Characters / Puffs the Play

Main Characters

Narrator/Wayne Rivers-Jones

Narrator/Wayne Rivers-Jones

Played by: AJ Ditty

The narrator of the story, later revealed to be Megan and Oliver's child.

• Ascended Extra: Is one of the major charactrers of Nineteen-Ish Years Later and Puf3s: Eventfulness Maximus.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Much of the narrator's dialogue is delivered this way - even more so when he hands things to the audience, like Rolo candies or Puffs brand tissues.
• Dead Guy Junior: Megan and Oliver named him after Wayne, who died in the Battle of Hogwarts. To distinguish between the two, the sequels call him "Little Wayne." In some productions where the narrator is played by a woman, she is named "Wayna."
• Interactive Narrator: He interacts briefly with Wayne in fourth year. Of course, the epilogue reveals that he interacts with two other characters - namely, his parents.

Wayne Hopkins

Wayne Hopkins

Played By: Zac Moon

The main character of the story, a young Puff who dreams to be the hero of the story.

• Butt-Monkey: Whenever Wayne is about to break ahead and become a good wizard, he gets kicked down a notch by fate.
• Foil: To Harry. Whereas Wayne wants to be remembered by the wizarding world for his actions, Harry actually gets the glory. They also have many of the same emotional beats, especially in their Wangst-y grief for Cedric after fourth year.
• Hero of Another Story: In Nineteen-ish Years Later. in the timeline where Harry was killed in the Battle of Hogwarts, Wayne survived and went on to become a rebel, a leader and a hero who tirelessly fought against the oppressors. When Little Wayne meets up with him and learns his story, Wayne even comes close to name-dropping the trope.
  "I guess your reality might be [Harry's] story. This one... I think it's mine. And one day, you'll find yours."
• I Just Want to Be You: Wayne wants to be the well-remembered hero of the story - in other words, everything Harry Potter is. Lampshaded after Wayne's death:
  Wayne: He gets to be the hero. He gets everything I ever wanted. Why do I have to be so unimportant?
• Killed Off for Real: Wayne is killed in the final battle after being mistaken for Harry.
• Proud to Be a Geek: Wayne is a Muggle pop culture geek, especially for sci-fi and fantasy. When introducing himself to the other Puffs, he says "I'm Wayne, I've read The Silmarillion twice."
• Wrong Genre Savvy: A curious version. Wayne thinks that he's the main character of a Chosen One story about an orphaned destined to become a great hero. While there is such a story going on around him, Wayne isn't the main character of it. He is, in fact, the Cannon Fodder.

Megan Jones

Megan Jones

Played by: Julie Ann Earls

One of Wayne's best friends, the daughter of a powerful evil wizard who struggles to fit in and gain attention from her mother.

• Action Girl: Megan instantly establishes herself as a total badass, not even bothering with the Puffs' signature "Hiiiii!" Throughout the show, she continues to be one of the most capable wizards and even brings her mother back to the heroes' side.
• Bruiser with a Soft Center: Underneath all Megan's show, she desperately wants to be able to gain friends at school and get some acknowledgment from her mother.
• Delinquent Hair: Megan sports some purple and pink highlights.
• Fleeting Passionate Hobbies: Megan is always looking to redefine herself and every school year has a new hobby or interest that she insists is her "new thing." It never lasts beyond the year.
• Lady of Black Magic: Played with. Megan constantly sides with the bad guys during classic Harry Potter scenarios (e.g. roots for the Basilisk during Year 2), but she eventually brings her mom back from the Death Buddies and becomes one of the heroes' strongest assets.

Oliver Rivers

Oliver Rivers

Played by: Langston Belton

One of Wayne's best friends, a "Mug-born" from New Jersey and a nerdy math geek, who is disappointed to learn that there are no math classes. Later, Megan's love interest and boyfriend.

• Black and Nerdy: As played by Langston Belton, an African-American actor.
• Child Prodigy: He was set to enroll at the Mathematical Institute as Oxford at the age of eleven. Then he found out he was a wizard and was going to a school where there was no math class.
• Child Soldiers: Lampshaded by Oliver during the final battle: "This is a LOT for eighteen-year-olds to handle!"
• The Smart Guy: Parodied, Deconstructed and then Reconstructed. Oliver is a confirmed genius and a Child Prodigy — when it comes to advanced maths, which wizards don't use much. When it comes to magic, he's terrible. Throughout the play he's one of the worst students, and to his frustration and despair the teachers treat him like a dunce and he has to take remedial classes in pretty much all the subjects (except Mug Studies, which he naturally aces). Then at the final battle, his math skills finally become useful, and he's acknowledged as the genius he is. In "Nineteen-ish Years After" he's become the official "Math Magician Rocket Scientist" at the Magic Ministry... and spends most of his time trying to hide that he has absolutely no idea what that actually means, or what his job entails.

Cedric Diggory

Cedric Diggory

Played by: Evan Maltby (2015), James Fouhey (2016-2017)

The prefect for the Puffs, and Wayne's mentor. Referred to as "Cedric" or "Diggory" separately due to copyright issues.

• The Ace: Much like canon Cedric, he constantly skirts the line of this trope. He's got perhaps a little too much of a Cloudcuckoolander streak about him to really embrace it, but he comes closer than anyone else in the play. He's popular, he's good at school, he's a leader of his peers, and he's just so darn polite and charming.
• Mr. Fanservice: Played with when Cedric strips to his tighty-whities during the scene in the prefects' bathroom.
• Nice Guy: Even in a house specifically known for its friendly and upbeat nature, Cedric goes the extra mile. He's always helpful and encouraging towards everyone.

Other Puffs

Main

Sally Perks

Sally Perks

Played by: Jessie Cannizzaro

One of the '98 Puffs, who is slightly ditzy and very blind (without glasses).

• Blind Without 'Em: She can barely see without her glasses. Unfortunately, the boys don't give her any attention unless she takes off her glasses.

Sally, although a side charecter, is very important. She was originally going to be one of the main charecters,but was later changed due to budget issues.

• Covert Pervert: She goes from Precocious Crush on Wayne to basically jumping his bones in ten seconds flat.
• Flat Character: Played with. She's presented as just one in the crowd with little personality or development; her introduction is "I'm Sally Perks and I go to this school!", and when Leanne gives the Puffs the pep talk in Year Seven, Sally is just asked to "remember when you did that thing!" However, she goes through a very clear character arc during the play because her character is also a parody of the Beautiful All Along teenage girl who becomes hot just by taking off her glasses. She catches on to the fact that she gets more attention when not wearing her glasses and stops wearing them (even though she is Blind Without 'Em ands keeps having to feel her way everywhere), but then at the final battle in Year Seven she accepts that she needs glasses and puts them back on in order to fight the Death Buddies. And then she's immediately killed.
• Girl of the Week: She and Wayne date for a bit in sixth year.

Justin "J." Finch

Justin "J." Finch

Played by: Nick Carlillo

One of the '98 Puffs, best friend to Ernie, Hannah, and Susie. Love interest to Ernie Mac.

• Heroic Sacrifice: Jumps in front of a Killing Curse to save Ernie Mac in the Year 7 Battle.
• Imaginary Friend: Not really, but in fourth year Cloudcuckoolander Leanne starts referring to him as her "imaginary friend," and soon everyone else is treating him as imaginary too. He takes it surprisingly well.
  *scared* "J-Finch doesn't exist!!" *pause, then with a smarmy grin* "J-Finch can go wherever he wants."
• Third-Person Person: He often, but not always, refers to himself as "J-Finch" instead of "I."

Ernie Mac

Ernie Mac

Played by: Stephen Stout

One of the '98 Puffs, a bit of a "too cool for school" type of kid. Becomes a prefect in Year Five following Cedric's death. Best friend to J. Finch, Hannah, and Susie. Love interest to J. Finch

• Future Loser: The sequels reveal that he's now the driver of the Hogwarts Express... which means he only works four times a year and spends the rest of the time being drunk and miserable. He never did get over Justin's death, or the deaths of his other friends.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Describes himself as "basically the best" and then proceeds to not do anything much.

Hannah

Hannah

Played by: Eleanor Philips

One of the '98 Puffs and is extremely awkward. Becomes a prefect in Year Five following Cedric's death. Best friend to J. Finch, Ernie, and Susie.

• Bully Magnet: Not among the Puffs, who are all friendly with her, but from her comments it does seem like students from other houses pick on Hannah more than anyone else... possibly because she tends to not understand that she is being bullied until after the fact.
• Late to the Punchline: A rather tragic example; a minor Running Gag in the show is that Hannah keeps getting mocked by kids from the other houses, but doesn't actually get that they're bullying her until she repeats their comments to the other Puffs.
  Hannah: *happily* Hey, guys, somebody told me that the murderer is only going after pretty girls, so I don't have to worr... *pause as her face falls* I get it, they were bullying me.
• No Social Skills: No matter the situation, Hannah can turn it awkward.

Susie Bones

Susie Bones

Played by: Madeleine Bundy

One of the '98 Puffs. Majority of her family was murdered previously to the show by Voldemort, leaving her to live with her aunt, and later, her aunt is murdered. The death of her family leaves her very afraid that she will die. Best friend to J. Finch, Ernie, and Hannah.

• The Eeyore: Susie views life as just the time before death, due to her family's murder before the show.

Supporting

Leanne

Leanne

Played by: Andy Miller

One of the '98 Puffs who is very hyperactive and completely amazed by the wizarding world.

• Audience Surrogate: Andy Miller has described Leanne as this: her characterization at the beginning of the show is less "total moron" and more "just so excited to be here" - which she compares to what most audience members' reaction would be to arriving at wizard school.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Leanne isn't stupid, but her brain doesn't work quite like anyone else's. Then again, she was raised in a cabin by her grandparents and never saw any other children before she came to Hogwarts, so it's not that surprising she ended up a little weird.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: During the Battle in Seventh Year, after having been the one to rouse the Puffs to action with a big pep talk, she flips out and takes out about a dozen Death Buddies all on her own before she is hit with a Killing Curse.
• Genki Girl: Hyperactive and excitable; her default mood is "jumping for joy."
• Fiery Redhead: When Leanne gets pissed, she gets pissed. Too bad it didn't save her in the end.

Zach Smith

Zach Smith

Played by: Nick Carlillo

The captain of the Sports team, a rough leader who likes to occasionally bully those who try out for the team. He's ultimately a lot more heroic than he seems, though, and is a great storyteller.

• Adaptational Nice Guy: More Jerk with a Heart of Gold than the Jerkass of the books.
• Ascended Extra: He's only in two scenes in the original play, but in the sequels he gets more to do, ending up playing a crucial role in Puf3s: Eventfulness Maximus.
• Been There, Shaped History: The sequels reveal that he's done a lot of this thanks to time travel. Surprisingly many crucial plot points were kicked off or inspired by Zach Smith doing one of his trademark monologues.
• Composite Character: Combined with Adaptation Relationship Overhaul in Puf3s; the Headmaster's father, who in canon was Percival Dumbledore, is here revealed to be a time-traveling Zach Smith.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He can get mean towards fellow students at sports tryouts, and has an overall douchey attitude, but unlike his canon counterpart he's actually quite reliable in a pinch and is both brave and self-sacrificing.
• The Storyteller: His main talent, and the reason for his increased role in the sequel. Whenever he has an audience, he can lapse into long and intricate stories at the drop of a hat. In his main scene in the original play, his actor was essentially just told to go nuts with the improv.

Students

Harry

Harry

Played by: Madeleine Bundy

The true hero of the school, and Wayne's nemesis (Harry is blatantly unaware of this). He is extremely oblivious to most things. Only referred to as "Harry" or "Potter" seperately, due to copyright.

• Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed. He does come across more jerkish because we're seeing him from Wayne's perspective, but all in all he doesn't seem like that bad a guy; just somewhat arrogant and not very aware of other people.
• Ambiguously Bi: Like in canon, he marries Ginny and has three kids... but he occasionally gets very touchy-feely with Wayne.
• Crosscast Role: In pretty much every production, Harry is played by a female actor.
• Innocently Insensitive: He's never intentionally mean or callous, and he's usually perfectly friendly to Wayne; he's just totally oblivious as to how he keeps showing others aside and hogging the spotlight.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: He is convinced that he and Wayne are good friends. Wayne does not agree, but Harry never realizes this.

Ginny

Ginny

Played by: Andy Miller

Appears briefly. Is the love interest for Wayne and Longbottom.

• Girl of the Week: Wayne has feelings for her in early years, but after she and Longbottom go to the Yule Ball together, they're never brought up again. Until Nineteen-ish Years Later, where she and Wayne are revealed to be Happily Married in the alternate timeline.

Viktor

Viktor

Played by: Nick Carlillo

A participant in the Three Wizard Tournament. Is very interested in death, specifically - others dying.

Frenchy

Frenchy

Played by: Andy Miller

A participant in the Three Wizard Tournament. Likes baguettes.

Teachers

Headmaster

Headmaster

• Actor Swap: As a reference to how Dumbledore's actor changed after the second movie, here the Headmaster is without explanation played by a different actor after the first two years. Lampshaded by Oliver, who notes that the Headmaster looks different... though nobody else notices, or cares.
• Crosscast Role: Played by a female actor in the first two years.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His blatant favoritism of the Braves in general and Harry in particular is a lot more pronounced here than in the books, but he's ultimately a fair person and even has some words of genuine wisdom in some of his scenes.
• Spirit Advisor: Kind of, to Wayne, after his death. Wayne accidentally appears in Harry's afterlife scene before Harry does, and though the Headmaster is still expecting Harry, he does take the time to give Wayne some words of comfort and advice about The Power of Love before sending him... on.