Vash Zwingli

Character Name: Vash Zwingli

Age: 16

Appearance:

Though somewhat slender in build with a fair amount of lean muscle, Vash is still rather short for his age at only 5'5" and every day hoping to wake up to a surprise growth spurt and fill in all the way. His messy blond hair is kept at about chin length and despite his best efforts almost never looks like it's been brushed or won't stay that way for very long. His eyes are a dark green with slight hints of blue and tend to almost stare through people intensely, with or without meaning to. Generally the teen looks frustrated with things, but that's typically because he's thinking (or over-thinking) about things. On the left side of his chest near his shoulder is a small cross-like scar from a fight when he was younger.

Blood (Muggle-born, Pure-blood, Squib, Half-blood, you can also have veela blood or other such things): Muggle-born

House: Gryffindor

Pet: One-eyed gray (somewhat feral) barncat named Puck.

List of Classes:

Sexuality: Straight

Personality: At first glance and going by rumors and his detention tally, Gryffindor is the last house that comes to mind. Second, third, and fourth glances as well. Generally he's seen as a pest, even though over the years he has learned to sit on his hands more than he used to and gets into fewer fights. Most students tend to avoid him, and he's sort of fine with that and will tell you flat-out he'd rather be left alone and to leave him alone if they know what's good for them. Though he's getting better about not beating other students up for pissing him off, his mouth is still a large problem, the angry and sarcastic blond working almost subconsciously to push people away though he'll often regret the things he says later.

It really isn't until he lets you in enough to get to know him a bit better that he can be seen more for who he is. Vash is almost painfully shy and wary of people, typically only letting himself become close to a precious select few. But it's those few that couldn't want a better friend. He spends a lot of time thinking about useful and helpful applications for what he learns at Hogwarts, hoping to find some sort of balance with himself to coexist between two different worlds without having to choose. Vash spends even more time thinking about the people he cares about and misses, and tends to get homesick rather easily. He cares a lot more about his friends and family than he says or will let on, and has on more than one occasion put himself at risk for their sake, getting hurt several times and coming close to expulsion at least once.

Vash studies hard, hoping to come up with spells that make life for his muggle parents a bit easier, finding a knack for potions, herbology and defense classes, but a genuine talent for fixing things both with and without magic. For a long time the friends he had would come to him to fix everything from broken watches to broken hearts, Vash never saying anything about how busy he was and putting things aside to take care of whatever was being presented to him, or letting on how far out of his way he'll go to help. Despite his faults and unfriendly, somewhat intimidating exterior, Vash can be friendly and personable (depending on the person) and has a soft spot for those less fortunate than he and is more than willing to help others though he has nothing to gain by it. Vash is incredibly protective of those he cares for and will do anything to ensure their well-being, even if it means risking his own safety or freedoms.

Background:

Vash was born in Switzerland to muggle parents. While not the most well off, Vash's father did the best he could, working hard to provide for his family. To a proud man where appearance and status were everything, the fact that his little son refused to speak to other children his own age and couldn't be introduced to business colleagues was more than a little embarrassing. The day the tiny blonde started shoving other children physically to keep them away from him set the first marks against him with his family. Despite their best efforts, Vash remained distant and becoming more aggressive to his peers until his parents began pulling away from him, causing the aggression to increase yet again.

As Vash grew and become more withdrawn, his temper began to peak; somewhere in the back of his mind the child had resolved that if the only time his parents would look his way was when they were angry, then so be it. Home became a battle of wills until one day the strangest thing happened when Mr. Zwingli's son couldn't seem any more upset: the glass in the china hutch broke when Vash passed it to go to his room, despite not tromping nearly hard enough to achieve that. The event was written off as just a strange coincidence until similar occurrences began repeating, making Vash's parents worry more than a little that their son was possessed.

Being told there was something horribly wrong with him did nothing to improve the boy's behavior, his father pulling him out of school until things returned to normal. He hoped that perhaps that was the reason why the boy was constantly getting into fights and couldn't be trusted around his peers, never once looking a bit closer to home. When nothing seemed to work, Mr. Zwingli's prayers seemed to be answered when his own ancient grandmother came to visit and then offered to take the unruly boy off his hands to live with her in the mountains. She reasoned that the mountain air would be good for his temper, and out there she was so far away from everyone and everything that even if his temper got the best of them there was nobody and nothing he could take it out on. Almost too eagerly Mr. Zwingli sent Vash to live with the old woman near a little village called Eichberg, far into the forests and mountains near Austria. The home belonged not only to Vash's great-grandmother, but also his grandmother and grandmother's brother, and their small farm whose property overlooked Eichberg below.

For the first several days, Vash wouldn't come out of the room he'd been given until he finally caved and then practically clung to his relatives who didn't shun or fear him. He soon settled in, finding a sort of peace from tending his great-grandmother's sheep and goats and began to prefer the homeschooling taught to him by his grandmother. After a bad phone call with his parents (and understanding they were probably never coming back for him) and the fuses blowing in the house, Vash's great-grandmother knew she'd been right and opened up with a little family secret that even his father hadn't known: Vash wasn't possessed, nor was he the first in the family to be special. Bequeathing to him his great-grandfather's wand (made from mahogany and totetsu horn), the elderly lady began to take the boy aside every day to teach him to hone his magical skills in useful ways. They were already so far away from town that nobody would care, and the Ministry of Magic that governed the country was so small that as long as he learned a bit they'd be satisfied.

It didn't have to be such a secret here, and wasn't something his grandmother and great-uncle didn't already know; much to the child's surprise, both of his great-grandparents had possessed magic, and of their children so did their son. Uncle Ueli apparently had been very talented as well, until he'd had a rather unfortunate accident which half the time left him confused as to who and where he was, most of the time just raving and insisting that he was someone else entirely. All his life, Vash had only thought his uncle was insane and was now moved to pity for his kin, resolving then to work hard to find good uses for his magic to keep people like his uncle from being hurt by others.

Alongside his normal muggle correspondence classes, Vash had been studying his magic at home under his great-grandmother's careful tutelage. It would have suited him just fine to stay there forever, working to help care for his family and stay away from people whom he knew would just frustrate him until the old woman passed away. She was the only registered witch in the area, and Uncle Ueli wasn't qualified to teach much of anything since most of the time he wouldn't even respond to his own real name. Doing the only logical thing, Vash's grandmother wrote to the Swiss Ministry to ask what would be best. They responded quickly, sending flowers for Hilda and then explaining that there was an exchange program going on with Hogwarts of Scotland. Once again, "for his own good," Vash was being uprooted and forced into unfamiliar territory, swearing that he would do his best to get along with the other students despite his record.

Anything Else (If you want to list your wand, your Patronus, or something else you wish for the RPers to know about your character): His wand was his great-grandfather's and given to him by Hilda. It is ash with a core of totetsu horn. A totetsu is a rare magical beast with the face of a man, body and horns of a ram, and legs and claws of a tiger; it's very dangerous, territorial, and known for eating travelers.

Vash also has an albino baby ball python he keeps in a small tank, discreetly. Her name is Milka. There's nothing magical about her, or his affection to her; she's merely a cherished pet that was a present, and he feels a snake and other such types of pets are rather ideal as they're quiet, easy to care for, generally clean, and don't need too much outside influence or many people to get on just fine. Vash will go out and catch small prey to feed her from the grounds around the castle (not anybody's pets; she's a baby, and generally only still eats very small mice and pinkies).