Physical Description: The first thing one would notice about Graham (Or Grey, as he’s usually known by) is that he has the unfortunate condition of many pre-teen boys of being all knees and elbows. He walks like it too, often stumbling over his own feet and bumping into things. He pulls off gangly and lanky, not because he is tall (he’s on the shorter side in fact) but because he’s thin as a rake with a big head, hands, and feet that he has yet to grow into, much like a puppy. A stubborn mop of brown hair looks like it hasn’t seen a comb or scissors in far too long, and offers occasional glimpses of his large green-brown eyes. A spattering of dusty freckles (or is that dirt? Could be either) sit on his olive skin, inherited from his Spanish mother. From his Scottish father, he inherited big ears, and a dumb blank expression with mouth open, head sideways, and one eye squinted, when forced to think hard about anything (which happens to be much more than Grey would like admitted...or sprawled across his face in this case).

Mental Description: Graham generally gives off an air of being much more simple-minded than he is. It doesn't help that he has a goofy laugh, and gets distracted with things like any trails fairly easily. He spends a lot of time thinking about serious hard questions, then blurts them out when folks least expect. He's quite kind, but seems to have difficulty making and keeping friends. It isn't unusual for him to become obsessed with something, talk about it incessantly for a week, then drop it as soon as something else takes his fancy. His curiosity has a habit of leading him to more trouble than answers, but it hasn't stopped him yet.

Graham is an okay student who works hard at his work when he can get past distractions, and is helped particularly by his overarching obsession of all things magical.

Biography: Though Graham is wizard-born, his parents were not. Both happy with their muggle-born lives, they did their very best to give their children a “normal” life on their village smallholding in Scotland. The uses of magic in the home were there, but there was still plenty of manual labour around the farm done the “old fashioned way” to teach the pleasures of honest hard work. Unlike his older brother, Grey never had the build or mind for such things. He would do as he was asked, muck out the horse stall, or help with the weeding, but as soon as he had finished he would be off running through the village or out exploring the woods. Rainy days were spent huddled indoors around the kitchen table along with his brother (before he went off to Hogwarts) and twin younger sisters as their mother would homeschool them.

As soon as Graham learned at the age of six that magic set his family apart from many of the other folks in the village, he became absolutely transfixed by it. It was something special that his friends didn’t have. Sure, they had the latest gaming system and he didn’t, but he had magic. Or at least, his parents did. Much to the concern of his parents, it became commonplace for him to ask strangers wearing large overcoats or big floppy hats what magic is their specialty, and the name of their house elf. Most turned out to be Muggles of course, and had no idea what he was talking about, but his curiosity to know and learn was happy to take the chance.

Grey’s brother went to Hogwarts when Grey was eight, and that sealed the deal. It was all Grey would talk about, and when his brother came home, he suddenly was around for farm chores more often, for no other reason than to have a chance of hearing more about Hogwarts and learning magic. When the day came that Graham would go to the school himself, he was all to eager to leave his family and muggle friends behind, excited for what could possibly be in store.

First Instance of Magic: The village children didn't know what to think when the then-five-year-old Grey tripped over the edge of a steep gorge in the woods. They knew even less of what to think when he floated back up again, realitvely unharmed. Grey's brother knew what to think and groaned that it had happened on his watch.
"He just flew," said a boy, not sure whether to be amazed or scared.
"No he didn't," said the brother.
"I saw him trip," said a little girl holding a doll. "He went clean over the edge. He should be smudged into the riverbed by now."
"Well I'm not," said Gray, just as amazed as everyone else. His brother gave him a look that said "keep your mouth shut or I'll shut it for you," and he wisely did, snapping his teeth hard.
"You're all going crazy," said his brother. "Can't believe what your eyes see these days. C'mon Grey, going home now." Just like that, the two boys headed off back through the woods, the older shoving the younger away from the edge as he threatened to trip once more.
"Always knew there was something weird about them," muttered a boy with a hooked nose. The others nodded in agreement. "Alright then, who was it for tag?"