(OOC) Profile
Character Information
Name / LJ Username (if available): Steven Zhang / steven_zhang
Location: St. Mungo's Hospital, London
Former House: Gryffindor (1996 - 2003)
Age / Birthdate: 20 / August 27, 1985
Occupation:
Steven is employed as a researcher in St. Mungo's Hospital, specifically its Department of Magical Cures for Virulent Curses. His specialty is Potions, although he will also do Herbology and Charm work depending on the department's projects. His job duties entail: improving upon making current cures, either by finding more effective ways of brewing them or substituting different ingredients, and creating new potions for new curses and hexes.
He rarely travels outside of the country, although he will sometimes venture to different places to gather ingredients, pick up books, or meet with researchers of different arenas. Home base is the London hospital, and that is where most people can find him.
Bloodline / Heritage: Muggleborn / Chinese-British
Personal History:
Steven is the only son of Eleanor Myers and Joon Zhang. In 1980, his father, a prominent physician currently working for the Royal London Hospital, met his mother, a nurse, during his medical fellowship. They fell in love, and despite the fact that his father comes from an affluent Chinese family, whose wealth is derived from a major Chinese-British import/export business, his mother's family broke ties with her when they chose to marry. All Steven knows of his mother's side is that they too were of 'old money', and allowed their daughter to enter the nursing profession in hopes that she would realize and hate the hard work required of her, and give up her career to become a socialite.
Steven has one younger sister, Jacqueline, who is five years his junior. His family upbringing was pretty "normal" for a muggle family: plenty of love, a few arguments, but generally a warm and understanding atmosphere. When Steven was eleven years old, two life changing events took place. Sadly, his mother died of cancer, and weeks later, he received his letter of acceptance into Hogwarts. At first, he was reluctant to attend, as he felt his duty was to stay with his family. However, his father pointed out the wonderful opportunity that laid before him, and he accepted it.
Steven entered Hogwarts in 1996, and was sorted into Gryffindor. This surprised him as he felt he fell under the Sorting Hat's song definition of Ravenclaw. He never questioned it, and later, became glad to be a Gryffindor as he bonded with fellow first years, Deryck Davis and Kaleb Aeran. The three boys became best mates, and although the other two were more adventurous and outspoken than he, he balanced their rowdiness with his seriousness. During the winter vacation of his second year, he brought his then seven-year old sister with him when he went to visit Deryck's family. When she got into trouble with Deryck's own sister, Charlie, he realized that she also possessed magical abilities. This made him feel both relieved that he wasn't the only one, but also more anxious and protective towards her (as he always felt he needed to protect her since their mother was no longer around). Starting the summer between second and third year, he and his sister would divide their summers between their family (them and their father) and his friends and their family.
His fifth year OWLs were marked with exemplorary results, which repeated in his seventh year NEWTs. Herbology, Charms, Potions, Astronomy, Transfiguration: Os; Defense Against the Dark Arts, History of Magic, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes: Es.
During his sixth year, his sister entered Hogwarts, and not surprisingly, was also sorted into Gryffindor. He only had two years to watch over her, and protect her, as a typical big brother, but as she made friends quickly, it was easy for him to see that she would be all right.
Steven graduated in June of 2003. Although he could have gone into the Healer Apprenticeship program at St. Mungo's, he felt his talents and personality were better suited for research. Thus, he entered St. Mungo's as an apprentice researcher, a station that he remained until Spring 2005. During the spring, he became a full-fledged researcher.
In the Summer of 2005, his best mate, Deryck Davis, was "killed by dragons". Steven refuses to believe this, and is currently working behind the lines with connections he has made to discover the identity of his true murderer. However, when asked (especially by Charlie, Deryck's sister), he sticks to the 'dragon' explanation. He doesn't want to worry either his sister or Charlie with the truth, as the latter would probably drag Jackie into a plan of revenge.
Personality: Steven is a quiet, intelligent, and thoughtful young man. As a child, he loved to read, learn, and explore; so when he entered Hogwarts, he thought he would be sorted into Ravenclaw. The reason he was sorted into Gryffindor instead is because he also possesses inner strength and courage. He had to set his fears aside and his pain from the loss of his mother to come to Hogwarts; and though he usually compromises and goes along with his friends and their crazy ideas, if there ever came a time that he would have to be the 'bad guy' and put his foot down, he did. (To him, being a true friend meant telling them the truth even if it hurts them. As well as taking the courage to point out their mistakes or stop them from doing something wrong.) That's not to say he was the spoil-sport. In the beginning, because he was so quiet and serious, the guys felt protective towards him; later on, as their friendships grew, he became an intricate part to their pranks (he had to plan the escape routes). He isn't as reserved as he used to be, but he still is quiet towards people he doesn't know. His friends get to see his more out-going personality, and his wry sense of humor. He is protective towards his sister, Jackie, as well as Charlie by extension.
Physical Description: Steven is half-Chinese, half-British (although his Chinese influence takes precedence). He stands at 5'11", and weighs about 155 lbs, making him a slim-average male, medium frame. He has black hair and brown eyes.
Preferred Body Model: Takeshi Kaneshiro
Hobbies and talents - max of five:
Reading - ever since childhood, he has had a passion for reading anything and everything (fiction, nonfiction, recipes, articles, even the ingredients and nutritional value on the side of cereal boxes).
Writing - although this wasn't an inherent talent, after much practice and work, Steven can claim this as a talent. It is necessary for his job as he must write reports and arguments to support his findings or disprove theories.
Weaknesses - for every hobby or talent, the character must have two
weaknesses:
Singing - try as he might, even if he can dissect musical notes, he can't carry a tune to save his life
Dancing - he has "two left feet" (not literally, of course). Slow dancing, which requires no real movement, might be the only thing he can do. But waltzs as well as fast moves take much practice. At the Yule Ball, he had to silently count 1-2-3-4 in the box step, and stare at his partner's feet to make sure he didn't step on her.
Flying - even though he owns a broom, he is not a very good flyer. He can manage short distances without crashing (much), and though 'practice makes perfect', he doesn't practice enough to become fair in the sport (even though he was a tiny bit better when he was younger and had his friends pushing him to fly with them). He prefers to apparate or travel by floo powder.
Art - although he can appreciate its beauty and its colors, he has no idea how to interpret period pieces that aren't realistic. Picasso was a genius? To Steven, his art looks funny and strange.
Areas of Magical Expertise: Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, Charms
Areas of Magical Weakness: Defense, History
Broom (if applicable): Comet 290 (rarely used)
Wand: 12 1/2" Oak with unicorn-heartstring core