Abigail Reid

Abigail Reid is 25 year old Squib, and Aileen's younger sister. Abby comes across as a cheerful, ditzy, impulsive girl who has no real understanding of the world around her. She is very sheltered and continually tests her parent’s patience by acting out and causing trouble. She craves attention and wants change in her life, but doesn’t know how to achieve it or work for it effectively.

History

Abigail was born in 1992 as the fourth child of Douglas and Cullodena Reid. She came as an unwanted surprise to the aging parents, and her arrival made them a bit of a joke for a little while. Having two children was typical in a wizarding family. Three was pushing it. But four? Four was laughable, a disgrace.

With little enthusiasm or warmth, her parents put her through the usual pure-blood activities, shuffling her off to play dates, parties, and other social events, teaching her etiquette and preparing her for a magical education. Abby was a people pleaser, doing her best to abide by her parent’s wishes and make connections. She was fairly successful at charming the aloof adults, but less successful at getting along with the other children, who she competed with for attention. Abby quickly discovered that acting silly or saying dense, naïve things got her farther than trying to be smart or serious – many adults she met considered it cute or endearing. The problem was, she never quite grew out of that behavior and in her teens, it’s less cute.

Abby liked attention and was accustomed to getting it while her siblings were busy at Hogwarts or had started their own lives. Out of all her siblings, she saw Simon the most during his breaks from school, and the tension between her parents and her brother made her more determined to please them. However, one nagging concern plagued her throughout her childhood. Abby showed absolutely no signs of magical ability, and when she learned how much this bothered her parents and what lengths they went to trying to hide it from everyone, she attempted experiments that would bring out that magical spark- experiments that landed her in St. Mungo’s more often than not. Finally, as a last resort, she set her bedroom curtains on fire and pretended magic had caused it, though even her desperate parents began to realize that her 'magical accidents' only happened when they weren’t around to witness them.

When Abby turned 11 and received no Hogwarts letter, her parents could no longer deny that their daughter was a squib. Everything changed for her then. Abby was used to her parent’s coldness and apparent indifference, but she was not used to their disgust or revulsion. The way they treated her changed, not so far as to lock her up in her room and hide her from the world, but more subtly. She rarely left home without some kind of escort. She attended fewer parties and social occasions. Her usual attempts to please her parents were met with scorn or disappointment.

Abby was understandably crushed. Family friends turned cold towards her or pitied her, childhood playmates moved on to attend Hogwarts and she had little in common with them anymore. Rather than send her off to live with muggles, her parents stubbornly kept her at home, too affected by their prejudices to consider that a muggle life might be easier for her. They hired tutors to teach her as much about magical theory and history as they could without her putting any of it into practice, of course. She learned the more practical subjects of Herbology and Potions and depended on a tutor to do the spells for her. All in all, her magical education has been solid, but there’s only so much she can do without a wand. Her muggle education is woefully lacking, and her only exposure to muggles has been when she’s stumbled into Muggle London by mistake.

Abby often feels isolated and lonely. She has few people her own age to talk to, and the pure-blood kids who have been homeschooled are only mildly tolerant of her – many see her as inferior or someone to use for their own ends. She recognizes this and often plays along with their schemes just to have something to do. Sometimes, if it goes too far, she'll turn the tables on them out of spite.

One of her main advantages is that people tend to underestimate her. She’s good at listening in on conversations and hearing about plans because she acts like she’s not paying attention. Some people also might let their guard down around her and tell her things because they believe she doesn’t have the brains or know-how to do anything about it.

Abby has grown more and more rebellious over the years, fighting with her family and challenging them at every turn. She dreams of the day when she’ll be out of her parent’s house and on her own, and somehow more practical concerns like a job or a place to live haven’t entered into her daydreams. Her parent’s main goal is to marry her off to someone acceptable when she turns 17, so they can get her out of their hair. Abby’s not quite so sure how she feels about that, and knows her older sister hates the idea and is trying to get her to do something with her life so she’s not dependent on her parents or a husband.

Abby is both intrigued by Aileen’s sudden concern for her wellbeing and resistant to it. In the past year or so they’ve been speaking more frequently and sending each other regular letters. Recently, Abby has suggested moving in with Aileen, which Aileen is vehemently opposed to. Though Abby is counting on the possibility that she won’t be able to say no if she appears on her sister’s doorstep one day…

At Absit Omen

• The Egyptian_Dagger