Saxon Montague
 | |
| Saxon Lycurgus Montague | |
|---|---|
| Biographical Information | |
| Born | 8 April 1969, 48 |
| City of Birth | Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Blood status | Pure-blood |
| Physical Information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Height | 6'5 |
| Magical Characteristics | |
| Wand(s) | |
| |
| Animagus Form | Wolf |
| Special Abilities | Animagus |
| Education | |
| School | Hogwarts |
| House | Slytherin |
| Class of | 1987 |
| Occupation | |
| |
| Character Information | |
| Playby | Justin Sullivan |
| Lurhstaap | |
As his job description says, Saxon is best encapsulated as a musician/scoundrel. He is a very strange man, with a lot of odd ideas and mannerisms, and a very individual yet very powerful ethical/moral sense. Yet he is also prone to bitterness, cynicism, and depression, so that he alternates between periods of impassioned activism (in his own way) and periods of solitary melancholy. An Animagus, he is unlike many criminals in that he uses his wolf form simply to get away from everyone more often than as an aid to committing crimes. (Although this may be simply because a wolf is a very conspicuous animal in Britain, and it's more difficult to pretend to be a dog than it may appear.)
Physical Description
Saxon is a scarecrow of a man, fully six feet five inches in height, with a trim, narrow build. He is slender and graceful, but incapable of putting on significant muscle mass. He's in good shape, but that doesn't help him -look- good like it would for some. He is not as imposing as someone with his height ought to be, either, especially as he is given to slouching and hanging watchfully near the back of any group he's part of rather than looming over people. With that said, when he feels the need, he can loom quite effectively. Still, he prefers not to call attention to himself when it can be avoided, and this preference is expressed in his loose, slacking body language.
Saxon's whole body looks stretched, as if a giant had grabbed his feet and his hair and pulled. Even his face is noticeably elongated - not quite 'lantern-jawed', but close. His night-dark eyes peer alertly from beneath thick brows which are remarkably expressive, sometimes forming a brooding, eye-shadowing shelf, sometimes arching above them in surprise or skepticism. The guitarist prefers to wear his brown hair reasonably long, usually at least shoulder length, but sometimes cuts it back. He sometimes lets his facial hair grow in for a week or two, or even maintains a little bit of scruff on his lower lip while shaving the rest, but most of the time he is clean-shaven. His blunt, slightly crooked nose, the gentle curve at the back of his jaw, and his round knob of a chin help to soften the knife-sharp impact of his high cheekbones and hard-edged, elongated jawline, which draws down to his chin to form an acutely triangular visage.
The lesser details of his appearance tend to change over time - his hair color may seem lighter or darker, longer or shorter, his face shaven or not. Some believe this is because he is trying to alter his appearance to avoid the attention of Magical (or Muggle) Law Enforcement, but Saxon knows better. Height aside, his facial features (not to mention a very obvious broken-off tooth in his upper front jaw) are too distinctive for a mere haircut-and-a-shave (or the reverse) to be much use. No, these changes are a purely whimsical thing; Saxon doesn't think overmuch about his appearance, or at least he doesn't seem to, but every now and then he changes something about his appearance, sometimes drastically, and it's generally because he's just happened to catch sight of his own reflection somehow and randomly become discontent with what he saw, whether from wanting to look better, or simply boredom with having looked a given way for 'too long' (and nevermind if it's been a week or a year since he last changed his look.) He is not a Metamorphmagus, which is a lucky thing for those who know him - otherwise he might tinker with every aspect of his appearance just for the sheer fun of it, never maintaining a consistent look. At least this way his distinctive long-jawed face and unsettling heavy-browed gaze remain consistent. He accomplishes these changes the way Muggles do; unlike some wizards, he is able to make such changes to himself without them 'reverting' automagically.
Tall but thin, Saxon's physique is made of long bones with tough, stringy muscle wrapped around it. He is fit and hardy, but not nearly the hulking figure men his height tend to be. He doesn't appear delicate or weak, per se, but the proportions of his body are definitely narrower than average. The large hands with their slender fingers are extremely dexterous; although right-handed by birth, he has spent most of his life forcing himself to use his left hand as well as his right, until for most tasks he exhibits only minimal 'handedness'. The major exception is writing. However he is quite capable of wielding his wand, catching/throwing, and similar tasks with either hand. He is fractionally quicker and more competent with the right, but the difference is minimal at this point in his life, after so much practice.
Indeed, Saxon's whole form moves with a sort of predatory grace which gives even his trivial motions a certain artistry or beauty which conflicts sharply with his slouching body language and otherwise semi-awkward looks. It is not the easy, casual freedom of a dancer, but that certain lithe precision which would be more expected from a short, catlike person, rather than a knobby-elbowed scarecrow. Saxon pulls it off with a naturalness possible only because he is wholly unconscious of it; if he were trying, he would be more precise, but less swift, less smooth, obviously having to focus, concentrate. When he gets out of his own way, though, he is a beautiful mover. Although his motion does not inherently suggest that of a dancer, he is a skilled one when the mood strikes him, though his way of dancing is very... individual. (He just sort of moves however the music inspires him. When he was younger he looked incredibly awkward doing this - now he still looks awkward, but in a weirdly graceful way. It works for some people - others find it hilarious to watch. He doesn't care either way.)
Saxon has several piercings and tattoos. At this point in his life, he mainly wears only the two silver rings in each ear, but sometimes other pieces appear. He also likes to wear various simple necklaces, often more than one at a time. Once rebelliously, now habitually, this pureblood prefers Muggle clothing at all times, even when in the Wizarding world. He has a distinct punk style to his dress, although Celtic knotwork, scarves, and other things sometimes appear which skew the look more toward folk-punk. He occasionally wears a hat just for variety. Generally speaking, he is more or less clean, but often rather scruffy or disheveled, as if he slept in his clothes and has only just woken up. (In fact, that is sometimes true, but more often it's just his habitual lack of care for his appearance. He's more concerned with being comfortable and able to move around easily, hence his preference for Muggle jeans, shirts, and jackets over Wizarding robes and cloaks. The fact that he can offend his family by dressing like a Muggle is just an added bonus.)
The natural sharpness of Saxon's features is dulling with time, as brazen youth curdles into disillusioned adulthood, and his rough life has given him a battered look that is not 'picturesque' to most, simply off-putting. With that said, the odd mix of hardness and gentleness in his features, the piercing intensity of his dark gaze, these things may seem unsettling to some, intriguing to others. In short, people's reactions to Saxon's appearance vary widely. To some, he has a certain dark magnetism, while others only see a shabby man with cold, calculating eyes.
Personality Description
Deep in both emotion and intelligence in a way that is as disturbing to some as it is compelling to others; a very intense person. Stubborn and willful to a fault. Does not compromise or give up on his ideals or values easily, even to the point of sacrificing very important things to them such as family ties, his inheritance (and thus any chance at being able to life an idle life of pure music as he once dreamed as a child). At the same time, he is very driven, willing to do anything it takes to achieve what he feels is necessary or for the greater good, which means he has sometimes done things which have darkened (or, rather, Darkened) his reputation considerably. His soul is not nearly so damaged as some people believe but it has definitely got some tattered places. Ironically, much of this is driven by a greater-than-average capacity for compassion and love, which was unfortunately coupled with a greater-than-average capacity for (in rough chronological order across the course of his life) righteous rage, desire for change and/or revenge, loss, pain, shame, guilt, and eventually grief, bitterness, and cynicism. He is a powderkeg of roiling emotion kept in check by the raw ferocious intensity of his will. He is not a brilliant intellect per se, but he is analytical, observant, and reasonably well-educated - plus reasonably witty and facile with a quill when he puts his mind to it, for all his struggle to express himself orally.
Saxon is not and will never be one of the world's great anythings - songwriter, singer, criminal, revolutionary - but he is dedicated and stubborn, and not without skill. His positive attributes are in fact more in quantity and quality than many who only know of him or know him casually would give him credit for. The unfortunate part is that his negative attributes tend to overwhelm or shadow them out, so that you have to know him long and well to perceive them. A few people see through him to the sensitive, defensive, caring person deep inside, but his fear of being known prevents most such people from doing much about it. He struggles to trust, which impedes his ability to maintain friendships and love relationships, but those few he manages to connect with find that once the connection is made, it might as well be forged of adamant; it will never, ever break, no matter what the person does to him from then on. Which in fact is part of why he has such trouble trusting, and allowing himself to love fully - once he commits emotionally, it can't be taken back. In a manner of speaking, Saxon mates for life. Sex, of course, is a different matter. He enjoys sex and has no problem sleeping around with anyone who catches his fancy and seems agreeable. But his heart is a guarded place to which keys are given out reluctantly, slowly, cautiously. Yet once you have a key, you find it unlocks every single door in him. He tends toward black and white thinking, even though he is perfectly aware of and capable of thinking in terms of nuances and shades of gray.
Torn between a deep need for company and a profound independence which can drive him away from others. Vacillates between seeking people and avoiding them. When he can he earns an honest living through occasional gigs (both in Muggle and Wizarding venues; he makes little distinction except that he plugs in his guitar at the Muggle venues rather than using its enchantments.) When he can't, he does what he needs to do, though he prefers to target people who he feels 'deserve it' somehow, if only to assuage his own sense of guilt. Eccentric. Finds it much easier to express himself through singing and music than through just speaking; as a result he very rarely speaks unless it's really necessary. A whole sentence is a speech for Saxon. Most of the time he gets by with varying combinations of hand gestures and body language; facial expressions; semi-animalish noises like grunts, growls, sniffs, and snorts; and a sprinkling of mono- or bisyllabic words. His closest friends call this 'Sax-speak' and are remarkably adept at interpreting his odd personal "language". Other people sometimes come away with the impression that Saxon is mute or close to it and are shocked when they hear him sing for the first time. He has been that way for most of his life; even his close family does not remember him ever being an eager talker, even though he has always been a close listener.
Saxon has a habit of running away. He is an unregistered Animagus; his alternate form is that of a lean European wolf, the base color of whose coat is the same as that of Saxon's hair, overlayed with typical lupine grizzling and markings in black and white. As he ages Saxon's hair is beginning to get a salt-and-pepper sprinkling to it. It is only a few hairs at this point, not really noticeable, but as he gets older his human hair will slowly grow more similar to his wolf's coat. He does this mainly to avoid human life when he feels overwhelmed by bitterness and cynicism. He sometimes uses this form as a way of avoiding people he doesn't want to deal with (such as Magical Law Enforcement) but not as often as one might think - after all a wolf is a very conspicuous animal in Britain, and though he sometimes uses Charms to try to disguise his alter form as a large dog, this is not as effective as he would like, so it's something he only does as a last resort. Most of the time, when overcome by one of his periodic depressions, he goes off into a wooded part of the country and just wanders around out there, alternating between wolf and human form as the whim strikes him, sometimes stealing from isolated villages for food, other times hunting rabbits and mice as a wolf to sustain himself (a lone wolf has little chance to bring down a deer - though once or twice he's been lucky enough to spot a deer while in human form, use a spell to even the odds, then shift to wolf form to bring it down. He never stuns or kills the animal outright, believing this is 'cheating'.)
When he was in his teens, Saxon was fixated with competitions and challenges. He enjoyed interpreting just about everything as a competition or a challenge, and though he responded by ferociously trying to 'win' whatever it was (sometimes to the shock of his schoolmates) Saxon was a surprisingly good loser, rarely seeming to mind if he was 'beaten', instead just moving quickly on to the next thing. He has lost his taste for these sort of games to some degree as a man, but the tendency remains in him and sometimes he runs with the impulse for amusement's sake and as a way of testing himself. Saxon was also known as something of a bully at school, although he viewed himself more as a prankster; the issue was partly the people he was hanging out with at the time (some of whom went on to become Death Eaters or otherwise Dark), who influenced him in a darker direction than he might have gone on his own (or maybe not... who knows?) but also just that he didn't always exhibit a lot of thought for the feelings of others. This is something for which Saxon feels real regret and shame to this day, although he doesn't dwell on it on a day-to-day level. He truly meant no harm, but just didn't think, a thing he continues to berate himself for. As harsh as he sometimes seems to others, it is only a reflection of the harshness he turns on himself, to keep himself in line. His youthful excesses were delightful, but some of them got people hurt. He is a darker, more serious person now, although that reckless sense of freedom and madness remains within him, sometimes breaking loose. Still, he is colder and more focused now than in his teens and early 20s as a general rule.
As a child, Saxon swallowed whole the family pureblood propaganda. The older he got, however, the more he began to clash with his parents - particularly his father - on many levels and for many reasons. In his teens, at Hogwarts, he was in Slytherin and thereby fell in with a darker, edgier crowd than he might otherwise have done, but unlike his peers, he had a latent sense of empathy and shame, which grew into full blossom as he approached adulthood, until he began to totally rebel and reject everything he'd been raised to believe in. Yet he has a lingering fear of turning into his parents and sometimes believes he sees evidence of it in his own behavior, or even his thoughts and emotions. He still loves and misses his family, yet is very bitter toward them and finds it difficult to seek reconciliation, especially since he has tried and had it blow up in his face repeatedly. He cannot accept them as they are, and they cannot accept him as he is; yet they still love each other. It's not a fun situation for any of them. (For canon cross-checking, Saxon is the brother of the father of the Montague who was at Hogwarts during Harry Potter's time; in short, that Montague's estranged uncle.) This is the root of Saxon's issues with trust and love, though not the whole of them, as other life events have exacerbated and complicated these issues.
Tends to deal with stress, pain, and other negative emotions and situations through writing songs about them - sometimes well disguised, but often only thinly glossed over or not at all. When it comes to his thoughts and feelings Saxon is a basically honest person and doesn't like to self-censor - his dislike of talking is due more to his sense of it being extremely difficult to communicate that way and an unwillingness to be misinterpreted than any desire to be inscrutable. Somehow, when he sings, the words come out right, even if they never would (in his own mind) if he tried to simply speak them.
History
Born April 8th, 1969, in Aylesbury, England, to a branch of the proudly pureblooded Montague family. He has an older brother.
Absorbed the family propaganda early on, and was proud of his family and to be a wizard, disdaining Muggles and Muggle-lovers. However, by the time he was Hogwarts age, he was already beginning to have doubts. Having grown up during the years of terror, Voldemort's first reign, it was difficult for him - already a quiet, watchful, pensive child - to reconcile what his family believed with some of the things he saw and heard. On the other hand, the Ministry of Magic seemed a dark and frightening force just as much as Voldemort and the Death Eaters did. Saxon didn't see good versus evil, just war and all its consequences for everyone else. His social consciousness was barely a glimmer of what it would be as an adult, but the seeds were planted during this time.
Sorted into Slytherin in the year 1980, Saxon kept those doubts and thoughts to himself for a time, but they manifested in his behavior. Though he hung out with a dark, mean crowd, hanging around, watching, listening, and learning from them, it was largely because as a Slytherin he had trouble making friends in other Houses - the inter-House rivalry was very strong in those years, even after the apparent fall of Voldemort in October of 1981, shortly into Saxon's second year - and he didn't have the social skills to overcome that initial barrier easily. So even though he only genuinely liked one or two of the other Slytherins he spent time with, he ran with them anyway. Eventually he developed a reputation as a bully and a prankster. He and one other student in particular (a boy named Trask) often ran around doing things like hanging other students by their feet over the edge of balconies, hiding Dungbombs in desks, and other "hilarious" exploits. At first, Saxon enjoyed this kind of thing, but the older he got, the more aware he became of the gulf between himself and other people, the fact that he had few if any genuine friends, and how he had given no real thought or consideration to the future. So even though he did these things, he also began spending a lot of time alone listening to music and brooding starting about his third year. In his fourth and fifth year he began developing more broad social, cultural, and political awareness - and what he saw did not please him. Voldemort might have been gone, and the Ministry might have been relaxing slightly, but he remembered the strife of his childhood and was deeply mistrustful of the Ministry and extremists generally. Aware that he was becoming an extremist himself, simply in a different way, Saxon was frustrated, but couldn't control the way he thought and felt about things. His discontent with himself and the world alike grew. Not coincidentally, this is when he began to have trouble getting along with his family - particularly his parents. The older and more aware/opinionated Saxon became, the worse his family relations became, in direct proportion.
On the summer break between his fourth and fifth year, Saxon acquired his first guitar, an old Fender Stratocaster, which he kept hidden from his family, since they would have disapproved even though the guitar had been enchanted by its previous owner (it has an extra switch that basically is a magic on-off toggle; with magic 'on' the guitar can play as if plugged in with no electricity, will function in Wizarding locations such as Hogwarts, and with a skilled player can produce sounds and effects impossible for Muggles without pedals and other special equipment. With the switch set to 'off' it behaves like a normal electric guitar in all ways. This allowed the previous owner to play both Muggle and Wizarding gigs, an ability Saxon has also made great use of as an adult.) At first, he used it mainly as a way to distract himself from his own uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, but soon enough he was beginning to write songs and sing to himself privately, though he hated being heard or seen doing this and would go out of his way to be alone with it if he could. He actually discovered the Room of Requirement in this way, though he doesn't understand the room as well as others who have discovered it do. To him it was just "the place I go when I need to be alone"; he doesn't fully realize the nature of the room or its magic, but only appreciated its willingness to succor him and didn't think too much more about it. For him it appeared as a small studio, with a little stage, magical musical equipment, quills and noted paper for songwriting, posters of his favorite bands on the walls, and a door that opened for him and him alone.
Saxon was not the most studious pupil Hogwarts has ever seen, but he was reasonably intelligent and had noticeable (if not remarkable) talent at DADA and Transfiguration; his budding awareness also lead him to pay more attention in History of Magic than the average student, leading to decent scores there too. Still, he didn't get an O in any subject; if he'd applied himself more he might have been able to scrape one in History, if nothing else, but he just didn't apply himself enough.
OWLs:
- Astronomy P
- Charms E
- DADA E
- Herbology A
- History of Magic E
- Potions A
- Transfiguration E
- Care of Magical Creatures A
- Divination P
- Ancient Runes A
From his time spent in the Room of Requirement, he slowly developed confidence in his abilities, which grew into an urge and a need to speak out. Never a big talker, often all but nonverbal, he found that somehow when he was writing and singing the words came out better, that they didn't seem so weak and small and inadequate for some reason. By late sixth year he was playing openly, sometimes even jamming with other musically inclined students. It was also around this age that he began to favor Muggle clothing and to openly reject the pureblood-pride philosophy with which he was raised, and to vent his political, social, and personal struggles/opinions/feelings/et cetera through writing and playing his own original songs. He criticized people using magic to hurt, dominate, and destroy, attacking both extreme Dark wizards and the worst actions and offenders (in Saxon's eyes) at the Ministry. His relations with his fellow Slytherins became strained and distant; they had once been friendly enough that they didn't actively harass or come after Saxon, but he was quietly shut out of the old social circles and by the end of his seventh year was more or less a loner except for the few musical types he got along with, and even then they spent time together mostly to play music and not much otherwise.
This social isolation, and the fact that he took very few classes at NEWT level, gave him time to research and secretly practice becoming an Animagus, which he'd learned about in Transfiguration. His growing discontent with himself and other people made the power to become an animal a very attractive one for him. It represented a sort of purity and primal simplicity, contrasted with the corruption and ugliness he associated with human life. Being a little more mature, Saxon applied himself more to his schoolwork in the sixth and seventh year, but he just wasn't a stand-out student, which fact was reflected in his grades.
NEWT scores:
- Charms A
- DADA E
- History of Magic E
- Transfiguration E
After leaving Hogwarts in 1987, Saxon went back to the family home briefly, but left within a month. His father expected Saxon to settle down, dress and act properly, stop 'fiddling around' with 'pointless time-wasters' and 'idle daydreams' (his father's term for Saxon's music and musician friends), find a wife, and join the family business. Saxon's response to these expectations was predictably negative. Father and son clashed, with the end result that Saxon moved out. He and his family did not speak to each other again for over a year, and his relationship with his family has never really improved; for the rest of his life they followed a cycle: awkward attempts at reconciliation followed by periods of tense semi-decent relations which always came crashing down sooner or later, followed by long silences and estrangements. Wash, rinse, repeat.
Saxon crashed with a friend temporarily and set up a band. They were all fellow misfits, discontented anti-establishment sorts, and the like - which contributed to his difficulty keeping a steady band lineup over the years, but at the same time, some of his best, closest, and most enduring friendships have been with his bandmates. At first things were rocky and the band (called by varying names over the years as the lineup changed) never became truly popular, but over the years they were able to gain a small but devoted underground following in the Wizarding world. And though they never rose above the level of 'club opener band' in the Muggle world, they became well-known enough in those circles to at least make enough money to supplement their Wizarding income and keep themselves going. It was during this period that he first transformed. The discovery that he could shift into a wolf was a mixed blessing - he'd finally achieved his goal of becoming an Animagus, but a wolf was not the most inconspicuous animal. Still, it helped to be able to "put on a fur coat" (as he sometimes thinks of it) on those nights when he couldn't find anywhere to stay. Being homeless is marginally easier as a wolf, even if you do have to keep out of sight and avoid human civilization as much as possible.
Many of the band members lived a drifting part-Wizarding, part-Muggle lifestyle, made possible by their lack of family or other ties; as Muggles they were little better than drifters, appearing to play gigs or buy food and alcohol at local markets, sometimes known to live in this or that shabby apartment or tenement, but otherwise not much seen around. Saxon, too, lived this way, and it was in this manner that he became acquainted with Muggle drugs. Although wary of them and disgusted by the depths to which some drug abusers allowed themselves to sink (he wrote a song or two venting those feelings) Saxon was also intrigued despite himself by their potential. He has never gotten deeply into them, always skirting the edges of the drug community, dipping in briefly before backing off for a while, unwilling to commit himself either to total abstinence or total dependence. In the same way Saxon would veer back and forth from being more or less law-abiding, and being a drifter whose apartment hadn't been slept in for months. At this point he committed no serious crimes, only petty ones - usually motivated by perceived survival needs, but also sometimes as a way of rebelling or striking back at the world or what he saw as the forces of corruption, greed, and, to put it shortly, evil. Sometimes stealing, vandalism, and assault were ways to survive or defend himself against the other scavengers and misfits of the world; other times they were misguided acts of protest or "activism". Unsurprisingly, Saxon was in and out of Azkaban several times during this period and even did a few brief stints in Muggle jails.
Voldemort's return was known to all by June 1996. During the Second War period, Saxon was rightly concerned about the consequences which actively opposing Voldemort might have for himself and his family, but he hated to self-censor. Yet his lyrics tended to a sort of erudite sarcasm expressed through obscure imagery, metaphor, and allegory, often using symbolism that was very personal, rather than coming straight out and saying things plainly. Of course that tended to increase the intensity when he -was- blunt and forthright, but he was restrained by his bandmates in what topics he would speak so plainly in their songs. Personal matters, things of unimportance (such as Saxon's 'family songs'), those could be sung about plainly, but politics and social issues during Voldemort's reign were best kept quiet. Only people who knew Saxon very well would be able to pick out precisely what he was referring to; others would be able to tell that he was angry about some social or political issue, and generally where he stood about it, but often only in general terms. In short he criticized Voldemort and the Death Eaters vociferously yet -just- indirectly enough not to attract too much attention to himself. He was as vocal as he dared to be in opposition (which was, to be fair to him, more than many others would have done) but he was never a famous artist. In short, Saxon was simply not important enough for his songs and anger to be any threat or concern.... at least not on account of his music. Saxon was aware of this, too, and his bitterness and cynicism became a larger part of his music in accordance with their growth in his heart.
Saxon vented these ever-growing toxic feelings by acting out against those who incited them - sometimes the Ministry 'oppressors', sometimes the 'sickening, hypocritical' pureblood supremacists, Dark extremists, and the followers and supporters of Voldemort. He did his best not to be connected to any of his acts, sometimes working alone, sometimes with other disgruntled sorts in the criminal underground. He would have probably joined the Order of the Phoenix if he'd had any connections to it, but he didn't, and he might have been a little too Dark for them himself (but then again, with a werewolf and an ex-Death Eater in the Order, maybe not... )
This period is when Saxon committed his murders, as Saxon's life and mind were at their worst state. Most were Dark wizards, wanna-be Death Eaters and the like. In most cases they were more or less accidental (or at least indirect) killings happened in the process of Saxon and others planting a bomb or making some kind of sudden raid on Dark hangouts or known Death Eater's homes or other places of importance to them (which incidents Saxon was -usually- not involved in, but a few of which he participated in). A few were individually hunted, people who Saxon had overheard or witnessed doing something reprehensible which triggered him to choose them for death. He was careful about how he hunted wizards, knowing how easily he could become the victim instead of the killer, but the overconfidence of his targets plus his own caution helped him avoid detection. Saxon avoided using Avada Kedavra or other obvious Wizarding methods of killing for instance - his preferred weapon was a good sharp knife - yet he could and did use magic to 'clean up after himself' as it were, which helped him avoid discovery. One of his victims was a Muggle drug dealer, who incarnated all the worst stereotypes about drug dealers and who was generally an awful person; Saxon, in the state of mind he had at the time, saw this man do one too many cruel, despicable things, and put an end to him one night (along with a couple of other young men who also had reason to hate the dealer.) The one for which he did time was a mercy killing of a werewolf Saxon was friends with who was tormented by his condition and desperate to end it; the werewolf begged Saxon to destroy him before he could kill or infect anyone else and Saxon finally obliged, although this experience haunts him to this day. He turned himself in for this and, although the crime was not considered a true "murder" (especially due to the anti-werewolf political climate at the time), vigilante acts cannot be encouraged (so went the logic) so Saxon did time in Azkaban for the crime.
Saxon got out of Azkaban a month after the Ministry fell to Voldemort. During this time, he stuck to himself, feeling (as many did) that it was all over, Voldemort had won, and there was nothing to do except cover your own butt and try to keep out of trouble. He played his music, kept to himself, and vented his feelings in meaningless small crimes (such as vandalizing Ministry of Magic property, or magically harassing the slower-witted groups of Snatchers for the sheer fun of it, if an opportunity to do so without getting caught at it presented itself.) Two months later Saxon was caught by surprise in a Death Eater attack on a Muggle club he was hanging out at one night to drink and listen to music; he survived without serious injury, using his own magic, but witnessed first-hand the pointless destruction, which only deepened his anger and bitterness. He disappeared into the woods for several months afterward, getting stuck in that form when he had trouble getting enough food.
By the time Saxon was able to get a really good, filling meal as a wolf and return to his human form, the Battle of Hogwarts had occurred and Voldemort was dead. For good this time. While the rest of the Wizarding world celebrated, Saxon was glad yet somehow also felt empty. His own memories weighed on him. It was difficult to move on.
Slowly, Saxon's life settled into the threefold pattern described below: Music, crime, and wolf-time. He has continued in that wise to the present.
Career
Saxon has three basic modes of living. Two-thirds of the time he rents an apartment and does his best to support himself in the human world. When at all possible he does so honestly, through playing gigs; he has a few albums released and earns a small but useful amount of money from their sale now and then, plus the occasional tour, local gigs in clubs and such, playing sessions for other bands, and even, when nothing else can be had, being someone else's guitar tech or stand-in (if the usual player gets sick in the middle of a tour for example). When he can't earn enough to support himself through music, or when tempted or provoked seriously enough (by his own unusual standards), Saxon resorts to various largely petty crimes. The most frequent crimes he commits involve contraband substances - he enjoys mild drugs, Muggle and magical alike, and sees no reason he shouldn't be able to (for example) smoke a joint in the evenings if he feels like it. It's no one else's business, to his mind.
He is less blase about stealing. In truth, Saxon prefers not to do it, but at the same time, he has an obscure sense that if he's able to take something and the owner can't recover it from him, then he's 'won' it and it's his now. Still, he feels guilty being what he views as overly greedy, so he doesn't just go around nicking stuff all the time. Mainly he steals when he's hungry, cold, or otherwise in real need and unable to find a more legitimate way to solve the problem. He'd rather earn his living, but if he can't, he'll steal before he'll starve, without question. Saxon does obey his own weird code of ethics in this regard; he'd rather rob a rich man than a poor one, but he'd sooner rob a business than any individual person, and sooner a large corporation than a well-run local family shop. In short, although he will do what he must to survive, in practice he is almost always able to satisfy his needs by raiding Muggle large-chain grocery stores (which he reasons can afford it.) The rare times this has not been the case were when he was living out in the boonies in his wolf form - in which case he resorted to secretly following rich sport hunters and stealing their kills when he wasn't able to catch enough prey on his own.
Saxon also sometimes gets involved in other forms of crime, usually when asked or invited by people who know him. He typically avoids being involved in anything excessively Dark, cruel, or otherwise too far outside the bounds of his own weird sense of morals, but he's willing to help smuggle certain forms of contraband, act as a 'private courier', and similar things. He also sometimes deals in information; being a listener who roams around a lot helps him hear things which interested parties are sometimes willing to exchange currency or other items of value to learn about.
When even crime fails to pay the bills, or when Saxon has just had enough with struggling to get by in human society (or he's just feeling fed up with people in general) he puts his things in storage except for one guitar and one full backpack, including a simple wizard's tent. Then he goes off away from civilization for a while, usually Apparating to wooded places in Britain or Ireland to camp out. If he feels isolated enough he will live in his wolf form for a time and survive as wild as he can (though this is difficult enough that he never neglects to bring the tent and backpack, just in case.)
Eventually he will miss humanity and return to it, but this cycle has repeated several times in his life and likely will continue until he is too old to continue living this way. Eventually he will have to seek some sort of stability for himself.
Saxon is fairly skilled as rock guitarists go, with a definite Celtic-folky element. He is just as good on acoustic as with electric. His tunes tend to sound simpler than they really are, or to have a lot of power and emotive quality despite or perhaps because of their simplicity. He often plays and sings at the same time. He has long, dexterous, strong fingers, and his gangly arms have broad reach, so that he doesn't struggle to reach any part of the fretboard.
Saxon is a reasonably good singer, more in a folk than punk style overall, though he can growl and shout with the best when the song seems to call for it. Still, there is a melodic, soulful edge to even his angrier tunes which gives them more depth than they might otherwise have. His music sometimes is more folky than punk rock at times, sometimes an even blend between the two, sometimes very aggressive, bordering on metal. The lyrics range from very cryptic personal pieces which only he fully understands to surprisingly emotionally open pieces which touch on more universal, basic emotions through knife-sharp, keenly insightful (and often deeply angry) political and philosophical commentaries.
As a member of the criminal underground, Saxon is quiet, watchful, and obeys his own weird brand of ethics. He commits so-called victimless or consensual crimes whenever he feels like it so long as the risk is acceptably minimized, and doesn't mind carrying packages or other minor-involvement things, but he won't steal unless he really needs to, won't kill without serious provocation or justification (although his idea of those may vary from that of others), and won't commit acts of gratuitous cruelty such as rape or torture. He is cautious and thoughtful, tries to keep up on whatever information is publicly available about forensic techniques (Muggle and magical), and generally does his best to do what has to be done without calling attention to himself or leaving fingerprints (literal or metaphorical). Obviously he is human and isn't always successful at that, but it's what he aims for, and he's good enough at it that although magical law enforcement has become familiar with him as a 'known criminal element' over the years, only Saxon himself knows about everything he has done.
