Hey Guys,

I am a newbie to fanfiction and haven't written much as is evident from my profile. I am writing my first book at the moment. I will only be writing about the world of Harry Potter as it is my personal favorite due to the shear brilliance with which this fantasy world was created. The depth of the characters and the organization of the magical world has me Imperiused.

The only reason that has driven me to give a shot at writing fanfiction is my dislike of the pairings in the book. Even before 'Half Blood Prince' (book) came out, I was rooting for Harry and Hermione to end up together, I could feel the depth of their friendship and hence when the sixth book came out, I was angry but there was some hope left that in the end everything will be righted and Hermione will be with Harry, come the epilogue. When the 'Deathly Hallows' was published, the hope was extinguished and I was furious but nothing could be done about it. A few years later when JKR accepted her mistake of pairing Hermione and Ron. I felt that she was drunk while deciding the pairings while writing HBP.

I am just listing some characters and pairings and my thoughts about them. (not all pairings are real)

Harry Potter: Protagonist with his heart in the right place with his own set of flaws. Impetuous to a fault and selfless to a great extent.

Hermione Granger: Bookish, Loyal and too assertive with too much respect for authority. Smart but her brilliance lacked the creative edge.

Ron Weasley: Jovial, lighthearted character with inferiority complex and issues with jealousy. His judgement was very easily clouded by his jealousy and ingrained sense that others owed him something. I always thought that he was a borderline bully due to his behavior throughout the books. Being the youngest of six brothers who were quite gifted and were successful in creating a niche for themselves, this would be enough to create psychological issue but always being in Harry's shadow would be enough to push him off the edge of jealousy.

Albus Dumbledore: He was certainly a manipulative mastermind but his actions were driven by necessity. His actions reflected the times he lived in and lived through. I was in awe of this character for so long but then I started to see his flaws. He is one of the very few characters I like throughout the fantasy literature I am familiar with. Till I was 20, I idolized Dumbledore but that started to change since then. Like every person in the world, he had his flaws and like everyone else he was fallible. the visage of an old and wise grandfather figure just made it difficult to realize that he was a wicked human after all.

Harry-Hermione: If someone has been in a mature long-term relationship, he will be able to understand that the depth of friendship these too had was a solid foundation of a successful relationship. I was envious of the mutual understanding that these two shared. They complemented each other so perfectly, Harry's brain worked on instincts while Hermione relied on analyzing the situation, Harry was more emotion-driven while Hermione was more rational and logical. They both were muggle-raised and their views of wizarding world and its tradition and culture were synced.

Ron-Hermione: It was impossible for me to imagine Hermione with Ron, before the 6th book came out. Their constant bickering and the tendency to get under each others skin was an indicator of a lost relation. Opposites attract but there will be constant friction between them. Some would call it the effect of Unresolved Sexual Tension but there is more to it. At different points, it looked like a sibling rivalry where they were at odds, challenging each other constantly.

Harry-Ginny: It was a cute relationship but very out of the depth. They mirrored Harry's parents but that was it for me. If you think logically, I can't see Harry developing Oedipus complex and marry Ginny just because she reminds him of his mother. Ginny hasn't been a strong or important character (wasn't given a chance by JKR in the books) till the Dept. of Mysteries fiasco. Ginny lacked the understanding of the Harry's life, history and fears. She surely had a crush may be due to infatuation or the love she had for the boy-who-lived or the name Harry Potter but something was missing there. I realize that they both had one major thing in common (apart from Quidditch), they both had experienced how it feels to have Voldemort in their heads.

I had this idea when I was reading the books, there was an online article regarding the possible characters which could be paired with Harry Potter, one of those was Susan Bones. The explanation given by the author of the article was convincing. He wrote that if you looked at their lives, both Harry and Susan lost their parents (not very clear in the books but some what indicated) and both lived with their aunts, although Susan's aunt was polar opposite to Harry's. In the fifth year, when the mass break-out of Azkaban took place and one of the murders of her family was again at large and she was pestered by her schoolmates for information, she would be the right person to understand what Harry felt about the whole situation to some extent. But as things stand, the books were quite empty about this character and thus it was impossible for anything meaningful to happen between these two.

I always try to improve myself in every way possible and hence I would be happy if you have any suggestions and I will be thankful for your reviews.

Story Update:

The Hope of The Future : Chapter Twenty-Seven is up. The Wizengamot is working their way towards the Friday, Harry learns something new from a source least expected.

Pinterest Board: https:///MuggleDumbledor/the-hope-of-the-future/ (Images of various objects and Facecast are on this board).

Story Details

The Hope of The Future

Batch of 1991:

Gryffindors: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Parvati Patil, Lavender Brown, Fay Dunbar.

Slytherins: Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, Millicent Bulstrode, Jason Runcorn

Hufflepuff: Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Ernie Macmillan, Megan Jones, Wayne Hopkins, Lily Moon, Sally-Anne Perks, Roger Malone, Sophie Roper

Ravenclaw: Padma Patil, Terry Boot, Mandy Brocklehurst, Michael Corner, Anthony Goldstein, Sue Li, Morag McDougal, Lisa Turpin, Stephen Cornfoot, Oliver Rivers, Kevin Entwhistle.

Location of Each Common Room:

Gryffindor: Gryffindor Tower, East Wing of the Castle

Slytherin: Dungeons under the Lake, West Wing

Hufflepuff: Corridor of Barrels, South Wing

Ravenclaw: Ravenclaw Tower, North Wing

Vigilance Commission : Wizengamot created in 1995 for inquiry into Ministry irregularities. Members are:

1. Lucius Malfoy : Chairman

2. Elphias Doge : Order member, an eminent jurist at Wizengamot for decades, a very close friend of Dumbledore.

3. Dominic Dippet : A prominent Wizarding Law expert, the grand-nephew of the previous Headmaster Armando Dippet. He was in the same year as Arthur Weasley, they had a fierce rivalry, he was a Slytherin.

4. Romilda Fawley : Commissioner of Wizengamot’s Administrative Services Board. She was the Head Girl in Hogwarts the year before Marauders joined Hogwarts. She comes from a long list of Ravenclaws.

5. Consuela Zabini : She chronicled the Great Wizarding War in its entirety. Hher parents fled France during the War (1939-45) because of the violence. She married seven rich, old, french wizards, and all of them died within one year of their marriage to her.

Diverged iteration : this was going to be the actual 'The Hope of The Future' but as I was planning the story, it turned out that this one would be a bit too dark for some people's liking so I just made a small change early on which would change the entire story line. It follows the 'THoTF' till its eighth chapter, nine onwards it diverges. Hence the name. The story is paused at the moment.

My Tuppence: The early teenager year (13-15, sometimes first half of 16) is the time when kids are very uncertain about the world around them, their feelings are unclear, they are rebellious and angry about insignificant things. They have issues with how to deal with the world, how to behave properly as it is the transition period. If you read the GoF and OoTP, you can clearly see that the major emotions expressed are revolving around this point. You see the behavior of the trio individually and you will realize that they sum up the three most general behavior seen among kids that age. Concern to fit in, jealousy for individual recognition and the urge to be on your own. I like how JKR portrayed it.