Born in Durham, Forrest comes from a family from the top-middle class of England. His father, James, is a chemisty engineer, specialised on petrol and his mother, Christina, doesn't work, although she wanted to become a teacher. James' family is the wealthier of both sides, also the more traditional one, and they did not want a working bride to neglect the kids, and Charlton family failed to notice their bride’s broken heart.

As soon as he was born, his father had got a new job in London so they moved to the capital and Forrest only knows Durham from his ID. The family lived in London until only two years ago in a luxurious residence that basically had everything of modern city life: a sports centre, a restaurant, a shopping mall and a cinema. So Forrest didn't really have to get out of the house, especially when his dad would buy them the latest video games and electronic devices. Although his mother would take him downstairs to the park, he spent more time indoors than outdoors like his brother.

For the first year of his primary education, he attended a public school, but his father realised that it was a bad image for himself at work and thus Forrest and Oliver went a private school, the most expensive one in London. His father was at a high-position in the petrol company now, and he didn't miss a chance to indicate their wealth. Oliver seemed to take up the habit too and he started to bully other students at school. Forrest had got closer to his mother, however, and he got more reserved.

When he was nine years old, as he remembers vividly, his father had announced at dinner that they were moving to Saudi Arabia with immediate effect. Oliver gasped and Christina looked at her husband incredibly. Even though Forrest didn't really grasp what that meant, he and Oliver knew that a new argument was about to break out, so they quickly went to their rooms without even finishing eating. The worst argument ever broke out in Charlton family, and the next morning Christina told her sons that they were moving to Saudi Arabia. It was obvious that she had spent the night crying, and she was a living death.

The next week they had started a new life in Saudi Arabia and Oliver and his father got back to his cocky self in a month, whereas Christina was never the same and it depressed Forrest awfully as well, even if he didn't fully understand why she was so sad. As he grew up, his magical abilities had become more significant and nobody but his mother showed any sympathy to him. Oliver tried to overcome his fear by bullying him cruelly, and his father almost acted as if he didn't exist, being much more preoccupied with his image with a 'strange' kid rather than worry for his son himself. This formed an unbreakable bond between son and the mother, and she was the one who saved him from being locked up in a Saudi lunatic asylum as his abilities got out of control more usually than in London, combined with his confused mind. His father and Oliver had barely talked to him for the last two years though, until the moment of letter.