And now...

[gothamiteknight]

• What sort of profession in the wizarding world would you choose and why?
  
  Auror’s pretty popular, and I admit that it’s pretty intriguing too. If I wasn’t going to be an animator in real life and wasn’t an artist, I’d probably do something in law enforcement, maybe not necessarily going out in the field (though that would be fun too). I’d love to be part of that force keeping people safe at night, letting them have the freedom to do what they want, when they want it, without having to worry about getting jumped in an alleyway by some dark wizard or criminal all the time, without having to worry about their children being unsafe on the way to school.
  
  I know I had a great childhood, and I would want the kids of the future to have a safe one as well without living in some horrible, frightening world of dark wizards. It’s dangerous, but worth it in the end if I could even just help save one person. Yes, Batman is my hero. I love how he’s able to take it into his own hands and keep the citizens of Gotham safe (well, as safe as they can be with all the lunatics running around) without question. He’s able to go up against enemies, powerful enemies with more power than he can handle, and goes up against them anyway. Of course it wouldn’t really work in real life, if a guy tried it he’d probably get killed within the week, but as for fantasies go, well…yeah, he’s my hero. Of course the military, firemen, and police are heroes to me even above him.
  
  
• If you could teach one class at Hogwarts, what would it be and why?
  
  Defense against the dark arts. Not that I really like dark arts, on the contrary, I just believe in having a good defense against what might possibly come up against you. Being prepared is key. Now, it is a bit hypocritical because in real life I don’t know any self-defense save screaming like a lunatic and running around in circles, and of course the age-old ‘hit where it’s gonna hurt’ technique. But even in school they teach you about the mental sides of how to defend yourself (in money/finances, internet, etc). The bad guys are going to have a tougher time trying to take over if everyone knows how to protect themselves. And I would be passionate about teaching the kiddies about this. I think I would try to emulate Lupin’s style of teaching, I always admired the teachers that actually got some real-life experience in with the book learning. I would truly enjoy that class, being passionate about the cause--the Auror coming back to play, again.
  
  
• This year, The TriWizard Tournament is being held once again and you're of age. Do you put your name in the Goblet? Why or why not?
  
  Yes. I’m hugely competitive and I would love a chance. Sure, it’s going to be dangerous, but there’s no other experience like it and I would take the chance to be able to see how far I could get in the tournament. Honestly, there are adults around, so even though you’re *mostly* on your own, there’s still someone there to back you up. Even if I was last place, I would have enjoyed it merely for the chance I’d have to be even a participant, the experience would be worth it. I love adventure, and that would certainly be one.
  
  
• If you could choose your animagus form, what would it be and why?
  
  A wolf. Not only because I’ve loved wolves ever since I was little, but I think that it fits my personality enough to be my animagus. All the animagus’ we’ve seen seem to really reflect the character’s personality, probably the most obvious being Peter’s literal rat-like traits. I often have a group of close friends rather than a huge number of mere acquaintances. I’m pretty playful to a degree, especially with the ones who I’m close to. I’d like to think I was smart (I get good grades and all *see next question*).
  
  Also wolves are close to dogs and I absolutely adore dogs. I’m not sure if a wolf is the best thing for surveillance and stealth, they’d be fine at it in rural areas but a dog would probably be able to get into most places in both the wizarding and the human world. (I guess one could pretend to be a really tough, big husky…) I’d like to have some firepower, in a sense, just in case you’d get caught in a nasty situation, and a wolf can certainly take care of itself even moreso than a dog can.
  
  
• What HP character do you identify with most and why?
  
  Hermione. Especially first-year Hermione, I was just like that when I was little. I would always be the self-righteous tattletale book-smart kid. (Though the lack of common sense in me currently is still…lacking.) I remember telling off a little boy in first grade for having *ivory* soap because poachers killed Elephants and Rhinos for ivory (I had no idea it was just a brand name). I used to tattletale like crazy when I was little. Of course as I got older I became a bit more adventurous like Hermione going with Harry and Ron on their escapades. My friends were usually guys too (still are.) I was third in my class in high school, and I love reading, I’d always have my nose in a book. That book would probably be a HP book, most of which I couldn’t put down and spent straight days reading through. I would also take on the hard classes and be up all night doing homework, though I can’t say what I would have done if I had the ability to turn back time and go to two classes at once…I don’t think I’m as obsessed with causes like SPEW as she is, but I’d probably come off as the same way as she does if and when I’m promoting some cause. Me and my friend were considering protesting in front of the Kennedy Space center when they said they were pulling the Hubble Space telescope. It would only be two, hey, but two people have a voice, right? *goes off and makes Save Hubble buttons*
  
  Hermione sometimes was a little bit of an outsider because of her heritage and where she grew up, though she certainly made up for it in skill and didn’t let it bother her. I used to live and practically grew up in Japan and I did go to an American (Navy) school, and when I got back here in the States, I felt a bit off and like an outsider for a little bit in my freshman year of high school because it was a culture shock, it was different and I had to adapt and get used to it. I’m sure, even with all Hermione’s reading, she experienced the wizarding world version of culture shock (at least her parents visibly did).
  
  
• What would you see if you looked into the Mirror of Erised?
  
  Me! Well, really though, me on some far off adventure in an exotic location, riding a horse or in a beat up old jeep, with a conglomeration of Indiana Jones, Batman, Superman, Zorro, and Spiderman in the seat next to me (or horse next to me.) He’s an a very handsome, scruffy vigilante superhero archaeologist billionaire. Also we’d have a ton of animals in the seats squished in somewhere. Dogs, cats, horses, ferrets, hamsters, bunnies, you name it. The mirror represents to me what you want and you can’t necessarily get for yourself, as for most normal realistic dreams you have a chance of getting the job you want and the money you want if you work hard enough. This right here is a total fantasy and I like it that way.
  
  
• If you won a million dollars, how would you spend it?
  
  Invest it. Give some back to the people that helped me get where I was at that moment (parents, relatives, obscure neighbors that pretend they knew you before you were rich). A million dollars can go a long way if you don’t blow it all on one house. I would make sure I could live comfortably for the rest of my life possibly if I don’t have to work so I could concentrate on traveling the world and various art projects/animation I would have going for me.
  
  
• What was your ideal job as a kid? Has that changed? What is your ideal job now?
  
  Oddly enough, no. I’m one of the few people who’s actually doing the thing I’ve wanted to do since I was little. (Except being an astronaut. Sigh.) I’ve always wanted to be an animator since…I can’t even remember when I decided it, but I am actually in college for animation and am going to be an animator. I’ve done some animations already and I’ve felt that sort of giddy realization that one of my childhood dreams has actually come true. So no, it hasn’t changed, and my ideal job is still becoming an animator.
  
  
• 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?
  
  Something that would make life a little more convenient. I would see if I could have something that could slow down time (I know they already have a little something like this, but something for more common use). It wouldn’t slow down global time or anything, but merely give a person an extra hour or two to finish homework and the chores. It’d probably be fixed so it couldn’t be used wantonly, and a person would have to have an actual task at hand that they need to finish for it to work properly. It’d be called “Chronus” or something fancy and time-like-sounding.
  
  
• 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?
  
  A centipede. A nasty, giant centipede. I hate them sooo very much. And I’ve faced this particular boggart before, apparently, because not to long ago a bit old fat one was crawling up my leg in my room. No joke. My room’s not that dirty and our house is brand spanking new, and I come in my room and sit down on my bed, drying my hair, and when I look down randomly I see the letters on my pj pants moving. I stare for a moment, to only see the critter I fear most crawling up my leg. I freeze, then blow the hairdryer at it and thankfully, it flies off and I’m able to squash it on the carpet. A few dozen times ‘cause the carpet is soft, but eventually he’s done in by the slipper. For that entire week, every time I felt a twinge I got the willies and slapped my legs silly in fear of that little monster.
  
  So anyway, if I Riddikulus’ed it, it’d probably turn into a piece of rope or some nice, non-moving object. I don’t think I could even stand a centipede with a silly hat and a trillion sneakers.
  
  
• What do you look for in a friend?
  
  Someone who’ll understand me and accept me for who I am, treat me as an equal and is there for me even when I’m feeling down, who’ll do something silly with me just for the sake of being silly, and remembers the little things about me as I do them. We’d have long conversations about random things, some deep, some simply superficial or to do with what was on television last night. I usually have a close-knit group of friends, I usually stick with one or two really good ones. Oh yeah, and they better remember my birthday. *wise nod*
  
  
• What trait most annoys you about other people?
  
  Probably people not treating me personally as an equal. Even when I was a kid, I could tell when adults would ‘talk down’ to you, and I would always respect the ones that would treat you like an adult and talk to you like they would talk to anyone. Even now, ‘cause I look young, a lot of people think I’m still a teenager and treat me like I’m a kid. They probably wouldn’t once I open my mouth and start talking to them, but still, it kind of grates on my nerves, with people thinking they’re better than everyone else just because of silly little things that don’t even matter.
  
  
• What do you think are your top five abilities or qualities?
  
  Artistic-You can probably tell I’m an artist, and it pretty much dictates what I’m going to do in life. Drawing and making art relaxes me, and it’s my favorite pastime and to be able to do it for a job is more than I can ask for. Art is life.
  
  Intelligence--As you can see from examples above, I don’t really like to toot my own horn, so to speak, but I admit, a bit of it is there in the brain, rattling around. I think my main thing is memory, I can call up weird facts but it’s mostly to do with English and History, math is my enemy. I can do math problems just fine, but I don’t understand the theorem, and don’t care to. Just give me the problem and I can do it, but don’t ask me what it means. However, in the English and History department, I adore them. I like poetry and literature, reading into the deeper meanings and discussing what the books meant. I love history the most, the events mean something to me, they aren’t just hard to remember dates and a pretty woodcut picture. These were real people, real men and women with wishes and dreams just like you and me, caught up in unique world situations, fighting for their freedoms and values, making decisions that shaped our current world, shaped the way we live our lives today. History is being made even now, things that happen today, yesterday, are going to be the facts droned over in high schools years to come. I hope that they realize how we lived in this time, what we thought of these things and how we dealt with them. Anyway I think it’s fascinating and I’m going to start boring you if I go on…
  
  Sense of humor--I love to laugh…I laugh too much, sometimes I don't take things seriously enough. I used to get in trouble for it at school. I love those big, long, hard to breathe belly laughs that just make the rest of the day seem a bit brighter. I love Monty Python’s song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” and as you can tell, I love Monty Python. There’s a bit of humor in a lot of things, even when things are dark and dreary, and those things are there to cheer you up and not take everything so seriously. Take a moment to step back and laugh. At least that’s what I do.
  
  Easy to get along with-I want to get along with anyone; I detest drama and fall to pieces in confrontations. I’m the peacemaker, when I actually get up in other people’s drama (which I rarely ever do, I prefer to stay out of it.) I’ll pretty much be friendly to everyone. I think that everyone’s lives will be a little bit better, a little bit easier, if we can’t all just be civil to each other, respectful, and not so rude. Please and thank you go a long way, even to the cashier at your local movie theater, instead of shoving the money across to you when you’ve had a long day and-yeah, you get the point.
  
  Quirky/eccentric--I have a lot of odd things I like that are pretty eclectic, I love astronomy and history (as you can tell), my fandoms are many and far-reaching, and I love to RP online. I like dressing up in costumes if the occasion even barely calls for it. I like the extraordinary and unknown, sci-fi and fantasy, and fanfic as far as the eye can read.
  
  
• What do you think are your top five weaknesses or worst qualities?
  
  Laziness-It’s so bad. I guess this ties in with procrastination, but I am really lazy. There are so many things I want to do but I’m just to lazy to do it. If I’ve got a nice warm comfortable thing going on watching a movie at home or in bed in the morning, going to take a lot of effort to get me out of my comfortable zone. I’m such a sleepy-head and I wake up late. I don’t like being lazy, it robs me of things I want to do and need to get done, and I end up losing a couple hours every day because some good show was on TV or I felt like watching a movie and doodling. I want to be disciplined enough so I can finish my homework and everything, then be lazy all I want after. I suppose with time and practice I can do this, and some major wishful thinking.
  
  Talkative-I talk a lot. I always get in trouble for it at school (when I rarely get in trouble, I used to freak whenever I actually did get in trouble, I’m the good kid…) And I usually don’t think before I open my big mouth. I hate spoilers for things but I’m usually the one who gives them out by accident. And that makes me mad at myself for doing it. I like talking to other people, and I love conversations. I listen in conversations of course, and wait for my turn, because I don’t like it when other people drag on over my words and my turn when I want to say something. But I can go on and on, indeed.
  
  Stubborn-If I’ve got a way to do it, or if I want something, I’ll go at it doggedly. I’m head-strong, and if I believe in something I won’t give in. I don’t think being stubborn is that negative though, there are a few times when being stubborn is actually a good thing and can get you what you want. But of course it can be regressive and if you don’t look outside of yourself at that moment, you could just be in a rut and moving in the same stubborn direction for a long time.
  
  Sensitive-I really need to learn not to take things personally. I don’t have a thick skin at all, and it sucks because I need critique on my artwork and I like critique, but I can’t help but feel underneath that it’s a personal attack. I’ll be like “I’m polite and I’m nice, why don’t you like me?” And be all sad. But I know that it’s not personal, none of it probably ever is. I rarely get into fights with people I don’t know really well and I really can’t take insults at all, even though I never really get them ‘cause I try to be nice to people equally. I probably take more stuff than I should. There are very few people that grate on my nerves but they’re out there and I’ve met them, and on bad days I will say what I want to say and not care, but for most of the time I’m the “Can’t we all just get along?” person. It makes everyone’s lives a little easier, at least the way I see it.
  
  And I think this ties in with shyness, but I’m not really shy anymore. After working at my first job and dealing with customers, it almost totally faded away and I’ll usually be the first to approach people.
  
  
• Define in your own words the following key traits:
  
  • Courage: The ability to realize just exactly what is in front of you, and the willingness to go out and meet it anyway.
    
  • Loyalty: The ability to stick by another person, family’s, or cause’s side, no matter if it harms your reputation, or even personal well-being.
    
  • Intelligence: Book-smarts. Plenty of people can be book smart without having street smarts or common sense.
    
  • Ambition: The ability to see and know exactly what you want, and do everything in your power to go and get it. Even if it means stepping on other people’s toes. The ability to go from point A to point B in a straight line, which can be interpreted as a bit ruthless, but it depends on said particular ambition.
    
  
  
• Name: Michelle
  
• Age: 20
  
• Where did you find out about us? Surfing through random journals, as it goes…