PROFESSOR NEVILLE LONGBOTTOM'S FILES

PROSPECTIVE EXCHANGE STUDENTS — 2019

Sofia Alcázar • Year 7 • Instituto Mágico de Castelobruxo (Paramaribo, Suriname) • Pansexual

so let's let things come out of the woodwork
i'll give you my best side, tell you all my best lines
seeing me rolling, showing someone else love
dancing with our shoes off
know i think you're awesome, right?

(homemade dynamite — lorde)

Sofia was born in a não mágico (Muggle) household in Suriname, which made her upbringing a very traditional one, even to the degree of feeling somewhat scared by her own powers at first. Her mother is a ballerina who taught her everything she knows, which has made Sofia a very skilled dancer; her father, on the other hand, is a Medicine professor at university, which has made her interested in following a similar career path in the Wizarding World. She is open-minded and always willing to learn, and that was why she was chosen by her professors at Castelobruxo to participate in the exchange. She also excels at languages — Dutch and Spanish are the languages that she grew up with, but she's also fluent in Portuguese and English because those are the main languages that are used at Castelobruxo.

Chione Arafa • Year 5 • Sahar Almadrasa (Aswan, Egypt) • Heterosexual

tell me again about how it hurts
being awfully loud for an introvert

(monster — dodie)

Born in a Pureblood family, Chione grew up surrounded by magical creatures and loving every aspect of their nature because of her father's job: he owns a small magical pet shop that Chione loves visiting whenever she's home. Her mother is a curse-breaker, disciplined and wise, and she passed on to her daughter her passion for ancient languages, which is Chione's speciality. Generally polite and soft-spoken, Chione is what you'd call a by-the-book introvert, but there's also a much more playful side to her once you get to know her — she loves teasing her friends and doing reckless things when people expect her to be the responsible voice of the group. She is interested in History and the origin of things, and even though she's a very intelligent girl she doesn't really care about her school grades, and would rather just learn about the things that she deems 'really necessary'.

Ramona Castillo • Year 6 • Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (Valencia, Spain) • Lesbian

i wouldn't fall for someone i thought couldn't misbehave
but i want you to know that i've had no love like your love

(nobody — hozier)

Born in a Spanish magical household, Ramona grew up idolizing her older brother, Mateo, who went missing during her fifth year at Beauxbatons while on a mission as an Auror for the Spanish Ministry of Magic and was pronounced dead (with no body) shortly after. Her parents still haven't recovered from it, which has resulted in a rather strained relationship between the two of them and their younger daughter, who still refuses to believe that her older brother is really dead and feels the borderline obsessive need to find him. Aside from that, Ramona is a really lively, loud, fun-loving teenager who's obsessed with both Muggle football and Quidditch, and a natural troublemaker.

Johan Faust • Year 6 • Durmstrang Institute (Wernigerode, Germany) • Heterosexual

all he ever wanted
was to be someone in life that was just like
"all i want is to just have fun,
live my life like the son of a gun"

(pretty pimpin — kurt vile)

A studious, disciplined young man born to a family of Pureblood wizards and witches who have traditionally taken care of the Wernigerode Wizarding Library, which is one of the most important ones in the world. He is quiet and soft-spoken, and some might say that he's even borderline obsessed with his studies and his performance at school — books are all he's known ever since he was a child, and he's more inclined towards them than actual spellmaking, which makes him come off as somewhat eccentric at a practice-oriented school like Durmstrang. Johan finds the Dark Arts particularly fascinating — not because he abides to the rules of those who use it, but because he finds it an endlessly fascinating matter, in spite of it being frowned upon outside of his home school. He's determined to make the most out of his exchange at Hogwarts, at least in the academic aspect of it.

Henri Gainsbourg • Year 6 • Beauxbatons Academy of Magic (Paris, France) • Gay

white noise, what an awful sound
fumbling by rogue river
feel my feet above the ground
hand of god, deliver me

(mystery of love — sufjan stevens)

Henri is pretty much the quintessential French Pureblood wizard. He's intelligent, quick at spells, and only slightly boastful about it — he values his own knowledge and the way magic comes so easily to him, but he doesn't rub it in other people's faces. He is the only child and heir of a very wealthy lineage of French wizards and witches, which made his upbringing easy and very comfortable — he has never had a close relationship with his parents, but he tries to supply the lack of affection from them by hanging out with tons of people at school, where he is extremely popular and generally well-liked. He has an ample group of friends, but none of them are truly close to him, which is why he doesn't really mind going abroad for an entire year. Some would say he's a little stuck-up, but that's just him trying to get rid of his own insecurities — because, in spite of everything, all he wants is for someone to genuinely love and understand him.

Jon Galanis • Year 7 • Koldovstoretz Institute (St. Petersburg, Russia) • Bisexual

trapped in a prism, in a prism of light
alone in the darkness, darkness of white
we fell in love, alone on a stage
in the reflective age

(reflektor — arcade fire)

Born in a Beszil (Muggle) but very rich household, Jon grew up knowing absolutely nothing about the Wizarding World and focusing on what he thought would be his dream career — ballet dancing. He's often seen wearing ballet shoes, and still hasn't given up on it in spite of having to juggle his private practicing with his classes and being a normal teenager. He's fiercely independent and cares very little about what other people think of him, and excels at acting and pretending to care about things that aren't that important to him: generally, he's just a strong-willed, determined young man who intends to make the most out of his time at school and his ballet career all at once. Being the youngest out of five siblings, he has always felt the need to work harder in order to earn himself his parents' affection, always pushing their expectations on him (and his own) higher and higher.

Ziv Harel • Year 6 • Sahar Almadrasa (Haifa, Israel) • Pansexual

and we're not bruised, they're just party tattoos
and that colourful mess is just colourful regret

(party tattoos — dodie)

Ziv — or Zizi, as they enjoy being called by their close friends — is a non-binary young wizard from Israel who can be described as a relentless daydreamer, and tends to feel as though the imaginary world where no one's discriminated because of their gender, sexuality or blood status that they have made up in their head fits with the actual world that surrounds them. Despite their difficulty at focusing on the 'real' world or even asking for help when they're feeling upset or worried about something, Zizi's an exceptionally sociable person — they love being physically and emotionally close to people they care about, and they're extremely tolerating of everyone else's beliefs, ideas, sexuality, or blood as long as they're not hurting anyone else through it. They live in Haifa with their biological mother, who married a Mundane woman when Ziv was six.

Vera Ivanov • Year 6 • Koldostorevtz Institute (Moscow, Russia) • Heterosexual

i'm always the first one to laugh when it hurts
i don't know what's worse
pretending to care with just words

(timberlands — empress of)

Vera's a very smart, quick-thinking Half-blood witch who grew up in Moscow with her parents, who worked for the Russian Ministry of Magic, and her older sister Lena; her parents died shortly after Vera turned thirteen, so she's been living with her older sister ever since, in a much tighter economic situation and living in a much smaller apartment than the one they grew up in — Lena works three jobs, whereas Vera works at a Bezsil shop near their house during the summer and tries to save up as much as possible from her scholarship to help at home. She's extremely loyal and kind, and is always willing to help her friends and trusted ones. She loves the outdoors, wandering around the school grounds and generally having a good time, but she also loves reading and learning new things.

Miyako Kokishin • Year 6 • Mahoutokoro School of Magic (Tokyo, Japan) • Lesbian

then bow your head in the house of god
and little girl, who do you think you are?

(moderation — florence + the machine)

Born in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward, Miyako grew up like any normal Japanese izado-nashi (Muggle) child would: she was raised by her father, who worked in the nearby Akihabara district selling various electronic parts, and as a result of that Miyako was constantly surrounded by izado-nashi technology and scientific publications and magazines. She is incredibly gifted in electronics and has always been interested in finding a way to combine magic and izado-nashi technology, regarding the more outdated aspects of the Wizarding World with a certain disdain ever since she got to Mahoutokoro. She hates all sorts of traditionalisms, and feels very strongly about the disregard that some wizards and witches feel towards the izado-nashi world when there's plenty of useful things that they have managed to create without magic over the course of the years. She's generally introverted and borderline scared of socializing with new people because of how her beliefs have been met with wariness at her home school, but once she opens up to people she's surprisingly chatty and fun-loving.

Calista "Callie" LeRoux • Year 6 • Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (New Orleans, USA) • Bisexual

you and me at the edge of the world
with a pretty little smile for me to see
new bright whites and a cage full of ice
and a naked little canopy to feed my disease

(bright whites — kishi bashi)

Callie is a Half-blood, but she grew up in the No-Maj world with her father and older brother Xavier after her mother passed away right after she was born. Because of her Dad's busy job at the New Orleans Police Department, she and her brother attended No-Maj elementary school, where she exceeded at gymnastics and art, but was still very much thrilled by the arrival of her letter from Ilvermorny. She's very independent, smart, and tries to always do her best at school, which she has never taken for granted after having grown up in the No-Maj world. She feels very close to her family, which is why she might struggle with the ocean between them — she has a cousin who attends Hogwarts because her family on her mum's side was English, but they're generally very entitled and even a little stuck-up about the way Callie's mum left London to marry an American Muggle, so her relationship with them is a rather detached one.

Levi Locke • Year 6 • Makutu Academy of Magic (Sydney, Australia) • Heterosexual

pieces of piece in sun's peace of mind
but it's fun to fantasize

(ride — twenty-one pilots)

Levi is esentally what you'd call a ball of sunshine. He's tall and well-built from Quidditch, but he's also just about the softest guy at Makutu — he is endlessly enthusiastic and optimistic, and loves getting involved in all sorts of adventures and social engagements, with very little conscience of physical boundaries when he's comfortable with the people around him. But he's also very perceptive, naturally clever, and emotionally eloquent, excelling at comforting people when they need it the most, even though he can also be a bit naïve at times. His biological dad died when he was really young, and he currently lives with his biological mother and her new wife, a Muggle; they adopted a Muggle girl when Levi was eight, and she became his little sister. He tends to stir up things wherever he goes due to his mischievous tendencies, but he's also extremely humble for a guy who's so popular and well-liked.

Rhona Murphys • Year 6 • Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Memphis, USA) • Bisexual

but i throw myself from heights that used to scare me
guess you're surprised i'm the puzzle you can't figure out

(don't kill my vibe — sigrid)

The only child of a witch and a No-Maj, Rho grew up in Memphis and lived there until her parents got divorced and her mother began teaching Potions at Ilvermorny. She sort of became the mediator between her parents once they fell out, and had to adjust to her new lifestyle rather quickly, which didn't make the best impact on her mental health. Because of it, Rho has developed a very strong "don't mess with me" vibe — she is deemed as nearly untouchable by a lot of her schoolmates, but at the end of the day she's just extremely socially awkward and still trying to come to terms with the idea of her parents not being together anymore. She even suffers from social anxiety, which is something that she's trying to deal with, and because of it she doesn't really know how to behave around strangers at first, and that's why she can come off as cold or even stuck-up, with her being one of the top students of her year and having her mother around at school.

Jade Pham • Year 6 • Makutu Academy of Magic (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam) • Bisexual

what if their politics was just an idea of fun?
i'd be scared, as one should, but i'd still feel so good

(feel so good — christine & the queens)

Born to a Muggle couple who emigrated from Vietnam to Australia when she was really young, Jade's birth name was actually Phạm Thị Ngọc, but she changed it when her kindergarten classmates couldn't pronounce her name correctly. She's fluent in both Vietnamese and English, which she speaks with an Australian accent, and has always felt restrained by her very protective parents, who spoiled her to no end as a child but also expected her to become a doctor when she grew up — which they realized wouldn't happen when their only daughter sent all their silverware flying through the room in a fit of rage when she was eight years old. In spite of her relationship with her parents being a rather strained one, Jade is a very enthusiastic, outgoing person, and also extremely compassionate and selfless — she is very passionate about her interests and always works hard to achieve her goals, which is why she doesn't understand how people can be passive about pretty much anything. She's also got a very strong moral compass and is always willing to defend her ideas and what she deems fair.

Milo Sætre • Year 7 • Durmstrang Institute (Stockholm, Sweden) • Heterosexual

stay out super late tonight
picking apples, making pies
put a little something in our lemonade
and take it with us
we're half awake in a fake empire

(fake empire — the national)

Milo was born to a couple of Swedish Aurors who were fascinated by the nejmagi (Muggle) world, and that was why he and his little sisters (Noora and Agnes) attended a normal elementary school until he got his letter from Durmstrang. There he was shocked to find out that most of his classmates were only slightly wary of the nejmagi world and of all the culture that Milo had come to cherish, which unconsciously made him despise the more practical-oriented classes and focus on the more theoretical ones, such as Astronomy, Ancient Runes, or History of Magic. In fact, he isn't all too keen on magic — he'd rather spend most of his day reading and translating, which is his true passion — he has come to master all Scandinavian languages and is also fluent in Russian, German, English, and a couple of Slavic languages, which has made him want to pursue a career in translation from Ancient Runic to modern-day European languages, or perhaps something related to Magical Linguistics. He's calm, very nice and loyal, and has a soft spot for people who understand and appreciate the more theoretical aspects of magic rather than boast about being able to conjure this or that up.

Tulio Serafim • Year 7 • Instituto Mágico de Castelobruxo (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) • Gay

i've been sleeping with the light on
i tend to freak myself out
will you come a little closer now and tell me i'm a
scrawny motherfucker with a cool hairstyle

(scrawny — wallows)

Tulio is a Half-blood, but was brought up by a não mágica single mother after his wizard father abandoned them when Tulio's mother got pregnant. However, he was soon put in charge of his aunt and uncle — who were also não mágicos — because of his mother's drug addiction, which is why he tends to refer to his aunt and uncle as "mum" and "dad" and doesn't really know his mother that well, and also considers his older cousin, Alda, his sister. The harsh context in which he was brought to the world hasn't made him think any less of himself, though: he is a fun-loving, loud boy who is also known to be a bit mischievous and who's always willing to think outside the box and in the most creative of ways. He has a thick accent when speaking English, but he never makes a big deal out of it — he just grins and jokes about his own inability to find the precise word in English when he's speaking.

Antoinette South Xanthopoulos • Year 6 • Makutu Academy of Magic (Blue Mountains, Australia) • Bisexual

my hands are cold but my feet are not
are you leaving me or have you just forgot?
because in the end, we were never friends but more

(everyday's the weekend — alex lahey)

South was born to a couple who spent the first years of the young girl's life moving around constantly because of their job as travel journalists, which resulted in South being homeschooled for most of her childhood and learning things from reading or her mother's brief classes. When she was eight, she moved to her Uncle Orion's and stayed there while her parents went abroad once again, which allowed her to make a few friends and live a more normal life — which also meant resenting the fact that her parents had left her behind every now and then. Still, she lived a generally happy childhood until she got her letter from Makutu, which forced her to make a new change in her life, but ended up making her fall in love with the Wizarding World and the little island where she went to school for the next six years. South is a fiercely adventurous person, naturally mischievous, and what you would call a major troublemaker, and she can hardly stay put due to her wild nature and her thirst for knowledge, which has often driven her into the wildest situations.

Hi! First off, thank you so much to each and every one of you who have taken the time to send me a character for this story — I wish I could have accepted every single one of them, but I had to be real selective for this one because I didn't want to work with too many characters in order for the story to work. So yeah, I hope I got a correct first impression of your characters, and please let me know if I didn't! Oh, and I also took the liberty of adding a song that I thought fitted the character's personality — I tend to do that a lot, so please bear with me.

I also wanted to say that this list is subject to change if the authors go M.I.A. or ignore my story altogether. I don't want to get all bossy and you absolutely don't have to review every single chapter or let me know how I'm doing 24/7 — but my last SYOC had 14 characters and only like three of the authors actually followed the story, so I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. So yeah, I really value feedback from you guys, because that's the only way I can know whether I'm doing this correctly.

Okay, rant over. Please let me know if you've detected any potential friends/enemies/love interests for your character, and any suggestions that you may have! Chapter one should be up sometime this week — I'm really excited about it, tbh! :)