Name: Maksim “Max” Aleksandrovich (formerly Mikhailovich) Preobrazhensky

Reducio In Russian: Максим “Макс” Александрович (formerly Михайлович) Преображенский

Reducio His classmates will call him Maksim or Maksim Aleksandrovich. As of right now, only Vyacheslav may call him Max.

Age: Fourteen

School Year: Fourth Year

Race: Full Human

Blood Status: Wizard-born

Appearance: At first glance, Maksim already stands out from his peers with his dark skin and curly hair, but setting him apart even further are his facial expressions. In a castle known for its strict and cold education, Maksim has no problem with wearing his heart on his sleeve, and his face is the farthest thing from a poker face. Standing at a solid 173 cm, he is slightly taller than average and built with plenty of muscle to spare. His hair is always kept short on the sides but longer on top, and he has clear skin devoid of freckles or acne. His clothes tend to be on the more rumpled side, although he likes to dress nicely when he's not in uniform. He is never seen without a black leather Blancpain watch with a cracked glass face on his wrist, or a slightly chipped silver cross on a thin chain around his neck. The watch was his mother's, and the cross his father's. These two items, along with a photograph, are all he has left of his birth parents.

Picture: Reducio

Accessories: Reducio

Personality: Confident and borderline arrogant, Maksim doesn’t need to use words to talk. He is, if anything, a human embodiment of “Do it first, explain it later”. His body language does most of the talking for him, whether it’s his hands or his face, or just the way he’s presenting himself in general. He may be a boy of few words, but when he does speak, it is always sure to be something worth listening to. Additionally, he tends to turn a cold shoulder to anyone who tries to address him as "Max" without his permission, or anyone who dares to insult his brother in front of him. He is not afraid to draw his wand or use his fists when it comes to conflicts, even if it lands him in trouble.

While Maksim fancies himself to be quite the player, having never had much trouble in making friends or talking to girls, this couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, Maksim isn't quite sure he even likes girls, at all. He's tucked this problem away in his head for another day, but it's a problem that's coming to the surface more and more often as he's growing older and the girls are growing... well, prettier. And although he may come off as extremely happy-go-lucky and as silly as his brother, Maksim is a hard-working student who puts his all into everything he does. The second he sets his mind to something, it will get accomplished, no matter how much blood, sweat, and tears will be shed over it. However, it’s this same stubbornness that is his greatest weakness- his pride and inability to back down is a flaw that he has yet to learn to overcome.

History: In a life he’s long forgotten about, Maksim was born to Mikhail and Natalia Lebedev, two average wizards who were good friends with Aleksandr and Sofia Preobrazhensky. Consequently, Maksim grew up being best friends with their son, Vyacheslav, who was a year younger than him. After his parents died in a car crash when Maksim was 4, the Preobrazhenskys took him in as their own, raising him as their son. The adoption was made official a year later, and Maksim Lebedev became Maksim Preobrazhensky.

At Durmstrang, Maksim found himself drawn to martial and combat magic, even if he couldn’t study them as closely as he wanted to quite yet. While he’s only a fourth year, he has already decided that he will stay on to finish all eight years at Durmstrang, and hopefully, once he leaves, he will become a professional duelist. And, well, if that doesn’t work out, he’s been used to caring for Vyacheslav’s various scrapes, cuts, and the occasional sprain over the years. Being on the healing end of magical injuries is not a role unfamiliar to Maksim.

The summer before his fourth year, Maksim found himself taking a walk alongside a cliffside with Vyacheslav, and the two brothers were talking about nothing in particular. At least, nothing until Maksim brought up the Quidditch team. Although Vyacheslav was never the fondest of heights, Maksim was absolutely scared to death of heights and the sensation of falling, and he challenged his brother on a dare to try out for the Quidditch team. A triple dog dare. Therefore, by the law of macho men, Vyacheslav couldn’t possibly refuse. However, to both brothers’ surprise (and Maksim’s delight), Vyacheslav actually made the team. Not a single game has gone by without Maksim there to support his brother and best friend.

Is your character a Quidditch player? No.

statistics
stamina || 7
evasion || 6
strength || 6
wisdom || 11
arcane power || 5
accuracy || 10

abilities

year one: perfectionist.

Reducio

From a young age, Maksim has always made sure to do things right. Like Vyacheslav, he is loud and rambunctious, and he doesn't hesitate in the slightest to do the wacky and the crazy, but he has always made sure that he did everything to the very best of his ability. For him, if it wasn't perfect, then it simply wasn't good enough. "About" or "around" was never good enough, and guess-timating was simple out of the question: everything had to be exact. From learning phrases in English to making his bed, from washing the dishes to doing his schoolwork, everything was done with the utmost care and precision. Maksim refused for there to be any room for error.

Part of this stemmed from the car accident that ultimately took the life of his parents. His mother was an excellent driver with a pristine record, and yet, something so terrible still befell them. The only possible reason, Maksim had figured, was that they hadn't been completely prepared. Something had happened to throw his mother off her game, and because of that, they no longer walked the earth. If everything had gone perfectly that day, if his mother had slammed on the brakes just a fraction of a second sooner, things would be so different, today. Perfectionist was a mild way of describing Maksim- control freak would be far more accurate.

When it came to magic, Maksim was a natural. Latin may have been tricky for others to pronounce, but something about the dead language just made sense to him. Casting spells, and even duelling, was seen as an art to the young boy, and he launched himself into learning as much as he could, as well as he could. He practiced for hours and hours each day, perfecting his pronunciation, his wand movement, and his hand placement on his wand. If there ever came a time where he really needed magic, he would be ready, and he would not let down anyone who was counting on him.

But beyond an extremely traumatizing incident in his childhood that would scar any child for life, Maksim also had an insatiable hunger to be the best. Oh, he hid it quite well from most people, although Vyacheslav could see right through him in an instant. They were brothers and best friends, after all. But unbeknownst to everyone else, Maksim was one of the most overly-competitive people that could ever walk the earth. It was always in small ways, too- like who woke up the earliest, who stayed up the latest, who had the best hair, who could talk to the most girls, who had the best grades... But being so overly competitive also meant that Maksim naturally got better and better at everything he did.

Maksim has always had this need to be in control, and for everything to be as perfect as possible. Impeccable planning, hours and hours of practice, and an over-competitive drive are what fuels the young boy's actions, even if he masks it all with his charisma and good looks. It's always the smart ones who know how to lie that are the most dangerous. Despite how hard he's tried to hide it, without a doubt, Maksim is a total control freak. But, since that's a little rude to say to someone's face, many people prefer to identify him as a classic case of a perfectionist.

word count: 566
year two: evasive maneuvers.

Reducio

Maksim is an athletic young boy- or, at least, above average in terms of speed, stamina, and strength, combining to make someone who is more athletic than your average Russian Joe. Although he certainly isn't the strongest kid around, he is tall for his age, with a lean and slightly muscular build. In short, he looks like he could easily play any number of sports, all with great ease. He is light on his feet, extremely reactive to any changes around him, and in general, could remind one of a jumpy rabbit, ready to flee at a moment's notice.

Of course, much of this trait also stems from his parents' car crash, although obviously, he doesn't know that trauma changes the way people act. In his subconscious, though, hypotheticals replayed over and over again, as if he could find a parallel universe in which his parents had walked away from that awful accident. Maybe... maybe if his parents had been just quick enough, they could've avoided the other car altogether, or they could've gotten out of the car quicker, or... If things just hadn't gone so disastrously wrong, Maksim might've still had his parents here with him. He was not going to let that happen between him and his new family, the Preobrazhenskys, and thus, had made sure that he was always in the best possible form to dodge any horrendous situations that might arise.

Beyond a crippling trauma that deeply affected the young boy's every personality trait, you simply had to be good at dodging things when you had a younger brother- specifically, if you had a younger brother who was a troublemaker. The Preobrazhensky brothers were always messing around with each other, whether it was at their parents' pub entertaining the patrons, or outside taking walks around the city. He learned to dodge any joking punches, duck away from any thrown Quaffles or balls, and avoid any embarrassing kisses from their mother in public.

Now, Maksim uses his lithe build to his advantage. An aspiring duellist, the young Durmstrang student takes every chance he gets to take advantage of Durmstrang's grand duelling hall, testing his skills against his classmates. With time and practice, of course Maksim has gotten better at dodging all manner of jinxes and hexes from the bloodthirsty Durmstrang students. After all, if it saves getting hurt day in and day out, it's worth improving at. The agile and graceful young boy is determined to avoid trouble at all costs, both physical and mental.

word count: 417
year three: charmer.

Reducio

It's no secret that Maksim fancies himself to be a bit of a hottie. In fact, he likes to flaunt it at every possible moment, and his confidence is only bolstered by the comments of, "Oh, what a(n) adorable/wonderful/amazing/handsome child you are!" from patrons of his parents' pub. Borderline arrogant, he has no problem talking to anyone and everyone in an effort to make everyone like him. Or, you know, to flirt with everyone possible, gender be damned.

Of course, Maksim's already had lots of practice charming people. As a natural people-person, even from a young age, it was only natural for him to strike up a conversation with the magical community that passed through his parents' pub. From the people, whether they were locals or from around the globe, the young boy learned to hone his conversational skills, and also learned quite a few other languages. He could hardly claim to be fluent in them, but he is certainly much better at them than most other young wizards in Russia. His English is remarkably good for someone who's never left Russia, and knows quite a lot more than the average kid at school about the language.

Talking to adults all the time also taught Maksim how to sweet-talk others into getting his way. More often than not, at the pub, he can be seen chatting to the adults in such a manner that they end up scrambling for their wallets, to buy him some food or a drink; and from his family's pub, no less! While he is no Veela, his undeniable charm and suave demeanor puts most people at ease in his presence. Well, most adults, anyhow. With other kids, it is probable that they see him as more of a smooth-talker or a suck-up than a charming, charismatic young man, although it does seem like Maksim gets more than his fair share of friendly favors and bonus help from his classmates.

He has absolutely no qualms about flashing a blindingly white smile and tossing around some puppy-dog eyes if he ever needs a leg up on everyone else. Does this make him ruthless? A little bit, yeah. But the very things that make him a dangerous enemy make him a powerful ally and a fantastic friend. Maksim knows how to turn on his charms when he needs them, and his charisma and personality can be just as dangerous as his wand when Maksim wants to use them as weapons. Indubitably (how's that for an SAT word?), Maksim Preobrazhensky is a charming young man.

word count: 425

any and all mentions of and content pertaining to ruby cazares' inpc vyacheslav preobrazhensky have been approved of by ruby herself.

edit: Maksim is not a Quidditch player.

statistics
stamina || 8
evasion || 10
strength || 6
wisdom || 12
arcane power || 8
accuracy || 12
(+1 from Quidd win)

abilities

year one: perfectionist.

Reducio

From a young age, Maksim has always made sure to do things right. Like Vyacheslav, he is loud and rambunctious, and he doesn't hesitate in the slightest to do the wacky and the crazy, but he has always made sure that he did everything to the very best of his ability. For him, if it wasn't perfect, then it simply wasn't good enough. "About" or "around" was never good enough, and guess-timating was simple out of the question: everything had to be exact. From learning phrases in English to making his bed, from washing the dishes to doing his schoolwork, everything was done with the utmost care and precision. Maksim refused for there to be any room for error.

Part of this stemmed from the car accident that ultimately took the life of his parents. His mother was an excellent driver with a pristine record, and yet, something so terrible still befell them. The only possible reason, Maksim had figured, was that they hadn't been completely prepared. Something had happened to throw his mother off her game, and because of that, they no longer walked the earth. If everything had gone perfectly that day, if his mother had slammed on the brakes just a fraction of a second sooner, things would be so different, today. Perfectionist was a mild way of describing Maksim- control freak would be far more accurate.

When it came to magic, Maksim was a natural. Latin may have been tricky for others to pronounce, but something about the dead language just made sense to him. Casting spells, and even duelling, was seen as an art to the young boy, and he launched himself into learning as much as he could, as well as he could. He practiced for hours and hours each day, perfecting his pronunciation, his wand movement, and his hand placement on his wand. If there ever came a time where he really needed magic, he would be ready, and he would not let down anyone who was counting on him.

But beyond an extremely traumatizing incident in his childhood that would scar any child for life, Maksim also had an insatiable hunger to be the best. Oh, he hid it quite well from most people, although Vyacheslav could see right through him in an instant. They were brothers and best friends, after all. But unbeknownst to everyone else, Maksim was one of the most overly-competitive people that could ever walk the earth. It was always in small ways, too- like who woke up the earliest, who stayed up the latest, who had the best hair, who could talk to the most girls, who had the best grades... But being so overly competitive also meant that Maksim naturally got better and better at everything he did.

Maksim has always had this need to be in control, and for everything to be as perfect as possible. Impeccable planning, hours and hours of practice, and an over-competitive drive are what fuels the young boy's actions, even if he masks it all with his charisma and good looks. It's always the smart ones who know how to lie that are the most dangerous. Despite how hard he's tried to hide it, without a doubt, Maksim is a total control freak. But, since that's a little rude to say to someone's face, many people prefer to identify him as a classic case of a perfectionist.

year two: evasive maneuvers.

Reducio

Maksim is an athletic young boy- or, at least, above average in terms of speed, stamina, and strength, combining to make someone who is more athletic than your average Russian Joe. Although he certainly isn't the strongest kid around, he is tall for his age, with a lean and slightly muscular build. In short, he looks like he could easily play any number of sports, all with great ease. He is light on his feet, extremely reactive to any changes around him, and in general, could remind one of a jumpy rabbit, ready to flee at a moment's notice.

Of course, much of this trait also stems from his parents' car crash, although obviously, he doesn't know that trauma changes the way people act. In his subconscious, though, hypotheticals replayed over and over again, as if he could find a parallel universe in which his parents had walked away from that awful accident. Maybe... maybe if his parents had been just quick enough, they could've avoided the other car altogether, or they could've gotten out of the car quicker, or... If things just hadn't gone so disastrously wrong, Maksim might've still had his parents here with him. He was not going to let that happen between him and his new family, the Preobrazhenskys, and thus, had made sure that he was always in the best possible form to dodge any horrendous situations that might arise.

Beyond a crippling trauma that deeply affected the young boy's every personality trait, you simply had to be good at dodging things when you had a younger brother- specifically, if you had a younger brother who was a troublemaker. The Preobrazhensky brothers were always messing around with each other, whether it was at their parents' pub entertaining the patrons, or outside taking walks around the city. He learned to dodge any joking punches, duck away from any thrown Quaffles or balls, and avoid any embarrassing kisses from their mother in public.

Now, Maksim uses his lithe build to his advantage. An aspiring duellist, the young Durmstrang student takes every chance he gets to take advantage of Durmstrang's grand duelling hall, testing his skills against his classmates. With time and practice, of course Maksim has gotten better at dodging all manner of jinxes and hexes from the bloodthirsty Durmstrang students. After all, if it saves getting hurt day in and day out, it's worth improving at. The agile and graceful young boy is determined to avoid trouble at all costs, both physical and mental.

year three: charmer.

Reducio

It's no secret that Maksim fancies himself to be a bit of a hottie. In fact, he likes to flaunt it at every possible moment, and his confidence is only bolstered by the comments of, "Oh, what a(n) adorable/wonderful/amazing/handsome child you are!" from patrons of his parents' pub. Borderline arrogant, he has no problem talking to anyone and everyone in an effort to make everyone like him. Or, you know, to flirt with everyone possible, gender be damned.

Of course, Maksim's already had lots of practice charming people. As a natural people-person, even from a young age, it was only natural for him to strike up a conversation with the magical community that passed through his parents' pub. From the people, whether they were locals or from around the globe, the young boy learned to hone his conversational skills, and also learned quite a few other languages. He could hardly claim to be fluent in them, but he is certainly much better at them than most other young wizards in Russia. His English is remarkably good for someone who's never left Russia, and knows quite a lot more than the average kid at school about the language.

Talking to adults all the time also taught Maksim how to sweet-talk others into getting his way. More often than not, at the pub, he can be seen chatting to the adults in such a manner that they end up scrambling for their wallets, to buy him some food or a drink; and from his family's pub, no less! While he is no Veela, his undeniable charm and suave demeanor puts most people at ease in his presence. Well, most adults, anyhow. With other kids, it is probable that they see him as more of a smooth-talker or a suck-up than a charming, charismatic young man, although it does seem like Maksim gets more than his fair share of friendly favors and bonus help from his classmates.

He has absolutely no qualms about flashing a blindingly white smile and tossing around some puppy-dog eyes if he ever needs a leg up on everyone else. Does this make him ruthless? A little bit, yeah. But the very things that make him a dangerous enemy make him a powerful ally and a fantastic friend. Maksim knows how to turn on his charms when he needs them, and his charisma and personality can be just as dangerous as his wand when Maksim wants to use them as weapons. Indubitably (how's that for an SAT word?), Maksim Preobrazhensky is a charming young man.

year five: perfectionist deux.

Reducio

Ah yes... Durmstrang's fifth year. Once finished with the school year, the fifth year students would have the choice to either leave behind the cold, stone walls of the castle for good, or to carry on with their studies. Maksim, of course, had known for a long, long time that he intended to finish out all eight years of the education available to him, and he had known for the past year or so that he would be pursuing combat magic. He had even began to explore career options, the idea of becoming a professional duellist becoming his absolute dream. But in Durmstrang, duellists could be found a dime a dozen amongst the feisty students, and Maksim had no way of standing out amongst them. He wasn't necessarily the tallest, the fastest, the smartest, or even the most powerful. No, he was just... Maksim.

But one thing he could control was how hard he worked. Hours and hours each and every day were dedicated solely to studying duelling and combat magic. All Maksim wanted to be able to do was to be able to prove himself- to the school, his parents, and himself, that he had what it took to become a professional duellist. Max made sure to commit to memory every detail of every spell they were taught in their classes. He had no qualms about burning the midnight oil just to read another chapter in a textbook, just to double-check that he was doing everything just right. Every wand movement for every spell he knew had been drawn onto parchment, which he then spent hours upon hours tracing with a stick, making sure that each spell was committed to muscle memory with the utmost precision.

Unsurprisingly, his dedication and hard work would pay off. Maybe practice would never truly make perfect, but Max certainly came pretty close. Rarely, if ever, did Maksim make mistakes with his spellwork. The mistakes became scarcer and scarcer until they seemed to be nonexistent entirely. Sure, some of his spells would still miss his intended target or fizzle out after a short period of time, but they never backfired, and they never would backfire. His duelling and combat skills improved significantly, and he grew more confident in his decision to study combat magic. Maksim had made sure that he would never have to worry about making any silly little mistakes like backfiring or explosions with his swotty habits; his perfectionism had sown bountiful seeds, and Maksim was more than eager to reap its rewards.

year six: evasive deux.

Reducio

Lately, all Maksim could think about was dueling. After all, not only was it his dream career, but also the path of magic he would pursue as he continued his education at Durmstrang. Sure, many others at Durmstrang were also thinking about dueling, but it had become something of an obsession for the older Preobrazhensky. If he had any less dignity, he probably would've gone around the whole student body looking for people to duel. Alas, he didn't want to appear desperate to his fellow students (and competition), so he settled for begging students from other schools to duel him. Which, of course, made him delighted when Amaury Favreau, Beauxbatons heartthrob, agreed to a practice duel.

Outside of dueling, Max seemed like your classic gentle giant. Being taller than average (even more so if you counted his hair) meant that he tried his best to seem unintimidating, often softening his voice and moving slowly and purposely. But in dueling, all of that was thrown out the window with reckless abandon. He would hold nothing back in a duel, especially not against a self-proclaimed expert-duelist like Favreau. As Amaury would later reflect, Max seemed to turn into an entirely different monster when he dueled. Gone were the slow and deliberate movements normally associated with the mild-mannered man. Instead, he was quick on his feet, dodging Amaury's spells with ease and firing his own vicious attacks right back in retaliation.

Of course, like with many things in his life, he had Slava to thank for his increased agility. The [at the time] Durmstrang Beater had a penchant for pillow fights, so if Maksim wanted to avoid getting walloped upside the head by his baby brother's newfound Beater strength, he had to learn how to avoid the fluffy projectiles. He learned to watch for and recognize the slightest tensing in his brother's wrists or the smallest of twists in his shoulders. His reflexes and reaction times had improved significantly as well, so much so that he had even gotten to the point where he could flipendo a pillow out of Slava's hand before he could even throw it.

His improved agility would prove to be a weapon and asset in dueling. He found that he was caught off guard far less often, and more of his opponents' spells sailed harmlessly past him, even leaving his flattop perfectly intact. This was particularly evident in his practice duel against Amaury, as Max probably would've suffered much more at the hands of the French student if he had not dodged as many spells as he had. Such evasive maneuvers certainly put Max at a welcome advantage.

any and all mentions of and content pertaining to ruby cazares' inpc vyacheslav preobrazhensky or cecily quinn's inpc amaury favreau have been approved of by the respective players.