Penelope Pruitt

Penelope Pruitt is an American witch who taught Potions at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry between 2015-2022. She was the main, hidden antagonist of Harry Potter and the Lost Quill

Pruitt was introduced as a compassionate professor, keen to help the Potter/Weasley children as best as she could. After the attack on Emily Sherman and James Sirius Potter, Pruitt assisted the school in investigating the attacks with her historical knowledge. It was evidence that she found that lead the students to suspect Dagworth.

It was later revealed ...

Early Life
Penelope Pruitt was born in Salem, Massachusetts from a brief affair between an American witch and a muggle in 1659. Her mother was killed after the birth for breaching the rules of her coven and having an affair with the man. They attempted to drown Penelope, but the child managed to survive. Impressed by her power, they took her in as one of their own. Living in the coven, she grew stronger and mastered magic and potions. She was raised with no knowledge of her mother. She did not attend Ilvermorny and was instead raised on her Coven's ancient magic.

Salem Witch Trials
In 1692, the Salem witch trials began. Many of her Coven sisters were slaughtered by no-maj's out of fear, including her mother. Enraged, Penelope took revenge by cursing the towns drinking water, which killed 70 people, most of whom were children. Disgraced by her actions, her 'mother' revealed the true extent of her birth and that she was half no-maj. An enraged Penelope spent years attempting to cleanse her own blood. She created a potion, yet when she tried it on herself it almost killed her. She had developed a blood curse designed to completely obliterate non-magical blood.

In 1672, she perfected the curse and transfigured it into a a quill and ink. She enchanted the quill to possess ancient magic that would draw those inferior to it, providing them with momentary power and knowledge so that they would use the quill and ink until it seeped into their veins and killed them. Her first victim was father, whom she tracked down and used the curse on. She watched him die.

Penelope declared her genius to her coven and forced them all to drink the curse to prove they were also pure. Many of them suffered due to non-magical blood in their system. Seven pureblood's remained, including her 'mother'. Disgusted by Penelope's actions and afraid of what the curse could do, they fought her until she was on her knees. They then fled with the curse, disbanding and promising Penelope that she will never know which of them possesses the curse.

Pursuit of the Curse
Penelope spent over 100 years tracking down every single member of her Coven. She found and killed all 6 of her sisters, none of whom possessed the curse. But she was unable to find her mother. She travelled across the globe, slaughtering muggles as she went for good measure.

Her mother moved around constantly, in fear of Penelope finding her. She moved to England and was able to get a job teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. Sensing Penelope would soon find her, she tried to destroy the quill but failed. Not wanting it to fall into the wrong hands, she decided her best option was the transfigure it into a quill and inkpot, hiding it in the room of requirement at Hogwarts. In 2015, Penelope finally tracked her down and tortured her but her mother told her she would never find it as it was hidden in the walls of Hogwarts. Enraged when she told her this, Penelope killed her mother and attempted to get into the castle to find it. She couldn't. Desperate, she got a job teaching History of Magic at Hogwarts, replacing the very outdated Professor Binns.

Teaching at Hogwarts
Penelope continued her teaching until 2021, impressing many of the students with her fresh techniques and becoming a confidant for many students. In her classroom she had many historical artifacts. She made an immediate impression on Hugo Granger-Weasley.

A few weeks into the school year, Emily Sherman found the ink in the Room of Requirement and began to use it. She used it until she suffered a violent attack. Pruitt realised what had happened and attempted to find the ink, but James Sirius Potter had already found it. James then began to use it, and it provided him with great power and knowledge. The more he used it, the more troubling his behaviour became. Abel Dagworth noticed something was wrong with him and attempted to know more, but only made himself look suspicious. Eventually, James collapsed in the middle of his N.E.W.Ts and was taken to the hospital wing, where the curse was discovered.

Upon hearing about it, Pruitt was quick to attempt to get the curse back. However, she didn't want to get caught. So she used the imperious curse on Emily to retrieve it for her. Emily did and then was instructed to kill herself by jumping from the Astronomy tower. Emily was stopped by James and Billie Howell and broken from the curse. All Emily remembered was walking towards Defence Against the Dark Arts.

This made the students suspect Dagworth. On their way to Dagworth, they ran into Penelope, who defended him and followed them to his classroom. There they found the quill.

Dagworth was arrested and was being taken out of the castle by Auror's when he escaped. Albus was unconvinced as he had noticed a symbol on the ink bottle. It was a marking he'd seen before, in Penelope's classroom. In the classroom they found Penelope and Dagworth, who too had figured out the truth.