Colin Creevey

[angel_of_lily]

I am writing a (possibly AU) fic in which one of my major characters happens to be Colin Creevey (and to a lesser extent Dennis) however I am struggling to portray him correctly. He is shown throughout the books to be rather excitable and giddy, and possibly a little naïve. However, I find it highly unlikely that there isn’t anything more to him, after all everybody has their hidden depths. So what do people think?

[tibi jones]

Well, I think with Colin what you see is exactly what you get. He is full of energy (I know, bit of an understatement). He is susceptible to hero worship. Being muggle born, he is excited to be a wizard. Everything fascinates him.

We see he is a snapshotist (my own word) rather than an artistic photographer. His first year he sends all his photos home to his father so there is obviously a strong family bond. We see that with his younger brother as well who is not just the little brother who tags along, he is his best friend. I think Potter Lexicon says creeve means to burst. I see this as a family trait in this case.

Colin obviously has a sense for right and wrong because he joins the DA to learn to fight, which could be attributed to Harry worship, but he sneaks back into the Battle of Hogwarts where he is unfortunately killed near the entrance to the Great Hall. This shows a great deal about his courage and sense of duty to the wizarding world.

Being a Gryffindor, he will have all of those qualities inside somewhere, perhaps laying dormant as Neville's. But when push came to shove, he was right there at the front of things.

I think if we could see him in his dorm at night he may show some depression about being run over and dismissed, but he is ultimately back to his self in the morning. His indefatigable spirit is also a benefit in this matter. He does not realize how his enthusiasm is seen as detrimental.

[Racing Co]

I think much of Colin's personality is pretty unknown, which gives you a lot of leeway in writing a story. Unfortunately, Harry finds Colin so annoying early on, particularly in CoS, that we can't really get an unbiased view from Harry's perspective.

Outside of his appearance, what do we know about him?

He's brave; he joined the DA and fought in the Battle of Hogwarts. He's loyal, sometimes to the point of obsession; he and his brother spend hours trying to fix the "Support Diggory" badges. He apparently did not pick up any Quidditch skills, at least not enough to be on the team.

Much of his "naive" traits probably come from the fact that he's Muggle-born. Everything at Hogwarts and the magical is new to him, and he reacts to it differently than, say, Hermione because she's so well read that almost nothing is surprising.

Colin, above everything else, seems to be a very resilient person. He doesn't seem to be the sort who would dwell on failures. Every time Harry brushed him off, Colin was still just as friendly and eager as before. This either speaks of real stupidity, a need to please, or that ability to almost resist discouragement. If that makes any sense.

[angel_of_lily]

Thanks these have really helped.

Also what kind of grades do you think they would get? I know that the Creevey brothers were described as 'erratic' in the DA but they clearly must have had some measure of talent to be able to keep up with much older and more experienced students.

I've been wondering about how the petrification in CoS might affect them. Clearly the Creevey family must have been told something about what was going on (I get the feeling that Colin probably spent a lot of time writing home so they would have realised something was amiss) but how much do you think they knew? And also somewhere on the Mugglenet site there is an essay (?) the point out that although Colin missed out on almost all of his first year at the school he still came back for second year and somehow managed to keep up with his classmates which seems very impressive.

[tibi jones]

It would be a thrilling experience for Collin to have been petrified I think. It makes him part of Hogwarts history. His family would have been very upset, no doubt, but I think that indomitable Creevey spirit would have had absolute trust in Dumbledore.

He would probably have been either granted a pass or allowed to make up his classes during the summer (Granted nothing in canon on make ups, but everyone got a passing grade that year did they not? Might be getting the movies mistaken for the book here. Haven't read it in ages). He is probably a bit better than an average student is my impression, on sheer excitement alone.

[Equinox Chick]

I think you have to remember exactly how brave he is. For one thing he wasn't at Hogwarts during Deathly Hallows. As a Muggle born he would have been in hiding. He was also underage but he returned because he felt a huge sense of duty. Remember as well, that McGonagall sent him away but still he came back.

I hadn't thougt about how much of his education he missed before now, so I reckon he must have been pretty bright in order to keep up. I do agree it's more likely to be his sheer enthusiasm for everything that drives him on.

He was friendly with Ginny. I know they were in the same year, but she mentions that she sits next to him in Charms (or something). Perhaps their common bond was hero-worship of Harry but I don't think Ginny would want to be friends with a complete idiot.

Granted nothing in canon on make ups, but everyone got a passing grade that year did they not? Might be getting the movies mistaken for the book here. Haven't read it in ages).

All exams were cancelled at the end of CoS. It's in the book and the films (Hermione is distraught )

Carole
xxx

[Victoire]

I've been wondering about how the petrification in CoS might affect them. Clearly the Creevey family must have been told something about what was going on (I get the feeling that Colin probably spent a lot of time writing home so they would have realised something was amiss) but how much do you think they knew? And also somewhere on the Mugglenet site there is an essay (?) the point out that although Colin missed out on almost all of his first year at the school he still came back for second year and somehow managed to keep up with his classmates which seems very impressive.

I really think that Dumbledore would have told the what was necessary to be known. He's not one to beat around the bush, maybe sugar coat things a bit.
As for missing most of his first year I think we can presume that he made up for it in some type of summer course work. Although it would be a much shorter time period to learn what he missed, he would also have the teacher(s) one-on-one.