Background (AU!Canon; HP): Christopher is a pureblooded wizard of High Society, the son of Cosimo Chant and Miranda Argent. His Papa was a shrewd businessman and his Mama a wealthy social climber, a very powerful witch and wizard with Good Names. Of course, this meant that they were entirely too busy to spend much time with Christopher, leaving his care and education in the hands of nursery maids and governesses. When he was ten years old, his mother's brother appeared at the house one day, promising to get Christopher ready for school. Christopher was immediately taken with Uncle Ralph, and even more so when he gave him a muggle sixpence and a wink. After that, he was only too happy to come with Uncle Ralph on errands, talking with silly old ladies in even older houses and poking around in antique shops. He wasn't sure how this was supposed to be getting him ready for school, but he enjoyed it immensely anyway.
When school started in the fall, however, despite having already shown signs of magic as a child (he once turned one of his mother's hair accessories into a dead rat), Christopher seemed to have absolutely no talent for magic. It had even been difficult for him to choose a wand, as none of those he tried seemed to do much of anything. Even the simplest of spells would not work for him. However, he was so happy to finally be among boys and girls his own age that he didn't much care that he failed every practical assignment. Some of the other students made fun of his poor skills, but he quickly made friends anyway and tried to ignore the teasing from the others. He scraped through his first year by doing quite well on written assignments, and fudging practical assignments with some help from his friends.
That summer, he returned to his mother's house (his parents had divorced during the school year after his father lost a good deal of money in the stock market) and went back to running errands with Uncle Ralph. He noticed that the ladies always smiled at him and gave him candies, remarking on his good manners. He liked that. Afterwards, they would talk to Ralph in low voices before leading him away to another room and leaving Christopher alone. He liked that even more, since there were always a lot of interesting things to look at in the drawing room.
In his second year he tried out for the quidditch team, and quickly fell in love with the sport. He may have been practically a squib, but that wouldn't matter, he figured, when he became a professional quidditch player. His only hope was that his parents wouldn't be too terribly disappointed. (They would have been, but with his father disgraced and his mother desperately trying to salvage her own reputation, Christopher was, as usual, the least of their worries.)
Halfway through his second year, his charms professor, frustrated with his lack of improvement, pulled Christopher aside one day after class for extra instruction. After half an hour of not even moving the feather he was working with so much as a hair, his professor told him, suddenly, to empty his pockets. Bewildered, Christopher did as he was told, pulling out, among other things, the silver sixpence Uncle Ralph had given him, which he had been carrying on him ever since. With his pockets empty, Christopher tried the spell again. Not only did the feather shoot up to the ceiling like a bat out of hell, so did everything else on the professor's desk, not to mention the desk itself. Christopher was blown away. (And his professor even more so.)
Relieved of silver, Christopher got on like a house on fire, quickly shooting to the top of his class. Shortly afterward, he received an owl from his father, telling him in no uncertain terms that he was to come to live with him that summer instead of returning to his mother's house, and that he was definitely not to accompany Uncle Ralph anywhere. Christopher was a bit put out by that last bit, but as he had hardly seen his father at all during his childhood, he was so surprised by his sudden attention that he couldn't think to protest.
4/SRSLY
When school started in the fall, however, despite having already shown signs of magic as a child (he once turned one of his mother's hair accessories into a dead rat), Christopher seemed to have absolutely no talent for magic. It had even been difficult for him to choose a wand, as none of those he tried seemed to do much of anything. Even the simplest of spells would not work for him. However, he was so happy to finally be among boys and girls his own age that he didn't much care that he failed every practical assignment. Some of the other students made fun of his poor skills, but he quickly made friends anyway and tried to ignore the teasing from the others. He scraped through his first year by doing quite well on written assignments, and fudging practical assignments with some help from his friends.
That summer, he returned to his mother's house (his parents had divorced during the school year after his father lost a good deal of money in the stock market) and went back to running errands with Uncle Ralph. He noticed that the ladies always smiled at him and gave him candies, remarking on his good manners. He liked that. Afterwards, they would talk to Ralph in low voices before leading him away to another room and leaving Christopher alone. He liked that even more, since there were always a lot of interesting things to look at in the drawing room.
In his second year he tried out for the quidditch team, and quickly fell in love with the sport. He may have been practically a squib, but that wouldn't matter, he figured, when he became a professional quidditch player. His only hope was that his parents wouldn't be too terribly disappointed. (They would have been, but with his father disgraced and his mother desperately trying to salvage her own reputation, Christopher was, as usual, the least of their worries.)
Halfway through his second year, his charms professor, frustrated with his lack of improvement, pulled Christopher aside one day after class for extra instruction. After half an hour of not even moving the feather he was working with so much as a hair, his professor told him, suddenly, to empty his pockets. Bewildered, Christopher did as he was told, pulling out, among other things, the silver sixpence Uncle Ralph had given him, which he had been carrying on him ever since. With his pockets empty, Christopher tried the spell again. Not only did the feather shoot up to the ceiling like a bat out of hell, so did everything else on the professor's desk, not to mention the desk itself. Christopher was blown away. (And his professor even more so.)
Relieved of silver, Christopher got on like a house on fire, quickly shooting to the top of his class. Shortly afterward, he received an owl from his father, telling him in no uncertain terms that he was to come to live with him that summer instead of returning to his mother's house, and that he was definitely not to accompany Uncle Ralph anywhere. Christopher was a bit put out by that last bit, but as he had hardly seen his father at all during his childhood, he was so surprised by his sudden attention that he couldn't think to protest.