Accepted! ~Elle
About You, the Writer:
Your Nickname: Sissy
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? Followed some breadcrumbs
If you have written other characters here, list them all: Leda Roarke, Izadora Franti, Freya Jansdotter, Shep Shepherd.
Full Character Name: Ari Mattiesko Rintala
Character Birthday & Age:February 28, 1979; 28 (nearly 29)
City & Country of Birth: Godric’s Hollow (West Country, England)
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn?: Halfblood
Alma Mater: Hogwarts/Slytherin Alum
Occupation Currently Unemployed
Type of Criminal: Ex-Azzie/On Parole.
Allegiances / Loyalties / Political Faction: As a newly-released ex-Azzie, Ari should have no allegiances, officially. Unofficially, of course, he immediately sought out the remnant of his old group of friends the moment his feet touched the Mainland, just as many ex-Azzies did.
Though scattered and mainly dissolved, the WBA was the main source of information on his old peer group. He was “recruited” almost immediately based on his reputation as a Pure blood (falsely encouraged) and his status as a newly paroled ex-Azzie. He's not been active, has not attended any meetings and is a member only in name: he will not move openly without motivation, since being caught associating with the WBA might mean being returned to Azkaban. He's being cautious about being active in the organization, other than using it to track down old friends.
Previous Convictions or Crimes?:
Along with many students-- the majority of them Slytherin-- he joined the Final Battle on Voldemort's side. Following the aftermath, he was rounded up along with the rest of those students. Found to be indirectly responsible for the cave-in that resulted in Fred Weasley’s death, he was charged with and imprisoned for Attempted Murder, First-degree Manslaughter and Treason.
What crimes might you commit in the future? Discuss all possible:Rabble-rousing, assault, blackmail. Though Ari generally appears cheerful, he does have a temper. If recruited actively into the WBA, he will carry out whatever duties are assigned him, without qualms.
Are you currently under pursuit by the Ministry of Magic?: No, though he’s on probation and living at Bridge House.
Wand Description: Ari has no wand. His was snapped when he was convicted.
Physical Description: About 6’1”, he once had an athletic build and was quite the Adonis: broad-shoulders, well-defined arms and pectorals, small waist, long, muscular legs. He was extremely interested in the pursuit of young witches in school—and they, him.
Now, less than a year from Azkaban, he’s still somewhat emaciated. Though his handsome features remain, a ghost of his former self, robes hang limply from his broad shoulders—he could best be described as looking lean and hungry.
His deep-blue eyes glitter with an inner fire, contributing to the “hungry” appearance—an intensity and anger barely suppressed, though on the surface he is still cheerful and charming.
Long hair was always his hallmark—he wore his dark-brown hair shoulder-length in school, and it has only grown longer in the intervening years. The addition of a beard—neatly trimmed and shaped from the scraggly, unkempt whiskers of the typical parolee into a spare goatee, gives him the somewhat raffish appearance of a pirate.
Even with the semi-emaciated build of an ex-Azzie, Ari is darkly handsome, deeply intense, almost smoldering. He still takes care with his appearance, preferring to dress in dark colors and masculine fashion.
Like most ex-Azzies, Ari is tattooed: Ancient runes, for the most part, symbols of protection and strength, icons of his survival during dark days, mainly on his chest (over the heart) though two trail down his inner-wrists, ending on the palms of his hands.
His ears are pierced, which was an age-old fashion for Wizards eschewed by his parents' generation but which had begun to be fashionable again when Ari was a boy. He doesn't always wear earrings.
Personality Description: Ari was typically a good-natured, charming and cheerful young man and remains so, when things go his way-- although his cheerfulness is somewhat hollow, these days. The snapping of his wand was significant to Ari in many ways, and he suffers a small death daily in its absence. Years in Azkaban taught him brooding anger and a fierce hatred of Law Enforcement-- not for his (to him) wrongful imprisonment, but for the loss of his wand. Though still cheerful and happy-go-lucky on the surface, beneath lurks ferocity and a solemn desire for revenge. He is sometimes impulsive, reckless, and easy to anger. He struggles to maintain self-control.
Though he’s a half-blood, he refuses to acknowledge his Muggle-born parentage. He believes strongly in the superiority of Wizards and this has been a source of frustration for him: Halfbloods are seen as less than perfect, which causes him a private sense of inferiority. He covers this by keeping his genealogy strictly personal. He cannot blame his father for marrying a Muggleborn, so instead dumps all the blame on his dead mother, whom he barely remembers. Family influences, and the fact that he sorted Slytherin, have influenced and encouraged Ari to not only turn his back on his mother’s family, but to practically deny her existence at all. His family’s influence encourages his delusions: her name is Taboo.
Though not a sadistic man, he tends to have very little sympathy for Muggles. In school, he found it amusing when his friends baited or abused them—privately equating them to his mother and his repressed need to purge her blood from his lineage. Now, with the inevitable personality-changes brought on by years in prison, he’s developed an active disgust of them and—if given the opportunity—will take out his frustrations on them.
History: Magnus Rintala met Muggleborn Hufflepuff Sophie Williams as a young man. In school, she pursued him and he avoided her. It came as such a surprise, after graduation, when they announced their engagement, that dark mutterings sprang up among The Family.
Despite dire warning of ruination, Magnus and Sophie were married. Less than a year later, Ari was born. Almost immediately, the couple began bickering. When they weren’t bickering, they barely spoke. Magnus spent much time with his Pureblood family, under their influence, away from his wife and child. For her part, Sophie threw herself into the love and care of what she perceived to be the only child they would ever generate together. A year later, they were separated, though they never officially terminated the marriage.
When Ari was five, his mother died. Though his father had left him to his mother’s care during their separation—perhaps privately disappointed in himself for generating a less-than-perfect offspring—Magnus stepped in at her death and took over the upbringing of his only son.
Suddenly thrust into a family of Purebloods, little Ari was faced with barely-veiled criticism based on his Blood-Status. Of course, his aunts, uncles and grandparents meant no overt injury. Despite his mother’s Blood, he was his father’s son and they loved his father, so they accepted him in the only way they knew how: by blaming his mother for his defective genes, pitying him, and attempting to raise him up with the pride and status of a Pure Blood. It was no wonder that young Ari had issues with being Halfblood.
Someone—Ari doesn’t know whom, started a rumor that his parents weren’t legitimately married—that his mother had poisoned his father with Amortensia and that he was coerced. The marriage itself seemed to support this rumor, since Magnus barely gave Sophie the time of day for most of their acquaintanceship, until the day he suddenly announced their engagement. The fact that most witches eventually tire of Potion-generated love and quit administering it, hopeful and convinced that true emotions would have supplanted the false one, might have explained the sudden onset of bickering and abrupt separation of Ari’s parents.
The truth was less devious, however. Magnus and Sophie dated for two years, beginning in school. Because he knew his family would never approve, he told them nothing of the relationship… until Ari’s mother announced her pregnancy. In a state of panic, Magnus arranged a wedding, feeling a sense of duty to Sophie and their child which outflanked his fear of his family.
However, after the separation—caused by Magnus’ continuing involvement with his family and their hatred of Muggleborns—Magnus did nothing to deny the Amortensia rumors. Ultimately, betrayed and heartbroken, Sophie broke off all contact with Magnus and he with her, though Ari continued to receive Birthday and Christmas presents by owl, so he knew of his father.
His mother never spoke of the disagreements between herself and Magnus, preferring not to bias Ari against his father. This was perhaps her greatest mistake: upon her death and his introduction to the Rintala family, he was still unaware of the truth. It was quite simple for his grandparents to turn him against his mother. Because she was dead, Magnus did not champion her within his family—though he might not have, at any rate, since he hadn’t stood up to them over Ari before her death.
Only a few months after their marriage officially terminated in Widowhood, Magnus remarried. This time, his wife was appropriately Pureblood, Blueblood and Slytherin. Within the year, Ari was gifted with a baby half-sister, Astoria. Though she was kind to Ari, his step-mother, Penelope, had no control over her daughter’s disregard. By the time Ari was ready for school, Astoria was already spouting the “party-line,” taunting Ari by calling him her “Half-blood-half-brother” when the family wasn’t looking.
It came as a vast relief to both Ari and his father, when he sorted Slytherin. His thirst to prove himself to the Purebloods and ambition to uphold his family’s honor tipped the scales against his mother’s heritage. The entire family celebrated and Ari found them more relaxed around him, though he still heard, “It’s not his fault, poor boy…” whenever he voiced an opinion which differed from theirs…
It was at this point that Ari determined not to divulge his heritage to any other than his most trusted friends—and perhaps not to them. He anticipated the same attitude of pity or superiority from his Slytherin peers as he received at the hands of his family, therefore he avoided it entirely. He didn’t lie entirely. When pressed, he would only admit that his mother and father had both been Wizards. Beyond that, he was tight-lipped, allowing his Housemates to assume that Penelope was his mother. Being kind-hearted, Penelope allowed this… indeed, she treated him as if he were her own son, which was perhaps the source of Astoria’s resentment of him.
In his 6th year, Astoria joined him in Slytherin. Only dire threats and a demonstration of the Dark Arts kept her quiet. They shared an uneasy truce and mainly avoided one another: Astoria out of resentment and fear, Ari out of dislike and disapproval. For their parents and teachers, they put on proper faces and pretended to have a cordial, if formal, relationship.
In Ari’s fourth year, he discovered his favorite pastime: Witches. After working his way through Slytherin House, he moved on to eligible Witches of Ravenclaw though he avoided Gryffindor out of principle and Hufflepuff out of aversion for anything to do with his mother. He was discrete, although obviously the staff weren’t fooled. He wasn’t a player, precisely: he simply loved girls. He was careful to select only properly Pureblooded Witches, even within his own House. He would not perpetuate his father’s mistakes and create a Half-blooded-Halfblood of his own. The idea disgusted him, and he would not betray his family that way. Perhaps this little hobby was simply another result of his origins: that he would spend most of his school career seeking precisely the right girl to marry: one who thought properly, had the proper parentage and ideals, and was nevertheless delightful to spend time in her company.
He was a good student, generally receiving "Os" in all subjects: not only was it required to uphold the family honor, but he found it impressed the girls. Since he sometimes dated Ravenclaws, this worked to his advantage.
The Final Battle put an end to Ari’s pursuit of the Ideal Female.
To this day, he’s not sure why he picked up his wand and returned to fight. Though well-versed in the Dark Arts as most Slytherins were, he had little interest in politics or war. Perhaps it was the pretty little Witch he’d taken up with months before—he was convinced that she was The One and if they were still dating at graduation, he intended to propose. He’d already invited her home to visit his family over Christmas Holiday and received warm approval for his choice.
She went back. Though she didn’t call him a coward for not immediately rushing to join against the OotP, Ari felt it was implied by the fact that she acted on her convictions, didn’t hesitate, and brought his attention to the fact that their friends were in there, fighting for what they believed was right.
His convictions were all based on this young Witch being his soulmate. He returned, perhaps to impress her. More accurately, he returned to make certain she survived her own folly long enough to marry him and give him the children his grandparents would accept as heirs.
Once within the battle, he had to admit that she was right: their friends were laying their lives on the line and it was only proper to support them. Ari actively joined the battle, though he cared less about whose side he was fighting on than he did for the safety of his friends. He knew who Voldemort was… and was mostly lukewarm about supporting him. But the moment he saw his friends fighting, he threw his hat in the ring.
Though Ari's sympathies didn't lean into Voldemort's (or any political faction's) direction during his 7th year of school, he was treated as if he were a Junior Death Eater by the Ministry. Trusted Professors tagged him as a supporter. His wand was snapped. He was placed on trial with other students witnessed fighting on the "wrong" side during the battle-- a couple of them were the friends he'd attempted to champion.
He fought hard in his own defense, attempting to show the Inquisition his innocence by drawing their attention to the fact that he'd used only defensive spells. During the examination of his wand, it was found that he was indirectly responsible for Fred Weasley's death, his wand having cast the spell that caused the collapse of the corridor above him.
His momentary lapse in judgment-- allowing loyalty to override common sense-- was to be his downfall. He was found guilty of Manslaughter, and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He died inside, when they snapped his wand. To him, this was like sentencing him to live forever as his Muggle half.
Newly released, Ari still lives in Bridge House. In Azkaban, he was subjected to magical injunctions inhibiting his Metamorphmagery but now that he’s been freed, he’s pushing against the Wards, testing the waters, seeing how much he can accomplish despite the injunctions. He’s managed minor, cosmetic alterations: changes in hair and eye-color, minute alteration of height and weight. In time, he should be capable of overcoming the injunctions, though it matters very little since the Ministry knows where he is no matter what he looks like. But the fact that he’s not entirely without magic is a source of great comfort to him.
As part of his parole, Ari is required to seek out gainful employment, though the Ministry knows this is difficult and sometimes impossible for ex-Azzies. He must still make the attempt, and show that he plans to be a good little boy and follow the Rules.
He has been “recruited” to the WBA but remains dubious about making overt contact with old friends.
Sum up your character in one paragraph: Ari is outwardly charming and was once an incurable romantic. Now darkly brooding, he nevertheless sometimes shows a shadow of his former, more happy-go-lucky self. He maintains this as a façade, however, and it rarely reaches deeply. Family and friends are and have always been extremely important to Ari. He has a strong urge to belong, but a hard-won sense of self-confidence that causes him to seek others with like-minds, rather than to change himself to meet others’ ideals. Physically, he’s still handsome and his subtle broodiness only adds to his dark appeal.
Ari Rintala: Criminal, Metamorphmagi