Thisbe of the Plains

Thisbe of the Plains (also known as Thisbe Palouse) is an American centaur and witch, originally descended from the Pacific Northwest herds. She is a member of MAPS, a special division of the International Confederation of Wizards.

## Early Life

### Parents

Thisbe (b. December 7, 1942) is the daughter of Brome of the Valley (b. 1920), a centaur, and Marion Stigander (b. 1916), a magizoologist specializing in centaur cultures. Brome was orphaned at the age of eleven when his entire herd was killed in a forest fire that ravaged their home in the Pacific Northwest. He was found unconscious and badly burned on the outskirts of the forest by a witch named Demetria Linden and her three children, Elwood, Perry, and Ornella. Immediately abandoning their planned picnic, the four Lindens carried Brome to their home nearby and contacted the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, which had absolutely no idea how to handle the situation. A wizard had not spoken to a centaur in over thirty years, Demetria was assured, and the Department was not entirely sure who to contact. Demetria agreed to care for the young foal until a proper centaur herd could be contacted.

Unfortunately, due to the extremely poor relations between wizards and centaurs, a suitable foster herd was never found. Demetria wrote to the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures regularly, only ever receiving the same responses: "We are working tirelessly to locate a suitable home," "This is our top priority," and "Please stop writing--we will notify you when information becomes available."

Despite the circumstances, Demetria was determined to give Brome a loving family right in her own home, and she raised the young centaur as one of her own. She tried to teach him about his own culture and people, but because there was so little published information on the subject, Brome grew up largely ignorant of centaur life, other than what he could remember of the first eleven years of his life.

As Brome grew, however, he began to notice the differences between he and his foster family. His foster siblings began school at Ilvermorny while Brome was not allowed to leave the house without a disillusionment charm. As much as he loved his foster family, he craved to be around those like him and to learn more about his heritage. At seventeen, Brome left his home in search of a herd.

It did not take long for Brome to stumble upon small centaur herds, but they were not welcoming of an outsider, especially one who knew very little of the proper greetings and etiquette. After two years of wandering from herd to herd, Brome finally found acceptance in the Great Plains colony, the largest centaur herd in North America. The Great Plains herd often took in outcast or banished centaurs, forming a colony of diverse misfits from all over the continent. They were also the most open to conversing with wizards, even allowing certain ones to live among them as students of centaur culture.

One such student was Marion Stigander, a British witch who had come to America to learn about the differences between American and European centaurs. Marion had attended Hogwarts and encountered centaurs in the Forbidden Forest as a first year student when she ran into the woods after a Quaffle and was attacked by a swarm of pixies. Hearing her cries for help, three nearby centaurs had come to her aid, scattering the pixies with a shower of arrows. One stray arrow struck Marion's leg, and the centaurs had carried her back to the castle, much to the awe of the other students.

Having been fascinated by centaurs since that day, Marion had trained to become a magizoologist, hoping to improve centaur/wizard relations. After travelling to several different herds across Europe, Marion went to America hoping for a friendlier reception. The Great Plains colony was the only herd willing to listen to what she had to say about centaurs and wizards working together for mutual benefit. Marion was allowed to live with the Great Plains herd and learn from them as long as she completely immersed herself in their culture, though she was not allowed to participate in or witness sacred practices and rituals.

Because the herd was so large, it was awhile before Marion and Brome came across each other, but when they finally met, they were inseparable. Marion was fascinated by Brome's upbringing, while Brome was delighted to see a witch so dedicated to building stronger bonds between the centaur and wizarding communities. Mutual admiration became mutual love, and the pair agreed to marry against both of their families' wishes. The Great Plains centaurs were particularly outraged, as centaurs are non-monogamous, on top of being deeply proud and mistrustful of wizards. The elders of the herd, while sympathetic, could not allow such a blatant disregard for centaur values to be flaunted, and they banished Brome and Marion from the herd.

The young couple were married (though the legality of the ceremony has been questioned) by a goblin who resented wizards and only agreed to perform the ceremony after being assured that many in the wizarding community would be sufficiently outraged. Using the survival skills they learned from the Great Plains centaurs, Brome and Marion formed their own small herd of two, finally becoming three in 1942.

### Childhood

Thisbe was born under the stars on the plains of Wyoming in 1942. It was a difficult birth, possible only through a combination of potions and spells. Brome wanted to call his daughter Thistle in the centaur fashion of naming foals after plants, but Marion's love of history and mythology led to the compromise of Thisbe (though Brome called his daughter Thistle all her life).

Thisbe was raised in a relatively sheltered environment, with only her two parents and the occasional family friend as influences. Her mother taught her all about the wizarding world, and her father taught her about centaur culture and values--those of both his native herd from the Pacific Northwest and his adopted herd of the Great Plains. The family lived off the land, growing their own fruits and vegetables and hunting for protein. Their home was protected against detection and dark magic by protective charms, and Thisbe had very little knowledge of the world outside the one-mile magical barrier surrounding her home.

Thisbe spent much more time with her father during her childhood, as her mother was often gone studying magical creatures, gathering research, and reporting on her findings to the Department of Magical Creatures at the Ministry of Magic, where she maintained a steady job. Marion's responsibilities providing for her family kept her away from home for weeks at a time, during which Brome would teach his daughter how to use a bow, which nuts and berries were safe to eat, and how to read the emotions of all creatures.

Despite Thisbe's eagerness to learn, Marion was against taking her to a centaur herd for further instruction. Marion fully supported her daughter learning about her heritage, but worried that other centaurs would shun her, possibly even physically harm her, for being from two worlds. Brome tried to change his wife's mind, but she would not hear of it, demanding that her daughter stay on their land. One spring morning in 1950, while Marion was in London reporting to the Ministry, Brome took Thisbe outside the barrier for the first time. They walked a long way before coming across a Great Plains centaur. Thisbe had never seen another centaur besides her father. She was seven years old.

### Centaur Training

At the age of seven, centaurs are allowed to begin training in the two most prevalent aspects of centaur life: astrology and battle. Not wanting his daughter to miss out on this essential rite of passage, Brome took Thisbe to the Great Plains herd, against her mother's wishes, and begged the elders to allow her to begin her training.