Name: Lena
Contact Information: macgirl50-AIM
Timezone: EST
RP Experience: You know this. :P
Where did you hear about us? Ummm, gee, IDK.

Name: Aldrich Cooper. His friends call him "Coop"
Age & Birthdate: 64; November 1
Bloodline: Muggleborn
Sexuality: Straight
Marital Status: Widowed
Former House & School:
Newhall Primary School, 1949-1954
Prince Henry's Grammar School in Otley, West Yorkshire, 1957-1964
University of Leicester, 1965-1969, degree in Criminal Justice

Occupation: Retired Detective, formerly with the South Yorkshire Police
He is very bored with retirement and will, at some point, be returning to the workforce as a Lecturer at City College in London
How are they qualified? N/A
How did they get involved in the school? N/A
If a professor, what is their demeanor as a professor? N/A

Personality:
Coop is the type of person who is often respected even by those he doesn't like. He's a very strong presence in any room. Many people are "afraid" of him and that is completely intentional. Coop is a private man and doesn't like to form attachments, so he projects a gruff outer image in hopes that people won't want to get too close.

That's not to say that Coop can't turn on the charm when he wants to. He can be very charismatic when the situation calls for it. This coupled with his sense of duty and ambition mean there is little he can't accomplish and that he is prone to extreme moods on the occasions where he isn't getting his way.

Coop can be obsessive when it comes to getting what he wants. Prior to his retirement, he had a lifelong love affair with his job as an police officer. He has pursued this career so single-mindedly that he never has formed many serious or lasting relationships. The only people in the world he is truly close to are his sons and grandchildren and even then, he often neglected his sons for the sake of work.

Underneath that gruff exterior, Coop does really care for the people in his life and he cares a lot about the cause he fights for. The grumpiness is a mask designed to keep people from getting too close, because the fight becomes too hard and it's too easy to get distracted if you let yourself become attached to people.

Retirement has not gone well for Coop. Sitting around while other people fight a war that he's spent his life on? He really hates it and doesn't quite know what to do with himself

Personal History:
Parents: Hugo and Priscilla Cooper, Muggles
Sister In Law: Zelpha Cooper, age 60, Muggle
Nieces/Nephews: Eugenia Oglethorpe (nee Cooper), age 41, former Hufflepuff; Russell Cooper, age 37, Muggle
Children: Sheldon Cooper, age 40, Elwood Cooper, age 38
Wife: Adélie Dalila Cooper nèe Gladstone, Muggle, deceased
Grandchildren Dalila Cooper; 15 (4th Year); Arthur "Artie" Cooper; 13 (3rd Year)
If the sons are picked up, I'll have no objection to adding to the list of grandchildren, but I'll leave it as it is for now.

Aldrich was born the second son to Muggle parents in 1945 and it was obvious from the start that he and his brother were not like other children. Their parents more or less tried to ignore the odd occurrences around the house and Aldrich didn't put much stock in them, either. He'd always been more or an analytical sort and he preferred not to acknowledge something that had not believable explanation.

While Buckley found his passion in science, Aldrich's favorite toys were plastic guns and soldiers. He felt very strongly from early childhood about protecting others and making the world a safer place to live in. He'd play cops and robbers with his peers and always insist on playing the part of the police, even back then.



He's really not sure how it came about that he and Buckley didn't get along. A part of him had looked up to his brother, as younger brothers tend to do, but the older they grew, the more they disagreed and those disagreements often escalated into fights and pranking wars. It certainly didn't help that when Aldrich was 15, Buckley went after the girl he had a crush on. That girl ended up ignoring them both, but that didn't stop Aldrich from paying his brother back and chasing after a number of his girlfriends as they reached their late teens.

Alrich really wasn't fussed about his parents refusal to let either he or his brother attend Hogwarts when their letters came. He wasn't entirely sure he believed in magic, either. He was a sensible boy and all logic told him that such a place couldn't possibly exist. There was no changing their minds, anyway, and he happily moved on with his young existence.

He worked hard in school and while his marks weren't prefect, they were certainly enough to earn him a spot at the University of Yorkshire where there was no question what he was going to study. Being a police officer had been his life's ambition for as long as he could remember.

It was during University that he met his wife. Adélie was beautiful and sweet and Aldrich found himself falling for her despite his reservations about getting close to anyone. He knew being an officer of the law would be dangerous, but he couldn't deny what his heart wanted. They two had a whirlwind romance and were married during his last year of University and a surprise pregnancy yielded the first of their two sons on Christmas Day of 1968. It was much sooner than they had planned on, but he was happy all the same.

Two years later, in 1970, Aldrich's second son was born, conceived not long after he joined the South Yorkshire police force. Aldrich threw himself into his work, wanting very much to be a success and make a difference. His neglect of his family in the process was unintentional, but it was there nonetheless. He and Adélie fought more and more often about how he was never home, how she and the boys missed him. She threatened to leave him and he promised to do better, but nothing really ever changed.

Their eldest was 10 years old when Adélie was murdered. She'd gone to the market and had stopped at the bank to withdraw some funds on the way. It was a simple case of her being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he has never forgiven himself for not being there to stop it, to save her.

When Sheldon received his Hogwarts letter a mere year later, Coop didn't have the heart to tell him he couldn't go. He was still grieving the loss of Adélie at the time and was also largely consumed with catching her killer. Elwood went two years later, both boys believing their father was sending them away so that he wouldn't have to deal with them. It was partially true, in the sense that he was even more obsessed with work, with catching the man who had taken his Adélie, and taking care of the boys got in the way of that. Coop pushed anyone and everyone away from him, becoming even more certain that letting people in was a bad idea. He had affair after affair with woman after woman, but it was all physical to him - hed resolved not to let himself care about another the way he had Adélie ever again.

His relationship with his sons has improved over the years, since they've reached adulthood and had children of their own. You'll never catch him admitting it, but he adores his grandchildren to pieces and now that he's retired, he has more time to focus on his family.

Speaking of retirement, though, it's driving him mad to not have a purpose in life any longer. He has nothing to do during the day and has absolutely no idea what to do with himself! It's been suggested that he find a hobby, but he hasn't had much luck so far. He's a man of action and purpose and not having those things in his life has made him a bit grumpier than usual.

PB: Sean Connery
Character Journal: (Not required during applying, although it does expedite the acceptance process.)
Blurb: This gruff, brooding retired detective is known best as the brother Buckley Cooper currently is not speaking with. He may not be a police officer anymore, but he's still a little scary with the way he might glare just at being spoken to. He is seen around RLA on occasion, picking up one of his grandchildren or attending a Quidditch match.

Third Person Sample: Kate said I didn't have to! :D