Post by Leif on Jan 11, 2014 5:53:28 GMT -8
MURTAGH
violinist • smart • hyper • survivor
Character Name: Murtagh Erik Firrs IIErik Firrs II
ravenclaw • fourth year • fourteen • straightviolinist • smart • hyper • survivor
Nickname(s): Mur and Tagg are the main nicknames others call him. His family members have a wealth of nicknames for him mostly revolving around "baby brother" or puns similar to that. He's called Murtagh Junior by many of the elderly persons in his family.
Job: Professional Violinist
Age: Fifteen
Date of Birth: August 28, 2016.
Blood Status: Half-blood
Sexual Orientation: Definitely heterosexual. But, he doesn't show a strong interest in the sexual side of his life, yet.
Wand: Nine inch light hollowed vine wood wand that has two intertwining spirals that meet at the tip with a unicorn hair as the core.
THE PERSONALITY
Boggart: The fear of Murtagh is death... Not his death, just the death of anyone. He despises the aspect of death, he's afraid to see another to die... But, not to die himself. He's at terms with himself.
Dementor: His worst memory is waking up with a tube in his mouth and seeing blood across his arm when he tried to move to fight the tube. It felt like he was choking. The memory terrifies him even if it was true and of his past.
Erised: The largest desire and dream of Murtagh is to be perfectly healthy, healthy enough to keep up and compete with his siblings and others. He wishes he was more athletic, able to chase his brothers and sisters in any sport without slowing them down.
Patronus: His happiest memory is receiving the news of a heart is available for him. It was his best memory by far in his last summer and it likely will be for a long time. Oddly his patronus if he were able to create one would be of a small snowy owl, a very small one.
Veritaserum: He's pretty much an open book, so his deepest secret isn't really that deep of a secret: He hates his first name, but, deals with it. Also, once, he really hasn't told others about this: During his last surgery he felt so horrible after it he wished he'd just die and didn't think positively. His family would be disappointed to know this.
Likes:
- Violin – The boy is gifted when it comes to the violin. There's no question in anyone about his gift. He was in fact named after a once famous wizarding musician. From the day he was conceived his parents had remained hopeful that their youngest child would be like the rest of the family and pick a musical talent. In which he did and by complete coincidence he fell in love with the violin one that the Murtagh he was named after was famous for. He's incredibly talented when it comes to the violin and can play with great passion and emotion behind the music. He views it fun and as a gift that he was given as he is a violin prodigy. In almost all of his free time outside of homework he can be found with his instrument.
- Family – Family is of extreme importance to the young Murtagh. He loves his family with all of his heart. It is all he has ever known. His family isn't exactly a nuclear family as his parents have never been married and have been separated for a while. In fact; he views his family as normal and sees everyone else with a family living together with both parents a bit odd. He's not jealous of others. He likes what he has had. He travels to Hawaii during the summers to spend time with his mother, whom he loves. For the rest of the year he's at Hogwarts or at home with his father. He has a wealth of siblings spreading across the ages. He's the youngest of his clan and he has always been treated like the baby and has always been around family nearly every waking moment of his life. It's his comfort zone. He's himself with his family: talkative, outgoing, challenging, competitive.
- Health – Health is a very large issue to not only Murtagh but his entire family. He suffered a lifelong struggle when it came to his health. He loves when he is healthy, when he's not sick. Any day he has with minimal pain without being sick is a wonderful day for him. The aspect of just being healthy and having a chance to live healthy in the clear brings great joy to him. He prides his health and he's proud of his health. He loves being healthy. He loves school, he loves the freedom of being able to go out and beyond on his own without worrying over his steps. Simply put he likes being healthy. When he's healthy he's generally in a good mood that day. He looks through the days of which he is sick to live for the good healthy days. Those are the days that mean everything to him.
- Life – Murtagh has a great appreciation for life in it's entirety. He respects intelligent life of all sorts and even lives of most animals (don't ask him about saving a spider). He loves to live day to day in a world with endless opportunities. He dreams big in hopes one day for more life greater than what he is used to. Murtagh appreciates the beauty in life; he's willing to take a moment to stop and smell the roses. With the world being vast and endless and full of life he wants to explore it all with all the life he has in him. He loves the small moments that come with life, small memories that just build up over time to be looked back upon.
- Sports – He loves sports. He loves muggle sports, wizard sports, any sport at all really. He loves watching quidditch, rock climbing, surfing. He loves them all. He grew up in an active and athletic family. His mother's a surfer. His dad owns a rock climbing place... A huge one! Murtagh grew up around a great many sports influence and hence it was only natural for him to fall in love with sports. His mother's a retired professional surfer that could ride the fiercest of waves whereas his dad and brothers could scale up a rough rock wall quickly and climb at speeds he's not yet able to do so. Granted Murtagh struggles in athletics, he falls behind his siblings and parents by far. But, he tries. He pushes forward for fun.
Dislikes:
- Sickness – There's nothing that the teenage boy hates more than being sick. He hates any kind of sickness that strikes him down. He hates pain. He hates the flu. It really doesn't matter what he's sick with he simply hates it. He also dislikes people whom are sick to an extend because he doesn't want to get sick himself. He grew up spending a great deal of time in hospitals throughout his life and hence being sick has always been a part of his life he disliked. Others would love a sick day to stay reading a book, to sneak out with friends, or just to get out of a test or day they didn't want to go through. Not Murtagh. It's plain and simple, he dislikes being sick... Unhealthy.
- Hospitals – Regardless of Murtagh's health he has a great dislike of hospitals. He does respect hospitals in it's entirety and greatly respects doctors and nurses. But, being sick in his life he had always had a distaste and dislike of hospitals because he was usually the one in the hospital bed recovering from something. He would fight so he could avoid the hospitals and try to keep himself healthy. Hospitals just in general give him the creeps. The primary reason behind the dislike and distaste of hospitals is simply being sick. The hospitals are associated with it. He dislikes the food, having his hours restricted, having nurses and healers poking and prodding him nonstop and not being able to sleep... Somehow hospitals were always great at waking one up as soon as they fallen asleep.
- Pictures – Murtagh is extremely self-conscious of himself. He's shy, not that outgoing in public and photography is a reflection of that. He's uncomfortable with the way he looks. He'd sometimes spend a great deal of time just staring at his clothes or his hair trying to get it just right. Even at times he does like how he looks he does get very uncomfortable having a photograph taken of him. He tries to battle it, but, he finds it hard. There's only a few times he ever can push past it and that's mainly when he's playing his violin as with the violin he feels everything simply falls away and he's in his own world. There are some photographs of him and he highly values them, but, he still has a dislike of getting his photo taken. In such example: the yearbook, he's extremely shy of the yearly picture and he doesn't like to get it done and has to be dragged. To get into photographs he usually has to be talked into joining in as he prefers to be the one taking the photo.
- Underestimated – Being underestimated sucks. He hates being underestimated, called stupid for how he treats someone like a queen or for his strange obsessions of random things. Though he is shy and self-conscious. Being underestimated causes liability to his grades and abilities as others wonder and pass him by thinking he simply would not be able to do it. Even if they were right that it's not within his abilities to do something he still dislikes being passed by just because someone says that. He hates and despises it when he's treated a level below what he really is: He finds it demeaning. There are advantages of being underestimated, but, the advantages don't outweigh the hurt it causes to Murtagh. He's often underestimated because of his health.
- Bugs – Bugs are creepy and crawly and slimy. They cause him to shudder and halt in fear. He has a great dislike and fear of spiders and he would become frozen if he sees one just standing and staring at it begging another to kill it. He has little to no respect when it comes to most bugs. He cannot stand seeing them walking across the wall or on his bed. Outside he tries to avoid ants in fear that they'd bite him. But, mostly when it comes to bugs he's most afraid of ground bugs he cannot recognize, things that look like cockroaches, wasps, bees, and spiders. They make him extremely uncomfortable and he'd squirm about if he finds a bug on his skin spending a moment having to inspect and sweep off his entire body.
Strengths:
- Motivated – Murtagh is someone that follows his heart and his passion with all of his heart. Motivation is something that is behind a great deal of what his life is. He's motivated by his music, by his life, by his adventures, by his happiness. He doesn't need much encouragement to stay motivated and he could work through great boredom and duress in order to get something done. He can stand for hours reading a boring book just to get it done or to practice a piece to get it just right in an attempt to strive for perfection. He has great confidence in himself and it hence helps his motivation and makes it nearly borderline impulsive half the time. It his his greatest strength.
- Fearless – The teenager is fearless. Very few things will cause him to stand trapped in fear (minus creepy bugs). The few times he is scared of trying something new he tries his best to push through it to get past it and used to it the best he can. There was once a time he looked at the rock wall his dad has in fear, afraid to climb past the first few feet. Every time he did attempt to get so one of his older siblings or father pulled him off thinking it'd be too dangerous for him. He kept at it and made it to the top one day, on his own. Since that day he overcame most of his fears. And due to his surgeries he's been faced with the concept of death often, being a sick person waiting for a heart transplant to replace his heart that has failed too much: He learned to overcome his fear of death to simply accept it as a part of life.
- Optimistic – On the most part Murtagh is an optimistic person. He has the world at his fingertips and he knows he does. His family has taken great care in raising him to give him the mind state that he could do anything without worrying about the downsides. He's always been an optimistic person always looking for the better side a simple reason to be happy. He takes great pride in simple life pleasures such as a cup of coffee. He has a positive affirmation on life, he believes all circumstances he can create and he can control his attitude towards life. He chooses to live by the positive side of life. There are times when he's not optimistic, but, he strives to be optimistic and it's becoming natural to him.
Weaknesses:
- Trusting – Murtagh is a trusting person. Very trusting. He takes people for their word for almost anything and believes in people. He gives a great benefit of the doubt to others. He can be led out of his path by others because his level of trust is so high to them. Others can take advantage of him without him really realizing it because he gives almost a blind trust to them. He does question trust sometimes, but, he's quick to forgive. Often times things have to be blatantly obvious to make him lose his trust or otherwise he could stand all day waiting for someone or something just out of trust.
- Indignant – There is no doubt that Murtagh shows his emotions. He puts great value in his emotions as well and he tries to hide form them. But, he's indignant: He shows his emotions, his angers, his hostilities. He cannot hide his emotions easily. If he's mad it's easily visibile by the way he reacts and by reading his face; it's the same when it comes to sadness and happiness. It mostly focuses on his negative emotions as he cannot keep them to himself and will lash back out in anger by possibly pounding his fist. If things get too hard for him he bails and hides.
- Health – The failing health of Murtagh has been his lifelong biggest issue and weakness. It holds him back and he knows it does. The weakness of his heart stops him from being extremely active and keeping up with other people his age in activity. If dropped off in the middle of a thick forest without his wand he probably would never be able to get out due to his health would leave him unable to run at great speeds to escape from obstacles and him being used to some weather and being protected from the outside world. He's been greatly protected from the outside world, physical activity, hence, keeping his ability at it hindered. For example he struggles with running and running is not exactly encouraged for him. His health is looking up on the upside now, but, it is still a major issue that comes into discussion a lot when it comes to his future. It creates worry if he could get through something or not. With a weaker immune system he can fall down getting sick more easily than others. His health will always be seen as a weakness as something he has to fight and endeavor through.
Detailed Personality: Simply put Murtagh Erik Firrs II is a young man with a deep and soft personality. He cares and has a great appreciation for the world around him loving the small details that make up the larger picture. He sees the world not as a large picture in the final results, he sees the bits and pieces and how they merge and work together to create the larger picture. It allows him a finer appreciation of the small things in life and it creates his optimistic attitude. He tries his best to be positive, to count the good things in life, the happy moments to greatly outweigh anything else.
He's a sensitive person that holds his emotions close to him and follows his heart above all else. He maybe be courageous and brave, but, what matters more to him is his curiosity of the world and the people around him. He loves people and their stories. He's greatly sympathetic to others. He may be a young person, but, he has a lot of wisdom in his head as he's an experienced person and a well-read person because of the influences he had in his life and his appreciation of the finer things. He's willing to slow down to smell the roses or simply spending a weekend day away reading a book everyone calls boring just because he wants to read it just to say he has done so.
He's very proud of his achievements. He's proud of what he does and he tries his best to keep himself proud of his goals and achievements. He's naturally gifted at the violin, so gifted that he's called a prodigy and has been for years. He's performed on stages and has very little stage fright as he loves the performance and the adrenaline the moment creates that pumps through his veins. He feels his heart pounding and makes him proud that he's in good enough health to play. He tries his best not to let his health get to him, to bring him down at all. Which is a tad of a contradiction considering how self-conscious he is. But, he always prefers comfort and with the violin it is a comfort to him.
When it comes to the ladies, as he's straight and he's pretty damn sure about that: He's a hopeful romantic. He'd treat his future love like a queen even if others are against it. When it comes to his friends and family they are everything to him. Mainly his family: He loves his family more than anything in the world. He's talkative to those he loves: friends and family. He's much more outgoing and free with people he trusts and loves. But, sitting in class or with a stranger he's awkwardly quiet and shys away from others and speaks very softly to them... Except when he's performing everything in the world seems to drop and fade away. He loves performing and playing his violin, it places him in his own world, a world where he reigns supreme free and he's happy and content with himself.
He views his gift at the violin as something of great value, something he wouldn't trade for anything in the world. It's his escape, his own pathway, and that's all that matters to him when it comes to the violin. He takes great care of it and his wand and is careful that both remain in great condition. He believes in his gift and is constantly practicing it to keep it at a level of perfection. He's a perfectionist when it comes to some things and playing the violin is something he feels has to be perfect. He believes it has to have great feeling, fun, and perfection behind it. He's not simply attached to the time age classics when it comes to the violin; he's willing to try other things out, pluck it, or turn it into a faster tempo to match modern pop. He views his medical weakness and the loss of his original heart as a tax he had to pay for his gift. It was a tax he was glad to give.
The teenager takes great care of his possessions. His room is very clean, his bed is usually made. His wand and violin are polished and cleaned often. Cleaning is a bit obsessive with him, but, not an OCD or perfectionist level. It's just he dislikes when his things fall apart which in turn costs him more to get it replaced. He hates getting things replaced and will hold onto things for a long time: Even including old clothes until they don't fit him anymore.
Murtagh for the most part is a smart and clever young man with great wisdom behind his choices and words. He's not afraid to take attempts at new things, in fact: he's fearless. He knows what it's like to be dying and nothing seems to compare to that. He goes after what he wants, and is willing to go on adventures and appreciate things even if he cannot have or do them: Such as competitive sports. He's a competitive person with his brothers and academically. He fights for competition in grades. He would love to be athletic, it's a deep desire for him.
Known to his family and his friends is a fact that he cannot lie very well. He gives a sly crooked smile and his nose crinkles when he lies. When he's not saying anything it's easy to get him to talk by rubbing his ears as he's extremely ticklish and could roll up in a ball. When he's laughing his guard is completely down and he's talkative when his guard is down as it has the same effect as him trusting someone: His guard is down. He does tend to use strange terms to describe things at times, but, they're for the most part understandable. Such as "They call me stupid for treating him nice and they treat me just like a squirrel." It's usually in reference to something in his past.
He has very good hearing and can hear pitches very well. He hates when people talk about him in front of him or within his ear-shot range and don't include him into it. For example: Healers/doctors talking to his parents. He hates it and he wants them to talk to him directly.
All in all Murtagh is pure in heart, a kind, sweet young boy with a soft personality. He worries about others before himself. Everyone else is before him.
MAGICAL SKILL
Best Field: Charms
Weakest Field: Astronomy
NEWTs: Currently fifth year.
Other Honors: None yet.
THE HISTORY
Mother: Willow Harrow, thirty-seven, muggle-born.
Father: Roland Firrs, forty-four, half-blood.
Sibling(s): Rumor Jalix Firrs, twenty-two, half-blood – half-brother.
Mira Jade Firrs, nineteen, half-blood.
Cherokee Jewel Firrs, sixteen, half-blood. Twin.
Niall James Firrs, sixteen, half-blood. Twin.
Other Family:
paternal side
Murtagh Erik Firrs, 70, half-blood, grandfather.
Aurelia Dorin Firrs (nee Cornaneci), sixty-seven, muggle-born, grandmother – seer.
Tereza Silvu Firrs, 30, half-blood, aunt.maternal sideIolanda Nicoleta Firrs, 12, half-blood, cousin.
Lagundo Natanael Harrow, 61, muggle, grandfather.
Rakel Agaton Harrow (nee Ewerlof), 59, muggle, grandmother.
Viveka Rozene Duffy (nee Harrow), 40, muggle-born, aunt.Pet(s): A small male beige-white Siberian cat named Snowy.
Murphy Seamus Duffy, 43, muggle, uncle.Oengus Cronin Duffy, 19, half-blood, cousin.Yona Margarida Hilliard (nee Harrow), 38, muggle-born, aunt.
Synnove Daimhin Duffy, 17, half-blood, cousin.
Caoimhe Ofelia Duffy, 14, half-blood, cousin.
Pascoal Tsiyi Duffy, 13, half-blood, cousin.
Igasho Cearul Duffy, 10, half-blood, cousin.
Cleona Bronagh Duffy, 10, half-blood, cousin.
Peter Mathew Hilliard, 39, half-blood, uncle.Izusa Jane Hilliard, 14, half-blood, cousin.Jolon Leif Harrow, 35, muggle-born, Uncle.
Kasper Gawanii Hilliard, 14, half-blood, cousin.
Frida Pedra Hilliard, 14, half-blood, cousin.
Greger Moises Harrow, 32, muggle-born, uncle.
Neves Salali Harrow, 29, muggle-born, aunt.Birgit Viveka Harrow, 11, half-blood, cousin.
Nuno Viggo Harrow, 9, half-blood, cousin.
Residence: Whitehaven, England, United Kingdom.
School: Fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Detailed History: Once upon a time there was a young wizard by the name of Roland Firrs whom was an adventurous man back in the late 2000s. He met a girl off on one of his great many adventures and stayed with her for a while. Eventually what had happened was that he ended up with a kid before she disappeared from his life leaving behind their kid with Roland. Roland tried his best to raise the kid on his own, took the kid with him when he traveled up to some islands to go to islands to try out surfing and cliff climbing in a new area.
There was a magical surfing competition happening off the coasts of Australia and Roland decided out of nowhere that he'd go take a trip down to Australia as snow was covering the mountains near his home and the cold weather simply made Whitehaven unbearable that winter. The chance to escape to a warmer place. Rumor ran off from his father and ran straight into a woman whom was in the surfing competition waiting for her results. The woman simply laughed as Roland ran forth from embarrassment to grab his young son whom just learned to walk not long ago. Roland paused staring at the woman recognizing her an old friend.
The two hit things off. The duration of the surfing competition they met up for lunch and dinner, hung out in their free time. It was great for the two to see each other again. Roland was pleased to see Willow Harrow once again and hoped their paths would cross one day. He invited her to visit anytime back at his home in Whitehaven. As the competition came to an end Roland stayed in Australia for a few extra days. When he returned home he was surprised to find someone waiting for him, Willow whom seemed to time him so well. She stayed a night with Roland and Rumor and another night and eventually the nights became a week. She went back home to Hawaii and Roland simply told her she's welcome back any time.
A few months passed on by and Willow returned to Whitehaven announcing she was pregnant. Roland was staring at her in near disbelief wondering how he'd deal with a second kid, but, was otherwise extremely happy when it was announced to be a girl. Though the two siblings would only be half related, different mothers, he was still happy that his son wouldn't grow up alone, hopefully. Willow seemed to be much more of a free spirit than Roland. Roland loved his home, loved the outdoors, but, he always returned home to Whitehaven. But, Willow, she traveled the world and always returned to Hawaii.
Time kept passing by for the dance that continued through the years between Roland Firrs and Willow Harrow. Before he knew it he had twins, Niall and Cherokee. Within weeks after Niall was born the two managed to get pregnant once again nearly immediately with their last child without any downtime. The last child caused a great deal of complications in Willow and was always predicted that it would have a weak heart. The pregnancy with her last child was a hard one and a brutal one. The new child was due to be born on October 13, 2016. But everything didn't go as planned was Willow went into distress and ended up with her last child being born on August 28, 2016, weeks earlier than planned.
The weak heart was always a wonder to the parents when they saw the baby boy. The two had debated on a name, and the father, Roland had an idea, a suggestion and he won. They named him Murtagh, a rather unusual name compared to the rest of his siblings... If their names could be compared. It was his grandfather's name, the newborn was Murtagh Erik Firrs the Second. The boy with the weak heart was a fighter and he survived and kept on surviving while healers and doctors kept a close eye on his growth. It went well with a hole in his heart and a weakened heart muscle. The main thing that was given to the parents by healers was a potion to have him drink each night. They gave him a series of another potion to help his ears to finish growing due to his early birth. It worked, but, his ears grew just a little bit too big, but, not by too much.
With a weak heart his childhood wasn't effected. He tried to keep up with his siblings. He tried to keep with everything around him and loved his siblings and traveling. He was an extremely happy child always laughing at everything. Along with laughing at everything he was greatly attached to his siblings and his parents. He disliked if any of them left and he cried. He fought when anyone left. He had abandonment issues for most of his toddler years... Which was unusual because he was never abandoned, he was just extremely attached.
At the age of four he saw a violin at his grandparents house. He plucked a few of the strings and he was very curious about the instrument. His grandfather gave a smile seeing him pluck away at the strings. His grandfather sat him down and taught him how to hold the violin and the bow and how to run it across the string. But, the violin was too large for him and he struggled with holding it up on a high posture and simply plucked away at it as if it were a small guitar. It still amused the grandparents and they let him take it home. His father opened up a rock climbing place with different degrees of challenges.
At five years old his heart was getting weaker in the tests and he slept more than he normally did. The healers increased and changed his doses of potions in an attempt to see if his heart could be healed. The heart was a tricky and complicated organ. The wizarding world still struggled with eyesight and a great many wizards having glasses whereas the muggle world had great advances in eye care and eliminated a ton of glasses. Medical care developed in different ways over the years, and, the heart being one that was a tricky field since it was such a young field that was still developing. The new potions seemed to work somewhat, but, not as much as was hoped for.
Murtagh loved his violin. He spent hours a day plucking a string to listen to hear the sound. He used his bow across the strings of the violin to hear the sounds that was created. He repeated the sounds over and over again every day. He had not once played a song. Only sounds and notes. It annoyed his family that he wouldn't sit down and read any sheet music. He just did what he wanted and refused to cooperate when someone tried to teach him anything about his violin.
Even with medical problems it didn't slow Murtagh down at all. He was a happy kid and loved plucking away at his violin. He did take lessons on how to hold the bow and how to play the instrument quite a bit over the past few years. But, the lessons were not often and only happened when his paternal grandfather came around. One night his grandparents were staying at their home and Murtagh was extremely happy to show off something to his grandfather that he learned on the violin. He waited patiently all day, but, he kept being brushed off as his grandfather focused on his siblings and his father. Murtagh tried his best to stay awake, but he fell asleep. He had always fallen asleep early his entire life, he's been on a very consistent sleeping pattern.
He snapped awake from a scream of laughter coming from his sister Mimi, otherwise known as Mira. Niall was playing with her in the late hours of the day after their grandparents went to bed. Murtagh slowly rose up from the couch realizing the violin was still in his arms. He instantly became disappointed and his usual waking up smile was gone. "Grandpa doesn't like violin anymore," he spoke softly leaving his violin on the couch to walk away to his bed. He was disappointed as he really wanted to show what he had learn to his grandfather and father.
His brother and sister knew what was wrong. They knew that Murtagh was in one of his rare moods, being sad. It was an uncommon sight for them. Both Mimi and Niall told him to play the violin. Niall blocked him from leaving the living room and Mimi handed him his instrument and asked if he wanted the bow. As for the most part all anyone had ever heard was him plucking the strings without the bow or when he had the bow he was playing sounds and only sounds, not any songs. Just sounds. He played all the sounds back and forth constantly.
Murtagh gave a big grin, once again happy. He held the violin up to his shoulder and chin. He held the instrument carefully by the neck just barely holding on so his smaller fingers. He pulled the bow across and played a long solemn sound that echoed across the room. His pace picked up to a faster tempo as he played a song that replicated a classic, a tough classic to crack. It took him several moments to finish it, but, he played it flawlessly. His playing had woken up the household as it was still in the early hours around four in the morning. His grandfather stood there in shock and disbelief, "Where did you learn to play that?" He asked. Nobody had heard him play a song before only sounds and notes.
"I saw a man do it on the telly. I just copied him. Did I do it wrong?" Murtagh asked in an innocent voice his smile fading away wondering if he had gotten it wrong. His dad and grandparents were in disbelief still. His father, grandparents, Mimi, and Niall had just witnessed Murtagh's first song the moment he had become a prodigy. A master of the instrument. His grandfather didn't go back to bed and begun playing notes on the violin and handing it back to him asking him to play it himself. Each time Murtagh played the notes back perfectly without missing a single pitch. His grandfather grabbed the young Murtagh and apparated away with him back to his home.
At his grandfather's home he listened to old records of violin players through the ages and asked at the end of each for his grandson to play back the song he heard. Murtagh kept doing it over and over and over again. His notes were correct, his tempo was great on most. But, for the more complicated classics his tempo was a tad too slow. His grandfather had since practiced and visited more often with an old fashioned metronome that was clearly older than his own father. They practiced constantly for him to pick up faster pieces and get his tempo correct. It worked. By the time he was nine years old he performed for friends on a stage. His grandfather had begun teaching him how to read notes on a sheet of paper. He struggled with the note reading a bit.
Around nine years old his heart was still weak, as it was all his life. The healers weren't very happy with the progress the potions had made as it was a complicated issue. It took a long battle of potions and drugs that somewhat worked and somewhat did not. Parts of his heart had healed as intended through the potions, but, other parts were still weak such as his aortic valve and a hole in his chamber was continuing to leak. His mother, Willow a muggleborn had faith in muggle technology and advances had him taken to a muggle hospital to get the checkup and the surgery after the results. The surgery was a success for a while, but, the repair of the hole did not hold and it sprung up again. It was left alone to see how he does. The surgery was done a week before his tenth birthday.
Before the surgery his heart did grow a bit due to trying to push more blood through a weakened aortic valve and the expanding caused the left ventricle chamber to become weaker itself in which it had to continue to expand to try to keep up with demand, a process that kept contradicting itself.
Regardless of him being a wizard, his mother had great faith in the muggle's healthcare knowledge. She quoted how when she was a teenager her eyesight was corrected by surgery in a muggle hospital as the wizards couldn't help with much more than simply glasses. Where magic had advantages, there were some disadvantages. This knowledge stuck with Willow her entire life as she always placed great faith into the muggle healthcare system for more complicated issues.
Most of his childhood was spent at home in Whitehaven. He did go to a Charm School for a while, but, he was pulled out when he made better pace at home with his father teaching him during his breaks at the rock climbing place he owned. He learned to surf and learned to climb walls, even steep ones. Though, his family didn't let him take up challenges and kept him on easy mode. He hated being kept on the easy things. He wanted to try more, keep up with his brothers and sisters. He wanted to climb up the harder walls go into deeper more rocky wave turns. But, his parents refused to let him and wanted him to stay behind or just waddle in the shallow.
Every summer he had gone off to visit his mother, for most of the summer. He had always missed home in Whitehaven, his father's house. He loved his mother and visiting her, but he always longed for home. No matter what he had always missed home. He could stand vacation for a few days with his mom or dad or his grandparents off to some part of the country or world. But, when it comes down to it he always longs for being back at home in his own room laying in his bed. He did love to go on vacations, be with his family, travel, everything, but nothing ever beats home.
Murtagh and Niall shared rooms. The home only really had five. Murtagh and Niall was one. Cherokee was two. Mimi (Mira) was three. Rumor was four. And the fifth room was their father's, Roland's room. When family came over it was common for Mimi and RJ to be be merged together. There were several times where RJ, Niall, and Murtagh shared a room when they had family members whom sometimes overstayed their visit. Chaos usually would ensure. After Mimi moved out a new room opened up, which caused the boys to stake their claim over it. Now they each had their own. RJ moved out himself eventually, leaving an extra room.
Sharing a room with Niall caused some tensions to happen between the two. Mostly arguing. Murtagh had his own organizational system and other days he had things covering their room all over the place. He got touchy when something was moved in his room and would go after Niall over it. He slept on the bottom bunk while his brother took the top bunk. Murtagh wanted the top bunk, badly. But, his dad wouldn't let him have it.
Having a medical illness and being pulled back in sports, athletics and his food intake being watched as part of his normal life, was all fine. He found a way to have fun, he pushed through his dislike of being held back and tried to strive forward. Even with being sick more often than his siblings, sleeping more, being smaller: He was always thrilled and happy. He was a positive person even when he was sick (most of the time). He was optimistic about his next adventure.
The childhood of them had tensions, mainly between Niall and Murtagh. Murtagh would sit practicing his violin. He'd play the same note a hundred times over. The same note would sound the same to most people, but, not him. He was a bit obsessive when he as adjusting his strings and listening to the pinches. His good hearing allowed him to tell the difference between some notes and others. He played them so often so he could remember the sound so he can simply replay it in his head. This had caused his brother Niall try to destroy his violin several times. Each time someone was able to stop Niall before he was able to complete the destruction.
Even with their tensions the two boys had their own fun. The two had made complex plots to take down their older brother RJ. Murtagh was close to Niall and Mimi (Mira) and Niall was close to RJ. But, there were times when they just wanted to find a way to tackle their big brother. They found ways to annoy him, tick him off, anything.
His first sign of magic came when he was ten years old, a young ten years old. He asked his sister for his violin because he wanted to play. She handed it to him, but, she forgot to give him his bow and left the room. He tried to reach over to the bow, but, he couldn't reach it. His chest hurt as he just had surgery just weeks before. The magical healers gave him a series of potions to help with the pain and to accelerate the healing process from the surgery. The bow flew to his hands. It was his first sign of magic and happened quite a few times before he got his wand. Objects just flew toward him when he wanted them. He spent the time in his bed practicing the notes on the sheet trying to get it down.
His letter to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry came when he was still ten years old because he turned eleven just days before school admissions. He was lucky and was on a borderline date. His brothers and sisters have all already gone. It was finally his turn. His turn at last.
Hogwarts was a great deal of fun for him. He loved being in a school and simply loved the entire school all together. He joined the orchestra as soon as he was able to and he tried hard at all of his classes. He did pretty well in everything in his first year except for astronomy. He kept falling asleep in astronomy class or missing it. His strongest class was by far Charms. He did well in most classes because he was willing to follow instructions and he paid attention to small details such as hand, wrist, and arm movements. He did get sick a few times over his first year, but, nothing was major. He just had to take his potions and medicines every day which resulted in him visiting the hospital wing on a daily basis. He did take flying lessons, but, he was very careful with it.
Over the summer he did see the mediwizards at St. Mungo's and they changed his potions once again as his heart wasn't showing any improvement and was starting to be getting weaker. His second year went pretty well too, he still struggled in his Astronomy. For the most part he felt great besides the chest pain. He ignored it and pushed past it. He didn't like the chest pain at all, but, he tried the best to distract himself. He did have to have several check-ups through the school years after the school day ended or on the weekends. Being twelve he was still small and short, and he entered the beginning stages of puberty. After much discussion and desire on Murtagh's part he got potion hormones over the next two years of his life to accelerate his growth to push him deeper into puberty.
The summer between his second and third year was an interesting moment in his life. Due to himself being called a master of the violin he was invited to perform at some halls across the world. His parents approved of it. He performed at a hall in the heart of Edinburgh and eventually was invited to a summer concert with some other performers. A muggle musicians magazine featured him after the performance as a young prodigy to watch. Most of that summer he was booked with performances. The year 2029 was a kind year to him, one of the best in his life. He got to perform at places he had admired musicians from since he was a young child and watched on the television.
His third year was a constant watch of his medications/potions. They were adjusted and balanced quite often. His third year was pretty much normal and much like his second and first years in his classes. Toward the middle of the school year his heart had come up to having even more problems and it was once again time to try surgical methods. It was decided after carefully weighing options due to the hole in his heart and the fact he was a healthy male he was put on a heart transplant list. Due to the large shortage and rarity in the wizarding world, he was put on through the The British Ministry of Magic's Muggle Relations office was able to get him listed on the transplant list that spread across the entire country.
The summer of 2030 was the biggest alteration in his life. He was asked to perform at the Wigmore Hall, a competitive classical hall in the muggle world. His grandfather had set up the connections as he had performed there long ago himself and rose to fame because of it long ago. His grandfather was the famed Murtagh Firrs whom went into a decade before his grandson, Murtagh was born. Up on the stage he was performing with his grandfather whom came out of retirement to get the venue. The hall was packed and it was planned to be a violin battle the Murtagh Firrs battle where the world famous Murtagh Firrs introduced his prodigy grandson. Most of the summer he was tired, had trouble keeping up, couldn't do things he normally did. His heart was sinking into a much worse state and the potions weren't really helping as surgery was needed. Problem was, it was a transplant.
The young Murtagh performed on stage keeping up with his grandfather and at his grandfather's level of skill. It took much practice to get the pitches perfect the week before. He wasn't feeling very well on the day of the concert, but, he insisted on playing. Up on the stage both of the Murtagh's played passionately with smiles across their faces and having a great deal of fun. Toward the end of it Murtagh dropped his violin and collapsed on stage. He fainted. He was rushed to the hospital and the concert hall closed early with apologies to the audience whom were mostly all in shock. At the hospital all that was around was a simple waiting game. Hooked to machines and magic alike. The few musical magazines he got were interesting, all wondering when either of the Murtagh's would appear once again. Musician's Corner, a muggle magazine did a full feature on him that extended six pages including their cover. It was the first time his last name was ever revealed.
He was tired often, had little energy due to his weakening heart. His heart had been growing and expanding at a rapid pace over the past year of his life. His heart growing made it a weaker muscle as it tried hard to pump more blood through. It came down to heart muscle inflammation being added to the list of problems with his heart which included congenital heart hole near the left ventricle, which was responsible for the oxygen-rich blood. He did have to practice better breathing. For the most part potions were given to him by mediwizards to help him gain back more energy. He spent most of his time in bed, resting or sitting on the couch not doing much in the early summer. When it came to practicing for his performance he used potions to boost his energy and didn't exert himself too much before the performance. His father wanted to cancel it, but, Murtagh insisted on going through with it.
He spent a week in the hospital and then was released and told to take it easy and come back if he's feeling sick. He was released against medical advice. He was in extremely failing health and no heart had become available for him. He was taken off the growth and hormone potions he was put on as they had become to big of a risk. He would never get to be as tall as his brothers, but, he got to a height that wasn't too bad, five feet and five inches. His puberty is continuing at a slow state, but, is unlikely he'd grow much more height. His face finished developing for the most part, baby fat had fallen away. He dislikes being smaller than his brothers, but, it doesn't stop him from going after them.
His mother and father took off on/off staying with him overnight at the hospital. Since they allowed two guests, depending on behavior his brother Niall ended up staying as well because Niall refused to leave the room the entire time Murtagh was there. Even when everyone left Murtagh alone to go eat or let him sleep, Niall stayed behind. His older sister Mimi went insane every time she thought something was going wrong. She yelled at the doctors, snapped at the nurses. She got removed from the hospital once.
His parents decided to pack and take him to China, as in China with money transplants come back faster through the black market. It wasn't ethical, but, his family was completely willing to throw out all ethics to save their son's life. They waited so very long. He had missed a great deal of school. But, by a stroke of luck on May 9, 2031 a heart became available for him before they even left to China. It matched his blood type, tissue type, everything pointed to it being a great match. The transplant was done without any major complications. His heart was replaced and he was kept in the hospital for a few weeks.
When it comes down to his health being a wizard has allowed him access to very good potions and healing magic spells and techniques with the disposal of some of the greatest healer minds in the world. The magical community got him great potions that kept his original heart for far longer than it would have by muggle technology and techniques. It allowed his growth to be accelerated, his ears and lungs to finish growing due to his early birth. His ears did grow a bit too large, but, not by much. The potions given by the wizards were more effective in suppressing his pain while letting him be active with his mind and not always confined to a bed.
Ever since the two were young kids they had a ritual that was theirs and only theirs. The two would wake up or still be awake around midnight and make a trip down to the kitchen to have a midnight snack. Even in Hogwarts the two would risk detention and being caught for this ritual. In the hospital his brother Niall did get in a bit of trouble for their midnight snack runs. It was enough that Murtagh was trying to get spicy food from the hospital staff. In the hospital Niall would sneak food into his room to keep up the ritual. It was in fact the only time Niall ever left his room to do anything besides to go to the bathroom. The two never missed a date when it came to their midnight snacks. Even when he wasn't supposed to eat past midnight right before a surgery, he would anyway... A few moments didn't hurt.
Having muggle connections because of his mother, maternal grandparents, and the Muggle Relations office. The muggles were able to do the surgeries effectively and get him listed on a heart transplant list. It allowed him to gain access to the muggle facilities and it got him a new heart from an anonymous donor family. He asked whom the person was, but, they wouldn't tell him and told him in a year he could write a letter of thanks.
The surgery had lasted just under fifteen hours. The only complication that arose wasn't too bad, was simply scar tissue was attached to his old heart. They simply removed it all for the replacement. The thing that bothered him the most wasn't the extreme pain he was in (thanks to the pain medications), but it was the blood in his lungs and throat. His throat was completely irritated from the tubes. It took days to clear his throat and lungs out mostly so he could feel like breathing normally without having a mask forcing oxygen through his nose and throat. He couldn't even eat due to the irritation of his throat for a few weeks. He had to stick with thick foods to get it down and iv fluids.
After being released from the muggle hospital with the new heart he went back to St. Mungo's to get his medicines switched out to magical solutions and potions. Most of his medicines/potions are taken in the morning. The notable ones are anti-rejection potions so his heart doesn't get rejected by his body. Others control his blood pressure and suppresses his immune system, an immunosuppressive drug. Because of the immunosuppressive drug he has immunodeficiency which makes him more susceptible to getting infections. It just had become a greater importance to him to hold a stronger diet and go to the hospital wing when he's feeling worse than normal.
Through all of it he remained positive, even through the surgeries, the hard times, he always was positive and had a smile on his face. In the summers it was normal for him to go to his mom's house, but this summer he stayed at home in Britain. He did greatly miss the nights under the stars sleeping on the beach with his brother just above the tide line. The two liked going outside because of everyone visiting their mom during the summer months meant a crowded house.
With the potions and healing magic and time he was able to make the surgical recovery at a much accelerated pace. He was taken off of the hormone potions to help his puberty stages and he had stopped growing for the most part. His face and body pretty much have developed to where it's going to be for the rest of his life stuck at a height of five feet and six inches, one last inch over the past six months as his hormone levels returned to normal. Because of his weakened state after his transplant his brother, Niall was taking care of his cat since he was ordered to avoid touching animals for a few months. But, his cat always managed to sneak back up on his bed.
Murtagh is back, stronger than he ever was before. He's showing no signs of heart rejection. He's still happy, hopeful and was glad to be back at Hogwarts. His forth year is here now, he's halfway to fifteen and he's glad to be back on his feet and feeling stronger than he has ever done before. He gone through hard times and he's proud he got past it. With a good recovery and a strong new heart he's very unlikely to have any major problems for the next several years of his life. But, his heart will always have to be under watch. He's on a few new medicines and potions he has to take every day for the rest of his life. But, he's happy to do so.
He cannot wait for the next summer so he could once again perform... Without collapsing on stage. And perform with all of his heart... His new heart. For once he could live, almost normally.
For now... He's ready to conquer his fifth year at Hogwarts. Time to take the world by storm.