|Aaron Bachmeier|
Male | 17 | 7th Year | Muggle-Born | Tituba
Aaron is a beanpole if ever you've seen one. Standing at an astounding 6'5" and weighing only a measly 160 lbs, he’s long and lanky and undeniably thin. He has kind eyes, a short face and straight, white teeth. Of course, the relative normalcy of his appearance stops there. Both he and his twin brother were born with Waardenburg Syndrome, type II. As such, their appearances are a tad odd.
Aaron’s skin is a somewhat tan shade of generic German white, with several large, hypo-pigmented (read: bleached-ass, abnormally white) patches across his body. The most noticeable of these are on his left forearm/hand, left hip (stretching diagonally up across his belly) and right collarbone, starting below the clavicle and running up his neck and jaw and crossing over his right eye and eyebrow and into his hairline. Aaron’s left eye is a relatively dull, dark shade of greyish-green, while his right eye (surrounded by hypo-pigmented skin) is an unnaturally bright blue. His hair is dirty blonde, save for a stark white lock where his hypo-pigmentation runs beneath his hairline. If one were to really look, they’d also find some stray silver hairs among the dirty blonde ones, signs of premature greying. He keeps this bouncy but otherwise straight hair cut a little long, long enough to go past his ears and occasionally fall into his eyes. All of his bizarre physical traits can be attributed to the Waardenburg Syndrome that took his hearing at birth.
Aaron’s style of dress could be described as casually formal. He’s a fan of button-up shirts, jeans, slacks and khakis, and tends to iron everything he wears. The dress code at the school suits him just fine.
Pet:
Schnitzel (Or Schatzi for short, meaning ‘sweetie’)
Schnitzel is a sweetheart if you’ve ever seen one, liable to roll sleepily over and loudly purr the moment someone touches her. She’s the type of cat who will take attention wherever she can get it, including jumping on laps and lounging on homework to get a little snuggle time in. She’s extremely gentle, even as a kitten never bitten or scratched anyone on purpose.
Electives:
- Alchemy
- Study of Ancient Runes
- Arithmancy
Clubs:
-Charms
-Magical Creatures
Boggart:
A dusty and rotting casket, which shakes with blows from the inside and echoes with muffled screams, as if someone inside is fighting to escape.
Patronus:
An extravagant peacock.
Amortentia:
Old books, cloves and cinnamon.
Wand:
Best Class:
Herbology
Worst Class:
Defence Against the Dark Arts
Strengths:
- Healing spells
- Listening (ironically enough)
- Reading comprehension (he has no problem learning from reading)
- Time Management
- Seeing all sides
- Trilingual (German, English, Sign Language)
- Keen senses (deafness taught him how to use his other senses more effectively, such as touch)
- Intelligence
Weaknesses:
- Meek
- Weak grasp of sarcasm/other finesses of speech (mostly in English, but not the best in German either)
- Poor command of spoken English
- Unsure, especially in social situations
- Can't deal with other people's emotions (he doesn't know how to comfort a sad person, calm an irate one, etc. It is a skill he is trying to master)
Personality:
If the meek are to inherit the earth, then Aaron is set to become a very rich man. Growing up deaf in a school for the hearing naturally pushed him to the sidelines, with only his twin brother to pull him back in. As such, Aaron is understandably quiet and tends to stay on the outskirts of the social scene, keeping his few, good friends close. This is not to say, however, that he avoids new people. Quite to the contrary, he’s polite and courteous and always greets new people with a smile. This had been a somewhat recent development, as only at his magical school was he able to effectively verbally communicate, with the help of a hearing charm and lots of practice with his speaking.
Aaron is a caring person, who had always preoccupied himself with the welfare of others. Ever since he was young, he dreamed of becoming a doctor, healing the wounded and curing the sick. He has a natural caregiver’s air to him, always willing to be anything from medic to crying shoulder. Even his wand reflects that fact, a wand with wood and core practically made for healing magic. But even with the incredible efficacy of healing spells, he finds himself preferring muggle medicine.
Of course, no one is cheerful and helpful all the time. Aaron is a hard worker and an intellectual, enjoying his alone time and valuing his peace when he must work. H e can accomplish anything he sets his mind to, a trait shared by his brother, but not without hard work. If someone is becoming a nuisance or a distraction while he is occupied with something of more importance, his lengthy fuse beings to burn short. While he is a patient person, everyone has an end. IN this case, his most likely reaction is a frustrated breath and curtly asking the offending party to leave.
Likes:(At least three)
- Soft music
- Warmth (especially fire)
- Morning/sunrise
- Cold days (with warm clothing)
- Quiet, ambient noise
- Reading/researching
- Tedious, simple tasks that he can sit and mindlessly work on
- Cozy furniture
- Writing by hand
- Using sign language with people other than his brother
Dislikes:(At least three)
- Silence (it makes his ears ring)
- Strong opinions
- Loud environments (arenas, concerts, loud halls, etc.)
- Crowds
- Swimming beneath things (swimming itself doesn't bother him, but he's not about to swim under a dock to get to the other side, no matter how short the distance)
- Loud/sudden noises
Fears:
- Small/confined spaces
- Drowning
- Buried alive/trapped under floorboards/trapped in a vent/being unable to breathe freely (he's a claustrophobe, can you tell?)
- Public ridicule
- Getting lost/stranded
Biography:
Aaron, along with his brother, was born to a tiny woman in the city of Munich, Germany. Their conception was one of passion, unexpected and ill-prepared for. Still, the trooper of a woman raised the twins with as much love and care as her heart could handle, leaving both boys feeling indebted to her, and willing to come at her beck and call. Though he was born deaf, Aaron's mother unfortunately did not have the means to accommodate past learning and teaching sign language. Therefore, both he and his brother were sent to a public, hearing school. His brother was Aaron's best friend and interpreter all through school, until the day of their eleventh birthday, when a rather strange letter arrived by golden eagle and set their lives on an extraordinary path.
The Eastern European School of Magical Sciences quickly won the young boy's heart when a caregiver in the infirmary gave him a charm that he could cast on himself to grant him the ability to hear. The spell wasn't perfect, had to be recast every day and could not be used outside of school (as it would require using magic in the muggle world, and underaged at that), but it elated (well, terrified at first as his brean learned how to process sound) the boy to the point that he pined to return to school each year after, and took a special interest in medicine.
When he was young, he began learning English for the sole purpose of being able to read English books and watch films and shows in English. He dragged his brother into the language, and the two spent a lot of time exploring its nuances.
Life until now has been rather standard for the two, comparatively: They go to school during the year, work during the summer to support their mother, and prepare for their futures. This year, however, they applied for the foreign exchange program offered between their school and Salem Witch's Institute, and are excited to explore the school, the system, and the people who attend.
Other:
Aaron's type II Waardenburg syndrome is the culprit for his congenital deafness and his odd appearance. Type II Waardenburg Syndrome is a rare genetic condition that often causes heterochromia, abnormal skin/air pigmentation and congenital deafness, though its effects generally do not extend past appearance and deafness.
Aaron would spend his summers at school if he could and yearns to return each year because it is the only place where he can cast a daily charm on himself and gain the ability to hear. He dislikes total silence because it makes him fear that his hearing is gone again and it also makes his ears ring (the charm isn't perfect yet). Because of this, he also greatly dislikes busy places and crowds because the many different sounds from different sources confuse him. Although he's had six school years able to hear again, his brain still hasn't mastered filtering all the sounds.
