Lorien "Lo" Fairling

Backstory

My name’s Lorien Fairling — most people call me Lo — and I’m a non-binary, muggle-born student in Hufflepuff house. The Sorting Hat took ages deciding where to place me, honestly. It hovered between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for a while, saying I was too full of questions for my own good, but also too soft to be left without support. In the end, it chose Hufflepuff — not because I wasn’t smart or brave or ambitious, but because I needed a place to feel safe while I figured out who I was. And I’m glad. My housemates are warm and weird in the best ways, and I feel like I belong here, even when I don’t feel like I belong anywhere else. I’m most drawn to classes that let me be hands-on and creative — Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and Transfiguration are my favorites. I especially love enchantments that respond to emotions or sound, like music-magic or sensory-friendly charms. History of Magic, on the other hand, is my nemesis — not because I dislike the stories, but because Professor Binns could make dragons sound dull. I do well in Astronomy, though I find it more pressure than passion.

Being muggle-born hasn’t been easy. Some people treat me like a guest in a house I’m not really invited into. But I’ve also found strength in it. I look at magic with new eyes, and I think that helps me notice the wonder in it all, even when others forget. I often wonder what it would’ve been like to live through either war — and I honestly don’t know if I’d have made it. I think I’d have tried to help in small ways — passing information, hiding people, leaving enchanted food bundles — and probably gotten in trouble. My greatest strength is my empathy. I feel everything, sometimes to a fault. But people tend to open up to me, and I carry their secrets like spells stitched into my robes. My greatest weakness is definitely how scattered I am. I can write a perfect essay on magical theory and still forget where I put my wand (or accidentally charm a spoon). I’m also terrible at saying no, and I burn out more often than I admit.

After Hogwarts, I’d love to open a shop — something that blends fashion, healing magic, and neurodivergent-friendly design. Clothing that responds to your mood or grounds you when you're overwhelmed. I also dream about working with magical creatures or maybe helping other kids who feel like they’re too much. What fascinates me most about magic isn’t the power or the duels — it’s that it listens to how we feel. You can’t cast a Patronus without real joy. You can’t enchant something without wanting to share a part of yourself with it. That’s beautiful. I want to use magic to help others, but if I’m being honest, I also want to find a life where I can be myself without constantly apologizing. I want to be seen. Understood. Accepted — not just for what I can do, but for who I am.

I have a pet — a tiny owl-cat hybrid named Moss who thinks they’re feral but cuddles like a baby. They once tried to eat my enchanted embroidery thread. They sleep in my sock drawer. As for my family, they’re wonderfully complicated. I was raised by my mum and a rotating crew of loving aunties and cousins. They don’t understand magic, but they’ve always understood me. My mum cried when I got my Hogwarts letter and still sends me muggle snacks labeled in glitter gel pen. My great-aunt swears she always knew I was “a touch magical.” She wasn’t wrong.