Post by Atticus Galanis on Jan 20, 2024 17:32:44 GMT -8
ATTICUS WYATT GALANIS
BASIC INFORMATION
Age and Birthday: 39; March, 17, 1984
Year and House or Profession: Unspeakable
Canon: No
Special Abilities: none
FAMILY & HISTORY
Place of Birth: Edinburgh
Notable Relatives: None
Character History:
Phillip Galanis was a hard working, muggle contractor. A literal jack of all trades, he was the man everyone wanted on their building project. Electrical, carpentry, mechanical, he took pride in his work and never cut corners. He wasn't looking for love when he crossed paths with Lucy Graves but he was smitten immediately. Lucy was a medical school and was in the middle of rotations when Philip showed up in the emergency room with a horrible hand injury from a saw blade that broke and severed a tendon. Lucy was professional and caring who stabilized him enough to see him off to surgery. It was his worst day and she made it bearable. As he lay in the the hospital bed recovery all he could think about was the medical resident with the raven hair and bright green eyes. When she showed up in his room with flowers and take out food he thought he was hallucination. She knew how terrible hospital food was and heard he hadn't had any visitors. When he explained he had been orphaned at a young age and never knew his parents. Lucy could relate to a point, having lost her mother to cancer and her father to a heart attack when she was a teenager. It was the reason she went to medical school, to take care of people the same way she saw others care for her mom and dad. Their friendship grew quickly into a romance and they were married within the year. The couple lived in bliss, life was hard at times to make ends meet, but they were in it together. Lucy's pregnancy was unexpected, still they were thrilled.
Atticus grew up loved and nurtured. His dad taught him the value of doing everything with intention and with his best effort. His mom instilled in him the importance of learning and applying himself. When he was six they welcomed his sister, Mischa. to the world. One day at school a ball was thrown violently at a classmate that was bullied often. He hadn't been fast enough to warn her or intercept it but someone it froze in mid air. All the kids on the playground freaked out while Atticus stood there trying to figure out how it was possible, knowing he had done it somehow. On his eleven birthday he learned the truth. He was a wizard and was invited to attend Hogwarts. It was quite the shock to everyone, though the witch who delivered the letter explained magic could have been passed down from Philip's parents or it was possible Atticus was the first in the family. Phillip and Lucy tried to research the topic but didn't get far. They were fairly sure his dad wasn't a wizard simply because the surname wasn't on Hogwarts' rolls, but had no information on his mother and they couldn't rule out other magical schools. Atticus filed the pursuit for information away and hoped to one day find answers for them.
Atticus's first year was 1995, sorted into Hufflepuff. He wasn't sure it was a good place for him. There were all sorts of conflicts with the students and the new DADA professor. He thought Umbridge was a pretty terrible person and didn't blame the older students for rebelling. It made for a very chaotic first year. He tried to follow the politics in the wizarding world and thought it was hard to believe so many terrible things were happening and he never noticed as a muggle. He chose not to tell his parents about it out of concern they might make him come home. What he did learn was that there were an infinite number of unseen dangers and he wanted to know as much as he could about magic so he could protect the ones he loved.
Tragedy hit the Galanis the summer before his second year. Lucy had been on the Millennium Bridge when the Death Eaters destroyed it. Her body was recovered but Philip descended into a deep depression. Atticus wasn't sure if he should return to Hogwarts at a time when his dad and sister needed him so much. Philip insisted Lucy would have wanted him to continue his education so off he went, trying to stay focus and still connected to his family. Little did he know there was more tragedy in store for everyone. The death of Dumbledore hit Atticus harder due to his own recent loss. When he went home he could feel the uncertainty amongst all the students. Their headmaster had seemed invincible and most knew he protected the school from the evil that was brewing in the wizarding world. His summer was rough. His dad was unable to care for himself let alone Mischa. It was a terrible blessing when he got warning that muggleborn students should not attempt to return to the school. Atticus feared for his friends as much as he did his family. That year he attended a muggle school and hated it. It was necessary to stay hidden though. He noticed how angry Mischa was at their dad. Not really understanding phycology he guessed she was hurt by the loss of their mother and the lack of support from her dad. Atticus felt intense guilt over leaving her to work through her grief alone. He decided he might never return to Hogwarts even if the war ended to keep his family together. However, when the news was broken that Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, it was hard not to feel hopeful. The year at home had been terrible. Neither his dad nor his sister wanted to talk about their feelings and Atticus knew he couldn't really help them. He jumped at the chance to continue his third year when the option came.
That year was cathartic. While he was horrified to see the damage to the school and to learn the full scope of the casualties over the year he was absent, it was healing to see the students all rallied together to rebuild the school and rebuild their houses. Right before his end of term exams in his fourth year, the Headmistress pulled him from class to inform him his dad was found dead, having had a heart attack at home. Atticus felt numb. Minerva assured him she'd find support and make sure he and his sister were taken care of after he explained he had no family and he didn't think Mischa was a witch so she wouldn't qualify for a magical orphanage. In the end, they were placed with a muggle family that also had a witch at Hogwarts, The Halley's. Ole Halley was a first year with two muggle brothers and parent who fostered kids. Atticus appreciated the Halley Family estate in that it offered plenty of place to be alone. Mischa had gone from angry to downright sullen for good reason but there was no clear way to help her. Ole didn't really seem to notice either of them. She was made to attend muggle classes and was rarely home and it sounded like the Halley's took in many foster kids through a charity they supported. It was why Minerva asked them to help.
Both Atticus and Halley got on the Hogwarts express together. He had grown fond of her because of how appreciative he was by the end of break for what the Halleys had done. Right before the Christmas holiday another bomb was dropped on Atticus' world. Mischa had a outburst of magic and was at Saint Mungo's. He spent his whole break there waiting for news only to learn she had an obscurus. The healers finally learned from Mischa that she had an argument with her dad that caused the electricity from the outlet to erupt in response to her magic. It killed him instantly and she had been repressing her magic ever since. They offered a way to contain her and keep her comfortable but they didn't have a way to free her. Devastated, he tried to accept the news.
His last two years at Hogwarts were completely focused on his studies. He chose to use his last summer break between his sixth and seventh year to work at Flourish and Blotts. The owner offered a room above the bookstore. As much as he appreciated the Halley's he felt bad they had been through so much with Mischa. He used his free time reading up on obscurials, wanting to find a way to help Mischa. It let him to several text published by the ministry. He reached out to the author who at one time worked for the department of mysteries. He quit after feeling frustrated over the secrecy but encouraged Atticus to consider a research apprenticeship if he really wanted to know about possible ways to contain an obscurus. He took the advice to heart and earned one of the few positions opened the year he completed Hogwarts.
At the ministry he threw himself into his job, quickly being promoted to an Unspeakable. He had no family and embraced the lack of attachments to take the most interesting and dangerous assignments. He dove into the depths of hidden magic. All the lessons his parents taught him about dedication and pride in his work set him up to excel. Despite his successes he never forgot about Mischa. He visited her often, but the treatments to keep her from being consumed by the obscurus left her a shell of who she was. He still had hope that he would one day find a way to free her.
Despite choosing a solitary life he wasn't opposed to superficial socializing from time to time. It came as a huge surprise when Winifred Blethen a fellow unspeakable, told him she was pregnant and he was the father. He offered to marry her. A gesture she flatly refused. She didn't want to get married just because of a baby. They decided to revisit the idea in five years time. Over that time he fell in love with her and with their baby girl Harper.
One day, when Harper was three, Atticus was playing with her in the garden when he got a visit from the head of the Department of Mysteries, Winny had been in an accident at work. Given the nature of their job as Unspeakables Atticus never learned what exactly had happened but Winny had died. Alone with a baby Atticus never had time to date, nor did he have the heart after all of his devastating losses. He kept to himself, his job made it easy to keep people at a distance.
The saddest day of Atticus' life was the day Winnie died, the second saddest was when he sent Harper off on the Hogwarts Express in the fall of 2022. It was a bitter sweet day for Atticus, his little girl all grown up and he could dedicate himself to his work once again.
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name or Alias: rouch
Pronouns: she/her
Experience: 2 years
Other Characters: Nicole Halley Shiloh Ollivander
Role Playing Sample: n/a