Sarah Knight (Dani's mother)

Played by Rachel Weisz (link)
DESCRIPTION:Sarah can be a bit of a human whirlwind. She doesn’t care much for fashion, choosing her clothes for practicality on her many adventures. She tends to look like she’s just come in from the garden or a safari. Which generally isn’t too far from the truth. It’s not unusual to find dirt on her fingers, grass stains on her pants or bits of foliage in her hair. She’s also a little clumsy and can talk a million miles an hour once she gets going. But her bright smile can light up a room. And while her loud American nature does make her stand out just a little in England, she practically radiates kindness, which can make her very hard not to like.




POSITIVE TRAITS: curious, encyclopedic knowledge of plants, enjoys life, good at cheering people up, kind, adventurous, honest, passionate, would do anything for her kids and husband (even if she does sometimes forget their birthday or to do their laundry), loves deeply
NEGATIVE TRAITS: occasionally oblivious to the feelings of people around her, blunt, often forgets important details about life (what time did that meeting start, did she turn the stove off, is her parents’ anniversary this week or next, etc.), workaholic, impossibly stubborn once she decides she’s right, nosy where her family is concerned (but only until she gets distracted by a plant), gets obsessed with issues and can’t let go until she solves them, socially awkward (unless she’s talking about her work or her kids), terrible at expressing her feelings, often gets upset on behalf of other people/takes social injustices personally
LIKES: good tea, hugs, corny jokes, exploring, anything related to plants (gardening, reading about them, visiting botanical gardens, etc.), listening to people tell stories, Native American cultures, baking
DISLIKES: people who disrespect nature, prejudice against werewolves (developed after her daughter was bitten), vegetarians (plants are living beings too, you know), large cities with no plants, being tied down to a strict schedule, not knowing how to help people she cares about, housekeeping, people implying she can’t travel and still be a good mother (her children clearly prove otherwise, thank you very much)
HOBBIES: exploring, working with plants, spending time in Native American communities (they know a lot about the natural world)

GENERAL PERSONALITY: Sarah can be a bit of a nerdy goofball, although admittedly a very sweet one. Her social skills aren’t always the sharpest, nor is she the most observant. But she means well. She genuinely cares about the people around her, even if she doesn’t always remember they’re still there. She has a habit of getting far too sucked into the work she loves. Sometimes her vast knowledge of plants can make her sound like a plant encyclopedia. She doesn’t like to let a problem go until she solves it, which makes her an impeccable researcher but can also be highly frustrating when it comes to real life issues she can’t fix. Although for the most part she’s pretty good at cheering people up and hugging away the hurt. She would do literally anything for the people she cares about. Her emotions shine through in her eyes, making it all but impossible for her to hide how she feels. Not that she wants to. Sarah is honest to the point of occasional rudeness. And horrendously stubborn to boot. Her love of life is contagious though, and she loves dragging her friends and family off on adventures. At the same time, there’s nothing better than sitting around at the end of the day with the people she cares about. Especially if there’s tea involved.




Parents: David and Alice Carson (both Muggles and happily retired in a perfectly normal Florida neighborhood, thank you very much)
Siblings: n/a
Partner: Benjamin Knight (48, husband, writer)
Children: Danielle Knight (21, disappeared a year ago after becoming a werewolf), Scott Knight (17, hopes to become a magizoologist)
Other Family: n/a

Character History: Sarah was born to a nice, normal couple in suburbia. To say they were ill-prepared for their inquisitive little whirlwind would be an understatement. Sarah was forever exploring and asking questions. Keeping her looking presentable was a losing battle what with the constant grass stains and drooping pigtails. But while her boundless energy could get exasperating and her spiels about plants left them hopelessly lost, David and Alice were also completely smitten with their daughter’s giant heart.

The discovery of magic should have come as quite the shock. But Sarah’s parents had long known she was special. So when the headmaster of a prestigious North American school showed up at their door, they took it all in stride. Sarah was sorted into Thunderbird house, which proved to be an excellent fit. There were adventures aplenty to be had on the schools grounds. And also a plethora of plants. Sarah had long been obsessed with plants, and she rapidly became a star pupil in herbology. She graduated near the top of her class (held back only by a hard-fought battle with dueling and magical history), and no one was at all surprised when she promptly declared herself an herbologist. Her herbology professor, of whom Sarah had long been a favorite student, connected her with a colleague in the field who whisked her off across North America to trek across all manner of terrain in search of various forms of magical flora. Some people might have tired of constantly wandering through the wilderness. But Sarah loved every minute of it.

She was all of twenty-two when she struck out on her own. Study of a particular plant that might provide a new experimental treatment for dragon pox led her across the ocean to England, where one night at a magical pub she ended up sharing a booth with a quiet young writer named Benjamin Knight. The two hit it off right away. Benjamin seemed genuinely interested in listening to Sarah talk, a fact that caused her to rapidly develop a fondness for him. When she finished her research several months later, Benjamin asked her to stay in England as his wife. It took Sarah less than three seconds to agree.

The couple quickly slid into a happy partnership. Sarah researched her plants and Benjamin wrote it all up into reports they could sell to fund more research. Two years into their marriage they added a daughter to their family, sweet little Danielle, and after another four inquisitive Scott followed. The family stayed in England for several years, traveling Europe for Sarah’s work. But they wanted their children to know both sides of their heritage. So shortly before Dani turned eleven, they moved to the United States so the children could attend Sarah’s alma mater.

Both Dani and Scott did well in school, each pursuing their own specific interests. For Dani it was plants and art and for Scott all manner of magical creatures. All too soon Dani was graduating, and she opted to work with Sarah for a time as her mother’s assistant before deciding to apprentice as a wandmaker. That was where everything began to fall apart. Over the summer, Dani’s instructor took her and a few other apprentices on a camping trip to teach them about various trees. One night happened to be a full moon. The trainees were attacked by a werewolf, and Dani was bitten. Sarah was heartbroken for her daughter. It was devastating watching Dani retreat into herself. Sarah and Benjamin did the best they could, but it was a hard time for everyone.

And then, a week before Christmas, things got impossibly worse. The family had converted their basement into a place Dani could transform as safely as possible each month. But this time around Dani somehow managed to escape. Both Sarah and Scott were injured while trying to contain her. Sarah’s injuries were surface level, but Scott’s were quite severe. Dani blamed herself for the incident, and nothing her parents did could console her. A few days later the family woke to find a letter on the dining room table. Dani had left in the middle of the night, running away in an effort to protect them.

That was a year ago and still there has been no sign of her. Her parents tried searching for some time, but finally they were forced to admit defeat. It’s been a hard several months not knowing where she is. Or if she’s alright. But life has to go on, one way or another. Scott is trying to focus on his final year at Ilvermorny as best he can in his sister’s absence. Sarah has returned more and more to her plants, first to keep the bills paid and eventually as a distraction from her missing daughter. She recently agreed to take a research trip back to England. The implications of this particular plant do indeed pique her curiosity, and she’s hoping full immersion in her work will do her good. Little does she know just how close it will bring her to her missing daughter. In fact, their paths might cross again sooner than either of them know.




Wand: Maple, unicorn hair, 10 inches, flexible
Former House: Ilvermorny (Thunderbird)
Affiliation: N/A
Amortentia: chamomile tea (her favorite way to unwind at the end of the day), the smell of earth (she’s loved plants since she was old enough to know what they were), wood fires (the Knight family has spent a lot out evenings in the middle of nowhere around a campfire)
Magical Abilities: She’s fairly skilled at wandless magic, an ability learned from a combination of her alma mater’s proud tradition and also constantly misplacing her wand, occasionally behind her own ear.