Full Name: Edith Jane Hightower
Nickname(s): Edie, Jane
Birthdate: May 16th, 1872
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Occupation: Governess
Blood Status: Halfblood
Residence: Hogsmeade
Hogwarts House: Slytherin
Wand: Yew, 10", springy, unicorn hair core
Family: Benjamin Hightower (1817-1867) and his wife Alice Hightower neé Bragg (b. 1827-1867): William's parents, Benjamin and Alice, died on the same day in 1867, when their eldest son was 17. Their loss broke part their family, leaving their cottage and Gringotts account to William, while their younger sons, John and Albert, left to travel the continent. Benjamin and Alice met at Alice's coming out ball, where Benjamin took to her immediately. Alice, however, took some convincing. Her parents eventually convinced her that she and Benjamin were well-suited. They married the next spring and had three sons in the next four years. When they tried for a fourth, they were unsuccessful. This lead to a rift of sorts in their marriage. Alice continued on as she had before, tending to the house with the aid of household magic taught to her by her mother and grandmother. alice didn't attend Hogwarts, bt was taught instead by her family and a longtime friend of her mother's, who tutored her. william, their eldest son, grew up knowing his parents loved each other, but that they were very different people. After Hogwarts, where he was Sorted into Slytherin like his father, Benjamin got a job as a Healer at St Mungo's. Try as he might, though, Benjamin was unable to do anything about the quickly progressing dragon pox Alice and he contracted.
William Hightower (b. 1850) and his wife Mary Hightower, neé Harris (b. 1852): Edith's parents. William is a pureblood, Mary is muggle-born. They have two daughters; Edith and her sister Eudora. They married in 1870 and are sill very much in love almost 20 years later. William is less traditional than his wife, preferring to let his daughters do as they wish, within societal parameters, of course. Mary, however, wants her daughters to be proper, delicate ladies like she was brough up to be. Husband and wife clash over their parenting and more modern ideas, but they love their girls equally and strive to be there for them as they grow into women. Both were Slytherins while attending Hogwarts, which came as no surprise to William's father and grandfather. His mother didn't attend the school. Mary's parents were pleased at her being a witch at all, House aside. William looked after his parents when they caught dragon pox; he was in the room preparing a tea service when his father took his last breath. His mother followed not long after. Because of this, William is cautious, perhaps to a fault, when it comes to illnesses. Losing his darling wife or daughters to disease would break him.
John (b. 1852-?) and Albert Hightower (b. 1853-?): William's younger brothers. They attended Hogwarts together and sailed off to the continent in 1868 and returned in 1872 and 1876 for the births and christenings of Edith, Eudora and Everard. However, William heard from them at all since Eudora started Hogwarts and he's starting to worry. Where are his brothers?
Eudora Hightower (b. 1876) : Edith's younger sister, who she loves fiercely. Though they argue on occasion, the sisters often get along now that they're older. When Edith was still at Hogwarts, she made sure to look after Eudora, who's in the same House as she. Eudora is more like their mother Mary than Edith. She's in her fifth year at Hogwarts and doesn't plan on taking too many O.W.Ls, for she'd like to marry a man in possession of good fortune to save her from lifting a dainty finger outside the home. Eudora very much desires the finer things in life, quite like her sister.
Everard Hightower (18676-1884: Eudora’s twin brother. He died six months after his and Edith’s eighth birthday. He fell into the lake by Hightower Cottage and drowned.
Edith was born in 1872 and grew up in Liverpool, but shortly after the establishment of Hogsmeade, her family moved to the little town to stay. Edith had a governess, though she was shared between Edith and her younger sister, until she received her Hogwarts letter. For the next seven years of her life, Edith spent most of the year at the castle and walked home to her family’s cottage over the school holidays. Edith was Sorted into Slytherin House, like her mother, father, and her paternal grandfather. Edith’s maternal grandparents were Muggles, which became a sort of sore spot for her father’s magical family. However, they grew to love Mary just as much as their son William. Edith grew up in a loving household, though it took time for her to adjust to having a younger sister. Edith’s father works in town while her mother engages in social affairs which leaves her oldest daughter feeling sour. Edith often feels as though her mother could work as well, even though they don’t particularly need a second income. She finds it strange for a woman to sit around all day when she could be out in the world. Edith’s mother, and her sister, staunchly disagree, believing a woman’s place to be in the home. Luckily, Edith uses her resourcefulness and cunning to get a job working for another middle class family. She saw an ad in the Daily Prophet the summer after she graduated from Hogwarts. Edith put in an application as soon as she could, following her debut that season. Her mother frowned upon it while her father thought it best for Edith to make something of herself. His daughter didn’t get six O.WL.s and four N.E.W.Ts for nothing, after all! Thus, in the late summer of 1890, Edith left her family’s little cottage and went to live with the family of the 10 year-old girl she was hired to tutor and look after. A year later, she's helping keep track of the house and tutor the children.