An Introduction

Hogwarts and the Class of Misfits

Disclaimer: JKR owns Hogwarts and the Wizarding World and (most of) these characters, not me.

Lily Luna Potter is thirteen years old. Her whole life, she's always been the one with the answers, the one with the plan, the one that everyone else looked to. She is so completely confident in herself that she unknowingly intimidates all those around her. Everyone wants to be her friend. But now that Lily is getting older, she's beginning to find that things aren't always easy, and things don't always go how you want them to. She's finding it harder and harder to just believe, as she always has, that everything she says and does is the right thing, and that everything will just work itself out, in the end. She's starting to realize that the line between right and wrong isn't always black and white, and that everything isn't as simple and straightforward as she once believed. This is making things hard for Lily, who can't seem to get rid of her tendency to... control things. She likes things the way she likes them, and she likes them to stay the way they are. She's starting to question if anything can really stay, or if everything, her happiness included, is simply temporary. And if so, when will hers get taken away?

Hugo Remus Weasley is thirteen years old. His whole life, he's always been second guessing himself and selling himself short, never believing that he has what it takes. These days, it seems clearer and clearer to him that it's simply his lot in life to come in second place, to be a sidekick, to be a minor character in someone else's story. A lot of this feeling stems from being best friends with Lily, who, as far as Hugo (and everyone else, for that matter) is concerned, outshines him in practically every way. And then there's his sister Rose, the try-hard, who is top of her class and always the best at everything she does. Hugo, not matter what he does, it seems to him, has never been the best, and as he is getting older he's starting to realize that maybe... he's just not cool with that. Maybe he wants to be best at something, to be recognized for some sort of achievement, and to not always be taking a back seat to everyone else, especially Lily. He's beginning to wonder if he really is permanently stuck in a minor role, as he had always thought, or if a time will come for him to take center stage. And if it does, will he be ready for it?

Louis Arthur Weasley is fourteen years old. His whole life, he's always been the one who's "different." He's known, practically forever, that he wasn't like the rest of his family, and had always wondered why. Why was he different? Why couldn't they understand him? These days, he's feeling a lot more comfortable being himself, and he wonders if this is simply a sign that he's growing up, or if there's something else to it. Whatever the case, he no longer feels like he needs to be ashamed for being a Ravenclaw, when the entire rest of his family is Gryffindor. This fact always bothered him, it was the main thing that set him apart from the rest of his family. In fact, for the past three years his House has felt more like home to him than his home did, and this worried him. But now that he's grown more comfortable with himself, he wants to also grow closer to the family that he has always kept his distance from. He wants to show everyone the real him- the person he's kept buried away for so long because he was scared. And while he feels like he might finally be ready, he's worried that everyone else just isn't quite yet. But how much longer can he continue to retreat inside himself before it becomes too much?

Fred Weasley is fifteen years old. His whole life, he's always wanted to be someone else. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with who he was, there just wasn't anything particularly right either. He wanted to be someone more interesting; someone bigger and better than he was. And he always dreamed of accomplishing something amazing- though, what exactly, he wasn't quite sure. Now that he's older, though his dreams haven't diminished, he's starting to realize that maybe he just... is who he is. He's worried that he'll always be average, and never be known for anything particularly interesting, and this thought terrifies him. He wonders how he can leave his mark- to go down in Hogwarts history like his father before him- but he's worried that it may already be too late. What can he do to make people see him, and not only see him, but remember his name? How can he make sure that he isn't easily forgotten, as he worries he might be?

Rose Nymphadora Weasley is fifteen years old. Her whole life all she's ever been- and ever wanted to be- was the best of the best. She's always been extremely dedicated to her schoolwork, and as such finds herself constantly under very intense pressure, though mostly self-inflicted. She expects nothing more than the best from herself. And for once, she'd like to be the best without being compared to her mother. And for once, she'd like to be the best without being constantly one-upped by that Slytherin prat, Malfoy, who can't ever seem to leave her alone. As she gets older, she's beginning to realize that perfect doesn't come easy. She has to try and try and try to be everything she expects from herself, and she worries she's falling short. What if she just can't do it? What if she'll never be everything she was supposed to be- everything she expects from herself? She's beginning to wonder if maybe her goals are simply out of reach, and she's starting to feel her perfect self and her perfect future slowly slipping out from between her fingers. How will she handle it if things simply don't turn out how they were meant to?

Scorpius Malfoy is fifteen years old. His whole life, he's always done exactly what people have expected him to do. He was sorted into Slytherin, where he became, and still is, the top of his House. He's the Keeper of the Quidditch team, a prefect, the best in practically every subject, and all the teachers and all his housemates love him. But as he gets older he is beginning to wonder: how much of what he does is for his own benefit? Is he who he is because that's who he wants to be, or because that's who his parents want him to be? He can't stand that his family has so many high expectations for him, and he questions if he'll ever be able to break free of their image of him as the perfect, Pureblood, Slytherin son. Will he ever be able to figure out who he is underneath all the expectations and assumptions, and find out whether or not his life is really what he wants it to be?

Albus Severus Potter is fifteen years old. His whole life, he's lived in the enormous shadow cast by his family. With his father being who he is, and Albus looking just like him, his life has always seemed full of inevitable comparisons to "The Boy Who Lived." And as he gets older, he's is starting to realize that he'll never come close to the achievements of his father. He knows that his parents are proud of him, and he knows that no one expects him to defeat evil incarnate by the time he's seventeen, but still he worries that nothing he'll ever do will even come close to the achievements of his family. And he sees his brother, who walks around like he's never had a care in the world, and his sister, who walks around like she owns it. And then there's him. He can't help but feel like he's simply left-over; a much less compelling version of his father or his siblings. But what can he do to set himself apart? How can he ever compete with all that they are?

Molly Weasley is fifteen years old. Her whole life, she's always lived a little bit on the wild side. If her sister Lucy was the model student and the perfect child, Molly was the opposite. She did things because she wanted to, when she wanted to, and often those things didn't involve listening, or sitting still, or being a "good girl." But now that she's getting older, she's starting to realize that some things aren't nearly as fun for her as they used to be, and she's become somewhat notorious around the castle for the things she gets up to. She's beginning to worry that she's not at all prepared for her future, as her sister reminds her every chance she gets. She doesn't want to stop being young and having fun and living a little on the edge, but she wonders if she'll know when the time is right to draw the line. What will she do when things start to get serious? And how will she handle it when her life isn't all that fun anymore?

Lucy Weasley is seventeen years old. Her whole life, she's always been the reasonable one, the level-headed one, the responsible one. She's currently the Head Girl at Hogwarts, and has spent her last six years there building her reputation as someone who is smart, accomplished, and has her life together. As she gets older, she begins to further understand why it's so important to try your hardest and get ahead in life wherever possible. She often wonders why other people, especially her sister, Molly, don't seem to understand this as she does. And she wonders why her sister and her cousins continue to act out, and why no one ever seems to listen to her. She's right about most things, they just don't seem to see it. Now that it's her last year at Hogwarts, she feels it is her responsibility to pass on her legacy in any way that she can, and if that involves reigning in her crazy sister, so be it. But how will she get Molly to listen, when she never has in the past? How can she make everyone else see that her way is the right way?

Roxanne Weasley is fifteen years old. Her whole life, she'd always been the fun one, the cool one, the one who knew how to have a good time. She and her cousin James were best friends, partners in crime, and known around the school for all the fun pranks and things they would get up to together. As they've gotten older, however, things are starting to change. These days, Roxanne sometimes feels like a shell of her past self- like she used to know exactly who she was and now she isn't sure in the slightest. Last year everything was great, but this year James has been growing distant, and on top of it all things aren't going very well with her boyfriend, either. She's worried that things will never get back to how they used to be, when she was happy and everything made sense. And she wonders if everything is changing around her, or if she's the one who's changed. What will she do if she and James continue to grow apart? How will she discover who she is on her own, without him?

James Potter is sixteen years old. His whole life, he's been known as a prankster and a jerk, as the guy who never took anything seriously. He built this reputation for himself; we was proud of it. But now that he's older, even though his carefree lifestyle has never bothered him in the past, he's starting to think that maybe there's a better way to go about things. Like maybe he doesn't want to date the hottest girl in school just because she's hot, when he has nothing else in common with her. And maybe he's starting to find his usual shenanigans a little juvenile, and he wonders why the idea of blowing up a broom shed used to seem so appealing, even hilarious, to him, when it doesn't anymore. He wonders what's changed, just as he wonders what's different now about this girl who he'd never given a second thought to before. Why is she suddenly all he can focus on? And when did life stop being so simple? When did he stop being carefree, and stop having all the answers?

Alice Longbottom is sixteen years old. Her whole life, she's been the quiet one, the polite one, they one that was too shy to talk to anybody. Where her best friend, Dominique, was rebellious and angry, Alice was sweet and more go-with-the-flow. Now that she's getting older, however, she's starting to wonder if there's someone else she'd rather be. She doesn't want to blend in with the walls anymore, or be overlooked because she's too boring . She wants to be someone who's worthy of other people's attention, and she wants to branch out and make new friends, but she just keeps getting stuck. Overcoming her inherent shyness and anxiety would be the first step, but, as she's beginning to realize, doing so isn't nearly as easy as she thought. So what will she do when the opportunity to make a change comes knocking on her door? Is she ready to put herself out there, or will the idea of change become too scary to face? Will she decide that maybe she's comfortable with her life as it is, after all?

Dominique Weasley is sixteen years old. Her whole life, she's hated the fact that she's a Weasley. She can't stand to be associated with her own family, because that association always comes with some sort of comparison and a whole ton of expectations. All she's ever wanted was to be her own person, and not be defined by her relationship to her family. For her, being her own person, independent from her family, meant making herself invisible, unrecognizable, and someone that she really isn't. But as she gets older, she's beginning to realize how hard this actually is to do. She just can't seem to make herself disappear, and she doesn't understand why some people keep trying to stop her. Her best friend Alice, and her little brother Louis, and some guy she barely knows- they won't go away, and they won't let her go away. And she's beginning to wonder if it's really worth it to hide herself away for fear of all the assumptions that come with being a Weasley. How can she just be herself when she's spent so much time trying to be someone else? And why does it have to be so hard to reinvent who you are?

The Harry Potter story continues, this time with a new class of students. And this year at Hogwarts is looking to be one of the most interesting yet. This is a story of struggle, strife, and conflict, as this new group of students work to find themselves, and realize what it really means to grow up. They'll face changes and struggles surrounding school, relationships, friends, and family, all the while figuring out who they really are, and who they want to be.

This story will follow them on their own individual journeys, which eventually will intertwine and connect, as they become bigger influences on each other's lives. How will they handle everything that's going on this year? Well, I can guarantee you one thing: by the time they're finished, Hogwarts will never be the same.

Read on, and I really hope you enjoy it!