Although she was born in China, Scout was not raised there. She tries to tell people this all of the time, only to have her father recount that she actually spent two weeks there after she was born. To give her mother rest, as is customary.
But she can't say that she's a fan of Shanghai, the hustle-and-bustle of the city life makes her feel anxious, and the air quality isn't very good. Not that she has asthma, or something like that, but even so- it gets hard for even her to breathe!
She prefers the small(er) town her dad's family lives in, over in Fengjing (枫泾镇). It's a water town, and more of a tourist destination rather than a quiet place to live your retirement out- but it's so cool. Scout's not been there in a few years, but she gets calls from her extended family all the time, wishing her a happy new year or a happy birthday.
Her mother is why she doesn't live in China- she's well-respected Potioneer in London, and nothing could convince her to give up her job. Not that her father minds, Scout's pretty sure he's just happy to go along for the ride, being a stay-at-home-wizard. Though... he was pretty adamant that if they lived in England, they would absolutely not be living in London. Fair enough.

Scout's first instance of magic was pretty rad in her eyes. She was always an adventurer, far preferring to go outside and play in the small forest that was her backyard. Not that she didn't like doing other things, but she was a bundle of energy and everyone around her knew it. It was more beneficial to let her run around and climb trees and chase things, than to force her to sit down inside.
And she's good at climbing trees! So good at climbing them. Not so much getting down. Scout could climb the Hyperion without a doubt in her mind that she could do it- but she definitely couldn't get down. It wasn't like she panicked or anything, she'd just lose her ability to calculate where to put her feet.
Which is how she realized that she was a witch. She wasn't climbing anything as tall as the tallest tree in the world, just the oak tree in her backyard. She'd gotten up about a million times, and there was a ladder to help her get down. (Something, something about her father getting annoyed at having to rescue her over and over?) All she'd have to do was put her foot on the ladder, and then she'd be able to climb right back down.
Except... that didn't happen. The ladder started to wobble as soon as she put her weight on it, and a fear rose through her chest. Falling from her spot in the tree wouldn't do any serious damage, but she'd definitely break her leg if she fell the wrong way! And it's starting to look like she's going to fall the wrong way.
But then she was on the ground, and the ladder fell next to her. Boom, capiche, like she had never even needed to use the ladder in the first place. The rush of adrenaline began to wear off, and Scout bolted inside to tell her dad what had happened.

Scout is... a bit of a thrill-seeker. She climbs trees because she likes the excitement, and she begs her dad to take her to muggle amusement parks every other week. Dyeing her hair red was also just part of some excitement. Her mother might've killed her, but it was so much fun! (In the end, her mum ended up coming around, and thought the red was cute.)
Her personality is too much for people to handle, though, and she was incredibly unpopular during her time at muggle school. Scout's father felt pretty guilty that he was the one who suggested she get admitted to school to make some friends, only for Scout to end up being incredibly unpopular.
It's not like she has a mean face, or anything like that! People just tend to be unsettled by her, and she wonders if that has anything to do with her hyper personality. Maybe she should tone it down? But it's so hard!