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Full Character Name: Geoffrey Scrimshander
Character Birthday & Age: June 19th, 1959; age 49
City & Country of Birth: Hay-on-Wye, Wales, U.K.
Blood Purity: Halfblood
Alma Mater: Hogwarts, Gryffindor alumnus
Job/Position: Muggle Studies professor
Wand: 11", supple with a bent dogwood shaft and unicorn tail hair core.
Physical Description: A compact but languid wizard, standing about 5'9". There's something catlike about his movements, the way he sprawls in a chair instead of just sitting in it. When Geoff is around he inhabits space. Atop his head is a mop of brown curls. His face is surprisingly boyish and lined at the same time. Nowadays he tries to offset some of this boyishness with a beard, which shows more gray than his curls do. His features are small and pointed, but with a large forehead for his face. He favors Muggle clothes; jeans or corduroys and buttoned shirts, sometimes with a t-shirt underneath for more casual dress. For more formal times, including class, he'll wear a nice suit, usually with a waistcoat.
Personality Description: A few of the words one might use to describe Geoff are amiable, easygoing, lackadaisical. He's quick to smile or laugh, and generally has a reputation as a good friend. If you need a tenner he'll gladly give you one (even if he can't really afford to spare it). Beware lending him money, though. Among some of his Muggleborn and Halfblood friends he earned the nickname "Wimpy".
[1] Money is only a concern of his to the extent that he wants to have enough money to live and pay his bills without tearing his hair out. (He's on the verge of this more often than he'd like.)
Similar to his tendencies with money-lending, friends of Geoffrey know that, in a pinch they can always count on him... but if you send him an owl just to catch up, don't always expect an immediate reply. He has stacks upon stacks of letters he hasn't gotten around to replying to yet.
Acquiring stacks and boxes of various items is one of Geoff's quirks; his home and office are both filled with all kinds of knick-knacks and objects of interest; books, plays, and manuscripts by the dozen; photos, both wizard and Muggle (some of which are of people he barely remembers), and his wardrobe is filled with clothing gathering dust. He's quite sentimental about objects, you see, which makes it difficult to get rid of things. It also makes finding something he needs in a hurry a damned nuisance.
Because of going to school during the First Wizarding War, and some of the events that have happened throughout his life, Geoff is, shall we say, pre-disposed against Slytherin students and alumni. He doesn't outright hate them, but he is more likely to view anything they do in a harsh light. The same is true, though to a somewhat lesser extent, of Purebloods. (Though combine the two and things aren't looking good.)
History: EARLY CHILDHOOD (1959-1969)
Geoffrey Scrimshander's parents are both wizards; his father, Morvidus Scrimshander, who worked for the Daily Prophet, and his wife Millie Fisher. He has a sister, three years his elder, Gwendolen, with whom he has frequently butted heads. Though Millie was a Muggleborn, the family lived virtually entirely in the wizarding world, but for the occasional visit to one of their Fisher relatives. (Always a tense time, with two young children who might reveal their... differences.)
Both children exhibited their talents early on, and never seemed to stop. Morvidus and Millie both breathed a sigh of relief when it was time for their children to begin attending Hogwarts. Finally, something that might give the children some control!
SCHOOL LIFE & THE RISE OF YOU-KNOW-WHO (1970-1977)
Once Geoffrey started school at Hogwarts, he found a new home among his fellow Gryffindors and almost immediately began getting into trouble with small pranks, knicking food from the kitchens, and so forth. He certainly lost Gryffindor his fair share of points. At the time he was just beginning Hogwarts, Voldemort was rising to power in what would later be known as the First Wizarding War. Being at Hogwarts during this time was, in retrospect, a great benefit for Geoff as opposed to being at home. Though he worried about his family, the danger seemed more distant because he didn't have to live with it on a day to day basis. (At least until holidays rolled around.) So, for the most part, he was able to remain a carefree and sometimes reckless child.
He showed an aptitude in several classes, notably History of Magic and, in his third year, Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies. He has a very good memory for facts and information, when he can be bothered to try to remember. The trouble was that he didn't apply himself all that hard. He did enough to work get an A in the classes he wasn't very good at but needed to pass, and occasionally was able to scrape an E, but rarely. By the time he sat his O.W.L.s, he seemed to be taking things a little more seriously but not by much. He managed to pass 7 of the 9 O.W.L.s he took, only noticeably excelling in Ancient Runes, History of Magic, and Muggle Studies. Perhaps it was a reaction to all the anti-Muggle sentiments of the time, or a feeling of kinship with his mother's side of the family, or just a bizarre obsession, but something about Muggle Studies caught his attention and he immersed himself in the subject.
The summer after his fifth year was also the summer of his first job; a job at the post office, mostly watching after the owls (and cleaning up after them...) By this point he was paying far more attention to the war, as many of his friends were Muggleborn or had Muggle relatives, and of course his own mother was Muggleborn.
It was during this sixth year at Hogwarts that the war finally affected Geoff directly; his mother was attacked by a Death Eater. The assailant caught Millie alone at home one day, unawares, and cast the Fragmentation Curse on her. Fortunately, the spell was not verbally cast, else Geoff's mother would not have survived. The assailant
[2] fled, leaving the Dark Mark hanging over the Scrimshander household for Morvidus to find upon returning home. Millie was immediately admitted to St. Mungo's, and though she had to spend time in hospital, turned out remarkably well physically. The psychological damage from the event was not so easy to cure, however. Morvidus became insistant that the family stay out of the war. Geoff, however, began a furious letter writing campaign to the Daily Prophet demanding that the Ministry do something about the Death Eaters. Of course, Morvidus Scrimshander made sure these letters never actually got published. After all, the family had already suffered enough tragedy, there was no need to bring more down upon their heads.
Though he took some brief time out of school to be with his mother during her recooperation, he eventually had to return to Hogwarts and his studies. Knowing his father was doing all he could to protect the family, and that his sister was currently out of the country researching, helped to ease his mind and allow him to return (as much as was possible) to his former carefree self. At the beginning of sixth year, he had dropped several of the classes he had no interest in, which allowed him to focus on his other classes and do better on his N.E.W.T.s. Come seventh year, he passed all five of his N.E.W.T.s, earning himself one O (Muggle Studies of course) and two Es.
CONTINUING EDUCATION, THE END OF THE FIRST WIZARDING WAR (1977-1981)
Fresh out of Hogwarts, he surprised some by spending the next two years attending W.A.D.A.
[3] He rarely got the chance to be on stage, but he enjoyed working behind the scenes and studying both acting and writing. During this time he continued sending never-to-be-published letters to the Daily Prophet, but with less furvor than before. The sting of his mother's attack was fading, and he was trying (much to his father's relief) to stay out of the whole thing.
At W.A.D.A, he met his first real love. Sara Bunker. With her determination, acerbic wit, and charm, Geoff fell for her fairly quickly. Of course, theirs was the bantering, playful sort of love, rather than moonlit walks and picnics and flowers. They met in 1979, and began dating within two months.
Sara was still at W.A.D.A. when Geoff left to begin an internship at the Ministry of Magic. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to do with his career, but it would provide a steadier income than acting or writing, and it would be able to support him if he and Sara ever married (which he dearly hoped for). Besides, it would be a temporary solution until they could both get their respective careers going. His facility for understanding Muggles made him a natural fit for the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee. And at first he sort of enjoyed it; it was entertaining, trying to figure out what would make the best mundane explanation for magical accidents. The internship led to an actual job within the year. The job slowly began to grate on him, and it became a very grim reminder of the war that was still being waged. Still, he expected it to only be a temporary position, so he worked through it.
By late 1980, he and Sara were able to move into an apartment together. She was able to pursue her acting career, and in Geoff's (precious little) spare time he tried to work on a play, writing the lead female part specifically for her. The play was very pro-Muggle, but mostly at this time existed only in a rough outline.
1981 brought a bittersweet end to the war; Voldemort was defeated, but at the cost of Lily and James Potter. Being only a year above them, he was familiar with Potter and his friends, though they'd never been close. Far too many young witches and wizards had been claimed by the war, but still Geoff and Sara celebrated with all the rest. For a night, at least, the world seemed brighter.
POST-WAR, THE END OF AN ERA (1981-1987)
The end of the war did not bring an end to Geoff's troubles, however. His job with the Ministry continued, and he never seemed to have enough time. If he spent more time with Sara, it meant neglecting the things he really wished to work on, like his play, or writing one of the several novels that were percolating in his mind, or working on a non-fiction book on Muggle-Wizard relations. But if he worked on those things, his relationship with Sara became more strained than it already was. Her career in the theater was doing quite well; she was no prima donna by any means, but seeing her working where she wanted to be while he slogged along in his government job chafed Geoff.
And still, even though they'd been living together for years now, somehow marriage never seemed to come up. Even when they began trying in earnest to have children, to no avail. They'd always had little tiffs here and there, as couples are wont to do, but of late they seemed to be becoming both more frequent and more serious. To ease tension some nights Geoff would spend a night with a friend like Gideon Rantipole, or the ever-harried but ever-faithful Eldon Drab.
Despite efforts on both their parts, though, in 1987 after nearly ten years together, he and Sara finally split. The decision was mutual, if painful for both. Over the years, they've kept up an amicable if distant relationship. But if one watches closely when they run into each other unexpectedly, it's not hard to see that there are still raw feelings on both sides.
MOVING ON, MOVING OUT (1987-1989)
Now that his relationship with Sara was officially over, Geoff would have thought he'd immediately quit the Ministry to work on all the things he'd wanted to accomplish. He'd have been wrong. The idea of leaving his job now, when his life had already been upturned, was too much. He kept drudging through, day by day, and trying to fill his free time with work to avoid thinking about his problems. Over time he began to return to his normal social butterfly self, began working on his various pet projects again.
It took him the better part of a year to make the decision to finally get out the rut he was in; Muggle Studies had always interested him, and (excepting his time with Sara) he'd probably been happiest at Hogwarts. Maybe teaching Muggle Studies was what he was meant to do. Anyway, he needed a change. At Hogwarts the position was currently filled by one Quirinius Quirrell, so Geoff sets his sights a little farther: North America. The Northwest Witches' Academy appealed to him a great deal, with its Muggle-heavy curriculum, and was his first choice. He did heavily consider Laevenstrome's Fundunct of Sorcery, but he finally decided he'd rather work with younger students. He looked at all of the major wizarding schools in the United States and Canada, but much to his glee and surprise The Northwest Witches' Academy accepted him as a professor in the fall semester of 1989, where he has been teaching since.
NEW HOME & HOMECOMING (1989-present)
Geoff's naturally friendly nature served him well, as he suddenly found himself having to make whole new sets of friends in his new country. As much as he complained about the weather or little quirks of Canadian culture as opposed to British, he truly enjoyed his new home. Teaching kept him blessedly busy, and happily so. His other works—the play, the novels, and so on—sat by the wayside, unfinished and nearly forgotten.
Besides his job, he found another reason to be grateful for his move in the mid-90s when the Second Wizarding War broke out. He immediately opened an invitation to family and friends to stay with him if necessary. A few took him up on his offer, which meant a crowded house, but he didn't mind the company. It was only a brief time before he was alone again, as they had all found more permanent residences. With the Battle of Hogwarts, the Second Wizarding War ended, and Geoff was grateful it had been so much shorter (though there seemed no less casualties for all that.)
Having been a resident of Canada for over ten years, the wizard still found himself homesick and missing his friends. And something about the war made him feel like he ought to come home, too. It wasn't the strongest urge, but it was a faint persistant thought in the back of his made. Every few months or so he found himself checking for openings at jobs that might interest him. Muggle Studies never seemed to open up when he was looking.
That is, until 2009...
Describe your job duties and how you go about them: Geoff is supposed to teach wizarding children about Muggles, but he doesn't just want to teach them facts. He wants to help them understand how Muggles think, and appreciate their culture for its own sake. To help him in this, he tries to focus on things that will interest the students and get them engaged, instead of trying to lecture at them on esoteric ideas. He prefers hands-on lessons and field trips when possible. When that's not an option, he at least wants to see the students discussing and offering their own opinions, giving gentle nudges in the right direction when he needs to and asking questions to get them thinking.
Elaborate on your expertise in your field: Geoffrey has had training as an actor at W.A.D.A., which aids his public speaking. In his particular field, he was employeed in the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee for about ten years, and after that has spent some twenty years as a professor of Muggle Studies at The Northwest Witches' Academy.
Writing Sample: Sum up your character in one paragraph: Geoff is very dedicated to educating wizards about Muggles and has spent the majority of his life working in this capacity in one way or another. He's a friendly social butterfly you can rely on in a pinch, but sometimes he overburdens himself and can be a little flighty about his responsibilities at times.
Geoffrey Scrimshander: Muggle Studies Professor (Fall 2009)