A seamstress and dressmaker who lived in the 15th Century, Delfina Crimp invented the Severing Charm to make her work cutting fabric and threads easier. She was arrested after a Muggle rival, Snickerton, accused her of witchcraft; she convinced them to release her hands so she could scratch a wart on her chin, which was her wand in disguise. She then Disapparated, never to be seen again.

Snickerton, the rival who had her arrested, found thereafter that every item of clothing he made would be mysteriously shredded without ever catching her in the act. He was eventually driven insane, thinking he was being haunted by a pair of invisible scissors.