Could you please sort this out?
APPLICATION FORM
Real Name (or name you wish to be referred to): Sil Erdel
LJ Username: sil_no_kozi
Age: 28
Living In: Jurassic Park, FL
CHARACTERS
Are you applying for yourself or for a character you've created? myself
If you are NOT applying for a character there is no need to fill in the following part:
Name of Character:
Heritage (pure-blood, half-blood, muggle-born):
Background:
SORTING HAT
You're just about to sorted into your first year at Hogwarts! What would be going through your mind?: I would be avoiding looking at anyone else in line, dwelling on how true other "muggle" kids were when they called me "weird" and "interesting" and finally understanding why that never made me feel bad. There would likely be a lot of anxiety of the 'what if they don't pick me' variety, but that would vanish as soon as the ceiling caught my attention. Then I'd probably trip over my own feet, barely recovering and acting as if nothing happened because I think that's what grace is.
Professor McGonnagall shows you towards the stool and places the hat upon your head - it takes a moment to think before shouting out your House. How do you react? How do the students of your sorted house react? I'm always very nervous in the first few moments as the center of attention, but I think I would calm down during the Sorting Hat's silence. No matter which House the Hat selected, I'd be glad to be a part of something with a long history and while joining my fellows I'd imagine doing that House proud through its traditions. I'm very intense and intimidate people with my personality at times, so others students might be wary of me at first; over several years I've learned not to be frustrated with people who seem to dislike me due to this quirk.
Sitting at the dinner table with fellow students around you, what kind of people would you want to talk to first? The busy ones, or the very quiet ones? Who would interest you? Who would you observe? I'm not comfortable with strangers, yet I'm willing to make comments and strike up conversation in public. Whether busy or quiet, I would seek out some common ground topic and allow discussion to flow from that point; it's the person with the most diverse or obscure knowledge I'm drawn to. As for observation, that's easy: I observe everyone, because you never know what you'll learn to tuck away for later use, be it skills, blackmail material, or just a way to throw them off-guard when you tell them exactly what they had for dessert.
Imagine you're sat at your dormitory window on your first night: the others are asleep in their beds. What's going through your mind? Excited and worried in equal parts over my new classes, I'd be hoping my raw skills would prove better than average. I'm accustomed to being expected to be a bit over most others' heads, and it's an ego flaw I keep in check. I would also be marveling over the beauty of the Hogwarts landscape, especially Black Lake. I'd be going over the boat ride over in my mind and hoping to be able to do that again sometime.
ABOUT YOU
Who is your favourite character in HP?: Professor Snape, particularly after recent revelations about his character, but I've enjoyed him since Sorcerer's Stone. I honestly feel I understand certain facets of his character on a personal level, and his bitterness is a reminder to me about NOT allowing my past to negatively shadow who I am to become. I feel JK Rowling purposely intended his character to demonstrate this idea.
Who is your LEAST favourite character in HP? Delores Umbridge, because she stands for the stagnation in every corrupt government or similar power, the force that would rather see the future as a bland representation of the status quo. She is Big Brother, and only views young wizards and witches as the Soylent Green that will fill her dinner plate, preferably sooner than later.
What occupation interests you / what would you most like to do in the HP books?: I would love to be a professor because I too would like to teach someday; even now, I try to teach people a little just through conversation because I feel sharing knowledge is extremely important.
To you, what is the most important message in the Harry Potter books?: Standing resolutely against the evils that would stagnate friendship, truth, freedom, and justice--preferably with your friends.
If you were told you had to kill off someone in the HP books, who would it be? (please don't answer Voldemort, we'd all like to see the back of him): Harry Potter, if only because he seems to be progressing further and further into the classical hero cycle. I really wish it didn't have to be this way, but it's difficult for me to imagine otherwise.
How would YOU finish the HP series in book 7?: By making situations so dire the Magical world is required to reveal themselves to the Muggle world with no immediate possibility for hiding, forcing members of both to work together toward a positive end.
If you were chosen to carry on the HP series by JK Rowling and to carry on the adventures, would you or wouldn't you and why? I would not carry on the adventures because I believe it is up to the reader to decide in their own minds what becomes of the survivors and their world.
If you answered 'Yes' to the previous question, how would you continue the series, what stories?
THE CLINCHER
If you were a jewel you'd be: Amber, trying to preserve little nuggets of knowledge for practical eternity.
If you were an animagus you'd be: A black widow spider: patient, venomous, and a web loud enough to audibly rip. I'll keep my loud mouth shut until the right moment, pricking my victim in a manner they're practically unaware of; by the time they realize what's happened, I've got the upper hand.
If you were an emotion you'd be: realistic cynicism, just to make sure I don't keep my hopes too high and lead myself into disappointment.
If you were a weapon you'd be: A philosophical pamphlet published underground, passed around dog-eared and under the radar of oppression, slowly turning the thoughts of disgruntled citizens into inspired revolution.
If you were a tool you'd be: Tweezers, plucking away at information, mysteries, ignorance, and the tiniest imperfection of stray hairs.
If you were a spell you'd be: An unlocking charm, revealing secrets of a subject and bringing awareness to the ignorant, and truth to the dishonest.
If you were a good quality in a person, you'd be: Tolerance toward others' beliefs and opinions.
If you were a bad quality, you'd be: Frustration, dwelling on others' ignorance to the point of righteous indignation.
If you were someone / something in Hogwarts you'd be: Mrs. Norris
Why? To be privy to all of the hidden hallways, the arcane secrets, the nooks and crannies and strange passages in Hogwarts, just to watch students and get them into trouble with Filch. Also: chasing ghosts and cursing my three-dimensional form.
If you were anywhere on earth, you'd be: In Washington, DC to visit The Smithsonian Institution and the Museum of Natural History, spending most of my day staring at dinosaur bones and the preserved giant squid.
If you were anyTHING on earth or in your life, you'd be: A larval giant squid, risking my life to travel from the ocean's nighttime surface to its deepest, darkest depths, just to explore what was down there.
If you had to choose:
The Order or the Death Eaters? The Order, for they are willing to make sacrifice for the sake of change.
Snape or Malfoy? Snape, who learned to be his own man despite the weight of guilt, bitterness, and cynicism.
Luna or Ginny? Luna, because she never allows the spite of others to faze her rational oddity.
Crucio or Avada Kedavra? Crucio, because there are worse fates than death...
Harry dying or Harry living in book 7? Harry living, because it would be nice to see the hero not have to transcend so soon for once; frankly, the guy has been through enough and deserves a chance at living life (although if he's fated a short life, it's been worth living).
Voldemort dead (Closed ending) or Voldemort not-quite-dead-but-people-think-he is (Open ending)?: Voldemort should suffer what he foolishly fears most: an ignoble, almost anonymous death, his name barely becoming a footnote in history. There might be future pretenders to his ideology, but make it known the progenitor is dead...and promptly make sure he (but not his atrocities) is forgotten in a generation.
Any last words?
"Where does your lap go when you stand up? The same place your first goes when you open your hand." Carl Sandburg, The People, Yes
"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use." Galileo Galilei
Thank you all for your time, and your questions, because typing out the answers helps me learn a little bit more about myself.