Nova

Backstory

My magic was detected long after the usual age of 11. I spent most of my younger years playing on the Coney Island coastline and taking library trips with my friends from my local school. But shortly after my fifteen birthday, a mysterious woman showed up to my family's humble apartment. She explained that I was in fact a witch, and one of the many magical children that went undetected after the last wizarding world. My mother, a believer in the more spiritual aspects of our world, encouraged me to participate. Yet after learning that I would have to move to the UK, she rescinded her blessing. The only thing that changed her mind was that my best friend from just down the street had also been scouted by the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Together, we journeyed from New York to Scotland. I am excited to learn magic, but I am afraid of the changes to come. What will Hogwarts be like? Will the other students accept me? When the Sorting Hat was placed upon my head, I could hear it talking to me. We struggled to find the House that I belonged to. At first, I thought Ravenclaw suited me best. I loved reading and writing and learning new things. I loved being challenged and becoming greater than I was before. But as our conversation continued, and the Sorting Hat found memories of me sharing my quinceanera with the young six year old upstairs, of me cooking for my mother when she worked late nights, of me helping my school friends study for their exams, and of my best friend and I sleeping over at each other’s houses to make sure our science fair project went well. It decided that Hufflepuff was the best House for me. I walked into the Hufflepuff common room burdened with anxiety, but determined to make the most of this. I was a scholarship student, so my time at this school was solely determined by how much I cared for my studies. As the Prefect began their welcoming speech, I remembered my mother and sister, their encouraging yet wistful faces as I departed for Hogwarts. I want to make my family proud.