Nicknames: Whatever. Flo, Flori, Ori, Bash, etc, he does not care.
Birthdate: 1st October, 1870
Current Age: 25 Years
Gender: Male
Occupation: Photographer for the Daily Prophet
Reputation: 8
His job gives him licence to be a bit of a public nuisance, sometimes – so he is often sticking his nose in where he shouldn’t for the sake of an opportunity.Residence: In rented lodgings in a London tenement.
Hogwarts House: Ravenclaw
Wand: Redwood, 12 1/4”, phoenix tail feather, bendy.
Blood Status: Halfblood
Social Class: Working
Family: Ibrahim Bashar | Father
Annett Bashar née Meyer | Mother
Wilhelmina Bashar | Sister | 1867
Appearance:
Unremarkable in height at 5’8 1/2”, Florian tends towards leanness, though his gangly limbs may make him look taller than he is. He’s too lazy, generally, to pass for athletic – he’ll only run if he really has to, and even when he’s a little late he might still be sauntering along at a leisurely pace. His clothes are quite standard for a young man of the working class – mostly muggle, since he lives in London – but he has trouble keeping them in an ironed, starched state: the laundry-lady down the street complains at his tendency to wrinkle everything again the very moment he pulls it on.
He has an odd collection of facial features that might seem unflattering by themselves – dark curls that don’t stay neat; scraggly facial hair that occasionally grows in faster than he can shave; a long nose in a long face; deep-set dark eyes and a distinctly bow-shaped mouth – but which form a face that is more than the sum of its parts: a little unconventional, but not entirely unhandsome. His dark colouring comes from the Egyptian half of his family, and pale skin from his European side. From a distance, the downward set of his smile might mistake him for being eternally thoughtful and serious, but that couldn’t be further from the truth: if you are close enough to see it, he is rarely without a twinkle of mischief in his eye. He is naturally right-handed, but is often juggling his camera and his wand or a quill at the same time enough that he is as good as ambidextrous.
History:
Florian is born in 1870, the second child of Annett and Ibrahim Bashar, a witch and wizard in the German city of Bremen (an independent city, part of the German Confederation, and as of 1871, the German Empire). His father hails originally from Egypt, but has spent the majority of his working life in different European states; his mother comes from a family of factory workers, other skilled labourers, and inventors. Florian’s parents are young political radicals on the left, always mixed up in agitating and other trouble; Mina, his three-year-elder sister, is already bossy enough to be a pain in his ass; but most importantly to Florian’s later life, his grandfather Franz Meyer is a photographer. Florian’s interest flourishes from a young age, if only because he practically grows up in the photography studio where his grandparents look after the children while their parents are working, and he’s a nosy, chaotic child.
In 1878, the family flee to Britain (so that Florian’s father can avoid prison time for some politically-related charge). They start fresh in London from humble beginnings, but do well enough for themselves with work and lodgings, the language and the culture, to soon find themselves settled in. (Well, the rest of them do: Mina finds it quite the shock to abruptly be going to Hogwarts for her schooling instead, and – although she is intensely clever – has a difficult time there, and still resents her parents somewhat for it.)By the time Florian attends, in September 1882, he is fairly fluent in English and more accustomed to living here, and his curiosity and creativity see him sorted into Ravenclaw. He is not always focused on his lessons, though – he is usually more interested in learning about people, puzzling out how they work. And at Hogwarts there is certainly a strange mix of those: wealthy and poor, boys and girls, professors of varying ages and eccentricity. He’s not a suck-up by nature, but he does like being liked, and so it can’t hurt to make connections, get on people’s good side. In third year, he adds Muggle Studies and Divination as electives, takes Art for fun, and even makes the Ravenclaw quidditch team as a Keeper. He makes it through his fifth year as his parents insist, and leaves school in May 1887 with some middling OWLs.
For his first year or two out of school, Florian tries out a few jobs – an employee in a quill shop, a public ballroom attendant, and even a job in the Ministry in Ludicrous Patents, but boredom gets the best of him, and he’s always looking for something new. His parents are a little disappointed at his own lack of ambition to do anything meaningful, but they aren’t particularly overbearing about it – and Florian fortunately gets his fill of freedom when they eventually move back to Germany to take care of Annett’s ailing parents. Annett’s father dies in 1890, and Florian inherits some of his old cameras and photography materials. He’ll never say no to a new hobby... so he dabbles in photography again on the side at first, making himself a dark room and trying out various muggle and magical methods, experimenting with new techniques. Eventually he figures he might as well make money out of it (he’s spending most of his income on new cameras and plates and emulsions, so) – so in 1892 he takes up a job with the Daily Prophet, developing visuals for the daily news stories. The assignments are varied – from crime scenes to high society, all over the place, with no idea what’ll be next – so this job ends up sticking.
He moves into a (half-decent, comparatively) magical London tenement, and makes friends with a few of his neighbours. There are some fun other fellows and some young working women also about his age in the building next door. And if he has a side hustle from selling secrets (via photographic evidence, usually) to Witch Weekly to afford it... he just can’t help but stumble across secrets, sometimes! But you know what? A little hush money works a treat too, thank you kindly, and no harm done.
Personality: Bright and easygoing, Florian tries to float through life, enjoying himself as much as possible. He is sociable and optimistic, likes making friends and connections and is simply too curious for his own good – which can get him into scrapes, but never enough yet to change his ways. Kind of a little shit sometimes. He likes to think that he doesn’t care enough about anything to truly ruffle his feathers, and is sure that even in unfortunate circumstances he’ll always find a way to land on his feet. He is interested in the world around him, and especially intrigued in the mysteries and idiosyncrasies of people so enjoys acting as a mirror, flitting amongst them and observing and inquiring, finding out what makes everyone tick. But again – this doesn’t always go well, and he doesn’t always think before he speaks. His parents once hoped to impart some high-minded principles or ambition in him, which didn’t happen. Still, Florian swears he’s not a bad guy; and certainly he doesn’t go out looking to cause people any real harm, but sometimes ethical perfection is more than he can afford.
Other:
— Quietly makes a little extra money by selling more interesting photographs or gossip to Witch Weekly; that is, if the subject of said gossip doesn’t want to pay him off for his silence first.
— Lied about having an Apparition licence to get his job, but can’t Apparate (and to be honest, isn’t good enough at it to legally pass his test). Makes do without it, and if questioned merely pretends this is part of his philosophy of taking the scenic route.
— Generally non-religious, he is not a practising Muslim; nevertheless holds onto some habits from his upbringing like avoiding alcohol.
— Speaks English, German, Arabic and a little French.
Sample Roleplay Post:
Age: 30
