Accepted! ~Elle

About You, the Writer:

Your Nickname: Drew
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct & Guidelines?: Yes.
How did you find us and decide to write with us? I have two other characters on this site, Oliver Ainsworth and Cadeous Morgan.
If you have written other characters here, list them all: Cadeous Morgan and Oliver Ainsworth.

Full Character Name: Zavier Zacharia Blackstone
Character Birthday & Age: October 21st, 1965 (43)
City & Country of Birth: Norwich, England
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn?: Pureblood
Alma Mater: Slytherin
Occupation: Former Quidditch player (the Ballycastle Bats).  Present-day occupation; part-time bookstore clerk

Type of Criminal: Dark Artist

Allegiances / Loyalties / Political Faction: He follows his own set of beliefs, values and traditions.

Previous Convictions or Crimes?: He's been charged with robbery and other small, petty thefts, several of which he's been convicted and fined for.  In his mid thirties, he was charged with phsyically assaulting a Ministry employee; he was never convicted for it, though.

What crimes might you commit in the future?  Discuss all possible: Theft, illegal marketing, and (perhaps) murder.

Are you currently under pursuit by the Ministry of Magic?: Not really 'under pursuit'... the Ministry is, however, keeping close tabs on him - to his knowledge, too.

Wand Description: 11" Elm Wood Wand; Core consists of a Griffin feather.  Purchased from Gregorovitch, another European wand maker in 1976.  It is of a dark, almost cherry-red color.  Its handle, on the other hand, while noticeably thicker than the shaft of the wand, is black.

Physical Description: Even at forty-three-years-old, Zavier Blackstone is still seen by many people - women, mostly - as a quite personable man.  He usually lets his dark brown hair grow out, but takes care as to keep it well-kempt.  The color of his moustache and beard is a tad darker than his hair.  While he keeps his hair in check, his facial hair is a bit more scraggly and muddled.  Like his mother before him, he has a square-shaped face and fairly high-set cheekbones.  He has dark, almond-shaped russet eyes that are oftenly found narrowed by most people - his family and loved ones the exception there, of course.

He's in very good physical shape and does everything he can to stay that way.  He stands at 6'2" - he's one of the tallet people in his family - and weighs 155 lbs.  He has two tattoos and a fairly noticeable scar, which stretches from his left shoulder to his lower back.  It was given to him from a fight he got into at Hogwarts.  As for his tattoos, he has his deceased mother's name, 'Hannah', written down the side of his left leg.  He also has his year of his Hogwarts graduation, 1983, inscribed across the back of his left shoulder.  

A good majority of the time, Zavier can be found wearing dark-colored clothing.  He isn't one to wear outfits that are recognized in Muggle culture (i.e brand-name clothing).  He prefers to wear his robes whenever he steps foot outside of his house, but won't shy away from wearing sweaters, jackets or the like during the winter season.  His wand is always worn by his side in his self-made leather holster that he usually keeps hidden under his shirt.  

Personality Description: Like most Purebloods, Zavier attended Hogwarts thinking that he was 'pure', or free of dirty blood.  He isn't necessarily a 'bully', but he regards himself rather highly.  In Hogwarts, though, he was quite a trouble-maker and managed to come inches away from expulsion a number of times.  Because of some of the things he's done in the past, he has quite a lengthy 'rap sheet' with the Ministry of Magic.  He deliberately comes off as a bit rash to strangers - though it's a force of habit, given his traumatic childhood -, and was said to have even hexed a man once when he was younger for 'looking at him strangely'.

He doesn't only side with many of the qualities that many Slytherin students possess, but Zavier is also quite intelligent; he received all O's and E's on his O.W.L.s preformed remarkably well in all of his classes as a Hogwarts student.  When put up to a task or job, he becomes narrow-minded and doesn't allow anything - or anyone - to get in his way of completing it.  But, aside from these half-decent traits, he's also known to be quite deceiving and even manipulative from time to time, as well.

He enjoys reading, observing Quidditch games and traveling.  He has a few select hobbies that he preoccupies his time with, though he's fascinated with the Dark Arts.  From reading about the different curses and hexes to even preforming them, the fact that he was a Slytherin in Hogwarts is quite clear once one discovers his interest in this frowned-upon subject.  If assigned a specific alignment title, he'd fall under the category of "Chaotic Neutral", or even "Neutral Evil" in some cases.  

History:

Part I

Born in 1965 in a small, two-story house in London, England, Zavier became the youngest of the four Blackstone children.  His father, Abraham, co-owned a store in Diagon Alley, while his mother, Bethany, stayed at home with the children to provide for their family with her love.  Having inherited her parents' fortune when she was younger, Bethany was able to provide a comfortable life for her children.  While not exactly on the 'up-and-up' class-wise, the Blackstones lived quite comfortably in a small suburb for several years.  

Zavier's mother was a beautiful woman; slender and in pique physical shape, with golden-blonde hair that reminded him of wheat fields during the summer.  Unlike her husband, Bethany Blackstone was an amorous, loving woman who wanted the best for her children.  Abraham, on the other hand, was a short, husky man with an uneven buzzcut.  They had a very close relationship for many years, but that eventually changed.  Shortly after Zavier's birth, Abraham lost his job and his once-jolly personality declined greatly.  He became a drunkard who frequently disgraced his children and called them name upon name, and even initiated affairs with several different women - all to his wife's knowledge, who chose to stay with him.  She refused to believe that her husband was as verbally and mentally abusive as he was, and instead, chose to believe that he was simply going through a 'phase', and that he'd get past it.

As a young child, Zavier was oblivious to the fact that his mother was doing nothing to stop his father's hurtful mentality.  When asked as to when the five of them would move away from him, his mother would reply with the same answer he always took for granted:

"Soon, Zavier.  Soon."

- - -

Zavier's life changed the night his mother died.  Cancer, he was told, was the sole reason for her death.  Seeing her lying on her deathbed changed him, and not for the better.  He became selfish and secluded, but his mentality worsened when he was enrolled into Hogwarts.

Part II

Zavier's years at the castle were full of good times - and some bad.  He was sorted into Slytherin and made several friends during his first year.  Ever since the adverse night of his mother's demise, he became less patient with things and even mean to a certain extent.  He still managed to form a small circle of friends and make it to all of his classes on time, though, but was a 'common Slytherin', as he was once labeled by a boy from a different house.

He was a brilliant student when it came to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class, though he found the Dark Arts itself to be quite fascinating.  The marks he got in his other classes were quite poor, though he was still able to pass them with a bit of half-hearted effort and added time to his studies.  He spent alot of time researching and studying the Dark Arts, and was slightly perturbed upon finding out that Hogwarts didn't offer a class dealing with offensive curses and spells.  His curiosity caught the attention of some of the school's faculty and students.  Even some of his fellow Slytherin found his fascination a bit odd.  He was confronted by the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher himself his seventh year about his curiosity, but was walked out on by Zavier.  For the remainder of that term, he was closely monitored and watched by the staff - and even his fellow housemates.  After Hogwarts, he moved on to play Quidditch for the Ballycastle Bats.  After three years of that, he quit, not only wanting to move on with his life, but because his eldest sibling, Blake, fell ill and died shortly thereafter due to a a terminal disease.  He'd died from an irremovable tumor that had formed in his brain two years prior to his death.

Time passed and Zavier's fascination with the Dark Arts grew even more.  While not obsessed with it, it interests him greatly.  When Zavier was thirty-four-years-old, a Ministry worker  by the name of Roland Vulp became suspicious of him and set out to see if Zavier was up to any activities that bordered on illegality.  Unfortunately for him, Zavier found out after noticing that he was following him around Hogsmeade one day, and inflicted upon him the 'Obliviate' spell in an abandoned alleyway.  He fell under the Ministry's suspicion for Roland's sudden change of behavior - and rather noticeable memory loss - but no evidence that could have thrown Zavier in Azkaban was collected.  That didn't stop the Ministry, though; they often tracked him with their own workers to monitor his activity - making sure to remain as subliminal as they could this time around -, but after a good long while of no criminal activity or otherwise from Zavier, they decided to leave him be.  With no evidence that suggested that he did something to Vulp, he was dismissed and all but forgotten about.

He eventually obtained a job as a part-time clerk at his friend's bookstore in Diagon Alley - which he still holds - and continues, even to this day, to delve in the Dark Arts and its history.  

Writing Sample:

"That'll be two Galleons."

Zavier held out his hand and was given two silvery coins.  He popped open the till and put them in their designated slot.

He said nothing as the woman walked out of the store, her toddler in tow.  He closed the drawer again and walked towards the front of the store, locking the front door.  It was nine o'clock; closing time for Obsucuro's.  

He rubbed his temples with both hands.  Today had been too long, as far as he was concerned.  There were too many customers about.  Too many kids blundering about.  He was only forty-three, but he felt sixty-five.  He was a middle-aged man working at a bookstore.  He wasn't greying yet - thank God - but bloody Hell, having to scold a group of ten-year-olds for causing a ruckus near the shelves that housed auto-biographies had to be as embarrassing for him as it was for their parents.

He plucked his spectacles off and slid them into the pocket of his robes.  Making his way back to the counter again, he opened the till to count the day's profit.  It only took him a few minutes to do so, and when he was done, he closed it yet again and reached under the counter.  He came out with a leather-bound book.

The Dark Arts, A History by James Pallfoun.

He pulled his wand out of its holster and used it to turn the lights off before he left, and again to lock the door once he was out of the bookstore and on the street.  The air was cool, so he fastened the last couple of buttons on his coat and walked off.

Another day, another Sickle.  

Sum up your character in one paragraph: Being abused as a child and witnessing his mother's death really took a toll on Zavier's selfhood and outlook on life.  He's not the kindest of people and he's had numerous run-ins with the Ministry in the past.  He's had his share of girlfriends and has even had a fiancè at one point, but he's never been married.  He believes himself and other Purebloods to be superior to Halfbloods and Muggleborns, though he isn't an extremist like, for example, Lucius Malfoy.  He just might be a completely different person today if it wasn't for his traumatizing childhood...