Raphael Caelen McLaggen

Raphael McLaggen is a British wizard, and currently a seventh year Hufflepuff at Hogwarts. He is the seeker on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and is a keen photographer.

## Personality

Perspective: The camera can be a magical thing. Take a regular boy – ignored by his parents, shy to the extreme. He never speaks up in class and will do whatever it takes to accommodate other people. Now give him a camera – or a sketchbook, or anything that is in reality not just an object but something that completely changes how he interacts with the world. Suddenly he gains a new kind of confidence, and loses that fear of saying the wrong thing and being cast out socially for it. You see everything about him that he normally hides – his easy sense of humor, the vivid imagination and creativity that means he can always find the perfect shot. It’s all a matter of perspective. Once Raphael is behind the camera, the world changes. And he in turn changes too.

Golden Hour – Raphael sees the world in a different way from most people. His art gives him the opportunity to see how things fit together, how multiple distinct elements can come together to form one beautiful image. He is constantly seeking things to capture with his art. Candids of his friends, sketches of flowers, charcoals of Hogwarts at all different angles. He wants every image to tell a story, evoke an emotion that can survive whatever moment he’s captured that will eventually pass by. He’s looking for immortality in his art.

One Pixel Is The Loneliest Number: Raphael always felt disconnected from his family. His father had gotten his perfect child on the first try, but both his older brother and sister had fought to deliver on their father’s expectations. So he never received much attention, which naturally meant he became an intense people-pleaser. Rafe is easily pressured into doing things if it means earning someone’s approval, and can easily be bullied into scenarios he doesn’t like. It also means he’s constantly seeking praise for his work – not because he believes it’s the best he can do. But he just needs the validation.

Set The Scene: Raphael never got the approval he needed, so now he seeks it through his work. He’s an intensely curious person, always eager to explore new places and find new and beautiful things to photograph. He gets bored with the same routine and needs a little spice in his life to keep things interesting. You’ll never see him separated from his camera, or his sketchbook when his professors don’t allow the technology in class. After all, Raphael will never miss an opportunity to go out and find the perfect moment to capture forever.

Hyperfocal Distance: As in, Raphael has no long-term plans, no ability to gaze far off into the distance with any measure of sharpness or clarity. He has his passion, this certainty he carries with him constantly that he was meant to connect with people through his art. But he doesn’t know what to do with it. He’s the kind of person who thinks about the moment immediately in front of him. Otherwise, he relies on others to stay focused.

Burst Rate: Raphael can focus on his art for hours, whether that is sitting and painting or sitting and waiting for the right shot. When it comes to something he loves, Rafe will invest anything – his time, his attention, his whole sense of being. Otherwise – he can be easily forgetful or distracted. He was never the academic type, and it’s difficult for him to sit down and get his homework done. If he doesn’t find it interesting, then it probably won’t get done.

## Relationships

Addilyn Slater - best friend, secret love

Brígh O'Dalaigh - best friend

Richard Knox - best friend

Penelope Bainbridge - best friend

## History

As the youngest McLaggen, Raphael always received the most freedom and the least amount of attention. In the end, it was both a blessing and a curse. Cormac McLaggen’s whole life revolved around Quidditch. His own career had barely taken off before being tragically cut short, and so every ounce of that obsession transferred to Raphael’s older brother and ensuring that the Quidditch legacy could continue. Mickey received all the pressure to become a star Quidditch player – a guarantee of having McLaggen blood – although his older sister Donatella was never one to be outdone and also pushed to be included. They would both go on to eventually play in the pro leagues (at least until Ella surprised them all by going to join the circus).

So, a father who measured his love by a broomstick, and two older siblings who didn’t fail to deliver. What else was a young boy to do? Rafe liked Quidditch. He didn’t love it, he didn’t want to spend the rest of his life pursuing the dream. But he liked it. He had a decent talent for the different positions, although the boy was always small for his age and therefore better suited for Seeker. Not as good as Keeper, in his father’s view, but it was acceptable. And really, what did Cormac care? He had two exemplary children already – so he didn’t need to worry about the third. Rafe wasn’t neglected, but he was never the apple of his father’s eye. Cormac didn’t spend long days drilling him like his older brother, and he didn’t rave about the boy’s potential at dinner. In fact, he never really seemed to notice his youngest child at all.

So by the time Raphael had arrived at Hogwarts, he faced a number of choices. The Sorting Hat made the first one for him. Rafe had been hoping for Gryffindor – he didn’t feel like a particularly brave person, but maybe if he could carry on his father’s legacy then it would earn him some attention. No dice. The hat shouted out Hufflepuff, and Rafe wilted and made his way to the House that often faced the brunt of the jokes. At least in the McLaggen household. The boy was small for his age – he wouldn’t hit his growth spurt until years later, and until then he had to suffer being shorter than most of his classmates, even the girls. He couldn’t be exactly sure what got him on the House team. He hoped and hoped that it was because the captain could see his potential, but he was more certain it was because of his last name and the reputation his talented older siblings were creating for themselves.

The second choice he made himself. He wandered into a meeting of the Art Club one day, and got his hands on his first camera. This must be what his siblings felt like on a broom. When something was as easy as breathing, and came as naturally too. Raphael was a shy boy, who’d always had trouble expressing himself. But behind the camera, he almost became a different person. Confident, creative, always searching for that perfect shot. He knew he had an eye for the artistic side of things, and Art Club became his refuge. Everything that came after – joining the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, becoming a photographer for the school newspaper…it couldn’t have happened without the creative outlet that Art Club gave him, and the knowledge that he had found that spark that made life worth living.

His father probably wasn’t thrilled that his youngest son had fallen into artistic pursuits, so in this sense Raphael was lucky that he’d never been the center of his attention. As long as Mickey continued to excel, he knew he could take a breath and pursue his own interests without too much interference from his father. Around Hogwarts, Raphael had many nicknames – McLaggen to his teammates, Rafe to most of his classmates…and Cheese. That one was an accident. Since the moment he’d discovered photography, Raphael couldn’t be separated from his camera. He’d go around snapping pictures of beautiful views, interesting objects, and passing students. His first words to most people? “Say cheese!” Most people didn’t call him that anymore, particularly once he hit his growth spurt in 6th year and became a photographer for the paper – he’d never be one of the cool kids by any means, but he wasn’t an easy target for bullies anymore. Still, Addy and Brígh weren’t most people – and as his best friends, he supposed they could be given a pass on the embarrassing nicknames.

It’s his last year at Hogwarts, and Rafe is…very, very lost. Both his siblings were immediately recruited by professional Quidditch teams upon graduating, and they set quite the high bar in capturing their father’s approval. Raphael’s given up on that (for the most part), but even setting Quidditch aside…what is he supposed to do with his life? Art is just a hobby…right?

Raphael isn’t brave like a Gryffindor. He doesn’t handle conflict well. So with the series of unfortunate events that never seems to end at Hogwarts, Rafe leans heavily on his friends for comfort. Students murdered on the train? The massive transfer of Ilvermorney students to Hogwarts? Dragon attack in Hogsmeade? None of these things make any sense to him, why they’re happening now and how so many accidents and terrible things can happen at all. But Raphael is easily impressionable, so if his friends tell him not to worry, well…then he won’t.

He did come down with Hag’s Fever in early summer 2025, and therefore missed the Quidditch final due to being admitted into St. Mungo’s. It was the first time his father gave his almost undivided attention to his younger son, to ensure that Raphael recovered quickly and could go back to playing Quidditch with no lingering side effects. Once it was clear he was healthy, and that Hag’s Fever was more of a nuisance than anything else, Cormac quickly returned to hyperfixating on his other (better) son’s professional Quidditch career.