Your Nickname: Jen
Have you read and do you agree to the Code of Conduct?: Yes
How did you find us and decide to write with us? Friend
If you have written other characters here: Yes
If Yes, list them all: Gwydion Mayberry, Hufflepuff Alumnus, inventor and toymaker.
Is this a Primary or Secondary Character?: Primary

Full Character Name: Marlon Kaminski
Character Birthday & Age: July 3rd, 1998
City & Country of Birth: Saltash, Cornwall
Pureblood, Halfblood or Muggleborn: Muggleborn
House & Year: Gryffindor 1st

Wand: 12'', Apple and Ashwinder Ash, brittle

Physical Description: Marlon isnīt quite as small as he appears; although of average height for his age, he typically adopts a hunched posture that takes away a good two or three inches of height. The impression is that of a hedgehog ready to roll up and protect his belly at any time. He keeps his arms often crossed in front of his chest and his eyes cast down to the ground. Youīll rarely see him lounging back in his chair or strutting around with his hands casually in his pockets; he seems tense most of the time and always looks like heīd rather be somewhere else – curled up in his bed, reading a comic, for instance.

His hair is dark brown and has a pretty sheen like polished wood; it would be one of his prime features if its cut werenīt so practical and uninspired – not-too-short-not-too-long. His mother cuts it for him (heīd probably faint if anyone else approached him with a pair of scissors). His eyes are brown like very dark chocolate, with some specks of green around the iris, so tiny that you would only be able to see them when getting very close.

His face is longish rather than round, his nose prominent, but well-formed, with a straight back and a broad tip and firm nose wings – all together, there is a bit of a hunting dog look about him, especially in profile, if it werenīt for the vague expression of discomfort bordering on fear in his gaze.


Personality Description: There is one character trait that is most prominent in Marlon (if it can be called a trait, rather than an attitude): most of all, he wants to be left alone. He is happiest in his room with the door closed (not locked though, his parents wonīt have that), reading or drawing comics for hours on end or inventing stories that he thinks he will one day put to paper, but has until now been too lazy to. He also likes to do small experiments with his chemistry set and has grown a number of crystals of all colours that he displays on a shelf above his bed.

The only place where he feels comfortable outside his own home is the cinema, with a preference for superhero or adventure films. He doesnīt have the patience for longer books, though there are some from his childhood that he treasures, mostly because his mother read them to him by his bedside: The Hobbit, James And The Giant Peach, and his favourite of all, The Borribles.

He isnīt really close with his younger brother, Darius, who is a lively child of seven, healthy and strong and fond of playing football and running around outside in the coldest winter with nothing more than jeans, sneakers and a sweatshirt on. The brothers couldnīt be more different. Sometimes Marlon envies Darius his good health and his ability to make friends effortlessly, but then he reminds himself that his own bad health allows him to withdraw from the world whenever he feels like it (i.e., always) and that he doesnīt want friends, not the kind who drags you outside to play rough games or invades the privacy of your room anyway. To this streak of anti-socialness comes a suspicious nature; Marlon has been lured with lollipops only to be pinched with needles too often in his life, he knows that nothing good comes for free.

People will find Marlon to be very aloof, disinterested in the goings-on and people around him. When contrasted with his lively and communicative brother these features stick out even more, making him seem grumpy and sulky in comparison – which is, though not entirely untrue, a rather harsh assessment. In his daydreams, he identifies with the superheroes of his comics, strong and noble, and there is something in his personality that does reflect these desired traits, although he seldomly has the opportunity to let them show.


History: Marlon was born on July 3, 1998, five weeks early, with a heart disease called LQTS. This condition makes his heart often skip a beat or race too fast, often after exercise or in a stage of excitement, but sometimes without any outer cause at all. He gets short of breath easily, and when you listen closely at his chest you will hear a sort of rumbling sound accompanying the unsteady heart beat – a heart murmur. Shortly after his birth, his parents moved from Saltash in Cornwall to Huntingdon, a small town in Cambridgeshire that had the advantage of both offering his father a new job opportunity and being close to Papworth Hospital, which specializes in cardiology.

Both parents are muggles, and as far as they know, their families have been muggles for as far back as they can trace their family lines. Marlonīs grandparents from his fatherīs side came to England from Poland in the late 1960s, finding work as a builder and seamstress respectively. His motherīs parents have Polish roots also, but her family has been in England longer than the Kaminskis. Tadeusz Kaminski was a small child when he came to England with his parents; he speaks Polish, but not quite as well as English and mostly just with his parents and in-laws. He works as a design draughtsman in an architecture office. His wife, Katarina, used to work as a sales clerk in a boutique before Marlon was born and now works part-time as a secretary in a law office. 

Marlon grew up a physically weak child, hovered over protectively by his parents at all times; they wouldnīt let him do any sort of physical exercise that might stress his heart too much. He canīt remember whether he ever longed to climb and run and play like other children; if he ever did, he has forgotten it and is now quite content to stay at home and entertain himself with other activities that do not bear the risk of over-working his heart.

Unlike other muggleborns who discovered their magical abilities due to some magical accident, Marlon never noticed anything unusual about him before the Hogwarts letter came, although he does have a gift for both chemistry and remembering things – but that is hardly proof of an inherent magical talent. His parents were as shocked as any muggle parents when the letter came, suspecting first a prank and then trying to ignore the summoning, which, as usual, proved impossible. Marlon himself was torn, on one hand wanting to go and experience all the magic and excitement first hand, on the other hand terrified of leaving the loving care of his parents. Tadeusz and Katarina were adamantly against letting him go, thus unknowingly setting the ground for Marlon to try and defy them. He was afraid of going, but he knew that if he let this opportunity pass he would forever regret it. After a long, tough fight, he finally convinced his parents to let him go to this strange magical boarding school, albeit not without having to make a long list of concessions: he was to write them once a week, he was to take his medication, whenever he was allowed out he must come and see them (and, if possible, arrange for adequate transportation beforehand), he was to report to the Hospital Wing regularly, and the Headmistress received a long, detailed letter explaining his condition and what he could and could not do and under what circumstances the school was urgently required to contact them immediately.

[OOC: May I say that he has been transported to the school by a Ministry official via portkey, so as to spare him the long train ride and crossing over by boat?]


Classes:

Core Classes Astronomy Charms Defense Herbology History of Magic Potions Transfiguration Flying

Electives None

How Do You Fit Into Your House?: While physically weak, Marlon does have a strong will. It doesnīt always show, but when something is important for him, he can be very stubborn about it. While he isnīt a very social person, he is very attached to those few who are close to him, and will defend them against both real and imagined threats. His fantasies about being a superhero seem to suggest that he sees himself as a defender of the weak and fighter against evil, though being admired and assuming the role of the strong one for a change might be the bigger part of the appeal to him. There is a sense of self-pity about him that makes him susceptible for darker things, too; he might be tempted to achieve what he is denied by dodgy means, fully convinced that he doesnīt need to adhere to certain moral standards if life doesnīt treat him the way he believes he ought to be treated. However, this will always be accompanied by pangs of conscience, and it very much depends on the company he will keep in the future on which side of the line he will ultimately find himself. But in the end, he is not cunning enough for Slytherin, not studious enough for Ravenclaw and definitely not social enough for Hufflepuff – which leaves Gryffindor, a house he might do honour if he learns to explore the good side of him.

Writing Sample: rp sample already given for Gwydion Mayberry

Sum up your character in one paragraph: Withdrawn, introvert and insecure, this eleven-year-old boy doesnīt make friends easily. Marlon was born with a heart defect that forbids him to live a normal life, tying him to machines when he was younger and still keeping him home more often than anywhere else now that heīs grown a little stronger. His parents are protective, but given their first-bornīs condition, not generally over-protective, though of course it is hard to draw the line there, as even a small amount of excitement can send his heart racing and jumping and might require a sudden rush to the hospital followed by serious treatment.

Like other boys his age, Marlon likes to draw comics and loves movies. Unlike them, he doesnīt play football or any other sport and doesnīt have any friends.
Not that he wants any.