Harry Potter OC Guide

1) Basic Information

1) Basic Information

· Naming your character

When naming an OC it's important to keep in mind their heritage. A purely Caucasian girl from Ireland whose family has always been from Ireland will likely not be named Akane Nakamura. Remember that the character's name should not be that makes them stand out the most. Your OC does not need to be called Sparrow, or Raven, or Mystery. I'm speaking for me when I say this, but names such as those are a big turn off for the reader.
Another thing to keep in mind is their family. If you're planning on making an OC that is related to the Blacks or Malfoys, their name would not be Stephanie, Katrina, Rider, Casper. It would be related to a star or a constellation. EVERYONE even remotely related to the Black family has that type of name, as do the Malfoys being relatives of the Blacks.
For examples of these types of names
- Orion Black.
- Sirius Black.
- Bellatrix Lestrange, nee Black.
- Narcissa Malfoy, nee Black.
- Andromeda Tonks, nee Black.
And as I said, everyone even remotely blood related to the Blacks.

· Nationality

It is important to note that students at Hogwarts must be living in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) or Ireland before receiving their letter. Hogwarts does not have an exchange student program, nor would it ever need one. There are many wizarding schools, and I hate seeing Americans in Hogwarts. Americans would go to a school like the Salem Institute.

· Age and Birthday

This should be simple enough to not mess up. If your OC is the same year as the Golden Trio, then they would be born in 1980. If they are two years above, 1978. A year under, 1981.
You also need to remember the cut off date (I believe that's what it is called.). For example, Hermione was born in 19th September, 1979. So she is older than Harry and Ron, yet in the same year. Why? She was born past the cut off date.

· Blood Status

Yet another thing a lot of people get confused about. The blood statuses are Muggle-born, Half Blood, or Pure Blood. A half blood is not only the child of a pure-blood and a muggle.
A half-blood is:
• The child of two muggle-borns
• The child of two half-bloods
• The child of a half-blood and a muggle-born
• The child of a half-blood and a pure-blood
• The child of a muggle and a half-blood
• The child of a muggle and a pure-blood
If you are muggle-born, you are a magical child of non-magical parents. The opposite is a squib, which is a non-magical child born to two magical parents.
Pure-bloods are the most rare, but this does not make it glamorous to be a pure-blood. There are no muggles in their family trees, but this is rarely, if ever, true if families are traced back all the way, for if wizards didn't have babies with muggles, their race would die out. Because the only way for a family to retain their pure-blood status is to marry other pure-bloods, all pure-blood families were related to one another by the 1990s. Meaning, incest is ending the pure-blood lines. If your OC is pure-blood, and they get with Draco, that is incest. In fact, if your OC is a pure-blood, it's likely their genes are a bit screwed up the bum unless careful planning went into their parent's marriage.