Bethany Pentaghast

**Bethany Annabelle Diane Elizabeth Pentaghast** (22nd June 1875 - September 1948) was an English Pureblood witch born to the matriarchal pureblood family of House Pentaghast. She was the protagonist of Mairsle's ongoing Fanfiction series, The Vermilion's Flames & Legacy of the Forgotten One - a rewrite of Hogwarts Legacy from 1886 to 1892. She was an **Ancient Magic User** who could see traces of **Ancient Magic** through **the Gift** and a **Fata Morgana Witch**.

She was the only child of Edward Pentaghast and his legal wife Clarisse Pentaghast (née Mercier) born as the intended heiress to succeed her grandmother, Gertrude Aveline Pentaghast. However, her failure to be sorted into the clan's traditional house (Ravenclaw) has brought shame to her family leading her to be scorned by her family. Especially her half-sister raised as her cousin, Maribelle who reveled in her misery. The eventual ostracization of her from her family led her to the Figs who unofficially adopted her as their foster daughter sans research assistant for the lost art of Ancient Magic.

For her admiration of the Figs, while growing up, she eventually inherits their research to continue their legacy in using her powers to help people into her adult years. Eventually after finishing several research papers on the history behind her powers and being tired of being stalked by Dark Wizards like Aleister Crowley for her powers, she settled down where she had five children with her spouse. One of these children was Henrietta - Mathilda and Nicholas Jr Pentaghast's Grandmother.

### Personality

As a young girl, Bethany was shy and socially reserved. Often far too polite to an imposing scale stemming from her lack of self-worth and eagerness to please her elders out of filial piety. Clarisse and the Matriarch often stressed to her the duties of a Pentaghast clan heiress. Thus she believed that she had to be a good girl to make the Matriarch and her parents happy. However deep inside her, she always longed for freedom from her responsibilities as an heiress. This deep-rooted desire for freedom became the sole determining factor in her house sorting to Gryffindor House.

As she grew older, she began to exhibit more confidence. Unafraid to speak her mind despite her soft-spoken ladylike exterior - largely influenced by her admiration of Miriam Fig. She was noted to be exceptionally kind towards others where she would even cry and mourn for her enemies, like Mordred whom she wept for after learning that he was born for his mother's political ambitions and was raised without kindness nor love shown by his parents. Despite that, she was highly dismissive towards subjects or topics she considered illogical and pseudo-science like astrology and divination. Often telling her housemate, Emilia Lindley that she thought that relying on Divination for life matters or love was ridiculous.

Whilst to most people she was often polite, her highborn princess persona was easily shattered by her former rival turned friend, Sebastian Sallow who she exhibits a more tsundere-like personality - highly competitive and shrewd. She called him by the nickname "Monsieur Salaud" to annoy him during their First Year and used it every time to rebuke him whenever he did something she disapproved of. However, she was the most honest with herself around him and was often dishonest about her positive feelings when he was concerned. Even if she refused to admit openly.

She had an eccentric quirk where she often daydreamed about her ideal man, the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in her sleep. Even so much as to write self-indulgent fanworks about herself as Sherlock Holmes' assistant and love interest.

### Appearance

Bethany greatly resembled her mother, Clarisse. Having inherited her wavy dark red hair and general physical appearance. However, she had her father's icy blue eyes, a trait common to Pentaghast family members. Her maternal aunt, Amelie Gautier mistook her for Clarisse during her holiday to Diagon Alley over the summer of 1889.

As a girl, she is often described as skinny and short due to being malnourished by her mother who controlled her weight and appearance strictly. Friends and classmates often teased her for being short-stacked, sitting at only 144cm by the age of eleven. Her height did not improve by much as a teenager and she only grew up to 161cm which she remained from the age of fifteen into her adulthood. Thus forever being a woman of below-average height.

However as she spent more time with the Figs over the holidays since 1888, she was able to gain weight normally as Professor Fig would let her eat normal-sized meals. As she matured into adolescence, her figure became more pronounced and she needed to constantly buy new school shirts to better fit around her bust and hip areas. A physical trait she also inherited from her mother.

As a First Year, she wore her hair in a ponytail with a ribbon, bangs covering her forehead, and was typically dressed in dresses if not donning the school uniforms and robes. However, after her battle with the Avatar of Mordred in Avalon by the end of her Second Year, she was forced to cut off her long hair to free herself from his grip on her hair. Thus leaving her to have short bobbed hair by the start of her Third Year. Gladys Baskerville who adored Bethany's fluffy, wavy hair styled it in a half-done updo with a ribbon at the back giving her the iconic look she wore from her Third to Fourth Year. As a Fifth Year, Bethany rebelliously let her front bangs loose despite having tied her hair into a French braid-styled updo. This was a conscious fashion statement of her to rebel against her family, where loose hair bangs were seen as improper by Victorian fashion standards for young women of age.

She was often described as beautiful by Hector Fawley, who failed to win her over due to her disinterest in men with pureblood supremacist views.

### Etymology

Bethany is an English name meaning "House of Affliction" or "House of Figs". Her name was chosen to convey her suffering in her birth family being born to a lot of great expectations and elders who were often displeased no matter how hard she tried to live up to their impossible standards. The alternate meaning would also be to reflect her closeness and wardship for the Figs where she served as their research assistant.

The name Annabelle is a combination of the name "Anna" meaning "Favour, Grace" and "Belle" a French word for beautiful. As she was once the golden child of the family. Diane is the French variation of the name “Diana” meaning “Divine, Goddess Like”. Diana was also the name of the Roman equivalent of the Greek Artemis, the goddess of the Moon, Hunting, Forests, and Childbirth. Elizabeth is a name meaning “My God is an Oath”. The name is mostly a symbol of her sense of honour and chivalry.

Her surname Pentaghast may be based on the British and Irish surname Prendergast. The name contains an old Germanic word “Prender” meaning “Fire” or “Conflagration” and “Gast” meaning “Wasteland” or “Dry, infertile lands”. Thus making the full surname mean “Land Destroyed by Fire”. Given how the family is facing a succession crisis between two heiresses, the surname reflects the unrest between two warring mothers who raise their daughters in an environment devoid of love.