I always assumed it was about D&D, because of the magic item Cloak of Elvenkind, and the Magic SpellBooks
And the line "Behind All those things that mother said were proper for a boy" fits aswell, because its like hes hiding the fact that he was playing D&D (because D&D isn't exactly smiled upon, and even though more people play than you realize, its still considered... cult type behavior (by religions at least))
I always assumed it was about D&D, because of the magic item Cloak of Elvenkind, and the Magic SpellBooks And the line "Behind All those things that mother said were proper for a boy" fits aswell, because its like hes hiding the fact that he was playing D&D (because D&D isn't exactly smiled upon, and even though more people play than you realize, its still considered... cult type behavior (by religions at least))