Basics FULL NAME: Terence Lavernus Higgs. NICKNAMES: None. AGE: 31. BIRTHDAY: January 18th, 1974. BLOOD STATUS: Pureblood. CREATURE STATUS: Human.
Family/Relationships PARENTS:
MOTHER: Regalia Greengrass Higgs (Pureblood). FATHER: Augustus Higgs (Pureblood, ST, DE Sympathizer, current owner of Higgs Publications).
SIBLINGS: None. CHILDREN: None. EXTENDED FAMILY: Daphne and Astoria Greengrass (First cousins). FRIENDS: For Terence, family, no matter how insufferable, always comes first. He doesn't have as many friends as acquaintances or connections, but the people that his is close to are those that he has known for a long time, and are, more often than not, fellow Slytherins and purebloods. SEXUALITY: Very heterosexual. SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Currently single, but has dated FEMALE (possible line to be filled by another applicant/player) on and off throughout the years.
Living Arrangement and Occupation LOCATION: London, England. CURRENT RESIDENCE: Modest flat, although Terence is currently looking for a better, more private place to live. OCCUPATION: Seeker for the Falmouth Falcons. OCCUPATION HISTORY: When Terence graduated from Hogwarts in the spring of 1992, he knew that he wasn't destined for bureaucratic work at the Ministry, and he hardly had the motivation or brains to pursue further education. While Terence was content to travel and live off of his family's money, his mother had other ideas. So, after he finished school at Hogwarts, Terence was forced onto the Falmouth reserve team as a seeker, and with no other career options, he decided to make the best of his situation. While he hadn't been a particularly brilliant player at Hogwarts, Terence learned how to play at the professional level, and he grew as a player. After a brief hiatus from the sport during the '97-'98 season, Terence was awarded the position of starting seeker for the Falcons (although he's a capable player, he's sure that his mother had a hand in securing the position for him). CLASS: Old money, although Terence doesn't want to rely on his family's finances once his parents are gone.
Education HOUSE/YEAR: Slytherin, '92.
Politics LOYALTY/ALLIANCE: Slightly Anti-Ministry/Neutral, Purist tendencies. STATUS: Family of ST, Pureblood. POLITICAL VIEWS: Terence is a bit wary of muggles, there's no fear like the unknown, and he generally thinks that purebloods make better wizards than muggles do, but regarding politics, he's rather apathetic. As long as he's allowed to play quidditch, he's content to follow the Ministry's new laws, even if they do seem a bit biased.
Appearance APPEARANCE: Standing at six feet tall, Terence is big enough to be intimidating when he wants to be, which most often occurs on the quidditch pitch; however, he's not an entirely threatening person. He's fit enough to do his job, he enjoys physical activity, but he's never been a vain sort of person. If he's able to avoid being recognized, he's likely to fade into the background in a group-- he's generally content to keep his opinions (mundane and controversial alike) to himself and not call attention to himself.
Personality WAND: 11", Yew, Dragon heartstring, inflexible. BOGGART: Himself being unable to play quidditch. PATRONUS: Terence can't cast a patronus, but if he were capable, it'd be a jackal.
LIKES: Quidditch, running, physical activity, flying, women (specifically women who aren't too fussy or don't have expectations), drinking, his family, muggle pop music (but nobody knows that). DISLIKES: Talking about his feelings, stuffy clothes, people who talk too much or ask too many questions, politics, muggles, journalists.
STRENGTHS: Flying, Terence is rather good at keeping himself out of trouble and keeping his nose clean, confident in the few opinions he possesses (mostly regarding women, quidditch, and beer), tends to be more loyal or trustworthy than many of his peers, relatively relaxed. WEAKNESSES: Relatively spoiled, not entirely independent from his family, can often seem cold or indifferent, arrogant and proud, given to laziness at times, academics, tends to bottle his emotions until it's difficult for him to keep them under control.
DETAILED PERSONALITY: At first glance, there's nothing terribly impressive about Terence. In a large group or crowd, he's likely to fade into the background, and he's perfectly content with that. Throughout the years Terence has learned to curb some of his more offensive or undesirable traits, especially with the constant changes in magical society. He's generally inclined to think that purebloods make better wizards than muggleborns do, and he has quite a few views about where women belong (in the home) and where they shouldn't be (on the quidditch pitch), but Terence knows when to keep his less popular opinions to himself. So in public, Terence may seem quiet, even shy, but the introversion's always tinged with a slight bit of indifference and pride-- just because Terence tends to keep his opinions to himself doesn't mean that he's really interested in hearing anybody else's.
While Terence was hardly concerned with academics while in school (he knew that he'd eventually inherit his father's business), he's still not the brightest wizard. Anything above basic charm work is really beyond him, although he's relatively knowledgeable when it comes to treating quidditch injuries. Basically, if it's a task that doesn't relate to quidditch in some way, or if Terence doesn't need to use it in his day to day life, he's probably not going to use his wand to accomplish it. He's partly too lazy to learn the proper magical way of doing things, especially if it's something that he can do properly with his hands or just shove off onto somebody else to do for him (this includes domestic chores, work with wards/security, any sort of transfiguration, although Terence does have a few nasty/interesting jinxes up his sleeve). The only people likely to be too keen on Terence's lack of magical aptitude are the family members with whom he often associates and perhaps one or two very close friends. His family money can't buy the skill for himself, but it can easily purchase the necessary magical services that others provide, so Terence simply prefers to see his laziness as a result of privilege.
Despite his laid back attitude, if confronted or insulted, Terence isn't the sort of person to back down from a fight. He doesn't forgive or forget, and he's fiercely protective of those he loves (mostly family). He possesses a slightly inflated sense of self-worth, he's always been a bit proud and arrogant, and he doesn't take kindly to insult. While Terence is quite capable of controlling his temper, when he lets it slip, which happens on rare occasion, he's likely to do a lot of damage (both physically and verbally). However, he usually lets that sort of energy loose on the quidditch pitch.
History
A history of your character. This shouldn't read like a grocery list. Rather, it should take into account how your take on this character's personality affected who he or she became. So, in a sense, this is your way of selling your interpretation. The Harry Potter wiki (http://harrypotter.wikia.com/) is a great reference to check that you've hit on major times in your character's life.
On January 18th, 1974, Terence Higgs was born to Regalia and Augustus Higgs. Their union wasn't one of passion (or love, really), but they were both well aware of their duties to fulfill familial expectations, and those expectations included producing a bouncing baby boy. While Augustus wasn't the most involved father, he certainly wasn't absent from Terence's life-- he taught his son the important values of being a Higgs (maintain appearances, keep your nose clean, don't embarrass the family); however, Regalia took raising her son very seriously. Augustus' publication business provided enough for the family and demanded his constant attention, so Regalia knew that if her son was to be brought up properly, she had to take the responsibility completely upon herself.
While Terence's mother was often very controlling, he finally found a bit of freedom when the time came for him to attend Hogwarts. Terence was sorted into Slytherin, like the rest of his family, and although he was neither the most popular or academically-inclined student, Terence was content with his lot. He did well enough in his classes to get by, but not well enough to call obvious attention to himself. Terence kept his head down, was friendly with his fellow Slytherins, not outwardly hostile toward those that he might have considered to be beneath him (muggleborns, Gryffindors). The only place that his true personality really came through was the quidditch pitch. Terence truly found his freedom in his third year when he was placed on the Slytherin team as seeker-- he was not only allowed to be competitive and aggressive, but the behavior was even incouraged. Terence wasn't spectacular on a broom, but he fit in well with the team, and he could do his job. By the time graduation came around in 1992, Terence was happy to be done with school, even if it meant returning home with very few job prospects.
Of course, Terence's mother decided to take his future (or lack thereof) into her own hands, and a few short weeks after graduating from Hogwarts, Terence joined the Falmouth Falcons as a reserve seeker. He knew that the position had simply been handed to him because of his connections to the Greengrass family, but he knew that facing his mother's wrath for performing poorly would be worse than the work the team required, so Terence became a quidditch player. As the years passed, Terence was content to hold a reserve position, and his mother was pleased with the direction of his life-- quidditch was an acceptable career for a man in Terence's position, and when the time for his retirement from the sport came, he would be mature enough to handle his father's business.
Regalia hadn't counted on the second wizarding war when she'd laid out the plans for Terence's future. Suddenly a wrench had been tossed into Terence's quidditch career. After Voldemort's return and the fall of the Ministry, Terence, along with his mother and other family members, went into hiding. Despite inwardly supporting the new regime's ideologies and decrees, they never made their support publically known. Terence was hardly unsettled by Voldemort's reign, but it seemed that just as soon as the Death Eaters had risen to power, they were falling, but the damage had been done-- when the trials began, Augustus Higgs faced charges of aiding the Death Eaters in their war.
With the Higgs name in the gutter and public opinion turning against pureblood society, Terence once again became his mother's pawn. Once the country was falling back into proper order, his father named a suspected terrorist against the government according to the Bones Law, Terence finally earned a position as starting seeker for the Falcons. He was happy for the change-- having a starting position on the team kept Terence busy, allowed him to ignore all of the politics that were swirling around him. Sure, the Ministry's newest legislation negatively affected him, but Terence was still content to keep his head down. Despite his father's actions, Terence had nothing to hide and was willing to cooperate with the government. Much to his mother's pleasure, he provided a new, politically correct face for the Higgs name.
However, when the Ministry decided to drain his family's accounts with Equality of Education Act, Terence refused to idly sit by. He'd been content to sail his way through life, but now he had to accept the fact that his easy reality was over. Terence began to channel his frustration into quidditch, one of the things that the government hadn't managed to take from him yet. He's never been terribly convicted about anything in his life, but Terence won't let the government take everything from his family, at least not without putting up a fight. He's still keeping his opinions to himself (for the most part), but he's finally starting to come into his own and assert his independence.