Mathias Sallow

Mathias Sallow
Goes by: Matt
Gender: Male
Height: Above Average

Blood status: Pureblood
Raised in: Wizarding
Home: Hendrae Moore -- Sallow Manor

Boggart: ?

Patronus: Unknown
Mathias likes to be involved in things and always tries his best. Instead of reading instructions or following a textbook, he'd rather learn by doing - taking a more hands-on approach to tasks. He's talented at taking things apart and putting them back together, figuring out how they work along the way.

Before his schooling days and getting his own wand, Mathias wasn't afraid to jump in and use his hands to do whatever needed to be done. He's not afraid of hard work, though does best with visual aides - being able to see and handle what he's dealing with from various angles. Because of this, he doesn't particularly like to reach books or have to memorise information to learn, which he's easily bored with.

Mathias has a very down-to-earth personality, able to keep a level head in tough situations and doesn't tend to stay frustrated for long. He's a true neutral, combining soulfulness and a dark streak. He knows when to follow the rules and when to make exceptions, and feels the punishment should always fit the crime.

A problem-solver by nature, Mathias enjoys helping people and will go out of his way to do so, often at the expense of his own interests or well-being. Absorbed in the challenge of finding a solution, he's prone to continuing until exhausted then oversleeping and having to rush to be ready on time or putting off his own responsibilities until the last possible moment. While he is quick to offer assistance to those who need it, he also knows when to admit defeat and step back. He's adaptable and a great team player, able to be the leader or follower depending on what the situation needs of him.

Though he's a helpful, caring, and involved brother, Mathias sometimes struggles to verbally express how proud he is of his younger sister, Adeline, so he uses his actions instead. Whenever she needs something, he'll do everything he can to make it work - whether it's fixing or replacing a broken dance shoe, finding or creating a practice barre, or providing music for her to dance to. If she needed a costume, he'd learn to sew to provide it for her. Many of his skills and interests developed from supporting his sister.

However, Mathias has a habit of putting others before himself far too often. He allows himself to become overworked and lose track of his responsibilities, which lead to stress or forgetting to take care of himself. Sometimes he's not aware of it, and others he's just too stubborn or focused on the task at hand. He can get along with almost anyone, but is picky about those he calls close friends as he needs people who can remind him he's important too.

He's rather messy, often collecting things he might need rather than those he does need, and has a rough time trying to complete his homework on time.
Mathias and Adeline are from a very old-world and traditional British family, without the stuffy and judgmental attitudes of those who focus more on the past than the future. They were raised with respect for history and their ancestry, though it wasn't a subject both children remained passionate about as they grew older and attended Hogwarts.

The Sallows thrive from the family businesses - an impressive fruit orchid that goes towards homemade jams and pies, run by grandparents Edith and Walter Sallow, and several giant greenhouses responsible for growing a wide variety of the finest ingredients sought after by healers or potion masters.

Though Mathias and Adeline were more partial to running around the orchids collecting fruit or climbing trees, they were given every opportunity to appreciate those who work hard so they could live the life they have. Some of their fondest memories at home are baking pies with their grandparents or assisting hired workers deliver messages or find solutions related to their tasks.

However, Mathias didn't always have such a big and loving family. His biological father died shortly before his mother, Lula, learned she was pregnant. Struggling on her own, she leaned on a long-time friend for support - Alfred Sallow. He helped her through the difficult time, even inviting her to live with him once Mathias was born. They fell in love during caring for him all those late nights, and when Lula demonstrated a genuine love for the family businesses. They were married by the time Mathias was one, and Adeline was born shortly after his second birthday. Though Mathias is aware of his own beginnings, Alfred is the only father he's ever known.

At an age when both Mathias and Adeline were too young to remember, the Sallow family were struck with tragedy - one of Alfred's cousins lived in France and had fallen ill, no longer able to maintain his duties to the family business (he checked supplies, oversaw deliveries, handled finances, and dealt with everything involved with a number of charities in their name) so a solution was needed.

After weeks of discussion, Lula was on her way to France with Adeline in tow. Though they visited over Christmases and birthdays, the pair remained in France for several years. When the cousin's illness was finally cured and he was able to return to work, Lula and then-seven-year-old Adeline returned home.

The siblings had mostly been an only child long enough that it was an adjustment to be living with their sibling full-time, that they could remember. They had to re-establish their bond and adjust, but it was only one year before Mathias was headed off to Hogwarts. They remain close but are still learning their roles in the family.

France gave Adeline exposure to the magical arts of dance and theater, which was an interest she remains in love with. She practices regularly, even at Hogwarts, like she'd been doing from a young age. Before she got formal training, Adeline found it easier to find confidence when she had music to set the pace to - which Mathias did his best to provide.

Magical guitar was a new instrument for him to learn, which was something he then enjoyed enough to take it to Hogwarts with him. Sometimes he would play it while Adeline helped him with his textbook reading - where she'd make the task easier by reading it like a storybook with funny voices and dramatic pause. She'd even use the puppets they'd made together during their last Christmas before she moved back home.

With the children often being tutored or sleeping during that time Lula and Alfred were apart, the adults didn't have such a strong sense of two separate lives. They made it work and saw each other as often as possible, continuing to ensure both children grew up with a healthy demonstration of a good family and what a loving couple looked like. The busy and wealthy lifestyle didn't prevent either parent from having a very hands-on presence in their children's lives, always there to read them a story at night or pick them up when they're hurt.

Mathias and Adeline were encouraged to work hard and learn skills, without relying too heavily on magic or money. Though the businesses were tough and often brought about incidents where they had to learn some harder lessons about life and people, they continued to thrive with unconditional support. They're by no means sheltered - having experience true fear, loss, and heartbreak, just never at the hands of their family. And it wasn't always working on the farm or running free - they had to join their parents and grandparents in attending a variety of charity events or special dinners.

For as wonderful as their life appeared, Mathias and Adeline also have a secret they share yet neither have spoken of to their family. They were taught to dream big, and so they did - wanting more for their futures than to return to the Sallow farm and continue the businesses already in place, handed down for generations. They want to see more and do more others ever imagined, though neither child have fully settled on where that would take them yet. The older they get, the more they resist the expectations placed on them in yearning to follow their own paths.