The Hufflepuff's Dilemma:
Priya Singh as an immigrant girl found herself trying to adjust to the culture shock of residing in England. As far as her parents were concerned, it would be splendid if she could take the pathway of her cousins who were all STEM professionals - All were Engineers, Doctors, Researchers and Professors at reputable, distinguished universities. As far as she was concerned, she was doing a rather splendid job at it, during her first year as a Year Five student at Cornwall Primary.
England was much different from India – The Indians wore their emotions proudly on their sleeves. Many tourists had commented that India was one of the places where smiles were still genuine. Smiling was not a common thing in London. Sure, the people of England were just as warm and caring but it seemed that a serious face was a requirement for being a Londoner. There was no acknowledgement between the people who walked on the streets. Perhaps, the British maxim 'Keep calm, and carry on' could best describe their behaviour, which she found odd at first.
Priya, driven by her need to prove herself, eventually settled down. Her scores slowly climbed to the top of her class and she continued to maintain a comfortable lead over many of the local and immigrant children in her class. Many of the teachers considered the Henrietta Barnett School to be an easy choice for a young talented girl like her – it was a distinguished all-girls grammar school that would help her on her way to her academic goals. However, she would never arrive at that institution.
It was a typical rainy evening at her home when Priya received her Hogwarts letter, inviting her to study at one of the most prestigious magical instructions in the world. Her father, initially considered it to be an excellent joke and had laughed his head off. However, when Pomona Spout arrived to explain the situation as a reply letter had not been sent by Priya, it turned her life from boring and full of stressful homework to exciting and full of boundless possibilities. Priya had always considered herself boring – just an immigrant girl trying to beat the odds, so that she could eventually acquire a job as a doctor.
Now, she was a witch. She was special and magical – She could one day do amazing things with the flick of a wand!
It was like a Cinderella moment for her. She would grasp the opportunity and she would attend. After quite the impression being made by Pomona Sprout and her practical display of magic, Priya had been happy to be sorted into Hufflepuff house and continued to be a badger at heart.
Fast forward eight years, Priya often wondered if she had made the right choice. She had decided during her years at Hogwarts that she would intern under Madam Pomfrey to become a Healer. It was an opportunity to be a magical doctor - Growing teeth with a spell? Fixing bones with Skelegrow? Fixing eye problems with corrective charms? She considered Medi-Witch training to be far ahead of 'muggle' medicine, as she basked in the assumption that the Wizarding world was based on meritocracy. Priya at the end of her Hogwarts education had applied for a Ministry of Magic sponsorship to begin her healer apprenticeship at the St. Mungo Wizarding Hospital. She was informed of the waiting list and decided to wait patiently as the months passed by rather quickly.
No acceptance letter ever came, and she became nervous.
She had hoped as the job was generally not celebrated in the Wizarding world, that perhaps she might not draw the attention of the Pure Blood Supremacists – individuals who were best described as 'ultra right-wing victorian wizarding bourgeoisie'. They generally ensured that 'muggleborns' or magical commoners got little to no opportunity. They held all the positions of power in the Ministry of Magic, and they considered magical England 'their world'. As long as she did not draw attention to herself, it would be fine.
And still, no acceptance letter came.
Priya eventually began to suspect that she would never get an opportunity, and she felt betrayed after putting in the hard work to become good at her craft. As she connected with others like herself, she realised that the system had always been unfair, and she had to retool her skill set if she hoped to survive. She began to hear whispers of a civil war now brewing in magical England, and she realised that she would have to leave the idea of being a healer behind.
Shortly after the first Wizarding war in magical England arrived, Lord Voldemort systematically destroyed many of the buildings at the Ministry of Magic. This newly emerged magical terrorist was no different to a cheap discount copy of Hitler himself, and his clarion call had united the more violent members of magical society to replicate the infamous behaviour of the Spanish Inquisition in the fifteenth century and the Nazis of World War II (both of which were recent memory for wizards):
They would purge those with unclean blood. In actual practice, they would purge any who opposed him. Any, who opposed the coming of 'Pureblood Purity' would be killed mercilessly by Lord Voldemort or his supporters.
Worse yet, many of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters or supporters particularly enjoyed raping and killing muggleborn witches. Priya retreated to the safety of the muggle world where the Death Eaters would not find her, to ensure her safety. She also provided another muggleborn witch with accommodation as her initial location had been compromised. She and her newly made friend, (who was also on the run, like herself) waited out the war in the Muggle world as the magical murder toll arose rather slowly, but consistently.
Priya's application sadly disappeared into Fiendfyre (magical and unstoppable fire, conjured by Lord Voldemort) one night as the Ministry of Magic building was attacked. That had brought about the end of her aspirations. Of course, she would confirm this long after the war was over, but it did not hurt any less. Now totally frustrated, she decided that it was time to get a 'normal career' to assume her duties as a functional adult. Naturally, her parents were disappointed that she was unable to secure employment in the Wizarding society, but they did not hold their daughter accountable for the actions of others. Rather, they had insisted that they would assist her with getting a new career.
However, her skills as a healer did not go to waste.
Priya used her magical skills to fix her parent's tooth cavities, delay the perpetual arthritis that distressed her father and eliminated her mother's need for glasses. Her parents had allowed her to pursue her dreams partially, and she was thankful enough for that – the least she could do was allow them some comforts. It was also interesting to verify that magical treatments worked on muggles. Perhaps both her parents had magical ancestry? She often wondered if this was the case. Housework for her mother became minimal, and Priya could often repair things or even transfigure very small items around her home if she constantly refreshed the spells. As far as her parents were concerned, she was a bright girl who had done well, and her failure was the result of an uncaring system. Priya of course loved to eat out and loved shopping for clothes. After all, she was a fashionista by heart. Considering her expenses, she decided that becoming a school teacher would not be a bad career path. Perhaps she could return to the Wizarding world one day when things got settled? Her mind was set.
She spent the next three years learning typical A level subjects at an accelerated rate. She was successfully admitted into the University of Birmingham, where she pursued her Bachelor of Education and scored at the top of her academic year. Her parents continued to support her, while she developed healing new spells centred around her research. She even began to study standard medical anatomy on her own, as she utilized scientific knowledge to allow her spells to target specific biological systems and many metabolic processes.
Of course, this was theoretical. She would have to test most of her newly created spells, one day. All she had managed to test, were her new nerve and teeth regeneration spells on her parents, which she had initially developed as a Year Seven Hogwarts student. Yet, when she cast the other newly developed spells, there was something that felt so sure - almost as if the magic enjoyed being utilized in such a specific and targeted manner. Somehow, she could tell that her spells were solid as she often consulted Latin textbooks and even asked her cousins (who were medical doctors) strange questions, as they assumed that she perhaps was specialising in some odd career path that required anatomical knowledge.
Priya now looked over the last seven years of her muggle education and was excited for her placement at a local primary school. Little did she know that the magical world was going to show up on her roll call, bright and early on Monday morning, smack in the middle of February.