Seraphina Picquery

Seraphina Picquery was born in Savannah, Georgia, before the year 1903. She was elected the President of the MACUSA in the year 1920. She was known for being a competent leader who prevented Gellert Grindelwald, the Dark Wizard, from inciting a war between Muggles and the wizarding world. Furthermore, President Picquery is also known for making the Thunderbird a protected species in the North American continent and later applying that status to all the magical beasts in North America. President Seraphina Picquery appears in the popular Harry Potter spin-off movie series Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and plays a major role in the capture of Percival Graves, who is later revealed to be Gellert Grindelwald. 

Seraphina Picquery is played by Carmen Ejogo, and there is a toy collection inspired by the MACUSA president available in POP! Vinyl with small parts. It is among the many other toys that were inspired by the franchise Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, like toys inspired by Newt Scamander, Tina Goldstein, and others like a collectible wand box.

Early Life And Career

Seraphina Picquery was born in the district of Georgia, specifically the Savannah region, into the Picquery family. After she turned eleven, she joined the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was one of the very few students to be offered a place in all four houses during the Sorting Ceremony. However, she chose to be in the Horned Serpent’s house. She was later chosen by the Violetta Beauvais wand, which was made by the American wandmaker Violetta Beauvais during the wand selection ceremony. This wand was believed to respond to dark magic as a vampire would to blood. Despite these speculations, Seraphina stayed true to her values and remained on the good side of the wizarding world.

President Of MACUSA

Seraphina Picquery was elected as the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America in the year 1920. Throughout her career as the president, she was referred to as Madam President Seraphina Picquery. She was known for her tough stance on several integral issues, the most important of which was the opposition to Gellert Grindelwald. Picquery was also responsible for the continued use of alcohol despite a ban on it by the No-Maj American government called Prohibition. Seraphina Picquery, despite opposition among some in the magical community and in her cabinet, allowed the use of alcohol during her mandate. She is famously known for saying, “The gigglewater is non-negotiable” to her Chief of Staff and that living as a wizard or witch is hard enough as it is. The prohibition of booze in the USA was a monumental change in the history of the country.

Magical Career

One of the crowning achievements of Seraphina Picquery’s magical career is the arrest of Gellert Grindelwald during her tenure as the president of MACUSA. Seraphina and the Aurors of MACUSA were on a constant hunt for Grindelwald but the events unfolded when Newt Scamander, the magizoologist, came to New York in December 1926 with a suitcase full of magical beasts from Great Britain in Europe. As he entered the USA, his suitcase was accidentally exchanged with the suitcase of Jacob Kowalski, a No-Maj who had come to the Steen National Bank to get a loan to open a bakery. However, when Jacob opened the suitcase, several magical beasts were set loose in New York. 

The situation got tenser when the senator for New York, Henry Shaw Jr was murdered by an unknown creature. However, Tina Goldstein brought Newt’s suitcase with Newt and Jacob inside it to the International Confederation of Wizards meeting happening inside the MACUSA headquarters. When she revealed that some of the magical creatures in Newt’s suitcase had escaped into New York, Seraphina, acting as the President of MACUSA ordered Rupert Graves to arrest and investigate Newt Scamander and Tina for possibly trying to upset the Statute of Secrecy without warning. 

Newt and Tina were sentenced to death by the suspicious Rupert Graves for letting an Obscurial loose. It is later revealed that Rupert Graves is actually Gellert Grindelwald in disguise. Newt and Tina escape the guards who are tasked with killing them, and eventually, they try to catch hold of the Obscurial that wreaks havoc in the city. It is revealed that Credence Barebone is the Obscurial, and President Seraphina Picquery joins hands with Newt Scamander to catch Gellert Grindelwald and to obliviate the whole city.

Picquery, Fudge, and Scrimgeour – A Comparison

Seraphina Picquery, Cornelius Fudge and Rufus Scrimgeour all had one thing in common for certain – that they were all leaders who were responsible for their respective magical populations. They also shared a similar situation in that the Dark Wizards Gellert Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort were trying to attack the magical population and cause chaos in the community. 

Frankly, all three of these leaders failed to some extent to detect and neutralize the threats posed by the Dark Wizards. However, Seraphina Picquery was the most successful of them all, as she managed to capture Grindelwald eventually. Cornelius Fudge was obviously the least successful as he literally tried to prevent the people against Voldemort from voicing their opinions and also vanquished any news or talk about Voldemort’s return only to realize that he was wrong. 

Scrimgeour, although very fierce and capable, had a very difficult time convincing Harry and his allies to work with him, especially because of how easily the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort had taken over the Ministry.

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