jackson blaire, librarian.

[Professor Jackson Blaire]

the roleplayer

name: Night
years roleplaying: Bunches
how often you can be on: I live here
age: 16
time zone: EST

the character

Name: Jackson Nez Blaire
Family:
Father
name: Neil Michael Blaire
blood status: Muggle
age: 54
occupation: English teacher
former house: N/A
Mother
name: Patricia Emily Blaire (nee Sterling)
blood status:
age: 56
occupation: Pediatrician
former house: N/A
Siblings
name: Linda Marie Blaire
blood status: Muggle
age: 32
occupation: Animator
house: N/A
Blood Status: Muggleborn
Wand: Alder, phoenix feather, 9 in.
Birthday: May 19th
Age: 30
Patronus: Rabbit
House: Formerly Ravenclaw
Occupation: Hogwarts Librarian
Pets: A positively obese black-and-white cat named Kafka

History

Everyone would know the name Neil Blaire…at least that’s what he was convinced when he set out to be a musician. Rather, it was as the epitome of a starving artist that Patricia Sterling found him, strumming his guitar in underground stations hoping to earn extra cash and get discovered. He never did get that glamorous, superstar lifestyle, but he did get a wife out of it, and from her a career. Four months after the two started dating she managed to convince him to go to school to become a teacher, perusing a major in English. It wasn’t long before the two married and not a year after the wedding they had their first child, Linda Blaire. She was a quiet girl, inheriting all her mother’s careful reserve and tact while leaving her father’s idealistic enthusiasm for the little brother she’d subsequently receive two years later. Welcome to the world, Jackson Blaire.

Linda had lulled their parents into a false sense of security that was completely shattered by Jackson’s arrival. Whereas Linda was content to play quietly with her dolls, the ever-growing Jackson always wanted to try new things. He’d trip and stumble around the house, banging into things and falling over before getting back up and toddling off again, perhaps after a quick cry. It was a relief on both their parents and their house when he was finally of age to go to school, though he’d always be sure to come home with feathers in his hair or paint down one cheek. He was a rambunctious child, more at home with arts and crafts or on the playground, while sitting still for math and reading made him twitch. This lessened as he grew older and he discovered that books could actually be fun. Forget those boring science-y books, he loved the adventure books where magic was real and even little boys got to go on adventures.

And then he turned eleven. It was May 19th, just before they were about to go out to eat to celebrate his birthday, when a dark-suited man knocked on their door, clutching a thick, parchment letter in one hand. Jackson had watched wide-eyed from behind the kitchen doorway as his father reluctantly invited the man in. Perhaps it was one of his parents colleagues, paying a visit due to affairs at work? No, no, the man said he was there about Jackson. The boy, just barely eleven had hesitantly listened as the man explained everything. The way that toad had disappeared? The way Julie Carther got itchy around him ever since she stole and hid his books? Magic. Uncontrolled, juvenile mage, it would seem. Jackson almost didn’t believe it, at least until the man briefly turned their pet cat into a footstool. There was a whole world of wizards out there, living superimposed over their ‘muggle’ world without them knowing, and those dark times years back had been their war. Magic was real. Wizards were real. And he…was one of them?

It was all a lot to take in, each of the family reacting differently. Jackson was mostly confused, his mother somewhere between shocked and proud, his sister quietly speculative, and his father distinctly uneasy. The reason for his father’s reaction came to light not a week later when another, very different man knocked in their door. Jackson’s Uncle Ethan was a stark contrast his father. Whereas Neil had left behind his free-spirit days in return for a family and classroom of students, Ethan had never done such. Ethan was irresponsible and unpredictable - all in all pretty fun for an eleven year old to hang out with, making him one of Jackson’s favorite relatives even if they didn’t see him often. Oh yeah, and it turned out he was a wizard. Busting into with enthusiasm and proclamations over having heard the good news, it wasn’t long before his uncle had swept him off to Diagon Alley to collect his school things. Hogwarts was great, his uncle assured him loudly, buying him a pet toad as a joke as he knew very well the pets were hideously unpopular. And when Uncle Ethan said it like that…Jackson could believe it, his doubts melting away in the glow of his uncle’s enthusiasm and acceptance.

Much to his parent’s displeasure, Jackson grew closer to his uncle in the months leading to his departure from King’s Cross Station, the man filling him in about the magical world. He’d even made an appearance as the Hogwarts Express pulled away from the platform, though he had been late as usual. Oh well, it was the thought that counted, right? A bundle of nerves and excitement, it seemed to take forever before the Sorting Hat was placed on ‘Blaire, Jackson’s head. It had deliberated for a painfully long moment before sending him scurrying for the Ravenclaw table. That was the house for smart people, right? Did he really belong there? He barely knew anything about magic, even after all of his uncle’s stories, how could he be expected to do well in odd classes about magic and stars and potions?

After a clumsy first few weeks of acclimating and getting lost about a dozen times per day, Jackson did take to his new life. Magic wasn’t so hard, he discovered, especially since no one else knew a lick about it either. And the library, oh the library. There was just so much there he’d never heard of in the muggle world, the dusty old tomes breaking down his preference for purely fiction as he started to read up on what he ought to have known his entire life had he been raised in a magical household. The years passed quickly in a blur of yellowed pages and mischief, the boy known throughout Hogwarts for his happy-go-lucky attitude and willingness for adventure. Things faltered, however, in his sixth year when his Uncle Ethan asked to meet him in Hogsmeade at the Hog’s Head. Ever since his second year Jackson had been seeing progressively less of his uncle, but his boyishly tender sentiments still lingered, and so he went in a sentimental effort to please his old hero. Later he would wish he hadn’t. He was in a bad spot, Ethan said over a pint of some unidentified liquid, owed a lot of money to the wrong people. He asked Jackson for help, just to loan him the galleons until he could pay it back. Uneasy with the hold prospect and staving off an encroaching feeling of guilt, Jackson had refused, leaving the establishment quickly before he could change his mind.

Three weeks later Ethan Blaire was found dead in his flat with signs of torture evident on the body.

Jackson had been shocked, and after that wore off, racked with guilt. He knew he had been right not to in any way connect himself to the crowd his uncle had messed with, but it still felt like it was his fault he died. The end of his sixth year was spent in a funk of guilt and depression. Being away from the magical world, for the most part, over the summer helped take his mind off it, and by the time he entered his seventh year he had more or less recovered. Before long he graduated and was thrown out into the world to snag a low-level ministry job filled with boring days spent filing papers. He was never really happy with it, but he didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t have any idea what he wanted to go into and the bills had to get paid somehow in the meantime.

But there’s always a girl, isn’t there? For Jackson there was, a muggle named Ashley Rames who worked at the grocery store he frequented. For a long while it was just casual flirting at the checkout line, until one day he decided to ask her out in his usual spontaneous fashion. Much to his surprise, she said yes. As months progressed the two took things at an average pace until the two decided to move in together. This was all well and good…until it really hit him. It all started with the questions. Why were there so many owls about? Granted, he had finally had the mind to get the Daily Prophet delivered at work, but he still got letters from friends and such. She had no idea he was a wizard, and why should she? His family was perfectly normal and despite the odd inconsistencies and oddities cropping up with increasing frequency her mind didn’t jump to ‘magic’. He should have told her, he knew he should have, but he was afraid. He was afraid that even after she got passed the disbelief she wouldn’t be able to handle it. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle it. Besides, what would their children be? Muggles too? He didn’t know how magical hereditary worked and the thought of being unable to fully share part of his world with his children scared him just as much as telling Ashley the truth.

So he chickened out. Ran away. Bailed. With a pockets heavy with excuses he neatly ended his current lifestyle. Quit his job, broke things off with Ashley, and moved away. He needed something new to keep his mind off regretting the past, and he unexpectedly found that at Hogwarts. He’d gone in to talk to McGonagall about a post as a professor, maybe something like Muggle Studies. There weren’t any posts suiting his skills open…except they did need a new librarian. Still carrying a minor love affair for books, Jackson jumped on the opportunity, returning as the new Hogwarts librarian. He’s in his third year of the job now, and he has to admit he loves it, even if he’s had to take it upon himself to get some of the stuffier studiers to loosen up a little.

Appearance

Jackson doesn’t exactly cut an imposing figure. Sure, he’s tall, quite so, but he doesn’t have much bulk to back that up. He has a long, lanky build that almost makes it look as if a strong wind could blow him away. He was practically a stick as a child, his exceedingly friendly personality probably the only thing that saved him from getting picked on for it. He does have some muscle definition, but not all that much, having never been the athletic type. The library or some odd nook of the castle always appealed to him more than the Quidditch pitch (zipping around on cleaning tools high in the air? No thank you), lending cause for his somewhat pale complexion in addition to simple genetics.

He has a very expressive face, perhaps part of the reason he’s so easy to get along with. He’s very open, with an easy and sincere smile that seems to convey just how happy he is to see you. He’s graced with big, dark brown eyes that add to his harmless look and somewhat detract attention from his slightly crooked nose. His hair is nearly the same shade of brown as his eyes. Though it’s cut relatively short, especially on the sides, that doesn’t keep it from becoming a tousled mess more often than not. Occasionally he’ll tame it for special occasions, but generally he just lets it do what it likes after an initial attempt at straightening it up. It’s just easier to let it have a mind of its own.

His style is very relaxed. While he takes some pains to make sure he’s presentable, he’s not really out to impress anyone. Who is there to impress at a school? The students? He’s the one trying to get them to lighten up half the time, at least the usual library crowd. He does what he wants on whims, sometimes letting his beard grow out to a healthy layer of stubble and sometimes going clean-shaven for weeks. It all depends on what happens to strike his fancy.

Personality
Jackson is, first and foremost, a happy person. Ever he optimist, he’s the one to always point out the silver lining no matter how dark the cloud may be. You have to have darkness to appreciate the light, as far as he sees it, and though it may take time, everything always turns out okay in the end. A flaw in his cheery attitude, however, is that he doesn’t like things bringing him down, and thus tries to avoid them. If he doesn’t think about it, it’s not really a there. It’s his coping mechanism, making excusing and escaping a problem before it can hurt him. But that’s hidden deep inside him, glossed over by an outwardly chipper and happy-go-lucky attitude. It does, however, crop back up in his mind, keeping the wheels in his head turning and worrying over past guilt and future fears into wee hours of the night.

Despite the fact that he’s been a functioning member of the wizarding world for years now, he still lives with one foot in the muggle world. Naturally he’s always immersed in it when he visits his family for holidays and such, but even besides that he likes to keep in touch with his roots. He thinks muggles and their culture are vastly underrated in wizarding society and doesn’t take kindly to anyone badmouthing them. If anything he finds their compensation for magic near amazing, having a bit of a love affair with technology. It’s really a shame all the magic around Hogwarts and other large concentrations of witches and wizards makes muggle technology useless, as he finds it quite handy and fascinating on top of that. He likes to tinker with things and figure out how they work, which is a lot more fulfilling when there isn’t magic involved.

Jackson’s a rock, a safe haven of stability for anyone who needs one. Once you get past the eccentric behavior and fast talking, he’s really an excellent listener. He’s always ready to offer advice or sympathy for those who want it, gifted with an intuitive sense of when it’s the right time to talk and when it’s best to just listen. He genuinely likes people and hates to see them suffer when there’s something that can be done about it. He’s very sincere and open with how he feels, making lying a difficult sport. There are times when lying to spare the person’s feelings is very much a good idea, but more often than not he ends up awkwardly beating around the bush until they can move on or change the subject.

He’s very creative and likes diversity, as seen in his new additions to the library’s inventory. Musty old tomes about dead wizards and ancient magic are all well and good for studying, but there really needs to be some more lighthearted and fun reading material as well. He’s even started stocking some muggle books, fiction and nonfiction alike. While he likes art, it’s more of an idle hobby than anything else, never going beyond doodling abstract figures or appreciating things others have made.

Likes & Dislikes

Likes:
- Books, books, books.
- Scarves
- Cats
- Muggle technology
- The castle
- Doodling
- Interactive students
- Abstract art
- Being helpful
- Muggles

Dislikes:
- People dog-earing books
- small, yappy dogs
- Insomnia
- Bullies
- Blood supremacy/hating on muggle things in general
- Being away from home for too long
- Arguments
- Care of Magical Creatures (large animals make him uneasy)
- Gossip
- Finding writing in books

Amortentia:
- New books
- The air of a hot summer's day
- Vanilla

Pet Peeves:
- Dog-eared/similarly abused books
- When people take things too seriously
- Loud chewing

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths:
- Forgiving
- Good listener
- Eccentric
- Intuitive
- Caring

Weaknesses:
- Prone to homesickness
- Ruled by his emotions
- Worrier
- Unpredictable
- Over thinks things

Boggart: Himself, totally and utterly alone in the world.

Play By: David Tennant

Anything else? Ah-nope.

Roleplay Sample See Jamsiepoo

[Headmistress McGonagall]

DAVID TENNANT DAVID TENNANT DAVID TENNANT.
/flail.