Hi all!
This is a bit of a strange thread maybe, and I hope I posted it in the right place - the nature of my questions would place it here, I think. Like I've mentioned in my
introduction thread, I actually signed up here with the intent to post this specific thread. I hope there are at least some people who are patient to help me out! Some of the questions may have answers that some people would rather not talk about, I guess, so fair warning there.
Basically, I'm planning to write a bit of Harry Potter fanfiction. I'm not a professional writer (nor even a shining talent, really), but I like writing stories every now and then just for the fun of it, and I guess I'm OK as far as amateurs are concerned. The story would be quite a big project, and if it even gets completed, it's not for a while - and because it's a big project, it's all the more important that I get certain details right.
The gist is that the protagonist of the story would be a young Muggleborn trans girl navigating her way through Hogwards and wizarding society. She would actually only begin transitioning in the fourth year or so. The drama of the story would stem from the fact that the wizarding society does not actually know how to deal with trans people via magic (most people aren't even aware it's a thing), to the point where she actually has to go back to muggle healthcare to - and in the meantime, she'd have to put up with quite a lot of abuse, of varying severity, from other students and adults alike. In addition to that, of course, the story would tackle other aspects of post-Second Wizarding War magical society and how it's much more regressive in many ways compared to muggle society. The transgender aspect is just one of them.
However, I wish to write our young heroine's struggle as realistically as possible. Like I've mentioned, I've never actually gone through HRT or anything medical like that, something which I intend to have her go through. Which is why I wish to ask some people here about certain facets of the experience. I'm hoping that someone is willing to help me out here - I'm kinda anxious whether I'm doing anything tactless by "interviewing" y'all here just for a fanfiction, though I don't really think I'm hurting anyone here, so I'll go ahead. (Fair warning, though, that I probably won't take any advice along the lines of "you should probably write about something else", in case anyone had that idea - procrastination is a more likely reason for me not finishing the story than anything else, anyway.
)
Basically, some of the questions I have - I'd appreciate if anyone could answer some or all of these:
- I hear there's a lot of emotional distress that apparently comes with doing HRT. Could anyone describe all the ways HRT could mess with your brain? Especially the ones that would shape her interactions with fellow students?
- Are there any exclusive experiences to people who transition and get their HRT and surgeries at such a young age? I've read about some young trans people like Jazz Jennings and apparently they tend to pass better than those who begin the transition well into their adulthood - though I've no idea if that's actually true. Are people who transition young generally better or worse off? Are there any surgeries that aren't done at that age?
- Preferably, I wouldn't have her modify her genitals - just facial/voice feminization, Adam's apple removal, breast enlargement and stuff like that. What effect would HRT have on the function of her penis, though? My guess would me "much harder to arouse", but again, I'd rather ask someone who knows better what they're talking about in this subject. I plan on having some romance - little to no actual smut, but I still think it might be relevant to the story.
- For anyone who doesn't know Harry Potter at all, students stay all year at Hogwarts, except for holiday breaks. The next question is a simple matter of logistics. How long would she need to stay away from school for any given part of her treatment? Is there anything that might need her to stay at home for an extended period of time? Anything that can be done within a day or two, with our heroine returning to school straight after? I really have no idea here.
- How quickly could she progress with the transition? For story purposes, I'd have her figure herself out and transition as quickly as plausibly possible, with relatively little self-doubt, but she would be involved in a couple of dangerous adventures in her final year(s), so to speak - which is the speed of her transition is relevant (I'd imagine it'd boost her confidence, and thus her performance, if she was mostly or fully transitioned by that point, but I've seen people here have signatures with 5-10-more year transitions...)
- Anything else that I should be aware of?
Thank you in advance for any replies.
