Alastar ó Dálaigh
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| Alastar o Dalaigh | |
|---|---|
| Biographical Information | |
| Born | 2 September 1975, 37 |
| City of Birth | Cuan Aighneach, Ireland |
| Blood status | Half-blood |
| Physical Information | |
| Gender | male |
| Education | |
| School | Hogwarts |
| House | Slytherin |
| Class of | 1994 |
| Occupation | |
| |
| Character Information | |
| Mikey | |
The lure of the small town boy who tumbled too far down the rabbit hole is perplexing at best but for Alastar, there seems to be no homeland anymore and life is something you can just pack into a suitcase. As a thirtysomethings man with a penchant for black, black coffee and the science of London's underbelly, it's no wonder life seems to be a downhill struggle to nowhere half the time.
History
Eoghan had always said that time went by so slowly in the small towns of Ireland, which for many long years served as an excuse for his sexism and schoolboy manners towards his wife, Brighid. They cared not for outsiders in the village, especially people of colour, which although not uncommon in such places in the seventies would be seen as unacceptable now. The families in Carlingford inhabited the town for as long as the rocks had graced the coast and was occupied mostly by adults and retirees. Over half the population were wizarding folk, with the children drifting back and forth from Hogwarts School but without the livelihood of the taverns and farming men, it would've been a ghost town. Sundays were in the traditional sense, the day of rest whereby even the radios were turned off and not a shop in sight with an open door. These small details were for all its charm. The land was rich and although the Alastar' were hardly wealthy, the comfort of home kept them firmly in a postcard town of Ireland.
Brighid and Eoghan were married by the age of nineteen in a muggle church, and although far from the conflicts in the wizarding world, he was unable to keep from her the likelihood that their boys would soon be revealing some form of magical ability. The two shared the understanding of traditional family values and honouring thy spouse, sometimes to the expense of their own happiness and overcame any disharmony that may have cropped up when the eldest of the sons, Rory departed for Hogwarts. He had to the disappointment of his da, put up a protest as the least adventurous of the brood. But this was swiftly remedied with the promise that the brothers should follow him the very next term.
The uneventful life of a small town boy became tiresome as someone on the brink of his teenage years and Hogwarts was a welcome progression for Alastar Alastar. Well-built and accustomed to team sports, he forcibly ensured his way on to the Slytherin quidditch team, much to the dismay of his housemates. As two of his brothers were Hufflepuffs, a blood traditional with the Alastars and the eldest, Gryffindor, it came as a surprise as to why Alastar was sorted into the house of the cunning and power-hungry. From Eoghan's perspective, he had been chosen due to his drive and ambition as Alastar had been heavily dependent on his id to guide him through life. It was no surprise that with the surrounding of arrogant Slytherin teenagers, mostly of old money, Alastar was known for his ego throughout his time at Hogwarts.
As a young farmhand, Alastar was keen with herbology and was able to concoct an array of potions by his third year. In comparison to his completely average performance in other areas of magic, Alastar latched on to both subjects in order to pull himself through the last few terms of school. At the tail end of final year with the newly found partnership of his brother, Flynn, Alastar began punting a plethora of ingredients from ashwinder eggs to fluxweed to dragon entrails, a whole manner of items that could bring in a few galleons. Alastar would brew potions at request, often illegally or at the disapproval of his brother.
When moving on from Hogwarts, Alastar chose to stay in London for as long as he could afford. As an amateur, Alastar found it effortless to attract the attention of the ministry who discovered a spice rack of illegally brewed potions in his rented room. As a young man, he had few connections in the black market and made himself wildly unpopular when charged and sentenced to probation back in Ireland. At the time, naivety and fear moved Alastar to re-evaluate his life and return to the family farm for four years before the opportunity to establish his own greenhouse fell flat into his lap. With acres of land as a barrier and the right to guard against trespassers, it was foolish of him to have neglected home for the window box of a tiny London flat. Although it took a year or so to build, Alastar had cultivated his own small business, for Carlingford was falling short of what he needed as a young man.
In his mid-twenties he returned to London to make yet another debut on the underbelly of society and was able to tread water with the ever-soaring prices of living from the sheer fact his ingredients and potions were of such high quality. That it would be unrealistic for Alastar to rely solely on his nightly activities, he drifted from job to job in bars and returned periodically to Ireland to keep him undetectable and to develop his product. The truth of the matter was, as he had come to understand, that the underground was filling a gap in the market and meeting the requirements of people who were simply looking to protect themselves or their family, defend themselves or get ahead the only way they could think to. If a potion or a single ingredient were to set a man on his path, was it truly unlawful to provide such things?
Although ma had expected a wedding by the age of twenty, Alastar had treated his relationships with women as with a quidditch broom, trading it in for a newer model whenever it got worn out and lost performance. He had never treated them poorly, fancying himself as a wizarding Cary Grant, but he had never treated a woman so much as... anything. He was in a state of disenchantment with both Irish and English women alike and vowed a period of abstinence when charged with assaulting another wizard in a London pub. Prison was a welcome break from the responsibilities of bills although being incarcerated for over a year was an experience which slowed time down way more than Carlingford had ever. Time shuffled its way down long stony corridors that led nowhere and withered the soul of men. It should've put life into perspective for Alastar as a late twenties man with no career, savings or permanent home. In the end it was just an interruption in a life that was inevitably his.
Shortly after returning to Ireland, word was sent through the Daily Prophet of the conflict at Hogwarts which brought the majority of Carlingford teenagers back to the town including Rory's young son, Keir, who Alastar was unashamedly a bad influence on. With the fall of Voldemort, the wizarding community in Britain underwent total reform, very much focused on Hogwarts although shook up the Ministry for the time when Alastar made the move back to London in order to find a more permanent residence.
