Fallen Leaves - Adeline Yen Mah
Name: Brendan
Age: 19
Gender: Male
1. Give us reasons for and against you being
sorted into each house.
a. Gryffindor
For: I'm very confident, though sometimes it
can be fake. I feel like I could storm a castle and
stand up for the underdog, even if I know the outcome
won't be good. If all odds are stacked against me, I
try to fight for what I believe in.
Against: There have been times where I feel
ashamed of who I am, and have lied about myself to
seem more appealing, especially to a girl I love. I
did finally tell her the truth, but then there are
times where I will lie about things I'm interested in
to my mates so they won't think I'm a looney. Like
that I think astrology is interesting.
b. Slytherin
For: I guess a reason for Slytherin would be
the same reason as my against Gryffindor. Although I
will try to be an upstanding citizen, sometimes I say
what people want to hear.
Against: I think when it comes right down to
it, I'm not terribly ambitious. I like to think about
things I would like to do, but I don't just go for it.
I want to make sure it's absolutely right before I do
something I may regret later.
c. Hufflepuff
For: I like a nice, quiet life. I am hard
working when I need to be, especially with my school
work, or when my girlfriend needs me. I think I would
be a very hard worker at a job so long as I was being
paid appropriately.
Against: I can be pretty apathetic. I have
friends that I love and care for, as I said, but
that's about all. I guess I can be cruel in that I'm
only caring, or protective, of people directly related
to me, unless they clearly need help.
d. Ravenclaw
For: I love knowledge of any kind. I don't
think there is ever a reason something would be more
valuable to learn than something else. It's really
all the same to me as far as obtaining knowledge goes.
I read everything there is. My favorite thing to do
when I have free time is to read random articles on
wikipedia.
Against: I can't really think of a reason
here, but I think one thing could be that if I can't
immediately get interested in something while reading
about it, I will put it off for another time. I'm
kind of lazy in that respect. I have to keep my mind
excited when it comes to learning.
2. If you had access to a Time Turner, and did not
have to worry about any restrictions, nor about
whether you were going to return or not, what would
you use it for and why?
I wouldn't. I don't think that I have all that much
to look back on, since my life wasn't very happy until
a couple years ago, and even then things have only
gotten better with every passing day. I don't think I
would want to go back in time.
3. Under what circumstances would you use an
Unforgivable Curse?
I would use an Unforgivable Curse if something
equally unforgivable had been committed against my
loved ones. I don't think I would find much use for
the Imperius curse in this case, since I would prefer
to avenge them in such a way that we would be 'even'.
4. Under what circumstances would you work for
Voldemort?
If I were to somehow be convinced that something
terrible which happened to my loved ones (e.g. murder)
would be able to be avenged directly by working for
him, I would probably do that. Otherwise, I don't
think I would. Threats in particular would make me
work steadfastly against him.
5. What class do you think you would excel in at
Hogwarts? What do you think would be your
favorite?
I think Transfiguration. From what I can gather from
the books it's a complicated and complex, which would
intrigue me, plus it's effects tend to be interesting
(like the magic of an Animagus) As to what I would be
good at, I think it would be whatever actually did
interest me the most. I tend to apply myself more to
the things that I am interested in doing than to the
things I am obligated to do.
6. You have to make five Horcruxes. What
significant objects would you choose, and why? Why are
these objects so important to you, that you would be
willing to stick your soul into them?
I don't really have five objects that are important
to me. I don't attach any particular value to certain
objects, even if I am a little possessive over my
belongings.
There is one, however. My computer. It would be
difficult for anyone to understand it, really, but it
is special to me because of what it allows me to do. I
have met people on the internet far more interesting
and far dearer to me than anyone I would have met
personally without it. However, if I were to pick
objects for Horcruxes, I would probably pick objects
that weren't significant to me, since that is what
would be seized first if someone decided to destroy my
Horcruxes, surely? But I guess second would be my
book collection, as I do love books and could probably
live in them for eternity. Third would be a box sent
from America. My girlfriend lives in America and she
sent me a box of stuff a couple years ago for my
birthday. It smelled like apples like she does, and I
love that box. The fourth is the letter my girlfriend
sent to me, because it's the only thing I have with
her handwriting on it (besides the box) and it smells
like her, and it's precious. I have to hide it
because my family hates her for being American, but I
take it out and read it often. Fifth... A CD that
was sent in the box. The music on it is excellent and
I wear it out, even two years after receiving in. I
think it means so much to me because it was the first
thing I ever got in the mail, and because of who it
came from.
7. What would your Boggart form be? Why?
I would say my greatest fear was fear of the unknown,
so I have no idea what my Boggart form would look
like. So I suppose it would look like something
familiar, but warped in some way so as to make it
frighteningly bizarre. The familiarity of it would
lead me to analyzing it further and finding it to be
disturbing, which would then proceed to scare me.
8. You can only store one memory into your
Pensieve to visit over and over again. Which one would
it be? Why? I feel silly telling this because I'm
a big, tough 6'1, 230 pound man. But a memory I would
like to revisit again and again is the day I told my
girlfriend the truth about who I really was. At
first, she was so mad and hurt, she cried and told me
there was something wrong with me. She forgave me
later, realising I was the same person with the same
personality, just not the age I had originally told
her. We stayed together. It took a long time to work
it out, but it was worth it. Her forgiving me is my
favorite memory.
9. You have stumbled across the Mirror of Erised.
What is it that you see? Why? I see myself with a
wife, a son, and an adopted daughter, and several
cats. It's a beautiful, breezy spring day, and we are
all very happy. This symbolises everything I'm
working for, and I really believe I will accomplish
it.
10. What are your hobbies/interests? How do these
activities contribute to your personality? Writing
stories is my favorite thing to do, even though I'm so
busy with school that I rarely get to do it. Writing
has made me more creative and has made me think more
about different viewpoints and how they can also be
valid. It helps me to think about life, but in a
distanced way, and I often think about certain
situations and how they would affect people.
11. If you could change one thing about the world,
what would it be? I think I would make it so that
people actually kept their promises. I know that
sounds silly but people often throw around "I promise"
so casually. Promises are like sacred vows. You
don't make a promise you can't or won't keep. I
understand that sometimes things happen that can keep
us from keeping our promises, but when people make
promises they know they won't keep just to get what
they want, then that's wrong.
12. List three major qualities you look for in a
friend. Why are these qualities important to you?
Their trustworthiness, their intelligence and their
wit, probably. I don't really get along with people
who I think are stupid because I'm incredibly
judgmental (cough) and someone who I can laugh with
all the time is somebody who I would really enjoy
spending time with. And trustworthiness because I
don't want them to flake out on me, because I wouldn't
do that to them.
13. Who is one person, real or fictional, that
inspires you? Why? Gandhi. He stood up to the
British empire and spoke out against racism,
imperialism and the oppressiveness of castes with
ultimate patience, never resorting to violence, and
stood firmly for what he believed in. As a result
India is a free state.
14. Outside of Harry Potter, what book has had an
impact on your life and why? Fallen Leaves by
Adelin Yen Mah made me think a lot about how much
people can endure and still remain a great person.
Adeline had real strength. And it also made me think
of how cruel people can be...
15. What excites you most out of life? What is it
that makes you feel so fulfilled and enlightened about
it? The prospect of learning something new
excites me. I want to learn just about everything
there is, especially about cultures and languages.
the idea of going to China really excites me, because
I want to learn Chinese, go there, and adopt a child.
That would be one of the most fullfilling, if not the
most fullfilling, experience of my life.
16. What do you think are your top five positive
characteristics?
My intelligence, my idealism, my ability to
empathise with things and place myself in other
situations mentally, my patience (Brendan means
'patience of a saint' apparently) and..hmm..my
courage? That stems from my patience. I'm very chilled
out.
17. What do you think are your top five negative
characteristics?
My capriciousness. If I'm in a bad mood I'm usually
a huge jerk. There's a whole Jekyll and Hyde feeling
to that with regard to the way I treat strangers.
There's probably also the fact that I don't really
care about strangers in common circumstances (not like
life or death ones). And also there is my
judgmentalness. I usually judge people on their
previous actions and rarely forget what they've done
in the past, always dragging it up. I can be fairly
stoic and nonchalant which is probably going to get me
killed someday, because I think of pain as more of an
annoyance than something to be taken seriously, and
whenever I hurt myself I usually just think 'It's
nothing.' Maybe that's because I'm male, though.
How about the inherent arrogance in being able to come
up with five positives really quickly but struggling
to find five negatives?
18. Do you believe in fate or free will? I
believe in both. I think that some things are
predestined and always have been, but there is a great
deal of free will outside of destiny. I believe that
destiny is what life gives you, and free will is what
you do with what life gives you.
19. If someone close to you was in danger, what
would you do to save them? This could be anything.
My secret ambition is to learn how airplanes stay up.
I would do...almost anything. I wouldn't be able to
choose between two people who were really close to me,
like sacrifice one person for another, because I'd
never be able to live with myself afterwards. I would
probably willingly sacrifice myself if I didn't think
about it. If I did think about it, though, I'd
discourage myself because I know the person whose life
I saved would be greatly burdened by my
self-immolation. So I think that as long as it was
something like 'what would you do to someone who was
causing your loved one to be in danger?' I could say
'Anything.'
20. What is one important life lesson you have
learned so far? What did it take out of you to realize
this?
I was a habitual liar before I met my girlfriend, and
then I had stopped lying as much unless I had
something to cover up to hide my previous lies from
her... I finally decided to tear down the house of
cards and tell her the truth. Which really made me
realize how I shouldn't have lied in the first place.
In truth I wouldn't be as happy as I was today if I
had not lied, but...I learned not to do it again.
21. You have stumbled across five magical wells.
One is the Well of Common Sense and Logic, the second
is the Well of Creativity, the third is the Well of
Optimism, the fourth is the Well of Physical Strength,
and the fifth is the Well of Beauty. You can only
drink from one well, but once you do you will be
endowed with that ability for the rest of your life.
Which well do you think you would definitely not need,
and which do you think you would want to drink
from?
I would drink from creativity because all the great
advancements in the world required great creativity to
make. Creativity is like the spice that makes life
palatable. And I definitely don't need Strength or
Beauty because those things don't matter to me; my
body will one day be just a skeleton (or ashes, I
guess, but I don't intend to be cremated) so I don't
need to prettify it. It's better to leave a legacy of
creation behind instead.
22. How did you find out about hogwarts_unity? (If you remember a certain
person tell us so we can award points.) seakittym