About You, the Writer:
Your Nickname: Pamela
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? HM
If you have written other characters here, list them all: Graham Bombay, Tabitha Williamson, Darcy Bloxham, (Recently deceased Eudora Pascal) Secondary Marietta Grimlish

Full Character Name: Clinton Laurence  Irving
Character Birthday & Age: January 26, 1987; 21
City & Country of Birth: Derbyshire, England
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn?: Pureblood
Alma Mater: Hogwarts - Ravenclaw. 
Job: Yoga & Trance Specialist

Wand: 10" Hawthorne wand.  Unicorn tail core.  Supple and smooth.

Physical Description:
 
As the deficient Irving, Clinton doesn't have the stockiest frame.  In fact, he's probably the shortest in his family, coming in at five feet and six inches.  It's not as if he's filled out with muscles either, having only enough to give his limbs definition.  The slight young fellow was often kept from physical activity by his allergies and communication troubles.  As a result, the sun is not his friend and he often keeps a pale complexion, altered only by sunburn, usually intense for his troubles during the day.  Unfortunately, he does not tan.  Although born with dark hair as typical for the Irvings, Clinton dyed it a strawberry blonde after graduation to mark his departure from the family way.  And Svetlana said it made his green eyes 'pop.'  At first glance, Clinton appears to be no more than a diminuitive street urchin, just under the age to purchase alcoholic substances.  His inability to grow facial hair only compounds his youthful appearance. 


Personality Description:

After a particularly troubled and none-too-loving childhood, Clinton learned that fading into the background was the best way to keep from trouble.  As he grew older, he perfected this ability and was often described in very few words, usually along the lines of 'ok' 'cool' or 'who?'  His speech issues bred a habit of silence, and although he did well in class it was usually more for his essays than participation in lectures.  He was good with his wand, as practice was a good solitary hobby, and those who became his friends usually found someone they could trust who would also listen.  Known for vague, noncomittal statements that generally reaffirmed whatever decision someone had already decided upon anyway, Clinton was known as an alright guy.  He picked up a few skills from the few that knew him, but he stayed primarily within the halls of learning. They respected him for his grasp of knowledge, and he respected them. 

As speech wasn't his greatest skill, Clinton was found to have excellent penmanship.  Correspondence through letters was his preferred medium, and his best friend became a Russian penpal.  Words expressed themselves more thoroughly through pen than sound.  Once he moved to Russia, and later to Tibet, he was able to further explore Eastern philosophies.  As such his penchant for solitude and reflection deepened, but he was also able to grow more comfortable with people, having grown quite close with the cloister of monks.  Being able to work on his social skills a little at a time in a more comfortable setting, Clinton grew more comfortable with himself.  It also helped to be free from the pressures of his family.  Now that he has established his identity, he feels more able to connect with others.
   
History:
   
 An excruciating nine hours later, Virginia Irving gave birth to the  Irving heir, Clinton Laurence Irving.  He was beautiful, blonde, and  everything they had wished for.  Except he wouldn't cry.  The new  parents panicked, particularly Laurent as he prepared to lose what was  most longed for.  "Breathe boy, breathe!" he shouted, determined already  to shape his boy into a real man.  For the first time, and not the  last, Clinton disappointed.  His life hung in the balance until his  mother finally screamed, alerting the boy to what he ought to be doing.   The child squalled, stammeringly, learning to use his new lungs.  And  everyone else breathed as well.

Of course, that was always the trouble.  Once baby Clinton came home, cooed over as any baby possibly could be, disaster sparked.  He was ill, had trouble breathing and had to have a live-in nurse from St. Mungo's watch him during the day.  Nights were filled with tears as soon as his little body could produce them. Mum and Dad were heartbroken.  Six months later, a miracle occurred. It stopped.  For one whole day, little Clinton was no longer a medical mystery.  Of course the next day it began again, terrifying everyone on a new level.  A week later, the news broke: the large bear rug had been sent out for cleaning that day.  For such a loud uproar to have such a simple cause was unbelievable.  The rug was removed and the child's live sustained.  Mother simply didn't wear her furs around the baby anymore, which was particularly rough after the first few days of her abstention.  So as to improve her fashion taste, the child was perpetually shifted onto nurses and nannies. His early sickness had already numbed Virginia and Laurent from the idea that he could succeed Laurent as heir to the family name.  That he lived and there was a solution to sustain him only revived it.

Until he turned two.  Virginia was pregnant once more and Clinton's first word was Ma.  In fact, Ma was the only thing he could say.  As the weeks went on, it soon became Ma-ma.  Then ma-ma-ma.  As his vocabulary slowly progressed, so did his stutter.  It was another disappointment for the Irvings, one that put the nail in Clinton's coffin as heir.  A speech tutor was hired, but in the meantime, the Irvings focused on producing a healthy child.  Continually put aside by his parents as defective and in need of improvement, Clinton was given to speech tutors as soon as he was able.

Unfortunately the next Irving was a girl.  The stack of disappointments weighed heavily on the Irvings, and Clinton continued his inability to relieve them.  Although defective, Clinton was still a boy and had the upperhand over little Laney.  Once he was sufficiently spelled to withstand whatever floating furs might gather under his nose, Clinton was trotted out for the society rounds. He was cooed over, made much of, but never allowed to open his mouth.  Even then he was still able to frustrate his parents with awkward scenes involving him crawling under a table and other inappropriate things.

Still, the Irvings were nothing if not persistent.  Out came Basil, the third charm who soon became everything his parents wanted.  He was healthy, dark-haired and had the most adorable smile.  He produced the wise remarks of childhood innocence on demand and accentuated his mother's pearls.  Clinton, in the meantime, dwindled away in his cave-like bedroom, hiding from his mother's furs--now worn with relish.  His sister was often used in place of a nurse-maid as soon as she was old enough to be made of use.  It was an ideal arrangement, allowing Virginia to play the sainted mother as well as show off her trophy son.  Laney, well, she made things easier to put off.

Clinton was bitterly jealous of Basil, but unable to attack.  When their mother died, however, things changed.  The three bonded, the boys more so than with their sister, and Basil and Clinton found solace in each other for a brief time.  Of course, when Olive the abominable replaced Virginia, the children united to defeat a common enemy.  Clinton participated when he could, but was easily kept at bay by his allergies.

The moment he was able to escape to Hogwarts, Clinton realized life was not all terrible.  He was sorted as a Ravenclaw, and was able to actually develop as a person not just the invalid son.  He did well in his studies, made the rare friend, and learned to smile a lot more often.  Of course it was another disappointment that he wasn't in Slytherin, which was often discussed when he returned home.  He avoided his father when possible, a living monument to the failure of the Irving gene and studious kept out from under his step-mother's gaze.  Neither of his siblings understood him, particularly once he began developing his own identity and interests.

Of course Laney would become a Slytherin.  It was only natural that she become everything he wasn't.  Clinton's only hold over her was his testosterone, something he even doubted at times when she emerged into her role as resident bad-ass.  He was jealous, but learned to treasure his own world as before.  His interests in magical theory, potions and transfiguration only increased and Clinton dived into his studies like never before.

An especially helpful friend came from outside of Hogwarts.  During a Hogsmeade trip, Clinton discovered an ad in the prophet concerning women who sought companionship.  A particularly attractive one among the other Russian natives stood out to him, and Clinton discreetly wrote her address in the palm of his hand.  Although she was ten years his senior, Clinton wrote to her and was surprised to find return correspondence.  She found his youth and naivety to be refreshing, and the two often had the mature chats he could never nerve up to with his father, let alone step-mother.  She taught him about things Hogwarts girls would never discuss, and he often had to hide the letters under his mattress for fear of discovery.  He dated once, in his fifth year, but was soon shelved into the category of 'safe guy friend' after she discovered he was too shy to progress beyond the initial title of boyfriend, despite his knowledge of otherwise.

As he grew older, the dream of escape began to become more real.  Graduation was a step away and as Basil was already guaranteed Clinton's birthright, there was nothing to hold him to his family.  With top marks, he courageously managed to resist the push for some kind of work with a family friend and made his own path.  With Slvetana's assistance, he managed to save enough money copying essays for others to book passage to Moscow.  He stayed with his penpal, now met in the flesh, and determinedly ignored his family.  With Basil at his side, Laurent refused to care about what his eldest son did as long as he kept the family's name out of the news.

After two years in Moscow, he left Russia with the title of man and an air of confidence.  His stutter was drastically reduced, but to this day he refuses to speak specifically of what happened in Moscow, only that he stayed with a friend, and that she was lovely.  His next stop was Tibet, to study in depth the curiosities that had peaked his interest before.  As a world traveler, or so he felt, Clinton began to step into his own shoes.  He became less afraid to use his last name, having taking a Russian pseudonym during his stay.  Clinton studied with the monks for another two days, observing their vows of solitude and discipline.

After four years, he felt the itch to move once more.  To stay longer in Tibet would mean taking lifelong vows that he was not prepared to maintain.  He left, and Svetlana encouraged him to return home.  He stopped once to visit his father, and after a steely twenty minutes of terse sentence, he left and rented out a flat in London.  Selling the techniques learned from afar, Clinton began making herbal supplements and apprenticing in a town apothecary.  Unable to stand retail, he went back to the streets, selling himself as a new age consult and offering past-life meditaitons and yoga classes.  After realizing that his sister had also chosen the wayward path, he reached out to her, ending his familial estrangement.


What is your occupation? How do you go about it?
How did you get your current occupation?
How does your past and abilities justify your current skills?:

Clinton picked up various yoga techniques in the Himalayan mountains.  While studying with the monks he also learned meditation and trance techniques not commonly found upon the urban witch or wizard.  He sells his knowledge to make a living that will enable him to do as he wishes, and just that.

Writing Sample: see Graham Bombay.

Sum up your character in one paragraph:
Whether he stays in London or leaves again is yet to be determined, but for now Clinton is only trying to stay content with himself.  Being back in London presents an interesting confrontation between his past and present.