#ar:tasks

Zoe’s father Fuyuki Yamamoto is a world renowned magizoologist most often noted as being a great expert, but terribly eccentric and somewhat grumpy and antisocial. Rather than have any kind of home base, he always preferred to go from one expedition to the next- something he told Zoe he did mainly to avoid ‘the tiresome wars and other such politics of humans.’. He changed nothing when his daughter was born. When she was still a baby he would leave her with his sister, Zoe’s aunt Akemi at her home in London for months at a time. However Zoe showed to be an extremely intelligent child, with a love of the outdoors, and as young as five years old he was bringing her along on shorter week long journeys, carrying her on his back when she was too tired or slow to keep up with him and whatever colleagues traveled with them. When she goes home for the summer, Zoe tends to spend it all helping her father study the breeding habits of Irish fairies, or the migration habits of demiguises.

She knows nothing of her mother, and no one will tell her anything either. Her aunt claims never to have met her, her father’s colleagues/friends either confess to know nothing or grow suspiciously tight lipped when she asks, and her father point blank refuses to speak of her. The only things Zoe has to remember her by are her wand, and a note she found once while rifling through her father’s things. It reads, in French: “I’m sorry, please do not hate me for this. Shield our daughter from the evil in the world, and give her my wand so in a way I might protect her too. It contains a veela hair given to me by my grandmother- she should at least have something of her heritage, given it seems she will lack a mother. Zoe my little flower, should you ever read this, know that I do only what I think is best. I go to places I would not have you follow. All of my love, Aemela.”

Zoe is an insomniac, and likes to wander the halls when she can’t sleep, or simply needs an escape. Occasionally she’ll take her bedding to an empty classroom, or somewhere on the grounds, and sleep there.

Zoe is graysexual bordering on asexual and bi-romantic, but has pretty much resigned herself to being single forever, as she figures the consent issues involved would be wonky at it’s best, abhorrent at worst.

Zoe knows bits and pieces of many different languages, having spent months in foreign countries before, but knows three fluently- Japanese which is her mother tongue, English which her aunt taught as a child while she was staying with her in London, and French, which her father also speaks and which Zoe learned to feel closer to her mother.

Whenever Zoe starts missing her dad or needs solitude, her favorite thing to do is go for a hike. Once she got lost while hiking and ended up having to climb a very tall tree so she could figure out what direction Hogwarts was and head back in that direction.

She has several pets, both magical and mundane, that she has somehow managed to sneak in past groundskeepers year after year. These pets include two Pygmy Puffs named Soleil and Lune, a one eyed garter snake affectionately named L’bitte, a blind hedgehog named Poppet, an extremely skittish moke named Otoko, four finches she simply calls les petits chanteurs, a great grey owl named Etoile, an old Siamese cat who hates everyone except her that she calls Grandma, and a one armed fairy named Yōsei- all of which she rescued and couldn’t release back into the wild or rehome for one reason or another- save Etoile who was a gift from her father when she was nine. 

The amount of pets she has has caused issues with her roommates multiple times- despite the fact that Etoile stays in the Owlery and Grandma tends to stay in the Ravenclaw common room- not because any of them are poorly behaved, but because Zoe has a habit of letting one or two loose at a time to roam the room.

Zoe has intense anxiety, and has had several panic attacks during school because someone’s come up behind her too quietly, or touched her without warning.

Lux’s family is a very large, very old seer family. While not every Fairburn child is born a seer, something around 60% are- though the degrees to how well they can see the future and how well they can control their gift varies. The first known Fairburn seer was said to predict that every generation, one of their family would be driven mad by the Sight- and thus far he’s been correct. Lux worries often about his sanity, though he’s never voiced it to anyone.

The main Fairburn estate in Scotland has a look like an old Victorian manor that’s been suddenly converted into a doomsday compound. A multitude of powerful enchantments stop anyone from apparating, flooing, or flying in, and a eight foot tall cast iron fence, guarded at all times and enchanted to feel white hot to the touch, prevents anyone from just walking in. It’s rare that anyone outside of the family is allowed to visit, but if they did they would see a small farm towards the back of the estate, and a garden large enough to feed everyone who currently resides inside. The Fairburns also have a multitude of Unplottable properties in the middle of nowhere, in case they ever needed to go underground. The reason for all of this secrecy is simple- safety. During almost every period of political unrest, the Fairburns have gone into hiding to protect themselves from dark wixes who would try to force them to use their gifts against someone.

Lux’s father Oliver Klausen is the personal assistant to the minister of magic, and has never remarried. He sends his son a letter and a present every year on his birthday, but other than that makes no attempt at communication, so Lux doesn’t bother to either. Instead on every father’s day, he sends his dad a simple card with a signature and nothing more. When he was younger his relationship with his father bothered him greatly, but the older he gets the more he finds it’s something he generally shrugs off. It is what it is, as far as he’s concerned.

Lux is an extremely picky eater- there’s honestly more things he won’t eat than things he will. Texture is the big issue for him with most things, and he’s made a nuisance of himself by standing up in the middle of dinner and wandering over to other house’s tables to politely request a helping of the food on their table. His three favorite foods? Raw carrots, shepherd's pie, and soft gingerbread cookies.

His gift manifested shockingly early on, and it took his mother quite awhile to figure out that Lux wasn’t just imagining or making things up.

Lux’s step mother is muggleborn, and once a year during summer break they go to visit her sister for a couple of weeks. Lux and his muggle cousins are the same age, and while they enjoy each other’s company well enough, he’s generally confused about the way they live their lives, and vice versa.

Despite being well aware of how ridiculous it is, Lux is terrified of birds- particularly owls and anything else with talons. He normally has to ask a friend to mail his letters for him, as going into the owlery is a bit too much on his nerves. He also tends to skip breakfast just to avoid the mail owls. He failed the Care of Magical Creatures Hippogriff lesson during third year after walking up to the pen, spotting the birds, and running back to the castle like he expected them to chase him.

While he likes animals and pets just fine, Lux doesn’t have any pets of his own. He doesn’t like responsibility, and fears if he got a per, he’d forget to feed it.

Lux owns no less than fifteen tarot decks, all of which he takes with him to Hogwarts, and three of which he carries on his person at all time. These are The Wild Unknown Tarot, Thelema Tarot, and an ancient, worn copy of the original Rider-Waite deck. He uses different decks for different kinds of spreads and questions. He also carries runes with him that are family heirlooms made from dragon bone, though he’s not as fluent with reading them as he is with his cards.

Even though he may not seem like it, Eli has a huge sweet tooth.

When he’s dealing with Arcanists missions or members, Eli is nearly the complete opposite of who he is in public. 

Contrarily, the only thing the public and private Eli have in common is his dedication to his magical studies. 

Eli is surprisingly addicted to video games when he’s home. 

His mother is one of the very few he would lay his life down for. She’s the reason he chose the path of The Arcanists. 

During term, Eli spends half his Sundays tutoring other students. His specialty is Charms.

Herbology is Eli’s worst subject at Hogwarts. It bothers him quite a bit. 

His handwriting is horrendous and that’s the reason Electra writes most of the Head students’ notices and letters.

Cal doesn’t mind the uniforms all that much. It’s less time in the morning spent thinking and having to function.

When he was a first year, Cal got lost on the way back to the dorm. Since he became a Prefect, he’s made sure very new student is supplied with a castle map on their first day.

His parents grant him a monthly allowance, which he gives half of to various wizarding charities.

He wishes to spend his first year after Hogwarts traveling, but he also debates going straight into the Auror Program.

Cal once had a debacle with tea leaves, a unicorn, and a lost pygmy puff in fifth year which he shall not discuss in public again.

He has a crush on Headmistress Wilder. He knows its inappropriate and never work, but he admires the older witch immensely.

Cal usually eats a double portion during lunch because he’s just that hungry. If he’s been training hard for Quidditch, he usually does the same for supper as well.

If he’s up past his bed time, Cal can be either incredibly cranky or pouty.

Emerson is transgender. He’s been out since his second year at Hogwarts and it typically isn’t something that comes up in his life. His dysphoria comes and goes. Sometimes it’s negligible while other times it’s a major challenge for him.

 His biggest passion is art and he’s not picky about medium. He’s a great painter and carries a sketchbook around everywhere he goes. However, despite having no reason to be, he’s really critical about his own art and self-conscious about sharing it.

Emerson is dealing with some serious emotional and mental turmoil since being kidnapped. He doesn’t want to talk about it. He doesn’t want to think about it. When it comes up, which it inevitably does, he attempts to change the subject and avoid dealing with it at all.

Emerson goes by his first name but he doesn’t mind being called “Em” or “Lane,” and his friends are apt to use either to refer to him.

He has a true love for all creatures, magical and otherwise. His favorite form of self-care involves spending time away from other people and talking to and caring with the creatures at Hogwarts. It’s one of the few things that can drop his level of anxiety.

Emerson was never big on dueling but since his recent brush with criminals, he’s trying to learn more. He’s even started attending dueling club so he can defend himself when and if needed.

He loves board games, both wizarding and muggle. He’s constantly trying to get people to join him for a match of Scrabble, Catan, or Betrayal at House on the Hill.

Em has more than his share of nightmares which often results in him waking up later and grabbing the last bits of breakfast to stuff in his mouth as he runs to his first class.

Jamie is a morning person. He wakes up ridiculously early, much to the chagrin of his roommates, who are oftentimes woken up by his humming, heavy footsteps, and inability to do anything quietly. He’s also incredibly cheerful and upbeat in the morning, which some people find irritating.

He has a terrible singing voice but constantly sings anyway. To make it worse, his favorite genre is disco, and he can oftentimes be heard screeching I Will Survive in the shower.

When he was seven, his class went on a field trip to a farm. He loved the cows so much that he decided to stop eating meat. The next day in the cafeteria, he tried to revolt against the lunch ladies for serving hamburgers. His rebellion failed, but he has been a strict vegetarian since then.

Jamie loves bad films and superheroes. Accordingly, his favorite movie is Daredevil (2003).

Every party is a costume party if you want it to be, according to Jamie. He keeps a box filled with capes, fake beards, and miscellaneous disguises under his bed for these occasions.

Our first task of the roleplay! Tasks are not required but they are encouraged to do, especially since they help with character development. This task will be centered on your character’s quirks and history. Feel free to post up at least five headcanons, they can be as small or long as you want! Is there someone in their life that inspired them? Do they have a favorite food? Let us know! Good luck everyone!

Remember to tag with ‘ar:tasks’ and keep in mind that completed tasks count as house points as well as player points! Learn more about those here.