nightswimming
Ultimately, we as mankind - mankind, not wizardkind or mugglekind, but mankind as a whole - we as mankind exist for a reason. Supposedly. My father would say that it was what the Ramchal states in his Mesillat Yesharim. Mankind exists to glorify God, to grow closer to God, and that the world was created for the benefit of man and to help him towards this purpose. My mother would say that one exists to help others.
The irony of both is that my father ultimately lost his God and my mother became subservient to the point that she barely existed.
I myself cannot say if I believe in either of these things. My belief (or disbelief) in God depends on the day of the week and which Lord I happen to be serving. The hopeless romantic in me, my tell-tale heart that I do my best to keep under the floorboards, would agree with my mother. My life, as a whole, has been subservience to my fellow man.
I had the best intentions. I wanted to become a Master of Potions, make discoveries that would help others and further the field. I wanted to fall in love, have someone of my own. Someone who was there for me, ultimately, against the world. I wanted to be a happy old man, unlike my father. I wanted to live to an old age and do all sorts of things - visit the Bermuda Triangle, collect samples from a yeti, wake up next to someone I loved.
And yet, in the end, my choices were taken from me. Not necessarily by others. I made disastrous mistakes and decisions on my own. But with each choice, others slipped away and I felt myself grow bitter. The carefree child I had once been, back before my father became married to his liquor, was gone. Only the heart beneath the floorboards remained.