(no subject)

[nobodymove]

• What sort of profession in the wizarding world would you choose and why?
  
  I would love to work for the Daily Prophet in some capacity. I love to write and have written and edited for some small local publications, and I love being able to put my words together in a way that they may be interesting to each of the people who has the paper delivered to their home. Plus, with a circulation like that, you know that a Daily Prophet columnist would be a celebrity, which would be pretty fun. There's also a certain thrill that I would associate with seeing moving pictures to go with whatever I'd written - so much more interesting than muggle ones!
  
  
• You have to venture deep into the Forbidden Forest one night. Pick one Harry Potter character other than Hagrid and one object (muggle or magical), besides your wand, that you'd want with you.
  
  I would choose to be with Severus Snape, and not just because I would like to snog him in the dark behind a tree. He's such a chameleon that he is able to adapt to absolutely any situation, and on top of that he's a remarkably skilled wizard with experience in DADA, the Dark Arts in general, and all sorts of wand and spellwork, even having gone so far as to create his own spells when he was younger. He would be excellent backup in any situation at all.
  
  As for an object to have with me, a high-powered flashlight, because when it's that dark and creepy even a lumos charm wouldn't provide me with enough light to feel comfortable somewhere where so many creatures could be hiding. The dark freaks me out a bit, at least when I am in surroundings I'm not familiar with - and as I'm not the sort to sneak out to the Forbidden Forest for fun, it would definitely be unfamiliar.
  
  
• If you had the opportunity to live forever, but your family and friends did not, what would you choose? And if you did choose to live forever, what would you do with eternity?
  
  I could only choose the option of living forever if I could add a caveat: that at any point in the future, should I choose that I finally do want to die, I am able to do so. I would miss my friends and family, of course, but the chance to find out what the future is like - Will we have transporters? Will James Tiberius Kirk really be born in Riverside, Iowa? Can I live on the moon? - that's not something that I could ever pass up. Visions of the future, and how people think and hope it will be, absolutely fascinate me. I'd like to find out who was right.
  
  However, I add that caveat because in every book I've ever read where a character, protagonist or otherwise, is able to live forever they end up regretting it. Either because they miss the people they have lost along the way, because they have seen too much, or simply because they are tired of living life day after day, they always end up wishing that they could die. It would be nice to have an "out" just in case I reached that point someday.
  
  
• If you could travel back in time to one point, when and where would you go? Why?
  
  This is a TOUGH one. My partner and I have this conversation every now and again, and each time we come up with more and more fantastic ideas. However, there is one answer that always comes up for me. The year is 1961. No one has heard of The Beatles. All through this year, and all the way into 1963, The Beatles (having finally settled into the name, although they played the venue previously as The Quarrymen) played lunchtime concerts at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, England. Having been an avid Beatles fan, and just generally the type of girl who is obsessed with music in its various forms, the opportunity to see the greatest band the world has ever known play during their formative years, before the stress and fluff and gloss and everything else they went through - that is the kind of gold mine or treasure trove that people spend their lives dreaming of!
  
  
• What HP character do you identify with most and why?
  
  Luna Lovegood! I'm so used to being the very strange one who stands out in any crowd. Not necessarily for odd opinions that could be considered delusional, but more that I'm enough of an original that I don't quite fit in 100% anywhere. I'll wear a rainbow jacket, or a hat with the head of a tiger on it (in fact, that's what my winter hat is!), and I distinctly remember wearing a pair of glasses with two different-coloured lenses when I was Luna's age - they made me a little bit dizzy. I'm also not really willing to change in order to be able to fit in, I'm pretty uncompromising in that. I'm me, and that can be enough to make people look strangely at me. Certain things that I have done, like tattoo my neck and knuckles, will always mark me as being different.
  
  I'm also used to blurting things out in any given situation that will elicit a "..what?" from other people in the room, whether it's a Monty Python skit in the middle of a group of people who have no britcom knowledge, or a Star Trek reference at a gathering of non-nerds. One difference between myself and Luna, however, is that I can tell when I've just said something that baffles everyone. I usually end up standing there blushing, and wishing that everyone understood whatever reference I've just made!
  
  
• What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised?
  
  I know this is a terribly cliché answer, but really big piles of money or an endless pre-paid credit card. I know they say money doesn't buy happiness, but I'm not entirely sure that I believe that. If I had that much money, I could play video games, read, and hang out with my dogs and my partner all day instead of having to work. I could invest as much time as I want in knitting, or making music, or traveling to strange places, or any of the other things that I love and still be able to pay my bills. I could buy every single book and vinyl record and CD that I want, which is a very very long list. I'm sure it's selfish to want to be able to buy myself all of these things, and I know that my conscience wouldn't let me go without donating some of it to a good cause, but I'd really like to have the money to do every little thing that strikes my fancy.
  
  
• Do you believe that moral actions should be judged by the intentions behind them, or by the consequences they create?
  
  In a perfect world, good intentions would never have negative consequences, but the world is far from perfect and so we have to walk a fine line between when those consequences are acceptable and when they are not. That makes it hard for me to give a solid A or B answer here (or maybe that's my inner decision-making-impaired Libra). I feel like it is a decision that can only be made based on the exact situation to which you're applying things.
  
  If we're talking about catching a child who is about to fall off a balcony and die, but you have to trample someone's prized flower bed to do it - that, I see as absolutely acceptable. Judge it by the intent - even if you don't succeed in catching the child, even the effort is worth the destruction of the flowers.
  
  On the other hand, if your intention is the noble one of saving a child, but in order to get to the child to save them you have to swerve across traffic, crash your car into a bus, and kill twenty other people - no, of course in that case the moral and positive original intention does not excuse what the consequences are.
  
  So really, as I have said, it's not a black-and-white kind of issue, it is a decision that needs to be weighed carefully based on the actual issue at hand. And sometimes, you really do need to step on people to arrive at an end result that actually makes a difference.
  
  
• What was your ideal job as a kid? Has that changed? What is your ideal job now?
  
  When I was a kid, I desperately wanted to be on the radio. I had a little radio that had a microphone with it, and I would listen to my favourite radio station for hours! Whenever the DJ was talking, I would turn them down and talk myself, making up all sorts of terrible radio banter and fake facts about the song that just played, and even do my own commercials. As I got a bit older I would record my own "radio" shows on tape and play them for my family, and some of these recordings even exist.
  
  Over the years, my ideal job changed and changed and changed, but when I was 18 I had the chance to work at a radio station. I was thrilled! I realized then that I absolutely still wanted to be on the radio. I worked hard in behind-the-scenes jobs until I finally, four years later, had the chance to host and produce my own radio show, which was a highlight of my life for me. I still work at the radio station now, ten years later, and it's still my ideal job - although I miss being on the air. I work in other departments now, where there are up-days and down-days, and would love to be an on-air personality again. It's a thrill - who doesn't want to be famous, right?
  
  
• If you were able to invent one spell, potion, or charm, what would it do, what would you use it for or how would you use it, and what would you call it?
  
  I would absolutely want to invent a memory charm that allowed me to instantly memorize anything that I read! I love having facts at my fingertips, even though they're usually fairly useless ones such as the detailed personal histories of Star Wars characters, the names of all the spells in all of the Harry Potter books, or what Jonathan Strange was wearing when he met Mr. Norrell for the first time. Essentially, like a photographic memory that you can turn on any time you'd like, allowing you to memorize all of the details in the entire book, magazine, newspaper, website, whatever it is. I could be a walking repository of silly information, which I could then proceed to bore all of my friends with. Not intentionally, I just really, really like to talk about the things that I'm interested in and don't always notice when people's eyes start to glaze over.
  
  Naming the spell is a bit harder, but in the end I have settled on eiderecor, from "eidetic memory", which is the technical name for a photographic memory, and "recordor", a latin word meaning to remember or recollect.
  
  
• If you were to face a boggart, what would it turn into? And what does it turn into when you throw the counter-spell, Riddikulus?
  
  My boggart is a spider - probably a really, really giant one, ten feet tall. It's silly and girly and utterly cowardly, but something about the way they move just freaks me out in the most intense way. I've always hated fitting that standard female stereotype. It drives me crazy, because when I think about it I realize that it's completely illogical. Still, however much I try, they never stop scaring me.
  
  I think that the Riddikulus version of my spider-boggart would be having it turn into a tiny, beanie-baby sized plush spider, bright pink and fuzzy. It's just everything that a big scary spider is not, because it would be soft and adorable and everyone would just want to cuddle it, including me!
  
  
• What do you look for in a friend?
  
  There are a few things that I look for in a friend, of course, but the first that comes to mind is that they have lots in common with me, and be smart enough to carry on an intelligent conversation instead of a steady stream of "Oh my god!" and "I KNOW, right?". I want them to have opinions of their own that they can clearly express, that they can support and debate, and that they truly believe in. I'd like them to be knowledgeable about music, literature, TV and movies so that my random pop culture references make sense, or better yet, so that they can fill in the right punch line or complete the reference I'm making, because that's so much fun! Overall, though, I get along with most people... I just can't handle it when they're stupid.
  
  I also look for friends with a level of loyalty, a certain staying power, because I don't like having to try to make new friends all the time. I'm good at making friends, and charismatic enough that people usually like me, but I'm not fond of going out into situations where I have to do just that. I'd prefer to be at home or somewhere nice and mellow with a few good friends than out in an overly social setting.
  
  
• What trait most annoys you about other people?
  
  Asking stupid questions. I can not emphasize this one enough! When people ask me questions that either they should know the answer to already, or where they should easily be able to figure out the answer themselves, it drives me absolutely up the wall! If you recall the scene in the movie Clerks where everyone, standing in front of a large price sign, asks "how much is this?" - those are the people I can't stand. I actually want to yell at them, or if it's bad enough, grab them and shake them.
  
  If you need to ask someone what time it is when you're standing beside a clock, or ask the bus driver what route number he's driving instead of looking at the sign on the front of the bus, if you look at the buy-one-get-one-free rack and ask someone how many free items you get, I don't want to talk to you. Ever. In fact, I sort of think you shouldn't ever leave the house and bug the rest of the population of the planet.
  
  
• What do you think are your top five abilities or qualities?
  
  I am very creative. I am at my happiest and most comfortable when I am making something. Whether it's knitting my own House scarves, making badges with nerdy sayings on them, or finding a new solution to a problem or puzzle, I thrive on creativity. I also have no problem accepting praise for cool things I've made/done, that's quite fun indeed.
  
  I have an excellent memory. Details will come back to me years later, and my family often phones me to ask me questions about things we've done in the past that they can't quite remember everything about. Once I've read a book a few times I usually remember a great deal about it, and it serves me well when I'm learning new things.
  
  I put people at ease. Even when I am not comfortable myself, I can make other people feel comfortable and at home. People are often drawn to me, and even complete strangers often tell me their life stories, or confide things in me. It helps me out in many situations, and makes awkward or new situations easier to handle - I can look like I fit in just about anywhere. It also means that I end up with a bevy of information that people would not normally tell others, and have to decide whether I can hold in all the secrets!
  
  I can think on my feet. When presented with a problem, I can usually work out an interesting (and often unorthodox) solution quickly. Under pressure I work well and turn out great results, and in teamwork situations people often turn to me when there is a time crunch.
  
  I'm a talented musician. I have been singing and performing my entire life, including ten years in an a cappella group and years of hosting and producing music programming on the radio. I'm currently learning new instruments, and getting my feet wet writing and arranging music myself. I love singing in front of people, and sharing music of all kinds with anyone who will listen.
  
  
• What do you think are your top five weaknesses or worst qualities?
  
  I don't know when to shut up. Whether I'm boring people with useless facts or sharing bits of information that are more gossip than actual information, I find myself talking a lot more than I should. Sometimes I'm willing to share news/information that I shouldn't, because it grabs people's attention. I need to learn to just close my mouth and cut it out when the time is right.
  
  I correct people a lot. I have trouble looking at incorrect spelling without telling the person that their spelling is wrong. When someone uses the wrong word in conversation, I have to bite my tongue to not correct them out loud - and even then it doesn't always work. I often have the urge to take a red Sharpie marker to signs that I see which have incorrect punctuation, especially misused apostrophes.
  
  I lose my patience easily. If I have to explain something to someone more than once or twice, I get fairly fed up. I'm also not good at waiting in lines, and when I really want something, I buy it right away without a lot of thought because I'm not willing to wait to get it.
  
  I only try hard when I really have to/want to. If I'm working on something, abd I know that I can easily do "well enough" on it without trying hard, I usually do that. It was particularly prevalent in high school. If I could get an 80 on a paper without trying, I was okay with that, instead of actually trying and getting a 90. However, this changes if it's a subject/area that I actually care about. In those cases, I get really excited, and in some cases put in twice as much work as I actually need to because I'm having so much fun with the work/research/writing/etc.
  
  I'm not a morning person. I've gotten extremely good at faking a "morning person" personality, because I have to be at work, answering phones and greeting guests, by 8:30 in the morning - if it was up to me, I wouldn't be out of bed before 10:00. It does mean that on days when I don't work, I get a very, very slow start and stay up much too late at night.
  
  
• Define in your own words the following key traits:
  
  • Courage: Being yourself and standing up for yourself even when it seems like the worst possible time to do it.
    
  • Loyalty: A strong dedication to the people and things which you believe are important and deserving.
    
  • Intelligence: A solid combination of established book-smarts, the ability and desire to learn new things, and a healthy heaping of common sense.
    
  • Ambition: Knowing what you want in life, and never stopping until it's within your grasp.
    
  
  
• Name: Pixie
  
• Age: 27
  
• Where did you find out about us? From current member calairiel
  
• Do you plan on being active in the communities once you are sorted? Absolutely!