Saira is not what you would call 'easy-going.' She has, in fact, certain perfectionist tendencies that might make her a better fit for Ebonhide than Coppertale. She does not like to be wrong (or worse, to be proven wrong,) she does not like to be seen at anything less than her best, and she is absolutely unwilling to accept failure from herself. 'Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses?' No. Saira is insistent that she has only strengths, and she will do whatever it takes to make sure of that, to transmute whatever weaknesses she might be thought to have into something else entirely. In the pursuit of this, she can take on far too much, drive herself to the brink of exhaustion or a break down or both, but there's no convincing her of that. Her confidence in herself is such that she is sure she can take it, even when she can't. It's also such that she'll assume others can as well, try to fit the people around her into her worldview whether they like it or not, and be personally offended or even hurt when they can't.

Which is not to say that Saira is domineering in the way that many people expect Coppertales to be. Among those close to her, she certainly can be, and her brothers would openly laugh at you to hear that you find her less pushy than her housemates, but for the most part, in mixed company? Well. She chooses to get her way on the sly rather than by forcing it. She is not the retiring little mouse that her mother would prefer her to be, but she has taken to heart the art of controlling things by suggestion and wit rather than be demands or force. She is willing to bow to others in the short term to keep the peace- and put herself in a better position for the long term.

Saira is fully capable of having fun, but not so much of loosening up. Everything she needs to do- be it schoolwork, extracurriculars, her senior project, goals she's set for herself- is always on the back of her mind, and she has a hard time letting go of much of everything. Mistakes bother her long after everyone else has forgotten about them, and she can list the occasions on which she's felt embarrassed or ashamed in front of other people going back to elementary school (not that she ever would out loud.) Grudges, too, are a thing with her. Cross her, and she will not forget it; she may forgive you, if you apologize and ask nicely, but she will remember it. And Saira has a very, very good memory.

Which is a good thing, because without it, she would hardly be as successful as she has been. That memory, with its ability to hold onto facts and figures and the nuance of every spell she's ever been taught, has gotten her far. And it will get her further still if she has anything to say about it. Saira has ambitions, and she is not going to let anything prevent her from succeeding in them, least of all her own faults or failings.

Hassan Raza, father, potioneer.
Noor Raza, mother, unemployed.

Kazim Raza, brother, senior at Gooseberry.
Shandar Raza, twin brother, attends FILL THIS IN

Saira was born the middle child and only daughter of Hassan Raza, a potioneer who had come to Chicago a decade earlier to join the growing community of Pakistani wizards in the city, and his wife Noor. Her tenure as youngest child was short-lived indeed: her twin brother, Shandar, was born nearly an hour later and took so long about it that his appearance in the world was by far the more celebrated. It set up a certain pattern for their shared lives, with Saira always by rights outshining him and yet Shandar receiving most of the attention and acclaim anyway.

Early childhood was confusing for Saira. She was, by nature, an outgoing, competitive and assertive child, and behaving as the quiet, reserved, even meek girl that her parents encouraged (or demanded, depending on whose perspective you are looking from) her to be wouldn't have come easily to her even if she hadn't had a twin brother who was actively being taught to be precisely the opposite, who was being rewarded for the behaviors she herself was punished for. There was tension, too, between Hassan- who had a soft spot a mile deep for his little girl and would have been happy to indulge her- and Noor, who had her hands full as it was with three young children, two of them boys, and had no patience whatsoever for her daughter behaving in a way that she considered unfitting and refusing to listen. Her soft spot was for Shandar, her baby, and Hassan may have been the breadwinner and the head of the house, but he was gone most of the day and not so deeply involved in raising the children at any rate when they were young.

It quickly became apparent to Saira that she was going to have to do twice as well as her brothers to be half as worthy in her mother's eyes, and in addition to being assertive and competitive, Saira was stubborn. Once she decided that, there was no going back, not ever.

And so Saira spent the majority of her formative years breaking her back to outshine the boys, especially Shandar. In school- a magical day school called NAME THE DAMN SCHOOL in downtown Chicago- she couldn't settle for good grades. She had to get the best grades, had to beat all of the other students just to prove that she could, that she could outstrip her twin not just by a little but by a lot. As they got older, though, this turned out to not really be all that difficult. Shandar, spoiled as he was becoming at home, was a slacker. He was charismatic enough to coast, and he was perfectly happy doing so.


Kazim, at least, gave her some competition. He was as clever as his younger sister, if not as competitive, and as the Raza children reached their teenage years their parents began to discuss his future. SCHOOL was a fine place, but it was not particularly prestigious; the fact that they would be so close to home and would not board there was the primary reason they attended it. That wouldn't do any more, not for the oldest son, and the Razas began looking into the better American schools. Such as Gooseberry.

When Kazim was accepted, there was a great deal of celebration surrounding him. Saira's competitive streak couldn't handle it with aplomb. It became clear quickly that her parents hadn't considered allowing her to apply as well despite her near-perfect marks and dedication to her education; well, fine. Saira didn't need their permission to apply. And she did, and got in in turn, and then the storm started at home, because Noor was not having it, and Saira was not taking no for an answer. There were weeks of screaming fights punctuated by periods of icy silence between mother and daughter, and in the end the battle was won by Hassan. The only way to restore peace in his household, he said, was to send Saira away to school, because at least then the fighting would stop for most of the year through sheer distance. And if they were going to send her elsewhere, she might as well go to the school where her older brother was.

And so Saira got her way, as she always intended to.