Your Nickname: Patrick Butler
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? Other
If you have written other characters here: No
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Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary

Full Character Name: Patrick Alexander Butler
Character Birthday & Age: 27/10/58, 52 years old
City & Country of Birth: Galway, Ireland
Blood Purity: Halfblood
Alma Mater: Hogwarts   
Job/Position: Professor of History of Magic

Wand: 12”, Oak and Dragon Heartstring

Physical Description:
 Short, overweight, with shoulder length hair a short goatee beard and a somewhat receding hairline Professor Butler is not classically handsome. He nevertheless has a definite sense of presence. His hair is dark brown though his beard is greying. He tends to wear dark clothes of traditional make of a mixture of magical and muggle fashions. When wearing trousers rather than robes he tends to wear waistcoats and ties and jackets. He believes in dressing for both appearance and comfort and enjoys the luxuries that his success has brought in. Interesting and richly patterned waistcoats are perhaps his greatest vanity. He often keeps his hands in his pockets. His body language fairly gives much away but drumming his fingers is a sign of irritation when waiting for a correct answer that students would be well to heed. He is rarely seen without a bag containing ikn, parchment, and some books. He is not especially muscular though not entirely unfit as he enjoys long walks.

Personality Description:
 Professor Butler is intelligent and enthusiastic about both teaching and history. He is fairly introverted and controlled and rarely loses his temper or shows his true emotions. Having lost the people he cared about most in the world he is reluctant to form deep relationships without good reason though he is very loyal to the few good friends he has. He is a brave man who does not give in to intimidation though having been scarred he is a trifle paranoid about personal safety and tends to use an excessive amount of protective charms.  He is also verbose and loquacious. He has a habit of walking at night and gazing at the stars which he finds comforting.

 The Professor genuinely cares about his students and their education and views his appointment as a great privilege rather than a right. To those students who are both intelligent and interested in his subject he is a great mentor. He finds the stupid frustrating though he tends to be fair with them and do his best to help them. Those pupils who are intelligent but disinterested or lazy are those that will earn his ire and he is not slow in handing out punishments when they are merited. As a result his class is usually an orderly one.


History:
 Patrick James Butler was born in Galway to Irish muggleborn wizard Keith Butler and his English halfblood wife Lucinda Butler (nee Diggory) in 1958.  An only child he was born into the magical world and only had limited contact with the muggle world through his paternal grandparents. His grandfather Liam Butler was a history teacher and instilled a great love of history in his grandson with his storytelling. Patrick grew up enamoured with tales of knights, kings, tanks and wars. He also was interested by the history of the magical world though he found the relative lack of massed battles disappointing.
 
 Patrick’s family was not rich but with only three mouths to feed they always had enough to get by. His mother Lucinda worked as a mediwitch in St Mungo’s. His father worked in the Spirit Division of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. He sometimes brought his son to work as the young Patrick was fascinated by the stories the ghosts could tell, especially the older ones.
 
 He displayed magic at a fairly young age when barked at by a neighbour’s dog causing the unfortunate animal to suddenly find inside on the garage roof.  His parents were able to repair the damage without the need for wider Ministry involvement. He duly got his Hogwarts letter where he was sorted into Gryffindor.
 
 After leaving Hogwarts he took up a job as a columnist for the Daily Prophet which allowed him to pay the bills while he concentrated on his true passion of historical research. Unfortunately during this period the First Wizarding War began. Patrick maintained a robust opposition to pure-blood supremacy in his column, which was not unnoticed by both sides. The Death Eaters decided not to attach him directly but by murdering those he loved. They killed his parents, to them a mudblood and a blood-traitor. They also killed his lover, a muggle-born witch called Alexandra Anderson, whom he had met at Hogwarts. He still remembers both days vividly as his worst memories. He recalls being sat down by his editor to be told of his parents’ deaths. Worse still he remembers coming home to see the Dark Mark and to find Alexandra’s broken body inside. The murders did not have the desired effect. His column became ever-more strident and bitter in its opposition to He Who Must Not Be Named.       
 
 After the war he became a successful historian and author publishing many books including, ‘A Short History of the Goblin Rebellions’, ‘Burn Them! - A History of Wizard/Muggle Relations in Europe’ and the very meaty ‘The Evolution of Muggle Warfare and its Impact on the Wizarding World’. He also published a book of poems called ‘Memories’ which was published both in the wizarding and muggle worlds.
 
 During the Second Wizarding War he continued to write his column again opposing the supremacists. He fought off one attack from unknown assailants on his home due to his warning enchantments but went on the run the day the Ministry fell to Voldemort. He returned to the Galway of his birth where he continued to write. He wrote many letters to the magical governments of neighbouring countries asking them to assist Britain’s wizards against Voldemort. He had limited success though he did succeed in securing humanitarian aid for many of the ‘wandless’ from sympathetic witches and wizards from Canada and America.
 
 After the war ended he returned to London where he wrote ‘A History of the First Wizarding War’ and ‘Ourselves Alone’, a polemic decrying the lack of international magical cooperation in dealing with the threats of dark wizards.   



Describe your job duties and how you go about them:
 The duties of the position are principally to teach the students the History of Magic and to maintain discipline within the class. The Professor carries out his duties diligently though he does not work himself to the bone and continues work on a history of the Second Wizarding War  in his spare time.

Elaborate on your expertise in your field:
 An intelligent and loquacious man with a deep knowledge of and keen interest in the field Professor Butler is eminently qualified to teach his subject and strict enough to control his class. He has written multiple historical texts and many parents with an interest in magical history will recognise his name having had to study some of his works for their NEWTs.

 He is also highly skilled magically with an especial focus on charms and defence against the dark arts. He obtained 10 OWLs and 6 NEWTs in Astronomy, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic (naturally), Transfiguration and the Study of Ancient Runes. He has also taken time to obtain muggle qualification in history, gaining an O level, A level and a degree from the Open University.


Writing Sample:
 “So Stebbins, tell us what do you know about the Ministry’s response to He Who Must Not Be Named’s second rise to power.”
 
 “Erm…Erm…Th-They opposed him, Sir” the first-year stuttered.

 Professor Butler gritted his teeth and resisted the strong urge to shake the dozy girl by the collar. “True Stebbins up to a point, if not very enlightening. Can you at least tell us who was Minister of Magic at the start of the Second Wizarding War? We discussed him only yesterday…”

 “K-Kingsley Shacklebolt, Sir”, came the dismal reply as the rest of the class started tittering.

 “Silence!” the Professor bellowed and the class came swiftly to order. It would be bad enough not knowing such basics if Stebbins was muggleborn. She was not however and this was her second term. Perhaps if she spent more time in the library and less time mucking about.

 “Balderdash Stebbins! Five points from Hufflepuff. Kingsley Shacklebolt only became Minister of Magic after the Second Wizarding. Cornelius Fudge was Minister of Magic at the outset of the war. During his time in office the Ministry did not acknowledge He Who Must Not Be Named’s return despite warnings and signs to the contrary. After his return was confirmed Rufus Scrimgeour took over the Ministry which then proactively took steps against the Death Eaters.”


Sum up your character in one paragraph:
 Patrick Butler is the Professor for History of Magic in Hogwarts. A middle-aged Irish wizard, he is intelligent and learned. He is a good teacher but has a limited tolerance for stupidity or laziness. Having lost his parents and lover to Death Eaters he is a bitter opponent of blood supremacists. A published author, he is one of Britain’s most prominent current magical historians.
rominent current magical historians.