GAVIN RIDER, FREELANCE MAGICAL TROUBLESHOOTER: Skip's father is a kind of reverse cursebreaker - when old spells and pieces of magic start breaking down and people don't know how to fix them, they call up Gavin. MACUSA is a regular client, but he works for all kinds of companies, organizations, schools, and private citizens. It's a job that requires a great deal of research and experimentation mixed together with a
lot of improvizational lying to no-majs who notice when things go wrong. Skip thinks his dad is an amazing, brilliant genius who is smarter than all of the teachers at all of the schools he's been to put together. (Skip is also aware that his hero worship of his dad is a little insane, but he's sticking with it until otherwise notified.)
SABRINA MUNDELL, AUTHOR: Sabrina is a prolific writer, usually releasing a book a year. As a Muggleborn, she specializes in nonfiction books for Muggleborns and their parents that explain the magical world in very no-nonsense (i.e. sarcastic) terms, as well as books explaining new no-maj things to the magical world. She's the reason Skip has been raised firmly in both the magical and non-magical worlds.
RUTHERFORD "SKIP" MUNDELL: Skip's chain-smoking Brooklynite grandpa who used to be part of the punk scene and is definitely still part of some kind of sketchy scene that they carefully do not ask questions about when they visit. He's basically the coolest grandpa ever, and he's already promised to take Skip to his tattooist on his 18th birthday.
THE RIDERS OF DUELING PINES:
Assorted elderly relatives called "aunt" and "uncle" who Skip has no idea how he's related to that think they need to know everything about his life and have an opinion on everything. They are all Very Proud of him and also think it's A Shame he doesn't live at home, and they voice these opinions constantly.
Half the reason he got a crow instead of an owl is to have an excuse to not mail them - crows don't fly as far. BACKGROUND:Gavin Rider and Sabrina Mundell were the kind of love story to make anyone sick - he was a brilliant, quiet boy from a tiny magical town hidden in the Great Smoky Mountains where his family had lived for centuries; she was a loud, smartass Muggleborn from Brooklyn. Together they were high school sweethearts who met at Peckenpaugh, went to university together, got married right graduation, and are still together seventeen years later.
They took off across the country, Sabrina taking freelance writing jobs from both magical and non-magical sources while she diligently worked on her first book, and Gavin doing his own freelance work, fixing up broken and worn-off spells. They were technically prepared for a child - they had degrees, they had jobs, they had decent money saved - but psychologically they were panicking. What were they supposed to do with an infant? They weren't
real adults! So they ran back home. Gavin's family was overjoyed; they hadn't been surprised when he'd taken off as soon as he could, it didn't take a genius to see he wasn't happy staying in the same little place he'd lived his whole life, but to have him home again even for a few months was a gift. And it was equally important that the new little Rider be born in Dueling Pines, so that their magic would harmonize with the spells and wards surrounding the town and the little one would be able to find the town again in the future (imagine, a Rider that had to be escorted into town, the absolute shame!).
Skip came a few weeks early, and his birth was attended by the same magical midwife who delivered his father and all his aunts, uncles, and cousins. Even though he started the event early he didn't particularly want to make his grand entrance, but almost a full day after labor began the baby finally made his extremely unhappy debut to the world. He was a little charmer of a newborn, too, with his grumpy frown and overly observant wide-eyed stare. It kept the extended family coming around all day, every day - which is why his parents ultimately decided six months of the settled life was long enough, and they said their goodbyes to the sleepy little mountain town half a year after Skip was born.
That set the tone for the rest of his life. Sometimes they would stay a little longer, but every six months to a year the Riders would pick up and move to the next location - everywhere could use Gavin's expertise, Sabrina could work long-distance from wherever she wanted, and for two kids who hadn't left their hometowns in the first eighteen years of their lives except to go to school they thought showing their kid the world was important. Skip loved it. There was always something new to see, something new to experience, both magical and mundane - roller coasters and the Grand Canyon were on equal footing with the time they went to the Quidditch World Cup to him. When it came time for Skip to go to school, though, it was decided they would at least stick around for a full school year in every new place - because Sabrina was dead set on Skip going to Muggle public elementary schools. It'd give him the grounding he needed in the non-magical world before he went off to his higher schooling (he would, of course, be going to Peckenpaugh, the old alma mater, for high school).
School brought one major new complication to Skip's bohemian little life: socializing. Like a lot of only children he was used to interacting with adults, having the kinds of conversations and playing the types of games that adults will engage children in, which tend to be different from what children do amongst themselves. Skip was lost; he didn't know (or really
want to know, actually) any of the bright cartoon characters his classmates were obsessed with, and the songs their little high pitched voices would screech out on a daily basis were so different than what he heard on his parents' radio. Children, especially young children, aren't always the nicest to those who stand out from the crowd, so it was a rough transition for a little kid who didn't know what a "Transformers" was supposed to be. His only solace was that they had settled in Jersey for kindergarten, so every weekend his mother apparated him up to visit his grandpa in New York.
His mother's father had been a big player in the city's punk scene back in the 70s and 80s and music was still a big part of his life. Skip Senior (that's what they call each other, Skip Senior and Skip Junior; he's never called his mother's father 'grandpa' a day in his life) wanted to make sure music was a big part of his only grandchild's life, too, so during their weekend bonding times he played a wide variety of music for the little one, and asked him opinion.
"I don't really like it when the guitars go high, like 'wah wah wah'," Skip Junior said decisively after a second. "I like it better when they go 'vrum' and thump with the drums."
"That's called a bass guitar, Junior, it's a special type of guitar. Would you like to see one?"
And just like that, a love was born. He may not have been able to hold the bass properly at the age of five, but he loved the feel of the wood and the string and most especially the deep notes that rang out.
After that, the kids at school didn't bother him anymore. If no one wanted to play with him at recess, well, he had baby's first guide to music reading to study, didn't he? And he had music lessons after school, so screw your little league practice, Tommy! They even added in a band class in fourth grade, although guitar wasn't an option - Skip picked trombone, it made a similarly satisfying deep sound, and also he had just heard of this thing called 'ska' music that sure looked like fun...
Sixth grade meant it was time for magic school. They were in Denver at the time, and lucky little Skip got to go to the Zebulon Pike Preparatory Academy of Magic. Pike Prep is well-known for being a
very rigorous K-8 school that basically guarantees admittance to Vercoer for its graduates, despite being outside of the school's catchment area. Skip was... unprepared, to say the least. He wasn't what anyone would call 'academically inclined', but he'd done well enough at school up to that point in life. Pike Prep was like being slapped in the face by an angry salmon, and he had more than one meltdown where he absolutely
begged his parents to let him go back to muggle school.
The next year of school went much better, and Skip was able to throw away his notebook of plans to quit being a wizard and join a rock'n'roll band (instead, he decided, he could now stay a wizard and also join a band). His new school was an actual normal school, not insanely academically cutthroat, and it wasn't located in the middle of a city, so they actually had a flying program. Skip had been on brooms before, whenever they visited the family at the Pines, but seventh grade was the first time he got regular access to a broom that wasn't homemade and therefore likely to kill someone. And he was
good on a broom, like really good, like he made one kid in his class nauseous just watching him fly (which he's still particularly proud of). The teacher was impressed, and although the school didn't have a Quodpot or Quidditch program they
did participate in the Junior Racing League, and Skip wound up winning a few regional competitions. Between flying and playing music, his last two years of middle school went by much better than his first, or even his elementary school years. Soon enough it was time to go to Peckenpaugh, the looming beast of his life. It would be the first time he'd ever been away from both of his parents for longer than a week (and to be honest, that week at camp had
not been kind to him or, especially, his cabin mates).
Skip... loved Peckenpaugh. It was amazing. The location, the atmosphere, the giant treehouse he got to live in, even the classes were actually pretty awesome when you got down to it. He tried out for the both the Quidditch and Quodpot teams, didn't make either team (although he was complimented for his speed) and found out that there was an Animagus class available to the upperclassmen, and promptly formed two new goals for his near future.
WAND: 11 ½",
pine and
glawackus whisker.
FAMILIAR: A smart-ass crow named
Waffles. Waff thinks he's part cat, and can be found either picking on birds three times his size or cuddled underneath Skip's shirt.
CAREER GOALS: If things work out perfectly, Skip will become a rockstar. But he's well aware not every struggling musician makes it, so he's perfectly well prepared with a number of other career choices, such as driver of a tour van, roadie for a rock band, stage manager for a music venue, bartender where many shows are played, etc.
PART-TIME JOB: Not likely, unless Elflock Falls opens a record shop sometime before he graduates.
CLASSES: CHARMS: Skip gets really good grades in Charms when it comes to class participation and casting; he gets really bad grades when it comes to turning in any kind of paper work. Unless it happens to be on the rare topic he's genuinely interested in, he leaves his written work to the absolute last minute (or doesn't do it at all). He does pay attention in class, and he does apply himself when it comes to any practical work, which is why his casting is usually good.
POTIONS: Any kind of experiments or explosions, Skip is all over it. His essays, as usual, are slapdash and tend to be in bullet-point format, although he's actually well-versed on lab safety - he'd rather not have his flight time cut because he wanted to watch a pretty explosion, and clearly the solution to that is not to avoid explosions.
TRANSFIGURATIONS (H): Transfigurations is the hardest class for Skip, and it is also the class he works the hardest in. Unlike the other academic classes he is forced to take takes, he wants Transfiguration for something - he's hoping to get into the very selective Animagus Studies program his junior year (he just knows he'll be a bird of some kind). It doesn't come naturally to him, but something is satisfying about struggling through a problem set and having to dig through books to find what he needs to solve the problem.
ARTIFICING: Ah, at last, a class that is all hands-on and actually doing things! One of Skip's favorites, because he gets to work in the real world instead of with theory, and he doesn't get in trouble for turning in shoddy essays. And, of course, learning how to actually create things is fun too - and create them in a real way (transfiguration, despite all the equations and headaches that go into it, always feels a little like cheating to him).
HERBOLOGY: Why did he sign up for this again? Right, right, his parents wanted him to "keep his options open", and it was recommended for Aesthetic Magic, and it's not like he hates it, he just doesn't have any particular draw to plants (sorry Ms. Treetops, that wasn't meant as a personal attack, promise). It ranks as true neutral on the D&D alignment chart of his classes that he totally never made because he's not that much of a nerd, he swears.
HOME MAG-EC: Half entertainment/an easy A, half genuinely preparing himself for a time in the not-so-distant future when he can't run to his mother for everything. Mostly taking the class because continually duct taping his clothes together because he didn't know the mending charm or how to sew was just getting embarrassing.
MUSIC (H): Most kids want to be a rock star at some point in their lives. Skip really desperately wants it, and is willing to put in all the time and effort he can. Music is just about the only class where he'll willingly study theory and history and all those not immediately practical things, and will even occasionally write impassioned essays about them.
OUTDOOR MAGIC (H): Tied with Music for his favorite class, because it is literally just running and/or flying around and doing things. There's no reading, no essays, no sitting down and staring out of windows for an hour... He loves it and would take multiple classes of it if he could.
AESTHETIC MAGIC: Skip is a Bad Artist. His stick figures don't even look good. But dang, does he like to draw and paint and sculpt and all that - he's enthusiastic about it, and he tries his darndest, which is really all a teacher can ask for.
EXTRA-CURRICULARS: VARSITY QUODPOT (KESTREL): He just made varsity this year; last year he didn't even make the JV team because of his lack of familiarity with the sport, so he's spent a lot of time attending games and playing pick-up games to learn and come back with a vengeance at this year's try-outs.
QUIDDITCH (RESERVE): He wasn't sure he'd make the Quodpot team this year either, so he also tried out for the house Quidditch team! Now he's technically on both. Whoops. But at least he gets to fly
and gets more excuses not to do his Charms homework.
CONCERT BAND (TROMBONE): Skip has been playing trombone since fourth grade, which coincidentally was both when his no-maj school started offering band class and when he first heard ska music. It's his second favorite instrument (after bass guitar, obvs).
GAMING CLUB: Last year it didn't work, but
this is the year he gets a Dungeons & Dragons group together, he swears! If he can find someone else to DM.
MUGGLE MAGIC CLUB: If you don't think sleight of hand is awesome, he's not sure he wants to talk to you.
A/V CLUB: Skip just wants to host a no-maj classic rock hour, man. That's all he wants to do, and that's exactly what he does. He calls it
The Rock Jock Hour and it is about 90% music, 10% trivia about the music.
SORTING?: Skip's Sorting would have been one of the quicker ones, except that the first room he stepped into decided it needed to piss him off. The Summer Room gave him a hypothetical situation that pitted his love of flying against his love of music, and he first argued and then ultimately refused to answer until the door reluctantly let him through. Thorntrail's room was much nicer to him, and Deeplurk's question about which letter of the alphabet was the most delicious was weird but fun, and when he reached the final room he barely bothered reading the mottos and descriptions before opening the glowing door to Thorntrail. He likes his house; he loves a challenge, and as long as it's something he cares about, he can work as hard as any of his housemates. He's not the best at following the rules, but that's not all
that rare in Thorntrail...
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