Rosalind Jane Kibitzer House: Slytherin Age: 65 Wand: 21.4 cm cherry wood and unicorn hair Occupation: Professor of Divination Patronus: Bald Eagle Species: Human (Seer)

History/Background

Rosalind Kibitzer was born on February 9th, 1955, to two pure-blooded wizards who lived in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. Her mother was a demure young lady who spent long hours at night smashing nails with her hammer to keep the family home propped upright. Her father was a rugged, hard-faced gentleman who poured his heart and soul into his work staring into crystal balls for the security of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. The family kept to themselves and held no contact with the world of the No-Majs beyond that which was strictly necessary, as was the law of the time. Rosalind’s education was to be provided by her father, who taught her in the afternoon after she had finished the chores given to her by her mother. After that, she'd get her magical education at Ilvermorny. She was eager to start – rather than being cooped up indoors taking lessons from her parents and neighbours, she could surround herself with her peers, fellow wizards like her. Salem was home to a vibrant magical community, but still – they kept to themselves, out of the sight of the no-majs.

However, before she could be whisked off to school and fully immersed in the world of wizardry, there was a crack in the veil between her in and world of the No-Maj. A new wave of “urban restoration” in Salem had displaced the family from their ancestral home and cast them out, floundering, into a foreign world of modernity. This coincided with the repeal of Rappaport’s law, which opened the floodgates further and exposed Rosalind to a wide-open world that she had no idea how to navigate. Rosalind’s father, frightened at the prospect of having to integrate with No-Maj society in Salem – and pointing to the famous Witch Trials to aid his argument – tried to convince Rosalind’s mother to come with him to New York and hole up among his pure-blooded relatives. In the end, Rosalind stayed with her mother in Salem, and the pair moved into a modern apartment building surrounded by their No-Maj neighbours for almost a year before Rosalind was accepted into Ilvermorny and began her schooling. She was sorted to the Wampus house and provided her wand.

She was a typical member of the house and was regarded as a fine warrior by her parents, teachers, and peers. She excelled at potion brewing and had graduated in the top of her class in the subject. Two weeks after returning to Salem, she sold her cauldron, finding that the fumes could not be dispelled from the apartment and had begun to irritate her skin. She knew it wasn’t her calling to be a potion master, regardless. Her hair had already been shocked white by prophecy, and she had been saved by fate enough times to move her good fortune beyond the realm of mere coincidence.

Growing up as a Seer, she'd been taken advantage of for her power many times. People wanted to know about themselves. She had become adept at improvising lottery numbers on the spot. When her father asked what companies deserved his investment, she could rattle off the top three from the paper's business column. Telling people what was right in front of them was her specialty. She studied divination heavily, both in school and after graduation. The program at Ilvermorny offered far too little for her tastes. Her professors regarded her with suspicion and she often stoked heated debates regarding the legitimacy of seers and divination as an artform. It was an art she intended to perfect, as no amount of discouragement would close her Inner Eye.

After school, she found most of her work in tutoring young Seers, or children whose parents were optimistic regarding their luck. Many parents sought teachers for their children, even with public options like Hogwarts and Ilvermorny at their disposal. A fair share of her profits came from owl money wizards who simply wanted somewhere to send their children that wasn't infested with commoners or needed to dump off their unearned Galleons in a way their conscience allowed. She wasted no time on students without potential but could empathize with their plight. She knew how a parent's impossible expectations could weigh on a young person's mind.

Since she was a teen, her father had been quite insistent that Rosalind ought to meet one of his co-worker's children – a fellow Seer – and see about a potential match. Thankfully, this suitor was one of those privately-tutored children, and thus he could not interrupt her studies at Ilvermorny. In fact, he made a good excuse for her to avoid the dating scene – after all, she was betrothed to another. She wouldn't go running around with boys while she waited. By twenty-five, the excuse had outlived its usefulness, and the letters from her suitor had become more frequent. A game of cat and mouse began, which could have seemed romantic if it weren't so entirely unwelcome. She left her job and took up work as a naming Seer in Providence, and when she was found, she packed up and moved along to New York. Despite this half-hearted pursuit, she managed to accumulate some degree of credentials in the wizarding world – as credible as one can be in the field of Divination, at any rate. Her power as a Seer was beyond doubt, and she abandoned the practice of teaching classes to instead tutor young Seers personally, guiding rich children through the path of the Sight.

As she reached the later years of adulthood, it was clear that she had outlived her usefulness as well. Her suitor had either given up or found a new object for his affections. She would never be passing along her Seer genes, much to the disappointment of her father, who was quite concerned with the preservation of the Kibitzer bloodline, despite New York being infested with her cousins. Things were calm for a while, although this simple life was interrupted by brief flashes of her pursuer. They would meet often, arranged by chance or fate – though as one Seer pursued another, neither could be sure that fate would take their side.

These days, she is mostly known as an academic and an experienced seer (or a vapid fraud, to those who doubt divination). She has never stayed in one place for long, owing to her constant search for the subjects of her visions, and her nature as an adventurous, individualistic free spirit. Finally, at the age of 65, she's flown into London and gone off to work as a Professor of Divination for the world-renowned Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.