Text Cut: BENJAMIN ALDEN

▸ BASIC INFORMATION

Name: Benjamin Quincy Alden
Nickname: Benji, Pudge
Birthdate: 31 August 2081
Place of Birth: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Current Residence: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

▸ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Dark Brown
Height: 4'9" (wears thick-soled shoes to make him taller)
Weight: 96 lbs
Distinguishing Features: Ridiculously curly hair, pudgy cheeks

▸ MAGICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Blood Status: No-Maj-born
Wand: I don't know. Not even sure where it is right now actually...
Patronus: Is this something I can eat?
Boggart: Clowns
Amortentia: Crispy Crunch, ketchup chips, poutine

▸ FAMILY MEMBERS

Father: Matthew Alden
Mother: Renée (née Cartier) Alden
Sibling: Josephine Alden

▸ EDUCATION

D. Roy Kennedy Public School (2085-2092)

Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (2092-2099)
Pukwudgie

▸ BACKGROUND

The Alden and Cartier families taking root in North America started as a seed with two adventurous No-Maj men. John Alden arrived by means of the Mayflower from Harwich, Essex, England, in the early 1600s to be the copper for the voyage. Within a matter of years Alden became a rather prominent member of Plymouth Colony and later founded the town of Duxbury. Over half a century earlier, Jacques Cartier navigated and explored Canada for the French. Three voyages, leading him to the discovery of areas comprising the Canadian Atlantic provinces and the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Montreal, over the span of eight years built quite a legacy for himself. Their descendant, being the kid that he is, is totally oblivious to the successes of his forefathers.

On the final day of August after three years of being husband and wife, No-Maj parents Matthew, an American wildlife biologist from Springfield, and Renée, a nurse from Québec, couldn't have been prouder of the life they had brought into the world. Even though he was small in comparison to the other newborns, Benjamin had the biggest baby cheeks that were just too irresistible to not squish. Thus the nickname Pudge was lovingly coined.

The nickname was not outgrown, for the boy, as the years went by, always had a bit of a belly on him due to having a stomach that could never be fully satisfied. Anything Benjamin could get his hands on -- soft or hard, sweet or sour -- would immediately go into his mouth before anyone could snatch whatever it was he had grabbed from his little fingers. It was his love of food, however, that, with help from the family babysitter, instilled in him an early passion: cooking and baking. It started off small with toast, sausages, and pancakes dowsed with gallons of maple syrup, but by the age of seven he could surprisingly make just about anything without (much) supervision. His little sister's personal favourites are his poutine and Nanaimo bars.

It was discovered one day when Benjamin, at the age of nine, was running a plate of fresh bars up to his sister when the first inkling of magic snuck into his life. Tripping over the family dog, the curly-haired boy fell down to the ground; however, the plate remained hovering mid-air. At first, Benjamin was shocked by this, but shrugged it off and went about his business -- his mind was either playing tricks on him or he secretly had Jedi powers. Needless to say, other minor magical mishaps crept up from time to time though no one was around to witness them and Benjamin could not make his 'Jedi powers' come to life on the spot. But one day, months before Benjamin's eleventh birthday, the crazy neighbour lady saw vegetables from the garden casually levitating in the air and following the boy inside. Later that evening, a man came knocking on the door and revealed to them that Benjamin was a wizard and had a place at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in Massachusetts.

Since that day, Benjamin has been blown away by the magical world. Though slightly disappointed that he wasn't a Jedi, he nonetheless found being a wizard equally as cool. The first month at Ilvermorny is something that he will never forget in addition to the lessons that were taught there and the magic he learned. To add to the amazement, he quickly learned that there were other wizarding schools in the world when he and his fellow classmates were whisked off across the Atlantic for the International Magical Pupil Standoff hosted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. His own school took the win in the end and he made a number of friends, to whom he has been religiously writing every week since returning to North America.

Now another year wiser and another inch taller, Benjamin is ready for his second year at Ilvermorny. Even though he didn't do so well in his studies the previous year (how can anyone remember all of that mumbo jumbo anyway?), it is his goal to at least be able to master the basic cooking spells so he can bribe his professors with delicious food in exchange for passing grades. He also wants to domesticate a mooncalf and ride it around the school. Wish him luck!