i'm leaving it up to staff discretion as i'm unsure where he would fall. after the death of both his father and sister from the laughing plague in 1884, he dropped out of hogwarts in order to care for his mother who went mad from grief. it was not much of a secret she probably should have been in an asylum, but aurelian didn't want to lose her so he took her care onto himself. being unfit for company, lavinia completely withdrew from society functions and aurelian didn't go out much besides his job at the crowdy memorial library - though he did attend a few things in the recent few years. recently, she has passed away and he is coming out of the mourning period in time for the 1893 summer season and is tentatively reentering society as he has no one.

father: septimius gaius bell [1834-1884]
mother: lavinia grace bell née cresswell [1845-1892]
sister: cornelia juno bell [1870-1884]

face claim: jack wolfe
ethnicity: caucasian
height: 173 cm
weight: 60 kg
build: skinny
eyes: brown
hair colour: brown
hair style: short, slightly shaggy / wavy
distinguishing features: as such a sickly young lad, he tends to look younger and thinner than most men his own age

scent: honey, old books, and wet ink

demeanor: aurelian is a gentle soul and it's clear with how he moves, with caution and a certain openness that shows he is nobody to fear. he gets tired easily and has a need for a steam inhaler, which has been a problem since childhood so he tends to stop and sit far more than most able bodied men, but since he's gotten older he acts less bashful and ashamed over it. he is entirely nonconfrontational and is more likely to apologize to another person for something that isn't his fault than speak up, making him come off as a coward in most instances. while the past few years he has tried to make himself unassuming and just handle his business, he is trying to be a bit more confident and get out there into society a lot more since his mother's passing.

fashion: honestly, aurelian never cared much about fashion, though he supposes he likes to blend muggle fashions in with his wardrobe as well as wizard fashion. he always does his best to look neat and put together, though, and dress appropriately for the situation because he knows it's important, regardless of his lack of interest in fashion. he wears clothing that is typical of a middle class gentleman, though admittedly he had a hard time figuring out how to shop for himself as he had to do it without his parents guidance in adulthood so for a few years aurelian had some ill-fitting clothes borrowed from his father's things.

early childhood
1867 - 1878
1867: little aurelian was welcomed into the world in early summer on a bright and sunshine filled day by his parents who were quite relieved that they were able to secure a boy without too much effort. he was a little weak at first and tended to get sick a lot, but he always seemed to be a happy baby nonetheless and made their modest, middle class home in london feel more alive.

1870: the family welcomes a second child into the world, a daughter they name cornelia and unlike her brother, she's a chubby little thing who has all the fire and strength that is lacking in her brother, whom still deals with a poor immune system and a soft demeanor. aurelian finds himself absolutely enamored by the new baby in the house and immediately takes his new job as the protective older brother very seriously, always checking on her and asking his mother if he could help take care of her.

1873: septimius bell was a scholar with a large collection of books in his study, but he was most fascinated by the differences between wizards and muggles. many of the books he kept were muggle books about science and he'd write papers about how they compare to what he had been taught from a magical perspective, such as botany versus herbology. even as young as he was, aurelian shared this fascination with his father and he loved to sit on his lap while his father would read him books and talk to him about his research. of course, as he was only six, the child only understood parts of it, but the excitement in his father's voice was soothing and it was clear that aurelian would follow his father into the academic world when he grew up.

1874: aurelian displays his first big sign of magic by changing his hair into a bright pink, mimicking a street performer he was watching while he was out shopping with his mother and sister. at first, his mother was curious if this indicated he was a metamorphmagus, though there was none in the family that she knew of, but she was assured by the healer who saw him that it was just a temporary color changing charm he accidentally did on himself and he would be back to a brunet in no time.

1877: septimius and lavinia hear of the way the muggles reacted to finding out there were wizards living among them and watch many of their neighbors flee to the new village of hogsmeade. while lavinia thinks that perhaps they ought to move as well, at least for the safety of aurelian and cornelia, septimius does not agree and insists that they can't let anyone drive them from their home, especially muggles, and so the family stays in london. however, they are more careful about making sure to stay in the wizarding side of london and putting up anti-muggle charms around their home to make sure everyone is safe.

1878: cornelia was a little spitfire, the way she would zoom around the park and would loudly assert her dominance over the other children, which was very different from aurelian who was timid and non-confrontational and would get too tired to run around like she did and needed to rest often. she would always jump in to stand up for her big brother if any of the big kids made fun of him and in turn, aurelian would always help her with whatever she needed, such as covering up times she made a mess of her new dress before their mother found out. the siblings were very close, which made their parents happy, but it made aurelian dread going to hogwarts soon because he didn't want to leave her, though she would assure him she would be fine.



hogwarts school of witchcraft + wizardry
1878 - 1884
1878: aurelian finds himself missing home the moment he gets on the train, afraid that he isn't going to make many friends and while he knew that cornelia didn't need his help when he was away, though he couldn't help miss protecting her, he would miss her helping him when she could. although, he did know he ought to be ashamed of a little girl needing to fight his battles for him. when he got to hogwarts, the hat considered him for ravenclaw, like his father, but ultimately placed him into hufflepuff. the first few months were hard for aurelian, but eventually he made friends and he was excited to finally be able to learn and practice magic and it made everything feel better. he found his favorite class was easily herbology, but he supposed he didn't dislike any of his classes as they all had something to teach him - even the ones that he wasn't so great at like transfiguration.

1879: while he still was on the shy end of the spectrum, aurelian still had made a friend or two that he could spend the summer writing to and even meeting up with in diagon alley from time to time. with this newfound nugget of confidence, there were much less tears from him when it was time to board the train again in september to return to hogwarts for his second year. now that he felt a bit more comfortable with the school, he began to look at the clubs available and joined the gardening club, music club, and book club. while in the music club, he found the flute to be his favorite, but his parents had a piano at home so he learned to do a few songs on there as well. also, aurelian, though only a second year, did his best to help guide the first years that were in his house whenever he was able as a helpful older student so they weren't as scared and nervous about hogwarts.

1880: now that he was a teenager, his father gave him some new responsibilities when he was home during the summer and allowed aurelian to help him in his study, sorting documents and helping with research. in the back garden, septimius often kept plants he was experimenting with, magical and muggle alike and in a shed, he had set up a makeshift lab of sorts to experiment with potions versus chemistry. due to this continued bond with his father, when aurelian returned to hogwarts, he took up earth magic and muggle studies as his electives because he thought they would be the most useful and would give him the background he needed to continue to help. on his own time, in between classes, you could also find aurelian doing research in the library and sometimes helping out his professors when they allowed him so he could get more time to explore ideas.

1881: although he is older now and has found himself pretty content and doesn't need so much help anymore, aurelian is still delighted that his sister, cornelia, is finally old enough to join him at hogwarts. he spends the summer telling her all about what it will be like in order to build up the excitement so she is almost ready to burst once she gets on the train. she is sorted into gryffindor, which isn't a surprise to aurelian, though he does wish she was in his own house, even if maybe it's better in the long run that they spend time apart. he continues going to his clubs in his spare time as well as tutoring the younger students; continuing to be one of the older years they feel safe going to. he's a bit embarrassed, however, that cornelia fits in almost immediately and some of his classmates tease him about her being so much bolder than he is even though she's a little girl.

1882: if he was honest, aurelian was dreading going back to hogwarts for this year because the idea of taking his o.w.l exams made him want to die. he didn't really know what he wanted to do when he graduated, though he knew he loved music, muggle science, herbology, academia like his father, he was getting into writing poetry... none of it really made him sure on what he wanted. but, with o.w.l. exams looming, he knew that he would need to decide soon because if he didn't get the right classes passed he would have to kiss that plan goodbye anyway. then, of course, there were the n.e.w.t. classes he had to pick once he had the results. aurelian spent most of his fifth year by himself, holing up in the library, pouring over books to study whatever he could in anticipation. he ended up crying for a solid hour when he finished his last exam and realized it was all over for now.

1883: despite the nervousness of waiting for his exam results, aurelian had a lot of fun during the summer due to hogsmeade hosting the quidditch world cup. he usually wasn't all that interested in sports of any kind, unlike his sister, but there was something different about something like this and he made a point to take her to every event she could go to. cornelia was excited, too, because the ban on female players at hogwarts was now gone, although, lavinia made a point to tell her she wasn't allowed to play because it was unladylike. aurelian had a feeling it wouldn't matter and she would try to sneak onto the team anyway. once he got back to hogwarts for his sixth year, he could already feel the pressure of his n.e.w.t. classes weighing on him. thankfully, his extracurriculars made things a little better and his friends were there to keep him from getting too down on himself. while aurelian did try and help cornelia get onto the gryffindor quidditch team by forging their parent's signature, it ultimately didn't work and cornelia was disappointed, but was cheered up when he promised his sister he'd spend the summer convincing his parents that they should allow it for next year, provided she was training and good enough to make the team.



the ones we love never truly leave us
1884 - 1893
1884: tragedy strikes when both septimius and cornelia end up coming down with the laughing plague, a sickness that had been spreading due to the traveling carnival in hogsmeade that the family went to go see. although healers did their best to help them, both members of the family ultimately pass away, leaving aurelian without a sister and without a father. words cannot even begin to describe the kind of grief aurelian felt as he was so close to both of them and it tore him up that he would never get to see his little sister grow up into the woman she was meant to be, but he had to remain strong anyway because his mother seemed to be hit even harder than he was. lavinia would lay in bed in complete silence, going days without eating or she would wail and scream and throw things until she made herself violently ill and there was nothing, it seemed, that aurelian could do to stop her. he couldn't even get her to attend septimius and cornelia's funeral as she wouldn't leave the house and honestly, she was in no state to do so. alone, aurelian would handle the affairs as the man of the house; he tidied his father's study, sent out the last of his findings to his collogues, put cornelia's things into storage, handled all the condolence callers, etc. all with a tight smile because he knew he was the only one who could. when the cure was announced at the end of the summer, his mother got worse, as she probably felt upset and angry because it was too late for them. despite wanting to finish schooling to get his n.e.w.t.s, aurelian knew he couldn't leave his mother in this state so he elected not to go to hogwarts to finish his seventh year.

1886: lavinia never got any better, in fact, it seemed the grief from losing her husband and her daughter drove her completely mad. aurelian acts as her caretaker, as without him she would never remember to bathe, feed, go to the bathroom, etc. of course, things would be easier if he just had her sent to the asylum, but after losing his sister and father he can't bear to let his mother go either... though, admittedly she is no longer the woman he knew either. aurelian does his best to study on his own, knowing that even without his n.e.w.t.s he can do something, so he becomes a junior librarian at the crowdy memorial library. it's close enough to home that he can check in on his mother. the bell family has completely removed themselves from society, however, when the world's wizarding fair comes for the summer, aurelian can't help but go. although it makes him miss his father and sister terribly, as he knew they would have loved it, he is beginning to heal and move forward the best he can.

1888: when the summer solstice festival returns to hogsmeade for the first time since the laughing plague, it knocks the wind out of aurelian and he does whatever he can to keep the news of it from his mother, fearing that somehow she could get worse out of grief. as he has had some time to think and heal, he doesn't blame them and knows they never meant to harm anyone, but still he avoids going like the plague. reaching twenty-one years of age, he finds himself promoted to an actual, full-fledged librarian at the crowdy memorial library. he enjoys the work and the excuse to be surrounded by books, making him feel closer to his father in spirit. he continues to work on his poetry and keeps a collection in his father's office he repurposed for himself. also, of note, aurelian attends every quidditch match he is able to afford as it makes him feel close to cornelia in spirit too.

1892: aurelian never felt more conflicted than the day he found out his mother had passed away in the night and it meant he no longer had to stay tied down to home to care for her. of course, it was painful and reopened old wounds about losing his father and sister, but in a way he knew that she would be happier in the next life, because perhaps she would see her husband and daughter again... and if he was completely honest with himself, she died back in 1884. just like last time, he took care of all the arrangements, cleaned the home, and dealt with the few condolence callers that even remembered the bell family still existed since he left society. it took awhile, but eventually aurelian was able to turn what was his childhood home into something that he felt comfortable living in as a single man, though he admittedly felt lonesome since he only really had his mother for years.

1893: coming out of the mourning period in time for the summer season, aurelian feels it's time to try and reenter society.

strengths: compassionate, genuine, helpful, imaginative, kindhearted, loyal, optimistic, patient, protective, trusting

weaknesses: absentminded, awkward, cowardly, disorganized, emotional, gullible, quiet, obsessive, people pleasing, sensitive

likes: apples, botany, children, closing his eyes and taking in the sunshine, comparing muggle science with wizarding magic in all fields, gardening, helping others, herbology, honey, picking flowers, playing the flute, playing the piano, poetry, quiet places, quidditch, reading books, spending time out in nature, soft drizzles of rain, sweets, writing out all of his feelings in a journal

dislikes: books collecting dust from neglect, blood purists, bullies, death, finishing a good book, getting sick easily, funerals, hospitals, humidity, loneliness, needing to rest and use his inhaler, not getting his n.e.w.t.s, pears, pumpkin juice, the traveling carnival, summer heat, thinking about how much he misses his father and sister, upper class snobs, withdrawing from society

fears: another plague occurring, being alone forever, being seen as too soft and not masculine enough, having a family of his own and losing them too, nobody wanting him around after trying to reenter society, seeing the ghost of his father or sister

goals: completely heal from his trauma, continue his father's research and have a breakthrough, have a family of his own, publish a book of poetry, successfully reenter society, teach himself things he missed out on when he dropped out of hogwarts

habits: apologizes for things he didn't do, hums softly while he works, keeps his desk rather messy and tends to rifle through papers constantly, tends to get wrapped up in his own head and doesn't hear others speak, waves and smiles at small children

hobbies: continuing his father's research, playing the flute, playing the piano, reading, watching quidditch, writing poetry

— skills —
01. considered to have a green thumb and great at gardening
02. he is able to play both the flute and the piano
03. writes beautiful poetry, though he is too shy to share it right now

— trivia —
amortentia: never learned how to make it
boggart: the ghosts of his sister and his father
clubs: book, gardening, & music
electives: muggle studies & earth magic
patronus: never learned to cast it
pets: none
religion: agnostic
romantic orientation: demiromantic
sexual orientation: asexual
zodiac sign: gemini