Childhood |1861 - 1872| Foxwood Estate, Bath
- The first born son, Atticus Sr. and Rose Foxwood give birth to Atticus Jr in 1861
- They give birth to a second son, Basil Foxwood two years later in 1863
The Foxwood Estate near Bath (est. 1855) was nestled away from muggles and wizards alike, leaving playmates outside of his brother nearly impossible to find. However, Atticus didn’t mind as he and his younger brother were nearly conjoined at the hip throughout their childhood; where one was, surely the other would be. It was often he who conjured the plans and Basil who helped to execute them, which suited him just fine - he enjoyed bossing Basil around, to a degree.
Atticus had displayed signs of magic prior to Basil’s birth, toys found nestled in his cot when the governess fetched him in the morning. His mother and father had been elated, and the pride never seemed to dissipate as he grew older; he’d catch his father beaming at him from time to time, and the pride that swelled in his chest stayed for days. Making his parents proud was something Atticus aimed to do, and later in life, he would come to expect the same things from others. His father had run their household well and nobody dared to stray over the line. He hated to disappointment his father.
He and his brother were raised in the skirts of the governess, and eventually the nanny, although Basil tended to lean toward his mother’s affection, while Atticus looked for his father’s approval. He was quite aware of the favoritism his own father showed toward him, although it was not of his own doing - sometimes he basked in it, sometimes he ignored, and once, just once(unintentionally) tossed it back in Basil’s face during childish fights.
He was mortified, and twenty some odd years later the guilt still crept up on him.
Atticus couldn’t complain about his childhood either, and when he received his Hogwarts letter in 1872, the thoughts of his family disappeared entirely.
Student Career | 1872 - 1879 | Ravenclaw Tower in Hogwarts Castle
- Atticus receives his Hogwarts letter (1872)
- The Foxwood Estate in Bath is sold and the family relocates to Hogsmeade (1877)
- Atticus wins a wizard chess championship for the second year in a row (1878)
- Basil has his first panic attack (1877)
- Atticus graduates from Hogwarts with little fanfare (1879)
Like most children his age, Atticus received his Hogwarts letter and was promptly sent to the school, where he was sorted into Ravenclaw. The Sorting Hat had barely touched his head before decreeing it, and Atticus had been pleased to join the same house that all of his family members had been for generations.
(Two years later he’d be even more pleased that Basil was also sorted into Ravenclaw, although unlike their childhood, the invisible thread that had bound them together had snapped - while still friendly, still friends, they weren’t as close as they were as children.)
His first and second years passed by in a blink of an eye; unlike his childhood where Basil had been one of his few companions, Hogwarts offered a plethora of people to befriend. And he did just that. By his third year he had a solid group of friends he spent nearly every waking moment with. He tended to gravitate toward Sumner Monaghan, the biggest social butterfly in the group who spent too much time in detention for cheeky comments toward professors and Wallace (affectionately Wally) McKinnon, the quietest of the bunch. (He of course had the wittiest comebacks to Sumner’s cheeky comments, which made Atticus laugh until his stomach hurt.)
Neither of them were particularly motivated, and Atticus found himself much like them. They were there to cheer him on during the wizard chess tournament his fifth and sixth year (and there to jeer him when he lost his seventh year to a second year. They still won’t let him live it down). They were thick as thieves. There wasn’t much room for Basil, although he always made time for his little brother. Still close, but nearly as much as when they were children.
He passed his classes, but didn’t necessarily excel in any of them.
Despite being at Hogwarts for most of the migration in 1877, his father’s outright disagreement with the migration and being forced to sell their estates to move to Hogsmeade's gave Atticus a bigger headache than he wished. Sumner was unhappy with his entire family being uprooted, and Wally had a lot more to say than either of them, thus it seemed the entirety of their conversations were over the matter. He couldn’t escape it, even for a moment. His mother had been wildly unhappy over her husband’s predisposition toward the entire situation, and while Atticus attempted to soothe her (because he was almost as angry as his father over the ordeal, although he sucked it up because he had no say in the matter), he hadn’t considered how Basil was handling the entire situation. He was much like their mother.
Being pulled from class by someone to attend to his brother’s panic attack was mortifying, and while angry at Basil for the humiliation that followed, he’d never turn his back on family. Talking down his brother proved harder than expected, but eventually they were able to relocate him to the infirmary. They don’t speak of the matter again. An imaginary wedge pressed itself further into their relationship, and Atticus could feel his little brother slipping away from him; for the time being, he let him go.
He graduated from Hogwarts with grades somewhere in the middle of his class, although the Foxwoods had enough status and money that he declined to find a job upon graduation.
Adulthood | 1879 - 1892| Foxwood Home in Wellingtonshire; Foxwood Manor in Bath
- Atticus joins the social scene (1879)
- Atticus Sr. dies of The Laughing Plague when it hits Hogsmeade (late August 1884)
- Atticus (almost) elopes, but she dies too. (September 1884)
- Foxwood Estate is regained in Bath after the reconciliation with muggles (1887)
Pleased with Atticus' education and desire to represent the Foxwood family, Atticus Sr. welcomed his eldest son back to the Foxwood home in Hogsmeade with open arms. Atticus was happy to frequent London and found the social scene as a way to spread his wings, finding that the people who frequented them were just like him. The upper class were a breed of their own, and it was here he felt that he belonged. With no duties, he turned his attention toward courting a woman, although the first fizzled out before it could even begin. He was much pickier than he expected to be.
in 1883, he meets a woman at feeding the ducks at the park. She wasn’t anything special: middle class, poor enough that her dowry was downright laughable, and average looking enough that she would never catch the eye of someone looking for beauty. They spend a lot of time feeding the ducks and walking the park, and it doesn't take him long to fall in love with her.
In 1884, as the Laughing Plague swept through the wizarding community, Atticus Sr. becomes sick. Atticus proposes and she says yes, on the condition that she meets his father first, in case he dies before the wedding. Atticus Sr. has a fit and threatens to disown his eldest son if he were to go through with the marriage; torn between marrying the love of his life or watching his brother miserable as the only son of the family, Atticus chooses family over his future bride. His father dies, leaving Atticus Jr. the estate and affairs; the family went into mourning. A week after father dies, she perishes as well from the plague. It's a double whammy and Atticus takes it harder than most; he doesn't - can't - divulge his love and mourns her loss in private.
During that period Atticus found there was little concern over the affairs his father had left him, although he found himself fumbling to step into the role of the head of the household for the first year; sometimes his words were harsh, sharp, but they came more so from stress than anger. His father had taught him very little on running the household, as neither had expected him to pass so abruptly. Eventually he learned from his own mistakes and the Foxwood Estate ran nearly as smoothly as it had been for years.
In 1877 the muggles and wizarding community were able to reconcile their differences, and Atticus made the decision to attempt to regain their home in Bath. If he were to marry, he wouldn’t bring a wife home to where his mother and brother still resided.
It is not his shining moment, but through means atypical of a Foxwood (threats of magic and harm go a long way, albeit he would never act upon the words), and throwing more money than he cared to give, Atticus was able to reacquire his childhood home, and eventually, where his own children would grow up.
Finding a wife was put on the backburner as his brother pulled away from the family after a quite dirty move; between him and fixing up the Foxwood Estate in Bath, Atticus has spent the last few years trying not to sprout gray hairs as he keeps his family in line.
Courtship | 1892+ | Foxwood Home, Surrey
He meets Miss Mountbatton through a lonely hearts letter that Poppy submitted to Witch Weekly, and is instantly smitten with her. Because of a matchmaker situation, they move from courting to engaged in [b]September 1892[/b], although Atticus much prefers to take things slow with Natsuko.
