Paul Zeller (![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} estranged_son) wrote,@ 2020-11-07 02:23:00 |
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Paul Zeller
 BASICS Name: Paul Louis Zeller Age & Birthdate: 23 / 18 August 1956 Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual Marital Status: Single Blood Status: Pureblood (first generation) Wand: 10", cherry, phoenix feather Current Residence: A flat in Cambridge. He loves the academic setting (he got something from his father after all) and that it's not London. Affiliation(s): Ministry supporter Political Stance: Paul is closer to a (liberal) purist than a Muggle-lover, but that doesn't mean that he approves Voldemort, oh no! He has a very black and white view of the world; in his opinion, vigilantees are just as wrong as Death Eaters, for both think themselves above the law in order to promote/protect their ideas and their society. He's a firm supporter of the Ministry. Needless to say that he's clashed with his father about this on numerous occasions. SCHOOL & WORK Former House: Gryffindor Years: 1967-1974 Any Extras: None. He'd have loved to be on the Quidditch team, but wasn't worth much on a broom. NEWT Scores: Care of Magical Creatures: O Occupation: Magical veterinarian at the Geriakos Magical Veterinary Clinic, in Woodbridge, Suffolk (Staff includes Zeno Geriakos, owner; Luke Pierce, colleague; Lexi Ketteridge, assistant) Attitude Toward Job: Taking care of animals and magical creatures has always been a passion for Paul and it hasn't changed since it became a job. It's also a link to his late mother, who first taught him to care for injured animals at home. PERSONALITY Likes: His sister, his friends, books on care of magical creatures, fur rubbing against him, being woken up by a lick from his kneazle (called Gulliver), dangerous magical creatures, any magical creatures, nature, walking through the fields and hills, having a pint with his mates, Quidditch (even though he's rubbish at it) Dislikes: His father, failing to save a creature, how rubbish he is at Quidditch, smelling like dung when he comes back from work, getting his glasses fogged up by a creature's breath Greatest Fear: Losing his father before he could mend things with him. Greatest Wish: Opening his own veterinarian clinic. General Personality: Paul sees life in black and white and can be very judgmental, very quick to blame. He holds onto grudges, as can testify his father. Yet at the same time, he's very faithful to those who make up his circle: his sister, his friends... Despite their feud, Paul is a lot more like his father than he'd ever admit. Losing his mother has affected him deeply, changing the carefree and energetic boy he was in a quieter man who has trouble truly opening up to people. A love of learning is the Zellers' trademark and Paul, despite everything, undoubtedly is a Zeller. He loves to read, loves to learn, but he is also much more hands-on than his father. His passion for nature and for caring for animals and magical creatures roots him in the world, rather than losing himself in books like his father. His passion can turn to obsession, at times, such as when he decided to stay in the palliative care wards of a muggle hospital until he witnessed a patients' death, just so he could register for the specialisation in Winged horses, unicorns and thestrals. Hardworking, Paul held two jobs for years, during his training, without ever missing a day at either one. He is also proud and stubborn: he had decided to leave his father's house even though he couldn't really afford a flat, and there was no way he would return home to beg his father to take him back. He gave up his social life to take up a second job rather than admit he had made a mistake. A necessity in his job, Paul keeps his head under stress and can deal with a rogue horse or any other situation fairly well. When he gets home after a rough day, he puts on his walking boots and head out for a walk in the countryside, his personal way to work out stress. He is generally mild-mannered - except around his father, that is - and gets along with most people fairly well. It applies to his job as well, where it could be said that he has good "bedside manners", so to speak, both with the creatures that are brought to him and with their owners. PERSONAL & FAMILY HISTORY Family: Father: Claude Zeller (b. 10 December 1928, no formal education, owner of Zeller's Books) History: By the time Claude Zeller arrived in England from Belgium, he'd already been hit hard, losing his parents and his brother to the Grindelwald's war. He had no formal education but a neverending thirst for knowledge, and a love for books that led him to opening his own bookstore in Knockturn Alley. That's where he would meet the woman of his life, Elspeth Gamp, who was his employee before becoming his wife. They married in 1954 and two years later, on 18 August of 1956, their first child was born: a son they named Paul. They soon moved to a house outside of London to offer a better environment to their growing family, which was joined by little Amalie two years after her brother. Paul's childhood was happy. His father was strict and not very open with his emotions, but his mother's zest for life and optimism balanced it out, making them a good team. Claude and Elspeth's decision to move outside of the city was one that they would never regret, for Paul took after his nature-loving mother and was much more suited to life in the country. He never felt more at home than when he found a bowtruckle, rummaged through the bushes looking for burrows, or climbed trees searching for nests. When he found an injured creature, he brought it back home where his mother taught him how to care for them and nurse them back to health. He had found a passion, one that would never leave him for the rest of his life. While his sister loved to read and play dress-up, Paul was an active child, energetic and unable to stay in place, which earned him severe looks from his father on an almost daily basis. Claude, who was acutely feeling his lack of formal education, was very strict when it came to his children's lessons. He insisted that Paul and Amalie learned French, German, and the history of previous wars, on top of their regular curriculum. Paul had the Zellers thirst for knowledge, but as a young boy it was hard to sit through so many lessons and it soon became a bone of contention with his father. There was one place where even Paul knew better than to run and shout: his parents' bookstore in Knockturn Alley. One might say that respect for books was ingrained in the Zellers' genetic code. He did not sit quietly in a corner the whole time he was there, for that was beyond his capabilities, but he read books on magical creatures (his favourites!) and played hide and seek or other such games that didn't make too much of a ruckus. Claude didn't allow the children to come to the store very often though, for he didn't want to have them come in contact with his shadier customers at such a young age. Time came to leave childhood behind and enter Hogwarts. While Claude had never looked any prouder than the day Paul got his letter, Amalie, on the other hand, threw a fit. She wanted to go, too! Paul loved his little sister and knew that he'd miss her, but this was Hogwarts, the castle their mother had always told them stories about; how could he be anything but happy to go? Sorted in Gryffindor like his mother before him, Paul got his fair share of detentions before his excessive energy found new outlets that didn't disrupt classes. He wasn't worth much on a broom, which ruled out flying and Quidditch for him to his great despair, for he loved the game. He still was just as passionate about nature though, and the castle's grounds and forbidden forest were like heaven to him - though the 'forbidden' nature of said forest led to even more detentions, of course. It was during one such detention, in his first year, that he got to know the groundskeeper Pringle and his assistant Hagrid and befriended them. He started spending more time helping them out, and before long his professors noticed how much calmer he was in class. Detentions were soon a thing of the past for him, to his father's great relief. Though he was a turbulent student at first, Paul still was a curious boy who enjoyed learning - just not sitting through classes, though that got better over time. Once this difficult initial adjustment was made, he found that he actually liked classes. A thirst for knowledge was a family trait, after all, and Paul discovered he had that, at least, in common with his father. There was one class he waited impatiently for, and it wouldn't surprise anyone who knew him that it was Care of Magical Creatures. Third year couldn't come soon enough! Sadly, third year didn't only bring about his favourite class. It was that year, in April, that Elspeth Zeller died in a freak Floo accident. It knocked down Paul's world. He'd always got much better along with his mother, a Gryffindror like him who shared his love of nature and its every creatures, small and large. Who was his father, but a severe man who didn't know how to show his emotions and had let his mother die? He should have had the fireplace cleaned, the chimney sweeped, the Floo repaired. It shouldn't have happened had his father done his duty instead of losing himself in his books and his shop and forgetting there was a world outside! Amalie had joined him at Hogwarts by then and he was the one who got to tell her about their mother, the most difficult task he'd ever undertaken - and one he shouldn't have had to, had his father come to Hogwarts to tell them the news himself. Amalie closed on herself, barely uttering a word for the rest of the school year, which scared Paul out of his wits. How could he care for her, what could he do to help her? He was just a boy. Where was their father when they needed him? Paul was deeply changed by his mother's death. The carefree boy was gone, replaced by a brooding teen with a chip on his shoulder. He isolated himself from his friends, convinced that they couldn't understand what he was going through, though he didn't give them a chance to try, shutting them out before they could get close. He spent most of his free time with the groundskeeper or with professor Kettleburn, helping with the magical creatures. He'd always loved taking care of animals and magical creatures, but now it was bordering obsessive, a way to honour his mother who had been the one who'd shown him how to nurse back to health the pets he'd brought back home in his childhood. Summer came and he had no choice but to return home to his father, in the house that seemed like a hollow shell now that his mother's laughter and happiness wasn't brightening it up. Paul didn't make any attempt to hide his resentment toward his father, who he still blamed for everything. He took care of Amalie, giving her his whole attention, both because he truly cared for her and was worried for her and because he wanted to show his father that they didn't need him, now that he'd let them down. To his dismay, Amalie didn't blame their father like him, and she was glad for time spent with Claude. It didn't change Paul's opinion on the matter though, and he merely brushed it off to girls and their soft hearts. Claude, now alone to take care of his children, had no choice but to bring them to the bookstore with him more often. Paul tried to avoid it as best as he could, looking for any chance to stay away from his father, but still found himself at the Knockturn Alley bookstore on a regular basis. Zeller's Books was filled with all sorts of volumes, even Dark Arts. The area where those books were kept had always been off-limit for the children, of course, but Paul was now old enough to figure out how to get through, and provoking his father was all the reason he needed to do it. From his foray in Dark Magic, Paul learned to appreciate knowledge for itself and distinguish it from the use that ill-intentioned wizards might make of it. He was both fascinated and disgusted by what he was reading, but the deeply ingrained morals his parents had taught him kept him from ever trying any of the curses he read about. Before long he returned to the Care of Magical Creatures section and his old favourites. Dark Magic was too much for him, he wanted nothing to do with it. Years passed but things never got better between Paul and his father. He completed his schooling with all the NEWTs he needed to get into magical veterinary training. It was an extensive program, spreading over many years with apprenticeship with various creatures, from pets to winged horses to dragons. Paul loved every moment of it, more convinced every day that he had made the right choice. Wanting nothing to do with his father now that he was of age, Paul moved out of his childhood house and in a flat of his own, in Cambridge. It was a heavy expense for his trainee salary and meagre savings, and so he took a second job as Knight Bus driver to help pay the rent. He didn't have time for anything remotely close to a social life anymore, but at least he wasn't living with his father. He didn't see his training years passed, too busy between his two jobs to do much of anything else. Once he completed his training and was received as a full magical veterinarian, specialised in winged horses, unicorns and thestrals, he suddenly realised what a desert his life had become, on hold all these years with no time for love and barely any for friends and his sister. He contacted his old school friends, hoping that they would forgive him. Still estranged from his father, Paul rarely communicated with him, most news he got of the old man coming from his sister. With a war raging, it was harder and harder to forget about him though, memories of the shady wizards that frequented his bookstore worrying him. Not that he'd admit it. PHYSICAL Portrayed-By: Christian Coulson Height: 5'11" Hair Colour: Brown Eye Colour: Brown Distinguishing Marks / Features: Paul's glasses give him a nerdy look, but his slender built hides surprising strength; he's got to be able to control an animal in order to heal it, after all, and magic can only go so far. BATTLE NUMBERS
DISCLAIMER This journal is part of ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} find_horcruxes. It has no affiliation whatsoever to JK Rowling or Christian Coulson. |
