☆ Rowan Sallow ☆ First Year ☆ Slytherin ☆

Rowan Sallow, born on the 18th of December, 2011, is the oldest child to her muggle mother and father. Rowan’s mother, an Irish immigrant, met Rowan’s Norwegian father in the United Kingdom five years before Rowan's birth. Rowan herself was born in Chester, UK, and lived there until the family moved to a neighborhood nearby Birmingham in 2017. Thus is where Rowan met her closest friend, Thomas Lahyder. Her mother had Rowan's younger brother, Henry, during that year. The family has a black cat called Apollo, which they found living under the new house in Birmingham.

The Sallows reside in the upper class of England, and therefore Rowan found herself often going to parties with her parents, until she grew old enough to blatantly refuse (which only works part of the time). Rowan didn't say her first words until she was four, after her parents put her in speech therapy. She's always been known to have extreme mood swings and temper tantrums, rarely "using her words". Her parents would snap and sometimes hit her as punishment for her uncontrollable behavior. Therefore, over the years, Rowan learned that since she couldn't control her temper, she would have to hide it. She would run upstairs to her bedroom in the attic when she felt tears stinging her eyes or rage churning in her stomach. Rowan learned as a little girl how to sneak around her home in silence- often to sneak snacks- and how to manipulate her peers into doing what she tells. The only person she can trust is herself.

Rowan began playing the piano when she was 4, as her grandmother- her Bubbie- had an old one at her home which Rowan and her brother would often visit. Bubbie taught her how to play. She also began learning how to knit- just a year before her letter from Hogwarts arrived- taught by her Bubbie as well. The two have an incredibly close bond, and there have been times when Rowan, not wanting to be at home, has walked the 30 minutes to her Bubbie's. Rowan's grandfather, her Zada, passed away when Rowan was a toddler, and her Bubbie gave her Zada's old blue corduroy coat. She wears the oversized coat often.

Rowan has always had a special fascination with plants. Any time the Sallows visit the market, Rowan begs her parents to let her buy a plant. She promises she'll take care of its every need- and more times than not, her parents have agreed, leading to Rowan's attic bedroom being covered in greenery. Though she finds flowers pretty, they're not her first choice when it comes to potting a new plant. She prefers beautiful leaves, succulents, and grasses. Most all of Rowan's plants sit by the her gigantic circular window, which lets in plentiful sunlight. Rowan's plants are some of the only objects in her bedroom which remain unharmed from her angry outbursts. She would never dare hurt a plant; it felt like hurting part of herself.

Rowan's bedroom in the Sallows' home is in the attic and has a large circular window on one wall. Her favorite thing to do is to climb out this window onto the roof, and then climb onto a thick branch of the giant oak tree sitting in the front yard. One evening, when Rowan was seven, she was struck with the urge to escape her father, who was in a frightening mood and shouted at anyone he came across. Rowan made her climb onto a bough in the tree, hidden by the leaves. Here, she felt safe. Above, Rowan heard a soft, pained chirping; a newborn crow cried from a nest many branches above. "Oh, hello there," Rowan had murmured, slowly beginning to climb upward. "Where's your mommy?"

Careful to make as little noise as possible, Rowan made her way to the branch where the nest sat and lay on her stomach, feet pressed against the trunk of the tree, reaching out for the baby bird. "It's okay," she soothed. "I'll help you. You'll be-" suddenly, a fierce gust of wind struck the tree, jouncing the limb. Rowan screamed as she lost her grip on the branch and plummeted downwards. She tried to grapple for a grip, but just ended up getting more scraped up then before. "I'M GOING TO DIE!" Rowan screamed, squeezing her eyes shut- but she never hit the ground. Instead, the vines that were crawling up the oak tree's trunk had weaved together to create an intricate net, catching Rowan a few feet before she hit the ground. Rowan, in shock, had lay there, frozen, staring up at the strangely peaceful foliage above, swaying in the cool breeze.

Then, she heard a shout, and quickly dropped into the soft grass with a thump. The vines retracted into the tree as her father came out of the door and ran over to her, asking if she was alright. He had heard her screams. Rowan didn't unfreeze and continued to stare at nothing with a half-open mouth while her father scooped her up and brought her inside. As they were walking back to the house, Rowan, slung over her dad's shoulder, saw the tiny crow, no longer in pain, flying from the tree into the dusk.