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Pansy had been a small child, an easily forgettable girl. She did not have her mother’s delicate nose or her father’s pale complexion. The unfortunate soul was burdened by her father’s flat nose and her mother’s darker complexion. While Pansy wasn’t ugly by any means, she was very plain. As a daughter of wealthy purebloods, her dowry was advantageous, so while the Greengrass girls had angelic faces and the Carrow twins had fine bone structures, Pansy knew that her entire value came from social status and that she needed to be better than everyone.

Pansy was four years old when she first exhibited signs of magical ability. Her father and mother had been highly concerned about her potential up until that point. The Parkinson’s had a standard to hold! They were pureblood, of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. A Parkinson needed have prestige and power. Her mother, Anemone Parkinson née Shafiq, was determined to have a daughter that could rise above any tense political situation, while her father, Basil Parkinson, simply wanted a girl who could have advantageous marriage prospects.

Pansy’s first magic was to vanish her dress robes because they weren’t the color she wanted. Her mother had chosen a nice burgundy set of dress robes for her daughter, as the warm color would make her skin glow. Pansy however wanted pink. Pink was the proper color for princesses and girls and since she was both a princess and a girl so she deserved pale pink dress robes.

While her parents were proud of her magical talent - vanishing dress robes at age four! - they were also highly disappointed. Money wasn’t an issue, but because of her tantrum, they would be late to the birthday celebration for the Patil girls. Mr. Parkinson didn’t see the family as that worthy of their attention, but Mrs. Patil was an old friend of Anemone’s, and sometimes, one had to make compromises in a relationship (not that he’d share that information with his cohorts).

Pansy was good at creating problems for others.

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Luna Lovegood was a peculiar sort of girl. She lived in Ottery St. Catchpole in a funny little black house that was tilted back like the crook of a hat. If she played Wizarding Chess she might’ve come to the conclusion that her house looked like a rook. However, to Luna, the house was simply Ella. Luna gave names to all sorts of things. There were lots of plants in the garden and Mummy let her name all of them. The Snargaluff was named Jasper and the Dirigible plum bush was named Alice. She really wanted to name all the Whomping Willows but Mummy said it was “too dangerous” to go near them. Luna thought that was awfully silly. She wouldn’t be tricked by the Umgubular Slashkilters and get too close to the sweeping arms. She would just listen to the trees and name them appropriately.

Luna could see things that her Mummy couldn’t. She saw the Nargles that nestled in the Mistletoe and the could feel the Wrackspurts that liked to make her brain all fuzzy. Daddy would just smile whenever Luna explained the various creatures she saw. Mummy was a bit more practical than Daddy. She liked to experiment and find out the why of everything. Luna preferred to find the whats of everything. She could see and hear and feel the wonders, so she wanted to find them all.

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Cho Chang is a good girl, a nice girl, a pretty girl. She’s popular, she’s smart, she’s athletic. Cho is kind, loyal, and open with her emotions. The Sorting Hat almost put her in Hufflepuff but then decided she needed to cultivate her passion for learning more. The thing about sorting children at such an early age is that most, if not all, pre-teens have the potential to grow, to develop bravery, loyalty, ambition, intelligence, and more. The divided house systems only served to further the distance between students. Cho was good about bridging the gaps, regularly chatting and socializing with Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors, and even a rare Slytherin. Her sweet nature and passion for her hobbies could draw anyone in.

The problem with popularity is that it is a fickle thing. In her fifth year at Hogwarts, Cho learns that young love doesn’t conquer all, and that reality is much scarier than anything her teenage anxiety could previously create. She learns that even strong people are fallible and that no one really wants to face grief, let alone acknowledge the suffering of others. The witch returns to Hogwarts returns to push herself further in her studies, to learn how to fight back, to try and hold herself together. She loses herself a little. Her innocence is gone, she’s been forced to grow up a little too soon. Her grades drop, she’s more distractible during Quidditch practices. Cho’s less cheerful now, less able to draw others in as the center of attention.

Through it all, Cho somehow continues to tumble into romance. Even with everything, there’s still a part of her that longs for romance, that desires deep emotional connections with others. She loses some fair-weather friends and dates what some might call a few too many boys. Coping is often a personal process, and recovering from trauma even more so. She cries and that is okay. Her tears are valid. Her experiences are real. It’s just that she’s an accessory to others, a side quest, a plot to be achieved. Only Marietta seems to get what Cho is talking about, and even then the two girls lean a bit differently on the political spectrum.

Cho learns to figure out who she wants to be and how she’ll go about it. She doesn’t have to please everyone - just herself. The witch doesn’t discard all of her softness, her romantic leanings, or her swan Patronus. The witch begins to understand how previous generations have shaped the rise of Dark Lords and how she might be able to survive the coming war. Cho fights for herself, for her family, for Marietta, for what could’ve been and her own bygone dreams. She allows herself to be more, to do more, to exist beyond the sides of heroic boys. The world might hate teenage girls but Cho survives and moves on. She’ll do more than just live, she’ll thrive.

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Hermione is book-smart. She collects knowledge and hoards academic information like it’s going out of style. She wants to know why and how things work, what their importance is, and when to use them. She struggles to connect with her peers, both magical and nonmagical alike because it’s so intuitive for her to delve into textbooks, to search for answers, to gain esoteric knowledge across subjects. The few friends she makes she hold dear to her heart. She’ll do anything to protect them, from risking expulsion in her first year, crafting a dark jinx in her fifth year, and conspiring to defeat Voldemort in what would’ve been her seventh year.

The witch likes her rules. She appreciates logic, reason, and rational thought. If Hermione hadn’t been a born a witch she’d likely have become an engineer, with a focus on chemistry or materials. She excels in theory, in applying information in a literal manner, taking things apart to understand them and then make them better. Hermione is the reason why her boys survive. She’s their life support, the brains, the intelligent drive behind their decisions.

She's strong-willed and determined, tenacious and proud. She is bold and lets her curls grow freely, lets herself take action and stand for what she believes in. In some ways she’s at odds with the magical world, coming in with fire and passion so radical to the long-standing traditions and expectations of what is and what can be done with magic. She’s too muggle to fit into magical society but she has invested herself so far into the magical world that she distances herself from her single nonmagical connection, her parents. Hermione follows rules but she’ll bend, break, or change any law that stands in her way.

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Hannah Abbott is a nice girl. A Hufflepuff to the core - she likes to see the best in people. It is important to note that being a Hufflepuff doesn’t mean that she just follows the crowd like a lemming, however. She does have opinions of her own and she does have personality traits beyond niceness. The witch has mixed feelings about Harry Potter, like many of her schoolmates, to be frank. She didn’t hate him or fear him in her second year, as she doubted his validity as the Heir of Slytherin. She did have some issues with him in her fourth year, though, as once again he managed to make the year about him, even though Cedric worked so hard. By the end of her Hogwarts experience, she’s grateful that she had the chance to meet him, to talk with him, to help carry some of his burdens.

Working hard and being nice won’t guarantee survival or keep you alive, but it also doesn’t hurt to try. Hannah sees how Cedric and her own mother are taken out by hatred and fear. She won’t become like the Death Eaters, she refuses. They might hate her for her blood status, her existence as a Half-Blood Hufflepuff but Hannah will find a way to fight and protect in her own way, to make sure that people can still smile at the end of it. The witch returns to Hogwarts as a proud member of Dumbledore’s Army and fights for her friends.

After the war she takes over the Leaky Cauldron, renovating it and making it a more welcome (and safe!) entrance to Diagon Alley. She studies healing on the side, a hobby she picked up during the war. She gets her happy ending, even if sometimes the world felt like it was against her. Niceness isn’t a weakness, and Hannah finds her peace through sharing that niceness, making sure that future children won’t have to fight like she did.

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Lavender Brown is a girl who likes being feminine, who likes being a girly girl. She likes gossip and fashion, music and boys. Sometimes, though she hasn’t told anyone else, she also likes girls. Lavender doesn’t really understand Hermione Granger that much. She’s offered to help her with her hair before, as she knows the struggle of having 3a hair but the witch refused her. It was a bit disappointing because Lavender does want to make friends. She wants people to feel welcome, to feel loved. It’s Hermione’s choice, however, just as Lavender can make her own choices.

Lavender is not stupid. She might not be brilliant but she’s plenty competent and she knows what she’s doing. She likes Divination and she likes Astronomy. The witch is good at Charms and proficient at Potions. Lavender wants to own her own business selling appearance-altering potions and other self-improvement potions. Professor Snape doesn’t like her but she knows that there are other ways to get her Potion’s Mastery without Mr. Needs-a-Makeover anyways.

Sometimes, the witch can tell that bad things are going to happen. She just knows it. So, Lavender tries to find joy where she can. She has fun with Ron, even though she knows that he's just using her. Sometimes it’s fun to help people out in subtle ways, plus making out can be fun. She knows she’ll need to know how to fight. Lavender joins Dumbledore’s Army and learns how to protect herself. The witch endures her 7th year, Pureblood status protecting her more than others as Hogwarts resists tyranny. It still isn’t quite enough to protect her from Fenrir Greyback.

Parvati is next to her as she always has been. Padma is surely nearby. How beautiful and cruel is her life, to make the pair see her like this?

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Ginny is a fighter. She’s small and she’s feisty and yeah, she’s a ginger, what about it? She’s a Weasley and don't you dare forget it. She’s quick with her wand and even quicker with her words. Ginny is the youngest Weasley child, the seventh child, the first girl in ages. People want to protect her, to keep her safe and innocent. They forget she’s a rule breaker, quick to make judgments for better or worse, and most of all, her own person. Ginny learns from her mistakes, for all that she tends to make them by leaping first, and since she loves and is loved, isn’t learning from it all what matters?

She doesn’t understand that she’s poor until she sees her mother stress over Ron’s upcoming Hogwarts expenses. Weasleys cut corners not because they want to, but because they have to. Ginny thought patchwork dresses and well-worn belongings were normal, a sign of being the baby, as opposed to a lack of capital. She’s envious of others, of how they can simply have something or afford something that her family can’t. The witch doesn’t have the time or resources to mess up like some of her more affluent peers. Yes, magic is wonderful, but it can’t fix classism, or at least she’s yet to find a solution for it.

During her first year at Hogwarts she finds a confidant in Tom, in the diary she assumes her mother snuck in as a good-luck present. He sympathizes with her and tells her how he’ll bring greatness to them. He makes so many promises. Tom doesn’t keep them, though. Ginny will keep her own promises, however. She’ll struggle but she’ll make it and she’ll strive to do better, to be her best. The world isn’t fair and she doesn’t have the headstart that some do but she’ll make it work. Don’t underestimate her, for you’ll regret it if you do.

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In her 6th year, Marietta follows her best friend, Cho, to a defense club. She just wants to be better at DADA, you know? Plus, she’d follow Cho anywhere. Marietta isn’t the smartest, the prettiest, let alone the most athletic. The witch is simply acceptable and she rarely exceeds expectations, let alone performs outstandingly. Somehow Cho still loves her for who she is, though, and Marietta would do anything for her. She hopes Cho would do the same.

Her mother has always had power, especially power over Marietta. Over the span of her 6th year, the young witch comes to learn that Professor Umbridge has direct power over her mother, and as such, herself. She doesn’t want to do this. Cho will hate her for this, she’s sure. She already hates herself, of course, Cho will hate her too. Marietta isn’t trained to resist Veritasium at all, so of course Professor Umbridge is able to draw out the truth from her. As she does she starts to feel sharp pain burning across her face. The pain brings her out of the dull state the potion forced her into, but that awful woman keeps forcing her to say more, even as the pain makes Marietta start to cry and grasp at her face. Is this her punishment? For never being good enough?

For her 7th year, Marietta learns as many cosmetic charms as she can to hide her face. She doesn’t know why she has SNEAK written across her face but it hurts to have the accusation across her face for everyone to see. Cho winces when Marietta tries to get her to explain, and summarizes what happened with Professor Umbridge and Dumbledore’s Army. Marietta has never been more ashamed of herself for her weaknesses, and the harsh glares she gets in the hallways from Potter’s friends cut deeply. Yet, like her mother said, this is what she deserves, right?

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Fleur Delacour. Flower of the court. Her name is quite plain in French, ne c’est pas? Yes, she has Veela ancestry. Yes, she is fully French. Yes, she is a polyglot. Oui, oui, oui. From an early age, Fleur experiences the gazes of men. Little boys, young men, old men, all men, even those not quite heterosexual in leaning. She is beautiful, she is envied, and outside of her family, she is alone. The witch is talented but scorned, praised but avoided. The world seems to put her on a pedestal as if she’s just an object for them to have opinions about.

She has a lot of her own opinions but no one seems to actually listen, except for her little sister, Gabrielle. Fleur wants more than this life, more than how others see her as a pretty trophy and little else. The witch didn’t even want to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. Magic is for all, not just Wizards, and even though magical society holds on to traditions, some things need to be changed. Fleur knows she is good enough, even extraordinary. She doesn’t need the gold, nor the prestige. Yet, she also knows she is proud. Madame may have made her come here and the Goblet of Fire has forced her to consent, but Fleur will compete on her own terms.

She’s beautiful. She is strong. To the silly English, she is exotic. To her sister, she is everything. To her parents, she is a dutiful child. To herself, Fleur just wants to be free. She’s beautiful enough for anything and everything. Let the world try and cage her in like a beautiful bird. Fleur’s enough for herself and that is most important.

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Charity Burbage loves easily. She loves music, art, creativity, passion. She loves humanity, magical and muggle; both worlds that consist of things wonderful and cruel. The witch was a Hufflepuff, eager to learn but even more eager to find close bonds with others. Charity is a homebody. She likes her home at Hogwarts. The witch is friends with her fellow students, and later, her fellow teachers.

She knows that some people dislike her class, demean it, disregard it. They see her on the level of Arthur Weasley, a lovely man in her opinion, but a muggle-loving fool in the eyes of Malfoy and his lot. Many students take her class for a year before dropping out, surprised when they actually have to work to get a good grade in her class. Of course, they have to work! There are so many muggle discoveries and ways of understanding that are rarely considered by magical folx at large.

Politics are complicated but Charity knows where she stands. She stands for humans, for the good in the world, for the possibility of learning and improving lives by use of empathy and listening. The witch knows that so many things can be fixed by simply taking a step back, having a cup of tea, and listening with an open heart. It is unfortunate then, that so many Hogwarts students are stuck in their mindsets, so determined in their own superiority and the words of their parents.

Charity was like them, once. She is Pureblood, after all, even if few remember her as such. The witch knows the etiquette, the dialogue, the subtle politics of Lords and Ladies, witches and wizards. She had a personal house elf. She dressed in fine robes and said the right things to the right people. Her parents are still hoping that her “muggle fascination” is a simple rebellion, as opposed to a complete change in worldview. She hasn’t been to their manor in ages.

The witch knows fear, knows the cloying power of isolation and insular traditions. She knows how they work and has forged her own path. She defies her assigned role for one of her own making. Late at night alone in her chambers, Charity hopes she made the right decisions.