Caitiffan, Jareth: History, Etc.

[Jareth Caitiffan]

Character History:
Jareth is the middle child in a brood of five, with two older brothers and a younger brother and sister each. With three years separating him from his oldest brother, and another two years separating him from his second oldest brother, Jareth learned fairly quickly that brute strength would never get him to the top. He learned to rely on cunning and manipulation, choosing to make alliances that would take him to the top of the hierarchy. Even at a young age he was more than content to be the right arm man rather than the head of the operation. Too much attention never suited his darker interests, anyway.

His younger siblings (fraternal twins), opposite of trying to gain one-up on their older siblings, were more or less protected by their three older brothers and thus never bothered trying to work their way up the pecking order. Of all five Caitiffan children, they were the ones to possess the most innocence.

When Jareth was seven, the world he knew was turned upside down by the death of his father. It wasn't that he adored the man or thought of him fondly, it was just that the man seemed so cold, so invulnerable as to be invincible. But the Dark Lord had vanished when his attempt to slay a mere infant backfired, and the Aurors fell upon the remaining Death Eaters like a plague upon a city. Rather than denounce his Lord or allow himself to be imprisoned, he resisted arrest... and was slain.

The Caitiffan name was tarnished by the perceived sins of the father, but the brood's mother insisted he was a hero and to hold their heads high. She taught them a valuable lesson, their mother; that it was natural of lesser ones to scorn their superiors. It was only their jealousy of Caitiffan's glory that drove them to sneer, glare and hate with their envious eyes.

Their father had died rather than denouncing his beliefs, and even at such a young age, Jareth could see and admire that. He idolized his father post-mortem, just as his older brothers did.

When the time came for Hogwarts, Jareth was sorted into the same house as his older brothers, which hardly came as a surprise to anyone. A Slytherin through and through, the entire school grew wary of the Caitiffan brothers; like all siblings, they could have rows that threatened to shake the very foundation of the school, but when it came to a perceived threat from the outside, the three would band together with all the force of a fearsome act of nature. Jareth was like a demon unleashed when one of his siblings or his beloved family name was insulted or threatened - it got even worse when his younger brother and sister came to Hogwarts. People learned quickly enough that messing with the Caitiffans was most unwise, unless one wanted to experience a swift, violent, and painful retribution first-hand.

Jareth was quite intelligent, but he skulked out of the scholastic spotlight as though praise or recognition were contagious elements meant to be avoided at all costs.

He did well, but never his best. He was academically high ranking amongst his peers but deliberately kept himself below the cream of the crop, ensuring that he would never be prefect or head boy. Figureheads attract attention, too much attention at times, and Jareth appreciated the virtue of anonymity that came with being average.

Immediately following graduation, he took on an apprenticeship at St. Mungo's that surprised his family. He had done well in so many areas, especially dueling, that working at a hospital was the last thing they ever would have expected of him... but like all things he did, Jareth had his reasons.

The hand that can heal can also do great harm, and Jareth was a diligent student, learning as much as he could from his apprenticeship. This time, it was his turn to surprise the staff at St. Mungo's - a promising student, they fully expected him to sign on for an official position at the hospital when his training was complete, but he politely declined and went to work instead for his parent's store in Knockturn Alley, Caitiffan's Cove.

For the next few years, Jareth worked the store, dealing with rare and sinister items and the people who wanted to buy, sell or trade them. During that time, he had many a willing woman, but never a real relationship. Truth be told, the more willing the woman the more boring she became to him. He liked challenges, and a woman who threw herself at him or pursued him aggressively turned him off more than anything.

He liked fear. It moved him in a way that outpourings of lust never could. Most importantly, he liked to be the cause of that fear. It pleased him.

When the Dark Lord returned, corporeal and stronger than before, it wasn't long before the Caitiffan's were asked to provide service as loyal as their father's had been. Their mother was hard pressed to restrain herself from weeping with joy as both Jared and his older brothers signed up immediately for service.

Jared had finally found his calling. He was placed in the Ministry, but it wasn't long before his superiors realized that he had a certain... mindset that made him ideal for a position as a Red Masked Guard. Lacking all the right scruples and completely dispassionate when faced with pleading, begging or bribery, he had the right combination of spine and heartlessness to be quite ruthless and unapologetic. After only three years in the service of the Ministry and the Dark Lord, he was promoted into the ranks of the elite Red Masked Guards.

When he was twenty-three, he decided it would be to his advantage to become an unregistered Animagus. Enlisting the aid of a Guard who had already successfully completed the transformation, he began the process of becoming one. Four years later, he successfully completed his first transformation. His animagus form is a goshawk, with gray and black flight feathers and a distinctively patterned breast.

Likes:

• The smell of lilacs after rain.
  
• Unwilling and frightened women.
  
• Making the fairer sex uncomfortable.
  
• Manipulating situations to his advantage.
  
• Writing Vogon poetry
  
• Obscure magical methods of torture.
  
• Using his knowledge as a healer to do harm.
  

Dislikes:

• Fawning, sappy, lovestruck girls.
  
• Whores, prostitutes and slutty women.
  
• Anyone fucking with his siblings.
  
• People disrespecting his family name.
  
• Overt praise or recognition.
  
• Food that has been over salted.
  

Fears:

• Anything bad happening to his siblings.
  
• His siblings doing anything to tarnish the family name.
  
• The unknown. Duh.
  
• Being placed in a situation that he cannot gain the advantage in.
  

Goals:

• To remain in that gray area just between successful and slightly under achieving.
  
• To encourage others to believe he is nothing special.
  
• To protect his family from all harm, at all costs.
  
• To defend his family name, at all costs.
  
• To protect the Dark Lord from those who would oppose him.
  
• To perfect his techniques in torture to ensure the greatest information retrieval rate.
  

Skills:

• Animagus (falcon)
  
• Manipulative and cunning
  
• Quite able to separate himself from trivial things like emotions.
  
• Intensely hyperrational; removed and distant, he has no problems rationalizing any act.
  
• Equally adept at healing and hurting.
  

Quirks:

• Touches his lips when he's deep in thought.
  
• His lips go thin and pale when he's getting angry.
  
• His eyes seem to come alive when he's frightening or hurting someone, and his voice gets an octave higher, showing his excitement.

BOGGART
A boggart could appear as one of his siblings, mortally wounded, or it could even appear as one of his siblings shaming the family in some grotesque way. If it's the former, he would banish it by forcing the boggart to assume the shape of the faceless attacker. If it's the latter, he would banish it by making the boggart-sibling's heart burst out of his or her chest and fly into their mouths, silencing them.

PATRONUS
If he casted a Patronus, it would be a falcon.

ERISED
His oldest brother, closest to the Dark Lord, and his second oldest brother standing in a lesser position of power. He himself would be half cast in shadow, manipulating the gossamer threads that brought his brothers into their positions of power. His younger siblings, the twins, would be outside of the web, safe and happy.

Personality:
For the most part, Jareth is a cold fish. He rationalizes everything, calculates endless possibilities to find what course of action would be most to his family's advantage. He gets perverse pleasure out of bringing fear to light in a lesser being's eyes. Generally speaking, all women are lesser beings, except for other Guards and his little sister. He likes order and precision - when things get messy or don't go as planned, he can become a little unhinged.

Year:
Graduated 1992
Preferred House:

Slytherin Alumni

Classes:

core classes: charms, potions (until fifth year), transfiguration, defense against the dark arts, flying (first years only), history of magic (until third year)
electives: potions (after fifth year), herbology, astronomy,

WAND
European Yew, 11 inches, pliable, with a hair from a thestral's mane.

BROOMSTICK
Nimbus 2000

OTHER MAGICAL DEVICES
He has numerous - NUMEROUS - magical tracking, capturing and torturing devices, many acquired from his family's Dark Arts shop.

Some examples: Ropes that can assume the shape of a creature that the wearer fears most, such as spiders or snakes. Tiny silver locusts that will track any person whom Jareth has something of theirs, returning with information pertaining to places the tracked person commonly frequents. A black matte throwing knife that can go much further than a muggle throwing knife at alarming speeds and enhanced accuracy.

He also has access to Dark items through his family and work connections.

Affiliation:
The Ministry, The Dark Lord, and his family name.
Why:
Jareth was brought up to idolize his father and protect his family. His father was a loyal servant to the Dark Lord, and logically it could only follow that Jareth wanted to follow in those footsteps.