Modesty Rabnott is a witch and character in Quidditch Through the Ages.[1]
Biography[]
Modesty Rabnott was a very empathic witch who was against Snidget-hunting. She was also very good at producing a Summoning Charm. She had a sister, Prudence.[1]
In 1269, Modesty was watching a Quidditch game also attended by Barberus Bragge, Chief of the Wizards' Council. She was horrified when Bragge released a caged Golden Snidget and offered a prize of one-hundred and fifty Galleons to the player who caught the fragile bird. The bird was kept in the area with Repelling Spells.[1]
Modesty felt sorry for the bird and wanted to save it. She ran onto the pitch to beg Barberus to stop the Snidget-hunting, telling him they were there to watch "the noble sport of Quidditch" but he laughed and threw the birdcage at her. She was angered by his behaviour and captured the Snidget with a Summoning Charm. She ran out of the crowd and released the bird to safety, but she was captured. Bragge was very angry and she thought he might have turned her in a horned toad or worst, but his advisors calmed him down.[1]
Modesty was fined ten Galleons, a price she could not afford. They took her old house in payment so she had to go and live with her sister, Prudence. They let her keep her Hippogriff. She wrote a letter to Prudence in advance about the incident which is now kept in the Museum of Quidditch.[1]
Despite her best effort to curb Snidget-hunting in Quidditch, the game provided the inspiration for a new position. For a century afterwards, Golden Snidgets were released into Quidditch games with a Hunter having to catch and kill the Snidget to end the game and gain their team one-hundred and fifty points. After the bird was nearly driven to extinction, they were made a protected species and Quidditch had to replace them with the Golden Snitch. The Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation was set up in Somerset.[1]