Solomon Sallow

Solomon Sallow is the hero antagonist of Hogwarts Legacy. He was Sebastian and Anne's uncle as well as a former auror.

Biography[]

Solomon worked for the Ministry of Magic as an auror for a time before retiring, with rumors speculating he left on bad terms after using an Unforgivable Curse on a dark wizard. He then settled down in Feldcroft.

One day, in the late 19th century, his brother and wife died after a defective lamp they had filled the room with an undetectable toxin, killing them before they realized the danger they were in. Solomon then took in their twin children, Anne and Sebastian, moving them to his home in Feldcroft.

Anne's illness[]

In 1889, before the twins were to start their fourth year at Hogwarts, Ranrok's Loyalists began to excavate around an abandoned home in the hamlet when explosions rang out. Anne ran outside to check if anyone had been wounded, but instead ran into the Loyalists and was struck by a curse that left her in so much constant pain, she could no longer attend Hogwarts. Solomon tried to check with everyone from Hogwarts matron Noreen Blainey to the healers at St. Mungo's, but nobody could cure Anne or figure out what she'd been hit with. Solomon then accepted that there was no cure and settled on at least trying to keep Anne as comfortable as possible at home. This caused him to be at odds with his nephew, as Sebastian was determined to find a cure and believed there had to be one for his sister.

Personality and traits[]

At first glance, Solomon appeared to be an irritable, prideful, ill-tempered, stubborn, and somewhat callous old wizard. However, further insights into the Sallow familysuggest that this behaviour had mainly resulted from contending with tragedies that led to the overall state of his family by 1891.

If Sebastian's own accounts were to be believed, Solomon had always been angry after taking the twins in, and likely always had a strained relationship with his nephew. It is implied that Solomon also held his deceased brother in contempt for causing the accident that killed himself, his sister-in-law, and orphaned their two children. Solomon had even gone as far as to extend some of this disdain to Sebastian, as he noticed much of his brother's personality present within his nephew. Sebastian had considered Solomon's remarks about this comparison to be an insult, though it is uncertain if Solomon had actually intended for these remarks to caution Sebastian against reckless, short-sighted behaviour, derisive as they might have been.

In contrast, Solomon had a more positive relationship with Anne. While it is uncertain what his relationship with his niece had looked like prior to when she had been cursed in 1889, Solomon had taken great strides in attempting to search for a cure for Anne through legal channels. Only when these avenues had been exhausted did he cease his efforts and resolve to be her caregiver full time. Solomon held great disdain for the Dark Arts and even refused to resort to using them to aid Anne. While this decision may initially seem callous and needlessly stubborn, it more than certainly stemmed from his own experiences as an Auror, having been made keenly aware of the Dark Arts' capacity for destruction and horror.

Eventually Solomon's poor relationship with Sebastian would come to a head, as Sebastian would take up the Dark Arts in a bid to find a cure for Anne against his uncle's wishes, culminating in Solomon dying at his own nephew's hand. Despite the hostility that grew between them, Solomon never outright sought Sebastian's imprisonment for his use of the Dark Arts (partially owed to the circumstances that led to his own severance from the Ministry), hoping to cow Sebastian by threatening to report his activities to Professor Black, and attempting to separate the twins in a bid to isolate Anne from Sebastian's worsening actions. In the final confrontation, Solomon had placed a large amount of blame on a friend of Sebastian (who had been aiding him on his quest to find a cure for Anne), accusing them of manipulating his nephew into delving further into the Dark Arts and attacking them.

Following his death, it would later be revealed that Anne would be the only one to attend his funeral, hinting hers to be Solomon's only sincerely positive relationship at the time of his death.

Magical abilities and skills[]

Duelling: Solomon was an accomplished duellist, capable of taking on two highly skilled duellists at once: his nephew, Sebastian, and Sebastian's friend. Also being a former Auror, he would have had first-hand combat experience with various Dark wizards, one of whom he bested with an Unforgivable Curse.
Dark Arts: Solomon was at least somewhat capable with the Dark Arts, as he was historically capable of using an Unforgivable Curse on a Dark wizard. However, he was not a Dark wizard himself, as he attempted to move on from his mistakes, remove a culture of dark magic from his life, and present himself as a father figure to his orphaned niece and nephew.
Nonverbal magic: Solomon could cast spells without saying their incantations; he nonverbally disintegrated the Dark relic with a single red spell.