Childhood Years (1865-1876) Born the last child and second son of the Huxley family, Philomen is a fairly happy baby. Having been born into a very academic family, his naturally inquisitive nature is encouraged early on. At this stage, his interests are varied and dependent on what books he gets his hands on. By the time it's his turn to go to Hogwarts, he has a fairly well-rounded set of interests. Hogwarts Years (1876-1883) The sorting hat waffles between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for a bit before finally placing the boy in Hufflepuff, Philomen's hard-working nature winning out over his curiosity in the end. He takes easily to school, finding success in both academics--frankly, unsurprising--and in making friends. His rather easy-going nature and willingness to help his fellow students with studying makes it easy to ingratiate himself. With his many varied interests, it takes Philomen a while into his school career to land on something specific for his future. Given his family, he expects he'll do something academic in nature. It's not until he is preparing for his OWLs in fifth year that the possibility of healing is suggested to him and, although it doesn't immediately strike him as the right choice, it seems like a reasonable enough path. At the very least, it gives him more direction than his otherwise eclectic interests. The Beginning of a Career (1883-1884) Philomen begins his career at St. Mungo's, and discovers to his delight that he finds the work more interesting than he expected to. It isn't particularly surprising that he takes well to his work--Phil is nothing if not adaptable. It is bad luck, or perhaps serendipity, that finds Philomen trapped in Hogsmeade during the Laughing Plague. He had been in town to visit with friends, and found himself caught within the quarantine zone. Unfortunate, but he offered himself up to help with the hospital efforts, and it was really only by some miracle that he didn't come down with the sickness himself. By the time the quarantine was lifted, Phil left Hogsmeade a man with renewed purpose. When his trainee year came to an end at the end of the summer, he entered the Magical Bugs ward as a junior healer. A Renewed Purpose (1884-Present) In a way, the Laughing Plague radicalized Philomen. He had spent most of his life so far with a sort of scattered focus, and now he had something that lit the fires of academic passion in him. He thrives in his career at the hospital, but his real passion now is epidemiology--studying diseases, how they happen and spread, how to stop them, ultimately. Honestly, he's out here living his best life.