#but ive also never ever ever done this poorly academically

[suncaptor]

they should make funded graduate programs for people who could have realistic chances of getting into them actually.

[finfleet-blog]

all about finley fleetwood

an intro to my darling boy, finley (fin, if you know him like that)! below, you’ll find everything you need to know about fin - at least, for now.

(also, hi, i’m june [she/her - est - 18] and i’m the one responsible for him)

the basics. 

full name: Finley Fleetwood

pronouns/gender identity: he/him; cis male

birth date: march 19, 1960

blood status: halfblood

3 key positive traits: reliable; optimistic; perceptive

3 key negative traits: overly idealistic; naive; impatient

academics.

primary wizarding school & graduation year: puddlemere institute of magic for boys, class of ‘78

degree & cohort: social sciences degree with a magical languages and world culture cohort (likely to change eventually; he doesn’t really care about this degree)

house & year: 1st year Hufflepuff

extracurriculars: Hufflepuff chaser hopeful

headcanons & more.

I. Finley Fleetwood Isn’t All He Thought (But, To Be Fair, He Thought He Was A Lot)

Finley Fleetwood had always, even when he was dreaming of his Hoggy Warty future back in Puddlemere,  liked the idea of being a Gryffindor. After all, his parents had been, and their parents before them had too, so it seemed natural. His parents, in their own quiet way, seemed sure it was where he’d end up. All the boy’d ever done, after all, was play quidditch, day in and day out. He was bright enough, but never concerned with books; he was gentle enough, but that seemed a minor aspect of his personality, and he was as far from cunning as they came. 

His father had been a bit more obvious than his mother about his thoughts on the whole matter. The day before his departure, as Finley was packing his things, his father had came up, clapped him on the shoulder and said, 

“Well, lad, what’ll it be? You feeling alright about your Sorting?”

“Yeah,” Fin replied, grinning. Like his father, his face always betrayed his disposition, even when he didn’t mean for it to. “I’ll be Gryffindor, no doubt. Watch, Dad, I’ll be captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team before you even start to miss me!”

His dad exhaled, looking  fondly at his son. They’d made perhaps one mistake in raising him, and that had been a complete failure to explain to Finley that some things simply couldn’t be done. Even at eighteen, he’d never really come to grips with the fact that he was not so infinite in his possibilities as he’d been told.  “That’s my boy,” he said, “Now, do you really need to pack all those sweaters?”

Finley had been quite confident then, but now, knowing his name was swiftly approaching, he felt a solid mass of nerves settling down into his chest. When had he ever been brave? He’d never needed to be brave, so it wasn’t like he had a chance to find out. What if he was put in Slytherin? Certainly that was impossible, he- 

“Finley Fleetwood!!”

Oh, for the love of Merlin. This was it. He walked forward, clutching the sides of his robe to keep his hands from shaking. He sat, and as the hat lowered onto his head, he held his breath. 

“HUFFLEPUFF!!” 

Well, it could’ve been worse. 

II. Finley Fleetwood Has a Ferret (And Isn’t In Touch With Reality)

Finley’s first  year at Puddlemere was arguably the best of his life. To be fair, he’d had a lot of good years, but this was something completely new. He wasn’t living with his parents anymore, and could do anything he wanted. He didn’t want to do a lot, to his parents’ relief. Mostly, he stayed up a tad later than he would at home and he ate a bit more sugar than they would prefer. Even in what should’ve been his independence from them, Finley remained attached to his parents in primary school, sending them weekly letters to let them know how things were going. He never really branched out, and his friends were more just quidditch buddies than anything else, but still, he loved it. 

For his birthday that year, Finley got a ferret. A real, live ferret, with eyes that were nothing short of soulful and that smelled so horrid it became her namesake. Smelly was, for a short time, his world entire. He charmed her to mask the smell (he didn’t mind, but he got the feeling his dormmates would), and trained her as well as one can train a ferret. She understood him, even when nobody else did, and when he woke up early in the morning to train she was there to motivate him. She’s on her last few years, now, but Finley refuses to accept this and is actively looking for a way to return her youth.

III. Finley Fleetwood Might Have Control Issues (But We Don’t Talk About Those)

Growing up with parents like Fin’s gave way to a largely happy and functioning child, but it left him with several qualities that are less than ideal. An only child, he’s not exactly the best at putting up with people putting their mess into his otherwise pristine space. That is, to say, he’s a nightmare dormmate. Everything needs to be just so, every piece of clothing needs to be tucked neatly away, and all lights need to be off by midnight. He extends the same sort of compulsive control to himself: in the absence of his parents, somebody has to keep his bubble upheld. He wakes at the same time each morning, sleeps at the same time each night, and doesn’t like his schedule interrupted.

IV. Finley Fleetwood Is Going To Be The World’s Best Chaser (Or So He Tells Himself)

One byproduct of Fin’s bright outlook is a complete and total confidence that, if he applies himself, he will be the best chaser there ever was. Puddlemore was the place for him - it let him focus most of his energy on what mattered, so that one day he could rise to the absolute pinnacle of Quidditch stardom. He doesn’t think he’s good, he knows he’s good, because he has to be. It’s all he knows he can do. His degree and cohort were chosen entirely on a whim, because he was overwhelmed, and instead of leaving himself uncertain he opted for studies he didn’t care for so he’d have a backup plan, but realistically he can’t see himself doing anything other than quidditch. He’s shooting for the Hufflepuff team captain eventually, and hopes to one day play for Puddlemere United. Is he really all that good? No - he’s a bit above average purely because it’s where he spends all his energy, but he’s certainly not exemplary. Don’t tell him I said that, he doesn’t know yet.

Wand: Ash with Unicorn Hair core, 12 ¾”, solid flexibility

Boggart: The corpses of his parents and Smelly, rotting and crawling with maggots

Patronus: a Furcifer Chameleon

Moral alignment: Chaotic good

MBTI: ENFJ

Aesthetic: Sunrises in the spring; the first hug with a friend you haven’t seen in ages; a knowing smile when someone opens a gift they’ll love; getting excited over cool socks; having no sense of style past cool socks; listening to Christmas music in October

Plotting/connection Ideas:

Finley is soooo naive. He’s been sheltered his whole life and doesn’t know how to react to conflict because he’s never really had to before. Coming into Hogwarts, though, I feel like his worldview is going to open up in a lot of ways he won’t like and he’s gonna handle it poorly. Like, really poorly.

What I’m saying here is break his heart. Don’t be his friend. Let all his smiley good feelings sink into anger and self doubt. 

That being said, connection ideas:

-A quidditch friend! I know I just said not to be his friend, but that smile has to get through to somebody. He works really hard for quidditch, which, depending on the teammate, could either be endearing or annoying (maybe somewhere in between). Which leads me to…

-A quidditch rival: this person is unnervingly good, and Fin is vaguely terrified of this fact. This can be requited or unrequited (also, maybe enemies to friends or enemies to friends to more than friends possible?), but either way, Finley can’t stand the idea that he might not be the best quidditch player in history. 

-A non-quidditch friend: When he takes a break from trying to set his dreams into action, Fin does need someone that doesn’t even remotely care for quidditch. 

-Someone to completely shatter his reality: Wake! Him! Up! Fin is so reliant on his routine that he doesn’t know how to function without it. This can be a positive relationship or a negative one (tbd).

-An absolute enemy: Give him someone to despise, he needs it! Maybe they’re a blood purist and torment him on his blood status, maybe they’re an unbearably messy roommate, maybe they keep stealing the last of the blueberry scones in the morning before he can get to them, who knows!