Age/Class: 24; Hufflepuff 1972
Affiliation: Civilian
Blood Status: Half-blood
Occupation:Â Seasonal Bartender, The Leaky Cauldron; Sailing Instructor, Port at Dover
FC: Matt Lanter
+ adventurous; charismatic; lax
– indecisive; disorganized; manipulative
Bertie is nothing if not a vacillating force of nature. Irresolute and fluctuating are his middle names, and if he hadn’t been sure of the Higgs written in bold print on his birth certificate, he would be sure unstable would be his last. Everything seemed to be going the way the paternal, political, Ministry-hugging side of his family wished as eleven-year-old Bertie fled happily from his hometown of Cambridge to Hogwarts. What they knew was that he spent the next seven years befriending people of all houses and statuses, making a small name for himself, enjoying his free time with Horace Slughorn, playing beater for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and working his way through classes that would surely set him right where they wanted him: next in number to the Minister’s support staff. What they didn’t know was that his small name began with his love for life---something Bertie didn’t see coming from the paternal side of his family at all. Rather, Bertie acted, spoke, and lived by his maternal, simple, Muggle roots. He did well in school because he liked to have a good time. He wanted to play for Hufflepuff because the thrill of the game never failed him. Bertie was befriending people of all houses and statuses, not to make a name for himself, but because he was unfathomably curious.
It might have been a surprise when he didn’t take the internship offered to him fresh out of Hogwarts. Instead, Bertie’s alumni status fell into his lap unexpectedly, or so it seemed, minute by minute, day by day. Who was he without the floors at Hogwarts under his feet? What could possibly be good enough to hold him down once his have to had dissipated? Somehow, he ended up bartending by night, and drinking the part. Somehow, he ended up with severed ties, estranged from his longtime, Auror girlfriend. Somehow, he found himself far away from the stress the impending war pleaded for. And somehow, he ended up in bed with another man, effectively ending what sense of self identity he had left, effectively leaving him planted into a life he couldn’t remember getting himself into.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise when a new job meant something to him. With a series of (somewhat) unfortunate events looming over his head, Bertie moved to the seaside of Dover to take over his grandfather’s boat, his rent paid in the marina in exchange for instructing wide-eyed sailors from far and wide on a lifelong hobby. Getting out of London (at least seasonally) was enough to truly separate him from the life he had tried so hard to leave behind, and Bertie began to develop a sense of self he hadn’t felt in a long time. The problem was this: not even the sea could hold Bertie down, and he knew it. How little did he know of what would happen in the next day, or the next hour, or the next month? Very little. How much had he separated himself from those unfortunate events? Too much, and never enough. And in the end, could he walk out of the door as easily as he had entered it? He wasn’t sure anymore.
I. Bertie Higgs is not against the Ministry per se, but it would be a misrepresentation of his character to forget that even the mere mention of the government brings a grimace to his face worthy of a bag of over seasoned peach rings. While every inch of the Wizarding side of his family has seemingly canvased every inch of the Ministry, Bertie has taken a hard pass on this unspoken tradition. At first, he took the same pass on assisting his Muggleborn mother with her new business, Common Sense Careers. As a nonprofit organization specializing in bridging the gap between frightened companies and even more frightened Muggleborn witches and wizards, it’s institution that the Higgs family could support with their thirst for prominence, and one that undoubtedly flaunts Ministry propaganda Bertie has never been able to swallow, much less pass along. With the recent debate over Muggleborn employment in the Wizarding world coming to a head, however, Bertie has found himself waist-deep in Common Sense Careers, alongside another surprising addition to the team: his cousin, Edgar Bones, who has been donating both time and money to the organization, unbeknownst to the rest of their family. Understanding Edgar’s situation all too well, Bertie is keen on helping his cousin keep his involvement under wraps, especially when he’s trying to keep his own involvement to the minimum.
II. Bertie’s relationship with Rufus Scrimgeour (and by extension, the Ministry of Magic) is a banter of push and pull. Rufus pushes Bertie deeper into the Ministry only to watch him take two (or six) steps backward. In turn, Bertie pulls Rufus out of his comfort zone and out of the clutches of the strife stricken DMLE. As he began to regard Rufus as a friend rather than a very annoying mentor, however, Bertie began to daydream of considering considering the idea of a settlement past his happiness in Dover, however ridiculous he knew the thought might be. Bertie may have hated the idea of settling anywhere near the Ministry all of his life, but some days, he hates the idea of disappointing Rufus more.Â
Amelia Bones: Long gone are the years when Amelia and Bertie were on the same page, few and blissfully youthful though they were. Though Bertie wouldn’t say there’s been any sort of quantifiable tension between the pair of cousins in their recent years of rekindled friendship, he only wishes he could tell her about his day-to-day life without feeling as if he has to edit every sentence. She has become a part of the them crowd -- the Ministry crowd -- and Bertie only hopes that this barrier won’t last long.Â
Dawn Withey: Even if he knew Quidditch wasn’t something he would pursue in any professional matter, while in school, it kept Bertie walking up three flights of stairs without huffing and puffing, and kept his clothes from falling off an out of shape body. The same couldn’t be said for fresh-out-of-school Bertie, who drank his way through shifts between baskets of spare (or burnt) chips and spent his days sleeping. Had it not been for Dawn, there would have been no hope for the young wizard’s health. Bertie has trusted his former partner to keep him moving in her free time, and in return, Bertie offers a familiar face and a hard working mindset for company.
Lori Orpington: There are only two things that Bertie considers ridiculous about Lori: her high, high heels, and her longing for the Ministry. He has to admit that he left The Leaky Cauldron first in pursuit of happiness, but what he didn’t do was leave only to step into the Ministry. Not to mention, he really was looking forward to being back at the pub with her in the winter. With that excuse teasing lazily off the tip of his tongue, and one more friend headed in the direction he teeters on dodging more and more every day, Bertie is trying hard to keep his true emotions in check.