Potter, James William

[James William Potter]

JAMES WILLIAM POTTER
is
ELIJAH WOOD



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Fear of a Name, Only Increases The Fear Of The Thing Itself
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Character Name: James William Potter
Character Age: 16
Job/Year: Student/6th
Wand: 11" pliable Mahogany, Dragon Heartstring core
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Time Period: Marauder

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He can run faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo
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Play-By: Elijah Wood
Hair Shade: Black
Hair Style: Short and with a tendency to stick up at the back, which he makes worse by messing it further, specially when nervous.
Eye Color: Hazel
Build: James is a 6' tall young man with a medium build, who is fit due to practicing sports such as Quidditch and running on a regular basis.
Dressing Style: Either Hogwarts robes or casual clothes. When it comes to his chosen style of casual clothes, James tends to the more classical style due to his parents' influence, but he may learn with Harry how to enjoy the lightness of t-shirts, jeans and sneakers. He though will feel a little awkward in them at first.

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Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
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Likes: His parents, the Marauders, Lily Evans, Quidditch, magic, Hogwarts, freedom, pranks, fun, exploring the campus in his Animagus form, being in the spotlight, Transfiguration, Charms and DADA.
Dislikes: All kinds of prejudice, the dark arts, Lord Voldemort, Death Eaters (either full-timers or wannabes), Severus Snape, extensive homework, being ignored, detention, his failing eyes and the permanent need to use glasses (they make him look like a nerd and that is Remus' thing...), Slytherins in general, injustice, Potions and History of Magic.
Strengths: Natural intelligence, loyalty, creativity, bravery, moral compass, stability, open-mindedness and charisma.
Weaknesses: Arrogance, exaggerated mischievousness, unwillingness to be serious most of the time, a level of recklessness, stubbornness, a level of simplicity of heart and those he loves who can be used against him by forcing him to make mistakes he wouldn't otherwise.
Overall Personality: James is a clever and talented wizard. He certainly seems to believe that even though growing older is mandatory growing up is optional and it shows in his jovial and mischievous ways. He is witty and won't pass any opportunity to joke, prank or smart mouth around the campus with his friends. Sometimes this can be an issue as it guides him to have a certain disrespect for the rules and authority figures. James has a rebellious side and a tendency towards recklessness. He is uncaring of heeding warnings most of the time and when the needs of his friends are at stake, be sure that he'll heed no warnings at all and just face the consequences if and when they come.

James is an incredibly stubborn youth and it is very difficult to convince him out of something if his mind is set into doing it in a certain way. This trait also shows itself as an unwavering need not to give up, even to his emotional or physical detriment, of things or people he cares about. He doesn't seem to perceive the more subtle emotional undertones in other people and their behavior unless he feels threatened by them, then his awareness levels tend to rise fast. Though if someone is not very clear about not finding a prank he pulls to be funny, it is unlikely James will perceive their dislike of it or stop trying again another day.

There is absolutely no doubt that James can be arrogant and boastful specially in public. The fact he seems to learn things easily since beginning school does not help him at all. He has a bombastic personality as if designed on purpose to call attention to himself all the time. He also does bully other students on occasion, just for the sake of getting further attention, particularly his long-time rival, Severus Snape, and other Death Eater wannabes, hexing them seemingly just for the sake of it. James will though always take his friends to the spotlight with him. The pressures of the war and Lily's rejection are though making him reconsider this specific aspect of his personality at the moment.

Much of James' shell and public behavior is stemmed from his fear of rejection and loneliness, not to mention his use to be the center of attention as an only child of a wealthy family. Deep down he is a wise, loyal, romantic and kind boy, whose heart is in the right place. He possesses a lot of good instincts and his very bright and adventurous mind is always willing to use what he knows for a good cause, either to oppose the Dark Arts, which he despises immensely, or raise a good laugh. He wants to be an Auror and, if he can, play a part in defeating the Dark Lord because, despite being a pure-blood, James disagrees strongly with the concept of blood purity and is disgusted with any prejudice towards muggleborns, being loud about his opinions on this matter.

Actually James is not prone to any of the common prejudices, point for his elderly parents, of the Wizarding World and will choose with whom he will hang out based on how they show themselves to him. The only prejudices he holds are against Slytherins and Death Eaters, as most of the time they are the same thing. Though if someone in Slytherin proves time and again to be a decent person, he'll just think the Sorting Hat made a mistake placing him/her with the snakes. He is also not shy to make friends or enemies on principle alone and then deal with the consequences of that choice.

One of James' greatest characteristics is his loyalty towards his friends, the Marauders, whom he sees as his family of the heart. Actually James is loyal to the point of going through fire and water for you once you are placed under his wing after proving to be deserving. He'd selflessly do absolutely anything for his friends, except kill, regardless of personal consequences to himself. James is also very charismatic and uses that to turn unfavorable situations to his side. Much of his popularity comes from this, together with his sports achievements in Quidditch and the fact he doesn't take things too seriously, unless they are very serious indeed. He is very well arranged with girls, but ironically he fell badly for the only one who is totally unimpressed with him and his antics.

James can be centered when he feels it is needed and show a bit of the wisdom his elderly parents have bestowed upon him during his upbringing. He is a strong shoulder to lean on for his friends as he came from a normal background, so, not having as many angsts of his own, he can at times act as the rock they all fall upon and not break under their emotional weight. James is no saint, far from it, but his heart is in the right place and he'll do the right thing not the easy one, especially when the time to think does not exist and he must act guided solely by his instincts. He doesn't consider killing as a viable option, even in war, and would never let a death just happen either by his action or his inaction.

James' greatest ambition is to live up to his elderly parents' expectations and become a decent man, according to their example. He also wants to form his own family some day as he places great value in true bonds. Even though James still has a good deal of maturing to do in order to loose the less savory aspects of his personality and become that decent man he wants to be, all the building blocks are already inside him. All he needs to do is discover that he needs not to be loved or seen by all, let the mask fall and then show the world what kind of a guy he truly is when not trying his best to just show off.

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Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.
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Father: Charlus Potter
Mother: Dorea Potter
Siblings: None
Others: Marauders, specially Sirius Black (family of the heart)
Birth Place: London
Current Residence: The Potter Estate
Overall History: James Potter was born into a very wealthy pureblood family. His parents, Charlus and Dorea, were by then elderly even by wizarding terms and no longer had faith that their marriage would be blessed with a child. When Dorea discovered she was pregnant, it was considered a miracle. Both Potters resigned their work positions to dedicate themselves solely to their child, who was very active from an early age.

Because of this, James grew up protected, loved and being the recipient of untold attention at home. Rarely he was denied what he wanted and that caused him to become spoiled and spotlight seeking later on in his life. It also ingrained in him his fears of loneliness and rejection as he had never known such feelings during his upbringing. His parents, especially his father, were always talking to James in order to impart to him the Potter family traditions and wisdom, which were marked by humbleness and understanding towards others.

Out of fear for the situation of James' conception, Charlus began to teach his son how to control his mental focus from an early age through fun childish games so he wouldn't have to deal with possible outbursts of his magic. Exactly because of this care, such feared outbursts never happened to James while he grew up. Actually from ages ten to eleven he even thought he was a squib due to his parents' ages and the fact that he couldn't make things happen. He had effectively blocked his magic by then. When the letter from Hogwarts came, James was really excited. That proved he was a wizard too and would get to study at the same school his parents did many decades ago.

For a few days James was a little uncertain about leaving the household that had always been so loving and safe to him, but he was a very curious boy and wanted to learn a lot. So he went to King's Cross station at the appointed day like many other kids. Still excited by the prospect of the school to which he was going, James hopped into the Hogwarts Express waving goodbye to his parents, who seemed more like grandparents to all the other children there and granted him several questions on the matter. Not that James cared about the age of his parents at all, he pointed in their direction proudly to whomever asked, confirming that they were really just that old. Nothing wrong about that, right?

Within the Hogwarts Express during that first journey, James met the five people who would be the most influential to him during his school years. The first was Sirius Black. He was there within the compartment James chose to enter for the trip. The two boys and their fun loving ways clicked together immediately. The second was Lily Evans, by then just a pretty girl who was upset about something James never came to know so far.

The third was Severus Snape, Evans' friend and an overall weird boy with greasy hair and an arched nose. It was practically hate at first sight due to a discussion in which Severus expressed his will that he and Lily be sorted into Slytherin House while James wanted to be sorted into Gryffindor House due to his father's stories and the fact that house valued bravery more than any other characteristic. It was also when James and Sirius bestowed the pejorative nickname of Snivellus on Snape.

The fourth was Remus Lupin. An instinct took over James telling him that he shouldn't leave the other boy alone, so he insisted in a conversation, even though Lupin seemed more interested in reading his book than talking to Sirius and himself at first. The fifth and last was Peter Pettigrew. The feeling James had with him was a bit difficult to describe, but he also didn't feel it was right to leave him alone just because the other boy seemed not to be the sharpest tool in the box or the best looking one.

Arriving at Hogwarts was an awe inspiring experience even for a wizarding kid like James. The first thing that happened was the sorting ceremony. When the Sorting Hat was placed over his black haired head, it didn't know where to place James. He had characteristics to be wanted by any house, so it asked, after listing the ones it could identify in the young boy, with which one he identified himself the most. He chose chivalry due to his father's stories and was then immediately sorted into Gryffindor House, which was what he wanted anyway. Sirius, Remus and Peter were also sorted into Gryffindor which was like the icing on the cake as they would be able to stay close that way. James also made a small mental note then that Evans was also sorted into Gryffindor while Snivellus got his wish and ended up in Slytherin.

His first year at school was great. James was fast to notice that now that he was beginning to learn spells, his focus, honed with the guidance of his father, allowed him to learn control of such spells very fast and he began to play with the extents of such ability. The four boys, who would grow up to be known as the Marauders, were placed in the same dorm room, which allowed their friendship to get each time stronger as they discovered who each other really was like. That year, while at home for the Christmas holiday, James received as a gift from his father his family heirloom, the cloak of invisibility, which he placed to good use upon returning to the school. The very first use he made of it was to snatch food from the Kitchens unseen.

His second year was much more eventful. James joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a chaser and began his sports career at Hogwarts. He is fully aware of his talent as a player and tends to be boastful about it more than not. Also James and Sirius began to show more overtly to what they had come and started to build a fame as their group's ringleaders with their pranks, whose popularity rose fast within the grounds. Their motto became "mess with one of us, mess with us all" and soon the students were aware that it was unwise to pick on any of the four boys because retribution would come fast and hard. This served as a protection layer, especially to Peter, who might have been bullied in a different context.

James and Sirius began to notice a pattern in Remus' disappearances and, using the cloak, they started to investigate what could be happening with their friend. They had been told by Lupin himself that he had a sickness, but now they wanted to know more about it in order to help him. It didn't take too many trips to the Library for the boys to discover that Remus was probably a lycanthrope, a werewolf. One day, at night, the three boys confronted their friend with their findings and cornered Lupin confirmed their suspicions. James especially insisted with the others that Remus was not abnormal due to his condition and that he was a good friend, not deserving to be shunned due only to such a furry little problem. Friends don't abandon each other to suffer, that was his point of view and he stood by it. In the end, such discussion only reinforced the friendship bonds between the four boys.

During his third year, James started to get the Hogwarts grapevine wondering about his school record. How come someone who never pays attention to class and only copies anything when Remus is absent gets such good grades in his taken subjects, including the electives? He was also never seen at the Library, which only increased the hearsay that he copied his essays from Lupin. None of that is true though, as not being seen at the Library, for James, does not equate to never being there. He also learned to extend his ability to focus, so he could actually remember what he overheard during class by remembering his conversations with Sirius during them. James already was a good master of his own mind by now and that also showed at magic practices and dueling classes where he proved to be a clever, swift and able wizard. His ego also got larger due to this and he loves to bask in the light of being larger than life.

It was also during this year that in Transfiguration class Professor MacGonagall taught them about the animagus transformation. It was cool to see her turning into a tabby cat and then back. After that class James, Sirius and Peter talked about the idea of becoming animagi for Remus' sake under that which by then had already become their tree by the lake. They would be able to stay with Lupin always if they could manage it and help him through the worst of his transformations. Though they would only know how once they knew into which animals they would be able to transform, but the thought alone was already enough to send them into trying.

Fourth year was the height of mischief for James Potter and Sirius Black. They didn't want to be chosen as prefects next year because it would kill the fun and it was possible due to their grades and ever raising popularity on the campus. So they decided together to do everything in their power to make themselves ineligible while not getting expelled because of it. They have managed to get their wish as Remus was chosen as prefect by the end of the year and they actually wanted that to happen in order to increase his levels of self-esteem. Meanwhile the animagus quest went on for James, Sirius and Peter without Remus' knowledge. It was extremely hard to keep it from their best friend, but they wanted to make him a big surprise.

Fifth year brought a lot of joy, pain and change to James. He started to notice that his feelings for Evans, that girl from the Hogwarts Express years ago, were growing from an intellectual academic admiration and hidden will to protect due to her muggleborn origins into something else entirely. He was really falling in love with her… the only girl in the whole of the campus who was totally unimpressed with him due to the less savory aspects of his personality, especially his very large ego by then. She told him off several times because of it and that rejection, something he had never experienced before, stung a lot and caused him to reconsider some aspects of his general behavior.

In the meanwhile, Snape took a liking at spying on the Marauders. He was particularly interested in figuring out Remus' secret so he could get the boys expelled from the school. That lead to the Shack Incident. Sirius thought it would be a prank to tell Snape how to cross the Whomping Willow when he asked for that knowledge. That same day was a full moon night and Snape followed Lupin into the Shrieking Sack to find a fully transformed werewolf. The only reason why he survived was because Sirius told James of what he had done earlier and James knowing Snape knew he would follow Lupin that night. So he went after him and saved the Slytherin boy, whom he despises, due to his beliefs on the value of a life. Severus was then sworn to secrecy about Lupin's condition by Dumbledore himself and Sirius got an earful from James that such an act as his was not a joke at all. Nothing that can get someone potentially killed is one.

By the end of this school year, by the time of their O.W.L.s, there was another incident involving Snape and the Marauders. There was an altercation worse than normal between James, Sirius and Severus. During this James showed his meaner side by attacking Snape rather without reason, unless one considers what came before with the earlier spying, which still doesn't justify it. As it progressed James tried to call Lily's attention, which backfired horribly because she was friends with Snape and ran to defend him. In his shame though due to way he was being treated, Severus called Lily a mudblood out of pride and that made her break her friendship with him later on. James never understood why she hanged out with Snape to begin with and was relieved to know they wouldn't see each other anymore as he thought she'd be safer that way. He though feels hurt out of this, not because of Severus, but because this is still a source of sorrow to his beloved Lily.

Also somewhen during this year, James, Sirius and Peter mastered the animagus transformation, the most difficult magic they have learnt in school so far. From then on James was able to transform, out of will, into a fully grown stag and received the nickname of Prongs due to his antlers in animal form. This shows how James is truly a good person at heart since the animagus form externalizes the deepest character traits and the stag is a prey animal without predatory instincts. They could then finally surprise Lupin with the fruits of their extensive work and join him, helping him during his transformations on full moon nights.

The Marauders then started to explore the campus like no other student before them and such gathered knowledge lead to the creation of the Marauder's Map, which carries information about several otherwise unknown secret passages in and out of Hogsmeade and within the castle itself. The map is also capable to tell them who is where and be used as either a stealth or tracking mechanism. Also during the Summer between the fifth and sixth years, Sirius was disowned by his parents and came to live with the Potters after James convinced his parents to take his friend in. That was certainly a fun Summer with his best friend in the house as well.

Now the sixth year is here. James was made captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and with the starting year new adventures, troubles and fun endeavors are about to begin...

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Curiosity is not a sin.... But we should exercise caution with our curiosity... yes, indeed.
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Alias: Marbys
Age: 29
Code: None