Luca Hartmann

Luca Hartmann is a member of the staff at the Academy who teaches Chemistry.

Personality
Luca is quite the congenial man. He's agreeable on most accounts, and tends to steer away from conflict. One might even go so far as to say he's spineless, since he rarely argues, and typically does what is requested of him. He's a nice guy, and is always happy to lend people an ear when they need to talk, and knows when to offer advice and when to merely listen. He's not aggressive by any means, and will often let people walk all over him. This quality lets him shrug off insults fairly well, since all he does is stand there and take them, without saying anything in return. Conflict is something to be avoided at all costs.

Luca can often be found daydreaming. His head is usually in the clouds (not literally, of course. He's terrified of heights), and it can be difficult to snap him out of his daze. He's definitely a dreamer...and a sleeper. Luca is literally always tired. Regardless of the time of day, he is one hundred percent ready for a nap. He can, and often does, fall asleep at any time, any where. Its not uncommon for students to walk into his classroom and find him snoozing at his desk, or for him to fall asleep standing up while giving lectures and demonstrations.

He is prone to sleep talking, and that's usually when he's at his absolute nicest. On the other hand, when he is woken up earlier than he'd like, he can get a tad bit crabby. He's never cruel, but those first few minutes after he wakes up he is usually sarcastic and bitter, with nothing nice to say. After awhile, he lightens back up...But he's usually out like a light again in a few minutes.

Although he doesn't care for fighting, he is highly protective of his students. He'll defend them with his life, from anybody.

Background
If someone had seen him during his teenage years, they probably wouldn't have expected him to end up becoming staff at the academy. Luca has always had a bit of an issue with sleeping, and so he'd often spend time skipping class to go find somewhere to nap.

In fact, during those days he was a bit more than a slacker. He had been an outright delinquent at the time. He was quite the bully to other students, he constantly talked back to staff, and even if he wasn't sleeping somewhere, you'd still practically have to drag him kicking and screaming into one of the classrooms. Luca did his absolute best to make sure everyone at the academy was aware he did not want to be there.

Luca was an only child, and his parents had high expectations for him. When his magical abilities emerged at a young age, his parents were thrilled, and immediately attempted to ship him off to the academy. He resisted, because he thought it would be a waste of time and effort. He didn't think his own abilities were worth practicing. His magic was unimpressive, and could only serve practical purposes at best. He didn't want to go to the academy and end up being ridiculed by more impressive peers. So, like any child who's parents didn't listen to them, he of course rebelled as much as he could while at school. Being intimidating also kept anyone from picking on him.

Eventually, he shaped up. Not because of some profound, life changing experience, but because a teacher pulled him aside one day, lightly smacked him over the head with some rolled up papers they had been grading, and told him to get over himself. Luca was there to learn how to use his powers to their full extent. He wasn't going to get any better, or impress anyone by acting out. What was he going to do when graduation day came, and he walked away having learned nothing?

It was humbling. Also embarrassing, since there were at least sixteen students out in the hallway who had seen that. Luca was on his best behavior after that, and started to work hard...Or at least as hard as he could, but he still wasn't cured of his narcolepsy. His 'hard work' was in between naps.

By the time he graduated, his personality had changed, and settled into the 'real' him. A few years after graduating he returned, this time as a teacher himself. He wants all the students to know that everyone's magic is important and special, and everyone has the potential to be great.

Trivia

 * He's narcoleptic, and also has a caffeine addiction. He tends to suffer from severe headaches if he goes too long without it.