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IC
Name: Wynne "Wayne" Dillon Hopkins.
Blood Status: Wayne would technically be called a halfblood, but he barely meets the requirements. His father is a muggle, and his mother is a muggle-born witch.
Age/Birthday: 17/May 13, 1980.
House/Year: Hufflepuff/7th year.
Classes: Muggle Studies, Charms, Transfiguration, Care of Magical Creatures.
Sexuality: Heterosexual.
Appearance: Wayne has olive-toned skin which, while occasionally fading to a ghostly during the winter, will darken quickly into a golden tan during his summers working in the Welsh countryside. His eyes and hair are both a medium brown. His hair is desperately in need of a proper cut and brushing, unkempt and almost constantly in his eyes or covering up his rectangular glasses (which he only bothers to wear half of the time).
Standing at very nearly 5' 8" and completely average in build, Wayne is not the first person you would notice standing in a crowd. His clothing is all either bought used, made by his mother, new as Christmas gifts, or passed down from his older brothers. All of his clothes are treated with care, and just look worn, rather than second-hand.
PB: Dan Byrd.
History: Gwen Jones had known Owen Hopkins for her entire life. Everyone was your neighbour when you lived in a tiny Welsh village. When they were young Owen was Gwen’s best friend, playmate, and confidante. He knew about Gwen’s magical abilities even before her parents did, and listened to her as she agonized about whether she should go to this strange school for magic so far away from her family and friends. Gwen probably wouldn’t have gone to Hogwarts except for the fact that Owen convinced her that she needed to learn how to harness her abilities. Returning home every summer, Gwen would fill Owen’s ears with the wondrous tales of what she was learning to do at school. The life that they had started to tentatively plan in the summer following her sixth year suddenly became more immediate when Gwen discovered she was pregnant.
Taking responsibility for her actions, Gwen left Hogwarts and married Owen. Their daughter, Colwyn Enid Hopkins was followed by two more sons, Gareth Bowen and Evan Kent, and a daughter, Rhys Meredith, before Wayne entered the Hopkins brood.
Wynne Dillon Hopkins was born on a cold and rainy May night in the Hopkins family home. The first photograph of Wayne was taken when he was only a few hours old- held in the arms of his mother and surrounded by three of his four older brothers and sisters. Growing up as a Hopkins was not easy for Wynne. His father was always away- living and working in Cardiff, leaving Gwen to raise their children by herself. Wynne's parents had no other surviving family, meaning that the Hopkinses were left completely on their own. Of course, no one was ever completely alone with four other siblings and a very unabashed mother in a tiny two-bedroom home.
The ages of the Hopkins children are widely spread, with Colwyn already a second year Ravenclaw at Hogwarts when Wynne was born. Because of this, Wynne was never very close to his older sister, but does give her credit for his nickname, Wayne. Even though Colwyn gave him this nickname because of the similarities between their names, by the time Wynne was five (and Colwyn was nearly out of the house for good) he insisted on being called Wayne all of the time.
Even though Gwen had never finished proper schooling, she attended Hogwarts long enough to acquire her apparition licence and began apprarating to London every morning to work as an aide at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, leaving her children under the care of Owen, Colwyn or Gareth, depending on the time of year. Food was always scarce in the Hopkins home, but the children were always dressed in clean clothes every morning, and there was always wood burning in the stove. When the children were a little older and home from Hogwarts on holiday, they took up odd jobs around the village or travelled out to the nearest town to do what they could at the factory. Food became easier to come by, but it was still meagre compared to the meals the children received at Hogwarts. Raised to be grateful for whatever they received, none of the Hopkins children ever complained about their lives at home compared to Hogwarts.
Wayne was a cheerful and thoughtful child who always thought and acted that he was older than what the date on his birth certificate read. He followed around his older siblings in whatever adventures they wanted to go on, and always came home with an interesting leaf or bit of rock to add to his “collection”- a shoebox tied with twine which was placed on the lowest shelf of the kitchen pantry. Always eager to help, Wayne decided that he wanted to help earn money for his family even before he began Hogwarts, offering to do whatever jobs he could get at the local farms.
It was never a question of if Wayne was going to be accepted to Hogwarts, but rather if his parents would be able to afford supplies. Some sacrifices had to be made at home, and Wayne, like all of his siblings, had to buy everything second-hand, but he managed to take his seat on the 1991 Hogwarts Express with the rest of the school.
Sitting on the stool in front of the entire student body waiting to be sorted did not frighten Wayne. He was never a shy or private person, and loved what attention he could get. Knowing what to expect from the stories told by his mother and siblings also made him less afraid of what was to come. His mother had been sorted into Gryffindor, and his siblings had been sorted into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw. Being that he was eleven, and knowing that because of this he knew very little about his true self, Wayne closed his eyes as the hat settled on his head, and let the magic decide for him.
"HUFFLEPUFF!" the hat called out, and Wayne went to join the table which had cheered the loudest. When his mother wrote him back after he had sent her an owl telling her where he had been sorted, the paper was spotted with tears and the running ink in his mother looped handwriting said that she was very proud of her son, and that if his father had been born a wizard, she believes he would have been a Hufflepuff as well.
After two years of fumbling his way through courses with hardly any kind of clue, everything began to click. Suddenly he was able to focus enough in Transfiguration to turn that pesky china teapot into an, albeit decorated with delicate cornflowers, living tortoise, and remembered which potions would explode if stirred clockwise instead of clockwise. All of his mother’s effort to give him proper things for school suddenly didn’t seem like such a waste. While he still longed for the farm and his family, his housemates become his second family, complete with nagging older siblings and younger sisters which he insisted on shielding from menacing boys only out for a quick snog.
Cedric Diggory and Dumbledore’s deaths would have been the only reasons Wayne would have needed to be dead-set against he who must not be named. The losses of both of these enigmatic men were life changing moments for Wayne. After his fourth year he wasn’t sure whether he wanted to go back to school, but after sixth year, despite the attempts to keep him home by his mother and siblings, Wayne was absolutely determined to see his seventh year to the end and complete his NEWTs.
Personality: Nearly equal parts jovial and serious; Wayne feels that there is too much life happening around him to waste a lot of time being grumpy. He loves a good joke as much as the next person, as well as running around with his friends when not helping someone or doing his own work. Of course, being born into a large farming family, Wayne thinks that constant idleness and frivolity is something to be frowned upon. Wayne is a dedicated and diligent worker, who values a good plan almost as much as running off behind his friends to go do Merlin-knows-what. Wayne is a bit of a worrier, but tries his hardest not to let it impede any potential fun he could have.
A shameless flirt, Wayne isn't enough of a ladies' man to honestly expect much come out of his come-ons. After seven years at Hogwarts, most of the eligible (and some of the non-eligible) young ladies at school have been exposed to his pickup lines. Mostly only getting a giggle out of the opposite sex, Wayne has managed to get a handful of a bird or two in the various broom cupboards and hidden corners of the school, but those are too few and far between to ever really expect them.
Wayne is a very expressive and cheerful young man who values his friendships and the thrill of adventure more than anything else in his life. Unless you're mean to him or his friends, Wayne is a very pleasant person to be around. While he is more likely to warm up to you if you're a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff, he won't totally ignore you if you belong to a different house. However, if you're a Slytherin, you're going to have to make a bit more of an effort- Wayne can't be buggered to try and be friends with people who act like they have a whole tree shoved up their rear end.
Questions (To be answered briefly and completely, in about 100 words.)
What does your character think of the current situation at Hogwarts, especially the Carrows? Simply put, Wayne doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like the stress put upon the students, he doesn’t like Professor Snape as headmaster and he doesn’t like the Carrows. Period. But, since he is here and determined to stick this year out (if only partially for the principle of the matter), Wayne is trying to make his seventh year as enjoyable for himself and others by coming up with ways to bother the current administration. Costumes and multiple personalities are his number one tension reliever. Occasional appearances in the hallways by the Gangster Gryffindor and Zorro are always intended to lighten the mood for the students and cause the ire of the new Hogwarts regime. It’s only a matter of time before he gets caught, but Wayne is going to milk it for all its worth before that happens.
What's your character's deepest, darkest secret? Who might know this? Wayne supposes that his biggest secret is that he has absolutely no idea how he wants to do after this year. He has never thought of how we will spend the rest of his life after Hogwarts. When he thinks of his future, all Wayne sees is a blank slate. Sure, he told Professor Sprout that he might like to be a veterinarian, but that was just because he was put on the spot. Wayne has no idea what he wants to do with the rest of his life, and is afraid he isn’t passionate enough about anything to enjoy doing it as a career.
Describe your character's Sorting. What about them caused them to go in their house? Looking back at the day he was sorted, it made perfect sense to Wayne why he was placed into Hufflepuff; Wayne cares about people. He doesn’t want anyone to be uncomfortable in any kind of situation, and is always willing to help a friend in need. He does things for people without being asked, and is more than willing to let someone copy his notes- that is, if they can manage to decipher them. Wayne is patient and kind. If someone is unable to understand a difficult concept in class (or in life), he will be the first to offer to explain it, and will make sure that the person he is helping understands before leaving.