In-Character
Full Name: Marvolo Brendan GauntNicknames:
Birthdate: March 13th, 1870
Current Age: 22
Gender: Male
Occupation: Employee, Borgin and Burkes
Reputation: 6 (current job, overall temperament)
Residence: Hogsmeade
Hogwarts House: Slytherin
Wand: 9 ¾” Blackthorn, Dragon Heartstring core, Unyielding
Blood Status: Pureblood
Social Class: Working
Family:
Brendan Cyrus Gaunt (b. 1845)
Penelope Anne Gaunt (nee:______) (b. 1850)
Uncle _____ Gaunt (Morgana’s father)
Aunt ______ Gaunt (Morgana’s mother)
Cousin: Morgana Gaunt
Wife: Morgana Gaunt
Appearance:
Marvolo appears much like his surname may suggest, he is tall, slim and pale skinned, looking rather gaunt most of the time. His eyes are dark brown, wide spaced and bulbous. He has thin eyebrows which seem to disappear compared to his other facial features. His lips are full and his jaw square. Marvolo’s face is long with high shallow cheekbones. Like his eyes, his hair is also brown and he keep is short on the sides and back but sometimes leaves it longer on top.
He is always clean shaven and does his best to dress sharply, trying to look his best despite being far from well off. At home when he’s not entertaining any guests, he’s content to wear simple robes. Marvolo wears a large gold ring bearing the Gaunt symbol, given to him by his father on his wedding day, and Salazar’s locket.
When he’s calm and civil Marvolo can easily be mistaken for a fine young man who’s hard working and devoted to his new wife Morgana. However, when his temper flares up he looks far from fine, in fact his eyes seem to protrude more and fill with a hint of madness.
History:
Marvolo is the first born child of Brendan and Penelope Gaunt, leaving him to bear all the expectations of his father. Penelope failed to carry several more children to term, either miscarrying or having still born children. Eventually she simply stopped conceiving altogether. Marvolo remembered many fights between his parents where his father blamed his wife for failing to give him more children. This wasn’t the only topic his parent’s fault over, in truth Marvolo was glad to get out of the house for any reason to avoid the noise or his father noticing while in a rage.
Most often he would head to his Aunt and Uncle’s place and spend time with his cousin Morgana. It didn’t take long for him to become quite smitten with her and want to marry her once they were old enough. When his father learned of his interest in her Morvolo was surprised he approved of it and quickly made sure it would happen in order to keep the Gaunt blood strong.
Though his father was very strict and quick to punish should Marvolo fail in anything, Marvolo was in complete agreement with his father’s views about any witch or wizard not of pure blood. Halfbloods were barely tolerable, depending on their ancestry and those who were Muggleborn were completely unworthy in his eyes. Marvolo didn’t like Muggles personally and would avoid them whenever he could, at least till he was older and more sure of himself and his magic.
While quite young he quickly learned he could speak to snakes same as his father and many Gaunts before him, just like Salazar Slitherin. When Brendan learned his son was also a parselmouth it was one of the few times he openly showed pride in the boy. Even when Marvolo showed his first signs of magic, his father wasn’t as proud.
1881 – 1882: Marvolo’s first year at Hogwarts was an exciting and new time for the only Gaunt child but he wasn’t afraid to leave home to attend school. In fact, he looked forward to being out from underneath his father’s thumb and among other purebloods. What Marvolo hadn’t realized right away was how many Muggleborns and Halfbloods attended Hogwarts and even taught there. At first he pointedly ignored non purebloods and focused on learning but he quickly found out how cruel kids could be.
Despite a few fights and arguments among his peers, Marvolo didn’t find learning magic as easy as he hoped. The more theory oriented classed were a real challenge, mostly due to his reading skills not being as strong as other students. Eventually he was able to improve his reading and not struggle as hard in theory but he never did more than low average in such classes. When it came to more practical magic, he did much better, easily keeping up with the higher average students.
1882-1883: Second Year. Being more familiar with what Hogwarts was like he returned for his Second year with far more confidence. Unlike the previous year he refused to be pushed around by older students or those who thought themselves better simply because they had more money. Marvolo made it clear he was a direct descendant of Salazar himself, but his boasting more often resulted in both physical and magical fights with other students. Several times during the first half of the year he was in detention and it wasn’t till his Head of House wrote to his father did Marvolo start taking things more seriously.
During the Christmas break, Brendan made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate his son getting into fights and risk expulsion. Though he did approve of him standing up for the family name and demand respect from fellow students, Brendan didn’t want his hard earned money to be wasted. Thus, returning for the winter term, Marvolo tried to avoid most of the students he ended up fighting with. It wasn’t easy but he did try.
1883-1884: Third Year. Over the summer Marvolo had to do some convincing to ensure his father allowed him to return to Hogwarts. As much as he hated trying to avoid fights, Marvolo wanted to be there because Morgana was starting her first year. As far as he was concerned she would need his support to get through the first few months. In his mind she would be picked upon because she was beautiful and clearly better than any of the other girls her age.
Whenever he could he spent time with Morgana at school, making sure nobody was treating her badly and basically being the protective future husband. Whether she truly felt she needed his protect he didn’t know as he has his own view of things and that was that.
He managed to finish his Third year though his marks weren’t spectacular. Marvolo was better at casting spells than remembering theory. He wanted to return for Fourth Year but his father refused to cover the cost, claiming Marvolo knew enough magic and any more years at Hogwarts was just a waste of money. Besides his grades weren’t so high he would stand a chance at achieving OWLs anyway so why waste the money?
For the next couple years Marvolo hated being stuck at home with just his father and mother around, especially since Morgana continued going to Hogwarts or several more years. He ended up getting into several fights with his father and was hexed to the point Marvolo had to go to St. Mungo’s to reverse it. His father of course claimed it was an accident, silly boy got in the way when he was trying to ride his yard of some pests. Marvolo didn’t contradict his father and nothing was looked into.
He spent as much time away from the house as he could and eventually tried looking for work, something that paid well enough so he could eventually get out from under his father’s thumb. Unfortunately it wasn’t easy to find work when you’re only 15. Instead he took to doing random jobs, whether it was running errands for local businesses or jumping people in dark alleys and stealing their money.
It didn’t take long for him to learn he had a knack for stealing and it was a decent way to get some money to buy things he wanted. Unfortunately he could never steal enough to by his way back into Hogwarts or better yet into his own home. Still, it allowed him to get a few perks he wouldn’t have been able to get from his parents by asking.
Marvolo’s tendency for violent outburst soon earned him a reputation as dangerous to annoy. In some aspects this very reputation gained him some respect among the slums he spent most of his time in. It also meant getting the attention of the local criminal element which helped him gain contacts he could use to fence stolen items. It was all small time and not as profitable as he had hoped. Unfortunately this connection with the criminal element made it difficult to get decent jobs. Marvolo’s temper also made it hard for him to keep a steady job. In truth he hated working for those he felt were inferior simply because of their blood. He also struggled with dealing with the more argumentative and entitled customers and even coworkers. Even as his worked he would still try and steal something, even from his employers whenever he felt he could get away with it.
A few times he was caught stealing or fighting by the local Constabulary and was fined or held in the local jail for a short time. He was fortunate he hadn’t been caught doing anything too violent or in possession of valuable stolen items or he may have faced far harsher punishment. One Constable who saw him as more than just another criminal on his way to a permanent stay in Azkaban and gave him some good advice. Maybe it was the respect the officer showed towards him or the words themselves but he had Marvolo thinking and realizing some things.
With his wedding growing closer to being a reality Marvolo now realised he will have a wife and family to support and couldn’t do so if he kept losing his job or end up in prison. It wasn’t easy to control his violent temper especially in the face of those who showed him little to no respect but he managed to improve, or at least find ways to avoid such confrontations. It was an effort which didn’t get overlooked however and his reputation started to improve just enough Borgin and Burkes decided to take a chance on him when he applied for an opening at their shop.
He felt pride he hadn’t felt in himself for a while when he was hired but he didn’t tell Morgana, deciding he wanted to surprise her only after he managed to keep the job for more than a couple months. For most of his employment so far he was little more than a well-paid labourer at the shop, tasked with moving heavier acquisitions from storage or the repair area into the shop or delivering them to clients. Oddly enough Marvolo enjoyed the work, it gave him the chance to handle items he would never be able to get even close to and some of the antiques were truly priceless. A few times he had been tempted to steal a few items, knowing he could sell it easily on the black market but his determination to be a better man for Morgana kept him in check.
It wasn’t always easy, especially when he was minding the shop while the owners were away from the shop. Marvolo never did have good interpersonal skills especially when dealing with those who only saw him as Working Class and little better than the scum on the bottom of their shoes. A few times he did get into arguments with customers but managed to control himself before doing something that’ll get him fired. As it was he already had a few warnings from his employers. Fortunately they also avoided leaving him in a position to interact with customers, often shooing him to the back when an important customer showed up.
Before he turned 21 he married Morgana in a small ceremony with just family and very little in the way of luxuries. As far as Marvolo was concerned, finally being wed to Morgana was all he truly needed. Now her husband and not just her betroved, Marvolo was even more determined to keep his job at Borkin and Burkes and surprise her about moving out of the slums.
Though she had never said it Marvolo had noticed how she looked around the recently renovated area of Pennyworth and suspected she would like to live there instead of the slums. He didn’t blame her, if his great grandparents hadn’t squandered the family fortunes, the Gaunts wouldn’t have been forced to move into such dismal accommodations.
Personality:
Marvolo has a foul temper and open hatred of nonhumans, Muggleborn and even some halfbloods. He despises authority and due to his own heritage feels he’s entitled to much more than he gets. He’s very submissive around his father; in fact he hates him almost as much as he fears him. He doesn’t have any strong feelings towards his mother, mostly feeling she’s weak and distant.
He can be cruel in both word and deed when the mood strikes him. Marvolo is the sort who would withhold water from a man dying of thirst just to hear him beg. This darker side of him comes out most when he’s feeling at his lowest or weakest, a desperate need to see somebody in a worse position than he’s in. For the moment he’s happier than he’s ever been now that he’s married to Morgana and his mind is on his future with her.
Now that he’s on his own Marvolo hopes to bring wealth back to the Gaunt name but how he intends to do that, he isn’t sure yet. Though not a spendthrift by any means, he has the foresight to put money away for a better future.
He’s very proud of being a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin and being a Parseltongue, two facts he’s quick to bring up to prove he deserves respect. When he doesn’t get it he often losses his temper and starts hurling spells or even fists, whatever suits him at the time. When truly enraged about the only person who can calm him is his wife Morgana.
The one shining light in his life is Morgana, a woman he fell in love with since the very moment he met her. He doesn’t care one wit about the fact she’s his first cousin, all he cares is having her as his wife and doing what he can to make her happy. His devotion to her is the one thing that has managed to inspire him to try and improve himself and control the violent outbursts he is prone to. Only time will tell if this works or just delays the inevitable fall into mental instability many perceive the Gaunts are afflicted by.
Other:
Parseltongue
Descendant of Salazar Slytherin
Wears Salazar Slytherin’s locket around his neck and the family ring given to him by his father on his wedding day.
Sample Roleplay Post:
Looking at the small chest he had hidden away in his shack of a home Marvolo felt good about himself. It hadn’t been easy to fight his own temper for so long in order to keep a steady job so he could save up money. A few times he had to literally bite his tongue to keep from throwing nasty insults and even more nasty hexes at people who treated him with contempt, like he was some nobody because he wasn’t wealthy.
With the galleons he had saved up from his salary at Borkin and Burkes he had enough to get out of the Hogsmeade slums and get a flat in the much nicer Pennyworth area. If it was just him he wouldn’t care about living here in the slums but he was now married to his beautiful Morgana and he knew deep down she’ll want to live somewhere better than here.
Now that he had enough money saved away he can finally go talk with the Pennyworth landlords and get a small flat just for the two of them. Marvolo knew Morgana would be surprised he managed to earn the money but more importantly how thrilled she would to have a new home to spend the rest of their lives together in.
Using his wand to reseal the small chest and put a few nasty traps on if anybody who didn’t have Gaunt blood in them tried to open it, Marvolo hid it away again. Now to meet up with Morgana and tell her about his surprise, something he was really looking forward to.
Out-of-Character
Name: LdyPayneAge: Still alive
Contact: Discord or PM
Other Characters: Walter Staghart, Terence Higgs, Edgar Minks, Malcorvus Flint, Steliana Nicolescu, Henry Thompsett
How did you hear about us?: RPG.net
