InsaneJournal

PLAYER INFORMATION
NAME: Dee
JOURNAL TO BE USED FOR CHARACTER: acciopotter



BASIC INFORMATION
FULL NAME: James Sirius Magnificent Idiot Potter
GOES BY: James. JS. Jim. Jam. Potter. Jampot. Hell, whatever. He just kinda pulls a bit of a face about "Jamie". It's a girl's name. At least call him Princess Jamie, dammit.
AGE: 17
DATE OF BIRTH: 12th June
ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini
ASTROLOGY: You'll need track shoes to keep up with these Geminis. They have so much energy that they exhaust nearly everyone, save other Gryffindor Geminis. In class, they love to get into debates with the professor. Out of class, they love to get into trouble. These Gryffindor Geminis are as easily stirred by romantic dreams and noble causes as any other Gryffindors, although their involvement is more mental than practical - they lack the fortitude for battle and are best left passing propaganda to the real warriors. Expect a large number of them to work for the Daily Prophet after graduation.
BLOODLINE: Being born of England's most famous half-blood and the most notorious blood traitors adds up to "I don't care". (He's still a half-blood, but heading back towards full.)
SEXUALITY: Straight... right? James has never really thought about it, because girls are so many sorts of awesome, each of them beautiful in her own way.



ACADEMIC INFORMATION
YEAR: 7th
HOUSE: Gryffindor
ACHIEVEMENTS: James maintains he could have heaps of these, he just doesn't want to.
EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES: Quidditch reserve chaser (reserve in the way that he lacks anything like commitment or discipline, can't be arsed practising, but has natural flair, so sometimes gets drafted in hours of need); Duelling Club; Gobstones
REQUIRED CLUB INVOLVED IN: Theatre appreciation, because if he has to do something, at least it should involve goofing around
FAMILIAR: Officially, the owl's name is "The Terrifying Ghost of Merlin" (hey, James was eleven when he named her) but mostly she just gets called Ghost. Or Ghostie. Or Miss Ghostpants.
WAND: Nine inches, oak, flexible, dragon heartstring
O.W.L. MARKS (IF APPLICABLE): Astronomy - A ; Charms - E ; CoMC - A; DADA - A ; Herbology - E ; History - A ; Muggle Studies - E ; Potions - E ; Transfiguration - E
CURRENT COURSES: Charms, DADA, Herbology, Potions, Transfig



APPEARANCE INFORMATION
HEIGHT: 5'10
WEIGHT: On the scrawny side
HAIR COLOUR: Brown
EYE COLOUR: Brown
DEXTERITY: Right-handed
PB: Cyrille Thouvenin



PERSONALITY INFORMATION
LIKES: Attention, having a laugh, doing it later, last-minute rushes, people, good humour, making fun of himself, rollerskates, sleeping in.
DISLIKES: Blending in, sitting still, planning ahead, systems, conflict, responsibility, bitching, animals dressed up in clothing (...WEIRD, man), overcomplicating things.
IN DEPTH:

What were they thinking, naming him after those two? His parents got what they deserved with James Sirius - he's just as self-confidently, world-destroyingly, blithely, cheerfully act-first-think-later as you'd expect. He has the gall to dare what others would baulk at, and the charisma to talk them into going along with him. And while he's a dab hand at thinking on the fly, adapting plans and pulling it off with panache, thinking about what comes after the glorious moment seems a little beyond him. He is, in short, walking trouble.

But he's a good lad. He tends to see the good in people, or at least the common ground upon which he can engage cheerfully with everyone. James could possibly have said of Voldemort, "Oh, look, he's not all bad," though it's possible the Dark Lord might have proven immune to James's cheerful largesse, cheeky remarks and bulletproof self-confidence (that allows amazing self-deprecation and no embarassment whatsoever). Few others are, partly because James is so willing to find that common ground - totally comfortable in who he is, he also doesn't expect you to compromise, but that doesn't mean we can't have a cheerful chat.

James's path is that of least resistance. Oh, he firmly believes in fighting for your right to party, and he's also pretty certain that the world revolves around him and he's always right. It's just that, after a lifetime going up against his parents and extended family, he's developed a finely honed skill for sliding around conflict to achieve his aims (and he's so sure he's right that he doesn't need anyone else to validate it). For instance, when the prefects started taking points for swearing, he started making up his own cursewords. It's almost enough to make you wonder if maybe he, not Albus, was the Potter boy who should've been worried about being sorted into Slytherin, but James is has zero ambition and couldn't really plot his way out of a paper bag. He's generally a lover, not a fighter, soothing out the wrinkles in human interaction all around him, gently easing everyone towards can't-we-all-just-get-along.

Oh, his father's temper is in there, and it can flash all the brighter and wilder for its rarity. And while, once it's flashed, it can take a while to simmer down again, James doesn't nurse grudges. He gets angry, but the boy seems (almost) incapable of hate. There's nothing (that he's found) that's unmitigated evil, and hate is just too much effort. Much better to spend that effort on entertaining himself! Fun, games, mischief and good times; that's what James Potter is all about, and while his primary objective is himself, he doesn't mind dragging everyone around him along for the ride. Oh, he's no Fred-or-George - he lacks the true intelligence, and definitely the discipline - but James has a fine line in cunning and inventiveness, and more than a little natural skill (sharpened by practice) in clever wandwork; he's pulled off a few bits of smashing magical prankery in his time, and a lot of impromptu giggle-worthy stuff.

As seventh year has been ticking along, however, James-the-carefree-lad has been getting a bit twitchy. His dad pulled him aside this summer just gone and pointed out that he can't just sail through the rest of his life. James has come to realise that he has no idea what to do with his future, and the uncertainty's not good for his temper.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
FATHER: Harry Potter, man. You know who he is.
MOTHER: Ginevra Weasley, once star chaser, now quidditch columnist for the Prophet.
SIBLINGS: Albus Potter, baby brother (and partner in mayhem?) and Lily Potter, precious darling sister and tiny firecracker.
OTHER RELATIVES: As a member in good standing of the Weasley Onslaught, James jokes that he's related to every redhead in Britain. He loves his family. All of them. He also keeps in close contact with his godbrother (yes, that's what he calls it) Teddy Lupin.
HISTORY:

It's practically a matter of public record - save the world, get the girl, be stalked by the avid media. But actually, the romance of Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley wasn't as on-again/off-again melodramatic as Witch Weekly made it out to be, as eventually proved by the lack of long-term splits and the presence of three children, even as they both pursued their careers in Auroring and Quidditch respectively. Those three children - James and Albus and Lily - were possibly the most obviously likely to never doubt their parents' love, as children of a Weasley (a family immured in ferocious and unbridled affection) and the boy who grew up unloved himself. And indeed they didn't.

James is walking proof of what happens when a kid grows up unshakeably sure of his worth, his place in the world, and that he's loved: self-confidence you couldn't dent with an elephant gun. It showed in how early he crawled (and walked and talked and...), how vigorously he got everywhere his parents were amazed and terrified about, how rambunctiously he made friends with his cousins and every other child who crossed his path, and how wildly he loved his siblings (because his parents did).

Come his time, he headed off to Hogwarts perhaps slightly more uncertainly than he let on to the outside world (only his parents knew how hard he clung to them in the moment before the Express tore him away from his family, and how many letters they wrote him). And since he was chanting, "Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor," before the Hat even hit his head, its suggestions of Hufflepuff or maybe even Slytherin weren't seriously raised or received. Despite his homesickness, James leapt enthusiastically into school, once he was there, throwing himself into classes and meeting everybody and making friends and pestering his head of house to let him onto the quidditch team because he was really good, honest, just watch!

When he finally was allowed on the team, in third year, he managed to play out the year with frequent stern reminders about attending practices, but the captain in his fourth year was made of sterner stuff and after the first time he accidentally (honest!) blew off a practice, he was out. He was allowed back in in sixth year, but only as reserve, and he only played part of one game (after the regular Chaser was injured). Whatever, there's plenty of other things to keep him entertained, and plenty of other things to do with all that time the others spend practising!

Those things usually don't include studying; James is not a good student. He's not analytical, and really not book-smart, and drastically disinterested in reading. He's better with practical subjects, and while he won't practice for practice's sake (boooring!) he does learn pretty quickly from doing and repetition, and his hands-on and wandwork intuition is pretty good. Still, when it comes to theory and written assessment, it's amazing how much of his grade comes from the assistance of others; also, how good he is at inveigling, bargaining, or downright charming that academic assistance out of others. Especially at the last minute. James is king of the night-before cram session.

For such a generally charming guy, his romantic history has a remarkable steadyness and lack of outrageous flirtation. He's always sincere and engaging, but almost never steps over that line, and apart from a few Hogsmeade "dates" in fourth year, he's had precisely two girlfriends: one for a short period in fifth year, and then the Big One, Ava Warrington, the girl he's been with since October last year. They're something like a Hogwarts stalwart now, but people change, and especially with everything James has on his mind this year, it's possible they're growing apart...