Francis Pepper
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| Francis Albert Pepper | |
|---|---|
| Biographical Information | |
| Born | 30 October 1964, 53 |
| City of Birth | Old Warden, Bedfordshire |
| Current City | Somewhere in Wiltshire |
| Residence | Murray Manor |
| Blood status | Half-blood |
| Physical Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 5'8" |
| Hair Colour | Light Brown |
| Eye Colour | Blue |
| Skin Colour | Fair |
| Relationships | |
| Father | Filius Pepper |
| Mother | Jane Pepper |
| Siblings | |
| Extended Family | |
| |
| |
| Children | |
| Magical Characteristics | |
| Wand(s) | |
| |
| Patronus | Cuckoo |
| Education | |
| School | Hogwarts |
| House | Ravenclaw |
| Class of | 1983 |
| Occupation | |
| |
| Character Information | |
| Playby | Paul McGann |
| Kit | |
Hogwarts Ravenclaw alumni, Francis Pepper is married to Gabrielle Murray and the father of Ambrose Pepper, Timothy Pepper and Amelia Pepper. He creates time turners for the Ministry of Magic within the Department of Mysteries. His first wife, Claire Pepper was unfortunately obliviated by her son, Francis's step son, and lived the rest of her days in St Mungo's Hospital before she died. He married Gabrielle Murray in July 2011.
Francis is dedicated to his work, and has friends with similar interests and beyond. With strong Muggle family ties he reacts strongly against anyone who dares to speak against them, or against the blood status of another witch or wizard, and strongly believes that progression includes both magical and non magical combining their knowledge.
Appearance
Francis Pepper is 5ft8 tall (shorter than many of his counterparts), with mid to light brown hair which falls in loose curls to his chin. In damp weather it becomes more frizzy and untamed into a mane. He has a long, classical face, and has lost a lot of weight in the past 9 months, so looks a little more gaunt these days. He has deep blue eyes, paler skin, and keeps clean shaven as far as possible, irritated by the growth of facial hair.
His fashion favours high collared shirts and cravats which are not unusual in the wizarding world, but give him a bit of an eccentric, old world appearance to him outside of it. He favours velvet type materials for his cloaks and jackets, and silks. Some of his clothes are intricately detailed like his creations, but always in muted earthy colours. To work, he often removes his jacket to work in rolled up shirt sleeves and waistcoats. Never seen in shorts, only in trousers, Francis has a number of favourite pairs of lace up shoes in different leather colours, and will wear them until the soles give out.
His hands are worn, and look as if he may be clumsy, but are able to use intricate tools and perform tiny movement with his wand to complete his work. It is however not unusual to see nicks, cuts and stains on his hands from the process and occasional magical accident in his workshop. Unusually, he sported a black eye the first weekend after Hogwarts restarted for Autumn term in September, where he had got into a fight with a wizard in the Leaky Cauldron over blood matters, and had been dragged away by friends. His unusually violent provocation caused by spending the first week without both his sons, whom were at Hogwarts, and also without his first wife who remained at St Mungo's.
Personality
Francis Pepper is fanatical about technology. He is the magical world equivalent of a technology geek, fascinated by anything he hears of in the Department of Mysteries, and fascinated by the way Muggles get round their limitations. He will never be a world leader or a politician, but he would fit nicely within their cabinet. Given half a chance, Francis will bore you to tears about it all.
As a husband, Francis was loving towards his first wife, Claire, though was a bit impatient at times. He suffered from getting stuck in ruts, though the status-quo of their relationship was always indicated by a kiss when they are both home for dinner, which was traditionally despised of by their children should they be present. After Claire's accident, Francis was particularly down and disliked living on his own after more than a decade of living with her company. As such, he was not been his fairly optimistic self with friends and family.
Francis became more protective over his two sons Ambrose and Timothy. Claire's eldest, and his step son, Thomas, now avoids him guilty of what has happened. He worried for them in the long term about not having their mother, and struggles to keep the family home together with the three of them together and no female presence to remember how to run a house with two growing boys within. Housekeeping does not come naturally to Francis, and over that first Christmas, his family in law, whom are Muggles, stepped in quietly to help as the first holiday Ambrose and Timothy would return from Hogwarts together for.
He felt obliged to hope and stand by Claire, although she didn't remember him at all, and subsequently didn't love him quite like she did. At the same time, it was as if she has died, but worse, because she's was there like a shell with her short term memory addled, and her long term unreliable. This left Francis in a moral quandary - still married, but having lost his wife, he found himself drawn back to his first love, Gabrielle Murray.
At work, Pepper prefers to be left alone while working on something difficult, but entertains interested company to take a break from things. He has been frequenting the Ministry's canteen daily of late for some company. He is dedicated and confirmed to his work, whereas if something exciting happens related to it, he is positively transformed into smiles, mischief and delight like he was as a student building from plans received by owl.
As a father, Francis is concerned for his sons, and does the best he can. He gets on well with both Ambrose and Timothy, though secretly was upset about Ambrose's inability to cast spells correctly with any reliability at school. He always hoped Timothy turned out a lot better, and that Ambrose eventually stablised his casting - both of which did happen.
One might assume him to be passive in his opinions, but he is staunchly supportive of Muggle rights and believes that collaboration with Muggles is the progression of both strands of the human race. He regularly writes into the Daily Prophet to support this stand when the debate is raised in the letters or editorial. He will also respond fiercely to any anti-Muggle or anti-Halfblood behaviour exhibited by staff or visitors at the Ministry of Magic, for which he was twice cautioned for before he met Claire in his younger days.
Francis has a broad cross-section of friends, though he’s played with no real close friends past Gabrielle. He’s a generally likeable chap, though he has his shortcomings. He’d prefer friends of a similar age who are perhaps able to offer intellectual conversation, preferably friends with Gabrielle too.
Deep reflection on his choices mades him melancholy. Claire’s predicament made him cry more than anything. In more recent times it has been over worry for family and for Gabrielle, and much of it has been in private if so. He doesn’t like the fact he does cry, and feels it’s been a sign of mental weakness in past years so would do his best to stop himself.
Francis struggles with feelings of guilt. His nature is to apologise, (as is often the British way), even when he is not at all in the wrong. He feels great guilt still over his two most significant romantic partners, and the impact it has had on his two sons, and his former step son.
It has taken some time, and he still feels unable to adequately express the difference in how he feels for Gabrielle and how he feels for Claire, in her post-obliviated stated, in St Mungo’s. Family acceptance has helped considerably, but there is a way to go.
He was mildly traditionalist in believing Claire was best to take care of the household and those jobs seen historically as ‘the woman’s role’, but since her accident, he has had to fulfil all roles in the house and values her part far more highly.
He didn’t have much of a problem with house elf enslavement, mostly because he’s never been in a household that owned one. He believes that it is down to the owners to treat them appropriately.
If Thomas were to appear on his doorstep (his step-son who he gained by marrying Claire, and also the cause of her accident) he would not welcome him in at all. He’d more likely call an auror on him. He cannot forgive and forget.
He’s not entirely comfortable with the concept of a homosexual relationship, which can make interactions and conversations around relationships like Balfour Spectre and Johann Spectre's difficult.
Views on Muggles
Francis is very keen on maintaining relations with the Muggle world, though unlike many in his family, he hasn’t struck up a relationship with a Muggle, having married Claire and now reuniting with Gabrielle. He’s biased a little towards people of half or muggle heritage because of the insights they bring to a project. Francis is staunchly supportive of Muggle rights and believes that collaboration with Muggles is the progression of both strands of the human race. He is a regular correspondent with the Daily Prophet whenever this debate rears its head. He will respond fiercely to anti-muggle or anti-halfblood behaviour exhibited by visitors at the Ministry, and was twice cautioned for this in his younger days.
Childhood
The Pepper family lived in the postcard village of Old Warden. A narrow village tucked in the Bedfordshire countryside, the buildings are a variety of attractive cottages made in different materials and in different ways. Although the buildings look very old, many of them are 19th Century, and belonged to the Shuttleworth estate.
The Pepper family lived there for two generations before Francis and his brother Octavius arrived. Francis grew up in the cottage, though in later life he and his brother Octavius did not feel the need to stake claim on it for sentimental reasons, having both moved away from their parents and set up elsewhere. Besides, the Muggles in the village were beginning to get suspicious of the family overall, and Francis's parents both wanted to move to the South of France to get some warmer weather and retire.
Filius, Francis and Octavius's father had also grown up there before them, and fallen in love with a neighbour's daughter, Jane, a Muggle. She had always suspected something, but adapted to the prospect of a wizard husband with surprising ease. It did help that Filius's parents were also the same – wizard born father, and a Muggle mother, so Jane and her new mother in law understood each other on those terms at least.
Childhood was happy, spent encouraged by his father to invent and use tools in the hope the one of the two brothers would carry on the family trade of time turners. Francis remembers going with his father, Filius, to the Ministry of Magic one day with his father as an eight year old.
His younger brother and his mother, were away with family friends with a son the same age, whom Octavius had set up a fine friendship with. Francis had not tagged along, and instead, had to tag along with his Father which caused a bit of an issue, given that Filius Pepper worked in the Department of Mysteries. He had to leave Francis in the care of one of the mundane looking secretaries who bound the formal research of the department into papers and triplicated.
However, even such a mundane glimpse at the department didn't prevent a young Francis Pepper from becoming intrigued. He had seen exactly what his Father worked on – people occasionally visited the house with time turners, not wanting the Ministry to know they had broken these precious items, but knowing Filius well enough to ask him directly.
Also, it was not unusual to have dinner with two, or three of his fathers on an evening, where the next day's time turners were a little too tightly wound and had sent him back too far. These dinners were particularly amusing, as the present time version of his father would be dismayed to see the next day was going to cause him problems, and he'd have to relive this dinner. The future ones had their own rule not to discuss anything that happened and instead furiously tried to talk about last week or further back to prevent it.
Of course, this wasn't without its hazards. A rather imposing and firm wizard from the Ministry visited the house every couple of years to talk to Francis, Octavius and their mother about the work their father did, and also the consequences of discussing any fine details, and the perils of memory obliviation. Francis had heeded every word, rather fond of his memories, and his father. He didn't realise that his mother had once accidentally let slip about something she'd overheard, and it had meant four witches had to be obliviated within an hour, and his father reprimanded.
Hogwarts
Things became a little easier for the family when the two boys began to reach Hogwarts age. Francis was of age first, and was sorted into Ravenclaw, which pleased his father, also a Ravenclaw. Amongst his classmates wearing the sorting hat that first day were Persepolis Zephyr, also sorted into Ravenclaw. They became friends during their Hogwarts years, and towards the end, even attended the same Transfiguration, History of Magic and Runes lessons, though she excelled in all these subjects to a greater extent than Francis.
Their housemate and classmate was also Aurora MacDonnell, now a freelance journalist, whom Francis keeps in touch with still, though is little help to her journalist investigations when he cannot comment on his own Department within the Ministry.
A good friend for similar interests was Gwydion Mayberry, who on the same night was sorted into Hufflepuff. The two have kept in touch since as friends and enthusiasts of Muggles and inventions. They would spend time together with Gabrielle Murray, a Slytherin.
Unfortunately, he also had the late Ava Grosvenor's parents, Persphone and Nathaniel Felix Grosvenor VIII, sorted into Slytherin that first of September, whom he never made any inroads with getting on with. However, he was on better terms with another Slytherin classmate, Zora Roh who went on to become an auror.
He knew of Vedir Prideaux, who attended two years ahead of him, and Wilton Wickwood, also a Ravenclaw, though a few years ahead, who became a wandmaker. He remembers Arianna Wickwood, the once Hogwarts counsellor being sorted into Ravenclaw four years behind him.
Octavius joined his brother two years later, when Francis entered the third year. He was enjoying Hogwarts life very much, and was glad of Octavius being able to join him at last. It also gave their parents a little more freedom, though their mother missed their presence in the house when she was there, now working at Shuttleworth College, based in the great estate house beyond the village.
Francis latched onto transfiguration, charms, runes, astronomy, arithmancy, history of magic and managed semi-respectable grades in potions, defences and herbology beside them at OWL level. He never wanted to join the Quidditch team, or get beaten up by the more aggressive students in any duelling club, or even sit and play wizard's chess. Yes, he knew how all of them worked, and would attend Quidditch matches, could disarm an opponent, and could play a fair game of chess, but none of them interested him as much as the magazines he subscribed to that were also concurrently poured over by his father.
Francis and Gwydion would take diagrams from the little known wizard inventor correspondence groups and attempt to recreate them with whatever they could get their hands on at school. Between them, they had a trade in repairs with other students, who would source them all manner of interesting things and materials for their projects. Gwydion continued this interest into his adult life as an inventor and toymaker, whereas Francis poured that interest into the apprenticeship with his father at the Ministry making time turners.
Apprenticeship & Succession
For a number of years, father and son worked side by side at the Ministry, Francis learning everything possible about his father's trade. After three years, his father took retirement, satisfied his son would be fine without his guidance. Filius's eyesight was failing, which made it more difficult to work on the tiny intricate objects even with magnifying glasses.
Francis became the one in charge of the workshop within the Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries, and sought to retain the respect for the family name by the Ministry and its employees. This drive for his profession overshadowed any thoughts of finding a lovely lady. He had also moved out of the family home into a house in nearby Biggleswade, a small town near to the village he grew up in.
Marriage
In 1986 he began a relationship with his former school friend, Gabrielle Murray, who had recently returned from Romania and was working for the Department of International Magical Co-operation. Their relationship grew serious, Francis realising he had very much fallen in love. He proposed to Gabrielle on November 18th on the snowy steps of the church at Godric's Hollow. She took it badly, rather not wanting to get married, and their relationship broke down subsequently in 1989.
The woman he was to marry landed in his life unexpectedly. There was a theft of a time turner from a Ministry employee, and it was being used to commit criminal acts. Eventually the wizard was apprehended and brought to trial. Francis was asked to attend to answer questions on the possibilities and limitations of the time turner, and was rather taken with the wizengamot scribe, a lady by the name of Claire.
A mutual friend understood this, and purposely set up a meeting for them both, and despite her already having a three year old son, the trio got on remarkably well. Claire made the bold decision to move in with Francis. As a Muggleborn, she was keen for Thomas to attend Muggle schools as far as possible to provide the rudimentary education and also prevent any anti-Muggle sentiments, or whispering from the neighbours.
The father of her son was also a member of the Department of Mysteries, and approached Francis when he heard of the relationship. The two of them know why he had to leave Claire and his son, and Francis is unable to convey the full story to Claire for secrecy reasons at work. He did however, receive full blessing from Claire's former partner.
Three Boys
Ambrose arrived two years later, and the two made the decision that they should marry, and did so within a year of Ambrose's arrival. Timothy arrived two years later, with the same interval roughly as between Francis and his brother Octavius. The three boys got on very well during their childhood, all three attending local Muggle schools until it was time to attend Hogwarts.
Claire's son, Thomas, attended Hogwarts first, becoming a Ravenclaw, which made Francis very proud. Claire had been a Hufflepuff, but found it admirable her first son had been sorted into anywhere but Slytherin, a house she worried about. He became very interested in memory charms and had a great strength in his charms work.
Claire's Accident
Ambrose was sorted into Gryffindor, and Timothy had not yet begun at Hogwarts when Thomas unexpectedly decided not to sit his NEWTs and instead bail out. Returning home to find his mother, an argument and a struggle ensued, and Claire's memory was lost due to her son's memory charm causing spell damage.
Francis caught wind quickly from the school that Thomas had left Hogwarts, and went home suddenly to sort things. He discovered his son and his wife at home, but his wife was in tears, the incident having already happened. His son, also in a state, explained it had been an accident, and Francis barely held things together. His relationship with the eldest already strained by the teenager's wish to rebel against him for not being his blood father, and now spell damage to his own mother. He lost Claire's first son in great distress, who ran from the house after confessing, and has not been seen by Francis since (though he is aware Thomas is in touch with others and has visited his mother in hospital according to the staff) and he also lost his wife on that day.
Claire was then cared for at St Mungo's, who tried to rehabilitate her broke memories with varying success. Francis had to explain to Ambrose and Timothy what had happened, unknowing that Timothy had seen it happen – his youngest son claimed to have been in the house but not present until after the accident. The family spend time there on a regular basis, though Claire did not remember them which is upsetting for them. Francis was holding things together as best he can, and considers it a small mercy that Timothy began at Hogwarts that following September and was sorted into Ravenclaw, as it meant the family home was empty.
Francis kept up the regular visits to his first wife, surrounding her with memories and photographs as best he can to try and find something to trigger a response. Sometimes she seemed to remember him like a flicker, and then it went. He lived in hope they would find a cure. A part of him wanted to explain the true situation to the aurors and have his eldest son arrested, but the majority of him knew that his son is probably going through worse, knowing what he has done, and not being able to face the family and seek shelter with them.
Claire's Muggle family visited her on a less regular basis. It is difficult for Muggles to be immersed in so much magic at the hospital, as well as to see their relative not recognise them. The staff at St Mungos were incredibly supportive, and kept and eye on the boys and Francis quietly.
An Apprentice?
Francis, like his father Filius, was keen to seek out one of the three boys to carry on the tradition of time turners. He would have preferred to pass it down to the two boys who are his own blood, and the fact that he and his step son effectively are not on speaking terms following the memory charm accident, has ruled him out.
Unfortunately, Francis knew that Ambrose wasn't showing any aptitude for dealing with delicate magic, and was aware he is struggling with his wandwork, a frustration that is clear on his son's face when he was at home discussing homework. Youngest son, Timothy, would have been very good for it, only he often discussed becoming a healer, only intensified by his mother's condition, and Francis respected that honourable consideration, leaving him with the prospect of Ambrose alone, which he is not optimistic with, and has wondered if he should take on an unrelated apprentice instead.
Later, his niece Theta Pepper became the obvious choice.
Gabrielle, and Amelia
After the death of his first wife, Francis and Gabrielle felt able to marry. They welcomed their first child, Amelia, into the world, a half-sister to Ambrose and Tim. The family moved into Gabrielle's family home in Wiltshire.
2013-2017
Francis Pepper is still married to Gabrielle Pepper, living in Gabrielle’s family home in Wiltshire. He is still working for the Department of Mysteries as a specialist in time, constructing time turners. Theta, his niece, still works alongside him, though has taken time out to have her children.
Though his sons are no longer students at the school, Francis has remained a governor there, in anticipation of his daughters attending, and because he feels his input is appreciated. He’s had his reservations over Ignan has Headmaster, as he didn’t agree with the wizard’s interactions with Ambrose, but Gabrielle’s unwavering support and more time together on a personal level has settled his conscience.
With the revelations from the Futurist attacks of Halloween 2012, and the possibility of time beyond the veil, Francis has become more involved with Mysteries research, and is part of the Department’s international exchange of knowledge. He has hosted foreign unspeakables and has even taken the odd international trip himself where it has been possible.
Francis has remained on the periphery of the Futurist movement. He is not at all pro the actions of 2012, but he remains curious about the combination of the best of both worlds and the experimentation between. However, for the sake of his job, and having seen the other side of the movement, he keeps the core of the movement firmly at arm’s length.
At home, both his sons have moved out. Ambrose having finished his apprenticeship with Beast Division and now a full time beast handler, and Tim busy with his healers training at St Mungo’s. Francis is incredibly proud of them both and looks forward to Sunday lunches to catch up with them.
Meanwhile, Amelia, his first daughter with Gabrielle, is now six and inquisitive as ever. The couple have welcomed a second daughter into the world now too, Mina Jane, sometimes known as Mimi, named after both their mothers. Pooling childcare between the extended family is common, especially with Theta’s daughters, and Monty’s children all grown up.
Professional Life
Francis is in charge of creating, repairing and destroying time turners for the Department of Mysteries who control their use. He works within a workshop in the department, which has absorbed and contained concentrated magic for decades, sometimes outputting unusually strong results with candles flaring into infernos momentarily, or tools floating round the room when it dissipates. Time turners take many hours work to perfect and get balanced, like fine watches. He is in charge of briefing and training any person who is issued with one. Occasionally he is asked if he can attempt to fix other items that are very intricate.
He began as apprentice to his father, who was in turn, apprentice to his. Family trade, and a three year apprenticeship alongside his father within the Ministry, and since, a decade or so of working for the Ministry.
Pepper fills his spare time as a member of the Wizard's Jigsaw Club, and also occasionally attends open meetings of the Committee for Experimental Charms. It is not unusual for him to overwork while the Hogwarts term is in session, and he has taken on the role of one of the school governors.
