User Profile

CHARACTER INFORMATION
Full Name: Augustus Rookwood
Nicknames: None at the moment, which is what he prefers. As a little boy, he was called “Augie,” but he stopped responding to that name (and those that used it) when he was eight years of age.
Age: 46
Alumni/House: Ravenclaw
Wand: Rookwood’s wand is pine, with a dragon heartstring core.
Affiliation: Currently unaffiliated. Rookwood has a less-than-pure bloodline, and so he’s not allowed in the Knights of Walpurgis. He’s not averse to doing the odd job for them, however. His primary interest at the moment is self-preservation at the moment.

Blood Status: Augustus has quite a few Muggles in his family on his mother’s side (among them a maternal grandfather), although he doesn’t talk about it and hasn’t ever seen them.
Magic Status: [Full magic, some magic, no magic?] Some magic.
Family (relation with each): Augustus’s father Stephan (75) is a quiet, older pensioner who mostly putters in his garden and translates Greek and Roman writings into English. Before he was imprisoned, Augustus would visit once a year, on Christmas, and wrote him occasional letters. He has not spoken to his father since his imprisonment, and is not even sure whether he is still living.
His mother died when he was four. Augustus remembers very little of his mother other than the smell of lavender. He has no brothers or sisters, and is not close to any of his extended family.

PERSONAL HISTORY
Childhood-Hogwarts:

Stephan Rookwood and Hortensia Dibble met at Hogwarts, where they were both in Ravenclaw. Stephan came from a pureblooded family from Germany, and Hortensia was half-blooded and English-- her father was Muggle, and her mother was a witch. The two shared a love of learning, and got married upon leaving Hogwarts. The marriage wasn’t ideal -- they weren’t the best matched couple, and frequently fought, but Augustus’s birth two years after the marriage smoothed things over somewhat. Hortensia was a fairly consistent (if slightly cold) mother, and when she died four years later of a sudden illness, Stephan took on the responsibility of raising his son single-handedly. As Stephan still worked at the time, young Augustus would often spend several unattended hours where he had to entertain himself. He had a fairly quiet and lonely childhood.

At Hogwarts, Augustus was sorted into Ravenclaw. He wasn’t incredibly socially apt, and so did not make many friends while at school. He was quiet, studious, and neat. He didn’t participate in Quidditch (the grass stains alone were sufficient deterrent, and sweat caused all sorts of problems), and disliked Herbology for obvious reasons.

Rookwood’s OWLs were fairly standard -- he had well-rounded scores, and excelled in Arithmancy, Transfiguration, and Charms. He was, by all accounts, a rather forgettable student. The one instructor he made an impression on was his Arithmancy instructor, Professor Wiggin. Wiggin saw a talent in young Rookwood, and helped him develop his natural Occlumency and Legilimancy skills further in independent study.

Upon taking his NEWTS, his scores on certain tests got him a standard recruitment letter from the Ministry. In additional interviews, he impressed with his abilities of Legilimancy and Occlumency, as well as an interesting project he did for his NEWT level Arithmancy class. After a period of extensive screening, along with a reference letter from Wiggin, he got a placement at the Department of Mysteries.

Adulthood-Present:

Rookwood spent the first years after school working for the Department of Mysteries. While he was there, Rookwood gave the impression of a diligent and thorough researcher, even though he was stand-offish.

Although his ability to keep secrets made him an ideal candidate for his position, he was also able to use his Occlumency to keep a good deal secreted away from his employers in the deep recesses of his memory. This made him an ideal candidate to be a spy for Voldemort.

Augustus became aware of Voldemort through a Ministry report he stumbled across not soon after getting his placement. After several months of careful research, Augustus came to the conclusion that Voldemort was a man of action and great potential. He was impressed by the man’s obvious abilities, and felt that an opportunity to work with such a powerful wizard couldn’t be missed. In addition, he felt he shared certain interests in the Dark Arts with Voldemort, as Rookwood had been frustrated in the Ministry’s hesitance to experiment with that entire side of magic without heavy restrictions. He went through the steps to gain an audience with the man in his typically systematic fashion. Voldemort could see his value, and accepted Rookwood’s proposal that he spy for him at the Department of Mysteries. During his tenure as a spy, Rookwood proved his worth to Voldemort on several occasions, providing valuable intelligence to the Death Eaters. He taught his skills in Legilimancy and Occlumency to a young Severus Snape, training him to be a spy. He also worked extensively with Voldemort to research and eventually use Inferii as weapons, and did some of the preliminary research to find Founder artifacts that were later used as Horcruxes. During this time, he also worked extensively with Igor Karakoff, as he was Rookwood’s connection to pass along information. The two became close, and, while not friends in the traditional sense, worked well together. Their relationship developed into something more... complicated after their first year together, but neither man would admit to it being any more than an arrangement of convenience.

Not soon after Voldemort’s death, Karakoff was captured. During interrogation, he betrayed Rookwood as a spy, and he was subsequently imprisoned. Rookwood spent the next twelve years in Azkaban, until he was broken out of prison in 1996, when he once again joined Voldemort. His ability to block his mind from the intrusion of Dementors helped him maintain his sanity, and although his time at prison ravaged him physically, he was able to ably serve Voldemort once again.

During the Second War, he worked on controlling the Dementors and werewolves, and continued researching various methods of immortality for his Master. He also was able to use his Occlumency skills to gain information from the Ministry and Order members. During both wars, Rookwood didn’t particularly enjoy getting his hands dirty with killing people and Muggle-baiting, unlike some of his fellow Death Eaters. He would kill if necessary, but preferred using Memory spells, as they tended to be cleaner. Nevertheless, he did participate in several nasty bits of work, including torture, interrogation, and research into extensive Dark Magic topics during the War. This, of course, was either in the name of science, or out of necessity to gain information.

He fought on the side of Voldemort in the Final Battle, and killed Fred Weasley by blasting a wall. He also fought Percy Weasley briefly, and after an extended firefight, was disarmed and knocked unconscious by Abelforth Dumbledore. He managed to slink away after coming to without any one noticing, and has been in hiding ever since. He is aware of the Knights of Walpurgis, but as he is one-quarter Muggle, he does not have that option open to him. He has been hoarding magical objects ever since magic started to fade, and has actually developed a bit of income dealing in rare Dark Artifacts.




PERSONALITY
Personality Overview: [At least three paragraphs long.]

Augustus is a precise man. Every movement and statement is thought out well in advance, and he presents himself in an equally thoughtful manner. He prefers to have a neat appearance, nails are neatly trimmed and buffed, not a hair is out of place, and he always wants to look his best. The first thing he plans to do upon his escape is to take a bath, and even though he will be a little worn from his incarceration, he will still make an effort to look put together. When possible, he is a fastidious dresser. Although his family wasn’t overly wealthy, and he only made a respectable living as an Unspeakable, he always made an effort to dress well -- often beyond his means. Once he is free, he will have a bit of income from some wise investments he made that allow him a modest living. The majority of his expenses are fairly small, and the rest of his income will go towards clothing and books. He typically wears expensively cut robes made out of fine material at all times -- even in informal situations.

That being said, Augustus makes a point to avoid being noticed at all. His facial expressions and voice are carefully schooled to remain neutral, and, although his clothes are expensive, he has the ability to fade into the background of the sleaziest pub. He tends to slip past people’s awareness -- bartenders don’t remember him after serving him all evening, and, in unnecessary courses at Hogwarts, he left little to no impression on his instructors. Finally, due to his specialty in Memory spells, he can sometimes leave a situation with no memory of his presence at all -- so he tends not to provide first impressions. Being an observer of people, Augustus is an introvert by nature. He prefers to watch rather than interact, and large groups of people make him vaguely nervous -- there are too many variables to keep track of.

In terms of other talents, Rookwood is excessively good at Legilimancy and Occlumency -- at least until the magic started to fade. He was one of the people who taught Severus Snape how to do his thing. He is quite good at solving puzzles, and gleaning information from others.

Due to his precise nature, Augustus is clean to the point of obsession. He typically washes his hands far more than necessary, and has no extraneous body hair. He tries not to leave traces of himself behind -- hair, skin, eyelashes... (this is mostly due to his knowledge of the development of tracking spells at the Department of Mysteries, which makes him nervous). This involves a complicated toilette in the mornings. He also tends to worry the dry skin on his lips with his teeth, which are on the sharp side. Azkaban, naturally, has a lack of cleanliness that distressed him greatly, and he will be quite glad to be out. Being surrounded by dirt for such a long time has only increased his fastidiousness to the point of it being a compulsion. He just feels better when everything is clean.

Finally, Rookwood finds it quite easy to inhabit a morally grey area. Some of the “experiments” he has done over the years have been downright monsterous, but Rookwood has no shame or guilt about his activities. He has no problem lying to people, and will go quite far to accomplish what needs to be done. He can come off as aloof and distant in person, and rarely allows himself to open up to others -- years as an Unspeakable, a spy, and then a prisoner have only increased his naturally taciturn nature, and the effort of keeping his mental barriers up at all times makes him a bit tightly wound. However, he does find it easier to communicate with others through letters.

Skills: Solving puzzles, getting information, fading into the background, memory spells, Legilimancy, Occlumency
Strengths: Precision, scientific acumen, keeping secrets, interrogation
Weaknesses: Dirt, bodily fluids, sales at Malkin’s
Sexual Preference: Rookwood intensely private when it comes to that sort of thing, but he prefers men.

APPEARANCE
General Appearance: Years of imprisonment have left him pale, and looking older than he actually is. He is a bit stooped and pockmarked, and walks with a limp. He also has a persistent cough, which gets worse during winter. He has greying hair, and piercing eyes. Even though he takes care in his appearance and carries himself with quiet dignity, he is by no means a handsome man.

PB: Chris Cooper

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