Seraphina Cyrilla Pryor

[Background] [Personality] [Description] [Outfits] [Family]

• Name Meaning
  • Seraphina: fiery one
  • Cyrilla: lord
• Birthdate: November 18, 1919
• Role: Seventh Year Student
• House: Slytherin
• Wand: Rigid Hazel wood, long, with a copper thread core

Background

Hilarius Pryor, who frequently went by his middle name – Digby – at school so as to avoid some of the jibes about his name’s homonym, had always been fascinated by muggles, despite his pureblood ancestry. He had become well acquainted with a fair few muggleborn students while at Hogwarts (sorted to Ravenclaw), and had, by the time he had graduated, achieved top marks in Muggle Studies, though several of his other classes were lacking as a result. After Hogwarts, he spent a lot of time visiting muggleborn friends, and in the process, met the sister of one of his comrades. Her name was Lauressa Penelope Bishop. The two were fast friends, as she was drawn to his passionate nature and him to her sweet, unassuming trust and quiet demeanor. Just as Hilarius was getting settled into his career with Muggle relations, the two started seriously seeing one another on a regular basis. Despite her being a muggle, Hilarius chose to marry her anyway, which, particularly with his position in Muggle relations, and his previous and obvious fascination with Muggles, was hardly surprising to anyone who knew him well. Because Lauressa’s brother had magical ability, Hilarius narrowly escaped an investigation by the Ministry of Magic, citing that she did not learn of the world from him, instead, she learned of it from her relation and therefore he was not at odds with the secrecy laws. His excuse was accepted by the ministry, and neither was punished for their marriage. The two settled in Shrewsbury, England to set up house, which was not far from where Lauressa’s family lived.

The pair were together for four years before the birth of their first child, Seraphina Cyrilla Pryor. Seraphina proved to be the spitting image of her mother very quickly, and was, therefore, the light of Hilarius’s life. His joy only multiplied when three years later the family was joined by a second daughter, Alastriona Ellery Pryor.  Alastriona bore likeness equally to both of her parents as opposed to Seraphina who resembled only her mother. Hilarius was convinced that life could not get any better than it had been, and Lauressa was quite convinced of the same, and for two years, the family lived quietly in Shrewsbury, hidden away from view on their expansive property. It was on an outing with the two young girls one day that disaster struck for the family. Hilarius was at work, and Lauressa had taken the children out in the afternoon, and in a fit of spontaneity, she veered with them off of the normal trail. Always mindful of the safety of her children and the possibly dangerous nature of the property, she went first, with the two following behind. Lauressa had turned to look back at something that Seraphina had insisted on showing her, and at that moment, Lauressa lost her footing, and slipped down a rather rocky cliff that she had been standing precariously close to. The two girls, being young as they were, knew nothing better to do than to run back toward their home. When Hilarius finally arrived home several hours later, he was greeted by two quite upset young girls, but Lauressa was nowhere to be found. Many friends and acquaintances were brought in to help in finding the woman, but by the time they found her, it was too late to do anything for her. She was already dead.

This came as quite a blow to the family, but Hilarius never let himself show his misery in front of his daughters. Hilarius took several months off of work to look after the children, and it was only after life returned more or less to normal for the girls that he finally returned to work, employing a local young witch to look after and start Seraphina in her studies. The girl, Maxine Blair, was adept at her job, but was otherwise not as passionate as Lauressa had been, and Hilarius knew this. However, the man knew that the only way to avoid this would be to quit his job, and in order to support his two young daughters, he simply could not afford to do so. Maxine stayed on, earning her pittance for the meager work that she did, and Hilarius tried to make up for it in other ways. He frequently brought home small gifts for the girls. Anything which was not too expensive and which he thought would bring his daughters joy was procured and brought home immediately. In this way, Hilarius had a tendency to spoil his daughters, and they both came to expect things to just be handed to them.

Seraphina grew quickly, and as she grew, she became much like her mother in appearance, though not in demeanor. Seraphina was a tempestuous child, and only became more so as she grew. She could be sweet as syrup one moment, and thrown into a tantrum the next. In fact, her first manifestation of magical ability was displayed during one such tantrum. Hilarius had procured a series of hair ribbons for the young girl. Sera, who preferred the shorter nickname to her full name, found these ribbons unacceptable, because they were all in mild, girlish colors. Even as Hilarius tried to tie one into the girl’s hair, to show her that they weren’t so bad after all, she began to sob, and threw the remaining ribbons onto the floor. Just as she did so, the ribbons all changed colors – the mild colors turned to bold, almost painfully bright shades of orange, red, green and yellow. Her tantrum very quickly stopped, and Hilarius, in a fit of joy at his daughter’s proven magical ability, completely forgot to punish her for the outburst.

Life was otherwise quiet for the Pryors. Hilarius continued to progress in his career, and became quite comfortable in a supervisory position as a Muggle liaison. When the day finally came that Seraphina got her letter of acceptance to Hogwarts, Hilarius could not be happier. He immediately rushed the two girls to Diagon Alley, and procured a wand for the young girl, and acquired all of her necessary supplies, despite the fact that this was a full eight months or more sooner than most children would be buying their supplies. Sera had heard all about Hogwarts from Maxine, who continued to tutor her up through July of 1931, and though she had heard her father nearly singing the praises of Ravenclaw house, Sera found herself unsure as to where she would rather be when her own time to attend the school came.

Hogwarts turned out to be a terrifying experience for Sera, who had previously been very sheltered in the little world that Hilarius had created for his two daughters. Once Sera was safely on the train, watching her father and younger sister disappear into the distance with the train platform, Sera realized that she would no longer have the comforts of her own home to keep her safe. The other students seemed to bustle around her as she sat in the compartment she had chosen, trying not to say anything truly mortifying to the people who would become her classmates. She made no true friends that day, though she found comfort in the faces of the other children who looked as uncertain as she felt but was trying not to show. Once the sorting came around, she was surprised to find out that she would not be a Ravenclaw, as her father had hoped, but instead a Slytherin, the house of cunning and ambition. Sera wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about that, but she hoped that by being sorted there (by the official hat and everything) she would find some friends within her house.

Sera had a very rough time during her first year. Those who started in her year either were content to forget about her when she was not directly present, or avoided her even when she was. She found it difficult to make friends, since she had spent so much time relating only to her sister and father, and much of the time at home was spent entertaining herself. Her marks were excellent through her first year, as she had plenty of time for study in the time that she was not spending hanging out with her classmates. By the end of the year, she was very ready to head home to her own room with her own things.
Second year improved slightly, possibly because she had settled into the rhythm of life at Hogwarts more than she did during her first year. She was still solitary much of the time, though she was on speaking terms with many of her classmates. It did not go much farther than that for her, however, and she still spent much of her time on her own. Through the year, she began to wander into the library when she had no more schoolwork to occupy her time and wandered the stacks, looking for anything that might catch her eye. The girl checked out many books that year, and returned at least half of them only partially read. It was during these trips into the library that she found a section filled with light, fanciful stories which was exactly what the girl was looking for, without really knowing it. These helped fill the empty time and quell her loneliness. Thanks to her continued lack of social outings, Sera’s marks were once again stellar in her second year.

Her third year began with a new interest, as she had additional classes to add to her course load. In addition to the classes she had taken in her first and second years, she chose Divination, Care of Magical Creatures and Ancient Runes to supplement her schedule. The girl threw herself headlong into her studies throughout her third year, spending a lot of her time on homework, and the little time she wasn’t studying was spent reading more of the romantic fantasy books that took her away from her relatively mundane existence. Third year ended on much the same note as her first and second: high marks, no school friends.

Sera’s fourth year started with a change: her sister Alastriona started her first year at Hogwarts. To Sera’s chagrin (and moderate pleasure), her sister was sorted into Gryffindor. (For some reason, Sera got it into her head that Gryffindor was the worst house for anyone to be in. Perhaps this was motivated by her own dislike of many of the Gryffindors that she had close contact with.) It was during this year that Sera found that she was beginning to turn into a woman, and with these natural feminine changes, she found a new interest in boys. In particular, she found a crush on a sixth year Slytherin named Edern Fallon. Her infatuation was just that, and nothing more than that. The year ended, and Sera managed not to say a single word to him, but rather stared at him over books or out of the corner of her eye. Her marks were not quite what they had been, thanks to the distraction of her sister and her crush, but they were still quite excellent.

After a fairly typical summer at the Pryor residence, Sera’s fifth year looked to be starting in the same way as her first four years at Hogwarts did. It was with a resigned attitude that she detached herself from her younger sister and settled into a compartment, nestled right against the window. She hardly paid attention when a boy in her year joined her in the compartment. His name was Otto Atwell. Sera had seen him around the school before, and often let her eyes linger for a moment, first on his hunched back, then on the needlework that he was frequently working at. She had never tried to talk to him, but it seemed that now she might not have much of a choice, as they were the only two in the compartment. (For the moment, anyway.) The two of them began to have light conversation, mostly to pass the time, and by the end of it, he and Sera found some common ground in his needlework, which she found quite intriguing, and then they subsequently moved on to the subject of the impending O.W.L. exams. Both were nervous, but Sera at least had the comfort of knowing that she had made consistent progress for four years of classes. The two made an agreement: Sera would tutor Otto, and in return, Otto would show Sera some of the things he was working on. A slow friendship built from that one train ride, and suddenly Sera’s days weren’t quite so dire. She still dove into her studies and into her books, but she found time to spend with Otto, sometimes tutoring and sometimes just chatting. Her crush for Edern Fallon still remained as strong as it was, though it culminated by the end of the year with only a few conversations. By the end of the year, she found that her infatuation with him had died down some, possibly because it was just going its natural way, and possibly because of the increase in her studies in preparation for her O.W.L. exams.

The summer following her fifth year was more eventful than the previous summers. She had someone to communicate with for the first time, other than her father and sister. That helped occupy her time, and she had a sunnier outlook as the beginning of her sixth year approached. Over that summer, she also received her O.W.L. scores, and was incredibly pleased with the results. She received four O scores, in Ancient Runes, Divination, History of Magic and Transfiguration, and four E scores, in Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Charms and Potions. She received only two A level scores, in Defense Against the Magical Arts and Herbology. She decided to continue on in Ancient Runes, Divination, History of Magic and Transfiguration, thinking those four would be quite enough work for her over the coming two years.

Personality

Quiet more by habit than by nature, Sera rarely says much unless she’s spoken to, and even then she sometimes chooses not to respond. The girl is very drawn into herself and her own interests, as if she has had little practice relating to others. The young woman has maintained her intensity from her childhood, and it is that which allows her to throw her focus completely into one thing or another for long periods of time. What she has in intensity, she lacks in patience, though only with others. Sera has enough patience to get through anything that she sets her mind to, but is liable to lose her patience with anyone else who takes too long to “cotton on” to a concept or idea.

Not inclined to bursts of happiness, Sera is more likely to blush than smile. Her demeanor is often fairly steady, without much expression on her face. Stoic would be the most descriptive word one could apply to the young woman. The only time her face is inclined to show any emotion at all is when she is either enticed with some pretty bauble or other, or when her temper is flared. She is not quick to anger, but when her temper is flared, it stays up for quite a while. She flames up loudly, and she is inclined to scream and yell once provoked. Her temper doesn’t settle down quickly, much the same way it doesn’t flare up in a hurry; she is certainly one to hold grudges.

,a name=”desc”>Description

Once small and plump, Sera seems to have grown up all at once. Where once she was round in the middle, gentle curves seem to have been carved out, though she couldn’t really be called womanly. She has grown up to be rather tall compared to many of her female peers, though she is not by any means an enormous young woman. Her long auburn hair is quite straight and thick, and it hangs down to the middle of her back. She has it tied half up with an ornate barrett, having discarded her brightly colored ribbons as childish. Her dark blue eyes are framed by dark lashes, and her childhood freckles seem to have faded to a distant memory. The young woman harbors an affinity for dangling jewelry, and in the addition to several long bead necklaces, she wears a few sparkly bracelets, drawing attention to her slender wrists.

Outfits

Casual Teal Outfit

Seraphina wears robes in a bright teal shade. Around her waist, she has a dark blue belt fastened, which has a gold buckle on it. Her robes are long and a bit loose, being a bit too big for her yet. The sleeves are too long as well, and much of her time is spent pushing the sleeves up her arms so that she can actually reach things with her hands. Beneath her robes, she wears bright red shoes with a buckle over the top. The robes are otherwise quite plain; she has not added any extra adornment past a rather large gold brooch that sits just below her right shoulder. The brooch has a large P on it, perhaps signifying her family name of Pryor.

School Robes

Black, fitted robes are the standard uniform for a Hogwarts student, and Sera dutifully wears them just the same as the rest of her classmates. Hers bear the crest of Slytherin on the left side, and as a bit of ornamentation, she has had the seams done in a rich emerald green instead of the standard black thread that one might expect on black fabric. The robes are fitted to her slight curves, and hang down loose from her hips to the floor, where the tops of her shoes are just slightly visible. Instead of the prescribed sturdy black boots, she wears feminine shoes with a slight heel and a small tie at the top of her foot. Her robe is hooded, though the hood sees very little use, and is lined with a shiny silver fabric rather than the standard black, which helps the green thread stand out even more.

Family

• Hilarius Digby Pryor (b. 1895)
  • Lauressa Penelope Bishop (b. 1896)
    • Seraphina Cyrilla Pryor (b. 1919)
    • Alastriona Ellery Pryor (b. 1922)