Physical Description:

Odette is a 145 centimeter tall British girl, who does not stand much out of a crowd.

She has mousy blond, long straight hair that she often wears loose, or braid into two parts. Sometimes she is combining these two hairstyles with braiding it only until the end of her neck, letting the rest fall on her shoulders naturally.

She has fair white skin with pink undertone, grey-blue eyes that are soft rather than cold. Her gaze is warm and curious, focus and interest behind them.
She has a single beauty mark under her right eye, and whenever she smiles, little dimples decorate her face. If you are close to her, you can even notice some faded freckles over her nose.

Her clothes are neat and well taken care of, but she prefers comfort over style. One thing she never takes off is her dark gold necklace of an open book. A present dear to her ever since her childhood best friend has given it to her.

Generally she has a good posture, but once lost in a book, she can move into such unusual positions, that makes one hurt over time.


Mental Description:

When someone meets Odette for the first time, she comes across as a polite, approachable and attentive young girl. Then as they start conversing with her, they suddenly feel close to her. They start feeling at ease. Heard.

Odette has a very curious personality, who asks a lot of questions to understand something - or someone -, and due to her great observing skills, you might not even need to explain what you think or how you feel... she just understands.

Odette is the sort of person who leaves people feeling like they were the most interesting person in the room.

She enjoys listening more than talking, but because she enjoys it, not because she is afraid to talk. She enjoys conversations, especially when they're genuine, and once she's comfortable, she's warm, funny, and witty.

She notices inconsistencies and patterns, but she doesn't magically know the answer. She observes first, then tries to figure things out. Sometimes she's wrong, and that's part of what makes her interesting.

On the down side, she sometimes overcomplicates things. She asks questions at the wrong moment because she's genuinely curious. She can ask way too personal questions, without realizing it.
She sometimes forgets that not everyone enjoys being analyzed as much as she enjoys understanding people.

There are several things she likes. The quiet in the nature while breathing fresh air, walking in the rain, visiting museums and old buildings, doing crosswords, reading or making maps, drawing and painting.
She also loves animals and taking care of them, often getting caught while speaking to them.

Reading is her favourite hobby, books and stories excites her, and when someone is interested in them, she talks endlessly with the biggest smile on her face.

She does not like when people interrupt each other and talk over one another, or unnecessary noise that breaks her calm peaceful surrounding.
She hates being rushed, especially when she is trying to figure something out, or explore something new.
Once she starts something, she doesn't want to leave until it is solved and finished. Which makes her lose sense of time, causing her to be late.

Biography:

Odette was born and raised in York, England, in a warm middle-class muggle family. Her mother, Eleanor Holloway is a 38 year old architect, while her father, Matthew Holloway is a 39 year old secondary school history teacher.

Odette and her mother are very close to each other.
Eleanor isn't overly affectionate or overprotective, but she's always present. She's the type of mum who notices when Odette has had a bad day before Odette says anything.

She encourages independence. If Odette struggles with something, Eleanor won't immediately solve it for her. Instead, she'll ask: "What do you think your options are?"

She takes Odette's opinions seriously, even when she was very little. If Odette asked a question, Eleanor almost never dismissed it.
She also has a quiet sense of humor, and Odette inherited some of that dry wit.

The best word to describe Odette's relationship with her father is effortless.
Matthew loves making history feel alive. He tells stories, asks questions but he never lectures Odette; he invites her into conversations. He's the parent who says:
"What do you think happened here?", instead of immediately giving the answer.
He's patient, encouraging, and genuinely enjoys spending time with his daughter, whether that's walking through York, visiting museums, or playing board games at home.
Odette has inherited his curiosity more than his love of history itself.

The family dynamic is pretty simple.
They are not the loud family with chaotic dinner times.

It's a family where people actually finish listening to each other before replying.

Odette grew up in a home where asking questions was encouraged, opinions were respected, and curiosity was celebrated.

Her parents didn't praise her for being "the smartest"; they praised her for being thoughtful and interested in the world around her.

That's why she became such a good listener. She grew up feeling heard.

Every Sunday, they'd go for a walk somewhere in or around York.
Sometimes it's a museum, sometimes it's the city walls, sometimes it's just wandering through old streets with no destination.
Those walks are when the best conversations happen.

It feels like such a small tradition, but it says everything about the Holloways. They're not trying to raise a genius, they're raising a curious, kind child.

They also have a rescue calico cat, Maple.
She's around 8 years old, and thinks she owns the house.
She loves sleeping in sunny windows, and is very affectionate - but on her own terms.

She always follows Eleanor around when she works from home, and she always sits on Matthew's marks whenever he tries to grade papers. She has a habit to appear when someone opens a book, therefore she is often in Odette's company.

When Odette was little, she tried to map Maples routine.
She was simply wondering: "Does she actually have a routine?"
She discovered Maple was completely unpredictable, which secretly annoyed her.

Odette was always a curious and thoughtful child.
Not particularly loud, but never withdrawn.

Odette was the kind of child who was happy to entertain herself for hours, whether that meant drawing, reading, building little towns out of LEGO, or wandering around museums with her parents.

She had a habit of asking follow-up questions that adults didn't always expect.

People generally liked Odette.

She was easy to get along with because she listened, remembered things, and didn't make every conversation about herself.
She simply preferred a few meaningful friendships over knowing everyone.

She had 2–4 close friends in primary school.
She's the type who'd happily include someone sitting alone at lunch, but she wouldn't become best friends with everyone she met.

Her absolute favourite friend was Norah, who she met at a ballet class when she was 7. For years they have danced together, slept over at each others' places, and discovered many many things side by side.

She is the best friend that gave Odette her necklace of an open book, the one she always wears.

Their friendship worked because Norah loved adventures just as much as Odette did, and it bonded them together for life.


First Instance of Magic:

Odette and her parents were on their usual Sunday tradition, exploring a historic manor near York.

While her father Matthew stopped to read an information board, her mother Eleanor admired the architecture. Odette was wandering around only a few steps away, trying not to touch everything out of curiosity, as Eleanor has asked her multiple times.

She wasn't trying to sneak off, but something out of order had caught her attention. One stretch of stonework, simple as that.

The wall looked... different. The stones were laid in a slightly different pattern, and seemed newer than the surrounding walls along the mansion.

She looked back at her mom, and when she was not looking, she curiously ran her fingers along the uneven surface, wondering why anyone would repair only one small section.

As she brushed her finger over some pattern on the stone, there was a dull click.

A narrow door, almost invisible against the wall, creaked open.
It led to an old servants' passage that staff later admitted had been stuck shut for years.

Her parents assumed she'd simply found a hidden latch that everyone else had overlooked. Odette accepted that explanation without questioning it, as she was more interested in peeking down the dusty corridor than in how the door had opened.

It wasn't until her Hogwarts letter arrived a couple of years later that the strange coincidence finally made sense.