Amaury Henri Richelieu

**Amaury Henri Richelieu** *(b. 3th of December, 1951)* is a French half-blood wizard and the only child of **Davíd** and **Cordelia Richelieu** (née Dean). He was strictly raised in a very religious family. His father had a noble and a high position in the Church as a Cardinal. When Amaury turned seven, his mother and sister died during childbirth. He developed a stoic air around him and was accused by his father for the death of both his mother and unborn sister. As a consequence of causing this death, he had to undergo several sorts of penances to drive out Satan possessing him. When he turned ten he traveled to England alone to live with his grandparents.

He was sorted into the Slytherin House after his admittance to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1963.

## Biography

### Early life (1952-1963)

#### a love story

Meadows painted with pied daisies and blue violets, birds whistling their usual songs again, the sun shoos the clouds away; spring is in the air. The curtains blew along with the spring breeze and reached the twenty-two years old's brown curled hair. Davíd Richelieu was dressing up for the debutante ball taking place on the first of May in the Château de Versailles. His mother was knocking loudly on the door saying he had to hurry. He trudge through the door while his servants draped his reddish Cardinal cloak around his shoulders. The cloak had been in the possession of the Richelieu family for three centuries now. It was passed to every male first born who became a Cardinal, ought to wear the family's coat of arms with pride. Davíd arrived and was solemnly announced like the others with his titles: Duke and Cardinal. He soon got tired of it, all these colourful, dressy wide skirts and those ridiculous dances. His mind was focussed on other things than urgently finding a partner to wed.

A few hours earlier the delightful British witch Cordelia Dean had just arrived at the palace of Versailles. Now that she graduated from Hogwarts she can commence with her interships to become a certified Herbologist. Her first stop happened to be one of the largest gardens in Europe: the Gardens of Versailles. Her eyes just couldn't stop looking to the blossoming trees, the high hedges and maybe a million species of flowers and herbs. She was truly obsessed by the piece of art that master Herbologist André Le Nôtre created in order of Louis XIV. She would be staying there for two weeks to observe and learn from these 800 ha.

The purple dusk of twilight time rose and high up in the sky the little stars began their climb. Cordelia wasn't tired at all and snuck into the gardens even when her mentor told her not to do so because of the guests the palace was having tonight. At that same time, Davíd decided to go for a walk. How big can coincidence be? Two foolish birds following the call of the night gale bringing them together. They bumped into each other by the fountain of 'La salle de Bal'. There were no words to be spoken, only a deep feeling that would turn the tide and cause an upwelling wave of love.

Summer came like cinnamon making your coffee sweet. The two lovebirds had to part after three long months. Cordelia had to turn back to her home country and Davíd had his role as Duke to forfill. As love conquers almost everything, this love did too. Davíd scrambled all his courage and purposed to his beloved princess, despite his mother's wish to marry a noble one.

#### a great loss

A year passed; Cordelia's belly began to swell up. Their child was on its way. Later in the year when dreams have frozen crystals in the morning Amaury was born at the Hôpital 'Hôtel-Dieu' in Paris. His eyes were green as emeralds. The couple felt richer with him in their fresh family. Amaury grew up with the wealth and privilege of his father's dukedom situated somewhere beyond the bustling capital of France. He was surrounded by lackeys, schooled by private teachers and ate food made by the finest chefs. Though, he was raised in a confusing environment: a family in which two different parenting methods were handled. His father was very strict and obliged him to pray from the day on he could speak. While his mother showed him what empathy and freedom was like. His mother and he shared a little secret: magic. When it was time for him to go to bed, she told him several stories about the adventures of Arthur and Merlin in Camelot or showed him one or two small spells. His big eyes sparkled even brighter when she was doing this.

Seven years after Amaury's birth, the Richelieu's were expecting their second child. On the day Cordelia went in labour Davíd took three days off from his post in the church which was very rare. Little Amaury held his mother's left hand while his father supported her at her right. Servants were in an uproar; hurrying out and back to get pillows, water, towels and a doctor of course. But then fate broke their luck as hard as glass can break. Cordelia stopped breathing. Amaury didn't realise what had just happened. He was pulled away from the room immediately, the door that was closed in front of his eyes had closed a chapter in his life.

Raindrops of reality slowly began to seep into his mind. His mother was taken from him. Yet he felt nothing at all. He knew he should be mourning her, but his heart resembled to stay empty. The only one he could really love had slipped away through his fingers. Amaury was surrounded by the hate his father gave him. He gradually forgot how love felt and got a little bit too obsessed with the death. His new hobby started when his mother's coffin was been carried to her grave. He was curious how his mother's corpse would look by now. He asked his father to let it open, but he refused furiously. So, Amaury decided to get a shovel and a candle and head to the grave when all eyes of the people were already closed and their lights were dimmed. He wasn't scared to ne alone, in the dark at a graveyard. He felt rather less lonely then when he was home with his father. He found the right grave and began to dig and dig and dig. His little arms and legs were too tired as he fell asleep on the wooden shell that kept him from his mother. The next morning the cemetery worker who was an old lady screamed her lungs out. She figured that he was the Duke's boy, but decided not to tell his harsh father and let Amaury drink a cup of hot coffee in her warm cabin near the cemetery. After this incident things got worse. He kept a list of the ants and flies he killed. He attended all kinds of funerals of people he didn't know. However, his most significant kill was the white rabbit hopping in their garden. From time to time his little head popped out of its hole and stared with his black eyes into Amaury's. The little boy was curious about the guts of the very much alive little thing, so he set up a trap and cut right into its belly. He once read in a book that organs can be conservated in vinegar, hence under his bed he had a stock of jars with organs.

#### not the work of God

His father's method of mourning did not seem any better. According to Amaury he had totally lost it. He was just looking for someone or something to blame. The loss of his wife couldn't be God's work. The devil had something to do with it. Amaury became his scapegoat to abreact his grieve on. He said the venom of Satan's snake had already spread. The only solution to drive Satan out seemed to be penance. From that day on Amaury suffered from both physical and mental abuse. It started with small things: he was bound on a chair in the cellar and his father rant several prayers while he was holding the cross of Jesus Christ in his right hand. Things started to escalate. Davíd flushed his son's throat with boiling water, smashed him three times (the divine number) with a lash and branded him on his back with God's sign encircled by a snake. Though, Amaury wasn't making a sound and his green eyes once filled with love gradually ran empty.

One day he resisted against his father. While being restrained for the seven hundred and fifty-sixth time, he felt a surge of rage coursing through his veins. His father devised the plan to have him bitten by a viper. Amaury could feel his death was approaching. His entire body tensed as he closed his eyelids and screamed. When he opened his eyes again, his ashes-pale father stood four meters away, clutching a limp snake whose head had exploded. The walls were splattered with blood in every crack and crevice. Since that day he had realised he was like his mother: exceptional. At an age of ten he moved to his maternal grandparents in Great Grimsby where he learned the language and about his magical origins. A year later, he received his letter to attend Hogwarts.

## Personality and traits

"*I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.*"
―Amaury talking about his view of fear
Amaury is stoic and strong. He has always had a precocious air and the ability to endure pain or hardship without showing his feelings or complaining. However, he can be selfish, and self-indulgent; Amaury’s always grown up with wealth and privilege. One positive trait he observed in his father was his courtliness. He's a true gentleman, because he was strictly brought up with this deportement.

"*He has a dark soul, a soul bitten by a venomous snake; sent by the devil. Only pure Christian penance can save the lad.*"
―David Richelieu explaining to a priest what is wrong with his son
Amaury carries a lot of pain and traumatic happenings with him, and is absolutely not willing to show it. Starting from the day his mother died, he despises love. He sees it as a weakness, a mental bewildering; making you fear to lose the other and being humbled. Fear is prohibited in his matter of thinking. He claims himself to be immune to love, impervious.

He likes to be named with his title 'Lord'. Therefore, why he treats others of his age with an air of scepticism and haughty. He is not a narcist, however he possesses a few narcissistic traits. He reckons that he is not important to this world or to any other soul. He knew he was for his mother, but she died along with his importance to her. His feelings were cut off, there at that moment. Due to his homeschooling, he does not understand how he can befriend his peers. He wants to try it, because his feelings buried deep in his soul burn saying that he doesn't want to be alone.

## Appearance

Amaury is a tall boy with an oval face, tousled coal-coloured hair and big emerald, green eyes. He is not overly strong, but he is very quick. Ribs there to count, and sunken in the flanks so that the ripple and gather of muscles can be followed under the leathery skin. His oval face is like his mother, but he has stronger bones and a brow line reminiscent of his grandfather. He has a thin, disdainful nose, long lashes concealing lime-toned, directly staring green eyes, and a hardness in the expression like his father. A smile is rather rare; his small pink-touched lips are frequently pressed together. He seems to have only one facial expression: a stoic glance giving people a feeling of being less; a certain arrogance.

His voice is cold, yet humming. He has soft hints of a Parisian accent as he speaks. His emerald green eyes are not fully filled with emptiness, as you might be expecting. When you solely pay attention to his eyes, you might see a spark of his true emotions. His pale skin emphasizes his sharp jawline and dark curls. His clothing reflects his dark aura. The dark robe tightly around his shoulders flows along with his march. When putting off his robe, his chest is wrapped in an ink black-coloured vest reaching up to his neck. Underneath, a slip of his formal white shirt is visible.

## Possessions

* **Amaury's wand:** His wand is crafted out of the Hawthorn tree. Consisting of a stark white Unicorn hair and a length of 9 inches. The wand wood is very bendable. Ollivander described the wand as: “*A strange, contradictory wand, as full of paradoxes as the tree that gave it birth, whose leaves and blossoms heal, and yet whose cut branches smell of death. These wands refer to the complex and intrigued nature of the owner.”* By hearing these words, Amaury was covered by a cold layer of reality, this wand had just fully summarised him as a person.
* **A skull ring:** Amaury's first intention was buying his school supplies, but his attention was drawn to the Knockturn Alley where his eye fell on a silver skull ring in the shop window of Borgin and Burkes. He wears it on his right hand to remind himself of his mother's death.

## Etymology

***Amaury*** is a boy's name of German, French origin meaning "work power" or "power". The French form of ancient Germanic royal name Amalric or Emmerich. Some say the name was derived from the French word 'amour' which means 'love'.

***Henri*** is a French short form of the German name Heinrich. Henri means “home ruler”, "powerful", "mighty" or "rich" (from Germanic “hagan” = enclosure or “heim”.)

***Richelieu*** refers to Amaury's ancestor **Armand Jean du Plessis,** the **Duke** of Richelieu also known as **Cardinal Richelieu.**