Hephaesta Pettigrew

**Hephaesta Aphrodilia Pettigrew** (née **Mulciber**) (born February 3, 1923) is a British pure-blood witch. She is the daughter of Vulcanio Mulciber and Aphrodilia Mulciber (née Selwyn), older sister of Archie Mulciber Senior, estranged aunt of Archie Mulciber Junior, wife of Justin Pettigrew, mother of Enid Weasley (née Pettigrew) and Peter Pettigrew, and grandmother of Trevor Weasley. She had a Lame Leg, was a Machine Whisperer, had Animal Enmity, was Socially Awkward, and was Rich, which possibly influenced her son Peter to be a coward and eventually fake his death after betraying Lily and James Potter to Voldemort. Her grandfather, Fabrio Mulciber, was cared for in the Long-Term Residence Ward of St. Mungo's due to senility. Her brother did not inherit the lame leg, otherwise it would have made his son anger the family more. Phae was sorted into Ravenclaw in 1934. She eventually shared a dorm with Ludae Steele, Evelyn Eibon, Elspeth Rosen, and Lara Stewart. She worked on inventions and then in 1945, she met a guy named Justin Pettigrew, who she liked and started dating. They eventually married and then they had two kids named Enid and Peter, but even though none of them inherited her lame leg, Peter was a slow boy who was a coward. The Pettigrews and Phae considered her nephew Junior a disgrace because he learned dark magic. Phae and Archie would never tolerate dark magic in their households. When Junior was twelve, he used the Imperius Curse, Cruciatus Curse, and Killing Curse on a harmless spider which angered Phae and her family where her brother told him off for it. After the Wizarding War was over, Phae was devastated for Peter In hoping Sirius could just rot and Phae angrily disowned Junior after finding out that Junior hit Archie with the Killing Curse because he recovered from the Imperius Curse places on by his disgraceful son.

## Biography

Phae was born on February 3, 1923 to Vulcanio Mulciber and Aphrodilia Mulciber (née Selwyn). Vulcanio was an inventor and possibly a professor at Hogwarts as well as a patriarch for the Mulciber family. Aphrodilia was a philanthropist and housewife. The Mulciber family was Phae's left leg was born twisted and weak, and she required a Clockwork Leg Brace to walk semi-normally.

The spark of invention had been the hallmark of the pure-blood Mulciber line for countless generations. Very few of these notable artificers have served the Ministry, as the Mulcibers have generally resisted efforts to regulate the creation of magical artifacts, believing it stifles innovation. Every generation of Mulcibers has produced at least one talented artificer to meet the demand for the excellence the family was known for.

Phae first demonstrated her gift at age 7 when, in a burst of uncontrolled magic, she inadvertently charmed a Muggle typewriter to intercept the messages of passing owls in the vicinity. Naturally, the Ministry of Magic was alarmed, and quickly confiscated the typewriter. As she grew, she was drawn to machines of all types, delighting in disassembling and reassembling them (often in a totally new configuration). Her father, Vulcanio, was delighted, and provided her with an endless supply of gadgets and doodads, of both wizard and Muggle origins, to play with.

By the time Phae was old enough to attend Hogwarts, she already had an intuitive understanding of technology and magical artifacts. She had even read Muggle books on mechanics and physics, and though much of it was still over her head, she had a basic grasp of physical laws…and how to break them with magic. She was sorted into Ravenclaw.

From her first day at school, she demonstrated a keen grasp of the magic of locomotion, quickly taking to most any spell involving manipulating physical objects and getting things from here to there. Levitation, broom riding, summoning spells…they were Phae's playground.

As a First Year, Phae was largely invisible. Not literally, but she may as well have been. She was far more concerned with her books and gadgets than with people, and for the most part, others were just fine with ignoring her. By her Second Year, Hephaesta started to come out of her shell a bit. As her inventions garnered attention, she was interacting more and more with other students. By her Third Year, she had earned a bit of a reputation as "that girl with the funny toys." But this was also when some people started to notice her natural skill on a broom, when she was performing impact tests on her long-standing mechanical owl project (it started as a flight test…but, well, it didn't fly). There were overtures from the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and Phae soon found herself as a second-string Seeker…with no Quidditch experience whatsoever. Still, as far as she was concerned, this meant she just gained a slew of new friends. Being Ravenclaws, they were even somewhat receptive to her efforts to apply arithmantic formulae to analyze their plays.

During the summer after Phae's Third Year at Hogwarts, she was especially industrious. Her father helped her secure an apprenticeship in the creative laboratories of Macnair Magical Manufacturing, where she expanded her applied knowledge of magical artifice by leaps and bounds. Her experience gave her new insights that finally led to a working prototype of her magical clockwork owl, Gizmo. She also practiced at Quidditch, to better help her team in the upcoming school year.

Through her years at Hogwarts, Phae proved herself as a valuable member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, but in her Seventh Year she chose to leave the team to focus on her studies. Though her genius became well known, she tended to keep her head down, always being a presence in the background rather than one of the stars of her house.

### Later Life

Phae met Justin Pettigrew, a man who enjoyed Mulciber inventions. The two ended up dating and getting married and then Phae gave birth to two children named Enid and Peter.