Early Life

Gaston is the only child of Raoul and Marceline Marchand. He started exhibiting signs of magic at an early age, and his muggle parents didn’t know what to think of it. At first they thought he was just accident-prone, but as Gaston’s magical mishaps became more frequent, they started to wonder if he was doing it on purpose. After Gaston was expelled from muggle school at age 7 for accidentally injuring a classmate who was bullying him, his parents took him to renowned French psychiatrist Dr. Severin Javert, who treated Gaston like a bad kid and recommended keeping him in isolation until he learned to control his “destructive tendencies”. For the next four years of his life, the only human interaction Gaston was allowed was with his family or Dr. Javert. The one bright spot in his life at that time was Dr. Javert's receptionist, Manon Evremonde. Mlle. Evremonde, a young witch working her way through university, tried to undo Dr. Javert's damage by encouraging Gaston to use his magic and wrote to her father (the Charms professor at Beauxbatons) asking him to intervene on Gaston's behalf.


Beauxbatons

The happiest day of Gaston's life (up to that point) was when Professor Evremonde came to speak to his parents. Evremonde tried to explain how dangerous it was to suppress a young wizard's powers, but he ended up in a heated argument with Gaston's father. Gaston felt vindicated when he learned he was a wizard and quickly became attached to Professor Evremonde. He was excited to go to Beauxbatons and be around other young wizards/witches, but when he actually got to school, he found it wasn’t what he’d expected. The years he spent in isolation made it hard for him to relate to his classmates, and he gained a reputation for being odd.

After a humiliating sorting,Gaston was placed into house Papillonlise. He picked up on most aspects of magic fairly quickly and excelled in his studies (his strongest subjects being Charms, Astronomy, and Transfiguration). He was most often found in the library and was happy to help his classmates with their homework. That was how he met his best friend, Lucien Chevallier, during his second year. Gaston was in the library when he overheard him complaining about flunking Charms and offered to help. Lucien, who was two years ahead of Gaston, was impressed

The summer after his second year, Gaston’s mother left a pot unattended on the stove and it caught fire. Thinking quickly, Gaston grabbed the burning pot and took it outside. He saved his home from burning down, but his arm was badly burned in the process. This incident gave him an irrational fear of fire that he still has to this day and caused him to withdraw from social situations. Gaston’s newfound fear of fire had a habit of showing up at the worst time. Whenever his classes involved even the remote possibility of fire, he would panic; his Potions grade suffered the most.

Gaston did gain some popularity in his later Beauxbatons years when he formed a punk rock band called WerewolfSnout with classmates Lucien Chevallier (lead vocals), Mathilde Moreau (keyboard, backing vocals), and twins Armand and Edmond Fontaine (guitars). In addition to playing the drums, he also wrote nearly all of the band’s songs. Everyone was surprised to learn that mild-mannered Gaston could write such angry songs! The band played gigs during the summer holidays to make a few galleons on the side, but as members started graduating, the band eventually broke up. In the summer of 2091,WerewolfSnout reformed, this time with the addition of Lucien and Mathilde's adopted son Jerome, and recorded their first album consisting entirely of songs written by Gaston during his first year teaching at Hogwarts.

Wizarding University & Pre-Hogwarts Employment

After graduation, Gaston took a job as a mechanic to pay his way through wizarding university, where he majored in Charms Development, and discovered a passion for classic cars. He was offered a position as a charms developer in the Accidents and Catastrophes Department of the French Ministry of Magic straight out of university, but Gaston was unhappy in his new job. The high expectations of his boss and the fast-paced work environment were so stressful that he considered quitting... until he met Edeline Duval, a Division Head in the same department. Mlle. Duval was kind and patient with Gaston at a time when no one else in the department was, and he soon fell in love with her; the two dated for over a year. Gaston even planned to marry Edeline, but three days before the proposal, she was offered a position as a department head for the Russian Ministry of Magic. Gaston told her to take the job, and the relationship ended soon after.

After Edeline's departure, Gaston realized there was nothing left for him at the Ministry, so he was happy when his mentor invited him to come back to Beauxbatons as a charms teaching assistant. His first three terms teaching went without incident, but that changed when Gaston met a young COMC teaching assistant named Eleanore Baudelaire. Mlle. Baudelaire befriended Gaston and the pair started dating, but the budding romance was cut short on April 15, 2087. That day, a COMC lesson on dragons went wrong. The dragon brought in as a teaching aid escaped, going on a rampage that killed four people including Mlle. Baudelaire. Gaston was teaching a class at the time and was persuaded by Prof. Evremonde to stay with his students instead of joining the group fighting the dragon. He regrets the decision and to this day still blames himself for Baudelaire's death.

After the attack, Gaston was given a leave of absence for the remainder of the term. He seriously considered resigning but ultimately returned for three more terms, though Beauxbatons stopped feeling like home to him after the attack. When he heard Hogwarts was looking for a new Charms professor, he (at Prof. Evremonde's urging) applied and packed his bags for Scotland.

Hogwarts
Gaston's first year at Hogwarts got off to a rocky start. He missed his home and was not as well-liked by the students and staff as he'd hoped to be. He hadn't been at the school long when Miffy attacked him with flying knives in the kitchens; later in the term, Peeves caused him to fall down the moving staircase. The poltergeists' attacks made Gaston seriously consider resigning, and he probably would've had he not met the love of his life, Rosalyn Newton. After many months of keeping his feelings secret, he accidentally told her in a very awkward way. He thought he'd scared her away forever with the revelation, and it devastated him, but to his surprise Rosalyn agreed to give him a chance after the term ended.

Gaston's second year at Hogwarts started off much better than his first. He was a little less nervous around his colleagues and students, his relationship with Rosalyn was taking off, and his band's debut album had become a hit. An international tour was announced, and he was faced with a difficult choice: join the tour and leave his love behind or quit the band and stay at Hogwarts. He ultimately chose to stay but soon questioned his decision. The appearance of the portal and the monster it contained reminded him a little too much of the dragon attack years ago and had him worried that history would repeat itself, but his engagement to Rosalyn and appointment as Gyrffindor Head of House at the end of the term convinced him he’d made the right choice.

That summer, Gaston returned to France to introduce his fiancee to his parents, but the meeting didn't go according to plan. His father disapproved of the engagement, and an argument ensued, resulting in Gaston cutting off all contact with his father (and by extension his mother too). The incident left him feeling confused and betrayed, and this paired with his doubt in his ability to engage the Gryffindors he was now in charge of had him returning to Hogwarts sad and unsure who to trust. This mood lasted for the better part of the term, growing progressively worse with his distaste for the IMPS competition. It was only as the term drew to a close that he started to bounce back.

Gaston married Rosalyn on 11 July 2093 in Paris, France. One year later, his lifelong dream of becoming a father finally came true on December 23, 2094 when his daughter, Desiree Yvette Marchand was born. For the second half of the 2094-95 term, he found himself struggling to balance work and home, often going without food and/or sleep to make time to visit his family. Despite the strain, he remained at Hogwarts because he still cared for his students as if they were his own children too.

By the 2095-96 term, Gaston was learning to balance his work and home life without running himself ragged in the process. He was happy with his roles as father and professor until a horde of Inferi attacked the school. In the fight to defend the school’s entrance hall, he sustained injuries to his face, hands, and leg. When the battle ended, Gaston refused treatment for his injuries until every other person in the school had been treated and, fearing he would lose control of his emotions and frighten the students if he stayed in the hospital wing, he opted to go to St.Mungo’s instead. The delay in treatment complicated his injuries and left him with deep scars across half his face and partial blindness in his right eye. The physical and emotional toll of the Inferi left Gaston fearful for his own life and those of his wife and daughter; he intended to resign at the end of the term… were it not for his daughter. She was frightened of his scars and no longer recognized him as her father. Gaston hated scaring his beloved Desiree, so believing the best thing he could do for his daughter was stay away from her, he returned to Hogwarts.


In what turned out to be Gaston’s final term at Hogwarts, the school was taken over by Julian Scrimgeour. While saddened by Regina Hawthorne’s departure and disapproving of the manner in which it was handled, he tried to be kind and give the new leadership the benefit of the doubt, but it wasn’t long until he spotted red flags. The first sign of trouble came on the first full day back when Scrimgeour implemented a strict exercise regimen (S.O.R.E); Gaston initially supported the exercise program in and of itself but was appalled by Scrimgeour’s lack of sympathy for ill and injured students and punishment of the staff who’d not stood when ordered at the feast the previous night. From there, things only got worse with ridiculous new rules, barbaric punishments, and the firings of several professors. Gaston understood early on that open resistance would mean his dismissal, and his dismissal would mean one less person the students could turn to. So he complied as best as he could, but the stringent rules forced him to go against his true nature. Seeing the effects of the rules on his students and the effects of stifling his personality took their toll on him. Although Gaston’s actions that term helped topple Julian Scrimgeour’s regime and reinstate his fired colleagues, they weren’t enough to save his own position. The damage to his emotional and physical health was already done, so he had to make the hardest decision of his life: leave Hogwarts to preserve his health, for his family’s sake.

Despite leaving Hogwarts, Gaston never stopped caring for the students he left behind and deeply regretted his inability to be there for them. To help him move forward, he and his family moved from Hogsmeade to Cookham, and he threw himself into his summer volunteer job at Chateau Croyance, a French home for at-risk children run by his mentor. There he bonded with a troubled boy named Adam Beaulieu and applied to adopt him; the adoption was fast-tracked through the system due to Adam’s special needs and finalized one year later. The Fall following his departure from Hogwarts, Gaston worked two jobs to support his family as a mechanic and part-time tutor. When he heard the Ministry was hiring, he applied for the position of daycare attendant, and he’s held that job ever since.

History

Audri’s origins wouldn’t have been out of place in the teenage tragedy songs she so loves. Her mother, Isadora, was the only child of a wealthy Madison couple (a high-end caterer and a university professor, respectively). Her father, Johnny, was a poor orphan from the wrong side of the tracks. They met and fell in love, much to the dismay of both families, and ran away together. They had a few happy years together away from their families’ disapproval, but that changed in the blink of an eye. One fateful night, Johnny and Isadora were involved in a car crash. Johnny died at the scene; Isadora survived her injuries just long enough to bring a daughter into the world.

The hospital tracked down Audri’s grandparents, who named her, adopted her, and raised her as if she were their own. Fearful of losing Audri like they did her mother, they kept her under a tight rein and sheltered her from the outside world. While Audri adored her grandparents, she wanted to learn more about the world outside her home. When she was nine, she got her chance. Her grandfather accepted a job as history of rock n roll professor at Oxford University and moved the family to England.

Audri was an intelligent, though slightly odd child with an insatiable curiosity for the dark and mysterious. She inherited her grandmother’s talent for cooking and her grandfather’s passion for early rock n roll music. As she grew, she noticed strange things happening around her, such as objects vanishing and reappearing in random places or the radio just happening to play her favorite song the moment she thought about it. No one thought anything of the strange occurrences until a representative from Hogwarts came to talk to Audri and her family. Although her grandparents didn’t understand the magical world and weren’t happy about sending Audri to a school far away, they respected her wishes to study magic and allowed her to attend Hogwarts.

Audri enjoyed her time at Hogwarts, She was sorted into Ravenclaw on her first day and excelled in her studies. She was particularly strong in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Divination, and History of Magic, the subjects which matched her interest in the dark and mysterious. She also honed her talents in Charms, Herbology, and Potions by combining magic with her passion for culinary arts. Starting the summer before her fifth year, Audri worked as a cake decorator in her grandmother’s caring company during her summer vacations. Although she enjoyed their time together, she was more interested in other areas of culinary arts. So after graduating Hogwarts, she applied for a fry cooking job at Burger Basilisk.

Audri loved Burger Basilisk's atmosphere and classic diner fare menu. She worked there part-time while studying culinary arts at university, rising through the ranks to eventually become assistant manager. During her time at university, she met her roommate and future wife. Lily-Belle Leyton. Lily shared Audri’s passion for music, and the pair, along with some of their classmates, formed a psychobilly band called The Tragic Lovers. Audri and Lilly-Belle married in 2099, about a year after graduating university. Audri’s grandfather passed away not long after the wedding. Her grandmother followed him to the grave three years later, living just long enough to meet her great-granddaughters.

Following her grandmother’s passing, Audri was surprised to learn that she’d inherited her catering company. While she kept most of the employees and some of her grandmother’s menu items, she revamped the business to incorporate her magical abilities, her dark aesthetic, and her passions for diner food and rock n roll music. Thus, The Pensieve Diner was born.

History

Over fifty years ago, a young British woman named Eve Tavington went to Senegal on a diplomatic visit for her job in the DIMC. While there, she met a cursebreaker from a wealthy family, Ahmed Kama. The two fell in love and married, much to the disapproval of both families. The couple had two children; Vitani is their youngest and only daughter

For most of Vitani's childhood, her family was well off. They divided their time between the Kama family homes in Senegal and France, and Vitani looked forward to one day attending Uagadou or Beauxbatons. When she was 10 years old, everything changed. Her father died from a fast-acting curse he received on the job, and Eve Kama moved her two children to her family's home in London. The Tavingtons were not happy with this arrangement and weren't shy about letting Vitani and her older brother, Hakim, know. The Kama children were subjected to constant criticism and ridicule, and that disapproval shaped Vitani’s guarded, hardworking nature and fueled her intense desire for admiration. During this time, she turned to art to channel the feelings of anger and inadequacy she was forced to hide from her family.

Even at that young age, Vitani set two goals for herself: to pursue art as a career and to get out from under the Tavingtons. She got her chance when she started Hogwarts. At her sorting, Vitani hatstalled between Slytherin and Hufflepuff, but her pride and ambition tipped the scales in Slytherin's favor. Overall she was a good student, though she tended to lose interest in subjects that didn't allow for creativity. She spent her Hogwarts years honing her skills in the art club and staying at school during as many holidays as possible, only coming home under threat of being disowned.

During her final year at Hogwarts, Vitani applied to several art schools, but her family refused to fund her education in a field they deemed frivolous. The Tavingtons demanded she pick a "real" major, but that didn't stop Vitani. Since her mother's family wouldn't support her, she turned to the only person who would, her brother. Upon graduating from Hogwarts, she moved in with Hakim, who was working at the French Ministry, and attended a prestigious art school in France, working as a museum tour guide to pay her way through school.

After art school, Vitani apprenticed to a tattoo artist and eventually became an artist in her own right, though she yearned for bigger and better things. One day her artistic talent was noticed by an art dealer named Jacob Mallory. Mallory offered to feature Vitani's work at his Paris gallery, which she eagerly accepted. Her art proved successful there and generated enough profits for Mallory to open a second gallery featuring Vitani's work in New York. They divided their time between the two locations, and as they continued to work together, a romance blossomed. They married and, despite thinking children were not in the cards for them, had a daughter, Aliyah.

While Vitani's star was on the rise, she branched out into other mediums for her art, such as jewelry and fashion design. She eventually co-founded Mallama (the name derived from her and her husband’s last names, Mallory + Kama), a line of fashion and beauty products. During this time, her estranged family, the Tavingtons, caught wind of her successes and wanted back in her life. After thinking it over, Vitani accepted their apology, and for a time, her life was perfect. She had a successful career and a loving family, but it couldn’t last forever.

Despite her notoriety, Vitani never forgot where she came from. She enjoyed giving back to the community and supporting young artists. She often guest lectured at art schools and held art classes out of her gallery, but her generosity would come back to haunt her. In the mid 2090s, Vitani taught Sofia Sacrimoni, a young woman who was gifted in the technical aspects of art but lacked emotion in her work and the desire to apply herself. Sofia’s lackadaisical approach to art was a poor match for Vitani’s firm yet fair teaching style, and the pair had a falling out. Around this time, sales from Vitani’s art and fashions hit a slump, putting a strain on her marriage. Things came to a head when Mallory informed her that he was dropping her paintings from their galleries, and to add insult to injury, she’d been replaced by her slacker former student. It turned out her student had copied her art to get rich quick. She confronted Mallory, only to learn he knew about the fakery all along; his justification was, “It’s what sells”.

Furious, Vitani filed for divorce. In order to avoid a drawn-out battle, she gave Mallory full ownership of their galleries and fashion line under the condition that he could no longer sell any of her designs made before the divorce. Not wanting to uproot their young daughter from her life and force her to choose sides, Vitani kept the reason for the divorce from Aliyah and let Mallory have full custody. Mallory’s betrayal was not the only one she suffered in the wake of the divorce. Once the money stopped, the Tavingtons turned on Vitani, criticizing her at every opportunity for her waning art sales and failing marriage. Realizing they, like Mallory, only cared for her as long as she was on top, Vitani cut them out of her life and never looked back. Vowing to make it on her own, she purchased Paradise Piercings and Tattoos from one of her more promising former students, Adora (Dory) Dane.

Vitani found herself back where she started, as a tattoo artist, but she dreamed of one day making a comeback in the art world. That dream became a reality one day in 2104 when a strange young woman walked into Paradise Piercings & Tattoo. The young woman was Vitani’s estranged daughter, Aliyah! She had figured out the truth of her father’s deception on her own and wanted nothing to do with the man or his second wife, none other than Sofia Sacrimoni. Aliyah tracked Vitani down to confirm what she suspected: Vitani’s abandonment was due to her ex-husband’s plagiarism and deception. As Vitani rekindled her relationship with her daughter, she learned that Jacob Mallory had died, and Aliyah stood to inherit partial ownership of his art gallery empire. Aliyah, wanting no part of her father and stepmother’s underhanded business practices, sold her share to Sofia for a large sum. Aliyah wanted to right the wrongs done to Vitani by starting her own art gallery the right way, but didn’t have enough money on her own. Vitani happily accepted her daughter’s offer of co-ownership and sold Paradise to raise the rest of the funds they needed. Together, they founded Aliani Art Gallery in London, with plans to expand to Paris and New York in the future.