Lysander Burke

"Nobody important? Blimey, that's amazing. You know that in all my years, I've never met anybody who wasn't important."

Lysander Phillipus Eddard Warwick Burke is a pureblood wizard and the third of four children born to Warwick and Merida Burke, dark wizards and co-owners of the shop Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley. The black sheep in a family of former Death Eaters, Lysander has forsaken his family's values (or lack thereof) and has dedicated his life to protecting others to atone for his family's misdeeds.

He attended Hogwarts from 2003 to 2010 and was sorted into Ravenclaw House. After he graduated, Lysander elected to use his portion of the inheritance to travel the world, where he encountered many dark wizard, monsters, malevolent spirits and worse. His adventures earned him quite the reputation for someone so young. He taught Defence Against the Dark Arts from 2016-2020, when he became Headmaster of Hogwarts.

Early Life (1992-2002)
Lysander was born the third child of four to Warwick and Merida Burke. The Burke family had a reputation for dark magic, cruelty and sadism, though Lysander didn't seem to inherit those qualities.

He had a relatively unhappy childhood. His earliest memories are tinged with fear, as he grew up amid the Second Wizarding War. He met his godfather, Tom Riddle (aka Lord Voldemort) when he was two years old and his father played an important role in aiding the Death Eaters during the war. Warwick was a cruel man, but his temper and violent tendencies only worsened with time, especially after the fall of Voldemort. Merida was often able to shield Lysander from his father's wrath growing up, but of course this came at a cost.

Lysander escaped the abuse by spending as much time as he could outside, in the woods or by the river that flowed near the estate, or else in the attic or hiding away in some forgotten nook around the house, reading anything he could get his hands on.

Hogwarts Years (2003-2010)
Lysander attended Hogwarts when he turned eleven and was sorted into Ravenclaw House. During his school years, he was a loner, considered odd and eccentric even for Ravenclaw House. Shunned for his family name, Lysander quickly grew to hate his father and his family's legacy of evil.

Lysander excelled at Defense Against the Dark Arts and Charms, though he was no slouch at Potions or Herbology. His insatiable curiosity helped him stay ahead in school. When he could, he took Alchemy, Study of Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. He greatly excelled at the latter, earning an "O" on his N.E.W.T.s in the class.

When Lysander was fifteen, while he was away at school, Warwick murdered Lysander's mother and was taken to Azkaban. Lysander didn't shed a tear, though his older brother "taking over the family" didn't help matters at all.

Adventures
Warwick would go on to die in Azkaban by the time Lysander graduated. He never went back home, instead opting to take his inheritance and strike out on his own. Horatio tried to convince Lysander to come home "for the family". The argument turned into a duel, one that Lysander won. Afterward, he broke his brother's wand and told him not to go looking for him.

After that night, Lysander left to travel the world. He would visit every continent over the next six years (including Antarctica) and faced many monsters, spirits and dark wizards in that time. He helped out the little guy, doing things and going places Aurors couldn't or wouldn't. He faced things that would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life, but he didn't care because he was doing good.

The exact details of these adventures is, as of now, currently unknown.

Return to Hogwarts
In spring 2016, Lysander received an owl from Minerva McGonagoll, his old Headmistress from Hogwarts, asking him to meet her in Diagon Alley on 1 August. He did so and she was quick to get right down to business. Lysander had earned a considerable reputation for skill, bravery and broad knowledge of a million horrible things and she wanted him to fill the newly vacated Defence Against the Dark Arts position. Lysander was unsure, considering his family history but McGonagoll insisted that fact made him uniquely suited to teaching the course.

"You have always had a unique proclivity for protection, Lysander," she told him, "If you want to make up for your family's many, many sins then you can start by teaching the next generation how to protect themselves." Lysander expressed further hesitation, but McGonagol simply told him, "You have more strength in you than you know, my boy. The post is yours if you want it."

At that, Lysander took the position and started teaching that fall.

As of 2017, Lysander is in his second year teaching at Hogwarts and he genuinely enjoys it.

Physical Appearance
Lysander is tall and gangly, with long limbs and a pronounced jaw. His green eyes are alight and constantly moving. He's very active and energetic; he's constantly moving and speaks very fast, to the rambling if he doesn't watch himself. He has brown hair he barely tries to style and tends to dress in a tweed professor's jacket and bow tie beneath his professor's robes.

Personality and Traits
Lysander is energetic, lively, eccentric, resourceful and quick-thinking, able to spin things to his point of view and find positive outlooks in negative situations. While he prefers to settle problems through negotiation rather than violence, he is willing to resort to it when he deem sit necessary. Somewhat childish at times, Lysander refers to himself as a "madman" and is inner-child is prominent in comparison to his fellow instructors, who sometimes have to remind him he's a mature, responsible adult. Despite this, professionally speaking, he prepares extensively before going into the field, calculating his odds and getting help if necessary, but still maintains his unique outlook on life.

Unlike most Ravenclaws, Lysander has an almost Gryffindor-like recklessness but he always has a grand scheme behind his actions. He can be deceptive or manipulative at times; lying, habitually putting elaborate plans into place and executing them, even if the plans might hurt those close to him. He thinks aloud to himself when he's panicking or stressed and tends to babble about what he knows of his situation until he comes up with a plan.

Lysander has a bad habit for letting his curiosity get the better of him, often putting himself in harms way for answers. His insistence on solving mysteries also leads him to collaborate with students, if it comes up (give it time ;P). He is always willing to sacrifice himself for the greater good, though it doesn't look like that's come up quite yet.

Despite his positive demeanor, he has a tendency to fall into periods of darkness and he becomes irritable and pessimistic, looking at the negative things about life. This is mostly derived from not only his background, but from whatever horrors still lurk in his consciousness from his time abroad. It is also clear that Lysander does not consider himself a good man. He has a tendency toward self-loathing, hating himself for being merciful to the darkness due to the deaths that seem to follow him. He experiences an intense sadness that is almost an exhausted pain. He dislikes Divination or thinking about the future, stating that he "doesn't like endings".

When pushed, he can become vicious, unforgiving and develops a short temper when left to his own devices in the darkness for too long. He can be ruthless at times and strikes down those who commit horrific acts. He finds it hard to trust others and is naturally suspicious.

Lysander tends to be admired by First and Second years for his sense of playfulness. He shows a great deal of compassion for children, unable to resist helping if one is upset or scared. He shows a great deal of sympathy for children who are bullied, often inadvertently taking them under his wing.

When things look their bleakest, he focuses on trying to keep up morale, focusing on hope and survival, though he's not afraid to be brutally honest about their situation. He takes a liking to people who are clever, observant and/or good at making deductions. He easily gets annoyed with people who "take too long".

Magical Abilities and Skills
Lysander is an accomplished and skillful wizard with extensive knowledge of Dark creatures, as well as the ability to properly impart practical and theoretical skills of defensive magic to others. He has proven his formidable magical skills by his participation and survival of his many adventures prior to his teaching position. While he is skilled in all of the fields Hogwarts would normally teach a student (as he graduated), his areas of expertise are as follows:
 * Defence Against the Dark Arts: In 2016, Lysander took the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. His particular specialty in defence is Defence from Dark Creatures, though this by no means reflects his full range of knowledge and expertise.
 * Non-Verbal Magic: Lysander is extremely skilled at non-verbal magic and mastered it at a relatively young age.
 * Dueling: Lysander is a highly talented duelist with years of experience against actual dark wizards.

Major Relationships
Lysander doesn't have many people in his life that he cares about, as anybody he cares for tends to die horribly. Despite this distance, he finds himself rather fond of his students and is particularly popular among First and Second year students.

Rose Granger-Weasley
This spunky, clever girl is smart as a whip as reminds Lysander a lot of himself at that age. Rose is a touch eccentric and seems to have an insatiable thirst for knowledge and discovery, making her one of his favorite students.

Trivia

 * Lysander has been to every continent on Earth.
 * Over the six years he traveled the world, Lysander faced nearly every creature listed in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and a few that aren't.
 * Has a scar on his chest from a wound he sustained in a duel with a nasty werewolf (in human form) in Germany when he was 22 years old. Of course, the scars will remain forever.
 * Lysander was once possessed by a malevolent spirit that he tricked into possessing him until the sun came up, effectively burning the spirit inside of him. It hurt like hell, thanks for asking.
 * Carries a locket that he never opens, but can often be seen turning over in his hands when he thinks nobody is looking.
 * A lover of muggle literature and music.