Selina Sapworthy

Selina Sapworthy
Biographical information
Born	Before 1969
Nationality	British or Irish
Physical information
Species	Human
Gender	Female
Hair colour	Black
Eye colour	Dark
Skin colour	Pale
Affiliation
Occupation	Servant to the International Quidditch Team Author
House	Gryffindor
Loyalty	Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry Gryffindor International Quidditch Team

Selina Sapworthy was a witch, a Gryffindor alumna at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and, later in her life, an award-winning author in the fields of Herbology and plant-related divination. She was also a loyal servant to the International Quidditch Team, sometime after her graduation.

Biography

Early life

In her youth, she attended Hogwarts, where she was Sorted into Gryffindor House.

Later life

Once she graduated from Hogwarts, Sapworthy became a loyal servant to the International Quidditch Team.

She went on to write a Herbology book, Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants, focusing specifically on the water plants among Sir Winogrand's collection in the African Lakes. It was part of the required reading at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for at least a quarter of a century. She also published Xylomancy, a book exploring the eponymous (and often overlooked) art of divination by twigs.

A portrait of her was hung at Hogwarts Castle by the 1990s, near the sixth-floor landing of the Grand Staircase.

Magical abilities and skills

• Herbology: Sapworthy wrote the Herbology book Winogrand's Wondrous Water Plants, showing she was knoweldgeable about magical plants.
• Divination: Sapworthy wrote a book about Xylomancy, showing she was knowledgeable about plant-based divination.

Etymology

Selina is the English variant of the name Celine. Celine is a French feminine name that either descends from the Roman name Caelinus, which is derived from the Latin word caelum, meaning "heaven", or serves a nickname for Marceline, which is also Latin in origin and is related to the name of the Roman god Mars.

Selina is also an alternate spelling of the name Selena. "Selena" is the Latinized form of "Selene", a Greek name meaning "moon". Selene was the Greek goddess of the moon, later conflated with the goddess Artemis.

"Sapworthy" may be a variation of the English surname "Sapworth" and a pun on the word "sap", the fluid that circulates in the vascular system of a plant. Both Sapworthy's known published works involve plants in some way.

Behind the scenes

• The portrait of Selina Sapworthy featured in the Harry Potter films seems to have been based on a 1840 portrait of Mary Shelley by artist Richard Rothwell.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (First appearance) (Appears in portrait(s))
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Name on book cover)
• Pottermore (Mentioned only)
• The Art of Harry Potter: Mini Book of Graphic Design
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)