#andrew bones

Out of Character:

Name: Admin Amanda

Preferred Pronouns: she/her/her majesty/hey nerd, etc.

Age: 21

Time Zone: EST

Activity Level: This question hurts me in my very soul

How did you find us? Luck

Have you played this character before? Nope!

Which HP canon character is your favorite? The candy trolley lady

In Character:

Name: Andrew Robert Bones

Age & Birthday: 18 January 1961

Affiliation: Ministry of Magic

Alumni House: Hufflepuff

Students belonging to this house are known to be hard-working, friendly, loyal, honest and rather impartial. It may be that due to their values, Hufflepuffs are not as competitive as the other houses, or are more modest about their accomplishments. Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses; valuing hard work, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members.

Occupation:  Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes (Accidental Magic Reversal Squad)

Place of Dwelling: A flat with Amelia in London

Expand on the positive and negative traits given in the bio:

+ loyal; The sorting hat didn’t waver for a moment when it was placed upon Andrew Bones’s head: he was a Hufflepuff through and through. He can still remember, without a shadow of a doubt, first reading the description of the house in his copy of Hogwarts, A History: “Hufflepuff is the most inclusive among the four houses; valuing hard work, patience, loyalty, and fair play rather than a particular aptitude in its members”. Reading that, it was like something clicked in his mind– there was a place for him after all, one where he might not only thrive, but could help others to do so as well. That train of thought is not uncommon for Andrew. He believes in sticking by the people you care about, and Andrew happens to care about a great number of people. Once he’s on someone’s side, there’s very few ways to shake him from that position. Second, third, fourth chances are his rule, not his exception, and the fact that he’s so passive means that he’s hard to offend and even harder to anger. He has a habit of putting others before himself, and as time goes on he just keeps adding to the list of people he deems important– rarely removing anyone from that coveted group.

+ family-oriented; The Bones family has a tradition of going around the table and talking about their greatest triumph of the day, trying to outdo one another and claim the top spot. Rarely winning this game, Andrew’s never looked at it as a game he couldn’t win. Instead, if asked, he genuinely looks back at it as a pleasant experience– his family had dinner together every night, and that’s the part that shone through for him. He knows that he owes his parents and siblings so much; he’s proud of them, through thick and thin, and the six of them sticking together is something that he might not have made it by without. No matter how hard they push each other or themselves, Andrew knows that there’s genuine love behind it. Far from resenting his family for their high standards and competitive natures, he sees the passion and closeness that runs underneath the surface value and wants a family of his own one day. 

The members of his family are so important to Andrew. However, beyond that, the IDEA of family is also one of the things he builds so much of his life and personality around. One of the main things he’s been taught since birth is tolerance for others and not judging based on bloody purity, socio-economic background, etc. That kind of unconditional acceptance is what family truly means to him, and he carries it into all aspects of his life: relating to peers, going the extra mile to help someone in need, noticing when somebody could really use a laugh, forgiveness even in difficult situations. He strives to treat everyone he meets as family until they do something to prove that they don’t deserve it. For instance, messing with his actual family is an unforgivable offense.

+ hard-working; He’s no Amelia in the academics department, but Andrew is still a Bones and is therefore no stranger to hard work. He has always been more lax in his schooling than any of his siblings, but that doesn’t mean it’s an excuse to be lazy– he was expected to put in the hours, just like the rest of them. Though he’s more passive than his twin, once something properly lodges in his brain, it’s nearly impossible to get out; for instance, his specialty in school was brewing antidotes and, even though potions didn’t come naturally to him, the possibility of practically applying something he put work into to improve someone else’s life was enough to pull him in. 

It’s outside of the academic world, however, where this trait of Andrew’s really shines through. One of his main missions in life is to take care of other people and put a smile on their face when he can; he aims to be tolerant and make others feel included. He might not be able to memorize a textbook’s worth of Arithmancy problems overnight, but he has never had any issue going to extra mile when it comes to looking out for the people he cares about. He is willing to go out of his way, listen longer, sacrifice whatever he has to to make sure that those he loves are secure and feeling that way. Whether it means forgoing something he was looking forward to or even a night’s sleep, he will work tirelessly to achieve his desired end result. The main difference between him and his siblings is that they usually have two completely different end results in mind; if someone were to look at the thought process instead of the actual work being done, they would find that the Bones kids are all actually quite similar.

- goofy; Andrew wants to make people smile, but sometimes he’s more liable to crack a joke to make that happen instead of focusing on things that should technically be the priority. He accepted early on that he was never going to be the smartest or most impressive member of his family, and so he developed a laid-back and passive attitude about it, preferring to look at the bigger picture of things and convince himself that he’ll be alright regardless. However, this is in part a cover for his insecurities and can lead to him not always treating matters with the deference they deserve. He learned that the key to not getting too lost in comparisons and competitions was to not take himself too seriously; now that he’s in the real world and balancing a job, that’s something that may have to change. Although taking care of people is his talent, it’s not enough to actually get him by in the world on its own and with the world keeping a close eye on him because of his family’s position in the world, he can’t help but he aware of his own goofy nature and worry more than ever that he’s going to let the other Boneses down. Each of his siblings had an impressive defining quality about them; he isn’t sure that he wants ‘the goof-off’ to be his.

- self-conscious; Andrew has been supported by his family for his entire life, but no amount of closeness or respect for them can change the fact that comparisons happen, especially in his own mind. Everyone in the family seems to have a role: Linda and Robert’s reputations spoke for themselves; Amelia was brilliant and going places; Edgar was brave and protective; Elliot was the youngest, and still ridiculously impressive. Although he knows what his strong spots are and tries to capitalize on them, the successes that Andrew has aren’t always the type that can be quantified and listed on paper. Taking care of others and putting a smile on someone’s face make him feel amazing in the moment, but when doubt creeps into his mind and he starts to second guess himself, there’s nothing concrete that he has to show for his work to convince himself otherwise. Although he’s more laid back than most of his family and is able to let more things roll off his shoulders, he still grew up in the Bones family: he knows what success and hard work mean in the world, and sometimes he worries that he doesn’t have it. He doesn’t want to let the people he cares about down, he doesn’t want to distract them from the important things they have going on in their own lives…and above all, he doesn’t want to be Just Andrew forever.

- passive; Just because he’s made the best of the fact that he was softer than his siblings doesn’t mean it isn’t true. So much of Andrew’s attitude is built on the principle of tolerance, but this has a downside, too: he will tolerate far too much when it comes to himself. Preferring to take care of other people and not burden them with his problems, he’ll often keep quiet about things that are difficult for him and can be a bit of a pushover, whether the push comes from somebody like the Slytherins that used to bully him or someone he genuinely cares about, like his siblings. Just because he knows how to work hard doesn’t mean he actually knows how to push himself as hard as he needs to sometimes. He’s become complacent in being the more laid back brother with the goofy sense of humor, and sometimes sees himself as a burden if he acts into any other role. He would rather be bullied than sit with the knowledge that it’s happening to someone else, but his roll-off-the-shoulder attitude can be damaging the longer he lets it run its course.

History:

Andrew Bones was a capital-g, capital-k, Good Kid. At least, that’s what any of his tutors would say when pressed by his parents, post-lessons in those early years before Hogwarts when the Bones siblings were being taught at home. Edgar was ‘engaging, bold, charming’. Amelia was ‘brilliant, self-driven, too smart for her age’. Andrew, on the other hand,  was a ‘good kid’, and, even though it may not have towered up above the compliments his siblings received and even though it may not have been exactly what his parents dreamed of one day hearing about their third-born child, there was always a note of pride in the voice of the teacher when they called him good, and it was one that Andrew never got tired of hearing.

Edgar could knock the socks off any flown-in professor by the age of ten with talk about future ambition to become an Auror, undaunted by the danger and undeterred by the rigorous curriculum. Amelia was a ball of facts, the paradigm of a self-starter, and could seamlessly switch between any of the languages she studied without even missing a beat of the pluperfect. Andrew, on the other hand, reached his personal point of pride at the age of eight when he stayed back at lunch after a lesson in Finnish verbs and shared half of his sandwich with their tired-looking tutor. The look on her face was akin to the same one he loved seeing on Amelia’s face when she earned top marks on an assessment– only this time, he had been responsible for making it happen. He was still a Bones, of course, and he was no stranger to feeling pride when he himself made top marks. But this experience changed him, made him realize that there was a life outside of marks and paper goals. One that he had a place in, too.

So no, Andrew Bones wasn’t the protector and he wasn’t the genius and he wasn’t even the baby of the family, after Elliot came along. But Andrew Bones was a Good Kid, and he was proud to be one.

The Bones family was widely known in the wizarding world and, while they may not always have been held in popular regard (depending upon whom it was you should happen to ask), nobody could deny that they were an impressive bunch. His parents held high-ranking positions in the Ministry and spoke publicly about their opinions– opinions that they also passed down to their four children. Linda and Robert strove to lead a family that was tolerant and saw the world in terms other than blood purity, despite being pure themselves. The children were educated in core subjects and handfuls of languages before their official Hogwarts schooling even began, and the Bones bunch were notoriously impressive…and, along with that, competitive. That was where Andrew felt himself falling short. He was still a Bones and so he had a genuine love of learning. However, stacked next to an older brother like Edgar, a twin like Amelia, and the sympathy vote going to Elliot, the youngest, it was often that Andrew felt that he was without a niche all his own.

Unlike his sister and brother, Andrew was more lax in his schooling. Early on, he developed a talent for seeing the big picture of things, meaning that he was able to be more passive when something didn’t go his way– instead of losing focus, he merely shrugged it off and decided that either he’d done his best and it couldn’t be helped or that there was another way around it. It was a gift, technically speaking, especially in a high stakes and high stress environment like the Bones family tree. However, next to the iron wills of his siblings, Andrew couldn’t help but feel dwarfed. For instance, the twins were often told as young children how smart they were: Andrew took it as a compliment. Amelia, on the other hand, took it as a challenge to improve, to be ever-better. No stranger to hard work, Andrew was never against bettering himself…but being The Best was never something he was able to psych himself up towards. After all, with a family like his, he was unlikely to actually ever get that title and so from a young age his spirit of competition was geared more toward mediation and peacekeeping, rather than joining the race himself.

He was a Bones, after all, and nurtured justly. He knew how to put his nose to the grindstone when the need arose, but the facts hung there in plain sight: even if he was never the best, he always tried to give his best shot…but he wasn’t going to drive himself crazy over it. No matter the results, he was content with them as long as he knew that fact. A strong air of competition ran through his household– there was no denying that. But Edgar was charming and Amelia could recite a list of country capitals before Andrew had even opened his eyes in the morning. Rather than throw himself headlong into the race, he had always been content with mediating it. A referee of sorts, he was never the kid who pushed others down to get to the finish line. Rather, he was the type to take a look around and make sure that everyone made it to the finish line and that everyone was in one piece when they got there. He’s always preferred to be the one that watches out for others; it’s the one time he feels like he’s truly in his element.

Edgar and Amelia were focused on protecting Andrew and each other from the world. Andrew preferred to put his efforts toward protecting them from themselves: lightening the mood when he could, forcing them to take a break. When they truly wanted for something, Andrew had no problem being a bit of a pushover (his easygoing nature was ripe for the picking-upon when push came to shove); however, he so infrequently asked for anything in return that when he did, he knew it would be hard to deny. He was always more like his father than his mother: knowing when to slip in an easy joke that was appropriate for the situation, saying what needed to be said to calm people down. He became a master of corny jokes and listening without interrupting, talents that later worked in his favor when he began Hogwarts.

At school, Andrew was sorted into Hufflepuff and it was, hands down, the best case scenario for him. Not only was he able to remain in the same house as his twin (something that he’d worried about constantly but not vocalized because all dinnertime conversations in the month leading up to school had been geared toward academic preparedness), but his eyes were opened to a new kind of learning environment. Andrew never resented his family for their hard-pushing and success, but had carried that feeling into being convinced he’d be unsuccessful when he approached Hogwarts. To him, the school was going to be a sea of Boneses just like his siblings that he wouldn’t stack up against. However, what he found instead was that not everyone had been afforded the same opportunities as him. Whether it was blood status, money, or just the fact that they didn’t have an ear to go to with their problems, Andrew soon got a big-picture glimpse of the real world…and realized that he wasn’t so defective after all. He could be useful– just like he turned his early-life attention to boosting his siblings up and protecting them from burning themselves out, he sought to do the same at school.

He was warm, approachable, and funny (although not too smooth when it came to the actual talking); he had no problems making friends. When students in other houses began to compete to be top of the class and cut each other down, Andrew capitalized on the Hufflepuff principle of loyalty and fairness, setting up study groups and tutoring networks to make sure that nobody fell too far behind. He was finally in an environment that fostered his tolerant and community-based nature, and he thrived. However, being the twin that wore his heart in his sleeve instead of hidden beneath a stern veneer was a double edge sword. Although he had less problems getting to know people, he also attracted the wrong kind of attention from time to time. Careful not to antagonize anyone or to go out of his way to make enemies (on principle and out of a belief that it was the right thing to do, not out of fear), Andrew’s softer nature often marked him as the easiest-to-pick-off target; the low hanging fruit of his opinionated and often controversial family tree.

As first year turned to seventh, Andrew never came to resent the success of his siblings, and his parents’ criticism was something he’d always been able to take more lightly than most…however, a toll was taken on him. There were only so many times he could be compared to his siblings in the eyes of his peers and professors before it began to get to him– in fact, it didn’t take long at all. However, that was something that he strongly believed was his issue and his alone. His family was close, and he knew what they’d say if he brought it up: that it wasn’t true, he was great, etc. etc. He was hard on himself, just like they were hard on themselves– but he didn’t have the intense drive that they did, or the miraculous results to prove it was worth it. Along with the increasing issue with being targeted in passing by Slytherins and the like, it was something that Andrew filed away in his mind as something better left unsaid. After all, he was still able to focus on the big picture, even as his siblings developed sharper tunnel vision when it came to achieving their goals. He knew it wouldn’t last– or, at least, he hoped it wouldn’t.

Without having Amelia by his side for all of seventh year, since she was splitting her time, Andrew was left on his own to prepare for his NEWTs. It was tough for him, not having her around to lean on, but there were benefits (not that he saw them that way): focusing on himself for once and not comparing himself to anyone else, Andrew managed to stack up come confidence for himself and do better than even he expected. They weren’t the immaculate and record-breaking marks that Amelia and Edgar had earned the year previous, but he had honestly done his best– and it showed.

Although he didn’t graduate with top marks, he did manage to leave school with an unprecedented number of letters of recommendation under his belt, evidence of his people-oriented nature and enough to get him into a job on the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad at the Ministry. It was a position that suited him greatly: he came from a family of ‘doers’, but Andrew had always fancied himself more of an ‘undoer’. He could disarm quarrels with just a few words and regress Bones-family-wars back to peace in his sleep. During school, he’d had a special knack for brewing antidotes and untransfiguration; fifth year career consultations had skirted right over this position initially, given his family’s reputation, but once he heard about the position, he knew it was where he wanted to be. His paper resumé may not have been airtight, but he gave a good enough impression to breeze through the interview process; he wasn’t gifted with smooth-talking skills, but his genuine air of approachability and warmth marked him as someone who could be a real asset to the team.

Getting and holding the job has done wonders for his self esteem, but still he can’t help but wait for the other shoe to drop. He’s well aware that he isn’t in school anymore, isn’t in Hufflepuff safety net anymore where he felt that he could goof off and be caught by the network of friends and support he’d built up. He also knows that he has a tendency to goof off from time to time, and is worried about toeing that line, given that he doesn’t have the inherent and automatic knack for professionalism that his siblings have. He’s yet to screw up, but when things get particularly tough on the job, he worries that he’ll be the one to screw something up. Although Andrew is proud of the work he’s doing, he can’t help but see a look pass over people’s faces when he tells them what he’s been up to. His parents are…well, his parents. Amelia is a rising star in the DMLE and Edgar is a year into auror training. At dinner parties or when he sees family acquaintances in passing, he can see what they’re mentally tacking onto the description of his current position: “…and then what?”, as if there’s something more impressive on the horizon.

He’s spent years perfecting his passive and laid back attitude as a safeguard against stress…but now, with everything going on in the world, he can’t help but think that maybe a little dose of stress would do him good. It doesn’t matter how far out of his way he goes to avoid antagonizing people– his family still has a target on its back and, loyal as ever, that includes him as well.

The Details:

Wand: Walnut, 10 inches, phoenix feather, flexible

Amortentia:

Coffee- Andrew is one of those people that is always naturally energetic, and so he doesn’t have much need for coffee. He’ll drink it socially and doesn’t mind the taste, but doesn’t rely on it like his sister does. However, the smell reminds him strongly of his twin and his home life in general. Family love is extremely important to him in a multitude of ways, since it’s the foundation for all his relationships with other people, and so coffee, for all those reasons, is one of the dominant scents he’s able to pick out.

The smell right before it rains

That one specific smell of the Bones house, especially when walking in the front door after coming home from a trip or a long time away

Coconut

New textbook pages

Boggart:

A strung-out, overworked, half-dead Amelia trying to keep pushing herself; he’s convinced, in the back of his mind, that he would never let things get that far, and so the only way it actually would is it he wasn’t around to stop it and take care of her. It would mean so much more than the face-value fact that she was losing it; it would mean they were separated by some means and that he’d failed the most important person in his life.

Patronus: Panda

The panda is a resourceful animal, and those with it as a patronus are the same. They are good at using whatever is around them, and incredibly creative and bright. They are friendly and warm, and many may go to them for advice or help, which the panda will willingly give. They are a bit of a healer by nature, enjoying company around them and using it to enhance themselves. They love to explore many areas of knowledge and the world, trying to broaden their horizons and keep their minds open. They can be very spiritual people, but will not push their views on others, as they are comfortable with whatever a person chooses to believe. 

Extras:

Headcanons:

Andrew’s best subjects at Hogwarts were History of Magic and Potions. He had a talent for history because of his friendly attitude– he has a talent for remembering names and hearing people’s stories. Those qualities combined made it easier to think about history through a personal lens and keep him tuned in when other students became bored and stopped listening.

In Andrew’s eyes, Amelia is a the paradigm of what a person should be– if only she could relax a little. She’s unafraid, brilliant, and has the headstrong, self-starter attitude that he could never cultivate. He’s always been able to see past her tough exterior and doesn’t understand why other people can’t, too. He may be a pushover when it comes to himself, but he doesn’t tolerate any poor treatment of her– and that includes when it’s coming from herself.

A warm people-oriented person, Andrew has a talent for knowing how people want to be treated and tries to keep them comfortable– i.e. why he never went out of his way to cut Amelia a break for being a girl when they were kids or why he cares about people but isn’t one to force help on them if they clearly don’t want it.

He often jokes that there was a mistake in utero, giving Amelia all the brains and himself all the heart…although he won’t bring it up if she’s in less than a good mood.

Andrew has the corniest sense of humor on the planet, and doesn’t hesitate to whip it out when the situation calls for it. He loves making people smile, and he’s come to realize that he can’t do that if he takes himself too seriously.

Andrew is a notoriously picky eater, preferring plain foods. He’s not a talented cook, but he can make a few simple things to suit his needs: soup, pastas…cereals. Although they aren’t gourmet dishes, he likes putting them together as a gesture if someone’s feeling down.

Andrew gets woozy around blood.

He’s always preferred to be the one that watches out for others; it’s the one time he feels like he’s truly in his element.

His attention is hard to hold, but once something captures it, his resemblance to his family becomes much more pronounced. A book that manages to pull him in won’t be put down until he finishes it; a problem or puzzle that actually gets him interested enough to deem ‘worth it’ will be solved before he can move on to anything else. This makes him an asset in his department at work, because he often stays more dedicated to difficult situations and figures out solutions ahead of schedule. However, it can also hurt him: he’s not great at multi-tasking or prioritization, especially when one of these cases crosses his desk.

He largely stays out of politics, in part because his current job doesn’t exactly throw the spotlight on him or give him a platform to make large declarations, which he prefers. However, he isn’t afraid to say that he believes in tolerance and equality, and won’t back down from those core beliefs if pressed on them. At his core, though, he is a caregiver and not a fighter. He has zero working involvement with the Order.