Richard is a hufflepuff student who has a very high aptitude for herbology and potions, herbology being his truest passion in life. Although he is a half-blood, he was raised as a muggle in the streets of London, though he always experienced peculiar occurances despite this, particularly related to fire.
It was on his 12th birthday that he discovered he had innate incendiary powers, those which could be conjured without a wand, and at times uncontrollably so. This incident left a scar on his life, both mentally and physically, due to it indirectly resulting in his father's death, aswell as permanent burn scars upon his hands and face. Due to the severity of the scars on his hands, he is required to constantly wear gloves enchanted to numb the pain, though he himself would describe this numbing as rather a "dampening" of pain.
The destruction that fire causes is one of the main reasons for his passion in herbology, the growth of life which acts as a foil and overcomes that of fire. The prospect of fostering beauty, life, and growth within nature, compared to the all-consuming, beckoning, bellowing demon of fire that lives within him. Needless to say, it comforts him a great deal.
quick facts. . .
🕯 nationality/background
scottish and french, raised in england
🕯 house
hufflepuff
🕯 blood status
half blood, raised as a muggle
🕯 alignment
chaotic good/neutral
🕯 birthday
september 22nd, 1875
🕯 main subjects of interest
herbology particularly, with potions and care of magical beasts being his second best subjects (though he tends to steer clear of the puffskeins...)
🕯 broom riding abilities
he rides well enough that he could possibly try out to be the hufflepuff chaser, but he prefers to ride casually and sight see with a broom rather than use it for competitive means.
i reccommend reading richard's background for the necessary context of understanding this in it's entirety
maison d'auburn
The House of Auburn (French: Maison d’Auburn) was a noble French wizarding family which resided in the north of France, within the countryside of Pas-de-Calais. The family motto read as «Seulement Le Meilleur Brûle» (“Only The Best Burn”). The family history itself often merged with that of British wizarding families due to constant travel seen between Calais and Dover, this phenomenon often aging back to the Middle Ages, though it still remained largely French dominant.
The most notable aspect of this lineage, however, was the aptitude for incendiary magic that many members often possessed. Many wizards outside of the family often understood this to be a natural talent for fire spells, and while this was true, it was only the tip of the iceberg. This incendiary magic was a natural born trait of many members of the Auburn family, meaning for those who possessed the power, they could easily perform and manipulate fire magic. This ability was known among the family as «la brûlure» (“the burn”). The power of these witches and wizards was in fact sometimes so potent that fire would spontaneously ignite or combust outside of their own wishes, particularly if one was feeling intense emotions. Although this magic was often and most notably performed with their hands, it is understood that the Auburns could also ignite fire simply with concentration of the eye.
Due to the prestige and honour of this ability, instead of first born sons being the heirs chosen, the House of Auburn chose the offspring who first possessed the incendiary ability. This therefore meant if a child was first born and did not possess «la brûlure» , they were shunned by the family, and often only used as means for marriage to perhaps bring a more promising child. Furthermore, if the first child to be born was female, though still possessed the ability, she would still be considered the next heir instead of a son after her birth, which confused many other wizarding families at this time.
The House of Auburn was strict about which marriages they permitted among their offspring. Along with only marrying into families which were deemed pure-blooded, they required for the proposed spouse to be of good stock. This meant, for them, not only did the contender need to be of pure-blood, they needed to be of the best magical capabilities among their family, as they considered other options to risk «la brûlure» being lost.
When the family discovered of Richard’s mother’s pregnancy, conceived with a Scottish muggle commoner, they decreed to dispose of the child with the father, and have both the child and the father shipped to Dover at a moment’s notice. Thereafter, both the father and the child would be forbade from entering France, lest they be killed when the family are made aware of them being in the country once again. Richard’s mother would then be immediately arranged into a marriage with another pure-blood wizard and required to conceive the next heir. The scandal of Richard’s birth was thus decreed a forbidden subject of acknowledgement, with the memory charm being threatened to all of those who dared to speak of it.
However, when his mother had children with this wizard, neither of the children they had possessed «la brûlure». Due to Richard’s mother being the heir to the Auburn lineage, with a younger brother without the ability, the family became horrified at the prospect of the ability being lost among those born under the Auburn name. There were many speculations as to why this was; some said that the heir had been tainted by muggle blood, others said that she was simply too heartbroken to produce a good heir. Many thought, but never said, that the illegitimate child had stolen «la brûlure» for himself, and this was the family’s penance for their cruelty to the new-born and his father.
Meanwhile, after their arrival to Dover, Richard had been taken to London by his father. It was there that his father had decided to keep the Auburn name for his son, partially in spite, but also in the belief that Richard would reclaim the pure-blooded family name for himself. Though his family lineage was never revealed to him, many of the wizards that Richard met and knew of his ability with fire suspected that he may be the illegitimate from the House of Auburn that was rumoured of in the French wizarding community (the family themselves forbade discussion of it amongst themselves, though this did not stop outsiders from gossiping). It was only when Richard travelled to France himself in his early twenties did he discover this rumour, and subsequently his lineage, when a herbology vendor highlighted the likeness in name with a joke.
given name
Richard’s given name was selected by both his mother and father, despite his mother’s family disposing of him with his father. When they were in their younger years of the romance, the two often discussed the fantasy of them having a family of their own together, though they both knew this could only stay merely a fantasy. Together, they came to some ideas for names of their hypothetical child. For a girl, perhaps ‘Lorna’ or ‘Marie’, and for a boy, maybe ‘Callum’ or ‘Richard’.
It was only when his mother discovered her pregnancy did they both decide on the name of Richard, in the hopes that it would promise their child a prosperous life, with it meaning ‘strong ruler’ and being inspired by Richard the Lionheart. Their child may have had a comfortable future stolen from him, but they believed that perhaps this name would foreshadow the making of his own future, by his own hands.
In general, Richard isn’t exactly the fondest of nicknames, the only one he particularly allows among his friends being ‘Rich’ (only reserved for Sebastian and Natty, Natty only really using it teasingly). Specifically, he loathes ‘Richie’ and ‘Dick’, as to him they sound either patronising or just plain stupid.
Richard is the child of a Scottish muggle and a French pure-blood. As this was the late 19th century and wizarding culture was severely more harsh to these relations to muggles, his parents' romance was an affair, and thus he was an illegitimate child. The fact that Richard's father was a foreign commoner, and his mother of nobility, did no favours for their case. His mother's family being pure-bloods, discarded the baby with his father. Richard's father brought him to London, where many looked for work at this time, though disease was rife.
His father was already lacking in money, and having to take care of a baby as a lone father only added more blows onto not only his finances but also his heartbreak. They often stayed in Dickensian-esque slum houses, sharing rooms with large families who were generous enough to share food and kindness when Richard's father needed a break from taking care of a constantly crying child. Though, when his father could not scrape enough shillings together to afford rent, they often took to the streets. It was a miracle of magic that Richard had not succumb to be a victim of disease with the amount of crowding and squalor on these streets. His father was not as lucky, however.
Richard's father had caught tuberculosis. Richard was oblivious to this, however, as his father hid it from him at the early stages of his active infection. Despite their circumstances, Richard's father made sure to give him an enriching education, or at least to the fullest extent that was possible with the resources available to them. Richard was taught French by his father early on, his father hoping it would keep at least one piece of his mother with him forever. He was also taught to read and write by his father at an early age (this being extremely rare among their class), being given books that were thrown to back alleys that failed sell on the shelves of London's bookshops. Apparently, herbology was not a valued area of interest for many Londoners who could afford books, thus leaving many of them to be read by Richard.
In reality, there wasn't much greenery in the streets of London at this time. This is just one reason why herbology initially interested Richard so, it was almost mythical to him. Ever since Richard was old enough to remember, though, he felt a sinister, malevolent pulse growing within him. Whenever he got just over too close to the hearths of the slum houses he shared with his father and other families, the fire would almost pull him in, the flames licking his face with a warm embrace. Whenever his father saw this, however, he would quickly be pulled away, and then held in the contrastingly comforting embrace of his father's arms.
the combustion
It was one day in an early autumn, on Richard's twelfth birthday, that his father surprised him by taking him out to the woodlands just outside of North London. Richard was in awe of the nature that enveloped him within the old woods, along with the woodland creatures that greeted him kindly. When it reached around sundown, his father decided it was time to teach Richard how to make a fire. Safely, that is. Richard's father knew all too well of his son's almost pyromaniacal fascination with fire, and therefore knew to be careful while teaching him this.
As Richard had managed to start a flame, it quickly combusted into a behemoth. Richard's hands and face were burning in agonising pain. His father could only watch in shock horror, frozen in his place as his son burned in terror. After a moment, he was shifted back to reality, and he drenched his son in water from a nearby pale, coughing in fits due to the fumes of the combustion along with a swarm of ashes enveloping them both.
Together, they rushed back to London on a stagecoach, Richard screaming with third degree burns on his hands and face, and his father suffering in agonising coughing fits beside him. Richard's father knew a regular physician would charge him with an extortionate amount, and with his money already thrown to the stagecoach for the journey back, he turned to the wizard hospital St. Mungo's. He knew the chance of them accepting a muggle and an illegitimate half blood would be extraordinarily low, but with his son writhing in pain on the street, the effort was worth a fortune.
To his father's surprise, Richard was accepted for treatment, though he himself was kicked to the street again for being a muggle, where he spent his days waiting for Richard to be given back to him. Inside, Richard was taken to the burn ward, bombarded with confusion, having never been exposed to the Wizarding World hitherto. Despite being of wizard blood, the nurses and doctors were no kinder to him than they were to his father, almost as if they knew of his heritage.
His face was healed expeditiously, a large scar reminiscent of a solar flare being left on the left side of his face. Barely any progress was made with the burns on his hands, however. Each time the doctors had tried to heal the scars with the use of transfiguration, they would simply revert back again the next day or so. Eventually, they gave Richard a choice, they could either transfigure Richard's hands so the scars would no longer be there, though this would needed to be done routinely, meaning Richard would need to return to the ward regularly. Or, they could simply give him gloves that would be enchanted, dampening the pain while they healed by themselves. Richard chose the gloves. He hated the idea of going back to the ward almost daily, where they treated him worse than a wounded dog. For the most part though, he wanted the scars there as a reminder, that what happened cannot be erased, and that he must live with his innate "connection" to fire, and he must choose how he treats it. At least, this is how he remembers making this choice when looking back on the moment.
early adolescence
When he was kicked to the street again, he found his father in a less than unhealthy state. He was bedridden at an infirmary, coughing in fits. It was three days that Richard had stayed by his father's bedside before he succumbed to the disease. Promptly after that, Richard was escorted into a workhouse by the local authorities around the infirmary.
For the next three to four years, Richard was confined to the walls of this workhouse. His education was stripped bare to the bare basics, even less than what his father had managed to give him. Outside of what little education he was given, he worked long hours in labour, adding blisters to his already severely burned hands. When asked to work with any form of fire, it expectedly grew out of control. He was subsequently given severe corporal punishment due to the damage done, each time. He was finally among peers, but they had no interest in camaraderie when they had all been reduced to merely heads in a crowd. It was only when Hogwarts invited him at 15 years old that Richard was able to escape the system.
