Hector was born into a large, non-magical family, the fifth of six children. An inquisitive but clumsy and socially awkward child, he often felt he had to compete with his siblings for attention. Luckily, his talent for writing helped him stand out. Hector started writing stories from the time he could hold a crayon. Before he learned to spell, he would tell stories with pictures or ask a relative to write the words down for him.

From an early age, Hector sensed there was something different about him, aside from his talent, but he didn’t know what it was until the day he turned eleven and a representative from Ilvermorny turned up at his home. The Velezes were shocked to learn of Hector’s magical abilities (any accidental magic such as objects being knocked over or broken was dismissed as Hector’s normal clumsiness and/or dramatics), and the news brought mixed reactions from the family. Some were intrigued by his magic; others were weirded out by it, and still others were jealous. Regardless, the family rallied to support Hector and send him to Ilvermorny.

At Ilvermorny, Hector was chosen by Horned serpent and Thunderbird. Of the two, he chose Horned Serpent as his house. He enjoyed school but didn’t make the most conscientious student; he prefered to learn on his own, outside of a classroom setting. He threw himself into extracurriculars that helped him hone his .writing talent, such as the school newspaper and yearbook, and during the summers following his fifth and sixth years, he took a summer internship at a local newspaper. After graduation, he was accepted to the Wizarding University of California, where he majored in journalism.

Hector is sort of a jack of all trades as far as journalism goes. He started out as a one man news crew, working as a freelance writer and photographer to cover his school expenses (though he preferred telling stories with words than pictures). After getting his degree, his family expected him to settle down with a steady job and start a family of his own, but that kind of predictable lifestyle wasn’t right for Hector. To his family’s dismay, he continued freelancing for a couple more years, travelling the world to get inspiration for his stories. Eventually, he landed a job at Enchanté Magazine, a French tabloid. Hector enjoyed the good pay and thrill of covering high-profile subjects - he even won a couple of awards while working there - but he came to question the superficiality and ethics of the tabloid. Torn between his conscience and his desire to hold on to the hard-won recognition he’d earned at Enchanté , he decided to quit his job there and go back to freelancing until one of his articles caught the attention of the Daily Prophet.