THOMAS ELLIOT BAINES

BIRTHDAY January 3rd
SPECIES Human
YEAR Fifth
HOUSE Ravenclaw
PATRONUS N/A

LENGTH 32.2 centimeters
WOOD Aspen
CORE Unicorn Hair

Reducio

Wand-quality aspen wood is white and fine-grained, and highly prized by all wand-makers for its stylish resemblance to ivory and its usually outstanding charmwork. The proper owner of the aspen wand is often an accomplished duellist, or destined to be so, for the aspen wand is one of those particularly suited to martial magic.

Unicorn hair generally produces the most consistent magic, and is least subject to fluctuations and blockages. Wands with unicorn cores are generally the most difficult to turn to the Dark Arts. They are the most faithful of all wands, and usually remain strongly attached to their first owner, irrespective of whether he or she was an accomplished witch or wizard.

Reducio

The Baines family is a powerful, historic line of wizards. The second most recent generation of the Baines was a duo of brothers, Donal and Rowan. These two brothers competed throughout their time at Hogwarts, and even post graduation they seemed keen on one-upping one another. Despite their seemingly adversarial relationship, they were always closer than they appeared. When Donal found himself between a rock and a hard place, raising a daughter alone, he was welcome in Rowan’s home to stay for as long as he needed.

Which was why, of course, it was exceedingly peculiar that Rowan disappeared without informing his brother. It was even more peculiar that he didn’t inform his family, either. At the time, he’d been married to a muggle by the name of Margot Baines, who was raising a brown haired, blue eyed boy, Thomas. He was 5 when his father vanished without a trace. Little did Thomas know, he was off with another woman later on, and he had a sister he was entirely unaware of.

Despite the hardship that the two suffered because of it, Margot and Tommy persevered! Regardless of her status as a single parent, Margot raised Thomas as well as she could (which was, on the record, pretty darn well). Growing up with his Uncle Donal right around the corner proved to offer Tommy a strong male presence in his life, and his cousin Talulah was like the sister he never had. He grew up decidedly happy despite it all. The two cousins grew up with a relationship somewhere between siblings and best friends.

As Tommy grew older, he found himself growing out of his otherwise fairly shy shell. He made friends outside of his typical circle. One notable one was Sylvie O'Niell, a girl he and Tally met in kindergarten. The trio were nigh inseparable growing up.

Hard-pressed and constantly striving for success, Thomas was predisposed to fits of mild despair when things did not go his way. His perfectionism, while a driving force for his interests and passions, also proved to cause him fits of inwardly directed anger. After a particularly bad math test, Tommy found himself in a funk. Tally was never one to let her cousin mope, much to Tommy’s dismay, but in this particular instance Tommy was able to stave off her efforts at cheering him up. In his anger, the boy accidentally channeled his magic potential. Talulah found her toes disgustingly swollen, and so they remained for several hours.

They swore to never speak of the incident again.

Eventually, the Hogwarts letter arrived! While Tommy didn’t fully understand what was going on, still unaware of his wizard heritage, he pressed on without questioning his fate.

TLDR Despite being a half-blood, the absence of Thomas' wizarding father caused the boy to be raised by his muggle mother, completely isolated from magic as a whole.

”It’s not that I’m stubborn, it’s just that no one has managed to argue with me long enough to convince me that I’m wrong.”

Reducio

Unfortunately for most that he meets, Thomas Baines is no longer the shy, quiet boy that he was when he first arrived at Hogwarts. Though he certainly isn't charismatic to any degree, he is far from frightened by social situations and avoids them because they're largely a waste of time in his eyes. Opinionated, stubborn, and boastful, Thomas can be quite the handful to interact with if you haven't gotten to know him. To strangers, he is calculating and arrogant, but to his friends, he's considerably more tolerable; Tom reserves his kindness to those who matter to him. None are free from his witty retorts, however, and even at his young age his developed vocabulary provides a deep well from which to draw for his insults.

One of Thomas' most notable personality traits is his omnipresent ego. His pride rules his personality with an iron fist, dictating how he reacts to almost every situation. When he is confronted or called out for behavior that may be considered unkind or inconsiderate, he is quick to defend himself, frequently not even realizing the error of his ways. Thomas despises being humiliated in any capacity, and an injury to his pride might as well be a shot to the heart with how deeply it wounds him. Despite this, not much actually does manage to humiliate the boy, as he doesn't care much for the perception of others. So long as he can confidently believe he is the smartest in the room, a delusion rarely refuted unless he is explicitly proven wrong, Thomas is content.

The trait that is most core to his personality is his innate curiosity. Tom wants to get to the bottom of every conundrum he encounters and to discover as much as he can about everything. This wanderlust for information only grew stronger upon being exposed to the wizarding world, with a vast history and new skills to master. Thomas is willing to go to immense lengths and do nearly anything if he believes it will grant him knowledge, even to the extent of putting himself in danger of disciplinary action, or just in jeopardy of genuine bodily harm. This curiosity has spurred a level of paranoia with him, as Hogwarts' oddities have been without explanation from faculty and his peers. Throughout his time at the school, Thomas has borne witness to quite a few peculiarities, and the list of people who he trusts has been whittled down to a list of names that is likely shorter than what could be described as kosher.

Traits
Hardworking (+)
Observant (+)
Honest (+)

Independent (+/-)
Curious (+/-)
Proud (+/-)

Impatient (-)
Tactless (-)
Paranoid (-)

Shorter than average for his age at 5’6” and rather scrawny, Thomas is far from an imposing character. His resting expression is typically a scowl, with a blue gaze that is constantly scanning the room and his surroundings rather than remaining focused. The brunette hair that frames his face is long, and though it was once maintained he is clearly in need of a good haircut and perhaps a comb. Throughout Thomas' time at Hogwarts, his meticulously well-groomed appearance fell by the wayside, and now his robes are often wrinkled and disheveled due to lack of upkeep. Though he once cared about how he was perceived, the young boy has far greater things to worry about. His short height is exaggerated by his hunched-over posture; standing as if he is constantly anticipating an attack of sorts on the horizon.

TRUNK

STAMINA 7
EVASION 13
STRENGTH 1
WISDOM 11
ARCANE POWER 12
ACCURACY 13
TOTAL 57 (+5 due to dueling wins (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), and +2 due to Statistically Relevant)

Evasive Maneuvers
Statistically Relevant (+2 Wisdom)
Evasive Maneuvers II
Wandmaker