Writing Sample: x
Sum up your character in one paragraph: Charming, cunning and loquacious.
Sid Blackburn // Professor of Divination