Post by HANNA on Feb 1, 2014 18:53:21 GMT -5
[presto]
TWENTY-SIX
MALE
PROFESSOR
HALFBLOOD
HETEROSEXUAL
MATT BOMER
DIGGER BRADLEY POWELL
 Miranda Sullivan was an American-born and raised muggleborn witch. She was born into a wealthy, socialite family from New York City. It came as a surprise to her family when she received a letter from the Salem Witches Institute, hand-delivered in person by a professor of the school. It was a whirlwind of emotions and decisions, but ultimately, Miranda was the one to decide whether or not she would attend this strange school. In the end, she decided to give it a try. Seven years later, in 1997, she graduated from the school. Her grandparents, with whom she had been close to her entire life, gave her the gift of travel for a graduation present. Miranda decided to go to England, along with two of her friends. That summer would change her life forever. Miranda met Bradley Powell when her credit card was declined at a restaurant that he was the (young) manager of. Bradley was 24 and Miranda was merely 18, but she fell in love with him instantly. She began to frequent the restaurant until they finally went out on a date. It was a typical summer romance: heated, passionate, and abrupt. She was due back to the US at the end of July and he wanted to move on with his life. However, neither would get what they wanted. Three days before she was supposed to leave England to fly back to the US, Miranda found out she was pregnant. She told Bradley right away, demanding that he pay for an abortion. She couldn't go back home pregnant! But he didn't have the money and there was no way Miranda was going to ask her parents for it. Ultimately, they decided to stay together. Miranda cancelled her flight back to the US and moved in with Bradley. He took a better-paying job at the Ministry (he was a halfblood) and they began to get ready to have their lives changed. Digger Bradley Powell was born in April of 1998. He was named after his mother's grandfather, who had sadly passed away whilst Miranda was pregnant. She was unable to attend his funeral. The Powells were a strange family. Bradley busied himself with his work, and wasn't there much for his son. Miranda was a stay-at-home mother, and missed her friends & family back home. She refused to live without muggle technology, and used every way to stay in touch with the people from across the ocean that she could. Digger grew up watching his mother do this, wondering who the people on the other side of the screen were. His mother never properly introduced him to her family - and no one seemed too upset about that. Miranda did the best she could to raise the small boy, but was more concerned about her own well-being and happiness than his. Mother and son shared happy moments, of course, but there was always something that kept her from truly getting to know her son. No one knew what it was until the day Miranda disappeared. When Digger was four, he woke up to his father's voice echoing through the house. It was strange because his father was never home during the weekdays. Despite being so young, it was one day that Digger will never forget. He had never felt more ignored in his life than he did on that day. After getting out of his bed, Digger followed the sound of his father's voice into the living room. He doesn't remember the conversation, but he remembers being hungry - very hungry. When it was apparent that his father was not going to pay attention to him, Digger dragged a chair over to the cereal cupboard. He sat on the counter and ate the cereal dry, straight from the box. It was his only meal all day. Later, Bradley would explain to his son that his mother had left them. She went "across the big pond" and would probably not return. Digger had never been a very talkative child; and with his mother gone, he seemed to lose his sense of speech. He had no one to talk to; his mother was gone and his father didn't seem to understand how to communicate with anyone under twenty. So the small boy became silenced. He spoke to his stuffed animals, of course; and made his toys speak, but he was quiet around adults and other children. Due to his important work, Bradley was forced to hire a nanny for his son. She was hired about a week after Miranda left her longtime boyfriend and their son. The nanny was young and her name was Juliana. It took Digger a while to warm up to her, but eventually he did. Juliana was the first person since his mother that Digger spoke to. He was like a regular child around her - he laughed, he cried, he screamed, he spoke. But when his father came around, Digger went quiet. Juliana encouraged the young boy to speak to his father, but Bradley didn't always have the patience. When Digger did speak to his father, it was an uttered "hello" or "goodbye" or "goodnight". Digger wished on stars at night, pleading with whomever was up there to let Juliana become his new mum. He liked her a lot and didn't want to live with his father. But Digger's wish would never come true. Juliana remained his nanny for several more years until Bradley remarried. Digger was nine when his father married his step-mother, and he was crushed when Juliana was let go. She was the only person he spoke to; what would happen now? Digger struggled over the next two years. He wrote down everything he thought because otherwise he might not get the words out. Helen, Digger's step-mother, was nice enough and tried to get her step-son to speak, but it was only on rare occasions that he did. When he was eleven, he received his Hogwarts acceptance letter. It was the best day of his life. His father had told him stories about the school and Digger couldn't wait to go there himself. It would be an exciting new chapter in his life. His selective muteness didn't even cross his mind until he boarded the Hogwart's Express on September 1st. Digger was so used to not talking, as was everyone around him, that being on the train was overwhelming. He accidentally made a glass pane explode because his nerves got the better of him. Now he'd be a freak at Hogwarts, too. During the sorting ceremony, Digger was just as anxious as everyone else. He was surprised when he was sorted into Gryffindor. The students in that house were brave and fun! He wasn't either of those things. But he joined the table for the feast, though he barely ate anything and didn't utter a word. Digger was excited to begin his classes the following day, keen to learn any non-verbal spells he could. But the professors wouldn't allow him to be mute. He needed to learn magic the proper way like everyone else; he couldn't just skip ahead to non-verbal spells. But it was a good thing that the professors (gently) forced Digger to speak. By the time Christmas came around, he would murmur a few words a day. His father was surprised to say the least. And speaking of surprised, Digger was speechless (pun intended) when he found out that his step-mother was pregnant. He was going to be a big brother! Coincidentally, the twins were born in April just like Digger was. He didn't get to meet them until school let out for the summer holidays, however. He wasn't sure he liked babies, but he was excited to meet his younger half-siblings. One was a boy called Benjamin and the other was a girl named Claire. Digger was excited to be an older brother, but also felt a little weird that he was 12 years older than his new siblings. By the time Digger meet his siblings, they were already two months old. Luckily, they were loud or whiny, so Digger didn't have much a reason to dislike them. By the time his second year rolled around, Digger was very excited. He was happy to go back to the castle to see the few friends he had made and to continue to learn magic. He was also relieved to get out of the house because it smelled like baby poop. His second year would change him forever. He's not sure what changed him exactly, but he came out of his shell more. His magic became a bit more steady and he showed a real knack for Transfiguration. It wasn't long before Digger was chattering away, fitting as many words into a sentence as he could as if to make up for all of the years he spent mute. He talked about anything and everything. If a thought occurred to him, random as it may be, he had to find someone to say it to. He found himself enthusiastic about life in general. People probably began to think he was annoying. But Digger didn't care. He found a group of friends that were like him and together, they caused havoc throughout the castle. He received his first detention ever during his second year, much to the surprise of everyone. Digger's outgoing behavior continued, but sometimes not always for the better. He was always pulling pranks or doing dares or getting into trouble. When he was a third year, that was when Digger met Emily Marsdon. She was a wee firstie, but sparky and they were instantly friends. They friendship strengthened over the years as they spent more and more time together, being loud and obnoxious and unruly. Naturally, they fooled around as well, but it wasn't until Digger was in his 7th year and Emily in her 5th year that they finally began to date. Digger had never really had girlfriends before; he had girls he snogged, girls who went down on him, girls who he had sex with, and a few flings. Nothing serious. So dating Emily was a huge step for him, but one he felt confident about. They were always together, anyway, and there was tension between them - so why shouldn't they date? But when Digger graduated from Hogwarts, they reached an awkward stage in their relationship. They had the summer to spend together. Sometimes they had to tote around Benjamin and Claire, who were five now and liked going to the park. When they took the twins out, they sometimes received dirty looks from older people with kids. Digger didn't mind; he didn't bother correcting people, either. They would think what they wanted to and so long as they weren't harming his little siblings, he didn't mind what other people thought. Besides, he and Emily parents? Ha! The two managed to stay together until the Easter holiday of Emily's 7th year. She broke up with Digger, claiming that he had cheated on her. He couldn't get a word in edgewise and these days, he wishes he had just kissed her to shut her up. Maybe then she would have listened to him and they wouldn't have spent the next few years being miserable. Emily left and Digger didn't hear from her or see her again until they both got positions Hogwarts. During their time apart, however, Digger went about his life. He went back to his old ways, having flings and one-nighters, not willing to give his heart away again. He also moved to Italy for a short time, where he began to master the art of transfiguration. He had an older mentor, of course, and hoped to eventually get some sort of job with his mastery. When the twins were 12, they informed their older half-brother that a position at the school had opened up and it was for a Transfiguration professor. On a whim, Digger applied for it. He never thought in a million years that he would actually get the position. Sometimes he still questions why Isabella picked him out of the other individuals who had applied. Whatever the reason, Digger was glad. Because this job brought Emily back into his life. It wasn't perfect at first - far from it, actually. But they spoke and were polite; they were finally acting like the adults they had always run away from being. They began to date each other again, forgiving one another and moving on from the past. (Digger was also able to clear his reputation as a cheater.) Settling into a career as a professor was very unsettling and unnatural for Digger. He never thought that he would be doing it. But he tried to take his own experiences as a child and apply them to his career. Digger encourages his students to be the best they can be. He fights for the underdog. He had come to truly love his career path, even if he does have to put up with his pesky siblings. It helps to have Emily around as well. And speaking of Emily... Digger proposed to her. He popped the question and then took off without an answer from her, frightened of what her answer might be. Thankfully, she knocked some sense into him and accepted his proposal. Digger is content with his life and wouldn't change anything about it. HANNA 24 GMT -5 |
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