Arden, Evan: History, Etc.

[Evan Arden]

Character History:
Nathaniel Evanson Arden was the youngest out of three boys. Both of his parents were purebloods, but neither was exceptionally rich, so from a young age Evan learned that he - like his brothers - had to chip in and pull his weight around the house, even if it was only by washing dishes or packing his own lunches when they went on a day trip somewhere.

Evan's older brothers, Greyson and Nicholas, taught him how to ride a broom when he was six years old and had outgrown his toy broomstick. Evan's favorite thing to do after chores was go out into the countryside with Greyson and Nicholas, taking turns on the family broom until the sun set.

Being much younger than both of his brothers, he was left to his own devices during terms at Hogwarts. Though he generally tried to stay out of trouble, he, like all boys his age, managed to get caught up in it anyway. Luckily, for his parents anyway, it was never the sort of trouble that made neighbors whisper and glare.

When Evan finally started his first year at Hogwarts, Nicholas was in his fourth year and Greyson was starting his seventh and last year. Greyson was a Gryffindor, and Nicholas was a Ravenclaw. While both of the other boys were surprised at the Sorting Hat's choice, neither one of them gave Evan too hard a time of it.

While Evan had hoped the hat would place him in one of his brother's houses, he grew accustomed quickly to Hogwarts life from a Slytherin's perspective. In his second year, he became a reserve Seeker for the Quidditch team - when Allison, the fifth year Seeker, went mental over her workload and refused to play any more, he finally got his permanent spot on the team.

Evan practiced hard, and although he didn't have the fanciest broom, he made up for it with diligence and a bit of good old fashioned Slytherin cunning. His best and worst moment was winning the cup for Slytherin by snatching the Snitch right out from under the Ravenclaw Seeker's nose in the last game of the season. His brother, Nicholas, was a Ravenclaw Chaser, which was why it was also one of his worst moments. Nicholas was surprisingly good natured about it, though, congratulating his little brother warmly and keeping any resentment to himself.

Then there came the day when Nicholas was gone from Hogwarts, too, and it was just Evan in school with no big brothers to look up to or have to look out for him. Again, nothing that a bit of hard work, diligence, and a dash of cunning couldn't handle.

He made his mother proud by becoming a Prefect in his 5th year, and he even managed to come off with 7 Owls. Sixth year started off preparing for N.E.W.T's right off the bat, and now, in his seventh year, he's sweating right alongside the rest of the school.

»»A LITTLE INSIGHT[/color]

Likes:

• Steak and kidney pie.
  
• Getting care packages from his family.
  
• Earning points for his House.
  
• Playing Quidditch (duh).
  
• His sneaky little rat, Zillah.
  

Dislikes:

• Gryffindor, but only on principle. It's not a vendetta or anything.
  
• Being ridiculed or embarrassed. His ears turn red along with the rest of him and he's easily flustered at that point.
  
• Getting caught doing anything that would lose his House points.
  
• Going against the flow - it's easier just to ride the tide and find your own way out of it.
  
• Inwardly, he believes all the pureblood hype is a bit pathetic, but he never admits this to anyone at school.
  

Fears:

• That the Sorting Hat saw something dark and ugly in him that he isn't aware of yet.
  
• Losing his place on the Quidditch team.
  
• That something bad will happen to his family with all this intrigue going on outside Hogwarts.
  
• Embarrassing himself in front of a cute girl. Hey, all guys fear that, and the ones who say they aren't afraid are lying.
  

Goals:

• Graduate with higher marks than the Head Boy, since he narrowly missed out on getting the position himself.
  
• To do whatever's necessary to live his own life without being a pawn in the schemes of others.. even if that means setting up situations to his own advantage.
  
• To find a way to make a lot of money so his parents can stop working so hard, as well as his brothers.
  
• To win the House and Quidditch Cups on this, his last year of school.
  

Skills:

• Evan seems quiet, even a little friendly, which confuses people sometimes as to why he was placed in Slytherin. Beneath that quiet exterior, however, his mind is always working, calculating everything from several different angles.
  
• Evan is extremely observant, not only of his surroundings but of people as well. He has an intuitive grasp of body language and generally knows when he's being lied too or when something is upsetting somebody.
  
• Evan was a good flier before he got his Nimbus - now he's a blur of silver-green awesomeness.
  
• Evan has willpower and self discipline, mainly because of his upbringing. Without house elves or nanny's to give him a sense of entitlement, he knows that homework doesn't do itself, assignments don't magically appear on a professor's desk, and that if he wants something, he needs to do it himself.
  

Quirks:

• Evan's greatest strength is his sharp mind.
  
• Evan's greatest weakness is his need to control his environment; when things get out of control he gets flustered.
  
• Evan isn't as much of a stranger to trouble as people think. He's just very good at not getting caught.
  

BOGGART
It could be anything from a rogue bludger coming to crush him senseless (if he saw one close to an upcoming quidditch match) to a teacher coming to tell him his parents or one of his brothers were killed (if he saw one following some nasty bit of news in the Prophet). Truth is, his fears change often, and so would the face of his boggarts. The important thing is that he has a tendency to joke about himself amongst friends, and thus has the necessary sense of humor to laugh a boggart out of existence.

PATRONUS
IF Evan could cast a Patronus, it would be a fox.

ERISED
Himself, with Nicholas and Greyson on either side of him, each with an arm slung over his shoulder, while he proudly holds the Quidditch Cup, admiring its reflection. His parents leaning casually into one another, looking well fed and rested. Some really cute girl trying to catch his eye from the back of the room.

Personality:
Evan is fairly quiet. He doesn't speak out of turn in classrooms or join in often when other Slytherins are poking fun at kids in rivaling Houses. He's got a quick wit, though, and a dry sense of humor. A lot of people don't even realize he's insulted them until a few days later, when they've had time to absorb the sly suckerpunch to their ego. When he's in the Slytherin common room, surrounded by friends, he's more talkative, but never overly revealing. He doesn't like to talk much about his family or their financial standing, and while he doesn't openly join in on mudblood bashing, he never speaks his true mind on the matter, either.

Evan is sensitive to the people around him, and knows when a joke has been taken too far or when to press a situation more firmly to his advantage. He's the planning type - when something needs to be done that could get himself or friends into trouble, he's the one who works everything out first, gauging the risk factor versus the benefits and coming up with excuses to give if anyone should get caught. When he's prepared, he can lie convincingly - when caught off guard, his chances at coming up with a foolproof lie on the spot are drastically diminished.

»»SCHOOLING[/color]

Year:
Seventh Year
Preferred House:

Slytherin for the cunning, ambitious, and self-preserving

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), quidditch, history of magic (after third year), astronomy, divination, care of magical creatures

WAND
Holly, 10 ³/₄ inches, bendy, with a single hair from the tail of a unicorn.

BROOMSTICK
His brothers chipped in post-Hogwarts to buy him a Nimbus 2000 last year. It's his most prized possession.

OTHER MAGICAL DEVICES
For his first year of school, his parents got him one of the sleek black rats from Magical Menagerie, because he wasn't fond of cats, was too embarrassed to have a toad, and they couldn't afford a second owl.

»»THE WAR[/color]

Affiliation:
Evan more or less keeps out of politics, but if wheedled for an answer, he'd likely say he was loyal to the Ministry... regardless of who's running it at the time.
Why:
Because it's safer to go with an organizational power rather than any particular idealistic group. Death eaters? Crazy. The resistance? Whackjobs. The Ministry, regardless of who has control over it, will always stand, and no one can blame a citizen for supporting their Ministry.