Arcus Drage

## Arcus Cavender Drage †

**Arcus Cavender Drage** (b. 4 January – c. May), more commonly known as **Mad Arcus**, was a half-blood wizard of the Drage family, the only child born to wizard and petty criminal Alberic Drage and Muggle Lucille Cavender. He was raised solely by his mother for intermittent periods after being sent to the Muggle world when his father was imprisoned in Azkaban for burglary and torture.

Arcus attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry several years after Lily Leander and Sasha Thorn, during which he was Sorted into Ravenclaw House. Throughout his education he was a precocious and creative pupil, capable of casting many spells and speaking several different languages. Despite his intelligence Arcus was expelled midway through his fifth year for his troubling experimentation with Dark Magic, departing school with little to no qualifications. He was a former member of Drama Club.

Following his expulsion, Arcus sought work as an amateur playwright yet faced a serious loss of credibility after a number of criminal convictions. At the age of eighteen he was inducted into the Firm after working as a croupier at the Viperae Casino, making him the syndicate's youngest member. Arcus was fanatically loyal to Xanthas Jordan and among the most dangerous and eccentric of his followers, having once been certified as psychopathic. Both he and Cyprian Shepard were infamous for the affairs that they carried out with high-ranking politicians, obtaining the Firm a considerable amount of immunity and influence within the Ministry of Magic.

Arcus mysteriously disappeared just prior to the arrest of the Firm, meaning he was never apprehended for the role he had to play in their crimes. A presumption of death was declared some time later although his body was never recovered. A number of rumours have circulated regarding his possible fate: hundreds of reported sightings have been made in various countries around the world though none have been substantiated. Popular theories include that of him being murdered by Xanthas following a disagreement, and the possible suggestion that Arcus was working undercover for the British Auror Office as part of their plan to infiltrate the Firm.

## Biography

### Early life

"*In the village my mum in lives, there's this ickle wishing well. It's made of white bricks, right in the middle. So pretty, so nice, that's what everyone's always saying. But I swear, if I ever have to spend one more day in that village, I'm gonna blow it up with the worst magic you could ever think of. Completely fucking bomb it. Probably blow my hands off but it'd be worth it. Just to see all those pretty white bricks spread all over that ugly village.*"
— Arcus on growing up in his mother's village

Arcus Cavender Drage was born on the 4th January in the London Borough of Newham to Alberic Drage, a wizard, and Lucille Cavender, a Muggle. His father, who had a reputation in the wizarding world as a petty criminal and regularly robbed homes to establish a living, met his mother whilst visiting the Muggle world and allowed her to believe that he was a generally well-principled man. These falsehoods eventually came to light shortly after the birth of their son, once Alberic relocated the family to the wizarding world. Within a few months Lucille became disillusioned with Alberic's possessive behaviour and illicit methods of earning money. A series of arguments led her to angrily eschew magic and depart the wizarding world, leaving her son with Alberic. Although her reasons for doing so were unknown, it was surmised that Lucille found it hard to connect with Arcus as a result of postnatal illness.

Arcus was raised by his father up until the age of eight when Alberic was sent to Azkaban for burgling and torturing an elderly couple with the Cruciatus Curse. Throughout childhood Arcus was strongly influenced by his elder cousin Ajax Drage, a guard employed at Gringotts who often boasted of his privately gruesome exploits with Dark Magic. Following his father's imprisonment, Arcus was sent to the Muggle world to live under his mother's care. During this time he began living as Archie Cavender, shedding any sliver of eccentricity in favour an ordinary life. He found Muggle way of living especially torpid compared to how he had been living up to that point, and he later characterised the youthful period that he spent with his mother as the most miserable time of his life.

Lucille struggled immensely with raising her son, especially as he began stealing from local shops and his own home. He executed a number of runaway attempts, none of which were successful, and the home received a number of warning letters from the Ministry due to his untempered underage magic. Although of high intelligence, he lost interest in learning at an early age and became infatuated with horror stories and petty larceny. Peers would recall him being difficult, spoiled and a bully. As he began to approach adolescence, Lucille began looking into foster homes and delinquent schools, but she was unable to find anything suitable. The two later received news on his eleventh birthday that he was eligible to attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

## Physical description

"*...the short one with the funny laugh.*"
— Description of Arcus' appearance

## Personality and traits

"*He isn't a boy, he's a certified psychopath.*"
— Linus to Megaera regarding Arcus' deranged personality

## Magical abilities and skills

**Irfan Whataley**: "*What do you plan to do to me?*"
**Daphne Sevchenko**: "*Not what I plan to do. What* Arcus *plans to do.*"
— Before Arcus tortures members of the Whataley gang

## Possessions

* **Aspen wand**: Arcus' wand was manufactured by Orland Ollivander and purchased from his shop in Diagon Alley prior to beginning his magical education. It was twelve and three quarter inches long, made of aspen wood with a thestral tail hair core. Wands from aspen wood are said to produce outstanding charmwork, often found in the possession of accomplished duellists and revolutionaries who are likely to be attracted by quests and new orders. This wand was discovered inside the Viperae shortly after his disappearance, having been broken into several pieces.
* **Barkley**: Barkley was Arcus' pet Crup that he often carried around with him. It is likely that Arcus owned this dog illegally, given that he had not removed its forked tail as wizarding law required nor had he obtained a licence from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
* **Cigarette holder**: Arcus owned a foot-length silver holder in which a cigarette could be held for smoking. The primary use was to keep falling ash off of clothes.

## Relationships

### Linus Mortan

**Arcus**: "*Do you trust me?*"
**Linus**: "*Not in the slightest.*"
**Arcus**: "*Good. I wouldn't either.*"
— An exchange at a Firm meeting

### Frederick Alderete

"*There's a photograph in the Prophet, along with a story of sexual misconduct between a gangster and a member of the Wizengamot.*"
— Public revelation of Arcus' affair with Alderete

## Etymology

**Arcus** is a Latin name referring to a feature in the body that is curved in shape.

**Cavender** is a Gaelic name derived from the word *Caomhanach*, an adjective denoting association with St. Caomhan. The first Kavanagh, Donal, the son of Dermot MacMurrough, was fostered by a successor of this saint.

**Drage** is derived from the Roman (Latin) word *draco*, originally describing a dragon or serpent.