c h i l d h o o d
Spoiler (click to show)
June Anaïs Selwyn was born to a Phineas and Louise Selwyn in the early hours of the morning of June 23rd in Newcastle, England. Like most pureblood children, June was surrounded by magic from the moment she could open her eyes. Her two parents, both from well-off families themselves, tried to raise June as the perfect child, knowing they didn't want to have any more children after her.
June learned to read very early, so early that her parents have often questioned if it was the cause of magic, the true first sign of their young witch daughter. Her mother, Louise, had always enjoyed teaching, and so began to teach June many things. Arithmetic, writing, English, and French were the subjects that took up June’s days. But it was certainly not all work and no play. Phinehas, her father, wanted his daughter to have a love of the outdoors. And so gardening, swimming lessons, picnics, stargazing and sunburns were also quite common in the Selwyn household.
While they may be pureblood, the Selwyn parents never cared much for appearances. The Beaumont family was a small pureblooded clan in France, focused less on their social status and more on their wealth and assets, and the Selwyn traditions were never fully passed on to Phineas. As the youngest child, Phineas was allowed to roam Europe, discovering new people and places to help inspire his writings (though his parents hoped it would coax him out of that profession instead). It was in these travels where he met Louise Beaumont, and the two fell in love very quickly. While Phineas's parents did have other marriage prospects in mind for their youngest son, they had no objections to the wealthy pure-blooded woman he wished to wed. The two were married within the year.
June grew up happy, but lonely. All of her friendships had been arranged by her parents, and though she got on well with a few of the other children, June's strong and domineering personality would often push potential friends away. Especially since June was not familiar with the concept of "sharing" or "compromise" until well into her childhood (after all, she didn't have any siblings she needed to share or compromise with on a day to day basis). She enjoys reading, being right, dancing, and a good-old fashioned competitive game. She is an only child, who had some friends growing up, but not many. She always felt a little out of place with those she spent time with, often opting for a fantasy novel in place of a play date if she had the choice.
June's 11th birthday, when she received her letter from Hogwarts, stirred up quite a bit of drama in the Selwyn family. Her mother, who had attended Beauxbatons as, pushed for her alma matter, stating how the academics and high performance standards would be a good fit for June. June had received her Abraxan feather earlier in the year inviting her to the school (thankfully it hadn't found its way to Phinehas Selwyn's manuscripts to write on), and since it was the first to arrive, her mother had simply assumed that it was where June would attend. Her father, however, feared the pressure of Beauxbatons would be too much for June, and wanted her to feel more free to explore whatever passions she desired with no expectations. In the end, they let June have the final say. June didn't need much time to think, Hogwarts was the obvious choice for her. Although she loved her family in France, and always enjoyed her time there, the thought of being so physically far from her parents was a bit much for her
f i o m
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The first thing June ever wanted to be was “the boss”. Not necessarily to order others around (though it did sound like fun), but so that people could have fun the way she did. June hasn’t had much experience in the way of compromise. So you can imagine that June was upset when Michaela Marriot refused to play cats with her.
Michaela wanted to play horses, but June was afraid of horses at the time, and so the two (both age 6) began to shout at each other.
“It’s just not fair,” June thought during the shouting match, getting angry. “Michaela isn’t afraid of cats, why should I be expected to change? She’d love playing cats if she only tried! Yes, that’s it, I will make her play cats, then she’ll understand that I’m right.”
And then, pop! Michaela had grown whiskers. The shouting stopped immediately. Michaela reached her hand up to her face, not believing what had happened to her. Michaela began to cry. June began to cry.
“She’s cursed me! Mummy, come here! June cursed me!”
“Mum! Mum, come here! Michaela didn’t want to play with me and then… I didn’t mean to!”
The girls’ mothers ran over, consoling Michaela, returning her to normal, and deciding the play date was over.
h o g w a r t s
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June's first year at Hogwarts was filled with being overwhelmed by the possibilities to the point of freezing, someone threatening to set her on fire for a failed attempt at revenge, and meeting Maggie Hawkins, who quickly becomes June's best friend.
At summer camp, Maggie slaps the student who did the aforementioned threatening on June's behalf, and rising first-year Finnegan Conner is right there to comfort June after the blow-up.
Once the school year starts and June has moved to her second year, Finn becomes a more prominent part of June's life, from exploring secret passages in the owlery to private tutoring sessions. Finn is clearly enamoured. June is clueless, as she's too focused on her newfound love for broom racing.
And then, disaster. 2023 begins with June learning of her mother's affair. Even though her father has forgiven her, June is holding onto her grudge something fierce. It doesn't get much better at school when an attempted murder takes place in the Slytherin dorm rooms.
Although June's mother said her affair had ended, at a book launch event for her father's latest release, it's quickly uncovered that is not the case. Phinehas and Louise separate.
There's a moment of hope as June is named captain of her racing team, but the nail in the coffin for June's second year? The first time the team looks like they're winning, their race is seemingly attacked, resulting in a draw.
Summer offers little respite as June spends time in the Muggle world. First with Maggie, culminating in the single greatest piece of literature ever written, The McDonald's Drive Thru Thread. And then with Finn, when he finally confesses his feelings to June on his birthday. It gets awkward. Quickly.
At the start of third year, a potions mishap sends June to the hospital wing, where she and Finn reconcile. Eventually, June decides to give Finn a chance and go on a date with him. It's nice, but romantic nice? June is unsure. Her friendship with Finn has changed. There's an uncomfortable tension there, and for June it solidifies that whatever is between the two is not meant to be.
It does seem strange to June that her team has lost every single race, despite everything. People have joked that the team is cursed. As much as it pains her that it's likely a lack of skill, June is intrigued. She spends her summer reading and learning about curses, something that consumes her to a point where it's likely no longer healthy. Friendships fell to the side as she pursued knowledge. Was it worth it? Not yet, because at the start of her fourth year, June was met by an issue of the Hogwarts Headliner fueling the rumours, and even throwing the accusation that June herself is cursing the team. Brilliant.
Finn reaches out to June in a cryptic owl, saying he needs her help at the Fall ball. June is ecstatic to reconnect and apologize for her distance, and finally tell Finn she wants to be friends, and only friends, with him. Well, she's met with harsh words, and then June finally lets her internal monologue free. Enter Maggie, and the whole situation falls apart. The friendship between Finn and June has crumbled and is no more; he betrayed her.
June's fourth year was marked by a deep interest in curses and dark magic. Not necessarily to use it or herself (though the thought did exist), but more to understand it.
Her first detention ever came when she was caught with a book from the restricted section that she had gotten a seventh-year prefect to snag for her. A letter was sent home due to the nature of the book, a tome on lasting curses and how to create them. Of course, June was simply trying to learn ways to reverse them, after her pursuit of knowledge from her professors was fruitless. "Not ready yet," according to them. "Too dangerous." What a load of dragon dung.
Spring break came, and June was expecting to come home to an angry father, shouting at his daughter for ruining her perfect track record. But no, she was given a chance to explain herself, and explain she did. Explain what happened at the first broom race where her team was winning, explain how she was looking for answers but her professors wouldn't allow her to research, explain how she was trying to understand curses so she could undo them if it turned out her team was, indeed, cursed.
Phinehas was concerned. Not for his daughter's interest in dark magic, no. He was actually proud of his daughter for pursuing higher knowledge for the good of her team, and for not taking "no" for an answer when her professors refused to help. No, he was concerned for the institution of Hogwarts. This was not what he remembered from his years in Ravenclaw house. Student research was encouraged, and many professors spent free time mentoring students with particular interests. He was elated that his daughter was taking an interest in magic beyond its everyday applications, but the "why"s and the "how"s. Was Hogwarts really the best fit for her?
