CHAPTER 1: We are Not a Threat…Please be Our Friend?
"Wren stood at the intimidating brick platform before her. The bricks were a dark maroon color, almost burgundy, not quite, worn by age and probably countless tween soon-to-be witches and wizards running into them. She always wondered how exactly people didn't get injured. Her parents hadn't exactly told her that. All they told her was, "Run into the wall. Don't worry, you won't die."
Her mother, Megan, was a notoriously impulsive and also ambitious woman who went through a goth phase for the majority of her time at Hogwarts. Of course she wouldn't be frightened by something like this, Wren thought to herself as she steadied her hands against the worn leather covers of the handlebars of the rickety metal cart before Wren paused for a moment, staring at the white bold numbers of the station before her: 9 3/4.
She wondered if there was a 9 1/4 and 9 1/2, until a warm hand rested on her shoulder. She whipped around, seeing a middle-aged man dressed in a red and forest green plaid vest with khaki pants. His normally dark brown hair was slicked back more than normal. He smiled "C'mon, Dad. Can't you just give me a second?" Wren pouted, gesturing at the brick wall. A few cautious cursory glances indicated that they didn't have much time, "I just need a minute. I'm 15, not 11." Oliver Rivers hugged her tight one more time, Wren catching a rather unsavory whiff of his Calvin Klein hair gel. Or whatever the wizarding equivalent was. She was pretty sure he used the wizarding equivalent now.
"Where's Mom?" Wren continued, pretending to look around. But it was no use. She knew her mother was already on the next train, or whatever transportation faculty took, out to Hogwarts anyways. It was the whole reason she'd transferred from Beauxbatons anyways. The reasoning behind that whole move was still nagging at her.
"Your mother is already gone. But you'll see her soon, sweetheart, I promise." Oliver Rivers leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, prompting Wren to push him harshly away. She pulled out her wand: yew, 10.5 inches (she measured exactly), not at all flexible, in a hopefully intimidating gesture. She knew her father was laughing his socks off. Without another warning, Wren was pushed through the brick barrier with a yelp and a yowl. She looked around, veering back where she came, seeing just an ordinary brick wall, with no official identification. She let out a massive groan, seeing the black fur ball with amber eyes glaring at her. It yowled once more. Wren let Nyx out of the circular cage, watching as she jumped up into her arms.
One large, incredibly shrill whistle blow shook Wren out of her reverie, "Shit. We have to get on!" She struggled to drag her cart behind her as the even more rickety metal wheels dragged. Tugging her cart onto the train, she leaped on, making sure all of her stuff was in order.
A warm, maternal woman immediately opened the door the minute she'd set Nyx down next to her and got settled into the leather-seated compartment. Nobody was sitting next to her. Expected. The new transfer student. Hogwarts rarely got transfer students. The only reason she was even allowed in was because her mother was becoming the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Surprising for someone whose mother (Wren's grandmother) was a former Death Eater.
Death Eaters and Voldemort were a thing of the past. It had been 24 years since anything had been heard or said of him. Nobody cared. The guy who defeated him, Harry what's-his-name, was now Head of Magical Law Enforcement. He married into the Weasleys, they had three kids. The remaining Death Eaters had all gone into hiding.
"Would you like anything, sweetheart?" The woman with the refreshments/sweets cart kindly asked. Wren glanced over it, seeing the Chocolate Frogs and Sniveling Snackboxes. She shook her head, despite hearing her stomach grumble, "They never had anything like this at Beauxbatons…"
Wren turned back around in her seat and got to work, and by work, she read the Book of Spells Grade 5. She didn't dare actually try any of them though, but she'd heard rumors that Hogwarts assigned these standardized tests called OWLs in everyone's fifth year. And she wouldn't dare fail those.
"Hey. Is anyone sittin' here?" Yet another middle-aged man's voice boomed from directly to the right of her. Wren looked him up and down, seeing a man with brunette hair and rather curly sideburns. He wore a button down pastel yellow shirt, a style of shorts she'd heard referred to as "Hawaiian" (based off of the American state of Hawaii, she assumed), and ankle-length fur boots.
"No." Wren simply replied, inching away without another word. The man pulled out a small frog-shaped chocolate and handed it to her. She took it, inspecting it curiously in her hand, "A Chocolate Frog?"
"Yeppers, miss." His accent was most certainly not British, perhaps Scottish, but that was not common Scottish slang (though Wren knew absolutely nothing about Scotland besides kilts and bagpipes), "Aren't you curious to see what kind of wizarding card you will get?"
Wren took a small bite, instantly spitting out a small card. She grabbed it before it fell to the floor, reading the text out-loud quite loudly, "Helga Hufflepuff. Co-founder of Hogwarts. She brought people from different walks of life together to help build Hogwarts and was loved for her charming ways. Huh." Wren tucked the card in her pocket, before seeing the Scottish (?) man was smiling widely.
"Ah, the founder of my house. I was a Hufflepuff, you know. But it seems we're never the ones who save the world now, are we? There was a boy in my year, pureblood but raised in the Muggle world if you can believe it, who was super into Muggle pop culture. He always believed he was destined to save the world. And then he died. Just like the lot of them did." The man appeared somber for a few moments, before instantly brightening up, "My name is Kenneth Dawson. Pleased to meet ya."
He offered his hand out for a shake, which Wren lightly took, "Wren Rivers-Jones."
Kenneth's face instantly lit up, "Y-Your parents are Megan and Oliver!?"
"Y-Yes. You…were in the same year at them? They were both Hufflepuffs-"
Kenneth burst out into hysterical laughter, "Loved those two. We called 'em the Hermione and Ron of Hufflepuff House, because of…" He trailed off, both sensing the reference.
A few moments of awkward silence passed. But it was the sudden call of "AVADA KEDAVRA!" That's what shook both out of silence and straight into shock. Kenneth instantly bolted, pulling out his dogwood wand and quietly opening the compartment door. Wren dared to peek out after him.
The checker of the tickets (at least…that's what Wren thought he was) was going down the line when he fell dead. Just…fell to the floor. Wren screamed, causing the dark-cloaked man standing only a couple hundred feet away from them to instantly raise his wand.
Kenneth glanced at a red button on the side of the compartment door (which spoiler alert: was a Portkey), only seeing the flash of green light as he grabbed Wren's arm and pressed it as hard as he could. The sound of a fiery explosion (whatever that sounded like). Kenneth squeezed his eyes shut.
The sound of an owl crying out was what first woke him up. Then a soft breeze. Then murmuring. Kenneth opened his eyes to see himself lying on a grassy knoll, the grass cold and dewy against his back. He sat up, looked around, but it didn't take him long.
Wren was dead.
Her body wasn't grotesque, the Killing Curse made sure of that. She looked asleep. Except she wasn't breathing. He gasped, clasping a hand to his mouth. A series of footsteps directed his attention to a young girl, about Wren's age, wearing a dark blue nightgown. She looked between the corpse and Kenneth in horror.
"Mr. Dawson." She barely whimpered out both words.
"I-I have no idea what happened, Huiying, I-I-I-I-" He stood up, grabbing her lifeless body in his hands.
"Mr. Dawson." She whimpered once more, "Haven't you heard the rumors?"
Kenneth wiped his hand nervously with his handkerchief, lavender and silk, "What rumors?"
"They're calling her the new Voldemort. It's…the Witch."
A/N: Hey! Sorry for the weird font and size change partway through this. I wrote half on and half on Notes, and unfortunately it didn't translate. I guess I kinda came up with this after seeing "Puffs", a parody Harry Potter play that focuses on the Hufflepuffs, who we definitely don't see enough of at Hogwarts. I highly suggest you check it out. I believe there is a Mexican tour that has started up late last year, but chances are it won't be coming to a professional theater anytime soon (though it seems many high schools have been doing it lately). This entire story is actually loosely, and I say very loosely, based off of one of the two spin-off sequels produced as a live web reading (to raise money for NY hospitals) during That-Which-Must-Not-Be-Named. Specifically, the third one. No spoilers.
The Witch, who is our main antagonist, will sort of act as this unseen force throughout the first part of this story. We won't be seeing much of her, but she will be influencing many of the events throughout the course of the story. This is very much an AU story, which will also focus heavy on the discrimination Muggles and part-humans face as well. We'll also be doing some AU exploration about the various other Wizarding schools besides Hogwarts.
So….as you may or may not have read, this is an SYOC (Submit Your Own Character)! I know, I know, these get a bad rep everywhere, but I wanted to try and see if anyone would submit (I don't think anyone will TBH). You guys will (hopefully) be submitting other characters, specifically students of Kenneth's, who try and investigate Wren's death and figure out what exactly is going on. And maybe go undercover in the Muggle world. Again, this is an AU that takes place in 2017, so roughly modern-times.
All of these students should be 15-17 (so 5th-7th years), any and all genders and sexualities are welcome! Romance and teen angst and drama will for sure still be a part of this. And I want diversity. Please read below for the caps on houses, species, et cetera. This will not be first-come, first-serve. The deadline will be July 1st, and on July 15th, I will release the cast list. I will be accepting 7-9 main characters, depending on what types of characters I get.
Part-humans: I will be accepting probably 3-4. Part-Veelas, part-vampires, part-trolls, part-goblins, and part-giants. Nothing else.
Gryffindors/Slytherins: Maybe one from each house at MOST. You'd have to convince me. I really want some Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs here.
Other Schools (besides HW): No cap! Go crazy here!
Special Abilities: Let's talk. We may be able to work something out.
ZE FORM
Full Name: (first, middle, and last. If not from a country with the Western first-last naming format, feel free to do it the other way. Just let me know please!)
Nicknames: (optional. You don't have to give a reason if you don't want to. The weirder, the better. Kenneth LOVES nicknames.)
Gender: (Everything is accepted, male, female, non-binary, et cetera. Please provide biological sex if non-binary/etc as well.)
Age: (Remember: 15-17. Nothing else. Unless they like…skipped a grade before their magical schooling.)
Species: (Most of y'all will be human. Please include blood status. Part-humans will be accepted, but you have to really wow me.)
Special Abilities: (Please talk with me before writing anything down here!)
Year: (Self-explanatory. I always remember by the last digit, ex: 15 = Year 5.)
School: (Remember, there's more than just Hogwarts! However, please check the locations to make sure your character living in Japan isn't attending Uagadou, for example.)
House: (If in Hogwarts, if not, ignore.)
Sexuality: (Everything is accepted! Please include sexual and romantic orientation, and if they have a preference for gender if bi, pan, etc. Being aro/ace/grey/demi is all good too!)
Nationality: (Where you're from/have legal citizenship in. I don't want all Brits. Dual citizenship exists. Remember, this is different from ethnicity.)
Birthplace: (Or hometown. Wherever you live currently.)
Ethnicity: (Your biological makeup, where your ancestors' birthplace is. Think Caucasian/white, African/black, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, etc.)
Face Claim: (I know, this sounds weird. Please write a name here of an actual celebrity I can Google and finds GIFs and images on. We'll use the +10 rule here, so if playing 15, the max you can go is 25.)
Any Changes from FC: (Optional. Try to choose an FC that actually fits your character, but if there's any minor changes, add them here. This includes scars, birthmarks, tattoos, piercings, etc.)
Personality: (3 paragraphs, minimum. Go all out here.)
Likes/Dislikes: (4 minimum for each.)
Habits/Quirks: (3 minimum for each.)
Fears: (2 minimum. Kinda hope to have reasoning unless it's like claustrophobia or clowns.)
Backstory: (4 paragraphs, MINIMUM. I want everything! The more, the better!)
Family: (name, age, FC, and your character's relationship with them)
Secrets: (2-3 is fine. They don't all have to be super dark, but at least 1 should be one that can be easily exploited.)
Wand: (Wood, core, length, flexibility. Non-canon cores are allowed, but not woods. NO ELDER.)
Current Grades: (Even though 5th years won't have taken OWLs yet, let's do these on OWL scale: O, E, A, P, D, T. Do all classes your character is currently in.)
Favorite Class:
Least Favorite Class:
Best Class:
Worst Class:
Quidditch?: (Yes or No, if yes, how long have you been playing, and what position.)
Other Clubs: (You can look these up on the Wiki: Charms Club, Frog Choir, etc.)
Romance?: (Yes or No, and if Yes, what kind of love interest would your character have. You can say no even if your character is non-aro/ace.)
Favorite:
- Movie:
- TV Show:
- Musical:
- Book/Book Series:
- Food:
- Season:
- Celebrity/Historical Figure:
Theme Song: (Do whatever here! No more than 3, please.)
Anything else?: