User blog:Bluebutterflychan/De"spell"opment 1: Cardinal Witches of Oz

The OCs used in this Despellopment Challenge are the heirs of the destinies of the four witches in The Wizard of Oz named primarily by the cardinal directions.

They are Garen Norwitch, son of the Good Witch Glinda of the North; Saphon Goodspell, daughter of the Good Witch of the South; Celadon West, son of the Wicked Witch of the West; and Garnet East, daughter of the Wicked Witch of the East.

Day 1: Hogwarts House
It is impossible to explain one of these witches without explaining the other three, as well... for all four are related through long, long lines of pureblood houses, and all four families carry their history like weights of lead.

Many, many generations ago, the ancient House Thropp, once among foremost families like the Malfoys and Blacks, became entrenched in a deep, fearsome battle between twin siblings over inheritance of family estate. The entire wizarding community very rapidly became involved, each throwing in their support behind the Muggle-fearing elder sister, Viridiana, or the Muggle-hating younger brother, Cadmium.

Cadmuim despised his elder sister for her insistence that hiding the Wizarding community from the Muggles was the only way to maintain this tenuous peace, held for generations after witches and wizards like Morgana and Merlin once made contact with the Muggle world. He believed that wizards and witches didn't deserve to hide from Muggles... they were clearly the more powerful. Nay, he thought-- wizards and witches deserved to RULE OVER their Muggle kin, and all Muggle-born wizards should be immediately put to death.

He cursed Viridiana and her descendants to evermore wear unnatural tones of green in their skin as a mark of cowardice. In order to counteract this curse, Viridiana made a wide-rimmed, conical cap lined on the inside with dozens upon dozens of golden runes. Notice-me-not charms were woven into its very fabric to prevent her fellows from gazing at her too closely, and noticing her unusual verdigris.

However, merely alleviating the curse was not enough for her wounded pride. Viridiana would not take this insult to her ideals lying down, and she retaliated with twice the fervor-- cursing her brother and all his descendants with a permanent jelly-legs jinx. In order to counteract this hex, Cadmium made a pair of jewel-trimmed shoes, lined on the inside with dozens and dozens of silver runes. Walking charms and counter-curses to help him stand, even if only for a few hours at a time.

Eventually, the conflict escalated to such a degree that an Auror Norwitch took the matter into her own hands, banishing both Viridiana and Cadmium to opposite ends of the Earth for one hundred years-- Viridiana to the American colonies in the West, and Cadmium to a British outpost in the Far East, permanently sundering the family line in two. As an award for her bravery while dealing with these two wayward mages, Auror Norwitch was given the Order of Merlin... and an impressive cut of the confiscated Thropp family fortune.

Viridiana West and her kin never left the Americas, choosing to make their home there, eventually becoming a great wizarding family in their own right and one of the Ilvermorny School's greatest patrons. However, the great-great-granddaughter of Cadmium East returned to England, determined to wreak revenge on the Norwitch family. She murdered the eldest of three sisters, ultimately getting away with it by pinning the blame on the second-eldest sister, Galinda Norwitch, who was ultimately burned at the stake for her alleged crimes. Though her children refused to give up their family name, the Galinda's younger sister quietly changed her last name when she married into the Goodspell family.

Garen Norwitch
For better or for worse, the Norwitches have a reputation as a family of the best duelists in the Wizarding World, and they are treated with caution wherever they go. For some generations now, they have chosen to attend Ilvermorny instead of Hogwarts, not eager to rehash their reputation as kinslayers. They are a long line of Wampus House members.

Garen, however... is almost impossibly bad at magic. He's very nearly a Squib. Subsequently, he begged to attend Hogwarts in an effort to undo the reputation of the past... a gesture much like walking into a lion's den of people who still remember. For his bravery in doing so, he is awarded membership to Gryffindor House.

He plays Beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team starting in fourth year, and his wand is Poplar and Phoenix Feather. Though he is practically guaranteed to fail the practical portion of any exam, he stubbornly studies on regardless. His favorite class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, even though he's failing it.

He uses the term "no-maj" unironically.

Saphon Goodspell
Though the shame of the Norwitch family name has long since faded from the bloodline, the Goodspells are not without their own baggage. As a family of what most Purebloods call "blood traitors," they were forced to flee to France during the rise of Grindelwald. There, Lyera Goodspell met and married a beautiful Muggle woman of French African descent, and soon they had a child born by newly-discovered cauldron inclubation methods.

The half-blood Saphon Goodspell attends Beauxbatons, and would thereby never actually be sorted into a Hogwarts house. However, if she were to ever be informally sorted, she would be assigned to Hufflepuff for her stalwart loyalty and open-hearted warmth.

Her best subject is Charms, and her wand is made of Unicorn Hair and Applewood. Though she doesn't normally engage in combative casting, Saphon is actually a wicked duelist when she has half a mind to be, favoring the full-body bind spell. Her best charm, however, is Scourgify.

Celadon West
A descendant of Viridiana West, this enigmatic wizard was expelled from Ilvermorny somewhere in the middle of his third year for mysterious reasons, though Hogwarts' Headmistress McGonagall seems aware of what these reasons are and appears largely unconcerned by them.

During his sorting, West was placed in Slytherin. He was in Horned Serpent House at his former school, and mistakenly assumed that Slytherin was Hogwarts' equivalent of the same thing-- but rest assured, being mocked by his housemates for "matching the color scheme" definitely set him straight.His best subject is potions, and he is Seeker for the Slytherin Quidditch team. There is a long, long story about how he obtained that position, and now is neither the time nor place for it.

His wand is somewhat unusual, as it was not obtained from Ollivander's but mysteriously ordered by his mother from Gregorovich, several years before West had even been born. He possesses a particularly ominous combination of Pine wood and Thestral hair.

Though Viridiana West's wide-brimmed hat is in West's posession, the runes have worn and faded to the point where the hat only works for ten minutes at a time. He is not permitted to wear it while playing Quidditch for obvious reasons, but he admits it can be useful for sneaking around unnoticed.

Garnet East
Garnet's mother, Lady Grace East, was sent to Azkaban for ten years due to her involvement in cooperating with Death Eaters during the Second Rise of Voldemort. The experience was so traumatic for her that she never wholly recovered, permanently constrained to the Psychiatric Ward at St. Mungo's... a mad, babbling creature who speaks unceasingly to the ghosts of Death Eater friends who perished in war. She is a far cry from the witty, doting woman Garnet remembers from her childhood.

Garnet deeply resents the Wests for their ancestor Viridiana, who hindered the rise of Cadmium East. She believes that if not for their involvement back then, wizards would presently rule the world with the subjugated Muggles beneath their heel. She hates the Norwitches, as well-- for preventing Cadmium from killing his sister, and then for claiming the lion's share of the Thropp family fortune as their own. It is worth noting that she is not actually a blood-purist, and hates Muggleborns and other Purebloods equally. She blames her mother's loss of sanity solely on the Wests and Norwitches, and doesn't even slightly care about whether anyone else suffers, regardless of their blood status, as long as she achieves her goal of making those two families pay.

Revenge is ever present, hovering in the back of her mind, and she will do whatever it takes to get what she wants. For her ambition and determination, Garnet East was sorted into Slytherin. Her favorite class is Astronomy, and she has a wand of the deadly combination of Dragon Heartstring and Cherry wood.

Though Cadmium East's jeweled slippers are in Garnet's possession, the runes within have faded and worn to the point that many of the effects are reduced. She can only walk for ten minutes at a time before the curse kicks in, so she is the only student with medical permission to fly a broom indoors. She is, through this manner, extremely proficient at flying, and she plays Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team starting from second year.