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Claude Zeller has a book about that (biblio_phile) wrote,
@ 2009-06-22 20:46:00

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000. Application/Profile

Out Of Character

Name: Natasha

In Character

BASICS
Name: Claude Artur Zeller
Age & Birthdate: 50, b. 10 December 1928
Sexual Orientation: Straight
Marital Status: Widowed
Blood Status: Halfblood in everyway - father was a pureblood German wizard, mother a Muggleborn Belgian witch
Wand: 10", maple, phoenix tail feather
Current Residence: A flat above his bookshop in Knockturn Alley.
Affiliation(s): Order of the Phoenix supporter primarily because of Dumbledore
Political Stance: Claude does feel there is a danger from muggles too interested in magic, but that they cannot be a real threat without someone in the wizarding world supporting them. As a result, he sympathizes with the Death Eaters not over issues of blood purity, but of the risks of getting too close to Muggles. However, Voldemort's tactics remind him of Grindelwald's, and he wants none of that in his adopted country. Although his beliefs do not completely coincide with those of the Order of the Phoenix, he supports anything Albus Dumbledore does because of Dumbledore's defeat of Grindelwald. He strongly distrusts the Ministry on general principle.

SCHOOL & WORK
Former House: N/A
Years: N/A
Any Extras: Meant to attend Beauxbatons, education cut short by Grindelwald war/Muggle WWII, and later completed rather haphazardly by private study)
NEWT Scores: N/A
Occupation: Proprietor: Zeller's Books, Knockturn Alley
Attitude Toward Job: Claude's job is his life. Books are his passion and his obsession, his life's dream is to recreate his father's library which was destroyed in the war.

PERSONALITY
Likes: old books, his daughter, his son, people who care about books, knowledge for its own sake, people who value knowledge
Dislikes: people who mistreat books, enclosed places, dark wizards, Muggles too interested in magic, wizards too interested in Muggles, current fashions in clothes, music, hair, any remnants of Grindelwald, being alone
Greatest Fear: The establishment of a regime like Grindelwald's here and now.
Greatest Wish: To eventually possess the greatest collection of magical texts in existence. (Close runners up: a safe world for his family, freedom from the legacy of the war, and a better relationship with his children, particularly his son)

General Personality:

If he had attended Hogwarts, Claude would almost certainly have been a Ravenclaw. He is very much his father's son, and knowledge and the pursuit thereof are vie with his family for the most important things in his life. He has a dry sense of humor and frequently feigns a dispassionate attitude, but appearances are deceiving. Claude feels things quite strongly. He has a passionate love for books which he does not bother to hide, a passionate hatred for Grindelwald and everyone who followed the dark wizard, and a passionate devotion to Albus Dumbledore.

Claude's love of books comes with a fierce protectiveness of his collection. While he would strongly object to being called a dark wizard, he rarely concerns himself with the lists of books banned by the Ministry, except to put stronger concealment charms around the private rooms of his shop. He will allow certain select clients to view the more controversial and/or rare items, but he screens them closely. All must meet Claude's criteria of genuine intellectual interest and preferably not be too closely associated with the DMLE. Although not exceptionally adventurous, Claude is always interested in obtaining new books for his collection, and may wander into danger in such ventures.

His disinterested attitude has caused a great deal of trouble in the Zeller family over time. Claude does attempt to demonstrate his love for his children, but it is crippled by a fear of losing them as he lost his parents, his brother and, most recently, his wife. Even without this fear, Claude has difficulty relating to his children who are growing up in a much different world than he did.

PERSONAL & FAMILY HISTORY
Family:

Father: Luther Artur Zeller
b. 3 February 1900
m. 13 October 1927
d. circa 1939, exact date unknown
Durmstrang

Mother: Brigitte Pauline Zeller, formerly Renault
b. 14 June 1903
m. 13 October 1927
d. circa 1939, exact date unknown
Beauxbatons

Brother: Dieter "Didi" Jacob Zeller
b. 19 September 1934
d. 5 November 1944

Wife: Elspeth Louise Zeller, formerly Gamp
b. 27 July 1930
m. 5 June 1954
d. 23 April 1970
Gryffindor, 1941 - 1948, Prefect

Son: Paul Louis Zeller
b. 18 August 1956
Gryffindor, 1967 - 1974

Daughter: Amalie Corina Zeller
b. 28 February 1958
Hufflepuff, 1969 - 1976

History:

Parents:

The romance between Brigitte Renault and Luther Zeller was unlikely from the beginning. She was a Muggleborn witch, a Belgian child of the Great War, raised to hate all Germans with a passion. He was a pureblood German wizard from an old family that looked down severely on anyone who didn't have a bloodline tracing back to the 10th century. The first time they met, in 1924, she spat in his face. Luther, more than a bit of a bookworm and utterly uninterested in politics - wizarding or otherwise - was at first offended and then fascinated. He looked on Brigitte as a particularly pretty puzzle to solve and, after three years of persistent effort, managed to win her hand in marriage.

The newlyweds were promptly cut off from their respective families. A sympathetic professor, having no children of his own, gifted Luther with a large collection of books, but the Zellers were left on their own for all other essentials. They settled in Belgium in a primarily Muggle village near the port of Zeerbrugge and managed - despite the economic depression to do reasonably well for themselves.

Childhood:

Claude was Luther and Brigitte's first child, born not quite a year after their marriage. He was their only child for some time, as his younger brother Didi did not join the family until nearly six years later. Claude took after his father, loving nothing so much as to curl up among Luther's books and study, while Didi followed in his mother's footsteps, fiery-tempered and always full of energy. Around Claude's ninth birthday, his parents began an argument of several months duration over what school he would attend. Eventually Brigitte, as she usually did, gained her point, and Beauxbatons was resolved upon.

In the end, the question was moot. The world was changing, and even Luther, while only a little more concerned with politics than he had been as a bachelor, could not ignore it. Brigitte, naturally, did not try. Grindelwald had recently come to power and their world was soon thrown into chaos. Luther took the continuing of Claude's education upon himself, and Brigitte spoke out actively against Grindelwald. In 1939, Claude's parents disappeared. Claude assumed later that they had been taken to Nuremgard like so many of Grindelwald's political prisoners, but no records were found of their imprisonment or of their deaths. He never saw them again.

For a few months after their parents' arrest, a Muggle neighbor cared for the boys, however she was ill-equipped for the task. While Claude had advanced beyond his age under his father's tutelage, he was not yet twelve, and his control over magic was uncertain. At five, his brother Didi had no control at all and, after the ordeal of losing their parents, was beginning to show his abilities in bewildering and sometimes frightening ways. After an magical outburst seriously-injured their caretaker, the two boys were left to fend for themselves.

Fear and suspicion fell on the Zellers. Claude moved the two of them back to their home where Didi was more at ease. He concealed their presence as well as he could, venturing out at night for food and other supplies and taking shelter in their father's library during the day. That library - always his favorite place as a child, became Claude's refuge from the insanity of the world outside. He read Didi the Tales of Beedle the Bard and other children's stories, gave his brother as much of a primary education as Didi would submit to, and studied every branch of knowledge, magical and otherwise that he could grasp.

For the better part of five years, Claude succeeded in keeping himself and his brother safe.. In 1944, however, when the war was nearly at an end, tragedy struck. The village was Belgian, after all, the inhabitants Muggles who had no knowledge of the way in which blood and nationality interacted in wizarding politics. As the occupying army retreated, triumph, relief and fear combined, and a mob formed to destroy the last remnant of Germany in the village - the supposedly unoccupied Zeller family home. Claude was out making one of his supply runs that night when he heard whispers of what was coming. He ran home as quickly as he could, but arrived too late put out the fire or to save his brother's life.

Claude was able to retrieve his Dieter's body from the ruins of the house. When the villagers realized they had killed a child, most were appalled and grief-stricken, however Claude was not of a mind to take their apologies or their sympathy. He buried his brother and left his birthplace forever, taking with him a single memento - the only thing to have survived the blaze, a soot-blackened copy of the Tales of Beedle the Bard.

Adulthood:

Now nearly seventeen, Claude travelled to Brussels with the book as his single possession. He would find other wizards and he would rebuild his father's library somewhere safe. Although he had been out of contact with the wizarding world for a very long time, he had developed nothing but distaste for the Muggle world.

Although Muggle Belgium had been liberated, the war was not over for Claude. Wizarding Europe was still in fear of Grindelwald. Claude was not entirely through hiding, but he was finally among people of his own kind again. Wizards, after all, however picky about bloodlines, did not hate him simply because he was half-German. It was at this time that Claude heard rumors about Nuremgard. He tried to discover if his parents had been sent there, but was unable to learn any news of them.

Then, in 1945, it happened. Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of the age, defeated Grindelwald and ended the war. At first it seemed impossible that the terror was over, but it was, and Dumbledore had made it happen. With that one act, the English wizard became Claude's idol, and the young man determined that England was where he would start his new life.

Although he had almost no money and little education, Claude had a great deal of determination. He worked at several menial jobs, saving money and studying to make up for the education he'd missed. In between he studied book restoration, and carefully repaired as much of the damage to his prized volume as he could. At age 23 he was able to open a small bookshop in Knockturn Alley, specializing in rare books. He slept in room over the store, and in two years had expanded into a neighboring building. The shop was doing so well, in fact, that in 1953, Claude was able to hire an assistant, Elspeth Gamp.

Elspeth shared Claude's passion for books, but also had a zest for life and an optimism that he sorely needed. The two were married in 1954. When Elspeth became pregant with their first child, their son Paul, the growing family moved to a house outside of London, although they regularly Floo-ed in to work at at the store. Two years after Paul, a daughter, Amalie, was born, and Elspeth began staying home full-time.

As the reputation of Zeller's Books grew, the store began receiving attention from the DMLE, due to its location, the nature of some of the books in the collection, and the politics of some of Claude's regular customers. Officials from the department occasionally stop by to check for banned items and/or illegal activities, but to date they have found nothing.

Claude was fairly strict with his children's education. For all his attempts to compensate, he felt his lack of formal schooling keenly, and was determined that his children learn as much as possible. He was not overly critical, but he showed his disappointment when either failed to do well in school. Along with their other studies, Claude also insisted that both children learn both French and German - the languages of his parents, and study the history of the previous war so that they not forgot what their family endured.

In April of 1970, Elspeth died in a freak Floo accident. Claude's wife had been his anchor, and he visibly aged about ten years in the months following her death. Both Zeller children were at Hogwarts at the time - Paul in his third year, Amalie in her first. Claude, although he loved his children deeply, had always had difficulty relating to them, particularly to Paul. Elspeth's death drove an even greater wedge between Claude and his son, as Paul blamed his father.

The estrangement between Claude and his son has continued into adulthood. Claude is closer to his daughter Amalie, but there is still an immense generational and cultural gap between them. As each left school, Paul and Amalie moved out of the house. Uncomfortable with the emptiness of the home, Claude returned to living above his shop.

PHYSICAL
Portrayed-By: Patrick Bauchau
Height: 5'11"
Hair Colour: was once brown, but now primarily grey
Eye Colour: brown
Distinguishing Marks / Features: Claude's experiences have left him looking rather older than his years for most of his life, and this became even more the case after his wife's death. He looks approaching sixty rather than fifty, and his once brown hair is greying. He dresses in professional robes almost all the time, and when absolutely forced to enter the Muggle world, he wears suits.

Samples

1st Person Journal Entry:

Yesterday, I acquired a volume of Sonnets of a Sorcerer. I have not read it as I do not believe a way has been found to avoid the effects and I do not wish to converse in rhyme for the rest of my days. However, I am proud to include it in my collection. It is not for sale, but will be available for viewing behind glass.

[Private to Select Customers]

I have also obtained a rare first edition volume of Moste Potente Potions. My father had such a copy, and I was pleased to find - as I remembered - several potions that had been excluded from later editions. Private viewings will be available by appointment beginning 5 July.

[End Private]

[Private to Self]

This will, no doubt, result in another visit from the DMLE. I suspect my procurer is being monitored. I hope they choose to send someone more respectful of books than the last. He handled my signed copy of Why I Didn't Die When the Augurey Cried. I have yet to entirely repair the damage.

[End Private]

3rd Person RP:
Claude bent over his desk, dipped a soft cloth into the cleaning solution and wiped it slowly and carefully across the brittle page, inwardly steaming. His opinion of the Ministry of Magic was not high, but surely even they ought to be able to hire people with a modicum of sense. Didn't that self-important buffoon realize the damage the oils in the human skin could do to such delicate paper? Couldn't he at least read the clear notices Claude had placed around the shop?

More likely, he simply considered himself above such considerations. Claude suspected the idiot had taken at least five years off the life of this book by that alone. Then, of course, he gone on and--entirely without asking--cast Lumos in the shop. Claude kept both temperature and light carefully controlled in the bookstore, and he did so for very specific reasons. That was another three years at least.

His ruminations were interrupted by the sound of the bell from the front of the shop. With a sigh, Claude put down the cloth next to the book and stood up from his chair. He ought to see about hiring another assistant. He needed someone to deal with these interruptions. After the disaster that had been Paul's only day working for him, he was a bit reluctant. Amalie had offered to help, but it had been clear that her real interests lay elsewhere, and he'd declined for both their sakes.

Claude closed up his office and headed out to the front of the store to greet the customer.

Other

Blurb: Claude Zeller refers to himself as a scholar. He tolerates 'eccentric' and even 'obsessed,' but he strongly objects to being called a dark wizard Still Zeller's Books does seem to draw a suspicious amount of interest from the less scholarly and more sinister--or the DMLE seems to think.
Plans for your Character: We talked a bit about Claude becoming a double agent for the Order. I would also like for his pursuit of knowledge to get him into trouble in some way, and I would like to work out his list of select customers as well as which Aurors/ministry representatives might drop in occasionally.