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Despite all my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage

Name: Ryder Balston
Residence/Hometown: Schenectady / NY
Age/Birthday: 17 / 15th of March 1994
Gender/Sexuality: Male / Straight
PB: Noel Fisher
Any notable differences from the pb? NARP

School/Magic Stuff
Wand: Oak / 11” / Sturdy / Phoenix Feather
House and Year: Clemons / 6 (Junior)
Schedule: Advanced Transfiguration I, Animagus Study, Combative Magic, Magical Crafting
Strongest subject in school: Charms/Wandwork
Weakest subject in school: Astronomy
Extracurricular activities: Dueling Club, Quodpot (Wide Receiver/Strongside Linebacker)
Boggart and Riddikulus: Inferius. Its limbs fall off.
Amortentia smells like: Outdoors on a crisp morning, freshly baked bread, soap
Patronus: Wolverine
Animagus Form: Peregrine Falcon

Family/Relationships
Immediate Family
Parents: Ryan and Alana
Siblings: Jayden (22), Kody (20) and Jazmyn (12)
Familiar: N/A
Any other relations we should know about: They have a large extended family.. most of whom don’t get along with each other. There may be relatives of his attending the school.

Personality
Likes: Being difficult, being smart, taking other people’s shit, fresh bread, smoking, dueling and ‘dueling’.
Dislikes: Being upstaged, feeling exposed, porridge, mashed potato and other goopy food. SOMETIMES small fluffy animals.
Quirks: (I’m not sure of these yet.)
Secrets: Although he seems intent on it, Ryder doesn’t actually want to turn out like the rest of his family. He likes being away from them at school for the most part.
Strengths: Ryder is quick. He can talk fast, cast fast and move fast when he has to. He’s not as stupid as he looks.
Weaknesses: He’s a bitch. His attitude/behaviour has held him back in a number of ways and will continue to do so. He’s not at all patient. He makes bad decisions when it counts. He can be lazy.

Detailed personality:
In Ryder’s world the best defence is a good offence. Whether that be with words, spells or a swift fist. Having been brought up in an undisciplined environment with two older and stronger brothers, Ryder developed a number of survival strategies. Unfortunately those became the way he dealt with everyone - get to them before they get to you. Ryder is not convinced that everyone is out to get him.. he just doesn’t like feeling vulnerable or exposed. So he makes other people feel that way first. He can be quite nasty. Ryder tends to be indiscriminate in his bullying - though there are always individuals that are easier to get to. He doesn’t mind a fight at times though. Underneath it all, of course, he’s as vulnerable as the rest of them. Possibly even more so. He doesn’t do ‘close’ so his friendships tend to be superficial (if they exist at all). He’s jealous of a lot of his peers’ home lives, although he’ll never admit to it.

Personal History:
Ryder is the second youngest child of Ryan and Alana Balston. Ryan was a professional Quodpot player - he played as a lineman in the state’s reserve team, but only saw a handful of firsts games during his career. He was forced to retire when Ryder was relatively young and promptly began trying to relive his ‘glory days’. Alana didn’t do particularly much until Ryan’s retirement, after which she began to sell magical beauty products. Ryder didn’t have the best childhood. Neither of his parents seemed particularly interested in his - or his sibling’s - upbringing and discipline was inconsistent at best. Ryder had trouble with his older brothers during his childhood - they were rough and seemed to enjoy ganging up on him. He did learn to anticipate their attacks, and if he was quick he could avoid them. As he got a little older he learned that he could antagonise them in his own way - using words they didn’t understand (along with those they did) and being quick with his spells. He didn’t always get away with it though.

Ryder is the only member of his (immediate) family to attend Dresden Academy. His parents tried to get all of them in on scholarships - his father hoping that attending the elite academy would give Jayden (and then Kody) an advantage he had clearly missed out on in the development of his own Quodpot career. Ryder’s acceptance came as a bit of a surprise, given that Ryan didn’t see the same potential in his youngest son. Ryder felt obliged (and may have been forced) to join his house’s Quodpot team. He has mixed feelings on the sport - hating it due to its importance to his family, whilst actually enjoying the playing of it. He definitely doesn’t see it as a career option though.

Due to his parents uselessness, Ryder developed a healthy lack of respect for the adults in his life. This proved a challenge for both him and the staff of the Academy early on. He did eventually learn to keep his disdain concerning certain topics and individuals-with-a-certain-level-of-authority to himself. Though he still manages to get himself into trouble from time to time. He maintains a reasonable lack of respect for his fellow students however - something that gets him into trouble much more often.

Ryder’s family live in the outskirts of Schenectady. They are close by to another segment of the Balston family. Ryder has about as much respect for them as he does his own family. That said, he did spend a lot of time with his cousins in his youth and he does hang out with them when he’s home from school. There’s a small amount of animosity between the two families but it’s practically jovial when compared to the Syracuse-Schenectady family rivalry. Sometimes Ryder wonders if he’s closer to the other parts of his family.. but then the programming kicks in and he remembers how much he hates their entitled guts. As much as he hates his family he will defend them.