Shaista "Shai" Shafiq is a British-Pakistani pure-blood witch, sixth-born daughter of Hamad and Junaraaj Shafiq, and younger sister to Aman, Syeda, Eshaal, Shazia, and Baheerah, and older sister to Maryam and Naseem. Shai attended Hogwarts from 2007-2015, and was sorted into Gryffindor. Shaista is not really known for very much at her school, and is sort of seen as the 'Forgotten Shafiq,' as her grades are not particularly special, she has no friends, and she doesn't do any extracurriculars. Within her own house, Shaista was often overshadowed and overlooked thanks to being only a few years apart from her older sister, Shazia, and so she is overlooked by almost everyone at school. If she isn't alone, she spends her time with Baheerah, her sister who also has very few friends at school, or Naseem, who simply loves spending lots of time with her sisters. Shaista is more passionate about muggle things than magical things, and although she values magic and being a witch, she misses technology when she's at Hogwarts and often considers how to make such things into a career of her own. During a summer vacation, Shaista meets Bo Gongsun, a muggle boy who she starts dating in secret.

Shaista was born to pure-bloods Hamad and Junaraaj Shafiq, and grew up as the younger sister to Aman, Syeda, Eshaal, Shazia, and Baheerah--and later, became the older sister to Maryam and Naseem. Shaista's upbringing was a little unusual; despite having magical parents, muggle-things were quite commonplace, as her family ran a muggle-goods import shop in Diagon Alley, which they live on the upper floors of. In addition to being homeschooled with Junaraaj, Shaista and her family also tried to stay grounded and learn, as well as appreciate, muggles.

Shaista was sorted into Gryffindor upon attendance to Hogwarts, a decision she still doesn't quite understand and often questions. Her older sister, Shazia, was also a fourth-year Gryffindor when Shaista started attending school, and Shazia was so popular and well-liked that people expected her younger sister to be equally as cool as her. When her fellow Gryffindors realized that Shaista and Shazia had almost nothing in common, they mostly left Shaista alone, and she became rather isolated from the rest of her classmates. Living up to her nickname, Shai was quite shy, and struggled to make any friends, either within her house or outside of it. As such, she's the only Shafiq child who grumbles and complains when its time to go back to school each fall, preferring to stay home, where she gets along with her sisters and can play video games to her heart's content when she wants to be alone.

Shai never manages to change her image in school, always known to Gryffindors as Shazia's lame little sister, and generally being ignored and avoided by other classmates. If she's ever not alone, she's usually with Baheerah or Naseem, and she enjoys spending time with her sisters and being less lonely--but since Baheerah is concentrated on schoolwork and Naseem has her own friend group, Shai still ends up on her own much of the time, with the exception of her half-Kneazle, half-cat, Victoria.

During one summer, Shaista meets a muggle boy named Bo, a relatively nerdy fellow who seems like he could be as uncool as she is--however, they share numerous interests, and their attraction is almost immediate. Although Shaista knows dating a muggle could eventually lead to the end of her family being considered pure-bloods, she's far more interested in the muggle world than the magical one, and figures that if she was going to find a partner someday, they would probably be a muggle anyway. She begins dating him before she realizes he's related to Teagan Gongson, who she knows not only from the fact that she also attends Hogwarts--but because she's her younger sister Naz's best friend. Luckily for Shai, this means she doesn't have to hide her magical background from Bo, and Naz absolutely loves the fact that if they ever get married, she and Teagan will get to be sister-in-laws.