User Profile

Name: Taribo Zabini

Gender: He’s a man, you know.

Year & House: Slytherin, Alumni of 1975

Affiliation: Death Eater, or wants to be one, anyway.

Appearance:

Taribo is tall, black and usually has his hair pointed into spikes, occasionally taking the time to grow some dreads. He loves to dress brightly in the most expensive clothes he can afford, just for the sake of it. He’s usually quite showy, and you can’t miss the guy when he walks into a room. Another feature you couldn’t miss is the sunglasses which could well be glued to his face. Yes, he’ll wear them inside, yes, he’ll wear them when it’s raining. They’re just part of who he is. He has a lot of places pierced, although most of the time, he won’t wear them all, because even that’s just a little too overboard for him. He may be big on the clothes, but jewellery isn’t such a big deal to him. He doesn’t mind dressing in a suit at all, as long as it’s a very nice, very fashionable suit. He has deep brown eyes, if you were ever going to see them, but you’re not, sorry.

History:

Taribo was born in Accra, the capital of Ghana, on a very, very hot and sunny day, the 3rd of August 1957, but he never saw much of the country he was born in, or where his parents came from. Soon after he was born, his family moved to the UK, something which they had already planned to do. His family were, by Ghanaian standards, extraordinarily rich. They were, almost by profession, opportunistic businessmen, selling anything that they thought was worth putting a price on at as high a price as they thought they could get away with. Most of this was done above board, but quite a bit of it wasn’t. In fact, when Taribo used to ask his parents why they moved away from Ghana, he only ever got a mumbled answer about how the Accra Abraxans’ seeker happened to catch the snitch the one time he really, really shouldn’t have. His family continued in this trend once they were in the UK too, using their connections in Africa to get them relatively rare potions ingredients and certain items which may or may not have been illegal and may or may not have been sold on to Borgin and Burkes at a jacked up price. They may not have been well known purebloods in British wizarding circles, but they certainly were rich enough to be paid attention to by the likes of the Malfoys and Blacks.

Taribo was always a very spoiled child, and has never got used to the idea of being turned down for something. He was brought up before Hogwarts in a very businesslike environment, where everything was worth something, and the more it was worth the better. He grew up to judge things in monetary values, rather than any real kind of moral judgment. The more expensive the better, he always thought. When he was old enough to follow his dad around, he did it as much as he possibly could. The business was strictly a family one, not really for the benefit of any greater cause, but just for the interest of the family. He was brought up not to trust Muggles, either, as he was always told they judged a man on the colour of his skin, and wizards didn’t do such things. Taribo never saw how judging people on their blood was similar, so was always wary of anyone who had a little too many connections to Muggles, preferring things to stay as they advantaged him best, which he truly believed to be complete separation from Muggles.

Taribo was taught from an early age that self-interest was the only way to survive in the world. He carried this attitude into Hogwarts, and was very quickly sorted into Slytherin. He liked it there as in the main, it was full of people like him, self-interested, rich and pureblooded. Didn’t cause him the slightest bit of trouble. This granted him a lot more freedom to be himself, as his dad wasn’t buying things for him and he felt comfortable where he was. He did this by buying the most colourful and expensive clothes he could find, convinced that the more something cost, the cooler it was, and the brighter it was, the more people could see how damned cool he was.

His one real obsession, though, was sunglasses. Just before he went to Hogwarts for the very first time, his dad gave him money to go shopping, and Taribo, somehow, spent it ALL on a pair of sunglasses. He never took them off, even inside. He was very sure they make him look amazing. Nine years later, Taribo has a collection of sunglasses so big, he needs a cupboard to keep them all in.

Taribo was never a particularly good wizard, but as he was fond of saying, usually followed by an outrageous wink, he was good where it counted. He was at best a competent wizard, best at Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, one because it meant he could do some really fun things, like change his hair colour and the other because it seemed to be at the heart of self interest. He wasn’t afraid of work as a student, but he didn’t like it much either. Taribo would work hard if you let him do everything at his own pace, as he never really picked up his dad’s work ethic. He was the sort of kid who might end up handing every piece of homework in right at the end of the year, but it’d all be done pretty well. He also loved Quidditch, and played for Slytherin as Seeker, not that he was very good at it, but it meant he could look good with minimal amount of effort in the sport, and on the odd occasion he did catch the Snitch, he was the automatic hero.

When he left Hogwarts, with a reasonable set of qualifications, his dad quickly set him to work in the business, sending him off to Africa mainly, to collect supplies, make orders and deal with some of his more strange clients. Taribo thoroughly enjoys this as it means he gets to travel the world, meet lots of people and see the continent his parents came from (which, as a bonus, gives him many more opportunities to wear his sunglasses than anywhere else). As a result of his country-hopping-apparate-and-go lifestyle, he met his soon-to-be wife, the exceptionally beautiful Lissa Van Hooijdonk, a Dutch witch with Ghanaian ancestry, who has done all sorts of modelling for all sorts of magazines, which Taribo will be torn between telling you with a great big smug smile on his face, or not telling you because hey, that’s his fiancee.

Personality:

In one word, Taribo is conceited. In four words, he’s as shallow as a puddle. He does, quite honestly, believe he is the coolest guy to have landed on the planet since the legendary Ghanaian Seeker who managed to catch the Snitch and defeat Ireland for the first time in the nation’s history. He loves to show off and is very, very excitable, mainly about the things he has bought. His outlook is very strictly him-centric and money-centric. Either way, he has inherited a strong desire to be rich, like his family, and make sure the world’s the sort of place he’d like to live in, which of course means as few muggles as possible. He really, really cannot trust and despises Muggles, having been brought up to see them as inferiors, simply because they were too judgmental. Which is rather ironic, really. He loves a lot of things; his clothes, his sunglasses, Quidditch and his family.

He may be conceited and a long way up his own backside, but when he’s with the sort of people he wants to be amiable with, he can be a very friendly, charming bloke. He could be described as smarmy by a lot of people, and he probably is. He’s self confident and usually loud, but he does know when he has to keep his mouth shut, as years of working for his dad have taught him that there are just some things you do, but don’t talk about. Ever. Taribo doesn’t act without a certain amount of thought, at least considering if it is in his own self interest. He knows that actions can have great repercussions and doesn’t do much acting without thinking first. However, he tends to be irresponsible with things that do not directly affect him. If he’s not getting paid for it or it isn’t in his significant benefit, no matter who you are, he probably won’t care too much how good a job he does. He's usually very laid back and not very serious in his approach to many things, but again, he can be serious where he thinks it counts.

His main priorities in life are having friends who can appreciate how cool and amazing he is (he aims for rich purebloods, really) and having a good time with them, hopefully being rich whilst he’s at it. Taribo was always someone who’d get what he wanted, no matter what, and if mudbloods and muggles stand in his way of having a decent time, then they need to get out of it. He doesn’t take many things too seriously in life, aside from money, and getting exactly what he wants. He would never be needlessly cruel, but is quite prepared to go to some very long lengths to get things done.

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