- When Tom Marvolo Riddle (Voldemort) is born on December 31, 1926, Ominis and Mercy are still alive, just about to turn 52 in the next few months.
- they were not contacted about Tom because the Gaunts had assumed they had died after so many years of no contact, they didn't really care to look for them.
- Had they been contacted, Ominis would have griped about it for a while but he and Mercy would have taken him in. They would have loved him as their own and provided for him.
- He might have still turned out a genocidal monster but maybe he wouldn't have? It's a question of nature or nurture. I think he still would have been a bad person but on a more... bad level rather than crimes against humanity level?
- Mercy would have been happy to have a baby in the house again, even at her age, given her youngest daughters were 17. She also would have been happy for a boy. While Ominis adored being a girl dad, Mercy did feel a little sad that out of her eight children she hadn't managed to give birth to a single boy.
Introducing my new OC from my most current interest A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Elaena Targaryen. Eldest granddaughter of King Daeron the Good, eldest child of Prince Rhaegel Targaryen, born early 195 AC. More information to follow!
While I am busy with life and working on more chapters of A Strange Introduction, lets meet all of Ominis and Mercy's many (many, many) children. In birth order:
1. Grace Noctua Gaunt
Born July 23, 1896 when both of her parents were 21 years old.
2. Hope Sebrina Gaunt
Born June 23, 1898 when both of her parents were 23 years old.
3. Harmony Maeve Gaunt
Born April 26, 1899 when both of her parents were 24 years old.
4. Felicity Ann Gaunt (eldest triplets)
5. Faith Mercy Gaunt (middle triplet)
6. Charity Alexandra Gaunt (youngest triplet)
Born December 2, 1903 when their parents were 28 years old.
7. Amity Poppy Gaunt (elder twin)
8. Joy Hettie Gaunt (younger twin)
Born April 17, 1909 when both of their parents were 34 years old.
That name had flooded the halls of Hogwarts with her abrupt arrival, bursting in along with Professor Fig well after the Sorting Ceremony had come to a close, and the feast had nearly concluded, putting the girl on Ominis’ radar as a strange newcomer.
If the rumors were to be believed she was the eldest daughter of a pure-blooded Squib mother, and a muggle-born father, and had been believed to be a Squib herself until she showed some sudden and unexpected magical prowess over the summer prior to her arrival. Leading to some bizarre adventure, with Dark Wizards, a dragon, Ranrok, and an excursion to Gringotts, of all things leading to her late arrival to the Sorting Ceremony
According to the rumors on her parentage and family she had an unknown number of siblings, some of which were already in attendance at Hogwarts. Ominis had never taken the time to notice them himself. Though he was aware there were other Schön children at Hogwarts, as the name sounded familiar, he had no knowledge of which house they were in nor what year.
The girl had taken her seat on the old stool and had the Sorting Hat placed atop her head, only to have her fate for the next three years determined by a rather grumpy and judgmental accessory. The Sorting Hat had prattled on for some time about the values of patience, loyalty, and hard work, which immediately clued the rest of those gathered as to which house she would be sorted into, causing premature celebration at the table of yellow tie wearing students now standing in merriment at the Hufflepuff table, where she was quickly inducted by her housemates.
Mercy’s reputation appeared to only grow with the success of her first day. She had already bested Natsai Onai, in Summoners Court in Charms class, and then Sebastian Sallow, in a duel in Defense Against the Dark Arts, which had come as a surprise to most, given Sebastian’s reputation as the school’s best duelist. However the rumors of what occurred before Mercy’s arrival at the Sorting Ceremony, it seemed that this was far from Mercy’s first duel as well.
“Don't get too cocky simply because you had one victory over Sallow. He never backs down from a fight.” He commented as they crossed paths in the hall.
However, Ominis did not stop to converce any longer, even when he heard her footsteps stop and could “see” her turn around, due to the sight his wand gave him.
He had both Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts with this new girl, he had no vested interest in her or her queer backstory, or unique arrival or anything else. However his wand already recognized her in the same way it recognized Sebastian or that infernal Duncan Hobhouse, meaning only two possible things:
This strange girl would be a friend, or foe.
And by foe, it would mean another invariable pain in the arse… and given Sebastian was an ever present pain in the backside, there truly was not much of a difference… however at least Sebastian had some redeeming qualities. This girl however had yet to prove to him that she had any such qualities.
Rumors of her stunt in Potions class, aiding in the shenanigans of Garreth Weasley reached his ears later that week, how the girl had managed to be scolded by Professor Sharpe in her very first class after such instigation, increased his suspicions that this “Mercy” was nothing more than a nuisance. A thorn in his side.
This was again confirmed when only a few short weeks later, Sebastian told him that he took detention for her, for helping her sneak into the restricted section. Of course Sebastian was a piece of work in an of himself, constantly finding himself in the Restricted Section without permission, without the persistence of this new girl, that was not his particular issue with the situation. It was that she allowed Sebastian to take full responsibility for an action she also took.
On the topic of invariable pains in the arse, it seemed his prophecy had come to fruition. Perhaps he ought to go in to the fortune telling business. Not that card decks or tea leaves would be of much assistance to him. He simply knew a future pain when he came across them.
This bothersome little girl had taken Sebastian with her to explore Hogsmeade, at the advice of Professor Weasley, and the two had been unable to keep out of trouble long enough to gather Mercy’s required school supplies and return to the castle that they had to fight off a damnitable troll. A troll in Hogsmeade!
It seemed Sebastian had found a bosom-buddy for mischief and malfeasance. Exactly what Ominis needed for his blood-pressure.
Despite this dislike for this annoyance of a newcomer, he was softened slightly by what he heard of her during his silent haunting (eavesdropping) in the halls. Apparently she was something of a Herbology prodigy, particularly with healing spells which she supplied to Nurse Blainey with some regularity, ensuring the hospital wing never went without. She also seemed to tend to the younger students, helping them whenever they were in search of assistance.
Nevertheless, he was still determined to dislike her... on principle
A little sketch / portrait of the eldest of Ominis and Mercy’s daughters (several more to follow, they were busy 😳) circa 1900. Let’s meet them!
Grace Noctura Gaunt (the little red head in the middle) - 4 years old, born July 23, 1896
Hope Sebrina Gaunt (the little blonde holding on to Grace) - 2 years old, born June 23, 1898
Harmony Maeve Gaunt (the little girl in Mercy’s arms) - 1 year old, born April 26, 1899
Ominis absolutely has pictures of his wife and daughters all over his desk in the Ministry, can confirm. He makes sure EVERYONE knows. He’s insufferable about it.
The floor plan of the home Mercy and Ominis own when they moved to Canada. It’s an upper middle class home of the era (an extremely large and costly home these days 😭). 1 full bathroom, 1 half bath (water closet), 5 bedrooms, lots of room for them and a growing family 🤭☺️
House: N/A (when old enough he is sorted into ravenclaw)
Personality: Cooperative, logical, lazy, sly
Brother's Name: Bernhard (Berney) Matthias Schön
Age: 6 years old
Status: Alive
Blood Status: Halfblood (Squib)
House: N/A (would be a Ravenclaw)
Personality: Cold, intelligent, calm, disciplined
Brother's Name: Peter Aaron Schön
Age: 1.5 years old
Status: Alive
Blood Status: Halfblood (Squib)
House: N/A (would be a Hufflepuff)
Personality: Happy, playful, giggly, mischievous
Relationships
Love interest: Ominis Gaunt
House: Slytherin
First met each other: Outside the Undercroft
Relationship
♡ Ominis Gaunt-
Their relationship started off rocky with a meeting outside the Undercroft. Still, after that, they were made to spend much time together due to their mutual friendship with babysitting Sebastian Sallow. After refusing to turn Sebastian in after his Dark Arts shenanigans, they got much closer over the last part of their fifth year, Ominis spending that summer before their sixth year with Mercy and her large family. He already knew the older boys as they had entered Hogwarts at the same time as Mercy did, but as first years.
At the end of that summer, he asked her father's permission to court her. He just laughed at him good-naturedly and gave him permission. They dated for the remainder of their school days, much to Ominis' family's disappointment, but he made sure to keep her away from his family. At first, his family didn't cause them too many problems, because they thought Mercy was just some passing fling. That however, all changed when news of Ominis and Mercy's elopement reached their ears in the summer of 1894...
- Mercy keeps her hair long even when the fashions change towards shorter hair, simply because Ominis loves to touch it and play with it. He can't see it, people tell him it's red but that means nothing to him. So, the feeling of her is how he truly appreciates her appearance.
- Ominis doesn't die young. He and Mercy change their names and abscond to Canada, as soon as they discover Mercy is pregnant, so Ominis' family doesn't have a chance to mess up another innocent child. They ended up settling in the Quebec province shortly before Mercy was due to give birth.
- Ominis is a girl dad, and no one will ever convince me otherwise.
- Ominis stole every galleon, sickle and knut he could scrounge from his family before he and Mercy escaped. That was the only thing they were good for to him. Homeboy might have been the very reason the Gaunt family was bankrupt and destitute by the 1920s...
- Speaking of all the money he stole. Homes were much more affordable in the past. He bought them a house. It wasn't a huge house, in comparison to what most purebloods like him were used to, but it was comfortably upper-middle class for the era. (I've created floor plans saved because I'm a weirdo and like to have lore accurate info on hand. If yall want to see it, let me know 😅)
Ominis watching over Mercy after the birth of their first child 👩🍼🍼
This was an era when women regularly died from complications after birth (particularly the first birth being the most statistically dangerous). This man is STRESSED and watching her like a hawk
I figured I needed to include at least a bit of lore on Mercy until I do a deep dive! I might be slowing down my posting because I managed to fall on ice and break my wrist 😅 so drawing is probably going to be rough for a bit.
Also spot the cheeky little Romeo and Juliet 1968 scene in the snapshots 😉
Was this just an excuse to draw Mercy in my favorite extant 1890’s little girl’s day dress? I’ll never tell (yes, yes it absolutely was). Yes I studied fashion history so yes I know this dress is from the middle of the 1890s so about five years too early but that’s pretty negligible, like they are wizards, they have dragons! They can wear fashion that won’t be established for another 5 years because ✨magic✨ ig.
Sebastian is smug af, and Ominis is stressing that everyone can see his girl’s legs! Those are for him only!
A little WIP on this snowy day off of work. Featuring Ominis, Sebastian, my MC / OC Mercy Schön, and Mercy’s baby brother (whom I have neglected to name yet 😳😅). So if you have any name ideas let me know ☺️. References used!
A sneak peak my OC / MC from Hogwarts Legacy, Mercy Schön. She is based on Olivia Hussey, used one of her images as the base, so expect some Romeo and Juliet based shenanigans anon 🤭
