Full name: Damian Hans Walhalla
Age: 31
Musician
Till (Dieter) Hoffmann
Born to: Roswitha Walhalla, witch, and Ansgar Müller, Muggle, on the 31st of October, 1964
Siblings: Dagmar (1961-...), and Erich, (1966-...)
Damian Walhalla was born in the Hamburger magische Krankenhaus für Hexer, Germany, on the 31st of October 1964, to witch Roswitha Walhalla, and Muggle Ansgar Müller Walhalla. He was the second of three children, the first, three years his elder, and the third, two years younger.
He grew up and spent most of his life in the village of Schwangau, in southern Bavaria. His older sister, Dagmar, was overly fond of him, a feeling that, throughout all of his life, was never returned. Truth be said, even at an early age he disliked loudness, boisterousness, and attention-seeking, characteristics his sister extremely expressed. From infancy he developed a need for solitude, and tranquility, which his father, who was most like him, highly encouraged. The birth of his brother Erich, when he was two years old, confirmed this. Erich was a silent baby, and Damian enjoyed playing in the infant's company.
As he grew older, Erich continued to be silent, and the Walhalla family realize the young boy was autistic. For Damian, it was a relief. He had a calm companion he didn't feel the need to entertain every moment. He enjoyed the fact Erich was simple, not fussy, and not very emotional. Sometimes he would take part in the youngest's favourite activity, counting bricks, and other times, the two would bang loudly on pots and pans, or simply go to the park and jump down the benches, without speaking. Ansgar let his older son spend his time with Erich, understanding his son's dire need for solitude, as he was rather like this himself.
However, Erich's autism was an entirely different matter for Roswitha, Damian's mother. She didn't feel Erich's brother should be such a solitary, lonely little boy, but rather that he would suffer from it later on in life. When her third child was born, Roswitha became a nervous mother, always anxious, on the lookout for her youngest. It also changed her attitude toward her two eldest children. She was always filled with worries, petty recommandations, to the point that she became a bother for Damian. By the age of eight, he couldn't stand to be in her presence a whole day without losing his temper. This went down very hard on the witch, as she felt her little boy was growing up to be a very unhappy, agressive thing indeed. Ansgar, on the other hand, believed that his son needed to learn to channel his inner rage, but that there was no problem with him. To help in the process, his parents bought him his very first guitar. This certainly helped tone down the mood in the house, and the fact that Dagmar, whom he had been avoiding for the major part of his childhood, was finally gone to die deutsche Schule der Sauberei Münchens, was probably also helping.
The same year, Erich started to have painful spasms, and his parents were forced to take him regularly to the Hamburger magische Krankenhaus für Hexer. For Damian, it meant that each time the trio went to the hospital, a wizarding family in the community had to take care of him. He despised the fake warmth of these people, but tolerated it nonetheless. That, he could stand. What he couldn't, though, was the local children who taunted him, calling his brother a freak. He started getting into fights. The first time he came back to his parents with a bloody lip, he considered it a victory. The name of his brother would be untarnished.
These fights, however, happened more and more frequently, to the dismay of his appalled mother. As he grew older, they became more and more violent, and even Ansgar started worrying when some parents accused them for Damian breaking their child's nose. So much as he believed Damian had the right to defend himself, he now saw the powerful violent streak in his son, and vowed to find ways to contain it. Having witnessed the results of music on his son, he tried to point him in that direction. He also wished for the boy to tend to the family owl, as Eldwin was one of the only things Damian treated respectfully, and this would show him the value of life.
The violence also had more positive effects. The neighbourhood children learned to respect him, or at least leave him alone, because they now knew how well he could stand for himself. In due time, his father was right, and he was back to being the tranquil, solitary little boy he had been as a child. His violence, agressivity and rage he kept locked up inside of him, for better use. He took excellent care of the family owl, and made enormous progress in music. Erich had taken in trying to talk to him, and him alone, and this prided the boy beyond compare. He also made a few friends in the village, amongst the boys who had never made fun of him in the first place. A few of the little girls were always giggling whenever he came near them, and he concluded that girls were all like Dagmar, which is to say he considered them loud, obnoxious little brats, that would not be his friends in a near future.
His two friends were Otto Bauer and Dieter Hoffmann, whom everyone called Till. They didn't complain or make fun of him, they weren't always talking, and apreciated playing music with him, or whatever activity they were doing. Otto was a short, stout boy, whose passion was painting. He came from a wealthy family of Muggleborns, and had three older sisters. He sympathised with Damian also having a sister. Dieter was a tall, slim boy. He was only slightly shorter than Damian, who, for the ten year-old that he was, was of unusual height. He came from a Pureblood family of Squibs, but had no doubt in his own magical ability. Dieter liked taking care of animals above all and had a warm heart, something which he would somehow transfer to Damian, who slowly became a little less cold-hearted, and included animals as well in his circle of tolerance. Roswitha marvelled at the change.
The next year, he was to attend the same school as Dagmar. His parents anticipated a troublesome departure, as he was to leave behind his brother Erich, now eight, and the owl Eldwin, now twelve. They were right, but the fact his friends were coming along made the departure a little more easy.
During his first year at die deutsche Schule der Sauberei Münchens, he was mostly seen with his two comrades, not really trying to be noticed by anyone else. Destiny or Dagmar had decided otherwise. Loud and obnoxious as she had always been, she tried to drag her brother into the spotlight with her. He loathed it. That was her domain. She belonged under the spotlight. Not him. As the year passed, he succeeded in being forgotten by the likes of the world again, and Dagmar seemed to have abandoned 'rescuing' him as well. He had average grades, except in Charms, Transfiguration and Potions, which he was rather good at.
The next summer proved eventless, as did the following schoolyear, which he had intended. However, before he was to start his third year, Dieter announced him that his parents intended on moving to England in order to opened a German-fashioned bakery. And that he was going with them. He would attend Hogwarts for the completion of his education. Damian was enraged and depressed. Otto was great, but Otto wasn't Dieter. He couldn't make it without his two friends. Dieter promised he would write more than once a week, and Damian grudgingly agreed. Even with Otto at his sides, it was not the same. Damian's third year was Hell. Clearly Dagmar hadn't lost all hope that he would become as popular as she was, and thought his situation wasn't so hopeless. That year, and the next, she even tried to match him up with a few girls his age, which she didn't have a hard time doing, because even at this young age, he was starting to become handsome, instead of cute-looking, and the young girls also noticed it. However, his disdain for Dagmar and girls like her had not subsided, and the girls were quick to notice that as well.
In his fifth year, when Dagmar finally had left the school, he had a little breathing room. He still hanged out with Otto most of the time, but things had changed. Dagmar's final deed had been finding Otto a girl. And it had worked. Not that Jule was not a kind girl. Things were just not the same anymore. He corresponded often with Dieter. He wondered if he had found himself a girl. He never mentioned it in his letters, and they never spoke about the matter when Dieter spent the summer at his home. He always found himself yearning for Dieter when he was at school. Whenever he heard Jule giggling in Otto's arms, he missed Dieter. Missed their laughs, their conversations, their silences. He missed Dieter. He also missed his physical presence. Dieter knew how to enlighten a room. Dieter was what never failed to cheer Damian up. The young man found his friend's absence oppressing. Late at night, before Otto would return from wherever he had been with Jule, Damian spent his time thinking of his friend. Of how strangely comely he suddenly appeared to him, of how his buzz-cut blue hair fitted him well, of how blue his eyes were sparkling, of how his lower lip was so full. No matter what he did, Damian could not get his best friend out of his mind, and clearly Otto didn't think that way about Dieter. He eventually had to come to terms with his physical attraction for his best friend, no matter how odd it felt. There were things he simply could not deny. It was too late. He was in love with his best friend, and the worse part was, he had admitted it to himself.
The easy part had been telling Dieter. It had happened during the Christmas break of his sixth year. Dagmar was still informing him of available girls she knew. Now, he laughed it off. He would never tell her. If there was someone he would tell, it was Dieter, and only him. Christmas was as tedious as ever, but Dieter managed to make everyone laugh, including Erich. Only Dieter, Dagmar and Roswitha were truly enjoying themselves. Damian longed to be alone with Dieter, Erich played with gift wrappings, counting the number of brooms on the shredded pieces of paper, and Ansgar was his usual, melancholic self. Finally, Roswitha prepared Erich for bed, thus giving the cue to everyone else to do so as well. Damian and Dieter shared the basement, facing each other in their sleeping bags. Dieter lay against his pillow, his head propped up by his hands, grinning his trademark content cat's grin. Damian was overthrown by this image of perfection, and decided the moment had come. "Ich lie... Ich lie.." Abandonning his desperate struggle with words, he seized Dieter's face in his hands, and kissed him full on the lips. It left a startled Dieter, and an awkward silence. Finally breaking the tension, Dieter laughed, and reached out to touch the stubble on Damian's chin. Softly, but still jokingly, he remarked it was a good thing he was not Otto. Otto would not have appreciated. "Ich liebe dich auch."
The next week was much more fun, but passed too quickly. Damian made Dieter vow he would not tell anyone of their relationship. He didn't want his private life broadcasted to the general public.
The rest of the school year passed way too slow for him, as he so ached to be with Dieter. Over the summer, he came back, of course, and he and Damian's family attended Dagmar's wedding. She was truly happy to marry this British man Damian had never met, and it kept her from being annoying. Of course, she still presented him to all the women present. Dagmar was already pregnant, and she was leaving Schwangau and the family house to join her new husband in Stratford-upon-Avon. Apart from that, the summer was plain, and so was his seventh year. He graduated honourably, but nothing extraordinary.
The three next years had him studying music at a German music school, with the ever constant presence of Erich and Eldwin to take his mind off Dieter who had opened a magical animal care centre in London, and worked there full time, but still came to see Damian very often. Dagmar visited often, this time with twins Kirsa and Sascha, with whom he and Erich quickly bonded. The next two years saw Damian living off small contracts to play in Biergartens and the like, and tending to Ottokar, their newer nine year old owl. Eldwin wasn't getting any younger.
A big contract was offered to him in Liverpool, and, apart for Erich's sake, he had no hesitation whatsoever in accepting it. Ansgar and Roswitha were good parents. Erich was in good hands, he knew so. The contract included a small, furnished loft in the middle of Liverpool, not far from Dieter's flat. It didn't take long for him to move in. Dagmar was overjoyed and often brought the twins to his loft so that she and her husband could take well-deserved breaks from the kids. His work was hard, often finishing in the wee hours of the morning, but satisfying, and earned him excellent wages. Performing German drinking songs in an English pub, with fellow Germans dressed in Lederhosen, what an odd concept. But he was not to complain, and more often than not, he could be found at Dieter's flat.
At the moment, Damian is a native German speaker, fluent in French, however, he has an atrocious English, for lack of interest in learning it properly. After seven years of living in England, Damian was finally convinced by Till that they should move in together, something which Damian was reluctant to do, because, even after all these years, he didn't (and still doesn't) feel the need to broadcast his private life to either his family or the general public. The discussion and argument had lasted quite some time, and had been putting a strain on them, but at last Damian gave in, and Till move in his flat. They've been living quite contentedly like this since 1994. Money is a little tight, but their main concern in life is making sure they don't run out of beer.
To celebrate the New Year of 1995, Damian and Till decided to splurge on a week in the Dominican Republic. Altogether not one of their best decisions. Damian much prefers the time they spend together when they go to Germany; sometimes for a weekend, or if they visit Otto for instance. Next December is their 15th anniversary, and they are planning and saving up money for a trip to Italy the next summer. All is great in Walhallaland.
Interests: Music, composing music, listening to music, reading German philosophy books, spending time with his younger brother, visiting his native country, having his nephews over for a weekend (but not too often), drinking beer, and spending quality time with Dieter.
Qualities of importance: Creativity, Intelligence, Tolerance, Wit
Schooling: The classes he preferred were Charms and Transfiguration, because he succeeded well at them, and found them most useful, moreso than Astronomy, in his particular field, for example, were his favourite classes. Potions, although not his best subject, was one he enjoyed throughly, because he was left alone most of the time, which he enjoyed. Divinations, on the other hand, he hated, because he is of the belief that free will does exist, and that nothing is written in advance. For him, knowing the future can only cause catastrophes. Plus, he failed this class. Three times.
Two family owls; the eldest, Eldwin, an eagle owl, thirty years of age, weakened, lives in Germany until he dies, and Ottokar, a fifteen-year old barn owl, who still carries the mail from country to country. Also often takes care of Dieter's Great Horned owl, Jäger. Aside from loving owls, Dieter's animal-loving side rubbed onto Damian to the point that he also enjoys the company of cats. Weltmeister, Dieter's cat, is very fond of him. His other cat, Herr Kater, not so much, but Damian returns the feeling of antipathy quite well.
Damian has short, dark brown hair, which is a change from the ponytail he's kept from his teenage years to his late twenties. People, his mother and Dieter included had been pestering him for ages so that he got rid of it, but he found that his decision had nothing to do with them. Simply, he was ready for a change. He's got thick eyebrows, grey-blue eyes with a peculiar shape, very thin lips, a square jaw, a square chin, a somewhat triangular-shaped face, rough hands. He is tall and muscular, with a rather hairy chest. Damian likes to wear leather, but not tight-fitting, and black clothing, especially what's got to do with music, and army boots. He does possess a somewhat scary appearance, his bulk making him quite intimidating for those who don't know him, as well as for those who do.
Damian has a disdain for most human life, as does his father, which he gets along with quite well, unlike his mother who is always preoccupied. He prefers the company of an autistic, silent brother, to that of a talkative, boisterous sister. He likes animals, but dislikes the human species as a whole. Children annoy the heck out of him. He has a lot of anger bottled up, and is very aggressive, believes in revenge, and enjoys violent means of expression. He hasn't really gotten past the teenage rebellion phase (strong hate for authority), and gets his way by any means, even if it means bending rules, or throwing a good punch here and there. He is also never wrong. Or if he is wrong, you are wronger. The only person who can actually soften him up to a decent human being is Dieter, with whom he shares very philosophical conversations. Damian loves sarcasm. Being with Dieter, Erich, or his nephews, or, composing and playing music, are the only ways Damian exorcises his inner rage. Damian avoids human contact whenever possible. He prefers being addressed to by his last name, when he is not very well acquainted with the speaker. The only person who has a right to call him by a nickname is Dieter. Anyone else who does regrets it eventually.
