Basics

Full name: Pythia Melinoe Vesper
House: Slytherin
Age: 11
School year: First-year
Appearance: At 145 centimetres tall, Pythia is of average height for her age. Her doe-shaped eyes are dark brown, almost black, and so is her hair, which she always wears in a neat plait or two.

Personality

Pythia is highly intelligent and hard-working, finishing any tasks she sets herself at all costs, making her also responsible. Her vocabulary and theoretical knowledge exceed that of an average 11-year-old, however her social skills leave much to be desired. Not only is she extremely shy, but she also tends to act mildly arrogant and condescending when actually approached. This comes from a place of insecurity and low self-worth, which she tries to hide behind extensive pride. When she is with her superiors, however, she is meek and compliant, never daring to go against any rules. At all times, she tries to remain patient and understanding, but her short temper often fails her, as she can snap at practically anyone when pushed far enough.

Background

The House of Vesper is an ancient wizarding family with roots in Ancient Greece. At the dawn of their dynasty, they were sympathetic towards Muggles, offering them help and working alongside them, yet with the beginning of the witch hunts, they were forced to flee. Thus, they found themselves in England and quickly integrated into the British Wizarding society. The family’s elders often use this story to justify their hostility towards Muggles and blood-supremacist ideologies. Although many centuries have passed since the clan's relocation, the Vespers are still incredibly tenacious about their classical heritage.

Being the only child of her father and therefore unable to pass on the family name as a witch, Pythia was put under great pressure from her family members, some going as far as calling her a disappointment. Growing up in an already haughty and conservative household like that, Pythia’s childhood was a gilded cage, where despite the luxury surrounding her, she felt like an outsider. Her only source of affection is her grandmother, who always praises her by saying how her “little Pythia is of such great pith”.

Such hostility, however, only inspired Pythia to prove her relatives wrong. After a particularly bad dressing-down by her mother, she, in tears, promised herself to become the Minister of Magic in the future. She perused the manor’s extensive library and excelled in her homeschooling, yet that quickly led her to prefer solitude over the company of her peers. Her parents attempted to change that and often brought her along to various pureblood outings, yet talking to other aristocratic children only made her feel even more alienated. Even if she sees Hogwarts as an opportunity to become the greatest, she secretly yearns to find a community and connections she never had.

FIOM

When she was five, the Vespers hosted a family in their manor for dinner. Their son, a boy only a few years older than Pythia, acted much like a bully, endlessly teasing and mocking her. Already frustrated, the young girl snapped when he forcefully snatched her favourite toy. As she shot all the mean words a five-year-old could know at him, the metal dragon figure began heating up until it melted, burning the boy’s palms. Naturally, this caused much anger from his parents and a scandal that hers barely managed to preempt. “Well, at least we know she’s not a Squib,” her grandfather sneered as the rest of the family sat quietly unamused later that night.

Special Race: Seer

The Vesper clan is notorious for producing powerful Seers every three generations without fail. In fact, its members claim that the family’s progenitor served as an Oracle of Delphi back in Ancient Greece. Throughout the centuries, the Vespers would go on to become priests and priestesses, oracles and prophets, aiding any soul in need, and thus earning a revered reputation from both wizards and Muggles alike.

Although virtually every pureblood house seeks to maintain its status by only allowing marriage with other purebloods, the Vespers go one step beyond by preferring lineages with other Seers or special abilities such as Legilimens to keep their prised gift within the family. As a result, even those members not possessed of the Inner Eye have highly attuned intuitions and are more inclined towards the art of divination than the average wizard.

The family is attentive to the passing down of the gift, calculating generations between each Seer to better anticipate the next one. Normally, only the firstborn of the entire age group inherits the Sight, and to honour the powerful wizards and witches that came before them, they are traditionally named either Pythia or Aristander based on their gender. It is therefore easy to conclude that the last Seer was born exactly three generations ago, making this Pythia the successor.

Nonetheless, her abilities are often doubted by her own relatives. Although it is rare for a Seer to exhibit signs of the Inner Eye prior to early adolescence, her family members are still concerned about what looks like a lack of clairvoyant prowess. Whilst some, like her mother, insist that she is simply a late bloomer, others assert that she is a lost cause.

What happens in reality, however, is Pythia’s own mind getting in her way. Plagued with anxious thoughts, it is hard for her to differentiate between what might be genuine intuition and mundane worries. Trying to battle her spiralling thoughts and refusing to give them any credit, she often goes against her instinct, which lands her in unpleasant situations. Thus, instead of helping her, her intuition does the complete opposite, making her appear as “blind” when it comes to divination.

Even if both Pythia and her family act sceptical towards her gut feeling, there have recently been instances of what could be considered as her Inner Eye showing through. One morning, as her father Iamus prepared to leave for work as usual, Pythia suddenly felt a wave of dread wash over and consume her completely. As she pleaded for him to stay home for the day, Iamus dismissed her every time, claiming that she was “far too old to act so clingy”. When she asked him to use the Floo network or apparate instead, he accused her of wanting to “sneak away and use the broomstick in secret”. The usually meek Pythia did not hesitate to stand her ground this time. The argument seemed to stretch on and on, but by the time it was finished, a great storm began to stir outside. It was terrific: the sky that was clear blue only a moment ago was now cast dark grey, the rumble of raindrops hitting the ground felt almost deafening, and even a few trees nearby the Vesper estate were struck by lightning. Realising that had he decided to fly to work that day he would be severely injured, if not dead, Iamus apologised to Pythia. From that day on, she began receiving more support from her parents in her abilities as a future Seer.