Born to Pure-Blood Nora Byrd and Muggle Jonathan Primrose, Janine was their second child. Their first son, Jonathan Jr, was unfortunately stillborn and when her parents had found that they were pregnant once more, were very hesitant to get their hopes up. Time passed and worry melted away as their little girl began to grow and wander the world around her. Janine led a simple life in Salem, Massachusetts for the entirety of her childhood, indulging in farm life in the great outdoors. She remembers spending most of her free time coming home from the first years of her education, running into her mothers arm and sneaking into the shed out back to help care to her numerous Kneazles. Nora taught her only child how to properly care for the creatures, telling her "Every person, creature and being should be treated with care. This is how the world needs to work for you to enjoy life." And Janine clung to the words, hearing them nearly everyday, like some sort of mantra.

As she spent more time with the magical 'cats', Janine would end up with numerous scratches on her arms. Nora would hum to her while running the tip of her wand along the scratches. Janines jaw never failed to fall open as she watched her skin heal. Days and weeks passed and Janine would stumble behind her mother, chasing the cats on several occasions. It was always of 'utmost' importance to keep the existence of the cats a secret. This confused Janine until she grew older and begun to show an affinity for magic, humming to herself between sobs over a scraped knee. Jonathan had been home and seen it himself, running to call Nora immediately.

The next few days were a blur as school was looming over her head, talk of the Salem Witch Institute looming above her. Nora gave her Sadie to accompany her, being that she wouldn't be far from home and, therefore, did not require the traditional owl for relay in communication. A week later, she stood dressed in her new uniform, complete with the optional blazer as her mother and father put her on a normal style bus, white in color instead of the traditional yellow. It bumped down the street to an overgrown forest off of the main road. Janine sat forward and watched as an overweight man in a pair of overalls and nothing else walked over to the bus doors and spoke to the driver. "The trials have begun" he spoke in such a low tone, she was sure only she had heard it. "The trials are over and in our favor." the scrawny bus driver responded. With a small smirk that Janine swore she had to have imagined, the image of the forest melted away, revealing a stone road leading up to the massive building that was her new school.

It was exactly as her mother had told her, pouring the information into her since she'd shown her magical ability shortly before the school year began. "The Salem Witches’ Institute was founded in 1700, the direct result of the Salem Witch Trials." she could hear her mothers voice in her head as she watched the magical foliage peel away as the ventured further down the stone path. "The witches and wizards of the time needed a safe place for their children to teach them all they needed to know to survive and thrive. Though, it is considerably younger than any other magical institute, it is no less prestigious, having produced some of the greatest witches and wizards of our time."

"The campus is several thousand acres just on the outskirts of town. Hidden in plain sight, a disillusionment charm has been placed on the grounds to conceal it from Muggles and enemies of the school, appearing simply as an overgrown forest. The school itself consists of several buildings surrounding a large courtyard. Rather than houses, as at Hogwarts, students are separated by year. Each dormitory pod is completed with a common room. "

"While SWI is committed to upholding the traditions of the Wizarding world, they have been known to be more progressive than the other magical institutes. Their uniforms are simple and similar to Hogwarts. Consisting of black, white, and navy to represent the school’s chosen colors. The curriculum is much the same as the other schools in an effort to insure that all witches and wizards are held to the same educational standards."

And as her mothers voice spoke the words in her memory, it was as if the school itself unfolded in time with the words, having been ushered into the main hall and into the front center with the other first years. While, the room was filled with 98% females, it was told to her by the Head Mistress Savanah Drittle that while the school was named for Witches, that it was open to boys as well. There just happened to be a shortage of them in Salem and those that had graduated from SWI, had originally been transfers.

And so, Janine spent the first five years of her education in her hometown, immersing herself in her school work in her third, fourth and fifth year as her father grew progressively ill. He passed at the end of her fifth year and her mother, Nora, withdrew her from the school to transfer her to Hogwarts, where they could be closer to her wizard family. She had adjusted well, studying intensely in potions (specifically of the healing sort) and always spending her free time with any animal the school would allow her to volunteer with. Janine performed well in her exams and graduated shortly after with the proud colors of Ravenclaw.