continued from ~woodandink@GJ
NAME: David Joseph Christopher Bradley
AGE: 17
HOUSE/YEAR: Ravenclaw/7th
SOCIAL STATUS: The Bradley family has never had any pretensions to wealth or high class. They seem to churn out intellectuals and construction workers in almost equal numbers; one of David's aunts on his father's side owns a chip shop in Woking. When they become notable, however—generally the Bradleys do it in style. His father is a respected novelist who has published a number of very well-regarded books; his mother, née Adeline Martin, a lawyer. Within the family itself, there are two historians, a speech writer, and other interesting but ultimately useless occupations. With more talent and brains than monetary sense, though, the family has always been strapped for cash, and Bradley is a scholarship boy. He is only the second Bradley to attend Hogwarts.
APPEARANCE: Tall and solidly built, Bradley is the sort of person who gets his cheek pinched by great aunts at family reunions, accompanied by squeals of "what an adorable young man you've turned out to be." It is a curse. His face is a pleasant one—not handsome, necessarily, but certainly attractive in a "cute" way. His features are dominated by a large nose, slightly hooked at the tip, and a stubborn chin. His mouth seems as though it should be smiling constantly, but such expressions rarely grace it, and he's beginning to form little frown lines at its corners. Something about his features is very world-weary and long-suffering; eyes of one of those indeterminate green-blue muddles seem stressed and worried. Despite his messy brown hair, looking as though he's just fallen out of bed, nothing about David Bradley is casual. From the stiffness of his shoulders to the neatness of his clothes, he seems to be one of those people who are seventeen going on thirty-seven.
PERSONALITY: David Bradley has something to prove. That's the unfortunate thing about him and the thing that probably has shaped the rest of his personality the most. His parents have always been rather busy with their own work, and have let it be known that they expect nothing but the best from him, considering where he comes from—they believe he has all of the natural ability that he needs in order to make something remarkable of himself, particularly with the education available to him. The drilling they put him through as a child has made him conscientious and responsible… but all of this has only served to leave him with a raging inferiority complex and a dislike of those parents.
He takes everything seriously and himself most of all; it's a common joke in Hogwarts that Bradley doesn't just have a stick up his ass; he's got an entire oak tree. While he does have a sense of humour of sorts, it's incredibly dry and generally directed at other people. He does not laugh at jokes about himself, merely smiles uncomfortably and says nothing. Bradley is very polite, but it's not because he actually likes people or cares what they think about him (at least in social situations), that's just how he was raised. He's notoriously shy and extra-polite around girls—with two older brothers and an absentee mother (long hours at the office), he just doesn't know how to deal with them.
Intolerant of weakness in himself, Bradley constantly pushes himself to be the best in all that he can do. This is furthered by a genuine intellectual curiosity. He is fascinated by the law and will cheerfully quibble its finer points to anyone who will actually put up with it. Books are his one great delight and something of a refuge from the stress that his overachieving perfectionism puts on him. David's the sort who will probably develop intense stomach ulcers before age twenty-five. A pessimist and a worrier, he is most definitely not the life of the party, and can generally be counted upon to rain on anyone's parade. Think Eeyore, but grumpier. Also, he is almost disgustingly moral and scrupulous. He has very clearcut opinions about what constitutes right and wrong, and while he is capable of seeing shades of grey (he is a Ravenclaw, after all), he has a certain amount of arrogance that allows him to feel that his opinion is the right one. While this will probably change as he gets older, he's immature enough, right now, to continue on in this manner.
He is a good friend, but not because he's necessarily a nice person (he's not a BAD person, just a bit… chilly, sometimes). It's just that sense of responsibility coming through again. He is never late, remembers birthdays and buys thoughtful and appropriate presents, and is usually one of the first people to notice when someone is feeling under the weather—he's just not the sort who is particularly good at cheering anyone up. Rather high strung, David Bradley would be a lot happier if he could just learn to RELAX… too bad he probably won't, ever.
DEFINING CHARACTERISTICS: His pessimism. At any cheerful gathering, Bradley can be counted upon to say something like, "Well, it looks like it's going to rain soon." It's almost a self-parody at this point, but it's hard to tell, since there's still a hearty debate raging about whether or not he actually has a sense of humour (he does, it's just very…very…dry). He is also notorious for being overinvolved in everything, from a few societies and charity work to A-Levels to sports. When does he sleep?
LIKES: Writing and reading case briefs (proof of his insanity), law, cynics, black coffee (by the pot), his parents' approval, football, libraries, Doctor Who, philosophy, William Basinski.
DISLIKES: His parents, smoker-breath, people who make decisions based on their emotions, brutalist architecture, people who put milk and sugar in their coffee, optimists.
INSIDE SCOOP: Bradley is gay. Gay, gay, gay, and so far in the closet that he hasn't even really come out to himself. He is too BUSY for relationships, he is too concentrated on schoolwork and FOOTBALL for relationships, OBVIOUSLY he wouldn't have time for girls. And if he occasionally looks at someone (male) THAT way, it's just an admiration for a fellow football player's field skills. Or academic ability. Obviously he's not attracted to GUYS. Obviously. He's also incredibly insecure behind the confident façade that he presents, and at the moment, what he wants most is his parents' approval, which they are too oblivious to give.
HISTORY: Christopher Bradley always had a certain sense of his own destiny. Though his very working-class parents (the black sheep of his family) disapproved of his decision to become a writer, he proved them wrong by being very good at it. He published his first book shortly after his twenty-third birthday, and continued to publish throughout his life, generally to modest praise and good reviews. It was a living. Shortly after his twenty-fifth birthday, he met Adeline Martin, a criminal defense lawyer specializing in defendants generally unable to pay their bills. She had attended Hogwarts as a Slytherin; he had not even gone to university. The marriage was friendly but cool; at times, it seemed more as though they were partners and best friends rather than husband and wife.
Nevertheless, they somehow managed to produce three children. The older two, both boys, attended normal schools and did well if unremarkably, rather disappointments to their more intellectually ambitious parents. Instead, their hopes centered on David, seven years younger than his twin brothers Isaac and Seth, who was accepted into Hogwarts on scholarship. He had been a quiet and painfully responsible child, considering he grew up mostly on his own—his brothers were older and out of the house mostly; his father was holed up in his study writing, and his mother worked very long hours at her firm.
Shy and studious, he made an excellent Ravenclaw when he finally got to school. He studied long hours into the night, fascinated by all of the material available to him—perhaps to the disregard of his social life. While he was at least friendly with most of his yearmates, really close friends were always something that eluded him. One or two at the most, for he was never a socialite. This changed somewhat when he started playing football and fencing. While originally the football playing was another bid to win his parents' approval, it failed miserably (they had never been particularly impressed with sports) but he found that he enjoyed it for its own sake: after all, it's one of the few ways that he has to blow off steam.
Bradley is notoriously reserved and as far as Hogwarts knows, has never actually been on a date. He avoids school dances whenever possible and squirms out of being set up with people as much as possible. He'd much rather put concentration into his studies, for he has clear plans for what he wants to do with his life. It's a law degree for him, and from there…well, who knows?
A-LEVELS: Law, Government and Politics, Philosophy, Economics
ATHLETICS: Football, fencing
ACTIVITIES: Law Society, Wotton's, Model United Nations
