Nicholas Selame

Backstory

I still don't understand why the other students are so blasé about magic. Born to a pair of muggle teachers in York, it was all I could do to stop my eyes bugging out the first time I entered Diagon Alley. Bright colours, unbelievable sights and a society of people so amplified compared to drab muggle towns that at times they seem halfway out of 'Alice in Wonderland'. The only thing stopping it from feeling like one long hallucination is the inimitable tiredness when I look up from a book and realise it's become three in the morning without me noticing. That said, the sheer scale of Wizarding Britain is quite overwhelming. Quiet and introverted even at the best of times, when faced with something that seemed so larger than life it has only made me more unobtrusive by comparison. I was sorted into Ravenclaw with little difficulty and watched my first-year classmates quickly become disillusioned with magic after realising how much writing it involved. I still feel that awe, that excitement, though it probably doesn't show much. I don't tend to make many friends, possibly because I say the minimum I have to and no more, but those I do find I stick to, come fair weather or foul. However, I do worry that in this new world I've discovered, the stakes are always higher. I don't know if when I am tested for the first time, I will be able to stand up for my beliefs. I have always tried to avoid confrontation, even when it was trivial and meaningless. The thought that one day I could have to make decisions that mean success or failure, life or death, scares me sometimes more than I can say. And while I may be in love with magic, I realise just how dangerous it can be.