APPLICATION
CHARACTER STATS;
Name: Alastor Moody
Date of Birth: 30 September, 1926
Occupation: Auror, and new front of the Order of the Phoenix
Blood status: Halfblood
Former House: Gryffindor
Wand: Elm and Dragon Heartstring, 10¼”
Gringotts Vault: 276
Familial and Spousal Units: None left biologically, a step-father he never really knew is still out there but neither of them have made an effort to contact the other since his mother died.
HISTORY;
He was born in Scotland to Silvia and Cameron Moody. They lived in his father's childhood home to make it easy for his parents to tend to his ailing muggle grandfather. Though Silvia had told her husband she was a witch before they were married, it was kept secret from the rest of Cameron's family, who would not take well to the idea at all. By the time the baby arrived only Cameron's father was left living, so it was impressed upon Moody from a very young age to never talk about certain things to him- such how his mother did the housework with magic when no one was looking. Moody was four when his grandfather eventually passed away. His parents soon moved down to Bristol to be back in the hometown of his mother. His mother was a hardworking woman who was caring but severe and she deserved to use her magic as a little break from the hard work she did every day. Though his mother's magic was kept such a secret, he did not consider it to make him better than the other boys his age. She was a practical woman, not special because of her magic, and raised a practical son as a result.
He was an active, rough and tumble child who was much keener on the outdoors and sport than making many close friends. Moody showed signs of his own magic at the age of seven when a local dog lunged to snap at him and suddenly found it's canine teeth fused together. The dog and it's owner were bewildered but with a bit of filing the teeth were separated again, and Moody escaped a bite.
He received his letter and went off to Hogwarts as one of the older children in his year. He was never particularly popular but he wasn't about to take any rubbish from anyone, so he garnered a small reputation for being refreshingly blunt and tough on the tough-kids if they deserved it.
In 1939, muggle Britain declared war on Germany, and Moody's father enlisted. A year later, he was killed. Moody's mother remarried before he finished Hogwarts, and though her new husband was a decent man, Moody was not interested in forming a relationship to this new man or returning to the structure of his family. His graduation followed the end of the war by a single month and the thought of returning to his mother was far from his mind. There was no animosity between mother and son, but they both had made their own lives apart from one another without Cameron alive to hold the family together.
His first job was found in the muggle world, loading crates to be shipped around Britain. After a year of saving he had collected enough money to change jobs to work nights, exchange his muggle salary to galleons, and use his savings and much of his current income to pay his way through Auror training for the Ministry. He was a strong, hard worker, never the type to complain or lament about working to pay his own way.
After two years of his training, his mother was killed in an accident. He returned briefly for her funeral, but after he had said his goodbyes he returned to the Academy and became very wrapped up in the field. He came out of his training with a dedication to what he does and a drive to continue.
After years on the Auror squad, Moody's ambitions and views lead him to the Order of the Phoenix. He was not a founding member in it's early stages when it was primarily used as a peaceful safe-haven for the politically anxious. But the war became more evident, dissatisfaction cropped up more and more within the walls of the Ministry itself, and it was then that Moody was drawn into the Order. He became a vocal member right away, insistent about his opinions and demanding action be taken, plans be made, and what was the use coming together if not to accomplish anything. Some were swayed to his way of thinking, but his opinions were often disagreed with. Many Order members found him ignorant to the emotions of the average member of society and considered him insensitive to come in and assume their policy of support and education were useless.
Dumbledore's death was a great shock to the Order, who had come to depend on his presence and his seemingly wise advice. Moody and Dumbledore had had frequent disagreements involving strategy and policy of defense, but he by no means wanted the man dead. More desensitised to lives being lost around him, Moody was quick to recover and stepped to the head of the organisation. He has made up his mind to convince them that, now that they can see how serious the state of things are, changes must be made. They must fight to win.
PERSONALITY;
Moody has always taken a great but unsentimental pride in being ahead of his opponents. He excelled in the hands-on atmosphere of Auror work, and the more years passed the more he took it all very seriously. Moody's hard work and fearlessness made him able to climb the ranks in the squad. Over time his file became quite impressive, but he has never accepted any admiration for his work, deeming that behavior a waste of time. He freely gives his opinions where they are needed - even if they are not always wanted - but he thinks compliments are useless and that there's no use patting yourself on the back for doing what has to be done regardless. He is a very brusque man, a time-honoured and respected name in the squad, but certainly no one's friend or drinking partner.
Even outside of work, his mind is still prepared for what might come next. He is an ass, and would make a piss-poor friend indeed, but there are few people the Aurors or the Order would rather be behind in a dangerous situation. He has no interest, nor would he ever survive doing some desk job, even if it was more influential or lucrative than his position here.
MENTAL;
Somewhere down the line Moody got in too deep. His record of successful arrests grew long enough that he began getting threats from families, accomplices, and the occasional lunatic criminal sympathiser. These people might read read about certain trials in the news, disagree with the Ministry's ruling, and funnel their blame onto the arresting Auror. In cases where the criminal escaped conviction, the paranoia of them personally seeking out the man they held responsible grew even greater. He began to keep files and photographs and even charts detailing the where when why and who of all his arrests, as well as anyone who might be involved with them. His office and his home are filled with papers and reports, mugshots and graphs.
Additionally, what started out as a strictly work-related look into protective and surveillance gear, has turned into a personal obsession. He spends much of his time outside of work looking into and contributing to the development of new magical theories and devices to use as alarm systems, threat assessment programs, trackers, and traps. Moody has seen and done some things that only people who were there to see it would believe. The high stress and high impact of his career has made his entire life and mind centre around the idea that anyone could be a potential threat, sometimes even leading him to trail someone for an evening because they strike him as "off".
His paranoia is justified, but it completely rules him, leaving him alert and unforgiving at all times. Moody is far from a genius, but he's a time-tested expert at what he does and is a callous asset to what he supports.
PHYSICAL;
His body has paid the toll of years of being unafraid to take the most difficult assignments and to at all costs getting the target. Fighting and directing others to fight better has become his life, and he wears whatever scars he receives along that way without concern for his appearance. His skin is leathery and marked from weather, magic, and physical altercations. He was never considered to be a handsome man, but he is a durable one. He is thick-bodied but active, his hair is wild and his eyes are small and often suspicious - even when he is his most at easy his face looks naturally surely.
Despite the fact that he has been forced by the Department to visit St. Mungo's for various injuries more times than he cares for count (and he lives so primarily off of meat and potatoes it's a wonder he hasn't developed scurvy), he is a physically healthy man. Strong, reflexive, and capable, he is able to carry on even when he's in pain. He would be the wrong person to torture for information - every man has his breaking point, but Moody's is deeply buried behind a layer of thick skin and will-power.
MAGICAL;
He wasn't much of a traditional scholar, but his performance and enthusiasm in practical examinations especially had him graduate from Hogwarts with high NEWTs in DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures. At that time, only four NEWTs were required to enroll in Auror training (as opposed to today's five), so once he had enough funds, he joined fairly easily. Moody's skill grew greatly, especially his Charms. He threw himself into the line and became an intimidating duelist. His skill in both attack and protective spells made his next move harder to pin down. He was definitely someone fellow Aurors wanted working beside them not to be practicing against.
Once he surpassed his training, his experience really taught him how to track his targets, and how to recognise suspicious behavior even in the most innocuous of people. But most importantly, his dedication made him willing and able to get into the minds of the people he was trying to find. Magically he has worked to excellence, but his real strength is doing what so many in law enforcement find too difficult or too risky: KNOWING his enemies. He has immersed himself so much in their minds that he can often anticipate dangers simply by asking himself what would HE do next. It is his greatest skill and his greatest failure all at once, because though he knows what the strongest and hardest criminals might do, what he misses is often something he underestimated the strength of.
POLITICAL;
Politely, Moody thinks Crouch Sr. is an autocratic absolutist jerk who he wouldn't mind trying to teach a lesson. He had respect for the man back when he was an Auror! Crouch Sr. had guts and was he ever impressive. Moody liked that he was a silent, disagreeable, creepy crawly of a man - no one in the Auror department should be signing up for a popularity contest, they're there to do what they're trained to do and damnit Crouch Sr. could do his job.
However, as soon as he moved up in the ranks of the Ministry, Moody's regard fell. Crouch Sr. became more and more removed from what Moody considers REAL work, just put behind a desk or into the courtrooms to play with the legal documents and red tape and rulings. Whenever a criminal was let off, Moody trusted his own boss less and less. He would spend his time and risk his life to track these people down and bring them in in one piece for the justice system to punish, and that should be enough to get them where they belong. He is not a stupid man, he understands the vicious subtleties of the legal world and that sometimes exceptions must be made when bigger fish are at stake, but he doesn't have to agree with them.
Now as acting Minister, Crouch Sr. is even less in Moody's good books. Orders are always being passed down to the squad with policy changes and new tactics and targets being pushed on them. One would think having the Minister once have been an Auror himself would give him some perspective, but all it means with Crouch Sr. is he knows the in's and out's of everything but now has the power to change them as he will.
He is right at home with the other twisted politicians, that's how Moody sees him now. Crouch's raise in political power was part of what pushed Moody toward the Order. Now apart of two worlds, Moody's goal is just to put a stop to the Dark Wizards, and he'll lead the best people he can doing whatever it takes to do it.
In their own words, how would your character describe themselves?: What did you say your name was? What kind of damn pointless drivel is that - get out of my way before I decide to 'describe myself' to you. Paid to scamper around disrupting the people who keep them safe behind their little desks, shoving their noses where they don't belong. Describe myself... garbage...
THE PLAYER;
Name: Hannah
Age: Nineteen
LJ Account: noneedofcrepe
Email: madestatic@gmail.com
MSN Contact: madestatic@gmail.com