Delphia Partridge

Backstory

Delphia Partridge arrived at Hogwarts not as a wide-eyed first year, but as someone who already knew she wanted more than just good marks and a shiny prefect badge someday. She wanted influence—real, lasting influence.

Her father, a shrewd Ministry solicitor, had taught her that knowledge was only half the battle. The other half was leverage. Her mother, a witch with a reputation for brewing potions that skirted the edge of legality, had taught her that every rule could be bent—if you were clever enough to avoid getting caught.

When the Sorting Hat settled on her head, it barely hesitated.
“Ah. A mind that calculates. You see the board, the pieces… and you want to win the game before it even begins. Cunning, ambition, resourcefulness—this is simple. Slytherin.”

Delphia didn’t grin. She simply inclined her head, as though the Hat had confirmed what she’d known all along.

From the first week, she distinguished herself—not by answering every question in class, but by finding the fastest, most efficient ways to get what she wanted. A rare book from the library? She befriended a prefect who could sign it out for her. An extra half-hour of curfew? She convinced the caretaker she was helping Professor Slughorn organize potions stores. Even the Slytherin common room’s older students found themselves respecting her—sometimes begrudgingly—for how quickly she adapted to the underground politics of the House.

But Hogwarts had a way of testing even the most prepared.

It began with a scrap of parchment slipped under her pillow—no name, no signature, just a drawing of a coiled silver serpent biting its own tail, and three words:
The Oath Remains.

Following the clues that appeared over the next weeks, Delphia uncovered an abandoned chamber deep below the Slytherin common room. There, carved into the stone, was the same serpent symbol—older than the castle’s own foundations. She learned whispers of an “Oath” sworn by a secret faction of Slytherins centuries ago, vowing to guard certain magical knowledge from outsiders.

Knowledge so dangerous, the Ministry had tried to erase all trace of it.

To claim it, Delphia would have to outwit not only the school’s protections, but the handful of students—across all Houses—who had discovered pieces of the same puzzle and wanted the prize for themselves.

And if she succeeded? She wouldn’t just be another bright student in green robes. She’d be someone to fear.

By the year’s end, people in Hogwarts would learn: Delphia Partridge did not play games. She played to win.