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Tamzin OllivanderCharacter Birthday & Age: 42 years old; b. October 1, 1969
City & Country of Birth: Haslemere, England
Blood Purity: Pureblood
Alma Mater: Ravenclaw
Job/Position: Wand-maker
Wand: 12 inch, olive wood, unicorn tail hair
alert, a bit long, fussy
Physical Description: Tamzin is 5’4’’ and curvy. Her hair is naturally medium blonde, but she dyes it platinum white. She keeps it in a wild short bob. She has dark eyebrows and brown eyes and a just slightly pink complexion. Her hands are rough with nicks and scars from working with wood and picking through forests and thickets for the best wood for her wands. She has a sweet alto voice and considers herself quite eloquent and a good story teller. Her face is expressive and her smile just a bit crooked. She was born blind, (she is able to perceive vague light and shadow) and often wears purple circular sunglasses glasses for fashion, protection, and others’ comfort. Her wardrobe is modern traditional witch, usually with an over-robe, trousers, tall boots, and a pointed hat (for going out).
Personality Description: Tamzin is a confident, intelligent, and creative witch who might also be somewhat arrogant and quick to judge. She is a proud member of the centuries-old Ollivander wand-making tradition, and guards their secrets as her uncle requests.
If magic did offer a way to grant her sight, she would not be interested. Certainly, in some things the structures of society present many barriers, and often they are thoughtless or unfair, but she knows the flaw isn’t in hers. She is comfortable asking other people for help when she needs it.
Tamzin has enchanted her wand to help navigate around. She can hold her wand down at her side and it provides magical feedback in her hand when she’s getting close to objects, and a different sensation when approaching living things. Everyone and everything has a slightly different vibe. However, she can’t maintain this spell while casting another. She also finds Accio to be a very useful spell, and knows a good spell for reading text out loud.
At her best, she’s generous with her time, friendly, and engaged with her community. She’s disciplined in her work, patient, and interested in learning new things.
At her worst, she’s overwhelmed by people in her space, and untidiness. She is quick to judge upon first impressions (even if she comes around later).
Commission from NeonTamzin grew up in the ancient Ollivander family, their roots in England dating back to the Romans. It wasn’t until she went to Hogwarts that she became aware of their family’s relative fame due to her great uncle Garrick’s notoriety as a wand-maker. Her own parents caretake old world groves and copses, from which they carefully harvest fine magical woods for Ollivander wands.
As a kid, Tamzin was bookish and artistic, and enjoyed carving little figures from wood. She carved and enchanted an entire wizards’ chess set and gave it to her parents as a gift in her fourth year. She did well at Hogwarts, even though she sometimes struggled with feeling different and isolated. But she was clever and kept adapting and did well in her N.E.W.T.s.
In school, Tamzin never showed an interest in romantic relationships with boys or becoming a parent and that never really changed as she grew up.
She was, in all, a well-behaved young witch and enjoyed spending time with a few close friends, poking around in the woods, and listening to dramas on the Wizarding Wireless Network.
Wand-making
It wasn’t until she nearly finished with Hogwarts that she because interested in wand-making. She had an older cousin who had worked with her uncle Garrick some, but he eventually moved on when he started a family and settled down in the United States. So Tamzin became Garrick’s de facto apprentice to carry on the family tradition.
She moved to London and worked with him in the back of the shop, or accompanied him when he travelled. She learned to peel dragon heartstrings from dragon hearts by touch, how to choose and prepare the best of the phoenix feathers, and how to clean and cure unicorn tail hairs. She learned about finding the best wood from the best groves, how to select the right branches, and how to turn and carve them. She was 28 when she made her first functional wand, but it sits to this day on a high shelf having never found its match.
By the time she was about 35, she was making wands her uncle Garrick approved as passable, and after his close inspection he allowed them to be sold in the shop as an Ollivander wand. In the past 10 years, only dozen or so of hers have found homes in the hands of a witch or wizard, but while Tamzin is apprenticed to Garrick, it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to take credit for them. She doesn’t mind - that’s just the way thing work. She finds joy in the craft and process as much as the final result.
1996
The 1996 kidnapping of her uncle by Death Eaters was a massive trauma for the whole family. She hadn’t yet made a functional wand and there worry that in addition to losing a beloved member of the family, much of his decades of knowledge would be lost. Upon his return, Tamzin spent more and more time in the shop, even if in the background, feeling very protective and keeping watch.
Present day
Tamzin now lives in a tiny flat in Diagon Alley. She travels somewhat frequently, doing more and more of the reagent-gathering and continuing to hone her craft. She hopes to soon be considered a wand-maker in her right, but it all depends on her uncle’s evaluation.
She’s a familiar sight at Calaveras and Alohomocha and is one of many gathered around the Leaky Cauldron’s wireless when Quidditch is on. (She’s a Harpies supporter.) She lives with two cats called Xerxes and Mr. Business.
Describe your job duties and how you go about them: Tamzin is a wand-maker. She selects and prepares Ollivander traditional cores, harvests and carves woods, and assembles them with precision and art. She is also skilled at matching wand to wix.
Elaborate on your expertise in your field: She comes from a long line of wand-makers, but it has been her cleverness, hard work, and passion that has made her the wand-maker she is today. That, and the expert tutelage of her uncle Garrick.
Writing Sample: Sum up your character in one paragraph: Tamzin is a middle-aged, blind wand-maker, confident (maybe a bit too much so). She's artistic, friendly, and passionate. She is very aware of her ancient family's reputation and loves her home in Diagon Alley.
Tamzin Ollivander: Wand-maker