OOC
GAME: Quidditchery
DESCRIPTION: Harry Potter OC RPG: the Quidditch World Cup, c. 1999.
DATE: January 2007
PB: Clive Owen
JOURNAL: fouled
IC
NAME Benedikt August Möller
NICKNAMES Ben. Mostly just Möller on the pitch.
AGE Thirty-five.
BIRTHDATE May 19, 1964
ZODIAC Taurus
BLOODLINE Fullblood
HOMETOWN Munich, Germany
HEIGHT 189cm
HAIR Dark brown
EYES Green
ALUMNI Die München Akademie der Zauberei.
WAND Mahogany wand. Seven and one-quarter inches long. Phoenix tailfeather core.
BEST SUBJECTS Flying, arithmancy, and astronomy.
QUIDDITCH TEAM AND POSITION Chaser and Captain on the German national team. When not at the World Cup, he plays for the Bavarian Beasts.
SPECIAL MOVE An advanced form of the Sloth Grip Roll. Benedikt will deliberately fly straight onto an oncoming Bludger, and dive and roll under it in a corkscrew-style. This method has fucked him up more than once, but it works like a charm.
HISTORY Looking back at his life, the one thing that strikes Benedikt is how very, very long it has been. True, he's only thirty-five — but professional sports have a habit of stringing you out and running you down. Not to mention having lived through two magical wars; after a while, you just start feeling as if you've seen it all. Benedikt was born to two austere German parents in 1964; the family lived in Austria at the time, and remained there until his father died in a tragic magical accident ten years later. There's a reason the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office exists in most Ministries. With this most sudden and unexpected departure of Nikolaus from the young boy's life, the Möllers relocated to Munich, where they moved in with his uncle. The death of his father made Benedikt withdraw into himself, and the rapid change of setting didn't help any, but onkel Hans did a tremendous job of filling in the patriarchal gap. He served as an admirable father figure, and he was, on top of that, a Quidditch player.
When the family handed him a broom, Benedikt responded. Whatever sort of grief residue he still carried, he poured into learning how to fly. Yet since he spent most of his year at die Akademie, he wasn't quite aware of the time professional players spent on the fly and travelling — Charlotte, staying at home in her brother-in-law's house, was intently aware of this fact. Nevertheless, young Benedikt threw himself at the sport after graduating. He was clever enough at theoretical and math-based subjects such as arithmancy and astronomy, but frankly, the man couldn't see how a career in those subjects gave any sort of concrete contribution to the world. Flying it was, and always has been. At age nineteen, he became a reserver Chaser for a local team in Munich, the Bavarian Beasts. Only a year later in 1983, he became a full player.
This is around the time that he met one of his cousin's best friends — a charming young woman named Diana Gould. They courted for a while before eventually marrying. The state of their marriage remained stable and happy… until Benedikt was drafted for the national team in 1986, and played in the Cup that same year. In 1990, his second Cup, they gave him the Captaincy. This was the killing stroke for his marriage. Diana craved stability. And they tried, oh how they tried; but she resented the fame, the travel, the gossip, the limelight, and the long nights alone. She endured watching her husband slip out of bed at 4am every day — the Captain is the first on the pitch and the last to leave it. Any other woman would have become paranoid. So many late hours at 'work': What if he had a mistress?
And yet, this was entirely the truth. He did have a mistress. Her name was Quidditch.
The family could not survive under the strain and toll of professional sports. It crumbled. During that second Cup, she cheated on him — not with a fellow teammate, as so many players have experienced, no, it wasn't a Quidditch player at all, nor even a dashing cursebreaker. Diana Möller cheated on her husband with a Ministry desk clerk. The two suffered a messy divorce, and the media had a field day. She left him, also taking their infant daughter, Sabine — who presumably wasn't his anyway.
After the scandal, Benedikt threw himself headlong into the sport. While he had previously had difficult balancing Quidditch with his personal life… now he simply didn't balance. He became steadily more reckless, and, in fact, steadily better. The man's fanbase grew and in his third World Cup — the famous one of '94 — he had a one-night stand with a groupie who blabbed to the tabloids. "I BEDDED BENEDIKT": Once again, the media exploded. Every time Ben closed his eyes, he pictured stark, garish newspaper headlines. And guiltily, he was almost relieved when the Death Eaters attacked. It meant the world obtained some perspective, and finally took their eyes and minds off the personal lives of Quidditch players.
The very last straw, and the most recent tarnish on his reputation, occurred during the last European Cup. His method of toying with the Bludgers and Beaters in-game finally came to the inevitable: Benedikt was gravely injured during a game against a European rival. The Mediwitches patched him up, but he was crippled and out of commission for a day, his team suffering as a result. Once again, the media went into a veritable frenzy: They started saying Möller had gone off his game, and that it was about time to retire. Benedikt got back on his broom and kept flying, damning anyone who said otherwise. He still holds a lot of bitterness over this event (some say even more bitterness than over his sloppy divorce), and is sick and tired of seeing his name appear unfavourably in the news. His manager once said his reputation has been fouled, but the truth remains that Benedikt Möller possesses enough talent to continue playing.
Despite his age, he plays just as well as he used to — in fact, he's even better than he ever has been, considering he's also taking extreme risks. Soon enough, the Mediwitches simply won't be able to bring him back, and he'll probably get himself killed. Benedikt hasn't announced it yet, not even to his team, but this is his very last year in the professional leagues. He'll finally retire in the year 2000, and he has absolutely no idea what to do after that. Frankly, it scares him.
FIRST IMPRESSION "Shit, is that Möller?"
PERSONALITY Benedikt is every bit the stolid and practical German, rarely beating around the bush and often being the man to say it as it is, no intrigue or mystery about it. And when it comes to things he loves, simply put, Benedikt can be fanatical and obsessive. This is most obvious when it comes to Quidditch, which he hasn't viewed as a 'game' since he was fifteen and had his jaw broken by his school rival. He views Quidditch and his personal life as mutually exclusive, and is therefore extremely good at not dragging vendettas or romance onto the pitch. In the air, he is stubborn and determined; the very definition of a bull like his zodiac, the Taurus. He'll often purposefully take hits from a Bludger just to get to the other side of the field. This does not apply to his personal life. Off the pitch, Benedikt is extremely quiet, having learnt how to keep his head down and his face out of the tabloids. He isn't interested in trashtalking his opponents or kicking up brawls in pubs. In fact, he's probably more respectful to enemy captains than to his own team.
Benedikt keeps his opinions to himself and even when infuriated with someone, will rarely express it until it's too late. In this case, the man's bite is worse than his bark. You'll never see his temper coming, but once he's pushed beyond that point, beware: All that pent-up aggression comes belting out. When it comes to women, he aims to treat them precisely like he does men, not allowing them any extra ground or special benefits for the sole purpose of their gender. If they've made it this far in the League and they're so determined to be treated equally, then so be it. The concept of chivalry isn't alien to him, but it usually just doesn't compute. When it comes to women he's taken a liking to, however, he's perceivably less collected, and people who know him well may notice that he fumbles his words around them. He usually refuses to do anything about these situations, remembering the disaster that was his wife.
The German Captain is also intensely claustrophobic, following a time when, as a child, he was trapped alone in a Muggle elevator for several hours. Being out on the pitch, with its wide spaces and open air, makes him feel considerably better. You can't blame the man for falling in love with Quidditch.
APPEARANCE Benedikt, at first glance, doesn't look like your stereotypical German. Instead of the pale skin and light hair of a perfect Aryan, his skin is ruddy from the sun, his hair dark, and his eyes a mixture of hazel and green. He is tall and sturdily built, with a stubbornly-set jaw and broad shoulders that might have made him a Beater once upon a time. He's successful as a Chaser, however: indomitable and imposing on the pitch. He looks a tad tired and run-down these days. Benedikt has been half-beaten to death and back again by Bludgers, and it shows.
FEARS Losing the World Cup. Claustrophobia. Messing up another relationship.
TURN-ONS Talent at Quidditch. An ability to make him smile or laugh. A caring nature. Light eyes. Did we mention Quidditch talent?
TURN-OFFS Cold-hearted bitches.
RELATIONSHIPS;
FATHER Nikolaus Mathias Möller. Benedikt has scattered memories of his father, most of which he refuses to dredge up.
MOTHER Charlotte Godard-Möller. Lotte is the epitome of a sturdy mother. When uncle Hans gave the boy his first broomstick, he flew unsupervised, a year before he was even of school age — when Charlotte found out, she nearly tore Hans a new one. Having always wanted a daughter, she was exceedingly fond of Diana and appalled and disappointed when she and Benedikt divorced. This created a bit of a rift between Benedikt and his mother. She likes to believe that it would still be possible to mend things and get back together with Diana — or, at the very least, retire from that infernal sport immediately and settle down post haste. She frequently sends her son nagging letters about this very topic.
SIBLINGS None.
CHILDREN A three-year-old girl named Sabine. Not really his daughter.
SEXUALITY Heterosexual
RELATIONSHIPS Diana Gould, ex-wife. They've been divorced nine years now, and he's had several relationships since then, but none that lasted very long. He wishes he could eliminate all memory of her ever existing — except for Sabine. Much as he's aware that the clerk is probably Sabine's real father, he's still incredibly attached to the little girl, and demands to see her once every month.
STORYLINES;
THE BLUDGER Remy Thoreau [info]packleader. The French Beater was responsible for the famous Bludger that hit Benedikt in the last European Cup, crippling him for the rest of the game. Benedikt was out for a day and his team suffered as a result. The mediwitches managed to bring him back, but the media went into a frenzy over the injury: They started saying Möller had gone off his game, and it was about time to retire. Möller tries to remain civil, but he can't help but feel bitter towards Thoreau. He shook up his career when it honestly didn't need more drama.
THE SNITCH A talented female Quidditch player - she probably accidentally caught his eye with her playing at the last Cup in '94, and therefore he's been on friendly terms with her for quite a while. He pretends he isn't soft on her, but it's rather glaringly obvious to anyone who knows Benedikt. On the pitch, however, is the only place he manages to put his awkwardness aside.
THE SNIDGET Francesca Moretti [info]gocheskago. This might develop into the Snitch, but for now, you might as well call them 'acquaintances'. Benedikt became aware of her skill when she was playing for the Heidelberg Harriers, and has been watching it with a wary eye ever since; her talent impresses him, and he genuinely feels she should have joined the German team instead. Also, hello sexual tension.
THE QUAFFLE Everyone needs a rival, and this is Benedikt's. Male or female, they captain another national team that balances Germany's very nicely, and he's never quite certain who'll manage to beat who in the games. He's incredibly polite to this person - in fact, he treats them with more respect than most, even members of his own team. It's cordial professionalism.
THE CHASE Some poor woman who's picked up a crush on him. Up to the muns how this developed and what it's like, really.
THE FIELD His best friend — because come on, everyone needs one. Someone whose opinion and/or skill Benedikt greatly respects, and has somehow managed to scrounge up a deep friendship with. He'd rather confide in this one than any other. [Could be either male or female.]
FAVOURITES;
ANIMAL Dogs. Big ones.
BOOK You'll rarely find him reading — but that's because he keeps all of his books carefully tucked away and out of sight. He's fond of Shakespeare, Nabokov, Coelho, and Le Petit Prince.
COLOUR Green.
DRINK Oddly enough, milk.
FOOD His mother's food. He'll never tire of it.
FLOWER Roses.
MUSIC Classical. Instrumental.
SCENT Anything but lilacs, which remind him of his ex-wife.
SEASON Spring or summer.
THING TO DO Quidditch, goddamnit.
