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Fatimah binti Haji Syafiq || 5th year Gryffindor || Malaysian || Chinese-Malay Muslim

The transition from Malaysia to Scotland was difficult. It wasn't that Fatimah had never been outside of her home country before -- her father was wealthy enough to afford multiple trips a year for both his wives and their respective children -- or studied in a multi-cultural setting (she attended an international school for a few years). It was simply that she could not adjust to both temperature and living style.

Back home, she always had people she could talk to in her native tongue, be it their maids or her siblings or even some of her classmates. Back home, interrupting a conversation because it was time for her daily prayer was normal, finding Halal options or restaurants was easy, and fasting was a national event. But here in Scotland, she was a minority. Her prayers were seen as odd, and when she didn't eat or drink for a whole day there had been questions raised about her health. Halal places were difficult if not downright impossible to find, and she constantly had to ask the house elves which food they served were alright for her to consume and which weren't.

Still, one year had come and gone and she had learnt to adjust. She was thankful that, at the very least, her parents had not objected to her magical abilities. While her father had been understandably upset and shocked, it had only lasted a month. Her mother (or step-mother; her father's second wife) had experience with it, what with her sister being magical, and could finally divulge that information as well as help the family. It was a shame, therefore, when the Malaysian magical school had closed down a couple years ago and Fatimah was forced to move.

Hogwarts had been one of the schools to send a letter, and having heard so much about this one versus those closer, she had opted for it. If she'd known the challenges, perhaps she might've chosen differently, but there was no backing away once she started. It just wasn't what she did.

Now in the second week of her second year at Hogwarts, she was much more relaxed than before. Her 5th year was going to be tough, what with her OWLS and whatnot, but Fatimah was confident in her abilities. Her English had improved somewhat, although slangs were difficult to get rid of, and she still used Malay in her corrospondence with her family and friends.

Sat down at the edge of the lake, she signed off her latest latter and folded it, placing it back into her bag. Looking at at the water, she let out a tiny sigh, a sense of homesickness taking over in that moment.

Posts : 1363 Join date : 2015-12-20

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