Walden McNair

Walden Silas Macnair ( b. 28 December 1943 ) was born to pure blood as the second son of Samael and Aline Macnair in Kingswood, Bristol, England. In 1954, he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was sorted into Ravenclaw for his calculating and intelligent personality. After graduating from Hogwarts, he dedicated his life to the cause of Lord Voldemort and his work at the Ministry of Magic as Executioner for the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures.

Early Life ( 1944 - 1954 )
Walden was raised by his mother and father in a large manor in Kingswood, Bristol, England, where the family owned a grand amount of property. In addition to being taught the common ideals and traditions of pureblood society, including the supremacy of pure blood and necessity for personal perfection, ancient gender roles were pounded into the minds of him and his older brother, William. Samael and Aline Macnair did not value the early education of their sons, but instead encouraged them to be outside wreaking havoc and building apathy.

When Walden was six years old, he was made to accompany his father on a routine execution for the Ministry of Magic. Much to his father’s disappointment, he showed no outward change from having witnessed the act. Inwardly, however, he was fascinated by the guts and gore. This day spurred an obsession with magical creatures and their disposal that eventually expanded to include that of halfbloods, muggleborns, and bloodtraitors.

As Walden continued to accompany his father to executions, he took a peculiar interest in the chants and songs his father sang during the killings. He was gifted his first Shakespeare book from his maternal grandmother. Soon after, it was taken and burned when he was caught reading it during the day by his father. With the help of his grandmother, Walden secretly continued to collect Shakespeare and other works of literature.

Hogwarts Years ( 1955 - 1961 )
Walden attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1954 to 1961 as a member of the Ravenclaw house. Feeling as he did not fit in with neither his housemates nor others his age, he heavily isolated himself during this period. Despite popular opinion, this did not mean that he did not enjoy his time at Hogwarts, as it was the only place where he was permitted to openly show a dedication to his education and interest in literature. He took particular interest in Care of Magical Creatures, Potions, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Though his family rarely said anything about the fact that he had not been sorted into the Slytherin house like his brother and ancestors, the sorting appeared to confirm Samael’s fears that his youngest son would fail to amount to anything. The resentment was typically displayed passively, yet turned physical whenever he felt the violence could be lamely justified. Walden’s brother, William, often protected him from their father’s wrath by lying, misbehaving to misdirect the anger, or simply stepping in front of him. As the boys began to drift apart during their school years these instances became less frequent. In 1959, William was married to Maria Proctor and moved out of the family manor, which significantly damaged the brothers’ relationship.

In an attempt to both earn his father’s approval and explore his childhood interests, Walden spent most of his summers as an apprentice for his father.

Adulthood ( 1962 - 1979 )
After graduating from Hogwarts, Walden was arranged to marry Emily Silva, a pureblooded witch from a respected family. He made little effort to woe or get to know her before their marriage in 1964. Once married, however, he became incredibly attached to her. During this time, he additionally began devoting his time and efforts to the cause of the Dark Lord, which put a strain on the new marriage.

In 1965, he was able to become the Ministry’s new Executioner following his father’s retirement, allowing him and Emily to build their own house in which they could live comfortably.

Due to the increasing time spent apart and Walden’s cynical personality, he began to suspect that his wife was having an affair. Emily later died in 1967 under questionable circumstances, and he paid a fair amount of money to prevent an investigation from ever being conducted. Rumors of his possible involvement in her death ensued and continued until his own death, as he made a point of neither confirming nor denying the accusations.

Upon Emily’s death, Walden fell into a period of isolation similar to the one he had during his Hogwarts years. He focused solely on his work as Executioner and Death Eater, purposely neglecting the events and formalities of pureblood society. His romantic life was nearly nonexistent, limited to one night stands and unhealthy obsessions. As the intensity of the Wizarding War increased, he came to realize that he could not separate himself from the rest of the world any longer. He considered his appearance at the Selwyn Spring Ball in 1979 an official rejoining of society.

Etymology
In the English and Teutonic translations, the meaning of the name Walden is “strong fighter”. As neither Aline nor Samael Macnair valued language or literature, however, it is more likely that their son was named after the Walden Valley in North Yorkshire, England, near where Aline grew up.

The Latin and English translation of the name Silas is “of the woods or forest”. The name is based on the Roman god of trees, Sylvanus. This name can be seen throughout the Macnair family tree, occurring at least three times as the name of Walden’s paternal great grandfather, paternal grandfather, and middle name of Walden’s father.

Macnair is a Gaelic surname meaning “son of an heir”. Though there is little information that can be found to confirm this, it is common knowledge among the family that the surname name originated from an eighteenth-century union between the MacConnell, meaning “son of the mightiest man in the world”, and Nair, meaning “son of the stranger”, families. While it is said that the last names were combined as the father of the MacConnell bride’s attempt to force his daughter to carry on the family legacy as a male heir would have, it is often speculated that they were actually combined at the request of the Nair groom, who wished to distance himself from his disgraced father.