nigel tenning, professor.

[Professor Nigel Tenning]

the roleplayer

name: Night
years roleplaying: Lots o’ years
how often you can be on: Most every day
age: 16
time zone: EST

the character

Name: Nigel Archibald Tenning
Family:
Father
name: Harold Lee Tenning
blood status: Half-blood
age: 72
occupation: Wizengamot member
former house: Ravenclaw
Mother
name: Nancy Maribel Tenning (nee Baker)
blood status: Muggle
age: 67
occupation: Storekeeper
former house: N/A
Siblings
name: Charles Merric Tenning
blood status: Half-blood
age: 41 - deceased at age 15
occupation: Deceased; formerly student
house: Slytherin

name: Anna May Tenning
blood status: Half-blood
age: 39
occupation: Mortician at St. Mungo’s
former house: Ravenclaw
Blood Status: Half-blood
Wand: Ash, unicorn hair, 11 in.
Birthday: August 16th
Patronus: Cat
House: Formerly Slytherin
Age: 36
Occupation: Astronomy Professor
Pets: His students None

History

Harold Tenning never expected, nor planned, on marrying for love. Ever since he had started constructing his rigid life plan the man had just assumed he would marry for influence or money, as nearly all his choices where aimed toward the goal of becoming somebody. Born and raised in a rather poor half-blood family the man’s ambition knew no bounds, to the point where many were surprised when he was sorted into Ravenclaw. He fought and clawed his way through the ranks of the Ministry after graduating from Hogwarts, on an upward slope that didn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon…and then he met Nancy, the owner and operator of a small antique store. And she was a muggle! He never would have imagined it, but lo and behold, not a year and a half later the two were married with a child on the way. Of course they’d have children, he’d always planned on that. Just two, preferably a boy and a girl in order to have the full experience of child-rearing without having to have a million of them. Despite the odds against his expectations, the couple first had a boy, Charles, and then two years later a girl, Anna. Perfect, right?

Oh yeah, and then there was Nigel. The ‘oops’, so to speak, Nigel Tenning’s birth three years after Anna’s was wholly unplanned. He was still loved, yes, but he didn’t really have a place in Harold’s infamous life plan, so he was just kind of…shoehorned in. His father was always busy pushing and prodding his older siblings into new activities and greater ambitions, so Nigel naturally attached himself to his mother. He was always her favorite, eve if she’d never admit it - or at least that’s what he thought. Whereas Charles and Anna were always occupied with work preparing them for their Hogwarts years, Nancy took the opportunity to enroll Nigel in muggle school once he was old enough to understand that talking about magic and other such things wasn’t appropriate for the setting. He loved it, partially because of the extra attention it got him as he told her all about what he was learning. This stint was fairly short, however, as it ended with Voldemort’s public return to power. It was too dangerous, his parents decided, and instead hoarded their only child not in Hogwarts at home.

The Battle of Hogwarts took place the year before he was to attend the school. His brother and sister, however, were not so lucky. When it was all said and done - the Dark Lord defeated and the wizarding world liberated at last - Charles was among the dead, his pale corpse looking so much younger than his fifteen years. The family was devastated but, like the rest of their world, slowly recovered and moved on. When the school started back up for the next term, Nigel attended a Hogwarts different from the one his siblings had known. This Hogwarts was in various stages of reconstruction, open once more in order to improve morale and symbolize a fresh new start in the wake of the Second Wizarding War. After a few tension-filled heartbeats of silence, the Sorting Hat had placed him in Slytherin, the house of his late brother.

School proved simple for him and he improved by leaps and bounds as both he and the school found their footing. He never displayed much of his fathers intense ambition and it wasn’t until his fifth year that he realized his true calling. He wanted to be an Auror. It was such an obvious choice, why hadn’t he seen it before? His brother had died in battle, wasn’t it fitting for Nigel to follow with the same king of patriotism? He’d be able to do it too, he knew he could. If he could do that well without even trying, imagine what he could do when he set his mind on a goal! School couldn’t end soon enough after that, and indeed the boy graduated with more than enough O.W.Ls and N.E.W.T.s to qualify for Auror training.

It hadn’t quite been what he bargained for. His entire life up to that point everything had come to him so easily. Schoolwork? He would admit without a trace of arrogance that he was very clever, and his father was influential enough in the Ministry that he had all the connections he’d ever need. But the Auror office didn’t care about cleverness or connections, it cared about keeping its people alive and useful. The stringent character and aptitude tests threw him a curve ball, for starters. You couldn’t study or memorize the material for that sort of thing! Suddenly things got real, and he had no choice but to adapt. Three years later, perhaps with the aide of a miracle or two, he graduated into the ranks of the Ministry of Magic’s Aurors. The following years were exciting - perfect even. Be it men or women, he didn’t mind the difference, his love life was lacking, but that was okay. He was much too engrossed in his work for that sort of thing, his father’s ambition finally shining through in nothing less than enthusiasm. At the age of thirty he managed to become an animagus, now able to take the form of a sleek, dark cat for spy work and the like.

And then everything changed. At the age of thirty-four, now a seasoned Auror, he and his partner went out to investigate a suspected dragon egg smuggling ring. It wasn’t a bust, else it wouldn’t have just been the two of them, they’d just gone to poke around and ask questions, no biggie. Except things don’t always go as planned. When he came to in St. Mungo’s he didn’t remember much aside from a confusing blur of flying curses and indistinct shouting, but with help he managed to piece the scene together. The two had been jumped by a group of the smugglers, forced into battle before they had time to properly apparate out of there or call for the backup that eventually did come. His partner? Dead. Nigel? Lucky, they said. He’d taken a particularly nasty curse to the leg and despite their best efforts…well, it’d never work properly again, even after physical therapy. Huh, lucky. Yeah right. What was the point of magic if it couldn’t fix that?

Once he was released from St. Mungo’s he dove right back into work, despite family and friends protesting that he should take time off. But he didn’t need time, he needed a distraction. However, it was apparent things were never going to go back to the way they were before, despite his feeble hopes. What had he even been thinking? He was stupid to think they’d want an Auror with a gimpy leg doing anything but filing paperwork. Frustrated and embittered towards his situation, Nigel resigned due to the injury, but found himself unable to just leave it at that. What was he supposed to do? Just live off his pension and pick up stupid hobbies to pass the time away? Snag some boring office job at the Ministry and spend all day simpering under his superiors? Finally his search concluded with him returning to the place he’d been so eager to leave; Hogwarts. He’d always been fond of Astronomy during his years there and the post was open, so it seemed like a good fit. All the shrinks seemed to think it was good for him too, a nice, calm subject rather than the excitement of Defense Against the Dark Arts. So far it’s been…interesting, to say the least.

Appearance

Nigel is a tall man, something he’s found he rather enjoys. He can see over crowds and reach the top shelf and everything, it’s simply marvelous! He certainly doesn’t look like much as far as intimidating body types go, as he’s rather slender, but luckily he doesn’t plan on getting into a fist fight any time soon. That’s not to say he doesn’t have some muscle to speak of though. Being an Auror ensured he was always at peak physical condition, though ever since his resignation he admits he hasn’t been quite keeping up with his work out regimen. He does supposed it might have a wee bit to do with his leg though. Ever since it took a harsh curse his left leg hasn’t worked quite right, giving him a noticeable limp and even going so far as to force him to carry around a cane during cold or rainy weather when it especially stiffens up.

He’s pale with a rather fair complexion inherited from his father, however he always preferred it with the dark brown hair he got from his mother than with his father’s own strawberry-blond (now gray), but he supposes he’s rather biased. He keeps his hair somewhat short, though long enough that it’s curly nature is easily identified. His eyes are an incredibly pale shade of gray-blue, another gift from his mother, and luckily he’s been able to keep both of them in working condition despite some valiant efforts on criminals’ parts. You’d be surprised just how many times he’s always had one poked out by a flailing wand.

Throughout his time as an Auror Nigel went through the process to become an animagus, eventually obtaining the ability to transform into a cat at will. His cat form can best be described as an Egyptian Mau, a slender, slinky sort of creature. His fur is a dark, smokey gray lined with disjointed black stripes until it lightens to a more silvery color along his chest and underbelly. His eyes are the same, unnervingly pale shade as they naturally are, making snooping a smidge harder if people wise up to the ruse. His lingering limp doesn’t help matters either, but he’s found people can be extraordinarily unobservant when they have a mind to be.

Personality

Despite his relatively young age, Nigel’s been around the block a few times and he’s not about to let his students forget it. He’ll be the first to admit that Astronomy’s not all that important in the grand scheme of things, but if you’re in his class you’d sure as hell better show up for it. You can’t be bothered to show up for class? Well, then he’ll just have to come forcibly get you out of bed on another night for a remedial lesson promised to be more grueling then the original. The best part was that it was a required class until sixth year, yippee. As a professor he can be either your best friend or your worst nightmare, depending on how tolerable you are. He doesn’t even mind those who talk back so much, if anything they’re more exciting than the quiet ones that just sit there and take notes. That’s the one thing about teaching he isn’t so fond of; it can get boring very fast. After a fast-paced career as an Auror lecturing a bunch of wide-eyed first years either too afraid or tired to speak gets a little…tedious.

He may be ‘disabled’ in some sense of the word, but he’s eager to show he’s not afraid to be a hardass, especially if it means he gets to slam his cane across a drowsy student’s desk. He’s prone to doing things out of apparent spontaneity like that, be it accompanied with anger or enthusiasm. He grades papers and such with similar unpredictability, often starting out with something akin to enthusiasm that dwindles before long and leaves him grading based on skimming or even how much he liked the student, on occasion. Grading is just so dreadfully boring. In fact, if you prod him in the right direction it’s quite easy to get him to talk about anything other than stars and planets for most of the class. Oh, he knows what they’re doing when it starts, he’s not stupid, but he doesn’t care. Reliving his Auror days is certainly better for keeping students awake than droning on about Jupiter. Who knows? They might even learn something.

Nigel was put into Slytherin all those years ago for a reason. Though it his ambition always sort of took backseat when it came to his life, he’s a rather sly character. He’s very reserved when it comes to what he’s thinking, letting things show in bits and pieces as he sees fit. He’s very observant, a trick picked up from Auror training, and reads people and situations with a subtle eye. It’s not nearly as useful in such a contained and relatively safe area as Hogwarts and these days he just uses it for his own amusement or blackmail, though the latter could be considered a form of amusement as well. He likes the sense of power that comes with holding a dark tidbit of information over someone’s head and the feeling that he’s just oh-so-clever. And he is, isn’t he? He acknowledges it, humble never having been a word in his favored vocabulary. He’s brutally honest like that, never sacrificing the truth to spare someone’s feelings. Coddling them won’t do them any favors, at least as far as he can see.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes:
- Astronomy
- Taffy
- Talking about the glory days
- School feasts
- New experiences
- Antiques
- Those hats with the little pom-poms on top
- Danger/excitement
- Being right/proving someone else wrong
- Smacking things with his cane just to get a reaction

Dislikes:
- Cloudy nights
- Cold
- When his leg acts up
- Divination (it’s ridiculous and downright silly)
- Boring students
- Hospitals
- Grimy telescopes
- Rats
- Bringing up the Battle of Hogwarts
- Being given restrictions

Amortentia:
- Vanilla candles
- Old wood
- Oranges

Pet Peeves:
- Students who sleep during class
- Loud chewing
- People who don't take care of their telescopes properly

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths:
- Intelligent
- Observant
- Experienced
- Enjoys a challenge
- Adaptable

Weaknesses:
- Nosy
- Set in his ways
- Brutally honest
- Easily bored
- Unconventional sense of humor

Boggart: Himself, completely crippled and confined to a wheelchair.

Play By: Benedict Cumberbatch

Anything else? Nada

Roleplay Sample See James~!

[Headmistress McGonagall]

I love him. Obviously.