Geoffrey Matthew Layne
Description:	A quiet-looking boy usually seen in painfully neat robes and slightly scuffed dress shoes, Geoffrey is only of average height and light-boned enough to seem smaller than he is. Anyone on the receiving end of a Bludger hit by him will quickly discover that it is an illusion. He has a strong-boned and slightly wide-set face featuring high, rounded cheekbones and an aquiline nose he likes to think makes him bear a resemblance to Julius Caesar. His hair is straight and very light brown in color with a forelock that constantly falls across his forehead. Serious, alert gray-green eyes that may easily attain an appearance of shrewdness as he ages stare from beneath the level line of his eyebrows. His usual expression is one of serious concentration, complete with lightly clasped hands in front of him.
Personality:	Geoffrey’s public image fits his physical one very neatly – a serious, intelligent, and intense boy with a sort of quiet charm that seems to draw those he needs to him, along with a fair few others. This image is not entirely incorrect – Geoff does enjoy reading and the perks of being one of the “smart kids”, such as having the teachers like him and the confidence that comes from knowing that he is considered advanced. However, he disdains the harried grade-paranoia so common among his fellows, being known for a relaxed, borderline friendly, and slightly eccentric manner. His usual form of address towards those who cross his path is “pal”, though adults will receive a “sir” or “ma’am” as is appropriate, his sisters may occasionally elicit a “honey”, and Anne Wright may get a “dear”, “darling”, or “you idiot”. Though often quiet, he will speak fluently and at length if he knows the subject at hand well and/or feels strongly about it, which is one of the few times he openly discards his easygoing ways. Beneath this facade, things become more complex. Geoffrey’s defining characteristics are his aforementioned charm and his ambition, elements that sometimes complement each other and often clash with each other. An inclination towards care and careful planning may be trumped by an impatient desire to reach the top immediately by whatever means necessary. He is interested first and foremost in his own position in life, followed closely by his interest in his family’s position. The current lack of prestige exhibited by both has resulted in a (for now) passive hostility towards the upper class. His skills, both real and imagined, have lead to a fiercely competitive streak and a serving of pride that borders on and often crosses into arrogance. He is decisive and slightly emotionally detached. Though not ashamed of any of these traits, he considers it politically incorrect to flaunt them and puts a real effort into masking them before the general populace. He loves Quidditch both because of his British mother and because he is good at it, preferring to play the position of Beater but, like all his childhood companions, able to play any position and sometimes more than one at once. Everything about the game appeals to him: the high stakes, the drama, the adrenaline, the camaraderie between teammates, the ability to lose himself in the action. He lets go of all his reservations and plots while he’s flying, and it’s one of the few times he will ever be seen wearing a smile on his face he did not deliberately put there. Other strong interests are music, Potions, Muggle and magical literature, psychology, power, and winning.
History:	Like his comrade-in-arms Anne, Geoffrey was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina. His father, Marcus Layne, is the youngest of the three sons of a pureblood family with little in the way social standing and less in the way of fortune, and his mother, Nadia, is a British immigrant. Because of the limited amount of space at the almost comically named Layne family estate, Marcus and Nadia were more or less forced into taking up residence in a Muggle suburb when they married, though their only adherence to the Muggle lifestyle was to send their three children to Muggle elementary school, where they performed no few memory charms to keep from explaining why Geoffrey, Helena, and Lavinia didn’t have birth certificates or social security numbers. The Muggle elementary school was far from the best around, and Geoffrey’s intelligence made him stand out more than he would have in a more well-balanced environment. Because of the long-standing tradition there that all members of the “nerd herd” were loners, the only close friend he had was Anne Wright, the literal girl next door and his best friend from the sandbox. When he skipped second grade, they were happily united in one classroom, a fact that would soon cause their teacher no end of dismay. Geoffrey’s brains combined with Anne’s boldness and their joint ideas about what constitutes humor lead to third grade being a year of havoc, the majority of which was never satisfactorily traced back to them. They were separated for fourth and the part of fifth Anne attended before her mother’s death, to their disappointment. To Geoffrey, their relationship was and is equal parts friendship and alliance, with perhaps a hair more on the alliance side. He has no idea what their relationship is/was to Anne, nor does he particularly care. The ocean has never been perfectly blue when it comes to Geoffrey and Anne, as they are both competitive, highly intelligent, stubborn as mules, easily made jealous, and have the ability to be, to put it delicately, abrasive, especially towards those they know as well as they know each other. Anne remains one of the few people with the ability to make Geoffrey forget his policy of smooth diplomacy in stressful situations and lose his temper. Geoffrey remains one of the few people with the ability to make Anne cry, but he uses it rarely, as this usually leads to violence against his person the next time the Wrights and Laynes play Quidditch. Neither of them have any qualms against inflicting injury on the other with a Bludger or Beater’s bat, the most severe piece of damage coming when they were nine and Geoffrey accidentally gave Anne a concussion he claims permanently addled her brains. Upon regaining consciousness and hearing her mother’s hysterical account of the incident, she retaliated by throwing a dictionary at his head. He got a free year out of school when he left fifth grade but was unable to go to Sonora because of his September birthday, a very boring year considering that his parents were both working, his sisters were still enrolled in elementary school, Mary Wright was dead, John Wright had skipped town, and Anne was away at Sonora. Though the loss of her parents caused a little pity that partially alleviated it, Geoffrey did harbor some resentment over his friend returning to the senior position on the educational totem pole all because of an accident of birth. When his turn came at last and he ended up being Sorted into her House, it had been well over a year since they had last met at her mother’s funeral. Only time will tell how that year’s independent development will affect their friendship.
Fear:	While Geoffrey’s true worst fear takes the form of a tie between betrayal and dying alone without power, money, or influence, he tends to think of it as being scorpions because of an incident when he was four. He will not put on a shoe without shaking it out to this day.
Desire:	To be inaugurated as the Wizarding President by the age of thirty. It’s as high as he believes he can go without obtaining Dark Lord status with all accompanying legal issues.
Other Information:	Geoffrey’s wand is eight inches of yew wood with a dragon heartstring core. He and his sister Helena, who will be coming to Sonora next year, have always been very close siblings, at least partially because of the extremely narrow age gap. Lavinia, though only a little further from Helena than Helena is from Geoffrey, has never been fully part of their duo or the trio with Anne because of what they call her “silliness”. Until ‘Lena arrives, he has full run of the owl Pandora, to his extreme satisfaction.
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