(History)
Declan was born to Niamh and Daniel Byrne in Dublin, Ireland. When he was five, his parents divorced and Niamh, who had sole custody of Declan, moved with her son to Surrey. There she met and fell in love with a handsome school teacher who taught at Declan's school, one Ravi Chatterjee. They married barely a year later, and a little less than nine months after that, Declan found himself the big brother of little Margaret Chatterjee, most often called Maggie. When he was twelve, he asked his step-father if he could change his own last name to Chatterjee; Ravi, who had raised the boy as his own son and loved him as dearly as Maggie, agreed without any hesitation.

Declan attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from -10 SI until -3 SI (-15 SA until -8 SA), becoming a Ravenclaw prefect in his fifth year and maintaining that status until graduation. (Maggie was later sorted into Gryffindor.)

Upon the recommendation of the astronomy professor, Declan pursued his education at a presitigious magical academy in London. At the age of twenty he finished his degree and, due to an insatiable appetite for knowledge, pursued an astronomy degree at the Muggle university of Cambridge as well. Over the next four years, he worked studied hard through the day and at night worked at a newly-built observatory outside of Hogsmeade. It was there that he met his best friend, an indelibly cheerful Scot called Michael Ballantyne. When Declan was twenty-five -- and Michael twenty-eight -- the two friends decided they needed a change and headed to America, where they worked as liaisons between the British Academy of Magical Astronomers and their American equivalent. Around this time, their friendship also took a leap into a new territory -- romance. They lived happily together (along with a kitten purchased by Michael - he called him Twitch, but Declan christened him That Bloody Beast more often than not) for another three years.

They were returning home from visiting Muggle friends one evening when a desperate man cornered them in an alley, demanding their wallets. Michael tried to talk the man down, and Declan panicked, reaching for the wand that he -- like his companion -- had left at home. The mugger panicked in turn and fired, shooting Michael in the chest. He ran without bothering for their wallets -- but Declan didn't notice. He was too consumed with how much blood was covering his best friend's pale hands. Michael died twenty-six hours later at a magical hospital. Though he doesn't often talk about Michael these days, even with Maggie - his half-sister and one of his closest friends - he always wears a leather bracelet that bears the verse from Carmina Burana that was engraved on Michael's tombstone: De corde totaliter et ex menta tota, sum presentialiter absens in remota, or With all my heart and all my soul, I am with you though I am far away.

After Michael's death Declan needed a change of scenery; he left BAMA and took on a desk job at the American Aurory; he quit after six months, unhappy with his work there. He was then hired by the American Magical Cabinet as an assistant to one of the Muggle liaisons, a job at which he excelled, due not only to the experience gleaned while attending Cambridge but also what he learned during his childhood from Ravi. In a stroke of pure bad luck, his employer also happened to have a rather extreme case of homophobia, and fired Declan immediately upon finding out about his previous relationship with Michael. Declan returned home to England for a few months, taking Twitch with him; he was surprised when one day an owl delivered a letter from the headmaster of a school in the American West. Several months earlier he had applied for the Astronomy position there, sensing his imminent end at the Cabinet -- and here, just when he needed it, he found his salvation in rather battered acceptance letter from across the Atlantic!

Declan joined the staff at Sonora after midterms of its one hundred and fifty-second year as the Astronomy professor, and he claims he hasn't been this happy in quite a long time.

(Appearance)
Moderately long, dark brown hair, usually artfully mussed out of habit more than vanity. Warm, gray-green eyes, and a boyish grin. 5'10" tall, average build. Declan tends to wear jeans and sweaters, and whenever possible eschews the more formal robes. When ditching the robes isn't a possibility, he's been known to wear outrageously colored and patterned sets in what his stepfather refers to as "impish rebellion."

(Etcetera)
Due equally to his love for his Muggle stepfather and his experiences at Cambridge, Declan remains fascinated by the nonmagical cultures of the world. He speaks fluent Hindi, moonlighted as a yoga instructor while attending the magical academy in London, will eat anything - whether or not it's normally humanly edible - except for mushrooms, has a weakness for musical theater of any genre, and, when he's particularly missing Michael, tends to put the Muggle artist Seal's songs "Kiss From a Rose" and "Love Divine" on repeat. He was raised Catholic, but isn't particularly religious today. One of his favorite things to do in off-time is dabble in technomancy - the combination of Muggle technology and magic. Obviously, he's a great advocate for Muggle/Muggleborn rights in wizarding society, and has little tolerance for "that pureblooded hogwash."