Philomela Sargant

Philomela Sargant (フィロメラ・サーガント, Firomera Sāganto) is a student at the College and a classmate of Chise Hatori. She is often seen in the company of Veronica Rickenbacker, to whose lineage her own family has sworn fealty to.

Appearance
Philomela is a young woman with light hair that is pulled back into a ponytail. She wears what appears to be the standard female uniform with a tie, along with a black band that has a ribbon bow. Her bangs are cut into a slant, starting on the right and slanting downwards.

Chise and Ruth both note she has a strange smell about her.

Personality
Philomela seems reserved, rarely speaking to anyone outside of Veronica, who she speaks to respectfully. However, due to the upbringing and lessons of her clan, she doesn't have a strong will. She believes that all she can do is be silent, obedient, and accept thing as they are.

She has a habit of clamming up when things look bad, a habit that Rian has warned her against because it makes her look worse.

The reason for her downtrodden and quiet personality seems to stem from the situation with her family, where she is often treated as someone who "stole their lineage" and would be punished if she so much as spoke out of turn to her grandmother, who disdains her lack of initiative and sees her as more of a contemptible doll that can only nod her head.

History
In the past she used to be a somewhat more outgoing child, often playing with Rian.

Plot
Philomela first appeared spying on Chise before vanishing into smoke once Chise felt her watching her before they shared a class together. But when she collapsed into her arms later in the day, Chise carried her over to a bench and tried to give her some form of medicine to help her. Philomela asked what she would expect in return, but Chise only asked to know if it helped in the end. before Veronica brings her to her next class and they share a lunch table with May and April Attwood.

Some time later she is investigating the tea for anything out of the ordinary, but only discovers that it has a bit of magic infused into it before heading back to the Nurse's Office. While outside of the door, she overhears Zoe asking Alexandra about Chise. Later on, as the group chases after Zoe Ivey, she follows them in secret to eavesdrop only to be caught by Ruth.

She reveals that she was spying on them as a means of practice due to it being her clan's primary skillset, and while she did not do so with the intention of telling anyone what she learned, if pressed she would reveal the information as she didn't have the authority to refuse an order despite Chise asking as a favor. Rian then constructs a binding spell in order to prevent everyone from speaking of the matter. As the group then heads back, Chise gives her consent to tell her own secret as the spell didn't prevent it and if she needed to, while Lucy mentions that she dislikes people like her who helped end her clan.

Some time later during a PE class, Chise compliments her for climbing boulders and her response grabs Veronica's attention. She then mentions it would be a great chance for her to make friends with her, leaving her to ask if it was an order. That night, as she covers the Atwood twins with a blanket, she receives a letter from a black crow seemingly made of some kind of magic that commands her to return home.

Leaving a letter behind for Veronica, she then departs for her home and happens to be immediately chastised due by some of the residents there who feel that her time in the College is wasted and that she has no right to be a member of their family after "stealing their lineage" in their own words. She then calls upon an entity known as Alcyone to inquire into how Chise was able to notice her when she was using her magic to hide, leading them to deduce that it was due to the scent of her soul rather than a magical signature or physical scent.

Her grandmother reminds her that she would normally have no need to attend the College and that it was only because of Veronica that she was allowed to attend, before punishing her for raising her head in her presence and then ordering her to sit so they can return to the matter for which she was called for.

Skills and Abilities
Philomela's clan specializes in espionage. As a result she has an arsenal of spells and magical abilities related to doing so.
 * Hiding: Her family's magic allows her to hide herself so thoroughly that both her physical presence and magical signature are nearly undetectable. However, entities that are closer to the other side or practitioners like witches or magi can track them via the scent of their soul.
 * Intangibility: She seems to have some form of intangibility through turning into a form that's similar to smoke, allowing her to move quickly as well as vanish. She often uses this to spy on others.
 * Muffling Spells: She has a number of spells that can muffle sounds to a great degree, preventing detection.

Veronica Rickenbacker
Philomela seems to regard Veronica rather respectfully, and its noted that she is never far from her.

Rian Scrimgeour
Philomela happens to be Rian's distant cousin due to their bloodlines intermixing. They used to play together as children.

Chise Hatori
Philomela takes an interest in Chise due to the latter's nature as a mage. They eventually form an amicable bond.