| “ | Maybe it wasn’t an accident, maybe we’ll soon find out that Elaine Dupree is magically back from the dead, or that her lackeys made the explosives to rock the Quidditch finals. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Whatever the cause of the explosions, they were not. Your. fault. | ” |
–Finn to Claricia | ||
Finn Jones is an American born British wizard and the current captain and seeker of the Appleby Arrows Quidditch team.
Personality[]
Finn is quite the gregarious person, and this is the impression most people get when they meet him. He is confident, well-spoken, and a tad flirtatious - he just can’t help himself! Finn enjoys being the center of attention, even if it’s not always the best thing for him. He is known to have put his foot in his mouth so to speak a few (dozen) times; his teammates joke that he’d taken one too many Bludgers to the head which affected his ‘think before you speak’ part of the brain. He is quick to accept challenges, especially from rival Quidditch players; he has a particularly heated rivalry with one of the Chasers of the Wimbourne Wasps - the two teams had always been rivals, but Finn and she took it to a new level with the barrage of insults (starting when Finn told a reporter that she couldn’t catch a Quaffle unless it was thrown from a distance of two feet). He does mean well most of the time however. He is always the first one into the locker rooms, and tries to get the rest of his team to follow his intense regiment of workouts and diet (with little success so far). He loves taking new players under his wing, even if he’s only a few years older than them, and is quick to take on the role of mentor.
On the Quidditch field, Finn’s mentality changes. He is focused, confident, and in it to win it. He saves the jeering and the slights for post game interviews - on the field he lasers in his focus on connecting the Bludger to his bat as much as he can to assist his teammates. He’s known to perform daring Beater tactics such as the Bludger Backbeat (on the regular), the Sloth Grip Roll, and the controversial Transylvanian Tackle (as long as there’s no actual content it’s fine!) When the Arrows win, Finn’s yells are the loudest, louder than the fans, and his smile is wide and bright enough for everyone to see.
Finn is fiercely loyal and protective of his closest friends and family; he has two younger twin sisters that are still at Hogwarts whom he is incredibly close to despite their nearly ten year age difference. Finn was always helpful around the house whenever his parents asked him, and always volunteered to babysit when he was home for vacations so they could have a well deserved night off. He is also incredibly protective of his best friend Railynn; part of his intention for joining the Order of the Phoenix was to ensure she could be protected as he didn’t like how murky and unclear her profession was. Of course, it turned out she didn’t NEED that protection, but the intention was good. When you can count Finn as a friend, he is dependent, reliable, honest, kind and always knows how to cheer you up when you’re down.
With the rise of the Purifiers, Finn has grown even more protective of his family, as both of his parents are NoMajs, making him one as well; his adoptive father William is an affluent pureblooded wizard however that doesn’t ease Finn’s anxiety about the situation. He is VERY outspoken about being anti-blood purists, and isn’t afraid of a conflicting argument with anyone who tries to disagree with him. This can...get him into trouble sometimes, but typically someone is there to step in and get him out of that situation. He is proud to be a Muggleborn, even if one day it might get him hurt, or worse.
Relationships[]
-- CLARICIA ANJA FREUND - former quidditch rival, friendly now
-- EDRIK IZAAK KRUM - teammate
-- DANIEL FRIEDRICH HOH - teammate
History[]
To know the story of Malakai Finn Jones, we must first go to America. Jackson, Mississippi to be exact, where a NoMaj born witch had just graduated from Ilvermorny came home to live with her parents - affluent politicians with deep roots in the Mississippi community. Renee Ellis had always had a rebellious side to her, but her parents had assumed when she graduated from ‘that school’ she’d come home and marry a respectable gentleman and become a housewife, since she could not very well attend college with Ilvermorny transcripts. Renee did end up falling for a NoMaj, but one her parents hated - Isaiah Freeman was an enlisted Marine, a poor boy whose parents were out of the picture by the time he turned sixteen. His independent nature was what drew Renee to him, and they ran off together, settling in a one bedroom condo near the Marine base which Isaiah was reporting to with the intention of getting married. Isaiah was shipped overseas before they could scrap together the money to marry, and sadly he was killed in action. The week after the news reached Renee, she found out she was pregnant with their child.
Knowing her chances at reconciliation were low, Renee tried reaching out to her parents anyway. Their response; she was no longer considered their daughter, and to keep that ‘baseborn’ child away from the family. Distraught, Renee decided to flee to the United Kingdom; her best friend from Ilvermorny had decided that she didn’t care for covering American wizarding politics, so had moved to London to cover the British Ministry of Magic for the Daily Prophet. She went into labor soon after arriving in London, and gave birth to a son she named Malakai Finn, as Malakai was Isaiahs’ middle name, and Finn was her beloved uncle’s name - he had given her money to get settled over in London without his brothers knowledge. She decided to call him Finn, as the name Malakai, though symbolic, was a painful reminder of her dead lover. Renee knew she couldn’t live on the charity of her uncle and best friend forever, and when Finn was a year old, she applied for a job as a photographer at the Daily Prophet. She had always had a keen eye for photography at Ilvermorny, and though the majority of her recent portfolio included Finn in one way or another, there was no denying her skill level. She would go on shoots with reporters, capturing the images in a way no other photographer could -- according to William Dee Jones, the Editor in Chief of the Prophet. He found himself more interested in the pictures than the writings, and wanted to meet this photographer face to face. So, in Jones fashion, he arranged for her to meet him for lunch at his favorite restaurant. As the saying goes, it was love at first sight. It was ironic; William was everything Renee’s parents wanted for their child - except that he was a pureblooded wizard, and worked for a paper - as politicians they were not fond of the press.
It turned out that William’s parents were not so fond of their sons choice in bride, and the newly eloped couple found themselves disowned by both sets of parents. It didn’t matter however; William was a self-made man who had worked his way up in the Daily Prophet and with Renee working freelance photography as well as for the Prophet they were always comfortable. He adopted Finn, giving him the name Jones and treating him as though he was always his son. Growing up in a home with two loving parents, Finn was raised with the belief that everyone should be treated with respect and kindness, no matter their wealth or status within the community. When Finn was nearly nine years old, his mother gave birth to twin daughters; Finn had never really been around babies before, as his parents were cut off from the rest of their families. It took some getting used to, but with his parents guidance he learned to love and accept his sisters, while also becoming fiercely protective of them.
A few weeks before Finn was set to start his first year at Hogwarts, William, now the owner of the Daily Prophet, was perusing some of his papers from the two previous years when he had transitioned from Editor in Chief to owner, made a shocking discovery. His brother Carness and his wife had been killed in an automobile accident. As boys, the two had been very close but when he declared his intent to marry Renee, his brother had sided with their parents, causing an estrangement. Immediately, William made inquiries as to the whereabouts of Carness’ daughter and son, but nobody seemed to know where they had ended up, and owls to his parents returned unanswered and unopened. Wondering if perhaps the paper had just omitted the deaths of the two children along with their parents, William sent Finn off to his first year at Hogwarts on September first. Immediately, he met and befriended a girl named Railynn Jones - they joked that they MUST be related since they had the same (incredibly common) last name, but three years into Hogwarts, they discovered that they were indeed, cousins (by marriage technically). Finn had always felt an incredible closeness to Rai, perhaps even a boyhood crush, but finding out she was family was better than any Christmas present he could ever have received. He wrote immediately to his parents of their discovery, and from then on William and Renee made sure to include Rai on any family excursions, completely respecting her right to join or not join.
Other than finding new ways to get in trouble with Rai, Finn’s love was Quidditch; he had excelled at his first flying lesson first year, and tried out for the Gryffindor house team for two years before becoming a full time member his fourth year. He was a Beater, and was responsible for several broken bones of other house team members over the four years he played. He Captained the team his seventh year, and with a Quidditch House Cup victory he also received a recruitment offer from the Appleby Arrows. At first, Finn wasn’t sure he’d fit in; the team was in a rebuilding phase, and many of his teammates were close to retirement and therefore unsupportive of his more...daring Beater tactics. As the years went on though, new fresh blood joined the team and Finn now has players that not only accept his rash tactics, but encourage them. He changed his nickname professionally to be Kai; Kai Jones sounded more celebrity in his opinion. Finn became well liked by his younger teammates, always treating them to drinks and offering advice whenever they asked (and sometimes when they didn’t). Not everyone liked Finn however; one of the Chasers on the Wimbourne Wasps had a particularly bad game, mostly in thanks to Finn, and he made comments about her game to the press afterwards. Needless to say she was not a fan of his choice of language, and a long feud has ensued ever since.
Finn’s parents never hid who his biological father was; he was an honorable man killed in action for his country. Therefore, he knew that by blood he was a Muggleborn wizard. When the killings of Muggleborns began at Hogwarts his twin sisters’ third year, Finn became increasingly worried for their safety. Yes they were halfblood and yes their father was an affluent Pureblooded wizard, but he was their big brother and the overall feelings of this new blood purist group was unsettling. He began an intense workout and diet regime; he still would drink and party with his fellow players of course, but he wanted to be physically at his peak in case the time to fight these people arose. On one particular night, Finn was more...vocal than usual about his opinion on this blood purist group and where they could stick their beliefs. Thankfully he was rescued, so to speak, by Poe Dmello, who told him if he really wanted to work against this group, he can come with with the Order of the Phoenix. Finn had heard of the organization of course, but he had had no idea it was still running. Immediately, he joined, and to his immense surprise he discovered his best friend Rai was working for them as well. They had kept in touch of course over the years, but while Finn was busy being a Quidditch player, Rai had fallen in with a sketchy crowd, and Finn’s worry did nothing to dissuade her.
Finn’s biggest worry with the Triwizard Tournament was that one of his twin sisters would be chosen as Champion, like Harry Potter was when he was just fourteen. Mercifully that didn’t happen, and Finn was able to read about the tournament in his fathers’ paper. With the recent attacks on Durmstrang, Beauxbatons and his mothers’ alma mater Ilvermorny however, Finn’s alert level is on red. He has sworn that he will do whatever it takes to keep his family and friends safe, no matter the cost.