Archibald Flynn Donovan

[Background] [Personality] [Description] [Outfits] [Family]

• Name Meaning
  • Archibald: genuine, bold
  • Flynn: descendant of Flann
• Birthdate: October 22, 1926
• Role: Third Year Student
• House: Hufflepuff
• Wand: Supple Redwood, medium-long, veela hair core

Background

It was no secret when they were at school that Marla Hooper and Archibald Donovan were “sweet” on one another. The two rarely spent any time apart after becoming attached (quite literally) at the hip with a repairing charm gone wrong in their fifth year. They were separated and had relatively little recovery time from the injuries sustained as a result, but from that moment on, they were rarely seen apart anyway. Some of their classmates liked to joke that they must still be attached.

In between their quiet chats in the Hufflepuff commonroom, the two somehow managed to complete their studies, and each successfully attained employment after they left Hogwarts. Archibald followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming an apothecary, though he was not so lucky as to obtain a position at his father’s shop. Nepotism was not something that Archibald Senior wanted to promote. Instead, young Archibald found a spot in a small town a few hours north of London where he was able to settle in comfortably to his new work, none of which had much to do with actually being an apothecary, but all of which was very important (he was sure of it!). Marla took interest in the adventurous life, and her marks and prowess in her NEWT level classes had earned her a spot as an Auror cadet with the ministry. This meant that the two were actually separate for the first time since their charms class mishap (aside from short stints during vacations, of course).

If it hadn’t been for parental insistence that the two wait to get married, they would have set the wedding date no less than a week after they left Hogwarts. However, Archibald’s parents insisted the two wait at least a year, and to add insult to injury, Marla’s told her that she had to wait at least three. Diligently the two worked at their internships. Archibald reached the end of the three years, much in the same place as he had been when he started. However, having learned a lot about bookkeeping and inventory tracking and very little at all about the actual maintenance of that inventory, Archibald’s father told him to quit his job at the small-town shop and come to work for him. His own shop was nestled quite away on the outskirts of London. Few muggles ever noticed it, but Archibald Senior liked to comment that they just weren’t very astute so they wouldn’t have noticed it even if it were brightly lit and standing right in front of them.

After two and a half years, Marla had advanced from mere cadet auror to full on auror. She had no seniority to speak of, and certainly wasn’t picked for the most exciting jobs, but the fact remained: she was an auror! Once she had attained this prestigious position, she set about to start planning with Archibald when and where they would get married. Having waited this long, they had no intention of waiting any longer to get married. Not two weeks after the three-year wait was officially over, Marla and Archibald got married. And after such a long time waiting, both of them felt that it was quite an anti-climactic day. Well, the daytime part was, anyway.

Nine months later, the result of that night (about which they would never divulge their true feelings) came to be in the form of Alexandra Emily Donovan who was born on March 25, 1918. Neither Marla nor Archibald wanted to leave the girl with anyone else, but simultaneously neither wanted to give up working. In the end, they decided that for the time being it was better if Alexandra was with one of her parents primarily, and so decided to flip a coin. Unbeknownst to Archibald, Marla rigged it in her favor and she was able to keep her job at the Ministry while Archibald took a leave of absence of indeterminate length from his father’s shop.

Marla ascended very quickly through the ranks of the underling aurors and found herself in a position to begin going out on the more dangerous missions and with more responsibility as the next couple of years progressed. It became increasingly clear that it would be illogical for her to give up her own career. Archibald was beginning to find himself ill-contented to simply stay home with his daughter day-in and day-out. This was a point of contention for the young couple. They finally agreed that for everyone to be happy (and well cared for), a nanny would be necessary. As neither of them had siblings willing to do the job, they asked in a schoolmate of theirs to help care for their young daughter. Betony Malloy moved in with the Donovans in July of 1920, just prior to the birth of their second daughter Mallory Loren Donovan on August 2. Betony (who went by Bette) cared for the two young girls and kept the house mostly tidy (as tidy as a house can be kept with a two-year-old, anyway).

About a year later, a third daughter joined the family. Ivory Roxanne Donovan was born on August 3 1921, just after midnight, much to her mother’s relief – at least the two would have their own separate birthdays. Archibald was increasingly glad that they had arranged for his going back to work, as it meant that he would occasionally have masculine company. He loved and doted on his wife and daughters, but, as he liked to comment to his colleagues, a man had to have some man time occasionally.

The three girls grew as children are wont to do, and as they grew, their parents advanced in their positions. After a few years, Archibald was finally allowed to place orders and keep an eye on a few of the workers in the shop. In 1925, his father decided that it was high time his son took a more active role in the family business and as a result, Archibald Senior stepped back from many of his responsibilities and let his son take over almost entirely. The “old” (for he could count at least sixty years to his credit, which made him old in his son’s eyes, anyway) man was in such a habit of running the business that it was difficult for him to remain entirely hands off. Instead of walking away entirely, he took over what had been Archibald Junior’s job: bookkeeping. This threw the man into a bit of a tizzy, and it was all the more exaggerated as he found out that his wife was once again with child. Whoops.

Marla’s own career had progressed to the point where she was often consulted on some key cases that the department was working on, though much to her chagrin, she was rarely allowed to go out on missions any longer. She was told that this was due to how important she was to the team, but the woman suspected that wasn’t the entire reason. She was, however, glad of this fact when she found she was pregnant again. It was during the pregnancy that she landed a key promotion which would allow her – after the baby, they said – to take a more hands-on approach to some of the work her teams were doing. This was, perhaps, intentionally vague, but she still held out hope and continued quite happily in her new position in the meantime. It meant filling out a lot of paperwork and dealing with disgruntled teammates a bit more often than she would have hoped, but she had something to look forward to at least.

Archibald Flynn Donovan joined the ranks on October 22, 1926. As the first boy (and likely to be the only boy, Marla asserted), he was quite naturally doted upon by parents, grandparents and sisters alike. The boy grew up used to attention and affection and quite adept at showing it in return. Though there were no signs that he was spoiled beyond repair, he did have a knack of getting his own way, particularly with Bette and his oldest sister. His sisters, by dint of being so much older than he was, found themselves teaching him exactly how a boy ought to behave. (How they knew this themselves is questionable.) The boy (called Flynn by his family so as not to be confused with his father or grandfather) took what they said to heart, but also seemed to have a bit of savvy to back it up. By the time he was five, Marla was commenting that she couldn’t take him anywhere that he wouldn’t charm the socks and shoes off of some little girl or even fully grown woman.

By the time Flynn was eight years old, all of his sisters had gone to Hogwarts already, leaving him at home with Bette most days. He was quick at doing his schoolwork (when he hadn’t convinced her that lessons were unnecessary for the day), and Bette found herself with perhaps a little too much free time to talk to the aged bachelor who lived next door. As the girls came home from school, Bette announced that she and the man next door were going to be married. This came as quite a shock to everyone but Flynn, who had pretended not to notice a thing but really watched and learned as the old man wooed his governess. It was then that Flynn showed his first overt sign of magic. As the family chatted with the couple, they noticed that there seemed to be heart-shaped bubbles floating about. Flynn himself was accidentally procuring them out of his pointed finger, though he appeared not to notice that he was doing it. After someone pointed it out (with apparent joy, as it meant that all four of the Donovan children were, indeed magic), the bubbles burst and stopped happening. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t make them happen again. Flynn was thankful that his family were so engrossed in his accidental magic that they didn’t notice his overt show of romanticism.

Bette left the family to start her own, though much to everyone’s pleasure, she stayed next door with her husband. They agreed that Flynn could come to her house during the day to do his school work until he left for Hogwarts and that during the summer, all four would spend days with their grandparents. It was thus that Flynn spent the rest of his two and a half years before he got his invitation to Hogwarts.

On his eleventh birthday, he got his letter to Hogwarts (as everyone had expected), but unlike his sisters, who all had birthdays much closer to the start of school, the boy had to wait a full eight months before his parents took him to Diagon Alley for his school supplies and – what he was most excited about – his wand. Ollivander made short work of the young Donovan. On his second selection he found the right wand, and Flynn summarily did a good bit of damage to the shop before his parents extracted it from his hands and put it back into its box for safekeeping. That was the last Flynn saw of his wand before his trunk was packed for the trip to school.

Personality

Flynn is a confident fellow. He is easy to make friends or at least make nice with nearly everyone he meets, though he doesn’t often bring people in as close friends. He is a boy of many acquaintances as a result of this. He learned from a young age how to charm and is especially adept at being charming to older ladies, though he seems to have moderate success with some of his peers. His charming nature is useful to him when he wants it to be. He is not above using it to get what he wants or to engineer a situation to go his way. He doesn’t do this excessively, however, judging carefully whether he the situation merits it.

The boy is a bit of a hopeless romantic. While he enjoys the act of being charming to young ladies, he is more inclined to watch the romantic behaviors of those around him. He has a penchant for romance novels or, indeed, any novels, and often uses them as a ruse to pick up bits of what he terms “juicy gossip.” Having grown up with his three sisters as his primary influences, he seems to identify and in fact enjoy feminine company better than his more masculine peers.

Archibald the third is far from perfect, however much he would like those around him to believe this. His own temper is unfortunately easy to set off, though he has grown adept at internalizing it. However, once his anger is aroused at an individual, it takes quite some time for it to subside. If said individual does not then leave him be, his anger begins to show, and it doesn’t take long for him to start throwing punches. He tends to be a bit overly sensitive, over-analyzing nearly everything said about him, especially if it is something that isn’t said directly to him, but rather something that he has overheard. He also has a tendency to get easily aggravated when someone says anything less than glowing about his family. Familial loyalty trumps almost all other feeling in the boy.

Description

Flynn is a fairly solid boy for his age. He is somewhat tall for his age, but not gangly. He has a well-defined square jawline with a prominent chin. His nose is fairly well-shaped without any abnormal curvature. He has peachy skin with often ruddy cheeks. His light brown eyes are framed with a thick set of brown eyelashes. He has thick, straight, dark blonde hair, which he likes to keep combed neatly to one side.

Outfits

None yet!

Family

• Archibald Wilander Donovan (1896)
  • Marla Eileen Donovan-Hooper (1895)
    • Alexandra Emily Donovan (1918)
    • Mallory Loren Donovan (1920)
    • Ivory Roxanne Donovan (1921)
    • Archibald Flynn Donovan (1926)