James Ignotus Potter

JAMES IGNOTUS POTTER

Full Name:      James Ignotus Potter Nicknames:      Prongs, Jamesy, Potter Date of Birth:      27 March, 1960 Hometown:      Godric's Hollow, England Parents' Names:      Harold and Clara Potter (deceased) Other Family:      Lily Potter, wife; Harry Potter, son Blood Status:      Pure-blood House:      Gryffindor Wand Type:      Mahogany and Dragon Heartstring, 11", pliable

APPEARANCE

Hair:
     Brown and messy, although his wife occasionally talks him into taming it when they go out.
Eyes:
     Blue
Height:
     5'10”
Style:
     James wears simple clothes – t-shirts, wooly jumpers, corduroys, and simple slacks. He’s never wanted for money so he can buy nice clothes, and he’s usually got the nicest tux or dress robes for more formal occasions. He doesn’t mind dressing up with the occasion calls for it, although he tends to wear his tie a little too loose because he abhors tight collars. His school uniform was alwaysa mess with half his shirt untucked and his tie poorly tied, but Lily - true to form - helped smarten him up when they became Head Girl and Boy.
Etc.:
     James Potter is tall, strong, and athletic. His most noticeable features are his round eyeglasses and the dark hair upon his head, which he encourages to look messier than it already is.

PERSONALITY

Erised:
     Lily, Harry and himself surrounded by several other children. James wants tons of children. Lily's eyes go round when he uses the word "litter."
Dementor:
     The war. The night Voldemort came to his house and nearly killed him, his best friend, and his wife and child. The same night when he killed Peter, destroyed his house, and left a scar on his boy's head.
Patronus:
     Finally mastering the art of animagic and transforming into a stag for the first time with his mates. It was the most thrilling and satisfying night of his life.
Boggart:
     Voldemort and his fucking snake (he's extremely phobic of snakes)
Likes:
     Lily's mussed hair and bleary eyes in the morning, those big jumpers she wears whenever it gets cold, his son, Quidditch, flying, sneaking out with his invisibility cloak, going down the pub with the boys, generally mucking about with the boys, being the center of attention, breaking the rules without getting caught, loafing about the house, firewhiskey, the Beatles
Dislikes:
     Severus Snape, pretty much all Slytherins (especially the Black family), tight collars, conforming to the norm, looking like an idiot, people who try to one-up him, the distance between him and his mates that's formed over the past few years (the last year in particular), sticking to a strict schedule, doing the dishes, getting caught in an argument between his mates, being left alone with Lily's friends (they always make things awkward)
Basic Personality:
     As the only child of two very doting, elderly parents who’d thought they’d never any children, James was never in want of any attention. It’s made him a bit pompous and arrogant, as he expects everyone to treat him with as much adoration as his parents do, and since he's a good-looking, charming boy who was star athlete of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, people adore him as much as he wants them to. He’s not a complete dick all of the time, however, as his parents also taught him to be fair-minded and respectful, which he is for the most part. He can be quite cruel to people he dislikes, most specifically Slytherins and especially if their surname is Snape.

The war has changed James a lot, but nothing has changed his life more than the birth of his son, Harry. James isn't as rash and foolhardy anymore now that he has a wife and son to care for and example to set. He hasn't thrown his rakish ways to the wind, but he's become much more responsible.

BIOGRAPHY

     James Ignotus Potter was born shortly after his mother’s forty-fifth birthday. She and her husband Harold had been thrilled to have a son, as they had long since given up hope of ever having children a decade ago. The Potters arean old Wizarding family, which meant that they had more cousins than they had money, of which they had a good plenty. James grew up never wanting for anything, but his parents tried to keep their standard of living as modest as they could. They had never been the time to lavish in opulence, but what they did own was always very nice.

     James was a precocious child, always challenging his parents who didn’t have the energy to chase after him, but instead had the patience to deal with him as rationally as they could. James never made it easy for them, and his parents would often joke about how eager they were for him to go to Hogwarts. They were both holding back tears as he boarded the Hogwarts Express for his first year, something James didn't have the sensitivity to appreciate at the time. James only waved at the doorway before walking inside and meeting three people who would play a large part in the next six years of his life. He shared a compartment with Sirius Black (a boy he immediately felt like he’d known his entire life); Lily Evans (a girl he immediately fell in love with), and Severus Snape (a boy he immediately disliked). He also met Remus Lupin, a quiet boy who is veritably the yin to James’ yang.

     James quickly made a name for himself at Hogwarts when he used a levitation charm on a couple of bullies who were picking on Peter, a round-faced boy who wasn't very bright but was pleasant to be around. It was quite advanced magic for a first year, and while Professor McGonagall was impressed with the magic, she was not too happy with the fact that it was performed on other students and in the corridors. James got thrown in detention and gained a lot of admirers for what he’d done, especially in Peter Pettigrew, who hero-worshipped James ever since. The one person James wanted to impress, however, told him off for being a reckless showoff. He watched Lily Evans’ retreating back as she walked away that day and wondered what on earth was wrong with her.

     James would continue to pursue Lily over the years. He asked her to the Halloween ball towards the start of their fourth year and got cleanly rejected. She’d even laughed a little. James wasn’t terribly fazed on the outside, but it did greatly wounded his pride. “She’ll come around,” he would tell his mates, but he still worried that she never would. The scene with Severus after their OWL exams was the climax of his endeavors to win her over – he put on a great show and everyone cheered, but Lily was angrier with him than ever. It wasn’t just because he was teasing her snivelly friend either, because after that she wouldn’t talk to either him or Severus.

     It was three years before the boys appraoched Remus about where he disappeared to each month. After talking about the transformations caused by his lycanthropy, James, Sirius, and Peter all endeavored to master the art of animagic, a very advanced form of magic that they finally mastered towards the end of their fifth year. James’ animagus took the form of a stag, the large antlers greatly amusing his mates as James’ most domineering personality trait was his pride. “At least you’re not a peacock,” Sirius laughed consolingly.

     Sirius attempted to play a cruel, almost fatal joke on Severus in their sixth year. He told Snape how to get past the Whomping Willow, and as Snape had seen Madam Pomfrey escort Remus to the tree on a number of occasions, he couldn’t risk sating his curiosity. When Sirius told James what he’d done, James had run as fast as he could to the willow and down the secret passage, where he apprehended Severus just before he’d reached the shack. Severus heard the howling and clawing, and now one other person learned Remus’ secret.

     James tried to cut back on the mischief his after that, but old habits die hard, and he ended up in detention about as much as he usually did. He also tried to impress Lily in less boastful ways, finally realizing that being an arrogant ass wasn’t going to win her over. They couldn’t easily wipe away almost six years of bickering, but their attitudes towards each other were much softer.

     His change of ways must have caught someone’s attention, because James received a letter the summer before his seventh year congratulating him on being named Head Boy. He reckoned it had to do with saving Severus from a werewolf, because he couldn’t think of anything else that would have earned him the title over Remus. James was grateful for the opportunity to spend more time with Lily, and shortly before the holidays, he and Lily started dating. He'd never been so full of confidence in his entire life.

     Life got messy after graduation. There were more deaths being printed in the paper every day, and it wasn't long before the Marauders' paths crossed with Death Eaters'. The boys joined the Order along with Lily and several of their other friends. He and Lily were engaged when they were officially sworn into the Order. In March of 1979, they were married. His parents had since passed and the two moved into his childhood home in Godric's Hollow. It became the hub for unofficial meetings for the Order, given that they could never meet up with their friends without politics and conspiracies entering the conversation.

     Lily told him she was pregnant that November. James was ecstatic but terrified by the news. He became very enthusiastic about baby proofing the house even though their child wouldn't be walking for years yet. James constantly worried about the sort of world they were bringing a child into, but the day Harry was born, a good number of his fears melted away when he realized that he would die before anything happened to this child.

     Things between him and the boys grew rough at the start of '81. Remus left his and Sirius' flat when his father died, and after that the boys heard from him very little. He even missed Order meetings and Harry's first birthday. He wasn't there for Frank Longbottom's funeral, the news of Caradoc Dearborn's murder, or for the discussion James had with Sirius one night when Lily was putting Harry to bed. He wasn't there to defend himself when Sirius accused him of being the spy they knew was in their midst. He wasn't there to break up the fight between James and Sirius that ensued, nor to reassure Lily who came down with a crying baby to see what was going on.

     When they did start seeing more of him, Remus looked worse than ever. Sirius refused to speak with him, and for a while it looked like the Marauders would never be reunited. Before he and Lily had to go into hiding, the pair had a number of encounters with Death Eaters and three with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. It was Dumbledore who eventually urged the Potters to go into hiding. For months they were trapped in that house, with only owls from their friends and visits from Peter to break the monotony.

     On October 31, 1981, Peter came to their house in a panic. He kept apologizing, saying "he was coming" and that they'd better take Harry and leave, but it was too late. Voldemort arrived and shortly after him Sirius, who had spoken to Peter before and knew something was wrong. If it weren't for Sirius, James probably would have been killed instantly. When Voldemort couldn't finish them off, he threw up some sort of invisible wall that prevented either of them from following him up the stairs to where Peter, Lily, and Harry were hiding. James and Sirius screamed and shouted and fired every curse they could at the barrier, which didn't come down until the rest of the house did. Pulling themselves from the rubble, the Potters and Sirius were greeted by villagers and Ministry officials, who ushered them to St. Mungo's. All of their wounds were easily healed, save for the lightning-shaped scar on Harry's forehead.

PLAYER INFORMATION

Name:
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RP Experience:
     You Know
Comments:
     Stuff