The Ultimate Guide to Harry Potter Fanfiction

OCs Part 5: Not the Star

Up to this point, I've only covered OCs who are the protagonist. However, stories are full of countless characters, and a great many of them in your world should be original just by nature of the fact that your story is told in a different way from the original, possibly from a different perspective or time period or universe, and any and all of those mean that your character will run into other characters who weren't in the original narrative. Let's be honest, Harry Potter was an incredibly oblivious person, and the fact that only three Gryffindor girls from his year were ever mentioned throughout the entire series might tip you off that you've got to fill in some gaps. Somewhere along the line, you'll have to make up some supporting characters.

Several months (years?) ago, I published a chapter on minor characters, basically just highlighting an article I'd found on the topic which was really helpful and interesting. I'm not going to be talking about minor characters today, so if you need help with them go take a look at that chapter again (and comment any questions you have there!). Today, we're talking about supporting characters.

So, how do you go about creating this cast of supporting characters? Generally, in a Harry Potter fan fiction, you'll have at least one or two supporting OCs. Of course, depending on the time period you're writing about, all of your supporting characters may be OCs in a sense; for example, my James and Albus Potter are wildly out of character considering their canon personalities from Cursed Child. However, I wrote Star of Gryffindor before Cursed Child came out, and I had nothing to go on but the epilogue. From there, I had to take both characters and flesh them out into real, complex, deep people. Though they are canon characters, I really took them and made them into who I wanted them to be, entirely different from the way JKR apparently saw them. That's a trick I love to use, taking obscure or not-so-obscure characters and giving them more characterization than they were given in canon, until they become something much like an OC.

I found an article on helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com about supporting characters that I think is really useful.

You have friends, and so should your characters.

Main characters shouldn't hold the entire story. They need help, and that help comes in the form of supporting characters. These are the people your main characters meet who leave an impression. I'm not talking about that shopkeeper your protagonist spoke with briefly who was nothing but filler material to end the scene.

Readers should remember supporting characters. Give readers someone to love, hate, laugh at, cry with, etc. Oftentimes these characters will have important connections to your main characters: friends, family, mentors, bosses, girlfriends, roommates, classmates . . . you name it.

Simply put, supporting characters should influence your main characters—and the story—in a significant way.

So the question remains: "How do you create supporting characters that fit your story's plot and help your main characters?"

Let me answer that. Here are three ways to develop supporting characters.

1. Give Supporting Characters Independent Goals

The story follows the main character, yes, but that doesn't mean the whole world revolves around that character. Things happen. Supporting characters are likely to be involved in behind-the-scenes activities that influence society or the MC's personal world.

Give supporting characters a life. What are they trying to accomplish? What obstacles are in their way? How do they interact with other characters, especially the main character?

Then dig deeper. What scares your supporting characters? What makes them happy? Do they try to avoid work? Do they jump at the chance to go on adventures? Do they party, or do they stay inside on Friday nights?

All these questions sound like things you would ask about your main character—and it's true, you would. The first key to creating believable supporting characters is treating them as if they are the main character . . . but tone it down. You don't have to show us every minute of their lives, just the parts that show us their personalities, affect the story, and influence the main character.

2. Focus on Speech Patterns of Your Supporting Characters

What do your supporting characters say? Are they so hyper that words spill out of their mouth so fast you could clock it on radar? Or are they reserved, and speak only when spoken to?

I always say dialogue is the most effective form of characterization. You can use quirks, stutters, slurs, screams, whispers, catch phrases, dark words, and light words. You can express intentions. Hide secrets. Blow secrets. Emotions flow through dialogue too.

Dialogue reveals so much about characters. A good way to create unique speech patterns is to let each of your characters say certain words a lot, or act a certain way while talking. Then your readers can identify who is speaking at any given moment, thus eliminating confusion.

3. Let Your Supporting Characters Represent Some Aspect of the Story

Supporting characters allow you to mix multiple themes and lessons into your story. One character can represent strength and another compassion. Perhaps one redeems himself after failing to assist the main character in an earlier predicament.

Use characters to their full potential. Don't just put them in the story so your main character has someone to talk to. As I stated in the first point, give them a goal. In a similar way, when working on a theme, you can send these characters on their own journeys.

Readers will watch their strengths and weaknesses and see the choices they make. This will add layers to the story as readers become more invested in the lives of the people surrounding the main character.

All of these are excellent points. There are a few things I would add to them, though:

4. Remember that Opposites Attract

No, I'm not necessarily talking about romantically. Your main character should not be surrounded by carbon copies of herself. Her closest friends, especially, should all be different. For example, Albus and Astra are different people: Albus is more inclined to caution while Astra is impulsive, Astra tends to be more aggressive where Albus is more diplomatic, Albus leans toward giving in to people while Astra always stands for what she believes in. They tend to balance each other out. Honestly, this is even more true of Astra and Wren, for example, or Astra and Colette. And even contrasting them with each other, they're all different. They all have some opposite traits that balance one another.

5. Create a Foil

What is a foil, you ask? A foil is a character who contrasts with your main character. For example, Wren's studiousness contrasts with Astra's carelessness; Albus's caution contrasts with Astra's recklessness; Colette's concern with theory contrasts with Astra's concern for practicality. A lot of the time, your antagonists will be foils as well. Think of Nico Jasper: heartless where Astra is caring, corrupt where Astra is firm in her morals.

Side note: I've been told once or twice that Ciara Malfoy is the biggest foil for Astra, but I disagree. They are very, very similar. In fact, if it wasn't for the friends each girl ended up with (Astra with some pretty popular people, and Ciara with a psychopath), there wouldn't be many differences between them at all. As it is, they ended up on opposite sides of a House rivalry and a bit of a family rivalry, an it set them against each other for life.

I could say a lot more about supporting characters, but I'll leave it with this: Like the article said, treat your supporting characters like main characters. Develop their characters just as fully, and always think about what they're doing when the protagonist is doing something else. If they're involved in plot twists, set them up. If they're red herrings for plot twists, set that up. Just don't treat your supporting characters like cardboard cutouts!

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Guess what's over two years old? This book! Thank you all for reading and interacting; I do all of this for you!

Comment or message me if you have any questions or topics I should cover!