Ency. Oliver Brown
Ability or Race I am applying for. Obnoxiously Strong
Why it fits my character.

Reducio

Olivers father, Marcus Brown, was a muggle. A muggle who loved his family as much as sports. Marcus often brought Oliver on outings to exercise, he had been doing this for 7 years. They would go jogging by the park, soccer on their ( humongous ) backyard, and lots of other sports. Oliver would do this almost everyday, even when he went to hogwarts, he would go on his daily run and exercise routine before attending classes. He had been doing this everyday ( exceptions to some days where he didn’t feel like it ). Oliver was athletic, he was strong compared to a regular twelve year old. Exercise was second on Olivers list, study was always the first. What is the point of being strong if you don’t have wits? He was in Ravenclaw not just by chance after all. Oliver had also been receiving packages from his father, mostly things like soccer balls and other things, however the package he got 2 months before his first year graduation were dumbbells. They weren’t really heavy, but still a bit of a challenge to carry. He didn’t know who had plopped it down at the foot of his bed, he was happy to have something else to work with, but he also felt bad for the owls who had to bring it here. After a while, some of his dorm mates noticed his routine ( which took them long enough ) they asked to join and Oliver agreed, he was not only getting his 30 minutes of exercise, he was getting another 30 minutes for teaching. It was a win win, and slowly but surely, Oliver got stronger, snd stronger. He even once challenged a 3rd year to a fitness challenge and barely just won. He had won, but for him it wasn’t enough. It could have just been luck, but that experience caused him to be more determined to work harder, and to get stronger. During the summer break, he spent most of his free time either doing homework or playing sports with his father, or by himself. He would often practice in the morning till late afternoon. He would also go on to join sports camp, and join a local competition on badminton, where he won first prize. Some people were amazed by him, not expecting much from him when they first saw him. That was before they saw how obnoxiously strong Oliver was.

406 Words

STATUS: Approved - Maya, 6 July

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Metamorphagus | Ability | Ability Sta 5 | Eva 6 | Str 9 Obnoxiously Strong | Ability | Ability | Ability

Oliver Brown

Encyclopedia Portkey Wis 4 | Arc 5 | Acc 6 Super Nova Shop Portkey

STATUS: Approved - Maya, 6 July

The moment that Sophie Bonet was born, a gasp emitted from the team of doctors surrounding her. Her birth was easy and smooth as the majority of the wizarding hospital staff had rushing to ease her mother's pain. As babies were to be wrinkly, bloody, and ugly, Sophie's birth had stood out amongst others. Beyond the covering of bodily fluids was golden skin, and a tuft of silver blond hair on her head, a drastic difference from the usual pale skin of a babe. Two large and sparkling doe eyes had already entranced the maternity nurses into wanting to steal her from her mother's arms and even the doctor had to fight the urge to request a brief hold.

Sophie's mother was always stunning, from birth to death. Her fanning golden hair matched with her gleaming skin and vibrant eyes had her hypnotizing every person that crossed her path. Sophie's mother didn't need money or experience, it just took a quick smile and a flip of her hair to obtain food on the house or a position in an office. That privilege extended to Sophie as a child, with people stopping on the street to coo and touch.

Sophie accepted this part of her life as a natural thing, growing up with her idea of beauty being her mother unbeknownst of her veela status. However Sophie soon saw the darker version of beauty. When Sophie was 4, a few months before her mother's passing, she woke up in bed to a screaming match. As she waddled out of her room and peeked from the top of the stairs, she saw her mother and father arguing intensely. She watched as the fight grew, and hands begin to fly. All of the sudden, her mother shuddered and screamed, wings beginning to sprout from her back, shirt ripping and replaced by feathers. Her sharp nose and heart-shaped lips extended into a pointed beak, erasing the majority of her face from view. Her hands began emitting a red glow as her eyes grew beady. Sophie, terrified would run back to her room, hiding the memory of her mother's true form.

After Sophie grew up, she began to mirror her mother. She had inherited her clear skin, straight nose, and golden locs as well as her rosy cheeks and thick eyebrows. There was almost no presence of her father's DNA except for her eyes, almost as if her mother had possessed her entire image. Sophie begin to notice unexplainable things about her appearance. How her hair would fan even with no wind, how her teeth were sparkling even though she forgot to brush her teeth, how even when she stayed up all night, dark eye-bags were never present.

With Sophie's advancement in age, came the consequences of her beauty. People would stop her in the street, boys in school would make crass jokes and girls would splash water (somehow only making her prettier.) Sophie became increasingly confused. There were many gorgeous boys and girls at her school but no one ever seemed to pursue them, why was she of all people getting the attention. She began to read up on the history of magic, taking special interest in the description of races. A chapter dedicated to Veela would write " incredibly beautiful women, with moon-bright skin and white-gold hair that fans out behind them despite the absence of wind. They have the ability to hypnotize and mesmerize most men and some women with their seductive dance, who will then try to impress them. Their faces turn into cruel-beaked bird-like heads while long scaly wings burst from their shoulders, and they can launch balls of fire from their hands."

Sophie immediately remembered her mother, connecting the dots on all the moments in her life that matched with the description of a Veela. All the times she would ask for something and people came running, how she would be followed and stalked, her mother's avian transformation, and her otherworldly features. Sophie would rush home to her father, book in hand, demanding answers to which her father removed his glasses, sat her down, and told her the truth of her Veela heritage.

Status: Approved, Beatrice, 7 July

Status: Approved, Beatrice, 7 July

Link to your encyclopedia thread: RAWR
Name of Ability or Race/Talent that you Are Applying for: Y1: Fearless, Y2: Sixth Sense, Y3: Martial Artist, Y4: Evasive Maneuvers, Y5: Nonverbal Magic, Y6: Apparition, Y7: Legilimency
Describe why this fits your character (not why you the player want it):

Abilities

First Year: Fearless

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Galahad lived a relatively sheltered muggle life until he learned he was a wizard. His parents were well aware of the dangers that came with living out in the world and they firmly impressed it upon him. He felt that he was completely reliant on their protection or he would become lost, or worse, if he deviated from what he was told to do.

Then he found out he was a wizard and boy howdy, it was so much worse than they even knew. Muggle dangers were bad enough: rabid dogs, germs, stranger danger. But the wizard dangers were so much more terrifying. On his very first boat ride at Hogwarts he learned about the giant squid. Imagine keeping a giant squid near children! Then there were werewolves, hags, and he heard one of the upperclassmen whispering about something called a nundu.

Needless to say, he was absolutely terrified. He was starting to lose hope that the wizarding world was the place for him, with all of its very real dangers, and wrote to his mother about it. He explained how he was supposed to be in this house that was full of people so brave when he was terrified to even leave his dormitory. His mother wrote back that when he was younger, he couldn’t defend himself and they needed to protect him, but he was growing into a young man now that could defend himself, and that he could do it.

Galahad didn’t quite believe her but he had quickly learned about Aurors once he’d gotten to school and he knew it was what he wanted to be. Aurors struck him as being the equivalent to muggle policemen and in his mind there was no higher calling than to hold the line against the forces of evil and chaos, and he knew that if he really wanted to do that, he had to learn to control his fears and stand alone.

He started with his most tangible fear first: the fear of the dark. He locked himself in an empty storeroom and extinguished all the torches. At first, he was absolutely terrified and had to relight the torches right away. He continued to repeat the process until he went from terrified, to scared, to uncomfortable, to finally feeling normal in it.

He did the same thing with his fear of heights. He climbed to the top of the owlery and looked down at the grounds. He literally sprinted out of the tower a few times but eventually, he became comfortable and was able to enjoy the view.

Finally, he conquered his fear of the giant squid. On one Saturday evening, he went for a swim in the Great Lake. He was terrified he’d get picked up, or eaten, or god knows what else in the process but nothing happened, and eventually he wound up floating on the surface next to one of the squid’s tentacles. It had cost him a detention but was well worth it. By conquering these small fears he changed his perspective, his fear changed to curiosity and a need for understanding.

Second Year: Sixth Sense

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When he’d come home for the summer, Galahad’s mother lavished him with praise for overcoming his fears. She also counseled him that just because he had overcome that didn’t mean he was invincible and with courage also came prudence. He needed to be cautious to ensure that he didn’t invite trouble to his door. He also imagined that if he were to become an Auror, he would have to keep a keen eye on his surroundings and those around him for his own protection, and he didn’t want to be reliant on anyone else for that.

To that end, Galahad sought to hone his sense so he knew when danger might be coming. While last year he went into the broom closet to try and conquer his fear of the dark, he tried to take it a step further now. In the absence of light, he tried to focus his other senses to gain more information on his surroundings. He trained himself to hear better and pick up sounds he’d never noticed before. He became more at once with his feelings. He could feel more subtle vibrations than he did before that gave him a better impression of the disturbances around him.

Once had honed his senses, Galahad tried to put his self training to use in a more practical manner. Before, when he had been in the Great Hall at meals, all he could hear was the din of dishes and the mass of people having conversations at once. In truth, it had caused him sensory overload, but with the practice he'd done, he was able to focus on specific conversations. He didn't do this to eavesdrop (in fact, truth be told, most of the conversations in the great hall were dreadfully dull), he just did it to practice. He found that it helped greatly because rather than being overloaded, he could pick up on subtle sounds that indicated when someone came into or left a room, or if someone was moving slowly behind him. He could even hear the subtlest swish of a cloak now.

Galahad also honed his senses in other ways. He worked on just focusing on his surroundings when he was watching a room or a group of people. He started to be able to track the subtle movements of people. The primers for their actions that took place before them. He was able to anticipate their movements and what they would do next. It was nothing like foresight or anything supernatural. He had simply honed his senses so that the way he looked at the world was much more perceptive than most.

In doing so he knew that even though he may not have a healthy sense of fear, he would at least be aware of his surroundings so he would have a chance to react if he needed to.

Third Year: Martial Artist

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Ever since his first week at Hogwarts, Galahad had taken a keen interest in dueling. He'd gone to the first meeting of the Gryffindor Dueling Club and been hooked right away. The precision, the speed, the grace with which everyone moved. It was like the most precise of dances being done right in front of him. It was truly remarkable to watch. And so he'd resolved to learn as much as he could and get into dueling at the first opportunity. At the same time, as he learned to fight he also realized that sometimes you couldn't rely on your wand to solve all your problems. He knew the life of an Auror was one fraught with danger where you would likely be on your own and he needed some way to defend himself if he ever got separated from his wand.

When he'd been a child, Galahad had loved watching martial arts movies with his parents. He was a great fan of Bruce Lee movies. The speed and power with which he moved. He looked absolutely indestructible, although Galahad wasn't naive. He knew that everyone was human and was just as capable of being hurt as anyone else. Still, he got it in his head that if he learned martial arts, he would be better able to face whatever was thrown at him in school or in the future once he'd entered adulthood.

After his second year, Galahad told his parents he wanted to learn karate. His mother was needless to say confused because she figured he was a wizard, what possible use could he have for karate? And so he explained some of the world to her and the mechanics, how it was possible to deflect spells and even take someone's wand away from them. After hearing him out, she was convinced and enrolled him at the dojo in town.

Galahad had really immersed himself in his training. He went to class three times a week, explaining to his instructors that he went to a boarding school that didn't offer karate training (which was close enough to the truth) and wanted to learn as much as he could in the time he had. The training was rough and at some times, brutal. He came home bruised a few times but every time he did it he learned more and more and refined his skills. He was able to punch and jab in powerful, short bursts that left him open to a counterpunch for a short amount of time. He worked hard on his grappling with one hand, so if he were in a duel and were close enough for hand to hand combat he could cast with one hand and grapple with the other. He worked on his kicks specifically to sweep the legs out from under his opponents so that he could immobilize them and gain the advantage. The choke hold was the move he worked on the least because, truth be told, he was afraid he'd choke someone too much and seriously hurt them, but he did learn it and could use it if he had to.

Fourth Year: Evasive Maneuvers

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Just as all of his lessons built upon themselves year on year, Galahad's own independent study and training continued year on year, everything building upon what he'd previously trained himself to do. Galahad had gone from a scared child to a person in control of his senses and his body. Still, he was always looking for ways to push himself further. As he came back for summer break once more he re-enrolled at his dojo and resumed his training once more, but since he knew how to throw a punch and take a punch, he devoted most of his energy to learning to avoid a blow. Instead of blocking or parrying, he put a lot of focus into dodging and weaving and counterpunching. His skill at reading people greatly aided in this because he could tell if they were rearing back to let fly or favoring one side of the other. It was a bit painful at first because if he didn't block or failed to get out of the way he was simply punched, but he found that it didn't take him long to start to learn. Soon, punches and kicks went from being full on body shots to glancing blows on his sides or his arms and soon, he was avoiding them altogether.

He applied this training in other areas too. He was no broom racer or quidditch player but in flying class when he could he would try to fly around trees or other obstacles and avoid them. He got a few scratches here and there but the training definitely paid off. He wasn't an amazing flier by any means but he could dodge the big stuff which was really the most important thing to him.

Another way he trained his agility was by running through the makeshift obstacle course that was the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He knew it wasn't the smartest idea (as well as being off limits) but there wasn't really a full-blown obstacle course he could run through at Hogwarts. It was excellent training, especially with unseen objects that were low to the ground. One time he'd tripped and very nearly broken his nose but it was all worth it. Soon he was maneuvering in and out of the trees with ease, avoiding obstacles and weaving in and out of the trees. He finally stopped these exercises when a prefect caught him out on maneuvers. He was able to talk himself out of a detention but had to swear that he wouldn't do it again. He stayed true to his word and confined his running to the grounds or around Hogsmede if there was a weekend trip to be had.

Fifth Year: Nonverbal Magic

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When it came time to begin preparing for his O.W.L.s, Galahad decided to take stock the summer after his fourth year. He’d spent a lot of his time outside of school working on his physical abilities but it was time to focus on his magical abilities. By this time, he’d long known that he wanted to be an Auror. He had thought about it a lot since he started at Hogwarts and it sounded like a career he’d be well suited for. He excelled in Defense Against the Dark Arts and was good in the other classes you needed O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in to qualify for the profession, and he had a strong moral code, and thanks to his upbringing, he believed in the idea of protecting the innocent from the evils of the world.

Galahad did some reading on some of the more advanced casting techniques and narrowed it down to two options: wandless magic or nonverbal magic. He decided on nonverbal because he figured that he already knew martial arts to try and defend himself if he was without his wand and if he were to become an Auror, silent casting seemed like something that would definitely be useful.

Unlike most things, Galahad’s first few attempts at nonverbal magic were total failures. He was starting small, trying to use Lumos to light his wand without speaking. The first session nothing happened at all and he was very disheartened but he knew he had to keep working at it. He resolved to read up on the subject more before he continued with his attempts. He knew he could probably ask one of his professors but he valued his independence and wanted to do this on his own. He was already looking ahead to his life as an Auror and was afraid that any connections we had with people could make him (or them) vulnerable as a means to get to him.

After a couple of days in the library he found what the problem was, he needed to close his mind and focus all his thoughts on the spell he was trying to cast. He supposed it made sense, speaking the incantation required focus but this was a step beyond that, it felt like it almost required a telepathic relationship with ones wand. Once he made this breakthrough his training started to go much better. Within an hour he was able to light the tip of his wand consistently through non-verbal magic.

From there he moved on to what he thought would be the next logical progression: nonverbal magic on inanimate objects. His first move was to attempt to set little scrap bits of parchment on fire using Incendio. This was a bit trickier but after about three hours of work he’d done it for the first time, and within another three, he was also doing this consistently.

The real test was in dueling, however, using nonverbal magic on another person. In a duel against Slytherin, where one of his most hated rivals was on the other team, he finally succeeded. After being hit with a jinx he must’ve looked like he was going to shake it off but instead, he focused his mind and managed to counterpunch his opponent with Fliipendo, causing him to topple over.

Sixth Year: Apparition

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Galahad had always had mixed feelings about apparition when he'd heard people talk about it. On the one hand, he really loved the idea of being able to leave one place and be in another instantaneously. On the other hand, from everything he heard that was a whole hell of a lot that could go wrong and he didn't much like the idea of leaving any part of him behind if he messed up. There seemed to be very little margin for error, if any. Still, after his fifth year he decided the pros definitely outweighed the cons and that he just had to learn it.

He really wanted to take the class in the summer to learn to do it as soon as possible, but that simply wasn't practical. He lived in a muggle household in Ireland. His family could not afford to take a multi-week trip to London and connecting the house to the Floo Network was out of the question as it was a muggle house. So instead, the first time the course was offered at Hogwarts he signed up for it and set out to learn. The first few attempts were very frustrating because he was unable to move at all. Galahad wasn't a genius but he normally picked things up pretty quickly so to fail so often from the outset was both unusual and frustrating. Still, it was really important to him to master it and he really set his mind to it.

It wasn't until the third session that Galahad really started to make some appreciable progress. He found the best way to do it was to adopt the mindset he did when he was first learning non-verbal casting. He tried to empty his mind completely and really focus on the task at hand. Point A to Point B, simple as that, think of nothing else. This mindset started to work and he started making actual progress. The first time he actually managed to move he sadly splinched himself. Fortunately, the incident was minor and he only lost half his left eyebrow. Minimal pain and a lot of gain, plus, it would grow back.

The day finally came for him to take the final exam and get his license. He decided to forego breakfast so that he wouldn't have anything to throw up if he botched his apparition attempt. His instructor gave him the target and Galahad cleared his mind completely. He stood there for about five seconds but in his mind it felt like hours. He was unblinking, all focus, visualizing the target area in his mind. Finally, he closed his eyes and turned on the spot. He somehow knew that it had worked before he opened his eyes again. He did and to his unfettered excitement, he had done it.

Unlike some newly licensed wizards, Galahad still chose not to apparate unless he had to because of how uncomfortable it was and how many things could go wrong.

Seventh Year: Legilimency

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Going into his Seventh Year, Galahad was satisfied with the state of his magical education from an academic perspective. He was excelling in all of his classes, and now all that was left was to find a way to really round himself out. He thought he was already an attractive prospect for the Auror Office once he graduated, but he really wanted to find a way to give himself an edge. To that end, in his free time, he delved into the depths of the library once again. He also approached his Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor and asked them what they thought he should consider and they told him he should consider Legilimency: the ability to enter a person’s mind and interpret their thoughts. Galahad thought about this and could immediately see how it could be useful to him, especially as an Auror. Have a suspect who you think is lying or won’t talk? Why not find the answer for yourself. It looked incredibly complex but he thought that if he could figure out how to do it properly it would be well worth it.

Based on the readings he found in theory it sounded simple enough: maintain eye contact with the subject and concentrate completely on their mind and thoughts. The real trick once you were in seemed to be interpreting those thoughts. If you lacked the intelligence or will to interpret them you would simply be left with a pile of gibberish.

As he tried to put what he learned into practice, Galahad’s biggest problem was the fact that he didn’t know who to practice on. He knew he needed to be very careful because the idea of being able to invade someone’s mind and read their thoughts could really terrify people. He decided to ask his dueling partner if he’d be willing to let Galahad try it on him. His partner was understandably nervous but, given they’d been partnered for so long and were so close, trusted Galahad completely and decided to let him try.

The first few attempts were needless to say, fruitless. Galahad focused with all his might but was unable to even enter his partner’s mind. On what felt like that 20th attempt, concentrating (at least it felt) harder than he’d ever concentrated before, he achieved entry. Still, he didn’t make much progress once he was in, it was all just a blur of passing thoughts. Over the next few weeks, however, Galahad began to make progress. It was incremental, at first, he was able to understand the feelings his partner felt when he thought of certain memories, then, he was actually able to focus in on the specific memory he was thinking of at the time. After a couple of months, he was actually able to probe his partner’s mind and go from memory to memory, being able to run through blocks that the mind put up but careful not to invade any areas his partner clearly didn’t want explored..

Although he was proficient when practicing Legilimency with his partner, he knew it would be a different manner if he ever had to use it in his work on an unwilling participant. Still, he was pleased with the progress he’d made and was at least happy to have the basic mechanics down.
Orion has given me permission to reference the DADA professor of the time

Trunk Code: (Note I also edited the trunk code to reflect that Galahad has all standard year 1-7 spells and potions because the empty reducios hurt my brain).

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Code: Select all

[quote][center][size=150][b]- Trunk -[/b][/size]

[size=125][b][u]Statistics[/u][/b][/size][/center]
[center][b]STA:[/b] 13 | [b]EVA:[/b] 10 | [b]STR:[/b] 5 | [b]WIS[/b]: 13 | [b]ARC:[/b] 10 | [b]ACC:[/b] 14[/center][/quote]
[quote][center][size=125][b][u]Adult Achievement Log[/b][/u][/size]

2023 - removed 5 stat points to take a special ability[/quote][/center]
[quote][center][size=125][b][u]Spells Acquired[/u][/b][/size][/center]
[reducio]All standard 1st to 7th Year Spells[/reducio]
[/quote]
[quote][center][size=125][b][u]Potions Known[/u][/b][/size][/center]
[reducio]All standard 1st to 7th Year Potions[/reducio]
[/quote]
[quote][center][size=125][b][u]Abilities[/b][/u][/size][/center]

[quote][quote][b]First Year:[/b] Fearless
[reducio]Galahad lived a relatively sheltered muggle life until he learned he was a wizard. His parents were well aware of the dangers that came with living out in the world and they firmly impressed it upon him. He felt that he was completely reliant on their protection or he would become lost, or worse, if he deviated from what he was told to do.

Then he found out he was a wizard and boy howdy, it was so much worse than they even knew. Muggle dangers were bad enough: rabid dogs, germs, stranger danger. But the wizard dangers were so much more terrifying. On his very first boat ride at Hogwarts he learned about the giant squid. Imagine keeping a giant squid near children! Then there were werewolves, hags, and he heard one of the upperclassmen whispering about something called a nundu.

Needless to say, he was absolutely terrified. He was starting to lose hope that the wizarding world was the place for him, with all of its very real dangers, and wrote to his mother about it. He explained how he was supposed to be in this house that was full of people so brave when he was terrified to even leave his dormitory. His mother wrote back that when he was younger, he couldn’t defend himself and they needed to protect him, but he was growing into a young man now that could defend himself, and that he could do it.

Galahad didn’t quite believe her but he had quickly learned about Aurors once he’d gotten to school and he knew it was what he wanted to be. Aurors struck him as being the equivalent to muggle policemen and in his mind there was no higher calling than to hold the line against the forces of evil and chaos, and he knew that if he really wanted to do that, he had to learn to control his fears and stand alone. 

He started with his most tangible fear first: the fear of the dark. He locked himself in an empty storeroom and extinguished all the torches. At first, he was absolutely terrified and had to relight the torches right away. He continued to repeat the process until he went from terrified, to scared, to uncomfortable, to finally feeling normal in it.

He did the same thing with his fear of heights. He climbed to the top of the owlery and looked down at the grounds. He literally sprinted out of the tower a few times but eventually, he became comfortable and was able to enjoy the view.

Finally, he conquered his fear of the giant squid. On one Saturday evening, he went for a swim in the Great Lake. He was terrified he’d get picked up, or eaten, or god knows what else in the process but nothing happened, and eventually he wound up floating on the surface next to one of the squid’s tentacles. It had cost him a detention but was well worth it. By conquering these small fears he changed his perspective, his fear changed to curiosity and a need for understanding.[/reducio]
[/quote]

[quote][b]Second Year:[/b] Sixth Sense
[reducio]When he’d come home for the summer, Galahad’s mother lavished him with praise for overcoming his fears. She also counseled him that just because he had overcome that didn’t mean he was invincible and with courage also came prudence. He needed to be cautious to ensure that he didn’t invite trouble to his door. He also imagined that if he were to become an Auror, he would have to keep a keen eye on his surroundings and those around him for his own protection, and he didn’t want to be reliant on anyone else for that.

To that end, Galahad sought to hone his sense so he knew when danger might be coming. While last year he went into the broom closet to try and conquer his fear of the dark, he tried to take it a step further now. In the absence of light, he tried to focus his other senses to gain more information on his surroundings. He trained himself to hear better and pick up sounds he’d never noticed before. He became more at once with his feelings. He could feel more subtle vibrations than he did before that gave him a better impression of the disturbances around him.

Once had honed his senses, Galahad tried to put his self training to use in a more practical manner. Before, when he had been in the Great Hall at meals, all he could hear was the din of dishes and the mass of people having conversations at once. In truth, it had caused him sensory overload, but with the practice he'd done, he was able to focus on specific conversations. He didn't do this to eavesdrop (in fact, truth be told, most of the conversations in the great hall were dreadfully dull), he just did it to practice. He found that it helped greatly because rather than being overloaded, he could pick up on subtle sounds that indicated when someone came into or left a room, or if someone was moving slowly behind him. He could even hear the subtlest swish of a cloak now.

Galahad also honed his senses in other ways. He worked on just focusing on his surroundings when he was watching a room or a group of people. He started to be able to track the subtle movements of people. The primers for their actions that took place before them. He was able to anticipate their movements and what they would do next. It was nothing like foresight or anything supernatural. He had simply honed his senses so that the way he looked at the world was much more perceptive than most.

In doing so he knew that even though he may not have a healthy sense of fear, he would at least be aware of his surroundings so he would have a chance to react if he needed to.[/reducio]
[/quote]

[quote][b]Third Year:[/b] Martial Artist
[reducio]Ever since his first week at Hogwarts, Galahad had taken a keen interest in dueling. He'd gone to the first meeting of the Gryffindor Dueling Club and been hooked right away. The precision, the speed, the grace with which everyone moved. It was like the most precise of dances being done right in front of him. It was truly remarkable to watch. And so he'd resolved to learn as much as he could and get into dueling at the first opportunity. At the same time, as he learned to fight he also realized that sometimes you couldn't rely on your wand to solve all your problems. He knew the life of an Auror was one fraught with danger where you would likely be on your own and he needed some way to defend himself if he ever got separated from his wand.

When he'd been a child, Galahad had loved watching martial arts movies with his parents. He was a great fan of Bruce Lee movies. The speed and power with which he moved. He looked absolutely indestructible, although Galahad wasn't naive. He knew that everyone was human and was just as capable of being hurt as anyone else. Still, he got it in his head that if he learned martial arts, he would be better able to face whatever was thrown at him in school or in the future once he'd entered adulthood.

After his second year, Galahad told his parents he wanted to learn karate. His mother was needless to say confused because she figured he was a wizard, what possible use could he have for karate? And so he explained some of the world to her and the mechanics, how it was possible to deflect spells and even take someone's wand away from them. After hearing him out, she was convinced and enrolled him at the dojo in town.

Galahad had really immersed himself in his training. He went to class three times a week, explaining to his instructors that he went to a boarding school that didn't offer karate training (which was close enough to the truth) and wanted to learn as much as he could in the time he had. The training was rough and at some times, brutal. He came home bruised a few times but every time he did it he learned more and more and refined his skills. He was able to punch and jab in powerful, short bursts that left him open to a counterpunch for a short amount of time. He worked hard on his grappling with one hand, so if he were in a duel and were close enough for hand to hand combat he could cast with one hand and grapple with the other. He worked on his kicks specifically to sweep the legs out from under his opponents so that he could immobilize them and gain the advantage. The choke hold was the move he worked on the least because, truth be told, he was afraid he'd choke someone too much and seriously hurt them, but he did learn it and could use it if he had to.[/reducio]
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[quote][b]Fourth Year:[/b] Evasive Maneuvers
[reducio]Just as all of his lessons built upon themselves year on year, Galahad's own independent study and training continued year on year, everything building upon what he'd previously trained himself to do. Galahad had gone from a scared child to a person in control of his senses and his body. Still, he was always looking for ways to push himself further. As he came back for summer break once more he re-enrolled at his dojo and resumed his training once more, but since he knew how to throw a punch and take a punch, he devoted most of his energy to learning to avoid a blow. Instead of blocking or parrying, he put a lot of focus into dodging and weaving and counterpunching. His skill at reading people greatly aided in this because he could tell if they were rearing back to let fly or favoring one side of the other. It was a bit painful at first because if he didn't block or failed to get out of the way he was simply punched, but he found that it didn't take him long to start to learn. Soon, punches and kicks went from being full on body shots to glancing blows on his sides or his arms and soon, he was avoiding them altogether.

He applied this training in other areas too. He was no broom racer or quidditch player but in flying class when he could he would try to fly around trees or other obstacles and avoid them. He got a few scratches here and there but the training definitely paid off. He wasn't an amazing flier by any means but he could dodge the big stuff which was really the most important thing to him.

Another way he trained his agility was by running through the makeshift obstacle course that was the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He knew it wasn't the smartest idea (as well as being off limits) but there wasn't really a full-blown obstacle course he could run through at Hogwarts. It was excellent training, especially with unseen objects that were low to the ground. One time he'd tripped and very nearly broken his nose but it was all worth it. Soon he was maneuvering in and out of the trees with ease, avoiding obstacles and weaving in and out of the trees. He finally stopped these exercises when a prefect caught him out on maneuvers. He was able to talk himself out of a detention but had to swear that he wouldn't do it again. He stayed true to his word and confined his running to the grounds or around Hogsmede if there was a weekend trip to be had.[/reducio]
[/quote]

[quote][b]Fifth Year:[/b] Nonverbal Magic
[reducio]When it came time to begin preparing for his O.W.L.s, Galahad decided to take stock the summer after his fourth year. He’d spent a lot of his time outside of school working on his physical abilities but it was time to focus on his magical abilities. By this time, he’d long known that he wanted to be an Auror. He had thought about it a lot since he started at Hogwarts and it sounded like a career he’d be well suited for. He excelled in Defense Against the Dark Arts and was good in the other classes you needed O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s in to qualify for the profession, and he had a strong moral code, and thanks to his upbringing, he believed in the idea of protecting the innocent from the evils of the world.

Galahad did some reading on some of the more advanced casting techniques and narrowed it down to two options: wandless magic or nonverbal magic. He decided on nonverbal because he figured that he already knew martial arts to try and defend himself if he was without his wand and if he were to become an Auror, silent casting seemed like something that would definitely be useful.

Unlike most things, Galahad’s first few attempts at nonverbal magic were total failures. He was starting small, trying to use [i]Lumos[/i] to light his wand without speaking. The first session nothing happened at all and he was very disheartened but he knew he had to keep working at it. He resolved to read up on the subject more before he continued with his attempts. He knew he could probably ask one of his professors but he valued his independence and wanted to do this on his own. He was already looking ahead to his life as an Auror and was afraid that any connections we had with people could make him (or them) vulnerable as a means to get to him.

After a couple of days in the library he found what the problem was, he needed to close his mind and focus all his thoughts on the spell he was trying to cast. He supposed it made sense, speaking the incantation required focus but this was a step beyond that, it felt like it almost required a telepathic relationship with ones wand. Once he made this breakthrough his training started to go much better. Within an hour he was able to light the tip of his wand consistently through non-verbal magic.

From there he moved on to what he thought would be the next logical progression: nonverbal magic on inanimate objects. His first move was to attempt to set little scrap bits of parchment on fire using [i]Incendio[/i]. This was a bit trickier but after about three hours of work he’d done it for the first time, and within another three, he was also doing this consistently.

The real test was in dueling, however, using nonverbal magic on another person. In a duel against Slytherin, where one of his most hated rivals was on the other team, he finally succeeded. After being hit with a jinx he must’ve looked like he was going to shake it off but instead, he focused his mind and managed to counterpunch his opponent with [i]Fliipendo[/i], causing him to topple over.[/reducio]
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[quote][b]Sixth Year:[/b] Apparition
[reducio]Galahad had always had mixed feelings about apparition when he'd heard people talk about it. On the one hand, he really loved the idea of being able to leave one place and be in another instantaneously. On the other hand, from everything he heard that was a whole hell of a lot that could go wrong and he didn't much like the idea of leaving any part of him behind if he messed up. There seemed to be very little margin for error, if any. Still, after his fifth year he decided the pros definitely outweighed the cons and that he just had to learn it.

He really wanted to take the class in the summer to learn to do it as soon as possible, but that simply wasn't practical. He lived in a muggle household in Ireland. His family could not afford to take a multi-week trip to London and connecting the house to the Floo Network was out of the question as it was a muggle house. So instead, the first time the course was offered at Hogwarts he signed up for it and set out to learn. The first few attempts were very frustrating because he was unable to move at all. Galahad wasn't a genius but he normally picked things up pretty quickly so to fail so often from the outset was both unusual and frustrating. Still, it was really important to him to master it and he really set his mind to it.

It wasn't until the third session that Galahad really started to make some appreciable progress. He found the best way to do it was to adopt the mindset he did when he was first learning non-verbal casting. He tried to empty his mind completely and really focus on the task at hand. Point A to Point B, simple as that, think of nothing else. This mindset started to work and he started making actual progress. The first time he actually managed to move he sadly splinched himself. Fortunately, the incident was minor and he only lost half his left eyebrow. Minimal pain and a lot of gain, plus, it would grow back.

The day finally came for him to take the final exam and get his license. He decided to forego breakfast so that he wouldn't have anything to throw up if he botched his apparition attempt. His instructor gave him the target and Galahad cleared his mind completely. He stood there for about five seconds but in his mind it felt like hours. He was unblinking, all focus, visualizing the target area in his mind. Finally, he closed his eyes and turned on the spot. He somehow knew that it had worked before he opened his eyes again. He did and to his unfettered excitement, he had done it.

Unlike some newly licensed wizards, Galahad still chose not to apparate unless he had to because of how uncomfortable it was and how many things could go wrong.[/reducio]
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[quote][b]Seventh Year:[/b] Legilimency
[reducio]Going into his Seventh Year, Galahad was satisfied with the state of his magical education from an academic perspective. He was excelling in all of his classes, and now all that was left was to find a way to really round himself out. He thought he was already an attractive prospect for the Auror Office once he graduated, but he really wanted to find a way to give himself an edge. To that end, in his free time, he delved into the depths of the library once again. He also approached his Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor and asked them what they thought he should consider and they told him he should consider Legilimency: the ability to enter a person’s mind and interpret their thoughts. Galahad thought about this and could immediately see how it could be useful to him, especially as an Auror. Have a suspect who you think is lying or won’t talk? Why not find the answer for yourself. It looked incredibly complex but he thought that if he could figure out how to do it properly it would be well worth it.

Based on the readings he found in theory it sounded simple enough: maintain eye contact with the subject and concentrate completely on their mind and thoughts. The real trick once you were in seemed to be interpreting those thoughts. If you lacked the intelligence or will to interpret them you would simply be left with a pile of gibberish.

As he tried to put what he learned into practice, Galahad’s biggest problem was the fact that he didn’t know who to practice on. He knew he needed to be very careful because the idea of being able to invade someone’s mind and read their thoughts could really terrify people. He decided to ask his dueling partner if he’d be willing to let Galahad try it on him. His partner was understandably nervous but, given they’d been partnered for so long and were so close, trusted Galahad completely and decided to let him try.

The first few attempts were needless to say, fruitless. Galahad focused with all his might but was unable to even enter his partner’s mind. On what felt like that 20th attempt, concentrating (at least it felt) harder than he’d ever concentrated before, he achieved entry. Still, he didn’t make much progress once he was in, it was all just a blur of passing thoughts. Over the next few weeks, however, Galahad began to make progress. It was incremental, at first, he was able to understand the feelings his partner felt when he thought of certain memories, then, he was actually able to focus in on the specific memory he was thinking of at the time. After a couple of months, he was actually able to probe his partner’s mind and go from memory to memory, being able to run through blocks that the mind put up but careful not to invade any areas his partner clearly didn’t want explored..

Although he was proficient when practicing Legilimency with his partner, he knew it would be a different manner if he ever had to use it in his work on an unwilling participant. Still, he was pleased with the progress he’d made and was at least happy to have the basic mechanics down.
[revelio]Orion has given me permission to reference the DADA professor of the time[/revelio][/reducio]
[/quote][/quote] 

Status: All Approved, Beatrice, 7 July

STATUS: Approved - Maya, 10 July

STATUS: Pending - Maya, 10 July

- Having flashing experiences does not typically occur for a Seer until much later in their years (starting at 3rd year). Gut feelings/intuition are more in their range.

STATUS: Approved - Maya, 11 July

Word Count: 1,101/400 Words.

Status: Approved, Beatrice, 12 July

Status: Approved, Beatrice, 13 July

Status: Approved, Beatrice, 13 July