Thomas Raith - Squarewarts
Name: Thomas Raith
Series: The Dresden Files
Age: 24
Blood: Half-blood (one-quarter veela)
Former House: Slytherin
Staff Position: Potions (6-7)
Personality:
Outwardly, Thomas is the soul of the party. He is the one at the center of the knots of laughter, someone hanging off each arm and regaling the crowd with a joke or bit of gossip. Sometimes even a story or two of an exploit or a conquest. Charming and outgoing, Thomas comes off as a happy-go-lucky fop, relying on his family name and good-will to see him through. It does buy a fair amount of tolerance from his elders. Though they would be the first to admit that he is intelligent, charming and witty enough. He just has all the common sense that God gave a goldfish.
Mostly, though, Thomas is an extremely good actor, with the foppishness laid over a deeper, more slippery personality. Growing up in the Raith home, Thomas is generally wary and watchful of those around him. He does have a wicked sense of humor, which led to more than a few pranks during his time at Hogwarts. Ones he generally got away with because nobody could figure out who had set them. Thomas is a planner by nature and necessity. Combined with an intelligence he keeps hidden as well, it has kept him safe and alive so far.
Despite it all, however, he's not completely aloof. He often comes to the defense of those who need it, though he won't elaborate on his motives and he's never likely to be found in the middle of the fight. He's more likely to be found at the edges or in the shadows, pulling strings and manipulating from behind the scenes, especially if he would rather nobody know he was involved.
Background:
The Raith family is an old and generally well respected wizarding family. A few Chief Warlocks, back in the days of the Wizarding Council, bore the name of Raith and members of the family can still be found in senior positions in the Ministry of Magic. They are, however, also considered to be a family beset by a either terrible luck or a truly awful curse, as nearly every member of the family that currently carries the name is female. The only males in the Raith family are Nathaniel Raith, the head of the family, and the youngest, bastard son, Thomas.
Though Lady Raith, Nathaniel's wife, has publicly accepted and raised Thomas as her own, she is not his mother. Instead, Thomas was born of an affair between his father and Margaret Gwendolyn Le Fey. Margaret was a powerful, outspoken witch who came to the Raiths needing to go into hiding for a time. While there, she found herself falling for Nathaniel, in what she believed was truly love but was a manifestation of one of the Raith family's great secrets, that Nathaniel is half veela. All too soon, Margaret fell pregnant and Thomas was born, left mostly to his mother's care.
Thomas barely remembers his mother as she fled the Raith estate when he was five. He remembers being happy, watching her perform small spells to keep not only his attention, but the attention of his older siblings and baby Inari. Margaret left Thomas with only two things: a silver pentacle pendant and a promise that she would return for him one day. He didn't understand why she was gone or what had happened, only that his father was very unhappy with the entire thing, so Thomas learned to keep out of the man's sight and not antagonize him more than necessary.
He was eight when he learned that his mother would never be able to keep her promise. Nobody told him any details of Margaret's death, only that she had died. There wasn't much in the papers, either, when Thomas could get hold of one to look.
It was soon afterward that another tragedy struck in young Thomas' life, this time in the form of the death of his eldest brother. William was seventeen and had just reached the age of majority in the wizarding world when he was involved in a Muggle traffic accident. While the family went into mourning, Nathaniel Raith showed little emotion. His wife was devastated, though, and he was always at her side, leading those outside the family to believe he was keeping the stiff upper lip for her sake.
It would be three more years, just as Thomas was getting ready to attend Hogwarts himself, before Richard, the second son, met with a similar fate, this time during an Apparation accident. At least, that was the official line that was told to the rest of the world. Thomas knew differently. He had been hiding in the library and reading when his father arrived with another wizard, one that Thomas didn't know. He overheard as his father made plans with the man to have Richard removed, though it had to be done in a different way from William. It only took moments for Thomas to put it together, though the knowledge sickened him. Nathaniel Raith considered his sons to be threats to his power because, one day, one of them would lead the family. William and Richard were intelligent, handsome and stronger. And if Thomas was going to survive, he was going to have to be better than both of them.
Hogwarts made it easier, in a lot of ways. Hardly anybody there knew who Thomas was, outside of his family name, so he began to reinvent himself. Though he got good grades, he showed very little initiative. When, as he got older, girls (and sometimes boys) started to pay more attention to him, he used that to help cultivate the devil-may-care attitude he was showing to others. Thomas had little to no problem romancing another student for a while, but he dropped them quickly enough with a veil of boredom. Many hearts were broken in those years, which left Thomas freer to work on his studies. Where he also, generally cultivated an air of boredom, though his natural intelligence won out and he did rather well in potions and transfiguration, as well as summoning magics later on. Even with high NEWTs in his classes, though, Thomas mostly excelled at flying under the radar and not catching his father's attention.
Which was probably why the first attempt that Thomas knew about didn't happen until after his nineteenth birthday. He'd been flying home after a night out with friends when someone tried to take control of his broom and buck him off. It would have been easily covered up as an accident, but Thomas wasn't even half as drunk as he did his best to appear. He was able to hold on until the broom passed low over a lake. The landing still hurt like hell, but it was a sight better than landing on solid ground. Over the next year, there were a few more attempts. Thomas managed to wiggle out of them, though it was more difficult each time. Finally, though, he packed his bags and left the ancestral home on his twentieth birthday, declaring that he was off to London to be on his own, having no desire to learn anything about how to run the damned house or the family. Whether Nathaniel believes this or not, Thomas has been left pretty much alone by his family since. Only Inari, his younger sister, is allowed in his home.
He recently opened up a small potions business, catering to those who never did get the hang of them. There are rather a lot of wizards who aren't good at even simple potions and it wasn't exactly taxing work. Then a letter arrived from Headmaster Cid at Hogwarts, asking him to come back to teach. Thomas would have sat on the letter, giving himself time to think, if one of his regular customers hadn't come in, one who had a gift for divination. She patted his hand, said that they would miss him, but he had to go where he was truly needed. As soon as she left, Thomas wrote his acceptance letter and sent it straight back.
Series: The Dresden Files
Age: 24
Blood: Half-blood (one-quarter veela)
Former House: Slytherin
Staff Position: Potions (6-7)
Personality:
Outwardly, Thomas is the soul of the party. He is the one at the center of the knots of laughter, someone hanging off each arm and regaling the crowd with a joke or bit of gossip. Sometimes even a story or two of an exploit or a conquest. Charming and outgoing, Thomas comes off as a happy-go-lucky fop, relying on his family name and good-will to see him through. It does buy a fair amount of tolerance from his elders. Though they would be the first to admit that he is intelligent, charming and witty enough. He just has all the common sense that God gave a goldfish.
Mostly, though, Thomas is an extremely good actor, with the foppishness laid over a deeper, more slippery personality. Growing up in the Raith home, Thomas is generally wary and watchful of those around him. He does have a wicked sense of humor, which led to more than a few pranks during his time at Hogwarts. Ones he generally got away with because nobody could figure out who had set them. Thomas is a planner by nature and necessity. Combined with an intelligence he keeps hidden as well, it has kept him safe and alive so far.
Despite it all, however, he's not completely aloof. He often comes to the defense of those who need it, though he won't elaborate on his motives and he's never likely to be found in the middle of the fight. He's more likely to be found at the edges or in the shadows, pulling strings and manipulating from behind the scenes, especially if he would rather nobody know he was involved.
Background:
The Raith family is an old and generally well respected wizarding family. A few Chief Warlocks, back in the days of the Wizarding Council, bore the name of Raith and members of the family can still be found in senior positions in the Ministry of Magic. They are, however, also considered to be a family beset by a either terrible luck or a truly awful curse, as nearly every member of the family that currently carries the name is female. The only males in the Raith family are Nathaniel Raith, the head of the family, and the youngest, bastard son, Thomas.
Though Lady Raith, Nathaniel's wife, has publicly accepted and raised Thomas as her own, she is not his mother. Instead, Thomas was born of an affair between his father and Margaret Gwendolyn Le Fey. Margaret was a powerful, outspoken witch who came to the Raiths needing to go into hiding for a time. While there, she found herself falling for Nathaniel, in what she believed was truly love but was a manifestation of one of the Raith family's great secrets, that Nathaniel is half veela. All too soon, Margaret fell pregnant and Thomas was born, left mostly to his mother's care.
Thomas barely remembers his mother as she fled the Raith estate when he was five. He remembers being happy, watching her perform small spells to keep not only his attention, but the attention of his older siblings and baby Inari. Margaret left Thomas with only two things: a silver pentacle pendant and a promise that she would return for him one day. He didn't understand why she was gone or what had happened, only that his father was very unhappy with the entire thing, so Thomas learned to keep out of the man's sight and not antagonize him more than necessary.
He was eight when he learned that his mother would never be able to keep her promise. Nobody told him any details of Margaret's death, only that she had died. There wasn't much in the papers, either, when Thomas could get hold of one to look.
It was soon afterward that another tragedy struck in young Thomas' life, this time in the form of the death of his eldest brother. William was seventeen and had just reached the age of majority in the wizarding world when he was involved in a Muggle traffic accident. While the family went into mourning, Nathaniel Raith showed little emotion. His wife was devastated, though, and he was always at her side, leading those outside the family to believe he was keeping the stiff upper lip for her sake.
It would be three more years, just as Thomas was getting ready to attend Hogwarts himself, before Richard, the second son, met with a similar fate, this time during an Apparation accident. At least, that was the official line that was told to the rest of the world. Thomas knew differently. He had been hiding in the library and reading when his father arrived with another wizard, one that Thomas didn't know. He overheard as his father made plans with the man to have Richard removed, though it had to be done in a different way from William. It only took moments for Thomas to put it together, though the knowledge sickened him. Nathaniel Raith considered his sons to be threats to his power because, one day, one of them would lead the family. William and Richard were intelligent, handsome and stronger. And if Thomas was going to survive, he was going to have to be better than both of them.
Hogwarts made it easier, in a lot of ways. Hardly anybody there knew who Thomas was, outside of his family name, so he began to reinvent himself. Though he got good grades, he showed very little initiative. When, as he got older, girls (and sometimes boys) started to pay more attention to him, he used that to help cultivate the devil-may-care attitude he was showing to others. Thomas had little to no problem romancing another student for a while, but he dropped them quickly enough with a veil of boredom. Many hearts were broken in those years, which left Thomas freer to work on his studies. Where he also, generally cultivated an air of boredom, though his natural intelligence won out and he did rather well in potions and transfiguration, as well as summoning magics later on. Even with high NEWTs in his classes, though, Thomas mostly excelled at flying under the radar and not catching his father's attention.
Which was probably why the first attempt that Thomas knew about didn't happen until after his nineteenth birthday. He'd been flying home after a night out with friends when someone tried to take control of his broom and buck him off. It would have been easily covered up as an accident, but Thomas wasn't even half as drunk as he did his best to appear. He was able to hold on until the broom passed low over a lake. The landing still hurt like hell, but it was a sight better than landing on solid ground. Over the next year, there were a few more attempts. Thomas managed to wiggle out of them, though it was more difficult each time. Finally, though, he packed his bags and left the ancestral home on his twentieth birthday, declaring that he was off to London to be on his own, having no desire to learn anything about how to run the damned house or the family. Whether Nathaniel believes this or not, Thomas has been left pretty much alone by his family since. Only Inari, his younger sister, is allowed in his home.
He recently opened up a small potions business, catering to those who never did get the hang of them. There are rather a lot of wizards who aren't good at even simple potions and it wasn't exactly taxing work. Then a letter arrived from Headmaster Cid at Hogwarts, asking him to come back to teach. Thomas would have sat on the letter, giving himself time to think, if one of his regular customers hadn't come in, one who had a gift for divination. She patted his hand, said that they would miss him, but he had to go where he was truly needed. As soon as she left, Thomas wrote his acceptance letter and sent it straight back.