Ripley Cunning | Slytherin | First Year

Ripley Cunning was born in Kilkenny, Ireland, and spent the first three years of his life there before his half-muggle mother, lifestyle journalist and television presenter, Jenna Cunning and wizard father, enchanted robe designer Obsidian Cunning, transitioned the family to a more nomadic lifestyle. While his formal schooling has been intermittent at best, Ripley's parents have been conscientious about covering core subjects by hiring private tutors for Ripley and his younger sister, Darren, as well as making educational experiences a core part of their lifestyle. For Ripley, however, a core part of his learning has been flitting between the muggle and wizarding worlds around globe which taught him the social physics of how to be liked wherever goes. His slightly above-average height, athletic build, wavy blond hair, and piercing green eyes don't hurt in this regard.

Ripley is self-possessed and adventurous, tending towards action over analysis. He looks people in the eye, speaks confidently and articulately, and comes across as authentic which leads others to trust and listen to him. That said, almost no one get beyond the surface with Ripley. His parents, who are both public personalities, have always made a definite distinction between their public and private personas, and their kids took that on as well, keeping a portion of themselves reserved from strangers. This duality mostly hasn't been challenging for Ripley since he has rarely been anywhere long enough to form close friendships.

In many ways, Ripley is a normal boy. He enjoys playing sports, performing on stage as a singer and actor, and muggle movies. In other ways, he is unusual -- two examples would be that his appearance has not-once been described as "beautiful" and he's been to more places at 11 than some people could name.

While for many, attendance at Hogwarts is a landmark event, Ripley's panoply of experiences makes it feel as more of a stopping point for him. Will it become something deeper? Time will tell.

Family History:

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Jenna Cordova-Smith was born in San Diego, California, in 1986. Her mother, a graduate of Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, largely stepped away from the magical world after marrying Jenna's muggle father. Growing up in southern California, Jenna pursued modeling in high school and college, eventually taking a break from her studies at San Diego State to travel internationally for her career. She also worked as an on-air correspondent for travel and leisure channels.

Through her mother, she met and eventually married wizard robe designer Obsidian Cunning in 2011. After their marriage, Jenna transitioned from modeling to presenting travel and lifestyle content for both the muggle and wizarding worlds. The couple temporarily settled in Kilkenny, Ireland, in late 2012 and had two children, Ripley (2013) and Darren (2016). As Obsidian's own label grew, the family embraced a more nomadic lifestyle, traveling for both of their careers. In 2023, Jenna shifted her focus primarily to wizarding world content, culminating in the publication of her book, Cunning Family Travels: 101 Places Every Wizard Should Visit (At Least Once), in 2024.

Calvin Obsidian Cunning was born in London, England, on October 4, 1984. His father, Busby "Bus" Cunning, who had an unknown role in the Department of Mysteries, disappeared when Obsidian was nine, and his mother was Galatia Goddard, was a renowned soprano. Obsidian attended Hogwarts from 1995-2002 as a Slytherin, where he explored various artistic mediums combining talent in transfiguration and charms to create everything from sculpture to avant-garde underground theatre productions. After graduating, he spent several years as an itinerant visionary, exploring diverse artistic styles.

In 2008, Cunning collaborated with the death metal wrock band, Crucio XX, designing sets and costumes for their national tour. Having developed a taste for how the combination of muggle style hand-tailoring and charms (and occasional transfiguration) delivered on his artistic vision, Cunning then delved into apparel design. It was around that time that he met Jenna Cordova-Smith through his mother's arrangement. They began dating and married in 2011. In late 2012, they settled in Kilkenny, Ireland, where Obsidian worked as a lead designer for a private label brand of Twilfitt and Tattings. By 2016, he gradually transitioned to working full-time on his own label, allowing the family to adopt a more nomadic lifestyle while maintaining their home in Kilkenny.

His notable designs include the Robe of Reflection, a garment with a hood that calibrates the wearer's brain waves for psychedelic introspection (called in a review "...a drug you can wear."), Clytemnestra's Robe, an experimental piece that displays the murder of those closest to the wearer as it is being worn ("...tragic, shocking, and astounding…makes one appreciate life all the more by seeing death"), and LIGHT MOTIF, a robe that fundamentally shape-shifts based on the acoustic qualities of the wearer's voice ("it does not defy expectations, it abolishes them."), along with the more standard fare such as levitating robes, infinite pockets, and all manner of more traditional design.

Darren Cunning was born in Kilkenny, Ireland on August 18, 2016 to Jenna Cardova-Smith and Calvin Obsidian Cunning. She is the sister of Ripley Cunning. Darren is a shy around strangers but warms up reasonably fast, after which her off-kilter wit emerges. She is full of curiosity so her interests ramble and rove in every direction, especially towards the obscure and comedic. In a family of, what one might call, aesthetes and epicureans, Darren distinguishes herself through her sprawling sense of humor.

First Instance of Magic:

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Ripley has adored his younger sister, Darren, since the day she was born. Though only two-and-a-half at the time, he was determined to be a conscientious big brother and protector. For her first few years, Darren was a reasonably quiet child, so when she spoke it was considered special. On one mid-winter afternoon in January 2018 when Ripley was four and Darren was going on two, they were strolling hand-in-hand through a grove of bare cherry trees surrounding Birr Castle in Ireland with their parents when Darren turned to Ripley and said, apropos of nothing, "I love you."

Young Ripley was so overwhelmed with affection that he felt he could not contain it, he closed his eyes as they filled with tears of joy -- suddenly, the cherry trees surrounding them, in a period of minutes, went from cold and craggy to full April bloom. As Ripley opened his eyes and calmed down, the brilliant white blossoms fell away, tossed by the wind.

His parents gave each other a meaningful look.

Needless to say:

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More to come...