Character Profile: Theodore Nott
I. Canon
II. My headcanons
• Theodore’s parents struggled to conceive him. As fanon has it, Theodore’s mother was as “elderly” as his father, and the couple struggled to have a child. The meaning of Theodore’s name, “gift of the gods”, also corroborates that.
• His mother died when he was a child, or perhaps even in childbirth. Another popular fanon theory I accept: it was witnessing his mother’s death that enabled Theodore to see Thestrals.
• His father was cold and distant. Nott Sr was the type of stoic pureblood who expects his wife to do all the child-rearing, but his wife wasn’t there. Besides that, I have more questions than answers about Theodore’s family:
- Did his father and mother have a good relationship? - Did his father resent his mother for struggling to conceive? - How much time did Theodore get with his mother? - If she died in/due to childbirth, does Nott Sr resent Theodore for it? - Or does he love his son but just doesn’t know how to show it?
• Theodore is a pretentious nerd. Growing up without much company, he found refuge in books, libraries, and the persona of the independent intellectual who doesn’t need anyone.
• He uses intellectuality and logic as shield from feelings and trauma. He pretends everything is cold rationality, so he can act like nothing actually affects him. He’s never had a model for dealing with emotions in any way other than shutting them off.
• Theodore hates being called “Theo”. He finds it condescending, and finds nicknames in general overly-familiar. Fortunately, the Slytherin boys all call each other by their surnames; Pansy is the only classmate who calls him “Theo” anyway, just to annoy him.
• He doesn’t rely on external validation. He didn’t have that growing up, so he’s had to learn to do without. Unlike Draco or even Blaise, Theodore doesn’t feel the need to show off or put others down. Being self-assured of his superiority in his own mind is usually enough for him.
• He finds the Death Eaters contemptible. Since Theodore “does not feel the need to join gangs, including Malfoy’s”, I imagine him equally uninterested in Voldemort’s gang. He might believe in pureblood supremacy, might even find it important to have someone defend it, but he doesn’t romanticise fighting for a cause. Intimately familiar with death from a young age and with no reason to admire his father, Theodore is cynical about war and politics.
• He’s quiet. He reads, writes, listens, and observes much more than he talks.
• He keeps his opinions to himself. Saying the wrong thing at home could easily put his father in a bad mood, so he’s learnt to be strategic about speaking. He does love to correct others and call out their logical fallacies, though, and uses contrarianism as deflection.
• He sees people from a detached distance, as if they’re potential characters for a novel, or psychology case studies. This is a simultaneously contemptuous and non-judgemental worldview: humans simply behave the way they behave, they’re not any different from objects affected by scientific laws (or magical laws?). Only a few people — Theodore and the thinkers he admires — manage to exercise true critical thinking and go beyond inertia.
• He has a crush (or a squish) on Draco. Theodore can’t help finding Draco’s flamboyant personality and sheltered naivety endearing. However, he tries to repress this, because affection is silly and he doesn’t want to get attached. When Draco joins the Death Eaters, Theodore immediately knows Draco isn’t cut out for it, and Theodore feels conflicted, but at least partly validated in his fear of loss.
• Draco is conflicted about Theodore. Sometimes Draco appreciates that Theodore is a good listener and can hold an intelligent conversation, but sometimes Theodore feels safe enough to challenge Draco too much, ironically driving Draco back to his usual yes-people.
• Theodore is eventually forced to confront his humanity. Maybe after Hogwarts he finds himself completely alone and realises he doesn’t like that. Maybe his father dies and he can’t ignore his mixed feelings about it. Maybe he decides to pursue Draco romantically.
