Cooper Van Cooper Alexander Van
Gender: Male
Birthday: March 14, 2000
Age: 16
Blood: Halfblood
Birth Place: Birmingham, West Midlands, UK
Nationality: English
Family: The Van family, at present, consists of Cynthia Van, son, Cooper, and twin daughters, Maggie and Brin. Cynthia recently took up as head of the Van family when her husband, Auror and father to all three of her children, Gregory Van, was killed in the line of duty. While his mother heads the family, Cooper has also stepped up as man and protector of the house.
History: Cooper Alexander, born on the evening of March 14, was welcomed with open arms into the Van family, who had been wishing for a son, not just his immediate family, but the family in general. There was really no reason for it, aside from many of the others in the family having daughters. As Cooper grew up, his home life was quite the typical wizarding home, as well as not being too typical.
Cynthia, a muggle, happened to cross paths with Gregory Van one stormy night as he was heading back home following his late night case work. Instead of taking the Floo Network or Apparating, Greg opted to walk that night, without any idea why. As a gentle rain began to fall, Greg was walking just in front of the entrance to a Muggle College that was finishing up a night class, when he was slammed into and knocked back, nearly ramming into a nearby parked car. Already being on alert from his work, Greg's instincts went into full drive, catching the one who crashed into him and stopping them both from hitting the car behind them. Turned out, the woman who ran into him was a professor at the school and was trying to beat the rain home. It was nearly love at first sight. That chance encounter lead to a lengthy courtship, followed by an engagement, and ended in Gregory taking Cynthia as his wife. Shortly following their marriage, Cooper was born and raised in a home that was a perfect blend of magic and not.
From a very early age, Cooper's parents began to note that he was a gifted child. He showed to be far beyond other children his age on many levels, particularly with how he viewed and thought about things. Manifesting magic at a much younger age than his father could have imagined, which only added to the conclusion that both parents were reaching: Cooper was a brilliant mind. As he grew up, this conclusion became more and more clear with everything the boy did. Soon, Cynthia and Greg, along with many members of the Van family, and the early learning academy Cooper was enrolled in, confirmed that their son was a genius.
Cooper's new defining quality didn't change how the family viewed him, on the contrary, he was treated no different than any other child. He was simply encouraged in things that he took interest in, such as reading, chess, and puzzles of all kinds. Cooper was also raised to be a gentleman, thanks to his father.
Upon receiving his letter to Hogwarts, the family, who was not surprised at all, was elated. Even if Cooper was already very advanced, they were all confident that his schooling would be adapted to his brilliant mind, and he would do just fine. Cooper Van was sorted into Ravenclaw, and fell right into the mix of things at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Things seemed to be more than perfect for the Van family. They even welcomed two more children, twin girls Maggie and Brin, when Cooper was in his first year. However, one winter night in his fifth, Cooper received a letter that changed everything. It was from his mother, telling him that his father had been killed in the line of duty on a case he was working with several other Aurors. As the story goes, Gregory took a hit for another teammate, sparing that man's life, but ending his own. Cooper took the news hard, much like the rest of the family. But, he stepped up, sort of taking over as man of the house when he was home. Offering to stop school and take up a job, the family, including his mother, said no. It wasn't as if they were hurting for funds, thanks to the pay his father made as well as the handsome salary his mother made as a professor, but he wanted to help. "Going to school and being you is all that we need," his mother had told him over and over.
So, Cooper respected her wishes and continued with his schooling...
Appearance: Cooper is of a lean and toned build and standing around 5'11" with brown eyes and wavey, brown hair that is kept longer, but only ever as long as his shoulders. By his own choice, Cooper tends to dress in a more preppy, clean-cut style, picking slacks, button down shirts or polos, sweaters, ties, etc. over the more casual jeans and tees of his peers. However, there are the occasions that he will opt for the more casual look. Cooper sports a silver ring on his left pinkie finger and is not often seen without his leather messenger bag.
Personality: All his life, Cooper has been somewhere between a solid introvert and a solid extravert. He does, however, do his own thing with little thought of what others might think. Being a genius of his magnitude, Cooper is often seen doing things that subtly showcase his mind such as speed-reading through books that many his age would turn their noses up at, playing chess, either alone or with someone, at speeds that seem to not have any point at all to the overall logic and strategy of the game, and solving puzzles or riddles in mere moments or minutes as compared to his schoolmates. However, Cooper does not make a habit of boasting about his mental skills.
Cooper is a gentleman, as he was raised to be by his father, and following this is his way of doing his father proud following his death in his fifth year. Loyal to friends and family, Cooper isn't one to cross. While he doesn't take pride in throwing a fist, as his mind tends to see other means of solving confrontation than physicality, he will if pushed to do so. Often the quiet one in the bunch, he is not one to go unnoticed. Friendly and very open-minded, his brilliance can bring on a form of tunnel-vision at times which can make him come across as nearly obsessive, this is often seen when he is hard at work on a project or reading or getting caught up in something he's working on or enjoys.
A skill Cooper's parents noticed right away, and has only grown with him, is his eidetic memory. With this abilitiy, he can recall images, sounds, or objects in memory after only a few instances of exposure, with high precision for some time after exposure, without using mnemonics.
Cooper excels in all of his studies, some to the point of having private lessons with several professors, mostly those that focus on science and math type skills. His other classes, he attends side-by-side with his peers. While he doesn't struggle with his studies, he can sometimes find a concept to be a little more time consuming to fully understand than per his norm. This struggle is, more often than not, unseen by his professors or fellow students. Along with his private lessons, Cooper also has access to most books in the library for his reading pleasure, excluding the Restricted Section, of course. *Library permission given by Harlow Avery.*
It was unusual... Cooper sitting alone at the white picnic table under the apple tree in the Van's family backyard. All the normal pieces were there: the chess board, the timers, everything... Everything but his opponent. Slowly and with care, Cooper played the game, against himself this time. Watching from the back porch, Cynthia knew that this was very out of the ordinary for her son. How he was playing was completely different from how he normally played...
Softly walking to him, Cynthia rested a hand on her son's head, his hair the exact color of his fathers with the gentle waves of her own. With a soft sigh she asked, "Would you like some company?" Without looking up, Cooper moved the next piece, "Sure... That would be nice..." Even though he meant it, there was an emptiness to his words that was uncommon for the boy. Taking a seat next to her son, Cynthia watched as the game progressed.
"Your father loved playing this with you. I'm sorry that I was never good at it," she said, as she wiped a tear from her cheek. Looking up at the woman beside him, Cooper's brown eyes, much like his father's, saw the pain that she was feeling hidden behind the strength she was showing. Reaching out and wiping away her tears, he smiled the same smile his father had, "It's all about practice, mom. We can play whenever you want, you know." It pained him to lose his father, his favorite opponent, but he was open to his mother filling in, as hard as it might be for her. "Maybe one day, Coop.... Maybe one day," she said, as she looked at the pieces.
Nodding without a word, Cooper looked back at the board and gently reached out to tip over the opponent's King in check-mate. Getting to his feet, he saw the confusion on his mother's face as she tried to see how that was possible. Swallowing past the knot in his throat, Cooper said softly, "Check-mate in 5..." Giving a small smile, as his mother got what he meant, he slipped his hands into his trouser pockets and walked away from the game...
