Joshua Henley

Joshua Francis Henley
Gender	Male
Nicknames
Born	25 May 1909
Died
Family	The Henley Family
Bloodtype	Halfblood
Social Class	Upper
Hogwarts House	Ravenclaw
Graduation Year	Class of 1927
Occupation	Student
Residence	Ilkley, West Yorkshire, England
Wand	TBD
Patronus	TBD
Parents
Siblings
Significant Other
Children
Friends	TBD
Status	Alive

Pre-Hogwarts

Born into the well-off Henley family as the only child of Major Henley and his young second wife, Joshua spent his early childhood under the watchful eye of his mother and various house staff, while his father led his men around the nearby military facility like he led his family, with a firm hand and a close look to traditional ideals of the early 20th century.

It was here young Joshua spoke his first word, took his first steps, lined his toy soldiers up in neat lines, and watched his older half-brothers as they followed their father’s footsteps around the estate, through games of sports, into hunts and finally for the older two, into the military world.

It was never a question for Joshua that this was where he would go too, when the day came and he grew big and strong. He loved his father dearly, like a young boy would, with a mixture of respect and intimidation, and thus he knew he should follow in his every footstep too, and he would do what he could to please him and loved nothing more than a well-earned nod of acknowledgement or a word of praise.

Except maybe… maybe he loved the daily reading sessions with his mother as well. Hours spent together exploring the worlds of favourite books like Treasure Island, The Wind in the Willows, Peter Pan and The Secret Garden. Here he could dream and imagine, think of a world opened up far beyond the land of the estate. A world full of creatures and people with all sorts of interesting stories.

These early years for Joshie were filled with family and traditions, peace and quiet, hunting parties and games of sports, parties in the grand hall, straight backs, tired feet and looks snuck through half-closed doors at pretty costumes and tables overflowing with delicious food.

Things, however, changed drastically for the family when the War broke out not long after Joshie’s fifth birthday. Where his father had spent evenings and weekends at home with his family, keeping up with the running of the family estate and taking the older boys hunting or practising their sports, work and his company took more and more of his time until he went off to France and then never came back.

The same fate met the oldest of the Henley boys. One day Laurence left with his new uniform and a salute, and never again was he seen by the family. Patrick left two years later, and though he came back again, sometimes Joshua wondered if that really was so great at all.

Things had changed and by November 1918 and the end of the Great War, Joshua had turned 9 and the memory of his father had begun fading into the distance as a new world was taking shape around him, one that including healing and reconstruction, not only for the greater world and England, but also for his family.

Half-brothers and stepchildren as they were, the older Henley boys had never seen in Adelaide and Joshua what Major Henley had, and it soon became clear that there was no space for the grieving widow and her rather odd child at the estate. By the time Christmas came around that year, Joshua and his mother had moved to live with his grandparents in Ilkley, a village far north from the estate in West Devon and full of people 9 year old Joshua had never met before.

It was also then that Joshua first learned about the Magic that runs strong in his mother’s side of the family. A magic which suddenly explained the little odd things which often had followed young Joshua around and which had both frustrated and annoyed his oblivious older brothers. A straight ball suddenly curved away from the goal Joshua was guarding, a downtrodden flower perked up again, muddy footsteps disappeared where they had surely been a moment before. ‘Odd’ they’d said. ‘Freak’ they’d whispered.

Living with his grandparents opened up a whole new world for Joshua. A world of magic and fantastic beasts, of dishes that dried themselves and drawers that opened when you asked them nicely, of herbs that healed and potions that brewed in cauldrons. There was so much to see and so much to explore. He had attended muggle school while living at the estate and continued doing so in Ilkley, but every free moment he had, Joshua spent seeking out knowledge of this new world of magic. After over a decade of not using her magic much at all and with grief still running through her veins, Adelaide was not of much help to her son on his quest, but his grandmother showed him household spells and his grandfather explained the magic he worked on common pieces of furniture, which he sold to the wizarding folk from his small shop in Ilkley.

As for everything else he wanted to know, Joshua read.