This character is retired, and is no longer in play. After many months of being increasing unwell, bed ridden, Gareth Chaucer Ollivander passed away peacefully in his sleep on the 15th of January, 1940. He was 101 years old.
| Character Information |
 |
| Portrayed by Mel Brooks |
| Name: | Gareth Chaucer Ollivander |
| Aliases: | Grump |
| Birthday: | Jul 28 |
| Position: | Lima Press |
| Lineage: | Pure-blood |
Description
A rather short man, at about five foot two, looking to be roughly seventy years old or so, with very little hair left, and what was left was quite grey. His forehead is sloped a little, and his nose large and bulbous, almost Goblin like really. He was rather heavy set, his hands wrinkled, with short ink stained figures. His eyes were sharp and blue, small in his face.
His hands were half curled as though clawed, with large arthritic knuckles, the left one frequently gripping a sectional cane. Wearing heavier woolen grey robes of a tweedish purple color he at first glance could seem almost hunchback from his bent-over posture.
Background
Born in Nottinghamshire in 1838, Gareth Chaucer Ollivander's childhood was peaceful. In 1850 he went to Hogwarts as a Hufflepuff, and did well, notably in Charms. He was worst at dealing with plants and beasts, which he found terrifying. His spare time was spent reading; once, during a holiday, he was introduced to the Canterbury Tales, he preferred to be called by his middle name 'Chaucer'. His electives were Ancient Runes and Muggle Studies. In his fourth year he met Maydsin Dippet and the two became inseparable. He left after taking his OWLs, intent on building up funds so that he might ask for her hand in marriage; in 1856 he began working as an apprentice at Lima Press assisting the aged proprietor. Two years later he proposed, and she accepted.
During a leave of absence when his son Thaddeus was born (1865) he worked on various charms, trying to speed up the 'printing' process. By 1870 he was almost running the business single-handedly, putting himself under a great deal of stress; in the year Aneiron was born (1872) he was convinced to take a true holiday, touring as far as America, bringing home all manner of foreign wizarding books to introduce to the British Isles. A fire in 1880 destroyed the Lima Press building. Magical arson was suspected, no suspect ever found. Lean years followed; Chaucer's employer sold the business to him outright, at a very low price, and for the next ten years he ran the press from his own home, restoring old templates and buying back old stock wherever he could.
Today, the Lima Press is flourishing, printing wizarding books and even a few Muggle volumes; and occasionally offering the service of a vanity press. Chaucer is miserly with his money, hoarding it away, worrying about another accident which might devastate his life's work — but he does, wherever possible, seek out the rare books he sold from his personal collection after the fire, to feed his family. He's nearly old enough to retire and has entrusted much of the business to an apprentice of his own, though he'd prefer in time to hand it over to a child or a grandchild of his own, rather than sell it into unknown hands.
RP Hooks
- Need to buy a book?
- Got a Book to sell?
- Want to publish a book?
- Nature! Its all over me!
- What did burn down my bookstore?
Quirks
- Wealth: Well-to-do
- Panphobic
- Gruff
Logs
| Logs featuring Chaucer | Logs that refer to Chaucer |