Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
unyieldingebony) wrote2016-08-07 10:14 pm
unyieldingebony) wrote2016-08-07 10:14 pm
Entry tags:
History and Personality
History
Early life
Scorpius was born to Draco Malfoy and Astoria Malfoy née Greengrass. In true Malfoy fashion, he was utterly spoiled and received any material good his little heart could wish for. However, some things about the Malfoy family had to change, and Draco knew that very well. Scorpius was never taught to hate or look down on muggles or muggle-borns the way previous generations of Malfoys had been taught, much to the reluctance of his grandparents. He was a doll of a child, excelling in his basic studies before Hogwarts, but he didn't have any friends or siblings. No one wanted much to do with the Malfoys, even so long after the war. He grew up very lonely, hungry for attention.
First year at Hogwarts
All too soon, his first year at Hogwarts arrived and, both eager and nervous to begin his formal education, he bid goodbye to his parents on the platform with a promise to his mother to write every day and sought out a compartment on the train. Unfortunately for little Scorpius, he was easily recognizable as a Malfoy on sight, looking nearly identical to his father when he was a child, and the sixth-year son of a former Death Eater family saw him as an easy target for his anger about his father being in Azkaban. It turned out the Malfoys had had no trouble naming names once they'd switched sides, a decision which very likely kept them out of Azkaban themselves. The older boy was a Slytherin and he made it very clear that if Scorpius was put in that House, he would go out of his way to make his life a living hell. Scorpius managed to run away, to much mockery, and spent the rest of the train ride hiding in one of the bathroom stalls.
Scorpius was a "hatstall" in his Sorting, torn between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Whether the hat chose Ravenclaw for him because it thought it would be amusing, he truly fits Ravenclaw better, or it took his pleading to not be placed in the same House as the older student who had tormented him on the train into account, is anyone's guess.
His first years at Hogwarts were very rough- the children of those who had won the war at worst showed active disdain for him and at best were uncomfortable around him. The children of those on the losing side were his tormentors and bullies, or else turned a blind eye to it. The muggleborns were all told to be wary of him, that he would hate them or think lesser of them. His one confidant, other than his mother in his promised daily letters, was the ghost Myrtle, whose abandoned bathroom he'd hid in while running away from bullies. She'd been very fond of his father and quickly took a liking to him as well. He was so glad to have someone to speak to that he almost didn't mind her wild and very unsuccessful attempts to flirt with him.
Third year kidnapping
In his third year, he took a trip to Hogsmeade just before Winter break and, while there, was hit with an Imperius Curse by a former Death Eater by the name of Mulciber who had escaped imprisonment and was looking for revenge against the Malfoy family, along with three new Death Eaters who had been just a little too young to fight in the Second War and had a particular hatred of Draco. Under the curse, Scorpius sneaked away to where Mulciber could grab him and Apparate away with him.
He was missing for two days while they left the Malfoys to sweat and worry. Using Scorpius, they got past the wards of the Malfoy estate and marched right in for a confrontation. With the young teen as a hostage, there wasn't much the Malfoys could risk doing, although Draco did manage to surreptitiously call for help. Scorpius was finally released from the Imperius Curse only to be hit with a Cruciatus. It didn't last very long, however, as Head Auror Harry Potter arrived at that moment with a team of Aurors to deal with the threat.
In order to keep Scorpius safe while they made certain no others had been involved in the kidnapping, Harry took Scorpius to the Potter's home for that night. It happened to be the night of the Weasley-Potter Christmas dinner, and Harry had to send word ahead of time about their newest guest. Once aware of the situation, Molly ensured no one would give him a difficult time or talk about what had happened to him. The subject was off-limits, in a perhaps misguided attempt to help.
Scorpius was mostly silent throughout the meal, obviously traumatized by what had happened to him, and gave nothing but polite, minimal answers to questions when prodded about school. He thanked Molly for the meal, endearing himself to her forever, and was sent to bed in Albus' room, seeing as they were the same age.
It wasn't until he thought Albus was asleep that he allowed himself to cry. Albus was a Slytherin, and they had never interacted much, but Albus got out of bed and sat beside him the rest of the night. Once they returned to Hogwarts, Albus sought Scorpius out and made an effort to befriend him, defending him when he would not defend himself. He's been Scorpius' closest friend ever since.
Sexuality discovery
In fourth year, Scorpius had a bit of an awakening. He'd long been in denial of his own sexuality, seeing himself as "waiting for the right girl", but it wasn't until a snowball fight with Scorpius and Albus against James led to sneaking to the kitchens for hot cocoa by the fireplace that he realized his attraction to other boys. In hindsight, it was extremely obvious, of course, but at the time, it was an entirely new and terrifying idea. Like the world at large, the Wizarding world was becoming more and more accepting of other sexualities but Scorpius feared what would happen if his still very old-fashioned family found out. He hid it from everyone, even Albus, continuing his claim that he just hadn't found the right girl yet whenever asked about his romantic pursuits.
Fifth year dance drama
Having to hide both his sexuality and his growing feelings for his best friend took a toll on their relationship, especially when Albus started noticing girls. Scorpius was extremely jealous of any girl Albus took interest in but he kept silent. After the war, Hogwarts staff decided to instill new traditions at Hogwarts, among which, to help promote House unity, was a yearly dance around the end of the school year. Albus and Scorpius had gone together as friends the previous two years and Scorpius expected the trend to continue, but Albus had different ideas. He'd asked a girl he fancied to the dance and kept trying to rope Scorpius into asking out her best friend so the four of them could go together.
Scorpius politely declined every time and the more Albus insisted, the more upset he got. Al didn't understand why he was getting so upset, however, and Scorpius refused to tell him. He ended up not going to the dance, using the excuse of studying for his O.W.L.s to get Al to drop the subject.
Simmering for two years over aforementioned drama
From then on, Scorpius was much more active about getting in between Albus and his girlfriends. He would go out of his way to be around Albus when he knew there was a chance for Al to see a girl he liked, and as he was already Al's best friend, he was in a prime position to take Al's side in arguments with girlfriends and point out problems in the relationship in a way that sounded both purely logical and out of a concern for Al's well-being.
Seventh year and future planning
Seventh year hit and, as many students do when finishing up their formal education, Scorpius found himself at a loss for figuring out what he wanted to do after he graduated. Traditionally, Malfoys didn't really take formal jobs, only involving themselves in political committees as more of a hobby and preferring a "power behind the throne" approach that kept them from being held responsible for any mistakes. Scorpius didn't want to continue that trend. That meant finding a real job. His grades so far put him at the top of his class, alongside Rose Weasley, and if all went well with his N.E.W.T.s, not even the general distrust of his family could keep him from a good job at the Ministry.
The fight with Albus
It was nearing the end of their final year when his problems with Albus finally came to a head. Al confronted him about his constant disapproval of Al's love interests and Scorpius, under much stress from the upcoming N.E.W.T.s, which he felt would define his entire future, snapped. The ensuing yelling match would live in infamy. Scorpius did manage to steer the topic away from his own sexuality and romantic feelings for Albus by instead admitting to feeling as though Albus would forget about him or leave him behind if he got too involved with someone. It wasn't the whole of the problem, but it was a true enough admission to effectively end the fight.
With the air (mostly) cleared, and after a few days of walking on glass around each other, their friendship was stronger than ever.
Graduating Hogwarts
After hours and hours of studying, Scorpius achieved an Outstanding grade in all of his N.E.W.T-level courses and was accepted into an internship program in the Ministry Department of Maintenance and Development of Protective Spells and Enchantments, with a potential job offer as a spell researcher at the end of it.
Personality
Scorpius' most defining trait is his sense of duty to his family. He is an only child and all his family's hopes of redemption, of either regaining what was lost in the war or redefining themselves completely, are on him. It's a lot of pressure and it's certainly done more harm than good to him. He is a complete perfectionist in every way. Just the thought of messing up, of tarnishing the family name somehow, is enough to terrify him. Add to that the fact that nearly everyone expects him to be a horrible little bully and, basically, Draco 2.0, and the perfectionism extends to his social life as well. He works at being perfectly polite to nearly everyone, and especially authority figures-- if he really doesn't like someone, he will be cold and will not speak to them unless necessary. It isn't until he's certain nothing bad will come of it that he'll tease someone even playfully.
That's not to say he's never lost his temper, however. He works so hard at keeping his more negative emotions contained that it's inevitable that they burst out at times. Unfortunately, the targets for these outbursts are, very often, the people that matter most to him. More than once, Albus has said the wrong thing at the wrong time and an overly stressed Scorpius has snapped at him. Of course, he almost always immediately apologizes because losing Al's friendship is a fear only second to disappointing his family.
When he was bullied as a child, he never fought back because he felt that if he did, he would just prove everyone right that he really had been horrible all along. Once Al started standing up for him, he put a little more effort in defending himself, though never to the point of striking back, no matter how much he wanted to. He hates that some part of him wants to hurt others the way he's been hurt, as small a part of him as that is.
He does still suffer from trauma from the kidnapping incident that mostly manifests as a generalized anxiety. Because he'd been under the Imperious Curse, which causes the victim to feel completely at ease and worry-free in order to make controlling them easier, for a few days, and was tortured immediately after the curse was lifted, he no longer trusts any feelings of relief. If he's not actively worried or stressed out about something, ironically, he starts to panic. If there's truly nothing to worry about, he will over-analyze everything until he's found something to stress over. It's very difficult for him to accept that anything good will last.
Despite all of that, he is intelligent and witty, kind and loyal to his friends, and plays the part of arrogant prat beautifully when he feels like making that joke. Years of being Al's friend and getting to know his extended family have drawn him out of his shell a little and made him more comfortable about opening up to others. Although he has gained some confidence in himself, he still tries to be a crowd-pleaser, stubborn in his attempts to prove himself as wholly good. He holds himself at an impossible standard and every tiny failure becomes massive, blaring proof of every doubt he's ever had of his own worth.
Early life
Scorpius was born to Draco Malfoy and Astoria Malfoy née Greengrass. In true Malfoy fashion, he was utterly spoiled and received any material good his little heart could wish for. However, some things about the Malfoy family had to change, and Draco knew that very well. Scorpius was never taught to hate or look down on muggles or muggle-borns the way previous generations of Malfoys had been taught, much to the reluctance of his grandparents. He was a doll of a child, excelling in his basic studies before Hogwarts, but he didn't have any friends or siblings. No one wanted much to do with the Malfoys, even so long after the war. He grew up very lonely, hungry for attention.
First year at Hogwarts
All too soon, his first year at Hogwarts arrived and, both eager and nervous to begin his formal education, he bid goodbye to his parents on the platform with a promise to his mother to write every day and sought out a compartment on the train. Unfortunately for little Scorpius, he was easily recognizable as a Malfoy on sight, looking nearly identical to his father when he was a child, and the sixth-year son of a former Death Eater family saw him as an easy target for his anger about his father being in Azkaban. It turned out the Malfoys had had no trouble naming names once they'd switched sides, a decision which very likely kept them out of Azkaban themselves. The older boy was a Slytherin and he made it very clear that if Scorpius was put in that House, he would go out of his way to make his life a living hell. Scorpius managed to run away, to much mockery, and spent the rest of the train ride hiding in one of the bathroom stalls.
Scorpius was a "hatstall" in his Sorting, torn between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Whether the hat chose Ravenclaw for him because it thought it would be amusing, he truly fits Ravenclaw better, or it took his pleading to not be placed in the same House as the older student who had tormented him on the train into account, is anyone's guess.
His first years at Hogwarts were very rough- the children of those who had won the war at worst showed active disdain for him and at best were uncomfortable around him. The children of those on the losing side were his tormentors and bullies, or else turned a blind eye to it. The muggleborns were all told to be wary of him, that he would hate them or think lesser of them. His one confidant, other than his mother in his promised daily letters, was the ghost Myrtle, whose abandoned bathroom he'd hid in while running away from bullies. She'd been very fond of his father and quickly took a liking to him as well. He was so glad to have someone to speak to that he almost didn't mind her wild and very unsuccessful attempts to flirt with him.
Third year kidnapping
In his third year, he took a trip to Hogsmeade just before Winter break and, while there, was hit with an Imperius Curse by a former Death Eater by the name of Mulciber who had escaped imprisonment and was looking for revenge against the Malfoy family, along with three new Death Eaters who had been just a little too young to fight in the Second War and had a particular hatred of Draco. Under the curse, Scorpius sneaked away to where Mulciber could grab him and Apparate away with him.
He was missing for two days while they left the Malfoys to sweat and worry. Using Scorpius, they got past the wards of the Malfoy estate and marched right in for a confrontation. With the young teen as a hostage, there wasn't much the Malfoys could risk doing, although Draco did manage to surreptitiously call for help. Scorpius was finally released from the Imperius Curse only to be hit with a Cruciatus. It didn't last very long, however, as Head Auror Harry Potter arrived at that moment with a team of Aurors to deal with the threat.
In order to keep Scorpius safe while they made certain no others had been involved in the kidnapping, Harry took Scorpius to the Potter's home for that night. It happened to be the night of the Weasley-Potter Christmas dinner, and Harry had to send word ahead of time about their newest guest. Once aware of the situation, Molly ensured no one would give him a difficult time or talk about what had happened to him. The subject was off-limits, in a perhaps misguided attempt to help.
Scorpius was mostly silent throughout the meal, obviously traumatized by what had happened to him, and gave nothing but polite, minimal answers to questions when prodded about school. He thanked Molly for the meal, endearing himself to her forever, and was sent to bed in Albus' room, seeing as they were the same age.
It wasn't until he thought Albus was asleep that he allowed himself to cry. Albus was a Slytherin, and they had never interacted much, but Albus got out of bed and sat beside him the rest of the night. Once they returned to Hogwarts, Albus sought Scorpius out and made an effort to befriend him, defending him when he would not defend himself. He's been Scorpius' closest friend ever since.
Sexuality discovery
In fourth year, Scorpius had a bit of an awakening. He'd long been in denial of his own sexuality, seeing himself as "waiting for the right girl", but it wasn't until a snowball fight with Scorpius and Albus against James led to sneaking to the kitchens for hot cocoa by the fireplace that he realized his attraction to other boys. In hindsight, it was extremely obvious, of course, but at the time, it was an entirely new and terrifying idea. Like the world at large, the Wizarding world was becoming more and more accepting of other sexualities but Scorpius feared what would happen if his still very old-fashioned family found out. He hid it from everyone, even Albus, continuing his claim that he just hadn't found the right girl yet whenever asked about his romantic pursuits.
Fifth year dance drama
Having to hide both his sexuality and his growing feelings for his best friend took a toll on their relationship, especially when Albus started noticing girls. Scorpius was extremely jealous of any girl Albus took interest in but he kept silent. After the war, Hogwarts staff decided to instill new traditions at Hogwarts, among which, to help promote House unity, was a yearly dance around the end of the school year. Albus and Scorpius had gone together as friends the previous two years and Scorpius expected the trend to continue, but Albus had different ideas. He'd asked a girl he fancied to the dance and kept trying to rope Scorpius into asking out her best friend so the four of them could go together.
Scorpius politely declined every time and the more Albus insisted, the more upset he got. Al didn't understand why he was getting so upset, however, and Scorpius refused to tell him. He ended up not going to the dance, using the excuse of studying for his O.W.L.s to get Al to drop the subject.
Simmering for two years over aforementioned drama
From then on, Scorpius was much more active about getting in between Albus and his girlfriends. He would go out of his way to be around Albus when he knew there was a chance for Al to see a girl he liked, and as he was already Al's best friend, he was in a prime position to take Al's side in arguments with girlfriends and point out problems in the relationship in a way that sounded both purely logical and out of a concern for Al's well-being.
Seventh year and future planning
Seventh year hit and, as many students do when finishing up their formal education, Scorpius found himself at a loss for figuring out what he wanted to do after he graduated. Traditionally, Malfoys didn't really take formal jobs, only involving themselves in political committees as more of a hobby and preferring a "power behind the throne" approach that kept them from being held responsible for any mistakes. Scorpius didn't want to continue that trend. That meant finding a real job. His grades so far put him at the top of his class, alongside Rose Weasley, and if all went well with his N.E.W.T.s, not even the general distrust of his family could keep him from a good job at the Ministry.
The fight with Albus
It was nearing the end of their final year when his problems with Albus finally came to a head. Al confronted him about his constant disapproval of Al's love interests and Scorpius, under much stress from the upcoming N.E.W.T.s, which he felt would define his entire future, snapped. The ensuing yelling match would live in infamy. Scorpius did manage to steer the topic away from his own sexuality and romantic feelings for Albus by instead admitting to feeling as though Albus would forget about him or leave him behind if he got too involved with someone. It wasn't the whole of the problem, but it was a true enough admission to effectively end the fight.
With the air (mostly) cleared, and after a few days of walking on glass around each other, their friendship was stronger than ever.
Graduating Hogwarts
After hours and hours of studying, Scorpius achieved an Outstanding grade in all of his N.E.W.T-level courses and was accepted into an internship program in the Ministry Department of Maintenance and Development of Protective Spells and Enchantments, with a potential job offer as a spell researcher at the end of it.
Personality
Scorpius' most defining trait is his sense of duty to his family. He is an only child and all his family's hopes of redemption, of either regaining what was lost in the war or redefining themselves completely, are on him. It's a lot of pressure and it's certainly done more harm than good to him. He is a complete perfectionist in every way. Just the thought of messing up, of tarnishing the family name somehow, is enough to terrify him. Add to that the fact that nearly everyone expects him to be a horrible little bully and, basically, Draco 2.0, and the perfectionism extends to his social life as well. He works at being perfectly polite to nearly everyone, and especially authority figures-- if he really doesn't like someone, he will be cold and will not speak to them unless necessary. It isn't until he's certain nothing bad will come of it that he'll tease someone even playfully.
That's not to say he's never lost his temper, however. He works so hard at keeping his more negative emotions contained that it's inevitable that they burst out at times. Unfortunately, the targets for these outbursts are, very often, the people that matter most to him. More than once, Albus has said the wrong thing at the wrong time and an overly stressed Scorpius has snapped at him. Of course, he almost always immediately apologizes because losing Al's friendship is a fear only second to disappointing his family.
When he was bullied as a child, he never fought back because he felt that if he did, he would just prove everyone right that he really had been horrible all along. Once Al started standing up for him, he put a little more effort in defending himself, though never to the point of striking back, no matter how much he wanted to. He hates that some part of him wants to hurt others the way he's been hurt, as small a part of him as that is.
He does still suffer from trauma from the kidnapping incident that mostly manifests as a generalized anxiety. Because he'd been under the Imperious Curse, which causes the victim to feel completely at ease and worry-free in order to make controlling them easier, for a few days, and was tortured immediately after the curse was lifted, he no longer trusts any feelings of relief. If he's not actively worried or stressed out about something, ironically, he starts to panic. If there's truly nothing to worry about, he will over-analyze everything until he's found something to stress over. It's very difficult for him to accept that anything good will last.
Despite all of that, he is intelligent and witty, kind and loyal to his friends, and plays the part of arrogant prat beautifully when he feels like making that joke. Years of being Al's friend and getting to know his extended family have drawn him out of his shell a little and made him more comfortable about opening up to others. Although he has gained some confidence in himself, he still tries to be a crowd-pleaser, stubborn in his attempts to prove himself as wholly good. He holds himself at an impossible standard and every tiny failure becomes massive, blaring proof of every doubt he's ever had of his own worth.