User Profile

Name: Seamus Michael Finnigan
Gender: Male
Date of birth: April 11, 1980
House/Year: Gryffindor, 1991-1998
Blood status: Halfblood - witch mother, muggle father
Sexuality: heterosexual

PB/Avatar: Paul Walker
Physical characteristics: Seamus Finnigan fit right in the middle of the stairsteps of Gryffindor boy height at six feet tall - shorter than Dean and Ron, taller than Neville and Harry. Summers spent swimming, sailing, climbing, playing football, and in general doing as much as possible outside have kept his build well-toned and his sandy hair bleached to something that would likely be called blond. He flatters himself to think he's the best-looking of the Gryffindor boys in his year.

His posture isn't so much slouchy as just comfortable. Even in a school desk he always appeared to be lounging, and when standing he usually finds some convenient item to lean against. Seamus's clothes follow a similar pattern - the button down shirt he wears for work usually has a couple buttons undone and its sleeves rolled up. At home he's a jeans and t-shirts kind of guy, with his favorites being the jeans and t-shirts that have been worn long enough to be soft and comfy.

He has high, sharp cheekbones and a somewhat long nose. He wears his hear short and it usually lies flat, but if it gets wet it starts to curl up. The thing people notice most about his face, though, are those electric blue eyes. Seamus thinks they're his best feature, and most of the girls he knows agree.

History: When Seamus was born, his parents were very happy together. It wasn't for at least another year that their marriage became an utter mess. See, Saoirse Finnigan met that handsome Muggle guitar player in Dublin, and she fell head over heels in lust. Unfortunately, at 18 it's all too easy to mistake that lust for love. Kevin O'Connell wasn't much older and certainly wasn't any smarter, and he did the same. Their courtship was swift, and their marriage passionate and brief. Saoirse had always known her husband had a temper, but she didn't find out just how much of one until about two years into her marriage to him. That was when the temper really got turned on her. At first, she really did believe that it was her fault that he hit her. He was under a lot of pressure, she had adored him from the moment she met him, and she still felt guilty for the fact that she hadn't told him she was a witch. She spent five years getting in knock-down, drag-out brawls with him and not realizing that when she wasn't there it was Seamus who caught the hard side of Kevin's backhand. Seamus was five years old when she came in to find Kevin beating the crap out of Seamus, and she went off. That's where that "nasty shock" Seamus refers to comes in - Saoirse's magic came out in full force, and Kevin didn't have a damn clue what hit him. By the end of the day, the two of them had their bags packed and were headed to Saoirse's parents' house in Ireland.

They stayed there for a year, and Seamus got to know his grandparents on his mother's side for the first time. They hadn't thought much of their daughter's sudden marriage to a Muggle, and had been decidedly at odds with her ever since. However, with her arriving to admit her mistake and plead forgiveness, they were more than willing to welcome her home. For Seamus's part, he didn't exactly understand what was going on. He knew it was good that he didn't have to be afraid of anyone anymore, and was soon very happy in their new situation. He cried when they moved to a new house and weren't living with his grandparents anymore.

However, that soon became a good place, too. The new house wasn't far from the grandparents, and they visited often. Saoirse started working in a wizarding bookshop in Galway, which supported them well enough, and all was well. Next door to the bookshop, however, was Specialty Brooms, owned and operated by Mr. Liam O'Flaherty. Saoirse and Liam walked past each other on a regular basis, began talking, and then began dating. When Seamus was 10, his mother remarried, and his life changed yet again. He wasn't necessarily a fan of no longer being the very most important person to his mother, as he thought they had gotten on very well without having any additional people living with them. However, Liam was a good man (and perhaps most important a very patient one) and soon that situation smoothed out.

...just in time for Seamus to get a baby sister. Just before he was due to head out to Hogwarts, he was informed that his mother was pregnant. At first his reaction was "oh, so I'm being replaced. GREAT." but he mellowed after a little time at school. Nothing helped more than when he came home from school and got to hold his baby sister for the first time. She looked up at him and smiled, and Seamus was permanently smitten.

So then it was school. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, Seamus promptly made friends with Dean Thomas. He was terribly insecure (like most eleven year olds) and trying very hard to fit in and not have people judging him for being a halfblood. It took a while for him to mellow out and quit trying quite so hard. The trouble was, it was hard to find a place to fit in Gryffindor. Hermione clearly had the monopoly on being "the smart one" while his new friend Dean was obviously "the artist". Neville was "the nice one" and Harry was "the Quidditch Player" and Ron was...well, Ron was Ron. Seamus wasn't sure who he was supposed to be in all this. Eventually, though, he managed to settle into a role as The Loudmouth, or occasionally The Musician. He started playing guitar in 3rd year, and by this point he's actually pretty good.

In 5th year, Seamus had his well-known fight with Harry Potter. As far as he's concerned, the whole thing could have been avoided if Harry had just answered the damn question. What Harry interpreted as being "eager", Seamus just felt was a very reasonable curiosity about an event that had turned the whole freaking world upside down. He had spent all summer being told one thing, while considering that it might not exactly be true...but consulting the source didn't exactly go well, and Seamus's famous temper cam to the fore. Eventually things got patched up, though; unlike Mr. Potter, Seamus is typically willing to admit when he's been wrong.

6th year passed less eventfully for Seamus. He concerned himself mostly with chasing girls, going to class, and playing guitar. Politics were beginning to become more important to everyone, though. Then, when the end of the year and Dumbledore's death came, trouble arose again. In the book, Seamus has a loud shouting match with his mother over staying for Dumbledore's funeral. He wins, and they stay. He had another one of those with her in the summer following sixth year, over being allowed to return to Hogwarts. Saoirse didn't like the way things were going with the Ministry, and was somewhat reluctant to allow Seamus to go back to school. However, she didn't have any especially good alternatives, so she allowed Seamus to go.

7th year was, of course, the Year From Hell. The Carrows reigned, and Seamus was a dedicated part of Dumbledore's Army. By the time Harry and the Trio arrived to find the old gang hiding out in the Room of Requirement, Seamus was nearly unrecognizable with how many beatings he'd taken. He fought in the last battle against Voldemort, going along with Arthur Weasley's group out on the grounds before following the fight inside. Seamus got whalloped pretty well there as well, coming out of the last fight with several more scars than he'd left with and a shoulder that still aches now and then. Once every couple of months or so a nightmare starring the Cruciatus curse will wake him, but he doesn't talk about that.

But then it was all over, and Seamus needed something to do with himself. The last year of school, which ordinarily would have been spent on figuring out what that something might be, was instead spent on simply trying to survive. However, Seamus has always been good at bouncing back. He found himself a place to live (Euterpe's Corner), a troop of roommates (Lavender, Dean, and Blaise), and a job - set carpenter. All in all, the world's not a bad place.

Current employment status: Seamus is employed as a set carpenter at The Pleiades Theater, located in London. They produce plays on a traditional repertory schedule - building a new show as soon as the previous is up. As a member of the set crew Seamus does a lot of magical carpentry, installs scenery and backdrops when it's time to put a show up, and has started learning a bit of the craft of set design. His regular schedule runs from Tuesday to Saturday, with Sundays and Mondays off, usually going from 9 a.m. to around 4 or 5 p.m. However, that schedule is highly flexible based on the needs of any particular show. Sometimes he'll spend a week working 14 hours straight every day with one all-nighter thrown in, and sometimes he may just work two days in the week and spend the rest goofing off. He loves his work at the Pleiades, though - theater people are fun, building sets doesn't feel like real work, and he gets to be part of a collaborative process of creating art. What's not to like?

He also makes the occasional buck playing his guitar in bars around town. He plays a lot of covers from both wizard and Muggle bands, but he also plays a few of his own songs now and then. He keeps hoping that one day the record executive is going to walk into the bar and ask him to start recording, but he's not holding his breath.

Personality: There are people in this world who were born without what mothers like to call "your inside voice." Seamus Finnigan is one of them. He is loud in virtually every way possible. For one thing, his voice carries. For another, he's not the least bit shy - Seamus has never met a stranger. He makes friends easily, just through sheer assertive cheerfulness. His personality projects just as loudly as his voice does; he never seems to particularly care what anyone thinks of him. He'll put it all out there - emotions, opinions, and pure madness. That's what everyone sees of Seamus, and virtually constantly. There's that legendary temper of his, of course - Seamus was apparently put in Gryffindor just to continue giving them (and the Irish) all a bad name by fitting the stereotype. He forgives just as quickly as he gets riled up, though. If he didn't, he'd pretty much stay angry all the time, and what's the fun in that? He'd much rather be having a good time. So more often you'll find him playing the guitar on the doorstep, grabbing Lavender Brown and dancing in the living room, striking up a conversation with some random Ravenclaw he's never talked to before, or loudly pontificating on a variety of subjects ranging from How That Band Totally Sold Out to Why Bacon Is The Ultimate Food to The Oppressiveness of Prescriptive Grammar. Basically, Seamus Finnigan is hard to miss.

However, there are parts of Seamus that are harder to spot. For instance, probably only Seamus's dormmates know that he has any particular fondness for reading. He does, though, along with a fondness for writing. No one but Dean is really aware of his issues with his father, either. While most of the time you hear about quiet people with a loud side waiting to come out, Seamus is more the opposite. Get him into a small group and he'll feel considerably less compelled to put on a performance. He'll quiet down, chill out, and be perfectly happy to go ages without being the center of attention.

Other important things to note about Seamus that don't quite merit their own paragraphs: Seamus's loyalty is difficult to earn, but once you have it it's yours for life. Seamus is seriously attached to his home and family, so don't talk shite about either unless you want a fight on your hands. Also, Seamus isn't scared of much of anything - he'll go cliff-diving, shout at the administration, tell the girl prettiest thing he's ever seen, try out your hardcore drugs, and tell everybody precisely what he thinks about everything. If he gets his arse kicked for it, well, so be it. Nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight.

Seamus in a nutshell: Opinionated, artistic, temperamental, friendly, loud, smarter than he sometimes seems, and just a little bit crazy.

Friends (47):

Friend of (42):