Thomas Baines | Seventh Year | Ravenclaw

THOMAS ELLIOT BAINES

BIRTHDAY January 3rd
SPECIES Human
YEAR Seventh
HOUSE Ravenclaw
PATRONUS N/A

LENGTH 25,5 centimeters
WOOD Yew
CORE Wampus Hair

Reducio

The Baines family is a powerful, historic line of wizards. The second most recent generation of the Baines was a duo of brothers, Donal and Rowan. These two brothers competed throughout their time at Hogwarts, and even post graduation they seemed keen on one-upping one another. Despite their seemingly adversarial relationship, they were always closer than they appeared. When Donal found himself between a rock and a hard place, raising a daughter alone, he was welcome in Rowan’s home to stay for as long as he needed.

Which was why, of course, it was exceedingly peculiar that Rowan disappeared without informing his brother. It was even more peculiar that he didn’t inform his family, either. At the time, he’d been married to a muggle by the name of Margot Baines, who was raising a brown haired, blue eyed boy, Thomas. He was 5 when his father vanished without a trace. Little did Thomas know, he was off with another woman later on, and he had a sister he was entirely unaware of.

Despite the hardship that the two suffered because of it, Margot and Tommy persevered! Regardless of her status as a single parent, Margot raised Thomas as well as she could (which was, on the record, pretty darn well). Growing up with his Uncle Donal right around the corner proved to offer Tommy a strong male presence in his life, and his cousin Talulah was like the sister he never had. He grew up decidedly happy despite it all. The two cousins grew up with a relationship somewhere between siblings and best friends.

As Tommy grew older, he found himself growing out of his otherwise fairly shy shell. He made friends outside of his typical circle. One notable one was Sylvie O'Niell, a girl he and Tally met in kindergarten. The trio were nigh inseparable growing up.

Hard-pressed and constantly striving for success, Thomas was predisposed to fits of mild despair when things did not go his way. His perfectionism, while a driving force for his interests and passions, also proved to cause him fits of inwardly directed anger. After a particularly bad math test, Tommy found himself in a funk. Tally was never one to let her cousin mope, much to Tommy’s dismay, but in this particular instance Tommy was able to stave off her efforts at cheering him up. In his anger, the boy accidentally channeled his magic potential. Talulah found her toes disgustingly swollen, and so they remained for several hours.

They swore to never speak of the incident again.

Eventually, the Hogwarts letter arrived! While Tommy didn’t fully understand what was going on, still unaware of his wizard heritage, he pressed on without questioning his fate.

TLDR Despite being a half-blood, the absence of Thomas' wizarding father caused the boy to be raised by his muggle mother, completely isolated from magic as a whole.

"'Be the bigger person' is often thrown around by weaklings as a solution to interpersonal conflict."

Reducio

Thomas Baines once thrived on being the type of student professors remembered. Opinionated, confident, and quick-witted, Thomas had never been the friendliest face in the room but he was undeniably formidable. However, by the time his fifth year began, something in Tom had changed, and whatever fire had once burned in him was little more than smoldering embers. The abrupt resignation as dueling captain and from the team entirely had been the first sign of his decline. The boy who once lived for the thrill of a challenge had grown disinterested. Professors' prompts were met with half-hearted shrugs, if he responded at all. Assignments that once received meticulous attention were now left incomplete.

Worse than his academic apathy was the suffocating negativity that clung to him like miasma. Where his once cutting remarks had been tinged with humor, now they were laced with unfiltered disdain. Socializing became an irritation rather than an indulgence; Thomas made his distaste for company painfully obvious. Any who spoke to him was met with little more than exhausted cynicism, and his once sharp blue eyes were dulled by exhaustion. He walked the halls of Hogwarts with the presence of a ghost: gaunt, hollow.

Despite this, Tom carries himself as though this distance from the world was precisely what he wanted. He had chosen this isolation, repelling others with cold efficiency. Whether his bitterness stems from something specific or has simply settled into his bones over time was a question no one can answer, and Thomas certainly isn't offering explanations. Whatever had once driven him—pride, ambition, curiosity—is now buried beneath layers of disillusionment, and it seems that not even Tom himself could be bothered to dig it back up.

Traits
Independent (+)
Observant (+)

Tired (+/-)
Tactless (+/-)

Negative (-)
Paranoid (-)

Of average height for his age at 5’8” and rather scrawny, Thomas is far from an imposing character. His resting expression is typically a scowl, with a gaze that is constantly scanning the room and his surroundings rather than remaining focused. His eyes, despite being starkly blue, have a dullness to them that make him appear lifeless. Since his start at Hogwarts, Tom has discovered the unfortunate fact that he is nearsighted, and began wearing glasses during his seventh year. The brunette hair that frames his face is in need of a good haircut and perhaps a comb. Throughout Thomas' time at Hogwarts, his meticulously well-groomed appearance fell by the wayside, and now his robes are often wrinkled and disheveled due to lack of upkeep. Though he once cared about how he was perceived, the young man has far greater things to worry about. His short height is exaggerated by his hunched-over posture; standing as if he is constantly anticipating an attack of sorts on the horizon.