I was going to save this for the adoption thread, but that got shot down in short order.

Exploring different magic cultures is another option. Helios comes from a world where Greek mythology is alive.

Other ideas were for an American stage magician who attends Hogwarts to hone his craft. Top hat and all.

Or how about a culture where people carved from living wood are used in lieu of house elves? What if one of these creations became self aware, and wanted to be normal?

Or if you don't like Pinnochio, how about Peter Pan? What if he gave up eternal childhood to grow up at Hogwarts?

I know this goes against the discussion of using other books characters in a HP setting, but with some skillful tweaking you can make it your own.

Or I could just be lazy. What do you think?

Personally I like the idea of Alice in Hogwarts.