A letter from the Head Boy

Dear Hogwarts,


I’m currently staring at a pile of crumpled paper scattered around my bed. It’d be more efficient to siphon the ink from the page, or to vanish the paper, but there’s something so much more satisfying about physically crushing something that’s annoyed you into a compressed, dumb little ball. 

I’ve tried so many times to write this letter. To say something philosophical about how the years have seemingly passed both at an increasingly rapid velocity, and crawled like a flobberworm at the same time. For some reason all my brain seems to be coming back to is a quote from a video my muggle stepfather showed me a couple of summers ago:

“Life is short. But also like, terribly and insufferably long at the same time.” – Jenna Marbles 

I think that’s true. Sometimes it seems like yesterday that I first stepped through the doors of the Great Hall, soaked to the bone from the boat ride over, anxious but excited at the same time. But then I look at my scars, my prosthetic arm, the scars and missing parts of my friends both physical and emotional. There are places in the school where some memory or another was captured in time; pins on bags that count the many times we survived, mementos of all the things we’ve been through together – and I feel like that anxious eleven year old was a lifetime ago.

I’m still anxious. But now I get to be excited about something completely new – stepping into adulthood. We’ve come a long way from the moment the sorting hat landed on our heads to now, and for those younger years reading this – your story at Hogwarts is just beginning. Though I’ve spoken of scars and missing parts, I want you to know one thing – I would do it all again. 

Do I have regrets? Yes, of course I do. I think that’s one of the unavoidable parts of life. People say, ‘live without regrets’, but that’s simply not possible. You will make flawed choices and take wrong turns. I think what people really mean to say is – don’t let fear hold you back from what you want. Whether that be trying out for your Quidditch team, confessing to your crush, or going out onto the dance floor to boogie your little heart out. Some of the biggest regrets I have, I have because I held myself back. 

If you take anything from this letter, anything from me, I want it to be these key things. Don’t let fear hold you back. Speak up when you need help. Trust your friends, and yourself. Be ready for what may come, and face it bravely. And I wouldn’t be a Ravenclaw if I didn’t say this – party study hard. 

Wishing you all the best,
Cypress Chalamet
Head Boy for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, 2031