Silas Viridian

## Silas Percival Thomas Viridian

"*Silas Viridian was never proud or vain; he could find something to value in anyone, however apparently insignificant or wretched that individual may be— and I believe that his early losses endowed him with great humanity and sympathy. That he is the most powerful wizard alive cannot be questioned, but what truly sets him apart from most wizards and witches is how kind he is. He cares deeply for others, and would look out for all until the very end.*"

— Professor Aberforth Huxley discussing Silas Viridian.

**Silas Percival Thomas Viridian** (born c. 1885), commonly referred to as either **Headmaster** or **Professor Viridian**, is a half-blood wizard of British descent who holds the reputation of being the greatest sorcerer of current times, and perhaps of all time. He is the youngest son of **Wulfric** and **Penelope Viridian** (née Potter), husband to the late **Alice Viridian** (née Longbottom), and the maternal great-grandfather to Perseus and Ophelia Black, and William Potter. A muggle-supporting wizard, Silas is described as a highly mysterious, wise and benevolent wizard who has served the wizarding world as the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry since 1952.

Born in the wizarding town of Shevon-by-the-Sea, Silas was the youngest of five brothers and attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a Gryffindor student from 1896 to 1903. His mother, Penelope Viridian, tragically died while giving birth to him. Although his family mainly consisted of pure-blood supremacists, Silas himself cared little for blood-status; and even as a child, would often speak out against his older brothers and defend muggle-born students from harassment by predominantly Slytherin students. Following his graduation at Hogwarts in 1903, Silas had already established a reputation as being the most brilliant student of Hogwarts at the time.

Silas temporarily moved to London in 1906, where he found employment as an intern for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He quit shortly after due to unknown reasons and moved to France for a time, where he would study the ancient art of alchemy under the tutelage of Nicholas Flamel in Paris, whom Silas had been exchanging letters with as far back when he had been a student at Hogwarts. It was around this time that he married **Alice Longbottom** as well, before eventually moving back to London in 1924 after which he would start his career at Hogwarts as the Alchemy and later the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor. It was around this time period that Gellert Grindelwald and his followers started the Global Wizarding War, and over the course of the following years, dominated much of both the wizarding and muggle worlds.

While Silas was a wizard of significant skill at this point in time, he was still relatively unknown in the wizarding community. Nearing the late 1930s as his fellow Professor at Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore - who was regarded to be the strongest wizard at this point in time - still refused to act against Grindelwald's incursions, Silas offered his services to the International Confederation of Wizards to fight against Grindelwald and his followers. He fought countless battles and was personally responsible for the defeat of numerous of Grindelwald’s Acolytes, single-handedly turning the tide of battle in coordination with the combined forces of the British, American and several European Ministries of Magic. With each victory, Silas' reputation throughout the wizarding world grew, and after nearly forty years of terror by Grindelwald and his followers, the war seemed to reach its end.

However, in his last act against Grindelwald's lieutenants, Silas' wife was among the casualties. This happened around the same time period when Dumbledore finally decided to confront Grindelwald, and following Grindelwald's defeat and the war's end in 1945, Silas retracted into seclusion; blaming himself for his inability to have saved Alice. The following year, as a terrible and unknown illness had struck Dumbledore and the rest of St. Mungo's Hospital, Silas was called upon by the Ministry of Magic for aid. Silas was able to cure all those infected, except for Dumbledore himself. In his final hours, Dumbledore refused to see anyone but Silas, and upon his death, entrusted Silas with the Elder Wand - which Dumbledore had won from Grindelwald during their final battle. For effectively saving the entirety of St. Mungo's Hospital, and for his efforts during the Global Wizarding War, Silas was awarded an Order of Merlin First Class.

After Armando Dipett passed away in 1952, the position of Headmaster was transferred to Silas. Although the popular culture surrounding pure-blood supremacy had grown significantly in Britain during this time, Silas ensured that Hogwarts remained a safe haven for all; a role which he has currently dedicated himself to for over a decade.

## Personality and traits

"*Regret is my constant companion. Do not let it become yours.*"

*—* Silas Viridian to Edward Longbottom following Alice's death in 1944.

Considered by many to be the most powerful wizard of all time, Silas is benevolent and wise; a great wizard in the vein of Merlin. He has an almost unearthly calm and relaxed demeanour and almost constantly gives off an aura of serenity and composure, rarely displaying intense emotions of anger or fear. He is known for typically speaking in a calm, collected voice, and being firm, but reasonable and kind. He frequently uses humour to make people feel comfortable in his presence, and partly does so to appear less threatening. Silas is also known to be quite philosophical; often, very few people have the understanding (or patience) to comprehend his philosophies.

His capabilities as a wizard were combined with his extraordinary intellect, and extremely cunning and subtle mind, which allowed him to comprehend human nature so thoroughly that it enabled him to be unfooled by most or any charades. Although he is perfectly aware of his capabilities, Silas also understands that he has his weaknesses and blind spots just as any other man; and works hard to keep them in check. During his Hogwarts career, especially as Headmaster, Silas always maintains his composure, even in situations that would terrify others - and while Silas never displays any arrogance or conceit (at least in his later years), he has no use for false modesty either, and if a situation warrants it, is perfectly willing to acknowledge his virtually peerless intelligence and power.

More than anything else, Silas is motivated by his belief in the power of the human spirit. He also has a deep capacity for love, and is a firm believer in forgiveness and retribution. However, contradictory to his forgiving nature, Silas still blames himself for the death of his wife. Though he rarely shows it, he feels an enormous and constant remorse for his inability to have saved her, which greatly motivated his unwillingness to boast or take pride in what he has accomplished so far. He is highly perceptive and emotionally intelligent; Silas' knowledge of people's true personality went beyond being simply a good judge of character.

In spite of his many extraordinary qualities, Silas is also somewhat of a Machiavellian figure. He can be stoically pragmatic and is extremely prone to secrecy, and whilst Silas was never a deliberately cruel man, at times, he can be too far-sighted, making choices that he believes to be for the benefit of humanity even if it deeply hurts some of the people around him. While usually kind and calm, Silas does have a very serious side of himself and is capable of unleashing a terrifying wrath. This was rarely seen but appears to be well known, and combined with his exceptional magical abilities, makes very few of his allies willing to cross him and almost all of his enemies to fear him.

## Possessions

* **The Elder Wand**: also known as the **Wand of Destiny**, is one of three magical objects that make up the fabled Deathly Hallows. It was entrusted to Silas by Albus Dumbledore following the latter's death at St. Mungo's Hospital in **1946**. It is said to be the most powerful wand in existence; able to perform feats of magic that would normally be impossible for even the most skilled wizards, as well as mending another wand damaged beyond normal magical repair.
* **Pensieve**: a magical stone receptable used to store and review memories, which witches and wizards are able to extract from their heads as a type of fluid.
* **Deluminator**: a magical, silver device which removes light sources from the Deluminator's immediate surroundings, as well as bestow them. Another use for the Deluminator is that whenever the user's name is mentioned in a conversation, the device would play a brief snippet of said conversation just before and after the user's name was mentioned. Activating the Deluminator after this allows the user to Apparate to the location of those speaking about the user even when their exact location was unknown.

## Powers and abilities

"*And as he moved his wand, the flames his enemy had projected at him started to change course. As if surrounded by a dancing current of fiery red, Silas used the Elder Wand to twist and manipulate the fire into the shape of a majestic and enormous Phoenix that was said to have been so vast and great that it would've made full-grown dragons look like goblins in comparison.*"

*—* A description of Silas Viridian using the Elder Wand in battle for the first time.

An outstandingly talented wizard, Silas had become an extraordinarily powerful and accomplished wizard of nearly unrivalled abilities and powers during his later years, to the point that he was admired and feared by even others of outstanding magical talent, considered to be the greatest wizard of all time by many. Although he is disliked by a handful of pure-blood supremacists due to his stance on muggles and muggle-born, even they would admit that Silas is one of the greatest sorcerers to have ever lived.

A natural leader and a cunning strategist, Silas is a master in virtually all aspects of magic and has spent his entire life in devotion to uncovering many of its secrets. After the Elder Wand was entrusted to him by Albus Dumbledore in 1946, Silas coincidingly became the first of the Peverell descendants (through his maternal bloodline) to reclaim ownership of the Elder Wand since the death of the fabled Antioch Peverell. Under Silas' ownership, the wand has largely been used for good unlike many of its former masters. Silas once explained that he *"took it, not for gain, but to save others from it."* Furthermore, while tension and turmoil has been rising in both the wizarding and muggle worlds in recent years, Hogwarts has remained largely unscathed by the crisis. It is a widely accepted fact that this is not due to the school's neutral grounds, but as a result of Silas' legendary capabilities; with few to none willing to cross him.

## Description and appearance

"*He was tall, thin, and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both almost long enough to tuck into his belt. He was wearing long robes, a blue cloak that swept the ground, and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright, and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.*"

*—* Silas Viridian's physical appearance.

Silas Viridian is tall and thin, with silver hair and beard (dark brown in his youth) so long that they could almost be tucked into his belt. He has a very long and crooked nose that looked as if it had been broken at least twice. He was also said to have long and skilful fingers. His eyes were described to be a brilliant, soul-piercing shade of blue, and usually twinkled with kindness and mischief.

When he became genuinely angry, however, Silas would transform from a benign-looking, bright-eyed old man into a wizard even more terrifying than Grindelwald himself, with a face that was a classic portrait of cold fury and an aura of power that made him seem as if he was giving off burning heat. He usually wears half-moon spectacles and a colourful array of robes, ranging from purple to crimson-red. His demeanour is often — if not always — serene and ethereal, and Silas usually speaks in a calm, pleasant voice - even when people think that he is actually furious.