CAMERON MACNEILL

FULL NAME:  Cameron Patrick MacNeill NICKNAME(S):  None. AGE/BIRTHDAY:  17 | 15 December Ravenclaw Sagittarians are the philosophers of the magical world. They love pure theory, pure mathematics, and anything that appeals to their yearning for far horizons, whether those horizons be physical (in which case they will do a lot of traveling) or mental. They excel at astrology and research, and have the rare gift of both being able to investigate a subject deeply and then being able to explain it to other people in plain language. This makes for excellent teaching potential. They are cheerful, athletic, brisk, and humourous, and also decidedly eccentric. Sometimes they get on people's nerves, because they don't have as many interpersonal skills as they seem to think they have, but it's hard to stay mad at a Ravenclaw Sagittarian for very long. They're just too goofy. BLOOD STATUS: Muggleborn SEXUALITY: Heterosexual JOURNAL:  literato

APPEARANCE:  Cameron might be considered a classically attractive bloke, if he were ever to pay attention to that sort of thing. However, he's inherited his mother's Irish looks, with pale skin, freckles, dark hair, and blue eyes. He's of just average height, standing at just barely 5'9-- his parents insist that he'll have another growth spurt soon, but he really isn't holding his breath. Cameron is usually dressed in slacks and a button-up shirt, even when he's not in uniform. His clothing is usually immaculate-- until about ten am, when he's rumpled them up in his classes or studying. He's very softspoken and he used to stutter- he still does most of the time. PB:  Michael Legge

HOGWARTS HOUSE & YEAR:  Ravenclaw | 6th PREFECT?:  No. Cameron lacks the interpersonal skills needed to be an effective prefect. QUIDDITCH?:  Haha, no way. CLUBS:  None. OWL GRADES:  Astronomy [O], Charms [O], DADA [E], Herbology [E], History of Magic [O], Potions [E], Transfiguration [O], Arithmancy [O], Ancient Runes [O] CURRENT CLASSES:  Charms, DADA, Potions, Transfiguration, Arithmancy, Ancient RUnes

PERSONALITY:  Cameron is very much an academic. His is very much your typical Ravenclaw, in that he constantly seeks knowledge and absorbs information like a sponge. He's always been a very studious boy-- even as an infant he was a solemn child who seemed to study the world around him, trying to figure out how things worked. He's a very intelligent young man, who isn't only very proficient in his classes, but in a number of traditionally Muggle subjects; he spends much of his time studying not only magical lessons, but Muggle ones as well. His first language is English, though he speaks Irish and Scottish Gaelic. He's also fairly proficient in Greek, Latin, and is working on his French. While he is very intelligent, Cameron isn't quite as capable in a social context. He is very much an introvert, one who feels generally slightly out of place in the world. He has a tendency to miss social cues that most would catch. He has slight OCD, always feeling a need to organize the world around him as much as he can, to examine and to label things so that they fit his understanding. He runs on strict schedules, though he is recently learning to relax this a little bit. He is a very tightly wound individual. Cameron doesn't entirely know how to relax, and if he doesn't know the answer to something, he turns to his books for the answer. He is quiet, mostly due to his stutter-- his mother has worked with him on it for years and it has improved somewhat over what it was when he was younger. However, when he's nervous-- and he's nervous a lot-- he tends to stutter even more.

HISTORY:  Finlay and Alannah MacNeill were a couple that weren't ever really supposed to be together. Finlay was a distinctly middle class Scotsman, who met Alannah- a fiercely Irish schoolteacher of much higher standing in society. They met in their early twenties, fell in love, and eloped. It took them almost six years to get pregnant. However, they were overjoyed to welcome Cameron into the world when they were finally able to have a child. Cameron Patrick MacNeill was born prematurely, and had trouble developing- he didn't begin speaking until much later than most children his age, and when he did, he had a stutter that never completely went away. Alannah quit her teaching to stay at home with Cameron, and when he was old enough, she began homeschooling him. Cameron was never much of an athletic sort of boy-- whatever time he spent outside was spent collecting leaves or bugs or wee things to bring inside and study. He had few opportunities to interact with other children his own age, and whenever he did, he felt rather distinctly out of place. He was never particularly overweight, ugly, or rude-- he was a polite boy, if a bit quiet and..well, a little bit odd, and he just never quite fit in. Strange things happened around him; little things, things that most people would simply brush off as figments of their imaginations. But Cameron knew that he was different. On his 11th birthday, Cameron received his Hogwarts letter. He and his thought it was a joke, but his mother convinced him to go. If it was real, what a grand adventure that would be! And so Cameron found himself on Platform 9 3/4 the September after his 11th birthday. He had no idea what to expect, and he kept to himself, reading a book on the train. At the sorting, he was incredibly nervous, his hands shaking as he reached the stool. The Sorting Hat was placed on his head, and it took but a moment for it to shout out Ravenclaw-- the blue and bronze table burst into applause and he made his way to a table with a blush on his face. He thought that being a wizard might help him figure out where he belonged, why he always felt so out of place, but he found that the feeling persisted even here. There were many who looked down upon him for being a Muggleborn, and he knew that there were Muggles who would persecute him for practicing magic. Rather than confront it, he did as he always did and hid in his studies-- books, at least, were safe, dependable friends. He did well in his classes-- it wasn't a natural sort of ease, but he was willing to work for his good grades, and when he wrote to his mother that he missed all of the subjects that he'd been learning about before Hogwarts, she decided to help him learn more. So not only does Cameron study his magical subjects, he also rigourously studies for his Muggle exams, which he catches up on during the summers. This academic regime keeps him busy enough that he is not involved in any clubs, nor is he involved in Quidditch-- he is not very coordinated at all and not at all athletic. He'd never been one to notice girls as anything more than simple human beings, not that much different from blokes. So it was a surprise to him when he learned that he'd caught the attention of one Jenny Wood. They were both 6th years, though she was a Hufflepuff and he a Ravenclaw. They had classes together in the past, and he'd always thought her pretty, whenever he chanced to think about that sort of thing, which- honestly- wasn't that often. In the summer after his fifth year, his parents took him to the Highland games, where he spent the first part of the weekend with his nose in a book. He was walking between booths one day when Jenny came rushing past, pausing to ask him for help with her laces-- she was late to a dance competition. He helped her, and she kissed him in thanks (his first kiss!) before she continued on her way. It completely surprised him, and he found that he couldn't quite get her out of his mind. It was a strange sort of feeling for him, and it was certainly something that his books couldn't help him with. He'd done his best to forget about it, rationalizing that it didn't mean anything, and that she couldn't possibly think of him as anything more than just a nerd, or someone strange. But she found him again on the train to Hogwarts at the beginning of their 6th year, and confessed her interest. Cameron was hesitant at first, but agreed to date her. She is by far the best thing that's ever happened to him, though he still wonders every day what he ever did to deserve her. It isn't easy, for the two are very nearly complete opposites, and both of them have a bit of adjusting to do to get used to the way the other functions, but they're seeming to manage well enough. Sixth year has been a good year for Cameron so far, and he looks forward to seeing what else might happen for him.

QUESTIONS:  What is your idea of perfect happiness? An afternoon spent with Jenny, spending time together without worrying about schooling or our peers. Where I'm not stuttering and making a fool of myself. What is your greatest fear? Losing my mother. Or Jenny. What is the trait you most deplore in others? Liars and cheats. What do you do when you get nervous? I stutter. I hate it. Do you have any interesting habits? If so, please list them. I'm constantly making lists, organizing things and people, running on a schedule. What is your motto? “It is not what you are that holds you back, it’s what you think you are not.”

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