Childhood || Born Giuseppina Poeta in 1936, Gypsy is the daughter of a prominent Ministry figurehead who had worked his way up the ladder to become Head of the Department of Magical Cooperation which made him one of the most eligible bachelors in the Wizarding World, and he used that to his advantage; bouncing from one bed to the next until the inevitable happened. Massimo Poeta found himself with a daughter, and there was no denying that little Gyspy belonged to him. She had the Poeta eyes, and hair like her paternal grandmother.
Now, one might think that a womanizing, Department Head who spent his nights partying and bed hopping would have no use for raising a child but Massimo Poeta was, in fact, a very good father to Gypsy. He called her Peanut and she called him Mo, instead of the traditional "father" or "dad." They had a loving, wholesome, father-daughter relationship and little Peanut could be seen going everywhere with her father, except, obviously, to work. When he worked, she remained with her grandparents.
She grew up in the English countryside residing in a large manor and had no want for anything. Her grandmother insisted on her being a lady while her father was content to throw mud about and act like "wild animals" as her mother claimed. Mo claimed a child needed a childhood and insisted on fun and games for Gyspy, never worrying about teaching her the boring things like responsibility. There was no room in a child's life for that, and Gypsy was happy throughout her young age.
Until her letter came...
There was always that little hint that Gypsy might not be a witch. Mo had been with so many women and couldn't tell a soul which one was Gypsy's mother. She might have been a muggle, a half-blood, muggleborn, but regardless, there was obvious relief when her letter came and she was accepted to Hogwarts. Little signs of her magic developing had been missed because nothing substantial occurred for her. She simply experienced things more inwardly than extrovertly like knowing something or someone was coming beforehand.
School Years || Gyspy was sorted into Hufflepuff upon her admission into Hogwarts and while most prominent families might have frowned upon that, Mo was proud of his little girl for getting into the house of the loyal, the just, a house he actually deemed to be the kindest of the bunch during his reign at Hogwarts. He had been a Gryffindor. And she made friends so easily, being a bit rowdier than the other girls in her dorm, Gypsy could rouse them all and get them to have a little more fun than others years in the same house. She was soon deemed the ringleader of her little dormitory.
While Gypsy was learning to navigate life through Hogwarts, her grandmother was at home encouraging Mo that it was time he took a proper wife and have someone younger with more energy impart her wisdom upon Gypsy before the young girl became someone the society deemed not marriage material and she'd be forced into a life as spinster. Mo felt it was too soon and Gypsy was too young to be forced into society. This didn't stop his mother from sticking her nose in that by the time Gypsy returned for the Christmas Holiday, Mo announced his engagement to the youthful and well brought up Ivy Lewis.
Gypsy thought it would be grand to have a stepmother and boasted to friends upon her return to Hogwarts but her boastful attitude soon changed once summer came and the wedding was upon them. Ivy seemed sweet and kind hearted and the world was wrapped around her little finger, including Mo most of the time, except when Gypsy was around which infuriated his new soon to be bride.
As the days leading up to the wedding zipped by no one was more thrilled than twelve year old Gypsy who wondered if with this union she might get a younger brother or sister, someone else besides Mo to share her life with. The wedding was extravagant; filled with fancy dresses, lace, pearls, all things that glittered in the sunshine and doves. Gypsy got to wear the prettiest flower girl dress and walk down the aisle ahead of her future stepmother. Everything seemed perfect.
Unfortunately, for Gypsy, as she returned to Hogwarts, year after year, Ivy sunk her claws further and further into Mo, thwarting his mind and forcing him to favour the children in which Ivy birthed for him. A brother first, and then a sister, Gypsy was thrilled until letters home became less frequent and soon hardly ever. She assumed at first it was because her father and stepmother were busy with the younger children. Upon her return home after her third year of school, Gypsy learned something was amiss when the Nanny arrived to pick her up instead of her doting father. Things at home were not the same. Gypsy became the babysitter instead of the eldest daughter.
Fortune had a different hand to play for Gypsy though, and her fate would soon change. During her third year, Gypsy developed a love for Divination. Divining the greater powers was fascinating. She loved learning about tea leaves and tarot cards, reading the stars and the smoke circles. It was all so magical and she seemed fairly advanced in it according to her elderly Professor. She predicted fascinating things about her classmates which all seemed to come true in one shape or form. It wasn’t until she was home for the summer that Gypsy really learned of her abilities.
Gypsy had a nightmare. She didn’t know it was a prediction of the future to come. In the nightmare, her father turned his back on her in favour of his younger children, leaving Gypsy out in the cold. There was also a young woman in the picture, not Ivy, but a friend of Gypsy’s. A girl named Beatrice whom Gyspy had been friends with for years, and they were holding hands while her stepmother and grandmother yelled at her and her father turned away with tears in his eyes. The dream came true the summer between her fourth and fifth year.
Gypsy left her home and spent the rest of the summer with Bea’s family. The girls returned to school closer than ever before. Gypsy had hopes that her father might chance his mind, her grandmother might apologize and come Christmas break of her fifth year she’d be welcomed back home with open arms. This did not occur and Gypsy soon lost hope as Christmases alone turned into summers alone until she realizes she was no longer Giuseppina Poeta, nor was she welcomed as Giuseppina Poeta. Bea’s family took her in most holidays and Hogwarts became her new home until graduation. Gypsy continued to have strange dreams which she would learn in her advanced Divination classes were actually glimpses of the future. All her dreams held troubled times for people – some were strangers and others she knew in her current life. Gypsy wished to help them but she could not do it as Giuseppina Poeta.
Adulthood || When she turned seventeen, she legally changed her name, and the woman now known as Gypsy Salvatore was born. With no where to go, and nothing to her name, Gypsy was taken in by her beloved Divination Professor and taught how to harness the power she was given. Beatrice went on to take a job at the Ministry but the girls remained ever close, eventually, Beatrice would move into the antique little yellow cottage with Gypsy and helped her look after the aging Professor Bates. When Professor Bates passed away, Gypsy inherited the cottage and estate. She and Beatrice made it their home in honour of the old lady they had adored.
The position of Divination Professor came available after the death of Professor Bates, Gypsy applied for it but at first was not successful as she was deemed too young still. She worked in a Divination shop for many years, while living as “roommates” with the lovely Beatrice. They were not, in fact, just roommates. While they tried to keep their public appearance platonic, rumours spread about them, both being a romantic couple and being witches. Haters of same sex couples, haters of witchcraft from the church, often threatened the girls with rocks through their window or harmless curses thrown at them in public. Life was often tricky and yet, their love for each other held true, right up until the end.
It was during a muggle hate crime in the little village they had been living in. Beatrice had insisted they go to the annual summer apple picking celebration and all was well initially. However, anti-LGBTQ+ activists caught sight of the women being a little too intimate for their liking and the hate crimes escalated to become more and more life threatening. Gypsy wished to move, Beatrice wanted to remain and fight for their rights to love each other. It cost her, her life. Gypsy was devastated. She closed the Divination Shop – after all, it had caused enough strife in her life in that little town.
Gypsy left that little town with the remainder of what she and Beatrice had in their bank and once more applied to the position of Divination Professor at Hogwarts when it was advertised. This time, she was successful. At thirty years old, Gypsy had finally returned to the place that had been her solace, her comfort, when her world had been crashing down around her, and as her world was crashing again, Hogwarts reached out.
Gypsy has been teaching Divination at Hogwarts for the last ten years. She continues to have glimpses of the future struggles of her students and she has developed her own form of communication with those who share in the same sort of lifestyle as she did. It started with a card. The hanged man tarot card which she offers upside down to her students. Upside down means the time for waiting is over. It suggests one’s romantic life may have experienced a slow down, leading to a period of reflection. This newfound perspective might propel one to make changes or take action. By offering this card, Gypsy is allowing those afflicted with the same struggles as her to fins a safe place with others like them.
From The Hanged Man card, Gypsy has expanded her cards to distinguish each student based on how she has seen them in her visions and giving them hope that there’s people out there willing to fight for love, no matter what it looks like.
