Ethan Forrester
Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2022 10:44 pm
Full Name: Ethan John ForresterAge: 35
Position/Class Taught: Ravenclaw Head of House / Defense Against the Dark Arts
History
Ethan was born in 1970 to half-blood parents just as the First Wizarding War was starting, and he enrolled in Hogwarts just before it ended in 1981. His father, John, was an auror who died fighting Voldemort's Death Eaters when Ethan was only six.
After Voldemort's defeat two months into his first year at Hogwarts, he knew this would not be the end of dark wizards in Britain. He decided then that he wanted to become an auror like his father (his mother was not pleased). To this end, he consulted with his head of house and his DADA professor to determine how he could best focus his studies to pursue that goal. From then on, he made it a point to practice every offensive and defensive spell in his textbooks, on top of the ones his professors suggested, and the ones he found in restricted materials from the school library. He got into the habit of spending a couple hours studying every day after his regular coursework was done.
His grades qualified him to be a prefect in his fifth year, but he declined the position because he didn't want his duties to infringe upon his studying time. Similarly, he declined to participate in Quidditch, and only took one elective class, as this was the bare minimum at the time, so he could focus on what mattered the most to him.
Early in his schooling, he found an academic rival in fellow Ravenclaw Elyria Silverberg. By their sixth year, however, they were friends with a deep respect for each other, and they studied together. Professor Flitwick even assigned them a private study room to share, as they were on track to becoming the next Head Boy and Head Girl.
Knowing that being an animagus would be a huge benefit to his intended career as an auror, he sought private lessons with Prof. McGonagall. She agreed to help him only because he was a top student, and she knew how determined he was.
Just as he mastered his animagus form in his sixth year, he and Elyria finally confessed their interest in each other, but they agreed to wait until after Hogwarts before getting serious, as they did not want to risk their romance distracting them from their studies.
He practiced occlumency with two of his teachers (one of whom was Prof. Scrivener) in his final two years at Hogwarts, and gained a minimal proficiency that way. It would've been sufficient to pass the Auror proficiency exam, but naturally, he wanted to develop this further.
Despite not serving as a prefect, Ethan was head boy for the 87-88 school year, opposite Elyria as predicted.
Post-Hogwarts
He and Elyria did not spend as much time with each other as either had hoped, but they remained friends and attended social events as a couple.
In 1988, he sought to further his studies beyond what he could attain at Hogwarts. Notably, he began studying curse-breaking, and hired a master occlumens to teach him the more advanced techniques of that practice.
In 1990, at the age of 20, he finally became an Auror. The Auror Office provided him formal training in curse-breaking, involving several expeditions to learn from foreign practitioners, each more advanced than the last, which he soaked up like a sponge.
He spent the next nine years helping to hunt down dark wizards and the occasional Death Eater. During this time he became quite frustrated with minister Fudge's incompetence and the minimal budget he allocated to the Auror Office.
In 1998, he participated in defending the castle at the Battle of Hogwarts. Seeing his beloved school so damaged had a profound impact on him. As the school was being rebuilt, Elyria was hired on as the new charms professor. She managed to convince him to apply to fill the vacancy in Defense Against the Dark Arts. They both began teaching when the school re-opened in 1999.
Personality
Ethan is nothing if not patient, mentally disciplined, and utterly dedicated to his career. Even as a professor, he continues his studies of offensive and defensive magic just as diligently as when he was a student hoping to someday become an auror. When teaching, he makes notes about his students' progress and takes the time to figure out why they're stumbling, and then does what he can to accommodate them and correct their understanding, making adjustments to his lessons and teaching approach as he goes.
He is soft-spoken and he teaches with a gentle hand, but he doesn't tolerate misbehavior in the slightest. He knows that children are impressionable and it doesn't take much effort to cause irreparable harm or nudge someone down a dark path. With this in mind, he's swift to correct abusive behavior, and he gives every offender a chance to learn from their mistakes and redeem themselves.
Hogwarts
House: Ravenclaw
Years Attended: 1981-88
Best Class: Defense Against the Dark Arts
Worst Class: Astronomy (possibly because the class was held at midnight and this conflicted too much with his sleep schedule)
Favorite Class: Defense Against the Dark Arts
Least Favorite Class: History of Magic
Electives: Ancient Runes w/ Prof. Scrivener
Extracurriculars: None (unless you count animagus and occlumency training)
Distinctions: Head Boy, 87-88
Appearance
Face Claim: John Krasinski
Height: 6'2"
Hair Color: Black
Eye Color: Grey
Birthmarks: None
Tattoos: Ethan has two portkey tattoos on his left forearm, both provided by the Auror department in 1998 as the technology was invented; one is of a phoenix, keyed to St. Mungo's (chosen because phoenix tears have healing properties), while the other is an eagle, keyed to an Auror safe-house (chosen because the eagle is the symbol of Ravenclaw)
Miscellaneous:
Pet: an owl, named Artemis
Patronus: Wolf
Animagus Form: Wolf
Boggart: Most recently, a boggart appeared as a student dying because he'd failed as a teacher
Notable Skills: Ethan is a master occlumens and an accomplished curse-breaker
