Pearson Shacklebolt

##### Positives

> ● Empathetic. It is part of what makes him a good leader - he feels for those around him and wants the best for everyone. He feels when they're hurting.
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> ● Charismatic. He has come as far as he has because of his natural charisma - he makes friends with everyone around him and makes people believe what he has to say, because he lives it with them.
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> ● Clear-headed. It can be infuriating just how calm he can be in situations that one would not expect, but he is. He keeps a cool head, and it is incredibly difficult to get under his skin.
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##### Negatives

> ● Stubborn. When he feels strongly about something, there is no way that he is going to back down, even if that means standing alone.
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> ● Strict. He is strict with his family and he is strict at work - he isn't heartless, and those that know him know that, but he expects the best out of everyone and will hold them to high standards.
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> ● Workaholic. He brings work home, to the bathroom, while eating, sleeping...everywhere. His brain doesn't know how to shut it off. There is a lot of work that needs to be done.
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#### History

##### Family History

> Aldrich Shacklebolt was raised in a loving and caring family that placed a deep emphasis on the world and community around them. They were frequently helping out neighbors in whatever way that they could, though they knew that to make a difference in the world, they had to be the difference. His father was a high-ranking Ministry official, as was his mother, and they unknowingly put on him the pressure to follow in their footsteps. He loved his family deeply, but sometimes, he was overwhelmed with feeling like he had to do the right thing all of the time.
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> At Hogwarts, Aldrich started to rebel against his parents, and against whatever rules existed, because he wanted to find out who he was. He felt as if he had lived in his parents shadows for so long that he didn’t really know what to expect of himself anymore. His parents were constantly being written to about his behavior, though it seemed as if Aldrich was still going to do whatever he could. As the eldest Shacklebolt of his siblings, he was certainly no role model.
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> He met his match when he traveled abroad on a trip, not yet wanting to settle down and work. Aldrich wanted freedom and happiness, feeling as if he didn’t really know what it was since he only knew his parents definition of it.
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> Kalisha Umaru was the daughter of the African Minister for Magic, and she had absolutely no time for Aldrich, no matter how handsome he was. She thought he was a spoiled man and had no real substance to him. She had grown up with just her father and her siblings as her mother had died during childbirth with her last sibling, so she was constantly having to take care of everyone around her. She had no time to take care of an adult, as she would tell it. She challenged him in many ways, and Aldrich found that he had to prove himself if he wanted to take her out on a date.
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> Aldrich stayed in Africa for many years, though Kalisha made it clear she was not going to wait for him to grow up, and she certainly didn’t want to date someone that appeared to only be doing things for her approval. Instead, she started to date someone else, and soon enough, Aldrich decided it was time for him to move on, too. He continued to travel more, moving from one magical village to the next before he realized he was starting to do the exact thing his parents had attempted to instill in him as he grew up. Aldrich started to realize he was more like his parents than he had thought, and started to date someone who travelled with him to the various villages, helping to strengthen their wards and protect them against unruly creatures.
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> On the same night that he had proposed to his girlfriend, she had been killed in an attack by muggles who found out she was a witch. Heartbroken, he moved back home and fell into a deep depression and his hatred for muggle developed. Upon hearing of his depression through one of their mutual friends, Kalisha went to visit Aldrich. She started to visit him more and more as they would talk and develop a friendship. Her approach was more tough love in nature as she pushed him to do better than honoring his late fiancé’s legacy by sulking, and hating muggles when his fiancé had been a muggleborn herself.
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> In all of the help that she provided him, their feelings started to grow. Years had passed before Aldrich went straight into proposing to his friend, and to his relief, she said yes. They married shortly after, in a quiet ceremony, and before they knew it, the first of their children was on their way.
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##### Early Years

> Pierce was born nearly a decade and a half behind his eldest brother, Kingsley. They weren’t entirely close, though to no one’s fault except for timing. Pierce was just a toddler when Kingsley was practically starting his young career and incredibly busy with everything that had been going on in the world as the war was upon them. Times were uncertain for the Shacklebolt’s as they took extra care of Pierce to ensure his safety in a time of war, though they hadn’t wanted to keep him sheltered from it. The reign of Voldemort was heavy upon them, though they were determined to make the best of the situation to not only keep their family safe, but the people around them as well because they believed it to be mankind’s responsibility to each other. Pierce was always in the care of one of his parent’s. while the other would be out, attempting to be useful in such dark and dreary times, leaving Pierce none the wiser to what was going on around him. His parents would tell him stories of grandeur about the many heroes in the world, many people that he would grow to look up to.
> When he was a seven years old, the First Wizarding War had come to an end and it was a time of celebration for the good winning, as much as it was a time of mourning for the loved ones that had been lost. Harry Potter was the hero for him to look up to, and just as the rest of the world had, he knew that Harry Potter had saved them all. It made him hopeful and wishful that he, too, could make a difference in the world around him, even as just a young boy. He went around with his father to help clean up the places that had been destroyed, and though he was much too young to use magic himself, he would do what he could with his hands so that he could be most helpful.
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##### School Years

> Time continued and he went on to Hogwarts, excited as could be after he received his wand and his books, looking forward to the many things that he could learn. He was sent off to Gryffindor, where he found it easy to make friends with everyone around him. He found that he was a natural when it came to quidditch and joined the team in his second year as a chaser. Soon enough, he found his natural talent when it came to Ancient Runes and Charms. He loved finding the various ways that he could communicate with others, finding it to be the most important part for someone that wanted to make a difference, and he saw charms as a way to make others happy.
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> In his fifth year, he had been given the opportunity to be a prefect for his house, which he took great honor and pride in. He worked hard at balancing his time playing quidditch, his prefect duties, his studies, and maintaining his relationships, because he knew that balance was key. Although he didn’t have to, he started to work during his summer months, putting a great deal of effort in trying to get to know the people around him, particularly the less fortunate, to understand what it is they felt the world had needed.
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> In his 7th year, Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, was now a part of the school and he thought it was the greatest thing to happen. He was the one to thank for the time of peace, as all of the stories had told him over the years. This was also the year that he had been appointed Headboy, a duty he took very seriously. He took it seriously enough to drop out of quidditch, wanting to give someone else a shot to play, someone else who might want to play quidditch professionally. Pierce knew that as much as he loved quidditch, it was definitely something he didn’t see himself making a career out of.
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##### Post-School Years

> After graduating Hogwarts, Pierce was immediately accepted as a Curse Breaker Trainee. It made sense to him to follow that path with his love for arithmancy and ancient artifacts. His high scores in all of his NEWTs paved the way for him to be accepted at nearly any job opportunity that he sought out, but it was working at the bank that he felt he was more fit for. It was a time of peace for the wizarding world, though he knew that there was still darkness that had been centuries in the making that needed to be uncovered, and he was fascinated by all of it along the way.
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> During a training overseas was when he had met his future wife, Taraji. She was compassionate, vivacious, and headstrong – three qualities that he valued greatly, and though they hadn’t started to date right away, letters started between them as he learned more about her and her passions in life, as he wrote about his. The letters turned to visits after the first year, and he hoped that one day, they would find a way to be together.
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> His love of languages had him learning Gobbledegook as he worked with the Bank, feeling as if proper communication was the best way for anyone to make a positive change in this world. The goblins hadn’t been too kind to him at the start, though Pierce was persistent in developing positive relationships with them, knowing just how fickle the relationship was when it came to wizards and witches. It was no way for the wizarding world to succeed, in his mind, if everyone simply stuck to what they knew. While he was working as a cursebreaker trainee, and later, as a cursebreaker, he had written multiple training manuals that would come to be used to help teach the new generation of cursebreakers, maintaining as safe of an environment as possible. He translated the manuals into a runic language as an extra way of teaching those to come after him. Passionate about the safety of those attempting to break curses, he spearheaded the creation of several safety tools to be used in certain circumstances, such as one that would detect if any part of a curse had started to infect a cursebreaker so that they might seek assistance prior to it getting worse. His implementation of safety protocols is said to have saved many, many lives, especially as he made a way for the information to be shared to cursebreakers internationally, feeling as if it was not information that ought to be made a secret.
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> His first year as a Cursebreaker was when the return of Voldemort had been told to him through his brother, Kingsley. If it had been anyone else, Pierce was certain he wouldn’t have believed it, but he knew who his brother was, and if his brother believed it to be true, then he believed it to be true. His relationship with Taraji faltered a bit as he became consumed with work and aiding his brother where he could, trying to figure out who to trust and who not to trust. He didn’t want to bring Taraji into this, and he knew he couldn’t leave, either, because this was where he needed to be.
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> Whatever Kingsley had needed, Pierce was there to assist him, even fighting alongside him when it came to being at his former school. Pierce watched how groups turned against each other and how magical beings and beasts alike found it difficult to work with each other, even against such a threat as great as Voldemort and what he stood for. At the end of the Second Wizarding War, Pierce transitioned to be a Beast Division Worker at the Ministry so that he could help mend relationships and feel like he was making a bigger difference in the world that he lived in. Despite his talent as a curse breaker, he knew that it wasn’t his real passion. After two years, he switched to the Being Division due to a sudden shortage, and his ability to communicate with Goblins being useful for the department.
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> His communication started up again with Taraji, and despite the time that had passed, she seemed willing to move out to where he was so that they could try to date. They dated for two years before he proposed and they married in a large ceremony in 2002, which seemed rather late for his status as a pureblood. He hadn’t been in a rush, knowing that he would rather marry for love than for anything else, and he was thankful to find someone that shared his passion of making the world a better place around them as his wife founded a nonprofit organization.
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> Pierce moved from the Being Division to accepting a position as the manager, especially since he found out that his wife was pregnant. Despite his status as a sacred 28, and family wealth, Pierce and his wife were keen to live off of what they earned now, donating the rest where they could to those less fortunate. While working in the Being Division, he helped to create more habitats for the various magical creatures as there seemed to be great growth among magical communities. He frequently met with the different Being groups, discussing their personal needs and desires so that their habitats and environments were best suited for them. Everyone deserved to be in a comfortable place, and he sought to make that a reality for as many beings as he could.
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> Soon after, Pierce was joining the Misinformation Office when they needed it as he had proved himself capable and needed when it came to extreme situations. He was very easy going and had a way about him that made others naturally feel at ease around him. His compassion and charisma aided the department when it came to working with the Muggle prime minister, and Pierce wanted to be of help. He seemed to have even managed to develop a friendship with the prime minister, even amongst the various issues that magical beings and beasts seemed to have with the muggle world.
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> During this time, he and his wife had four children, though neither seemed to be slowing down when it came to work. His wife, as he would put it, was a force to reckon with as she seemed able to do it all, frequently taking her little children to work with her when she could, or employing their neighbors to watch after their little ones. Still, he and his wife were adamant about making sure their family didn’t suffer because of their busy careers and frequently went on trips, though most of the work that they did with their children was to share their passion in caring for others.
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> In 2012, Pierce had been selected to take the British seat with the ICW as he had proven himself to be rather valuable when it came to developing relationships with beings and beasts alike, something that others saw as useful when it came to improving the economy and the relations across the globe. He was a strong advocate for the rights of creatures outside of himself, making a friend of many unlikely individuals and leading a charge for camaraderie, acceptance, and togetherness for the better world of today.
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> In 2015, he and his family were looking to add to their family, but this time, were driven to adopt to provide a good home for those that needed it. They hadn't intended to, but they didn't want to separate the three siblings that they fell in love with, and soon enough, their family of 6 became a family of 9. It seemed to be chaos all of the time, though they were constantly looking after each other and making the adjustments that they needed to make.
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> After years with a seat with the ICW, an opportunity presented itself and Pierce seemed to easily win the public’s trust and was soon appointed as the Minister for Magic in 2020.
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##### Minister for Magic History

> Pierce never thought that he would have followed in his brother’s footsteps when it came to becoming the Minister for Magic, though he had always greatly respected his eldest brother and looked up to him for all of the change he had accomplished himself. They were similar in many ways, keeping a level head and helping those around him, though he knew that they had taken different paths in life. He was thankful for his brother’s support as the second Shacklebolt made their way into office. With a newfound passion of this leadership position, Pierce vowed to lead his people into success and goodness, with a clear head and sound decisions.
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> He studied more than he ever had, making sure he was continuously the best for the position, reading how other leaders before him succeeded and failed, and continued to be an advocate to those around him. He was determined to be the best leader he could be, both in office and at home.
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> In 2022, his leadership took a hit as they were faced with a prolific serial killer and he faced a lot of criticism with how many lives had been taken, and how certain measures should have been taken to ensure lives were saved. It seemed to be a political nightmare, and the stress seemed to leak at home as he and his wife started to argue more and more, with her starting to doubt his leadership since she had lost dear friends to the killer. His leadership made it hard on those in his family as they faced backlash from reporters and those most affected, but Pierce knew that he couldn’t just leave his position because it got hard.
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> During one meeting with an old friend of his back when they had been at Hogwarts together and played on the same team together for years. They had developed a strong friendship then and kept in contact over the years, so he was all too happy to hear from him to see what he wanted to suggest for his area of expertise. Safety protocols, in particular, was something he was vastly curious to hear more about. The meeting, however, had been cut short as he watched his old friend, his family friend, suffer right in front of him before his friend was no longer. It traumatized Pierce more than he would admit as the memory of this soon became a recurring nightmare, and made him all the more determined to bring an end to this trauma that the world was suffering from. Pierce worked day and night, unable to shut work off so easily when he knew that something had to be done.
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> For close to a year, he felt the stress of this, working with each of his departments to try to get a better handle on it, and knowing that his every move was going to be critiqued in some way. The ones who once supported him deeply and loved him for his advocacy, now blamed him for not leading the Ministry in a way that was successful earlier. With a suspect finally in custody, he knew his work was only just getting started. As he and his wife continue to struggle at home, he felt as if his hand was forced when it came to allowing the Quadwizard Tournament. He hoped this would have a better effect than the Triwizard Tournament had in its run, but everyone needed something else to focus on. He hoped to mend the relations of the community in a new era post-tragedy while he plays catch up in repairing the trust which had been broken, both with the nations he was leading, and his family back at home.
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### Connections

#### **Family**

> None on site at the moment.
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###### Elsie Connors

> He has known Elsie for quite a long time, and considers her a dear friend.
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###### Declan Connors

> He is perhaps a bit closer to Elsie than he is with Dex, but he considers them both to be close friends.
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###### **Romance**

> None on board, but his wife currently.
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###### Leander Yaxley

> A man that is gunning for his job - he just doesn't know it yet.
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