Trace O'Brien (keeper)

Played by Josh Hutcherson (link)
DESCRIPTION:Trace is an athlete, and it shows. He has a decently muscular build he maintains through lots of exercise. His clothing style tends to be pretty relaxed, usually consisting of jeans or shorts and a T-shirt. He does, however take pride in his hair. Worn just long enough to make him look a bit roguish, he tends to use gel to craft it into what he views as a masterpiece. He also has a necklace with a tooth from a Hebridean Black dragon (a gift from his curse-breaker brother) that he wears almost constantly. His stance is generally relaxed with a hint of a smile playing across his face. Sometimes his walk and general air can come off as a bit cocky, but his actions show a heart of gold underneath.




POSITIVE TRAITS: brave (his older sister calls it reckless), confident, knows how to make people laugh, has a big heart, stands up for what he believes in, would do anything for his family (or his girlfriend), strong sense of right and wrong, sticks to his moral compass, thirst for life, chivalrous, athletic
NEGATIVE TRAITS: bit of a showoff, doesn’t always take things as seriously as he should, hotheaded, can sometimes take jokes too far (he’s gotten better as he gets older), can get caught up in the game and take it too seriously, feels a lot of pressure from the spotlight, black and white view may blind him to the greys, sometimes gets a little self-absorbed (may not notice when people have a problem or understand why they’re mad at him), lashes out verbally when angry, struggles with whether or not he’s the sort of man his dead father would have been proud of, may do something crazy just to feel alive
LIKES: evenings with his girlfriend, flying, making people laugh, competition, bacon, making people laugh, wizard rock
DISLIKES: losing, cheaters, folding laundry (why does it take so darn long?), men being disrespectful to women, being called immature, feeling like he’s not living up to expectations, people messing with his hair (*glares at siblings*)
HOBBIES: playing guitar, going out for drinks with his fellow Quidditch players, teasing/pranking his siblings, entertaining his nephew and nieces, seizing the moment, having adventures with his girlfriend

GENERAL PERSONALITY: Trace is Gryffindor to the core. If there’s a good time to be had, you can bet Trace is at the center of it. In particular he likes making people laugh. Although he has been known to take a joke too far on occasion. He loves to feel alive, the sort of guy who would pull his girlfriend out to dance in the rain, and sometimes his quest for adventures or fun can lead to recklessness. It does make him pretty good at Quidditch though. So does his competitive drive. He can definitely be a bit of a showoff at times, and sometimes his confidence can make him come off as slightly cocky. But he’s also the first to move to help an old lady cross the street or to tell a guy at the bar to stop hitting on the girl who clearly isn’t interested. And while he may occasionally get too wrapped up in himself to notice that others around him need his help, the way he treats kids or those in need of cheering up as the center of his immediate world makes it hard not to like him. He has no problem standing up for what he believes in or for others in need of protecting. A fact that, combined with his quick temper, got him in his fair share of fights in school. But his heart’s definitely in the right place. He sticks closely to his moral compass and would do anything to protect his family. Inwardly though he sometimes struggles with the pressure of the spotlight, as well as he’s become a man his father would have been proud of. But the fact that he’s actively trying to become that person makes his siblings seem to think he would have succeeded.




Parents: Jacob O’Brien (Irish, deceased) and Rose O’Brien (British Muggle, deceased)
Siblings: Rebecca (36, reporter), Connor (33, unspeakable), Isaac (29, curse breaker), Hannah (23, medi-witch)
Partner: Emily Howard (25, Appleby Arrows seeker)
Children: n/a
Other Family: Claire O’Brien (30, sister-in-law, beast liaison with the Ministry), Hayden O’Brien (15, niece), Micah O’Brien (10, nephew), Megan O’Brien (7, niece)

Character History: Trace was the youngest boy in the O’Brien family. With two older brothers, people might expect him to have been collateral damage in their schemes. But actually, it was Trace who caused most of the mischief. He was the child always climbing trees and jumping off of things. He was also (miraculously) the only O’Brien to break a bone – an arm – a distinction of which he remains quite proud. His brother Isaac helped bail him out of as many scrapes as possible, and the two remain quite close to this day.

No one was surprised to see Trace sorted into Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat barely even had to touch his head before making its proclamation. Trace fit right in with the lions and quickly fell in with a gang of boys who pulled stunts all across the castle. His grades stumbled a little here and there, but Trace had never been much of an academic anyway. He scraped by (just barely in the case of Potions, which was dropped the second he was allowed), and that was good enough for him.

His childhood came to a screeching halt, however, when Trace was twelve. His parents were both killed by a pureblood extremist. Suddenly Trace was an orphan in the care of his older sister Becca. Grief hit Trace hard. He began acting out at school, resulting in a slew of fights and detentions. Finally his head of house, completely out of ideas on how to help the boy who was clearly hurting, suggested he try out for Quidditch. Trace made the team, and it proved to be his saving grace. Serving as an alternate for beater and keeper gave him an outlet for all of his emotions. Within a matter of months his disposition had improved drastically. As had his grades. His sister, struggling to run the family and actively butting heads with Connor, was so relieved she actually sent Professor McGonagall a thank you letter. Not that Trace ever knew that.

Life slowly began looking up from there. Trace spent most of his time practicing for Quidditch and hanging out with his teammates. He played beater for a year and keeper for another before dropping back to play alternate due to a combination of healing injuries and the need to focus on the increasing difficulty of his classes. Quidditch talent was no good if he couldn’t graduate. But he still got to play occasionally and he was in pick-up games constantly. Things got a little tense in his sixth year when students started being petrified. Rumors of the heir of Slytherin led to an uptick in blood prejudice, and Trace became genuinely worried about the safety of himself and his younger sister Hannah. It was his first real taste of the prejudice his older sister had experienced as a halfblood in Slytherin house. Then his final year there was the escape of Sirius Black. But that got sorted out, and soon Trace was graduating after narrowly scraping by in all his NEWTS.

Finally free of academics, Trace spent his summer getting into as many tryouts as he could for professional teams. It was the Appleby Arrow who finally took him. He sat the bench for most of a year as an alternate beater before getting bumped up to keeper, a post he’s held ever since. Although it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. War broke out shortly after Trace made keeper. With a reporter for a sister and a brother and new sister-in-law working at the Ministry, the O’Briens soon found a target on their backs. They all closed ranks in the family home and eventually resorted to the Fidelius Charm to keep themselves safe. Trace didn’t take the self-imposed isolation well, leaving the house as often as he could to fight back in whatever small ways he could think of. He even tangled with a few Death Eaters who, quite frankly, he was lucky to walk away from. It was just frustrating now knowing how to help. But his oldest brother Connor seemed to understand the feeling, and the two bonded over shared supply runs and subtle acts of rebellion.

Finally though the war ended and Trace was able to return to Quidditch. It was a couple years after peace returned that Emily Howard joined the team as seeker. After some time hanging out as teammates, Trace found himself falling in love. A feeling Emily apparently returned. They started dating about a year and a half ago. They’ve had a few ups and downs, but for the most part their relationship is solid. Trace has even started toying with the idea of asking her to marry him. (His little sister has informed him she’s fully prepared to disown him if he screws up this relationship.) It’s only an idea right now. But Emily makes him happy and keeps him grounded. Trace already knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. At this point it’s really just a matter of waiting for the right moment to ask if she will.




Wand: Ash, dragon heartstring, 10 inches, rigid
Former House: Gryffindor
Affiliation: N/A
Amortentia: broom polish (flying was his first love), Emily’s favorite perfume, bacon cooking (partly because bacon, but also the O’Brien clan does a weekly breakfast and he loves them all being together)
Magical Abilities: n/a